Jubilife Airport

The pilot's voice echoed throughout the cabin just as the seatbelt sign flickered back online. "Hello passengers, we'll be landing at the Jubilife City Airport in just a moment, but let me be the first person to welcome you to the Sinnoh Region! Sit tight and we'll be down in a jiffy!" Almost instantly a powder-blue haired girl slid the window slat open and peered out the window with eager eyes. A shimmering city rose up in the distance and Aurora was practically bouncing in her seat, much to the chagrin of the elderly businessman sitting beside her. She felt the plane lurch forward as it began its descent and she couldn't help but close her eyes with a whimper. This was her least favorite part of flying, not because she was afraid of the landing itself, but because she hated the thought of her feet touching the ground again. She always begged to keep flying with her parents to the point of having their plane run solely on fumes just to keep her happy. In order to ease her discomfort, Aurora held the egg that was incubated in her bag tightly in her arms and bathed in its radiating warmth.

As soon as the plane landed at the terminal Rory bounced out of her seat after growing more impatient the slower her neighboring passenger took to receive his belongings from the above compartment. She exhaled a sigh which made him flash an agitated glare at the girl before moving aside. Rory was so short that she had to get a crew member to help pull down her luggage and once she slung the bag over her shoulder and put the rucksack containing her egg on her back she bolted down the aisle and off the walkway. Once outside of the gate she looked around the terminal for any sign of the exit.

Upon locating the sign she bounded down the terminal hall pushing her way through the crowds that all happened to be moving in the same direction. It became so dense that she had to physically shove people aside to get further in - she hated closed in spaces. Her eyes followed the other citizens to the nearby monitors that displayed rows upon rows of canceled flights to and from Sinnoh. Her eyes locked onto the Fortree City outbound flight that also happened to be canceled and she instantly wondered if there was bad weather incoming, that was usually the only reason for planes to not take off, but even then it took a lot to keep a plane grounded.

She continued moving through the foyer until she finally broke through the crowd when she arrived at the lounge waiting area where yet another crowd stood gathered around watching some sort of news report playing on TV. "Huh? I wonder what's going on," she whispered. Aurora, fueled by curiosity as to what could possibly be causing all of this ruckus, walked over to get a closer look at the television screen until she began to hear the reporter discuss that something was closing. The captions that flashed on the bottom of the screen read something along the lines of 'closed borders' but it appeared that she missed the beginning portion of the report and to Rory, this could literally be talking about anything. Rory's eyes drifted to her right to a green-haired boy who was watching the report before she had arrived. He seemed to be about her age, so she felt less intimidating asking him than the others nearby.

"Hey, do you know what's going on?" she chimed.

Aurora tilted her head in confusion when the boy said that it was due to a region-wide lockdown as a result of an explosion. Her brows knitted together in worry; she'd heard of explosions before, particularly those involving planes, but never something of this magnitude. The thing that truly struck her was the thought of not being able to take flight again, she was grounded in Sinnoh indefinitely.

She regained composure after she was bumped by another passerby and the boy suggested that they head outside. Rory nodded and flashed the boy a smile. "Bebe, huh? I've never heard of a boy named that before, that's cool! I'm Aurora and I think that's a great idea. Standing around in here is making me all kinds of claustrophobic, I could use some fresh air," she said as she adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder and looked around the terminal. Rory had no idea where she was and she was so short that she couldn't see above the crowd long enough to read any of the signs. She bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably in her shoes, then looked back to Bebe. "Lead the way, I'm right behind you."

Aurora couldn't help but laugh at his comparison of her name to an Aurorus. "I wish it were that interesting of a story, I think my parents just liked the name. Is that how you got yours?" She continued walking behind him as the duo weaved through the massive crowd of people who grew increasingly more agitated by the airport situation. It was starting to get violently packed and she noticed some individuals heading for the exit with them.

Once they finally arrived outside of the terminal Aurora stopped in place upon feeling a gust of wind tickle her face and send her hair momentarily whipping backward. "Finally." She felt liberated from that madhouse and began to stretch her arms and twist her upper body as if preparing for a marathon. Rory stopped her stretching when Bebe looked back at her and asked her a question.

"That's a good question... where was I heading?" She bit her lip and her brows furrowed in thought as she tried to remember her destination, the whole party in the airport had made her forget. That is, until a few seconds later of intense concentration when the answer finally surfaced. "Oh, right!"

She quickly pulled out her PokéNav Plus and tapped on the screen to bring up the email. She muttered aloud until she reached the part that she was looking for. "Dear Ms. Skye, we're pleased to inform you... Association... Sinnoh... from your destination... aha! Upon arrival, you may find our Headquarters in every main city in the region!" she looked up from the screen to Bebe and smiled as if that explained everything. Then she looked down again and tapped another button to bring up a map of the region, zooming in on Jubilife City. Rory tapped the city and the PokéNav instantly honed in and displayed a detailed map of the city. Her eyes and fingers moved left to right until she finally located the HQ.

"Found it! It's the Pokémon Association Headquarters in the center of the city." She looked back up to Bebe in puzzlement. "What about you?"

Bebe laughed with Aurora before shaking his head. "Nope! Bebe isn't even my real name - it's a nickname I got from my hometown back when I was referred to as 'Bug Boy'.. so I guess I just kinda got stuck with it!" He chuckled.

Eventually the duo had made it through the crowds of people that were all swarming for the terminal exits like a horde of Beedrill on the hunt for food. Bebe could finally let out a longing exhale of relief and stretch his arms out as high as the sky could reach, which caused the edges of his shirt to lift up momentarily, but then he raised a brow. "Wait-.. You're heading to the Pokémon Association HQ too!?" Exclaimed Bebe. His lips quickly curved into a smirk and he slung an arm around Aurora. "So I'm guessing you're entering the Monotype Masters scheme too, hm? Guess that makes us rivals, ha!"


Bebe dropped his arm down to his pocket and went to take out his phone, but instead he made squeaked out: "W-w^eelp!" as a girl crashed into his side. Luckily enough, Bebe was extremely athletic and agile, so he managed to scrape this shoe along the floor to gain balance before he could fall over.

"Huh!?" He exclaimed as he sharply turned his head to the newcomer. ".. You're the one who crashed into me!" Frowned Bebe, but after a few moments, he relaxed his shoulders and smiled faintly. "No worries though.. just watch where you're going next time!"

Aurora nodded her head in agreement with Bebe's introduction of her. "Nice to meet you, Marisol! Yup, we're taking on the challenge. I take it you're not from Sinnoh either? Which reminds me... where are you from Bebe?" she said, turning her attention toward the bug boy. She shifted the straps of her rucksack on her shoulder, enjoying the cool crisp breeze that drifted through the front of the airport terminal. The region lockdown aside, the weather was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining brightly, although there did appear to be storm clouds on the horizon. The thought of them sent a shiver down her spine in anticipation of the booming thunder and crackling lightning.

"Oh, I'm from Castelia City in Unova! I really like it there, though big cities tend to bring big crowds and I like a lot of freedom and nature, heh!" Bebe rubbed the back of his neck with a laugh before his eyes followed Rory's. Their attention was shifted towards the sky that was soon swirling with clouds which indicated rain was soon on its way, which caused Bebe to frown.

"You might want to put a pin in that fishing trip, Marisol.. I think a storm is brewing!" He exclaimed as his eyes fell down to the girl. "Hey, I know! Why don't the three of us stick together for the time being? We can tell you about the Monotype Masters scheme whilst we wait for the rain to clear up!"

Bebe shifted the strap of his bag so it was secure on sure shoulder whilst he eyed the busy streets. "Let's see," He murmured as he pulled out his phone. Bebe tapped a couple of buttons before a pinging noise rang twice, and then he held the phone down to the girls. "If we follow this route, we can make it there in no time!" He grinned. ".. But let's just hope the rain doesn't catch us by then, haha!"