"It's freezing here!" Garret chattered to himself, his breath becoming visible in a cloud of white steam. He shuffled his feet across the packed down snow on the streets of Castelia City, having quite a bit of fun sliding his shoes on the surface. His black jeans barely protected him from the cold, which was actually quite gentle, but to Garret it was freezing. He grew up in a tropical are for a great deal of his life so he didn't handle cold well. He shouldered his bag as it began to slip down his arm. It was only a small cloth sack, but it carried his few possessions and that was good enough for him.
He was taken away by the incredible skyscrapers and concrete edifices that covered every inch of Castelia. His pokemon also weren't used to this sort of whether but they were in their pokeballs.
Garret watched as the masses slowed through the streets, going in and out of shops, but it seemed as if the traffic funneled onto an impressive bridge that loomed over the crystal blue lake that had sheets of broken ice, wandering vagrants over the surface. A combination of metal and stone held the bridge up through intricate arcs. Garret gazed at this architectural marvel and was impressed a great deal. Neither Sinnoh, nor Hoenn had such advanced architecture.
"Is there anyplace where someone can get some food here. I could eat a horse." Garret said, while his teeth chattered. As he said this, it seemed as if by divine intervention, a neon sign flickered on, featuring the bright red words:
DAN'S DINER. Garret laughed to himself as he approached the Diner. It was painted cream white and had a small set of concrete steps leading up to a glass door. Garret ascended the steps and pushed open the door with the side of his arm by leaning on it. A bell jingled and a jolly man with an apron greeted him from behind the counter.
"Hey there friend! Welcome to Dan's, can I get you something to eat?" The man was young, probably 17 at most.
"Yeah, I guess." Garret answered, somewhat disconcerted by the warm greeting he had received. "Can I have that?" He asked pointing to a cold beef patty that was lying in a pool of grease on the griddle that the employee stood in front of, it had already been cooked and didn't look too appetizing but behind hungry eyes it was a filet mignon.
"Ummmmmm, okay." The employee furrowed his brow in a state of obvious confusion. He shoveled it off of the grill and onto a bun. "Do you want that for here or to go?" He asked. Putting his happy semblance back on.
"To go. I've got places to be." Garret said impatiently and he grabbed the burger out of the employee's hand impatiently before the man could even put it in a bag. He slapped $10 on the metal counter, right next to the register. "Keep the change, happy holidays."
He left the diner as the cashier said, "Tournament trainers, piss me off." Under his breath. Garret heard it but left without a word.
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He made it to the registration desk with no problem. And he was having such a fun time looking at the city that he forgot how sore his arms were from training yesterday, but they only hurt when he raised them.
"Name, Trainer Number, and ID please." The registrar demanded as Garret filled out the sheet he was given. "Great, now we need to know which three pokemon you'll be using today." Garret filled out the allotted spaces on the paper. Torterra, Salamence, and Slowbro. "Good Luck, man." He said with genuine enthusiasm.
"Don't need it." Garret replied.
"Humble, I see."
He took the ticket he was given with the number arena he was supposed to report to printed on it in bold, and walked through the door that the man signaled toward.
Garret walked toward it and walked over to the arena. It was on the outer edge of where the arenas were. In the center of this sea of trainers, a podium was erected, and on top of it, stood a man with a beard. He began a speech and Garret only caught the words "Tournament, trainers, battle, lose, win, and champion." He saw a young lady with blue hair walk onto the stage at some time during the speech and she began to talk. He didn't really care what she had to say either, but he was excited for his battle, and a bit impatient. But he noticed the lady on the podium perform some grand gesture, and he was dazzled as the seemingly plain statue of Articuno that stood on the crown of the stadium come to life in a sense, and it whirled in a miniature blizzard, signaling the start of the tournament.