It was a good night for Hitori, she finished editing another cover and was now waiting as it uploaded to her channel. Whismur was listening happily to the song, played on a very low volume of course to not agitate her sensitive ears. The only thing Hitori was worried about right now was that it was a Sunday, and she was set to go back to school the next morning.
While Whismur was using her father's laptop, Hitori opened another browser and opened another site. Whismur had done well, way better than she was expecting, maybe it was a sign that she should continue with Whismur's training? That she'd be ready to learn more moves? With that in mind, Hitori opened a site called the Attackdex, made by one Professor Kukui from Alola.
At least according to the front page of the website. Made to document every Move that every Pokemon could learn. A few keystrokes later and she was on Whismur's page, Moves were separated into two categories, Instinctual and Tutor-able moves. Her curiosity getting a bit ahead of her, she went right into the Tutor-able moves portion and scrolled down to Icy-Wind.
A click later she was presented with a description of the move. More than that, there were a few below it, only 3 of them. The first was from a Pokemon photographer, or at least that's what Hitori figured as the clip was shot from behind some rocks. It showed a wild Whismur using the move on a Zubat that had intruded on their nest. The second was from another trainer who had demonstrated the attack from their own Whismur.
Finally, the third video was one she had taken and uploaded. It didn't include her in it. Ah! She could hear herself crack her voice trying to speak up for the video. It was in her bathroom, showing off her Whismur using the move over her filled bathtub. Showing off how ice was forming in the water thanks to the move. Ah, it was embarrassing to watch back! She quickly clicked back.
Unfortunately, despite her own embarrassment over her recording, she was quietly hoping she could have taken a higher spot. After all, there is a feature that changes the order the videos appear based on how useful it is, or it was popularity. It wasn't just chronological because she knew from other visits that the order would move around.
She was getting distracted though, she clicked back and went to the instinctual page. There the moves listed were a lot more obvious, Pound, Astonish, Uproar, Howl, and so on. Moves that pretty much every member of the species would learn naturally as they got older or stronger. But just because they were naturals at a move, didn't mean they wouldn't benefit from being taught the move or training with it.
With that in mind, Hitori looked over what move she should train Whismur in next. Hitori began to dig through the information on the site, as for the instinctual moves there was a lot of information regarding when in a Pokemon's growth they start to exhibit the move naturally, or things to look out for to see if a Pokemon is strong enough to start using a move.
For example, when Hitori was looking at Stomp, it said that Whismurs should be taught to use Stomp only when their ears start to spend more time unfurled rather than curled up, as it's a sign of incoming evolution. Or Roar which is apparently rare for Whismur to learn, but according to the site, they could learn once they've grown to be at least 1.3 times the average size of a Whismur. Apparently because only once they reach that size do their lungs have enough capacity to…
She was getting off track again! Hitori quickly clicked back a few more times and focused on the moves that Whismur should start being able to use. Which after some looking was Uproar, Howl, or Supersonic. Hitori continued to flip between the pages trying to guess from quick viewings of the many available videos of the moves which would be easiest to teach next. Compared to the harder moves, each of the moves she was looking at had hundreds of videos of various trainers showing off their own Whismurs.
Hitori was taken out of her searching by a sudden cry ringing out through her bedroom. The surprise made her trip over herself to get up and look at her partner. Whismur was crying loudly having stepped away from the other laptop. "Whismur! What's wrong?" Hitori asked rather loudly momentarily forgetting Whismur's sense of hearing. Of course, the sudden noise only made the Pokemon cry louder.
It took her maybe longer than she'd admit to anyone the reason for Whismur's crying was that Hitori had let herself get distracted browsing online that she missed dinner. Which meant that Whismur also was getting hungry. She rushed out of her room, closing the door behind her to keep the rest of the house insulated from the noise.
Hitori hurried over to the kitchen and grabbed the usual bag of Pokemon food and one of the plates, filling it up and rushing back. The noise was quiet as she walked back to her room, she wondered if Whismur had already quieted down. But as she opened the door she was met with the loud crying once again. Ah, so that's why her parents or Futari never complained about Whismur's frequent outbursts.
"Whismur, I have your food here, look, see?" Hitori quickly said holding the plate out towards Whismur. The Pokemon turned to look at her, she kept crying but it did quiet down a bit, even as Whismur began to waddle herself over to a specific corner of the room staring at the empty place where her food was usually served.
Hitori let out a sigh of relief as she moved to set the plate down, only for Whismur's crying to get louder again as her patience had worn thin. Which in turn forced Hitori to hurry up nearly tripping once again. But soon the plate of food hit the ground thankfully not breaking the plate and Whismur finally stopped crying, if only because she immediately began to shovel food into her mouth.
With that Hitori let out another sigh of relief, even as she tensed up almost expecting another incident to happen each time she did so. When it didn't come, she could slow down and watch her partner eat. After a minute or two of quietly watching, her stomach growled, reminding her of her own skipped dinner. Which came with it the thought that usually her mother would come looking for her if she wasn't at the table for dinner.
Whismur let out a cry getting Hitori's attention once more. She looked to see her partner holding out a piece of food towards her. "Ah, no it's okay Whismur. I'll get my food, so eat up," Hitori quietly replied as she patted Whismur's head. Whismur let out another small cry before going right back to her food and eating in a hurry.
Whismur taken care of for the moment, Hitori stepped back out of her room now to answer the issue at hand. Where had everyone else gone? No longer rushed by Whismur's crying, Hitori quickly found the mundane answer. A note was left on the kitchen counter telling her that her mom and dad had taken Futari and Jimmi-hen out. The note even explained how they sent her messages asking if she wanted to come along. Hitori pulled out her phone and ah, yep the messages were there. Her phone was on silent since it wasn't like she ever had to worry about texts or calls from people.
Hitori wasn't exactly bummed out or even disappointed about not going out. After all she got editing done and a video uploaded… Two hours ago, spending the rest of the time looking up Pokemon Trainer information. Grabbing a small plate of whatever looked easy to eat with no preparation, Hitori took her plate with her back to her room, she had to make sure Whismur didn't start crying again.
It was back in her room that she slowly felt the anxiety of going back to school in the morning build. Was Kita going to suddenly approach her? She didn't want to go, the more she thought of it, the more she didn't want to go. Slowly she turned her head to Whismur, maybe this time it'll work? Those battles a few days ago surely made Whismur's Icy Wind stronger right?
That was another thing! She still had to actually register that recommendation! Well, she could put that one off for a few more days, or weeks. As long as she submitted it before the due date it'll be fine. Unless it was some kind of secret test, and only those who submitted bright and early with extroverted energy were allowed to join.
Hitori grumbled as she nibbled on a carrot, her eyes slowly moving back to her laptop. The allure of putting it all out of her mind and mindlessly searching through the internet, or working with Whismur on a new move becoming more and more tempting. Then an idea struck her, quickly she typed up and did a quick search.
A couple of minutes later Hitori jumped up, "That's it! My way out!" She exclaimed.
"Ah…" She let out a moment later as Whismur, spooked by the sudden volume began to cry once again. "no no! Whismur please stop crying I'm sorry for scaring you!" She suddenly called out to her loud partner. A few minutes and the promise of a treat later Whismur had calmed down.
Hitori turned her attention back to her laptop, specifically a piece of information that she just confirmed her school had. Since so many people spent time on a Pokemon Journey, many schools had flexible schedules to accommodate it. More importantly, those with recommendations to participate in the Pokemon Gym Challenge were allowed more freedom in time off to focus on their training. More than that, her school offered a skipped year for participation.
No more school, at least for a year! She could avoid having to go to her class and best of all when she returned, she could possibly be a grown-up, amazing, famous, popular, rich Pokemon trainer that everyone would come to her to talk about. It was win-win! She just needed to fill the form out and submit it first thing in the morning, then it was right back home to send in a thankfully electronic form about getting the time off!
Now motivated, Hitori finally took the recommendation and filled it out. It was like a weight was off her shoulders, she had made a step forward filling it out, now with nothing else she could possibly do at the moment. Her consciousness was clear when she returned Whismur to her Pokeball, grabbed her guitar, and played late into the night. Only interrupted for a bit when her family came back, and she explained her plan to her dad.
It was bright and early when Hitori set out on her quest to hand in the recommendation to Hammerlocke Stadium. For one she needed to get it turned in early enough in the day that she could let her dad go and have her excused from classes. But also going so early meant that maybe there'd be no one there. Or maybe that was a dumb idea, it just meant everyone who was there would stare at her, see her as a gloomy, unpopular trainer, and chase her out. No no! Hitori shook that thinking out of her head, she had to focus!
The bus she was riding came to a stop and it was enough to help bring her back to reality as she checked around her, then back down to her phone to compare it to the online map she had. Well, actually, she probably didn't need it, she could see Hammerlocke's stadium looming overhead, probably only like a couple of stops away now.
Unfortunately, as she looked out at the streets, even so early in the morning it was busy and filled with people coming and going from. With a few deep breaths, Hitori did her best to calm herself down as the bus started moving again. Two stops later she was getting off the bus right in front of the stadium. Even with the amount of foot traffic going on, no one was going into the stadium. That probably made some amount of sense to Hitori, it wasn't like the season began yet so there wouldn't be challengers and there were only so many people who got recommendations.
A smile crept onto Hitori's lips as she started walking towards the entrance. That's right, she was one of only a select number who earned a position! One of, up to a thousand each year. It was an accomplishment, right? She could brag about even being selected to participate. She could even appear on TV since every gym challenge was recorded and shown to audiences region-wide, if not worldwide.
For reasons certainly not because of that thought, Hitori turned a sharp ninety degrees and began to walk in another direction. She was just… Checking the stadium out from every direction, yep it was probably something trainers did, know their battleground or something!
Not that Hitori even got that far, because a sight caught her attention. Someone with a large Pokeball mascot head, dressed in a red t-shirt and white skirt. Wearing some kind of bodysuit so their arms and legs were just as white. 'Oh right, Ball Guy' Hitori thought.
Ball Guy doesn't wear a skirt! Hitori's mind pointed out a moment later. Indeed, with a second look, she could see that the not Ball guy's Pokeball head was designed after a Premier Ball, with eyelashes that usually designate a female character. Ball Girl? Did the Pokemon League have such a mascot? Slowly Hitori moved towards the entrance of the stadium the confusion having her forget her cowardice around the Stadium itself.
As Hitori approached the stadium she kept an eye on the mascot, she seemed to be doing what Ball Guy would be doing. Which was approaching people and handing out Pokeballs to passersby. Which meant she needed to make sure she wasn't seen. The last thing she wanted was to be attacked by a weirdo in a mascot costume.
Hitori must have displeased some Legendary because the moment she had that thought, the mascot stopped and slowly turned toward her. Hitori felt her blood run cold as she glanced towards the door, if she hurried maybe she could avoid having to talk to them. As she glanced back, the mascot was doing stretches, followed shortly by starting to sprint over to her! Run Hitori this isn't one of your delusions!
Even trying to make a run for it, Hitori wasn't fast enough, and soon the mascot was coming to a skidding stop in front of her. "Aye, ya going to be signing up to the Pokemon Gym Challenge Ain'tcha? I can see it in ya recommendations, ah that brings me back! Well, I can't just let ya go without something ta motivate ya! Here, take this gift from Ball Girl and use it with confidence!" Ball Girl said to Hitori before pushing two Pokeballs into Hitori's hands. Or more specifically a Level ball if the plastic wrap with Pokemon League branding was anything to go by. The other one however was a Premier Ball.
"I- um, ah," Hitori started. But before she could stop her stuttering and say something, Ball Girl simply continued.
"How many Pokemon do ye got? Cause if ye got two then we could have ourselves a battle! More specifically a double battle, if ye win you earn a big prize!" Ball Girl explained.
"Ah- no, um, I only have one Pokemon, also she's totally injured and unfit for battle!" Hitori quickly threw out before making a run for it towards the entrance.
"Then take 'em to a Pokemon center once you have yer registration! They'll heal 'em up right quick and for free for League Trainers!" Ball Girl shouted back with a wave. Not that Hitori was paying attention as she swung the door open and entered. Ball Girl remained still for a few seconds before perking up and turning to see another fortunate and lucky individual in need of some extra Poke Balls. Some girl wearing a lab coat that was far too big for her.
Surprisingly for Hitori, after the craziness of whoever was hanging around in a Mascot outfit. It felt almost relieving to just stutter and hold out the recommendation to the first manned desk she could see. She didn't even agonize over which desk she should be going to or anything. It was the wrong desk, but they were polite in telling her where to go.
Which brought her to another desk and soon into a private office and her anxiety was already starting to build once again. As one of the league workers came in, what followed was a brief interview, mostly asking if she ever worked for groups such as Team Rocket, Magma, and so on. Did she come off as a criminal? Was she going to be jailed as a criminal? She eventually stuttered out a no and they moved on to another question.
By the end of the interview, Hitori was sweating expecting any one of her answers to get her declined, kicked out, or arrested. But instead of any of that happening the league worker simply said, "Well then Hitori Gotoh, everything looks to be in order. We're happy to have you participate in our Gym Challenge,".
It was a heavyweight on Hitori's shoulders, more so because it meant she had the reason she needed to avoid going to school now! "T-Thank you," Hitori stuttered back.
"Now there are some final things to prepare before the start of the season. For one is the contract, We'll be happy to explain anything you may not understand. Though we recommend you take a copy home and look over it closely, we'll even provide a reimbursement if you go to a lawyer to look it through," The league worker explained taking a small stack of paper out and pushing it forward towards Hitori.
"Aah, okay," Hitori said quietly accepting the contract as it would be much easier than asking any questions. Not that she signed it, though only because the worker wasn't assigning any pressure to do so. If they did, she… probably would have signed it without looking it over.
"Right you're in school right now aren't you?" The league worker asked after checking something on a computer. Hitori nodded. The worker nodded back typed something out and with a hit of a button printed out another form. "Here you go, an official notice of participation. Use it to get the time off from School or Work necessary to compete," the league worker continued.
Hitori nodded once again. Then, with a few more minutes and another congratulations Hitori was almost numbly walking out of the stadium, a large folder now in her hands. That wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be.