Chapter Ninety-Four: Gifts and Wi-Fi

After dinner, Heath returned to the dormitory, where Sister Maple was already stretched out on the sofa watching television. When Heath saw the way she was lying there, he could not help but cover his face.

Every time Junsha Maple was in her own room, she became an entirely different person. The stern, imposing woman of the day was gone; in her place was someone who yawned, scratched at her leg now and then, and had casually tossed her uniform onto a nearby chair.

If the other Junsha officers saw her like this, they would probably be shocked. After all, Junsha Maple was usually an extremely serious woman outside, the sort who carried an overwhelming air of authority.

Arcanine lay quietly beside the sofa, and Junsha Maple had her feet resting on the dog-like creature's fluffy body. Heath felt a little envious. Using an Arcanine as a footrest—one only understood that pleasure after trying it. It was simply the finest kind of indulgence.

Especially in winter, when an Arcanine's body heat ran high, resting one's feet on it felt like putting them on a hot-water bottle: gentle, comforting, and enough to make one drowsy.

"Sister Maple, what if someone sees you like this?" Heath said helplessly as he gathered up her uniform and the rest of it and tossed it into the washing machine.

He had known Junsha Maple for four years now, and had come to understand something about the older woman who looked after him. In Heath's eyes, Junsha Maple was someone who took her work very seriously but lived with astonishing carelessness. Ever since she had taught him how to do laundry, these chores had mostly fallen to him.

"Nobody can see me. Our Junsha dorms are very much about privacy," Junsha Maple said with indifference, yawning as she reached for the remote and changed the channel.

Heath shook his head in resignation. There it was again. Every time, Junsha Maple brushed him off with the same line. He was long used to it; if Junsha Maple ever suddenly became solemn and serious, that could only mean an inspector was coming for a visit.

After loading the clothes into the washing machine and starting it, Heath wiped his hands and prepared to return to his room to tidy his things. Then he noticed a bag hanging from the doorknob of his bedroom.

He walked over in puzzlement and opened the bag. Inside was a medium-sized gift box tied with a bow, in blue-and-white colors that looked quite lovely.

Heath glanced back at Sister Maple. Junsha Maple made no move at all, still absorbed in the television.

"Sister Maple, did you buy this for me?" Heath opened the gift box and found a smartphone inside. He recognized it as the latest model released by Sylph Company, priced at more than five thousand alliance coins. That was no small sum.

You have to know that in Viridian City, Junsha Maple's monthly salary was only five thousand one hundred.

"Mm. Weren't you planning to set out on a journey? I thought your old phone was so worn out, so I got you a new one," Junsha Maple said carelessly, scratching at her stomach. Heath was half amused, half moved.

Junsha Maple was actually rather frugal. She wore the same few sets of clothes over and over, and the same went for her shoes. Most of the time she went out in uniform, and even her phone had not been replaced in a very long while; it was still a model from several years ago.

"Thank you, Sister Maple," Heath said earnestly. He decided he would also give Sister Maple a gift. Junsha Maple waved a hand with a look of disgust.

Heath took the phone into his bedroom and removed his own SIM card.

"It's even dual-SIM standby? But I'm using Porygon Communications now, so I don't really need both slots." He scratched his head.

The world of Pokemon also had telecommunications companies. Compared with the three major giants of his previous life, however, the Kanto League had only two major players. One was Porygon Communications, the one Heath was using now. Its plans were cheap, but the downside was poor signal; sometimes you had to hold the phone up high just to get reception.

Or, when making a call, one would encounter that old telegraph-like "hello, hello?" sort of trouble.

Still, Heath felt that was probably because he was using the cheapest plan. The other company was Meowth Communications, which charged more but offered better service. Its founder was a Meowth...

Of course, that was impossible. The reason it was called Meowth Communications was simply that its founder thought the gold coin on Meowth's head was especially auspicious, so he chose Meowth as the company's name.

After changing to the new phone, the first thing Heath did was turn on the Wi-Fi and set it up. In the Pokemon world, a full Wi-Fi signal was represented by Magnezone, while Magnemite meant the signal was not very good, and Magneton indicated an average signal. Heath never quite understood why the phone designers had chosen Magnemite for this purpose.

"Psyduck, you know, there's a rumor that when a great many Magnemite gather together, they evolve into a very unique and powerful Pokemon." Heath recalled an anime episode he had watched before, in which a whole swarm of Magnemite gathered in one place.

Some people said that meant a new evolution was about to appear. Heath took a wait-and-see attitude toward that. In any case, until the official word confirmed it, no one could know for sure.

"Psy?" Psyduck looked at Heath in confusion. It was training its arm strength, while Charmander had already been ordered by Heath to rest. Today the bandages on Charmander's body had shown a few cracks, and Heath was worried its wounds would split open again.

If that happened, Heath felt he would be scolded to death by Miss Joy Snow.

"But those are only rumors, just like the way Feebas evolves into Milotic." Heath shrugged.

In the games, Feebas could evolve by holding a Beauty Scale and raising its Beauty condition, but how it evolved in reality was still an open question. Because of this, there were very few Feebas trainers, and even fewer Milotic trainers.

The only one Heath knew was the Contest Master Wallace of the Hoenn region, a man who possessed a Milotic.

Heath glanced out the window. He remembered Junsha Xi once telling him that the dining hall he had pointed out offered a very nice view, located in the eleven o'clock direction as one left the cafeteria. Heath had never been there before.

He remembered that area should be the reservoir of Viridian City, the one from which the city's water supply was drawn. He had never gone there, but now his interest was piqued.

"Come on, let's go out and look at the night view tonight," Heath called to his Pokemon. Staying cooped up in the dormitory every day was boring, and tonight he planned to see just what the beautiful view Junsha Xi had mentioned was like.

"I want to read novels~ Trainer, you can go by yourself, okay~" Zorua wagged its tail and looked at Heath expectantly, only for Heath to seize it by the neck and carry it outside.