Pokemart

I entered the Pokemart excitedly.

'Finally, Nia is going to learn Agility. Cet always uses agility to dodge Nia's water guns when he gets her riled up with his no personal boundary and constant licking,' I thought shivering, remembering the amount of cajoling I had to do to Nia, on a particularly bad day, to get her back into training.

Nia, for her part never chased Cet after failing to catch him a few times, she tries to stand on the ground elegantly or my head to fire water guns- most likely imitating certain Swanna, resorting to use him as target practice. But her fluffy feathers make her appear rotund, turning her supposed elegant posture to cute silliness.

'Now she can chase after him firing water guns after using agility,' I thought eager to see if Nia could finally hit Cet. 

The flying manoeuvres I make them practice are totally different. Cet's routine is more concentrated on dodging with minimum movement, whereas Nia's routine is concentrated on short bursts of speed and keeping her distance.

With agility in her repertoire, Nia is going to be one fierce long-range damage dealer.

'TRs to win,' I thought sarcastically making my way towards the TM section, wincing at the price.

After buying the Agility TR and a luxury ball for Nia, I clenched my heart and bought a Double Team 'TM'.

'I have my plans for you my friend,' I thought looking at the Double Team TM and stashing it away and getting to the real reason I came to the Pokemart – games that improve mental acuity.

It was time for Cet and Nia to do some mental exercises along with their physical ones.

I roamed the mental activities section for a long time not finding anything I like. I read about the most common methods on the PokeNet, but most famous trainers along with Gym leaders suggest using something that you can see your Pokemon loving or that challenges your Pokemon in the right way. I had partial ideas on the games I was going to buy, but nothing present here was meeting my expectations.

'Cet doesn't like to be still, so something that involves moving for him. And for Nia… something that riles her up... I guess. I mean she always tries her hardest to hit Cet with her water guns and the move's growth is astonishing,' I thought rubbing my chin and turning around for another round of the mind games sections. 

I came across the clothes section too, but I postponed it thinking of buying some generic ones after buying the games.

The food section also had some cheap cooking ingredients, perfectly preserved for at least a month of use.

Just as I was going to roam around the game's sections for a third time, a mall employee greeted me.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" the woman asked smiling.

Just as I was about to shake my head, I halted.

"Actually! Are there any new games coming or these are the only ones you sell?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, yes for your latter query! But you can order for custom games for yourself," she said.

"Huh!" I didn't know about that.

"Generally custom games are better for your Pokemon. If you don't know to have any custom ideas, an expert will evaluate your Pokemon's personality and create a special one suited only for them," she said still smiling. Still, I could feel she was not too enthusiastic about it as my dress didn't exactly reflect a good financial situation.

I liked the idea.

Nodding I sat down on a nearby bench and thought about game designs that suit my Pokemon.

'My Pokemon Huh,' I thought sniggering sometimes my life here doesn't feel real at all.

Making up my mind, I enquired about the prices for custom games without the expert's input.

"Now the final price depends on many things, like place and time, delivery to certain places in the city is free and here are rates depending on which day you want and where you want them," the employee said passing me a sheet.

'Crazy white goat!' I exclaimed inwardly baffled by the prices.

I don't have enough money if I wanted my things delivered by tomorrow- the day I was leaving the city to travel to Pewter.

Using my whole math expertise, I decided on the time and place my remaining money was going to get me.

I won't be able to buy new clothes or any food at all as I was going all in, not wanting to delay my Pokemon's training, I was starting late already as the Pokemart from Joy's city didn't sell them and it's not like I had any money then.

' The winnings from the Gym made are a considerable part of my money right now,' I thought grimacing.

'Meh,' I thought deciding to buy them, totally ignoring the state of my clothes.

I was going to get my games after three days and I chose a small town near the Celadon as their drop location, as the town will be on the way to Pewter.

I made my way to the Pokemon Centre thinking about ways to earn money while enjoying the pleasant sunset.

Gon's POV

'I hope Father still doesn't hear about this,' I thought, trudging past our home's empty entrance towards my mother's room, hoping she would gently break my loss to Father.

I roamed around the town all day after my defeat not able to come to terms with my loss and most importantly afraid of my father's reaction.

I made my way towards my mom's office room, not noticing a pair of red eyes shining in my shadow.

I knocked and entered my mom's room, except it was not my mom's room.

My father was sitting in his favourite chair, facing the window, gazing out.

Before I could become surprised, a Gengar left my shadow and joined my father's, making me realise what just happened.

I kept staring at my father's back, opening, and closing my mouth, not knowing what to say.

"Defeated by a common Zubat," My father murmured in a dangerously low voice, making me wince.

"It's not a common Zubat, It's an elite's offspring," I tried to justify my defeat knowing my efforts were futile.

"Excuses!" My father bellowed.

"Tell me why did you lose? What you could have done differently?" he asked barely containing a growl of anger.

"I..I could have used Trick room, in the start and slowly whittled him down," I answered stammering.

"How will you counter his combo move-Sand screen?" he asked sounding slightly disappointed and menacing.

"I...," I couldn't answer.

He didn't turn around, but I could still feel disappointment oozing out of him, making me hang my head in shame.

"I told your mother after she convinced me and Grin to let you have his child, that you have to buy food and TM's for your Pokemon with your own money, but no she can't see her baby struggle and kept on giving you money behind my back," he said making me grimace.

"I am starting to think, you are truly stupid Gon, did you really think I wouldn't know what's happening with my kid," he asked.

"I thought you wouldn't say anything as I was using the money properly," I said finally gathering my courage.

"Properly Huh!" My father mocked.

"Now tell me son, how will you counter his combo move?" he repeated the same question.

"I am not asking you a difficult question son, what moves do you have at your disposal," he said gently for the first time this evening, maybe seeing that I was mortified.

"Lick, Hypnosis, Confuse Ray, Shadow Punch, Trick Room, Smog.." I rattled an impressive list of moves.

"Now tell me son, how do you think the Zubat notices the difference between a normal dust cloud and a poisonous cloud," he asked his voice calm giving me a bad feeling.

"It.. It can't at least not immediately," I said understanding his plan.

"If you had deigned to look into him, you would have known how to counter his combo, instead of getting blindsided by it," he said taking a deep breath.

"ARE YOU GETTING ARROGANT GON?" he shouted turning around, a baleful wind storming the room.

Something in his voice made me tremble and I fell onto the floor, my legs giving away.

A cruel sneer crossed his face, making me feel like I got dipped in ice-cold water.

I mutely stared at him, shocked; my father was always strict but he never raised his voice before.

I slowly regained the feeling in my legs, so I painstakingly stood up.

"You will be going to" he cut off his sentence, and suddenly went silent.

After a second passed, he continued.

"Your brother and sisters didn't have much talent in terms of being a trainer, but by virtue of their intelligence, they achieved very good rankings in the league. Just like every time I had a child, I pulled many strings and spent a fortune ascertaining their talent." He took deep breaths and looked me in the eyes. 

"You are talented Gon so much more than your siblings, but if you go down this path, I doubt you will be even able to beat their rankings." He said shaking his head in pity.

"I give you two options Gon, you will go to someplace for a week and will be subjected to nightmares by a Gengar as a test and it will help you shape up your personality. Or you can just be an average trainer who wasted his potential," he said turning back to look out of the window.

"I choose the first option, Father," I said resolving myself to become a better trainer, not even thinking about it.

"Good! Rest for today and arrange a meeting with trainer Leo for tomorrow. I will tell you when you depart for your training," he said, dismissing me.

I was reluctant to contact Leon as I decided that the next time, I met him he was going to taste defeat, but my father asking me to contact him made such thoughts unrealistic.