The automatic glass doors slid open, and a figure walked into the largest building within Viridian City.
"Welcome to the Viridian City Pokémon Centre."
Nurse Joy barely held back a yawn as she greeted the trainer, who had walked into her Pokémon Centre. But being a professional, she hid away her sleepiness, greeting him with a soft smile.
After an off-season of two months, the Indigo League had once again begun, which meant a constant influx of trainers. Thankfully, it had only been a few days since the gym circuit began, but Nurse Joy knew that her workload would increase in a week or so when all the new trainers would gather in Viridian City to follow what was known as 'The Route of Beginning.'
"Good evening, " the boy said before placing a Pokeball on the reception desk. "I would like to have my Pokémon checked."
Nurse Joy nodded as she took the Pokeball before asking. "Do you have a sponsor?"
"Yes, it's the league."
"Alright." She nodded and asked for the Trainer ID, which the boy readily provided.
As she accepted the Trainer ID, which was shaped like a credit card with a barcode, Nurse Joy could not help but notice the small accent in the boy's tone, which she immediately recognized to be from an island region that was under the triple jurisdiction of Kanto, Johto and Hoenn Leagues.
Nurse Joy scanned the barcode on his Trainer ID, and her computer now displayed everything about the boy.
[Trainer License: Daemon Aragon
Age: 15 | Height: 178cm
Eyes: Black | Hair: Black
Residence: Clover Village, Ransei Island/Region.
Sponsors: Indigo League
Perks: -
Carry Limit: 6
Number of Pokemon: 1
Badges Earned: - ]
"As per the rules, trainers are provided free medical services and lounging when the official circuit is underway," Nurse Joy informed. "All the services in this Pokémon Centre are available to you free of charge, though some terms and conditions do apply."
She handed the boy a sheet of paper to sign, on which were listed all the services he could use at a Pokémon Centre, as well as the rules he would have to follow.
After a thorough read, Daemon readily signed the document and handed it back to the nurse. "Here."
Nurse Joy scanned the document before she asked the next question. "Would you like me to register you for the Indigo League?"
"Please, and also, can you book me a room for my stay in the centre for the night?"
With a nod, Nurse Joy started tapping on her keyboard before handing him back his Trainer ID.
Daemon soon received an email confirming the room number, which would be his temporary residence as well as his participation in the gym circuit for the Indigo Conference.
"Anything else?"
"Thanks, but that's all." Daemon gave a soft smile before walking away while a Chansey took away the Pokeball he handed to the nurse.
He walked to the lounge and sat at a phone booth before dialling a number. It did not even ring twice before the other side picked up the call and answered.
"Daemon, finally!"
"Hey, Mom." The boy waved at the woman who now appeared on the screen. "Where is Dad?"
"He is busy feeding the Taurus."
"Are they being rowdy again?"
"After you left, they were harder to calm down; it has been a while since your dad took care of them. But they seem to get used to him, so that's good."
Daemon belonged to a family of farmers who lived in Clover Village. He was the first person in the whole village who had successfully passed the Regional Trainer Exam and became a trainer through a sponsorship from the league itself.
"How were your travels?" Diana asked her son.
"Not too bad. The flight was nice, and I got to see a lot of regional Pokémon. Now I am looking forward to having a Pokémon Battle since I am an official trainer now, without having you nag me for it all the time."
"Oye! Making our Torus fight each other is not a Pokémon Battle." Diana chidded; her son had turned their farmland into a battle arena numerous times. "Found any new Pokémon for your team?"
"Not yet mom." Daemon shook his head. "I just reached Viridian."
"Come on, just go out and catch 'em all!" Diana joked, knowing how much her son hated the concept of trainers catching every Pokémon and then abandoning them in some ranch or a farm, never to be called upon again.
Daemon rolled his eyes, knowing his mother was trying to ragebait him. The kind of inner peace he had achieved to not be ragebaited by her was something only he knew of.
And unlike a special group of trainers dubbed 'Catch'em All Trainers' by the online community, Daemon believed in quality over quantity.
His carry limit was another reason he would not catch every Pokémon he saw.
While he could send extra Pokémon back home to his parents, he did not have the license to do that until he won his sixth Gym Battle, which would grant him the permit to build a ranch for himself. Even then, Daemon had no plans to go on a catching spree.
However, there were ways to raise the carry limit, the easiest of which was to beat eight gyms in a region, which increased a trainer's roster limit by one. Secondly, he would receive an upgrade to his perks, adding another two slots to the limit.
But for now, it was essential that he carefully planned his team.
The mother and son duo kept the conversation going before Daemon heard his name being called by Nurse Joy.
"I gotta go."
"Call me when you have time. And make sure to do your best; all of us in the village are cheering for you."
"Will do. And say hi to everyone for me."
Daemon cut the call and walked up to the front desk.
"There you go." Nurse Joy handed him the Pokeball, and after thanking her, he left her alone, walking toward the trainer's lounge.
"Let's go over your moveset once again, shall we?" Daemon called out his starter, and with a flash of white light, a small Pokémon, dressed in white, appeared in his lap. "Hey, Alice."
The little Pokémon curiously looked around the lounge before she looked up at the black-haired boy. "Ralts?"
"Yes, we reached Kanto." He gently patted her head, watched her "climb " down his lap, and started exploring. "Don't go too far."
"Ra." She gave him a nod and busied herself.
Daemon took out his Pokedex and scanned the empty Pokeball. Despite the fact that Ralts was not inside, it still gave all the information about her to him.
-
[Ralts, the feeling Pokémon. Ralts senses the emotions of people using the horns on its head. This Pokémon rarely appears before people. But when it does, it draws closer if it senses that the person has a positive disposition.
Gender: Female
Type: Psychic/Fairy
Ability: Synchronize
Moves: Confusion, Disarming Voice, Mystical Fire]
-
When he was sponsored by the league, Daemon had a choice between three Pokémon of three different regions: Ralts, Nidoran and Mareep.
The black-haired boy had chosen the psychic-type not only because both psychic and fairy-types were rare but also because the final evolution of Ralts was a powerhouse. Gardevoir were among the strongest psychic-types in the whole world, and thus, Daemon did not want to give up on that opportunity.
Nidoran or Mareep...he could find them quite easily in the wild if he wanted to, but not Ralts.
'This is not enough for the first gym.' He thought to himself while looking at the moveset.
Not only was the gym battle a two vs two, even if Daemon entered with only Ralts, he knew that she was not strong enough to take on the rock-type gym by herself.
Of course, they were going to train even more and improve before they reached Pewter City. That is why he had chosen to start his journey in Viridian City, not Pewter.
His starter's egg move was [Mystical Fire], which was super effective against almost everything they would encounter in that forest. [Confusion] and [Disarming Voice], on the other hand, were great STAB [Moves].
Daemon had a strategy in mind on how to tackle Flint's Pokémon, but he needed something more than the current moveset. So, he opened the website of the nearest Pokemart and started browsing.
He looked at all the TMs available in Viridian Town.
With the sponsor money he had in his account, he could afford a single TM without sacrificing on the special food, as well as various items such as healing potions and antidotes, which they would surely need when they crossed through Viridian Forest.
As he scrolled through all the options, he came across a TM that would suit them perfectly. He immediately ordered it online.
[Your items will be delivered to the Pokémon Centre by tomorrow morning]
He received the notification for the successful order, but noticed that no money was deducted from his account.
It was because his sponsorship included a free TM every month; any more than that, and he would have to pay from his own pocket.
Daemon looked at the calendar, and it was the 8th of April today.
The official league circuit in Kanto started on April 1st and continued until mid-December. Then, the Indigo Conference took place on the day of the New Year. February and March were for Gym Leaders, Nurse Joys at the Pokémon Centre and other league officials to take a break and prepare for the next season.
It was as stressful as it was exciting.
Once he was done inspecting his own Pokémon and ordering healing potions as well as antidotes from the same Pokemart, Daemon opened up the Pewter City Gym's official website along with a few online forums to see which Pokémon Flint would likely use in the battle.
Only after it was a little past 7:00 pm did he stop researching.
'Time for dinner.'
But, fate had other plans, since as soon as he stood up, a large explosion shook the Pokémon Centre.
~Boom~