Pokémon Slate Gray

Season 1 - Episode 11: Short Sercuit

Slate and April didn't have to use the capsule tents stowed in their new bags that evening. Pokémon Centers offered free hostel accommodation for Trainers—assuming they were in before 11 p.m. and out by 9 a.m. the next morning—and the Hazell Town Center had plenty of beds available. The upper floor was made up of two communal bathrooms and numerous identical small rooms containing nothing but two sets of bunk beds.

Slate was grateful to have a room to himself owing to how few guests there were. Even so, he didn't sleep well that night. Ever since dropping Suzie off at her family's bakery, his mind had been full of thoughts about his mother.

Doubts about whether he should have gone to the police about her abduction, after all, kept swimming around in his head. He'd only finally drifted off to sleep after deciding that in spite of Professor Larch's advice, he would report his mother missing if she didn't show up by the end of the week.

At 8 a.m., the Center's wake-up alarm sounded, and Slate reluctantly rolled out of bed. After getting dressed and using the facilities, he left to meet April in the lobby as planned.

"You know, we didn't earn any League Points yesterday, except my 200LP for catching Zunshin," April informed him over some bad vending machine coffee.

Slate had never been a fan of the bitter drink, but he was tired and could use the caffeine boost. Moreover, he had noticed April's judgmental gaze when his finger had momentarily lingered over the machine's hot chocolate button.

"Yeah, but I'm glad we helped Suzie out," Slate asserted.

"Me too," April concurred, "but we're really going to have to work on it today or forget Poké Balls, we won't be able to feed ourselves, and trust me, you won't like me when I'm hungry!"

Thinking back on April's relentless pursuit of her donut the day prior, Slate decided to take the girl's word for it.

***

Intending to battle some wild Pokémon to top up their dwindling funds, Slate and April returned to Hazell Town's northern route. Unfortunately, after spending the previous afternoon with all the cute Zunshin and Chumster in the opposite field, it felt almost personal to be battling more of their kind. In addition, finding and cornering wild Pokémon turned out to be something of a challenge in itself.

By lunchtime, Slate and April had only managed to defeat one wild critter a piece. Deciding to give it up as a bad job, they started back to town but came upon a pug-faced boy of about fourteen standing in their path. As they approached, he turned his blue baseball cap backward.

"You two Trainers?" the boy accused.

"Err, yeah, I'm Slate, and this is Apr—" Slate started.

"No need for all that," the boy interjected. "All I need to know is that you're Trainers, and that means we can battle!"

April frowned and asked, "What if we don't want to battle?"

"Tough luck, sweetheart! We've made eye contact and that means we fight! Those are the rules," he sneered.

"Sweetheart?" April repeated, looking affronted. "And what rules might those be?"

"It's standard Trainer 101, babe," the boy explained obnoxiously.

"Babe?" April exclaimed, looking fierce. "Maybe I do want to battle, after all!"

Slate laughed nervously. "Ease up a bit, kid," he advised.

"You got any Gym badges?" the boy interrogated, ignoring Slate.

April folded her arms. "No, but—" she started.