Tepig ate from a bowl overflowing with Pokemon food.

Rotom and Magneton hovered above June as she stood next to me, Magneton shocking Rotom on occasion, Rotom seemingly enjoying the jolts of electricity.

Eevee, Electivire, and Galvantula ate from their bowls near Tepig.

Trixa was on her back on the ground on top of a lot of dead leaves, looking up at the sky, smiling and swaying her arms and legs as if she were in the snow making snow angels.

June and I had our eyes on her, watching silently in confusion.

After a long while, I sighed and turned to June.

June didn’t look away from Trixa, staring at her with a stunned look on her face, her mouth hanging open.

How did we get stuck with this one? I wondered, glancing back at Trixa, and I immediately began thinking about Ella.

Ella, with her pitch black hair with the matching black bow in it, her mesmerizing smile abducting me from my current place, pulling me into her realm of perfect beauty. Her eyes, an attractive slant and glint to them, bending me to any desire she requested. Why couldn’t she be travelling with us? Or even just me and Ella, alone…

I pulled out my electronic Town Map and stared at it. Well, this thing is really cool, I thought. I may have lost out on who I would want accompanying me and June on this journey I never agreed to, but at least I got this nice consolation prize. But am I really going to compete in the Unova League? Is this really what I want? To go on another journey like I did in Kanto? Well, I guess it won’t be exactly the same, for many reasons. But what about my Pokemon? Porygon-Z and Charizard. There’s no telling where they both are right now. I can only hope they both made it back to Prof. Oak safely. And what about all of my other Pokemon? I can’t ask Prof. Oak to send them to me. My Porygon-Z attacked him the last time June and I saw him, and we ran away! He must hate our guts at this point. Must I recapture a slew of Pokemon again and train them? Once I capture over six, they’ll be sent to Prof. Oak. He’ll know I’m in Unova if he gets a ton of Unova Pokemon sent to him. What do I do? I have to catch something while I’m here, right? I am still a Pokemon Trainer! My goal is still to capture all the Pokemon in the world. All one thousand of them.

I remembered the promise I made to my mom when I had first begun my travels as a Pokemon Trainer: “I’ll become the greatest Pokemon Master. With my Charmander. And we’ll catch them all. All one thousand, mom. I promise.”

Before I was a Pokemon Trainer, when Melissa was traveling as one, she would call home, crying, upset about not doing well on her journey.

“You're not allowed back home until you're a Pokemon Master and have captured all one thousand Pokemon,” my mom would tell her strongly. She didn’t mean it, but was just encouraging my sister to never give up.

It was a thing in my family to just say that there was one thousand Pokemon in the world. We knew there weren’t really that many Pokemon confirmed, but knew species were being confirmed as Pokemon almost daily.

Many creatures are confirmed as a Pokemon species in some regions, while other regions are still discussing their validity before confirming them. It’s theorized by many Pokemon Professors around the world that there are thousands of different species of Pokemon on the planet, waiting to be categorized as Pokemon.

When I had gone on my journey as a Pokemon Trainer, though my mom tried to hide her true feelings and offered me support in my decision, it wasn’t long before it was clear that my mom was fed up, especially after all the dangers I had been through, added with all the stress she was going through with my father passing away and Melissa not calling back home in so long, and gave me a much harder time than she ever gave them when they had left.

Something grabbed my attention and I turned to see a small creature with a large tooth sticking out of its mouth creeping into the area. It resembled a beaver. It looked familiar to me, like something I had seen when Virgil had been driving me and June to Prof. Juniper’s lab. The creature snuck closer, nearing Eevee.

Eevee looked up and stared at the new Pokemon, wagging her tail. “Veeee?”

The creature backed up a couple of feet and stared silently at Eevee, its tail straight up in the air.

I was too nervous that I’d scare away the Pokemon, so I didn’t reach for my Pokedex. I should catch this thing, I considered.

The creature looked at me!

I stared back. Smiling slowly, I said, “Hello. Who are you?”

The creature said its name and backed up some more.

I decided it might be okay to pull out my Pokedex, and slowly moved my arm to grab my device. It kept its wary eyes on me as I pulled out the Pokedex and pointed it.

Patrat. The Scout Pokemon. They can keep watch for days on end, living off of food they store in their cheeks. This conscious Pokemon must be on guard at all times.

“A Patrat! Cool! It must be like a Rattata is in Kanto! A great starter Pokemon to capture! Hey! Trixa!” I turned to Trixa, but she was still on her back, rubbing against the ground on her back with her arms and legs. “Trixa?”

She didn’t move, completely ignoring me, totally in another world.

I turned back to Patrat, but it was now running away. “Wait!” I ran after it, reaching in my pocket for a Poke Ball. “Oh, no!” I remembered I didn’t have any Poke Balls with me and stopped, looking after Patrat as it disappeared into the woods. “Damn it!” I turned around to Trixa angrily. “HEY!” I shouted.

Trixa stopped moving at once and turned her head to me, still smiling. “Hello!”

“Trixa, you just missed out on a Pokemon! A Patrat just ran away and you could have caught it!”

Trixa smiled a little wider, her eyes twinkling with some sort of delight, presumably, and then she closed her eyes and continued swaying through the leaves.

“What the hell?” I muttered, squinting at her. I looked back to where Patrat had run off, but there was no sign of it. “Don’t you care?” I asked Trixa.

Trixa stopped making her movements and sighed, her smile plastered on her face and her eyes reopening, and stood up. “Patrat, you say?”

“Yeah!”

“I’ll find another later or something! Don’t sweat the small stuff, Gary.”

“But, you just missed out on a Pokemon,” I said, lowering my voice, trying to not get angry over her nonchalant attitude.

“I didn’t even notice it,” Trixa shrugged. “No big deal.” She looked down to Tepig. “I guess you finished eating, huh?” She knelt down next to Tepig and his empty bowl and pet his head, Tepig grunting happily in response to her touch.

I turned to June’s Pokemon. Galvantula, Eevee, Electivire, Rotom, and Magneton, I saw. Why only those five? What happened to Blitzle, and those other guys like Lanturn, and whatever else she had? She had ten Pokemon! I wanted to ask what happened, but not in front of Trixa. I needed to wait until June and I were alone.

Galvantula called out and turned around to June, walking over to her, and I immediately backed away from the thing.

June bent down and pet her creepy spider Pokemon, and Eevee ran up to June, jumping and landing on her right shoulder. June laughed and grabbed her Eevee, hugging her tightly.

Magneton shocked Rotom again, Rotom laughing with delight.

Electivire had finished eating and was staring at Trixa and Tepig with a strange look on his face.

“Return!” June said firmly, sending her Electivire back to his Poke Ball.

“I really think your Pokemon are just amazing!” Trixa commented, holding her Tepig in her arms, smiling at June. “I’ve never seen any of these before! In person, at least. Even Galvantula, which is from Unova! Thanks again for showing me them.”

June nodded. “I’m glad I could assist in your Pokedex information!”

Earlier, Trixa had recorded all of June’s Pokemon in her Pokedex after getting over her amazement. She picked up Eevee, laughed and pointed at Rotom, knocked a gentle fist against Magneton’s hard body, rubbed along Galvantula’s sickening, Bug body, and lifted Electivire’s arms.

Electivire had growled at her, but didn’t attack.

Trixa didn’t seem to notice Electivire’s warning as she joyfully skipped away after her examination.

“Well, if everyone’s done, let’s just continue on to Accumula Town, okay?” I suggested, looking at the Town Map.

According to the data, the nearest place to obtain the first Badge was Accumula Town. The Gym there had only been open for four months, and the Gym Leader, Bane, raised Poison type Pokemon.

What really grabbed my attention was the city after Accumula. Striaton City. The Gym there had reopened four years ago after a very long hiatus, according to what this incredible Town Map said. Apparently, the Gym Leaders, Chili, Cress, and Cilan, individually raise one type of Pokemon, different from each other, and depending on what Starter Pokemon the challenger chose in the Unova Region, the challenger would be facing the Gym Leader who had a type advantage. Cilan raised Grass types, Cress had Water types, and Chili had Fire types. These rules struck me as peculiar, but invigorated me to challenge such odd rules that Unova allowed.

The Unova region is pretty cool to let such stuff happen, I had thought. Maybe I actually will compete in the Unova League after all!

“Accumula Town?” June questioned. “How far is that?”

“According to this map, we should be there in just a little bit. We’re really not far.”

“Well, we’re already behind in starting this journey, right? We should get going.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, and turned to Trixa. “Um…”

Trixa was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s Trixa?”

June looked around. “She was right here just a second ago!” June returned her other four Pokemon and then faced me, confused.

“Great,” I sighed. “Is this girl serious right now? Where did she go?”

June shrugged.

“This girl is starting to become a pain,” I grumbled, again wishing that Ella was with us instead.

“Let’s just try and find her fast and then keep moving.”

“Right...”

June and I moved along the wide path, looking through the trees surrounding us, glancing at a high ledge on the right side of the path that contained more trees that led into deep areas that might have been nice to explore had I officially decided that I would be traveling through the Unova region.

But I hadn’t decided that.

June had made all of the plans so far.

I glanced at the ledge, wondering what might lie beyond there before turning to look in the opposite direction where June already had her eyes. “Look.” I stopped. “More Patrat. In a huge group.” I knelt down slowly and crept over to the gathering of the Patrat, huddling low, keeping out of sight of the Pokemon by hiding behind some shrubs.

June joined me on her knees, staring at the rodent Pokemon.

“Time to capture a Pokemon,” I whispered, reaching in my pocket. Nothing was in there, so I dug through my other pockets. “Ugh!”

At my noise, the Patrat all looked up in my direction, their tails on end.

I clasped my hands over my mouth with a gasp.

The Patrat immediately ran away, even deeper into the forest.

“Damn it!” I stood up and stomped the ground. “I forgot I have no Poke Balls!” I turned around to leave, but stopped with a loud gasp. “Trixa!”

“Hey!” she smiled, on her knees behind June, and stood up, her Tepig by her feet.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was watching the Patrat with you both,” Trixa replied.

“What? Since when?”

“Since we were traveling through the woods together and you spotted them, of course, ha ha!”

“You were with us?”

“I was right behind you two. Didn’t you see me? And they say I’m absent minded!” Trixa laughed shrilly.

I covered my face with my hand and sighed. This whole thing is a joke, I told myself. None of this is real. It can’t be. No way.

“Well, I’m glad you’re safe,” June spoke. “We were looking for you!”

“Really? How weird is that, huh?” Trixa spoke with delight.

“Can we please continue on to Accumula Town?” I asked impatiently.

“Sure thing!” Trixa said cheerfully.

We continued forward on the original path. It had been a long gap in time before I mentally noted the amount of silence between the three of us.

Trixa walked behind us with her eyes closed, smiling, Tepig shooting her curious glances on occasion.

“Trixa?”

June turned back to stare at Trixa.

Trixa continued walking, her arms stationary at her sides, not moving.

“Trixa?” I tried again.

Trixa didn’t respond, continuing to walk.

“I think you should open your eyes when you walk,” I suggested. “You might crash into something.”

Trixa didn’t react, her head tilting to the left suddenly as she kept strolling along.

I turned back to June, who looked at me, a weary look on her face. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“She’s at least ten, right? I guess if she’s been acting like this for around ten years, she’ll be fine. No need to try to change her. We’ll just keep an eye on her. I dunno.”

We both looked over to her again.

Her head was swaying around in circles, down and around, up and around, down and around, repeatedly.

“That girl is freaking nuts!” I burst out.

Trixa continued on with the weird swiveling of her head.

“Gary!” June whispered.

“Just seeing if I could grab her attention,” I explained. “Since she’s lost in her own strange lifestyle, I can ask you some questions.”

“Huh?” June stared at me wide-eyed.

“You only have five Pokemon with you,” I said in a low voice. “What happened to the other guys?”

“Oh,” June murmured. “Blitzle, Lanturn, Manectric, Ampharos, and Pikachu.”

“Yeah!”

“They’re in Gringey City right now, at the Pokemon Center.” June’s voiced lowered even more. “They haven’t fully recovered. I’ll have them sent to me once they’re okay. But for now, there are still complications with them. I gave up a lot trying to free you from your mom’s house. I wanted to stay home and make sure my Pokemon were okay, but I needed to get you out of your home, too.”

“Well, I never asked you to help me.”

“You couldn’t ask me!” June responded, getting angry, turning sharply to me. She squinted hard as if she couldn’t believe what I had just said.

My eyes widened and I simply nodded. I hadn’t meant any offense. Now, I was regretting my words, my heart’s beat quickening.

“How are your Pokemon?” June asked more calmly, her eyes softening. “Only Porygon-Z and Charizard made it to you. You mentioned something about Primeape being with Prof. Oak when we were in Pallet Town. And Weepinbell. Have you heard anything about the others?”

“Drifloon, Kingdra, and Noctowl are still in a Pokemon Center recovering. I think they’re in the one in Viridian City. They should be just fine in a few more months. My other Pokemon with Prof. Oak are just fine, of course. Prof. Oak kept me updated by sending me notes on a Hoppip.”

“I’m glad some of your Pokemon are doing well.”

“Yeah. I’m really grateful. At least I know some of my Pokemon are fine and the others should be coming back home, soon.”

“I’m happy to hear that, Gary.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry so many of your Pokemon are still unwell. Did they tell you exactly what’s still wrong?”

June’s eyes glistened and she blinked before looking away. “There’s a lot going on. I don’t understand all the Doc lingo, but, like I said back then, whatever they used on the Pokemon was more than an electric shock. Blitzle is in constant agony. The others are in rough shape, too. It’s just a lot of complications, okay, Gary??” She inhaled sharply.

Her tone made my body twinge. My heart jump. Maybe this wasn’t the time to have brought this up. It was none of my business, anyway. I should have been more sensitive about this.

June exhaled slowly. “They think my Pokemon will be okay, but they did warn me that anything could happen.” June sounded more patient. “They’re really not doing too well. The doctors are doing the best they can.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but suddenly, Trixa skipped past me and continued on, humming a song, Tepig running to keep up with his Trainer.

“Where are you going?” I called out to her.

Trixa kept on skipping, and suddenly, an enormous creature leaped out from the trees! She skid to a stop, Tepig slamming into her legs from the sudden halt, and Trixa gasped.

“Whoa! Look!” I recognized the large Pokemon from my ride with Virgil and pulled out my Pokedex.

Sawsbuck. The Season Pokemon and Deerling’s evolved form. This Pokemon’s look changes with the seasons. Often traveling in herds, the one with the most extravagant horns is the leader.

“Wow! An evolved Pokemon!” I felt a surge of jealousy fill my body, wishing I had run into this Pokemon instead of Trixa before remembering that I didn’t have any Poke Balls on me to capture it, nor any Pokemon to battle against it with, and so I sucked my teeth.

Trixa took a strong position on her feet and pointed at Sawsbuck. “You’re a Pokemon!” There was an odd, momentary pause. “Tepig, go!”

“Tepig!” Tepig ran towards Sawsbuck.

“Tepig, Tackle attack! Go!”

“Teeeepig!” Tepig charged at Sawsbuck. He jumped and slammed his body, headfirst, into Sawsbuck’s chest, pushing Sawsbuck back a couple of feet, but Sawsbuck seemed just fine.

“Trixa, use your Pokedex!” June urged.

“Tepig, maybe you can use Ember! Right?” Trixa tried, ignoring June.

“Tepig! Tepig!” Tepig said happily and used Ember, sending out a swirl of sparkling fire at Sawsbuck.

Sawsbuck was hit, stumbling back, and then it ran towards Tepig angrily.

“It’s gonna attack, Trixa!” I shouted. “Watch out!”

Trixa growled, glaring at Sawsbuck.

Sawsbuck neared Tepig, Tepig backing up, awaiting orders from his Trainer.

“TRIXA!” I yelled.

Sawsbuck was suddenly consumed by fire and collapsed, crying out in pain, right in front of Tepig!

Tepig had been cowering in front of Sawsbuck as the large Pokemon got closer, but he looked up at Sawsbuck once it was screaming amongst the fire around its body.

“Sawsbuck is Burned!” I said happily. “This is your chance, Trixa!”

“YAY!” Trixa cheered, leaping into the air... and then she skipped away!

My eyes bulged out. “TRIXA??”

Trixa skipped right past Sawsbuck and continued down the road. “Let’s go, Tepig!”

“Tepig? Tepig!” Tepig ran around Sawsbuck as it up looked in shock at him.

The opponent Pokemon stood back up and turned around to me and June. growling.

“Whoa!” I took a step back. “Wait a minute!”

Sawsbuck ran at us.

“Oh, no!”

“Great!” June leaped in front of me, holding a Poke Ball in her hand. “This will do just fine! I choose you, Eevee!”

Eevee’s Poke Ball soared through the air and opened, sending out Eevee in a flash of white light. “Veeeee!”

“Eevee, use your Charm attack!”

Sawsbuck leaped at Eevee, its body stretched, the front hooves reaching for Eevee.

Eevee let out a loud, happy cry, and winked at Sawsbuck with glittering eyes.

Sawsbuck soared into Eevee with its hooves, sending her flying back.

Eevee got to her feet and shook her head hard, glaring at Sawsbuck.

“Fight back with Quick Attack!” June ordered.

Eevee crouched down and then rapidly fired herself at Sawsbuck, knocking it to the ground.

Sawsbuck’s horns started to glow light green and sparkles seemed to be pulled into them from the sun above.

“It’s about to use Solar Beam! Eevee, take it out with Double-Edge!”

Eevee was covered in a gold aura as she ran at Sawsbuck, a yellow trail flying off of her body. She slammed into Sawsbuck.

Sawsbuck’s Solar Beam fired from its horns, exploding into the ground, raising dirt into the air.

June and I cried out in surprise, covering our faces. When the dust cleared, we lowered our hands, but only saw Trixa staring at us, her face holding surprise, her Tepig looking at us with a matching look of shock.

“Wow! Pretty sweet, huh?” Trixa beamed.

“WHAT??” I shouted, storming towards her. “You left us here to battle that thing without finishing what you started!”

Confusion replaced Trixa’s joy. “What do you mean? We beat Sawsbuck! It was your turn!”

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!!” I bellowed. “Sawsbuck was still able to battle!! You ran away from it!! You don’t just stop in the middle of a battle like that!!!”

“Well, what more do we do?” Trixa asked, brushing her long hair with her hands.

“You battle until it’s down! You keep going until the opponent is out! You catch the freaking thing! You don’t just run off!”

“It was Burned! You said so!”

“BURN DOESN’T MEAN YOU WIN!!! WHAT THE-?!”

“Gary…” June said gently, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I took a deep breath and stayed quiet.

“A Burn, or any status ailment, doesn’t end a match, Trixa,” June explained kindly. “It’s a nice boost, but the opponent is still more than capable of winning.”

“Ooohhhh!” Trixa mused. “’Kay!” And she skipped off in her own happiness, Tepig running after her.

“You know, I really don’t know about this girl,” I said in a low growl.

“She’s innocent,” June said, giving me a gentle push. “Give her a chance.”

I just shook my head.

“Let’s also catch up with her!” June added and ran to follow her.

I hesitated but then ran, too.

Trixa wasn’t far ahead, and we kept up with her by jogging.

This girl is brain dead, I thought harshly. She needs to just stay home, not travel on her own, or with anybody. She’s a hazard to herself and her own Pokemon!

Trixa continued making her way along until something appeared from the trees to her right.

It looked like an adorable little puppy. It sniffed the air and stepped out cautiously, and then looked up at Trixa.

Lillipup. The Puppy Pokemon. The fur on Lillipup’s face senses changes in the environment, detecting predators and also useful when hunting.

“Another new Pokemon! Trixa, don’t screw this one up, alright?” I warned her.

She turned back to me. “I haven’t screw up anything since starting this journey! What do you mean?” She turned back to Lillipup. “Tepig! Ember!”

“Teeeeeeeeeepiiiiig!” Tepig sent out a big flame of fire at Lillipup.

Lillipup whined out as it was forced down by the hit. It got back up and charged at Tepig, opening its jaws, its teeth glowing white, and bit into Tepig’s side.

“Piiiiiig!” Tepig responded in distress.

“Hey! Lillipup isn’t Burned!” Trixa pointed at Lillipup.

“A Burn isn’t guaranteed!!” I barked. “Will you focus on the damn battle?!”

Trixa glared at me. “Don’t talk to me that way! There’s no need to be mean! I haven’t traveled an entire region and gained a lot of experience like you have! Why are you being such a jerk to me?”

My anger faded as I realized how impatient I was being with her, regret filling me quickly. “Trixa…”

She turned back to the battle. “Tepig, use your Tail Whip! That’s a basic move, I think!”

Tepig ran at Lillipup and made a quick turnaround, his tail facing Lillipup, and it wagged sharply, brushing into Lillipup’s face cutely.

“PupPupPup!” Lillipup stumbled back, shaking its head.

“Now use Ember!” Trixa turned to me. “Lillipup’s Defense is down, so it will do more damage!”

My shoulders slumped in disappointment at her words as Trixa looked away from me. At least she gets the idea… I accepted. We can go over the details later, I guess.

Tepig attacked with Ember.

Lillipup rolled along the ground, soon stopping.

“YEAH!” Trixa jumped repeatedly. “We win!”

“Catch it!” I instructed.

“Why?” Trixa asked, turning to me, brushing back her hair.

I wasn’t sure how to answer. Was that even a serious question? “Why…?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice calm.

“Yeah. Why?” Trixa asked, crossing her arms.

Lillipup shook its head and got to its feet.

“Trixa!” I pointed at Lillipup.

Trixa turned around. “It’s still up!”

Lillipup barked a few times and then ran at Tepig, using Tackle, and slammed into his stomach.

Tepig’s stomach flashed white, signaling a Critical Hit, and Tepig rolled along the ground, finally sprawling out on his back.

Lillipup barked again and ran off into the woods where it had appeared from.

Trixa walked over to her Tepig and knelt down. “How ya doing?” she asked warmly. She rubbed her Pokemon’s exposed, rounded belly.

Tepig groaned and flinched at her touch.

“You’ve had enough. Come back.” She returned Tepig to his Poke Ball and turned to June and I. “Well, I guess I’m out of usable Pokemon for a little while!”

“You!!” I stomped closer. “WHY didn’t you catch the Lillipup when it was down?!”

“Why would I do that?” Trixa asked, her head cocked to the left.

“BECAUSE YOU’RE A POKEMON TRAINER!!!!” I shouted as loud as I possibly could, birds flapping their wings in the treetops and flying off at the echo of my voice. “You’re meant to defeat and capture Pokemon you don’t own, or even those you do own, if you want, and RAISE THEM!!!”

“Oh. I kind of wondered how that was supposed to work. Thanks for telling me!” She smiled and skipped away.

“HEY!”

My voice stopped Trixa. She turned to me, her eyes wide.

“You’re also meant to use your Pokedex to scan Pokemon to record what you’ve seen!” I snapped. “You’re doing everything all wrong! You’re not gonna make it if you don’t follow the obvious rules!”

“Well, they’re not that obvious,” Trixa snapped back. “If they were, I would’ve noticed them!”

I let out an angry sigh. “You missed out on three cool Pokemon today! I could’ve captured them if I had Poke Balls with me!”

“Well, shows just how obvious those rules are if you don’t even have any Poke Balls with you,” Trixa smirked. “I have Poke Balls.”

I had no response to this.

“You can use mine if you want.” Trixa dug around in her pockets.

“No! Those are your first five! They’re very important!” I insisted. “Please! Keep them! We’ll just buy more when we find a Poke Mart in a Pokemon Center.”

“You can use mine,” June offered, lifting her bag on her shoulder.

“Like I said, I’ll buy more at the Pokemon Center!” I spoke sharply. I took out the Town Map. “Look! The next Pokemon Center is outside of this forest, and according to this, that’s only but another fifty feet away! Come on! We can heal your Tepig, Trixa!”

“Pokemon don’t just recover inside of their Poke Balls?” Trixa asked in her wide-eyed innocence.

“NO!” June and I shouted in unison.

“Oh. Ha ha,” Trixa giggled, blushing.

I sighed. “Come on!” I grabbed Trixa’s hand and pulled her after me, June following after us, as we moved as quickly as we could. In seconds, I could see the forest clearing out, and a wooden building was in the distance, a large, pink P on the front of it, near the top. That must be it! The Pokemon Center!

We ran even faster towards it, Trixa complaining at my insistent pulling.

The only building in this clearing, I led the way into it, bursting through the door, and scanned the inside of it quickly. I spotted a couple of wooden tables and chairs, a pair of computers on wooden desks, and a large and long wooden, polished desk containing a cute lady behind it smiling at us wearing a pink nurse’s outfit, a pink Pokemon smiling at her side. They both wore a little white nurse’s cap with a light blue cross.

I ran up to them. “Excuse me, but is this the Pokemon Center?”

“Yes, this is! Are you in need of some Pokemon care?” the young lady asked.

The Pokemon by her side cried out happily.

“Yes! Is Nurse Joy here?”

“In fact, she is! I’m Nurse Joy!”

“You??” I questioned, and squinted at the lady who looked like she wasn’t even old enough to attend college.

She giggled. “Why, yes, I am!”

“But, you barely look like you’re... sixteen! How can you be the Nurse Joy here?”

Nurse Joy giggled again. “I thank you for your compliment, but I can guarantee I am indeed an adult, as well as the Nurse Joy here.”

“I can’t believe it! The Nurse Joys in Kanto look… well… similar to you, but not quite the same. They look… More adult! No, that’s not quite the right word, but…”

Nurse Joy giggled once again. “So, you’re from the Kanto region? Well, yes, while I think I look noticeably different from the other Nurse Joys in Unova, there’s no doubt that we all have a major difference in appearance from our relatives in Kanto and the other regions! I welcome you to the Unova region! And might I introduce you to the Pokemon we all have here to assist us! As opposed to the Chansey you’re used to seeing, in the Unova region, we’re partnered with Audino!”

“Audino!” the pink Pokemon cried out gently.

Audino. The Hearing Pokemon. It can detect even the faintest of sounds. The feelers on their ears can act as a stethoscope, hearing the heartbeats of others.

I stared in shock at Nurse Joy and Audino, realizing that there might just be a lot of things that I’d have to get used to in the Unova region.

Gym battles.

The Nurse Joys.

The Audino.

And who knows what else!

As Trixa and June handed Nurse Joy their Pokemon, and we all took a seat by the window, looking out at the afternoon sun, I dwelled on a fact that had continuously been circling my head since the moment I had found my mom struggling to free herself from the refrigerator holding her captive.

Life would never be the same for me again.

And I also found myself pondering the fact that.

The Nurse Joys in Unova weren’t as attractive as the ones in Kanto.