Chương 24: 24-Prep

The rest of the first day home was unproductive, her sisters not allowing Tanya out of her sight for longer than a few moments even after she'd extracted herself from the pin. Eventually. But after a night's sleep and a long breakfast to start the next day, the nursery finally allowed their 'Big Sis' to leave their sight. Tanya waves a pair of siblings goodbye as they head out of the nursery, then turns her attention back to Caretaker as she settles down next to her.

"Alright, we're starting a little behind schedule," she says, placing a binder in front of them and opening it.

"But I know how good you are at the… technical side of psychic energy, so I got some of the training aids that trainers use to teach kirila." Tanya nods, eyes scanning over the printed paper then flaring purple as the pages begin to turn themselves.

"Thank you Caretaker, shall we begin?" Caretaker nods, leaning down to the page and pressing her slightly smaller form up against Tanya's bulk as she does.

"We've got a lot to cover! So first, let's figure out where we have to start." —-- Tanya sighs and looks backward as Caretaker offers an encouraging smile, before stepping out into the grass of the yard. With just three days remaining there are at least a hundred things she needs to be doing more important than this. But Caretaker had insisted –in her most annoyingly earnest way– that the 'mon from the other nurseries would 'really appreciate it.'

Looking out as the heads of half the population snap to look at her, Tanya can't really argue the point that they are excited. Allowing her feet to move on autopilot, Tanya finds herself standing in the middle of the packed dirt arena as a circle of 'mon form again. Since Torchic left and the mob had turned to Tanya, the size of the crowd had shrunk slightly. One fifth of the 'mon getting fed up with the constant losses and throwing in the towel. The remainder did not.

Mudkip steps forward, holding just at the very edge of stepping into the dirt and making him an acceptable target.

"... You evolved." He says, stating the obvious. Tanya nods, body feeling loser somehow after the idle remark seems to be the only note of her changed shape. Treecko steps forward as well.

"Bos– Happiny says you're going on a journey, like us." Tanya nods again, choosing not to try and explain the subtle differences in her plan to their own futures, then notices several 'mon who used to be regular battlers flinching at the confirmation and hurrying further away.

"I am." Treecko nods back, then glances backward.

"Group B, form up. Pattern three. Group C and D like we practiced. Reservists find your slots." He says, then turns back as everyone in the circle scrambles into a familiar separation of teams.

"Evolution made you bigger." Torchic steps up.

"Bigger target." Then Mudkip nods as she steps into line next to her batchmate, forming Group A, a five 'mon squad of the best of the best the yard has to offer. They stare at Tanya across the clearing with white tinged fire in their eyes. Treecko, their leader, holds up an open hand and everyone falls still as their opponent slowly gets into a ready stance. Tanya stares back with an impassive expression, suddenly realizing that this is going to be the last time she'll be in this situation.

Despite the league 'officially' opening a few days ago, people just starting their journey are forced to wait though a long weekend, allowing returning trainers a few days headstart. Tomorrow, everyone in this yard will be gone. Even before she gets to leave the nursery, due to Amelia being delayed by bureaucracy. Treecko flicks his eyes independently across the squads on both sides of him before both lock back on Tanya's own.

Then his raised hand closes into a fist, and suddenly five 'mon launch themselves into a headlong charge though telepathically lifted clumps of dirt. —-- –_– —-- Moving up and down the shelves of books with purpose, Tanya pulls a survivalist's guide on edible mushrooms and plants as 'Boss' scribbles something in a notebook.

"So… you're going on a journey to make it easier to make friends?" Tanya hesitates before she responds, quickly switching mental threads.

"Not precisely. I'm sure you've seen that society at large puts battlers on a kind of social pedestal, even if the job does not require any form of combat. A human with more badges has a form of intangible social currency that gives them an edge, all else being equal." She says, exiting the row of books and turning down another.

"Me and Amelia have decided to make an investment of our time and energy to gain social capital, because we believe we'd gain a greater advantage doing so, as opposed to entering the standard nursing track." Happiny takes a second to write something else down as Tanya pulls another book.

"I… guess people with more badges get special treatment, but that's just because they're injured more. I know about the nurses stationed in gyms, but that's just the end bound to a trend– Wait!" She shouts, cutting herself off loud enough that Tanya winces at the library inappropriate volume.

"Like in the story?

'The Emperor and the Tyrant?'" Tanya pauses, mind running backward and forward though every storytime she can recall and coming up blank.

"I… don't remember that story." Happiny tits her head, then her eyes widen and she waves the implied question off.

"Oh! Sorry, forgot. It's a torchic nursery story, I heard Torchic talking about it. So I found it." She says, vaguely gesturing to the children's book section.

"It's about how –a looong time ago– this guy was a king ruled by a mean emperor, but no one was strong enough to beat the emperor, so the king had to go and fight all the other kings so they'd be friends. Then they could work together to beat up the old guy to help everyone." Tanya blinks, considering the abridged retelling for a moment. That sounds more like a cutesy way of describing a bloody revolution covered with an already thick coat of propaganda. But…

"That's one possible moral you could take from that, and close enough to my point. The others didn't respect the 'king' enough to believe he would be a good emperor until he proved he was adept at combat." She says eventually. Happiny nods, then scribbles some more notes on her notepad.

"... You won't have a nurse." She says, continuing as Tanya looks confused.

"You're going out to fight people and battle gyms, and you'll just have a nurse in training to help you." Tanya smiles and shakes her head.

"Dedicated nurses are only needed for teams of full time battlers, and we're not going to be spending enough time training or battling that it would be an issue. I'd estimate three fourths of our time will be on schoolwork and travel." She says, pulling out a compendium of historical forestry reports and places it on top of an atlas.

"Amelia understands the value of gym badges and of soft social capital, but it's of equal importance to use the journey to network with pokecenters, as well as get some firsthand experience with the common injuries our patients will get. Anyone who might want to join us for the duration would be aware of this as well." Tanya pulls another book off the shelf as she finishes describing her journey's mission statement.

Of course those are the stated goals, but it doesn't take a genius to understand the conflicting cultural pressures in Amelia's situation, and of course a desire to 'see the world' before heading off to the next phase of one's life. The classic conundrum of someone pushing into the adult world for the first time. Happiny stops her scribbling, glances up at her sister, then back down at the paper.

"O… kay…" She mutters before continuing.

"Earlier, you said something about supplies?" —-- Tanya stares at Caretaker as she watches silently from the corner of an examination room. Every sense strained toward the space between Caretaker and an injured rattata. She watches as the chansey closes her eyes, gathering energy from that nearly bottomless wellspring within, squinting as the energy twists somehow just as it's being pushed out of her body.

Then Caretaker opens her eyes, and green motes of light begin gently emitting from the injured 'mon as a slightly pained expression disappears from his face. Tanya takes every scrap of information she can gather from that interaction and turns her attention inward before she has the opportunity to lose it, pulling raw energy and layering the mathematical formulae she'd extracted from every lesson and demonstration, trying to perform the same indescribable twist. But…

"Did you get it?" Caretaker asks as Tanya opens her eyes. Sighing, she shakes her head, and Caretaker gives a conciliatory smile and pat.

"Well, don't give up hope! You already got the hard part done! I just know you can do it." Tanya nods, trying to find that same optimism within herself. —-- –_– —-- Picking up a small plastic toy, the former soldier underhand tosses it into the tub it came from all those months ago. With only a day before she's forced to leave, there are certainly more urgent things she needs to be doing.

An email from Ameilia this morning had only slightly eased that anxiety of not being prepared, as her partner had done an admirable job gathering the needed supplies. Though her clearly academic understanding of the problems faced by those on a march had Tanya offering some notes.

But instead of studying terrain maps and memorizing common 'mon in the nearby wilds to analyze potential threats, she'd been recruited to help Matron and Caretaker put away the bulk of the toys that aren't being regularly used, or just don't work with her sibling's new size. Glancing around at the large space, the former soldier is quite thankful her sisters aren't in the room right now, instead spending the day out with their partners, as navigating the press of bodies would make the job take ten times longer.

Not that it's cramped when everyone's in here, but the space that once felt large enough for everyone to run and play freely with room to spare now feels just large enough to serve as a communal bedroom. It will only become smaller with the upcoming evolution ceremony, and even less likely for Tanya to be able to get anything done with the excitement that's sure to follow.

The 'mon tilts her head at a small plastic slide, looking more appropriately sized for her egg than anything else, and gives a half incredulous smirk at the thought that she used to be able to climb it. Then the slide is picked up, and carefully placed into the plastic tub.

She'd done some research on evolution for the sake of herself and her siblings and from what she can tell her siblings are going to become another ten percent larger in the evolutionary burst, then grow slowly for another six months before reaching full size. Her own evolution –without a stone– is uncommon, but not unheard of. Meaning she'd unintentionally skipped the process that's normally accompanied by the human partners enrolling in nursing school and formalising the bond with their 'mon counterpart.

Mounting the lid on the tub and putting it on a rolling dolly, Matron offers a hearty thanks and hug before pulling the majority of the toys from the room, leaving Tanya with only Caretaker for company. Looking across the room, Caretaker brushes herself down to remove phantom dust before waving her charge over.

"Wanna try again?" She asks, faint green sparkles forming in her left arm at will. Tanya considers the offer. She's made almost no progress on learning to harness the healing variant of psychic energy, and there are innumerable other things with a greater chance of success and more immediate utility.

"Of course." She says, crossing the room and sitting down with a nod. Caretaker, after grabbing a familiar binder from a nearby table, opens it up again as she sits down. But the lesson goes the same way it's gone every other time, Tanya performing the steps she can see with ever more clinical accuracy, yet always failing to find the result. After the fifteenth attempt, Caretaker pokes the tips of Tanya's arms as they give off a purple glow but do nothing else with a focused expression.

"... Maybe we're missing something basic." She says eventually, then flips back to the beginning of the manual.

"Talk me through what you're doing, from the beginning." Tanya nods, dismissing the failed attempt.

"I pull psychic aura from my core and move it to my arms, simultaneously I scan my target for undamaged reference cells and use the patients aura as a framework to create the healthy 'goal' state–""Further back. How do you 'pull' your aura?" She interrupts. The former soldier pauses, tilting her head as she switches mental tracks to describe the modified variant of her academy training.

"I… clear my mind, pushing all extraneous thoughts or emotions down and manipulate my natural 'normal' type energy… to…" She trails off as Caretaker looks away from the binder and fully to her charge with an unreadable mix of emotions on her face.

"Darling… I–" She stops, closes the binder, pushes it away, then gets up and sits back down in front of her charge. Tanya looks back, trying to determine if she should continue, tilting her head slightly as Caretaker reaches out and grabs her arms.

"Should I–""Darl– Hap– Chansey." she says, stumbling over her words.

"Who taught you to do that?" After a moment's consideration on how to answer that, Tanya chooses a variant of the truth.

"I developed the method myself, as it allowed me the greatest amount of fine control over the energy, avoiding my own, at times, temperamental feelings." Caretaker grips her charge's arms tighter for a moment in a squeeze, then releases.

"You need to feel to be able to do… anything. I don't understand how…" She trails off to silence, eyes flickering across the room for a long moment.

"I… think I made a mistake." She says eventually, lowering her gaze to the floor. Pushing down her first instinct to argue the point, Tanya merely blinks slowly and tilts her head.

"I fail to see where? You've done admirably. In just a few days you have taught me–""I taught you all the things you could learn yourself, or from a kirila." She interrupts.

"But they have to learn to heal. All that complicated stuff you're so good at is just a way to imitate what we can do naturally." Caretaker almost seems to hunch in on herself, clear self recrimination running through her mind, and before Tanya can say anything the 'mon opposite continues, abruptly changing the topic.

"I was born in Paldea with eight sisters, and we were all raised by Chansey, alone." She says, eyes growing distant.

"Our clutch hatched early, we were supposed to be transferred to multiple separate centers to lighten the load on any one." Those distant eyes seem to almost start shining from within, not with fire, but with something else.

"But Chansey did it, what should have taken three full time caretakers, by herself, while still working at the pokecenter. Because she wouldn't let us be split up." Caretaker gently places an arm on her egg, that invisible light from within growing ever stronger as she continues.

"When I found my partner, and she gave me that rock, I just… I was just hit all at once by how much Chansey had done for me, and how much my sisters love me, how much I love them. And I could feel how much love Claire had poured into the stone when she made it for me." She pauses, something shining bright though distant past, tinged white with the strength of feeling.

"And all of it was just… too big to fit inside." She chuckles, giving her bulk a firm pat.

"So I got bigger. Tanya blinks a few times to shake herself out of the fascinated daze at the sight of that strange yet familiar light, nodding her head at the story as it concludes.

"And those feelings allow you to heal?" She asks, immediately trying to record the sympathetic feelings she'd felt at the retelling and begins attempting to fit those emotions into her mental model of how she sees the world. Caretaker is halfway through a nod before her eyes widen and quickly waves her arms in dismissal.

"But that's not what it's like for everyone! That's just how I felt when I evolved." She says before taking a breath and gripping Tanya's arms again.

"Just… think about how you felt when you evolved, and try again." The former soldier holds herself completely still for a few moments to process the instruction, then nods, trying to pierce the blurry haze of raw need to recall the moment. Then, after a few moments of concentration, she finds… something. Unsure of what she's doing, Tanya then carefully represses the reflex to separate those sensations from the power and slowly tries to draw that energy into obeying her whims.

But this time, without the ability to dispassionately command herself, the half formed attempt fails before she can even pull the energy from her core. Opening her eyes, Tanya doesn't need to say anything for Caretaker to know it's a failure. The elder chansey's face flashes with disappointment, but just as quickly that emotion is replaced by a conciliatory smile as she begins to stand.

"Well… keep at it. Maybe we can try again tomorrow morning." Tanya nods as she glances at the clock, confirming they need to get going as she stands as well, but doesn't believe it. She leaves tomorrow, this was her last chance to figure it out, and she didn't.

"Thank you, caretaker." —-- The room evolution ceremony is happening in is large, a kind of standing auditorium with a stage taking up one entire wall with ramps up to the platform flanking both sides of a central podium. Head Nurse Joy, standing alone at that podium, is giving what she described as 'a few words' that has now dragged into its eighth minute. The audience floor is also divided into two informal sides, on one side, the humans.

The pink haired daughters and mothers spontaneously forming a loose grid, scattered with the occasional flash of brown or muted purple as the fathers attend as well. On the other half of the room a crowd of happiny huddle together, loosely surrounded by chansey. Looking our from behind their circle of pink walls, the happiny they try to hide their nerves even as they subtly press toward the center of the group.

Tanya finds herself standing somewhere between the two extremes, standing not inside the huddled pile but not a part of the encirclement. On the stage. Head Nurse Joy pauses her well rehearsed speech and sweeps her gaze over the human children as they clutch their stones closer to their chests.

"But I find I've been rambling. I trust each of you understand the importance of this moment, so I will not expound upon it further." She says, pausing for a moment to flip a page and put a finger at the top of the page.

"Let us begin, Ashlyn?" The woman looks up to the crowd of humans for a few long seconds before a girl steps forward, avoiding eye contact with anyone as she hurriedly walks up the stairs to the stage. The Head Nurse nods as the girl comes to a stop in front of the prodium, struggling to figure out what to do with her hands as they clutch onto the rock with a death grip. But as the Head Nurse begins another short speech, Tanya finds her attention drawn down as Happiny tugs at her arm.

"Big Sis?" Her sibling asks hesitantly.

"Yes?" Happiny drops her eyes and wobbles on the spot.

"Does…" She half asks, before forcing herself to be still.

"Does it hurt?" The former soldier blinks, trying to formulate an appropriate response to comfort the stated anxiety and the real reasoning beneath the question, but before she can the Head Nurse's voice cuts through the air.

"... Then call your partner to your side." Ashlyn gives a shallow nod before her eyes lock with Happiny across the room, and Tanya can feel her sibling tense with nerves beneath her as the human opens her mouth. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Happiny?" She calls out hesitantly. Happiny doesn't move for a second, huddling closer to Tanya as everyone's attention is drawn to her. But, almost as soon as she tries to pull away, her sister seems to find a wellspring of courage and steps forward, out of the crowd of her siblings, and up the ramp to the stage. Coming to a stop in front of her partner, the human kneels down and, after a moment's hesitation, gingerly offers the oval shaped stone.

Happiny is equally hesitant to accept it, but reaches out all the same and takes the offered gift, staring down at it as her partner whispers something too quiet for anyone but the two of them to hear. It almost seems as if those words are more the catalyst than the stone itself as Happiny looks up to her partner with a hesitant smile, putting the stone in her pouch as both the stone and herself begin to glow white. There's a flash.

And Chansey stands from her slightly increased height as she removes her arms from the egg in her pouch, the stone nowhere to be seen. Before the light can even dim there's a great deal of celebration from human and 'mon alike, the parents and chaperoning nurses clapping while the crowd of pink 'mon trill and cheer. Tanya politely follows along, clapping as she notices her sister glancing at her from across the room as the two partners make their way off the stage for the next pair to come up.

And offers a small smile. —-- –_– —-- On the morning of the final day, Tanya opts to spend it in the library. Almost as soon as she'd woken up and breakfast was over everyone had given a short goodbye and left in small cohorts. Schedules completely busy in the final days leading up to their partners beginning classes in a nearby building, a thousand and one urgent things that pull everyone's attention away. Which makes sense, she's been just as busy.

Focusing on planning and cramming as much knowledge as she can to be prepared as possible, actively avoiding any spare time that would normally be filled with spending time with her sisters. Tanya turns a page and begins scanning the next. It was the best possible decision. She's reading the same page of the most recent hoenn atlas for the fifth time when she hears the library door click open from behind, and the unmistakable sound of Matron's footfalls growing louder as she approaches. It's time.

Tanya looks up from her maps but doesn't turn around as Matron comes to a stop behind her.

"Ready?" Tanya doesn't answer, but rises from her spot at the table and, after taking a moment to put away the atlas, follows regardless. Exiting the library, Tanya finds herself struggling to maintain concentration on the future as they approach the elevator bank that will take her to the ground floor and forever away from her home. So distracted, she doesn't realize that they'd walked past the elevator bank until she notices Matron reaching up to open the door to a conference room.

Her last email with Amelia had specifically said they would meet in the front room? Why would–" Surprise!" A cacophony of voices yell out as the door swings open to reveal a sea of pink. Tanya flinches, almost jumping back as Matron's gentle arm on her back suddenly pushes her the rest of the way into the room. It's… a party, no food or concessions but a party nonetheless.

Inside the room is everyone, every chansey from every shift, Caretaker, Tanya's sisters, the former happiny cheering and waving in their new forms as they clearly struggle against themselves to not rush across the polite distance they've given. Above it all, a banner is hanging from the drop ceiling, flanked by colorful streamers.

'Have a good journey!' Chansey – Boss – steps forward, different yet unmistakable as the cheers fade slightly.

"Good luck on your journey Big Sis! We got you a few things as a going away gift!" She shouts over the din, gesturing toward a massive overstuffed backpack Tanya had somehow not noticed, despite the thing being larger than most of her sisters. Bringing up the massive amalgam of beige canvas seems to have her sisters torn between rushing to the bag or moving toward Tanya as they begin shouting again.

"I got you a blanket!"

"I got safety goggles!"

"Potions!"

"An adventurer always needs rope!"

"I got a solar powered Digital clock and calendar! Remember to put it in the sun!"

"I got snacks! Dried berries!"

"First aid kit from me!"

"A bigger blanket!"

"Chemical water purifier!" On and on, her sisters talk over each other, pointing at the presumed location of each item in the bag. Tanya can't bring herself to move, even speak, eyes roaming around the sight and all the smiling faces, the emotions the visage conjures simply too much to process. Instead, she finds her mind retreating away, latching onto the smallest possible part of the scene and holding onto that. Because where'd they get the money for all this?

"Oh, that's me." Caretaker says, answering a question Tanya wasn't aware she'd said aloud as she softly approaches from the side, offering a manila folder.

"I'd planned on giving this to your entire nursery at the same time, but you're leaving early so I was going to give it to just you ahead of time but… here." Tanya reaches out with numb arms and takes the folder, opening it and beginning to read on reflex. It's an investment portfolio. Diversified exactly like how she'd do it, with a clean one million dollar initial investment already accruing wealth.

"... how?" She asks quietly. Caretaker smiles.

"I've been making… good yield on my trades. And after I paid off the house and Claire remodeled the bathroom we couldn't think of anything we really needed." She says, pointing at the stock list.

"It's just money, I can make more, so I set up twenty seven stable investment portfolios and planned to make low risk moves. to give everyone a nest egg." Tanya's attention is drawn to her sister, Chansey, as she chimes in, stepping closer"But then Boss found out! And I got to help increase everyone's portfolio value!" Then Chansey is jostled to the side as Chansey shoves her face between two of her siblings.

"I helped with the fast pipeline options trading! I outmodeled a porygon!" Then Chansey jostles in from underneath her sister before she's even finished speaking, sending Chansey stumbling to the side and nearly to the floor.

"And I shorted a synthetic bubble in commodity futures twelve hours before it burst!" Finally, Chansey shoves the other two back as she reclaims her spot and continues.

"We really wanted to tell you! But Boss said it needs to be a surprise!" She says, pointing an accusing arm at her most managerial of sisters, whose face colors slightly with embarrassment as the room's attention falls to her.

"Well…" She wavers, "We all liquidated some of our investments, to put them in your account and buy your going away gifts." She says, pausing to give a searching look at Tanya's neutral expression.

"Was it a… good surprise?" She asks hesitantly. Tanya doesn't answer, looking across the ledger of cash inflow, at all twenty six of the the brokerage routing numbers, and her arms begin to lightly tremble. The full scope of what everyone had done and the reminder that's as subtle as a brick to the face of how much they lov– Caretaker's arm reaches across the page and taps two email addresses scribbled in pen.

"The top address is your broker, confirmation code is on page three, the other address is mine so we can– oh!" She's cut off as the folder falls out of Tanya's limp arms.

"Dear, is everything…" She trails off as Caretaker finds herself wrapped in a shivering hug. Tanya opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted by a sister pressing into her side in another hug. Then a third from behind, and another from the other side. Again and again, until everyone's pressing in with cheery chirps and shouted encouragement.

"Dont be sad!"

"You'll do great!"

"We're gonna watch every gym battle when it's uploaded online!"

"Or just go there ourselves!"

"Remember to call when you get to a pokecenter!" They love her. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Tanya struggles to make her body cooperate as she blinks moisture from her eyes, shutting them tight as it doesn't halt the flow.

"I…" She whispers, failing to get the words out.

"I…"

"I love you too." Caretaker states, as simply as if proclaiming the sky is blue. Then returns the hug. The words are mirrored by every other voice in the room, squeezing tighter as sisters –looking so different yet exactly the same– shove that truth on the world with such conviction that it feels more certain than tomorrow's sunrise.

That love, bubbling up from within and offered endlessly from all around, saturates every part of their eldest sister, d emanding to be recognized for what it is, not allowing the smallest shred of doubt to taint this moment. As that love twists up and down the bonds that tie their family together, the feeling from Amelia's bedroom appears once more. That simple proclamation, dictated to the universe itself, of what reality says should be replaced with a demand that refuses to be denied. They will be alright.

Because there is nothing strong enough it can tell her otherwise. Caretaker gasps, and as Tanya comes back to herself she opens her eyes, to see green sparkles of familiar healing energy gently shimming in all directions, emitted from everyone pressed against Tanya in the panoramic hug circle. But as her sisters look around at the sparkles in wonder, Caretaker's eyes never move, a proud smile stretching across her face wide enough that it has to hurt.

She doesn't say anything, allowing the moment to sit as the green motes of light fade. Before the quiet is broken by another cacophony of awed exclamations at the event. Then the group hug breaks apart, and before Tanya can process what's going on she's being dragged toward the backpack that's almost as tall as she is, three siblings talking over each other as they try and explain all the things inside the bag, who got them, and their reasoning for the purchase.

Meanwhile two more are trying to hop up on the table to unpack the bag and show its contents physically, only stopped by three others trying to describe why that would be a bad idea. Then five more voices come from behind, calling for her attention and not waiting to see if they got it as they launch into an explanation of the economic chicanery they had to pull to manage a seven percent yield in the little time they had.

Tanya wipes her arm across her eyes, and for fifteen minutes her world shrinks right back down, falling away from maps of the region and of planned routes between cities, reduced to fit inside this second floor conference room lit by the midday sun. But as Matron's partner opens the door and makes a subtle motion with her hand Tanya knows it's time as Matron gently wades though the crowd toward her.

Taking the bag from a pair of excited faces, she fumbles with the modular buckling system to get it attached to her physiology as Matron comes to a stop.

"You ready?" She asks once more. Tanya casts one last glance around at all the loving faces, then gives a hesitant nod. Making their way to the door, she gives a small smile and nod at everyone's enthusiastic goodbye, then pauses halfway through the door. Turning around and taking a moment to gather her thoughts, Tanya clears her throat.

"I– Thank you. I couldn't ask for better sisters." She wipes her eyes again and takes a deep breath.

"I L … I'll see you later." Then, she steps through the door, hearing an incomprehensible mess of responses quiet only slightly as the door closes, leaving her alone with Matron's partner, Zoe. Taking a few steps away, Tanya gets her bearings and turns toward the nearest elevator bank, following behind the human as the elevator doors open with a dull rattle and she presses the button for the ground floor.. The ride down is quiet, less owing to the language barrier than to the mood of the air.

The nurse breaks the silence first.

"Chansey made some sandwiches for the road, they're wrapped in wax paper in the bag, top of the biggest compartment." Tanya gives huff of amusement as she nods in understanding. As if Matron would do anything else. The remainder of the ride is in silence, turning left as the door opens on the ground floor they navigate a short stretch of hallway before exiting into the familiar reception room.

Amelia's eyes snap to her partner as she stands from the scattered seating, accompanied by Joana, shouldering an overstuffed schoolbag as she does. Tanya gives a wave as they approach, coming to a stop near the center of the room. Amelia looks between Nurse Joy, the backpack, then back to Tanya.

"Said your goodbyes already?" The 'mon nods.

"I have, and you?" Amelia nods back, then staggers as Joana throws an arm around her shoulder." We said our goodbyes in the car ride over. I didn't want to embarrass my little girl on her big day!" She says, then laughs as her daughter tries to shove the arm off." Mom!" She cries out.

"You promised!" The indignation only seems to make Joana laugh harder, but she forces her amusement down.

"Alright! Ok. I just…" She takes a breath, and wraps her other arm around her daughter in a firm but brief hug.

"I've got to sign some discharge paperwork for the both of you, and when I get out I know you're going to be gone." She pauses to take a shallow breath.

"I love you. You'd better call me the first time you find a phone." Amalia nods, and as Joana steps pack she gives one last look at the two of them, side by side.

"You're going to be amazing." Then the woman turns on her heel and hurriedly walks out of earshot before Amelia has time to recover from her stunned silence. But, after a moment, the two are looking back at each other in the quiet hum of half a dozen conversations across the large room as if waiting for the other to move first.

Then, prompted by Tanya offering a pointed glance, Amelia shifts awkwardly and grabs a red and white orb from a bandoleer at her hip, leaning down slightly to get eye to eye with her partner, the pokeball expands in her hand as she rotates the safety latch at the aperture and offers it to her partner.

"Are you ready?" Tanya stares at the ball, one more thing binding her to this person, the final act to narrowing infinite possible options to those that can be achieved with her partner. Not truly final, but the last step to formalize a promise that should never be broken. Tanya's eyes look up at their mirrored pair, and for an instant both can perfectly see the fire that burns within, reflected and magnified in the other. She nods.

"Of course." And taps the tip of her arm on the aperture. Suddenly, there's a flash, then darkness, a kind of darkness that presses in like a warm blanket and gently insists that she rest. She is… formless here, without shape as something buzzes across her like static electricity, like waves across a beach that seems to scan that amorphous mass of infinite potential. For an instant the 'mon fights against the influence, struggling to keep awake and escape the sudden confinement.

But even the most mild resistance makes something creak dangerously within the impossibly thin material that holds her in an impossibly small space. Then she feels Amelia on the other side, hope, fear, and fire felt even more clearly without a body though the bond between souls. The combination of warning and reassurance is enough for her half asleep mind to be reminded of the context to her confinement, and her struggles still.

It only takes a few more moments for the darkness to completely envelope her mind, falling into a kind of half aware torpor, vaguely cognizant of her surroundings from a perspective in the palm of a hand, and as the scanner buzzes across a third time with no resistance, something clicks. Tanya blinks a few times to get her bearings as she exits the ball. That was…

"... What did it feel like?" Amelia asks as she forces herself to stop staring at the ball, returning the orb to its travel size and placing it back on her bandoleer. The 'mon shakes her head to clear out the final remnants of the strange feeling as she gives a firm look at the object that is now legally synonymous with her citizenship in the eyes of the government. She respects its value, its societal function, and myriad practical uses.

But the experience of using a pokeball feels more analogous to a partial anesthesia grey out than anything else. Suffice to say, not anything she'd like to experience regularly.

"Not… unpleasant. But abnormal, almost like sleep." She says finally Amelia tilts her head.

"Huh. Well…" She says straightening up as Tanya picks up and rebuckles her backpack, which had fallen on the floor.

"... Let's get going then." Her partner nods, and they both head toward the double doors exiting to the outside world. As they approach, Amelia reaches into a pocket, unfolds a heavily annotated travel map, and lowers it slightly for Tanya's benefit.

"The plan is close to the one we discussed a few days ago. Route 111 south for Mawville to battle Gym Leader Wattson. There's twenty six pokecenters in Mawville and half of them are affiliated with our school. I talked to Aunt Vee and she said they have an opening for us. If we make good time we can get there in about two days." She taps the dot that represents the city, then traces her finger back and up a different route.

"But mom made me promise to take a detour and see these waterfalls here." She says, pointing at a circled area to their northwest.

"So we'll need to divert north on route 122 for a day. Add the backtrack time and we can make it to Mawville in under a week." Tanya nods, mind flicking though the small amount of research she'd done on the electric trainer, unfortunately the lower badge teams don't get uploaded to the internet nearly as quickly as the higher badges, so this year's team composition is unknown.

"Forestry reports on historic type distribution say the southern leg of route 122 has a good ratio of ground types. We might be able to find someone willing to exchange a few months of their time for some food, training, and medical care. Perhaps the detour would be worth it?" Amelia waves her off." Maybe, but, on average, ground types are significantly more territorial than other typings. Most wouldn't be interested in leaving, and actively hostile to intruders if we went looking for someone who was."

Tanya concedes her point, but as she opens her mouth to respond they come to a stop at the double doors. At the threshold Amelia pauses one final time. Then she shoulders her backpack, pulls back her shoulders, and opens the door. Stepping outside with Tanya following one step behind. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air, the human glances down at her partner as if realizing something, then looks around to get her bearings and turns left.

"Almost forgot, I got canned food for me. But we need to stop at the pokemart to get you some pokechow." She says, taking the first step of her journey, then another.

"I talked to Aunt Taff yesterday, she's a nutritionist, and she said you should probably eat snorelax chow if you're doing heavy exertion and want to keep growing."

"Calory density to travel light as well." Tanya comments Amelia laughs.

"That's what I said! But there are all these different flavors, so I waited for you." Moving to follow Amelia as she moves beyond the door, Tanya hesitates for a fraction of a second. Then she allows the door to swing closed, breaking into a light jog to catch back up to her partner's side. And their journey begins.