Chapter Eighty-Six: The Return of the Humid Season

He noticed what was hanging from Mister Fujiyama and had to admit it was a serious piece of equipment: a giant Snorlax dehumidifier bag, the biggest model at that. He remembered it worked extremely well, capable of holding fifteen kilograms of water.

Lively Evergreen City was a place that had to endure the damp, muggy weather every single year, and dehumidifier bags and drying machines were the true stars of the city. Tourists from elsewhere rarely came to visit at such a time.

Unless they knew nothing about the soggy season, or were travelers from other regions entirely, most people hated this suffocating weather phenomenon.

Especially when the windows would not shut properly and the blankets grew clammy; that was when despair truly set in. Then a dehumidifier bag became indispensable. The Snorlax dehumidifier bag developed by Silph Company was the largest of its kind, able to quickly draw moisture from a room, condense it into water, and store it away.

And now Mister Fujiyama had ten of those bags hanging from him, steadily gathering moisture at a visible rate. It was enough to make Heath feel a little uneasy, though it did not affect his cooking for Mister Fujiyama.

“Mister Fujiyama, don’t you feel uncomfortable wearing all that?” Heath asked, looking at Fujiyama, who had swollen up by a whole circle.

There was nothing more miserable after being caught in the rain than soaked clothing. Wet fabric clinging to the body could drive anyone half mad; if you were drenched from head to toe, you would want nothing more than to race home and change everything at once.

“It’s fine. Training is, after all, a trial for both muscle and will.” Mister Fujiyama said this with complete composure. Beside him, the female Machamp nodded gravely, then flexed her astonishing muscles for display.

“How’s your Charmander training coming along?” Mister Fujiyama asked with interest. He had seen plenty of people quit halfway, and plenty more who trained one day and rested for a month.

But a Pokemon, and a Charmander at that, trying to build muscle was something he had never seen before. So now that he had discovered it for himself, he felt a strong curiosity, and that was the main reason he was willing to teach Charmander.

“It’s going very well. Charmander is the most determined Pokemon I’ve ever seen.” Heath turned and glanced at Charmander, who had just drunk a cup of protein powder water and had already gone back to training.

“Training is never easy. I’ve seen far too many people give up halfway. Back when I founded this fitness club, more than a hundred people were willing to join. A year later, there was only me left.” Mister Fujiyama laughed heartily. His hair was already starting to grow damp.

Heath smiled. In truth, Fujiyama had not made the training so hard at the beginning. Only after everyone else had left the club did he begin increasing the difficulty, and during that time he gradually attracted a few stubborn people.

“Mister Fujiyama, here’s your breakfast, and this is barley tea. Please drink it while it’s hot.” Heath handed over the barley tea he had made, then took Fujiyama’s money and put it into an iron box.

Keeping money safe during this muggy season was also very important. Paper bills were best deposited in the bank, or stored somewhere with plenty of dehumidifier bags; otherwise, terrible, unspeakable things could happen.

Watching Fujiyama and Machamp disappear into the dense fog before his eyes, Heath gave up on the idea of putting the tables and chairs outside. In weather this bad, even if he did set them out, no one would likely want to sit there.

“Farfetch'd, stop shaking those wings, all right? Keep it up, and you can rest in five minutes.” With nothing better to do, Heath began supervising Farfetch'd’s training.

As time passed, dawn brightened the sky. The heavy morning fog thinned somewhat, though the air remained thick with moisture. Pedestrians on the street hurried along, and every so often a few would stop to buy something to eat. Still, compared with the usual lines, business today could only be described as dismal.

With every customer who came, Heath would recommend a cup of barley tea, and once they heard it could dispel dampness, they became interested. At eight Alliance coins a cup, the barley tea proved popular with many people.

“Oh dear, another one fell over?” Zorua lay on the table, gleefully watching the scene outside.

“You little rascal, this is what the damp season is like. The ground is slick everywhere, and the tiles are even worse.” Heath looked at the office worker who had fallen flat on his rear and let out a helpless sigh.

This miserable weather was exactly like that: hateful, infuriating, and yet impossible to do anything about. In such conditions, Officer Jenny always rode her motorcycle with extra care, and hospitals, along with Nurse Joy, were usually at their busiest.

Humid weather made people slip easily, which meant broken bones were common. Even though Heath was not at the Pokemon Center, he could already imagine how busy the Joy sisters must be.

Seated in the food truck, Heath flipped through the textbook for the first stage of the driving exam. Even in the damp season, he still had to get his license. It was just that taking the later tests in weather like this would be somewhat difficult. The moment he thought about having to reverse into a parking space and such in this kind of weather, his head started to ache.

“Heath, what’s there to eat here today?” A girl’s voice sounded. Heath looked up and saw a girl with glasses and twin braids standing before the food truck, smiling at him.

“Oh, Miss Dawn, is it? Same as usual today, but we do have barley tea. Would you like to try some?” Heath smiled as he looked at her.

Although this girl was also called Dawn, she actually had nothing to do with the Dawn from the Sinnoh region. One could even say they were entirely unrelated. They were not the same person at all.

Still, in the Pokemon world, duplicate names were perfectly normal. Heath felt that if the world did not allow repeated names, his own name might have been even longer, perhaps even more complicated, and calling him Heath would have been impossible.

“Barley tea? Can you eat it?” Dawn instantly grew interested. Looking at Heath with anticipation, she asked shyly.

“Miss Dawn, barley tea is for drinking. It’s used to dispel dampness in this kind of harsh weather.” Heath explained with a smile.

“Hm? Dispel dampness? Is it medicine? Has it been tested? What’s the pharmacology?” Dawn looked curiously at the barley tea Heath had prepared and rattled off several questions.

Heath froze for a moment, then helplessly rubbed his head. How had he forgotten? Dawn was aspiring to become a nurse.