Sapphire - The Adventure

Welcome to Littleroot

"We're here."

Sun Mei opened her eyes to tall green trees peeking at the sky. The teen couldn't believe she'd been able to sleep in the rickety vehicle, yet time must have gone forward, for the great foliage that had accompanied them through most of their drive began to give way to civilization, quaint as it was.

The moving van came to a gradual stop on the grainy road before a quaint blue-painted house.

Sun Mei stifled a yelp as her younger sister stretched out beside her, and she nudged the twelve-year-old in return.

"Hey..!"

Sun Mei chuckled before getting out. After nearly a six hour drive, she couldn't blame the kid.

"Well?" Their mother stood before the house, her head turned towards her daughters with questioning eyebrows. "What do you guys think?"

"If we say we don't like it, do we have to drive all the way back to Kanto?" Soo Jung asked as she rubbed her sleepy eyes. "Cause if so, then this is the best house I have ever seen."

"I'm with Soo Jung on that." Sun Mei seconded.

Their mother sighed in defeat.

Walking over to her mom, the older teen patted the woman on the back. "Mom, we just drove for like, ever. Laugh at us a little."

Her mom gave her a pointed look, so Sun Mei rolled her dark browns and pointedly stared at the two-story house before them.

"Its.. cute?" She offered.

"Try harder."

"Ok, ok." The girl laughed at the intensity in her mother's words. After a good minute of scrutiny, she nodded. "Its not bad. Its about the same size as our old house, the color's an improvement, and there's a nice space out front for a swing. I'd say its pretty great."

Her mother beamed. "B+."

"Really? You're grading me?"

"We just drove for like, ever." The older woman mocked her daughter. "Laugh at me a little."

Sun Mei groaned.

"Besides, you missed the best part."

"Hmmm?" Following her mom's finger, Sun Mei raised her gaze up to a circular window slightly higher than the rest of the second floor's viewing range. A smile followed when she realized what it meant. "No way. A room in the attic? Ok, best house ever."

Laughing while shaking her head, her mom aimed to ruffle the top of her dark hair. "Well, thank your dad. He's the one who thought of you."

"He just thought of Sunny?" A rather annoyed voice piped. "Wow."

"Ah! No, honey!" Their mother cooed, but Soo Jung had already waved the sentiment aside.

"Don't worry about it. I mean - I get my own room, right?"

"Uh - yes, you do!"

"Then I just have one more question - why are we still standing outside?"

Sun Mei shrugged. "I dunno, admiring the prospect, I guess?"

"Ok, done. Lets go inside."

"Where'd you get such a sassy twelve-year-old?" Sun Mei asked as Soo Jung moved through the front door.

"Same place I got my rebellious sixteen-year-old." Her mother answered without skipping a beat.

"I am not rebellious." Sun Mei huffed.

"If you say so." Was all the comeback she received, as her mother joined Soo Jung enter their new home.

Sun Mei remained outside a little longer, hands in her pockets and gaze set passively on the blue house.

Ok, sure - she'd been the most adamant to moving regions, and yeah - she was always telling the family to stop making pokemon such a big deal, and yes - she refused to join her dad's fanclub, but that didn't mean she was rebellious.

Right?

She sighed, a common thought popping in her head about whether there was a place in the world where pokemon didn't exist. Not that she hated pokemon. No, Sun Mei thought pokemon were pretty cool. But she didn't like how you were automatically labelled an alien or weird for having other interests besides pokemon.

"Hi."

"Ah!" Sun Mei jumped, nearly tripping over her feet at the voice speaking right next to her ear. Regaining her balance, she aimed a ridiculous glare at the guy looking at her with an all too amused expression.

"Oh, you're new here." He tapped a fist against the palm of his other hand, putting two and two together in his head. "Welcome to Littleroot. Where we greet with 'hi', not 'ah'."

Sun Mei continued to glare. "I wasn't greeting - you startled me. People in Littleroot must not have heard of personal space."

"I was teasing you." He smiled along with his explanation, pearly whites accompanying cute slanted eyes.

Sum Mei continued to warily stare his way, even though he wore a friendly smile. She remained quiet, unsure of what he wanted.

"I'm Baekhyun." He eventually filled the silence, offering an introductory hand.

Sun Mei eyed the hand before timidly reaching out with her own. A short shake. "Sun Mei."

"Good to know." He grinned with a nod. "And just fyi, its good to know me if you're new in town. I work at the PokeLab near here, so I've got some connections with high people. Plus I'm like on my way to becoming the next allstar ace trainer, so..."

He stopped talking long enough to give Sun Mei a neat lookover. She knew what he was looking for; Pokegear. Every trainer's basic gear, no matter what class. Sun Mei was not a trainer, ergo she had no pokegear, ergo no pokemon. She knew what was coming next.

What do you mean you don't have pokemon??

What do you even do?

Pokemon is love!

Pokemon is life!

Ok, the last few were a little exaggerated. But that was usually her fate. Being sentenced to be some PokeOutcast. She'd dealt with it dozens of times.

"You don't have any pokemon."

Sun Mei blinked, not at his statement, but at the tone. He sounded almost pitiful. Which irked her some.

"Y'know, a lot of people struggle to catch their first pokemon." He spoke with such a superior tone, Sun Mei had to clench her teeth in restraint. "I can help you catch a pokemon. We have a really neat variety of pokemon species here in Hoenn, so if you want, I can totally help you?"

Usually, Sun Mei felt bad about butting in on people's enthusiam when it came to pokemon, but she happily blurt it out. "Actually, I have no interest in Pokemon whatsoev-"

Her satisfaction was cut short as a preppy tone started blaring from the youth's jeans pocket.

Baekhyun brought up a finger to pause her as he retrieved his phone and took the call. A series of "yeah"s and "ok"s commenced for about two minutes, and ended with a dramatic sigh.

"And the work of an intern is never done. Sorry, but I gotta run an errand for the Poke Professor." He explained as he shoved the slim device down his pocket. "But don't be shy to come visit me at the lab. I'd be glad to give you a tour. Or teach you some basics about pokemon. See ya!"

"See ya." She mimicked as she watched him walk away with annoyance and relief.

She knew trainers could be full of themselves, but really? She hadn't even been inside her new home and she already knew someone in the neighborhood she'd have problems with in the future. Not a good start.

"Sun Mei!" Her mother's voice traveled from inside the house, reminding her about the task at hand.

"Coming!" With a shake of her head, she turned and finally passed the door of her new home.