Chapter 3: A Night on the Town

By sunset, we made it to Viridian City. It felt much more alive than Pallet Town, lots of people and bright lights everywhere. I liked it, and so did Shinx. "This is pretty cool. A lot different than Sunyshore City.

"Now let's see. Any idea where the Pokémon Center might be?" Shinx pointed to the left of us, spotting a large red circle sitting atop a semi-dome building with stairs leading up to it. I saw a white P on the dome. "Good eye, buddy!" We raced there.

Stepping into the Pokémon Center lobby, we came upon a ton of Trainers and their many different Pokémon. We were in awe. "Wow! It's so much bigger than Volt made it sound!"

I gazed around, getting myself accustomed to the relaxing atmosphere of a Pokémon Center. "He told me all about these. He said that Pokémon Centers are gathering places, where trainers use them to rest between activities, share information, make calls or send packages, and lots more. They always have a lobby like this with TVs so trainers can watch their favorite channels, and the front desk is run by a nurse who'll treat injured Pokémon. There's a cafeteria for eating and cooking, and plenty of rooms for spending the night."

Admiring the building, I stepped over to the front desk. "First thing's first we should have someone heal you up. We can explore the town after, but I think it's too late to continue onto Viridian Forest. We can get a room for the night. I'm sure you wouldn't disagree with a nice warm bed."

Shinx barked.

A lady with curly pink hair greeted us. "Hello there, and welcome to the Pokémon Center." She wore a pink and white nurse's outfit.

"Are you Nurse Joy?"

"Why, yes." She giggled a little. "You must be a new Trainer, going by your expression."

"I am. Can you heal my Pokémon, please?"

"I'd love to! Here." She placed a small tray on the counter. "Just place your Poké Balls onto this tray."

"Right. Shinx, you've got to go inside now."

Shinx didn't look too happy about that.

"I know you don't like it, but it'll just be for a bit while you get all healed up. I'll call you back out as soon as you're all done. I promise." He sighed and went inside, where I pushed the tray back to Nurse Joy. "Please take good care of him."

"We will. He should be back out within the hour." She handed the tray to a big pink Pokémon wearing a matching nurse's hat. It walked through some doors behind the counter.

I took my Pokédex out. "Chansey the Egg Pokémon. Chansey is a kind Pokémon who shares its egg with those who are sick or injured."

"So, that's Chansey? It's pretty cute."

A voice startled me, "Is that all you care about when it comes to Pokémon?!"

Startled, I looked back to find a familiar head of purple hair. "Oh, Paul, it's you!"

"You can't get much more pathetic than calling every single Pokémon you meet cute."

"Who are you to say what I think about Pokémon?" He just ignored me.

He walked past me, up to Nurse Joy. "May I have my Pokémon healed, please?" He went through the same process, setting his Poké Balls on a tray for Nurse Joy to hand back to a Chansey.

Forgetting his rude attitude, I became heavily interested in his new Pokémon, considering he had more than I did. "I see you've got some additions to your team. What'd you catch?"

"That's none of your business." He walked off.

"Hey!" I ran after him.

Paul grabbed a soda from a vending machine and sat down.

I stood in front of him, hands on my hips, to make sure he didn't ignore me. "Maybe it isn't none of my business, but if you have some Pokémon that I might want to catch, I want to know where to find them."

He didn't even look at me. "How about this? What Pokémon do you have?"

I stuttered. "Wh-Why do you care?"

"For the same reasons as you."

Turning away from him, I replied, "Well, you see, uh, let's see. I have Shinx and…"

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't have any new Pokémon, do you?"

"It's not my fault! I was in the middle of catching a Pidgey when this flock of Spearow attacked us out of nowhere! I almost caught it..."

"Why am I not surprised? It takes a little while for any rookie Trainer to find and catch their first few Pokémon. You're no different."

"And you are?"

"Of course."

Nearly lashing out, I instead crossed my arms and sat down across from him. "But I did get to see a rare flying Pokémon earlier today," I huffed.

"A rare flying Pokémon? What did it look like?"

"Well, that's kind of hard to explain now that you mention it. We stood pretty far away. It looked like a huge golden bird with lots of colorful feathers on its tail."

"It doesn't sound familiar, and I guess you don't have a picture." He rolled his eyes.

"Nope. My Pokédex didn't have any information on it, either." I saw him squint. "What?"

He frowned at me. "You're not just making this up, are you?"

"Of course not! You want proof? Here. Take a look at this." I rummaged through my bag and pulled out the rainbow feather. "This fell off the bird's tail just as it flew over a rainbow."

"Let me see." He swiped it from my hands to get a better look. "Wow. You weren't kidding."

"I told you."

"Well, still, I don't know what Pokémon it was. Maybe one of the Legendary Pokémon?"

"What do you think I should do about this feather, then?"

He handed it back to me. "Nothing, for now. Just keep it tucked away. If that was a Legendary Pokémon you saw, then you might get the chance to meet it. That'd be extremely lucky; some people search their whole lives for Legendary Pokémon without any success."

I tucked the rainbow feather away in my bag.

Then Paul wandered off to look out the window. Not having anything else to do, I grabbed a soda and followed him. He glared at me when I approached. "Why the hell are you still here?"

I casually took a sip from my soda. "What? Can't I look out the window too? Shinx is being healed, so what else can I do?"

"You could go shopping, stock up on supplies. You probably haven't done that yet."

How'd he know? Damn this kid's smart. Embarrassed, I looked away. "I haven't had the chance, and I don't want to explore the city by myself. I would at least like to have Shinx with me..."

"You've never been on your own, have you?"

I sheepishly grinned. "Eh, no, not really. I've always had my brother. It's going to take a bit to get used to being out here with only Pokémon..."

Paul sighed, and then after a moment, he searched his pockets. "Oh. I guess I never answered your question earlier."

"Which one?"

He pulled out his Pokédex. "The new Pokémon I added to the team. Here."

A bit surprised, I stood there gazing at him like an idiot.

"Do you want to see or not?"

"Err, of course, I do!" I stepped closer.

Paul brought up an entry for a small Pokémon with big ears and a sharp horn. "It's called Nidoran."

The two different pictures interested me. "There are two?"

"The male is purple with a bigger horn. The female is light-blue with a smaller horn. The male has a very powerful Horn Attack, and the female's Poison Sting is nothing too fun either."

"You probably got the male, didn't you?"

"It just happened to be the stronger one."

"You call me a girl for calling things cute, yet you pick based on which gender looks stronger."

"Don't compare me to you! Do you want to see the other Pokémon?"

Hesitant to submit to his rudeness, I slowly nodded. Paul pulled up a second entry for a bird with darker-colored feathers. I didn't need a Pokédex to tell me its name. "You caught a Spearow?!"

"Well, yeah. It looked strong and had the potential to get stronger."

"Strong, huh? Honestly, I'd be okay with never seeing a Spearow again in my life."

He grinned. "What? Don't tell me you're afraid of Spearow, are you?"

"Shut up and keep going."

He flipped to a third and final entry for a small monkey with tan fur. The Pokédex's automated voice read the information tag: "Mankey the Pig Monkey Pokémon. Known for its superior footwork, it packs a powerful punch. Although Mankey is usually calm, it does have a bad temper."

I was very unimpressed. "So it's a flightless Spearow."

Paul barked, "It's also a Fighting-type, not a Flying-type. Get your types straight!"

That comment drew the line for me.

I snatched the device from Paul's hands and used it to look up Nidoran again, as that was the only Pokémon of the three I liked.

"Hey! Give it back! Use your Pokédex!"

I kept him at bay. Whenever he tried to pounce, I just stepped to the side. "Dummy. How can I use my Pokédex when it doesn't have the data yours has?" I managed to find the entry for Nidoran. "There. Okay, it says I can find the female just as commonly as the male." I read up more on Nidoran's known attacks and typing. "Hmm. Good stuff to note."

"Still, you won't find one as strong as mine."

"There you go with that strength thing again."

"Got a problem with that?"

"A little. You know, any Pokémon can be strong if you work at it."

"Not true."

"It's so true. A Pokémon's strength comes from working together with its Trainer."

"Who'd you learn that from? My brother?"

I paused. Have I ever met his brother? Even if I did, how would he know? Weird. I stared at him, a bit confused by the comment. "Your brother?"

Paul caught his slip of the tongue, shaking his head. "Ne…Nevermind! Forget I said anything. Can I have my Pokédex back?"

I kept it out of his reach. "Wait! I need to know where to catch Nidoran."

He sighed. "How about if I just show you?"

I thought he was kidding, but his expression told me the opposite. "Really?"

"Well, our Pokémon are getting healed, so there isn't much to do. Maybe we'll pass by the store to get some supplies. I need some Pokémon food, anyway." He threw away his empty soda can, and then headed towards the door. When he did, Paul looked back at me for a second. "You said you didn't want to explore the city by yourself, right, Girlie?"

"Don't call me that!" After a moment, I hurried after him.

He led me to Viridian's west gate, where the asphalt turned into a dirt trail leading out into the wilderness. A signpost said Route 22.

Paul pointed at the expansive land. "I caught Nidoran and the others out there."

I looked at him with an unsatisfied glare.

He shrugged. "What? I did."

"That doesn't give me much to go off. I don't see any Nidoran anywhere."

"Maybe because they're sleeping?"

"It's not that late."

"Still they're out there." He held out his hand. "Now, can I have it back, please?"

"Fine, thanks for your help!" I smacked the Pokédex on his palm.

"Ow! You—"

"Zip it! I don't want to hear it. Let's go to the store now." I headed off, with Paul right behind.

"Do you even know where it is?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Of course not. But you do."

He smacked his forehead. "How the hell did I get stuck with you?"

I replied: "Luck."

"Good or bad?"

"Not sure yet."

He ran to catch up and took the lead.

Paul and I made our way over to a Poké Mart. We split up to browse the selection more thoroughly for supplies. "First, I need food. To become a great Pokémon Trainer, I have to be able to make food for my Pokémon. Shinx is an Electric-type, so I'll start by getting some premade Electric-type food to see what makes it so yummy. I think I can develop a recipe from there."

For myself, I collected lots of fruits and vegetables for snacking as well as various ingredients and cooking supplies to make meals. "I remember Volt explaining that it's always better to snack throughout the day and make some hot soup or sandwiches for meals. I'm taking his advice."

Though I stocked up on plenty of medicine before leaving home, I decided to grab some extras. "Volt told me to have plenty of medicine, as you never know when you won't have a Pokémon Center nearby. A great Pokémon Trainer always needs to know how to take care of their Pokémon when injured or sick.

"Of course, I can also use berries for medicinal purposes too. Oran and Sitrus Berries are wonderful for replenishing energy, and Lum Berries are excellent for healing status conditions like poison and burn—"

"You talk to yourself a lot," Paul said, startling me.

"Don't do that!" I barked, nearly dropping everything in my hands.

He laughed. "Sorry, Girlie. Couldn't help it."

"And don't call me that either!" I then noticed the bags in his hands. "Did you find everything you needed?"

"And plenty more. You done yet?"

"Just about." We bought all the merchandise we needed and left the store with bags full of goodies.

On our way back to the Pokémon Center, curiosity got the best of me. I said, "Hey Paul, I know this is none of my business, but did something happen when you went to see your brother battle?"

"What do you mean?"

"The last time I saw you was last night on the boat. That's when you said you were going to watch your brother battle a Frontier Brain, whatever that means, sometime this morning. It seems like something has upset you, and that's the only thing I can think of."

He looked at the ground. "It's a long story. I'd rather not talk about it."

Hearing that, I nodded. "I get it if you don't want to talk about it. It upset you somehow."

"How'd you know that?"

"I didn't. You just confirmed it." He frowned at me. "But also because you've been acting a little different since before. You've been talking more about power and strength than last time, and you were weird when you mentioned your brother."

"You paid attention to all that?"

"Well, let's just say you've been much more rude and obnoxious than before!" He didn't say anything, but his guilty expression sufficed for an apology. "But anyways, I'm aiming to be a powerful Trainer one day. I have to be able to pay attention to details in people and Pokémon other than cuteness, or else I'll never improve my skills as a Pokémon Trainer."

"Fair enough."

We paused when we heard some loud noise. "What's that?" It was coming from an alleyway filled with trash cans. We watched as a yellow Pokémon came racing down the alley, and the strange noise was it smacking the cans out of the way with a silver tail; I recognized the Pokémon instantly. "It's a Pikachu!"

"Why's it running?" Paul asked. A small group of Pokémon appeared behind Pikachu and chased it, including a Mankey, Rattata, and Spearow. I didn't recognize the fourth one. "Oh, that's why."

Paul checked the fourth Pokémon on his Pokédex. "Gastly the Gas Pokémon. Although it can sneak in anywhere with its gaseous body, it can easily be blown away by the wind. Being a ghost Pokémon, it loves to frighten and play pranks on others for fun."

The color left my face. "A ghost Pokémon?!" I shrieked.

I realized too late that I handed over the perfect ammunition for Paul to insult me for the rest of my days. "Are you afraid of ghosts?!" I didn't answer.

The Pokémon all came running out of the alley, with Pikachu running as fast as it could go. Though scared of Gastly, I worried about Pikachu and said, "Something tells me Pikachu did something bad."

"How'd you guess that?" grumbled Paul.

"Do you even hear yourself, Paul?!" I got startled when Pikachu ran up to me and jumped into my arms. "Whoa! What's wrong, Pikachu?" It saw the other Pokémon and climbed on top of my head. I put out my arms to stop them. "Okay, everybody! Calm down!"

"What's going on?" asked Paul. They all started yelling up at Pikachu.

"Yeah, I get you're mad at it. What exactly did it do—Ah!" I screamed when Gastly floated up to make eye contact with me; I froze. Unable to talk, it pointed at Pikachu and then at its mouth. Trying my best not to run away in terror, I quickly processed the situation. "So, it stole food?" The four Pokémon all nodded. I yanked Pikachu off my head. "Well?" It kept its mouth shut but smiled. "You must've already eaten it, then."

"The Pokémon are still angry, though." Paul was right, as they were furious.

"Well, I would be too. Let's see if I have something to solve this." I set Pikachu down on the ground, who looked uncomfortable being so close to the Pokémon it stole from. I dug through my bag, a bit shaky, knowing Gastly floated beside me. "I don't think Shinx would appreciate this very much, but maybe if it's to help a fellow Pokémon. Here we go." I pulled out a massive stash of berries. "Will this make up for it?" The four Pokémon cheered.

Paul seemed very shocked at my collection. "Where'd you get all those?"

"From the Poké Mart. What? Did you not know where to get berries?"

He ignored me.

I handed the bag of berries over to Mankey, who thanked me. Pikachu tried taking some fruit for itself, but I stopped it. "I think you've had plenty! Of course, if you apologize, then they might share." Pikachu looked at the Pokémon and struggled to bow its head as a sorry. It worked until it suddenly blew several hearts from its mouth.

Paul shouted, "That's Sweet Kiss. It'll confuse the Pokémon if they get hit!"

"Pikachu!" I swatted the hearts away before they could hit any Pokémon. "That's not sorry!" It looked at me furiously and sparked its cheeks. I panicked. "Uh, oh!"

"We should get back." Paul and I backed away. The other Pokémon hightailed it.

Pikachu sparked its cheeks. However, instead of shocking us, it zapped itself and fell back on the ground, unconscious. "Oh, boy, you must've just evolved from a Pichu." I picked up the electric mouse in my arms. "Why don't we take you to Nurse Joy?"

"I think our Pokémon should be done recovering by now, anyway." I agreed with him, and we headed back.

ooooooooooooooooooo

We got back to the Pokémon Center, getting up to the front desk just as Nurse Joy set all of our Poké Balls onto the counter. "Rosa, Paul, I'm done healing your Pokémon. Everyone is in tip-top shape."

"Thank you!" Paul said before walking off to make a phone call.

I bowed my head. "Yes, very much. Also, do you mind taking care of this Pikachu? It's wild. It tried using Thunder Shock, but it knocked itself out. I think it might've just evolved from a Pichu." I handed it over to Nurse Joy.

"Of course we can." A Chansey took Pikachu into the back. "Now, since it's getting late, I'll guess you're going to want a room to stay in for the night. I have one left."

"Then I'm pretty lucky. Yes, please! That would be wonderful."

She handed me a key. "It'll be upstairs on the right, fifth door down."

Stepping away from the counter, I grabbed Shinx's Poké Ball and called him out. "How are you feeling Shinx? All better, I imagine." He stretched his legs before jumping on my shoulders and licking my face. "That's good. Let's go check out our room now, and I can't wait to show you all the yummy stuff I bought."

At least the room was lovely, with a desk, chair, and two bunk beds. A large window sat above the desk. "I like this." Shinx jumped up and down on the bed before rolling onto a pillow. I laughed. "Meeting your standards, I see."

Suddenly someone knocked at the door. Opening it, I found Paul. The sight didn't make me too happy. "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here?"

He glared back. "Nice to see you too. Here's the thing. Nurse Joy told me there weren't any empty rooms left, but she said I could share with someone. I would like to have a good night's rest, so can I stay in this room with you?"

Of all the worst possible situations, this took the cake. "Why can't you go with someone else?"

"I don't know anyone else here."

"Yeah, and I guess anyone else would punch you in the face five seconds after meeting you."

"So can I or what?"

I looked down at Shinx, who had come to the door. Seeing Shinx's face light up when he saw Paul, I sighed in defeat. "Fine, but just this once. This happens again, and you'll be sleeping in the lobby."

"Deal."

Setting my bag on the floor, I sat down on one of the bottom bunks. "Well, since we're here, can I see your Pokémon now?"

"I don't know if it'd be worth it."

"Hey, I let you in here, and I can kick you out just as easy!"

Paul sat down on the opposite bunk. "Tch. Fine." He grabbed all four of his Poké Balls and tossed them into the air. Just as he said, in addition to Turtwig, he had a Nidoran, Spearow, and Mankey.

The Pokémon all socialized. Turtwig walked over and stood up on two legs to bump its forehead into my hand. "It's good to see you too." Shinx greeted Turtwig too.

When Spearow greeted us, Shinx found it challenging to greet back. I quietly whispered to him, "Don't forget. I don't think this one belongs to that flock. See?" I managed to pet Spearow's head without any problems, so Shinx felt content with that.

Eventually, all of the Pokémon wanted my attention, so I just sat on the floor to let them crowd around. "It's surprising to know how friendly Pokémon can be even when they're being raised by someone like you, Mister Attitude."

Paul had just put away his Pokédex. "And now they're going to be slackers even more than they are because they've met you."

"Are you talking to the girl who you couldn't beat in a battle even on her first day?"

He looked away. "It was my first day, too, so it's not like I had any time to prepare."

"Yeah, sure." I watched the group of Pokémon play even after dinnertime. Shinx loved the Pokémon food I bought for him, so I promised to work on my own recipe. He was excited about it.

I slept well that night. The warmth of Shinx curled up at my side helped. Still, I was so excited that I had the potential not to sleep at all. In two or three days, I was going to be battling for a Gym Badge in Pewter City.

ooooooooooooooooooo

In the morning, I woke up and looked around to find no sign of Paul. "What?!" I startled my Pokémon awake. "Sorry, Shinx." I rubbed my eyes and inspected Paul's bed, which looked unused. "He must've snuck off a while ago. That loser! He couldn't even tell me." I felt a tap on my leg. It was Shinx, and he had a piece of paper in his mouth. "Is that from Paul?" I took the note and read it:

Rosa

I didn't want to wake you up. Thanks for letting me share the room. I'm getting a head start to Pewter City. Of course, knowing you, you'll never catch up. You should catch some Pokémon at some point. It might be helpful. Later.

- Paul

I crumpled the note in my hand. "I'll show him and catch up to him in no time! We can't let him get too far, which means we've got work to do!" Shinx agreed. I changed out of pajamas after a quick shower and sprung out the door.

Stepping into the lobby, a voice called out to me, "Rosa!" It was Nurse Joy. "I'm happy to let you know that Pikachu is all better." The yellow mouse jumped onto the counter and sparked its cheeks a tiny bit. She gave it a stern glare, like a teacher and her misbehaving student. "Now Pikachu, you know not to do that too much until you work on your attacks. You might hurt yourself again." Pikachu nodded its head.

"That's awesome, Pikachu! Now make sure you don't steal anymore, okay?" It looked at me with a frown. "I'm off now."

Nurse Joy and her Chansey waved a hand. "Have a safe trip."

"Thank you. Goodbye!" I headed out with Shinx.

Before leaving the city for good, we headed over to Route 22, so I could look for the next addition to my team. I found it in no time, a female Nidoran. Unfortunately, even with Shinx's help, we couldn't catch it; she ran away after breaking out of a Poké Ball. I gave up the search after failing to capture that Nidoran two more times. "Ah, well, maybe we'll have better luck in Viridian Forest." Shinx agreed.