First Try

I reached Viridian City by early afternoon. It turns out that when distracted by more important things (such as an upcoming outing with a former contest champion), a person can absolutely hike on zero hours of sleep.Did I hike well?Absolutely not.I fully went into autopilot mode and missed out on the sights for most of Route One. This resulted in several unfortunate falls into potholes, two separate occasions of straying off the path, and a single face plant into a well-positioned tree.Needless to say, the silver tops of the buildings of Viridian City were like reaching the pearly gates. One bright red domed roof stood out from the others, conveniently located on the south side of town.Oh, thank the legendaries. I let out an audible sigh of relief.The Pokemon Center, the League's free sanctuary for wandering trainers and battling competitors. As long as you were registered for the season, you had access to the latest medical care, healthy food for both humans and Pokemon, and most importantly: comfortable lodging.As mentioned before, the identifier for the Pokemon Center in any given town was the iconic bright red dome, stamped with a large white 'P'. As I walked off the path from Route One, it was only a matter of crossing the street to reach my home base while in Viridian. The wide windowed doors slide open upon my approach, letting a wave of cool air-conditioned wind wash over me.I made my way in, passing by an open lounging area, and walked up to the front desk. Behind it was another immediately recognizable staple of Pokemon training: Nurse Joy.The medical professional was one of a huge family of nurses, doctors, researchers, and caretakers that had installed themselves as a pillar of Pokemon society. Their iconic pink hair always stood out from the crowd and let everyone around them know that they were on the scene.As I approached, Viridian City's Nurse Joy looked up with a smile. "Hello there!" She said in a cheerful voice. "Can I help you with anything today?"Her voice was pleasant and soothing, and I immediately felt a wave of drowsiness wash over me. Two days of hiking with no sleep was really taking its toll."Yeah, hi," I rasped, "I'm Derek Tracy. I was hoping that I could register for a room for the next few days?""Yes, absolutely," Nurse Joy offered a hand out, "may I please see your trainer card? We can get you checked in immediately, and then it's up to you to check out when you're ready to leave."I fished the card out of my pocket and handed it over. I felt my hand hesitate as it passed Artis' ball on my waist. "I also have a new Pokemon," I added, "we haven't done anything too rough in the last couple of days, but I was wondering if you could look him over?"As Nurse Joy finished scanning my card, she said, "Of course, we're always happy to see to a Pokemon's care. You can leave him in that tray there, and I'll make sure you've made aware when he's ready to be picked up.""Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!"I know we've only trained a bit, but I want to be really careful with such a young starter.These developmental months were some of the most important in a Pokemon's life. I would need to stop by the computer lab at some point to do some research on the best diet and exercise that I could do for Artis."Alright," Nurse Joy said as her computer beeped, "Mr. Tracy, you're going to be in room C-12. Your trainer card will act as the room key, and you're free to enjoy any of the facilities here at the Viridian Pokemon Center." She leaned in to say the rest quietly, "though there will always be time for that after a good rest."I flashed her a grateful smile and took back my trainer card. I must really look like garbage if Nurse Joy is commenting on it. I chuckled.Room C-12 was on the third floor of the Center, and thankfully the building had working and clean elevators. I didn't even take in the details of my room before stumbling through the doors and collapsing onto the bed.My first sleep since becoming a Pokemon Trainer was heavenly.I woke up later to a dull thumping on the door of my room. My mouth was dry and cottony, and my eyes felt crusty.Other than that, I felt positively refreshed. I slid out of bed, remembering that I had fallen asleep fully clothed. The light coming through my blinds told me it was barely nighttime, and my PokeNav+ let me know that I'd only been asleep for four or five hours.I waddled over to the door, still sore from my first real trek on a trainer route. I clicked open the door, and was surprised to not find another person looking back at me.Instead, a bright pink Pokemon, about a meter and a half tall and shaped like an egg, stared back at me.Blissey. I thought, vaguely recognizing one of several Pokemon that Nurse Joys around the world were known for raising. Hard to get for many trainers, as the Joy family had a near monopoly on Happiny breeding.This Blissey was wearing a small nurse's hat with a red cross on the front as well as a white apron. She reached into the front pocket and brought out a red Pokeball with a blue water-droplet sticker on the front: Artis' ball."Blissey!" She chimed, saying her own name in a musical note.Ah, he must be done with his check-up."Thank you, Blissey," I said, taking his ball, "I really appreciate you bringing him all the way up to me."The pink Pokemon gave a wide smile and sang, "Blissey!" She waved one of her small wing-like arms and pranced down the hall.I closed the door and placed Artis down on the desk, giving the room its first proper once over. There was a small bed, the blankets still warped around the depression I'd left from my nap, a chest of drawers, a desk, and a small bathroom.Not bad, not bad at all. I thought. If the accommodations are this good at every Pokecenter, I'm gonna be one happy camper.I took a quick shower and got dressed into one of my nicer outfits. My hiking clothes were definitely going to need a wash before I was going anywhere near them again. I slipped on a blue button-up and a light pair of pants, then headed down to the cafeteria.The facility was smaller than I'd expected, with enough tables and chairs to fit maybe fifty trainers trying to eat at any given time. Even this small, though, it looked huge with how sparsely populated it was. There was only one other group of trainers seated at any of the tables.I glanced at my PokeNav+. 7:27, that's not very late at all. Where the heck is everybody else?I walked by the food counters, all self-serve, and grabbed a few overly-warm chicken strips and a pre-packaged salad. I walked my tray over to the group of trainers that sat at the edge of the hall."Excuse me," I said, a little anxiety bubbling in my chest as I talked to strangers, "I was wondering if I could join you all for dinner? I just hiked in today and was hoping that maybe some other trainers could fill me in on where everyone else was?"The trainers were a group of three people, all a very eclectic sort, and they all had a very different aesthetic. Two of them immediately deferred to the middle of the group, a femme presenting trainer wearing a light green blouse and red skirt, with long brown hair and green eyes. They wore a yellow bow in their hair.The one to their immediate left had spiky black hair with a strip of white running through it and wore a loud red tracksuit. They were easily the tallest of the group, and definitely the most physically built.The third member of their group was willowy and small, not at all filling out the oversized purple sweater that draped off of them. They also wore an equally oversize knit cap with a fluffy red ball on the end.The green-bloused trainer glanced at the other two trainers before answering. "Yeah, sure," they said, giving an unsure smile, "we'd love to have some company.""Thanks," I said, sitting down beside the one wearing the tracksuit. "I'm Derek Tracy, by the way.""Nice to meetcha," they said, "I'm Hana Kaneal, and I use she/her pronouns.""Ah," I gave a smile. "Cool, he/him over here."The trainer in the purple sweater gave a small wave. "Amy Turaunt, she/they." Their voice was small, but they were surprisingly declarative.Following suit, the trainer in the tracksuit grunted, "Yuji Amano, he/him." He seemed friendly enough but was still glancing at Hana, taking cues and deferring to her.If Hana noticed she didn't mention it. "So Derek, you said you just got in today?""Yeah," I said, "I did Route One in about a day and a half, but I don't know much about the city itself. Or why the Pokecenter is so empty."I glanced around, and no other trainers could be seen walking around the cafeteria or in any of the nearby lounges."That's part of coming to Viridian so early in the season," Hana said, "given Viridian's reputation, almost no one else has shown up.""Oh, is this gym supposed to be pretty difficult?""Only the strongest!" Amy piped up, holding up two hands to show emphasis. Her hands were still covered by the purple sleeves, and it made their diminutive form seem even smaller. "Are you not from around here? Everybody knows that Giovanni's the toughest there is!""Nah, I'm from Hoenn." I admitted, "I decided to do my League challenge here, but I don't know a ton about the Kanto circuit.""That makes sense that you wouldn't know, then." Yuji half turned in his chair to face me. "Giovanni is widely considered to be one of, if not the, strongest member of our gym circuit.""And he's also known for being pretty ruthless," Hana added, "especially to new trainers.""That makes sense then," I said, "that means that only the strongest, bravest, or dumbest trainers would come here first. And I'm the dumb one, so that must make you guys strong or brave!"All three gave genuine laughs, and Amy flashed me a big grin. "Well, Yuji and me are the brave ones. Hana is definitely the strongest of us three."Hana didn't deny it, instead saying, "And that's why we're here. We wanted to challenge Giovanni first because there is no losing. If we lose, we were beaten by the strongest Gym Leader.""And if you win," I finished the thought, "you'd have beaten the stronger leader first.""That's the plan." Yuji gave a nod."That's a great plan!" I said. "You guys are definitely thousand IQ thinkers! I want in!'Hana gave me a confused glance. "What?""I want in!" I said again, "I'm a new trainer, and you guys seem to know your stuff. Let me train with you and take on Giovanni!"Amy laughed. "Derek, you're awesome!" She had tears welling up in her eyes from laughing. "You can't beat Giovanni as a new trainer!" Amy wiped her eyes with her long sleeves."Seriously though," Yuji warned, "Giovanni is an insane opponent. We've put days of studying his battles to come up with strategies that would work for our starters and spent our entire pre-season training to take him on. How long have you been a trainer?""What time is it?" I ask nonchalantly.Hana glanced at her watch, "Quarter to eight," She said."About thirty-two hours."Amy burst out laughing again, and Yuji gave an exasperated sigh, running his fingers through his black and white hair. It was only Hana that took my words fully at face value."You're really serious about this." She gave me a look, glancing me over.I very quickly realized why the other two deferred to her.She's the planner.Hana had been studying me since I had sat down at their table. Thinking back, she hadn't taken her eyes off of my face, analyzing my expressions, other than to look at the number of Pokeballs on my belt. Her stare was intense, but not intimidating.I met her gaze. "Yeah," I said, "I might be a funny guy, but I'm not here to mess around."I knew that Hana understood what I meant by that. I hadn't come to Kanto to slack off, and I was willing to put in the effort.Hana put both her hands on the table, interlacing her fingers. "Tell you what," she offered, "my gym challenge is tomorrow. Come to the Gym and watch the match. If you're still okay with going up against him, we'll let you train with us while we're in town."Both Yuji and Amy gave surprised looks at that, but neither looked reproachful. Instead, they both turned and waited for my answer."There's no way I'll cow after just watching somebody else battle," I said, feeling determination surge through my body. I was serious. "If anything, that's just gonna get me hyped up for my own battle!"Hana smiled and nodded, and Yuji and Amy both gave impressed looks. I'd definitely give the right answer.This Giovanni guy didn't know what was coming for him.