Chapter 8 – First Steps
The woman behind the desk looked up when Ryan approached. She was maybe twenty-five, with short dark hair and the particular kind of calm that came from working somewhere busy enough that nothing surprised you anymore. A Chansey moved behind her, restocking something on a shelf without being asked.
"Hi," Ryan said. "I was looking at the jobs board."
"New trainer?" She glanced at his belt one Pokeball, nothing else and then at his face with the easy assessment of someone who had seen a lot of people walk through those doors. "Just registered?"
"Today, yeah." He nodded toward the window in the general direction of the lab. "Rowan said to come back tomorrow so I figured I'd sort out the rest of today first."
"Practical," she said, like she approved of that. She pulled a small folder from under the desk. "What were you looking at on the board?"
"The assistance job here mainly. And the delivery to Jubilife but not immediately I want to get a feel for the area first before I start travelling routes." He paused. "I also saw the survey job on Route 202 but Rowan wants me back tomorrow so the timing doesn't work yet."
She nodded, flipping the folder open. "The assistance job is flexible. Stocking, cleaning, helping trainers check in their Pokemon, that sort of thing. Nothing complicated but it keeps you busy. We pay daily, meals included if you're working a full shift." She looked up. "You'd need somewhere to stay. The lodge down the street is the usual option for trainers."
"I was there last night. Room four." Ryan leaned against the counter slightly. "I'll probably go back tonight, sort out something more permanent later once I know what I'm doing."
She smiled at that. "Most new trainers have a plan when they walk in. You're the first one today who's just admitted they're figuring it out as they go."
"Seems more honest than pretending I have everything sorted," Ryan said.
She pulled a single sheet from the folder and slid it across the desk. "Fill this in and you can start tomorrow morning if you want."
Ryan picked up the pen she offered and worked through it. Name, trainer ID number, emergency contact he paused at the last one.
"You can leave that blank," she said, reading the pause without comment. "Most people do."
He left it blank and finished the form. When he slid it back she took it and held out a small scanner. "ID?"
Ryan handed it over. She pressed it against the scanner and a small screen on her side of the desk lit up with his details name, registration date, trainer classification. She turned it slightly so he could see, and at the bottom there was a balance he hadn't known was there.
He stared at it for a moment.
"Rowan sometimes adds a starting balance for new registrations," Joy said, not unkindly. "For trainers he thinks will go far. He doesn't mention it. He just does it."
Ryan looked at the number for another second, then took the ID back. "I'll have to thank him tomorrow."
"He won't say much about it," she said. "That's just how he is." She held out his copy of the form. "Tomorrow, eight o'clock. Ask for Nurse Joy."
Ryan blinked. "Sorry Joy?"
She smiled, practiced and genuine at the same time. "Every Pokemon Center. I stopped trying to explain it years ago."
"I'm Ryan," he said. "Which you already know because it's on the form."
She laughed at that, short and genuine. "Exactly. Go get something to eat, Ryan. You look like you haven't since yesterday."
He hadn't, actually. He'd been so focused on moving from one thing to the next that food hadn't registered as a priority until she said it and now suddenly it was the only thing he could think about.
"Yeah," he said. "That's probably a good idea."
He folded his copy of the form into his pocket and turned toward the door. The waiting area was fuller now than when he'd come in a trainer with a Ponyta that kept shifting its weight, two kids arguing quietly over something on a map, an older woman with a Clefairy asleep across her knees reading a paperback like the world around her didn't exist.
He stopped just before the doors and looked back at the jobs board. The delivery to Jubilife. The survey on Route 202. Things for later, once he knew what he was doing and who he was doing it around.
He put his hand on the Pokeball at his belt for a moment. Just briefly.
Deino was in there. Which was still one of the stranger sentences his brain had ever produced.
He pushed through the doors and out into the street. The afternoon light had shifted while he'd been inside, going softer and more golden. He stood on the front step for a second, looking at the town around him the berry market packing up, a Roserade helping its trainer carry a crate, two Starly arguing on a rooftop over something small and important to them.
He needed food. He needed to go back to the lodge and figure out how long his balance would stretch. He needed to think about what came after tomorrow's conversation with Rowan.
One thing at a time.
He started walking.