Thomas couldn’t decide whether he hated Goldenrod or loved it. Even after traveling to and from the city everyday for the last three years to go to school, he still couldn’t get over how many people lived here. It was definitely nice being so close to everything - the Pokémon center, the Mart, all of the cafes and the little shops. He never would understand how everyone didn’t feel claustrophobic though. It had barely been 5 minutes since he and Tori had entered the city and he was already starting to feel the imposing press of the buildings and the crowds.

Thomas’ claustrophobia wasn’t unjustified though, Goldenrod was the biggest city in the Johto region; home to almost one hundred thousand people it dominated the surrounding countryside. It’s buildings, constructed mainly from steel and white stone, stood proudly as a feat of human capability (with the help of Pokémon, of course). Many strong trainers laid Goldenrod’s economic and cultural foundations in the city’s youth and allowed the settlement to flourish and prosper.

The bus Thomas and Tori boarded at the edge of the city turned a sharp corner, bringing the Goldenrod Department Store into view. Even after seeing it and visiting it so many times, Thomas still couldn’t believe the towering size of it. You could spend all day there along with all of your money, while barely seeing half of what the Mart had to offer. It took up a whole city block and was six stories tall although the sixth floor was really just the roof; not that he knew what was even on the roof in the first place. You weren’t allowed up there unless you knew how to battle.

“C’mon sis,” Thomas said as they were swept out of the idling bus by a wave of departing passengers. “Let's go knock out mom’s list and then we can go explore and walk around for a bit. Hold my hand, there’s a lot of people walking around here.”

“I’m not a baby Tommy, I don’t need to hold your hand,” She replied.

“Fine, but keep up. Mom will kill me if you get lost.”

They crossed the street and walked through the front doors of the lofty Mart where they were met by a blast of cool air conditioning straight to the face. They both let out little sighs of pleasure. It had really started to heat up outside, and the crowded bus had not been a particularly enjoyable ride.

I’m going to have to shower again once I get back to the ranch, he thought.

Once their eyes adjusted to the lighting inside of the building, Thomas groaned. “Half the city must be out shopping today.”

“Don’t be such a grump, Tommy.” Tori said, jumping up and down. She looked like she was about ready to run off and lead Thomas on a wild goose chase. “Hurry up! Let’s go to the Pokédoll store so I can see if they have my Shiny Lotad!”

“Hold your Ponyta’s there, little sis,” said Tommy. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll do Mom’s errands first and then we’ll go get your toy.”

“Fiiine-uh,” she griped. “Let’s go then, where do we have to go first?”

He brought out the list. “Mom said we need to order groceries for the week for the house. We need to restock berries and apricorns for all of the Pokémon around the ranch and then some supplies to repair the part of the fence that Tauros stomped down earlier in the week.”

“That’s going to take forever Tommy!” She whined. “Can we please go get my doll first? I promise I’ll be on my best behavior!”

“No, you’re the one who begged mom to come with me,” he replied. “Now let’s go, it won’t take that long. At least we only have to order everything and not carry it all back ourselves.”

As they started to walk through the Mart it seemed like their eyes were being pulled in every direction at once. The first floor was a colossal market with every type of food conceivable laid out for selection. There were fruits and vegetables of every color lining all of the shelves. Grains, breads, nuts, and preserves stacked high in crates and barrels. There were meats, poultries, and all types of seafood brought in fresh that morning from all around the country. Thomas bought Tori some chocolate peanuts as they were walking around to preoccupy her for a little bit.

He made his way around the market, selecting all of the food that the family would need for the week, piling it higher and higher in his increasingly overburdened grocery cart. After an hour, they finally gathered the last of their items and peered through the bramble of shoppers, looking for an unoccupied cashier.

“Thomas!” He heard someone say through the thicket. He looked over towards the voice and saw that one of his friends, Jonathan, was dressed in an apron behind one of the registers.

Jonathan Powell was a tall lanky boy with short black hair who could never pack on much muscle no matter how much strength training they did; he was fast though. Thomas made his way over to him.

“Hey Jon, how’s it going? You’re working here now, huh?” Thomas asked as he started loading their groceries onto the conveyor belt.

“Yeah, I started at the beginning of summer break. My parents have been on my ass to get a job and get some money and experience since we’re in our last year. Didn’t want to keep hearing them nag me all summer and I figured why not? They’re probably right that it would be good to have a little bit of spending money anyway,” Jon replied. “You got bigger again, didn't you? And is this your little sister?”

“Yeah, my little sister Victoria. She’s starting her first year on Monday.” Thomas said to Jon. “But yeah, mom and dad have been keeping me busy at the ranch all summer too, you know how that goes. They’re working me to the bone. I mean, school starts on Monday, but they’re still having me run errands for them on my last Saturday before we go back! At least they gave me tomorrow off… I won’t have to get up at 5 to milk the Miltanks for once in my life.”

Jon chuckled. “Hey, speaking of Monday, how are you feeling about it? I’m pretty nervous. I wish we knew anything other than the fact that the school year is going to cover battling. I wonder how the class itself is going to play out? My brother refuses to tell me anything. He said that it’s going to be brutal and that he doesn’t want to ruin the surprise or spoil the fun… Since he refuses to tell me anything I’m worried this is going to be a really difficult year.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty hardcore,” Thomas agreed. “Well I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but no use stressing right? I’m excited to finally get the chance to battle; I’ve been watching nothing but league battles all summer trying to learn what I can. Mom and Dad finally caved and got us a league pass when I told them I needed it to study for school.”

“Tell me you caught that match between Agatha and Xander from Cinnabar Gym! I can’t believe that Agatha pulled out the win against Xander’s Typhlosion. Her Haunter is a force of nature. That Shadow Ball almost one-shot Typhlosion. Plus Agatha is pretty cute, you know what I’m saying?” He started wiggling his eyebrows.

“She’s 18 and way out of your league, man. Both her looks and her skills,” Thomas laughed. “But yeah, I watched the recording on demand. Her Haunter is nuts. I can’t imagine how strong it will be when it’s a Gengar. How many badges does she still need? Just one or two left to go, right? You think that she’s going to challenge the Indigo Plateau next spring?”

“Oh no doubt she will,” Jon replied. “Here’s what I think....”

After paying a couple hundred dollars for everything, Thomas and Tori finished checking out and Jon told them that their groceries would be delivered out to the ranch later in the afternoon. Thomas was also able to order some lumber, wire, and a few other things to fix the fence out in the pasture that Tauros had stomped on.

“Alright man, I’ll see you Monday,” Thomas said to Jon. They clasped forearms. “Don’t work too hard.”

“Yeah I got tomorrow off too so I’m gonna sleep all day and watch some battles; maybe some recordings on demand if no one good is battling live tomorrow,” Jon replied. “See you on Monday.”

They waved goodbye and Thomas walked away with Tori heading towards the food court and the cafeteria.

“Alright sis, what say we get some lunch before we go berry shopping?” Thomas said, rubbing his belly. It had started to growl while they were in line at the market talking with Jon. “You hungry, kiddo?”

“Yesssss. I’m starving and you took forever talking with your friend,” she complained.

“Well let’s go eat some lunch and then I’ll make it up to you with an ice cream. How does that sound?'' he asked.

“YAY ICE CREAM!” She shrieked. “I’m going to get two scoops!”

Thomas laughed. “Lunch first. What do you want?”

“Let’s go get cheeseburgers,” Tori said.

20 minutes and 2 cheeseburgers later they were standing in line to get ice cream. Tori was so excited she could barely stand still while Thomas just shook his head. Sweets weren’t really his thing, but that cheeseburger had hit the spot; cooked just right.

It was widely considered disgusting to eat Pokémon, so there were plenty of farmers and ranchers that raised regular animals like cows, pigs, and chicken. He couldn’t imagine how boring it must be to work on a regular ranch after having grown up working with Pokémon though.

They paid for their ice cream and started walking towards the stairs that led up to the second floor. When they crested the top of the stairs, Tori let out a little gasp.

“Every time I see it I still can’t believe how amazing it looks,” she whispered.

Thomas had to agree. If someone thought the markets on the first floor were overwhelming with their over-abundance of food, it was really nothing compared to the second floor. The entire floor from wall to wall was full of berry stands. Out on the main floor there were berries of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Sitrus and Oran berries, Rawst and Cheri berries, Chesto, Pecha, Leppa and more. There were crates and barrels full of apricorns of every color; reds, yellows, greens and blues as far as the eye could see. Their noses were assaulted by hundreds of different scents as they walked around; some sweet, some spicy, and some so pungent their eyes started to water.

There were even side rooms that needed to be temperature controlled because the berries housed inside were so exotic; berries that Thomas had no clue what their names were. A snowy room where berries were kept frozen inside of ice cubes. A room that was blazing hot, so hot that when a customer ordered berries from inside, only a Fire Pokémon could walk in to get the berries that were in a perpetual state of combustion.

They spent the next 30 minutes getting all of the berries that the Pokémon on the ranch would need. The Miltanks and Gogoats grazed in the pasture all day long, but to keep them as healthy as possible and producing top-quality milk, their diet was supplemented with berries.

Thomas had just started to learn how to mix his own Pokémon food now that he had a few years of school under his belt. His mom had helped him at first, teaching him the family recipes. But now he was starting to get a knack for it, and felt confident tweaking the recipes to see how it affected their Pokémon. He could never get Tauros to eat any though… that guy was so temperamental.

Someday I’ll get him, Thomas thought.

They paid for their selections and were told that the berries would be shipped out to the ranch along with their groceries. With mom’s errands out of the way they could finally walk around and do whatever they felt like. He checked his watch; 1 o’clock.

“Okay sis, are you ready to go to the doll store now that we’re done with our errands?” Thomas asked.

“FINALLY! Hurry up, let’s go!” she shrieked.

They walked back to the stairs but instead of going down to the first floor they walked all the way up to the 5th floor. The 5th floor was unique in that it housed craft shops and artisan vendors where you could buy clothes, dolls, and other handmade toys. There was also a daycare where parents could drop off their young kids to play with baby Pokémon while they shopped for groceries or whatever else they needed. Tori all but dragged him over to the toy store where she picked out the last Shiny Lotad Pokédoll.

“It’s mine…” Tori maniacally giggled to herself. “All mine…”

She thrust the poor Lotad triumphantly in the air with one hand, “IT’S FINALLY MINE!”

After Tori’s nefarious plans came to fruition and she got her hands on her new Pokédoll, the two of them began to aimlessly browse the neighboring stalls. They ambled around and poked their heads into various stores to see if they could find anything entertaining or exciting to use their spending money on. With nothing cool jumping out, they sat down to take a break for a few minutes underneath a fountain of a Poliwag who was spitting water from his mouth.

While they were killing time, Thomas saw a small horde of people running into the electronics store across from the fountain where they were seated. He and Tori looked at each other and then hurried over to see what the fuss was about. They walked towards the part of the store where the televisions were, but they had to stand in the back on their tip-toes to see over the clustered crowd of heads.

“What does the television say Tommy? I can’t see anything past all of these people,” Tori griped.

He grabbed her and hoisted her up on his shoulders again. Across the top of the TV was “Breaking News” written in bold red letters and he strained his ears so he could hear the news anchor over all of the murmurs and excited whispers.

“...unbelievable how fast she has risen to fame. Boys and girls everywhere are looking up to her and idolizing her, she’s such a powerful trainer.” Said the male anchor.

“I couldn’t agree more,” said the female news anchor. “Her rise to fame has been meteoric! Can you believe she finished the Kanto circuit in just over a year? Now she’s on her way to Johto. She said she is going to challenge all of the gyms here and beat them all before the Indigo Plateau next spring. What do you think? Is she crazy? Can she travel the entire region and beat all of the gyms in just 8 months?

“If it’s Agatha, she can do it,” the man said.

Thomas froze, Agatha had already beaten every gym leader in Kanto, and it only took her a year? And now she was coming to Johto? He was so lucky his parents had finally agreed to get him that league pass. He could watch all of her battles this year, plus there was a gym in Goldenrod! Maybe he could convince his parents to let him have the day off whenever she got to town so he could watch her battle, or maybe it would be a school day and the teachers would let them all go over to the gym to watch Agatha fight Penelope.

“...can definitely do it.” Agreed the female anchor. “Especially since it doesn’t seem like she plans to waste any time. In the interview she gave earlier this week, she said her boat was docking in Goldenrod this afternoon at 3 and she planned to head straight to the gym to get started.”

Thomas did a double take when he heard the television. Agatha was coming to Goldenrod today.