Moonlit clouds danced across the sky. The sun set like a descending orange slice, before quickly being replaced by the impending moon. Stars glistened across the sky, blinking on and off like malfunctioning lightbulbs. It was evident that it was getting late. Ava and Aiden would need a place to stay for the night, and fast. Aiden scrolled through his Pokédex, looking for nearby hotels en route to Viridian City. Unfortunately, there were no hotels in walking distance, and there wouldn't be any for about three cities over.
Ava tiredly peeked over Aiden's shoulder, staring at his Pokédex's blank screen. "We're properly screwed, aren't we?"
Aiden pretended to think. "Well, judging by how we almost got our heads mauled off and the only thing stopping it was a mother-and-daughter bond, and that we just got back from walking a billion miles from a gigantic forest, yeah, I'd say there's nothing we can do."
Ava's Bulbasaur nodded in reluctant contentment. Aiden's Spinarak did the same, the face on its abdomen contorting from a neutral to another saddened expression.
Aiden kept scrolling through his Pokédex. "Stop worrying, you lot. Viridian City has got the best restaurants you'll taste in your lifetime. I heard that if you're really beaten up, they'll let you stay in the Pokémon Centers overnight."
Ava looked up at Aiden as if he just told the biggest lie in the world. "Overnight? The whole night? All of it?"
"That is what overnight means," Aiden replied.
She stared at him with stars in her eyes. "Well? What are we waiting for? We'll grab some dinner and head there."
Ava almost sprinted off, before Aiden grabbed her and held her by her shirt collar against her will. "Hold on there. You never let me finish. It says that that deal's only relevant past 11pm. And what is it, 7:20? That's a four-hour-and-forty-minute gap."
"We'll just spend four hours and forty minutes at the restaurant and then head to the center. Easy as pie." Ava kept walking.
Aiden ran after her. "Well, just a second there. Don't light a fire on your shoes yet."
Ava stopped. "Light a fire on my shoes?"
"An expression," Aiden explained, "a Johtonian one. What I'm saying is not to get fast just yet. I only have $49 in my pocket, and that's barely enough for anything. At least, not at any of those restaurants in Viridian City."
She let out a hum, before fiddling in her pocket for her Pokédex. She opened it, typing a few buttons before leaning it closer to Aiden. "Cheap restaurants near me. Boom."
Aiden grabbed the Pokédex, scrolling through the options as he walked closer to the entrance to Viridian City. "There's a place called Pan's. They look good. Plus, it's head chef is a Simisage. They know how to cook."
Ava grabbed her Pokédex back, holding it outwards to use it as a GPS. "Yeah, vegan meals. I need something with protein."
"Suit yourself," Aiden bantered, "but you sure won't like seeing their menu."
They soon reached the entrance to Viridian City. They both stared up at the sign, whose population counter seemed to tick by the minute. "Welcome to Viridian City, the Home of Concrete Roses," it read. Aiden and Ava stared up at the giant sign as they both sauntered past it, staring up at the city before them. It had giant, looming cities whose lights looked spectacular under cold, dark nights. Multiple classical-looking houses were on the corners of these buildings, alongside numerous convenience stores. Sidewalks traveled across the city, circling every house and building, with large, rugged roads filling the gaps between them. To the two, it seemed like Viridian City had a gigantic renovation since whenever their parents started their adventure.
"I don't remember Viridian City being this big," Ava said dumbfoundedly.
"They really went from Viridian City to Viridian City, huh," Aiden replied. "And everybody's out too."
"Everybody's out? What are you talking ab—" Ava cut herself off, stopping her sentence to gaze at the mass of coexisting humans and Pokémon playing out before her eyes. "Woah."
She stared up at the cityscape in marvel. Everywhere she looked was a new scene. Two Metang spun overhead, their rock-hard mechanical bodies glistening in the moonlight. A Swirlix descended from the sky to a nearby food court, sniffing at its bakewares. Multiple Murkrow flew from a nearby power line to the ground, settling together in an alleyway. A man with his Skuntank walked down the sidewalk past the two, the Skuntank stopping its stride to stare at Aiden and scratch its ear with one of its front paws. As Ava kept walking, she noticed the only thing rivaling the mass of Pokémon she saw was the mass of Pokémon that got in her way.
Ava and Aiden kept walking, before Ava stopped abruptly. She looked around her, before her eyes darted toward something up ahead. A man was laying against the brick of a nearby building, on top of cardboard. Next to him was his Seviper, which stared up at the two with giddy eyes and shining fangs. Aiden pretended to not see him, dead-set on getting to the Center before anything, yet Ava's attention was directly on him.
She walked up, tapping Aiden's shoulder. "Aiden, hand me five dollars."
Aiden squinted his eyes skeptically, stopping his stride. "Why?"
"Just do it."
Aiden sighed, pulling out his wallet and handing five dollars to Ava. "Alright, but I'm not taking any more requests from here to the Center."
Ava didn't even listen to anything Aiden said after he gave her the five dollars. "Yeah, yeah, sure."
Ava trotted back to the man. She slowly bent down, reaching out a hand and placing five dollars in the paper bowl the man had on standby.
"I hope this helps..." Ava comfortingly asserted. Just as Ava dropped the money in the bowl, the Seviper's eyes locked directly on her palm. It suddenly lunged, making Ava fall to her knees as Seviper imprudently tried to fit Ava's hand in its mouth. The man twitched back, before grabbing his Seviper by its head.
"I am so, so terribly sorry, lass," the man assured. "I hope he ain't cause much trouble."
Ava stayed there shivering, staring at her drool-covered hand which could have been a snack to feed a bloodthirsty gluttonous snake. "Y-... Y- Yeah... n- no worries..."
Ava slowly trembled with each step as she kept walking. "I promise that won't happen again," the man shouted back as the Seviper's head unhappily drooped.
Ava walked back up to Aiden. Aiden stared over, looking down to see her hand dripping wet. "What on Arceus's green Earth did you do with your hand."
"N- Nothing..." Ava replied. "Just keep walking, I- I can almost see the Center now... W-... Where's my Pokémon..."
Aiden pat his pocket. "In'ere, of course. I didn't want you losing them. Then we'd have a Missing Pokémon report and that'd file us under untrustworthy caretakers and where'd that take us?"
"I know..." Ava said as she gripped the handles of the Pokémon Center's door. "I know."