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of a Pokemon Trainer
The Adventures of a Pokémon Trainer: The Great Gary Oak!
Last time, John caught a Metapod, which evolved into a Butterfree. He made two new friends, as well: Lucy and Tony. Tony doesn’t seem to like going with John, though, and this could cause a problem…
“Oh, Matter! Thank Goodness!” Tony spoke into the videophone.
“Tony! They called when you and Lucy didn’t make it to school. What happened?” Tony’s mother said, not sounding all that concerned.
“Oh, Matter, Lucile has become infatuated with this wretched boy and-“
“Hey!” I shouted. “I’m not wretched!”
“Out of the way, Tony,” Lucy ordered as she pushed him aside.
“Mom, uhh, I’ve decided not to go to Pokémon Tech.”
“Lucy, we talked about this-“
“Yes, but you said it was unsafe to travel alone. Now I’ve got John!”
“Oh, no,” I muttered, sensing I’d be next on the phone.
“Put him on, then.”
Lucy waved me over. This is when I first got a good look at Mrs. Bo. She was kind of like an older Lucy with lighter hair. But she was still fairly young, much younger than my parents were. But I noticed one thing over anything else: she seemed perfectly calm. Her daughter had just told her that she had dropped out of school to go wander around with a boy she just met. She was perfectly composed.
“Hello,” I said meekly.
“Hello John. I’ve heard so little about you. As in, just your first name. Tell me about yourself.”
So I told her about what happened to me, what I was doing, and how I met Lucy. When she seemed satisfied I slid over for Lucy.
“So, you’ve made up your mind? You’re going with your new boyfriend?”
“Friend, mom. My new friend. And yes, I have.”
“Very well. Put Tony on.”
Tony came to the phone. “Matter, you’re not seriously going to-“
“Tony, go with your sister.”
“BUT MATTER!”
“Tony, you can’t learn everything from textbooks.” And with that she hung up the phone.
While Tony banged his head against the wall, Lucy asked “So where to?”
“To Gary’s gym.” I replied.
So we went, with Tony trailing behind.
“And?”
“And I’d like you to open the door.”
“No one sees the Great Gary Oak without requesting a match.”
“All we want is to talk with him, if he’s not too busy.”
“He is.”
Sigh. I turned around, defeated.
“If you give up that easily, maybe you don’t deserve to see me.”
The perpetually annoying voice, the snobbish attitude, it was either Tony or…
“The Great Gary Oak! At your service!” the boy said, taking an exaggerated bow.
I held out my hand. “John Grain. Nice to meet you.” Surprisingly, he took it. For a minute I wondered if this was the same Gary Oak who first defeated Lance the Dragon Trainer. No cheerleaders, no attitude.
The others introduced themselves and Gary invited us into the gym for refreshments. This can’t be happening! I thought. I’m having lunch with Gary Oak!
We discussed a few things, mostly small talk that I can’t even remember, now. Only when an attendant had served us did we start discussing Pokémon.
“You’re at a disadvantage, you know. Starting this late in the season,” he told me.
“What do you mean?” I was nervous. Late? How can this be late?
“Well, each year, Gym Leaders start over with new Pokémon. This is so that trainers just starting off will be able to compete with them. We’re about midway through.”
This was disappointing. I had never thought about the implications of my starting late. “So, what should I do?”
“Well, you might try for the Shock League. They just started,” he said, sounding a little reserved.
I knew about the Shock League. They were based on the next island over, kind of a second-class group. They were there for trainers who lived on that island. Since it was more rural than Indigo, most trainers couldn’t get passage to it so they could go to the Pokémon League. They still were governed the same group of elite trainers, but it wouldn’t be the same. As a bonus, though, the land had been less taken over by humans so more Pokémon species live there. Better than nothing, I suppose…
“I guess we’ll go there then.”
To be continued…