“What am I doing?” Lauren couldn’t help but ask her question out loud as she walked down the hall, opening each door she passed. Each door revealed rooms in similar states that she and Quinn had found the main office in.
She had a habit of talking out loud to herself when she was stressed. “I should have waited for Tyler before coming over. No, then Quinn could have gotten spooked and gone back to wherever he came from,” Lauren responded to her own statement.
She felt a pang of guilt in her chest as she thought about her earlier speech. “I didn’t say anything untrue. I just focused on some specific details. Besides, if some random person can come in and convince him to stay in a couple of minutes, then that's what he wants to do,” she rationalized, but then remembered seeing Phanpy covered in blood the night before and got quiet as she moved on to the next door.
Lauren opened the door to find a large conference room with a beat-up table in the middle. She flicked on the light switch to get a better look at the big room, but it stayed dark. “I have to do this. Mom won’t show me the books, but I know they’re hurting. Dad didn't even look into fixing that window, he just put up some plywood.”
Metronome Mart had started as more of a novelty store with customers coming in to find odd and unusual items, and with how many tourists the Royal Gym brought in, it boomed in popularity. Lauren remembered the Royal Gym bobbleheads of Alakazam that they used to sell. “It's amazing they have survived this long.”
When the gym went under, the Metronome Mart had to pivot. Nowadays, instead of selling novelties, they sold everything from groceries to hardware. Her dad’s knack for sourcing in bulk for cheap was what had kept them afloat. However, it was a losing battle.
“If this gym can even just get people out of their houses, it will be worth it. We could sell snacks and drinks to any gym members, and I bet we could host community events here.” Lauren’s mind raced with ideas of the potential she saw with the gym until she noticed that she was still staring into the dark conference room.
She lightly slapped her cheek and moved to the next door where she found a large janitorial closet. It had a dust coating like the rest of the gym but was surprisingly full of cleaning supplies. She grabbed a broom that was leaning against a washing machine, a dustpan, some rags, and an all-purpose cleaner before heading back to the main office. “It’s fine, I just need to help Quinn as much as I can, and pray he can come up with the money. Aito said he’ll let him leave if he can’t.” Lauren struggled to trust the words coming out of her mouth.
Getting to the office door, Lauren stopped her one-woman conversation and opened the door. “Hey, I found a lot of stuff actually…” Lauren trailed off as she saw Quinn standing behind the desk staring at a Pokeball in his hands. He didn’t look up from the Pokeball at her entrance. Holding it with his right hand, he slowly lifted his left and pushed the button in the middle of the ball.
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Quinn watched the Pokeball spring open, revealing an empty metallic interior.
“Hello? Anybody home?” Lauren called out in a half-shout which broke Quinn out of his train of thought.
“Sorry, I just found this Pokeball under the desk.” Quinn didn’t mention how long he spent thinking about which Pokemon might be inside.
“So you just opened it?” Lauren asked incredulously. “What would you have done if a Pokemon was in it?”
He was about to respond, but then realized he hadn’t thought of what he would have done if there was a Pokemon inside. Not answering, Quinn asked, “Why would an empty Pokeball be under a desk? These things are expensive.”
“This is a Pokemon gym, I bet Paul just had extras. It probably just got lost in the rest of this mess a long time ago.” Quinn was too focused on the Pokeball to remember that he hadn’t told Lauren about Paul.
A couple of seconds passed before Quinn thought of what he would do with the empty Pokeball. “Phanpy!” Quinn’s own yelling sent a sharp pain through the back of his head, but that didn’t stop him from sliding over the top of the desk and through the door.
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“I found an empty Pokeball for you!” Quinn thought back to how he would have sold his soul for a Pokeball after Raze attacked Phanpy. “You’ll be safe from now on.”
Phanpy was taken aback by the revelation of a Pokeball. He had always been a non-ball Pokemon like the majority of Pokemon were, but that was because Pokeballs were a luxury and not a necessity. Phanpy stared at Quinn with wide eyes without giving a reaction.
Spoink’s bouncing never stopped, but she watched intently before giving out a series of oinks and grunts to Phanpy. His eyes went to Spoink as her bouncing picked up speed, matching the pace of her communication.
Lauren caught up to Quinn. “She’s telling Phanpy about her ball and what it’s like.”
Phanpy listened intently until Spoink turned to Lauren and gave out a short squeal. Lauren walked over to her purse that was still on the reception desk and pulled out a Great Ball. She then immediately recalled Spoink, catching her mid-jump. Lauren then braced herself, put the Great Ball next to her head, and clicked the button on it. Spoink appeared in a red flash right above Lauren, bounced off of Lauren’s head, did a double front flip, and landed into more bouncing on the ground. “Ta-da,” Lauren rubbed her head. “That trick was a lot more fun when you didn’t weigh as much.”
Phanpy grinned at Spoink and nodded his head to Quinn. With a smile on his face, Quinn tossed the Pokeball at Phanpy, relieved that he could now protect his best friend.
His smile vanished when the Pokeball harmlessly bounced off Phanpy’s back and rolled behind some boxes. “Did I do something wrong?”
Lauren shuffled her way around the boxes and found the Pokeball that now was blinking in a rhythmic pattern of three short blinks and a long pause. “Oh no. We used to sell Pokeballs at the Metronome Mart. Three blinks mean that the ball is already synced to a Pokemon.”
Quinn used both of his hands to rub his face. “Can the ball be unsynced?”
“The government can do it, but there are a lot of hoops to jump through. Pokemon abandonment is a problem so they require an interview with the trainer and Pokemon before granting a release. The only other way to get it unsynced is if the Pokemon has died.”
Quinn immediately thought of the putrid smell coming from the men’s locker room and his heart sank. As much as he wanted a Pokeball for Phanpy, he hoped that he wouldn't find what was left of Paul’s Pokemon in the locker room.
“Sorry, Phanpy. I thought we finally caught a break. We will get you your own Pokeball soon,” Quinn stretched the meaning of the word “soon,” not pointing out the obvious more pressing financial needs.
Lauren handed the Pokeball to Quinn and headed back to the main office. He followed her, only pausing to place the Pokeball in a drawer of the receptionist's desk. He worked quietly with Lauren as his head hurt even more after the rollercoaster of emotions caused by the Pokeball. Quinn didn’t say anything, but he was impressed with how quickly Lauren worked. With the newly found cleaning supplies, Quinn’s new bedroom was clear and clean in less than a half hour. “I really appreciate your help, Lauren. This would have taken me at least three times as long.”
“I wasn’t lying about helping you out. I have to go run the store in four hours and I doubt you’ll be able to make this place habitable on your own. Now come on, we have to move all those boxes in here.” Lauren responded, not looking at Quinn.
He was about to protest the idea of her helping him out so much but stopped himself before he opened his mouth. Lauren’s help was the break he and Phanpy needed, and he was in no place to reject. “Thanks, Lauren.”
Quinn had to take breaks while moving the boxes due to lightheadedness and nausea. Luckily Spoink was there to help out with heavy items — she was able to lift twice her weight with [Extrasensory]. Soon, the office’s walls were lined with boxes stacked four high and Quinn’s mattress lay in the middle of the room with Phanpy’s bed next to it.
The rest of the time was spent cleaning the reception area and the breakroom. Eventually, the freezer thawed enough for Quinn to chip off all the ice that coated it. He even found a TV dinner in the ice that had expired 12 years ago. Lauren didn’t take one break in the four hours and Quinn felt increasingly guilty for not being able to keep up.
“Well, I was hoping to get to the locker rooms as well, but I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow.” Lauren sighed as she gathered her purse and looked over her hard work.
Quinn raised his eyebrows. “Tomorrow? You’ve already done more than I could ever hope for.”
“Stop it. You are a mess and the timer is already ticking. I’ll be back here tomorrow and we can clean this place enough that you can open it. I’ll also get Tyler to come. He had to pull a double today, or else he would’ve been here.”
“Thanks so much. I’ll make it up to you someday,” Quinn said with as much sincerity as he could possibly put in his voice.
Lauren gave Quinn a smile that didn’t meet her eyes. “Come on, Spoink.” Spoink waved goodbye and they left the gym with the door chime ringing in the now-clean entranceway.
“Phanpy, did she seem upset to you?” Quinn looked around and didn’t see his friend. He moved to his new bedroom and found Phanpy asleep on his bed. Seeing Phanpy asleep, he gave into the fatigue that had been calling his name. Only taking time to find some sheets and a pillow, he haphazardly made his bed and laid down so his head was next to Phanpy’s head.
He had overclocked his brain too much in the past day to spend any time thinking about all the unknowns in his life. Seconds after his head hit his pillow, Quinn was snoring in the same rhythm that a certain elephant was known for.