Unfortunately, Nina’s little outing with Beverly was going to be the last break day she’ll have in quite some time. Because the Cerulean Gym was going to be busy again for the holidays.

Every year, the Gym would celebrate the consecutive two week holiday period around the new year with all sorts of events and festivities. The highlight of which was the annual Cerulean on Ice performance that would be held during the last few days of Golden Week.

It was a very popular event that attracted loads of visitors to the City. Tickets sold out almost as soon as they went on sale, with scalpers reselling copies for over ten times the price sometimes. Another problem that the Pokemon world had in common with Miles’s world.

Naturally, since Nina was off school during this period, she was expected to help out, with pay of course. But yet again, she felt immense regret at her greed, because Nina was currently trotting around with her face frowned like a Snubbull.

One of the Gym Trainers had gone on vacation to Alola this year and thought it’d be a bright idea to dress her up like a Popplio because of how cute they were. “Cute just like our Nina,” she said.

The result was that Nina was now dressed in the equivalent of a hybrid clown and ballerina costume. Complete with the silly red nose and everything. Needless to say, she was quite indignant. Though Tini had quite the fun time booping Nina’s big red nose, enamored by the squishy noises it made everytime it was compressed.

Meanwhile, Beverly, who fought to be in a cool looking Buizel costume instead, was laughing her ass off at Nina’s misfortune. “Hahaha… Oh Arceus, I can’t breathe…” She wheezed. “Cheer up Nina, you look adorable. I’m sure Tini agrees. Right, Tini?”

The older girl’s assurance would have sounded much more convincing had she not been struggling to hold back her laughter. While Nina’s partner just kept booping her nose with a “Tiin~”

As it stands, they were just in winter break and Golden Week hasn’t started yet. Most of the guests coming to the Cerulean Gym at this time were mostly kids on break who were visiting with their parents or as part of a school trip.

So Nina and Beverly’s job would be quite simple. While their Pokemon were training hard for their respective performances, the two apprentices will be acting as staff in the aquarium; assisting the adults during their lectures and demonstrations, answering questions for wayward guests, and entertaining the children that came to visit.

“Urgh, just what I need. Dealing with unruly kids. I know I’m technically a kid right now but I have an adult mind dammit!”

“Hey, Nina! What’s up?”

Nina’s self loathing was interrupted by the call of a familiar voice, making her want to bury her head in sand.

The girl tried her best to muster up a smile to maintain her professionalism. “Hey Charlie. Hey Bobby. And how’s it going, Nobita? Fancy seeing the three of you here.” She greeted the three boys who came up to her.

“Yeah, I joined the beginner’s tournament. We came a bit early so I thought I’d come by to say hi,” replied Charlie.

“Right, that was a thing that was happening,” recalled Nina.

The Gym was hosting a tournament today for new trainers that just got their own Pokemon. So unlike the Little League, no loaners would be provided. And the whole thing was overall less formal due to the large number of people involved. Every kid that just got their starter would be eager to test them out after all.

Nina sighed. “So this motherfucker knew I was working here today and wanted to come and humiliate me.”

As if sensing the girl’s displeasure at her current appearance, Nobita spoke up next. “I think you look really cute today, Nina. That dress looks pretty on you,” he said, with an awkward smile.

Nina recognised the shy boy’s attempt to cheer her up and returned it with a smile of her own. As was the case in her old world, introverts tend to be the most perceptive of people.

Charlie glared at his friend and tried to follow up with an awkward compliment of his own, making Nina giggle at the absurdity of the situation. “I can see now why some girls were so toxic in my past life. It's easy to get a big head with all this attention.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Nina felt a jab to her side and turned to see Beverly who was wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. Nina couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

“Anyways, let me introduce my friends,” chimed Nina, desperate to divert the conversation. “This here is Beverly. She’s a senior apprentice in the Gym. Beverly, this is Bobby, Charlie and Nobita.”

The two sides greeted each other and moved on to more superficial topics.

“So Bobby,” began Nina. “Did you get your starter yet? You mom said she’d get you one right?”

At the mention of his starter, Bobby’s two friends began snickering. While the boy himself just sighed and slumped his shoulder in sadness.

“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” Asked the confused Nina.

Charlie, barely containing his laughter, chimed in. “Nope, you didn’t say anything wrong Nina… Go on Bobby, why don’t you tell Nina what your mom got you.”

The chubby boy glared at his friends and let out another long sigh. “My mom got me a… Shuckle.”

The two boys finally broke out into laughter, as if hearing the funniest punchline of their life. Joining them was Beverly who was also keeled over in laughter. The inclusion of the pretty looking girl in his teasing must have really demoralized him, because Bobby's eyes began to water as he looked at the floor.

“It’s okay, B” assured Nina. “Shuckles might not be the most combative Pokemon, but they’re actually some of the more valuable domestic Pokemon. Shuckle eggs are so rare that a single one can cost up to six figures. An older, well seasoned Shuckle might even cost more than a Dragonite. Your mom must have loved you very much to go through so much effort to obtain one for you.”

And Nina’s words weren’t platitudes either. Shuckle’s were highly valued for their ability to store and ferment Berries in their cavities. The Shuckle juice industry was a big deal in the Pokemon world.

It was basically their equivalent of wine, complete with their own brand of snooty connoisseurs and vintage collectors. Nina had a feeling that Bobby would become a very rich man if he made good use of his Shuckle. Even more so if he manages to get his hands on a Ditto.

Bobby’s expression seemed to brighten up a little as he looked at Nina with bright Growlithe eyes. Meanwhile the other three kids were mouth agape at the mention of how expensive Shuckles were.

“I’m sure your mom probably has her own plans. But I’d suggest you get started on brewing with your Shuckle soon,” advised Nina. “There’s actually a niche market out there for small batch Shuckle juices, something about the taste being more intimate or some nonsense. So feel free to experiment, knowing that you’ll always be able to make money.”

Nina had researched Shuckles in the past when she was still dreaming about what Pokemon to catch. Shuckles naturally came up for their earning potential, though she swiftly gave up on them once she learned how rare they were.

Bobby’s eyes lit up like a Charizard’s tail. Nina could practically feel the passion that he had just ignited in the boy. The master brewer in the making grabbed hold of Nina’s hand and shook it profusely. “Thanks, Nina.” He said. “I won’t let you down. Once I nail my own formula, the first bottle of my Shuckle juice is going to you.”

Nina was about to say that the first tribute should go towards Bobby’s mom when she was interrupted by another excited voice.

“Look, it’s the Aquarium Girl!”

Nina turned her head towards the commotion only to see a little girl pointing her finger at her. Nina looked behind her to see if there was anything interesting, only to see the wall. And when she turned around again, she found all of her friends were looking at her.

“What? What’s going on?” She asked.

“Aren’t you gonna go greet your fan?” Asked Beverly in return.

Nina tilted her head in confusion. “My fan? Since when do Gym apprentices get fans?”

This time it was Charlie’s turn to be confused. “Wait, are you telling me you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“You went viral, Nins,” answered Beverly. “Remember when you went and had lunch with Luna, Tini and Milotic? People saw you and took pictures. You looked so cute that it went all over the Pokenet. Thanks to you, our aquarium ticket sales have blown up, Violet was drooling over how much money we made.”

Violet was the most notorious gold digger among the Cerulean Sisters. She was also the one who usually handled the commercial side of the Gym.

At this point Nina was eyes wide in shock. But Beverly just kept going.

“And those ugly rubber boots of yours? We started selling them in the gift shop.” That was the final push to send Nina’s mind spiraling in despair.

“Wait… Is that why the adults kept trying to encourage me to eat with Tini?” Nina had thought that they just wanted her out of the way so that they could talk amongst themselves without the need to censor their words.

“Yeap, it’s a good thing that you said no sometimes. Makes it seem more legit, like it's just a thing that the cute little girl likes to do and not something we staged on purpose. People would buy tickets and come in during lunchtime just so they can get a chance to eat with you on the other side of the glass. We even had to install benches there for them.”

“Yeap,” chimed Bobby. “Charlie here got in trouble with Kumiko cause he spent all his allowance on aquarium tickets—”

Before the chubby boy could continue talking, his friend jumped at him and began shaking him back and forth to shut him up. But despite the rough treatment, Bobby had a smirk on his face, likely feeling satisfied for being able to exact revenge for his bullying earlier.

Nina laughed, but froze once she noticed the gaggle of children that have now gathered nearby to stare at her. “Calm down, Nina. Gotta remain professional here.” She held back a sigh and put on the brightest smile she could before turning towards her audience.

“Hello everyone!” Chirped Nina. “Welcome to the Cerulean Aquarium, does anyone here have any questions to ask?”

The girl who was the first to call her out raised her hand. “Can I get a picture with you?” She asked.

Nina’s eyes twitched, but she ultimately conceded. And that was how the little reception booth that was set up in the apprentices’ corner of the aquarium became an impromptu photo booth instead.

What was even more vexing was how quickly the adults around Nina adapted once they identified another great money making opportunity. The next day, they relocated Nina to a more convenient spot with a green screen and a new booth to begin charging money for pictures with their newest mascot.

Nina was grumbling the whole time, but ultimately sucked it up and played along when Violet agreed to share a cut of the profits, once more succumbing to her greed.

“Also, why is Patrick there standing in line?! I’m his daughter, he can get a picture with me any time he wants!”