Sadie Crane
Ecruteak City, Johto -- Last Week
'C'mon, C'mon, C'mooooooon!-' Sadie thought to herself from behind the bar she tended for work at the
Bell Tower Spirits. Throughout a slow and uneasy afternoon, she'd been staring at her phone.
See, she'd applied for a Trainer Card in the Sinnoh Region on impulse one sad night at the bar. Her application had been approved - maybe a little too swiftly -- allotting her a spot in Sinnoh's Bronze League. Though Sadie didn't have much in the way of Trainer ambitions, her life needed a shake-up; and she needed a way to get herself out of her parents' house, to finally see the world and start her own research...whatever that might be.
In spite of her excitement, Sadie was mortified; after two long weeks of waiting, the physical copy of her card - as well as a boat ticket from Olivine to Sunyshore - were being delivered
at that moment. And if she didn't get off work in time to intercept the package before her mom got a hold of it, well -- this was going to be a much messier beginning than she'd envisioned. Ol' Mrs. Crane was quite the anti-Trainer worry-wort who'd lauded over Sadie for almost two decades. Sadie might as well be trying to murder her.
"Crane!" Her boss called out from his office, a frumpy old geezer who seemed to have psychic abilities, being that he could tell Sadie was slacking off even though he couldn't
see her from where he was.
"Y-yes?" Sadie called back, playing innocent.
The stocky, bowling ball of a man emerged from his office smoking a cigar and holding up his pants, which drooped below his waist regardless of how hard his belt fought to keep it up.
"When was the last time you served somebody a drink?" He asked, looking around his mostly empty bar as if he didn't already know.
"Two-thirty, maybe?" Sadie replied, stealing another glance at her phone.
"Ahhhh," Her boss groaned, taking the cigar from his mouth to wipe away some slobbering saliva with his other hand, "Get outta here, then."
"Thanks!" Sadie slid overtop the bar without hesitation, her phone still clutched closely in her right hand, running out the door in a few, quick strides, "Thanks a bunch Mr. Gommu!"
"Ay, whateva," Gommu said, waving her away, "You're workin' tomorrow though, too, yeah?"
"Yeah, sure, of course!" Sadie said, waving goodbye with no intention of ever returning to the
Bell Tower Spirits.
Sadie booked it as fast as she could, running down the streets of Ecruteak like she was a kid again, running away from whatever trouble she'd tried to make that day. Except now, this was her, running toward something -- her future. She felt good! Until she looked at her phone again, and the tracking on her package.
"Delivered!?" She stop in the middle of the sidewalk, drawing attention and ire from people near her, trying to move around her, "Oh...oh crap!"
But it was too late. By the time she was screeching around the corner and up the path to her front door, the door was swinging open and her mother - fuming - blockading the doorway.
"What the
hell is
this young lady!?" Her mom, Ana, growled, holding the Trainer Card - Sadie's picture smiling wide, unaware her mom would find out this way - up in Sadie's face, like it was some sort of damning evidence, "And a boat ticket? To Sinnoh? What sort of drugs are you
on, missy?"
"And are they good ones?" Her dad, Ambrose, called from the kitchen behind her mom with a chuckle.
"That's not funny, dear!" Ana called back before whipping her head back around to her daughter, "Seriously, what are you thinking?"
"I'm..." Sadie paused, trying to word her response carefully, "Thinking that I'm nineteen and need to do something with my life."
Ana chortled.
"And this is it?"
"Maybe."
"Oh! Maybe! Great!" Ana threw her arms up in the air in exasperation, letting Sadie's Trainer Card fly behind her into the depths of the living room.
Sadie made her charge then, sneaking under her mother's left armpit, chasing after the Trainer Card. Once she was inside, she figured her mom would relent and leave her be until they were forced to interact at dinner. Sadie would take her chances.
At least she looked good in her I.D picture; she was smiling, like
for real, her hair wasn't frizzy or messed up or anything that day - she'd even put a magenta bow in it, which she thought was neat - and the camera, for once, didn't make her eyes look like a muddy puddle of rainwater. Of course, she logged into the United League's forum, which was interesting; there was one for each of the different leagues as well, if that was a thing Sadie really ended up caring about.
What she
did care about, though, were the classes she'd have available to her; she wasn't crazy about Contests or Gyms, but if she could go to better
classes just by performing well in the United League, well...she figured she'd have to try. For now, though, she'd sign up for the basic, Bronze League courses and absorb as much as she could to start.
But first - and much more importantly - the burgeoning trainer set her sights on the Project Pokemon she got to adopt; there were so many it almost hurt her heart -- Sadie had half a mind to simply volunteer with the Project and work with
all the Pokemon. And she browsed through the Pokemon begging for a way to adopt them all. However, her eyes settled on the cutest little Chinchou, who seemed particularly lonely to Sadie for some reason.
She made her selection on impulse, just like how she'd made the decision to sign up for the League in the first place. And as soon as she chose Chinchou, she started to picture the pair of them, adventuring together in Sinnoh -- which she only knew vaguely through photos and videos, a third-party experience at best.
A short, quiet knock at the door drew her out of her daydream.
"Say?" Her dad called out through the closed door.
"Come in." She replied, tucking her Trainer Card behind her, taking a nervous look around her room to make sure it was actually in order -- though it usually was.
Ambrose Crane cracked open the door and slipped his slender body through, closing the door behind him with a quiet grace. He always found space for the cane, too. Her old man moved so well sometimes, she'd forget the limp. But, like always, Mr. Crane caned his way over to her with a couple quiet grunts, moving with difficulty now. When he was right beside her he motioned to the bed; Sadie nodded, giving him silent approval for him to sit.
After he sat, Ambrose stayed silent for a couple moments. But he was always staring at her; they had the same eyes, or so everyone always said, but he was so thin of late he seemed almost...malnourished; weak in body, if not in heart.
"Your mom won't stop you from going." He said quietly.
"I know," Sadie replied, defiant, "It's my decision."
"I know." He echoed, quiet still but smiling a little.
"Did you...ever go to Sinnoh?" Sadie asked.
"Oh, no," Ambrose said, "I've never left Johto. Hell, leaving the house these days is an adventure to me, right?"
"Dad-" Sadie started.
"You know why you're mom's scared, right?" Her dad cut her off to ask. Sadie grimaced.
"Of course!" Sadie said, her voice getting louder, "I know it's not
easy. I know why- why you- I know, dad, alright? But you don't just hear a little girl tell you her whole life she wants to be a Pokemon Professor, tell her,
'you'll never be a Pokemon Professor', and expect that girl to just...drop it. I don't know if it's what I want. I don't know if it's for me. I just know it's what I have to do."
"Ok." Ambrose said, nodding along. The two of them fell silent again, but only for a moment.
"Dad...what kind of Pokemon did you have?" Sadie asked, having avoided asking the question long enough.
"A Hitmonlee," Her dad replied, smiling at the thought, "Bruce..."
"What was he like?"
"Needy."
"Needy?" Sadie asked.
"Needy," Ambrose laughed, "He always needed to be by my side. Some days, if he so much as lost sight of me? Hoo boy, you better get out of the way; window, brick wall, metal, human -- he'd kick the shit out of
whatever was his path until he found me."
Having amused and somewhat confused his daughter a little bit, Ambrose patted her on the back and stood up.
"Those tickets are for tomorrow morning?" He asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon," Sadie replied, "I-I was a late registration, I have to get there fast, I'm sorry-"
"Don't apologize, Say," Ambrose said, holding a hand up, "Just...come hang out with your mother and your father for a little while, while you're still here."
"Okay." Sadie said, standing up beside her dad, who seemed so small to her now.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sadie Crane
Sunyshore City -- Now
Sadie had been on a cruise once before with her parents, a few years ago; she'd enjoyed the trip itself, but after a while she grew tired of staring at the ocean or parts of shoreline. But this time, she never took her eyes off the pool on the bow deck. Cinch, the Chinchou, never left her sight. He seemed...ecstatic, for a Pokemon that had been abused prior.
Maybe it was the fact that he'd been with the Project for nearly a year before Sadie picked him; he'd been able to swim a bit at the Project, but now he had a
trainer. And Sadie had a
Pokemon. It felt almost unreal to her.
Every day of the trip, the two spent a little bit more time together. The first day, Sadie almost fainted from the sudden onset exhaustion simply from holding Chinchou's Pokeball...thank whatever deity existed her mom wasn't around to see
that. The Nurse Joy in the Olivine Pokemon Center seemed thoroughly worried, though she had seen that happen a hundred times before.
By the sixth day of the trip, the pair could spend about an hour together before Sadie started to feel like she was going to vomit a week's worth of food overboard. She enjoyed every second of it -- even the ones where she started to feel absolutely awful. Cinch would just give her a dumb look and squint its plus-sign pupils at her and she'd laugh away the discomfort.
She did spend a little bit of time browsing the Bronze League forum, but there were almost zero interesting posts that drew her attention; the people seemed fine, that wasn't the problem...she just couldn't picture posting (or caring about posts) on an internet forum when she was
on her way, jumping right into it all. Still, she felt the need to throw up an obligatory post:
'Hey everyone! Sadie Crane, a little late to the game; this was a super last minute
decision for me, but I'm arriving in Sunyshore City as we speak. I can't wait to get started
on this adventure with all of you, even if some of us don't cross paths. Good luck, and maybe
I'll see you around? Later!'
"Whatever," She groaned to herself, putting her phone away. Her head was killing her, but she ignored that, "Hey, Cinch-y! I think we're almost there. I need to put you away for a little while, okay?"
"Chhooouuuu," Cinch groaned, sadly. Sadie didn't know a Pokemon could pout.
"Sorry buddy, just for a little while."
Chinchou relented, Sadie withdrew him into his PokeBall, and retreated to her room to gather what little she'd brought along with her into her Galarian dufflebag; she thought the big, grey beast was an ugly piece of fashion at first, but the chunky bag grew on her, and it seemed the best choice for long-term travel.
Maybe half an hour later, the ship blew its horn and pulled up to the docks at Sunyshore. While everyone rushed off board, Sadie waited for the fervor to die down, clicking her heels against each other while she cupped Cinch's PokeBall gently in both palms.
"Oh boy I can't wait til you don't make me feel like a meteor hit my head, little buddy," She mumbled, forcing herself to stand in spite of her splitting migraine, "I don't care if it's the middle of the day...maybe I'll find the PokeCenter and take a nap. I can get started tomorrow, right? I mean, we can get started tomorrow, sorry."
Sadie took note of the high roads splitting part of the city off from lower, more natural ground; of course, the massive, reflective tower, the Gym. Sunyshore was an impressive city, though she couldn't help but recall the ancient air of Ecruteak. Every step you take in Ecruteak is a mystery. Sunyshore felt - to Sadie - like she was stepping into the dangerous, modern world.
But she had a partner with her now. And together, they took their first steps into Sinnoh.
