Equinox (A Pokémon Fanfiction)

Ch. 4: A First Day

After the festival concluded, it was getting quite dark outside, and Professor Kukui sent all the new trainers home. Once again Sanei accompanied Maki and Kani, though thankfully the two were quieter this time around. They separated at the same place, and Sanei headed back to her house. Kota was in his Poke-ball for now, tired after an exciting first day.

When Sanei got home, she muttered a quick greeting to her dad in the living room reading a book, then headed to her room where she lapsed quickly into sleep.

The next day Sanei was awakened by a heavy weight dropping onto her bed. Minior hummed in her ear loudly, and Sanei groaned as she reached wakefulness. Someone was knocking on her bedroom door, and she blearily looked over to see her dad standing there with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Time to get up, kiddo," he said, and Minior hummed in agreement. "I think someone's gonna come get you soon, and I'd rather have you awake and ready for them."

Sanei sighed, and began to untangle herself from the sheets. "Alright," she rasped, words slurred by sleep. "I'm up."

Sanso grinned. "Good. I've got some breakfast going, so hurry up or I'll feed it to Minior." That wasn't an idle threat- he'd done it before, and Sanei had no doubt he'd do it again. Minior may have been made of rock and it normally ate dirt, but the Rock-type had a fondness for human food. Especially breakfast.

It was an uneventful breakfast. Sanei got her stuff ready for the day, then had breakfast with Sanso and all their Pokémon. There was minimal mess, and Sanei spent the rest of the time in the living room watching Minior and Kota play while reading a book filled with various myths. She was just finishing the one about Ho-Oh and the Burned Tower when the doorbell rang.

Sanso answered it, then called for Sanei. "It's Kani!" he yelled, so Sanei put her book down and pulled Kota from his wrestling match with Minior. After getting him into his Poke-ball she headed out the door and met Kani, the blonde girl grinning cockily.

"Come on," Kani said, turning and headed back towards Route 1. "Kukui wants to see all of us, and I volunteered to come get you." Sanei hurried to catch up, and the two headed down the dirt road. After a moment of silence, Kani spoke up. "Your dad seems cool."

"Yeah," Sanei replied fondly. "He's a teacher at the Trainers School. He's taught me a lot."

Kani nodded. "You're lucky your dad's that chill. My mom's a bit overprotective." She looked vaguely unhappy at the thought. Probably more than 'a bit', then.

"Well, I guess that means she cares a lot," Sanei said carefully, hoping it wasn't that sensitive of a topic. The two had only known each other for a few days, but she didn't want to screw this up. She had few enough friends as it was, no need to alienate someone else. Kani shrugged. So Sanei changed the topic. "Where are we headed?" They'd just turned off the road that led to Maki and Kani's house and were headed towards the beach.

"To the Pokémon Research Lab," Kani said, leading them down a hill. "And we get to go through an area filled with Pokémon to get there, so be prepared for some battling!" Kani seemed to be back in high spirits, so Sanei grinned and grabbed Kota's Poke-ball.

The two fought their way through the grass on the path leading to the Research Lab. The Pokémon in the area were slightly stronger than the ones they'd faced on Route 1, and as such were more fun to battle against. On the beach they could see a ramshackle cabin-like building, inside which shouting and banging could be heard.

Sanei looked at Kani, and Kani just shrugged and led the way to the house. Even after years of living on the island, Sanei hadn't been inside that cabin, but she'd seen it from a distance. Without her own Pokémon she'd been unable to get down to the beach unless her dad was with her or she managed to buy a Repel. Now she was here, and not sure what to think.