Underneath a cloudy sky, Pranav and his brother found themselves in a small valley clearing, trees lined the side of a path which wound into downward sloping hills that connected to a building in the far distance. The ground, which before was grassy and somewhat soft, began to give way to hardened stone.
“Hey! You two Pokémon trainers?”
Pranav regarded the speaker with an easy gaze, feeling a spike of suspicion that coursed through him which he quickly suppressed. "Not the old world." He chided himself, "Best let yourself stay a little friendly."
“Hey friend! Na we’re just travellers, been on the road for a while though.”
The stranger, which Pranav guessed was either an older teen or a very young adult, wore what was recognizable as the classic Pokémon jogger outfit. Wearing a blue Tank-top with orange shorts paired with black trainers to complete the set, the young man raised a confused eye-brow.
“Really?” He asked “That’s Route 215 back there, lot’s of pretty strong Pokémon that don’t really like being intruded upon. I mean if your Pokémon are injured we don’t have to battle, it’s cool, guys.”
“Woah hey, we wouldn’t lie to a friendly stranger” Pranav replied, spreading his arms wide “See? Not a Pokéball in sight. We’re not exactly from here, and we don’t really know the lay of the land too much, but we’re pretty good out in the wilds, just a little lost.”
“Oh,” The jogger replied, his features getting more relaxed, “Name’s Scott, by the way, and you guys are?”
“Pranav, this is my brother, Arun.” Arun nodded with a smile, but made no further comment.
“Fancy names you got there, you two aren’t from this region then are you?”
“What gave it away?” Pranav grinned, causing Scott to chuckle
“You guys look like you’ve been on the road for a while, I can lead you to Veilstone if you want, just down that pathway.” He said, pointing down the road to where the squat building stood. “It gets a little rainy around here often, so we best get moving unless you guys are into that natural shower thing.”
Pranav and Arun exchanged a look, and Pranav slung an arm around Scott’s shoulder, “Brother, I think you’re the first stroke of good luck we’ve had since we got here.”
Scott beamed and they began walking “I mean it’s no problem, not everyday I get to meet foreigners, you know? So where are you from?”
“Where? Ah…” Pranav stopped himself from saying the first region that popped into his mind, he enjoyed Pokémon, but he never really kept up after Sinnoh, was there a region that even had brown complexion?
“Unova.” Arun said, Pranav shooting him an appreciative glance, Arun strolled to Scott’s free side, keeping his stride strong, but friendly. “Lots of farms and whatnot outside the cities, and if you go north there’s a lot of forests too. Dad used to take us out camping there.”
Pranav wondered how much of that was actually true, but the answer seemed to appease Scott, “Oh Unova!” He exclaimed “Yea they’ve got some really cool stuff going on over there! And those Dragons, man what I’d do for one of those.”
“You said it.”
“So how’d you get here of all places?”
“A bit of bad luck,” Arun said, before considering “Or good, depending on how you look at it. Not something we’d like to get into right now, I’m sure you understand.”
“Oh…Oh of course! I didn’t mean to impose.”
“Don’t worry too much Scott,” Pranav chuckled, patting him on the back “We’re grateful for your help man, seriously.”
Scott smiled sheepishly, “I don’t know how Pokémon Centres work down in Unova, but if you don’t have a place to stay there are rooms they let travellers stay in, just need to talk to the Joy down at the front desk. But you know, if you’re uncomfortable with that, my brothers are out for College, so you can room at my place if needed.
That made Pranav pause, “You…you’d let strangers into your house, just like that?” He asked, a little confused, yet curious.
“Well I mean, yea sure. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind, think she’d rather enjoy the company, actually. Dunno how it is in Unova but Sinnoh take care of their own.”
“Thanks Scott.” His brother said with a slight smile “But the Centre is perfect.”
“No problem, we’re almost there anyways.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
At this point, they had entered into the squat building, a lone employee idling on some device to the side, appearing bored until the sudden arrival of the newcomers.
“Oh, hi Scott!” She said, giving a professional smile
“Hey Dorothy, how’s work?”
“Same old, mostly standing around and doing nothing, and who are these two?”
"This is Pranav, and that's Arun."
“We’re Travelers, From Unova.” Arun said
“With a desperate need of a shower, shave, and haircut.” Pranav added
“I’m taking them down to the Pokémon Centre to get them situated, enjoy your shift, Dorothy.”
“Oh I’m trying.” she said as they walked away.
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Veilstone city was by and large, beautiful to behold. Of course there was the novelty of it being an actual Pokémon town he could recognize, but the sheer artistry of it all took Pranav’s breath away. Houses and buildings were built atop mountains that had been shaped with various roads and stairs, every one of them depicting carved patterns pleasing to the eye. Pranav didn’t remember much of his Veilstone playthrough, but he was certain it wasn’t this large. It felt as if everything was expanded tenfold, the docks spanned as far as he could see, entire neighborhood districts, schools and resort buildings, it was just…big.
They got more than a fair share of curious glances as they walked through, but for the most part they were left alone, the occasional “Hi Scott! Who are your new friends?” from those that recognized their companion. The brothers put on their best smiles, making small-talk and joking with the locals before resuming their walk, and Pranav would re-admire the city around them.
Eventually the two spotted it, a distinctly orange building that seemed to shine despite the lack of sunlight, a white pokeball symbol marked the front of the building, branding it as one of the most iconic locations in any Pokémon game.
“Holy shit…” Pranav murmured, nudging his brother “Look at that, it’s real.”
“If the Pokémon weren’t a sign…” Arun responded “Then this has to cement it, we’re really here.”
Scott gave them both a confused look “Guys…it’s a Centre. There’s like a million of them.”
Pranav waved him off, “You wouldn’t get it, come on! Take us inside.”
The interior was almost exactly the same as the game, Orange walls and a yellow floor making for a surprisingly cozy hospital. To the left there, a series of escalators led up to a closed door with a plus symbol marked at the head, which Pranav assumed was the actual hospital side of the building, while to the right was a long hallway with closed doors. By the front desk, a pretty woman with pink hair styled in braids was busy writing something down into a notebook, not yet noticing them. Pranav noted that the iconic healing machine was not there, though there was a backdoor that was marked ‘employee’s only’.
“Hey Nurse!” Scott said with a smile
“Hm? Oh, Scott!” She said looking up, before frowning, “Did you lose another battle? It’s only been 3 days.”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t assume I lost every time I walked in here.” he stated abashed, a low flush creeping up his cheeks “No I’m here with some travellers. They were a little lost and didn’t know where to go.”
“Foreigners? Wow, you two look like you’ve seen your fair share of travels.”
“If that’s your way of saying we look homeless,” Pranav said with a smile “You’re absolutely correct.”
“Your words, not mine. I was trying to be a little more respectful though.”
“And that’s exactly why you’re my new favourite person.”
She smiled at that “Shall I set up some rooms then? The League circuit isn’t on for another year, so not many travellers come through to Veilstone. That being said unless you’ve got a valid Trainer ID you will have to vacate the rooms if we’re out of space and a trainer does come through.”
Pranav paused, League Circuit? A year? And the trainer ID…how did one get one of those? No, more pressing than that, how would they explain their story? They should have figured that out before leaving the Forest, he cursed internally, they hadn't planned for this at all.
“That’ll be perfect, thank you.” Arun said coolly, snapping Pranav out of his thoughts “And Scott, we appreciate what you did for us, sorry for imposing on you like that.”
“Naw don’t be like that.” Scott replied, giving him two thumbs up “Seriously glad I could help. Joy will help sort out everything else you need, so I’m gonna go back to training. If you see me though, holler, I’d love to hear your guy’s travels when you’re more situated. Later!”
Joy watched him stroll out, smiling as he exited, “He got his first Starly about a couple weeks ago, the two have been training rather seriously. Hmmm, just wish they’d take their injuries more seriously too. Anyways! Would you like two separate rooms? A single with double beds?”
“Actually, nurse.” Arun said, his tone more serious “We’d very much like to explain ourselves a little bit before we continue with this.” He paused, gathering his thoughts, Joy raising an eyebrow at him before he continued, saying “We were originally from Unova…and we aren’t quite certain how we got here.”
“Now that’s a new one. Care to explain?”
“We were on the road one night, then next thing we knew, we were stranded out in the middle of a forest, lost and extremely confused.”
“There have been cases of missing persons simply showing up elsewhere…” she murmured “Most of them have the same stories as you do too…did you happen to see anything strange before you were gone?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary, no. The whole thing was entirely surreal to us.”
“Hm, I’ll make sure to send a note to the higher ups, any relatives or loved ones we can call?”
“Ah, actually…” Pranav cut in, his eyes softening as he spoke “Our parents passed when we were young.”
“Oh…oh I’m sorry to hear that.”
“No it’s fine, we ah…actually consider it a blessing that we landed in Sinnoh. We got tricked into some shady business, loan shark–I mean, loan sharpedos, owed a lot of money we didn’t have, to people who didn’t care whether we lived or died.”
She said nothing, but placed a hand on his own, giving a look so full of empathy Pranav felt guilty for lying to her. Ah well, he figured their own story was a little sadder than that, and now they had something to tell others.
“We’d like to start fresh,” His brother said solemnly “Live right. Being Pokémon trainers was a massive dream for us, but we’ll work other jobs first to build some stability. Is there anything you can do?’
Joy frowned at that, thinking for a few moments “I’d have to contact the league about issuing IDs for the two of you, it generally helps if you already have a Pokémon. Do you…?” She trailed.
“Nothing, just the clothes on our back, Nurse.”
She winced, a mixture of emotions moving through her face, before setting on something akin to determination. “All right, I’ll contact the league, ensure your case is at least heard. I’ll also make sure you can get some sort of work, nothing big but enough to put food on your plates.”
Arun smiled, “That’s more than enough, thank you.”
“So, what will you do now?”
“Oh man…honestly? I think a nice shower and a shave for now.”
“You guys do hot water, right?” Pranav asked, looking hopeful
“Obviously.” Joy smirked “and it stays hot too, League funded boiler.”
“Dear god,” Tears formed in his eyes “I missed civilization so much.”