- 7 -

"Provincial"

Finally arriving at the Pokémon Center the next day, I felt like my legs wanted to kill me. My stomach was gurgling a bit—from lack of food or anxiety, I could never tell which anymore. My legs were quaking. The cool air blasted on us from the air conditioning, and I breathed in the fake air with a sigh of relief. Finally, hopefully, Aster would leave me alone—

"Hey, Leo!" Aster joined me in walking into the Pokémon Center. "I was thinking', while you head off and do your pictures, I can go and sign up for a spot to fight Brock!"

Mmhmm. I would've ditched him without a second's hesitation, had I not said I'd watch his first gym battle. I nodded in response. Being around Aster was definitely… I don't want to use the word tiring, because there was a part of me that was a bit rejuvenated by some of the first positive socialization I've had in what felt like forever. But there was also the introverted, shy part of myself that just got… tired. My voice was tired. I didn't want to talk much. Probably from Aster, but it's… it's weird, everything is so confusing, is this what knowing positive people is like?

Whatever. Moving on.

Aster looked at me one last time. "Alright, I guess this is farewell for a bit. I'll send you a message when I—" He stopped in his tracks. "Wait, I don't have your phone number, huh?"

I shrugged. I pulled out my phone and handed it to him. He wrote down his number in it, and made sure mine was in his. I got a glimpse of his phone—it was much better than my crappy old one, and he put a camera emoji next to my name. Glancing at mine, he'd put stars—asterisks, because my phone doesn't have emojis—next to his.

"Alright. I'll text you what time I've got. And then we can meet up back here for a bit. Does that sound good?"

I nodded. Sure.

Aster grinned. He waved goodbye, leaving the Pokémon Center as soon as he'd entered it. I, however, had different plans. After sending Cal back with one of the working nurses for a quick check-up, I dug through the "tourist pit".

If you don't know what I mean when I refer to the "tourist pit", then I'll explain it to you. It's the shelf full of information and maps that's usually by the front door of the Pokémon Center. It was the best place to get pamphlets and brochures about your current location if you weren't into talking with other people. I couldn't count the endless times I'd taken Cal in to the one in Viridian for check-ups and found myself dug deep into the information given by the tourist pit.

That's why it's a pit. Once you fall in, it's hard to get out.

I dug out a few brochures that looked rather interesting, one of the city with certain places where wild Pokémon were said to roam freely, one about the city's history, and the third just talking about the museum. Man, if Aster gets a decent shot at the Gym today, maybe we can stop—I halted in my thoughts. 'We' was pushing it. He probably didn't want to go to a nerdy, old museum about rocks and stuff. My natural curiosity was getting the best of me.

"Leo?" The nurse who took Cal back was calling my name. I grabbed the brochures and walked over, giving her a small smile. "Your Gastly is in perfect condition." She held out the tray that had Cal's Pokeball. "We hope to see you again."

I mumbled out a, "Thank you. You, too—"and caught my voice. Awkward. The nurse only blinked at me and smiled, before her attention was pulled away by another trainer, who had an injured Rattata. Poisoned, probably, if they just came from the forest.

I released Cal from his Pokeball and pulled out the map with the Pokémon hotspots. It wasn't always a good idea to catch an urban Pokémon, they're often more wild than wild Pokémon. But the map did show some spots where some urban Rattata, Meowth, and a few others could be hiding. And thus, our job for the day had begun.

Click. A picture of an Abra, lazing about in the park. It was mid-day, and most people were picnicking or having fun battling or just hanging out in the park. No text yet from Aster, but the moment I spotted the Abra, I had to go into "Serious Mode".

I'm sure I looked a little…silly to some passersby. I was a prepubescent-looking boy, with half of his body shoved inside of a bush. An Abra snoozed on the other side, away from the prying eyes of humans. I had to be quiet in order to get this shot.

And it worked. I wiggled myself out of the bush and turned my camera to the photo-viewing one. Bravo! Getting images of wild Pokémon like Abra, that are quick to flee, is really tricky, especially for the famous professionals. You must remain quiet and still, if anyone thing disturbs a wild Abra, the teleport ability is nothing to mess with.

A sudden flashback from the burglar came back. I shook my head to clear the thoughts, as Cal floated over to check on the photo I'd taken. He'd accustomed himself to hiding in the shadows of the trees around us, as his amorphous body would've almost completely disappeared in the afternoon sunlight.

"What do you think, Cal?" I held the camera up for him to see better. "Portfolio-worthy?"

He chuckled. It was a Yes from Callalied. I nodded, making a note of that picture. I checked my phone to see if Aster had texted me yet, and there still wasn't any messages. I shrugged, standing up and wiping off my pants. Better get going to the other places, I thought to myself, grabbing the map from my pocket to see where to go next.

"Hey, you!" A sudden voice ripped me out of my thoughts. I turned, and found a trainer, opposing me, in a slightly highlighter-like yellow t-shirt and shorts. He couldn't have been more than eleven, twelve at most. "My name's Bobby! Are you a trainer?"

Um. I shrugged. "I mean, I- I guess?"

"Awesome!" The kid crossed his arms. "Battle me! Please!"

I looked at Cal, who looked right back at me. It was a bit of an occupational hazard, to be challenged by trainers, huh? Cal could look less interested in it, but… I hated it but I needed money, too. "Um, okay- Yeah, sure, okay." One battle wouldn't hurt.

"Awesome!" He said again. He threw his Pokeball into the air and out came a Mankey. "Manx's my partner in this! I hope you're ready for our smashing duo!"

A Mankey. If I remembered, they were fighting-types. Cal had lick, and there was no doubt in it that the Mankey knew only normal-and-fighting type moves. Well, what's the worst that could happen, right?

Never think that. Ever. In your life. Because the moment your brain thinks those things, the moment it goes through your head, the worst happens. I motioned for Cal to float in front of me to face off in the battle, motioning for the kid to start.

"Ladies first!" The kid offered.

Okay. Not cool. I glared, slightly offended. "I'm not—not a girl!"

"Oh. Sorry, dude." Bobby shrugged. "Alright, Manx, use Foresight!"

The Mankey nodded, and did its best to glare at Cal. I wracked my brain for what Foresight did—Mankey doesn't usually learn it from leveling up, it must've been an egg move, or something to the caliber—and I remembered what it did. It allowed normal-and Fighting-type attacks to hit Ghost-types.

It also allowed for the opposite, in a battlefield. Even if we were just standing a couple of meters apart. There was something about it I remembered Professor Oak mumbling about in one of his famous mumbling-tangents. Something about how battlefields work with Pokémon, and what it has to do with how Pokémon fight and why Pokémon fight, stuff like that. It's like how Terrain moves work in Kalos, I think.

Anyway, that left me and the kid with more options. "O-Okay, Cal…use…" I hesitated. I'm not good at battling, what was the best move? I looked at Cal, who was patiently waiting for my command. Ugh, battles were always so awkward. "H-Hypnosis?"

Cal nodded (it's so funny to see a Gastly nod, they just bob their whole bodies) and looked at the Mankey, chuckling to himself. The Mankey's eyes slowly began to droop, before eventually falling into a slumber. Man, why didn't I think of doing this with Citrine?

Oh, yeah, I was put on the spot too much with that. And some of that battle, at least, will probably be played on TV.

Oh no. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, I told myself. You're battling, go away, bad thoughts.

"M-Manx! Wake up!" Bobby called to his Pokémon. "Try and use Low Kick!"

Manx just snored. Loudly.

"C-Cal, lick!" Cal swept in for a big ol' lick. Manx's fur got all messed up with it as well. Gross. "E-Ew." Out of all the Pokémon moves in the world, lick had to be the most disgusting.

"Manx—try fury swipes!" Bobby called out again. Manx snored, loudly, again, and I think he started to drool.

"Cal, l-lick!" The final lick seemed to wake up Manx. Before Cal could back away and rethink his life (death? He is a ghost-type) decisions, the fighting-type grasped him by the tongue and threw him into the ground. Oh, dear, this wasn't good.

My heart skipped a beat seeing my only companion through most of my life tossed to the side like some kind of doll.

"Manx, this is victory number thirteen, coming up!" Bobby chuckled, crossing his arms. Man, who I thought to be just a cute little kid wanting a battle, was something much more. Ouch.

There was a bit of me that thought, no! You can't lose, Leo. Shove it to the man! The good, cool confident Leo that I was once upon a time before life became hell. There was still a shred of that in me, deep down, but I can't just call upon it like some cool superpower in times of great distress. If I could I'd be challenging Brock alongside Aster.

The majority of me was, accept defeat. Pay the kid. Make him leave you alone. Don't hurt Cal any more than you have to.

… for once, I listened to Confident Leo. If you could count what I did next as "confident", "cool", "suave", or as the young'un's say today, "badass".

"C-Cal." I said as the ghost-type floated back to me, waiting for me to ponder my next choice. "One- one more time. F-Fast. L-Lick." He was confused with my command, obviously used to me backing down. Once Bobby became a bit of an asshole, I think I decided nope, this kid doesn't need to act like this anymore, or some sort of righteous crap like that.

Cal swept in and gave Manx a good lick again. The move wasn't very effective, and he flew out of the way from the Mankey's fury swipes. It was very brief, but for a moment there, the fur on the fighting-type stood on its end and I knew I was lucky enough to get a paralysis. Luckily for me, Bobby didn't realize as he called out, "Alright, Manx, Low Sweep!"

Manx's leg began to glow as he catapulted himself into the air. He swung at Cal, hitting the ghost-type directly in the amorphous of the body. Unfortunately, it hurt a lot, and when he landed, the fighting-type cringed, his whole body freezing up on itself. Paralysis. "M-Manx?"

Ahuhuhu. All according to plan. I thought to myself, like the nerd I was. I might've looked terrified on the outside, and don't worry, I was, too, on the inside, but there was that bit of confidence flowing through me. Maybe once I could do something good. I prepared myself to sound like an epic enemy, taking down the hero of the story. Cal, finish him with a final Lick!

That was my expectations, at least. My reality?

"L-Lick. Um, please. Cal."

Arceus, Leo, you had one job.

It won me the victory, and the money to buy a meal from a local diner for lunch, probably. Yum. The boy grumbled to himself as he returned Manx to his Pokeball, saying something like I'll get you back one day, or I'll bet your hack one day, or along those lines. I don't know. I was studying the money I had that'd buy me lunch.

Ding! Oh, would you look at that, a frantic text from Aster, saying his gym match was about to start. I sighed, looking at my money before pocketing it and running off to where the maps said that the Pewter Gym was.

"Ah! Leo!" Aster waved at me from the door of the gym. He had his large, goofy smile on, like usual. "It's about to start soon—are you okay?"

I was fine. I totally wasn't out of breath from running halfway across Pewter, only to realize I'd accidentally had the map in my hands upside down. It explained why the city began to delve into a more "rural" kind of backdrop, at least. And I totally wasn't wishing I could curl into a ball and cry because, man, I'm not built for long, lengthy runs like this. I could do a short sprint, sure, if my life depended on it.

But never. Ever. Again.

"I'm fine." I mumbled under my breath. I'm sure it sounded more like an "'M fne." more than anything, no matter. Aster grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the Gym.

I'd never been inside a Pokémon Gym before, ever.

Alright, I lied. In primary school and the Viridian Gym was reopened by the youngest gym leader ever, Blue, at like twelve or thirteen years old or something, we were allowed to come in as a special class field trip. The gym wasn't much of anything. What made it special is that we'd gotten a first glance at what the once-champion, now gym-leader kid could do.

Which stunned a lot of people, including me. I think some of my old classmates have their autographs from him, still.

Pewter was…different, though. There was a small reception area at the beginning, which showed the names for the different challengers. Aster's name was second on the list. After that, there was a door, which assumingly led to the other part of the gym. How nice and organized.

"Ah!" One of the ladies at the reception desk glanced at the two of us coming into the gym. "Is this the one you were talking about?"

"Yup!" Aster nodded. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I flinched, but didn't shy away from the touch, because what if that would make me look awkward? What if that would make me look cold? I'm not a cold, cruel person. Not at all. "It's okay if he just… follows me in, right? Leo isn't taking the challenge."

The lady nodded. "Of course. He has to wear this, though." She dug into a drawer in a desk and grabbed a lanyard. There was a blue card on the end, and it was labeled VISITOR. "Just so the gym trainers don't think you're taking on the challenge, too."

"T-Thank you…" I said in response, taking the lanyard carefully. The shade of blue reminded me of the bit of ocean you could spot from the inlet in Pallet. It was…nice, relaxing, and reminded me of the home away from home at the lab. I put it on over my hoodie, which greatly contrasted next to the faded yellow.

There's no way anyone would mistakenly challenge me. And anyway, Cal was only healed by the fact I had a potion on me at the time. The last one, I might add, and I made a mental note to remember to go buy some more, which thankfully I remembered, but that's in the future.

Aster led me to a small seating area, and began to talk me through the whole thing. "So, this Gym challenge thing is more organized than in the past! You come to the gym, get a time slot for your "challenge", and wait until that time comes." Aster explained, probably the very same stuff that was told to him before I got there. He pointed at the open door. "The gym is thataway. This is just the waiting room."

"Oh. Cool." I said.

Moment of silence. I glanced at the person who was in front of Aster, still taking on their challenge. In big, letters, read not what I thought it was when I first glanced at it (CHRISTINE), but, in fact, CITRINE.

Oh no. Not again.

A/N: …Guess who's back, back again...Shady's back, tell a friend...

The whole battle against the Mankey is total BS, I know, I just didn't want to leave the chapter too short. I needed to add some action to it! Foresight is a move that allows normal-and-fighting-type moves to hit, but I may have twisted it a bit to make it apply to both of them. That's just how it be in this world, yo~

I imagine that, unlike in the games where you can just waltz on in and challenge the gym leader, it works similar to the anime (and manga, but I haven't read the manga in a while) where you have to actually say "I'm challenging you!". Reason one is that gym leaders, in stories at least, are actual characters and should live lives outside of working as a gym leader. The only way I can think of it being convenient and easily regulated by both the gym and by the League association is through a designated wait list or some sort of waiting room that you check into. If you get there too late, well, you snooze, you lose, but at least there's always tomorrow to try again! Leo is not a challenger, but because he's with Aster, he's allowed to sit closer to the field, so he gets a fancy VISITOR's pass that they probably only give to school kids on field trips or friends accompanying challenging trainers. They're not allowed to help in the battle or use their own Pokémon, which is pretty much unsaid and obvious.

And yes, Citrine is back. Good luck out there, Leo, you're gonna need it.

Next time; Aster challenges the gym leader Brock.