Noah stirred awake, the morning sun casting dappled rays through the window, painting the room in a warm glow. The weight on his chest was gone, literally; the girl had left.

 

His eyes drifted to his bedside drawer, where two items caught his attention: an envelope adorned with an unfamiliar logo and a slip of paper that seemed hastily written.

 

Noah picked up the piece of paper first, thinking that it was related to her sudden departure. And he was right.

 

                                              sorry for disturbing you

 

                                                                  90215943

 

 

The letters were shaky, almost as if they were dancing on the paper. It was obvious that her hands were trembling as she wrote this.

 

“Damn.” He muttered, staring at the slip of paper as he held it above him, his fingers digging into the coarse paper.

 

He assumed that the string of numbers was her phone number, or possibly her house address. Though he really doubted that it was that.

 

“I should get a phone soon, if they have that in this world.” Noah got out of the bed, his attention shifting to the envelope.

 

Picking up the envelope, he was surprised to find that it was silky smooth, and was obviously high quality. It’s seal was a strange logo he was sure he’d seen before, just not from where.

 

“Who sent me this?” Tearing open the envelope, he unfolded the letter inside.

 

 

 

                                                                        Silph Co

 

Dear Mr Noah,

                            This is Anne from Silph Co. I have heard of your involvement in the Pokemon Center raid, and your heroic act has not gone unnoticed. Your actions are truly befitting someone of your stature……

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

Your medical expenses have been covered by Silph Co as a token of our gratitude for your bravery.

 

Yours Sincerely,

Anne

 

 

Noah breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that his medical expenses would be covered, but his eyes were narrowed in suspicion. “It’s never simple with big corporations.” He guessed that they were trying to suck up to him, maybe due to his relations with Red?

 

Slipping out of his hospital gown, he donned the clothes that had been thoroughly washed by the hospital staff.

 

Just as Noah tied the last of his shoelaces, Riolu’s eyes shot open, revealing his mesmerizing red eyes. He hopped off the bed and to Noah’s side, stretching his arms and yawning.

 

“Come on, buddy.” Noah stuffed everything into his belt-space, before striding out of the door. Riolu trailed behind, rubbing his eyes in grogginess.

 

The hospital was a hive of activity. Sirens wailed, and medical staff rushed about, wheeling in patients on stretchers.

 

The atmosphere was thick with urgency, a grim reminder of the recent attack on the Pokemon Center.

 

Nurses and doctors alike were scrambling around, and the number of patients easily outnumbered the number of staff to attend to them.

 

The aftermath of the PokeCenter attack really is rough. Noah navigated through the chaos, his thoughts heavy.

 

He had been lucky; if Team Rocket had discovered his hiding spot, he’d be a dead by now, not even his body remaining from the explosion.

 

He would need to get stronger, and fast. This world was far from the sunshine and rainbows as depicted in the anime; it was a harsh, unforgiving place.

 

As he was about to exit the hospital, a nurse tapped him on the shoulder. “You’re Noah, right? The hospital director would like to speak with you on the 9th floor.”

 

“Yes, is there anything you need?” Noah replied, turning his body towards her.

 

“The hospital director wants to speak with you, if you don’t mind.” She pointed at a elevator, “Please head to the 9th floor.” Giving Noah a brief bow, she disappeared into the crowd of patients.

 

“Well, it’s not like I have anything to lose.” Noah maneuvered through the crowd, trying his best not to step on anybody’s foot. Heck, maybe they’ll even give me a award.

 

 

 

“Your heroic act of rescuing that girl has caught the eye of the Pokemon League’s board of directors.” The hospital director said, pushing a glossy certificate towards him.

 

Noah stared at the paper, his mouth agape. It was simple, and had no real redeeming features except for a Pokeball Logo at the bottom, which was similar to the Association’s logo.

 

                                                          Pokemon League

 

                                                             Heroic Trainer

 

                      This award has hereby been presented to the Trainer Noah

 

                 For his heroic deeds during the Viridian City Pokemon Center attack

 

         Disregarding his safety and rescuing a stranger, he is the exemplary Trainer

 

 

 

The congratulatory message was simple and almost robotic, to the point that Noah actually thought that it was AI generated and not written by a human.

 

Flipping the certificate over, his jaw slacked at what he saw. There was a cheque in there, and the words that were inscribed onto it almost made Noah’s jaw fall onto the ground : 2000000 Pokedollars.

 

As Noah stared, dumbfounded, at the cheque, his fingers trembled as they picked the certificate up, counting each 0. From what he’d seen, Pokedollars were the equivalent of Yen in his old world, so 2000000 Pokedollars was worth $2000.

 

The director interrupted his thoughts, “You should get going. The hospital’s been very busy these few days; I need to make every second count.”

 

Noah was instantly jolted out of his daze, standing upright and bowing to the director. “Thank you for your time!” He said, before politely exiting the office, Riolu waddling behind him.

 

 

 

Finally exiting the hospital, he pulled out the certificate again. Its design was dull. Its background was a bright red, but the color was dulled by the glossy exterior it was placed within. The words were black, which didn’t fit well with the background.

 

But that wasn’t the main point, making sure nobody was eyeing him, he shakily pulled the cheque out of the certificate’s plastic exterior. It was thin and delicate, and the fresh smell of bills seemed to waft from it.

 

“Please head to the Tanisha Bank to redeem.” Noah read aloud, before stuffing the cheque into this belt for safekeeping. He scanned his surroundings, until he finally found a map of the city plastered onto the board of a bus station.

 

Tracing the lines, he finally found where the bank was located at — The literal other side of the city. Noah’s mouth gave way to a stupefied ‘bruh’. Thankfully, he had just the right amount of money for the bus fee there— 600 Pokedollars.

 

The bus soon arrived and the two boarded it. The passengers were cramped together, leaving only a sliver of space between each one. There weren’t any conversation in the bus, and the atmosphere was gloomy, and many people had disheveled hair.

 

While Noah was being completely squashed under the layers of people, while Riolu was calmly perched atop his head, which he’d jumped on top of the moment they entered the bus.

 

Each stop was like a wave, with people bursting out of the bus and giving Noah some space to breath. Only to rebound backwards as more people rushed in, squeezing him even tighter than before.

 

By the time it was his stop, he’d been stepped on, squished and tripped several times. Squeezing through the many people blocking him, he finally emerged from the sea of commuters.

 

Before him was a fancy building, intricate patterns had been carved into the pillars that held it up. Its white surface was almost blinding to look at, and it seemed like it was glowing. The giant words ‘Tanisha Bank’ had been carved onto its front.

 

The lobby wasn’t any less dazzling. It’s marble floors seemed to shine with reflected light, and the many high-quality paintings screamed luxurious.

 

It was slightly awkward for Noah as he walked into the lobby, as he was the only person in the entire lobby that wasn’t in a suit or some form of formal wear. The gazes of a few curious people locked onto him, but most minded their own business.

 

This, however, was more than enough for a lump to form in his throat as he approached one of the bank tellers, who had an unreadable expression.

 

“Hello, I would like to redeem this cheque.” Noah pulled the bank note from his belt and handed it to the man.

 

Holding it up to eye level, the bank teller scrutinized every detail of the cheque with scary efficiency, before declaring, “The cheque seems to be legitimate.” He turned to his computer, mumbling somethingas he keyed in the serial number.

 

“Mr Noah, yes?” He asked.

 

“Yes.” Noah promptly responded, eager to leave this bank as soon as possible. He could practically feel the gazes of people on his back. Actually, their gazes were fixated on Riolu, who only glared at them with an irritated stare.

 

“You don’t seem to be registered with a bank.” The teller responded, clicking on his computer a few more times. “In fact, you don’t have anything on here at all.”

 

Noah opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the teller. “I recommend signing up for the League, they will provide you a Trainer ID card that can act as your bank account.”

 

Closing his mouth, Noah nodded. “Good, I will notify the League staff to deposit 2000000 Pokedollars to your Trainer ID when you are registered.” With a final click of his keyboard, the message was uploaded onto Noah’s info page.

 

“‘Heroic Trainer’, eh?” The clerk said, looking at Noah. “What’d you do for it?” The bank teller lost his professional demeanor, replaced by eager eyes. He leaned forward, beckoning Noah to respond.

 

“I saved somebody during the Pokemon Center raid.” Noah replied, slightly confused by the sudden change in attitude.

 

The clerk’s expression soured, “The Pokemon Center incident, I see.” He waved his hand at Noah, “I recommend signing up to the League over at the Pokemon Cen-.”

 

He stopped himself. "I mean the Viridian City Gym." He waved towards the door, gesturing to Noah to leave.

 

The bank teller frowned, "Yes, but if you're worried about the tracking device and other 'benefits' included in the Association card, then no, the League is an independent organization that prioritizes freedom." 

 

So becoming a member of the Association is like North Korean citizenship, but signing up for the League is like a American one? Noah squinted his eyes.  (this is a joke pls don't mad)

 

Without wasting a second, Noah leapt out of the bank. Relieved to finally be able to leave behind the stifling atmosphere.