Enter the shop.

With one final burst of courage, you pull open the door to the parlor. “Hello miss, how can we help you tonight?” the man behind the counter asks. Your spurt of courage quickly fades as you take a second to stare at the large man covered in tattoos.

“I um I came to get my,” you can’t believe what you’re about to say, “my my nipples pierced.” You look down not wanting to make eye contact with him. You notice that his arms are quite muscular, but not as big as John’s you think to yourself. They are also covered in tattoos of various grass type pokemon.

“Well I think we can squeeze you in. The shop is always empty when the Miners are playing.” He lets out a hearty laugh, you look up to see his cheerful smile. “Let’s go in back and get you set up.” He goes from behind the counter heading to the back of the shop. “I’ll get the gear ready. You can take a seat right there and lose your shirt.” He points to a chair.

You watch him start to dig through a couple drawers. It’s time. You quickly pull your shirts off and unhook your bra. You’re now standing topless in the tattoo parlor. You take a seat nervously covering yourself with your hands. The piercer places a final object on the side table before turning to look at you. “Well I can’t pierce them with your hands in the way.” He lets out another deep laugh. You slowly pull your hands back revealing yourself to him. “There we go, no reason to be scared. It doesn’t hurt as much as you think.” He pulls a pokeball from his belt releasing a Cacturne from its ball. Cacturne holds its arm out and a single needle extends from it’s palm. The piercer takes a disinfectant and rubs the barb down. “Are you ready?”

You try to say yes but it catches in your throat, so you nod instead. He moves closer and takes hold of your right tit. He gently rubs your nipple making it immediately stiffen and send shivers down your spine. He takes hold of your boob holding it still as Cacturne lines his needle to your newly erect nipple. The tip of the needle is suddenly plunged through your flesh. You instinctively squirm but the man continues to hold your tit in place. You relax a little, your nipple still stinging. You look down as the man brings the barbell jewelry towards you. The end of the needle opens forming a tunnel through your nipple. He inserts the piece of metal into the needle and Cacturne pulls its hand back removing the barb. “See not so bad.” He says as he twists the other end of the barbell onto the jewelry.

“I guess. It still hurt like hell,” you say pouting a little.

He lets out another laugh while he snaps the needle off Cacturne’s hand. “Well, you’re half way done now. Although we are running a 3 for 2 deal on piercings. So you’re already got 2, you could get a third for free.” He raises a hand to Cacturne to disinfect a brand new needle. “We could put another hole in one of your ears. Or anywhere else you want. No pressure though you do you. Alright you ready?”

“As ready as I could be.” You brace yourself knowing what to expect now. He quickly toys with your other nipple bringing it to attention. He steadies your tit for Cacturne. Then the pain shoots again as the needle is once again plunged through you. You manage to not squirm as much this time. He slides another barbell into the barb before Cacturne withdraws. He screws the other end on and back away.

“So this will help with the healing,” he is holding what appears to be a potion.

“I thought potions didn’t work on people?” you ask surprised that he would want to use it.

“Well, it’s a little complicated. They are very ineffective and other alternative methods are better,” he continues explaining as he sprays the bottle on to your nipple from every angle, letting it soak in. The potion does feel nice and the stinging seems to stop. “But for piercings which are just very small stabs, it quickens the healing process significantly. Which means that you don’t have any real aftercare. Just try not to catch them on anything and rip them out. And done,” he says after spraying both of your nipples. “You can put your clothes back on. Did you put any thought into that free piercing?”

You’re surprised that the piercings no longer hurt at all.You quickly grab your clothes about to put them back on before remembering that you need a photo for Blue. “Um I had always considered getting another ear piercing,” you reach up touching your ear playing with your existing lobe piercing. “Maybe right here?” you nervously say touching about half way up your ear. While he looks through the drawer for something, you pull out your phone to take a selfie then pulling on your clothing.

“Sure we can do that.” He motions to Cacturne who grows another needle. “Alright look this way,” he says pushing your head to the side. You feel him handling your ear so that Cacturne can line itself up. Then your ear suddenly stings, but nowhere near as badly as your nipples had moments ago. Cacturne pulls out and the man lets go of you and reaches for the potion bottle from before. The pain quickly leaves your ear and he holds up a mirror letting you see your fresh piercing. A plain metal ball rests on your upper lobe, you’ll have to get new jewelry later it doesn’t quite match your cute earrings. “Alright all done. We can head up front and pay.” You follow him once again waiting at the counter. “2 piercings and a free one, that comes to 10,000PD.”

Ouch, this bet is going to cost more than you had expected. You have the funds to pay it but you’ll be very low on funds for a while until you can beat some more trainers. You tap your phone to the payment station instantly paying your bill. “Have a good night miss, and feel free to come back if you ever want another piercing or maybe even a tattoo.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” the man walks away going back to the station to clean up. You take a second to begrudgingly send the selfie to Blue. When you open your phone to send the message you see a message from Daisy in your inbox.

“Hey Amber. Me and the Sirens are at the Gravel Bar & Grill.” That’s the same bar John had taken you to on your first night in Pewter City.

“I’ll be there shortly,” you reply before sending her brother a topless selfie.

You see the front door that you came in through, but on the side of the store is another door. The side door appears to let out into an alley. The crowd from the game is likely out on the streets by now. You consider that the alley might make it easier to sneak past any wandering trainers. Then again you have no clue what could be waiting for you in the alley either.