At the clinic as usual

Standing outside the town clinic, you halfheartedly observe the sign outside, stating the building to be the Rifure Village Clinic. It was a bit out of date now that Rifure had gained its town status, but the professor refused to change it, babbling on about costs and recognition. Her call, you suppose. Shrugging it off, you head inside.

“Professor Stump, I require a pokemon!”

The woman inside sighs. “How many times do I have to tell you, Emilia, I’m not a professor. I’m a physician. And why do you need a pokemon all of a sudden? It’s not like I just have spares lying around.”

A woman in her mid-30’s sits on the other side of a counter. Her piercing eyes are framed by black, semi-rimless glasses, and strands of her disheveled, chocolate brown hair rest on her face, obviously obstructing her vision. Her white lab coat hangs sloppily off her shoulders.

“I’m going to conquer the Pokemon League and become a Pokemon Master to earn back the respect of Rifure Town’s population,” you state proudly.

She stares at you. It’s awkward. You feel like maybe you shouldn’t have come on so strongly, but you’ve already committed so you have to stay silent until she reacts. And when she does react, it’s with laughter.

“You? SERIOUSLY? You’re going to be a Pokemon Master? You can’t even master your own clothing!”

Your cheeks light up bright red at her taunt, but you do your best to keep your composure. “I-I handle my clothing just fine! And I’ll handle this just fine too. Now, give me a pokemon so I can get started.”

She sighs, this time more exasperated than the first. “Well, it’s not like I typically have pokemon to give to new trainers, but if you’re that serious, I did win one from a sweepstakes yesterday. It…” Her voice fades out of your mind as you begin imagining the possibilities. Is it a Rhydon? A Gyarados maybe? Or maybe even a Charizard…

You’re pulled out of your train of thought when she tosses a pokeball over the counter, revealing your first pokemon.

“It’s a penis,” you blurt out.

“It’s not a penis!” she yells back. “It’s a Diglett. It’s a Ground-type pokemon which has a pretty good number of type-advantages I’ll have you know.”

“So why’d you enter a sweepstakes for a Diglett?” you ask.

“I didn’t,” she replies, “I entered to win a Pidgey so I could fly supplies to Cerulean City and back. But we can’t all be winners, I suppose.” She sighs. Again. She does that a lot.

Stump tosses you the pokeball, and you make Diglett return. Guess that’s your first pokemon, then. You had something a little different in mind, but you’ll have to take what you can get for now. Besides, there are plenty of other pokemon out there for you to catch. You’ll have a formidable team in no time! You stow your pokeball in your… pockets? Except you don’t have any, so you just stand there holding it in your hand, looking for someplace on your person to store it.

“Oh! You could probably use a backpack to carry supplies and the like, too. One second.” The professor rummages around behind her desk for a minute before throwing an empty blue backpack over the counter.

“It’s a little worn, but it should do the trick,” she says, a bit more cheerily than before. You deposit the pokeball in a side pocket, thank Professor Stump for all her help, and then leave to get some suppli-

“Wait!” she yells as you start to leave. You turn on your heels to hear what else she has to say.

“You’re serious? About all of this?” she asks.

“Of course!” you reply. “This isn’t something I’d commit to halfheartedly.”

Stump looks conflicted, which is an unusual look for her. She struggles for a few seconds before opening her mouth to speak. “Stay safe, kiddo. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows out there.”

Pokemon Gained: Diglett

Item Gained: Backpack