CHAPTER 7

Thanks to Denzel knowing the area like the back of his hand, the trip back to Sandgem took around a day and a half instead of two. Togepi was finally getting around to being able to use Headbutt as a move in battle and not just as a proof of concept. She was getting tougher, even though it was little by little. I noticed that her eggshell was getting harder, and she was growing slightly. During the night, Denzel had to sleep on a towel since he didn’t have a sleeping bag, and I had to lend him a potion after his Eevee suffered a nasty bite from a Nidoran. He kept saying that he’d pay me back, but I didn’t mind.

That night, I was barely able to sleep. I kept jolting awake at the slightest noise, expecting that huge Golbat to sweep down and kill me with its sharp fangs. When we reached Sandgem, I was tired, still sore, and in desperate need of a shower. I took one in the Pokemon Center while Denzel checked in our Pokemon, and I used the opportunity to buy some new bandages. I had run out and had been forced to wear the same one two days in a row, which was obviously unhygienic.

After our Pokemon were healed, we made our way to the Sandgem police department. We talked to the receptionist and waited in a room for an officer to talk to us. After a short wait, Denzel was called in a room, and I was summoned shortly after to a different one. The officer closed the door behind me and directed me to sit at a table. She was old— probably in her fifties, and had a soft look on her face, making me relax a little.

The interview began with her confirming my information. My name, age, and address. She also asked for my trainer ID, making me remember that I still had to sign up for the League.

“So, Grace. Can you explain to me what happened in detail? Everything you remember,” She said.

I told her everything. The uniforms, the thinly veiled threats of murder, and that I suspected this was a new evil organization. The officer let me speak and offered me tissues when I choked up at the thought of that Golbat.

“Did you hear any names? Describe the people you saw for me.”

“Only Cyrus… he was their leader— maybe not of the entire organization, but just this group,” I said. I then proceeded to describe everyone I could recall. The only one I remembered clearly was Cyrus. “He had deep, sunken eyes and spiky dyed blue hair. And… oh! He had no eyebrows! That was really weird.”

The officer nodded and kept writing. “And the uniforms, you said they had a yellow ‘G’ insignia?”

I nodded. She finished writing and put her pen down.

“So… what happens now?” I asked.

She sighed. “Well, we send a few officers there to verify that there’s a lake at all. Might be time to ask the League for funds to make a new station in Twinleaf,” She said. “Then we see if we can find any evidence at the scene, and if we find something substantial, we’ll contact the League about it.”

I frowned. “So you aren’t contacting the League now? Why?”

“Grace, when we first got this call, we thought this was a prank,” The officer said with a light chuckle. “Now that you showed up, we’re obligated to confirm your report, but… an organization? Sinnoh isn’t like Kanto. People don’t do that here.”

I scoffed in disbelief. “How could it hurt to at least tell them? So that they’re on high alert if something else comes up with these people? What if they actually hurt or kill someone next time?”

“No need to exaggerate, Grace,” The officer rolled her eyes. “The Circuit’s right around the corner, and we wouldn’t want to distract anyone with rumors.”

Feeling anger boil up inside of me, I stood up. “We’re done here, correct? You saw me cry, and you still think I’m lying? You’re beyond help.”

The officer let me out and muttered ‘teenagers’ under her breath as I left. Denzel was already waiting for me in the lobby and was seemingly as angry as I was. We talked on our way back to the Center.

“Arceus, these cops are so useless. They didn’t believe a word of what we said! I bet they’re not even actually sending anyone to the lake!” I said angrily.

“I can’t believe it. I thought the police would take care of this, but they don’t even want to try,” Denzel said.

“Can we tell anyone else? Rangers?”

“Rangers only take care of wild Pokemon going berserk too close to where trainers are. They wouldn’t be able to do anything about this,” He said. He paused for a second. “Maybe we could tell someone. A Gym Leader! All we need is to actually get to Oreburgh or Eterna. Those are the two closest Gyms.”

“Oreburgh is closer,” I said, remembering my time looking at my Poketch map. “Plus, we need to go there anyway, right?”

Denzel grinned as we approached the Pokemon Center. It was time to sign up for the League Circuit.

——

The process was more complicated than I thought it would be. First, I needed to get a full health check-up, including blood tests. Needles were not my forte, but I went through it anyway, relieved that it hadn’t hurt as much as I thought. That relief lasted for about ten minutes before a nurse brought a slew of vaccines I needed to take to protect myself against diseases. Those ones hurt.

Next, I needed to read through the entire terms of services page. Yes, I actually needed to read it. It essentially said that the League wasn’t responsible for anything that happened to us out in the wild, including death. That sobered me up a little, but I wasn’t going to change my mind. I signed at the end, and they took the form away.

Next, I got into a queue with a bunch of other kids. After a short wait, they took a picture of me. I was a little sad that I couldn’t have any makeup on for it, but at least it had come out really well. I watched as they quickly 3D printed my trainer card. The newest card model has a thin, digital screen that would tell you how many badges you had at all times, along with the amount of Pokedollars on your account— an account that I was forced to open. I put in everything I had, which wasn’t much: a few thousand Pokedollars.

Finally, I was given a Pokedex and taught how it worked. It was considered a trainer’s most important tool, showing you what potential moves your Pokemon could learn and the moves they already knew, along with crucial information about every Pokemon you scanned. It could be the difference between life and death in the wild.

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The entire process took a few hours, but I was glad it was finally over. Being a part of the Circuit came with many advantages. All services at the Pokemon Center became free, and you would get a deposit of ten thousand Pokedollars to start your journey just to equalize the playing field a little. Supplies, food, potions; all of that added up very quickly, and if your parents weren’t able to help you with money, then you would be screwed. The money helped with that.

“Whew! All done!” I said, releasing Togepi.

“Togeprrri?” She said curiously.

“It’s finally done. I signed us up for the Circuit, Togepi! I’m officially a trainer!”

Togepi chirped and hopped around happily, garnering the reaction of many who fawned over how cute she was.

“Alright, princess. Stand still for a sec.”

I opened my Pokedex and scanned her.

Togepi, the spike ball Pokemon. As its energy, Togepi uses the positive emotions of compassion and pleasure exuded by people and Pokémon. This Pokémon stores up feelings of happiness inside its shell, then shares them with others.

Type: Fairy

Moves: Pound, Growl, Sweet Kiss, Rollout, Headbutt (click for more information)

Ability: Hustle (click for more information)

I was surprised by the Pokedex entry, but smiled at the confirmation that she had learned Headbutt.

“So you can share positive feelings, huh?”

“Prrri!”

I thought back to many little events after which I suddenly felt better for no apparent reason like arguments with my dad, missing an important show on T.V. Larger occurrences like what had happened with the Scyther or that Cyrus individual seemed to be too big to affect, however. Maybe she was still trying. Maybe without her, I would have been scarred.

I crouched and caressed her little crown, and she buried her face into my hand. I loved her, and we were going to go places.

“Thanks for taking care of me, princess.”

Our heart-to-heart ended as Denzel appeared in the lobby.

“All done?” He asked.

“Yup.”

“Great! I’m thinking of buying a Poketch with the money they gave me, but then again, I should probably save for actually important things for the journey,” Denzel said, rubbing his chin.

“Since you’re tight on money, I wouldn’t. You can use the Pokemon Center phones to call your parents— but I’m not trying to influence your decision, or whatever.”

“I’ll see when we get to Jubilife. Did you check out how awesome the Pokedex is, by the way? I just discovered that Eevee could have used Baby Doll Eyes the entire time, and that little bugger didn’t even try to tell me or anything.”

“Yeah, it’s awesome. Way more in-depth than I thought it’d be,” I replied.

“Anyway, before we set off for Jubilife, I believe you owe me a battle,” Denzel smiled.

I chortled. “I almost forgot. Let’s get to it then.”

——

I stood in one of the few battle arenas that littered Sandgem town. It was a rather small one, with a simple Pokeball design at its center. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and released Togepi. We hadn’t worked on any strategy, but I trusted myself and her to make the right decisions.

Denzel released Eevee and I watched as a large screen at the side of the arena counted down with a robotic voice.

“Three, two, one, begin!”

“Eevee, get closer with Quick Attack!” Denzel yelled.

“Don’t panic! Growl when he’s in range!”

Eevee began to glow white and became a blur. In just a few seconds, he crossed the entire length of the arena, and suddenly turned and began circling Togepi.

Togepi was struggling to keep up. I bit the inside of my lip. “Concentrate, Togepi!”

“Go!” Denzel yelled.

Eevee stopped, and used its hind leg to gain another burst of speed, barreling toward Togepi. He hit her side, but not before she got a Growl out, lowering the damage dealt.

I hid a wince as she got hit. “Shake it off! Use Sweet Kiss before he gets away!”

A pink heart escaped from her lips and drifted toward Eevee.

“Dodge—”

“Start rolling out! Block off his escape!”

Togepi collapsed into a ball and rolled toward Eevee, who chose to get hit by the confusing attack rather than take a rollout to the face.

“Great! Now keep gathering speed and then hit him with everything!” I yelled.

“Eevee! Eevee, snap out of it!”

Togepi rolled faster and faster and then hit her opponent, sending him flying.

Alright, keep the initiative, I thought.

“Keep it going! Follow him!”

“Quick Attack out of the way! Growl if you can’t!” Denzel said.

The Eevee landed on its feet and barely got out of the way. Togepi wasn’t able to stop and hit the wall.

“Hit her while she’s down!” He screamed.

“Don’t let him hit you without getting out unscathed! Pound!”

The two Pokemon both hit each other and brawled for a few seconds without using any particular moves.

I have to end it now. Togepi’s younger and getting tired.

“Alright, princess! Hit him with another Sweet Kiss!”

Sweet Kiss would get less and less effective the more it was used on one Pokemon, but we just needed a few seconds.

Another pink heart flew toward Eevee, who couldn’t dodge because of his proximity.

“Now, Headbutt!” I said.

Togepi ran as fast as she could on her two little legs and jumped at the last moment, aiming her crown toward her opponent. She hit him and hit him hard, but he still stood, and this time he was no longer confused. Denzel ordered another Quick Attack and that was that. Togepi was out for the count.

My shoulders sagged, and I hung my head. My first defeat in battle stung, but the words of my father echoed in my head.

“To be successful in life, you’ve got to be unafraid of failure.”

I hadn’t even realized it, but I was out of breath and sweating. I wasn’t even the one that had been fighting! This hadn’t happened in any of my previous battles.

“You were great, Togepi,” I told her as I recalled her. “Let’s get you healed up.”

Denzel finished celebrating with his Eevee and came to shake my hand.

“That was a great battle— wait, stop, you don’t have to give me money. Arceus, it was just a battle between friends,” He clarified as I searched through my backpack.

“Thank you,” I said.

“It was really close. It’s the first time Eevee had to work that hard for a win, and Togepi’s still a baby.”

“You went easy on me,” I accused him. “You didn’t use Baby Doll Eyes, which is faster than Growl. Plus, this wasn’t really the best terrain, because you couldn’t use Sand Attack, and—”

“I was going one hundred percent the entire time, I swear. I just panicked a little bit after that Sweet Kiss. That combo with rollout is nasty.”

“It’s pretty good,” I acquiesced. “But I’ve got to get better if I want to get past the first badge.”

“As do I. Now let’s get to a Center.”