Characters: Pearl, Renee/Emmy, Zinnia/Aster, Kukui
AN:
that sword paragraph is the most im going to describe something in this entire gotdam story
Light streamed through the opened pink curtains, marking the start of a new day. But it wasn’t just any new day, at least not for Pearl.
A soft knock fell upon Pearl’s bedroom door, prompting her to wake up with a groan. She didn’t say anything, but the person at the door cracked it open a bit anyways to speak.
“Pearls…? Are you awake yet?”
It was Pearl’s mother, Emmy. She spoke softly, as to not wake Pearl if she had been sleeping. Pearl just rolled over in bed to face her mom at the door.
“Mom… give me like, 15 more minutes… I wanna sleep in, it’s my birthday…” Pearl said, rolling back over and shoving her face into her pillow. Emmy just tilted her head and gave Pearl a small smile.
“Well, if you say so. But I’ll keep the door cracked open in case a visito-” Emmy paused, looking back behind her. “Well, here she comes now!”
The padding of small feet could be heard by Pearl, and she lifted her head to see Izzy, the family’s pet vaporeon, trotting her way over to Pearl. Izzy got up on her hind legs, putting her front paws on the edge of Pearl’s bed, and just stared at her. Pearl stared back for a couple seconds, before eventually sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
Pearl then grabbed Izzy from under the arms, lifting her up onto her bed. She scritched just under Izzy’s neck, which caused her to flop over and purr.
Emmy, still looking onwards, smiled and let out a small laugh.
“Aw, that’s cute. Well, I’m gonna head downstairs – don’t take too long to wake yourself up.” she said, before slinking out of the door’s view and down the stairs.
“Alright!” Pearl yelled down, petting Izzy some more as she spoke. She looked to the pokemon, and ruffled her fins a bit before boosting herself out of bed. Pearl grabbed her yellow ribbon that she had left hanging over her bed, and went over to the mirror to tie it over her hair – just like she did every morning.
Today was the day of Pearl’s 15th birthday. But in Pearl’s mind, it wasn’t just another birthday – because she had remembered a promise her parents made to her 5 years ago, and was excited to see if they had kept it.
Pearl practically glided down the staircase, which led into the open living room space where she could see her family was waiting. It wasn’t just her parents – Pearl’s aunts Zinnia and Aster were there as well.
As Pearl skidded across the hardwood flooring, Pearl’s other mother Renee perked up from where she was sitting at the couch. She turned around, and with a massive smile on her face;
“Happy birthday Pearl!”
Renee’s words were soon followed by those of Emmy and Pearl’s aunts – it appeared that they had all been waiting downstairs for Pearl to wake up.
“Goodmorning!!” Pearl said with a smile, flapping her hands excitedly. Her eyes drifted from her family to the large wrapped box that was positioned on the coffee table. Pearl walked closer, and noticed a small envelope was also on the table – but Pearl’s attention was entirely on the large present awaiting her.
It was about as long and wide as a person, and as Pearl laid her hand on the gift, she looked onwards to her mothers and spoke up.
“Is it alright if I open it?” she asked.
“Well, that’s your gift from Aster and Zinnia, but we had planned on you opening the envelope first-” Renee said, but her words were cut off before she could properly finish.
“Open it! Open it! Open it!” Zinnia began to chant, eliciting a snicker from Aster and a frustrated sigh from Emmy and Renee.
“Ok, go ahead… just don’t… take it out of the box in the house, please.” Emmy sighed, putting her palm to her face.
Pearl seemed a tad confused, but was excited to open her gift nonetheless.
She tore through the pink wrapping paper to reveal a deep red casket box – not unlike those used for ornate jewelry, but larger. Pearl lifted the top of the box open, and when she was what was inside, she gasped, and her eyes grew shiny and a massive smile sprawled across her face.
Inside the box, resting on an ivory-colored silk bed, was an exaggerated zanbatō-style sword, not unlike those Pearl had seen in anime she watched. The entire weapon was a rosey-gold color, almost looking pink. The grip was decorated with a baby pink ribbon, and the chappe had an elaborate light-golden swirl design. The actual blade was large, being about as wide as Pearl’s laptop’s screen. Located near the point were 3 rectangular holes in the blade’s metal.
Pearl was practically jumping up and down, while her parents held their breath in the background.
“A SWORD?! Are you kidding me?! This is so freakin’ cool!” Pearl said, turning towards Aster to give her a hug, while Zinnia joined from the side of the couch where she was sitting.
“I made sure to look at those shows you watch to get the design just right – I wanted to make something that would fit you and your interests!” Aster said, looking quite proud of herself.
“It’s perfect! It’s just like if I had my own magical girl weapon!” Pearl said, before breaking the hug and looking a bit puzzled.
“But… how did you convince them to-” before being cut off, Pearl gestured towards Renee and Emmy, who were watching the exchange. Emmy interrupted her.
“Aster begged me. Incessantly. For YEARS.” Emmy said with a deep sigh.
“Hey, I didn’t beg! I just said she’d like it, and look, she did, I was right!” Aster replied.
Emmy just groaned, and Renee stepped forwards.
“Look, ok, before we do anything, Emmy and I have some ground rules for the sword. First and foremost, no using it in this house whatsoever,” Renee started saying, but Pearl spoke up.
“Oh, no, don’t worry, mom! I was probably only gonna play around with it in my pocket space, and I was gonna keep it there too. There isn’t really the room in my room for it in my room, ya know?”
“Oh, that’s a relief.” Renee sighed.
“Pearl, why don’t you open your other gift?”
Renee’s expression brightened a bit, as did Emmy’s.
“Alright, I’m not sure how it could top a sword though.” Pearl said – but she caught herself.
“Sorry, that was rude, wasn’t it? I didn’t mean it to be.”
“It’s alright, Pearl. C’mon, open it!” Zinnia chimed in, as she swung her legs from where she sat.
Pearl closed up the sword’s box and looked to the small envelope sitting on the table. She picked it up and examined it – it was copiously hand-decorated with markers and stickers, and signed by Renee and Emmy.
Pearl ripped open the letter to find a glittery card, and when Pearl opened it, a slip of paper fell out onto the table. Pearl put the card down and examined the paper, and she quickly realized it was a ticket – a plane ticket… to Alola.
As Pearl looked at the ticket in a state of disbelief, Renee spoke up.
“There was a promise Emmy and I made to you when you were younger, Pearl… and after a lot of discussion and planning, we’ve decided to let you go on your own adventure in Alola.” she said with a warm smile.
Pearl was speechless, and her eyes even began welling up a bit. All could do was turn around and grab her parents in a tight, teary-eyed hug.
“Thank you thank you thank you!!” Pearl said as she sunk her face into her mother’s sleeve. Emmy and Renee held Pearl about as tight as she held them, and Zinnia and Aster kept quiet as to not ruin the moment.
“An old friend of mine who lives in Alola offered to host you, and considering you have a good friend who lives in the region, Renee and I couldn’t think of a better fit.” Emmy said, amongst Pearl’s mutterings of thank you’s.
Pearl’s flight was set to depart in 4 days, so it was stressful packing everything and making sure everything was in order. Over those 4 days, Pearl had video chats with the host she was to be staying with – a woman named Melba. She also made sure to chat a bunch with the friend that her parents had brought up as their reasoning for choosing Alola, Hau.
Hau was just as excited as Pearl was, and the two would stay up late talking about what they’d want to do once Pearl was there. Hau described the island’s trials for young adventurers with their pokemon, and all the talk made Pearl even more excited to get to Alola.
—
It was hard to wait, but eventually, the time for Pearl to depart came. It seemed like a long drive to the airport, but it was just Pearl’s perception.
Pearl found it hard to not get teary even before the plane was called – yes, this is the thing she had wanted so desperately for years, but now that it was actually time to go, Pearl felt like clinging to her parents.
Renee and Emmy felt similarly, as it was hard to see their baby go out into the world on her own for the first time.
When the plane’s number was finally called, Pearl hugged her parents harder and longer than she’d ever hugged them before, it seemed. She told them she loved them, and with a tear-filled wave from both sides, Pearl departed onto her plane.
The plane ride to Alola was quite long, and it seems Pearl’s parents didn’t spare any expense when it came to her flight arrangements. Rather, the plane itself seemed on-par with a miniature luxury hotel.
Pearl’s chair could recline into a bed, and she was given complimentary pajamas and a sleep mask. There was sizable TV in Pearl’s cubicle as well, with a rather impressive lineup of movie titles. Pearl seemed to be the youngest passenger on the plane, but she didn’t mind. To Pearl, this was a paradise before paradise.
While on her long flight, Pearl received a video call on her laptop. She didn’t recognize the number, but figured it would be important if they decided to reach her via video.
When she picked up, Pearl could see a man in a baseball cap, who was wearing a labcoat but not a shirt.
“Hey, is this, uh, Pearl? From the Markov family?”
“Yes, that’s me! Who are you, exactly?”
“Oh, I guess I never got the time to introduce myself earlier. Name’s Professor Kukui! I’m a pokemon professor workin’ here in Alola. You’re friends with that Hau kid, right?”
“Uh huh! Why, did he tell you about me, or something?”
“His old-old man did! We’re close friends. Anyways, I apologize for such a short notice call, but I figured I’d say hi before you got on the ground. After you get settled, I’ll be the one getting you your first pokemon!”
“Oh, sweet! I think I’m actually-”
Pearl was interrupted by the dinging tone to buckle her seatbelt, as an intercom announcer stated that the plane was close to landing.
“I think I have to hang up now, but thanks for calling! I’ll be glad to see you soon!”
“Alright, cousin! Take care, and welcome to paradise!”
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