Gohan looks at his hands. His poor, empty hands – completely devoid of Poké. Well, he has around ten Poké left over, but that really isn't very much when converted to dollars.

At least he has that fairly all right squirtle now. And apparently it came a nickname! You can give Pokémon those? Who knew!

"My sqwertle... Jelly Bean." Huh, that's a name. "Wonder why?"

Nurse Trisha wonders too, though it probably isn't worth thinking about. Mass breeders often just give up on giving pokémon sensible nicknames after a while. He was lucky to find this one for such a low price – its IVs aren't too shabby from what she can tell. Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse, Fake Out, and Muddy Water? Not too shabby either.

"Hey miss!" Buh? "Do you know when the classes get out? The, uh, ones upstairs?"

"Oh, the one your friend is attending? It should be done in about an hour."

"Hm."

Not knowing what else to do, he, er, sits at a table and waits.

And waits some more.

And waaaaaits some mooooooooooore—

Piercing the shining clouds, I fly away (fly away)! While a panorama spreads through my body,

When kicked in the face, the Earth gets angry (gets angry)! And causes a volcano to explode!

If within the polar ice caps there is a dinosaur... I want to train it to balance on a ball!

No problem! I can handle it! No matter what happens, it isn't a big deal!

No problem! I can handle it! As loudly as my heart pounds, the Spirit Bomb roars... Sparking!

JA-JA-JA-JA-JAN! OH MY GOSH!

A grim-faced iguana dump-truck, a quick-footed flying squirrel super car, I cry out "whatever shall I do?!" Pay no mind to my notebooks and pencils, and visit Saturn's rings on (hey!) a Jet Coaster!

A voice louder than mama's? Phew! Could there be such a thing?

Myyyyy, once it occurs to me, I go... Step! Step! Jump!

Shoopa-shoopie shoopa-shoo, Piccolo!

It feels like waiting in anticipation for a snack!

SHOOPA-SHOOPIE SHOOPA-SHOO, PICCOLOOOOOO!

Listen, listen, he's strong! I tell you, he's so strong!

Mr. Piccolo, I-I-I-I-I love you!

Mr. Piccolo, I! I!

Mr. Piccolo, I! I!

Mr. Piccolo - I love you!

"Gohan! GOHAN!"

He blinks – whoah, who turned out the oh right his eyelids. Dang, he fell asleep?! Must be a damn comfy bean-bag chair.

Lucy doesn't seem to mind, though. She's leaning over him, blond hair covering her face as she grins and flashes her new trainer card. Huzzah! And Yamper is registered as her starter!

"Gohan! Gohan! You see? I'm a certified Trainer now!"

"Whoah... cool, Lucy."

She pouts. "You don't seem very excited."

"Sorry, I'm, uh, tired. And hungry." The saiyanoid lugs himself to his feet just in time for his stomach to grumble VERY LOUDLY. Everyone in the Pokémon Center turns to look at that's a lot of people. And like... ten adults! "Uh, do you think we could... go to someplace to eat?"

Lucy quirks a smile. "Sure. How did... you, uh, run out of rations already."

"I ate them."

"All of them? We packed for like, a month!"

"I get hungry."

"But... but..."

His eyebrows furrow, before he sighs. Right, right – he's an alien. Half one, but still; a biomechanically fundamentally different being. ... But he doesn't look it. Besides his tail... which he doesn't have any more... there really isn't any sort of visual indicator that he's that different from a human. Hell, Yamcha and Krillin were both human and could match him ability-for-ability. And she has absolutely no experience with nonhumans like him.

"Look," he says. "I have a really high metabolism, okay? I need to eat a lot." Leaning in a bit closer, he whispers "How else do you think I can fuel my superpowers?"

"... I forgot about those."

"How."

"Dunno! I was just cramming my head with pokémon facts. I guess you weren't important enough!"

"You know, you can be really mean sometimes."

"... Sorry. Yooou wanna go to McPidgey's?"

"Mick-who-ha's?"

...

"All of this is... uh... pokémon?"

She shakes her head. The table they're eating at is outside the small resturant – so that they can have their Pokémon out as they eat, obviously. Gohan has his new squirtle out; it's sitting obediently next to his seat, watching Yamper chase its own tail.

"Uh-uh. This meat," she says, pointing to the main meat on the dish, "is actually from some animal called a cow. Weird, right?"

"... That's the first normal thing we've eaten since I got here. Cows are really yummy. and don't talk..."

"Huh, really? ... There really are no pokémon back where you come from?"

"Don't think so. But a lot of the animals get really big and scary too."

"Hm," she thinks. This is a good meal– clauncher claw and basculine fillet paella, mmm. And slowpoke tail for desert! Oh, oh, delicious! ... Maybe the reason he ordered beef was because he recognized the name? "Did you have any pets, back home?"

"No. There was this small dragon who lived near our house... but he just didn't work out as a housepet. It let me feed it, though."

Lucy's hands stop halfway to her bowl: "Wait, a dragon? I thought you said..."

"... Dragons are pokémon here?"

"Mhm. They aren't in Gohan World?"

"Where I come from... well, dragons are just a type of animal. Like dinosaurs! But they can fly and sometimes do other things, too."

"Hm," she mutters. Seems like her mind's not quite here – well, she is very excited about officially starting her journey. She must be planning all sorts of things! ... That cruise. How many stops does it have? She seems placid enough as she tosses scraps to Yamper and Jelly Bean, though. The two wrassle over a sliver of fillet; it looks like they've become fast friends.

Jelly Bean grew to Lv. 3!

Daw!

"You want some?" she asks, holding out some of the fish. In her bare hands. Eh, it's not weird to him, though mom would probably throw a fit. His stomach gurgles at the memory of the gyarados-flesh... and then churns.

"Nooooo thank you."

She shrugs. "Suit yourself," she says as she slurps it up. "At least you aren't a total vegetarian."

Yamper yips up her leg, and she sighs. "Heeeeeeeere," she mumbles as she drops another piece of fish to the floor. The dog yips happily and shares it with his new friend!

"Yamp yamp! Yamp! Jelly Bean! Jelly Bean! We got more!" he squeaks. "Yamper! You can have it!"

"Sqquirtle... T-thanks, Yamper," the infant mumbles. I guess that's another advantage the monsters have over us – their babies are already smart enough to talk. And I guess fight. "Squirtle squirt... Squirtle? So you're sure... you're sure that the tall one isn't my dad?"

The Puppy Pokémon nods solemnly, exuding an almost aura of sagely know: "Amp. Yamper yamp. Yamp! Mhm. Your daddy's probably real far away. Like, a zillion feet. Mr. Gohan'll totally take good care of you, though!"

"Squirtle... I don't know..."

"Yamper yamper yamp! If you don't like training, you can just tell him!" he says with a grin. "Yamper. YAMPER! Or not, he can't understand you. But he should get it eventually! I like training though. And fighting!" he yells, pumping a paw into the ground. Must be the canine equivalent of a fist into the air. "Yampyampyampyamp! I'm gonna be a superhero! I'm gonna evolve and be the strongest-est puppy ever!"

Jelly Bean's frown turns into a nervous smile. "Squirtle? Squirtle squirt... A-a superhero, huh? That does sound cool..."

The two pairs keep eating. Mmm. Gohan finishes his beef and... er, wishes he had more. His stomach is still gurgling – but he is half human. He should adapt to less food being available, eventually, though that might impact his power-level.

Wonder what dad would think about that. Wonder what Mr. Piccolo would think of that?

"Hey, hey." Lucy snaps her fingers, bringing Gohan back to the fore. "You've been drifitng off a lot. ... You all right?"

"Yeah, just a bit homesick. I... left right after a pretty tumultuous period." He thinks for a bit. "What sort of things have happened here, anways?"

"Huh?"

"You know, like adventures! You have some stories, right?"

She thinks for a couple of seconds, before nodding. "I mean, I haven't been on any cool adventures. But there are a few." She grins. "Did you wanna hear about them?"

He nods.

"Can I hear about yours?"

"Uh... sure! Yeah!"

Lucy gives a thumbs up. "Nice! Just let me go first, okay? You guys have super-powers and stuff. I don't wanna have to live up to that after the fact."

"Okay."

"..."

"..."

The two watch their pokémon play under the table, trading scraps of food like cards. Jelly Bean seems to be adjusting pretty quick.

"Do you want to pay?" Lucy pipes up to break the silence.

"Not really?"

"How dare you," she pouts, waving her Trainer Card. "A real gentleman always pays for the food, you know!"

"I don't have any money! Real or... the uh, Poké-credit thingies"

"Hmph." She waves down a waitress from inside to hand over her Trainer card – how did they even manage to get money to digitize between a card and actual coins? What even is technology anymore? She when the transaction completes she sits down, stuffs her face with a final handful of paella (ew), and asks Gohan "Arbgbh yphuh rbbleaddy bduh goeh?"

"Wha?"

Lucy swallows and spits "I SAID, are you ready to go?" as she whips out Yamper's Poké Ball.

"Yep! Jelly Bean, return!"

The two pokémon shine red for a moment; Jelly Bean watches his hands and feet in confusion before fwoosh they're turned into data and sucked into the storage devices. Lucy clips hers to her belt while Gohan just tosses Jelly Bean into his backpack. Good for him. The two waddle their way out of the resturant and into the main city. Eyes on the gym, people. That's what we're here for. The badge. The badge for Gohan, the badge chosen especially for Gohan to earn, Gohan's badge-to-be. That badge.

"So do you have a plan for us to take down Gardenia?" she asks, fingering a couple of TMs in her pocket. Wait, TMs? She's been busy. "Cause I do~."

"'Us?'"

Lucy nods, and her wide smile sends a chill down Gohan's spine. "I looked into the the Pokémon League rules while you were sleeping. In Hoenn-"

"Hoenn?"

"Not important. The point is, there's a gym where the Leaders - yep, Leaders challenge you to a double battle! That means that even though no one really does it, it should be perfectly legal for us to gang up on Gardenia! Though we might only get one badge between us..."

"Do you want it?"

"... Yes."

Gohan sighs. "Fine, I did already have a shot." Grump. There'll be more gyms on the way, right? "Actually, how about a deal?" he says with a smile. Taking a page out of your elder's book, eh? "The one whose pokémon lands the finishing blow... gets the badge."

"Deal!"

"Heheh!"

Mawuh: the Brash Pokémon

Class: Cryptic

Ability: Rum Power

Signature Move: Rimshot

Egg Group: Monster

Type: Dragon/Poison

Height: 0.91 m

Weight: 15 kg

The rumours of Mawuh were likely started as a joke, to amuse some bored pokémon researcher. Said to inhabit the regions of Harodashi and Quetzelar, it is claimed to be a distant relative of the charmander line. A bipedal reptilloid like charmander, it has slightly different body structure; more angular head shape, a tail lacking a flame, and a noticebly rotund belly. Most bizarre of all, however, is the firearm it appears to carry wherever it goes. While this should be a dead giveaway to its falsitude, pokémon have been observed to be able and willing to use firearms if they can somehow get them. The idea that a species has learned to either manufacture, or acquire in such numbers that every instance has at least one, is a bit of a disturbing notion.

In any case, it is also said that they are extremely rude drunks and have a natural blood alcohol concentration of 0.35. This is insane. Yet, pokémon have been known to do more objectively extreme things.