Heath glanced at the dehumidifying bags hanging on Mr. William. Wow, they were the largest Snorlax dehumidifying bags, which Heath remembered had an impressive dehumidifying effect and could hold fifteen kilograms of water.
As a city annually affected by the Foggy Season, Viridian City's most popular items were dehumidifying bags and dryers. Tourists from other cities rarely visited Viridian during this time, unless they were unfamiliar with the Foggy Season or were visitors from other leagues.
People generally despised the Foggy Season due to its frustrating weather, especially when windows wouldn't close and bedsheets got damp. That's when dehumidifying bags came in handy. Silph Co. developed the largest Snorlax dehumidifying bags, which could quickly dehumidify a room, absorbing moisture and storing it as water.
Now, Mr. William had ten such bags hanging on him, rapidly filling with water. Heath was a bit worried watching this, but it didn't stop him from cooking for Mr. William.
"Mr. William, don't you feel uncomfortable dressed like that?" Heath asked, puzzled, looking at the now-bulkier Mr. William.
The worst part of being soaked by rain was the damp clothes sticking to your skin, driving you crazy. If you got entirely wet, you'd want to rush home and change immediately.
"It's fine. Training is about tormenting your muscles and willpower," Mr. William said calmly. Beside him, the female Machamp nodded seriously, showing off her impressive muscles.
"How's your Charmander's training going?" Mr. William asked curiously. He had seen many people give up halfway, or those who trained for a day and rested for a month.
But he had never seen a Pokémon, especially a Charmander, train for muscle building before. This discovery intrigued Mr. William, which was why he was willing to train Charmander.
"Great, Charmander is the most determined Pokémon I've ever seen," Heath said, glancing at Charmander. Charmander drank a protein shake and continued his workout.
"Training isn't easy. I've seen too many quitters. When I started this gym, over a hundred people joined, but after a year, I was the only one left," Mr. William laughed heartily, his hair already damp.
Heath smiled. Mr. William had initially kept the training difficulty low, only increasing it after everyone else had left the gym. Over time, this had attracted some determined individuals.
"Mr. William, here's your breakfast, and this is the barley tea. Please drink it while it's hot," Heath said, handing over the tea and taking Mr. William's money, which he placed in a metal box.
During the Foggy Season, managing money was crucial. Paper money was best kept in banks or places with many dehumidifying bags to avoid terrible, nightmarish consequences.
Watching Mr. William and his Machamp disappear into the fog, Heath abandoned the idea of putting out tables and chairs. In such bad weather, no one would want to sit outside.
"Farfetch'd, don't let your wings droop. Hang in there, only five more minutes to go," Heath, bored, started supervising Farfetch'd's training.
As time passed, the day brightened, and the morning fog thinned a bit, though it remained heavy. Pedestrians hurried along the streets, occasionally stopping to buy food. Compared to the usual long queues, business today was dismal.
For each customer, Heath recommended a cup of barley tea. Hearing that it could expel dampness, many showed interest. The eight-coin-a-cup tea was quite popular.
"Oh no, someone fell again," Zorua said, lying on the table and watching the scene outside with schadenfreude.
"Foggy Season is just like this. The ground is damp, and tiles are especially slippery," Heath sighed, watching an office worker fall to the ground.
The Foggy Season was a terrible weather phenomenon that people hated but couldn't avoid. During this time, Officer Jenny and her team rode their motorcycles cautiously, and it was also the busiest period for Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center.
The damp weather increased the risk of falls and fractures. Though Heath wasn't at the Pokémon Center, he could already envision Nurse Joy's busy day.
Sitting in the food truck, Heath reviewed his driving test materials. Despite the Foggy Season, he still needed to get his driver's license. The weather made subsequent tests challenging. The thought of reversing into a parking spot in this weather gave Heath a headache.
"Heath, what's on the menu today?" A girl's voice asked. Heath looked up to see a girl with glasses and twin braids smiling at him from outside the food truck.
"Oh, it's Miss Dawn. Today we have the usual items, but there's also barley tea. Would you like to try it?" Heath asked, smiling at the girl.
Though she shared a name with the famous Dawn from Sinnoh, this Dawn was entirely unrelated. In the Pokémon world, having the same name was common. If names had to be unique, Heath figured his name would be longer and more complicated, making it impossible to simply be called Heath.
"Barley tea? Can you eat it?" Dawn asked, her interest piqued, looking at Heath expectantly.
"Miss Dawn, barley tea is for drinking. It helps expel dampness in this awful Foggy Season weather," Heath explained with a chuckle.
"Huh? Expel dampness? Is it medicinal? Has it passed a drug test? What's its pharmacology?" Dawn asked curiously, bombarding Heath with questions.
Heath was taken aback, then rubbed his head in frustration. How could he forget that Dawn aspired to be a nurse?
If names couldn't be duplicated in this world, they would become commodities, with shorter names being more expensive.
(End of this chapter)