Chevaki walked the path of the city, having reached their next location for the Pokemon contests and battles. He was worried, though he tried not to let his bayleef notice. Their money was running low. Since bayleef was his only Pokemon and she hasn't evolved yet, they were easily taken out by the trainers that challenged him.
Normally this wouldn't be a problem, bayleef would usually toss her opponents to the ground easily a year or two ago. Now, after loss after loss he tried to catch other Pokemon, but they weren't easy to take down either, and the two that he could have captured were both female and bayleef gave him a mean look as he pulled out the pokeball. If she didn't want them on his "team" then they wouldn't go on. Double battles were becoming more prominent and he needed her to work well with the second Pokemon.
Unfortunately, the more he lost, the more money he had to give out from his account in the pokedex. Between his losses and the yearly trainer license fee, he risked going completely broke and losing Bayleef.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" shouted a teen as he blindly bumped into chevaki and lumbered onward.
Bayleef growled at him for a little bit then nuzzled up to Chev and continued guiding him on his way. She enjoyed trying to fight for him, since she knew it would help keep him in warm beds and give them both food, but she continued blissfully, unaware of the concerns of her owner.
As he entered the stadium lobby, he knew something was off. The place was almost empty.
He started to head to the receptionist desk, but was instead met by a mr mime.
"Excuse me, can you get the lady for registration please?"
The mr mime started talking into the device through the glass, and while he could hear the pokespeak, he then heard the speaker in the glass say, "I can help you! Just tell me what you need!"
"O-kay..." Chev said, hesitating at the sudden change. "I'd like to register for the next Pokemon tournament then?"
"Oh I can't do that!" he said shaking his head with a grin on his face. "The owner of this big human building said no more Pokemon fights ever!"
"I... see..." Chev said with more hesitation, feeling very worried and holding bayleef's sturdy neck to his side, a sure sign to her that he was nervous. "Well, what about contests? When's the next one I can sign up for?"
"Three weeks!" It said excitedly. "There's gonna be lots and lots of contestants... we hope." It tried to say the last bit quietly, but Chev still heard it.
"All right, let me register for the contest then please."
"Sure thing! Please hand your pokedex!" Mr mime said, hand held out through the opening expectantly.
Chevaki handed his pokedex, switching the mode on it from private to public, locking his information and encrypting anything sensitive about his information. The only way to undo what he did would be to enter his passcode, since no one has cracked a pokedex yet.
The mr mime held the pokedex up to a new device that Chev hadn't seen before, and then waited while it beeped a few times. After a final ding the mr mime handed the pokedex back to Chev.
"All right, thank you and have a greeeeaaaaaat day!" it said enthusiastically.
Chevaki only raised an eyebrow slightly at the exuberance of the Pokemon but turned and left without a word. He had bigger things to worry about. Three weeks until he can get into a contest and make some money. If he didn't win this one, he'd definitely lose his license next month.
Bayleef pressed against his side, looking up at him with worried eyes as they started walking towards a store.
"Don't worry girl, I'll tell you soon. Definitely before tonight." He tried to pat her head and rub it like she always liked, and while she did smile some, he could tell she was still worried about him.
Chevaki ordered a weeks worth of food, and food that could survive at room temperature and cooked at a campfire. After storing it in the pokeball, he paid with the money he had left after the contest entry fee and walked to the outskirts of the city.
Once they were outside the city limits and Chevaki started pitching his tent, even though it was still daylight at 4 in the afteroon. Bayleef, who usually helped, looked at him with a slightly cocked head, confused.
"I guess you're wondering what we're doing huh girl?" He said. He saw her nod and continued. "Well, I guess now is just as good a time to tell as any. We're almost out of money." He took a deep breath then, trying to calm himself as he explained.
"Since we haven't won any fights or contests lately, we can't buy a room at a hotel, or even the pokecenter, we can't get nicer food, and if we don't win this contest, I won't be allowed to own you and you might be sent away if we do any fighting or contests... Worst case scenario is that I could be jailed..." He said as he finished pitching the tent.
It was tough admitting all of that out loud, even if it was to his Pokemon. She hadn't grown much more, at least compared to him, he was now fully grown, not to mention he was more muscled from all the massages she liked getting. She was only somewhat shorter than waist height now, and he wondered if that would ever change. He missed her being as tall as he was sometimes.
She nuzzled up to him, tears starting to form in her eyes. Chev hugged her close and stroked her back. "I know girl, its not your fault. You had so much fun with them I didn't want to ruin it for you by putting more pressure on you."
She cried a little bit at this, shaking into his stomach with her neck curled up around him. He sat down and held her until she calmed down. "Don't worry, theres other things I can do. I know you've liked traveling, getting a lot of sun, but maybe its time I get a job and start settling down. What do you think?"
She shook again, sniffing but not quite crying, so he presumed she chuckled a little at this. She definitely wasn't in the mood to do much today, so he guided her into the tent and sat down so she could nuzzle up to him while they thought about their predicament.