Chapter 3: Checking in at Hotel Headache!
"I can't believe my eyes; it's twerp central in there!" Peering into the contest hall with binoculars from a decorative tree planted alongside a sidewalk, a Meowth spoke in his heavily accented voice as he and his two partners-in-crime scouted from afar, keeping track of all of the coordinators who entered into the building.
"You're right… according to the sign-ups, we've got the Hoenn twerp and the Kalos twerp making their debut in the contest," James, the blue-haired burglar gave note as he scrolled through the online database of the registered contestants, "Though… Jessie, I thought you'd sworn off from contests a long time ago."
Dressed in her Team Rocket uniform and brushing aside leaves in her magenta hairdo that extended into a single large curl, Jessie shook binoculars in her grip, filled with distaste for the prospects of running into her former enemies, yet also quivering with anticipation, "Well, I think it's a prime time for 'Jessilina' to make her comeback and show all of these uncultured swine nowadays the true definition of beauty and passion!"
Both James and Meowth felt a chill run up their spines, sweat beading down their foreheads as they both gave a half-hearted and nervous, "I see…"
"Oh, hush you two. And especially you!" Jessie then pointed backwards at James, resolving to not turn her head to speak to her co-worker, "You're going to be my partner in the contest whether you like it or not, and I'd suggest you'd start to behave right this instant!"
"M-Me?! You can't be serious!" James protested at this prospect, knowing how notoriously difficult it was to work with Jessie in these sorts of situations.
"James, we've been running fake performances to dupe the twerps for…" Jessie rose an eyebrow; there was no way it could have been that long, could it? Regardless, Jessie shook her head, "You have a knack for performance almost as much as I do, and that'll be more than enough to crush these twerps! Besides, there'll be something else in it for you too."
At this, James perked up his head, "Something else in it for me?"
Jessie then dug into her pocket for a few seconds, and produced a tiny metallic object that glimmered in the sunlight. To any ordinary person, it would have been litter. But to James…
"I-Is that a limited-run Nimbasa City-brand Cola bottle cap- AHHHHHH- it's the one that was sponsored by Elesa that only ran for two weeks! How on earth did you get one of those?!" James was absolutely elated to just lay his eyes on the cap, "You need to give me that right now- woaaaah!"
James stumbled backwards out of the tree, with a panicked Meowth being the only thing stopping him from face planting onto the concrete. The Pokémon heaved and strained to hold James by his legs as he dangled out of the tree, earning odd looks from the pedestrians who witnessed the Team Rocket grunt dangle from the tree in front of them. James was quickly pulled back up with much effort in part by Meowth, who collapsed on his tree branch, exhausted.
"If you agree to get into that contest with me, the bottle cap is yours. It took a lot of effort to acquire this little thing, you know," Jessie lied, as she had simply spotted it in a trashcan back when the trio ventured in Unova, knowing that any bottle cap would be perfect leverage for James when the time arose, "So, are you in, or not?"
James was still recovering from his recent fall, but immediately pounced at the opportunity, "Yes, I'm in!"
Jessie tossed the cap to James haphazardly, with the young man scrambling for the cap as it descended down by him. With the tiny metal piece in between his fingers, James couldn't help but squee to himself, much to the embarrassment of Jessie and Meowth, "Aye… if only we could collect Pokémon as well as you collect bottle caps…"
Then, Jessie pointed ahead at the entrance of the contest hall, "Wait a minute… do I spy with my little eye… more twerps at twelve o'clock!"
Meowth brought up his binoculars as well, and sure enough, there was yet another girl Team Rocket constantly ran into on their assignments, unmistakable from her white beanie, her black V-neck tank top, that short pink skirt, and her boots, "Lookie, lookie, the Sinnoh twerp is here too! And wait… isn't that…"
James quickly pocketed his treasure and joined in the stake-out with his field glasses, "Oh, it's Dawn. And… hold on, isn't the boy that's next to her… what was his name… Goh?"
"Then where are the other little runts? I don't think I've seen Goh apart from Ash that often… as well as that girl whose name I've conveniently forgotten," Jessie scoffed.
"Chloe," James corrected.
"Yeah, whatever," Jessie gave an annoyed glance at James, "Don't tell me… the Sinnoh twerp is partnering up with the catching twerp?"
James stroked a finger on his chin, "That would be completely illogical. I don't think he even knows what a contest is. That sounds like a recipe for disaster."
The magenta-haired grunt snickered to herself, "Well, I wouldn't give her any better suggestions. She must be desperate!"
"EXCUSE ME?!"
Dawn had to pull the phone away from her face for a brief second as her mother's voice pierced her eardrum from the sheer, unadulterated anger coming from the other end of the call, "M-Mom! It's no big deal! Really! You don't need to get another room at all!"
Johanna was busy slicing berries on her cutting board when she had gotten a call from her daughter at the Hearthome Pokémon Center, but was now gripping the phone so tightly in her hand that it might as well have been mere seconds away from snapping in two. Her Glameow, who was resting on the kitchen table, shrieked in fright at its owner's sudden explosion, scurrying off into the house.
"Dawn, you told me that you were going to partner up with Zoey. And now you're paired up with a boy ? Let alone a boy I've never met before to share the same hotel room?!" Johanna placed a palm onto her forehead, groaning at the sudden turn of events, "Dawn, you know that I do you a favor by not becoming so controlling or involved with your journeys, but I have to draw the line here. I'm getting both of you two separate rooms."
"Separate rooms at the Hearthome Resort?! Aren't rooms super expensive in the first place?" Dawn tried to offer an incentive towards Johanna.
"Oh? And when did you become so interested in my finances, Little Miss 'That's the Dress Right There' ?" Her mother now crossed her arms, "You two will be separate for your morning routines, and that's final."
"How are you even going to get another room now? There's no way you could get… uh… what do you call it?" Dawn began to stumble on her definitions. Goh would have known.
"A booking? Dawn, the Hearthome Resort sponsored me when I was doing contests. I can easily manage," Johanna was about to bring the phone away from her face to tell her daughter goodbye and immediately call up the owner of the hotel.
The young girl sighed, and looked back at Goh, who was waiting patiently away from the video screen that Dawn was using at the Pokémon Center, unaware of what the conversation was about. He gave a little wave at Dawn, who returned in kind with an uneasy smile. She began to speak up again.
"Wait, Mom. Okay. I'll… tell you why I want one room," Dawn leaned into the booth. Johanna raised an eyebrow, and brought the phone back to her cheek.
"Yes?"
Dawn exhaled, knowing that Goh wouldn't be too pleased at her telling others about his current problem. But this was her mother, and she wouldn't trust anyone else but her to understand.
"Mom, I need one room so I can watch Goh and make sure he doesn't go out at night to catch Pokémon," Dawn began.
"Catch Pokémon? What on earth are you going on about?" Dawn's mother wasn't expecting an argument like this to come out of Dawn's mouth.
"Y'see… one of the reasons why Goh is my partner is so that I can get him to take a break from catching Pokémon, because he's really overdoing it. Last night, I had to stop him from sneaking out of the Pokémon Center in the middle of the night, and before that, I caught him nearly face planting into the ground because he fell asleep standing up after catching ten Pokémon in one day!" Dawn tried her best to explain the severity of Goh's situation.
"Ten Pokémon in a day?! I didn't even know most trainers, or even collectors, would go to those lengths…" Johanna rubbed a finger on her chin.
"Right, and Goh's even been skipping meals just to catch Pokémon! Last night was the only night in a long time he's managed to get a good night's sleep!" Dawn took another look back to make sure that Goh wasn't listening in on the conversation.
Thankfully, he was showing both Piplup and Grookey something on his phone.
The coordinator then lowered her voice, "Mom, I know what you're thinking, but me and Goh aren't like that. He's a friend of Ash's, and a new friend of mine. I'm really trying to help him out here, and he's putting himself out there to learn about contests!" Dawn groaned, "I mean, how was this any different than when I shared rooms with Ash and Brock when we were journeying together?"
"You were sharing rooms with Ash and Brock?"
"THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT!"
Dawn quickly looked back. Goh, Piplup, and Grookey were caught completely off guard by Dawn's outburst, and it sent them to the ground, reeling and rubbing their ears. Dawn gave a sheepish smile at them before returning to the video call, "Just… please, Mom. With how Goh's been since I found him falling asleep outside in the middle of the night, I've been really, really worried about him."
Johanna pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, "Well, if I get you two rooms that are neighboring, there'll be adjoining doors in them anyways… and I'd just be paying for two rooms for a pointless reason."
Her daughter didn't speak, hoping not to interrupt a possible moment of clarity about her and Goh's predicament.
"Okay. But both of you take turns in the bathroom when getting dressed," Johanna ordered.
Dawn couldn't help but sigh in relief, "Thank you so much, Mom."
"And no going overboard on the room service-"
"Okay-I-love-you-bye!"
Click.
The former Top Coordinator looked at the phone in her hand after her daughter hung up with a surprised expression. She heaved an exhausted breath. Dawn really was a handful at times; more times than she realized.
Dawn got up from the video monitor, and turned back to her contest partner and the two Pokémon that were waiting, "Alright, all done! Let's get to where we're staying!"
Goh blinked, "Wait, we're not staying in the Pokémon Center?"
"Groo-Grookey?" Grookey mimicked Goh's blink.
"Nope! Just you wait and see!" Dawn pointed ahead and began to walk off.
"Piplup!" Piplup marched proudly after her.
"I don't believe it! Your mom got us to stay in a place like this?!" Goh was absolutely dumbfounded, instantly whipping out his Rotom Phone and taking pictures of the masterful blend of modern architecture alongside an entire nature reserve, marveling at the gigantic pool complexes shown off in promotional photographs around the hotel's premises, "I-I've never seen, or even imagined, a place like this could exist! Especially in Hearthome City!"
Dawn and Piplup shared the same exasperated look as Goh and Grookey pointed at all sorts of things, the boy and his Pokémon suddenly coming to a stop and gawking over a glass-encased rotating display of all the activities, the two instantly focusing in on one in particular.
"The nature reserve is completely open to catching Pokémon?! This must be a dream come true!"
Goh's contest partner and her Pokémon now gave each other faces of complete horror.
"Ugh, figures this place would have something like that!" Dawn sprang into action, yanking Goh's ear away from the activity roster, causing the boy to yelp in pain as he was dragged away, "No, no, no! Absolutely not! We're going straight to the check-in desk right now!"
The two approached the counter and the concierge, a very formally dressed gentleman with a thick Galarian accent, nodded his head at them, "I extend my welcome to the Hearthome Resort to you. Are we checking in during this fine afternoon?"
"We are! The name is under Johanna!" Dawn informed the man with a smile as Goh rubbed his ear, with Piplup snickering at him.
"Ah, so you are Johanna's daughter. It's an absolute honor to meet you, and I extend our most generous welcomes to you and your friend as our guests." The concierge produced two room key cards, and with one finger on each, balanced them down to Dawn and Goh, "Your assigned room numbers have been automatically listed on your Pokétch and your Rotom Phone. If I may make a suggestion, our nature reserve has seen an outbreak of many wild Pokémon recently. I'm positive that a day of catching Pokémon would-"
Dawn screamed and pushed Goh away from the desk, heading straight down the hall with Piplup and Grookey chasing after them, "Thank you so much, but I think we'll just stick to the pool!"
The concierge cocked his head to the side in a puzzled look.
Dawn heaved heavy breaths as she shoved Goh into an elevator and smashed the button for the corresponding floor that their room was situated on. Goh couldn't help but feel his soul shake as he set foot on the hotel grounds.
"A-A full nature reserve… open to catching Pokémon…" Goh quivered in mortal dread, "Th-This place must be so expensive… I'll never have access to it ever again…"
The boy then gripped his hair and pulled down in absolute agony, "And I can't even catch any Pokémon while I'm heeeeeeere!"
"Oh, pull yourself together! There's plenty of other things to do here, and besides, we're going to be spending a lot of our time practicing for the contest! I'm not letting you relapse into catching Pokémon while we're here, or you're going to start skipping meals and staying up all night!" Dawn pointed at Goh.
"Pip-Piplup!" Piplup crossed its flippers and huffed.
Goh let out a groan. This had to be treading the fine line of being considered cruel and unusual punishment.
The elevator dinged, indicating that it had reached the chosen destination, and they and their Pokémon made their way out into the hallway. A short walk down and they arrived at their room. At this, Goh raised an eyebrow.
"Uh… we're not having separate rooms?" Goh questioned as Dawn tapped her card on the electronic door handle.
"I need to make sure that you don't sneak out at night like at the Pokémon Center," Dawn explained, "And considering that nature reserve, it's absolutely the right choice."
The two entered their room, and were immediately met with the gentle breeze of an open window, the curtains lightly flowing from the wind. It was an immaculately spotless room, with perfectly-made white beds with mahogany headrests, a large wall-mounted television overlooking them, and two seats by a table that held a neatly wrapped gift basket with a red bow. Dawn and Goh instantly pounced for the gift basket.
"Oh wow, look at all of the chocolate!" Dawn absolutely beamed at all of the sweets.
"I-It looks incredible!" Goh made sure to take photographs with his Rotom Phone before the inevitable happened.
Piplup and Grookey gave expressions of embarrassment as their trainers gorged on the chocolate inside of the basket. Well, Grookey would, hadn't it also leaped for the gift basket, leaving Piplup to chirp in surprise at the missing monkey.
In an instant, the basket was picked clean, with both Dawn and Goh declaring, "So yummy~!"
"Grookey!" Grookey hooted in agreement as it nibbled on a chocolate-dipped Pecha Berry.
Then, Dawn looked at one of the beds, and leaped on top of it, "I call this one!"
The moment she landed onto the white sheets, she writhed in pure comfort and elation, "Goooohhhh, you reeeeally need to feel your bed~"
Goh raised an eyebrow at Dawn's demeanor, walking over to his bed and putting a hand on it, "Come on, Dawn. The bed can't be- woooooooahhhhhhhhhhh~"
Goh's arm instantly turned to jelly as his palm sank into the comforter. Involuntarily, he rolled onto his bed and immediately started to get drowsy on top, just like his friend on her bed. Goh had already gotten a good rest back at the Pokémon Center, but this time, it felt like the sheets and the pillows were lulling him into passing out instantly.
"H-Hey… shouldn't we be… practicing…?"
"N-No need to worry… we'll have plenty of-" Dawn's sentence cut off as she began to snore.