“Luvia, how about this one?” said Andrea after a minute of browsing.

  Luvia was busy reading one calling for B-rank and up trainers to help train someone’s Vigoroth which had apparently gone “bananas” and refused to listen to commands after evolving from Slakoth. The pay for that was ?400 per day.

  That was a month’s allowance in a day! … But she had seen Vigoroth before, and even if the money was right in front of her, it’d be a hard pass.

  Too much energy, too much stress. Thanks, but no.

  She glanced at Andrea, who went on to read hers.

  “Was posted yesterday; Someone in the city wants a wild wingull – Easy peasy!”

  Luvia walked over, leaning in to see the flyer. “Like, catch one?”

  “Yup. We can get on the tram to the closest beach and catch one there.”

  The pay was only ?200, but the pokéball cost, like with the League-issued job, would be repaid. The person’s contact info was low on the flyer.

  “Hmm, it won’t take too long, will it?” sad Luvia, slightly worried about having to get on the tram. It wasn’t 8am yet, but she couldn’t afford to get back late. Cruise ships back to Clearcloud Island ran only twice a day, after all, and there were still some preparations for Neela and her father to make back home.

  “It won’t,” assured Andrea. “It’s only ten minutes to the beach, then we catch one!”

  It was a wingull… Luvia had known them all her life. How hard could it be?

  “Do you have a pokéball? – I’ve only got Mudkip’s,” Luvia said.

  Andrea smirked and reached up to grab Hoppip. “I’ll buy one – we’re doing this, yeah?”

  Luvia wasn’t sure why she was getting excited at the idea of catching a wingull, of all pokémon, but she was. She smirked back. “Let’s do it.”

  Andrea squeezed the folder into her small beige backpack and led them into the Poké Center through a wide set of automatic doors. Most centers had a branch of the chain superstore Poké Mart within them for convenience, which was where Andrea planned to buy the pokéball from.

  The center’s landing room was open plan and built like a massive loft, with two sets of stairs on the back wall leading up to the building’s second floor. There were two lounging areas on either side of the room, nestled into the building’s corner and fitted with a couple of tall bookshelves and magazine racks. There weren’t many people in right now, but the room felt busy.

  Oh my god… Luvia stared at the main counter table, set right in the middle of the far-back wall. A woman in pink uniform and big curls of pink hair was striding behind the counter, to an actual healing machine that looked like a massive truck engine embedded into the wall.

  A Nurse Joy!

  Luvia felt like she was face to face with a celebrity, while Andrea was moving toward the Poké Mart without so much as a glance her way, Hoppip’s leaves flowing majestically as they moved.

  It was said that every center had a Nurse Joy. One of the region’s most recognizable names; Joy.

  If your last name was Joy, there was a good chance that you shared some link to the legendary Joy family. If you also had a keen interest in pokémon medicine or a knack for treating pokémon, it was almost certain. If you had all of the above and just so happened to be born with peach-pink hair, it was guaranteed you belonged to the Joy family.

  There were no centers in Clearcloud – there were no Joys, but everyone had heard of them. The family was essentially the face of pokémon healthcare. Even on the island, the infirmaries had at least one old, faded poster of the first Nurse Joy.

  Luvia was almost blushing at the sight of her. The Joy looked young. Must’ve been around Neela’s age but she looked so mature and professional in that nurse’s uniform.

  She had to make a conscious effort not to look at her too much as she waited for Andrea to purchase the pokéball from the large Poké Mart kiosk built into the side wall.

  The kiosk mart was stocked with regular old Poké Balls, Great Balls, and Ultra Balls. Different color spray-nozzle potion bottles, and a shelf dedicated to pokémon dietary supplements.

  The display prizes on everything were steep. A single Poké Ball went for ?600, a Great Ball for double that, and the Ultra Ball was a whopping ?3600 for one.

  The only thing she could afford with her winnings from the previous day’s battle was the cheapest variety potion, which went for ?400.

  And these were all considered more or less essentials for trainers.

  “That’ll be ?600,” said the till clerk.

  “I’ll pay with League credits,” replied Andrea handing over a card.

  The clerk scanned the card, waited for a confirmatory beep from the till, then nodded. “All good.” He slid open a shelf behind him and picked out a single mini Poké Ball from a stacked tray.

  Luvia watched like a quiet little hillbilly, taking note of everything Andrea did.

  The clerk placed the mini pokéball in what looked a clear plastic muffin box and then into the store’s branded polythene bag before snipping a receipt from the till and handing everything over to Andrea.

  As the girls left the center, Luvia stole another parting glance at the Nurse Joy, still starstruck. The nurse noticed her looking this time and smiled.

  Luvia didn’t know how to react. She waved bye dumbly, then, when they were out, she whispered to Andrea.

  “Is it true they’re all sisters? The Nurse Joys?”

  “They’re all related, I think, but I don’t know about sisters.”

  “But they all look alike, don’t they? I’ve seen a few posters – they all have that pink hair and all.”

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  Andrea chuckled then leaned in conspiratorially. “Don’t mention this when you speak to a Joy – they won’t like it – …but everyone has their own theories about why they’re like that. Some people think there was an original Nurse Joy, and then she was cloned.” She gave Luvia a sidewards glance and bit back a laugh.

  Luvia was starting to frown incredulously.

  “Other people say the original Joy was cursed by a pokémon to only give birth to daughters, and her daughters would also have the same curse. No matter who the father was, the daughter would always resemble the mother. Sometimes identically!”

  “No…”

  Andrea laughed, Hoppip chirping along with her. She waved it off. “It’s all bull, Luvia… ooo, but hear this one – ”

  She leaned even closer, her Hoppip’s leaves brushing up against Luvia’s hair. “You know the pokémon Ditto, right?”

  …

  Luvia pulled away, partly from shock, partly from a sickening feeling you get when you find out your life has been a lie. “No…”

  Andrea nodded slowly, a spooky shadow coming over her eyes. “Some people say that Nurse Joy is really a pokémon… and that if you catch her unawares, you can see her body fold and melt down its original shape… a Ditto… Transform!” she barked, and Luvia yelped.

  “Hahahaha!” Andrea rang with laughter.

  Luvia shook her head vehemently. “But it’s not true, is it?”

  “Hmm, I don’t know Luvia, that pink hair and pink uniform really has that Ditto hue to it, don’t you think?”

  “No! Don’t joke about this, Andrea! Tell me it’s not true!”

  The uncanny resemblance among the Joys was enough to make anyone curious about it. If any of those theories were true… well that'd just be too weird. First of all, why wouldn’t the public have been told about it?

  “It couldn’t be true, Luvia – Would you actually believe something like that?” Andrea said, face slightly red from the fit of laughter.

  Luvia began to relax.

  “Unless…”

  She covered her ears. “No!”

  They boarded the tram to the closest beach and Andrea rang up the number from the flyer just to be sure the job hadn’t been completed yet. She also asked for the address where they’d be able to find her afterwards (it was an elderly woman who had been too scared of catching her own pokémon.)

  She thanked them profusely the moment she learned they had accepted her humbly-paid job.

  They hadn’t even done anything yet, but Luvia already felt an ember of pride glowing in her chest. It was a sweet first job.

  “Why didn’t you call her before you bought the pokéball?” she asked Andrea as the tram clacked rhythmically along its tracks. “What if the job had already been done?”

  “Yeah, you can’t refund League credits, but I’d have ended up spending some on a pokéball anyway,” she explained. “I need to catch myself another pokémon soon. Salia knows a few moves, but she’s pretty frail, and she doesn’t have great endurance either. I planned to get something a little sturdier like a Marril or a Geodude.”

  “Heeepuh! Heeep!” Hoppip said unhappily. Luvia giggled.

  “Sorry, Salia, but don’t worry, no one’s going to take your spot, alright? My head is yours.”

  The Hoppip gave an uncanny ‘hmph’ and looked away haughtily.

  Luvia hadn’t really considered it much, the idea that pokémon under the same trainer could clash. Egos were very much a thing. Feelings were very much on the line. A trainer not only had to make sure their pokémon grew stronger, but they also had to keep in mind individual personalities and keep the peace, so to speak.

  She wondered how she’d manage to look after more than just one. Before Mida, it had been Ziggy, and the Zigzagoon had decided, for some mysterious reason, to pass on the torch and not stick by Luvia’s side.

  “What pokémon would you get next, Luvia?” Andrea asked out of the blue.

  Luvia scrunched her face and hummed.

  “Hmm… I’ve taken a liking to water-types recently. They just feel so calm – I love that.”

  “They’re also the most common type, so you’d have plenty of options. Which one are you thinking though? I could totally see you a Poliwhirl or a Lotad.”

  “Eww, a Lotad? They’re cute, and I love Ludicolo, but it’s the middle thing that puts me off. Lombre can be so icky and nasty!”

  Giggling, Andrea disagreed. “They’re funny, not nasty!”

  “Nasty,” Luvia insisted flatly. “Trust me, I know what I’m saying.”

  “Hah, how about Poliwhirl then?”

  “Hmmm…” Luvia’s eyes went up in thought as she pictured the stout and stocky form of a Poliwhirl. The huge swirling pattern that covered the majority of its face. It’s bulbous jelly-like eyes. It was cute too, but no.

  “I was thinking something more like a Wailmer.” A smile tugged at her lips as she glanced at Andrea. The latter’s mouth parted slightly.

  “A Wailmer?”

  Luvia flicked her eyebrows up. “They’re so friendly, and protective…”

  “And can eat like ten times its body weight?” Andrea added helpfully.

  The sarcasm wasn’t lost on Luvia, who shot her a deadpan look in response.

  “Out in the water, a Wailmer is just the best, but I wouldn’t mind something like a Marril either.”

  They spent the tram ride discussing pokémon, with Andrea taking it upon herself to enlighten Luvia more about the logistics of going on a journey.

  As you might expect, a Wailmer, being a pure water-type and requiring the diet it did, was considered a headache pokémon for most trainers. You’d need to stick close to large bodies of water unless you were fine with keeping it inside a pokéball the majority of the time. And that was without taking feeding into account.

  Wailmer and Wailord primarily lived on tiny, tiny sea-life organisms that were in abundance in sea and ocean water. Not lakes, or rivers, or ponds… Oceans and seas, please!

  You could buy Wailmer feed from special shops, but the amount you’d need to buy to keep an active Wailmer going would simply ruin the average trainer in no time. It was a pokémon line fit only for perpetual coast-dwellers. Some trainers made use of them in competitive battle, but it was very rare. They served a much better purpose for pokémon rangers who’d work with them directly in the wild.

  Luvia also asked if pokéballs and other trainer essentials were really as expensive as she’d seen back at the Poké Mart kiosk.

  “I haven’t challenged a Gym or entered a Contest yet, so the trainer discount hasn’t kicked in,” Andrea answered. “I can still earn League credits from jobs, but you’re only considered an active trainer the moment your name gets registered in the League’s Gym or Contest challenger registry. But it’s not the full discount. For example, once I get my first badge, regular Poké Balls will be 50% off, but Great Balls and Ultras will still cost the same. Think of it like tiers; The higher up you go as a trainer, the better deals you get.”

  “… And that’s forever?” To Luvia, it sounded a bit too good to be true.

  “So long as you stay an active trainer. If you haven’t taken part in any League-affiliated events in the past year, your benefits get frozen.”

  …

  A full year’s grace period? That was still too good to be true. With those kinds of benefits, it was no wonder everyone in the mainland was so quick about getting their trainer licenses.

  “Alright Salia, go out there and scout us a good wingull!” Andrea called out once they stepped out of the tram, and Hoppip lifted off and flew ahead of them. The beach was in view, and so were the circling and squawking groups of wingull.

  She turned to Luvia. “Aren’t you going to bring Mudkip out?”

  Luvia’s hand was already worming itself into the pocket of her pants, pulling out Mida’s pokéball and growing it in her palm.

  “That’s a nice ball, by the way,” Andrea added.

  “Right? I didn’t see any at the shop – are they rare?”

  Andrea gave a small shrug. “It might just be custom-made. Did Mudkip come in it?”

  “Yeah.”

  The mainland girl gave a knowing nod. “Maybe whoever gave her to your father was just making it a touch extra special.”

  “Heeeeep!” the Hoppip cried from afar, making both girls look in her direction.

  A wingull had swerved past her.

  “Let’s go Luvia!” Andrea laughed, jogging off toward her Hoppip. “And bring Mudkip out already! Salia might need some backup!”

  Luvia jogged after her, casting her eyes ahead at the squawking group of wingull which had started to take an interest in the invading Hoppip.

  “We’re going to battle?!”

  Andrea shot her a baffled look over her shoulder. “You know how catching a pokémon works, don’t you?”

  Luvia tossed her pokéball and Mida flashed out. “Maaaaaahd!”

  Luvia smiled at the way Mida didn’t skip the beat. The little one was up and running with them the moment she hit the floor.

  “I know, but isn’t that too many wingull?” Luvia cried out.

  “Most of them will scatter off, don’t worry!”

  “You seem way too happy, Andrea! Angry wingull are tough!”

  “We’ll manage, Luvia! Look at them! Salia’s already got them spooked!”

  The Hoppip was dozens of yards up there with them, pair of leaves on her head fluttering rapidly.

  Andrea’s lack of fear was reassuring, but she was still somewhat worried. She knew what rowdy tantrums wingull were capable of when agitated in their groups like this. There must have been at least ten up there with Hoppip and another handful on the ground, adding their squawks to the chorus.

  “Meehd! Meehd!” Mida sounded totally confident too.

  “Maahd!” Luvia mimed, and broke out into a dangerously reckless laugh, scuttling after Andrea.