My Great Big Adventure

Driftveil City.

From what I'd heard of Clay and his Western getup, I was expecting a tumbleweed town. Instead, I was met with a shining city… with too many hotels.

No, seriously.

My first stop was the Pokemon Center. After all that battling, my team needed a brief rest. While they were recharging, I visited the mart area to restock on potions and antidotes. While there, a girl gave me a few "Luxury Balls". They're just like Pokeballs… but fancier-sounding.

Next thing on my agenda was to locate the gym. I wasn't necessarily going to challenge Clay (unless I was struck with an impulsive urge to battle), I just wanted to know where it was. And also I was curious if Hugh might be there…

I wasn't sure what the gym looked like, but I doubted it was the wild west saloon I'd been imagining. It could also be disguised as another venue, like Roxie's gym was, making it more difficult to recognize. With that in mind, I checked any and every building that could double as the Driftveil Gym.

The majority… were hotels. I think the majority of the whole city is hotels. More people visit here than actually live here. How does that affect their economy?

-Driftveil Continental Hotel: $70 a night for a small one-bed room, breakfast not included

-Grand Driftveil Hotel: $100 a night for a small two-bed room, free cold breakfast included

-Driftveil Chateau Hotel: $160 a night for a medium two-bed room with optional($) mini-fridge, free cold breakfast included, with optional($) hot breakfast

-Driftveil Luxury Suites: $250 a night for a large two-bed room with free mini-fridge and stove, free all-service breakfast included

…just to name a few.

Each receptionist gave me a filthy look, as if they knew I couldn't afford to stay there. Hmmm, I could probably afford a continental hotel or inn, but why pay when I can just stay at the Pokecenter?

I walked around the hotels, checking various floors and rooms.

…I had to double-check! It could have been expertly disguised!

A lot of guests had their doors open and allowed me to just walk right in! …no wonder Team Plasma steals so many Pokemon; no one has their doors locked! Or even closed!

Perhaps if the world was just a bit more AWARE… gangs like Team Plasma wouldn't succeed. And people like the region Champions wouldn't have to save the day.

That will be Hugh one day… he's already running around, collecting badges and taking down Team Plasma. Soon enough, he'll be challenging the Elite Four and then the Champion. I hope he doesn't forget about me when he becomes famous…

As for myself? Well… I never wanted to be trainer anyway. Don't get me wrong, I love my Pokemon. But I never would have started this journey if Mom hadn't kicked me out. And now… I'm really only continuing to battle for Hugh… right? Because of my stupid schoolgirl crush, I'm following him around like a kicked puppy.

What do I want?

I don't really know… I suppose, I do want Hugh to like me. That's a start. So I'll continue following him around until I think of something better.

I figured out why Driftveil has so many hotels.

People come from all over the world to visit the Driftveil Market. It's GINORMOUS!

A large pavilion-like structure covers the area and houses probably about… at least a thousand colorful tents. Each tent is its own shop and uses a certain color to label itself (ie all food-related tents are blue, pharmacy-related are purple). I think in order to visit each and every tent, I will have to spend a week here!

Some of the tents are… ridiculous… such as the man who charges $50 so you can see how to make a Pokemon foot cream (really?). Others are more traditional, like tents with food, clothes, or trinkets.

One of these trinket tents was run by… Team Plasma!

Well, a former member of Team Plasma. She has since abandoned them and followed her first dream: incense-making. I bought some nice Rose Incense, partly to be nice, and partly because it smells good… Good enough to attract Hugh? Hey, I'm a movie star; that crappy Timegate Traveler movie has grossed $36 million! I can afford to splurge on perfume.

Anyway, she told me about a house on the hill that overlooks the city. She said other former members live there and cared for stolen Pokemon whose owners they could not find. I asked her if perhaps she knew of a Purrloin, but she wasn't sure and told me to visit the house myself.

I hope this isn't a trap…