The remaining days leading up to our Ordeals passed by quickly. The six of us could mostly be found in the Centre's computer room reading every bit of information we could find about the Pokémon around Fiore. Carlos came to the Centre every day to give us more lectures and advice. When we were not in the Centre, we could be found talking to some of the older trainers in the district. Some of the trainers readily answered any questions we asked them. Others did not bother to hide their annoyance at us for interrupting them.
One of the middle-ranked trainers advised us to study a trainer map of Fiore and the wilds surrounding the city state. We all followed that advice and acquired a map from the Centre's front office. On studying the map, we found that the city state had six gates leading out at roughly all four major cardinal points in a shape of a six-pointed star.
The gate directly pointing south opened to the savannahs. The south-western gate, the wetlands, and the south-eastern gate to the grasslands. The north-western and north-eastern gates both led to forests, and finally, the northern gate, led the way to the mountain range where Fiore mines for ores and precious stones.
The map also showed what Pokémon a trainer is most likely to encounter in all six directions. Based on the map, the forests would be the most dangerous area to visit, followed by the mountains, the wetlands, the savannah and then the grasslands. This left us wondering which gate we would be forced to leave on our Ordeals from. Given the choice, I assumed we would all choose to take our Ordeals in the grassland through it was very unlikely that would be the case and thus contingency plans were made in advance.
The day of the Ordeal finally came. We were woken up early and taken to the cafeteria. We were told to eat quickly then head out to the station when were ready. Bradley and I dug into our food right away while rest simply stared at their trays.
Eventually, Vivian started to nibble on her food. A few minutes later, Caitlyn stood up without having touched the food and informed the rest of that she would be heading to the station. Albert followed her moments later. A hesitant decision hang over Emile's pudgy face before he too did the same. Bradley wasted no time and took Caitlyn's tray whilst I took Albert's. I had several ideas over the past few days in the manner of catching wild Pokémon. I stuffed Albert's sandwich into my pockets before finishing the rest of the food.
In the corner of my eyes, I saw Vivian do the same to Emile's.
Once we were done, we dropped off our trays in the kitchen and headed for the stations, Vivian trailing behind like always. Caitlyn, Albert, and Emile stood opposite Gym Leader Schneider, and some other trainers who were waiting for us. One trainer held a small box in her hands. Behind the Leader was a small table with five backpacks on top. Schneider began speaking as soon as we reached them.
"Now that you're all here we can begin your Ordeals," he said. He gestured to the table behind him. "These backpacks behind me possess several items that you can use on your Ordeals. The backpacks all possess the same items so there is no reason to fight over any of them. I will give you 30 minutes to go through the packs and familiarise yourselves with what they contain. Begin now."
We each grabbed a pack and began going through them, which unfortunately, were not Tardis sized. The bags contained some travel rations, water, a hunting knife, some bandages, and rope. Carefully rummaging further revealed a small bottle of Repel spray and a small case of medicines, ten in total.
Five small bottles of basic Potion, and the other five for status ailments. There was one of each of Antidote, Paralyze Heal, Awakening, Burn Heal and Ice Heal. Each bottle held three doses of these liquids that were equally effective on both humans and Pokémon.
After 30 minutes, Randall Schneider began speaking again. "It's time to head to the gates that you will be leaving the city state from. Since there are six of you this year, I've decided that you will each leave from a separate gate. I will let you decide which gate you will leave from yourselves. You may decide based on the order that you were chosen on Selection Day." He turned to look at Bradley. "Choose your gate."
Bradley hesitated for only a moment. "I pick the North gate." He said, surprising us all. We all looked at him as if he was crazy. I wondered why he would pick the northern gate since the grasslands were the least dangerous place. I studied him for a moment and noticed a determined glint in his eyes. 'Probably something to do with his father,' I thought as I considered what he revealed to Vivian and me, some days prior.
Schneider nodded to Bradley. "Very well. North gate it is." He turned to Albert. "Your turn. Choose your gate."
"South-East." Albert said quickly. Not surprising at all. This left the forests, the savannah, and the wetlands.
Schneider turned to Caitlyn next. She spoke up without prompting, "I'll take the South." She said quickly. Schneider nodded to her. "Very well," he said before turning to Vivian.
Vivian, bless her, shyly turned to me. I just shrugged my shoulders.
"S-south-West gate." She said quietly, staring at her feet. Which left the most dangerous places, the eastern and western forests between Emile and me.
"Very well," Schneider said. He then turned to Emile. "Which gate?"
"N-North-East..." said Emile, accepting how futile any complaints would be. Schneider nodded to him. "Very well," he said before turning to me. "That leaves you to take the North-West gate."
Fear began to fill me before I quashed it forcefully, having made contingencies in place for all six gates. I simply needed to follow the plan.
Still, the reason why the north-west forest is more dangerous than its counterpart in the east is due to not only bordering the mountains and wetlands, but also the eerie mist that plagues it ever since the dawn of the Cataclysm. Even veterans have a hard time coming out alive, never mind an underaged child whose only real weapons are a hunting knife and an insect repellent, made from the foul-smelling Stunky line.
After we were given 3 pokeballs each it was time for some Q&A's which Schneider answered patiently, including some of my own. Then, he wished us luck as we boarded the magnet train along with our trainer escorts.
We waited quietly as one by one we reached each of the stations near the different gates until I was the last to do so. When I finally reached my station and disembarked, my escort and I had to walk a short distance to reach the north-western gate. Once we reached the gate, the trainer turned to me.
"From this point on you're on your own," he said. He motioned to one trainer guarding the gate. The other trainer nodded and opened the gate. The gate opened onto a short dirt road which led directly to the forest. "Be vigilant out there and keep a pokeball ready. Try not to get lost out there. Once you catch a Pokémon you should immediately try to make it back here. I'll be waiting for you here at the gate." He paused at me. "If you haven't made it back by sundown, I'll assume that you've been eaten by a Pokémon and leave without you. Good luck."
'Gee, thanks for the pep talk asshole," I thought sourly. I took a moment to stare out towards the forest before I took a deep breath and began to move forward. The gate closed behind me as I cleared the archway. I kept moving, keeping an eye out for any Pokémon that may be out there. Before I knew it, I had made it to the tree line where barbed wires made their mark. I took a deep breath before entering the misty forest with a clear mind.
'Alright,' I said. 'Let's do this.'