Chapter 8 – First Steps
The woman behind the desk looked up when I walked over. Maybe twenty-five, short dark hair, the particular calm of someone who worked somewhere busy enough that nothing surprised her anymore. A Chansey moved behind her, restocking something on a shelf without being asked.
"Hi," I said. "I was looking at the jobs board."
"New trainer?" She glanced at my belt one Pokéball, nothing else and then at my face. "Just registered?"
"Today, yeah." I nodded vaguely in the direction of the lab. "Rowan said to come back tomorrow so I figured I'd sort out the rest of today first."
"Practical," she said, like she approved of that. She pulled a small folder from under the desk. "What were you looking at?"
"The assistance job here mainly. And the delivery to Jubilife but not immediately, I want to get a feel for the area first." I paused. "There was a survey job on Route 202 too but the timing doesn't work yet."
She nodded, flipping the folder open. "The assistance job is flexible. Stocking, cleaning, helping trainers check in their Pokémon, that kind of thing. Nothing complicated. We pay daily, meals included on a full shift." She looked up. "You'd need somewhere to stay."
"I was at the lodge last night. I'll go back tonight, sort out something more permanent once I know what I'm doing."
She smiled at that. "Most new trainers walk in with a plan. You're the first one today who's just admitted they're figuring it out as they go."
"Seems more honest than pretending I've got everything sorted," I said.
She slid a single sheet across the desk. "Fill this in and you can start tomorrow morning."
I worked through it. Name, trainer ID, emergency contact I paused at that one.
"You can leave it blank," she said, reading the pause without comment. "Most people do."
I left it blank and finished the form. When I slid it back she held out a small scanner. "ID?"
I handed it over. She pressed it to the scanner and a screen on her side of the desk lit up my name, registration date, trainer classification. She turned it slightly so I could see, and at the bottom there was a balance I hadn't known was there.
I stared at it for a second.
"Rowan sometimes adds a starting balance for new registrations," she said, not unkindly. "For trainers he thinks will go far. He doesn't mention it. He just does it."
I looked at the number for another second. Took the ID back. "I'll have to thank him tomorrow."
"He won't say much about it," she said. "That's just how he is." She held out my copy of the form. "Tomorrow, eight o'clock. Ask for Nurse Joy."
I blinked. "Sorry Joy?"
She smiled, practiced and genuine at the same time. "Every Pokémon Center. I stopped trying to explain it years ago."
"I'm Ryan," I said. "Which you already know because it's on the form."
She laughed short and real. "Exactly. Go get something to eat, Ryan. You look like you haven't since yesterday."
I hadn't, actually. I'd been so focused on moving from one thing to the next that food hadn't registered until she said it and now suddenly it was the only thing I could think about.
"Yeah," I said. "That's probably a good idea."
I folded my copy into my pocket and turned toward the door. The waiting area was fuller now a trainer with a Ponyta that kept shifting its weight, two kids arguing quietly over something on a map, an older woman with a Clefairy asleep across her knees reading a paperback like the world around her didn't exist.
I stopped just before the doors and looked back at the jobs board. The delivery to Jubilife. The survey on Route 202. Things for later.
I put my hand on the Pokéball at my belt. Just for a second.
Deino was in there. Which was still one of the stranger sentences my brain had produced today, and today had been a strange day by any measure.
I pushed through the doors into the street. The afternoon light had shifted while I'd been inside softer, more golden. A Roserade was helping its trainer carry a crate from the berry market. Two Starly were arguing on a rooftop about something that clearly mattered a lot to them and not at all to anyone else.
I needed food. I needed to figure out how long my balance would stretch. I needed to think about what came after tomorrow's conversation with Rowan.
I started walking.