“So you’re Oak’s newest Researcher?” Jenny’s Mom asked. We were all sitting next to each other in the Viridian City Pokémon City. Jenny was seated to my left, and Jenny’s Mom was seated to my right. Arms, Cha, and Fire Fang were all being taken care of by Nurse Joy. When Nurse Joy saw Jenny’s Mom she tightened up and became much more professional than usual. “Yes, I am Professor Oak’s newest Researcher, and I will be doing the gym circuit in the Fall” I responded feeling exhausted. “I bet you’ll do pretty well. You’re already stronger than Oak’s current trainers” Jenny’s Mom said nodding. “Why do your Lickitung and Tangela look different?” Jenny’s Mom asked. “Po and Rapunzel are actually a Lickilicky and a Tangrowth. They are the evolved forms of Lickitung and Tangela. I became their trainer a couple of weeks ago. They had been abandonded at Professor Oak’s Lab” I said giving her a bit of their story. “What a waste of talent to abandon those two. If they are that strong after just a couple of weeks of training I can only imagine what they will look like come Fall” Jenny’s Mom said actually sounding impressed. “Thank you for acknowledging their work. I’m sure they will be very excited to hear they got praise from a Police Officer Trainer. You must see a lot of Pokémon and Trainers while working at the academy?” I asked still melting into my chair. “You have no idea. So many don’t even make it past the initial assessment. After seeing your unique Pokémon though, I’ll have to rethink some of those odd entries though” Jenny’s Mom said. “Never judge a book by it’s cover” I said without thinking.

  After just a couple of minutes of silence, Nurse Joy came out with three Pokéballs. “Here you are Chief Jenny and Researcher Austin. Everyone just needs a good night’s rest and they will be ready to go tomorrow” Nurse Joy said giving a professional bow. “Thank you Nurse Joy” we all said together. “Why don’t we grab some dinner at the station and we can talk some more” I offered. “That sounds like a good idea” Jenny said. “Mom, why don’t you go ahead and rest at the station while Austin and I grab the food” Jenny said. “Sounds like a plan” Jenny’s Mom said heading the other way. As soon as Jenny’s Mom was out of sight, Jenny grabbed me and pulled me into a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you for fighting for me and my dream” Jenny said. Before I could say anything, Jenny pulled me down to her level and started kissing me passionately. I just closed my eyes and savored my first kiss with the most beautiful girl I had ever known.

  As we entered the station with the food, I was still floating in the clouds and swore I would never come down. “Mom we’re back!” Jenny called out as she began laying out the food. “Welcome back! What’s with him?” Jenny’s Mom asked pointing at me still in the clouds. “Oh, he’s just tired. He gets up very early to feed Professor Oak’s Lab Pokémon and then trains his Pokémon” Jenny said while trying to hide her blush. “Oh that reminds me, I am also training Daisy now too” I said finally snapping out of my trance. “Oh, does she finally know what she wants to do?” Jenny asked me. “Who is Daisy?” asked Jenny’s Mom. “Yes, and Daisy is Professor Oak’s eldest grandchild. Daisy wants to become a Pokémon Groomer and also do physical research on Pokémon” I said answering both of them. “Also, she is going to be coming with us in the Fall” I said. “Awesome! Is she going to go for Gym Badges too?” Jenny asked. “I’m not sure, she didn’t say. I know she wants to learn more about Pokémon diets and what it means to take care of Pokémon physically. This morning she helped me feed everyone and I taught her a little bit about natural diets” I said rubbing my chin thoughtfully. “Natural diets?” Jenny’s Mom asked. “Jenny, why don’t you show your Mom Spitz. I have some more of his food with me” I said. “Come on out Spitz” Jenny said releasing the good boy. “Growl ruff” Spitz said as he wagged his tail. “Huh his fur looks a little different, let me check his teeth” Jenny’s Mom said. “Spitz is actually one of Fire Fang’s kids” Jenny said to me. “Wow, his tooth look nice and sharp, and they are so clean! What did you do to help? Did you brush his teeth?” Jenny’s Mom asked. “Actually, it’s because I changed his diet about a week ago. I switched from pure kibble to including some meat, eggs, and poultry into his food. Also, I have been giving him bones with marrow and fat on them to help him clean and sharpen his teeth” I said putting down Spitz’s dish with his favorites. “The bones help Pokémon and animals that have sharp canines by giving them something to work those teeth that naturally would be available in the wild. Dogs, wolves, and Pokémon that are similar need bones for the marrow and calcium they provide, and it helps to clean their teeth as well” I said watching Spitz finish eating quickly.

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  “Come on out everyone, it’s dinner time!” I said releasing all of my Pokémon except Pinsir and Tremor. Everyone was hungry, and immediately started eating. Queeny came out to eat too, and Jenny’s Mom let out her three Pokémon as well. “Are you okay with me giving your Pokémon some natural food mixed in with their normal diet?” I asked Jenny’s Mom. “Sure, I can’t imagine it would hurt them to have some traditional food” Jenny’s Mom said. I took out the largest bone I had brought for Spitz, some nuts and berries, and asked Jenny if she had any fish. “I have some fish filet in the fridge, do you want it?” Jenny asked. “Yeah, I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow. Arms needs some supplements for the canons on his back as well” I said looking at the very large Blastoise. All of Jenny’s Mom’s Pokémon dug in and ate quicker than usual according to her. “I have never seen them excited for chow time, usually they eat slowly” Jenny’s Mom said. “Maybe there is something to natural foods” Jenny’s Mom said looking thoughtfully at her Fire Fang chewing his bone happily. “Glad to hear they liked it! Hang on, I’ll be right back. I have to let Tremor out so he can eat” I said. “How big is Tremor that he has to go outside?” Jenny’s Mom asked. “You should probably go see for yourself. I have never seen a Pokémon as big as Tremor is” Jenny said pointing outside.

  “Come on out bud, time for some minerals!” I said throwing his Pokéball up. “STEEL” Tremor yelled with joy as I prepped his platter of minerals and different kinds of soil and rocks. “WHAT IS THAT THING?!?!?” Jenny’s Mom screamed pointing at Tremor. Tremor freaked out and started looking around himself thinking she was pointing at something else. “This is Tremor the Steelix. Steelix is the evolved form of Onix” I said putting down the giant platter. “You have three Pokémon from Kanto that no one knew could evolve, and they are all stronger than their pre-evolved forms?” Jenny’s Mom asked. “That’s right! Tremor is also a new kind of Pokémon Type called Steel. Only Magnemite and Magneton are Steel type in the Kanto region normally” I said patting Tremor’s head while he gobbled up the platter. “How has no one noticed this before?” Jenny’s Mom asked. “People from Johto have this knowledge, but never shared it as they are trying to keep information to themselves” I said with a frown. “To learn, to grow, and become better and stronger we have to use wisdom and knowledge from multiple sources. Never assume you know everything about anything, because there is always more to learn” I said as Tremor finished and started raising his head. “You researchers and your mushy nonsense. I have to admit though kid, you are the strongest researcher I know besides Oak” Jenny’s Mom said. “Thanks! Let’s head back inside and rest and finish eating for a bit. I have to head back to Pallet Town soon to feed the other Pokémon at the lab” I said opening the door for her.

  After we went back in, we talked while we finished eating. “So Jenny, have you had time to think more about which Pokémon you want to add to your team?” I asked. “I have, but wanted to get your thoughts about some of them” Jenny said while cleaning up. “Sure, fire away!” I said getting paper and pen out. “I think I want a Magneton or Jolteon for my electric type” Jenny said looking for focused. “Magneton hits harder, has the additional Steel typing, and is bulkier. Drawbacks are that it is slower than Jolteon, has a double weakness to ground moves, and doesn’t have as many coverage moves as Jolteon. You can evolve it into Magnezone if we figure out how in this region” I explained. “Jolteon is fast, hits hard, and has good coverage moves. It can be a bit fragile and is also weak to ground. Honestly, both are good Pokèmon” I said. “No interest in being the trainer who catches and battles with Zapdos?” I asked. “How do you know where Zapdos is?” Jenny’s Mom asked. “Austin says he knows where all three legendary birds are actually” Jenny replied. “You’re crazier than I thought” Jenny’s Mom said with a smirk. “No, I don’t think I want any legendary Pokémon. I’m worried if we would be able to control them” Jenny said looking down. “Fair enough, on your next day off let’s go get you a Magnemite!” I said standing up. “Hey I haven’t decided yet!” Jenny said with a laugh. “All right, well, you let me know your next off day and we will head out to grab Eevee or Mangemite” I said corralling my Pokémon outside.

  “Goodbye you two! Thanks for the battle!” I called out as we loaded up on Tremor. “You’re going to ride that thing?!?” Jenny’s Mom called after us. “Tremor is practicing getting used to moving with his new size still, and this helps him focus on how he moves his whole body” I said. “Okay, be safe! I’ll write a letter tomorrow, so just send Cha when he is feeling better!” Jenny called up. “Thank you! Safe travels back to Saffron!” I said waving good bye. “Let’s go Tremor!” I yelled up to him. “STEEL” Tremor yelled as he started to move forward slowly with Cha riding his head again. “That guy is crazy! Looks like you picked a good boyfriend” Jenny’s Mom said nudging Jenny. “Mom, how do you know he is my boyfriend?!?” Jenny exclaimed. “Oh please, 30 years of police work. You learn to pick things up” Jenny’s Mom said as she went back in the Station.