With a dazed and lackadaisical look, the kid sat with his head close to the desk in a way that suggested a desire to sleep which contradicted his constantly wandering eyes that kept staring listlessly out the window and into the big city outside.

  The teacher with long green hair noticed and was slightly displeased but persisted anyways.

  “Based on artifacts and remnants that are available, Jubilife was very important to the region of Hisui”, the teacher began with their lesson directly on the blackboard.

  “Now, Harrison. What is the Hisui region known for?”, she asked with a slight smirk which Harrison easily recognized and internally rolled his eyes.

  The student adjacent to his desk then readily raised her hand with great enthusiasm.

  “Go ahead, Christine”

  “Hisui is known for the green long snake and that big fish which looks cooler than Wailord”, Christine answered without hesitation.

  “No, that’s Hoenn, Christine. Rayquaza and Kyogre do look very cool though”, the teacher admitted.

  She then returned her gaze back onto Harrison who sat there sighing and ignored the other 4 hands in the room who wanted an attempt.

  “This is a trick question. Hisui is the old name for Sinnoh”, Harrison blurted out with great disinterest.

  “Very good, Harrison. Then, what is Sinnoh to Hisui?”, she asked with a wider smirk. The question caused great confusion in the class as the other students began to ask each other questions like, “What does that even mean?”

  “Some god or some religious thing. I was not paying attention”, Harrison grumbled.

  Their teacher applauded, clapping her hands together gently.

  “Correct, Harrison. It’s clear that you know the lesson and do well. Now if only you’d stop looking so bored all the time”, she said, sighing.

  “I’m not bored. Just out of it”, Harrison admitted.

  “Not much difference when you always have that face on. And no, you’re not born with it. You just make that expression all the time”, the teacher said before returning to the lesson.

  The rest of the class then zoomed by as she spoke of Jubilife Village and their supposed customs.

  One of the kids then raised his hand, “Why is the Sinnoh Festival held in Canalave City? Shouldn’t it be in Jubilife City since we were Jubilife Village?”

  “That’s because Canalave was also part of Jubilife Village”

  After taking his backpack, Harrison went outside but stopped and stared at the Trainer’s School. A full-fledged multi-story building which hosted numerous classes simultaneously. Just like a proper school. Not a single-floor building which outsiders could go into and immediately enter the classroom. Not a singular room with only 5 students and only had space that better fit a bunch of kindergarteners.

  There was a fountain nearby but that was where the differences ended. The Jubilife TV Station was not anywhere near the Trainer’s School. In fact, it was on the other side of the city. It wasn’t too surprising though as it was extremely difficult to recreate an entire city for even the most dedicated developers.

  He then began to head home but before he could take a second step, Christine caught up.

  “Sup, Harry”, she greeted, slapping his shoulder.

  “Need something, Chris?”, he mocked.

  She pouted.

  “I’m not Chris. Christina. Or Christopher”, she stated, blocking all other counters he used before.

  “Fine but I don’t need to be associated with a thunderbolt”

  “But you have a Shinx though”, she said with clear confusion.

  Not what I meant, he thought but he moved on anyways.

  “Anyways, you need something?”

  “I’m heading to the Contest Hall. What about you?”

  “Weren’t you already done with this Season?”

  “Yeah but someone from another region just joined. They have this really gorgeous Pokemon. It’s like a seal but also a mermaid and it’s called…. Prima Donna?”

  “Primarina from Alola”, Harrison deadpanned.

  “Yeah, probably. Anyways, you coming along?”

  “I can just watch them at home. The good ones are recorded and broadcasted”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Yeah you could but then you miss all the action, the sensation, and it looks way more amazing in person. It’s …. kinda like when you hear your favorite song being played by your favorite band”

  “I don’t go to concerts either”

  “Booo- very boring. Anyways, I’ll get going. See you at the camping trip!”, she continued while rushing away.

  He then finally began to head home. Towards the Jubilife Condominiums and far past the district where all the media companies gathered.

  He mused as he walked, peering at the tall buildings which bragged of prestige to other companies that competed. They weren’t interesting but he was curious. Far more curious than he should be. He was from a very big city. Likely bigger than Jubilife but back then, he had no interest in those dead metal dick measuring contests by greedy greasy men with no worth other than the numbers they hoarded with the attitude of goblins. Perhaps, it was because he knew that here, not everybody hated their life and sold every second of their time. Not everybody liked their job but from what he could observe, in this world, the vast majority didn’t despise it or even view it with palpable disdain. Of course, there were evil men and greedy greasy men here as well but they didn’t define the population and more importantly, they were true outliers.

  The reason he assumed that was partly because of the way they tackled legality with Pokemon such as the Pokemon owned by criminals. Not anybody could take away your Pokemon without extremely solid and undeniable justification. Not the cops, the government, or even the Champion. Even criminals such as Team Rocket kept their Pokemon while under arrest or interrogation. Their pokeballs were just temporarily disabled so the Pokemon would be in stasis and couldn’t be forced to obey their orders with nefarious purposes. The only acceptable reasons seemed to be if the Pokemon was stolen or the Pokemon were designated as special whether that meant Legendary, too important for the ecosystem, or something else. The process was also not retroactive so the Pokemon could not be designated as special after being captured as that would be unfair and unjust to the Trainer. Of course, the Trainer’s School did not teach this as Harrison wanted to familiarize himself with the world. This however was likely a theoretical worldview which would be challenged once he began his journey and encountered actual issues whether those arose from Pokemon or people.

  Passing the vicinity of the Jubilife TV Station where camera crews bustled and busy vans hustled people in and out of the buildings, a big man dressed up in a yellow jester costume then approached Harrison.

  “Hey Harrison”, he waved.

  “Hey Rick. You here for another one?”, Harrison responded.

  “Yup, you mind helping out? I’ll make it worth your while”, Rick the Clown offered.

  “Alright, go for it”

  “Question 1: Can you switch out your Pokemon during a match? What about right after a move as used?”

  “You can switch out during a match but for official battles, switching out can’t be used as a way to dodge attacks”

  “Question 2: Why is constant battling not recommended despite helping the Pokemon improve?”

  “They can improve but they will eventually grow tired, run out of energy, and then be forced to Struggle before they just collapse”

  “Question 3: Why should you not use your parent’s Pokemon in the Gym Leader Challenge Circuit?”

  “Uhhh… they won’t listen to you properly, they won’t fully understand your intentions in high level battles, and you won’t grow as a trainer”

  “Alright! You did pretty good. So.. what’d ya think? Too hard or it works?”

  “It requires a bit of reasoning and could be a bit much for the complete beginners but I think it works”

  “Nice!”, Rick exclaimed as he gave Harrison a thumbs up.

  “You running out of Poketches or something?”

  “Nah, the Yes or No questions were just horrible. The kids thought we were scamming them or something”, Rick admitted sheepishly.

  “Here’s the special app you wanted and a ticket. Have a good weekend, Harrison”, Rick waved as Harrison continued home.

  A ticket to “The Land of Lucario”, a psychological movie, Harrison read, slightly intrigued.

  As for the app, it would sacrifice the battery to create an emergency beacon that functioned as a signal flare. Typically, the battery would not be capable of enabling such a function but if assisted by an electric type such as his Shinx, it could work wonders. As such an app was a peculiar suggestion, Harrison explained to Rick that he wanted it if he was lost in the woods and required the assistance of some nearby rangers. A big beam into the sky should be able to get some attention.

  The Poketch was a pretty neat tool but unsurprisingly, not everything was included such as the Pokemon matchmaker or Chain Counter. Probably because Pokemon chains didn’t exist in reality or people didn’t care enough about it to create a specific app for something so trivial while the app developers didn’t want to assume attraction between Pokemon and left the breeders to their own devices and textbooks. As for the HM function, it just called the closest person but most likely the nearest available ranger capable of assisting.

  He then entered a big apartment complex. There was an elevator but he always went up the four flights of stairs. Having reached his home, he twisted the door knob in anticipation.

  “SH-INX!!!!!”, a loud yell was heard from within.

  As the door opened, a surge of electricity unleashed with great intensity. It threatened to leave char marks all over the entire hallway if not for the great control exerted by his Pokemon.

  “Not bad”, Harrison murmured, completely unaffected by the attack.

  Setting down the backpack, he briefly petted his blue sparkly cat which gently dazzled in response. He then went into his room.

  It was a decently sized bedroom filled with an eclectic variety of posters, some of the Champion Cynthia and the other Elite Fours, many of Charizard, and a map of Sinnoh with a spider web of connecting lines between each city and major destination. There was also a big tv screen through which he occasionally checked out interesting battles such as Cynthia vs Lucian.

  He passed by his big bed which Shinx occasionally took over and went towards his nightstand where his Abra levitated lazily in place. He then retrieved the 2 Pokeballs for Shinx and Abra.

  As he was not an official trainer due to not having started the Gym Challenge Circuit or having started a journey, he was not able to purchase pokeballs or have any unused Pokeballs in his possession. Pokemon were still possible to obtain but they could not be caught with Pokeballs until after he was registered and determined to be a proper trainer. The main ways to get a Pokemon beforehand would be to have it be gifted usually by a parent or Professor or have the Pokemon willingly follow without coercion. The Pokeball would then be given by an adult or registered trainer if the Pokemon still stayed by his side.

  Grabbing a separate heavier backpack which he did not use when going to school, he had fully prepared for his next excursion.

  “Maestro, Teleport!”, Harrison ordered.

  “ABRA!”, Maestro shouted.

  A heavy purple aura emanated from the Pokemon. It quickly concentrated in magnitude and a pillar of light consumed Harrison and his Abra. As the light dissipated, his cozy bedroom had been replaced with the lush greenery deep within Route 203.