"And the Unova games were where I stopped playing," I conclude as I, the Asian girl and the puppies, reach the end of the stairs. "The series went on from there, but I had other stuff going on in my life when the following games came out. A guy I know that kept playing said that the quality kept getting worse and worse, so I never really got back into them."

Throughout the explanation, I tried to avoid any mention of the plots. I don't know if she has any connection to those, but I don't want to risk giving her an existential crisis. I just hope I didn't make things confusing for her.

She lets out a whistle. "Well, well, sounds like those got the spirit of professional Pokémon training right. At least, for the most part."

"Uh… good to hear."

I'm not sure if she heard me as she just keeps talking. "There is actually more to the profession than just getting stronger and learning new moves. Regular check-ups on one's Pokémons' health is important, as well as making sure they keep a proper diet."

"Well, I assumed that was the case but–"

"Not to mention any and all special needs a species may require, the financial tolls a full team takes and–"

I manage to follow her up to the part where sponsors are a thing, before she loses my attention. As her voice becomes background noise, I focus more on studying her face.

She looks… youthful. Probably younger than I am, and yet she seems to know the ins and outs of the profession rather thoroughly. Is Pokémon training that easy to get into or is she just older than she looks?

…or maybe the games were not exaggerating and one can actually become a Trainer at the age of eleven. Oh dear, please tell me she didn't spend her childhood around dangerous wildlife.

"How long have you been a Trainer?"

My question brings whatever she was saying to an abrupt halt. "Why do you ask?"

"You seem to know a lot about the profession for…"

Uh-oh, how do I put it without bringing up her age?

"Oh!" She lets out a nervous chuckle and rubs the back of her head. "I just did my research before getting into it and started as soon as I could. Got my Trainer license as a sixteenth birthday gift, basically."

That's a… mild relief. Not an adult yet, but at least not a kid per se.

The Asian girl clears her throat. "Anyway, now that we've got that out of the way, anything in particular you wanna know about your Pokémon?"

That is the question, I suppose. With the academy, I was after generic information to get an idea of their needs.

This girl, though… she said she was from Johto, right? She seemed familiar with the puppies' species, but I don't remember seeing either of them back in Johto when I played those games.

"I suppose anything you can tell me."

She lets out another chuckle. Did I really make that silly of an answer?

"Just like that, huh?"

She reaches into her jacket's pocket and pulls out a… weird smartphone with a lightning bolt-shaped antenna on the top. The cover has a picture that reminds me of Ecruteak City's Bell Tower, but I don't get the time to make sure if I'm right before a pair of glowy cyan eyes and a smiling mouth appear.

Both of which remind me of the various appliance forms of Rotom. Is this what the hotel's receptionist called 'Rotom phone'?

"Come on," the Asian girl intervenes, breaking my focus from her phone. "I want to show you a place. I'll read what the Pokédex has to say about your Pokémon in the meantime."

…right. The Pokédex is a phone app now. I was forgetting about that.

The Asian girl leads us across the plaza and into one of many converging streets. Not the one we originally came from, though, so I have to take a moment to orient myself for later.

As we walk, she reads through what the Pokédex has to say about the puppies. The most relevant info I get is that Rex's snarling business is a thing inherent to all Mass-chiefs, while Lola is made of a more resilient dough than the one used for baking.

The latter is a relief.

The former? Not so much.

We arrive at a shop with an insignia reading 'Ramirez Dog Rest' and an Arcanine resting on its belly near the entrance.

Rex's first instinct is, of course, to approach and make his snarls at the larger canine. When it stands up, I'm tempted to drag the Poké-mastiff away. The Arcanine, though, does something I wasn't expecting.

It leans down and licks Rex's face, which he whimpers to.

"Okay, okay," I awkwardly chuckle as I separate the two dogs. The Arcanine is thankfully cooperative and willingly steps away from Rex, its tail wagging while it does so.

"Hello there, Koda," the Asian girl cheerfully says and steps toward the Arcanine. Her hand reaches for its head, and the fire Pokémon readily leans into it. I think I also see it smile, as much as I can tell from a dog's face.

Through all that, though, a question comes to me. "'Koda'?"

The Asian girl turns her smile to me. "That's her name." She turns back to the Arcanine and rubs her head even more. "Isn't she such a good girl?"

The Arcanine lets out a happy bark. I can't help but smile and admit, "Yeah, she is."

That unfortunately sparks a salvo of angry barking from Lola, who I turn to find pouting at me.

"Oh come now," I say as I lower myself enough to rub her own head. "You are a good girl as well."

Despite my words, she keeps pouting. I don't get the time to tell her anything, before we both realize the Arcanine has stepped forward and is looking down at Lola with her head tilted.

Lola pales–as much as a puppy made of dough can—and bolts to hide behind me. The Arcanine follows after her, but she still tries to keep me between herself and the striped dog, and I suddenly have the two running circles around me.

"Uh…" What was her name again? "Koda? C-could you leave her be? She, uh…" How do I put this? "She was from the wilds until recently, and she…" Am I overstepping myself if I say she may be scared of larger dogs? Though she did help with that chimera, but–

Rex steps in between the two, stopping the Arcanine in her tracks with a series of angry barks and a snarl that looks… actually kind of intimidating with the scowl and the more sedate exposure of his fangs.

I really should be stepping in before this gets ugly between him and the Arcanine. I don't want either to injure the other. However, Rex's snarl… has me on edge. Too on edge to do anything.

As such, I can only breathe a sigh of relief when the Arcanine steps away from the two puppies and goes back to lying near the door. Her face doesn't betray any emotion, but her tail is not wagging anymore.

"Oookay…"

The Asian girl looks a little dumbfounded, but after a shake of her head, she's back to all smiles. She steps toward the shop's door before adding, "Ready to meet Mister Pablo?"

… wait, what?

Before I can even ask, she's already stepped into the shop

With no option but to follow her lead, I walk inside as well, with Rex and Lola shooting the Arcanine dirty looks as they follow me. Thankfully, the bigger dog just yawns.

When we enter, I take a look around the shop's interior. Most of it are shelves filled with chew toys, food for dogs or articles of clothing, all within packages showcasing pictures of dog-like Pokémon.

"Hello, Mister Pablo!"

The Asian girl's loud statement makes me turn to the counter located on the opposite side of the shop, behind which a door opens and a bearded, bald guy in an apron walks in.

"Oh, good morning, Miss… Hibiki, was it?" he says as his eyes land on the Asian girl, who chirply nods. "What can I do for you? Did your Houndoom not like the treats?"

She has a Houndoom? That's the Poké-dog she showed me? Damn, she has impeccable taste.

"Oh no, she loved them," she giggles before turning to me and beckoning me to come forward. "I just brought you a new client."

Uh-oh.

I take hesitant steps toward the counter until I'm next to the Asian girl and meet the gaze of the shop's worker.

"I see," he says almost instantly. He puts his hands on his hips and puffs his chest before adding, with a highly-held head. "Greetings, Mister, welcome to the Ramirez Dog Rest. I'm Pablo Ramirez, owner of the shop."

"Hello," I quietly say.

The bald guy doesn't say anything more and just holds his proud stance. Unsure on what to do, I turn to the Asian girl. She gestures first at Rex and Lola and then to the bald guy.

Oh wait, I get it.

"I, uh…" I turn my gaze to the puppies before lowering myself. "I befriended these two wild puppies yesterday." I gently grab Lola and lift her up. Thankfully, she doesn't protest. "One is a… Fidough?"

A quick glance to the Asian girl and her following nod tells me I got the name right.

I place Lola on the counter and proceed to grab Rex next. "The other is a… Mass-chief?"

Rex turns his head to me and lets out an angry bark.

Dammit, why do I keep getting things wrong with him?

"I see," the bald guy murmurs as he rubs his beard and furrows his brow. "An unplanned adoption and you're trying to figure out what to do, I take it?"

"S-something like that," I gulp. "I… I know that was a reckless move, but–"

"Now, now, I'm not judging," he cuts me off. "Besides, they both look comfortable out in the open. That's a good sign in my book."

Okay?

"Anything else I should know about these two?"

Uh… "I think they're siblings? A Ranger speculated that was the reason they kept together. These two can't talk, obviously, so I can't get a proper confirmation, but–"

"A Ranger trusted them with you, huh?" he chimes in, an eyebrow arched.

"Uhm, yes?"

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I mean, an appointed official taking that sort of decision should be a good thing. Unless this guy has a beef with them?

The bald guy lets out a good-natured chuckle, which confuses me even more. "Next time, lead with that, Mister. You won't have to worry about others judging how you and these pups came together then."

… yeah, that makes sense.

"Anyway, mixed parentages, got it." The bald guy turns around and walks back through the door he came from. "Be back in a minute."

"You know," the still flabbergasted Asian girl says as she points at the bag filled with food and care products I'm now carrying, "I'd intended to pay for all that. I didn't think you already had money on you. You know, since you're… you know."

"That wasn't necessary," I reassure her before nudging toward the shop. "You already showed me to this place when you didn't have to. Paying for the products would have been too much."

She puffs her cheeks. "Hey now, I'm not some broke cheapskate."

I wince at those words. Dammit!

"A-apologies, I didn't mean to imply that."

"Oh relax," she chuckles good-naturedly. "I was just joking."

Oh, thank God.

"Anyway, you got everything Pablo told you?"

I nod my head.

"Good," she clasps her hands together. "Then I guess the last thing left for you is getting the licenses."

… the what?

My confusion must show, as she slaps her forehead before saying, "Ah right, I forgot we didn't talk about that yet."

Oh!

"Basically, before you become a Pokémon-owner, you must acquire an authorization from the authorities. It's usually either a license for specific kinds of Pokémon or the Trainer license directly."

Uh… huh. I kind of recall her mentioning the latter earlier.

"And, how do I do… that?"

To my surprise, the Asian girl shrugs. "I don't know about that one, the process requires documentation, and if you're waiting for the Rangers to provide you that…"

"Ah," I respond. "So I should… just bring the matter to them?"

She nods. "Pretty much. Sorry I can't help you more on this one."

"N-no, it's fine," I reassure her. She's already helped much more than I'd hoped, I don't want her to feel bad.

Thankfully she's back to all smiles in no time. "Well, in that case," she offers a hand, "wanna come with? There's a couple other places I'd like you to visit."

Uh? "Where? And why?"

She responds with a coy smirk. "You haven't had the time to buy stuff for yourself yet, have you?"

Uh…

Okay, she got me.

"Come," she waves toward the direction we came from initially. "There are a lot of food and clothing shops back in the central plaza. Just follow my lead."

Before I can truly say anything, the Asian girl sprints off. I take just the time to recall Lola and Rex, who had stepped to the side to play, before the three of us are chasing after her.

The following tour through the shops of the plaza goes as plainly as it can. Outside of passing by other people accompanied by their own Pokémon–which I still need to keep Rex from snarling at–it all goes like one of those shopping tours I could have had back in my world.

The Asian girl is all too eager to show me around. So much so that she goes on multiple long-winded tangents talking about one thing or another, and trying to keep up with her is easier said than done.

I really don't like spacing out as much as I do after all the help she's given me today, but it's really hard not to.

"You know a lot about this city," I find myself muttering at some point.

The Asian girl responds with a chuckle. "Oh, I'm sure that's not true. I've been in Paldea for just a few days, after all. There are lots of people who know Mesagoza much better."

Just a few days? Buddy, in just a few days I'd be lucky to know half as much as you do.

Although, that brings up something else I was curious about.

"What brings you here, by the way?"

She arches an eyebrow. "Here?"

I wave at the general area around us. "You know, this whole region? I recall you saying you were from Johto, and I recall a Ranger saying it's on the other side of the world."

I'm not misremembering anything, am I?

"Aaaah," she responds, realization coming to her face. "Well, I am from Johto–Ecruteak City, to be precise–and it is on the other side of the world." She spreads out her arms with an overly dramatic motion. "But the local Gym Challenge sounded like fun, so here I am."

She's here for the Gyms? "What about Johto's?" The home circuit sounds less of a hassle to go through.

Though I'm less certain of that when some of the cheer drops from the girl's expression.

"Tried it," she says. "Got the Badges, but couldn't make it past the Elite Four. So I'm taking my chances with another league."

Congratulations Aldo, you metaphorically kicked a puppy.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to–"

"Eh, it's okay," she interrupts with a shrug. "Was pretty bummed out at the time, but I didn't quit. That's what matters, isn't it?"

"I… suppose?"

"Of course it is," she continues. "I beat all the Gyms when most drop after three or four, so I am a pretty good Trainer. Of course, the Elite Four are tougher than the Gym Leaders, but–"

And off to another spiel we go.

It is the middle of the afternoon by the time we've bought all that I need, at least according to the Johtonian. All in all, I have some food for me that should last me a few days, basic hygiene products and clothes, including a blue sport set I changed into.

That last one at least means I'll be able to return the Rangers the stuff they lent me.

"'Pawmi Hug', huh?" the girl says as we approach the hotel, looking up to an insignia with a ginger rodent I hadn't paid attention to before. "You're one lucky guy. When I was organizing to move here, this was one place I'd considered. Didn't get to it because it was too expensive."

I sort of recall the anime making it seem like Pokémon Centers offered rooms to wandering Trainers. Does this mean that's not actually a thing?

I ask her about that, and she lets out a half-hearted sigh while rolling her eyes. "That is how it is in Johto and our neighboring regions. Most regions with a League too, from what I hear. Unfortunately, the Paldeans don't offer that kind of service."

I blink at that answer. "But why?"

She shrugs. "Beats me. All I know is that the Pokémon Centers aren't even proper buildings, more like these stations to heal mons, buy stuff and that's it. Which, don't get me wrong, Centers of other regions do too, but all other services they provide–"

All of a sudden, she cuts herself off and looks straight ahead of us. I follow her gaze, and find a Ranger standing near the entrance, with her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. At her side, there's a large green and black lizard with a saddle on its back, complete with motorcycle-like handlebars protruding from the front.

The Poké-lizard spots us as well before turning its head to the woman at its side, calling for her attention. The Ranger turns to it before long, and when the Pokémon's gaze turns back to us, she follows it.

The tapping of her foot instantly stops when her eyes land on me, settling into a scowl. With quite some vehemence, she points at the ground in front of her and her scaly companion.

That doesn't look promising.

"Do you know that Ranger?"

I squint my eyes to take a better look. Short, dark blue hair, skin tone similar to mine, an athletic build. From what little I can see of the face from this distance…

"I think so."

She could be that lady Ranger that interviewed me at their base.

I walk toward the Ranger, Lola and Rex following after me. Despite me telling her she can go, the Johtonian decides to come as well.

While we close the distance, Rex approaches the Poké-lizard and instantly tries his snarls on it. Before I can stop him, the other Pokémon inflates its throat into a wheel-like shape and lets out a threatening hiss, to which Rex can only step back and whimper

"Finally, you're back," the Ranger greets me, paying no apparent attention to the scene between the two Pokémon. It takes me only a glance to be certain it is her.

Without uncrossing her arms, the Ranger turns her scowl to the Johtonian girl and slightly narrows her eyes. "Who are you, Miss?"

"My name's Hibiki Armonia, from Johto," she responds, just as chirpy as always. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, ma'am."

"Uh-huh," the Ranger murmurs before nudging toward me. "I guess you are the person that was last seen with this one." She turns back to me, frowning. "And you were supposed to inform us where you could be found. But when you were nowhere to be found at Naranja Academy, I had to look all over Mesagoza. Do you have the slightest idea how long that took me?!"

"Uh…" I murmur, "I, uhm… didn't…"

"My bad!" the Johtonian girl intervenes. "He really wanted to get back to the hotel, but I insisted on taking him on a shopping trip. Sorry about that, ma'am."

… I didn't say anything of the kind. I genuinely didn't think about that.

The Ranger regards the girl with a brief glance before letting out a snort and shaking her head. "Whatever. Let's get this over with."

Okay…

"It seems you're in luck. The International Police has already selected a handler for you, who should land in Paldea early tomorrow."

Ah… will that be someone I can ask about the licenses I need for Lola and Rex?

"And your replacement documentation is already on the way," the Ranger continues. "All that is needed is a photo of you. Tomorrow morning, either I or Carlos will come take you back to base for that and introducing you to your handler. Got it?"

I nod.

"Good. Try not to fall off the radar again or make a scene like at the academy, you hear?"

I instinctively let down a gulp. Was it really so bad? I never meant it to.

"Come on Lagarto," the Ranger tells the Poké-lizard as she mounts the saddle on its back. "We're going."

The Poké-lizard instantly gets on all four, and before long the two are heading off in the direction opposite of us, the Pokémon keeping a fast running pace.

"Gee," the Johtonian girl says when they are out of earshot. "She's not much of a joy to be around, is she?"

Uh…

"I… wouldn't want to assume," I answer. "She is an appointed official, she must have her reasons for acting the way she does, no?"

The Johtonian lets out an amused snort. "The Gym Leader of Blackthorn City is also an appointed official, but you wouldn't believe the scene she made when I beat her, all just because she was a bad sport about losing our match."

… Clair. The Dragon-types Trainer and the last of Johto's Gym Leaders. Who has the player go through a detour before giving out her Badge. I remember her.

Okay, fair point.

"Anyway, sounds like you're gonna have a busy day tomorrow." She winks and makes a V sign with her fingers. "Promise to see each other around?"

… well, she doesn't seem put off by me. Yet.

As talkative as she gets, she's not bad company to have around. Her being from Johto also has that element of familiarity I can get behind, not to mention she has her experience as a Trainer I could rely on.

At least, up until the moment I'll do something that will put her off.

"Sure?"

"Great! Then I'll come see you the day after tomorrow. Bye!"

With that, she walks off, and my gaze stays on her for as long as I can see her. I realize we've neither exchanged numbers nor has she told me where she is residing. I have to assume she'll come find me here.

While I think that, I also realize the other way around would have been disastrous since I don't remember her name.

You really are hopeless, aren't you Aldo?

And chapter. As usual, huge thanks to Krosrodes for beta-reading this.

You guys let me know your thoughts and I'll see you next time.