Nurse Joy of Gringey City was momentarily stunned by Nozomi's words. Then she gave a helpless smile.
"There's no helping it. Gringey City always needs a Pokémon Center."
Clearly, the Nurse Joy stationed in Gringey City didn't have much choice.
She was a girl, after all—and what girl would willingly want to stay in a gloomy, industrial city where the sun was barely ever seen?
But as she said, the city needed a Pokémon Center.
That reason alone was enough to keep her there.
Nozomi nodded, full of respect. For someone to make up her mind to stay in a place like this—this Joy clearly possessed remarkable resolve.
"Well then, sir, how can I help you today?"
Joy smiled as she addressed him.
"Please heal my Pokémon. Also… does Gringey City have a Team Rocket presence?"
Nozomi asked casually.
Joy blinked, caught off guard.
"Why do you ask that?"
She'd seen many kinds of Trainers come and go—eccentric, ambitious, even downright strange—but a Trainer who walked in and immediately asked if there was a Team Rocket around? That was a first.
"Ah, maybe it's a side effect," Nozomi replied with a grin, scratching his head. "I've fought Team Rocket so often lately that it's become a habit."
After all, every time he destroyed one of their bases—or earned a Gym Badge—he'd receive a Silver Draw from his system. Over time, that had turned into muscle memory:
First thing upon arriving anywhere? Check for Team Rocket.
If there wasn't one—fine. But if there was? Track them down, wipe them out, and earn a draw.
"..." Joy looked a little speechless.
Still, she answered truthfully.
"Gringey City does have the occasional Team Rocket activity, but I don't recall any large-scale operations here. I imagine even Team Rocket can't stand the environment in this city."
Her tone carried a faint note of sarcasm.
Nozomi thought for a moment and found it reasonable.
Gringey City was an industrial town—mostly factories and workers. For an organization like Team Rocket, which thrived on entertainment rackets and stealing Trainers' Pokémon, this place offered little profit.
If he were Giovanni, Nozomi thought, he'd never waste manpower building a base here. Better to deploy them to Celadon City or Saffron City, where profits could be maximized.
"What a pity…"
He sighed in genuine disappointment.
Looked like there'd be no system rewards waiting for him in Gringey City.
Just as Nozomi was lamenting that fact, the lights in the Pokémon Center suddenly began to flicker.
The fluorescent lamps overhead flashed erratically, as though ready to die out at any moment.
Nozomi looked up. "Don't tell me the power's about to—"
Before he could finish, the lights blinked twice and went out completely.
The entire Pokémon Center plunged into darkness.
"..."
Nozomi stood there, speechless. Talk about timing.
Still, the sudden outage reminded him of something—the original anime's Gringey City blackout episode.
In that story, Ash and his friends had arrived just as a mass of Grimer had clogged the water intake at the Power Plant, shutting it down and causing a blackout that spread through the city.
Could this be… the same thing happening now?
As Nozomi wondered, Nurse Joy had already switched on the Pokémon Center's backup generator.
Her expression was tense, worry etched across her face.
"The blackouts are happening more and more often. If this keeps up, even our backup power won't last."
Just as she said that, a familiar ding sounded in Nozomi's mind.
[Mission triggered: Solve the Power Plant blackout problem. Reward: 1× Silver Lottery Draw.]
"Huh? That counts as a mission?"
He couldn't help but chuckle.
"Miss Joy," Nozomi asked, "has the city been losing power often lately?"
If the system had gone out of its way to assign a quest, he might as well humor it.
A Silver Draw was no small reward—it could even yield a Mega Stone if luck was on his side.
Joy frowned. "It wasn't bad before, but lately it's been happening more and more. According to the Power Plant staff, the problem's caused by Grimer blocking the seawater intake. The engines can't run, so the whole city loses power."
"And the League hasn't sent anyone to handle it?" Nozomi asked, frowning.
Under normal circumstances, the Pokémon League would respond immediately to any situation where Pokémon threatened public safety.
"It's already been reported," Joy said with a sigh. "But most League Trainers have been reassigned to Saffron City to deal with Team Rocket. There's just no one left to take care of small issues like this."
"..."
Nozomi cleared his throat awkwardly.
To be fair… this was sort of his fault.
He was the one who'd suggested the League focus its forces on eliminating Team Rocket in Saffron City. No wonder Joy sounded resentful.
"In that case," he said, "I'll go take a look at the Power Plant myself. Maybe I can do something about the Grimer problem."
Since he'd partly caused the situation, there was no way he'd just sit back now.
After retrieving his Poké Balls from Joy, Nozomi turned toward the exit.
Joy watched his departing figure, stunned for a moment before realizing what he meant to do.
"There are a lot of Grimer out there! You can't handle them alone!" she called after him.
She'd seen plenty of Trainers volunteer to "fix" the Power Plant, only to come back battered—or not at all. She doubted this one would fare any better.
Nozomi didn't answer. He simply raised a hand over his shoulder in casual farewell.
Joy panicked, moving to chase after him—but he was already gone, swallowed by the darkened streets.
Left with no choice, she picked up the phone and dialed Officer Jenny.
"Officer Jenny, a Trainer just headed toward the Power Plant. He said he was going to deal with the Grimer problem. Can you check on him? I'm worried he might get hurt."
It wasn't that Joy was overreacting—she'd seen too many Trainers injured by those Grimer before.
"A Trainer? Got it."
The sound of screeching tires came through the receiver, and then the call disconnected.
"I hope he'll be okay…" Joy murmured.
Her instincts told her this Trainer was a good person—she truly didn't want anything bad to happen to him.