Chapter Twenty-Three: Children

"Number 209, Am, Field 6."
With the broadcast announcement, Am made his way to the Tokiwa Gym, arriving at Field 6 in the Basic Challenge Area.
As one of the six major cities’ official gyms, Tokiwa welcomed a vast number of trainers daily, and naturally, there were multiple arenas; a single one would never suffice.
Presumably, challenges involving trainers with only one to three badges weren’t expected to cause much destruction, so the basic challenge zone was indoors.
Here, Am’s designated field was on the second floor, but rather than wooden planks, the ground was a hard-packed earthen floor!
As long as no one intentionally caused damage, a single “Dig” wouldn’t burrow all the way down to the first floor…
During gym challenges, the primary type of the gym leader was always fixed. In Sakaki’s gym, for example, the specialty was Ground-type Pokémon.
From a tactical perspective, challengers, when not entirely confident, would choose gyms with types they could counter.
At the same time, gyms would set up battlegrounds that worked to their advantage!
In the basic challenge zone, however, there was nothing particularly special—just a layer of hard-packed earth, which certainly favored Ground-types, though… it was equally advantageous for Grass-types.
After registering, Am proceeded systematically through the paperwork and Poké Ball inspection, then joined the queue.
Given the sheer number of challengers in the basic tier, it scarcely felt like a gym challenge at all—more like waiting in line for a checkup.
When his name was called and he arrived at Field 6, Am noticed an official seated on a raised chair nearby, likely the referee.
In the most professional matches, there would typically be several Barrier Pokémon trainers, such as Mr. Mime, isolating the field from the audience, with referees, commentators, and broadcast staff observing via Rotom drones.
However, for a humble basic battle field, none of that was necessary, and there was no audience area either.
Across from Am stood an opponent clearly younger than himself—a child of thirteen or fourteen, by the look of it.
Having gym apprentices evaluate challengers served a dual purpose: it tested the challenger and gave the apprentices valuable experience, all while collecting entry fees and tuition. It was a win-win—well, more of a win-win-win for the gym.
“Double battle, no Pokémon switching, no restriction on items. If all of one side’s Pokémon lose the ability to battle or a trainer concedes, that side loses… Both sides, release your Pokémon!” The referee recited the rules as usual.
The young apprentice, a bit nervous, released two Diglett—both ordinary Kanto forms, pure Ground-type.
To evolve a Diglett into Dugtrio, it wasn’t as simple as splitting into three as in the games; it required three Diglett to merge. Am guessed he might have a third Diglett somewhere.
As for Am, he sent out an Exeggcute and a Bulbasaur.

“Ah!” The young apprentice exclaimed in surprise.
Then, forcing himself to appear determined, he glared at Am—probably thinking, how shameless for a grown man to challenge for his very first badge with two Grass-types!
“Diglett One, Diglett Two! Let’s go, we won’t lose!” The apprentice shouted fervently.
The four Pokémon tentatively clashed…
Diglett’s base stats were actually lower than Bulbasaur’s and Exeggcute’s, as it hadn’t evolved yet either.
Judging by the back-and-forth, their levels seemed about equal; the Diglett might even be a bit higher.
Once his moves were ready, Am went methodically: “Amen, Garlic—use Sleep Powder!”
The apprentice was dumbfounded.
In this world, Pokémon battles, when opponents are evenly matched, don’t end in an instant. Even with a type advantage, Am played it safe, which was a mark of respect for his opponent!
Someday, this kid would understand what it meant to face an adult…
Neither Diglett dodged; both fell asleep instantly. Bulbasaur and Exeggcute’s moves were soon prepared again!
The time required to ready a move, or the speed at which an energy gauge filled, wasn’t set in stone.
During battle, the opponent’s charging might interfere with your own—so, for the same Pokémon, the time to prepare a move could vary depending on whether the opponent was weak or strong. The fastest, of course, was when there was no interference at all.
Sleep was one such state: no interference.
With their next moves quickly ready, Am followed up with Leech Seed. Before the third round of moves, though the apprentice’s Pokémon finally roused at his urgent calls, they were immediately met with a double Leaf Storm, ending his brief stint as gatekeeper.
“Both Diglett are unable to battle. Challenger Number 209, Am, is victorious.” The referee declared.
There was little time for Am to celebrate—there was a long line of challengers behind him, and besides… he didn’t want the young apprentice to burst into tears from excitement and be blamed for making him cry!
After receiving his first badge and politely declining the staff’s attempt to sell him a special Tokiwa Gym badge case, Am left the gym.
As he departed, he glanced back twice at the Tokiwa Gym.
After all…
Whether in the anime or the games, Sakaki was undoubtedly the boss of Team Rocket!
Although this world was neither anime nor game, many details seemed to overlap in unexpected ways—like the gym heir, Misty.

Thus, Am had strong suspicions that Sakaki was, nine times out of ten, the Boss of Team Rocket here as well!
But nothing in Tokiwa City or Sakaki’s gym betrayed this; in fact, Tokiwa was one of the safest of the six major cities.
Of course, that could simply be a case of “a rabbit doesn’t foul its own nest.”
Am simply gave it another glance. Sakaki’s true identity, after all, had little to do with him.
Tokiwa’s reputation for safety lasted in Am’s mind for about two hours…
Returning to the Pokémon Center, Am happened to see Misty, Sonoko, and Ran arriving together, with a small child in tow…
A child!
Am froze, a thought crossing his mind: Could it be…
“Hey! Over here… How’d your gym challenge go? What’s with that look? Don’t tell me you lost?” Sonoko asked, puzzled.
“Cough, cough, the gym challenge went fine—I was just thinking about something else…”
Seeing Am glance at the boy, Ran explained, “He’s a relative of Shinichi’s, named Conan. I’ve been asked to look after him for a while.”
Am noticed that, though the boy shrank back a bit under his gaze, adjusted his glasses, and tried to look naive, there was a certain arrogance in his eyes!
This…
Wasn’t this just a shrunken Shinichi?
“Is that so? Well… he really does look like Shinichi. Are you sure he wasn’t reverted in time by Celebi or Dialga themselves?” Am blurted out.
Conan’s expression froze.
Ran also hesitated for a moment—clearly, she too noticed how much Conan resembled Shinichi as a child.
“Haha, as if that could happen! Still, the kid does look like he’s sizing everyone up… Do you also have a distant relative on the middle school tennis team?” Sonoko laughed, then bent down for a closer look.
Conan: …
With Sonoko’s interruption, Ran only smiled. After all, turning into a child overnight was just too far-fetched…