Nurse Joy ran the introductory care session every Tuesday and Thursday morning in a side room off the main Pokemon Centre lobby. From the looks of it, it was mostly used to educate young new trainers. The chairs were small and the posters on the walls had large friendly lettering.
There were four other people in the room when Finn and Ciri arrived. Two of them looked about twelve. The other two were a couple from out of town who had just received their first Pokemon.
The couple's eyes went to Ciri when she walked in. The woman's smile faltered. Ciri caught the direction of the look and sat down.
The twelve-year-old beside her stared at her cheek openly. Then he leaned toward the other kid.
"What's wrong with her face?" Not quietly enough.
The other kid looked. "Gross."
Ciri went still. Finn noticed this. In Westeros nobody had said anything. Scars there were common enough that people saw them and moved on. Here it was different.
Finn turned his head toward the kids. He didn't say anything. He just looked at them and held it there until both of them faced forward nervously.
The room quickly moved on.
Ciri kept her eyes on Nurse Joy and her jaw set and didn't touch her cheek, even though her hand wanted to cover it.
Nurse Joy set a Chansey on the table at the front and began.
The basics first. Pokemon had individual temperaments, and a new trainer's first job was to learn the specific personality of their own rather than applying general rules. Some needed space. Some needed constant contact. Feeding schedules varied by species and energy output, a Pokemon that battled regularly needed significantly more calories than one living quietly, and getting that wrong in either direction caused problems that were tedious to fix.
Ciri's hand went up. "What's a calorie?"
The twelve-year-old turned to look at her again.
Nurse Joy handled it without missing a beat. "A unit of energy in food. Different activities burn different amounts. A Pokemon that trains hard every day needs more food than one that doesn't. Think of it like firewood. More fire, more wood needed."
Ciri nodded and sat back.
Nurse Joy moved on. Injuries next. She produced a kit from the cabinet behind her and went through the contents item by item. Minor cuts, bruises, mild burns, the kit covered most of it. Anything internal, anything to the eyes, anything uncertain, come to the Centre. Don't guess.
She looked around the room.
"Questions?"
Ciri's hand went up again. "You mentioned evolution earlier. What does that mean exactly?"
The kids looked at her again. Ciri didn't look back.
"Pokemon grow stronger through battle and experience, and at a certain point some of them change form entirely. Larger, different shapes, sometimes different types. It happens quickly, usually in the middle or just after a battle." She gestured at the Chansey beside her. "This one, for instance, will eventually evolve into a Blissey."
Ciri looked at the Chansey. The Chansey looked back at her with a smile and waved.
The session ran for an hour. By the end Finn had three pages of notes and Ciri had asked four more questions, each slightly more basic than the last, which Nurse Joy answered with patience.
At the door on the way out, Nurse Joy stopped them.
"You're not from around here," she said.
"No," Finn said.
She handed them each a small booklet. "Species guide. Start with whatever you're planning to catch. There's a catching lesson tomorrow." She paused. "There's also a daycare session the day after, west of town. Worth attending if you end up catching something."
Finn pocketed the booklet and thanked her.
—
They came to the catching lesson the next morning. The trainer's name was Bram. He was perhaps thirty, with the quality of someone who had spent most of his adult life outdoors, and he ran catching tutorials out of the eastern field for a flat fee. A Bibarel sat at his feet and regarded Finn and Ciri with complete indifference.
There were two other students already there when they arrived, a pair of boys about sixteen. One of them looked at Ciri and said something to the other under his breath, and the other one laughed. Neither of them were subtle about where they were looking. Her scar.
Ciri kept her eyes forward and pretended to ignore it.
Bram started with the ball.
"Most people think the throw is the hard part," he said, holding one up. "It's not. The hard part is what happens before the throw." He turned it over in his hand. "You need the Pokemon tired enough that it can't resist the capture, but not so tired that you've done damage. That balance is the whole thing."
"How do you tire one without a Pokemon of your own?" Finn asked.
"Short answer, you usually don't. Catching without a partner is possible but harder. You can use terrain, weather, and certain berries." He reached into his belt pouch and produced a small yellow berry. "Razz Berry. Makes the Pokemon more receptive to capture without tiring it. Better than nothing if you're working alone."
He pocketed it and picked the ball back up.
"The throw. Underarm for distance, sidearm for accuracy up close. You want centre mass, not the head, not the tail. After contact the ball does the work. Stay back and stay quiet."
"What if it breaks out?" Ciri asked.
One of the boys snorted. The other one looked at the side of her face and then looked away grinning.
She gave them stink eyes, and they all shut up in an instant.
"Try again. Tire it further before the next attempt if needed." Bram looked at her. His eyes went to her cheek briefly, then back up. "What are you planning to catch?"
"A Ponyta."
He nodded. "Fast and skittish. Approach from downwind, they spook at unfamiliar scents. Don't approach from behind. Ever. You'll get a kick in the stomach."
He turned to Finn. "And you?"
"Gible," Finn said.
Bram raised his eyebrows slightly. "Underground territory. Gible lives in caves where the ground stays warm. Ambush hunters by instinct, so they'll likely find you before you find them." He paused. "Which sounds convenient until one bites through your boot."
"How do I stop that?"
"Don't stand still too long in their territory. Keep moving, keep noise down. When you spot one, give it space before attempting anything. Gible are aggressive when cornered but curious when they're not. If it approaches on its own, that's your best window."
Finn wrote that down.
Bram had them practice the throw for the rest of the session using dummy balls against a painted target on a post. Ciri had the motion in three attempts. By the time they left, Ciri had the species guide open to the Ponyta page.
"Downwind," she said. "Got it."
"You want to catch one right now?" Finn said.
"Why not?" She tucked the booklet away. "You?"
"Daycare session is tomorrow," Finn said.
"Fine," Ciri said. "Daycare first."