"Very well," Professor Elm began. "It happened this morning. I was deep into my research when a woman arrived. I didn't see her face clearly and assumed she was Nurse Joy.
She took advantage of that; she mimicked Nurse Joy's voice perfectly and told me she was there for a routine Pokémon check-up. Since I had spoken to Nurse Joy a few days ago about checking on Totodile,
I didn't think twice and handed the Pokémon over. By the time I realized it wasn't her, it was too late."
As the Professor explained the story, my eyes wandered to a patch of smooth, wet cement outside the lab—it looked like it had been poured just yesterday. On the surface, I spotted three distinct sets of footprints.
One belonged to a man, one to a woman, and the third... a Meowth.
Looking at these footprints, I don't need to hear anything else, I thought. Who else could it be but Team Rocket?
"Officer Jenny, I think I have an idea of who the thieves are," I said, turning to her. "Do you have a Pokémon that can track them by scent?"
Officer Jenny smiled confidently. "I was hoping you'd ask. Meet my loyal partner, Growlithe!"
Click!
She tossed a Pokéball into the air.
Fwoosh!
In a burst of white light, the orange-and-black striped Pokémon appeared.
"Growlithe, I need you to catch the scent from these footprints and lead us to their owners!"
"Growlithe!" (Understood!)
Growlithe nodded, trot over to the footprints in the cement, and began to sniff intensely.
Sniff... sniff... sniff...
"Growlithe! Growlithe!"
Growlithe barked sharply, communicating in his own language. As his trainer, Officer Jenny understood exactly what he was saying.
"Oh! You've found their trail?" Officer Jenny beamed, praising her partner. "Good boy! Lead us to the thieves immediately!"
"Growlithe! Growlithe!"
Growlithe nodded enthusiastically and signaled for us to follow before taking off at a sprint. Officer Jenny translated his intent, signaling for Risa and me to follow.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
We chased after the fire-dog Pokémon for a while until we arrived at a secluded spot near an old telephone booth.
There they were. Team Rocket.
But they weren't making a getaway. Instead, the three of them were brawling amongst themselves. As for the stolen Totodile? It was currently clamped onto Jessie's long red hair, biting down hard.
Watching them shove each other, it was painfully obvious what was happening. They were fighting over who would get the credit for reporting the theft to their Boss. Whoever made the call first would likely claim the biggest share of the glory.
I had zero interest in watching their slapstick comedy routine. I stepped forward, my voice firm.
"Team Rocket! Hand over the Totodile quietly. It'll be better for you if you do."
Officer Jenny stepped up beside me, her expression stern. "Team Rocket, the police have you surrounded! Surrender the stolen Pokémon immediately!"
Risa stood ready beside her.
Startled by our arrival, Team Rocket stopped fighting. They quickly composed themselves and launched into their rehearsed routine.
Jessie: "Prepare for trouble!"
James: "And make it double!"
Jessie: "To protect the world from devastation!"
James: "To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"Stop! I don't have the patience to listen to this nonsense today," I interrupted, grabbing a Pokéball from my belt.
Click! Whoosh!
"Charizard, I choose you!"
A massive orange dragon materialized with a mighty roar, flames flickering on his tail.
"Charizard, use Flamethrower!" I commanded.
ROAAAARRR!
Charizard threw his head back and unleashed a torrent of scorching fire toward the trio.
Seeing the flames approaching, Jessie panicked and grabbed a Pokéball. "Come out, Wobbuffet! Use Mirror Coat!"
"Wobbuffet!"
With a flash of light, the blue, blob-like Pokémon with a black tail appeared, raising a glowing hand in a salute. A shimmering shield enveloped him.
Ping!
Charizard's Flamethrower hit the Mirror Coat, and instantly, the attack was reflected with double the power, heading straight back at Charizard.
"Charizard, dodge it!" I shouted.
With a powerful flap of his wings, Charizard banked sharply, narrowly avoiding the reflected fire blast.
"Now, finish this! Use Dragon Tail and send them flying!"
Shwing!
Charizard's tail began to glow with a mysterious green and blue energy. He swooped down, spinning his body to generate momentum.
"Wobbuffet—?!"
BAM!
The Dragon Tail connected with a heavy impact, slamming into Wobbuffet and sending him crashing back into Jessie and James.
BOOM!
An explosion erupted, launching the three villains straight up into the sky.
"Quick! Come out, Shiny Bellsprout! Use Vine Whip to grab Totodile!"
Pop!
My gold-colored Bellsprout appeared.
"Bell-sprout!"
Two long vines shot out from its body, extending rapidly toward the flying group. The vines deftly wrapped around the Totodile, pulling it free from Jessie's hair just before they disappeared into the clouds.
"We're blasting off againnnnn....!" ×3
Ding!
A sparkle twinkled in the distance as Team Rocket vanished.
The vines retracted, and gently, the Totodile was released, landing safely right into Officer Jenny's arms.
"Come back, Charizard. Great work," I said, holding up his ball.
Zwoop. With a red beam of light, Charizard returned to safety.
Officer Jenny hugged the Totodile, looking relieved. She turned to us with a grateful smile. "Thank you so much! Without your help tracking them and fighting, we wouldn't have recovered Totodile so quickly."
I blinked. First, she basically forced me to help, and now she's thanking me profusely? Women are really hard to understand, I thought to myself.
Out loud, however, I just smiled. "It was no problem. We wanted to help. Recovering a lost Pokémon and returning it to its trainer is always the right thing to do."
"Yeah, I agree with Ash," Risa chimed in, crossing her arms and pouting slightly. "Although... I didn't really get to help much. Ash did everything before I could even move!"
She gave me a playful side-eye for hogging the spotlight. Seeing her expression and my awkward smile, Officer Jenny burst into laughter.
We returned to the Pokémon Center. Officer Jenny immediately handed the Totodile over to Nurse Joy for a check-up before leaving to file her report.
Inside, Risa was standing with Nurse Joy, happily playing with the energetic Totodile. On the floor nearby, Pikachu and Eevee were chasing each other, tumbling around playfully.
With some free time on my hands, I sat down on a bench in the waiting area. I closed my eyes and mentally accessed the System. I had accumulated several sign-in rewards from key locations but had chosen to claim them later.
"System, claim all pending sign-in rewards."
Ding!
[ Understood, Host. Distributing all rewards now. ]
[ Sign-in Reward (Arrival at New Bark Town): Fire Gem, Water Gem, Grass Gem ]
[ Sign-in Reward (Suicune's River): Mystic Water ]
[ Sign-in Reward (Pokémon Center): Egg Incubator, High-Level Nutrient Fluid Potion ]
[ Sign-in Reward (Professor Elm's Lab): High-Level Water Stone, High-Level Fire Stone, High-Level Leaf Stone ]
I nodded in understanding. As for the three Gems—Fire, Water, and Grass—they were consumable items. Once used to boost a Pokémon's move, they would disappear forever. Considering New Bark Town is a starter town, these were appropriate, albeit basic, rewards.
However, the rewards from the other sign-in locations were excellent.
I was particularly surprised by the items from the Pokémon Center.
An Egg Incubator. I actually had a Shiny Zeraora Egg in my possession, but I had been lacking a proper incubator to keep it safe and warm.
The System had provided exactly what I needed at the perfect moment. And the High-Level Nutrient Fluid? That was even better. It would drastically reduce the time needed for the egg to hatch.
I reached into my bag and carefully pulled out the Shiny Zeraora Egg, the Incubator, and the vial of Nutrient Fluid.
Click.
I opened the transparent lid of the incubator and gently placed the egg inside. Then, I uncorked the Nutrient Fluid.
Glug...
I poured the shimmering liquid into the intake valve. Immediately, the egg began to glow faintly as it absorbed the nutrients, pulsing with life.
I pulled up the System panel to check the status.
Ping!
[ Shiny Zeraora Pokémon Egg ]
[ Previous Hatch Time: 10 Years ]
[ Current Hatch Time: 7 Days ]
Seeing this, I thanked the System from the bottom of my heart. Without this fluid, I would have had to wait a decade for this little guy to be born. Seven days was a miracle in comparison.
Satisfied, I carefully placed the incubator back into my bag.
Zip.
I stood up and walked over to the front desk. "Nurse Joy, could you please register me for the Johto Pokémon League?"
"Certainly," Nurse Joy smiled warmly. "Please, follow me."
She led Risa and me into a separate room in the back. inside, there was a large digital screen mounted on the wall, connected to a computer console below.
"First, I'll need your Pokédex," Nurse Joy requested.
I nodded and handed the pokedex over to her. She placed it into a specialized slot connected to the computer and began typing on the keyboard.
Clack-clack-clack.
A scanning device extended from the computer, running a beam of light over my Pokédex.
Whirrr... Beep!
Suddenly, the large screen flickered to life. My profile picture appeared on the display, and a robotic, electronic voice echoed through the room.
"Processing registration for Trainer Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, Kanto Region. Please wait..."
A loading bar appeared on the screen, filling up rapidly.
[ Loading... 1%... 50%... 100% ]
[ Ding! "Process complete. Trainer Ash Ketchum is now officially registered for the Johto Pokémon League. Good luck, challenger."]
Nurse Joy retrieved my Pokédex from the slot and handed it back to me.
"Here you go, Ash. You're all set."
"Thank you very much, Nurse Joy," I said, taking the pokedex with a smile.
To be continued...