I waited outside, leaning against the building. I felt good about being early. Despite that my nerves got to me, along with the cold weather, and I shivered. I thought about the meeting I was there for as I looked down at the paper I held.
This letter was the result of the drawn-out process of applying to become a Gym Leader. Well, it was not the final result—I'd have to wait months more for any real confirmation. But I had made the decision to try and get into a career I would enjoy. I had perfect timing, graduating from school the same year as a Gym was opening in our town.
A black SUV rolled up quickly. It stopped and let someone out. The suit-clad man removed sunglasses as he walked toward me. I straightened my posture anxiously as soon as I saw him.
"Hello. I'm Thomas Marsh," the man said deliberately, reaching to shake my hand. I've always been shy, but I like to have a strong handshake. They say that actions are greater than words, after all. Unfortunately I couldn't tell if I impressed the man at all, since his face remained stony. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a little plaque with a card and badge attached. They denoted him as a high-up member of the Pokémon League.
He put the plaque away and spoke. "I'm Operations Director of Kalicom Gym. I've been put in charge of readying the Gym for late summer of the coming year, when the Subo region Pokémon League will open to challenges. You're applying for the position of Leader at this Gym, correct?"
"Yes." I couldn't help but smile. It was the first time a "League official" had verbally recognized me as a candidate. The butterflies were starting now, though. I only knew the general purpose of this meeting: to assess me as a possible choice. It was the first assessment, and so it was only a sort of question-and-answer session. I had no idea what that entailed, however, and I couldn't help being scared.
After a few more preliminary questions, the man's patience with the weather was clearly tried, so we went indoors. The interior of the Gym had recently been finished, and the place even smelled new. The man reached for a light switch.
The man pulled out papers, which I assumed to be my file, and set them on a wide windowsill. He studied them, then said: "You've done a lot with the electronic console games, I see." He straightened up from the papers and looked at me expectantly.
"I played those a lot, especially when I was younger," I said, probably too quietly.
"Yes. In electronic console games, you won the League Championship in one. In another you acquired all eight Gym Badges. In another you have four badges, and in another you have one." He paused. "But there are game trainers who have Championship status in every version of every game. Not all of those people would be accepted for Leadership in the real world. What makes you qualified?"
It was these long-answer questions that I was most afraid of. I knew I didn't have a good answer. I just played those games for fun. I opened my mouth, hoping I could at least justify my application.
"Well, for one thing, not every Gym Leader gets in on skills alone. Not to say anything bad about them, but Misty and Flannery both have family connections. And then there are Leaders like Brock who are more recognized for helping their own communities. They don't necessarily run great Gyms, but they help a lot of people."
"Hmm..." Mr. Marsh thought for a moment. "I see that you know a lot about League politics, and not necessarily in this region. That's an odd thing to be interested in, but it's a good interest for a Gym Leader to have." He paused for a moment to rummage through his papers.
He turned to me again. "So you have done some real-world battling. You have two Badges in Kanto, three in Hoenn and one in Sinnoh. That's not terrible. Did those battles influence your decision to apply?"
"Yes, all of those battles had a huge effect on me. I did some of them when I was really young, and I would say that those made me think about someday becoming a Gym Leader." The more I spoke, the more self-conscious I felt. I just hoped that this interview would be over soon.
"I see. Would you say you have more love for Pokémon, or battling?"
I answered this question without even thinking. "I love Pokémon more. They should be partners in battle, and friends all the time. If I had decided to take a League Challenge, I would've loved to travel and make good friends with Pokémon." During that little speech, I realized I messed up by mentioning that I didn't take a League Challenge. I resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation, as I knew what question would be next.
"That brings to mind another question. Why didn't you take a Challenge?" Mr. Marsh had that expectant look on his face again.
"Well…my parents always wanted me to finish school, and since Pokémon battling is newer around here and my parents are old-fashioned…I just knew it wasn't something I was allowed to do. My parents would never have let me live away from them when I was a kid." I hoped that my rambling answer would suffice.
Mr. Marsh looked deep in thought for another second, then he started toward the huge open doorframe that led to the next part of the Gym. I followed. Once we were through the door, I saw we were in a hallway. It was as wide as a regular room, but it was about three times as long. The ceiling was high, and with the lighting it looked dark up there. We walked straight through this room, and stopped right inside the entrance of the next. The large doorframe was the same, but inside the room had a small stadium-style field, which at this point was still plain concrete. But the purpose of the field was clear. And at the opposite side was a platform with two short pillars beside it. The pillars had spaces carved out of their tops for decorative Pokéballs to sit. The ceiling of this room was even higher than the hallway's, as well. Even unfinished, it was a very impressive Gym Leader room.
In my shock, I didn't notice Mr. Marsh studying my face intently. I finally looked at him and realized, embarrassed, that my mouth hung open slackly and my eyes were ridiculously wide. I regained what little composure I had, smiling and saying "This is great."
"Yes," Mr. Marsh said. He turned around. "I thought you should see this room since you said this is your first time being in the building." He walked back, wordless until after he picked up his files, turned off the lights, and closed the front door.
"Goodbye," he said. "We'll be meeting again." He might have been smiling when he said this, but on his face it was hard to tell. "In the meantime, wait for further communication from the League. There will be a correspondence requesting more information from you." He turned towards the black vehicle he had arrived in without waiting for a response from me.
"Goodbye," I said. "Thank you!" I wasn't exactly sure what I thanked him for. I had a bad habit of always saying 'thanks' and 'sorry' to people.
I started to relax, and as I sighed it felt like I was breathing for the first time since I woke up that day. To my surprise, though, the man from the League turned slightly and waved goodbye once before getting in his vehicle to leave. When I saw him finally drive away, I sighed again.
I hoped our meeting had gone well, and I hoped that the League wouldn't string me on if it hadn't. I wanted to know as soon as possible what I should set my sights on. If I couldn't become a Gym Leader, then looking at that fleeting childhood dream would hurt too much. But, I thought, thinking about it was okay today. With that in mind, I turned around and tried the door. It was already locked. Those League people could be sneaky. I walked over to a front window, but in the dark the interior was unimpressive. I realized I must be an idiot to stare so longingly through the windows of a dark building. As a gust of wind picked up, I shoved my hands into mittens and began my walk home.