Pokemon Ascendance: Origins of Holon

Elsie's Story-1

"Vee! Eeveee!"

"Swablu!"

Elsie stirred as her two pokemon nudged and nuzzled her face until she finally sat up and opened her eyes. "Alright alright I'm up now." she said with a yawn. Rubbing her eyes as she got out of bed, she immediately started making breakfast for the two alarm clocks that she had. As they ate, Elsie began getting herself ready for the day, putting on her usual t-shirt and jacket. After she got dressed, she grabbed her backpack.

"Alright. Prism, Sapphire, time to go." Elsie called out to her Eevee and Swablu, who had just finished eating. Immediately Sapphire perched herself on top of Elsie's head while Prism jumped onto her trainer's backpack. Elsie texted her mom that she was leaving as she walked out the door, taking her usual route to Trainer's School. As she approached the school, Elsie couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be some excitement going on.

'I don't remember an event being planned.' Elsie thought. 'I wonder what everyone's so excited about.'

Elsie entered the classroom and the first thing that she noticed was a number of people that she had never seen before, standing in front of the classroom. They all looked like they came from far away. Elsie wasn't even sure if these people came from the Holon Region.

'I guess this is what all the excitement is about. Who are these people?'

As she sat down, the school bell rang and the teacher came walking into the classroom.

"Alright everyone, please take your seats."

Though it took a while, soon all the students were seated and the teacher continued.

"Now then, I'm sure that you're all aware of the big test coming up next week." she began. "As I mentioned on the very first day of class that one day you'll take the Trainer's Exam and if you receive a high enough score, then you're able to travel to another region of your choice to begin a pokemon journey of your own. The special guests we have today are each from a different region and have taken time out of their schedules to come and share what their homes have to offer."

'The big test that she mentioned on the first day is coming up next week?' Elsie thought. 'I didn't know it was going to come by this soon...that or time just flew by and I'm just now noticing it. So these people are from different regions after all!'

"With that being said, please give your attention to Blue, Silver, Brendan, Barry, Hugh, Calem, Hau, and Hop."

One by one, the ones that the teacher had named each spent about ten minutes sharing what their region was like. But after hearing about gym battles almost on repeat, Elsie couldn't help but zone out a little bit. Brendan, Barry, and Calem had mentioned contests and showcases which caught Elsie's attention for a little bit before she started zoning out again the moment gym, leaders were once again the main topic. To her, it was getting to the point where the only interesting about them was the designs each of the gym badges had, which were passed around the classroom for everyone to get a better look at. Mega Evolution which was mentioned by Calem also caught her attention for a bit but not enough for her to be interested in the region.

It wasn't until it was Hau's turn that Elsie started listening in for real.

"Well first thing that sets Alola apart from any other region is that we don't have Gym Battles, we have what's known as the Island Challenge, where you travel to each island and take on trials, where you face giant pokemon in battle. After completing all the trials on one island, you get to participate in a Grand Trial, where you battle against the Kahuna of that Island."

'The Alola Region is also the region to first discover regional variants of previously discovered pokemon.' Elsie thought. 'I wonder if he has one of those.'

"Then there's my personal favorite thing about Alola...malasadas!" with a wide grin, Hau went on explaining his favorite snack. 

Though everyone else was a bit caught off guard that the boy suddenly started talking about food, Elsie didn't mind hearing something other than gym battles.

Once all the small presentations were done, the teacher cleared her throat and spoke up.

"They'll all be staying until a week after test results are returned." she informed the class. "That should give you enough time to figure out what region you want to travel around as well as pack should you get the required score on the exam. For those that are able to go to one of the other regions, you'll sign up for what region you want to go to."

Class resumed as usual once the trainers had left. When it was over, Elsie felt a hand grasp her shoulder. She looked up and saw Demetria.

"Hey, wanna study together at my place tonight?" she asked.

"Sure." Elsie smiled up at her friend as she grabbed her backpack.

..........

That evening, Elsie went to Demetria's house. As the two of them studied for the exam, Prism and Sapphire followed Demetira's Eevee to another room to play for a bit.

As they studied, Demetria spoke up. "I think we should go to the Kanto Region when we pass the exam."

"Kanto?" Elsie echoed in question.

"Yeah, weren't you listening when Blue was talking about the Elite Four. There's no way that we can miss out on the chance to meet a legendary ice-type trainer like Lorelei." Demetria explained.

'Pretty sure that Hoenn had an ice type Elite Four member also.' Elsie thought but decided not to verbalize that thought.

"Well...I was thinking Alola." Elsie said. "I mean it's a lot different compared to the other regions and-"

Demetria cut her off. "All the boy talked about was giant pokemon and some weird dessert. What makes you think that's interesting?"

At that, Elsie just looked down at her notes. "I don't know. I guess it was just nice not hearing about gym battles. And I'd love to see an Alolan Raichu, or maybe an Alolan Ninetales...I heard those are one of the most beautiful pokemon aside from Milotic."

Demetria shook her head. "Everyone wants fair battles and those Totem pokemon summoning allies to help it doesn't seem all that fair to me. Kanto is the better choice. Trust me on that."

"But to me it's like almost every other region." Elsie mumbled.

"Hey, we're friends right?" Demetria asked.

"Yeah."

"So that means we should be traveling together when we pass."

'I wouldn't object to that if we had the same opinion.' Elsie thought but didn't say aloud. 'Having a journey is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us...I know everyone will personally experience different things but...I still want my journey to be something that I know I'll enjoy if I score high enough.'

"I...guess so."

"Good. We agree. We'll sign up for Kanto."

Elsie said nothing else as she continued to study, but with a lot on her mind. If she wasn't completely focused on studying, then she was thinking about Alola.