Umbreon. My all-time favorite Eeveelution. As I stare at Blink, I realize that it has blue stripes on its body. Cool, I have a shiny pokemon as my starter.
“Dear me, you thought it was a nightmare? I suppose we’ve all had a lot longer to come to terms with what happened. You’ve basically been asleep for eight weeks.” The nurse informs me as she busies herself changing out my pillow. “You are really behind all the other trainers that started The Journey this year and you still have a few weeks left to recover before we can clear you to get back on the road.” The nurse begins changing my covers and gives me a quick wipe down. “You might be better off going to the Kanto region and starting there. My nephew said The Journey was pushed back this year. I think he said a trainer shortage has them waiting until August. Kanto will have buses collecting trainers from rural areas so everyone can start The Journey from Celadon City.
After gaping in surprise, I stuttered out, “A trainer shortage?! How is that possible? An entire region has a trainer shortage?!” Is being a trainer not important in the world? That's nothing like in the anime. The nurse shakes her head side to side as she checks my vitals now. “Didn’t you hear about the Dragon Rampage? The top Kanto breeders have been destroyed. The news said that the families were secretly cross breeding dragon types with Kanto's starter pokemon. No one knows exactly why but the dragonite, charizard, and gyrados at two major sites started raging and no one could stop them. They destroyed hundreds of eggs and young pokemon before the rage ended.” I listen intently as she now brushes my long purple hair. “Many people decided to postpone the Journey. Some refused to start The Journey without a Kanto signature pokemon. Many others simply have no way to get a starter. The Journey Administration gives away one hundred certified Kanto starter pokemon every Journey year. Kanto is so proud of bulbasuar, squirtle, and charmander that they developed a program to encourage every trainer to use one of the three. The JA of Kanto will even accept the starter back at the end of your Journey. Did you know they even offer silver if you return a pokemon with a couple of badge wins on record?” I shake my head from side to side and stroke Blink’s head. She climbed into my bed while the nurse talked.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
The nurse smiles down at us. She pulls a chair over to the bed and sets a couple of cups on a side table. As she sits, she takes out an orann berry from her half apron around her waist. She starts breaking it into chunks as she continues to talk.
“No one has been kind to Blink. One of the nurses started a rumor. She blamed umbreon for you not waking up. These superstitious ninnies stopped feeding the poor girl. Some yelled at her and chased her out of the room. I made sure that each one was reprimanded or transferred. Unfortunately, that took a while, and the poor thing went a little wild. I ended up being assigned as your personal nurse because of things like this. Most of the other nurses have actually tried to battle her. Can you believe nurses releasing pokemon in a hospital room to battle? The last nurse that I caught, told me that someone is offering gold and platinum for pokemon with unique coloring.”
Huh? “Umm gold and what?” I hesitantly question the nurse. I thought the currency was poke dollars. The nurse raises an eyebrow but quickly changes to a sympathetic look. “Since your parents are eevee breeders, I thought you would have heard of platinum coins before. I guess being the fifth child is rough even in rich families.”
Maybe the currency was like that fantasy role-playing board game. It sounds like platinum is the highest currency so copper and silver were probably the common currency. I wonder what the ratio is or if they have any subdivisions. She said coins so maybe they don’t have a paper currency. I’m distracted from my thoughts by Blink’s plaintive whines. I follow her gaze to the now generously filled cups. My stomach lets out a terrible grumbling sound. That hurt.
The nurse hands me a berry chunk and then offers one to Blink as well. “My husband is an orann berry farmer. It’s weird only to grow one common type of berry but he swears that they are the best in all of Unova.” I nibble at the berry despite my hunger. It was soft and had an interesting flavor. The nurse hands me one of the cups and says, “Munch on these. I’m going to see if I can get you a late lunch, but the JA of Unova will probably arrive before your meal.