PBK 61 Towards Mount Moon (Patreon)

Arata's POV

We headed straight from the contest hall to the Pokémon Center, still in good spirits despite Marrie's loss. Once there, Marrie went directly to the main desk to entrust Princess to the nurse.

As far as I could tell, the Pichu wasn't truly injured, but it wouldn't hurt to have her checked out. While Marrie was occupied, I walked over to one of the side stations to get an update on my own Pokémon.

"Hey," I said, placing my Pokédex on the counter. "I wanted to check on the condition of my Pokémon. I left two of them here earlier after a Gym battle."

I had brought both Caesar and Livia to the center for treatment after the Gym battle. Livia had been fine, just tired and minimally strained, and had already been returned to me. Caesar, however, had sustained injuries from taking so many Ice Punches. I'd been warned that only his abnormal physique had allowed him to endure the damage; the amount of harm he took from the Ice-type attacks would normally have put him out of commission for some time.

The nurse on duty greeted me with a polite smile and took my Pokédex, quickly logging it into the system.

"Ah... Caesar, correct? He sustained quite a bit of damage due to residual Ice-type energy, hm... He seems to be cleared, but do be careful while pushing him in battle. Young dragons are quite vulnerable to Ice types." The woman gave me a particular look.

I nodded quietly, keeping my thoughts to myself. I would never willingly harm my Pokémon, but I also wouldn't hinder their progress in the name of what the masses deemed appropriate.

"Understood. Thank you," I said.

She nodded and disappeared into the back for a moment before returning with Caesar's Poké Ball. I clipped it to my belt and immediately felt a familiar pulse of acknowledgment from my starter.

Welcome back, big guy.

By the time I turned around, Marrie and Maggie were already heading toward the exit. I followed after them, only to notice a large group of academics sitting together near the far side of the lobby. Their button-up shirts, tablets, and notebooks clearly marked them as a research group.

Most of them looked like they were from out of town.

Must be some kind of field research trip, I thought idly. Then another thought

surfaced: Wonder how Rin's doing. I smiled, remembering my ridiculous crush on her. Maybe I should contact her.

We stepped outside into the cool evening air. The sun had already dipped below the mountains surrounding the city, and the temperature had dropped noticeably.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and glanced at the girls. "So... where should we go to celebrate?"

Marrie thought for a moment, then spoke up. "I heard there's a pretty good restaurant not too far from here. It's supposed to be popular with trainers. Nothing too fancy, but the food's apparently really good."

"Sounds perfect," I said.

Maggie immediately perked up at the mention of food. "Can we get dessert too?"

I chuckled. "We'll see."

The food turned out to be really good.

We found the restaurant Marrie had mentioned, and I ended up ordering the Tauros steak. It came with some kind of herb butter that gave it a nice, slightly smoky flavor I hadn't tasted before.

Food was something I was coming to appreciate more as the days went on. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was traveling, or just that I was not solely focused on training my team. I hadn't focused on anything else other than gaining strength since my childhood, but then again, it was my Pokémon's strength that allowed me to be in this privileged position—a Ranger and a Lab Trainer for Oak Labs. Strength was what allowed me access to all of it.

Power made the world go around, in its varied forms: money, connections, and of course, Pokémon.

It was the right path; the Boulder Badge in its case was proof of that. But I could slow down every now and then and smell the flowers, so to speak.

Beside me, Maggie mumbled something in her sleep as her sister carried her on her back on our way back to the Pokémon Center. The little girl had fallen asleep after eating more than her fill.

We walked quietly through the streets of Pewter. The night air was cool, and the city lights reflected softly off the stone buildings. Marrie adjusted Maggie's weight on her back and glanced at me.

"Thank you for today," she said quietly. "It was... really nice. It's been a long time since Maggie and I got to do something like this."

I shook my head. "Think nothing of it. I wanted to celebrate too, you know. Pewter was kind of a milestone for me."

She smiled at that. "You must've trained really hard to be as strong as you are."

I turned to look at her, a little surprised.

"Most people would either say I'm using legacy Pokémon or was born with a silver spoon," I commented.

She snorted and looked at me, rolling her

eyes. "Most people would be stupid. The Pokémon you have would have eaten you alive if they were someone else's Pokémon."

"Fair enough."

When we finally reached the Pokémon Center, I asked, "We're still leaving tomorrow, right?"

Marrie nodded, carefully adjusting Maggie so she wouldn't slip. "Yeah. Once Princess gets cleared, we can go."

We made our way up to the room in comfortable silence. After putting Maggie to bed, I sat on my own bed for a while longer before going to sleep. I sent a short request to Professor Oak, asking if there were any Ice-type Pokémon available at the labs or if he knew of any sightings near Cerulean City.

Before pausing at the messenger app, I opened it and sent a message to Rin.

Hey. How've you been? Did you see the group chat? Just got my first Badge!

I tagged a pic of it as well, then stared at the screen for a second before closing it with a smile.

It was weird with my crush on her and her getting back together with her ex. I snorted, what a weird time it was, I thought with amusement. But that shouldn't be a reason to fall out of friendship with someone.

I nodded, laying on the bed. Yeah, it would be good to get in touch with her, even though I no longer felt anything for her other than friendship.

Closing my eyes, I went to sleep.

Next Day

We stood in front of the blocked path leading toward Mount Moon, staring at the line of local authorities and private security guards keeping everyone back. A large temporary barrier had been set up across the trail, and beyond it, the entrance to the mountain was completely sealed off.

Marrie looked at the scene, then turned to me with a confused expression. "Now what?"

I let out a slow sigh, rubbing the back of my neck. We'd already spent nearly half a day getting here, first on foot, then squeezing into a cramped local shuttle. It wasn't just us either. A decent crowd of trainers, hikers, and travelers had gathered, all equally annoyed at being turned away.

"This is ridiculous!" someone shouted from the crowd. "You can't just block the route like this! This must be illegal!"

And they were right...

I pulled out my Ranger Nav and quickly checked for any alerts or warnings about dangerous Pokémon or natural disasters in the area. Nothing. The route was supposed to be clear.

"I don't know," I admitted, glancing at Marrie. "Maybe we can ask them what's going on..."

As if to answer me, one of the security guards suddenly shoved a man who had tried to push his way past the barrier. The guard's Persian stood beside him, growling.

"...Or maybe not," I muttered.

Maggie, who had been quietly looking around at the growing crowd, tugged lightly on my sleeve. "So... are we going back?"

I was about to answer when something caught my eye.

At the edge of the group stood an older woman dressed in hiking gear—the same woman I had seen with that large group of academics at the Pokémon Center yesterday.

She was currently speaking with one of the officials in charge.

Huh... maybe they know something.

"Stay right here, girls," I said. "I'll be right back."

I made my way through the crowd until I reached the older woman. She had just finished speaking with the official when I gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey there," I said as she turned around. "My name is Arata."