Officer Jenny

Hearing someone call his name, Chen Yan looked up and saw a woman in a blue police uniform, her green hair striking beneath the cap on her head.

Looking at the utterly familiar woman before him, Chen Yan spoke in surprise:

"Officer Jenny? What are you doing here?"

She was Twinleaf Town's Officer Jenny, someone Chen Yan knew from town. Grandmother had helped her a great deal when she first arrived to take up her post, so she often visited Grandmother, who lived alone.

"I just got back from patrol. What are you doing out here..." Officer Jenny looked at Gengar, who sat beside Chen Yan and greeted her, then at Weedle, who lay nearby watching her curiously. She changed tack:

"Have you... set off on a journey?"

Chen Yan nodded lightly and pointed to the camera beside him as he said:

"Grandmother told me to go out and take more pictures of Pokémon for her, so Gengar and I headed out."

"Geng-"

Yep, that's right.

"I see. So is this Weedle a Pokémon you just caught?"

"That's right. What do you think? Isn't Weedle cute?"

Chen Yan reached out and lifted Weedle up for Officer Jenny to see.

Sitting on her motorcycle, Officer Jenny took a close look at the Weedle in Chen Yan's hands, then remarked:

"What a chubby Weedle..."

Weedle: ?!!

"Xiao Yi, those harsh words hurt a little bug's feelings..."

Twinleaf Town's Officer Jenny was named Jenny Yi, so Chen Yan usually called her Xiao Yi.

"Oh, sorry. My apologies, Weedle. You're very cute."

"Weee-"

Officer Jenny parked her motorcycle, climbed off, and walked over to sit on the blanket Chen Yan had laid out. Looking over the tent he and Gengar had put up together, she asked curiously:

"Where are you planning to go first?"

"I heard Sandgem Town isn't far from Twinleaf Town, so I'm planning to head into Twinleaf Town tomorrow and stay for a day, then set off toward Sandgem Town the day after. I'll see if I can visit Professor Rowan and ask him a few things about Pokémon."

"Why not stay in Twinleaf Town? Why camp out here?"

At that, Chen Yan grinned. "Because I've never tried camping out with Pokémon before. I thought I'd give it a go today. It seems pretty fun."

Chen Yan scratched the back of his head and continued:

"Grandmother gave Gengar and me some travel money before we left, but we don't know exactly how much we've got, so we'll save wherever we can."

"All right. It's fairly safe here, close to the main road. Normally, no particularly dangerous wild Pokémon show up here at night. But just in case, remember to light a campfire near your tent when you go to sleep, to keep wild Pokémon from coming over and bothering you."

"Right, got it."

Chen Yan nodded to show he understood.

"A journey, huh... When I first met you, I told Grandmother you weren't the sort who could stay in one place. You were bound to go traveling. Looks like I was right."

Officer Jenny looked at Chen Yan with a wistful sigh.

When Grandmother first found Chen Yan, she had called Officer Jenny over to take him to the Pokémon Center. Later, when Grandmother fell ill, she and Chen Yan had taken turns looking after her.

Even back then, she could see his longing for the outside world in his eyes.

"The main thing was that Grandmother wasn't in very good health. I originally didn't want to leave, but she chased me out."

Chen Yan said it with a smile.

"Don't worry. I'll help look after Grandmother for you. Just do as she said and take lots of Pokémon pictures for her."

Officer Jenny patted Chen Yan on the shoulder as she spoke.

"Don't worry, I will."

"Send me a copy of the photos too."

"Sure."

Officer Jenny chatted with Chen Yan for a while, then got up to leave. Once she stood, however, something seemed to occur to her. She turned back to Chen Yan and asked:

"By the way, have you applied for the paperwork you'll need?"

"Huh? Paperwork? What paperwork?"

Chen Yan looked completely bewildered.

"Are you planning to challenge Gyms? Or enter Pokémon Contests? Or anything else?" Officer Jenny asked.

"I probably will."

Chen Yan didn't deny it. After all, now that he had come to this world and set off on a journey with Pokémon, he was bound to pass through cities with Gyms, so he would definitely challenge them.

But he had no intention of entering a League tournament. He mainly wanted to enjoy the journey and meet more Pokémon. He wanted to challenge Gyms because they were one of this world's defining features, and every Gym Leader was an old acquaintance he had never met in person. Getting to know them would be nice too.

"I need paperwork? I had no idea."

With an expression that said she had expected as much, Officer Jenny explained:

"If you want to challenge a Gym, you definitely need an official Trainer Card. If you haven't applied for one by the time you get there, the Gym will arrange for someone to take you to get it first."

"As for the other documents, it doesn't really matter whether you get them, but it's better to have them than not. You never know when they might come in handy."

"Is there somewhere in Twinleaf Town that handles that? Do I have to take all sorts of tests too?"

Chen Yan asked the question. He genuinely hadn't known that challenging Gyms in this world required a Trainer Card.

"Do you have a Pokédex?"

Chen Yan shook his head.

"No problem. When I get back, I'll help you skip the queue and get it sorted out. I'll get any other relevant documents I can for you too."

Officer Jenny waved a hand, telling Chen Yan not to worry.

"Can you really? Sorry for the trouble, Xiao Yi."

Chen Yan replied sweetly.

"Don't mention it. It'll be much faster if I handle it. I can just move it to the front of the internal queue. Let me take your picture first. Look at the camera and be serious. No silly grins."

Chen Yan looked solemnly at the phone in Officer Jenny's hand.

A second before Officer Jenny pressed the shutter, Gengar pressed a cheek right up against his.

Officer Jenny looked at the photo on her phone. Gengar had only squeezed half a face into the frame, while Chen Yan wore a helpless expression.

"Looks good. I'll use this one. I'm heading back now. Remember to call me when you get to Twinleaf Town tomorrow, and I'll bring you your documents. Not too early, though. Call me sometime in the afternoon. I'll be busy in the morning."

"Okay."

"I'll be off, then. Make sure you remember not to sleep too deeply when you're camping out at night. Also, don't trust anyone who comes up and gets friendly with you for no reason. Keep your wits about you."

Officer Jenny was like an older sister to Chen Yan, endlessly reminding him of things, teaching him all sorts of outdoor survival skills and ways to stay alert.

Chen Yan wasn't the least bit impatient. He knew Officer Jenny was doing this out of concern for his safety.

She kept talking until the sky grew dark before finally stopping. Taking the bottle of water Gengar offered her, she unscrewed the cap and gulped down a large mouthful, then looked at Chen Yan, Gengar, and Weedle and said:

"I'm heading back now. Call me if anything comes up."

"Okay. Bye, Xiao Yi."

"Geng-"

"Weee-"

Officer Jenny nodded and returned to her motorcycle. She stowed the water bottle in the compartment beneath the rear seat, swung onto the bike, twisted the throttle, and rode away.

She acted without the slightest hesitation, just as one would expect of a member of the Officer Jenny Family.