Painful Beginnings

"Painful Beginnings" is the first episode of Tears of the Fallen.

Synopsis
This episode picks up where the Backstory left off.

The episode starts with a quote, which will end up being shown periodically throughout the series. It goes, "For when great immorality grimly begins dominating, fallen people shall rise from darkness forever; good prevails eternally".

Lysandre is seen at the Tekiyoku Headquarters in Celestic Town, Sinnoh, giving a briefing of the mission of the Tekiyoku, as the day the Plates stop being dormant is two weeks away.

It's July 12th. Ash and his Pikachu arrive in Jubilife City, Sinnoh per Alain's request in his e-mail. Ash has arranged to stay in this city in the room of his Kanto friends, Gary and Tracey, in PokéLife Apartments. Checking his e-mail, he has a place to meet Alain to speak.

Meanwhile, at the back of Sinnoh Academy, Dawn is being bullied by Misty, Iris, and Ursula. They demand money from Dawn to help them pay their Tekiyoku taxes. She usually has this money, but her mom lost one of her two jobs recently and she says it's tougher to keep up financially. Those three are not sympathetic and beat her up badly to the point where Dawn loses conciousness.

Ash meets up with Gary and Tracey, whom he hasn't seen in years, since he didn't attend an academy at all. They're okay with Ash staying with them for the week. Gary and Tracey are only in these apartments because this is the city where Sinnoh Academy is and most students stay here during the school year. School recenlty let out for the summer and they'll move back to Kanto soon, since they just graduated after their final year.

Before Ash meets Alain, he and Pikachu go to Sinnoh Academy to check it out. He hears crying. He goes around the back and sees Dawn sitting by herself, sobbing. He asks who she is; Dawn is pretty shy and hesitant to say much. She doesn't mention the beating, but Ash befriends her anyway and helps to walk her home, which makes her happy, saying that no one is this nice to her. They get to know each other a bit more. Dawn reveals she is actually from Twinleaf Town, but moved to Jubilife City with her mother when Dawn started attending Sinnoh Academy. As they get home (her mother is at work), Dawn asks Ash if she'll see him again, and he promises to see her again soon.

Ash finally meets Alain, who is very crass, fussing over how late Ash is. Alain gives him a rundown of what they're supposed to do, pointing out that Arceus wanted Ash to travel with him particularly. Alain says they will help to find Arceus's Plates to stop the Tekiyoku, mentioning that he used to be with the Tekiyoku, but betrayed them and escaped.

Ash then takes Alain to meet his new friend, Dawn. She's very nervous when seeing Ash is not alone, and Alain immediately hates her. She nervously asks if she and Ash can hang out another time, on their own. Ash agrees, saying he'll see her tomorrow for sure. Upon leaving, Alain tells Ash he'll start martial arts training the next morning, telling him to meet up with Alain, who has his own room at PokéLife Apartments, in the morning. Ash stays with Gary and Tracey for the night. Meanwhile, Dawn is smiling and happy to have her first friend, referring to Ash.

At the end of the episode, as nighttime hits, Dawn, whose mom is still at work, is visited by Annie and Oakley of the Tekiyoku. They point out that Dawn and her mom are behind on their Tekiyoku taxes. Oakley pulls out a knife and licks the blade, saying they want their money.

Debuts
(Not necessarily in order)
 * Ash Ketchum (and his Pikachu)
 * Alain Takahata
 * Dawn Toyoguchi
 * Lysandre Tezuka
 * Giovanni Suzuoki
 * Cyrus Miyake
 * Maxie Thompson
 * Colress Tsuruoka
 * Tupp Pane'e
 * Misty Iizuka
 * Iris Yabusaki
 * Ursula McCarthy
 * Gary Oak
 * Tracey Sketchit
 * Annie Nakasone
 * Oakley Nakasone

Trivia

 * Even though the Tears of the Fallen series title, along with the official image for this episode, replaces all A's in titles with "Δ", this episode title isn't actually stylized that way and isn't written that way in the episode itself. This didn't start until Episode 11.

Music

 * Tears of the Fallen Theme Song -- composed by Nocturnal Jay

Other Music By:

 * Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com)
 * Bensound
 * Purple Planet