18

Expectations

Gold's POV

The blue PokeGear on my wrist starts to vibrate.

"Mom I'm literally on the front step," I sigh as I pick up.

"Not your mother," A unknown voice comes out of the device with a laugh.

A holographic figure pops up and I jump back forgetting that was a thing. "Don't look so rattled," The guy smiles.

He has a standard white lab coat that follows his pretty tall figure. Oh no. He also has really blonde short hair and a blue shirt on. From what I can tell it looks like his pants are khakis or something similar.

"I'm Professor Spruce."

Oh no.

"Professor Sycamore told me you were moving here and he gave me your number. Apparently you're quite the battler." He continues.

Oh no.

"I figured you'd like to try out the eighteen challenge now that you're old enough to leave on a journey. Don't worry about the details since I already gave them to your mother."

Great.

"I don't know," I say weerily.

"Come on don't be humble," Spruce says. "Sycamore said you excelled in battle strategy."

"Well-"

"Let me connect you to the group call."

"What?" I say before the hologram of the professor turns into one of multiple faces, there's two girls, a boy, and the professor. And my face, ew.

We all stay there in silence.

"Don't be afraid to chat," Professor Spruce laughs. "You're all going to be running around the region at the same time soon enough."

"Really?" A boy with raven-like hair covered by a red ball cap speaks up with a very energetic tone. He's gonna be the energy of this group. "Are you guys as pumped as I am?"

I stare at the hologram with no expression.

"I don't think anyone is as excited as you Ash," One of the girls giggles. From what I can tell she has long honey blonde hair and a pink fedora.

"Yea," The other girl joins in with a nod and small smile. I think I might've seen her in the town square. "I'm Winter."

"Finally some introductions," The professor claps. "You're all going to be at my lab on the first, so get to know one another."

"Gold," I hold up my hand to give a short wave.

"I'm Serena," The blonde gives a big smile. "I'm going in the coordinator circuit instead of the battle challenge though."

"Right," The professor nods. "I'll talk about the coordinating circuit after. The other three are probably just itching to hear about the challenge."

I sigh and notice Winter with a similar expression.

"Oh yea," Ash cheers. Thankfully we have him to provide the excitement.

"Winter already knows all this so I'll keep this relatively basic," Spruce states. I watch the girl slowly nod. "The goal is to go to every section of our diverse nation, finding and defeating each leader. Once, if, you defeat them all, a spot in the year end tournament is yours."

"Then we get to face the champion!" Ash pumps his fist. Confident.

"If you manage to win the tournament and beat the Elite 4," Spruce laughs. "You should also know that these leader battles aren't always 'Let's fight!', they can vary greatly."