Hop looked up at the new McDonald's that had popped up near his house a few weeks before. Cars rushed along the streets behind the building, and Hop breathed a long sigh before strutting into the fast-food building. Leon, his older brother, had just lost his job as the Pokemon Champion of the Galar Region to Hop’s old rival, Gloria. That was when Hop realized that he couldn’t live off of his brother’s money his whole life. Now, he found himself at McDonald’s.

A small restaurant bell sounded as Hop pushed the door open to reveal a small arrangement of seating to the left of a long counter topped with cash registers, cookies, and small advertisements convincing people to buy one of their sweet food items. Pictures of the Pokemon Pikachu were scattered across the red and white walls to create the iconic McDonald’s color scheme.

“Hey,” a tired teenager greeted him at the counter. “Nice hair.”

Hop scratched the back of his head. His purple hair was usually the first thing anyone noticed about him, and it had apparently become so important to his character that one of his personality traits was “purple.”

“Uh, you too,” Hop replied awkwardly.

The teenager pointed at the menu as if Hop was too blind to see it. “What would you like?” they asked with a yawn.

Hop gulped. “Well, actually,” he started, “I’m here to apply for a job.” Hop really hoped this inexperienced teen would understand his request.

The teenager nodded. “Yeah,” they answered, “just text the number on that poster.” They pointed to a large poster that clearly, in big letters, showed the words “TEXT 55555 ‘BURGER’ TO APPLY” in capital letters.

Hop chuckled nervously. “Uh, thanks…” he replied as he ducked down his head.

Hop pulled out his old cell phone and walked over to the poster pasted on the wall. He sighed as he opened the Messages app and typed in the phone number. His brother currently didn’t have enough money to get him a new phone, so Hop was stuck with this old one, which was about four years old. The screen was cracked from Hop dropping it in the stands of Leon’s battles one too many times. It was still functional, though, so Hop stopped complaining after a while.

Hop typed the word “burger” and sent the message through. Before he could even get a chance to think of something else, a message with a link popped up saying, “Hello! Please fill out this Google Form to apply for a job at your local McDonald’s!”

Hop walked over to a chair and slumped down before opening the Google Form. The form asked basic questions, like the address of his local McDonald’s, his name and age, his phone number, and other information.

One question concerned Hop, though. The last question had an option to type a long paragraph, but it asked a question that Hop was not sure how to answer: “What qualifications do you have for this job?”

Hop took a deep breath and clicked on the text box. What qualifications did he have? He had never cooked anything more than microwavable mac & cheese, and his interactions with people were always a bit more awkward than he hoped. He wasn’t even the brother of the champion anymore, and he doubted that his old rival Gloria, the new champion, would ever let him be her friend again.

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Letting out another breath, Hop started to type. He explained on the form that his older brother was the champion and he was the rival of Gloria. He hoped that would be good enough for a job with a pay as low as McDonald’s. They didn’t have to have such high standards that regular teenagers like him couldn’t get the job, right?

Suddenly, out of the corner of Hop’s eye, he saw someone filling out the same Google Form. They had a pink outfit with grayish fluffy hair, and Hop immediately knew who it was: Bede.

Bede was the adopted son of one of Leon’s old business partners, Chairman Rose. Chairman Rose and Leon sometimes had to go on business trips, so Hop would be left with Gloria, his old friend Victor, and Bede. Bede would always bully Hop. He was teased about his inability to carry out well-played Pokemon battles, and Bede always called him by the name “Hot.”

Hop had some history with the word “Hot.” Ever since he could remember, people had constantly misheard his name and called him by the near-homophone that was the word “Hot.” One time, Hop was called “Hot” so many times that he went on a full rampage, running through his hometown, Postwick, faster than anyone around him could manage.

Hop scowled at Bede from across the restaurant. Bede most likely had way more experience than Hop in, well, everything. He also was Gloria’s rival, which meant him and Hop crossed paths a lot of the time. Hop realized that, if he was going to get this job, he would have to add things to his qualifications.

Looking back at his phone, he clicked the text box again and thought about what other qualifications he might have. He remembered helping Leon cook curry when he was younger, but that was so long ago that Hop could barely remember. The only other memory of curry Hop had was watching Gloria make perfect meals with perfectly blended ingredients.

Hop wiped his brow as he struggled to think of another qualification. He could make sandwiches, yes, but couldn’t everyone? Hop frowned in realization that he had probably never used a stove in his life. He flopped back onto one of the chairs and sighed as he looked at the ceiling. Out of the corner of his eye, Hop saw the teenager McDonald’s worker looking at him with a questioning look. Hop scowled, and the teenager darted his eyes to the drive-through window.

Sighing, Hop looked back to his phone screen and started typing. He added that he had seen great cooks before, but that was all he could think of. It’s literally a McDonald’s, Hop thought to himself. What other qualifications could I need?

Before hitting submit, however, Hop stole a glance back at Bede from across the room, only to see that Bede had the same idea. They caught each other’s eyes, and Hop frowned. Now Bede definitely knew that Hop was filling out the same Google Form. This wasn’t good; Hop knew Bede would somehow find a way to make this into a competition.

The McDonald’s worker teenager cleared his throat to break the tension between Hop and Bede, and as Bede glared over at the teen, Hop made a run for it. He clicked “Submit” on the Google Form, gritted his teeth as he figured out he should’ve proofread it, and dashed out the door. Hop hoped that Bede wouldn’t get the job, but that was highly unlikely. Despite his efforts, Hop knew that Bede would get the job, and even if Hop was recruited as well, he knew he would never reach Bede’s level.