Our arrival at Jubilife City was thankfully much quieter than it had been for Oreburgh, and the lack of any kind of fanfare or excitement was a refreshing change of pace.

We had taken the Oreburgh Gate and Route 203 to reach Jubilife, which had been a relaxing journey after the excitement of the Wayward Cave. I had been pretty anxious about going into another cave system in the form of the Oreburgh Gate, but thankfully some of the local hikers had pointed out a longer path that went around the outside of the tunnel.

Despite that initial bit of reluctance, it had been a thrill to wander down Route 203 and explore what I had seen in the games. Of course it was much, much larger than it had been in the DS, taking five days instead of five minutes. I even took some time to go scrounging for the items that I could remember were placed on the map: an extra Poké Ball, a Repel, and an X Defend. Countless playthroughs of Platinum had burned their locations into my mind, but unfortunately there were no handy items just lying about for us to pick up.

Reality had struck again.

Besides, I didn’t have one of those fancy Silph Co. bags of holding that would have let me carry an entire pharmacy’s worth of items. I really did need to find a way to make some money so I could pick one of those up.

Venus and Zetian hadn’t done much during the journey from Oreburgh City, much to their discontent. I had enforced the nurse’s “no strenuous activity” rule, which meant no training. That hadn’t been received well, but I had been planning for that. My Pokémon were obviously fired up after recovering from the battle, and I could tell that they wanted to get stronger so that nothing like the encounter with the Steelix could happen again.

Thankfully I had managed to head most of that off by reminding them that if they didn’t rest, they couldn’t heal and feel better enough to train in the first place.

It still hadn’t been popular, but my companions were smart enough to know that pushing the envelope while injured wasn’t the best way to get stronger.

Even more of my anxieties regarding battling had been burned off by their attitudes during the trip and their recovery. If they could walk off the injuries they had gotten from the battle with the Steelix, albeit with a little bit of help, a normal Pokémon battle with another Trainer wasn’t something to really be worried about. Pokémon weren’t fragile pieces of glass, even if sometimes I had to remind myself of that fact.

So we had a nice, relaxing week to get to the largest city in Sinnoh, but the sight of it had taken my breath away as we had crested the last hill off of Route 203.

Sandgem had been a quaint, semi-rural town that was really only notable because Professor Rowan had his lab there. I didn’t exactly have a place to call home on this world, but if anywhere came close, it would be Sandgem.

Oreburgh had been an impressive display of the integration between industry and nature, but had also been rather focused on its coal mine, with most of the city revolving around the mine and shipping the coal out to the rest of Sinnoh.

But Jubilife? Jubilife was the first city that I had seen in over two months since dropping into the world of Pokémon.

It was nowhere near the size of the largest cities back on Earth, certainly not a New York City, Tokyo, or a Paris, and definitely not the massive urban sprawl of someplace like Mexico City, Delhi, or Shanghai. But it was still impressively large, with an impressive city center and plenty of outlying suburbs that took up a fairly decent footprint on the land. There were also several skyscrapers in the city, and even from a distance I could see bird Pokémon flying around their gleaming steel and glass surfaces.

Despite its size and urbanization, Jubilife still adhered to the respect for nature that I had seen in Oreburgh and Sandgem. There were parks on seemingly every block, and instead of bulldozing the hills in the suburbs, all of the houses instead had adapted to the landscape. The suburbs themselves were also uniquely Japanese, looking more like connected, overgrown villages rather than the soulless copy-paste American suburbs I had grown up with.

Venus and Zetian were absolutely gobsmacked by the sheer size and scope of Jubilife City, despite having been somewhat accustomed to cities back in Oreburgh. The two locations were simply incomparable in terms of scale.

What was the most surprising to me as we began walking through the city itself however was the traffic, or rather, the lack of it.

I had grown up near Boston, and had been to New York enough times to be accustomed to the traffic in both cities. Endless lines, continual honking, and too many frustrated and annoyed people. Every city tried to combat the problem in one way or another, and Jubilife’s was probably the best solution I had seen. They simply didn’t have traffic.

That wasn’t to say there were no vehicles on the roads, there were. No city could live without a constant stream of supplies and people coming in and out of it. There were plenty of trucks on the roads, both large and small, but there were barely any actual cars. Instead all of Jubilife seemed to be served by a massive public transport system, and I could see buses and street trolleys stopping regularly. And those were the ground-based transport systems, every so often there were taxi stands with bored looking Staraptors or other bird-like Pokémon wearing hi-vis vests, standing next to a small metal box with windows and doors.

I saw a man walk up to one of them, talk quietly to the Pokémon, then get in the box and strap himself in. Two of the Staraptors cawed, flew up into the air, then grabbed onto the box - no, the cab - and hauled it into the air, flying off into the distance.

We neared one of the taxi stands, and my mind ran wild with justifications. Jubilife City was a massive place, and while I knew theoretically where to go, I was also tired and in an unfamiliar city. I didn’t have a lot of money to spare, but I had enough.

One of the Staraptors looked over at me as I approached the next taxi cab in line, and chirped out a question.

There was nothing I could have done to keep the smile off of my face, so I didn’t even bother.

I loved this world.

/^\

“Thank you!” I called to the Staraptors who had carried me to the Pokémon Center.

One of the two cabbie Pokémon huffed, while the other preened its feathers. Then a man in a suit and talking into a floating Rotom Phone barged past me, walking up to the taxi and barking out a location while climbing in the cab.

The Staraptors rolled their eyes in unison, but then grabbed the cab and flew off, heading to their next destination. I guess rude fares were the same in every universe.

My flight had been brief but enjoyable, all things considered. A little bit bumpy, considering the updrafts of the city, but that wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t every day where you got to ride in a flying cab, after all. Unless you lived in Jubilife I supposed, but that was besides the point.

Before we had set out from Oreburgh I had sat down and called Professor Rowan, who had told me to meet him in Jubilife City at Pokémon Center 3. I had been impressed that there were three Pokémon Centers in the city, until Rowan had laughed and told me that there were twenty-one in the city itself, with several more serving the outlying suburbs.

I guessed that made a lot of sense, considering how many people and Pokémon were living in the city together. Pokémon Center 3 itself was the size of a large hospital, and there was a steady stream of people and Pokémon coming in and out of the building.

Venus and Zetian had been put in their Poké Balls during the flight according to the taxi’s rules, but despite how much I wanted to bring them back out it was simply too busy, and I was afraid of losing track of them in the mass of people.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The initial awe at Jubilife was starting to fade away, and this was a frustrating reminder of why I didn’t like big cities.

I made my way through the awkward rotating door that every hospital seemed to insist on having and was met with a wall of sound. Dozens of people were milling around, many with their Pokémon out which made the place even more congested. A Tropius emerged in the center of the room with a bellow, only for a veritable herd of security guards to descend on its Trainer, audibly lambasting him for letting such a big Pokémon out without warning.

My head started to pulse as a voice blared over the intercom, drowning out the rest of the hubbub as a doctor was called to the emergency room.

Nurses and doctors hurried back and forth across the tile floor, and while most were regular looking people there were some with the pink hair of the Joy clan, and I even saw a couple of Chansey and Blissey in little nurse aprons.

The sheer amount of people and volume of noise was incredibly overwhelming, and I almost stepped right back out into the street to get some air when I heard my name being called.

It took me a long moment to find who was shouting my name, until I saw a young man jumping up and down, waving his arm in my direction.

“Lucas? What are you doing here?”

The kid smiled and jabbed a thumb into his chest. “I’m sixteen now!”

I blinked. “Congratulations? That’s not really an explanation though.”

“Of course it is! I’m sixteen, so I’m going on my Journey!”

That earned him a confused look. “But… didn’t you already go on a Journey? Wasn’t that what you were doing when we met back at the lab?”

“No, but I can see how that can be confusing!” He threw his head back and laughed, and it was then that I realized how tall he had grown.

Lucas had been fairly tall already when we had met, but he had somehow put on an inch or two in the few months that I had been traveling. The kid must have topped out at nearly five foot eight, and still probably had a couple more inches that he would put on in the coming years.

He would likely have been about my height in my old body, but now he was a good head taller than I was. Which was a little bit frustrating, but I wasn’t going to complain; I was much happier being in this body than the old one anyways, and it was a little refreshing being short.

At least I didn’t have anybody asking how the weather was like.

“Those nine months that I spent traveling were for my research license!”

“That’s different from a Trainer’s License?”

“Oh yeah! There’s a lot that goes into it, but basically now I’m a certified Lab Trainer working for Professor Rowan. Last year I did the research for the lab, but this year I’m going to challenge the gyms!”

After spending the better part of a month in the woods pretty much by myself Lucas was very… loud.

“Well, congratulations. But what are you doing here?”

“Oh right! I’m here with Professor Rowan! He had some business he had to get to, but he asked me to wait here for you. He should be done with his meeting here soon, and said we should meet at this restaurant that’s nearby. Ready?”

“Yes.”

Judging by the way Lucas blinked at my response I was probably being a little over-eager, but I was starting to get seriously overwhelmed by the number of people and Pokémon in the Center.

Even though I had only been inside for less than five minutes, it was a blessed relief to step out onto the street and into the relative quiet. It was still pretty noisy with the sounds of the city, but the fresh air went a long way to easing the headache that had been building up.

Thankfully for my nerves it was a short walk to the restaurant that Professor Rowan had recommended. Lucas continued to ramble on about his life these past couple of months, and how he had spent most of them helping Rowan write a research paper.

I was impressed, I had written research papers before and had found them fun, but difficult. Doing so at sixteen years old was a different story however - I had been in college when I had done mine.

Despite that, I felt a little bad that I couldn’t pay as much attention as Lucas deserved. The city was overwhelming with its sights and sounds, and there was the background buzzing of confusion over what Professor Rowan wanted with me.

The restaurant itself was nice, but not fancy, and I didn’t feel too out of place as we walked in wearing my somewhat tattered purple hoodie and jeans. I definitely needed to get some more clothes soon.

Apparently my timing was good today, as Professor Rowan was just standing up to shake hands with the man he was meeting with.

If I had felt dwarfed by Lucas, the man made me feel like an ant. He was easily six feet tall, with a shock of blonde hair and three Poké Balls on his belt. The man nodded at Lucas and I as we passed, but didn’t stop to exchange any pleasantries.

Then Rowan spotted us and gave us one of his typical severe smiles.

“Ah, Alina, it’s good to see you’re doing well. My apologies for making you wait, how’s Venus?”

“Hi Professor, it’s been rough at points but we’re doing well, thanks for asking. Important meeting?”

Rowan nodded, as if he had been expecting the answer.

“A Lab Trainer working for Professor Birch over in Hoenn. He’s here to investigate some strange rumors of Pokémon, and wanted to get my advice. Nothing you need to worry about so please, sit down and relax. Feel free to order what you’d like, it’s on the lab as a business expense so don’t feel shy. I personally recommend the Klawf Claw Soup. I know the owners of the restaurant, and all of their ingredients are humanely and sustainably farmed.”

We made small talk for a couple minutes as the waiter came to take our order, and I filled Rowan and Lucas in on our adventures in the past month.

By the lack of reaction at some points and the knowing gleam in his eye I got the feeling that Rowan had already heard about some things, like the Combee hive and the battle with the Steelix. Lucas was fascinated however, and asked so many questions that the food had arrived before I had finished with the story.

The soup was incredibly delicious, tasting almost like a New England clam chowder. It was a nice, unintentional reminder of Earth.

“So if you don’t mind me asking,” I said as the waiter finished taking away the dishes. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Ah yes, to business.”

Rowan leaned back and folded his hands over his stomach.

“The main order of business is that, due to extenuating circumstances, I have been given the authority to extend to you an offer of sponsorship.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Sponsorship?”

“Indeed. While I am free to hire as many laboratory assistants as my budget allows, I am beholden to the Regional Pokémon League of Sinnoh to only sponsor up to three Lab Trainers each League season. Young Lucas here is the first I have extended the offer to, thanks to his previous work in helping me with my research.”

“But what have I done?”

Professor Rowan’s eyes cut over to Lucas, who was poorly hiding his interest in the conversation by looking at the dessert menu. It would have been more convincing if the menu hadn’t been upside down.

“It pertains to our last conversation before you left.”

“Ah.”

“Indeed. Let’s just say that the information you provided proved to be accurate and actionable, and things have developed in our favor.”

Now I was really interested in what had happened while I had been camping and out of touch with the news cycle.

“For that and other reasons we can get into later, I’m offering you this sponsorship. It’s basically a method for you to conduct research for the lab while traveling. You will provide regular updates and notes regarding your research, and you will also receive a stipend. You also can, but are not required to, challenge the gyms on your Journey.”

I frowned, trying to simplify the explanation. “So basically I get paid to travel the region and challenge the gyms?”

“Think of it as a reward for providing research information, much of which you have already helped with.”

The emphasis caught me off guard, and it took me a second to catch his meaning. I hadn’t been expecting to be rewarded for telling them about all of the dangers of the world. Honestly I had just wanted to avoid people getting hurt, but I supposed getting paid was pretty nice, all things considered.

“Is it… a lot?”

Rowan smiled sadly. “Unfortunately not. It works out to about three and a half million dollars a year.”

At my dumbfounded expression he continued. “It sounds more impressive than it is. That’s a little less than the average income, but there are some benefits; mainly in that since Lab Trainers are technically government employees, you get taxed at a lesser rate. There’s some other factors too, responsibilities that come with being a Lab Trainer, but they’re all covered in the paperwork which I have around here somewhere…”

Professor Rowan frowned as he looked around the table, as Lucas sighed.

“Professor, your briefcase is on the other chair.”

“What? Oh, so it is. Thank you Lucas, I don’t know how it keeps getting away from me. Here you go.”

He pulled a thick manila folder out of the briefcase and offered it to me.

“It’s a lot to go through, so I don’t expect an answer right away. I would be thrilled to sponsor you, but I understand that sometimes Trainers need to make their own way in the world.”

I didn’t really have to think about it. There was really only one answer I could give right now anyways.

“I accept.”

A silver haired eyebrow rose. “So quickly?”

Shrugging, I opened the folder and started to peruse the papers within. “I don’t really have anything else going on right now, and I was already thinking about challenging the gyms. If I can keep helping you and other people, that’s enough for me.”

I smiled, a bit embarrassed. “Plus I really need the money.”