Chapter Two - Pokémon Trainer Raine!

August 1st, 2022

Jay Town, Asture Region

Raine could not stay still so he wandered aimlessly through Jay Town, watching the residents going about their quiet lives surrounded by Pokémon. There were hundreds of species either belonging to trainers or simply exploring from the tall grass, flowers and forest that surrounded the town.

The training ground was bustling with energy as two children were in the middle of an intense battle pitting their Pokémon against each other. Raine stopped to watch as one of the trainer's Sandshrew rolled up into a ball and slammed into the opponent's Meowth, knocking it unconscious. The three children watching burst out into cheers and jeers and Raine smiled to himself as he continued on.

He had met each of the children as they had toured the laboratory when they were even younger, but he couldn't put a name to any of their faces. Professor Sakura would have known them better as the one to give them their first partner Pokémon and by being outgoing. It wasn't a character flaw that Raine saw in himself, but if he was ever going to become a professor he would have to work on remembering names.

"Good afternoon, Raine," Henning Boise, a friendly nine-year-old boy, called as Raine passed in front of the Pokémon Centre.

"Hi, Henning," Raine said in greeting.

It was hard to forget the names of the only twins in town, Henning and Eli Boise. Unlike Eli however, Henning was friendly and always eager to talk about Pokémon. He especially loved Raine's Buizel. They always played together when the twins visited the lab to pester Professor Sakura about receiving the best partner Pokémon when they finally turned ten.

"You look lost," Henning said, ever the perceptive youngster, able to recognise the wandering Raine was doing. "Are you looking for something?"

"I'm just waiting until four o'clock," Raine said and looked next door at the Pokémon Gym. "I'm challenging Mirella today."

"No way! That's today? I better round everyone up so that we can cheer you on." He ran off without a word of farewell, making Raine laugh.

Raine had missed out on that joyful mirth of childhood, but it was never too late to make up for lost time. It wasn't unheard of for a thirty something man to take on the Gym challenge and rekindle lost youth.

He walked away from the Pokémon Centre and stood before the Gym, glancing up at the biggest building in Jay Town. He was still surprised that their quiet, forest dwelling village had been chosen to house a Gym when the region had first been discovered. It was the perfect place for new trainers to come and test their skills. Even though it was out of the way for anyone not from Jay Town or the neighbouring Sparrow Town where the PokéAcademy was located. So it tended to not be the first Gym most trainers challenged and therefore Mirella had a team of extremely powerful Pokémon to rival those of any trainer. It was why Raine was so concerned that Buizel would not be enough, and had been training him for years to be the perfect companion. Even if most of that training was in the lab and not in actual battle. He was too scared of Buizel getting hurt again after their last fight. He hesitated to put him in that situation again until it was absolutely required.

As the town bell rang three times Raine felt a wave of anxiety. Was he a good enough trainer to challenge Mirella's Gym or should he just stick to being a research assistant? It was what he knew best and had worked all of his life for. Training and fighting Pokémon wasn't something he had considered until he turned thirty. It wasn't too late to back out and return Buizel to nature.

"You're scared, aren't you, coward?" Eli Boise said mockingly, poking Raine in the ribs from behind. Before Raine could ask him to stop or form a response he rushed ahead with his insults like a Tauros. "You shouldn't even be allowed to challenge Mirella. You're just a nerd who won't even fight one of us. Ever since Sebastian embarrassed you you've been hiding in your lab. I'm old enough to remember that, you know. So I know that Mirella is going to humiliate you too."

"Elias Castor Boise!" Alanah, the twins' mother, barked, running over and stepping between him and Raine. "Apologise to Raine immediately and then go straight home to your room. You are grounded, young man."

"But, Mum," Eli whined, dodging and weaving from his mother's attempts to corral him. "I want to watch Mirella beat him."

"No, buts, mister. Apologise. Now."

There was no way that Eli was ever going to apologise for anything so Raine said, "It's okay, Alanah. If he really wants me to battle him I graciously accept his challenge."

"You don't have to give in to his juvenile taunts," Alanah said, pointing in the direction of their home. "Go home, Eli. I'll speak to you later about how to treat others with respect."

Eli poked his tongue out at Raine and said, "As soon as I have my own Pokémon I'll beat you myself."

Then only as he ran off did Raine realise that he had taunted him without even having his first Pokémon yet. What was the point of mocking Raine when he couldn't challenge him himself?

"I heard that you're facing Mirella today," Alanah said after sighing deeply towards her fleeing son. "Good luck."

"Thank you," Raine said gratefully. "It's been a long time coming."

"You must be excited."

"I am."

"If you beat her does that mean you're about to set off on your own journey to collect all eight badges?"

"I'm honestly not thinking that far ahead. I have so much still to accomplish in the lab that I'm not sure if I'm ready to walk away just to achieve something for my own selfish reasons. Taking on Mirella today is just a test."

"Do you want to leave Jay Town though? Is being a Pokémon trainer something that you want to do with your life?" Alanah asked, and paused momentarily while Raine contemplated his answer. Without waiting she continued, "I can't imagine that it's quite as satisfying being cooped up inside of the lab. If I had been given the chance to explore the Asture region I would have jumped at it with open arms."

"You didn't get to go on the Gym challenge as a child either?" Raine asked.

"No, I never even received a partner Pokémon. My parents wouldn't let me have one."

"Would you like Professor Sakura to give you a partner now?"

"Oh, I'm far too old for that," Alanah laughed. "Besides, I have my boys to worry about going on their own journeys soon. I can't interfere with that. And we do have the family Machop. He's all I need in my life."

"Raine!" Henning yelled and Raine turned to see him leading almost the entire town towards the Gym. "Everyone's coming to see you fight."

Raine felt a flood of warm emotion. He had expected his Gym challenge to be a quiet affair with no one to see him fail. Instead he now had the pressure of everyone watching him.

"Hi everyone," he said nervously. "Thank you for your support, but it's really not necessary."

"Don't be silly," Henning said. "We all want to cheer you on."

Raine glanced around at all of the happy faces of the residents of Jay Town including all of the researchers from the lab and Professor Sakura. Everyone was grinning and staring at him with starry eyes.

"You and Buizel have done everything you can to prepare for this battle," Professor Sakura said. "It's time to put all of that into action and show all of us just what you can do."

"Thank you," Raine said again, unsure what else to say and feeling very overwhelmed with the undue attention of nearly one hundred people.

"We'll all be inside waiting for four o'clock. Take these last few moments to yourself to take a deep breath and relax." The Professor patted Raine on the back as he led everyone into the Gym, leaving Raine alone with his thoughts once again.

Just as the Professor had said there wasn't anything more that he could do to prepare. He had spent every day for the last few years training Buizel and making sure that he was ready to face any test that Mirella threw at him. The only thing he hadn't done was give him a lot of battle experience since losing to Sebastian. Even though that was at the very start of their partnership and they had both grown so much since then he hoped that that wouldn't be where they came unstuck.

"You've got this, Raine," he said to himself, stepping forward through the automatic doors into the foyer of the Gym. "Nothing left to do now but win yourself the Normal Badge."