Chapter Text
“Leave me alone.”
“No way, freak!”
“Hey! Hey Selene can you tell me if I’m lying or not?”
“Go away.”
“Hey Selene do some magic for me!”
“I said GO AWAY!”
“Mrp?”
Selene’s eyes snapped open as she jolted awake... to see Meowth on her bed, cocking his head with a concerned expression. She let out a sigh of relief and gave the pokémon a few ear scritches. Just a nightmare. She was never going to see her bullies ever again. She lived far away from them now, in a much nicer region where there was an entirely different path open to her.
Selene smiled. Today was the day. She was finally going to become a pokémon trainer.
“I bet Mom told you to come get me, huh?” she asked Meowth, despite knowing the pokémon could not respond. Not wasting a moment, Selene swung her legs off her bed and hopped to her feet before tearing open some boxes labeled ‘CLOTHES’ and changing as quickly as she could out of her pajamas and into a loose top and shorts. Finally she opened her door to come face to face with her mom with a big grin.
“Looks like you’re ready to meet some new pokémon!” her mother chuckled.
“Absolutely,” Selene responded with a grin before rushing to the fridge to check for something to eat quickly. Pulling out a yogurt cup, she tore open the foil lid before tipping the cup backwards to empty its contents straight into her mouth. She had a big day ahead of her. She may not know exactly what she was getting into, but it had to be better than what she left behind.
Quite unexpectedly, the doorbell rang, and Selene almost choked on her yogurt. She could see her mom amble over to answer it, but it opened before she could get halfway across the room. In waltzed a familiar face, and Selene’s face lit up.
The guest was a tall, tan man with a lab coat, no shirt, shorts and a pair of sandals. He grinned and surveyed the room behind a pair of sunglasses before his eyes fell on Selene. “Hey there cousin! Selene right? The name’s Kukui! Jetlag from Kanto not getting to you too bad, is it? It's already night time here in Alola!”
“You’re the professor from that video message!” Selene exclaimed, tossing her yogurt cup straight into the trash can across the room with perfect aim. Suddenly she stopped. Wait. Night time? Selene raced over to the window… to see the moon and the stars in a cloudless night sky. "SHOOT! I LOST A WHOLE DAY!"
Kukui let out a laugh that was impossible for Selene to be mad about. “It's alright, cousin! It's never too late for pokémon! And yeah, that’s me! Your mom told me you’re here to become a pokémon trainer, yeah? Well, then follow me! We gotta get you to the island kahuna so you can get your starter!”
“They’ll just give my girl a pokémon?” Selene’s mom asked hopefully. “Those kahunas sure are something!”
“Oh yeah!” Kukui answered. “The kahunas are crazy strong trainers who take care of important things all over the island, and one of their jobs is to give new trainers a starter pokémon!”
“Well then what are we waiting for?!” Selene cheered, throwing her arms in the air. “Let’s go!”
“Silly! Not without your hat and bag!” Selene’s mom chided, though her tone was still cheerful.
“OH! Right,” Selene exclaimed, and hurried back into her room while Kukui made small talk with her mother. Once inside, she slammed the door shut behind her and tore open another box, this one labeled ‘TRAVEL GEAR’. Out came her watermelon purse, her red beanie, her adventure log from her father, and her cell phone. She turned and was about to open the door again when she suddenly overheard her mother and Kukui’s conversation.
“...can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I haven’t seen her this happy in forever.”
“No problem, Miss! Everyone deserves a fresh start! I’m sure she’ll love Alola!”
“I hope so… she’s just been through so much. She won’t be… out-of-place here, will she?”
“I can’t imagine she would be! I think being a trainer is just what she needs. She’s got a whole lot of passion, woo! I can feel it!”
So Kukui already knew. Of course her mom would have given him a heads-up. After all, it isn’t normal to be a living, breathing lie-detector. But she wouldn’t let this bog her down. She was going to prove that all those bullies back home were wrong. That she was more than just a weirdo with freaky aura powers.
She was going to be better than that. She was going to be a pokémon trainer.
Selene had never been one to be drawn to cute things. She wasn’t interested in lace and ribbons, she’d rather wear shorts and a tank top, something sporty. She wasn’t into dolls or sewing, she wasn’t attracted to boys past being friends (if they could even handle her chaotic temperament), and forget about the color pink. She was, in short, the very definition of butch.
But when the girl in the white dress turned to face her, Selene’s heart stopped. She looked like an angel, the moonlight making her almost glow in her dress and hat. Her hair was a striking platinum blonde, and her silver eyes were impossible to look away from. Her girly appearance didn’t repel Selene at all. It did quite the opposite.
This was probably the prettiest girl Selene had ever seen.
But the frightened expression on her face worried Selene. "What's wrong?" Selene asked, casting a glance over the girl's shoulder at what looked like a pokémon being attacked by spearow.
"H-help…" The girl whispered. "Please… save Nebby! I… I'm afraid… my legs feel like they're going to give out…"
Selene looked at the bridge again. It looked like it was falling apart. But… the opportunity to rescue the partner of a cute girl who didn’t have any negative preconceptions about her was too tempting to resist. A feeling of resolve took over Selene as she made her decision. "Wait here," she told the girl, and stepped forward onto the bridge.
Creeeaaak…
Selene nearly stumbled as the boards groaned under her. She gulped. She had no choice but to take this slow. Step by step, board by board, she carefully made her way to the center of the bridge where the little gaseous pokémon lay cowering. But the spearow were relentless, they were moving too fast for her to rescue their victim.
Selene swallowed again. Only one thing to try now.
Slowly she got onto her hands and knees, and ducking under the area where the spearows were flying, Selene crawled into a sheltering position over their would-be prey. Suddenly she felt a claw scrape her upper arm and a beak peck at her hair, and she put her arms over her head while huddling over the pokémon she was supposed to be saving. She could feel the spearows' claws tearing at her back, scratching her skin, it stung, it burned.
I'm going to die.
She felt herself falling, still clutching the runaway pokémon she would never be able to return.
I'm going to die.
But instead of hitting water… she felt herself land in a pair of arms that felt strong but not… human. Selene opened her eyes to see her savior, and her eyes widened.
Up they flew, back to the ledge, and Selene, still holding the cloud-like pokémon, was gently placed on the ground. She stared in amazement as what appeared to be a shelled bird pokémon surrounded by crackling electricity did a flip in the air to land before her and the girl in white. It stared at them, lightly jumping from side to side before letting out an ear-piercing cry and launching off into the sky.
After shaking away her shock, Selene released the little pokemon and stood up to face the girl. Immediately she gave a slight bow. "Thank you… that was very brave of you," she said softly.
Selene gave a smug smile and brushed her bangs aside. "Oh, it was nothing!" Of course, she had no idea what she was doing, but she was going to act like she did.
"And you! You tried to use your power again, didn't you?" the other girl chided, turning to her rescued partner. But quite quickly, her expression turned from disapproval to worry. “Oh Nebby, you can’t just do that whenever you want! You couldn't move for ages when you used it to save me! And I've done nothing for you in return…"
Selene blinked. Was this girl… blaming herself for what happened? But Selene didn't have much time to consider that possibility. The pokémon, Nebby, turned around and started drifting away again, only to lift a small stone off the ground with what must be some kind of telekinesis — it was floating, and the thing didn't have arms anyway. It happily brought its find to the girl, who took it and turned it over in her hand.
"What a strange stone…" she said quietly, before turning to Selene and holding it out to her. "I think this must belong to you," she said with a very pretty smile. Accepting it, Selene studied it, in her palm. The moonlight glinted off of it, making it shine brilliantly even in the night.
Well, Selene thought, if it didn't belong to her before, it did now.
“Thanks,” she said, unsure of how else to respond. She looked back up at the girl and finally voiced what she had wanted to ever since she first spotted her walking into the jungle. “I’m Selene, by the way. What’s your name?”
“Oh!” the girl gasped. “I’m so sorry, I’m such a mess right now! I’m Lillie. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Lillie. A nice name. Selene returned the smile. “Same. And… you really aren’t a mess.” Wow, Selene. Real smooth. A+ flirt.
Lillie, didn’t seem to have that impression, though, thank the legendaries. She merely smiled again. Arceus, that was a pretty smile. Unfortunately it quickly disappeared to be replaced with nervousness again.
“I… I’m sorry for being selfish again, but…” Lillie started, “could you escort us back to town? I’m, um, a bit nervous about being attacked again… I’m not a trainer…”
Holy shit. Not only had her bad flirt not repelled Lillie, but now Selene was being asked to escort her. This had to be her lucky day. With her confidence back, Selene placed her hands on her hips and smirked with her chin up. Selene wasn’t a trainer either, yet. But she was not about to waste this kind of opportunity. “You can count on me, miss!”
Yes. Much better.