Kyoko was too jet lagged to remember the drive to Pallet Town--trees blurred into messy green streaks as her Mom's car bounced down Route 1 toward the seaside village. At least she was too tired to cry, an improvement on yesterday.

Ever since her Dad had gotten the job at Professor Oak's laboratory, she'd been dreading the move to Kanto. Unova was where all her friends lived, where she went to school, where the lady at the local Pokemon Center knew her by name. For as long as she could remember, she'd dreamed of being champion of Unova's Pokemon League. Now she was sixteen, the age when a trainer could challenge the Pokemon League, and all her friends were starting their gym challenges without her. She hated seeing their pictures on social media.

"There's a Pokemon League in Kanto, too," her parents had told her. "It's the longest-running tournament in the world. Isn't that neat?"

But it wasn't her Pokemon League, and it wasn't ever really going to feel like home. Apparently in Kanto they let ten-year-olds challenge gym leaders. She was going to be competing with babies in the Indigo League, which made her feel a little useless.

Now, as she woke up in her new bedroom with nothing on the walls and no furniture except a stack of cardboard boxes, it all hit her at once. She wasn't in the city anymore, but a tiny little town south of Viridian where there weren't any other kids her age. Before she could break down crying, she reached for her Poke Ball and released her partner Pokemon, Vulpix.

The red fox Pokemon sensed her distress and snuggled up against her. Kyoko stroked her partner's soft head.

By the evening, she felt better. She gathered up some of her old clothes from a box and put on her ballcap, then looked at Vulpix, who yipped happily.

"Let's go explore our new home. Who knows, maybe we'll find something cool."