I woke up early the following morning. After a quick breakfast for myself and Chikorita, as well as packing and cleaning up the campsite, we were on our way to the end of Route 1. The outskirts of Viridian City loomed ahead of us as the early morning sun and clear skies shone down. By noon, we were walking past the outskirts and into the city proper.

The city itself was quite old, expanding from the original Viridian clan’s village over a couple centuries ago; currently, the regular influx of Trainers near the end of the season gave it a jovial and festive atmosphere. Trainers and their Pokemon were out and about, at least the ones that were allowed to be out inside the city. Both mine and Chikorita’s heads were in a swivel, appreciating the sight of the tall buildings and businesses that led the way towards downtown where the Pokemon Center was located. Since my memory loss, this was the first time I truly stepped foot inside a city although I had the distinct impression that I had seen grander sights. Unexpectedly, Chikorita seemed to be enjoying the urban environment. Our sight-seeing eventually came to an end as we neared the Pokemon Center.

Entering through its double-glass doors, I was surprised to see that the layout of the center was very similar to the one in Pallet Town, albeit quite a bit more spacious. There were all kinds of Trainers lounging around, some lining up at the front desk to speak with the multiple Nurse Joys, some occupying the kiosks near the back of the lounge, but most were either at the cafeteria or resting at the lounge while watching the local competition channels. This Pokemon Center in particular seemed to prefer the official channels for each Kanto Gym; most of them were showing highlights of various gym battles over the last season and a couple large central screens seemed to show the ongoing challenges seasonal at the Viridian and Cinnabar gyms.

I lined up at the queue while spying at the Viridian City Gym broadcast from a distance. Eventually, the person before me finished and I was next up.

“Hello, welcome to the Viridian City Pokemon Center, how can I help you?”

“Hi Nurse Joy, can I get a room please and a check-up for Chikorita?”, I answered politely, pointing towards Chikorita still lounging on my shoulder and handing over my Trainer ID card.

“No problem! If you could just place Chikorita in her Pokeball and then on this tray, I’ll get you your room keys.” she replied, moving towards the side of the desk.

“Alright girl, let’s get you a check-up yeah? I’ll pick you up in a bit.” Chikorita nodded before I returned her and placed her Pokeball on the provided tray.

“Here you are Mr. Avery, room 4-L, the elevators are through the lounge. I’ll send a ping to your PokePhone when Chikorita’s ready for pick-up.” Nurse Joy explained, handing over a keycard and my Trainer ID.

“Thanks Nurse Joy!”, I replied, retrieving my items and walking towards the lounge. Although the trek through Route 1 lasted only 2 nights, nothing would beat a hot shower, clean clothes, and a meal so I set out to accomplish exactly that.

While waiting for Chikorita’s check-up to be done, I spent the time relaxing in my room after a warm shower and changing into some casual clothes. When I first bought my PokePhone, I had noticed a few apps specifically for social media. While I don’t remember much about it, I do remember that media presence was a very important aspect of being a Pokemon Trainer. The broadcasts downstairs when I came in seemed to prove that with its flashing viewer counts and floating bubbles with comments from its online audience. One of the social apps I had access to were the PokeForums, a global forum for any and everything Pokemon including specific regional sections with access to spaces restricted depending on your profession. As a Jr. Pokemon Trainer registered in Kanto, I also had access to the Kanto Rookie forum space. The other app was named Swabble, with a stylized Swablu as its mascot. It seemed to be the main social app for Pokemon Trainers as people could post “Gusts” of anything, from their day-to-day lives, their thoughts, their opinions on news, and even their journey progress.

The final app, the one I was most interested in, was the RotomTube where anyone could post videos on anything and livestream. Alongside NationalTV, almost all official gyms and events have a RotomTube stream. Outside of streams, Pokemon battling and commentary were the most popular videos. My interest in the platform grew after I realized an important detail of being a trainer; taking care of Pokemon is really expensive. Without a sponsor it would be very difficult for me to manage even a half-sized team. After researching through the PokeForums, most rookie trainers do not have any official sponsors, limiting the size of their teams. Parents and guardians commonly support this population of trainers in funding their journeys as well as to help stable extra Pokemon, the carry limit being six while you are on your journey. For the better or more experienced Trainers, they usually receive a sponsorship after their 5th or 6th badge although the really good trainers are able to secure one by the time they are preparing for their 4th badge. How? Notoriety and reputation; a decent number of followers, and finally, their own media presence.

Listing out my options, the choice seemed obvious to me. Given that the only thing I knew involved Pokemon training and battling, I would start by recording my training sessions with Chikorita and a few battles. I would edit them using the PCs in the Pokemon Centers and upload a few different styles to see what works; training montages of me and my Pokemon with commentary to indicate my thought process as well as two versions of battle videos; with and without commentary. The videos without commentary were for the general public to see my battles and increase exposure; the commentary versions would be to interact with my audience and to explain my thought process behind certain strategies. Hopefully, the variety will allow me to harness a good following on RotomTube and Swabble by the time I start preparing for my 3rd badge. If I am able to get a good following going, I already have ideas floating around to host small events on PokeForums such as AMAs or informal PokeSchools. It seemed like a lot of work, but I had no one to look after other than myself and my pokemon, so I had the time.

My ponderous thoughts came to a halt as my PokePhone started ringing, which was quite odd given that I only had Professor Oak as a contact. Swiping to the Transceiver app, I was surprised to see Professor Oak actually calling me. Answering the call, I saw the display shift as Professor Oak’s face appeared on my screen.

“Hello!! Avery! Glad I could reach you! Did you reach Viridian City alright?”

“Hey Professor Oak, yeah I’m at the Center right now, just cleaned up and waiting until Chikorita’s check-up finishes.”

“Good good, listen I wish this could be a social call but I was hoping that you’d be able to do me a favor. You remember Brown right? The charming lad you had your first battle with?” Professor Oak asked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

“Yeah Professor, wouldn’t forget him anytime soon”, I replied with a clear frown on my face.

“Yes uhh, so he didn’t pick up his Pokedex yesterday, and I suspect he might have already left for Viridian. I sent it over to the local Pokemart through PeliCarrier so it should be there within an hour or so. Can you pick it up and see if you could hand it over to him when you see him?” The Pokemon Professor requested, looking somewhat put-out that he had to ask this of me. I considered the request; while I didn’t want to interact with Brown due to his snobbishness, it’s not everyday that the regional Professor asks a favor of you. Seeing no harm in such a small favor, I nodded my assent.

“Great good good. Thank you again Avery, I really appreciate this. And I don’t just ask for favors without proper recompense, the PeliCarrier will also have a goodie-bag for you. Let me know if you like the payment!”

“You didn’t have to do that Professor, but thank you.” I replied, a small smile on my face. At the moment, I felt quite blessed to have been woken up by Professor Oak that day; the man deserves my utmost respect for his concern and kindness.

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“Good talking to you lad, let me know after you get Brown the package, just a text on my Transceiver will do!” “Understood Professor, have a good rest of your day.” I finished and not a moment later, the Transceiver hung up. Not a minute passed before I received a ping from the Pokemon Center front desk informing me that Chikorita’s check-up had been completed.

Grabbing my bag, I put on my boots and headed down to pick her up. While waiting in line, I kept thinking about RotomTube and what Professor Oak could’ve sent for me. There were a few different items I would need for Chikorita’s development and I also wanted to check the price for a laptop. Here’s hoping my funding issues will be solved by then as I only had about 8000Ꝑ left. As I strode up to the counter, Nurse Joy looked over and placed a tray with a single Pokeball on it.

“Here you go Avery, she’s all healed up and fit to go. She’s big for her age but nutritionally, give her more calcium supplements for the next few days. Chikorita’s do well on a sunlight diet but with her bulk, she’ll need that extra calcium to round out her profile. I sent her nutrition chart to your PokePhone but if you have any questions, let me know!”

“Wow, thanks Nurse Joy. I’ll make sure to give her more calcium.” I replied, somewhat surprised by her analysis. I really shouldn’t have been as being a Pokemon Nurse is more involved than most expect.

As soon as I palmed Chikorita’s Pokeball, a flash exited it and my partner was out looking as bright-eyed as ever. I scooted her up in my arms and placed her on her spot, on my right shoulder, and started walking towards the cafeteria. The meals were usually basic fare in Pokemon Centers but at least they were cooked fresh and stocked frequently, especially with the current surge. Finding a spot, I sat down with my tray of food, some rice with a steamed Pidgey breast and a side of greens. I also got an extra tray out and placed Chikorita’s lunch on it as well as the last of my calcium supplements.

“Let’s eat girl, we need to go get some supplies and a delivery from Professor Oak, but then we’ll head out and do some training, yeah?” Chikorita nodded her head while chowing down. I went about finishing mine as well and we were out of the Pokemon Center doors just as the afternoon sun was starting to dip.

Our walk to the PokeMart did not take long, just a couple of blocks over from the Pokemon Center itself. The building was a 1-story rectangular structure with transparent glass walls and a stylized blue squat roof with a Rotator sign displaying the PokeMart logo near the back; almost all PokeMarts followed the same theme unless you were in Celadon City or another major metropolis.

We entered the air conditioned store and I set about collecting what I needed; a container of vitamin D and calcium supplements for Chikorita as well as 10 packs of organic Grass-type PokeFeed, mostly consisting of highly nutritious leafy greens and a smattering of kibble for texture, each pack lasting 5 meals. I still had some of the generic PokeFeed leftover andI could also make my own by sourcing the greens myself but the ones I bought were known to be locally made with minimal processing, at least according to the Viridian City forums. The supplements themselves were dosed for Trainer Pokemon instead of household Pokemon, which meant that I had to present my Trainer ID at the counter to verify my need for it. Re-selling trainer supplies at a mark-up had been a big issue for the region a few years past before the Indigo Pokemon League were able to root out the massive corruption in the commercial sector; from what I had read on the subject, an emerging terrorist organization had been siphoning money through these companies to fund their exploits. What those exploits were hadn’t been clearly conveyed to the general public but there were rumors that it had involved quite a few smuggling operations to restricted regions.

After gathering a few toiletries that had a stable shelf life and geared towards Trainers on their journey, we walked up to the counter with our small shopping basket in hand. Placing my basket down on top, the bored looking clerk looked at me with surprise. Normally, I would use the self-checkout as my PokePhone had my bank account linked to it but I had a package to pick up.

“Hello, how may I help you?” the clerk asked politely.

“Hi, my name is Avery, I believe there is a package from Professor Oak for me?”

“Oh! Yeah, I just got the delivery an hour ago, let me grab it for you. I’ll ring those up after.” he said pointing at the basket and then ducking through a door at the back of the counter. About a minute later, he was back with two small bubble-wrapped packages and handed them over. I had to sign a receipt for it, acknowledging that I received the stated packages, before he rang the rest of my stuff up. Placing the items and the packages in my Bag before heading out the door with around 2700P only left in my account.

[https://i.postimg.cc/C1874Nwn/ch6-receipt.png]

Chikorita, meanwhile, had fallen asleep on my shoulder, only sniffing drowsily when I had taken my Bag off to pack up. From the PokeMart, I headed out towards a public battling ground that bordered the local park. The battling ground was sizable, parallel to the park itself and featuring 15 full-sized dirt-packed League Standard fields. It sank half a dozen feet from the edge of the park, allowing people to spectate the matches from there while resting.

I arrived at the park by late afternoon and sat down across from one of the empty fields near the south end. Picking Chikorita up from my shoulder, I placed her on a spot of sun-specked grass and took out the packages Professor Oak sent. I read the note attached to each of them, one of which was marked for Brown and the other addressed to myself. I put the former to the side and started opening up the latter.

Soon after, I had a palm-sized non-descript green box with a scan code on the bottom and a latch on the front. Inside, a tan teardrop-shaped object took up most of it with some cushioning on the top and bottom. Something in the back of my mind tingled that I was familiar with what this was; excitedly, I opened the scan app on my PokePhone and took a picture of the code on the bottom of the box. It automatically switched to the PokeDex app and a voice confirmed my guess.

“Miracle Seed: a seed imbued with life-force that is known to assist in developing Grass-type moves and boost the density of Grass-type energy when held by approximately 20%.”

A Miracle Seed, while certainly useful, was not that uncommon in forested regions such as the surroundings of Pallet Town and Viridian City. I wasn’t surprised that Professor Oak had one, he likely had many rare and expensive items as well, but it was a very thankful gesture and addition. I looked into the box again and saw a small rolled up note on the side. Placing the seed back inside the box, I opened up the note, recognizing Professor Oak’s blocky handwriting.

“Avery, thank you again for helping me with getting the Pokedex to Mr. Brown. This is a small token of appreciation from myself to you although it is largely for Chikorita herself. Over the last year, I saw how hard she worked every day and had planned on gifting the Miracle Seed to her long before I met you. Unfortunately, it arrived a day after you left Pallet so this was a good opportunity for me to send it over. Once more, thank you - Professor James Oak, Pokemon Professor, Kanto”

Once more, my evaluation of the Professor climbed a few notches. I felt a small nudge on my side and quickly looked over to see Chikorita standing up and staring at the Miracle Seed.

“Hey girl, Professor Oak sent a gift for you.” I replied smiling. She looked over to me briefly, expression happy but confused.

“Let me read this out for you.” I said as I narrated Professor Oak’s note to her. She perked up when she heard Oak’s approval of her hard work but slowly started to edge towards the box itself.

“Okay okay, you can go ahead and grab it.” I finished, a small smile on my face at seeing my partner so excited. She quickly extended one of her nubs into a vine and grabbed the Miracle Seed; a soft glow extended from the seed to her vine and I was visibly surprised to see the green hue of the vine glow brighter. She brought it up to her face and I could see she was fascinated with it. I let her have her fun as I just sat there relaxing as the skies slowly turned orange.

“Chikorita, use Bullet Seed!” I ordered as Chikorita took a deep breath before shooting out a scattering of bullets at our target, another unfortunate tree at the edge of the battle grounds. Her Miracle Seed was safely tucked beneath her head-leaf, cradled in a small vine-like cage growing from the nubs on the back of her neck. I would look into getting a holster for it soon but we had relaxed enough, so now both of us were training.

The power behind the seeds had improved quite a bit with the Miracle Seed although that did cause her aim to fall back to her baseline from 2 nights ago. I wasn’t that worried about it though; we had the whole of December to train it up and adjusting to the increased strength would be better handled now rather than later. I also spent some time running around and throwing branches in the air for her to aim her Leech Seeds at, which were now much brighter and condensed quite a bit faster. I could also see how it's helping her develop her moves as she seems to be able to just utilize more of her Grass-type energy overall.

Her Razor Leaf and Vine Whip were more effective in terms of energy expenditure and power. Overall, just this one item gave us a large boost in power, which would be great as I was running quite low in terms of cash and what better way to earn money as a trainer than winning Pokemon battles.