“’Fesser Mi Mi!” trilled Faye as she burst through the mahogany doors.

The bespectacled man looked up from behind his messy work desk. “Faye,” he sighed, voice weary. “If I’ve told you before, I’ve told you a million times – “

“Don’t call me that?” cut in Henry, his lips quirked upwards in a half-smile. “G’morning, Zhou Mi ge.”

The professor sighed again and nodded in greeting.

Professor Zhou Mi was native to Ecruteak in Johto, and only six years older than Henry himself. The youngest operating professor aligned with the League since Professor Elm; a prodigy. Most aspiring trainers had been wary about signing up under him; Henry hadn’t cared. And apparently, neither had Faye.

They couldn’t bring themselves to call him Professor. He seemed too young for that – more like an elder brother, than an uncle or father.

So Henry called him ‘brother’, in their common mother tongue. Zhou Mi didn’t mind that much.

Faye, well, had her own way of thinking. She was as flighty as everything her affinity sometimes seemed to suggest. Sometimes Henry doubted that Faye was really just one year younger than he was.

“So, Prof? Whatcha got for us?”

Zhou Mi hesitated – winced, almost. A shadow of doubt passed over Henry’s face. “You.... do have something, right?”

“The League at large doesn’t trust me enough for.... traditional Starter sets, yet,” he admitted. That much, Henry realised, could be true; maybe they weren’t the only ones on probation. “Brace yourself. They’re.... probably not what you might be expecting.”

Faye and Henry watched, holding their breath, as the man in the spotless white lab coat strode over to the computer in the corner and accessed his Box, typing in a password.  The white transporter attached to its side released first one bright red Pokéball, then another as Zhou Mi picked up the first.

He turned, presenting them with two crimson-topped orbs, one in each hand. “You’ll be raising these for the next half a month, so that they’re familiar with you when I send you off.”

The two assistants-in-training shared a quick, furtive glance; who would choose first?

The professor offered them both a reassuring smile. “You’ll be on equal footing. Don’t worry. Henry?”

They looked at each other again – Faye shrugged and stepped back.

Gulping, Henry reached out and took the orb on his left. His colleague bounced forward to claim the Pokéball left over.

There were other formalities to work on, he knew. Paperwork, things that included registering their Trainer Cards officially. Starters always had to be registered, regardless of where they were from. Even if your Starter was a Bidoof your father caught on the way home from work, he had to be officially registered.

But, Henry decided, catching the professor’s eye, that could wait for an hour or so.

“On three?” suggested Faye brightly.

*

The red capture beam faded away to reveal her furry cream brown starter and Faye Leanne Estons positively screamed. “’FESSER I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU THANK YOU SO SO MUCH OH MY GOD – “

“Faye!” Henry yelled, covering his ears in mock pain, “keep it down!”

The two vulpine Pokémon on the floor cowered, their long, rabbit-like ears flat against their heads. The brunette immediately crouched to the floor and made soothing sounds. She hadn’t meant to scare them, honest she hadn’t – what had she learnt about soothing frazzled Pokémon?

She watched Henry kneel down opposite her, fist outstretched, and did the same.

The Eevee stared at their respective trainers, then one left its sibling behind to sniff at Faye’s knuckles and purred. Its – his? Her? – counterpart shot a disdainful look its way and padded over to Henry.

The two trainers picked up their Eevee and stood. Faye scratched behind her Eevee’s ear and it purred again. Hm. What to name it?

Henry’s Eevee squirmed in his arms before realizing that he wasn’t going to be let down. He deflated immediately.

“What? I just got you and already you hate me?” He frowned. The Eevee in his arms simply huffed and looked contemptuous. Faye stifled the urge to laugh; the professor was doing the same.

“I’m sure he’ll warm up to you with time, Henry,” he said, amused. “For now, you know what comes next....”

Paperwork. Groan.

*****

A/N: Right! Poll time!

What nickname scheme should I use for Henry and Faye’s Pokémon teams? (They can be different or the same.)

Also, just explaining some terms you’ll see popping up in this fic. There are (probably) more, but I’ll explain them as things go along.

Affinity: The ability to communicate with Pokémon of a particular type. Uncommon. Henry and Faye have affinities to Grass and Flying types respectively.

Savant: The ability to communicate with Pokémon of ALL types, but vaguely. Rare. Savants will pop up later in the fic, but based on my current plan, it'll be much much later.

Final note: I made a mistake with Faye’s hair colour; mixed up russet and auburn. Faye’s supposed to be a brunette, not a redhead. Fixed now.