The gray silhouette of Pewter City finally took shape in the glow of the setting sun.
The red roof and white walls of the Pokémon Center glowed softly ahead.
Misty felt like a Magikarp left out of water. Every step she took dragged a heavy, exhausted shadow behind it.
…Traveling with Ash was a lot harder than she'd imagined.
Especially after being stuck in the forest with him for days, eating nothing but emergency rations.
Cooking for themselves?
That cost time, and the results tasted worse than the rations.
It was pain.
Pure pain.
"Pokémon Center… finally…" Misty bowed her head and used the last of her strength to push open the bright glass door.
Behind the counter, Nurse Joy greeted them with her usual gentle smile.
"Welcome to the Pewter City Pokémon Center. Please register your Trainer ID."
"Okay." Ash pulled out his Pokédex.
As soon as he opened it—
Professor Oak's recorded voice played:
[This Pokédex is awarded to Ash. I hope he grows into a true Pokémon Trainer. Reminder: if the Pokédex is lost or stolen, it will not be reissued. Please take care of it. —Professor Oak of Pallet Town]
Beep—
"ID confirmed. Welcome, Ash from Pallet Town," chimed the electronic voice.
Several Trainers lounging in the lobby immediately pricked up their ears.
Pallet Town, huh?
A Trainer from Professor Oak's hometown…
Rare.
That was what most people felt when they heard Ash's origin.
Not respect, not hostility.
Just… that familiar, curious rarity.
Professor Oak was simply too famous.
Actually meeting him in person was hard. Unless you were on TV, you'd almost never get the chance.
If Oak were easy to see, when would he get any research done?
The price of having too many fans, probably.
"Uh…" Ash scratched his head, feeling the weight of those stares settle on him.
He made his way to the counter. "Um… Nurse Joy, could you set us up with rooms?"
"Pika pika…" Pikachu lay limp on his shoulder, totally drained by their string of "Gyarados suppression drills." Even its electricity felt sluggish.
Gyarados really was tough as nails.
And Pikachu absolutely couldn't go all-out to kill.
"Your room is on the second floor, number 207. Here is your key," Nurse Joy said, handing it over with a touch of concern.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy!" Ash let out a breath of relief and grabbed the key.
"Um, I need to register too—" Misty slid her own ID across the counter.
She wasn't using a Pokédex; not everyone did.
Right now, Pokédexes were still pretty rare. Maybe later, they'd be more common.
"Your room is 208, right next door." Nurse Joy smiled and handed Misty her key.
"Let's go eat, Ash," Misty said, glancing around the building. All Pokémon Centers shared roughly the same layout.
Which meant the cafeteria was on the west side.
"Yeah—let's go, Pikachu!"
They reached the cafeteria.
Warm light, and the smell of food hanging in the air.
They settled into a corner table. Two plates of steaming curry rice sat in front of them.
"Haaa…" Misty jabbed her spoon vindictively into the carrots on her plate like they were Gyarados's skull.
"Finally… finally, I get to sit down and eat something hot again. I swear I've never walked this much in my entire life…"
She was grumbling, but mostly she was just very, very tired.
"Pika~chu!" Pikachu's dish was piled high with Pokémon food mixed with ketchup.
"Pika~ pika~" It ate until its little belly was round, then sprawled contentedly on the chair, tail tip flicking lazily.
"Good stuff, huh, Pikachu?" Ash was busy inhaling curry.
Living in the wild sucked if you weren't trained for it.
Even if you were trained, it still sucked.
Misty set her spoon down. Her orange ponytail drooped lifelessly. One hand slid into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
Her fingers swiped over the screen.
It showed live internal surveillance from the Cerulean Gym.
The once-clear pool was a mess.
The clean water was gone, replaced by muddy sludge that half-flooded the battlefield. A few Goldeen flailed around in panic.
Workers in coveralls were wrestling with pumps, trying to drain it, but the water level barely dropped.
The walls were cracked—long, ugly fissures where something enormous had smashed into them.
Misty stared at the screen, her gaze dimming. Her fingers tightened unconsciously around the phone.
"Again…" she whispered, loud enough only for herself to hear. "That's the third time this month… at this rate the Gym license…"
She raked her fingers irritably through her hair and buried her face in the crook of her arm.
"Aaaahhh! Why do I have to worry about this?!"
Ash had just shoveled the last spoonful of curry into his mouth. He glanced up, still chewing.
"Relax, relax. Things work out somehow," he mumbled. "No matter what it is, I'll help you."
"Easy for you to say…" came Misty's muffled voice from her folded arms.
"Do you even know what the problem is? 'I'll help you,' he says…"
"Because we're friends, Misty."
Ash said it simply, meeting her eyes.
"Tsk…" She jerked her head away on reflex, refusing to look at him.
"How am I supposed to respond to something like that?"
They demolished their curry at high speed.
"I'm going to shower first," Misty announced, and headed for the stairs.
"Rest up…" Ash watched her go. It was already late. The Pokémon Center was fairly quiet.
He turned toward the hallway in search of Nurse Joy.
Gyarados might be tough, but even a tank would suffer, getting zapped by Pikachu for that long.
It needed a proper checkup and treatment.
"Nurse Joy!" Ash caught the pink-haired nurse as she pushed a cart of medicine past, lowering his voice.
"My Pokémon is a Gyarados… and it's a special case."
"It just evolved. Its power went berserk—it completely lost control."
"I need to be present for the whole treatment, or something could go wrong."
"Sorry to trouble you, Nurse Joy." Ash scratched his cheek awkwardly.
Now he finally understood why Gym Leaders, Elite Four, Champions and the like all had professional teams.
Hyper-powerful Pokémon could be incredibly inconvenient.
Even just "stretching their limbs" could wreck the environment.
And for the really strong ones…
If they snapped even once—
Yeah. The picture wasn't pretty.
Everyone would be done for.
"Gyarados? That's pretty impressive."
Nurse Joy's gentle smile faded into something more serious. Her gaze flicked to the Pikachu drooping on Ash's shoulder.
The little guy's ears perked up, his expression full of question marks.
"As expected of a Trainer from Pallet Town. You've already reached intermediate level."
In game terms, roughly:
Beginner:Lv. 5–15
Intermediate:Lv. 15–30
Advanced:Lv. 30–45
Gym Leader / Gym Staff:Lv. 40–60
Elite Four:Lv. 55–75
Champion:Lv. 60–85
Of course, strength ≠ pure level.
Level mattered, but real battles factored in far more—matchups, training, tactics, teamwork.
A well-trained team could absolutely beat a stronger but badly built one.
Still, if you were handling a Gyarados at all, "intermediate" was a fair label.
"I understand," Nurse Joy nodded. "Follow me to the special care room."
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