"Sure, brother, I could help you pick out a camera!" Terry's eyes lit up as I asked him for a favor.

I'd gotten his Pokegear number when we'd crossed paths outside of the Pewter Gym yesterday, and he'd been more than happy to have lunch with me.

"I'm not just going to need a camera. Apparently, I'll need a camera, a microphone, and something that I can edit on." I groaned, looking at my tiny cash reserve. I really wanted that League money to come in soon, or I'd have to start grinding through trainer battles for cash.

"That's a hefty order," Terry frowned. "I also don't think you'll need all of that to get started. Your Pokenav+ mic should be good enough for starting voiceover, and the computers at the Center have enough power to do some basic editing."

"Really?" I felt some pressure leave my shoulders.

"Yes, though I don't yet understand why the rush to get into being an influencer after our discussion yesterday?"

"Well, his name rhymes with dick and since we ran into him yesterday, he's been talking shit online."

"Ah, yes," Terry grinned. "#TrashTracey! I saw that going around."

"Yeah, my friends think that it's a good idea for me to start posting stuff to RoTube and Pokegram to stop the hate early."

Terry rubbed his chin with one of his massive hands. "That makes sense... To be honest, the best thing for growing an audience would be to record something impressive, like maybe your first badge victory?"

"That's the plan eventually, but they were pretty determined to have me get something up this week."

"Well, a repost of your battle from a few days ago has almost eighty thousand views. Maybe focus on turning that into content before you worry yourself about tracking down recording equipment."

I thought about it. "Yeah, that could work. It's already something people have seen, and it'll let me get a handle on what I'm actually supposed to be doing. I don't know how any of this social media stuff works."

Terry patted my shoulder. "And here, brother, is where I offer a trade."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

What the heck do I have that he wants?

"I would be willing to help you get some of the basic skills, editing and posting and such, if..." Terry trailed off, looking slightly abashed. "...if maybe you were able to put in a good word with your friend, Amy."

Oh.

I did my best not to chuckle remembering Amy and Terry's last interaction. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy, and I didn't want to hurt his feelings by laughing at him.

Instead, I took his request at face value.

"I'll be honest with you, Terry," I said "Ames is a very antisocial person for some personal reasons. They're a big fan of watching other people's drama, but they have a hard time interacting with other people. I'll do my best to put in a good word for you, but if I do I'm going to be honest with your intentions."

And it's not like they don't already know them, I added silently. I can't exactly talk about their powers, but they definitely know that Terry's into them.

Terry nodded his head, deep in thought.

"I think I would still like to try," he decided. "If nothing else, I can always attempt a more direct path later."

"Alright," I grinned, holding out a hand. "You've got yourself a deal. I'll put in a good word with Ames, and you'll teach me how this video editing stuff works!"

Terry shook my hand. "Welcome to the hell that is content creation," he said solemnly.

"It can't be that bad, can it?"

----------------------------------------

"I don't know what everyone is complaining about, this is awesome!" I said excitedly, looking up from my computer to my friends.

Yuji, Hana, Terry, and I had all gathered in the Pokemon Center computer lab to work on various projects. Since Yuji and Hana had started working on getting me online with some basic accounts, they decided to look over their own socials and use me as an excuse to revamp themselves online. After Terry had helped me with the basics, he'd retreated to his own stall to edit some of his streams into clips.

Terry and the others had actually melded pretty easily. He was such a calm and easy-going guy that Yuji had immediately taken to him, and his expertise in online content and willingness to help me had endeared him to Hana.

Yuji sighed, bowing his head. "I don't understand your proclivity for editing at all. Even for a patient mind, it is grueling work."

"Nah, this is great! This is just like when me and my dad used to go over tourney matches after school, except I get to control the remote. Plus, I get to see Wisp slam Achilles into the ground over and over again!" I laughed at Yuji when he tossed me a challenging smile.

Terry had helped me message one of the trainers who had recorded my battle with Yuji, and with their permission, I'd downloaded a copy so that I could create what the others called a 'breakdown video'. Now it was just a matter of cutting out a lot of the pauses, adding text and indicators to things I wanted to be emphasized, and writing notes to do a voiceover piece for it. It was honestly pretty simple once I started looking at it like a training exercise.

The footage also helped me do what I already did in my mind; I got to go over every second of the battle at whatever speed I needed to. It helped show me a lot of little mistakes I hadn't even realized after the fact, like how I could've had Wisp avoid Achilles' last attack if I'd had her move a second quicker.

I honestly wish I could have done this with the museum stuff...

I sobered at the thought.

I glanced down at Wisp, who was napping in my lap. It was slowly becoming a habit for her. She was the newest member of my team, but I'd only really had the chance to train her during my battle with Yuji. If I had access to the videos from the museum, I'd be able to jumpstart her training even more.

We only have five days 'till we fight our first gym trainer, and six until we battle Brock. She's plenty strong already, but if I knew that if I had her moves down as well as I had Artis', she'd be an absolute monster.

I got lost in my thoughts, only coming out of them when the intercom for the Pokemon Center sounded.

"Trainer Derek Tracy," the Pewter Nurse Joy's voice sounded through the speakers. "I repeat, trainer Derek Tracy, please make your way to the front desk if you are present in the building. Thank you."

I threw a look to Yuji and Hana, who both looked confused. Artis and Wisp were both with me, so I couldn't think of another reason that Nurse Joy would need to see me.

"I guess I'll be back?" I said. "I'll have to finish this later."

Terry glanced at my screen. "Nah, brother. You have the basic cut done, I'll finish it up for you. It should be ready to go whenever you're ready to do your voice-over."

"Aww, thanks man," I said, feeling legitimately touched. "I've got you back if you need any help with your stuff."

"Actually, brother," he grinned. "I already finished all my clips. I'm just looking for something to do."

I laughed. "Show-off."

I gathered my things, letting Wisp melt into my shadow, and said goodbye to Yuji and Hana. I made my way to the front desk where Nurse Joy was sitting.

She smiled as she saw me. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Mr. Tracy."

"No problem, doc. What's up?"

Nurse Joy opened a drawer on the side of her desk, pulling out two sheets of paper and a small envelope. "These were dropped off for you this morning, and I need you to sign for them before I can release them to you."

I felt my heart start beating fast as I looked at the envelope. It was about twenty by ten centimeters, the perfect size for paper money. Excitement pooled in my chest.

Is this my disbursement from the League?

I digitally signed Nurse Joy's tablet, and she handed over both sheets of paper and the envelope.

Nurse Joy looked me in the eyes before she released the paper package. "I would wait until you've left the public areas to open this," she said seriously. "Just make sure you're being careful."

I bowed my head to her. "Yes, ma'am, I'll keep that in mind."

She smiled, releasing my mail. I gave her a quick goodbye and walked off toward our room. There were still people in the computer lab other than my friends, and I wanted to take Nurse Joy's advice to heart.

I made my way to our room where Amy was laying facedown in their bed, swiping on their Pokegear.

"Sup," they said. "You already finish editing?"

"Mostly. Terry is actually finishing up my video," I wiggled my eyebrows. "You remember him from the other day, right?"

I could see a small amount of red rush up their neck, and they put their face down into their pillow.

"Nope," they said in a muffled voice.

"Oh, that's too bad. He actually asked me to put in a good word for him-"

Amy sat up in their bed, eyes wide with accusation. "You didn't!"

I laughed. "No, I didn't promise him anything other than I would talk him up to you. And honestly, he does seem really nice and genuine. And he definitely has a crush on you..."

Amy laid back, clutching a pillow against their chest. "Ugh," they groaned. "He doesn't even know me. Like, he literally just saw me in an elevator, once. How the heck did that make him feel so..." Amy trailed off, speaking quieter than I could hear.

I didn't press the subject. I had already fulfilled my end of the bargain with Terry, and as much as they enjoyed teasing me, I didn't get nearly the same enjoyment out of doing it to them.

Instead, I held up my envelope.

"I'm pretty sure the League just paid me, by the way."

Amy put down their pillow. "For the museum stuff?"

"Yeah, wanna open it with me?"

They nodded, hopping down from their bunk. We both sat on mine as I opened up the first piece of paper. It was a breakdown of dues that the League owed me, showing each individual statute and instance of service I had done for the region. Next to each one was a figure in pokédollars.

I gasped when I saw the final amount, and Amy inhaled so hard that they started choking. I patted them on the back, trying to help them breathe.

"Holy- cough -shit!" They said, struggling to form words. They took a deep breath before turning to me. "That's gotta be wrong, right?"

I was in shock. I stared blankly at the little envelope.

They definitely missed a zero, right? If that's right, then... That would be triple what I started with.

I fumbled with the paper package, fingers struggling to pull the little perforated tab. I grunted, tearing at it with both hands. With a rip! the cardboard tore, letting a small pile of notes plop onto the Center room floor.

We both stared at the pile of bills, gawking at the thousand-poké notes. There were thirty of them in total.

I'd started with ten thousand poké to my name, a decent little sum that I'd saved up for most of my life. It had gone pretty quickly, but it had been enough to afford food and training for over a month for myself and Artis, and it probably would have lasted longer if I'd been more careful with it.

In just one day of danger, I'd earned thirty thousand pokédollars from the League.

----------------------------------------

With Amy successfully bribed into silence with a promise of an outing to a bakery, I quickly ran the money to an ATM and deposited it into my account. This changed everything. I'd been contemplating taking up more battles against other low-badge trainers to earn some money, which I really didn't want to do because I felt like I did my best work with drills and repetition. Now, with just Artis and Wisp on my team, this money could successfully fund the rest of our stay in Pewter as well as the travel through Mt. Moon. It could even cover a decent camera for recording my fight with Brock!

After I left the bank station, I actually headed to the Pewter Museum rather than back to the Pokemon Center.

The second sheet of paper I'd received was a message from Dr. Spinel, the researcher that Daisy had introduced me to on our date.

It said:

Hello, Derek,

I hope this message finds you well. I was relieved to hear that you and Daisy had both safely escaped the attack on our museum, and I wanted to take the time to thank you for your involvement in helping rescue a large portion of our fossil collection. Though there were some unfortunate sacrifices (we've been mostly able to reconstruct the Aeordactly exhibit), the two of you helped protect my life's work. If there's anything that you need in the future that the Pewter Museum of Science can assist you with, please don't hesitate to ask.

Dr. Hank Spinel,

Doctor of Paleontology and Geology,

Pewter Museum of Science.

P.S. If you manage to visit before leaving Pewter, I have a small token of my appreciation waiting for you.

I decided to walk over immediately to get it out of the way. I was planning on training for the rest of the week, and the waterwheel was on the other side of town from the museum. I'd sent a text to the others that I'd be out for a while and was on my way.

The museum itself hadn't been fixed too much in the three days I'd been gone, obviously. The front entrance had clear tarping and scaffolding covering the large hole that Brock's Steelix made.

When I walked up to the front, a security guard asked me to show my trainer card before letting me through. The indoors had most of the rubble already cleared, with crews of Pokemon like Machoke and Aipom working to clean the large showroom.

I walked through the unlocked doors to the administrative wing, through the winding hallways of labeled offices, and up to the front door of the fossil lab.

The door was open, and only Dr. Spinel was present in the lab. He had both of his arms in a still-air box, just like the first time I had visited him. Honestly, besides the lack of other researchers and the bandage on his forehead, Dr. Spinel looked exactly as he had three days ago.

I cleared my throat, knocking on the door frame. "Dr. Spinel?"

He looked up, and a wide grin split his face. "Mr. Tracy! I didn't expect you so soon."

He stood up, wiping his hand on his pant leg and shaking my hand. I don't know what it was with tall people, but Dr. Spinel and Terry both made me feel small. I wasn't short in any meaning of the word, but he was a giant.

"I figured I'd swing by while I had the time," I said. "I'm planning on being pretty busy this week with my upcoming challenge against Brock, so I wanted to make sure I didn't accidentally forget."

"Oho, you're battling Brock soon?" Dr. Spinel raised his eyebrows like he couldn't decide which way the battle would go. "What badge will this be for you?"

I cleared my throat. "My, uh, my first..."

Dr. Spinel burst into full-bellied laughter, going as far to actually shed a tear before he realized I wasn't laughing with him. "You're serious?"

I shrugged. "I failed my battle against Giovanni, so Brock is going to be my first badge if I win against him."

"Well, then, you are obviously going to come out on top!" He declared. "I know Brock quite well, he actually worked here for a time, and from what I saw of your ghost, she's a tricky little gal. She'll be more than enough to deal with his low-level team."

"Thanks, but I actually don't know if I'm going to use Wisp. I just caught her and I want some time to properly train her. It'll probably be my starter, Artis, who's going to fight him."

I hesitated as I thought about what he said. "Wait, sir, how did you know I had a ghost type?"

"Ah," he looked a little abashed. "I don't normally mention this, but I happened to be on the board of directors for the museum. We were given access to the security camera footage from the day of the event, including your rather ingenious use of the Mean Look technique."

I exhaled. I'd known that footage might exist somewhere out there, but I didn't think that it would be around outside of the Ace Trainers.

Dr. Spinel looked at me with concern. "I apologize, my boy, if I've brought up some unpleasant memories of the event-

"No, that's okay," I stopped him. "I just didn't realize that other people had seen what actually happened. Well, people who aren't working the case, I mean."

He nodded. "Yes, there has been a fair amount of us that have seen it. In fact, that reminds me of why I called you down here in the first place."

Dr. Spinel walked to the back of the lab, beckoning me to follow. He came to a tall metal box, like a locker, and popped it open. After fiddling around inside for a few minutes, he emerged with a long cylindrical package in a cloth bag. It was maybe a meter long and four centimeters in diameter.

"It was one of my aide's ideas, actually, and we all found it quite humorous upon reviewing the footage. Of course, when we were petitioning the insurance, we decided just to replace it and get a new one-"

"Sir?" I politely interrupted his rambling. "You haven't actually said what it is?"

"Ah, yes, of course," Dr. Spinel handed me the object.

The weight was familiar in my hand, and I had an inkling as soon as I grabbed it. I opened the cloth cover, revealing the extending flagpole that I'd used in the Rocket attack. I'd taken it from the New Horizons exhibit to protect myself from the Rockets, and I'd lost track of it somewhere in the attack. It had the Hoenn flag bound using rubber bands to keep it from unfurling.

I smiled as I looked at it. It was a replica of the one they'd planted on the moon, though it had a nice little dent in it from where I'd whacked Rocket Grunt Kyle with it.

"Thank you, sir."

"It's no problem, my boy. It was recovered from the main hall where, well, let's just say we had to remove a fair amount of rubble. We just thought we'd offer it as a reminder of the moment you 'planted your flag', so to speak, in our gratitude."

I grasped the flagpole in my hand, letting it extend to the ground. Fully extended, it stood over two meters tall.

"I appreciate it, sir. I'll have to plant this in the tallest place I can find, maybe Mt. Moon?" I joked.

He laughed with me before turning deathly serious. "In all reality, Mt. Moon is a protected environment. Please don't litter on the mountain."

"I won't, I won't," I promised. I grinned as I thought of an idea. I collapsed the flagpole, sliding it back into its bag and tossing it over my shoulder.

"Of course, that's just a token of our gratitude," Dr. Spinel said. "While I can't offer you anything as grand as a fossil, we've lost too much of our collection as it is, I would like you to know that the Pewter Museum of Science stands firmly behind you. If we can ever offer you anything that will help in your journey, please don't hesitate to ask."

I rubbed my chin with my hand, thinking about something we'd spoken about earlier. "Actually, sir, I think there may be something you can help me with..."

----------------------------------------

"I did it!" I said groggily, stumbling into the Pokemon Center room at almost midnight.

Amy snored through my announcement, but Yuji and Hana both looked up from their beds. They were all wearing their night clothes and were settled into bed.

"You've done what, exactly?" Yuji gave me a puzzled look from his bunk.

"I've solved my social media problem," I said, smiling. I could barely keep my eyes open. As much as I enjoyed this new editing hobby, I'd just spent the last three hours staring at a screen in the computer lab.

Hana looked at me like I might be radioactive. "Derek," she said cautiously, "If I look up your name right now, am I going to see something good, or bad?"

"You're only going to see something that has..." I looked down at my Pokenav+. "Forty-five thousand shares in ten minutes."

Hana and Yuji both bolted to their Pokegear, both plugged into our shared outlet. Yuji actually lept off the top bunk. They both searched up my account, and Hana stared my profile.

"You changed your username," Hana said slowly, slowly ramping how incredulous she sounded. "To that?"

I shrugged, but I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "I figured that if people already know the hashtag..."

Yuji pushed past it, looking at the second video on my account after my voiceover of our fight. He choked.

"Wait, Derek, this is... Where did you get this footage? Is this even legal for you to share?"

I nodded. After getting her contact details from Dr. Spinel, I'd gotten permission from Ace Trainer Karen. In fact, she'd laughed out loud when I told her the idea. The League had to authorize which fight I wanted to show, as the conflict with Proton was still under wraps.

I wouldn't have wanted to post that anyway.

If I had it my way, no one that cared about me and didn't already know would ever see the footage of me risking my life as stupidly as I had.

The League had cleared my post fifteen minutes ago. They just wanted to make sure that there were no classified details of the case on it, like Proton's rare Pokemon.

Two Team Rocket grunts getting beaten by a no-badge trainer?

That was fine.

Yuji held up his Pokegear to Hana, showing the edited footage of Artis and Wisp beating both an Arbok and a Raticate in defense of the Pewter Museum. I'd specifically cut together angles from multiple security cameras to keep Daisy and her Pokemon out of the fight, more for her privacy than anything else.

The best part was that the video on my account was a repost. Dr. Spinel had agreed to get a museum intern to share the video on the museum's accounts first. It lent a ton of credibility to the video and nobody could argue that I was 'clout chasing' by releasing this footage.

I refreshed my browser.

User @TrashTracey had two videos on his page. One was doing okay for a first post, according to Terry, with just under ten thousand shares. It was your run-of-the-mill battle analysis, so that was to be expected.

The other, a repost of the Pewter Museum battle, had more than doubled its shares in the time it had taken to show Yuji and Hana. It had almost a hundred thousand shares and was still growing.

I had been warned by Karen when I'd come up with the idea that this footage might backfire on me. Team Rocket might see it as mocking them, and they might choose to send people to attack me or my team.

I didn't mind. From what everyone had told me and from what I'd experienced so far, Team Rocket was a danger no matter where I went. I couldn't live in fear of criminals because they might be slightly more likely to attack me than the next innocent trainer.

If anything, I was hoping that this would send a message. This is what I could do now. What could I achieve once I had more badges under my belt?

"So, Hana," I said. She looked up from where she had been transfixed on my video. "Did I do a good job?"

Hana smiled, looking as exasperated as she did proud.

"Yeah, Derek," she said. "You did a good job."

----------------------------------------

When we tried to leave the Pokemon Center the next morning, there was almost a stampede.

As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I was bombarded with voices.

"Tracey, battle me!"

"Let me get a crack at that ghost! I'm sure I could take her!"

"Tell me where you got that water type! I need something like him for Brock's gym!"

"Bro, how did you end up fighting Rockets?"

Dozens of trainers crowded the hallway, pushing and prodding like I'd become some sort of celebrity overnight.

It wasn't as nice as I'd thought it would be. People did not respect my personal space. Trainers got right up in my face, challenging me to battles or asking about my team. Other people shoved in behind me, pushing past me to talk to my friends.

If it had just been me being inconvenienced, I could've handled it. The moment I saw Amy's face lose its color from being around too many people, though, it was on.

"Everybody, quiet!" I yelled over the crowd.

It took a second, but everyone stopped talking. I had all eyes on me.

"Alright, thank you," I growled. I pushed past a few trainers, making my way to a stool so I could step above the crowd.

Once I was up top, I had to admit that I was a little bit intimidated. There were easily forty trainers blocking the Pokemon Center walkway, and all of them were staring at me.

"First things first," I said, projecting to the back of the crowd. I spoke with the same cadence that my dad used on disobedient Pokemon. "You're going to clear a walkway from the front door to the elevator. Let my friends through, and stop making yourselves into public nuisances! You're better than this, people!"

More than half of them had the self-awareness to look ashamed. The crowd parted, and Hana and Yuji helped Amy out the door. We were all headed to the waterwheel anyway, so I'd catch up with them later.

"Thank you! Now, to answer some of the questions I heard, I'm just gonna talk for a minute. Don't interrupt me. I'll answer a question or two after. Does that sound fair?"

A general murmur of agreement went through the crowd.

"Good. So, to answer what I could catch before you mobbed me, I will not be taking any challenges before my Pewter Gym challenge."

A groan went through the crowd, but I yelled at them to get their attention again.

"Hey! We said we're not going to interrupt me," I waited for them to quiet back down. "It's not that I won't be battling, I just want to focus on training this week. Once I beat Brock, I'll be happy to answer any challenges from people who ask in a polite and civil way."

Several trainers left after I said that, unwilling to stick around once they knew they wouldn't get a battle. The majority stayed, though. They were invested enough to see this through.

"As for another question that I heard, Artis is a Spheal. He's native to the same place I am, Hoenn. I looked it up, and if you're interested you can get your own from some Hoenn breeding houses, but unfortunately they're only found in the deep ocean around these parts."

There were some groans, but a few trainers pulled out their Pokegear and notepads, taking notes. I could help but smile in self-satisfaction at how popular my boy was.

"For the last thing that I heard, I'll tell all of you what I told Lisa-what's-her-face from Celadon Daily, I'm not going to be talking about the Rocket attack on the museum. That's the League's job. The most I'll say is that I was in the right place at the wrong time. Now, I'll answer two questions, and then you'll all leave me alone. Is that clear?"

There was a wave of nods. I had maybe half of the initial crowd left. A few people started raising their hands.

"You, there, in the overalls."

The person had curly red hair and freckles, with a small demure vibe. They stepped up, asking their questions a bit nervously. "So, uh, I first heard about you the other day from one of Mick Starsky's videos," there was a mix of cheers and groans. Unsurprisingly, Mick was pretty divisive. "Why did you barge in on his pregame interview like that?"

I sighed. A few people took out their Pokegear to start recording my response. I was wary of them after my battle with Yuji went viral. I didn't know what might accidentally get seen by the wrong people.

"Did you actually watch the interview?"

They blushed, shaking their head. "Only the clips posted online."

"Well, if you look up the whole thing, you'll see that I actually just disagreed with something Mick said and got pulled into the conversation. I didn't get into that with any ill will toward him. Because we disagreed, the conversation got a little heated afterward. I promise that I'm not somebody to step in front of somebody else's spotlight."

The trainer looked convinced, and they nodded back to me. They stepped back into the crowd.

I looked around for another hand, but before I could, somebody shouted from the back.

"What's up with you and Daisy Oak?" They shouted. "You tapping that?"

The crowd went silent.

I narrowed my eyes and turned, looking through the trainers that were left.

"Who said that?" My voice came out as a whisper.

The crowd parted, leading me to a panicked-looking trainer who stood very short, maybe a meter and a half tall. They had big bushy purple hair and and extremely punchable face.

I walked up them, slowly.

More phones popped out, all pointed at me. I clenched my jaw as I was reminded to keep my cool.

I stood right in front of them, easily a head and shoulders taller than them. They looked around at of the rest of the trainers, but when no one spoke up, they turned back to me.

"What's your name?" I asked, staring them in the eyes.

"S-Sonny," he stuttered, glancing away as I spoke to them quietly.

"Hey, Sonny. Did that make you feel powerful?" I asked quietly. I knew the camera could still hear me, but I didn't care.

"Wh-what?"

"Did that make you feel powerful? To objectify somebody like that, if I didn't make myself clear," when they didn't answer, I raised my voice to a normal speaking level. "Sonny, I'm asking if it made you feel good to put down someone like that-"

"No!" They squeaked. They reddened with shame, returning their voice to a quiet volume. "No, that didn't feel good."

I nodded. "Alright, then. I suggest you apologize. Not to me!" I snapped when Sonny opened their mouth again. "I suggest you take the time to write a heartfelt apology to Daisy Oak and send it online. Do I make myself clear?"

Sonny nodded, looking down in shame.

I turned my back to them, looking at the rest of the trainers in the room. Most were slackjawed, but several had smiles on their faces, excited at what I'd done.

"Let me clear," I projected my voice again so that the room could hear me. "Daisy Oak is not up for discussion. If someone wants their private life to stay private, I suggest you respect that."

There were a few nods, a few whoops, and a general mumbling of acceptance.

Good.

"Now, that was two questions. I'm not answering anymore until I have a Boulder Badge."

The crowd dispersed, Sonny being the first one out of the room. I wasn't normally somebody to get mad, but boy that question had pissed me off, especially with how it had been asked.

I sighed, letting my body unclench.

How the hell did people deal with putting their whole lives online? This sucks.

I collected my bag and started to walk when the front door when I heard Nurse Joy call for me.

"Mr. Tracy?" She called. "Could you come here for a moment?"

I nodded, jogging back to the counter. "What's up Nurse Joy, did you have another payment for me?" I joked.

Nurse Joy politely chuckled. "No, nothing like that. I just wanted to commend you for how you handled that crowd. I was moments away from intervening, but you spoke to them directly and honestly."

I rubbed the back of my neck, flushing slightly. "Thanks, Nurse Joy. I just figured that everything I do now kinda sets a precedent, and I don't want that to be happening any time news around me flares up."

She nodded. "A wise decision. And remember, if things ever get to be a bit too much, the employees of the Pokemon Center are here to keep you healthy. If you ever need to speak with someone, the we can get you in contact with verified professionals."

I looked at her genuine smile, considering her words and thinking back to what my dad had told me a few days ago. I was just a few days into being in the limelight and it was already this stressful.

"You know what, Nurse Joy?" I finally said. "I'll take you up on that. When I get back from training today, do you think we could look at some therapists?"

Nurse Joy smiled proudly. "I can have a list waiting for you when you get back."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy."

"It's no problem at all."

I bowed my head to her before heading out the front door. It was nice to feel like somebody really had my back.

I pulled out my Pokenav+, dialing a number as I started walking to the waterwheel.

"Hello?" Came a staticky voice from my phone.

"Hey, Daisy," I said, her voice bringing a smile to my face. "I was calling to see if you wanted to come hang out while I trained for my badge challenge?"

She giggled and it made me smile even more. "Yeah, sure. Are you swinging by to pick me up?"

"Absolutely," I said, turning to start walking in the opposite direction. "And we can grab some coffee on the way there."

"I thought you hated coffee?"

"I do, but I also know that you can't live without it," I chuckled. "I figure I'll just carry your refill until you finish your first one."

"Ah, yes, that's why I keep you around," she laughed. "You're spoiling me. You didn't do any more interviews, did you?"

I stopped walking, looking directly at my Pokenav+ as she called me out.

She just no-scoped that? I thought incredulously.

"So, uh, funny story...."

"Derek!"

"So, what had happened was..."