Chapter Seven - Violet City Blues

"There," Jazz said as she pointed ahead. They were on the outer edges of Violet City now, not that Violet City had much more than edges. The whole city was more like a bunch of little towns connected by short roads. It was all hills and little patches of forest, with maybe some tall grassy spots between them. "See that building with the orange roof?"

Broccoli next to her squinted, bringing a hand up to cover her eyes from the sun. The buneary perched on her head did the same, tilting forwards and covering his eyes with a little paw. "Yup! I see it," she said.

"That's a pokemon centre," Jazz explained. She couldn't believe that she had to explain this at all. Everyone knew what a centre was. "There are a bunch of things in there to help trainers, and normal people too. If your pokemon gets hurt you can bring it in for a check up, or for healing. Most bigger centres have a second floor, or a basement, with like, little rooms that trainers can book day-by-day, so you can have a place to sleep for free."

"Really? So it's like a hospital and a motel all in one?" Broccoli asked.

"And a government office too," Jazz said. "You can transfer pokemon there, and there's usually an office that can help with paperwork. Oh, and there's almost always a free computer to use."

"That's really cool!" Broccoli said. "Is the place beyond the city? It looks... kind of small?"

Jazz shrugged, then went on to explain a bit about Violet City. She really didn't know all that much, having only been here for a couple of months, but she'd picked up some things by osmosis. It was a surprisingly active place. All of those little towns being squeezed in together made for a lot of action. Plus, Violet City had a few attractions. The gym, for one, and one of the biggest League schools in Johto, as well as the Sprout Tower, which she pointed out in the distance.

They were almost done with Route 32 when Broccoli and Jazz both paused. There was a fight going on off to the side of the road. "Wanna watch?" Jazz asked.

"Uh, sure?" Broccoli said.

Jazz grinned and jogged over. It looked like they were just starting off. Two kids in t-shirts and shorts, with scraped up knees and baseball caps. They looked like they were twelve, maybe thirteen. It was possible that they'd started their journey already, but she suspected that they might just be some local brats.

Local brats that might be better trainers than her.

Jazz concentrated, pushing away the poison in her gut at the thought. "Broccoli had caught up easily. The bunny-eared girl wasn't even breathing hard from the jog.

"What are they doing?" Broccoli asked.

"It's a pokemon battle," Jazz said. "Lefty over there has a rattata, Righty has a wooper. Wooper are alright for Water-types. They get a couple of Poison-type moves. The Paldean wooper is actually considered a Poison- and Ground-type pokemon!"

"I don't recognize either, sorry," Broccoli said.

"Rattata are a common rat-like pokemon," Jazz said. "They actually make for okay pets, I've heard. Wooper are less common, but not exactly rare." She nodded to the wooper, who was a top-heavy, bright blue little pokemon with a goofy smile.

Lefty glanced their way real quick, but then narrowed his eyes and refocused on the match. He reached up and twisted his cap around. "Alright Rattata! Tackle!"

"Rat!" his rattata said before charging across the field.

"Wooper! Use Earthquake!" Righty said.

The wooper tilted its head way off to one side. "Woop?"

Then the rattata rammed into his stomach, sending the little blue pokemon flying back. "You idiot!" Lefty shouted. "Wooper doesn't know Earthquake!"

"Not yet," Righty said. "But he does know Take Down!"

The wooper's eyes glowed, then its entire body glowed with a faint whitish light. The pokemon shot towards the rattata who was still shaking its head and waiting for orders from its master. The two went flying as the wooper smacked the rattata right back. It looked like the wooper had hurt itself with the move.

"What was that glow?" Broccoli asked.

"Normal-type energy," Jazz said. "It means the move used some. Some moves don't, not when they're weak."

"Rattata! Tail Whip!"

The rattata spun around, smacking the wooper in the face with its tail. The wooper flinched back a little, closing its eyes against the motions of rattata's weak tail smacking at its face. "Wooper, jump back, Mud Shot!"

"Woop!" the wooper cheered before jumping back into a small muddy puddle. The mud glowed faintly before the pokemon kicked some of it ahead and at the rattata.

"Dodge!" Lefty shouted. It was enough for his rattata to hop out of the way of most of the mud, though some of it smacked his flank. The little rat-like pokemon rolled with the blow. "Now, Quick Attack, like we practised!"

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"Rat-tat-tat-ta!" the rattata screamed as it took off running. A few stray streams of whitish energy collected around it as it sped up. It wasn't the fastest move Jazz had ever seen, but it was pretty quick.

"Wooper! Take Down!"

The wooper shouted and flung his head around.

The two pokemon rammed into each other, then flopped backwards bonelessly. Jazz could almost imagine the little pidgeys swirling around their heads.

"I won!" Lefty shouted.

"What! No you didn't! Wooper fell slower!" Righty countered.

"Because he's fatter!"

"You take that back!"

Jazz sighed, deciding that she'd seen enough as the boys went at each other. It didn't look like much more than a friendly scuffle though, and quickly ended with boy boys laughing as they tried to push each other into the mud.

"Well, that was something," she said.

"It was exciting!" Broccoli said. "I'm not sure if I like how... violent it is."

"Bun?" Buneary asked.

"You liked it?" Broccoli asked.

Jazz nodded, even if she hadn't the faintest clue what the buneary had said. "Almost every pokemon likes battling. It's mostly safe, keeps them in shape, lets them learn new moves... they get stronger over time, and it helps them evolve. Come on! The route ends just over there, we can check out the pokecentre."

Broccoli nodded behind her, then continued to follow Jazz down the route. Jazz wasn't sure when she'd become the leader of this two person parade, but here she was. It was maybe not that bad. She'd left this morning to find a few fights in the wild to train Bellsprout up, but this wasn't a bad outcome either.

Violet City didn't really have a 'start.' It just went from light forest to a few homes, and then the homes grew closer together until they reached the intersection leading into the city, where a pokemon centre was plopped down and towered over the one story homes and shops around it.

It was a quiet enough place, with lots of lawn space for every house and wide sidewalks that were used more than the roads criss-crossing the city.

She led the way to the front of the pokemon centre. It was a big building, almost twice as large as a lot of the homes around it, with a bright orange roof that contrasted nicely with the white-painted wood panels.

Jazz opened the door and let Broccoli and her buneary enter first, then followed after, letting the doors close behind her.

She'd never been a huge fan of the interior of pokemon centres. They were meant to be homely, but in a sort of... samey, artificial way. They weren't all the same, but they were all very similar. She supposed it made sense. If she was running into an unknown centre with an injured pokemon, she wouldn't want to have to ask for directions.

"That's the nurse's counter," she said. "The woman there is Nurse Joy. The pokemon next to her is a chansey. They can heal your pokemon up, and give them check ups. Once we get you a trainer ID, you might want to hand Buneary over."

"Bun, buneary?"

"I think she meant to have a check-up," Broccoli said.

"Un," the buneary said with a shake of his head.

"Hmm, it can't be all bad," Broccoli said. "Do pokemon need vaccines?"

"Uh," Jazz said. She... didn't know that. "Trainers do. There's actually a whole process after you've joined where you get your shots, your picture taken, and all that stuff."

"Oh," Broccoli said. "Well, Buneary, if I'm going to get shots, then I'll want you to be there to hold my hand, and if you get one, I'll do the same, okay?"

"Bun," the buneary said, sounding a little reluctant still.

Broccoli rubbed the pokemon on the head.

Jazz shook her head. They could worry about all that later. What she needed was some answers. She marched forwards, leaving Broccoli to follow, and came up to the front counter. Nurse Joy was standing there, her chansey by her side. The two were identical to their counterparts in Newbark. Same outfit, same hair colour, even the same name.

Jazz hadn't asked, but she was pretty sure that the Joy family was some sort of genetic experiment gone wrong.

She pushed the thought away and instead focused on the woman, who was busy with something on the computer.

After a few moments, the nurse glanced up and smiled. "Oh, hello! Welcome to the Pokemon Centre. We restore your tired Pokémon to full health! How can I help you?"

"Yeah, we'd like to register my friend here as a new trainer," Jazz said with a nod.

If they were quick about it, then she could maybe set out and get some other things done before it got too late!

***