The dusty outline of Pewter City finally became clear in the afterglow of the setting sun.
The red roof and white walls of the Pokémon Center sign glowed softly.
Misty felt like a dehydrated Magikarp, every step dragging a heavy shadow.
...Traveling with Ash... the process was more difficult than she imagined.
Especially staying in the forest for so long, only eating those emergency rations.
As for cooking themselves?
For one, it took too much time, and for another, the taste was even worse than the rations.
It could be said to be quite painful.
Quite painful.
Painful.
Pain.
"Pokémon Center... finally..." Misty lowered her head, using almost her last bit of strength to push open the bright glass doors.
Nurse Joy's gentle smile appeared behind the counter: "Welcome to the Pokémon Center. Please register your identity here."
"Okay." Ash took out his Pokédex.
Then... Professor Oak's voice came out—[This is the Pokédex given to Ash, hoping he becomes a Pokémon Trainer. Be warned, if the Pokédex is lost or stolen, it will not be reissued. Please take care of it. Professor Oak, Pallet Town.]
"Beep—Welcome, Ash from Pallet Town," the electronic voice sounded.
Inside the lobby, several Trainers sitting in the rest area pricked up their ears.
A Trainer from Pallet Town, huh~
A Trainer from the place where Professor Oak lives, huh~
Rare.
That was the feeling most Trainers had after hearing Ash's identity.
It wasn't really respect or rejection, but curiosity about the rarity.
After all, Professor Oak was simply too famous.
And wanting to meet Professor Oak... seeing him on TV was easy, but meeting him in person was hard.
If Professor Oak were easy to meet, would he get any research done?
This is probably the distress of having too many fans.
"Uh..." Ash scratched his head, feeling those gazes fixed on him.
He walked to the counter: "Um... Nurse Joy, could you trouble you to register a room for us?"
"Pika-pi..." Pikachu lay listlessly on his shoulder. After multiple consecutive "suppression battles," it was tired out, and its electricity was a bit wilted.
Gyarados was truly thick-skinned and durable.
And Pikachu couldn't exactly go for the kill.
"Your room is 207 on the second floor. Here is your key," Nurse Joy handed the key over, a hint of concern in her tone.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Ash sighed in relief and grabbed the key.
"Nurse Joy, I need to register here too~" Misty handed over her identification.
She wasn't using a Pokédex; everyone had different ways of proving their identity.
Currently, the Pokédex was very rare.
Perhaps it would only start being fully rolled out after some time.
"Your room is 208 on the second floor. Here is your key," Nurse Joy said with a smile.
"Then let's go eat, Ash~" Misty looked at the architectural structure of the Pokémon Center, confirming that all Pokémon Centers were roughly the same.
So the cafeteria would be on the west side.
"Alright~ Let's go, Pikachu~"
They arrived at the cafeteria.
The lighting was soft, and the aroma of food filled the air.
Ash and Misty sat in a corner spot, steaming curry rice placed before them.
"Phew..." Misty stabbed the carrots in her plate fiercely with her spoon, as if they were Gyarados's head. "Finally... finally I can sit down and eat something hot! I feel like I haven't walked such a long road in my entire life!"
She complained, but her tone held more exhaustion than anything else.
"Pika~chu!" The small saucer in front of Pikachu was piled high with Pokémon food mixed with ketchup.
"Pika~ Pika~" It ate until its little belly was round, paralyzed on the chair in satisfaction, the tip of its tail twitching comfortably.
"Delicious, right~ Pikachu~" Ash was also burying his head in his meal.
Survival in the wild, for non-professionals, was really painful.
Even for professionals, wild survival was quite suffering.
Misty put down her spoon, her orange ponytail drooping listlessly. Her fingers slid across her mobile phone's touchscreen, the screen displaying the internal surveillance footage of the Cerulean Gym.
On the screen, the familiar Gym pool was a mess.
The clear water was gone. Murky muddy water almost flooded half the field, and a few Goldeen were swimming in panic within the turbid water.
Several people in work clothes were frowning as they busied themselves with pumping equipment, but the water level was dropping slowly.
There were also several obvious cracks on the walls, looking like they had been struck by immense force.
Misty looked at the screen, her eyes dimming, fingers tightening unconsciously.
"Again..." she muttered to herself, voice so low only she could hear. "This month... the third time... Gym qualification..."
She scratched her hair irritably and buried her face in the crook of her arm. "Ahhh! Why am I the one who has to worry about this!"
Ash had just stuffed the last mouthful of curry into his mouth. Hearing this, he looked up and said vaguely, "Relax, relax, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! No matter what happens, I'll help you."
"Easier said than done..." Misty's muffled voice came from her arms. "Do you even know what the problem is? Saying you'll help me..."
"Because we are friends, Misty." Ash looked into Misty's eyes.
"Tch... how am I supposed to respond to that?" Misty subconsciously turned her head away, not daring to look at Ash's eyes at all.
They finished eating quickly.
"I'm going back to take a shower first," Misty said, walking towards the rooms.
"Rest well..." Ash saw that it was getting late, and there didn't seem to be many people in the Pokémon Center.
He prepared to go find Nurse Joy.
Although Gyarados was thick-skinned, it had been beaten up by Pikachu all the way here after all.
Some checks and treatment were still necessary.
"Nurse Joy!" Ash grabbed the pink-haired nurse pushing a medicine cart, keeping his voice extremely low.
"My Pokémon is a Gyarados... the situation is special."
"Just evolved, power went berserk, completely lost control before."
"During treatment, I must be present the whole time... otherwise accidents might happen."
"Sorry about this, Nurse Joy." Ash scratched his head awkwardly as he spoke.
He finally understood why Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, and Champions all had their own professional teams.
Overly powerful Pokémon were indeed inconvenient sometimes.
At Gyarados's level, just moving its body slightly would cause damage to the environment.
Not to mention those especially powerful Pokémon.
If they accidentally went into a frenzy.
...That scene would simply be too beautiful to imagine.
Everyone would be done for together.
"Gyarados? That's impressive!"
Nurse Joy's gentle smile receded slightly, her gaze sweeping over Pikachu on Ash's shoulder.
The little guy's ears perked up, face written with confusion.
"As expected of a Trainer from Pallet Town, you've already reached the level of an Intermediate Trainer."
To explain using game terms:
Beginner: Lv. 5-Lv. 15 or so.
Intermediate: Lv. 15-Lv. 30 or so.
Advanced: Lv. 30-Lv. 45 or so.
Gym Trainer (Gym Leader): Lv. 40-Lv. 60 or so.
Elite Trainer (Elite Four/Chief): Lv. 55-Lv. 75 or so.
Champion Trainer: Lv. 60-Lv. 85 or so.
Of course, strength ≠ absolute level.
Level is an important indicator, but more factors are considered in actual combat.
A carefully cultivated team can completely defeat a team with higher levels but poor composition.
Being able to use a Gyarados, one could already be called an Intermediate Trainer.
"Understood." Nurse Joy nodded slightly: "Follow me to the special care room."
_____
🔥 Get 40 advanced chapters of ALL stories! 🔥
📚 New story: Something is Wrong with Ash's Pokémon Journey
The 'Quarter of Fun' promotion is here, and that means 25% less on your bill. 🥳
✅ New releases are dropping, plus get exclusive content & updates.
✅ Help us unlock community rewards:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 140 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters of ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnutchan