The Pokemon Thing

You pull Squirtle into a pokeball, feeling just a bit guilty for leaving it knocked out for so long. You find a surprisingly well-stocked restroom and towel yourself off. You get dressed and go looking for a way to heal your pokemon.

Professor Oak is in his office. A monitor shows a security-camera view of the room you just left. "Oh!" he says. "Hazel! Welcome! Are you okay?"

You think for a moment. You actually are okay. Better than okay, really. "Doin' great!" you tell him. "It's all in the job description, right?"

He nods. "I'm glad," he says. "Not everyone takes it that way. I hope my grandson met with your approval?"

"I'd like him more if he'd stop calling me a slut," you admit. "He could at least learn some more creative insults."

"Ah," Professor Oak nods. "Well. He's got some growing up to do, certainly. What were you looking for? Do you need me to heal your pokemon?"

You hand over your pokeball. He slots it into a machine on his desk and hands it back. You make a note: so that's what the pokemon machines look like.

You bid the Professor farewell and set off. To Route One! It's time to do the pokemon thing!

Your phone buzzes as you leave the lab.

BlueSupreme: u owe me a pic btw
BlueSupreme: forgot to claim it before i left
BlueSupreme: naked obvs
BlueSupreme: turtle slut

You glance down at your phone with something between amusement and irritation. Now he thinks he can give you orders?

TrainerHazel: lol no
TrainerHazel: you want a pic of me naked? you earn it

Besides, if you sent him a photo, he'd probably post it to his profile as a victory pic. Tagged with your name. Which your parents would see.

BlueSupreme: see u in 24h then

Trainers can only challenge each other once per twenty-four hours, so you've got that long to prepare.

Or to, y'know... decide you're okay with losing.

You pull Squirtle out of its ball and walk with it as you travel. It's slower, but you figure it's a good way to build a bond with your pokemon. Besides, if you run into a monster, you'll want your own monster ready to fight.

A rat-monster lunges out of the tall grass. Squirtle shouts an adorable cry of rage and starts punching it. "Go, Squirtle, go!" you call. Either the rat-monster is less powerful than Blue's frog pokemon, or else your cheering works a lot better when you're not distracted; either way, Squirtle beats the monster handily, and you catch it in a ball.

You spend the rest of the day hunting; you have to make several trips back to heal your pokemon, but you stay out longer each time. You suppose your pokemon are gaining levels, or some equivalent. You catch two more rat-monsters and a bird-monster before you run out of pokeballs; the limit is six for a team, apparently, so you figure you might as well stock up.

You're about halfway down Route One when the sun begins to set. You could head back home for the night, you suppose, but you don't think you're up for seeing your parents again so soon. What if they ask how your day went? You shudder. No, you'll camp out overnight. You pull out your bird-monster -- your Pidgey, rather -- and ask it to fly up and find you a good campsite.

Pidgey comes back five minutes later looking excited. "Pidgey!" it says. It circles you once and takes off flying, and you follow behind it. It's not the clearest path -- you run into a thicket of vines, and Pidgey doesn't seem to understand why it's taking you so long to get through them.

But on the other side you spot a tent. Another trainer!