บท 36: Reaching Pewter

"Finally..." I uttered in relief as we saw Pewter city sprawled put before us, a city that definitely took advantage of the 'rock' motif they got from being the location of a rock type Gym.

On the western side of the city was a series of mountains that separated them from the Indigo Plateau, the home of the Pokemon League here in Kanto. With the mountains wrapping around the northern edge of the city, they ended in Mt Moon to the east, which towered over all of us like a gentle giant.

Our group then descended the hill as we prepared to enter the city, where I asked Daisy, "Where's the Pokemon Center at?"

It was a standard first stop for Pokemon Trainers when they arrived in a new city, to get their Pokemon checked up and so on. But, the reason I wanted to get there quickly was to finally have the wound on my chest looked at.

"There's the standard Pokemon center near the Gym over there." Daisy said while pointing out the iconic brown rooftop of a Pokemon League Gym, before she then pointed out a lavish wooden building at the edge of the city.

"And THAT is where grandpa and I have been staying for the past few days, the Pewter hot springs inn. Not only an inn, it's also connected to a Pokemon Center as well to encourage trainers to visit them. The one by the Gym is mostly for challengers, and those who can't afford to stay at the hot springs." Daisy explained as she led us forward, towards the hot springs.

"How does Pewter have hot springs anyways? We have them in Hoenn, but they're all immediately around a volcanoe..." May asked curiously, to which Daisy explained,

"It was actually the former Gym Leader of Pewter city, Brock's mentor, who created them. He was having his Pokemon practice the move Dig outside of the city, when one of them dug down far enough that they hit an underground river of burning hot water! Thankfully the Pokemon itself was ok, but afterwards he decided to turn the area into a hot springs as a way to draw more people to Pewter. Especially couples..."

Trailing off with suggestive eyes at the implication, I suddenly found myself believing that I wasn't going to be getting much 'bedrest' while we were here. I couldn't wait!

The trip to the inn was fairly uneventful as our group walked the streets of Pewter city. Rather, more people were looking at us as we walked by than us admiring the sights here, even as Daisy pointed out everything she knew on our route.

Then again, I couldn't really blame them for staring at us considering how our group looked. One guy, surrounded by four beautiful women, three of which were hanging onto him lovingly, while Pokemon I was willing bet none of them had ever seen in person marched alongside us, Riolu, Combusken and Piplup.

Even as we walked though, I made sure to take note of the numerous men and women we passed with malicious or threatening auras. Their auras were so dark, that they had to have committed numerous truly malicious crimes throughout their lives.

The unfortunate fact was that, even if they weren't a part of them, Team Rocket's rise had similarly given rise to crime and criminals all over both the Kanto and Johto regions. The vast majority of them had apparently learned that, as long as they stayed out of their way, Team Rocket was willing to leave them be.

So as we walked a I made sure to take note of the faces belonging to these exceptionally malicious auras for later. I won't go all vigilante on them, but I wouldn't just leave them be as well. Both as a Ranger, AND as the one Arceus sent to make sure the world didn't end.

...

Soon we finally arrived at the front of the hot springs inn, a large and gorgeous looking wooden building that, curiously enough, looked like a traditional Japanese building. Then again, I guess the majority of Pokemon world regions were based off of Japan to begin with.

"Here we are!" Daisy exclaimed excitedly as the other three girls gasped, while I also had to admit the place looked amazing.

"Are you sure it's ok for us to stay with you?" Misty asked Daisy suddenly, who readily waved away her concern as she replied,

"Of course! Grandpa and I came all the way here because of Ace to begin with, though he still won't tell me why..."

Grumbling slightly at the end, Daisy immediately began to lead us up the steps to the entrance of the inn, when the doors opened suddenly to reveal a large group of people. Exiting the inn right as we tried entering it was a group of women dressed scantily in cheerleading outfits, surrounding a single young man that was about the same age as me. Gary.

"Well well well, look who it is. Ace the Waste. FINALLY made it to Pewter city I see" Gary Oak sneered at me disdainfully while looking down at us.

Literally. He was looking down at us from the top of the steps we had just been about to climb.

"Speed isn't everything Gary. Just ask any of those lovely ladies you've got there." I told him back, winking and waving suggestively as I did so to make the cheerleaders gathered around Gary giggle, even as May and Dawn smacked me on my arms on either side.

Gary of course didn't seem to like my jab, as he snorted and turned away dismissively while saying,

"Whatever you say, Ace the Waste. Have fun lazing about around here, while I actually get something done."

Gary then came down the steps and hopped into the back seat of a waiting convertible, followed by his cheerleaders as they all crowded in around him.

"Smell ya later, Ace the Waste, who moves at a Snorlax's pace!"

We then watched as the convertible peeled put, leaving burn marks on the asphalt along with the distinct smell of burning rubber. And as we watched it pull away, Misty asked confusedly,

"What was that?"

"My brother, Gary." Daisy replied dryly, making Misty gape in shock at the revelation. May meanwhile looked at me, and said,

"I see he hasn't changed." I nodded slowly and replied,

"Yep. He's all bark and no bite though, so I wouldn't worry about him."

Truthfully, Gary had the potential and resources to become a truly frightening contender in the Pokemon League, but his own attitude was holding him back far more than he realized. His arrogance and tendency of looking down on others made him unable to properly take everyone else seriously, which would only come back to bite him later in the League after he got past all the Gym Leaders.

Shaking my head at Gary's attitude, I hurriedly climbed the steps to enter the inn, where a petite Nurse Joy that appeared to be a few years younger than me sat behind the receptionist counter.

"Greetings! And welcome to the Pewter City Hot Springs Inn! Would you like a room for the night?" The receptionist Joy asked politely.

"No thank you. They're staying with me." Daisy said immediately, to which receptionist Joy nodded as she asked,

"Are there any of our other services that will be required then? On top of being an inn, this facility is still a fully functioning Pokemon center."

This time Daisy stepped back to let the girls and I answer for ourselves, which the three of them stared pointedly at me as I said, "actually there is something."

I then proceeded to take off my backpack, and stripped off my shirt right there in the middle of the entryway.

"Wah wah wah!" The young Nurse Joy exclaimed with a red face as I revealed my abs, covering her face with her hands while leaving enough space between her fingers to peek through. But any embarrassment she was feeling seemed to evaporate on the spot as I revealed my chest, or rather the numerous bandages covering it, which my blood seemed to be soaking through.

Beside me was an audible gasp as Daisy saw my bandages, and realized I was hurt for the first time.

"Why didn't you tell me!?!" She exclaimed angrily, to which I shrugged while saying,

"I didn't want you to worry needlessly."

Of course. My answer only seemed to make Daisy even madder before May stated in an irritable tone, "It's ok Daisy. Ace didn't tell us either, and we only learned about his condition when he passed out from blood loss."

"Hey! I did NOT pass out from blood loss! It was blood loss combined with exhaustion after running from the Beedrill, and then having to use so much aura while wounded!" I stated defensively, though judging by the looks they were giving me the girls didn't care about the details.

The embarrassed Nurse Joy however had gone completely into nurse mode, as she called for one of the senior Nurse Joys that were present and began arranging for my treatment.

"Please follow us to a more private room, where we can properly clean and examine the wound before treating it." She then said in a steady and professional voice, only for an older voice to say,

"You can just bring them to my room miss Joy."

Everyone turned to see and older man standing off to the side, who had evidently come to see what the commotion was about. As he looked at my bandages though, the old man simply shook his head before saying in a exasperated voice,

"You couldn't go one week without getting hurt Ace?"

I smiled wryly and said back to him,

"Sorry... Please don't tell my mom professor Oak..."

...

"I see..." Professor Oak said as he opened the door to his ro-suite, after I had finished recounting to him and the nurses behind us how exactly I got injured.

"It's amazing you took an X-Scissor like that from an Alpha and lived." The older Nurse Joy said in awe.

"My aura barrier blunted it by a lot. If I hadn't created it in time, I definitely wouldn't be in one piece right now." I stated dryly as the nurses led me to the room's table.

Accompanying us was only Daisy since the others were tired and wanted to rest, and she still didn't know exactly WHY professor Oak brought her here.

Within his suite though was an odd assortment of machines that had been set up on short notice, making even me feel a bit nervous for Charmander. After he locked the door behind us though, the professor immediately turned towards me and excitedly exclaimed,

"Ok Ace! I've waiting a week for this! Go ahead and let him out!"

I could see the tell-take signs of the professor's excitement getting ahead of him again, but then again I couldn't blame him considering what I had on my belt. So after one last check with my aura to make sure we were truly alone aside from the Nurses Joy and their Chansey/Happiny, who were amongst the most trusted people on the entire planet when it came to Pokemon matters, I tossed out a pokeball.

"Char char!" Charmander cried out happily from being let out, before noticing all of the gazes on him.

"How beautiful...!!!" Daisy exclaimed in awe as I saw stars in her eyes. It was no surprise considering her dream of being a Pokemon groomer, and to her Charmander was probably the perfect specimen of Pokemon.

Both Nurses Joy were stunned at the sudden appearance of the pure white Charmander, while professor Oak squealed like a child on Christmas. He was even bouncing on his feet in such a way that it made it appear as if he desperately needed to use the bathroom.

"Char?" Charmander asked warily, not used to being around so many people since the only humans he had ever seen were literally the three girls and I.

"It's ok buddy. Professor Oak here just wants to take a look and make sure you're healthy." I told him comfortingly.

"Char?"

"Ok then." I said while grabbing a couple other Pokeballs on my belt, and soon both Squirtle and Treecko appeared beside him.

"You guys stay with Charmander while he gets looked at. I need to let these nice ladies patch me up as well." I told them seriously.

"Squirtle!"

"...KO..."

They both agreed, though Squirtle seemed a lot more enthusiastic than Treecko did.

Charmander looked at me curiously as I turned away, letting me feel his confusion on why I wasn't staying with him right now as I climbed up and laid down on the table after it had been cleared off.

"Ok. Let's take a look at what we're working with." The older Nurse Joy said as she started cutting away my bandages, both of them seeming much calmer than earlier after realizing my situation wasn't dire.

Even the younger Nurse Joy remained completely serious as she helped the older one, displaying none of the shyness and embarrassment from earlier even as her hands touched all over my naked flesh. I did notice however that her eyes occasionally darted to my different scars that were visible from my sides, as well as the ones on my face and arm.

Soon the bandages that were wet, crusty, and sticky all at once with blood came away, revealing a large and ugly X that spanned my entire chest. One line ran from my right shoulder to under my left pec, while the matching line ran the length and place on the opposite side.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Daisy as she actually saw my wound for the first time, while even professor Oak tore his eyes away from Charmander's beautiful scales to look me over.

"First we'll have to completely clean the wound and make sure there's no signs of infection, and then we'll see about closing it up." The older Nurse Joy stated while the younger nodded, and helped their Pokemon prepare what they needed.

I then had to go through the agonizing process of them cleaning my wound to ensure there was no infection or debris in it, making me clench the edges of the table firmly as they did their work, until the young Nurse Joy told me off for tensing the muscles in my chest as I did so.

As they worked, I would also glance over to the side to see the professor working on Charmander, who became much more cooperative after watching me cooperate with the Nurses Joy. Especially with Squirtle and Treecko by his side.

Thankfully the professor didn't need to do anything that would actually cause Charmander pain while he was at it, outside of taking a small amount of blood to analyze. In all honesty, it was pretty much just a checkup to determine if he as healthy and the basic differences between my Charmander and others of his kind.

I could hear the professor muttering to himself more and more with each passing moment, but instead of listening in I focused my attention on my buddy. Making sure he only felt calm throughout the entire thing.

When the nurses were FINALLY finished with the painful task of cleaning my wound, they then began the long process of stitching it all back up, which I was able to tolerate much easier. Other than the occasional 'pinch'.

I soon relaxed even more under their ministrations, before my eyelids slowly began to close as I entered a light slumber.