You win.

That was her catchphrase afterall.

She slunk in the storage room, rubbing her eyes, as she tried to squint at the shitty labels. She bit her lips and tried not to cry. It was just so damn dusty in here and she just wasn't built for this type of precise work. Her fingers trembled as she floundered with the listing and the sorting and the yelling.

Why would she ever volunteer for such bullshit?

Finally, someone yelled at her from the frontdesk again. She ran out of the room and almost, practically, tripped, then had to stumble her way back to the call, somehow. Nurse Joy smiled at her and handed her a Moomoo milk.

"You doing good back there?" She smiled, then already turned back to some papers, her brows furrowed underneath her little glasses.

"Of course. It's really no problem."

"You sure?" Joy cleared her throat. "Sorry, it's just been such a busy couple of weeks lately. The latest batch of trainers are leaving town too… And you're the only volunteer staying back too. Sorry!"

"Haha." She hated being the only one left behind. What the fuck was happening to her. "Yeah. I really don't mind it though."

"Of course, of course… You can take a lunch break now, by the way."

"Thank you, thank you."

Yuewen took her leave.

-.-.-

She bought a jelly-filled donut from the Pokemart for 259 pokedollars. Assuming she spent the next year here and she bought a jelly-filled donut everyday, that means she would be out… 105485 pokedollars. For a year of her life.

A nearby wall, riddled with graffiti of her classmates' past, offered her an abandoned place to lean upon. She frowned as she took a bite out of her donut, freshly unwrapped. She never really liked the taste of these anyways. Everyone used to eat them, though.

Finishing her food, the wrapper was left hanging in her left hand. What to do with this… she thought. Normally, they would all just throw it for the wind to collect, which was why this corner in particular was a moot point for the community as a large, always littered with jelly-filled donut plastic. Yet, now, she could walk over and throw it away in the can without no one to judge her, no one to stop her. But did she really want to do that? She hesitated, mulling it over, before she felt the tears welling up again.

Again? But it's not even fucking dusty.

While she was out here debating over this shitty, plastic worth significantly less than 289 pokedollars, her colleagues were catching their desired Pokemon and doing whatever the fuck they wanted to do.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

She wiped away the tears and headed back, plastic still in her pocket, forgotten and thrown anyway. It was bullshit. She never liked Pokemon, anyhow.

-.-.-

It was the last day tonight. She had work - volunteered - actually, at the local pokecenter for two years now. She got the hang of it quickly. While she was shit at doing things, they quickly figured that she could write numbers and follow instructions, so now more than ever, it was a mundane office job that she could even do. She was counting Pokemon and Pokeballs, all the while counting down the days to the date.

She couldn't help it. Why did she have to know that it was tonight?

What was she doing here?

Under the streetlight, the wall stood bright, almost glowing against its surroundings. The sun was setting behind it too, where, thankfully, she couldn't see it, the exact moment that her underachieving ass was confirmed. The exact moment that she was trapped here for the rest of her teenage life.

Without a Pokemon, without a hope, without any sense of "youth"…

And all she could do was wait.

Leaning against the cool wall, breathing in the fresh air, smelling the smoky traces of a cigarette…

She laughed. The worst part is that she couldn't even say that she was alone.

Because it was right there. Waddling in front of her.

"Pidooove."

Its head tilted sideways, asking for bread again.

"No, you fucking sky-rat. I don't have any beard for you and I can't buy you any because the store is closed. Now scram. What the hell are you doing here at this time, anyways." She giggled, holding her forehead in her hands.

The Pidove started showing up about two weeks ago. There were always Pidoves hanging around town, pecking at shit and looking stupid, but this was the only one in particular that stuck around her. Just staring at her with its big, stupid eyes.

Sooner or later, she started talking to it. It sucked, but for once, she could say shit. She could say fuck, she could say bitch, she could say cunt, but still felt uncomfortable saying them aloud.

And because of it, she lost a lot more money than she thought she would. Buying an extra bread here and there. 199 pokedollars each and she gave it the crumbs. Was it just her imagination or did she feel like it understood her? Not orders or dumb trainer shit. But her feelings. Her little, girly thoughts. Her stupid anxieties. And when she gave it a beard, it would stay for longer and listen more attentively. Stupid birdslut.

But it always flew off eventually. And she would show up the next day for it to still be there. Lately, she's been mostly hanging here after work here rather than during lunch break. And the Pidove somehow knew the timings, just… being there for her, all the time. It was so annoying.

"Pidove?"

"I already said. I don't have any bread and can't get any bread for you. Now scram… I want to be alone."

"Pi-pidove."

It rustled its wings and flew up. Yuewen watched it blankly, unflinching, even when it landed and nestled in her head. The first time it ever touched her. Yuewen snorted. This Pokemon was too smart for its own good. It was like it knew that tonight she was fucking miserable. And for the first time in a long time, she didn't bother to hide it. She let Pidove sit there as she leaned against the wall, just letting the tears stream down her face.

Maybe, this wasn't so bad afterall. They could turn around, walk down the abandoned streets and watch as the sun sets together…

"You win."

"?!"

"Catch."

Miraculously, she caught it. It was a Pokeball. She looked up and saw her standing under the streetlight.

Nurse Joy.

She grinned, her pink hair gleaming under the streetlight.

"Quickly now. The sun can go down any second now."

Yuewen blushed and quickly turned away to frantically wipe the tears from her face. First Pidove, now Nurse Joy too? How easy to read was she? How did they know she would even be here anyways? Especially Pidove… That dumb bird doesn't even know dates or what the Dream Circuit even was… She never knew what was going on behind those dumb, dumb eyes…

But if I was a trainer, I'd know. I'd get to know. We would become one.

For the first time in her life, her body moved before her. She pressed the Pokeball against Pidove's forehead.

"Pidove!"