Route 5

The sun beats down from above. You watch Jack battling a Meowth, her Cubone throwing its club. You feel something hit your ankle. Looking towards your feet, you see a Bellsprout trying to fight your shoelaces. You back up and release Ekans from his ball.

You shout your commands. Then your serpentine partner wraps around the belligerent plant. The Bellsprout returns the attack by wrapping its sinewy appendages around Ekans. The two pokemon slide through each other’s grasps, until you give the bite command to Ekans. The purple snake’s teeth sink into the bell-like head.

“My money is on the purple one,” Jack says while coming up behind you. Bellsprout uses its vines to hit Ekans as he continues to bite the enemy. Eventually the Bellsprout faints, falling limp still entangled by Ekans’ body. Ekans uncoils from the defeated enemy, proud of its victory. “You about ready for a lunch break?” Jack asks, holding up a box lunch.

You hold your stomach, “So ready.” The two of you find a nice place for a picnic. You grab your sandwich from the box, eagerly biting into it. You see a house up on the ledge. An old man stands out front and waves when he sees you. The sign on the house reads “Day Care.” You tap Jack on the arm, as she bites into a carrot from the box. “Who would take their kid to a day care all the way out here? Plus look at that ledge.”

“That’s not a human day care. He watches over pokemon for trainers,” she calmly explains while eating the assortment of vegetables from the box.

“Why would you pay an old man to watch your pokemon instead of just putting them in the PC?” you ask before taking another bite of your sandwich.

“Because he’ll level them up. Your pokemon slowly become stronger based on the human interaction they get with you. It’s not a lot and it’s usually overshadowed by the amount of experience they get from battling,” Jack explains while picking up her own sandwich.

“So the trainer’s pokemon gets stronger by the old man caring for it,” you nibble on a cucumber slice while absorbing the info. “So what if my mom took care of my pokemon from my PC?”

“They’d get stronger, if your mom interacted with them enough,” Jack says after swallowing a mouthful.

“Hmm, interesting,” you trail off as you grab your phone to message your mom. “I bet my mom would love that. She used to be a trainer, that’s how she met my dad.”

After you and Jack finish the lunch, you continue south on route 5. A man standing outside an odd building shouts out to you, “Hey ladies, come here,” he waves you over. You and Jack share a look before going over to him. You figure if he was a trainer he would’ve just challenged you from afar, and with two of you and only one of him he shouldn’t be able to overpower you. “Where ya headin’?”

“Vermillion City, just going to cut through Saffron,” Jack answers, gesturing towards the path that will lead you to the Saffron City Gatehouse.

“Ah, I figured that was the case. Couple trainers leaving Cerulean, the usual next stop is Vermillion. There’s just one problem, the gatehouses are all closed. The guards are on strike, something about being thirsty,” the strange man tells you.

“Oh crap. I’m supposed to meet my mom there in a couple days. We won’t make it if we have to go around Saffron,” you lament to Jack.

“Well, just so happens you’re in luck,” the man says with a grin. “This building behind me is the entrance to a network of underground tunnels that connect towns across Kanto. They were dug back when the Saffron gatehouses charged tolls, a man hated the tolls and dug the tunnels with the help of some ground type pokemon. But after losing tourism, the tolls were dropped and the tunnels stopped being used. They’re a bit of a maze so you’ll need a guide otherwise you’ll get lost down there.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you so much. We really needed to get to Vermillion,” you tell him, relieved to hear you’ll make the rendezvous with your mom.

“It’s really no problem at all,” he takes a pause before saying, “as long as you can pay my fee.”

“Your fee?” you ask.

“Well I usually charge more, but just today I’ll do it for 5000PD,” you’re relieved that the price wasn’t too high, “and a blowjob. But I’m not picky about who,” he glances between you and Jack.

You don’t see another way out of this. You start to sink to your knees ready to blow the stranger. Then you feel Jack grab your arm, why is she stopping you? Surely she doesn’t want to blow him in your place. “What are you doing?” she whispers trying to make it so the guy can’t hear the conversation.

“I was going to blow him so we can make it to Vermillion,” you whisper back.

“We don’t even know if he’s telling the truth. Shouldn’t we go check the gatehouse first?” she nods her head towards the path leading south.

“You know I can hear you right?” the man says interrupting your conversation. “I’m a little hurt you don’t trust me. But hey I get it, go check the gatehouse, see for yourself that they’re closed. But when you come crawling back to me asking for help, my price will have gone up,” the man says with a shrug.

Jack has a point, how do you know this man is trustworthy? Why would they close a city for a thirst based strike, couldn’t they just give a drink to their workers? But if you check the gatehouse the man will want more than just a blowjob and some cash. So maybe it would be safer to blow him rather than gamble more to check.

“It’s your call,” Jack tells you.