CHAPTER 4

Tomorrow sucked.

I was sore all over, tired, and Togepi kept not wanting to go in her ball because she was worried about me. I was attacked a few more times by two Rattatas, a Wurmple, and even a damn Paras. At last, however, I got out of the woods safe and sound. The next few days were paradise compared to what I had gone through in those woods. One thing was for sure, I wasn’t passing through them on the way back. No more jumping ledges for me!

Finally, after three days of traveling, I reached Sandgem town. It was a quaint little coastal town and the closest large human settlement next to Jubilife. The first thing I did was get Togepi to a Center, and myself as well. Pokemon Centers had doctors specialized in treating trainers as well, although they were nowhere near as good as treating Pokemon. They washed my cuts and bandaged them up, but the cut on my arm was too deep, and they put me on antibiotics. I hated taking pills, but I’d have to do it.

I also put my clothes in the wash and changed into my second set of clothes, another pair of jeans with a different shirt. Pokemon Centers also had clothes they could give trainers if they were out, mostly thanks to donations. Basically, if a trainer needed something, chances are, they’d find it in a Center.

“How’s Togepi, Nurse Joy?” I asked a pink-haired nurse at the counter. “Can I visit her?”

She wasn’t actually called Joy, and her hair was a wig, but it was a part of the Pokemon Center brand, and everybody usually played along.

“Togepi will be fine, she was never a worry. You were in much worse shape than her. You’ll have to be careful during your travels… what’s your name? I don’t think we have you in our database.”

“Grace Pastel,” I said. “It’s my first time in Sandgem.”

“No, I mean the region-wide Pokemon Center database. Could I get your trainer ID?”

Ah, I thought. “I’m not actually signed up to the League Circuit, so I don’t have an ID. I hope that’s fine?”

“Oh, alright. You’ll have to pay for your treatment, then, if that’s ok? Togepi’s checkup is still free of charge. Sorry for the misunderstanding.”

“Sure,” I nodded. The cost ended up being 2,100 pokedollars, most of that spent on the antibiotics. Luckily I had padded my savings by beating those three trainers, so I still had a good amount left in case something else happened.

I spent the next few hours walking around Sandgem, seeing the sights. It was way calmer than Jubilife, and just had a relaxing vibe in general. It was nice to be away from the city like this, although the way it had happened was… less than ideal. I watched a few battles at the arena close to the Pokemon Center, and one of the trainers there had a Munchlax, which were notoriously hard and expensive to raise. It seemed to be well-behaved, though.

Seeing people battle gave me the itch to do the same, but with Togepi still at the center, I wouldn’t be able to. Plus, I wanted to give her a few days of rest, at least. The last thing I did was head to the beach. Sandgem was a coastal fishing town, and it was also home to some tourist trainers. I hadn’t brought a swimsuit, so I just got my feet wet and walked along the beautiful beach. It was true what they said. The sand shone like gems.

After heading back to the center to pick up Togepi, I called dad on my Poketch.

“Hey dad, hope I’m not interrupting your work,” I said.

“No, no, don’t worry about it,” He whispered. I could hear him type away on his keyboard, so I knew it was a lie. “How are you, Grace? I hope the first leg of the trip wasn’t too hard?”

I stayed silent for a few seconds.

“Grace?” He said.

“No, it was fine,” I lied. “Battled some trainers and some wild Pokemon. I’m at the center right now picking up Togepi. Listen to this! My first battle…”

I explained to dad how Togepi beat Shinx using her Sweet Kiss into Rollout combo.

“She’s way stronger than she looks!” I said.

“Well, I’m really proud of you both. Keep it up! Have fun and live a little. There’s nothing like traveling when you’re young,” Dad whispered. “And with that, I’m going to hang up. Talk to you later, sweetie. Call me when you get to Twinleaf.”

I agreed and hung up. Togepi came back a few minutes later, looking healthier than she had been even back at Jubilife. I carried her in my arms as I showed her the city a little bit, but after a few more hours of fun and buying lunch at a local restaurant, I decided to have a little team meeting.

“So, what did we learn during our travels so far?”

“Prrri!” She said cheerfully.

“We learned that wild Pokemon were extremely dangerous and not to be trifled with. And that I should probably walk with you around when there's a risk of being attacked by one. I'll still recall you if it's too dangerous, but—”

“Toge, prrri!” Togepi disagreed.

“I know you only want to protect me, but I don’t want you to get hurt. Anyway, route 201 should be relatively easier. There are way less bugs there and fewer forested areas. It’s mostly a straight path through some grasslands. I’ll keep you out of your ball for now so you can keep building up your endurance,” I said.

“Prrrri!” She said.

“Next up, we learned that trainers are actually pretty nice! Before starting this, it was them who scared me the most. Did you know that back in the day, if a trainer challenged you, you weren’t allowed to refuse?” I asked. “That honestly sounds horrible, and I’m glad they changed that rule.”

Togepi nodded as we walked toward the gate.

“Lastly, we need to teach you more moves somehow. Right now, what we have— using Sweet Kiss to trip them up and then overwhelming them with rollout— it works, but when we…”

“Prrri?”

I paused. When we what? I was going to get Herdier his vitamins, get back to Jubilife, and then go back to how it was before.

Go back to how it was before…

Spending my days in bed or on the couch watching T.V., rarely doing anything apart from occasionally going out with dad. Would I be okay with going back to the status quo? Traveling was horrible, but the battles? Oh, Arceus, the battles were so fun. I wanted to go to different places and battle different trainers with different Pokemon. Maybe even… Gym Leaders.

“Hey, Togepi, I’m going to ask you something, but you’ve got to promise me to only say yes if you’re one hundred percent sure you agree, alright?” I said, picking her up. She looked at me. “I think I want to sign up for the League Circuit when I get back to Jubilife. It’s this whole thing where we’d have to travel like now to other towns, get stronger together and battle really strong trainers called Gym Leaders.”

Togepi continued to observe me.

“It’ll be hard,” I said. “I bet some moments will make what happened in those woods look like a stroll in the park. But… I think I want to do it. But I’ll only do it if you agree. If you say no, I’ll give up on it.”

She said nothing for a few minutes and stayed silent as we entered route 201. She was probably thinking about how to say no and lay me down gently. I sighed mentally. I was probably way in over my head anyway. Just because I beat a few beginner trainers didn’t mean I’d be able to—

“Prrri! Toge, prrri!” She said, moving her arms excitedly.

I smiled. “Really? Are you sure?”

“Prrri.”

“Thank you,” I said, bringing her into a hug. “I won’t disappoint you.”

——

Traveling through route 201 was rather uneventful and took two days. There were very few trainers there, mostly because they had left for Sandgem already in preparation for the League Circuit. There was no Pokemon Center in Twinleaf, so there was no way to sign up from there. I had battled a few wild Pokemon and began trying to teach Togepi Headbutt, but we weren’t making much progress. When I signed up for the Circuit, I’d get a Pokedex and access to her potential moves, so that would help a lot.

Twinleaf was home to only a few hundred people, and they were mostly farmers. It was a close-knit community where everybody knew each other, or at least according to my dad. Apparently, it was why mom had left at first, but she went back soon after they divorced. I looked down at my Poketch, where I had written down mom’s address and how her house looked— at least according to my dad. Togepi followed closely behind me, and we attracted a lot of stares. People here weren’t used to seeing new, young trainers. I made my way toward the town’s edge and found mom’s house sitting next to a small lake. My heart pounded against my chest as I approached the door. What would she say? Would she be happy to see me? Angry I hadn’t answered her calls in so long? I retrieved Togepi and placed my ear against the door. Nothing.

I swallowed my anxiety and knocked on the door loudly. After around thirty seconds, an old woman opened the door. She had long, white hair and piercing blue eyes.

“Yes? Who are you?” She said in a dry tone.

I winced, realizing how bad this must have looked. I was dirty, I probably stank, and had crazy hair. I was a crazy-looking stranger knocking on their door.

“Um, I’m looking for Samantha Pastel? I came here to deliver some Vitamins for Herdier,” I said. “I’m also her… daughter.” I continued weakly.

The old woman’s eyes widened. She turned back into the house and called out. “Sam! You won’t believe this! The son of a bitch sent your daughter here!”

I frowned. She must have been referring to my dad, and I didn’t like that. I heard someone step closer and closer, eventually breaking into a run. A woman burst through the entrance and embraced me.

“Grace! Oh, Arceus, look at you! You’ve grown so much,” The woman who must have been my mother said.

The resemblance was uncanny. We had the same dirty blonde hair, the same thin nose and the same freckles covering our entire faces. Our eyes were different, though. Hers were blue, and mine were green like my dad’s.

“Come in! Traveling here from Jubilife must have been awful, but we’ll catch up. You can take a shower if you want,” She said.

I was in a dazed state. She wasn’t angry at me, and that was good, but why was I feeling… happy? I was supposed to be angry at her for what she did to dad. I bit the inside of my lip.

“We were in the middle of a luncheon between neighbors,” Mom said, showing me the dinner table. This is Ronald and Casey, they live in the house at the opposite side of the lake. And this is their son, Denzel. He’s sixteen, so slightly older than you. Oh, and this is mom— I mean grandma. She’s the one who opened the door,” She continued with a nervous laugh. “Herdier’s out somewhere in town. He always comes back in the evening, though.”

They all greeted me, and mom guided me to the bathroom.

“Take as long as you need, and then join us downstairs. We have so much to catch up on.”

“Wait, the medicine,” I said. I pulled the pack of vitamins out of my bag and handed them to her.

“Thank you so much, Grace. This’ll last us a few months,”

I took a long, hot shower, and I needed it. This was going to drain my social batteries so hard, and then I’d have to talk to mom alone. This sucked. I ended up releasing Togepi and cleaning her up too. Soon afterward, I dried us, took a deep breath, and stepped toward the dining room.