It was Crunchtober again. And Nina was ashamed to admit that she felt a sadistic glee in watching the twins run around like headless Torchics at the increased workload. And it wasn’t even that bad, since both she and Beverly were around to help this time around.

“So you’re not going to be taking part in the conference this year then?” Nina asked her senior apprentice.

“Nope. What am I? A firecracker?! Half of my team is still green. I’d never hear the end of it if I lost in the prelims”

Nina nodded in understanding. Gym badges had a two year validity for a reason. This wasn’t an anime or a game. Pokemon need time to grow, and you can’t reasonably expect a newbie trainer to scrounge up a conference worthy team in just a few months.

Most ‘firecrackers’, as Beverly called them, do try though. There was this weird prestige surrounding first year conference participants. But most of them get their asses handed to them in the preliminaries, failing to even step into the main stadium arena. Their career as trainers fizzled out as quickly as it was lit, hence firecrackers.

Though to be fair, Nina’s Uncle Ali was a firecracker as well and he went on to compete in conferences all around the world, so tenacity does play a big part.

For Gym Trainers like Beverly, the true challenge lies in trying to obtain a Gym badge at intermediate difficulty and above. Unlike Star badges, trainers who completed a Gym at a higher difficulty did not receive a visibly different badge. But it does reflect on their trainer record. And for them, being awarded a badge after beating a Leader on ‘baby mode’ was the equivalent of getting a participation prize in school — as Beverly phrased it, “it was embarrassing.”

“It’s a shame they won’t let you do the screening battles though. It’d be good practice, and you’d be more help in the arena anyway,” mused Nina.

Beverly rolled your eyes. “Nah, those bitches wouldn’t let me. Something about conflict of interests blah blah blah…” she whined as she reached into the shallow pool and lifted up a Starmie to be examined.

The two senior apprentices were currently double checking the Pokemon that were transferred back to them from the Pokemon Center to make sure they were actually battle ready. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust the nurses, but even the Joys were only human after all. With how frantic October was, it was easy for some mistakes to be made and Pokemon to slip through the cracks.

There were even a few instances where the Pokemon Center accidentally gave them Pokemon that didn’t belong to the Gym.

“Did you end up catching a Finizen by the way? That’s one of the main reasons why you stuck to Cinnabar for the past few months right?” Asked Nina.

Cinnabar Island, being that it was an island, was ideal for training Water Pokemon. It was also one of the few places in Kanto-Johto where one can hope to regularly encounter extra-regional Pokemon. And according to Beverly, there was a seasonal migration of the Palafin line that was due to occur during her time there.

Beverly sighed. “Nah, you have any idea how fast those damned fish were? Even Luna had trouble keeping up. And when we did catch up, those assholes just kept bouncing us around like we’re volleyballs or something.”

Nina laughed out loud at her friend’s ordeal. It seemed that the dolphin Pokemon were equally as playful and mischievous as their animal counterparts.

“When are you gonna join me, Nins? I’m all alone out there…” Beverly whined, eyes all wide and sparkly in her plea.

Nina sighed. Despite Beverly looking like an outgoing and peppy sort of gal, she was actually hopeless when it came to socializing outside of the Gym.

“I don’t know Bev. There’s still a little over a year to go before I’m ten. And even then I’m partial to enrolling in trainer school instead of going straight on a journey.”

Beverly pouted. “But why though? Didn’t you say you wanted to be an explorer? School’s boring! It’s the opposite of exploring.”

“Because once you pass a certain age, you can’t enroll anymore. I’m curious about what trainer school is like. Besides, trainer school students are entitled to a two year sabbatical that they can use at any time to journey before coming back to study.”

If Nina ever got bored, she could just leave on a journey and come back if she felt like it. If not, then no harm done. Graduation wasn’t strictly necessary. With her credentials, Nina could enroll into any University she wants without a school diploma. With such lax standards, it really is a wonder how this world’s academia is able to advance at all.

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“Besides,” continued Nina. “If I do go on a journey, the first leg will definitely be Kanto and the Indigo Circuit. It’d be kind of embarrassing if I skipped my home region and went straight to a foreign one right away, no? Wouldn’t you be bored just tagging along instead of venturing elsewhere?”

Beverly continued pouting, but didn’t respond because she knew that Nina was right. “Then how about in the future?” She asked. “You’ve always talked about going to Hoenn right? We can go together!”

Nina nodded. Emerald was her favorite among all the Pokemon games and she did want to explore the ruins containing the Legendary Regis. Also, the Sky Pillar if she could even get in. Plus Pacifidlog Town looked absolutely stunning in all the pictures that Nina's seen of it. Not to mention the Draconid tribe and their Dragon sanctuary. Hoenn was truly the best region in Nina’s mind.

“Sure. After I’m done with Kanto, we can go together to Hoenn,” she promised. “Although, I would like to take the long way around, maybe pass by Johto on the way there. I think that would be nice,” said Nina.

Beverly squealed and pulled her best friend into a hug. “Awesome! It’s a promise! It’ll be two besties versus the world. Maybe we can even join the Contest circuit as a duo. The Mermaid Sisters: Grand Coordinators Extraordinaire. It’s gonna be great! I can’t wait!”

***

“You did what?!” Yelled Misty.

Both Beverly and Nina were now sitting in seiza in front of four very angry Cerulean Sisters. In truth, Nina did not know why she got roped into this, since it was entirely Beverly’s own blunder.

“Ryu was swimming all alone in that little pond… I felt bad for him,” explained the dejected Beverly. “I wasn’t planning on evolving him at first, but he worked really hard! He would join in when everyone else was training. And then when he won his first battle… Well, it kind of just happened.”

Misty rolled her eyes. “You named a Magikarp Ryu and you seriously want me to believe that you had no intentions of evolving it? We had one rule, Bev. One rule! No Gyarados! Was it really that hard to follow?!” Misty then turned towards Nina. “And you! I thought you were the good one, Nina. How long have you known about this?”

Nina stuttered and looked up at Misty with big round eyes. “W-well Bev’s been calling me a lot… And I knew she caught a Magikarp, but I didn’t know she evolved it… Actually, Bev. How are you even able to feed him? Pretty sure your allowance can’t cover a Gyarados’s diet. And I have not seen you let him out at all since your return.”

Beverly shrunk as all eyes suddenly focused back on her. She laughed sheepishly at Nina’s question. “Well… I was working in a bar while I was in Cinnabar. The owner’s real nice, pays me well and lets me come in late and stuff. But ever since I came back I’ve mostly just kept Ryu in full stasis.”

Nina gaped at Beverly’s statement. Every Pokeball had a full stasis mode, which as the name suggests, puts the Pokemon contained within into complete stasis. It was basically like a timeskip for Pokemon, where they lose awareness of their surroundings and all their bodily functions are put on hold until the stasis expires. Meaning they won’t feel hunger or anything.

It was very useful in emergencies, but it was also a feature that severely drains a Pokeball’s power and would automatically cancel after a day or so depending on the Pokemon affected. Afterwhich, one needed to go to a Pokemon Center to have the Ball recharged and the Pokemon checked on for any abnormalities.

“How are the nurses not mad at you for that?!” Asked the disbelieving Nina. It was exceedingly rare for a trainer to need to continuously activate full stasis like this.

Beverly averted her gaze as she nervously scratched the back of her head. “Cause I’ve been going to different PokeCenters every day. Then at night I would sneak out and feed Ryu. It kinda helped to reduce the number of feeds. And the nurses were mad,” she added. “Cause you know? They can see the logs and all that. But they just look at me all stern-like without saying much. Probably thought it was a Gym thing?”

Misty practically drilled holes into Beverly with how intensely she was glaring at her. “Beverly Mizuhana!” She called, causing the girl in question to straighten her spine almost immediately. “I have half a mind to expel you right now if it weren’t for the fact that I’d feel bad for your Pokemon. Does Aunt Chelsea know about this?”

Beverly shook her head and said that she hasn’t told her mom yet.

Lily sighed, “Bev, do you know why we don’t let you catch Gyarados?”

Beverly nodded, all teary eyed. “Cause the Gym doesn’t have anywhere to keep them. And there’s always tourists around as well, so the League mandated that any Gyarados have to be kept in an enclosure far away from this place to avoid any potential casualties from them going berserk,” Answered the apprentice, in a fairly textbook perfect response.

“But that’s why I never sent Ryu back! And I don’t plan to either, I’ll keep him in my team no matter what, so you guys won’t be burdened.” Beverly pleaded.

Lily bent down and ruffled her cousin’s head in a forceful manner. “It’s not just that, you silly Psyduck. Look at you. Your hair’s a mess and your skin is all sun damaged. You haven’t been taking care of yourself at all have you?”

Now that Nina had a good look at her friend, she realized that Lily was right. Despite always lecturing Nina about the importance of beauty and skincare and stuff, Beverly had very obviously let herself go over the past year or so. At first, Nina had thought that it was because she was spending so much more time at sea in Cinnabar Island, but apparently, that was only part of the truth.

“Bev, don’t tell me you’re too broke to afford cosmetics?” Nina asked. “You’ve been spending every penny you earned on all your Pokemon, haven’t you?” Beverly nodded, tears streaming down her face at this point.

Nina swooned and pulled her friend in for a hug. “Oh Bev… You really are a silly Psyduck.” If there was one unquestionable thing about Beverly’s character, it was her intense love of Pokemon. It was also what Nina loved the most about her friend.

Lily glanced towards Misty, and the youngest Cerulean Sister gave a helpless sigh in return. “Fine, I’ll give a call to the old man. He’s been living large over at Alola with all the money we’ve been making. It’s only fair that he finally put in some work.”

Beverly glanced fearfully at her cousins. “You’re not going to take Ryu away are you?!”

Lily joined Nina in hugging Beverly, her tone noticeably softening. “Don’t worry, you’re family, and we don’t abandon family. Misty’s just going to contact our dad and get him to prepare a space for your Gyarados. You can send him there if you need to store him.”

“Really?” Beverly sniffled.

“Yes, despite what you may think. We don’t have anything against Gyarados. It’s all just practical concerns and League nonsense. It’s good that you know why we have our rules, but it’s still not okay that you broke them. We’ll punish you at another time, but your Pokemon is innocent in the matter.”

Beverly buried herself in Lily’s bosom and began crying in relief. The other Cerulean Sisters also softened their expression and joined in on the cuddle.

Meanwhile Nina was stuck in the middle, gasping for breath from being suffocated on all sides.