“Ok Bi, you ready to test this out?”
The Porygon nodded excitedly. Momently later, it was covered in wires, almost looking more like a Tangela.
“Right. Now I believe that it was this line of code that’s the problem. If I change this…”
Neith tapped away at her keyboard as Binary looked on in anticipation. The Porygon shuddered as electrical currents tickled it. After a few minutes, Neith leaned back from her PC. ”Done! She cried, hopping up from her chair and starting to unplug Binary. The Porygon beamed up at her, or at least it would have it it had a mouth to smile with. “So, let’s try this. Try and use Tackle.”
The Porygon pulled it’s head back, then, aiming at a nearby empty bin lunged forwards, shouldering into the bin with a resounding tink. The metal bin didn’t even wobble.
Neith cursed under her breath. “Okay, you’re just out of practice, that’s all. Try it again. You can do it Bi!”
But the second attempt fell just as flat as the first, and the third, and the fourth. Eventually Neith had to conclude that it hadn’t worked. “Sorry about that Bi,” Neith said as she stroked the Porygon’s head. “I’ll get it working soon, I promise.” Then, seeing that Binary was still dejected, she added, “Hey, how about we go to Sycamore’s lab again? Maybe someone there’s made a breakthrough?”
Binary’s face lit up at this suggestion.

After quickly informing her dad where she was going, Neith hailed down a taxi, dreading the next part.
Neith hated being enclosed, shut up in a breathless juddering box for half an hour, but for Binary’s sake she acted as though it was fine. Still, there was noticeable relief on her face as they pulled up outside the Sycamore research lab.

After getting checked in, Neith made a beeline for the conservatory. Sycamore was just as likely to be anywhere else, but Neith loved seeing all the different pokemon that lived there. As she entered, she was immediately greeted by a swarm of combee passing overhead. Binary began fidgeting in her arms, so She set her down on the grass, at which the Porygon rushed off towards the large lake that took up a third of the room.
A quick check over reveled the Sycamore was indeed somewhere else, but Neith was reluctant to leave, instead opting to spend 5 more minutes watching the pokemon. There was a Zigzagoon digging at the ground in search of something, Neith made a mental note to look up what it could be doing once she got home. Making a nest? Looking for food?, several Ledyba fighting over a patch of flowers, and down by the lake Binary splashing about, happily playing with a couple of Surskit.
Finally, knowing she had to get moving, after prying Binary away from her new friends, she headed for the door. As she was a bout to leave, she caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw a small yellow fox-like pokemon darting into the bushes. Neith blinked a few times. Was that a Fennekin? But it was way to early for next year’s starter pokemon to be here. She was still puzzling over it when she finally found the professor, in the lab’s library checking through more info on some old legends.
“Oh, hello. You’re the girl with the Porygon, Neith was it? Welcome.” The professor smiled down at her.
“Hi. Yeah, me and Binary were wondering if you’d found anything that might help with the attack problem.” Neith said.
“Hmm, I’m afraid that we haven’t made much progress with that. It’s quite an unusual case; most of the time Silph would just wipe the data and start again, so there isn’t much to go on for what caused this. I’m afraid we’re still as baffled as you are.
“There’s a researcher in Alola that might know more, I’ve tried contacting him, but he’s kind of notorious for not answering messages. I’ll give you a call as soon as he gets back to me.”
“Thanks,” Neith said, feeling slightly disappointed. She hadn’t expected much, but from the sound of it, Sycamore had made even less progress than she had herself. As was was about to leave, she remembered the shadow from earlier.
“Oh yeah, while I remember, earlier I was in the conservatory, and I saw something that looked like a Fennekin?” Neith asked.
Sycamore’s face took on a more serious look. “Ah yes, that was a Fennekin. In fact, it was the one given out to one of the new trainers earlier this year.”
“But then, why is it here again? Did something happen to the trainer?”
“You could say that. It turns out, our background checks weren’t enough this year. The trainer who took that Fennekin as his own was working with a dealer in the black market, selling rare pokemon such as regional starters. He was caught by the authorities handing over a modified pokeball with a lock to stop the pokemon from being able to leave. Normally pokemon found like that would be returned to the wild, but in this case, this Fennekin had never known the outside world, it was going to experience the journey just like it’s trainer. And so was returned to me, so I could help it acclimatize better to the natural world.”
“Do you think I could try and talk to it? I saw how mother treats scared and injured pokemon, and I might be able to help?”
“Well, sure I guess. More contact with humans will help with it’s rehabilitation.”


Neith spent the next couple of hours digging through bushes and plants, looking for any sign of the Fennekin. The first time she found it, the fox-like creature ran away as soon as she saw Neith. Eventually, Neith decided to try a different tactic. She pulled out a half eaten chocolate bar from her bag, unwrapped it and placed in on the ground near where the Fennekin had last bee seen. Then she sat there, waiting to see it the pokemon would be enticed. Sitting still was not one of Neith’s strong points, but she tried her best, and after about 20 minutes, her work payed off. A curious snout poked from behind the leaves, followed by the rest of the pokemon. The Fennekin glanced at Neith and pulled back slightly, but seeing no immediate signs of danger coming from her, slowly inched towards the chocolate.

The Fennekin began wolfing down the bar, constantly glancing around, as if afraid it would be taken away again.
“Don’t worry,” Neith said quietly. The Fennekin’s ears pricked, and it turned to look at her. As Neith looked back at the pokemon. She could see familiar feelings in those eyes. “You don’t have to go back inside that pokeball again. I know what’s it’s like to be confined to a small space for a long time. Though I guess you didn’t have the internet with you.”
The Fennekin stopped trembling, though it still kept it’s distance. Neith didn’t want to push it, so just kept talking to it; about her life, how she’s always wanted to be a pokemon trainer, her family, Binary, until visiting hours were over. As she stood up to leave, the Fennekin took a hesitant step towards her, then appeared to change it’s mind, turned and darted back into the bushes.


Over the next few weeks, Neith made frequent visits to the lab. Spending more time with the Fennekin, which she named Fennel. At first the pokemon continued to be wary, but as time passed, the Fennekin became used to Neith. One time Neith arrived to find Fennel waiting just inside the conservatory door.

One day, as Fennel was happily playing with Binary, play fighting over a bar of candy the Neith had brought them, Sycamore pulled her aside.
“I must say, Fennel has really taken a liking to you. I never thought that she would recover this quickly, you’d never guess this was the same timid Fennekin that hid in the bushes all day.”
Sycamore held out a clipboard with several official-looking documents attached. “I know it’s not by the book, but I was wondering. How would you like to be Fennel’s trainer?”
“You’d be starting your journey alone, since this year’s batch of trainers have already left months ago.
But Neith was hardly listening. She was almost vibrating with excitement as she looked over the forms.
“Thank you so much. I’ll go ask my parents straight away!”


“No way.” Sara, Neith’s mother, crossed her arms and practically glared through the screen. “Leaving next year in one thing, but there is no way you are ready now. What if you lose your map? Or if you get sick. Your immune system still hasn’t fully recovered from before, not to mention your supposed starter pokemon. You’re supposed to start out with a new beginner pokemon, not another abandoned basket case. That Fennekin needs a trainer who knows what they’re doing, not a beginner who can barely walk a mile.”
Neith sighed as her mother continued on. She knew she’d react like this. She’d still not got over Neith’s illness. Despite being fine for years, even the doctors say she’s fully cured, her mother still treated her as though she was too sickly to even get out of bed alone. It had practically been a miracle to get her to agree to let Neith leave in the new year, but going alone now would be near impossible.
“Fine mum. I get it. Bye.” She said, before closing the chat and flipping her laptop shut. Well, it was nice while it lasted. She flopped onto her bed and turned her attention back to Binary’s code. “If I change line 73, then…”

A while later, there was a knock on the open door of Neith’s room, followed by Neith’s father Liam stepping into the room.
“Hi dad.”
“I’ve talked it over with your mother. I remember what it was like at your age. I’ve managed to convince her to let you go.” Neith’s head shot up, eyes sparkling. “Ah! Liam said, cutting her off. First, there are some conditions. This is pretty much a trial run. You get to go to Santalune, but then straight back here. We’ll see how well you fared, and then talk it over some more.”
Neith ran over and hugged him. “Thanks dad! You’re the best!”

That night, Neith spent scanning the web, looking for all the new trainer guides and info she could find. She would be ready when the day came.

She wasn’t ready. Neith spent the last night before leaving going over her pack, making sure she had everything, then last minute research. Memorizing maps of Santalune forest, what pokemon could be found there, where the pokemon centers were, and what to do if there weren’t any around. She didn’t get to sleep until 4AM.

She was rather groggy on the ride over to Sycamore. Unfortunately, Sara couldn’t get the day off work, but her dad was waiting at the eastern exit to wish her well as her journey began. The day became a bit of a blur, she remembered getting a surge of energy when she picked up Fennel from Sycamore. She remembered being handed the certificate and Fennels pokeball, which she pocketed, resolute to only use it in emergencies. She hugged Fennel tight to her chest and she climbed into the taxi.

She recalled the rush as it sunk in that she was now a real pokemon trainer! She stifled a yawn as the cab began to move. She was too tired and excited to be brought down by a little stifling taxi cab. But despite her best attempts, even the energy from becoming a trainer began to wear off, the lack of sleep last night started to take it’s toll. As the car drove home, Neith’s eyelids began to droop, and against her will, she soon found herself drifting off.

Neith woke with a start. The car had stopped. And was it nighttime? Had she slept the whole day? What had happened? A quick check of her watch revealed that it was only 11am. So why was it so dark?
The cab driver informed her that he was going to find out what was going on.
Now that it wasn’t moving, Neith found the cramped Taxi much worse. Fennel pawed at the window, trying to get out.
In the fresh air, the panic passed and Neith found herself able to think clearly again. A power outage and a solar eclipse at the same time? Binary nudged her ankle and she turned to see a blindingly bright vortex in the center of the road ahead. It was mesmerizing, drawing her towards it. As she approached, Binary tried in vain to push her back. She could smell a strange scent in the air. Similar to the park, but more full. As she reached the precipice, Neith could see now that there appeared to be a town inside the whiteness. A portal, a voice said in the back of her mind, but the hypnotic light drowned it out. She could see Binary still pushing at her legs, while Fennel seems to be just as taken by this light as Neith was. Suddenly, the Fennekin leap froward, into the light. Neith lunged forward after her, stumbling over Binary, and the three of the fell, tumbling into the light.