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Happenings Between Goals	By : GreatMasterM Category: Pokemon > General Views: 1718 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The Pokemon franchise isn't mine. The whole thing belongs to Gamefreak, The OC human characters are mine, though, so no stealing. Any resemblance to real people, live or not, is coincidental. I make no profit from this.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Author's Notes: New story, which justifies a long A/N! This is technically my second attempt at writing fanfiction, though my other story, WCFSZPFF, the Yu-Gi-Oh! section, was more of a parody, so this is my first serious attempt at fanfic. This will be a somewhat typical trainer fic. Like all Pokemon fanfics, there are new rules to observe when reading this. 1. I can use whatever path I want (i.e. not going the same path the player did in the games), whatever character I want (i.e. I mixed gym leaders from all 5 main regions in here and the order they come in), whatever Pokemon I want (i.e. I'm not limiting myself to only Pokemon that appeared in, say, Diamond and Pearl). 2. I can explain away things however I want. There's a bunch more rules and in-universe facts. I'll slowly reveal these through Fun Facts at the beginning of every chapter. Update schedule is currently 1 chapter per month (I don't have many chapters done). Filler stuff may come in-between. Another person will be making art for the story. Her update schedule is probably "TBA Never," but you can still check her stuff out at http://littlebuster-k2.deviantart.com/. So far, there is a (spoiler alert!) group photo pic. Please show some love for this and prove that not every Pokemon story has to deal with sexing them up! Enjoy!

Happenings Between Goals

Chapter 1: To New Lands

                I started my journey in the fall. I had just graduated high school during the spring and spent my summer relaxing, saying my goodbyes, and preparing. Everybody was going their separate ways. Many of the kids my age would be going on similar journeys, but were starting off at other destinations. Others were staying near the area and taking local jobs. Some weren’t even going to be trainers at all.

                It was my high exam scores and copious amounts of volunteerism with the local shelter that allowed me the opportunity to board a plane and fly thousands of miles away from my home, overseas, and to Sinnoh. It was well known that the region was a lot harsher and more competitive about its trainer program and especially the gym challenge. The reasoning, from what I understand, is that by constantly pushing trainers to their limits, even the beginners (especially the beginners; better to start early than late), it will, in turn, produce powerful trainers that can defend the land wherever they go, and incidents like the Team Rocket Takeover at both Saffron City and Goldenrod City won’t happen again. Since it was such a steep incline in difficulty (unlike the “easy mode” Johto is), only burgeoning trainers who meet the Pokémon League: Sinnoh Branch’s strict requirements are allowed to participate in the gym challenge. Such requirements include exceptionally high exam scores and an extensive background in caring for more than three different types of Pokémon.

                It was rather unfortunate, but my hometown didn’t have any starting Pokémon to give to us beginners. Mom said it was because of recent budget cuts. The traditional starting Pokémon are specifically bred to be easy for beginning trainers to handle and are often times quite rare outside of captivity. Since they’re so prized, the costs for importing some to a town for beginning trainers can be high. There’s also the rumor I once heard that the starters don’t take to breeding with much enthusiasm. They’re like Spinda; they just seem to want to not-breed themselves out of existence. No matter what the reason was, none of us got any Pokémon to practice with or to protect us with. We were assured that wherever we go, there would be suitable Pokémon for us there.

               As the plane touched down in Veilstone City, I wondered what my starting Pokémon would be. Would it be a grass, fire, or water type? Again, I had heard rumors that some places, due to stock shortage, would give out Pokémon not belonging to one of the three traditional types. Someone even said something about a small town giving out an electric type, the irony being that the closest gym used ground Pokémon.

                ‘A fire type wouldn’t be so bad,’ I thought, departing the plane and walking down the terminal. ‘Fire types are supposed to be rare up here due to the high latitude and cold climate.’

                After I had gathered my belongings, I stepped out into the city and took it all in. The entire city had a bowl shape to it, being surrounded by mountains on virtually all sides besides the north. I think my History teacher said something about it all being carved out of rock over millennia of water erosion, or something like that. This in no way stopped the wind from constantly blowing in my face. Most of the buildings were perched on stony hills, giving everything a “bumpy” look to it, and seemed to be scattered every which way, as if all the buildings were built at random and not by a city planner. I wagered that the purpose of placing the buildings on hills was to prevent flooding damage. I wondered how often this place gets flooding.

                The people in the city were hustling and bustling, busily and quickly walking to their destinations on the cobblestone roads. They talked amicably to their friends about this and that. A group of young women, probably in their early 20s, walked by, chatting loudly about someone they knew, laughed, and headed into a large building with various sales deals signs posted on the windows. Knowing the girls back home who went to a big city, this was probably the famed Veilstone Department Store. Being a guy, I was more interested in trying out the Game Corner that I had read about in the brochure on the plane ride over. I heard that powerful items are the rewards for a huge payday at the slots. Unfortunately, thanks to some militant, anti-Pokémon abuse group, all the Game Corners had to stop giving away free Pokémon as top prizes. According to the news, one such Game Corner had to stop giving away freaking Dratinis! How cool would I be if I hit the jackpot and walk out of this town with my starter and a freaking Dratini?! Those heartless monsters! Now I don’t feel like going to the Game Corner as much as I did a few minutes ago.

                Turning my souring face away from the thoughts of complete ownage, I saw a truck carrying some kind of storage house on its back. Was someone moving here? Did they get flooding insurance? As I walked down the street, I saw a lady (probably pompous) walking her Lillipup, a pink-dyed Furret wrapped around her neck. Who would dye their pet something like that? Isn’t that illegal? Passing her, I saw some people setting up for some sort of presentation while the cry of a large bird Pokémon sounded above.

                On the far side of the city, overlooking everything else in the city, stood a large, menacing building with two satellites out front and what appeared to be spikes running down the side of the building. The satellites didn’t seem to be working though, and no one was entering or leaving the building either. Squinting my eyes, I thought I could see a sign in front of the satellites with the name of the building on it, but if it was electronic, it wasn’t turned on either. The whole place seemed to be abandoned. With spikes running down its sides, that’s a good thing.

                Stopping on a street corner, I dug a note out of one of my bags. It was something the dean of students had given us on graduation day. It told us where to go, if we wound up in a major or semi-major city, to get a starting Pokémon. Unfortunately for me, the designated area for Veilstone was on the other side of the city, probably a good hour’s walk from where I was at. I suddenly wished this place had subways.

                I breathed a heavy sigh and continued my epic Pokémon journey to cross a city unmolested to get a Pokémon to remain unmolested. I didn’t want to waste what little money I had for a cab, so I resigned to my fate of a long walk.

                ‘Even if a wild Pokémon were to jump out at me from behind a dark alley, I don’t have any Poké Balls to catch them with,’ I bemoaned to myself, making note of the Poké Center that I was passing by.

                After walking for five minutes, I finally reached a bus stop and waited there until a bus came. As luck would have it, the bus was going towards the registration building. I flashed my newly minted trainer identification card (allowing for free passage; thanks Congress!) and took a seat. I was glad I managed to catch the bus when it finally stopped a block away from the registration building twenty minutes later. Who knows how long it would’ve taken me to walk there myself?

                ‘Complaining about a twenty minute walk when you’re about to go on a region-spanning journey. Yep, great way to start. Totally not regretting my life decision at all,’ I thought, stepping off the bus and making my way towards the building.

                It wasn’t a hard building to find. The royal purple sides would tip anyone off. A trainer stepped outside the building holding what was probably his first Pokémon, a Stunky. That poor man. At least he seemed happy about his predicament. Better a bad Pokémon than none at all, I suppose. This didn’t stop me from giving him a strange look as he passed me, though I don’t think he noticed. I walked into the building, hoping for the best.

                Inside, it was buzzing with trainers new and old, Pokémon, and administrators. I couldn’t help but to get excited all over again, as many of the Pokémon I saw I had never seen before. Any region professor will tell you that new species are being discovered all the time, so even though we saw and read about a lot of species in class, we couldn’t possibly cover every species known. It was this reason why the Pokédex was invented and subsequently given out to promising trainers across the globe. With so many people around the world using the device to record data on never-before-seen Pokémon, it eases the load on the scientific community and speeds up the discovery process simultaneously.

                I had to stand in line in order to get my Pokémon, which was already quite long. This was probably partially my fault for starting my journey in the fall (like everyone else does) and not sooner. However, since this region is rather selective, I was willing to bet that however long my line is, the people from my school were standing in much, MUCH longer lines right now. By the time I finally got to the front of the line, the administrator looked absolutely exhausted. I would be too, if I had to work the busy shift during the rush season.

                “Trainer ID card and a second form of ID, please,” she said, none too pleasantly.

                I handed her my ID card and a copy of my birth certificate. She read them both over and turned to the computer next to her. She started typing information in. After a few minutes, she handed me back my materials. I thanked her but she didn’t respond, still typing away at the computer.

                “Your Trainer ID card has now been validated. You can use it to gain free access to city buses, any accredited Pokémon Center in the Sinnoh region, along with the Poké Marts inside, challenge any accredited gym leaders within the region, participate in any of the contests held within the region, challenge the region’s Elite Four and Champion if you meet the requirements, and gain trainer discounts on various merchandise throughout the region. In addition, when battling other trainers, you set your Pokédex to “Battle” and once your battle is through, you swipe your ID card through the side slot in the opponent’s Pokédex for each Pokédex to register the battle and handle the prize money accordingly. The Pokédex will keep automatic check on the status of each of your Pokémon inside their Poké Balls, so it will know who wins and who loses. Please keep your trainer card on you at all times. The cost of replacing a lost or stolen trainer card is $150, so please keep that in mind. Please remember that all privileges that come with owning a trainer card are valid only in Sinnoh. If you plan on traveling or battling outside the region, you must apply for a new trainer card before traveling,” she recited.

                She HAD to have reciting all of that. She probably said it enough times a day, every day, for who knows how long, and she said it all flawlessly and without pause. She didn’t look up at me once until she was done with her speech, making sure I understood everything she said.

                “Do you have any questions?” she asked.

                I shook my head no.

                “Good. Then the only thing left to do is to choose your starting Pokémon and register it with your Pokédex.”

                She reached for something underneath the desk while I fished out the Pokédex I was handed during the graduation ceremony. It was already loaded with all the essential information a trainer could want (as of this past summer). The lady pulled up a chart with three different Pokémon on them, along with various information about them.

                “These are the three Pokémon that you can choose from,” she said, handing me the chart. I must’ve looked confused, as she continued. “Please go over to the waiting area and read everything carefully,” she said, pointing to another part of the room. “Once you have made your decision, please go up to the Pokémon counter and inform the teller of your choice. Thank you and good luck on your journey.”

                She sure didn’t sound like she was wishing me good luck, and the look she gave me indicated that she no longer wanted my presence, so I walked to the waiting area. There, I could see other trainers mulling over the three possibilities. I sat down and looked over the graph.

                The three Pokémon I could choose from were Ditto, Tynamo, and Beldum. I had heard of Ditto before. That was a well-known Pokémon in any region. The ability to transform into any Pokémon is a unique ability and could definitely come in handy, but I just couldn’t see myself training one. By itself, untransformed, it’s rather boring. Furthermore, it can only learn one move. Also, to be a competent Ditto trainer, you have to know what moves your opponent’s Pokémon have, which means you have to know a very wide range of Pokémon and their movesets before jumping into any battle. That’s just too much trouble for me. Plus, I don’t like its face.

                The other two Pokémon I haven’t heard of before. I entered “Tynamo” into my Pokédex and up came the specie’s entry page. It was an electric type that levitates off the ground, allowing it to live out of the water, despite looking like a Barboach. An electric type that levitates would mean that it has no real weaknesses, a real plus in my book. According to the graph, however, Tynamo can only learn four different moves. No known Tynamo has been observed using any other move other than those four, and the four moves aren’t that powerful either. It has also been observed that Tynamo is incompatible with any Technical or Hidden Machines, though the reason why is still a mystery. To make up for its weaknesses, it has the aforementioned lack of type weakness and, at a late level, evolve into a much more powerful form, which in turn is capable of evolving into an even more powerful form after that through the use of a Thunder Stone, meaning a quick double evolution if I have one handy at the moment of first evolution. So basically it’s a case of weak now, strong later. I considered it while I looked at the entry for the third Pokémon.

                Beldum is a steel/psychic type Pokémon and is incapable of having its attack powers, defense powers, or its speed lowered by an enemy attack. Scientists have observed that its evolved forms can willingly lower their stats by their own attacks. Its typing grants it many resistances and an immunity to poison attacks; its only weaknesses are to ground and fire attacks. I know from watching battles on TV, however, that ground-based attacks are quite frequent in the high tier battling community. Beldum is quite strong for a base form Pokémon and evolves quicker than Tynamo. However, its biggest drawback is the fact that it can only know Take Down. That’s it. No in-bred moves. No TM or HM compatibility. Nothing it knows leveling up. Just Take Down. A move that hurts the user as well as the opponent. I could see many trips to the Poké Center and spending all my money on Potions for this guy. Oh wait, the Pokédex says it doesn’t have a defined gender. So it’s not a guy or girl at all. So much for the contest circuit. The graph says that both Beldum and Tynamo grow at about the same rate.

                I’d say I knew who I was going to choose immediately, but the truth is that I sat there for over half an hour debating over the two Pokémon. I would’ve debated longer had I not realized that if I didn’t make a decision soon, all of the Pokémon would be taken by less choosy trainers and I’d be stuck with a stupid Ditto. And so, I walked up to the Pokémon counter and got the teller’s attention.

                “Have you made your decision?” she asked.

                “Yes,” I replied. “I’ve decided to take Beldum.”

                “Okay. I’ll just need to see your trainer ID card and Pokédex, and I’ll take the graph back.”

                I handed them to her.

                “Thank you. I’ll be back in a minute.”

                She left to go get my Pokémon and do some more paperwork and registering. A few minutes later, she returned with four Poké Balls, my Pokédex, and my trainer ID card.

                “Here’s your Pokédex and ID card back. This Poké Ball,” she said, holding up one of the four balls, “contains your Beldum. It’s already been registered in your Pokédex. These other three Poké Balls are extras to help you get started on your journey. Remember, you must register each of your Poké Balls after you catch a Pokémon to your Pokédex in order for it to register your Pokémon, analyze its stats, and update your listings of caught Pokémon. If you do not, your Pokédex won’t acknowledge your new Pokémon and the caught Pokémon will be a free-for-all for anyone with a Pokédex to keep as their own.”

                I nodded my understanding and pressed the button in the middle of the Poké Ball, extending its size. I tossed it to the ground, whereupon it opened and materialized my first Pokémon. Upon seeing it for the first time, my eyes immediately widened.

                “No way! My starter’s a shiny Pokémon?!” I yelled.

                Everybody looked my way. Some started snickering immediately. What?

                “Um…no it’s not,” replied the teller, looking over my shoulder at my hovering, metallic blue, shiny Beldum.

                “Yes it is! The graph showed a Beldum as being grey in color. It also showed Ditto as being pink, and I know shiny Dittos aren’t pink, so this has to be a shiny Pokémon.”

                “Dear, those graphs are over twenty-five years old. The colors have all faded over time. The picture only looks like Beldums are grey. Dittos, likewise, are a much sharper hue of pink than what’s shown in the picture. And if nothing else, if your Beldum was shiny, its rear claws would be golden, not silver.”

                Indeed, my Beldum was blue and silver and, just to make sure, I consulted with my Pokédex, which showed a picture of a regular Beldum which was, yep, blue and silver. I instantly turned every shade of red, included some which weren’t invented yet, and wished I had a really cool baseball cap to hide my face under.

                “Oh. Sorry,” I said, meekly.

                Beldum floated up to my face and stared at me. It was completely silent.

                “At least you’re not laughing at me, huh, Beldum?”

                It didn’t reply verbally, but I got the sense that it was agreeing with me. Picking up its Poké Ball, I thanked the teller, who also wished me good luck on my journey (she seemed to mean it more than the administrator), and made my way to the door.

                “Sir! Wait!”

                I stopped and turned around. The teller was running up to me.

                “I’m sorry, sir, but in all the commotion you caused talking about your 'shiny' Pokémon, I forgot to mention something important. Scientists don’t know why, but for some reason, the Pokémon in this region seem to get more powerful the further east you go. As you can gather, we’re pretty far east right now, so there’s a good chance that you’d be completely overwhelmed by the wild Pokémon outside of the city. As such, it would be a good idea to catch one of the trains here at the train station and go to Canalave City to begin your journey. The wild Pokémon there will be much easier to handle. I’m sorry again for not mentioning this back at the counter.”

                “That’s okay. I’m sorry I made such a spectacle.”

                She forgave me, wished me luck again, and headed back to the counter. Beldum and I looked at each other, and we finally stepped out of the registration building.

                The sun was at its high point in the sky and the temperature was starting to warm up a bit. Still not enough to shrug off this jacket, but better than this morning. I took out the town map from one of my bags and located the train station. I sighed again. It’s like they purposely built this place to be as time-consuming to me as possible! The station was on the other side of town, towards the western mountains, a little more than a few miles from where the airport was. I guess I should find that bus stop again.

                “Come on, Beldum. I don’t know how much of the world you’ve seen already, but you’re about to see even more of it.”

                Beldum looked at me but again didn’t say anything. I was starting to think that maybe Beldums simply don’t make a sound. We got to the bus stop, waited for a bus to arrive, and rode it ‘til we got back to the same stop I had been to earlier today. Stepping off the bus, I noticed that a crowd was forming near what I guessed was the town center. On top of the makeshift stage, I noticed that the people standing there were the same ones that were setting up for a presentation earlier. They were all dressed identically, looking a bit like a cross between a Drifblim and a chef’s outfit. They surrounded an older man, dressed more bizarrely than they were. He wore a purple and yellow robe, the two colors mostly separated from one another down the middle, with two eye-like patterns across the front, a weird formation at the top that looked like castle battlements, a red monocle on his right eye, and an odd hair style. I walked up to the crowd just as this strange fashion disaster started speaking with a booming, bass, commanding voice.

                “I thank you for your time. My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation. I'm sure most of you believe that we humans and Pokémon are partners that have come to live together because we want and need each other. However, is that really the truth? Have you ever considered that perhaps we humans only assume that this is the truth? Pokémon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers. They get pushed around when they are our ‘partners’ at work. Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying? Now, ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon are different from humans. They are living beings that contain unknown potential. They are living beings from whom we humans have much to learn. Tell me, what is our responsibility toward these wonderful beings called Pokémon?”

                The people around me started whispering to one another.

                "That's right! We must liberate the Pokémon! Then, and only then, will humans and Pokémon truly be equals. Everyone, I end my words here today by imploring you to consider the relationship between people and Pokémon, and the correct way to proceed. We sincerely appreciate your attention."

                And at that, the people beside him gathered around him and whisked him away, some staying behind to deconstruct the set. Apparently he didn’t want to answer anyone’s questions. Not a very good way to reach out to people. Everyone around me was abuzz. People were yelling at each other as to whether the speaker was right or not. I heard the sounds of Poké Balls opening. Don’t tell me that people were actually releasing their Pokémon? After just one talk? Did they have that big of an epiphany? Sure enough, a Staravia was soon flying over the crowd and off into the distance. I looked at my Beldum, who looked back at me.

                “I spent the better part of my whole life waiting for this day, waiting to meet you. Why would I want to go and throw that all away now? Besides, only true monsters would subject their Pokémon to selfish commands and see them as just tools.”

                I don’t know why, but I could tell that Beldum seemed quite pleased with my answer, even though it didn’t have a face.

                “Are you having your last words with your Pokémon?” someone asked.

                I looked around and saw a young man walk up to me. He looked to be slightly older than I was with long, green hair, a trucker hat, a cube of some sort on a keychain attached to his pants and an atomic symbol attached to a necklace that he wore. He wore a black shirt with a white, button down shirt over it, khakis, and, strangely enough, green shoes.

                “Excuse me?” I asked, slightly offended.

                “I’m sorry if I’m intruding on a private moment. What Ghetsis said a minute ago really struck a chord with these people. I myself am a Trainer and I was absolutely inspired by his message. Humans capture these magnificent creatures and force them to do menial tasks that are far beneath their potential and if that isn’t enough they also force them to fight for their lives solely for the entertainment of humans. It’s disgusting. I, for one, am friends with my Pokémon and treat them with the kindness and respect they deserve and value them as my true friends. Pokémon aren’t mean and deceptive like humans are.”

                He said all this as if he was in a rush. I’ve never heard someone talk so much in so little time. His attention suddenly came to Beldum.

                “Oh? What’s that?”

                “It’s a Beldum,” I replied, wishing he would go away.

                “I wasn’t talking to you! Your Beldum was saying something to me.”

                At this point, I felt like I should just return Beldum to his Poké Ball and run as far in the opposite direction as possible. These are the kinds of people you meet in that same dark alleyway I mentioned earlier.

                “Your Beldum is quite intelligent, but I fear it’s mistaken in its belief that not all humans are evil.”

                “It doesn’t have a mouth! It can’t even say its own name!” I countered, exasperated.

                This man looked back to me.

                “You can’t hear them either, can you? What a pity. Still,” he said, reaching for something behind him. “I’ve heard that a Pokémon’s true voice can be heard in the heat of battle!”

                He brought out a Poké Ball. Now? I’m having my first battle now? Here?

                “I’m sorry, for both of our Pokémon, but I must hear the true voice of your Beldum!”

                He threw his Poké Ball towards me and out popped a purple feline I recognized as a Purrloin. People around us stopped talking and started looking at us instead. All eyes on me (and this nut job). I suddenly forgot everything I knew about Pokémon battling.

                “Annerire, use Scratch!” he commanded.

                The Purrloin ran towards Beldum and leaped for it, claws extended. In the blink of an eye, it scratched Beldum right across the eye and the side of its head. It was then that I heard a faint, but sharp screeching noise. It was Beldum. It was hurt. My Beldum. My Beldum! That was all it took to snap me back to my senses.

                “Beldum, Take Down!”

                The air behind Beldum suddenly looked wavy and it shot very quickly towards the Purrloin, who had just landed on the ground.

                “Jump on top of it to dodge!” ordered the man, and it did just that.

                “Circle around and hit it while it’s in the air! Use your momentum to increase speed!”

                Beldum whizzed past the man and curved upwards, doing almost a complete 360 degrees before landing harshly on top of the still airborne Purrloin. It cried out in pain as it was flung to the ground at harsh speeds. Unfortunately, Beldum had hit the ground as well and tumbled back towards me, no longer floating.

                Everyone stood silent, watching the two Pokémon. Slowly, Beldum started lifting itself above ground again, although just barely.

                “Annerire…” the man whispered, and then ran towards his fallen Pokémon. He knelt down to it and gingerly picked it up.

                “You did just fine. Good job,” he cooed to his feline. “You win. Your Beldum had many interesting words to say during the battle, despite how short it was.”

                He stuck out his hand.

                “My name is Natural Harmonia Gropius, but you can just call me N.”

                Though I probably shouldn’t have, I grabbed his hand and pulled him up, with him shaking my hand in return. He at least seemed to be naturally concerned with his Pokémon’s well-being, despite being a crazy lunatic.

                “Mine’s Eric. Sorry, but that’s all you get for now.”

                He smiled.

                “For now, huh? Someday I hope to meet you again and maybe by then I’ll have proved myself worthy of knowing your last name.”

                Okay, this guy was starting to get really creepy again.

                “Uh…sure.”

                “I have to get going now. Even though I learned something new today, it still doesn’t change my ideals. I have to change this world for Pokémon, because they are my friends. I hope that in some way you can help me with that goal. Bye!”

                And without another word, he spun around and walked away, leaving me stunned. The people around me started talking again, though now they were occasionally looking at me and pointing. I looked at Beldum, who looked worse for wear.

                “Looks like it’s time for you to take a little rest,” I said, as I returned him to his Poké Ball.

                I decided then that the next course of action was to go to the Poké Center and heal it up. As I made my way to the center, a woman stopped me.

                “How dare you! After that man had just got done talking about using Pokémon for trainers’ selfish reasons, you go ahead and have a Pokémon battle! Right here in the town center for all to see! You should be ashamed of yourself!”

                The people around her nodded in agreement.

                “Lady, I wasn’t the one who initiated that battle! That other man did! I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, either! Maybe if you had paid more attention, you would’ve noticed his Purrloin attacking my Beldum before either of us had a chance to react. And all that’s beside the point! If you honestly believe that all humans treat Pokémon like animals, like tools, that we’re all heartless beings, then maybe you should do some self-reflection, because I’m pretty sure you’ve had Pokémon in your life before and they haven’t come out of it for the worse. Everyone here has had Pokémon in their life and guess what? There hasn’t been a Pokémon revolution yet! If things were truly as you and that robed man say they are, people and Pokémon wouldn’t be living in such harmony as they are right now!”

                The lady was taken aback and I used the opportunity to storm past her and towards the Poké Center. The nerve of some people! How can they be so easily swayed? Can they not think for themselves? Do they need a charismatic figurehead to tell them what to think? I think this is why trainers are constantly out in the wild and away from people.

~~~

                At the Center, I handed Beldum’s Poké Ball to one of the nurses.

                “Just this one?” she asked.

                “Yep. Got into its first fight today. Took some heavy damage.”

                “I bet. It’s not until you’re in the big leagues that you can win a battle without taking any damage. Since this is apparently your first time here, I’ll explain how the system works. You give one of us nurses your Pokémon, preferably inside their Poké Balls, and take a number. Then you go and wait in the waiting area until your number is called. There are computers in the waiting area where you can go online and check your emails and also transfer Pokémon from a stored location to here and vice versa. I’m sure you know that you are only allowed six Pokémon on you at a time. I see that you've brought plenty of bags with you for your journey. If you'd like, we can also use the computer transfer system to digitize, store, and transfer your nonorganic items from one Center to another."

                "That'd be really great, please. It's a pain dragging a house with me from one location to the next."

                "Okay. Go through your belongings and figure out what you want to take with you personally and what you'd like to transfer, and to where. As you're doing that, I'll explain more about the Center's functions. Over by the front doors is the Poké Mart, where you can shop for supplies. Behind the elevators are vending machines for snacks and drinks. At roughly 9am, 1pm, and 7pm, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served to trainers and their Pokémon, though don’t expect anything fancy. All Poké Centers are open 24/7, though most of our services are closed for the night at midnight. You can stay the night at any Poké Center if there is room. If we’re all full for the night, the staff can direct you to other places within the city for a place to stay the night. If, in extreme cases, every place is full, then trainers are welcomed to stay here for the night, but will have to sleep on the floor. We will provide sleeping bags in those cases until we run out, so it’s best advised to bring your own. Do you have any questions?”

                “No, ma’am.”

                “Ok then. If you've decided on which belongings to store, I'll take those, and I’ll also take your Pokémon into the back. Be sure to take a number.”

                I gave her my name so that she could make a storage account for me, handed over Beldum's Poké Ball, and walked to the waiting area. I only had a Pokémon for less than an hour and I’m already without any once again. This blows.

~~~

                I spent an entire hour looking through old Pokémon magazines before my number was finally called. About time. I walked up to the front counter and talked to the nurse. She handed me back my ball, thanked me for waiting, and wished me well on my journey. I let Beldum out of the ball, mostly to make sure it was my Beldum and that it was alright. Beldum looked to be in much better condition and hovered up to my face. I smiled and, for some reason, stroked the top of its head.

                “Come on. Let’s go to the Poké Mart and buy some supplies.”

                After we had bought a couple Potions and a Paralyze Heal (I remember going to a Poké Mart once where I found a foreign-made can of Paralyze Heal that was hilariously labeled “Parlyz Heal”), we exited the Center and headed to the train station.
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Happenings Between Goals