Chapter 9 - Registration

I stared back at Nurse Ueli as I pondered his question. Why was I a trainer? Through some twist of fate I was brought to this universe, yet I didn’t need to become a trainer. I could become a breeder or a nurse.

Is it because of a childhood dream that I chose to become a pokemon trainer? Even though the risks are way bigger than in a TV show where you have plot armour.

Wait, do I have plot armour?... Well, I don’t feel like I do. Okay, Jason, Stop. Don’t go down this rabbit hole.

“Well?” Nurse Ueli asked, breaking me out of my reverie.

“Well, I find pokemon fascinating and enjoy making bonds with them.”

He continued to look at me, expecting more.

“And… I guess I want to be safe. In order to be safe, I need to be strong enough to ensure my safety and the safety of those I love.” I embraced Chrys and Chaos, who are still snuggling up to me on the couch.

Nurse Ueli smiled at me and nodded.

“It looks like you’ve got your mind made up. I was going to offer you an alternative career path, but it seems that won’t be necessary now.”

For a second, I thought about asking about those paths, but something deep within me was irked at the thought of giving up on being a trainer. Giving up on my dream.

I just nodded in assent.

We continued to chat for a bit about small things. How Nurse Jane was doing, when I would challenge the gym and he recommended a restaurant. But soon Nurse Ueli had to return to work.

“Alright, have a nice stay at Cherrygrove. It was nice meeting you.” He said with a smile.

“Likewise.” I grinned back.

It was time for some training.

Chrys, Chaos and I half dragged ourselves to the showers at the pokecentre and cleaned the sweat and dirt off our bodies. Maybe we should take a rest day tomorrow? Then hit the gym the following day.

“How do you guys feel about going out to a restaurant tomorrow?”

“Chiko!”, “Happi! Pi!”

Chaos did a little twirl with her shrilling.

“I guess that’s settled, we’ll go to the gym the day after. We’ll review our strategy tomorrow night.” I said as I picked them both up. “Now let’s get to bed.”

We awoke around noon and quickly got ready and headed for the lunch they were serving at the pokecenter. We had decided to go to the restaurant for dinner, after exploring the city.

As we exited the pokecenter, I had Chaos in her ball because I was only allowed to have one pokemon out at a time. The size of which depended on the city’s laws, for most cities it was about the size of a large dog from before. Chrys pranced around me as we walked.

I felt a little bad for Chaos, but she could see out of her pokeball which was pinned to my shirt. And I would take her out after Chrys got to explore the city for a bit.

As we walked, we passed a construction site with a roselia helping the flowers to grow over the building, strengthening it.

We passed a few other people walking about, around half with pokemon. Mostly grass pokemon due to most of the people being citizens. Bellsprout, cacnea and sunflora, just to name a few of the common pokemon. We did also see a fennekin, who Chrys bound up to and started prancing around.

The poor pokemon was shivering from the unwanted attention.

“Chrys! That’s enough, come back here. That fennekin isn’t comfortable with you so close.”

Chrys dipped her head and trotted back to me.

“Sorry, she just got excited and wanted to make a friend.” I say to the fennekin’s trainer. A young woman around my age, who looks about as shy as her fennekin.

“Are you in town for the gym?” I ask.

“Yeah, me and Ren are here to beat the gym!” She says confidently, quite a contrast to her previously abashed appearance.

“What about you?” She asks me.

“Yeah, me and my team have been training to beat it.”

“When’s your match?”

“Well, we were going to register today.”

“Great!” She says, “I was heading to register right now. We can get our matches close together so we can watch each other's battles.”

Suddenly feeling a little sheepish, I start searching for an excuse but Chrys beats me to it.

“Chiko! Chiko chi.” She says as she runs up to nuzzle against the girl.

“Well, I guess that’s fine.” I say. “My name’s Jason, and this is Chrys,” I say as I put forward my hand, the other patting Chrys who had come back to my side.

“Ida.” She replies and shakes my hand.

After a tentative greeting from Ren to Chrys, we proceeded to the gym to book our matches.

The gym was easy to locate due to it being under a giant tree that towered over the buildings. And by under, I mean directly under. As in, built into the verdant hill that was teeming with life.

As we headed towards the tree, Ida asked, “So, is this your first gym battle?”

“Yeah, that obvious?” I reply.

“Well, I guess I have the same tells. One to two pokemon with one of them being a regional starter. It isn’t hard to figure out.”

“Guess not.” I say, “Do you have another pokemon other than Ren?”

“No, Ren’s my first and I was hoping to catch my second over here. What pokemon is your second?”

“Happiny, she’s named Chaos.” I said and I heard a faint trill in the back of my mind. “So, where are you from? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, I’m from Goldenrod City. But my parents flew me here to start my journey. They thought that with Ren it would be easier…” She trailed off, looking a little ashamed and the conversation petered out.

Soon after, we approached a relatively normal looking door that was flush with the hill, opening at an angle. There was a vivacious wreath of living flowers going around the door, with a gym symbol above it.

I opened the door, finding it lighter than it looked and entered the gym. The inside looked like a well curated forest or jungle. There were plants everywhere, with a few trees scattered around. The inside was much larger than it appeared from the outside. I assume it was some sort of Silph tech that expanded the space.

There was thick underbrush everywhere, except for a single path that led to a receptionist counter.

Ida and I walked up to the desk, taking in the menagerie of extravagant flora surrounding us.

“Hello, how may I help you?” The woman behind the counter asked.

Ida stepped forward, “I’d like to register a match for my first badge.”

“Certainly, we just got through with a larger batch so we have some bookings available as early as tomorrow. How does 11:00 sound?”

“Sounds good, and is there a booking for my friend’s first badge around the same time?” She asked.

I felt a little touched at being referred to as a friend after our brief encounter.

“Yes, does 11:30 work?” The receptionist asked, turning to look at me.

“Yes.” I reply.

“Alright, you both are booked for tomorrow. Good luck!”

With that, we left the gym.

I was feeling a little antsy, going over our training in my head when Ida interrupted my rumination.

“Hey, want to go watch a match? There’s one scheduled in 30 minutes.”