Cassie stepped back into the door of her room at the Pokemon Center with a spring in her step that she couldn’t hide, Growlithe padding quietly at her heels. She’d gone back to the Poke Mart after adopting him from the shelter to buy some basic supplies for the canine, primarily food, but also including some other things like a few specific books regarding care for Fire-types and canine Pokemon in particular, some small fireproof toys and a dog bed of similar make, and other odds and ends that she thought were useful. It had left her virtual wallet painfully thin, reminding her of her first days here, but it was all worth it.
Pokemon training was something she never imagined in her wildest dreams she’d ever get to do, but here she was, stepping wholeheartedly into a childhood fantasy like she’d been ready for it all her life. Though she was much more focused at the moment on making sure she had everything she needed to take proper care of Growlithe, she was also excited about the battle aspect of it all and resolved herself to go and watch one of Gardenia’s Gym battles in person before she left town.
Leaving town...now that was a strange thought to her.
She still couldn’t remember much of anything of her life up to now, but she felt oddly comfortable in the city, like she’d either been born and lived in a major city or moved to one at some point and stayed. The forest hadn’t bothered her too much outside of her unsuitable attire when she’d been dropped there by...whatever put her there, but she still wondered how she’d like life on the road as a traveling trainer. She definitely wasn’t going to just skip town, though. Everyone at Snowpoint Creamery had been incredibly helpful and welcoming to her, and she was determined to make sure they had plenty of time to find someone to help in her wake before she left.
There was no hurry, she knew. A bit of research had led her to discover some information about the way that the League Challenge or League Circuit, as it was also called, worked in Sinnoh. Challenge seasons in Sinnoh were several months long, usually starting in March and lasting until around the start of October. Winter could be harsh in some parts of the region, particularly on parts of Mount Coronet and at the northernmost reaches where Snowpoint City was located, and most trainers tended to avoid traveling through the wilds in the worst time of year. This year’s season had only started around two weeks ago, so there was still plenty of time to travel.
Her mind wandered on the topic a bit as she poured bowls of food and water for Growlithe, some packaged dry mix food that she’d been recommended by one of the employees. She would’ve preferred some kind of fresh food, knowing just how intelligent most Pokemon were and how human-like they could be, but she hadn’t a clue yet of what her Pokemon’s tastes might actually be. She was a bit nervous at the idea of preparing food not just for Growlithe, but for whatever other Pokemon she might get on a trainer’s journey. She was a passable cook for herself, but she figured she’d need a lot of help in that department to learn how to best feed a full team of Pokemon.
The feel of the Pokedex in her pocket calmed her nerves a bit, and she pulled out the red device again to take a look at it. Running through the configuration and initial setup had taken a few minutes, but the machine was linked with her new trainer license now and ready to go. Obviously, the first thing she’d done was scan Growlithe with the device. It had given her a wealth of data on both her Growlithe and the species as a whole, telling her things like the average height and weight for the species, typical diet, known habitats, and more. For her Growlithe, it had also given her a few other things like a list of its known moves and gender. She fiddled quietly with the device as the puppy Pokemon ate, pulling the info back up.
Known Moves: Ember, Leer, Howl, Bite, Flame Wheel
Nothing out of the ordinary for a Growlithe, it looked like. Plenty to work with for a beginning trainer.
“Is the food okay?” she asked, looking over at the orange and cream pup. He looked up for a moment and nodded, giving a short bark that she assumed meant “yes” before continuing to eat. She’d noticed that the Pokemon was rather quiet, not really expressing himself much unless she spoke to it first. He was probably still broken up about his last trainer, she’d realized after some thought. Hopefully, she’d be able to bring him around and show him that not all trainers were like that. She certainly didn’t have any desire to let the Pokemon go, now or ever, and it still made her bristle at the thought that someone just...abandoned him.
With some effort, she pushed the dark thoughts aside, wondering what they could do with the rest of the day. The weather was still nice and sunny, pristine spring weather for this part of Sinnoh, and she somehow hated the idea of staying indoors on such a day.
“How about we go to the park when you’re done eating?” she asked, earning a curious look from the Fire-type nearby as he lifted his head from the bowl. She vaguely remembered that there was a park near the Pokemon Center, and she’d been meaning to go out and take a look at it but had never actually gone by there just yet. She moved over to the small desk and laptop set up in the room for her use, quickly pulling up the mapping site she’d used before and taking a street view look at the area around the Center.
“Windveil Park, that’s it,” she said with a nod, finally spotting it on the site. It looked decently-sized, and from what she could tell it even seemed to have a small battlefield set up to one side for casual trainer use. “Sound good?” she asked her Pokemon again with a smile.
Growlithe cocked his head for a moment, seeming to consider the question before finally giving a bark of assent. He turned back to keep eating, trying to maintain the appearance of aloofness, but the short wags of his tail and newfound hurried eating pace betrayed his excitement at the idea. Cassie laughed, standing up again and making her way towards her bedside to start packing a few of the things she’d bought while she waited on Growlithe to finish his food. A couple bottles of water and some snacks made up the majority of what she tucked away, along with one of the several books she’d bought earlier in the day and one of the fireproof balls. She longed for one of the Silph Co. bags she’d seen in the Poke Mart, special backpacks with space-bending technology the likes of which she couldn’t begin to understand that made them much larger on the inside than they appeared, but those were sadly out of her budget for a while yet unless she took on some odd jobs to earn more cash. Surprisingly, they didn’t cost quite as much as a Pokedex did, but the hit to her wallet still wouldn’t be kind. Growlithe’s Poke Ball was the last thing she took, shrinking it down with a quick press of the front button and slipping it into a pocket of her shorts.
Satisfied that she had the few things she wanted to take along, she sat the bag on the bed and walked into the bathroom to brush her hair, not bothering with makeup that she’d likely mess up while at the park anyway. She hadn’t been to a park in what felt like forever, easily a few years at least, and she grinned at the thought of finding someone to hang out with to toss frisbees or play tennis -
She stopped all at once, the brush in her hand still halfway through a stroke of her hair. Another snatch of memory, there and gone in a flash. She almost wondered if she’d hit her head back in the forest somehow, even though she knew Allison had checked her out and found nothing more than scrapes. If not that, then what?
“What’s wrong with me...” she murmured to herself, putting the brush down on the sink again and staring deeply into the mirror. “Why can’t I remember anything...?”
The soft sounds of Growlithe’s feet padding on carpet made her turn and look, and she realized that her Pokemon had undoubtedly heard her with his sharper hearing. Indeed, he was giving her a curious look from just outside the door, sitting on his haunches quietly. She forced a smile back onto her face, hoping she hadn’t upset him somehow.
“Sorry...it’s nothing to worry about, I’m sure,” she said, stepping out of the bathroom and flicking the light off behind her. She could see that the half-full food bowl she’d left had been decimated, with barely crumbs of the kibble remaining, and she reached over to grab her bag from the bed. “Ready to go, I’m guessing?”
The amusement in her voice was hard to hide, and Growlithe made a chuffing sound before heading for the door to try and preserve what remained of his dignity. He wasn’t excited to go to the park - he’d just been hungry, that was all. Hungry enough to eat half the bowl in a matter of a minute or two. Nothing to do at all with the park.
Just like he was simply excited to be out of the room when he ran down the hallway and back to his new trainer in what clearly wasn’t an attempt to get her to go faster. Not at all.
Cassie couldn’t help but laugh.
Windveil Park was abuzz with activity from the moment Cassie and Growlithe had arrived. It was only a few blocks from the Center itself and very clearly marked by the large sign and its looping, elegant script that framed the entranceway. The entire perimeter looked like it was ringed with hedges and flowers of all kinds from what Cassie could see, and she had spotted a few Pokemon flying around and drinking nectar from the flowers as they headed down the path. The Combee were easily recognizable, but it took her a bit longer to recall the name of the tinier yellow and white Pokemon she spotted. Cutiefly, she’d finally realized - from Alola, if she was remembering correctly. Groups of them were all along the flower-lined edge of the park, sipping nectar and buzzing away just as quickly as they’d come.
That had been around an hour prior, and she still couldn’t get the grin off her face as she watched her Pokemon frolicking out in the wide expanse of green.
The puppy seemed like a limitless bundle of energy, and he hadn’t stopped moving almost since the moment they’d gotten here. She’d spent a good amount of time playing catch with him using the fireproof ball she’d brought along, and she’d been amazed watching the agility that the young dog Pokemon possessed. She knew that Pokemon were superior to any normal animal, even if she’d only been in Sinnoh for a matter of weeks now, but it was still incredible to her to see just how easy it was for her to work with something she’d only been around for a matter of hours at most.
Twenty minutes had gone by in a flash as she tested the Pokemon’s reflexes, agility, and simple speed with a variety of playful tosses and drills before she finally called uncle and sat down for a break. Her arm was tired from all the throwing while her Pokemon was still full of energy, and she had found a nice chair to relax in while Growlithe had happily trotted around to find other Pokemon to play with. The park was full of other trainers and Eterna citizens enjoying the sunny afternoon, and the young Fire-type had found no shortage of other Pokemon to horse around with. She’d pulled out the book she’d brought with her and read for a bit, keeping an eye on Growlithe to make sure he was still okay, but eventually she decided to put it away and stretch her legs again.
Not before letting Growlithe know that she’d be wandering around, though. She wasn’t very worried about him getting in any kind of trouble, but she couldn’t bear the thought of him believing that he’d been abandoned again after only just leaving the shelter. What she found as she started to look around was, all things considered, pretty typical for a park once you got past the multitude of Pokemon that called it home. She found a tennis court and basketball court off in one corner, both full of people and a few humanoid Pokemon enjoying themselves in some competition. A couple of immaculately-kept topiaries were scattered around, mixing with a few statues of Grass-types as befitting the town’s Gym theme. What had really interested her, however, was the battle arena.
Just like she’d seen on the map’s aerial view, there was a small battle arena on one side of the park grounds. A few people were gathered around chatting amongst themselves, but most of their focus was on the match currently taking place in the arena. A snarling Houndour was facing off against a strange little yellow-bodied Pokemon that had a large black fanged jaw extending from the top of its head and hanging down behind it. Embers shot from the Houndour’s mouth at its trainer’s command, peppering its enemy with tiny bursts of fire briefly before it extended the jaw around towards its front to shield from the flames.
‘A Mawile,’ Cassie thought to herself, watching the tiny Steel-type facing off against its canine opponent. Mawile wasn’t a particularly common Pokemon in the Hoenn region where it hailed from, being relatively rare in the only early location it could be found and only showing up again much later in a few areas near the end of the game. The little Dark-type canine seemed to have gotten the worst of the exchanges so far, its movements to reposition sluggish and hampered by a front leg that wasn’t moving quite right.
“Try a Mud-Slap!” Houndour’s trainer called, watching nervously as the dog spun around and dug its rear paws into the soft ground before beginning to kick up the underlying soil towards Mawile. Flying clods of earth assaulted the diminutive Pokemon, each faintly glowing with brown energy of some kind, and Mawile winced under the super-effective attack before it started to advance again, still wielding the hanging tooth-filled maw like an impromptu shield.
“Astonish!”
The young woman commanding Mawile gave a sharp order as she watched her Pokemon stomp forward, and it wasted no time in shoving its way through the last of the assault of earth and throwing the jaw upwards, ghostly purple energy gathering around it as it snapped open wide in a threatening gesture. Energy flowed off of it in a wave towards Houndour, causing the dog to yelp in fear and stiffen as its muscles were afflicted by the power exuded from Mawile’s appendage. The Steel-type was moving even as its trainer issued the command to finish the battle, and dark power surged around its elongated jaws before they snapped forward like a striking snake to engulf Houndour’s upper body.
For all the two Pokemon were similar in height, Mawile shook Houndour viciously as if it was five times the canine’s size, lifting it off the ground and thrashing it in the air with a vise-like grip before finally throwing the dog back to the court hard enough to cause it to bounce once. Blood trickled slowly from a multitude of punctures around its body where the teeth had sunk in, and it whined pitifully once as it tried to get up before falling back to its stomach in defeat.
“Houndour is unable to battle! The winner of this match is Mawile!”
A few scattered cheers came from the sidelines as the man who had been acting as referee announced the outcome, and the dejected-looking boy was already rushing over to Houndour before the referee had finished his sentence to look over his wounded Pokemon. The girl, too, was striding towards her Mawile, the short Pokemon toddling back to her triumphantly with a grin on its face. A flash of red light momentarily lit the area as the boy recalled his injured Pokemon, and the two trainers exchanged a few quiet words before Houndour’s trainer hurried off in the direction of the Pokemon Center nearby.
A cold sensation across Cassie’s hand caused her to jump, only to relax as she realized it was her Growlithe poking at her with a wet nose. He looked curious at the Pokemon in front of her that the young woman was tending to, sniffing the air in its direction before letting out a faint growl as teeth flashed.
“Easy, boy...” Cassie said, ruffling the dog’s head fur to try and calm it down. Growlithe slowly started to relax under her touch, though he kept a wary eye on the small Steel-type until the girl turned her eyes to Cassie.
“Are you here for a battle too?” she asked, standing straight again and putting a hand on her hip. Her Mawile stayed by her side, though it called out something in its native speech to Growlithe that seemed to settle the pup a bit more.
“Um...maybe?” Cassie replied, glancing down as Growlithe padded forward, apparently responding to the Mawile in kind as the two trainers talked. Cassie wasn’t sure, but she guessed that Mawile’s trainer might be more experienced than the others around the battlefield. Her outfit was nothing special, just a black short-sleeve shirt and long jeans, but her belt held three Poke Balls attached to it that filled the entire right side, one of which was the blue and red of a Great Ball instead of the normal red and white. Blond hair fell far below her shoulders, much closer to a goldenrod hue than Cassie’s own lighter blond color and tied with a black ribbon near the end.
“I’m Kaitlyn,” the girl said, introducing herself as Mawile started to happily converse with Growlithe a bit off to the side. “Are you new here?”
“Cassie - and yes, I am. I’ve only been here...about two weeks now?” She shrugged, fighting back the unsure look on her face to put a smile on again. “It’s nice to meet you, Kaitlyn.”
“Same. I thought I’d ask about the battle since your Growlithe here seemed pretty geared up for one already.” Kaitlyn shot a look over at where the Steel and Fire-types were chatting between themselves, noticing that the puppy Pokemon seemed to have calmed down quite a bit in just the past couple minutes. Overprotective of its trainer, maybe?
Cassie hesitated at Kaitlyn’s comment. It was true that she was interested in a battle, though she didn’t really know the first thing about how it worked. More to the point, she wasn’t sure how Growlithe felt about the whole idea, so...
“I could just ask him,” she thought to herself, the obvious and logical thought striking her squarely between the eyes. It was still taking her a bit to adjust to the fact that Pokemon could understand human speech quite easily for the most part, even if the reverse wasn’t always true.
“Growlithe?”
The puppy turned back towards Cassie at the sound of his name, tilting his head a bit as if to ask her what was the matter.
“Would...you like to have a battle with Kaitlyn?”
It was interesting to watch the emotions on the canine’s face as Cassie asked the question, Kaitlyn mused. There was a brief moment of hesitation, like it’d done something in the past that it didn’t want to repeat and was afraid of happening again, and that warred with the clear excitement for battle that she could see in the Fire-type’s eyes. A few seconds of internal struggle passed for the pup before it finally barked out an affirmative, and Mawile said something from beside him that seemed to stoke the figurative fire inside his chest.
Cassie’s eyes lit up as she saw the agreement from her starter, and she couldn’t keep the excited smile off her face as she nodded her own agreement to Kaitlyn. Her first Pokemon battle...she was excited, yes, but terribly nervous at the same time. There was no turn-based action here, no game mechanics to rely on or exploit. Everything would come down to how well she and her Pokemon could learn, adapt, and overcome.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Looks like he’s excited,” Kaitlyn remarked, a small smile creeping over her face as she watched her Mawile continue to psych up the younger-looking Pokemon. She headed over to speak with the man who was refereeing before, chatting quietly with him for a moment before turning back to Cassie. “We’ll just do a quick one-on-one - let Joseph know when you’re ready.”
Growlithe trotted back over to Cassie, circling around her heels eagerly and barking before she knelt down to face him better. “Okay...are you ready for this? This is my first battle, so I’ll try not to mess up...” she said softly, earning a look that was pretty clearly a frown before Growlithe nodded his head in a quick ‘yes.’ The look on his face melted into firm determination, and he jumped forward towards the edge of the battlefield with another loud bark. Cassie stood back up, looking towards the referee and nodding.
“We’re ready!” she called, with Kaitlyn following suit a few seconds later. Mawile had gone back to sit down on the ground beside her, seemingly to watch, and Kaitlyn was rolling one of the normal Poke Balls from her belt around in her hand.
“This will be a one-on-one match, continuing until one side is knocked out or forfeits. Trainers ready!”
Kaitlyn’s eyes sharpened as she stared at Cassie from her side of the field, and Cassie did her best to try not to feel intimidated by the young woman watching her from across the battle area. The Poke Ball in Kaitlyn’s hand flew into the field at the referee’s call, releasing a small silvery Pokemon that was easily identifiable to Cassie even without using her Pokedex. The silvery ball of a Pokemon hovered over the dirt in defiance of gravity, a single eye set into the metallic orb along with screws protruding from the top and front and two magnets to either side tipped with red and blue poles. A metallic cry emitted from the Magnemite as it signaled its own readiness, and the referee took that as the sign that everyone was ready to start.
“Begin!”
The instant the referee signaled the beginning of the battle, Growlithe’s eyes hardened as he jumped forward and let out a roaring bark that seemed to have come from a Pokemon twice his size. Fur bristled as the canine Pokemon tensed up, and Magnemite shrunk back in sudden fear from the threat display the Fire-type was showing.
‘Is that Intimidate?’ Cassie wondered, momentarily surprised. She hadn’t even considered how abilities might work in such a context, but it seemed they worked similarly to how the games portrayed them.
“Don’t falter, Tera! Thundershock!” Kaitlyn called, trying to snap her Pokemon out of its sudden fear. The shout seemed to work, and Magnemite crackled with sparks before launching a thin bolt of electrical power in Growlithe’s direction. Cassie had a split second to notice that the bolt wasn’t anywhere near as fast as natural lightning before it struck Growlithe, the pup’s entire body crackling with the voltage as he yelped in pain.
“Back away and use Ember!” Cassie commanded, hoping that the extra distance would give Growlithe more time to maneuver. The pup recovered swiftly, turning and heading further away from Magnemite in a wide retreating arc even as flames roared to life in his mouth. A barrage of tiny fireballs spat towards the floating Steel-type, causing it to start to hastily jerk around in erratic movements to try and avoid the worst of the flames. A few still struck home and heated up its silvery body to an uncomfortable degree, giving bits of it a red tinge as Magnemite cried out in a shrill series of metallic chirps.
“Higher, then Supersonic!”
Kaitlyn watched as Growlithe kept circling near the outer edges of the field, craning its neck up more to keep track of its opponent. Tera flew around in a quick pattern before the magnets on its side tilted forward, and sonic waves so dense they were nearly opaque flew down towards the puppy Pokemon below. Unfortunately, between Tera’s height and Growlithe’s agility, the Supersonic missed its mark as Growlithe repositioned again to a spot nearly underneath Tera.
“Try Flame Wheel!”
Growlithe’s fur lit up in a bright orange and red blaze as he crouched, then bounded upwards as high as he could manage in pursuit of his foe. Tera’s levitation took it backwards quickly enough to dodge the ascending puppy, but the heat from the near miss was still palpable to the magnetic Electric-type. Another bolt of lightning flew forth from it as Growlithe fell without an order needed from Kaitlyn, zapping the Fire-type once again and causing the flames around him to peter out as he landed back on his feet and sagged visibly.
“Electro Ball, Tera!”
“Dodge it and Leer!”
Cassie grimaced as an orb of electricity flew by Growlithe, the pup just managing to jink out of the way and cause the ball of Electric power to miss him by scant inches. Her Pokemon’s eyes glowed with an intimidating red shine that caused Tera to flinch back again, shaken once more by the imposing glare, but Cassie knew that she was in an uphill battle. Tera had the range advantage and the speed advantage, and with no way to really slow the Electric-type down, she would have to get lucky enough to tag it with a Flame Wheel to have any real chance at taking it down.
More Embers flew at Tera as Growlithe seized the opportunity, landing another few hits on the steely exterior of the Pokemon with staccato popping noises that caused it to shiver as the metal glowed hot once again, but Kaitlyn was quick to react this time.
“Another Electro Ball!”
“Leer! Stop -”
“Abort! Look away!” Kaitlyn cried, changing her order the moment she heard Cassie’s own. Tera screwed its single eye shut as Growlithe’s eyes glowed again, the Steel-type rendered unable to see or fall victim to the gaze this time around.
But that gave Growlithe an opportunity. Flames sparked up around him again like a roaring campfire with him as the heart, and he spun into a rolling ball of fire and hurled himself towards the unaware Magnemite in front of him.
Unfortunately, Kaitlyn also had a plan.
“Thunder Wave!”
Cassie’s eyes widened, but she was too late to tell Growlithe to stop before an expanding orb of electricity pulsed outwards from Tera. It engulfed Growlithe midway to reaching his target, and the puppy instantly spasmed as his attack lost cohesion. He tumbled to the ground in a heap, muscles twitching and crackling with bits of static from the paralysis, and Cassie yelled for them to stop as she ran onto the field. As much as she hated to say it, she knew that Growlithe wasn’t going to be able to beat Tera, and she didn’t want to see him get beat up unnecessarily. Tera obligingly backed away towards its trainer’s side as Kaitlyn started to walk over, the referee’s voice calling the match over in the background as both trainers started to tend to their Pokemon.
“You did great, Growlithe,” Cassie said quietly, kneeling down to tend to the puppy. He whimpered a bit, head drooping back to the ground as he looked away from Cassie. She rubbed a hand through his fur, feeling a tingle as some of the residual electricity gave her a tiny shock and made some of his fur start to stand on end and try to stick to her fingers. Despite that, she could feel him trembling a little, and she chalked it up to the paralysis he’d been inflicted with before she took another look at him. Ears flat against his head, facing away from her, trembling...
He was afraid, and it struck her all of a sudden as to why.
“Hey, hey...none of that,” she whispered, petting his head and leaning in so that only he could hear her. “I am not taking you back to the shelter just because you lost. You did fine - it was my first match, and that’s not your fault. You’re staying with me, no matter what.”
His head swiveled back over to face her, and she wanted to cry at the defeated look on his face. She swung around the small bag she was carrying and rummaged in it for a moment before coming out with one of the treats she’d brought and offering it to him. He looked at her in surprise for a moment as if that was the absolute last thing he’d expected, then slowly took the treat and started to munch on it as footsteps approached the pair.
“How’s he doing?” Kaitlyn suddenly asked, causing Cassie to glance up at her. Kaitlyn, Tera, and Mawile were all standing - or floating - nearby, and the young woman was watching intently as Cassie tended to Growlithe.
“I think he’s okay,” she replied. “He might still be a little stiff from the shocks, so I’ll take him to the Center to get checked out. I didn’t think we’d do any battling yet, so I don’t have any medicine with me...”
“I’ll walk you over there, then - just to make sure you get there okay.”
“No, it’s okay,” Cassie started, shaking her head. “I don’t want to keep you guys from training...”
“It’s fine,” Kaitlyn said with a shrug. “We were pretty much done for now anyway. It’ll give us a chance to grab something to eat.”
Cassie considered it for a few seconds, then nodded, pulling out Growlithe’s ball and tapping the button to return her starter. Both of Kaitlyn’s Pokemon seemed like they were going to stay out, and Cassie shouldered her bag again as they started to head back towards the nearby Pokemon Center.
Cassie wasn’t surprised to see Allison behind the counter as they walked back inside, busy as usual with coordinating the other nurses and keeping track of patients, but the nurse seemed a bit surprised to see her with a companion for a change as she noticed their arrival.
“Afternoon - how are you today, Cassie?” she greeted, looking between Cassie and Kaitlyn as the small entourage walked and floated up to the counter. “And is that miss Rayne with you?”
Cassie looked from Kaitlyn back to Allison, confusion creeping onto her face. “You two know each other?”
“Not particularly, but she’s been practicing for this year’s circuit for a month or two now,” Allison explained. “She gathered a bit of a fan club on Teddit last conference after she breezed through Fantina’s gym.”
Cassie blinked. “Teddit...?” Was that what she thought it was? Did the Pokemon world have social media?
Now that she thought about it, it would be a bit surprising for it not to, really. She’d only really used the internet - Pokenet? - for some quick searches and directions, but it seemed a close analogue to the internet she knew, so...
“Guessing you’ve never used it,” Kaitlyn said, interrupting her train of thought. “It’s...interesting. Social media gets all kinds of people.”
“And weren’t most of the ones from Steven’s fan club that latched on to you a bit...obsessed?” Allison laughed. “Honestly, you’d think some people had never seen a type specialist before.”
“Don’t remind me,” Kaitlyn groaned, sighing heavily at the memories of...interesting posts she’d seen.
Steven...the name rolled around in Cassie’s brain for a minute before she put two and two together. Allison must have been talking about Steven Stone, Champion of the Hoenn region. If that was the case, that meant...
“You’re a Steel-type specialist, Kaitlyn?” Cassie asked, earning a nod from her companion.
“In training, but yes, that’s the goal,” she replied.
“You did pretty well last year,” Allison cut in. “Six badges isn’t anything to scoff at on your first Sinnoh League run.” She smiled brightly, looking between Kaitlyn’s two Pokemon that were chatting between themselves beside her. “Did you need your Pokemon checked?”
“Astrid and Tera, please,” Kaitlyn nodded, pulling out their Poke Balls, “and her Growlithe. Just some minor injuries, maybe lingering paralysis on her Growlithe.” She quickly recalled her two Pokemon once they had finished whatever they were talking about, offering them to the nurse.
Allison’s eyes widened a bit as she took the spheres from Kaitlyn, and she turned towards Cassie in surprise. “You finally decided on a starter? Congratulations!”
Cassie couldn’t help but smile as she pulled Growlithe’s ball from her pocket and handed it over. “I just adopted him this morning from the Rosewood Street shelter,” she explained. “We went over to the park to relax, and that’s where I met Kaitlyn.”
“Three to check in, Chansey. Minor battle injuries,” Allison said to the pink, egg-shaped Pokemon beside her as it toddled over with a tray that she set the Poke Balls into. The nurse Pokemon quickly wandered off through the doors leading deeper inside the Center as Allison started to navigate on her computer, returning her attention to Cassie. “She was showing you the ropes of battle, I take it?”
“Uh huh. We lost, but it was fun. I never expected battling to be so...”
She wanted to say “different,” but knew it wouldn’t make any real sense in context, so she found herself just trailing off. Allison still smiled as if she knew exactly what Cassie was talking about.
“A lot of beginning trainers say the same thing,” she remarked. “Oh - you have a Pokedex, right?” she asked, stopping her train of thought for a moment. Cassie nodded in reply. “If you’ve scanned Growlithe already, mind letting me link his data to our systems? It’ll make sure that any Center visits get logged to your ‘dex, and the scans help us out by keeping track of his growth to make sure he stays in good health.”
“Sure,” Cassie said, digging into her other pocket and pulling out the device before handing it over to the nurse. Allison connected it to the computer in front of her with a quick scan of some code pulled up on the Pokedex’s screen, and in a matter of moments she’d closed it again and handed it back over to the girl.
“There - now, any time data for Growlithe gets updated by a ‘dex scan or a Center, it’ll automatically be updated in our systems. When you get more Pokemon, you can just ask anyone at a Pokemon Center to link them the same way.”
That was...incredibly convenient, Cassie thought to herself. Not for the first time, she wondered exactly how technologically advanced the Pokemon world seemed to be compared to her own.
“Looks like the preliminary scans don’t show anything serious,” Allison continued, looking between the two girls. “Growlithe did still have some residual paralysis, but nothing to worry about. They should be out in just a few minutes.”
“Thanks,” Kaitlyn said with a smile. “We were going to get some food upstairs, so we’ll come back down in a few minutes.”
“I can bring them up to you when they’re out if you want,” Allison offered. “It’s no trouble.”
Kaitlyn looked at Cassie for a moment before nodding to Allison. “We’d appreciate it, then.”
Allison just waved the two of them off with a grin. “Go on and get something to eat - I’ll have them back with you in no time.”
With the good-natured dismissal from the head nurse, the two girls headed upstairs towards the cafeteria to finally grab some food. Cassie in particular realized that she was quite hungry, as she’d forgotten to eat any proper breakfast in light of all the excitement with Growlithe’s adoption and the like. It took a few minutes for them to actually get to place their orders, as there were quite a few trainers having early lunches or late breakfasts from the looks of things, but they were able to get served in a reasonable time and enthusiastically dug into their food. Almost as soon as they’d begun eating, however, Allison found them and returned their now-healed Pokemon. Cassie didn’t miss the way that the ball shook in her hands when Allison handed it over, either. She’d heard that Pokemon could tell what was going on outside of their Poke Balls if they tried, and she quietly talked to Growlithe for a minute before setting his ball on the table to return to her meal, promising him a nice meal as soon as they were done here.
She was hoping the pup was in better spirits than when they’d left the park, too.
She’d expected Kaitlyn to leave as soon as she was done with her meal, but the girl had surprisingly stuck around to carry on a conversation with her. Despite her surprise, Cassie was grateful for the company. She’d been enjoying her time in Eterna so far, but she hadn’t really had anyone to talk to outside of work up until now. Allison was good company, but far too busy as the head nurse to spare more than a handful of minutes at any given time.
So, they sat and chatted at the Center’s cafeteria for a while without any real aims. Kaitlyn quickly discovered that Cassie was a brand new trainer in addition to being new to Eterna City, and was surprised to learn that she’d only gotten Growlithe this morning. Cassie explained everything about waking up at the Old Chateau and the fuzziness in her memories, and Kaitlyn was gracious enough to talk to her about some trainer basics just in case she had forgotten anything truly important.
It was a fascinating conversation, too. Cassie had thought that Kaitlyn walked her to the Pokemon Center simply out of politeness, but she was surprised as a new trainer to learn that it was a bit of a social no-no to knock out a trainer’s last Pokemon. That was akin to leaving them totally defenseless, especially outside of cities where wild Pokemon could be aggressive without warning. Most battles took that into account, very unlike the games that Cassie remembered. Full team battles were generally a rarity, usually only held during large events like conference brackets where security was present and medical staff were close by.
She was also amazed at just how much online presence battling had, competitive and casual alike. There were various sites dedicated to hosting match videos and results from League Conferences around the world, channels on video sites similar to Youtube that archived gym battles and analyzed them from start to finish, and dozens upon dozens of sites categorizing, ranking, and analyzing trainers and Pokemon vying for conference titles. It was more intense than any professional sport back home, and the thought of eventually being one of those trainers that people obsessed over was almost terrifying to Cassie.
She learned a bit more about Kaitlyn, too. She had a twin sister named Kayley, and both of them were natives of Eterna City. Kayley was usually off somewhere traveling, going wherever her mood took her, so almost all of the interaction she’d had with her sister for weeks now was in the form of hasty PokeNav calls and random text messages. From what Kaitlyn explained, she wasn’t doing the conference circuit right now, but the older girl had said with a sigh that implied long days of suffering through her sister’s antics that she wouldn’t be surprised to get a PokeNav call and see her with all eight gym badges somehow.
Cassie didn’t know whether to laugh or pity the older girl for having to put up with such chaos.
“Are you going to try for the conference this year?” Kaitlyn asked after a while, leaning back in her chair.
Cassie took a few seconds to consider how she wanted to respond. She still wasn’t sure whether or not she wanted to try the gym challenge, but she definitely wanted to see more of Sinnoh no matter what. It wasn’t like it would be out of her way to challenge the gyms, and there wasn’t any drawback to doing so, but...if she was honest with herself, she was a little afraid. Taking care of just Growlithe made her nervous; taking care of a full team of Pokemon was downright daunting. What if she wasn’t a good trainer? What if she wasn’t able to pick up the nuances of battling when it wasn’t as simple as just picking options from a menu? Her fears bubbled up in her mind like an ocean wave, threatening to drown her thoughts before she took a deep breath to clear her mind.
“I don’t know yet,” she answered honestly. “I want to see more of Sinnoh, but...I’m afraid I won’t be a good enough trainer.” Kaitlyn just gave a slow nod.
“I remember my first circuit,” she started, looking up towards the ceiling. “I was so nervous, I couldn’t think straight for a week. Lost my first battle against Gardenia...made me rethink whether I was cut out for it.” She smiled, gazing off at nothing as if she was reliving the past. “But I realized something after a while. I didn’t want to give up - not for me, but for Astrid.”
“Astrid?”
“My Mawile - she’s my starter,” Kaitlyn answered. “I could have lived with giving up if it was just me, but her...I didn’t want to see her not reach her potential because of me. Pokemon love to get stronger, to improve and learn new things, see new places. I didn’t want to hold her back, so...I kept going. We kept going.”
She gave a warm smile, glancing down at the Great Ball on her belt which shook noticeably under the gaze. “We kept going, and didn’t look back. It’s okay to be afraid of failing...just don’t be afraid to try.”
Cassie’s eyes fell to the table, resting on Growlithe’s Poke Ball sitting there. She was afraid, and a part of her felt like Growlithe held some of the same fears too after what she’d seen following their battle. Kaitlyn’s words were comforting in a way, though. If she let her fears control her, let them keep her and Growlithe from ever trying and seeing where they could go...could she live with herself? Could she suffer those regrets?
No, a voice whispered inside her. She couldn’t.
“You’re right,” she finally said, still staring at the red and white sphere. “He deserves better...and I’ll prove it.”
“That’s the spirit. You’ve got what you need in there somewhere.”
Kaitlyn finished off the drink in front of her, setting the empty glass back down with a gentle tink. “Tell you what. I’m going back on the circuit, probably around the end of the month. If you want, let’s go together - I can show you the ropes so that you don’t feel so overwhelmed.”
Cassie’s eyes widened, and her gaze snapped back up to the girl in front of her. “You’d really do that?”
“Sure. Wouldn’t be my first time traveling with someone else.”
“But...why?” Cassie asked dumbly, caught off guard by the suggestion from someone she’d only just met.
“Travel’s always better when you’re not alone,” Kaitlyn said with a shrug. “Besides...I remember what it’s like to be new to this, and I think you’ve got some potential even if you don’t see it yet. It would be a shame to waste it.” Cassie was floored - she didn’t know what to say.
“Thank you,” she finally got out, her voice just a bit above a whisper.
“Chin up - don’t look so glum,” Kaitlyn said, leaning forward again to rest her arms on the table. “What’s your phone number? I’ll give you a call tomorrow if I’m free.”
“I...my old phone broke,” Cassie said, fumbling over her words for a moment. “I haven’t gotten a new one just yet...”
Kaitlyn nodded in understanding. “How about this - I’ll meet you here Monday after you get off work. Sound good?”
Cassie couldn’t do much else beyond nod, still a bit overwhelmed by Kaitlyn’s offer and help. “I don’t know how to thank you, Kaitlyn...”
The older blond let a smirk creep onto her face as she stood up to leave, pushing the chair into the table again. “How about you give Cynthia and the Elites something to really pay attention to, and we’ll call it even,” she said, tossing a hand up to wave as she started walking away. “I’ll see you Monday, Cassie.”
Something to really pay attention to...
Unbidden, Cassie felt a smile start to creep across her face as she picked up Growlithe’s Poke Ball again, rolling the brightly-colored orb around in her hands. She’d give them something to pay attention to, all right. She’d take the league challenge, beat all the gyms, and win the Lily of the Valley Conference. She’d take Growlithe to the top, no matter what happened.
There was no way she was going to watch him be let down a second time.