It's around noon the next day when Ran finally wanders into Goldenrod City. His team is fully recalled once more, a nighttime battle against a belligerent and rather powerful Drowzee and a late morning two-on-two against another two-badge trainer having put some serious strain on them. Of course they chased off the Drowzee and won the trainer battle with a score of two to zero, but with Golbat's injuries keeping him benched and Aria having faced the wild Drowzee, it was the pair of Skorupi and Ekans who had to pull out all the stops in the trainer battle.

Skorupi's Toxic Spikes immediately proved their value, playing a significant role in his close triumph over the opponent's Marill. Their ability to really limit the Marill's freedom of movement alone was worth a lot, as shown by their opponent getting halfway through ordering a Rollout before hurriedly changing his mind. With it also lacking any real ways to defend against Skorupi's attacks, it was forced to choose between weathering their attacks and dodging right into the Toxic Spikes.

Ultimately, Skorupi had the other pokémon's number in general, but even the brief glimpse of Toxic Spikes' raw potential had left Ran's mind racing. They'd both been eager to keep going when their opponent's next choice was a Skiploom, but Ran ultimately overrode his own instincts and the poison-bug-type's wishes, recalling him in favor of Ekans. Skorupi's enthusiasm made him a joy to train, but under the circumstances Ran wasn't willing to risk overtaxing him.

His opponent had visibly perked up when Ran recalled one poison-type, only to slump in disappointment when Ekans had come out instead. That fight had been significantly less close, even though Skorupi's lingering Toxic Spikes didn't trouble Skiploom. Instead, Ekans was happy to Stockpile to buff his defenses before firing off Acid after Acid until their opponents finally made the mistake of letting Skiploom get too close. At that point, a lightning-quick Poison Fang, courtesy of some recent tutoring from Golbat - offered before his strongest team member had been incapacitated by that asshole with the Politoed and its stupid rock -, was enough to dispose of what little fight Skiploom had left.

After the previous afternoon's battle, the clean sweep is a nice ego boost, but with three of his four pokémon significantly below peak condition, Ran's mood remains sour. Before becoming a trainer he would've been able to push the state of his team from his mind, comfortable in the knowledge that they're all safe in the stasis imposed by their pokéballs. Now, however, there's a feeling of vulnerability to walking around with a weakened team. It's a scary realization to come to, that he's come to rely on his team as a form of actual protection and one that sees him speed up once more as he almost jogs the final few hundred feet to the Pokécenter.

As he approaches the building, the sheer size of Goldenrod City and everything about it finally sinks in. In Violet City, the Pokécenter was a fair bit bigger than it was in Azalea Town, offering easily twice as many beds and having a larger capacity for injured pokémon as well. But even that, at the time impressive, sight pales in comparison to the imposing building he enters now.

If Azalea Town's Pokécenter is the size of a large house and Violet City easily beats it out by being comparable to a large duplex, then Goldenrod City's Pokécenter can only be compared to a large three-floor office building. At a guess, it easily doubles the floor space Violet City's Pokécenter has available to it, whilst adding a full extra floor on top of that. The distinct red roof is still the same color at least, but that's really where the comparisons stop.

Not that the gargantuan Pokécenter stands out like a sore thumb in Goldenrod City, it's large paved roads surrounded on all sides by a variety of buildings, some even larger and more imposing than Ran's current destination. Whenever there's a smaller building that actually allows him a look at the rest of Goldenrod's skyline, his eye is caught by one of the city's skyscrapers, whether it's the Radio Tower, the famed Goldenrod Trainer Department Store or one of the tall office buildings he doesn't know the name of.

Violet City was large in a conventional sense, a large number of houses sprawling out over a greater area. But it had still been largely comparable to Azalea Town if sheer volume was taken out of the equation. Because at least they'd shared overall architectural features and a general sense of rustic tranquility.

That comparison, which Ran had figured might hold true for all of Johto, doesn't fly at all when Goldenrod City is added to the equation. Because Goldenrod sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the other places he's visited so far. Not only in scale, though that in its own right is a major departure from the norm established by Violet City, but in overall appearance.

There's something overwhelming about it all. It's not merely the height of the buildings, but also the unique background noises, reinforced by bouncing off of those steel titans that line the streets. With lunchtime just about arrived, there's also the sheer rush of people moving every which way, contributing further to the bustle of the city. Where the quiet and monotony of Azalea Town could get boring, here there's no such risk. If anything, it's overstimulation, rather than boredom, that seems more likely here.

He's not sure whether he likes these things about Goldenrod City or not, but he's got plenty of time to figure that out. At the moment, as he enters the pokécenter and makes a beeline for the service desk, he's got other priorities. A kind forty-something nurse greets him with a soft smile, accepting the pokéballs of all four of Ran's team members before sending them down a pressurized tube one after the other.

At Ran's evident surprise, she merely smiles once more as she explains the situation to him, "First time in the big city? We get a lot more business than most other pokécenters. We've got at least three nurses on duty at any time, as well as a full staff of capable support pokémon. Don't worry, your team is in good hands. It just wouldn't be efficient for me to personally walk them over to their treatment location. Don't worry, you'll get an automated message on your pokégear once their treatment is finished."

Ran just manages to thank the nurse, when he's cut off by an enthusiastic shout, "Oh hey you made it!"

"Hi Josie," He answers easily enough, turning to greet his friend with an amused grin, "What kept you?"

"Pssht, don't flatter yourself, running into you without texting is a coincidence. I took the morning off. This place has actual baths for some of the better rooms!" Josie waves him off, before her enthusiasm takes over once more, volume steadily rising even as she approaches.

"That's nice, I still got a normal one with use of the common facilities though." Ran replies casually, easily deflating Josie's rising cheer with his dry answer.

"Whatever, come on already, I was just about to go and book my challenge at the Gym." She shrugs off Ran's attempt to calm her down, taking a few bounding steps before holding in place, shaking in place until he relents and starts following her.

With a cheer, she leads them out of the pokécenter and towards the Gym. According to Josie, it's 'only' a fifteen-minute walk, which is apparently nothing by Goldenrod's standards even if it's easily triple the distance between the Gym and the Pokécenter back in Azalea Town. As they walk, Josie waxes poetic on Goldenrod's charms, her mind on the city clearly already a lot more made up than Ran's own.

Ran is content to let her, though he does weigh in when Josie starts on her planned itinerary for their stay in Goldenrod. They're both interested in visiting the Trainer Department Store and the Goldenrod Tunnel and easily agree to visit both locations together, but Ran has no interest in the Game Corner or the Flower Shop Josie saw and insists she must visit properly. Instead, he announces his intent to take a short two- or three-day trip to Route 35, which Josie in turn wholeheartedly disagrees with, unwilling to give up the opportunity to take a daily bath for the duration of their stay in Goldenrod.

Neither of them mind splitting up and there's no hard feelings involved either way, as far as Ran is concerned, so it's a conversation that's easily handled and fully resolved by the time they make it to the local Gym. Once they arrive however, they're met with a sight that Ran almost fails to process.

Outside of the Gym, which is a large, flat rectangular building with garish pink accents in its woodwork, there's an actual ticket booth. Said ticket booth currently has a line of eight people queuing up, only the large sign that clearly says 'spectators' preventing them from having to join the queue themselves. Instead, they get to walk right past and enter the building properly.

The front lobby is a whole new assault on the senses, the chosen aesthetic most closely resembling what Ran expects to happen if an eleven-year-old girl is given an unlimited budget and a professional renovation crew who can't use the word 'no'. Though testing isn't an option, he seriously wouldn't be surprised if the wallpaper tastes like cotton candy.

Unlike the ticket counter outside, the reception desk doesn't have a queue of people waiting in front of it. Instead the front lobby is surprisingly quiet, the older gentleman on duty perking up visibly when they turn towards him and start to approach.

"Hello there! Here to register for a Gym Challenge? Please hand me your Trainer IDs if you'd be so kind." He greets them both heartily, extended hand trembling just slightly as he accepts their documentation and scans them one after the other on a device attached to his computer.

"Josephine Shelby and Ran Carr? First circuit, Zephyr and Hive Badges?" He reads off warmly, pausing for affirmation before continuing once they both nod.

"Excellent! You can challenge Gym Leader Whitney three days from today. At what time would you like to challenge?" The man asks dutifully, attention shifting from them to the computer screen he squints at and back again.

"Just three days?" Josie voices the surprised thought running through both their minds before Ran can, "Are you sure that's right? We've had at least a week's wait at the other Gyms we challenged."

Rather than take offense at their shared doubt, the older gentleman merely laughs, breaking down into a coughing fit before he manages to regather himself, "Yes, well, you challenged Falkner and Azalea's new Gym Leader Bugsy, did you not? We're still pretty early in the season and those boys don't have Whitney's well-deserved reputation now do they?"

They both nod obligingly, indulging the man by giving him the reaction he's clearly looking for, in order to keep his explanation going.

"Well that's all there is to it, really! Flynn's boy's reputation for being a bit inconsistent isn't great and Bugsy of course did quite well in the Conference this year, but neither one of them is a true Conference winner like our Whitney, nor do they have her indomitable reputation. So those trainers that start out in this part of the region tend to do so at Violet City and those that start elsewhere in Johto tend to circle around to Violet and Azalea before coming to Goldenrod, when they get to this part of their journey. Thus, our waiting times will be quite a bit shorter than I believe you've gotten used to for a good while yet." The man finishes his story, shaky hand reaching for a cup of what can, by this point, be lukewarm coffee at best, that was previously hidden from Ran's sight.

"That makes sense, what've you got available in the early afternoon?" Josie accepts easily, showcasing her usual easygoing attitude by simply accepting the explanation at face value and moving on. Ran envies her the ability, as his own thoughts are still caught on the 'indomitable reputation' part.

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"Does two work for you?" The smiling receptionist asks, hands returning to the keyboard confidently despite the continued light shaking. Josie nods confidently, which is enough for him to smile once more and book her challenge on the spot, then, his attention turns to Ran.

"Well it's Josie's turn to go first, so do you have anything around two thirty?" Ran inquires politely, soon locking in his own challenge for exactly that hour. Assuming everything goes roughly according to plan, that should give Josie enough time to head to the pokécenter and make it back to watch his match whilst likewise giving him enough time to comfortably watch her match before turning his focus to his own.

With that handled, they leave the Gym behind once more, with an hour or two left in the day before dinnertime. With their respective challenges against Whitney planned in just three days, rather than the expected week or more, Ran's intended trip to Route 35 will have to wait until after challenging Goldenrod Gym. The relatively late hour also immediately dismisses the Goldenrod Trainer Department Store as an option, so when he speaks up, it's to advocate the only location that makes sense at the moment.

"Want to go and visit the Tunnel? We can explore it, you could get a few matches in and then we'll have a proper lay of the land to make a day of it tomorrow or the day after?" He offers with a grin, although Josie waves him off immediately.

"Pass. If we're only in town for a few days, I'm hitting the Game Corner early. Meet up tomorrow morning to go to the Department Store? Then we can hit the Tunnel after lunch for more shopping, battling, dinner and more battling!" She offers cheerfully, which Ran accepts easily enough after a moment's consideration.

"Sure thing," he agrees, pausing for a moment before immediately continuing to cut off the question Josie is about to ask, her mouth already opening, "And yes I'm sure that I don't want to join you at the Game Corner. My budget is tight enough as it is."

"But that's why you should come to the Game Corner," Josie insists energetically, offering him an admittedly charming smile that's clearly meant to cajole him, "To increase your budget!"

"Nope. I'll just head back to the Pokécenter early and take an evening off, read up on some stuff and enjoy the opportunity to be off my feet for a few extra hours." He rejoins easily, just as unbothered by Josie's cajoling as he is by her following complaints about just how terrible he is.

"You're the most boring man alive! Read? Read?! I swear you're the kind of guy who gets a book for his birthday and is genuinely excited about it!" She cries out dramatically, presenting Ran with the perfect opportunity to subtly needle her a final time.

"Oh you're getting me a book? That's great. Actually there's this book on the history of Fuchsia City I'm interested in, but it's a bit hard to find in Johto, maybe your family in Kanto could mail over a copy?" He replies placidly, an encouraging smile plastered lazily across his face.

"Away, you monster! Away!" Josie cries dramatically, theatrically shying away from him as she takes a few steps backwards in the Game Corner's general direction. Ran merely offers a simple wave in return, before turning and heading towards the Pokécenter himself. Running into Josie earlier than expected threw off his plans for the rest of the day slightly, but with both his room and his challenge at the Gym booked, he can finally enjoy a shower of his own before hopefully claiming one of the Pokécenter's computers for a few hours.

After all, even with his team in the Pokécenter's expert care, there's no reason for him not to spend his time productively. Which is why, after a brisk walk, a long hot shower and a quick self-made early dinner (thanks to the Pokécenter's communal facilities), he plants himself behind a computer and starts typing. His very first search isn't actually a productive one necessarily, but is instead meant to finally sate an uncomfortable uncertainty that's been quietly gnawing away at him for a few weeks now.

There's a slight hesitance to his motions as he types Spencer's name into the search bar, but when he finally confirms his query, any worry he had immediately evaporates. Low-level trainers like Josie, Spencer and himself have rather barebones profile pages in the Indigo database, with none of them having any televised appearances, tournament or Conference participations or anything of the like under their belts just yet. Still, what they do all have, is a basic summary of the badges they've earned.

On Spencer's page, next to the gleaming silver Zephyr Badge from Violet City, its color showing off its status as an acquired badge, sits a shimmering onyx-bordeaux dragon head, the Rising Badge, from the dragon-type Gym in Blackthorn City. Ran stares in a mixture of relief and awe at the confirmation that Spencer made it through the Dark Caves in one piece and successfully challenged what is considered by many to be one of the toughest Gyms in Johto.

When he scrolls down to the 'known Pokémon' part of the page, he gets another shocking surprise, as Spencer's previous team of Pineco, Scyther and Onix has seen a significant shake up. Not only has Pineco evolved into a Forretress, but he's also added a Skarmory to his already impressive line-up. The addition of such an impressive fourth member to Spencer's team stings a bit, but nowhere near as much as the confirmation that his starter has evolved, whilst Ran's, which is supposed to evolve sooner than the Pineco-line, hasn't yet.

Plus, with Forretress' type advantage and the sheer bulk of his remaining team members, Spencer will likely blow right through Mahogany Town's famously tough Gym as well. Ran's own third badge is also within reach, but Spencer's apparent success still lights a fire in him, as his typing becomes a fair bit more animated from that point on.

His next stop is Karolina Brandt, the snobbish girl that debuted against Bugsy at an eight-badge level. Only the Hive Badge is colored in, confirming that she's only got the one badge thus far, but her profile holds other surprises. Her confirmed team for one doesn't merely show the Jynx, Piloswine and Weavile that Ran was already aware off through Josie's retelling of Karolina's battle with Bugsy, but also confirms a Cloyster and a Lapras, with both of those apparently having seen action in a tournament in Olivine City she participated in mere days ago.

With the sheer power her confirmed fully-evolved team holds, it's no surprise to Ran that she won the whole thing, though it does leave him with another question. How does a girl his age make her debut with five fully-evolved and quite rare pokémon? Her team's composition would make sense for a year two or three trainer, sponsored by Mahogany Town's Gym, but her profile confirms that she's on her first circuit and that she's Ran's age, so that theory doesn't hold up.

It's a mystery he lacks the means to solve, though he does decide for himself to keep an eye on Karolina's progress every now and then. Finally, as far as other trainers go, he looks up Grady Kendrick, the cheerful thirteen-year old having made a lasting impression on him over the span of the night they camped in Union Cave.

Unlike the mixed feelings Spencer's profile page evoked, Ran is happy to see Grady has in fact triumphed at Violet City, the Zephyr Badge shining right next to the Hive Badge. Again however, there's a surprise to be found, as unlike Spencer, Karolina and even Ran himself, Grady actually has a small personal message written on his profile, which Ran reads with a fair amount of disbelief.

Next destination: Goldenrod City! Whitney, I'm coming for my badge! #FirstofFive #2of8

It's an awkwardly childish update, as far as Ran is concerned, but there's a certain charm to it in spite of, or maybe precisely because of, its genuine naivete. Not that anyone other than Ran himself is likely to ever read it, as trainer profile pages really aren't used as a way to communicate by anyone, anywhere. Most people either leave the short message blank entirely, like Ran himself, or if they don't, they just put in a short description or quote they then don't touch again for years at a time.

Bugsy for example, being the only trainer Ran looked up every now and then in the past few years, had the same line for years, only recently changing it when he became Azalea Town's new Gym Leader.

It used to be Azalea Town Gym Sponsored Trainer - Bug-specialist. Now, when Ran briefly visits his page, the text has been updated to the slightly more informative Azalea Town Gym Leader - Bug-specialist / Exciting employment opportunities, visit our site or inquire locally.

Ran almost sinks into the rabbit hole by visiting the website for Bugsy's Gym, but he just manages to stop himself. Though interesting, he does actually still have stuff he wants to handle, rather than getting sidetracked by looking for more information on his hometown gym's progress under its new leadership. So, exiting the Indigo Trainer Database interface, he instead opens a proper search engine.

His efforts to find out more about Skorupi are just as fruitless now as they were when he first discovered just what species his newest team member belonged to, but he only wastes fifteen frustrating minutes on that particular search, before shifting focus. First, he uses his pokégear to send a few quick updates to his dad. Then he spends a frustrating half hour yet again researching the Ekans-line and any potential causes that might be keeping his Ekans, who is showing all the physical markers, from evolving.

When that research proves fruitless, he spends over an hour looking into ways to help teach Ekans, Aria and Golbat their next moves. Acid Spray and Sludge Bomb for his starter, Sucker Punch and Agility for Aria and finally Haze and Venoshock for Golbat. This at least proves more fruitful, his pokégear filling up with notes over the course of the evening. Just as he's considering a shift towards a more entertaining way to spend his last hour or two before going to bed, however, a surprising voice interrupts Ran's work.

"Oh cool, you made it here too!" Grady Kendrick calls out, eagerly approaching Ran at his computer and happily plonking himself down in the unoccupied seat to Ran's left. As he does so, Ran gets a good look at the younger trainer. His tan has darkened slightly further, a logical consequence of the traveling lifestyle, whilst the darkest parts of his black-and-yellow outfit have faded slightly, becoming more of a washed out dark gray rather than the previous dark black. His dark green eyes shine brightly, shaggy black hair kept out of his eyes by the baseball cap he wears backwards. He faces Ran with a beaming smile as he starts rambling merrily.

"This is great! How'd you do against Bugsy? I beat Falkner like it was nothing, so I'm back in town to challenge Whitney next, I guess you also got your second badge or you wouldn't be here yet so that was a dumb question never mind. Hey, where's Josie? Is she taking a shower or something? I only just made it into the city and I'll be sleeping at my parents' house so no shower for me just yet. Sorry if I stink, I guess, I just came by here to check my team in for the night before heading home for the night but then when I'd done that I figured I'd do a quick tour of the building to see if I'd run into any familiar faces and then I found you!" Grady rattles off at a mile-a-minute, not really giving Ran a proper chance to respond to any of his questions until he has to pause to take a breath, at which point Ran speaks up.

"As far as I know, Josie is at the Game Corner. It's good to see you Grady, though it might be better if we catch up properly tomorrow or something, if your parents are expecting you?" He offers easily, only to be surprised when the excitable thirteen-year old seemingly deflates.

"Yeah, alright… Sure thing…" He accepts sullenly, shoving his chair backwards and standing up in one brisk move, no longer making eye contact with Ran.

Unsure how to handle the other boy's reaction, Ran speaks up before the Goldenrod native takes his first step, "Josie and I are visiting the Trainer Department Store tomorrow morning, we could meet up in front of the building at around nine?"

Grady visibly pauses, green eyes regaining their previous luster after a few seconds as he gasps in delight, "You really mean it? Yeah, totally! I'll be there! I've been there loads of times, I can totally show you around!"

"Sounds great," Ran agrees easily, "Let's call it nine for now, if something changes, we've got each other's contact information, we'll text, alright?"

"Yeah, okay, totally, cool! I'll go home and take that shower now, then. See you tomorrow!" Grady agrees enthusiastically, almost stumbling over his own words in his enthusiasm as he takes off at speed once more, almost running over an unwitting older trainer who is just entering the computer room himself.

Ran sighs in weary amusement, the brief two-minute conversation with the absurdly energetic Grady enough to drain what energy he had left. After a few moments of thought, he logs off from the computer and heads towards his room. Initially, he was planning to watch one of Whitney's most recent televised matches, but at this point, he's happy to plop down in bed and just watch whatever form of competitive Pokémon battling is being broadcast at this hour.

The broadcast in question ends up being a battle between an up-and-coming Dark-type specialist, a young woman with silvery-blue hair and an attractive figure, and a man Ran is surprised to recognize. It's Clarence, the previously long-term sponsored trainer of Azalea Town Gym and water-type specialist who quite recently failed to win the position of Gym Leader in a direct match against Bugsy.

Clarence is by no means a slouch, his strong team and respectable track record at Conference finals making him a realistic candidate for the position of Gym Leader, even if a bit of favoritism might also have factored in there. But on the night, he's badly outclassed. Ran stumbles upon the battle when Clarence is already down two to zero and, although his Poliwrath manages back-to-back wins to bring the score back to three to two after his Azumarill goes down, the outcome is never truly in doubt, the battle eventually ending at six to three in the woman's favor.

At that point the commentary team turns to the impact the match has on both trainers' respective careers, but by then Ran is having trouble keeping his eyes open, barely managing to turn the tv off before sweet sleep claims him.