My week of training for the Pewter Gym challenge was the most fruitful I'd had yet.

Artis and Wisp made real progress in their training. We started with drills for every single one of their moves, getting them used to using their techniques in a ton of varying situations. It was just like Dad had taught me: repetition, repetition, repetition.

Artis got to the point where he was able to use Rest properly, giving him a hell of a fallback plan if he took too much damage. It still put him out cold for thirty seconds at a minimum, so I consulted my old notes once again.

I picked up a strategy I'd initially ignored and got to work teaching Artis to Snore. This technique let him have an attack that he could use while sleeping, so we had a backup plan for our backup plan. Since he was my only tank, this let him stay on the field for way longer than he had any right to.

To be fair, if we were ever at the point where I was relying on Snore, something had gone terribly wrong.

Wisp, instead of learning new moves, was focused on getting used to her current move pool. I'd seen from our battle footage from the museum that she heavily preferred dodging and using Confuse Ray, which needed to change. It wasn't that it couldn't be an effective strategy, it just wasn't consistent.

We'd unlocked a few of her potential strategies against Yuji and Achilles, and I wanted to train that to be so much more. We focused on Shadow Sneak, Hypnosis, and Hex the most. Using the three of them in quick succession against an unwitting opponent could be devastating.

Yuji did challenge me to another spar over the week, which he kept to his promise and won. It had been a single battle with both of us using both of our Pokemon. The pairings had even landed in my favor, with both Artis and Despereaux coming out first. Yuji was clued into my strategies now, though, and had worked on getting past them.

Artis was almost knocked out by Despereaux when the Rattata followed up a Quick Attack with an Assurance, a combo that dealt an unreasonable amount of damage when done in a chain. We'd had to rely on Snore because something had gone terribly wrong.

Achilles came in and easily finished off Artis. With Wisp, I'd hoped to repeat some of what I'd done in our earlier battle, but Yuji had been training far too hard for that.

When Achilles pulled out Pin Missile, a ranged bug type attack, I knew that the battle was over.

Daisy had actually taken to joining us for our training sessions. While she and her Pokemon didn't actually fight anymore, she would happily run through her research notes on her computer while letting Seych and Luna, her Chansey and Clefairy, join in on the fun. Having Seych around made things way more convenient because we didn't have to go all the way back to the Center to heal our Pokemon.

Hana and Amy actually took a much more aggressive role in our battle training, something they'd been reticent to do in the past. When I questioned them about it, they both responded that Yuji and I's battles had riled them up for the competition.

Amy focused on Pennywise's utility attacks, trying to get the mime more familiar with more status moves. Even though Amy was still the only member of the group who was still uncomfortable around Wisp, they'd let me borrow Pennywise to help teach him Hypnosis. My Misdreavus' mastery of the move had the Mime Jr. pick it up pretty quickly, and now he could protect himself with yet another move.

Hana went in the complete opposite direction. She focused only on increasing Paige's attack power. She made use of the stand I'd made to teach Artis how to use Water Gun, running drill after drill until the Bellsprout learned and was able to use Razor Leaf and Bullet Seed in quick succession.

Paige was the Pokemon that powered up the most that week, as shown by a bright white glow that took over the training ground on our final day of training.

The white light was blinding, but even at that moment I couldn't help but look right at it. Just being the veil of light, Paige was changing, growing into her next stage.

It was beautiful.

The light vanished, leaving behind a yellow, bell-shaped plant that was thirty centimeters taller than it had been before.

"Weepinbell!" The newly evolved Paige cheered.

Hana screeched with happiness, running to her Pokemon and picking her up to twirl her around. Daisy cheered from her lawn chair, and Amy walked over to hug their friend.

"That's awesome, Hana!" I yelled from across the training field.

Yuji nodded, continuing to oil Achilles' chitinous armor. "The first evolution of our entire group, it feels like we're passing a milestone."

"Took us long enough," I smiled. I cupped my hands around my mouth to yell to the others. "How about we call it for the night and get a fancy dinner to celebrate?"

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

We split up to take showers and get into nicer clothes before heading to dinner. It was nothing too fancy, but celebrating Hana's first evolution felt like it deserved some pomp and pizzazz.

Amy, Yuji, and I all put on button-downs and slacks, adding our own flair where we wanted to. I personally wrapped the handkerchief Daisy had given me around my wrist and left half my shirt untucked. I was going for more of a 'messily polished' kind of look.

Hana took the opportunity to wear a dress, something that I hadn't seen her do the entire time we'd been traveling together. It turned out that it wasn't that she didn't like them, it was that she hadn't felt like she'd had the opportunity yet. The summer dress was floor length and green, with light purple vine designs running up the length and asymmetrically across her torso. She looked like a million bucks.

However good Hana looked, though, Daisy stole the show for me. She wore a set of black heels and a flowing green skirt with a creme-colored blouse with a wide neckline, leaving her shoulders exposed. Daisy's pale skin reflected the moonlight, reminding me of just how much she loved the stars. Her dark blonde hair was left down to flow around her shoulders, and I was mesmerized.

Walking through town in our semi-formal attire was embarrassing at first, but honestly felt good after a while. I was turning heads for a different reason than being internet famous, which was alright by me.

And when Daisy looped her arm into mine, I felt like I could fly.

Dinner was at an upscale place on the other side of town from the Pokemon Center. It managed to be nice and fancy without being overly expensive, which were both wins in my book.

We ate a delicious dinner and were stuffed afterward. Though, none of us said no when Amy ordered a whole cake for the table. I got as far into my slice as I could before sneaking it under the table where Wisp was eagerly waiting in my shadow.

Daisy said nothing when she noticed, but she smiled and her summer green eyes sparkled with amusement.

When we finished, Yuji and Amy really wanted to go do karaoke, but Daisy and I declined. She wanted to walk around town a bit, and I there was no way I was turning down one on one time with her. The other three left to do their singing and debauchery while we started walking around Pewter.

Daisy and I passed by the restaurants, clubs, and bars, enjoying the vibe of the nightlife. It wasn't long, though, until people started coming out en masse. The streets got crowded quickly, forcing us off the walking paths and into the street.

"I think I see a park over there," Daisy said wistfully.

"Do you want to go?" I asked her.

"It might be nice to sit for a while, I didn't realize how much I'd gotten used to sneakers," Daisy laughed as she looked down at her heels.

"Well, how often do you have the need to wear heels to the lab?" I joked back.

She laughed, intertwining our fingers. Daisy pulled me along, leading me to the park she'd seen at the end of the street.

Once the path turned to dirt, Daisy slipped her heels off, carrying them in one hand.

"That's so much better," she sighed in relief. She glanced back at me and flushed. "This is okay, right?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Whatever makes you comfortable."

Daisy nodded, grateful, and we started walking the park trails.

The park itself was an open lawn, surrounded by a dirt path that was lined with trees. Half a dozen other groups of people were scattered about, enjoying the ambiance that the string lights in the trees provided.

We found a park bench, one of several littered across the trail, and sat down. Daisy took my arm into my lap, holding my hand in both of hers.

When she looked down, she chuckled softly. "I thought I recognized this," she said, rubbing the end of the handkerchief tied to my wrist. "I didn't realize you still had it."

It was the handkerchief that she'd used to dab my wounds during the museum attack. She'd left it with me when we split up to go take on the Rockets, just in case I ran into more trouble.

"I forgot I had it until after you went to your hotel," I admitted. "It took a while to get the blood out, but the Pokemon Center pays for the good stuff when it comes to laundry supplies. Now it's just a good luck charm."

"That's sweet," she said, leaning her head against my shoulder. "I'm glad you got some use out of it."

We drifted into silence. Daisy absentmindedly played with my fingers, and I made a game of flipping my palm the wrong way so she'd have to readjust her hand to keep our fingers interlocked.

She did, every time.

Eventually, my wandering mind broke the silence.

"What was it, when we met, that made you like me?" I asked simply.

Daisy flushed, pausing her game, but not denying what I said.

"You were honest," she admitted. "And kind, and seeking out knowledge."

"That's it?" I was surprised that it was something so simple.

She shook her head. "Kanto's very different than Hoenn. The people here are prideful. To admit that you were wrong within minutes of meeting a stranger? That takes guts here," she blushed a little deeper. "And it helped that you had no idea who I was."

"Is it that big of a problem for you?"

"Derek, my grandpa is Professor Oak," Daisy said with a laugh. "I've been on national TV since I was five. I've never dated anyone that didn't know who I was."

"Fair point," I admitted. "I've never dated anyone,"

Daisy looked at me and smiled shyly. "I think this counts?" She said, her voice nervous.

My breath caught.

We'd been dancing around it for the last week, but she'd said it. One of the reasons I kept panicking when other people asked what we were was that I didn't know. We'd only been on one date before this, and it had gotten horribly interrupted.

Did that count?

I liked her a whole lot, but there was still so much that I didn't know about her.

I liked to hold her hand, but I didn't know her birthday.

I liked the way she smiled, but I didn't know if she had siblings.

I liked the way she laughed, but I didn't know-

"Hey...!" A stumbling voice interrupted my thoughts. "I know that guy!"

Daisy and I looked up, and a group of drunken clubgoers were passing by the park. One of them, a tall and overly muscular guy who was wearing sunglasses at night, had stumbled away from the group. He was leaning against a tree, pointing at me.

"You're- huck -that asshole who was hogging the TV!" He hiccuped. "I saw you on Poge- Pony- Pokegram!"

Even from here, I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He was severely intoxicated.

I sighed, standing up. Daisy quickly got up too, stepping protectively in front of me.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said bluntly, "but we don't know you. We're trying to enjoy our evening, so please be on your way."

He stepped forward, sticking out a finger and pointing it past Daisy at me.

"Shud up," he said, slurring his words. "I don't care about you, bish- bitch. This guy is an asshole detention-hog! Go back to your own region, dickhead!"

To show his point, he flipped me off.

I sighed, putting out a hand but careful not to touch him. "Look, I'm sorry if I've offended you, sir, but that's actually really offensive. If you could please just go back to your group-"

The man lurched forward, brushing past Daisy and grabbing me by my shirt. I winced as I smelt his breath.

"Lookey here, you fuggin- huck -foreigner," he hiccuped directly in my face. "You go home, or I'm gonna make you go home."

To show what he was saying, the guy stood to his full height and flexed his muscles, showing off what was clearly the only thing he cared about.

My breath caught in my throat, though, as he tugged on my shirt.

I wasn't scared of bullies. I hadn't been scared of Mick, and I wasn't intimidated by this drunken bigot, but something about when he shoved me around triggered something.

My vision bled color, everything tinted a little more grey, and his voice dulled to a blur.

I was suddenly back in the museum, right after the sonic explosion. Everything felt distant, empty, like I'd just lost my hearing again.

My fight or flight was turning on, and I wasn't in the habit of running away.

This guy needed to let go of me, now, or I was going to do something that I regretted.

"Sir," I mumbled. "I need you to let go of me-"

He pushed me.

I stumbled back, losing my footing. I clenched my fist, but everything still felt distant.

I turned to get up, getting ready to punch him, but I didn't have to.

Wisp flew out of my shadow, getting between me and him. She used her illusions to appear bigger, causing her yellow and red eyes to pop and her teeth to sharpen to unnatural points. A low rumbling echoed from her as she used Growl.

The guy blanched, turning tail and running back to his group. He didn't even stop to pick up the sunglasses that went flying from his face.

I sat down, feeling the world echo around me.

Daisy said something, but I didn't hear it. She fumbled around, patting my pockets until she found what she was looking for.

There was a flash of red light, and I felt something warm rest against my hand.

The color bled back into the world, and the sound around me evened out.

I looked over and I saw Artis resting his chin in my palm, looking at me with worry. I rubbed the top of his head.

"Hey, bud," I said, evening out my breathing. I hadn't even noticed the labored breaths.

"Sphea!" He barked.

"I know, I'm sorry bud. Thank you, though." I kept my hand on him, petting his head and feeling the texture of his fur on my palm.

I looked around. Daisy and Wisp were both standing over me, watching me with as much worry as Artis had.

"Hey," I said simply.

"Hey, yourself," Daisy said back. She slowly lowered herself onto the bench next to me. "What was that?"

Wisp nuzzled the underside of my chin with her head before melting back into my shadow.

"I, uh, I'm not sure?" I answered her honestly. "Maybe a panic attack?"

Daisy grabbed my other hand, the one not petting Artis, and nodded. "That would make sense, you've been through a lot lately. Have you been talking to anyone about it?"

I nodded, then shook my head. "I have a, uh, meeting with a therapist, after the match tomorrow. I'm supposed to start then."

"That's good, and that's a great idea," she encouraged, clutching my hand. She started massaging the joints, running her thumbs along my knuckles. I felt my entire body start relaxing.

When I didn't speak up, Daisy kept talking. "You know, I used to see a therapist, actually. After I decided to leave the gym circuit on my journey. Seych, my starter, was injured on the road. She was hurt really bad, enough that she couldn't heal herself, and she still has a scar from it..."

Daisy continued that for I didn't know how long, massaging my hand and telling me about her experience in quitting being a trainer.

It helped a lot.

Right before her third badge match, Seych had taken a wound from an Axe Kick from a fighting type. The wound had been so bad that Seych had been unconscious for over a month. During that time, Daisy had to do her first gym challenge without her starter, and it was a struggle all the way through. She'd eventually won, but it had taken all of her mental fortitude. After Seych healed up and Daisy discovered how much more she liked Contests, it hadn't even been a choice. She'd quit on the spot.

"And that's why I like Contests so much more." She said. "I think normal battling is all about aggression and wanting to take down your foe, while contest battling has the true goal of being beautiful."

I nodded. "You are beautiful," I mumbled absentmindedly.

Normally, I'd be embarrassed to say something so outwardly affectionate like that, but I couldn't think of anything else.

Daisy was more than just pretty, she was beautiful. And that meant in every sense of the word. She was kind and honest and intelligent.

I scratched Artis' head one more time before returning him. The red flash of light wasn't enough to hide Daisy's blush, though.

In the silence, I nodded. "I think I'd like it to"

"Hmm?" Daisy was stuck somewhere between embarrassed and puzzled.

"When you asked earlier if you thought this counted as dating," I explained. "I think I'd like it to."

Daisy smiled. "Me too." She said.

I grinned, feeling heat bloom in my chest and a bit of normalcy return to my bones.

"Then I guess you should make it official,' I said expectantly.

"Me?" Daisy giggled.

"You asked me out, both times. If anyone should ask it, then it should be you!"

She bobbed her head, thinking it through. "I accept that logic," she said with a grin.

Daisy scooted in front of me, taking both of my hands into hers.

"Derek Tracy," Daisy said in a fake pompous voice, trying to keep from giggling the whole time. "Will you do me the honor of officially setting our relationship status to 'dating'?" She couldn't get through the last word without laughing.

I nodded in my best impression of a nobleman. "I shall!" I declared.

We burst into giggles, and she curled up against me on the bench. It was getting cold out.

I went to stand, but Daisy held my arm in place. I turned to her to see what was wrong, but I barely had time to blink before she pressed her lips to mine.

It was soft and warm, and I felt tingles go through my whole body, it started in my toes and crinkled my nose.

I'd never kissed anyone before, and it was everything anyone said it would be, and more.

When we finally separated, we were both out of breath.

The second, third, and fourth ones were even better.

It was a while before we headed back.

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

The next day, Yuji, Amy, Hana, and I all gathered our things and headed to the Pewter Gym. Unlike the Viridian City Gym, there were so many prospective trainers here that they herded us into a locker room to prepare ourselves. Three trainers would go out at a time to use three of the four fields in battles against gym trainers. The last field was reserved for Brock, who would be doing the actual gym challenges for whoever had succeeded in the matches the previous day.

As we all started getting into our gym outfits, Hana tossed a glance my way. "You're all smiles today, Derek."

I grinned even bigger. "Yeah, I guess I'm just feeling myself today. It's gonna be a great day!"

Yuji and Hana tossed each other a look.

Amy groaned, tugging their beanie over their eyes. "Guys, it's friggin' obvious. They made out last night. Nothing else would make him so... giddy."

Amy sounded like they wanted to throw up.

"Amy Parish Regina Mañana the Fourth!" I said with mock offense. "A gentleman does not kiss and tell. And I'm doing a whole lot of not telling right now!" I wiggled my eyebrows.

Amy gagged. "Literally none of that was my name," they turned to Yuji and Hana. "I'm going to go find somewhere else before he bursts into song."

Hana gave me a grin and high-fived me, which I heartily returned. Yuji gave me a hesitant thumbs up, and I shook my head and fist-bumped him.

"So," Hana said, changing subjects. "Are you ready for your battles?"

I nodded, holding up a printout from a stack that Hana had handed me earlier. She'd taken the time to print out copies of her notes for us, and once we'd checked in for the day we were given the names of our opponents.

I was up against Gym Trainer Liam. According to Hana's handout, his first-badge challenge only included a single Geodude. The rock Pokemon focused on setting up Defense Curl and Rock Polish, increasing its defense and mobility before moving into a familiar Rollout strategy. It was basically as if I was fighting a rock type version of Artis.

I wouldn't be setting up a mirror match, though. Wisp was strong enough to use here, and I wanted to show her off a bit before the match tomorrow. I was planning on using Artis as much as possible against Brock, so I was giving Wisp her time to shine here.

"Thanks again for this, Hana," I said.

Yuji nodded. "Your information is invaluable for the upcoming conflict."

Hana wiggled her shoulders, obviously satisfied with herself. "I told you that my notes were necessary! Now we're prepared for any possible outcome."

"Twenty-four pages later..." I coughed under my breath.

"What was that?" She snapped.

"I said we should get lunch later!" I grinned.

Yuji chuckled, having heard the whole interaction. "I am confident in all of us today. The trainers today should all be of lesser power than Giovanni, and we have trained much since him."

Hana nodded. "This isn't the real challenge, though. That comes tomorrow."

I shook out my body, dissipating the nervousness in my bones. "Guys, come on! Lighten up!" I said with a grin. "We get to go battle in a stadium. Isn't that the best part?"

Yuji grunted, giving me a first bump. Hana nodded, her eyes lighting up with determination.

This was what we trained for.

We were coming in ahead of the curve for the other first-badge challengers, but we were so far behind the people who were challenging for their second badge.

I'd talked to the others, and they had the same mindset that I had. We'd spent too long in Pewter already, and we needed to move on. Once we all had our Boulder Badges, we were leaving the day after, two at the max.

Even though I had signed up to battle Brock first, we were called to these battles as the gym trainers cleared through their challenges.

Amy was the first person called. The three of us huddled together around one of the TVs in the locker room to watch their challenge.

Their battle outfit consisted of a robe-like shirt with oversized long sleeves that flowed over their hands. Amy's beanie had been replaced with an even larger pom pom hat, its tail going all the way past their mid-back.

Amy strolled out of the challenger tunnel, entering the stadium to the bright lights and sounds of the crowd.

I winced when I saw their face pale. Most people would've assumed that they were nervous, but we knew that they were being overwhelmed by the minds and emotions of the crowd. The Pewter Gym wasn't close to being at capacity, but there were easily a few hundred people scattered among the stadium seating.

"Come on, Ames," I murmured, cheering for them. "You've got this."

Yuji clenched his hands, worry obvious on his face. Hana looked fully confident, though.

Amy walked up to their podium, and the gym trainer there bowed to them. They returned the bow, and both trainers took their positions as the referee announced to rules.

At the signal, Amy released Pennywise and the gym trainer released a tiny steel-grey Pokemon that stood on four little legs. I raised my eyebrows at the rock-steel type from my home region.

Amy smirked as they saw the Aron on the field. Hana's confidence suddenly made sense. Aron had very few ranged options and it was a slow Pokemon. If Pennywise could avoid the first few barrages of rocks, Amy had this fight in the bag.

Both trainers gave their opening moves, Aron beginning to shimmer with a silvery sheen and Pennywise laying an invisible labyrinth of Barriers across the field. The audience murmured as it looked like Amy hadn't had him do anything.

I knew better than that. There was a tell-tale latticework of dust ripples on the ground where moving air had gotten trapped between the layers of his psychic power. They were faint, but you could easily see them if you knew to look for them.

The gym trainer was smarter than the audience. They commanded Aron to start kicking up dirt, causing little particles in the air to start to outline the Barriers.

Amy wasn't sitting back doing nothing, though. They commanded Pennywise to move, shifting between invisible barriers and causing more to appear as he ran. The tiny mime hopped onto a horizontal platform, getting above the battlefield.

Aron slammed its feet into the ground, cracking the field to make a series of fist-sized boulders. Its eyes glowed brown as it channeled rock type energy.

The stones started to float, individual ones launching themselves across the battlefield toward Pennywise. They exploded against the planes of force that he quickly materialized in front of him.

"Derek Tracy, please report to Field 3."

I cursed at the intercom. Amy's fight was just getting good.

Hana and Yuji both sent me looks of encouragement. I high-fived them both before heading to the challenger tunnel.

Today, I wore a variation of the outfit Hana had picked for my challenge against Giovanni. The three-quarter sleeve jacket and beige v-neck still represented my connection to Artis, but I had a few more accessories now.

Around my neck, I had a silver chain with a large chunk of amethyst hanging from it, something Hana had said reminded her of Wisp. My ghost had quickly agreed, resulting in me spending too much money to make them both happy. Tied to my wrist, I still had Daisy's green bandana. I'd been serious when I told her it was a good luck charm.

I took a deep breath as I stood in the dark entranceway to the tunnel. Ahead of me, the white light of the stadium lights blew out my vision of the pitch. All I could hear was the sound of battling and the cheer of the crowd.

Excitement flared in my chest. This feeling was intoxicating.

I walked forward, one step after the other.

I reached the end of the tunnel and the sounds and lights flowed over my senses. Was it possible to be overwhelmed when I loved them so much?

As I walked onto the pitch, three other battles were still ongoing. Brock himself was in the field farthest from mine, battling a challenger for their actual gym battle. Amy's fight was also still going, though it looked like they'd be ending it quickly. The Aron was on its last legs, and Pennywise was charging up a hell of a Confusion.

The stands weren't nearly full, but compared to the dozen trainers at Viridian it felt like the opening day of the Ever Grande conference. People cheered for their own favorites as they battled the trainers of Pewter Gym.

There was actually a crowd for me, even if they weren't necessarily there to support me. Several trainers yelled boos as I walked on the pitch, shouting to the tune of Mick's call-out videos. Someone even brought a sign that said: '#TrashTracey sucks! Justice for Mick!'

I giggled when I saw that. I definitely wasn't going to be doing pregame interviews tomorrow, there was way too high of a chance that one of them would try something.

I also had a less vocal but far larger crowd of people that were actually there to support me, though. I saw several signs that said: '@TrashTracey is our treasure!' and 'Thank you! You're a hero Derek!'

Those ones actually made me less comfortable. I didn't know how I felt about being called someone's hero.

Daisy wasn't in the crowd. She was taking the day to get caught up with some paperwork for her next expedition, which I actually didn't know where she'd be going. She had promised to be here for the real challenge tomorrow, and that was fine with me.

Terry was in the stands, though, and his big grin brought one out in me. He was sitting with two other trainers, the blonde one in a vest that I'd seen with the Vulpix, and the curly red-haired trainer that had been in the crowd the other day. They must've been his traveling companions.

Their challenges would be later in the day, and Terry had agreed to record my battle with the simple camera that I'd spent a little chunk of change on. He waved at me, showing me that my camera was rolling.

I nodded to him and turned to my opponent. Gym Trainer Liam was a short guy with brown hair and a green uniform. He stood waiting at his end of our battlefield.

I slowed my breath and focused on Liam, letting the sights and sounds of the stadium fade into the background.

I stepped up to the challenger podium.

Liam pulled out a Pokeball, releasing his Geodude in a flash of red light. The rock Pokemon was exactly that, a football-sized Boulder with two spindly arms that ended in fists. It floated a few inches above the ground.

I called for Wisp, and she repeated the same entrance she had for her battle against Yuji. Several people who had seen the video cheered as my shadow extended in front of me, while I got a few shrieks from people who hadn't known she was coming.

"This match will be Challenger Derek Tracy against Gym Trainer Liam Wright for his right to battle Gym Leader Brock," called the referee. "It will be a one-on-one Pokemon battle, using standard League challenge rules. Are both trainers ready?"

I gave a thumbs up and Liam nodded to the referee.

"Begin!"

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

The battle was disappointingly short.

Wisp tore through the Geodude in two moves, only not one-hitting it due to its Sturdy ability. She completely disabled it by lifting it with Confusion, and the Geodude was unable to build up any speed for its Rollout.

It was to be expected, because we had trained far more than most people challenging for their first badge, and this was a gym trainer, someone who was supposed to be weaker than the gym challenge.

That didn't mean that it wasn't heartbreaking to win so quickly.

Nurse Joy smiled as I handed her Wisp's Pokeball. I'd left the gym quickly after my battle, rushing to the Pokemon Center for my meeting with the therapist.

"Hello, Mr. Tracy," she said. "Congratulations on your win!"

I glanced at the corner of the room where a TV had the Pewter Gym's live stream up. I smiled.

Nurse Joy really watches the challenges of all of the trainers under her care.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," I glanced at my Pokenav+. "Do you think I have enough time to shower before I meet him?"

Nurse Joy looked at the clock on her computer and nodded. "If you make it a quick one," she said quietly, giving me a comfortable smile. "Dr. Delkins will be in Officer 1-B at two o'clock."

I thanked her and ran up to the room. I took a quick shower and changed into a less expressive outfit, settling for a pair of loose pants and a sweater. I wanted to be comfortable for whatever happened in this meeting.

Dr. Delkins, the man Nurse Joy and I had picked out for me to speak to, wasn't actually a therapist. He was a psychologist.

Nurse Joy had recommended meeting with him for a mental evaluation, to get a base-level understanding of my mental state for other medical professionals to work with.

I made my way down to the first floor again, walking down a rarely used hallway past the computer lab. It led to the spare offices and conference rooms that trainers could rent from the Pokemon Center.

The door to Office 1-B was cracked open when I approached. I knocked on the doorframe.

"Come on in," a gruff and professional voice said from inside.

I pushed the door open. Inside the room was at its barest essentials with four plush embroidered chairs, a small coffee table, and a lamp being the only furniture.

Seated in one of the chairs was a bearded man with wavy, carefully kept hair. He wore a button-down shirt and blue slacks, and had a set of reading glasses hanging from a chair on his neck.

He gave me a small smile, leaning up from his chair to shake my hand as I walked in. "I assume, you're young Mr. Tracy?"

"Yeah, that's me."

I closed the door after I shook his hand, and took a seat across from him.

"As I'm sure you already know," he said, sitting his reading glasses on the edge of his nose. "I'm Dr. Barrim Delkins, and I'm going to be giving you a quick evaluation on some troubling symptoms you've been having lately."

I nodded. After last night, I'd told Nurse Joy about the weird lapse I'd had in the park. She'd promised to forward the information to Dr. Delkins so he'd be prepared for our meeting.

"Well, I find this works best if I know a bit more about you before we get started," he said. "Why don't you tell me about yourself? Give me a few sentences about Derek Tracy."

"Yeah, uh, okay," I agreed, feeling hesitant. "I'm sixteen years old, seventeen in about a month. I'm from Lilycove, Hoenn. I like battling, books, and movies, and I recently started learning how to edit RoTube videos. I've been here in Kanto for about a month now... I guess that kinda sums me up?"

Dr. Delkins nodded. He'd pulled out an old-fashioned yellow notepad while I'd been talking, and he was taking notes with an expensive fountain pen.

"Thank you. Now, I see in your medical history that you were put through a pretty intense situation with the League? There's a conflict report listed here. Do you want to tell me anything about that?"

I felt my shoulders tense.

If he had access to the League's report on the museum, then he could read everything that I'd already told Karen.

I shook my head. "I don't have a ton to add. I said pretty much all of it to the Ace Trainer who interviewed me."

He raised an eyebrow. "Mhmm."

Dr. Delkins immediately started writing more extensive notes, much to my chagrin.

"And this attack that you had yesterday night? Can you tell me more about that?"

I shifted in my seat. "Okay, yeah. Everything kind of went grey? I don't know if that makes sense, but it felt like I saw less color. My hearing got worse, too. Like I was listening to things in slow motion. I was there, but I also wasn't."

I stopped there, feeling uncomfortable describing all my symptoms so quickly into this. I hadn't realized how much I was hoping for a slower start.

Dr. Delkins looked at me, giving me a once over. His eyes stopped at my tense shoulders and my hands, which I immediately stopped fiddling with.

"Here, let's try a different approach. Why don't we start with what's on your mind?" He said. "Tell me about what you think about first when you think about the phrase 'upcoming'."

I nodded, furrowing my brows in concentration.

"Derek?" Dr. Delkins called. "It might be best if you close your eyes and try to relax while you think."

I breathed a deep breath, exhaling it to let my shoulders go slack. I leaned against the back of the chair, feeling the texture of the embroidered cloth under my fingers. It felt nice, like when Daisy had me rub Artis' snout in the park.

I closed my eyes, staring off into the darkness as I thought.

"Uh, when I think about 'upcoming'," I swallowed, my mouth feeling dry. "I mean, it'd be weird if I didn't say my battle with Brock tomorrow, right? Like, it's kind of a big deal."

I heard the scratching of Dr. Delkins' pen on paper. He grunted understandingly.

"That would make sense. You're a trainer, and I hear that gym battles are quite important. What else comes to mind? Just keep listing things until you feel like you've run out of upcoming events."

"Oh, okay. After the battle, we're leaving for Mt. Moon. Not right away, but a day or two later. Which means that I should put 'saying goodbye to Daisy' on that list, too. She's my- I mean- we're dating," I grunted, uncomfortable that he didn't respond. I continued. "Since she's got her own job and life, she's basically just been on vacation with us here in Pewter. She can't travel with us, so I'll have to say goodbye for a while."

"And that must be difficult," he said. "Knowing that someone that you care for will be away from you soon?"

"Yeah, definitely. Especially because I don't know when she'll have time off again. But after that, we're going to Mt. Moon. While we're there, I have my eye on a Pokemon that I want to catch. And then we get to Cerulean, where a couple more members of my group want to catch some Pokemon and we need to challenge the gym there. Once we get that out of the way, we only have a week or two before we need to move on again. We'll probably head to Saffron because then we can go to a few other gyms in nearby cities."

"In between all of that, though," I continued. "I need to find time to work on some more videos for my channel because everybody keeps telling me that I need to be making content to get sponsors for my journey. I also need to go shopping for the trip, and I need to call home before I leave, because my parents get worried while I'm on the trails. I also wanted to see if I could help get two of my friends to talk to each other before we leave, because one likes the other and I kinda promised to help him out-"

"I think I'm starting to see some things coming together here," Dr. Delkins spoke up when I took a breath. "You've got an awful lot on your plate for a rookie."

I sighed, opening my eyes and thinking about everything I'd just listed. I actually had another ten to fifteen things I was going to say, but even without them, it was a lot.

"And to top it off, you have several expectations that you've put on yourself for others. You seemed resistant to speaking on the intense trauma you went through recently when I broached the subject earlier," he said. "This tells me a few things about you, Derek. You are happy to ignore your own needs, especially when there are needs of others that you want to attend to."

I was confused. "But isn't that normal? Like, 'love your common man' and all that?"

"To an extent, self-sacrifice is a valued quality in people that we trust, but that can get out of hand very quickly," Dr. Delkins pulled off his glasses, letting them hang on the chain around his neck. "The symptoms you described earlier are in line with Acute Stress Disorder, or ASD, something that normally occurs up to twenty-eight days after a traumatic event."

"I personally believe, though it is far too early to give this as a proper diagnosis, that if you do have ASD, it is being caused by your lack of resolving the intense trauma you've been through recently. You've described yourself as someone who overburdens themselves with their loved one's problems to ignore their own."

I felt a tight pressure in my chest as he spoke, and my eyes felt a little wet.

As blunt as he was being, I couldn't argue with his logic.

Have I really been putting it off?

I knew I had. I'd reveled in my social media problems because of how quickly they'd come up after the museum. It had just been easier to focus on solving problems than trying to figure out how I felt about the whole Rocket attack.

And then there was the Beedrill raid. Nobody, not even my friends, knew everything that had happened there. I hadn't told anyone about thinking that I was actually going to die.

That was less than a month ago.

I nodded, wiping my eyes. "So, uh, Dr. Delkins, assuming you're right, what would be my next steps?"

He smiled, looking heartened that I was immediately taking to his advice. "The first thing that we'll do is run you through a few more questions regarding your mental health, just to verify the diagnosis. Assuming we decide that's what you're suffering from, you have a few paths ahead of you."

Dr. Delkins reach to his side and pulled out a few separate pieces of paper, including a brochure.

"As a psychologist, I cannot legally prescribe you anything to deal with your mental health problems. However, I can recommend you to a psychiatrist colleague of mine who will first verify my diagnosis and then prescribe you some form of anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication at their discretion," He shifted in his seat. "Or, if you prefer, I can recommend you to a qualified therapist who will take my diagnosis and perform a few exercises of their own. You'd then meet with them regularly for as long as you felt comfortable working through your problems. Some combination of the two is also possible."

He held out two pieces of paper, one that contained the contact information of a doctor and the other that advertised the offices of a therapist.

I looked between them uncomfortably.

This felt like a huge decision.

I couldn't rely on anyone else to make it for me, and it was scary.

I took the brochure from Dr. Delkins.

The therapist felt like the less extreme option. I resolved to try it for a few months and if I didn't feel better, I'd make the call to see a psychiatrist.

Dr. Delkins nodded. "Getting to this point is often the hardest part, Derek. You've done well by making it this far."

He pulled a small manilla folder from his briefcase.

"Now, let's get started on the rest of the evaluation..."

I sat with Dr. Delkins for another hour. It was hard, but it was worth it.