Malie glided her through the not-quite-angry-but-definitely-a-little-upset mob of Magnuses and Tims who had very much not recieved their admittance letter and were here to complain. Were Malie a more critical person, she'd have questioned how such an oversight was even possible considering this was, ostensibly, the biggest annual event in the entire Kanto region after the League finals. It was almost like this event had been organized by someone who didn't understand naming conventions or the importance of a home address. Malie, however, was in, and these people were not. That was all that really mattered in the end, right?

Nonchalantly parting the crowd, she emerged at the front gate before stopping and searching her pockets. Trainer passport, check. Letter of admission, also check. She flashed both to the security guard, who waved her through. Strolling into the lobby, she took stock of her surroundings as she approached the front desk.

"Hello, ma'am! Welcome to the Oak Institute, may I help you with anything?"

Malie continued staring at the vaulted ceiling. Was that Ferric-styled?

"Ma'am?"

"...Too harsh.", Malie mumbled, not bothering to make eye contact.

"I'm sorry?"

"There's no natural lighting in here, and the couches are only two seats wide and slanted towards the backboard...", Malie absentmindedly fingered the strap of her Slakoth-themed backpack, "...I wouldn't sleep here in a million years."

There was a brief pause as the receptionist regained her bearings.

"Ma'am, this is a waiting room. It's not the place for taking a nap."

"You can say that again. The decor here is really harshing my mellow. I think maybe if you repainted in a soft green it'd-"

"-Ma'am, are you here for the OI trainer program?", the receptionist interrupted through gritted teeth.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess I am. Malie Makana, from Alola."

"Thank you. Take the right corridor and you'll reach the orientation room."

Malie shuffled down the hallway with a yawn, eventually finding a room with a bunch of empty seats and some four-eyes who looked like he spent most of his time handing out six-packs of pokeballs. He cleared his throat, surreptitiously checking an electronic notepad.

"Hello there, and welcome to the world of Pokemon! My name is Professor Sumac, but people call me the Pokemon Professor! As I'm sure you know, this world is inhabited by-"

"-Cool, so I just grab these?", Malie said as she proceeded to ignore Professor Sumac and rummage through the boxes.

"I'm supposed to give those out, miss."

"...'Scool. Self service is the way of the future."

"Don't you... You know, want a Pokemon?"

"Oh, I brought my own."

Malie grabbed her bag and pulled upwards, revealing the Slakoth-themed backpack to be an actual, living Slakoth clinging to a regular bag. Of course, it moved so little you could hardly tell it apart from a stuffed toy.

Professor Sumac pinched his nose, sighed, and made a shooing motion towards the exit.

"Just- just pick a door, okay?"

"Cool."

Malie opened the door to Room 1, tripped on the threshold, and fell facefirst into the shag carpeting. She should probably have gotten up right away, but it was just so soft... Without a greeting or even acknowledgement of others in the same room, Malie and her pokemon quietly fell asleep.