IV

Shiri wasn't sure if she or Simon was more astonished at this bout of deja vu. He darkened the door with his imposing presence as she said the greeting she had repeated dozens of times a day for years. Except this time, he didn't ignore her and beeline for the poké balls. He paused in the doorway for a beat too long, registering the weird moment.

Finally he approached Shiri at the counter, pulling off his sunglasses. In the fluorescent lighting of the store, and without the threat of aggravated assault via ditto, she could finally get a good look at this man's face. His skin was ruddy, worn, like he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks. Sharp green eyes gazed back at her from under furrowed blond brows. A rounded heaviness in his face and neck softened what might have been an otherwise sharp, square jawline. His nose was very straight and narrow, and it almost seemed too small for his face.

He wasn't a classical beauty, but there was a handsomeness to him which could be uncovered if he drank a few glasses of water and took a nap.

"If I had less sense, I'd say you're following me," he said, his voice low. There were a couple other people in the store browsing.

Shiri glanced behind her to a pair of opened cardboard boxes filled with extra potion stock. She had been attempting to replenish the shelves since her shift started. "I'm sure there's gotta be easier ways to stalk you," she responded in a light tone. A tiny twitch of his lips betrayed the amusement he felt and was trying to hide behind a stony gaze.

"You never told me your name," he said.

"You never asked for it," Shiri responded gleefully. He stared at her expectantly, but he still hadn't asked for her name in any real sense, so she simply smiled back until he realized this.

He sighed. "What is your name?"

She couldn't help the laugh that came to her lips. "Thank you," she began, and was about to tell him what he wanted to know when the automatic door slid open and half a dozen young trainers rushed into the store.

They were excited, chattering loudly about the gym leader. They swarmed the potion shelf, found it lacking, and then the whole pack approached the counter. Simon deftly stepped out of the way of the small mob.

"Miss, do you have any potions?" one asked.

"Or super potions," another said before the first had finished.

"And I need paralyze heals," came another voice.

"Hey, yeah, I've got it all. I'm just restocking," Shiri said.

"I need five potions," the first trainer said.

"So do I."

"Me too! and some paralyze heals!"

Shiri cleared her throat and took a step back. "No problem, but I need you all to form a single file line, okay? Can you boys do that for me?"

The boys all seemed to sigh in relief and they obeyed Shiri's instructions. She pulled the potions and other things they needed directly from the boxes behind her and processed their purchases with the quickness which seven years' experience in retail gave her. But just as she finished with them, more trainers filed into the Poké Mart , their young faces peering at the shelves again before approaching her.

It had been a while since Shiri had seen a proper rush. She got through a few more orders of healing items before Simon was before her again. He placed three energy bars and two bottles of spring water on the counter.

"What is happening," Shiri wondered aloud as she ran Simon's snacks up.

"The gym's promotion, I reckon," Simon answered. Shiri raised a bemused eyebrow, and he clarified. "Gym challenge winners get a free pokémon this weekend."

Shiri's eyes widened. She had never heard of a gym giving away pokémon to winners. She didn't expect they'd need to. It's not like there was ever a shortage of challengers.

Simon stuffed the energy bars into his pockets and picked up the water bottles with one hand. He accepted his change with his free hand, glancing down at the receipt. "Good luck," he said, his eyes scanning the slip. "Shiri." His gaze met hers again, and she felt her neck and cheeks grow warm. She stammered a goodbye as he moved out of the line, but she was not given the time to dwell on the encounter. The line had doubled in the time she had helped Simon.

Simon's ass was going numb. He'd been sitting in the Pewter City gym's stadium for a couple of hours, watching the matches with diminishing interest. He had to put on his sunglasses to reduce the strain on his eyes from the stadium lights. He had tucked himself up in one of the higher rows of bleachers, trying to appear as inconspicuous as he could.

The Gym Challenge didn't draw anywhere near the crowds in Kanto as it did in Galar. Besides Simon, the only other spectators were trainers waiting their turn to battle, a few people who had probably been trainers on their own challenge many years ago, and old people looking for some entertainment to fill in their final days. There was a dark irony to the fact that Simon could technically fit into the second category.

Simon really didn't have to watch the matches. He just had to stick around Pewter City to make sure the trainers who were good enough to win could handle what they had won.

They would probably be fine. They were kids, but these pokémon were well-developed. Containment hadn't actually been necessary for over a decade; it was always a precaution. Now there were mechanisms in place to ensure that no one would get hurt. And most importantly, they didn't attack people.

Simon thought about the incident yesterday, about Shiri. The target hadn't hurt her, and it wasn't going to hurt her. But she had been shaken by the encounter. And now she had followed Simon to Pewter.

No, Simon told himself. That was ridiculous. Shiri was not following him. Clearly Pewter City had been preparing for the rush that this distribution event would give them, and the Poké Mart had just called in extra help from other locations. That was the most logical and probable reason Shiri was in town. Just a coincidence.

The current challenger, a female trainer of about thirteen or fourteen, managed to bring down Liam's last pokémon with her weepinbell. Her excited cheer reverberated through the stadium, bouncing off the stone walls and crashing painfully against Simon's eardrum. Liam stepped forward with a pleased smile and a hand extended to shake, words of congratulations on his lips. The small crowd had applauded the girl's victory, but now as she was about to be awarded her badge and prizes, a few people began to gather up their things and make their way to the exit. Simon stayed put, though. He was particularly invested in this next bit.

Liam led the girl to a small computer which had been set up in a protected area near the employee entrance. On a car beside the computer were a number of prize pokémon set in the ever-desirable cherish ball. Just as he had been instructed, Liam picked one up and set it on a small reader pad which was connected to the computer. The monitor would display the pokémon being awarded, something which one would expect when winning a pokémon. But on the back end, the computer system registered that pokémon as claimed, activated its tracking chip, and pinged the list Simon had in his phone.

The monitor blinked on, showing the seemingly normal raichu.

The girl gasped, then squealed with glee. She probably thought she might get something mundane, like a spearow or caterpie or something else readily available in the surrounding area. No, the boss was always generous with the pokémon she set for distribution.

After half a dozen thank-yous, the girl made her swift exit from the gym, ready and eager to show off her hard-won prize. She was the first victory of the day, after five unsuccessful attempts from five other trainers. Liam would need some time to recuperate from the past few hours, but he invited waiting trainers to hang out or battle each other in the arena.

Many of them did not take up the offer, however, and elected to follow the first victor outside so that they may jealously ogle at her new raichu and dream of what prize they might have a chance at winning.