Pokémon BW: Rise of Clarity (book 3 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 20: Day Jobs

I stared at both Robert and Alex, staring glumly out the window. It was the morning after the two day storm and the morning after we'd arrived in Nacrene City. The downpour had lessened to a light rain, but now both of my friends didn't seem to be in the mood to do anything, instead opting to stare out of the Pokemon Center window from the room we'd rented.

I sighed, grabbing Robert's pokedex and bringing up the map. "So after we leave here we'll be heading through Pinwheel Forest."

"It'll take days," Robert complained. "At best."

"Ugh," Alex hit her head against the desk. "A forest after a storm like that doesn't sound appealing."

"So, what?" I asked. "We're just gonna stay here and be miserable?"

"There's a gym," Robert pointed out glumly, chin on hands as he watched raindrops slide down the window.

"Might try it," Alex said without much enthusiasm.

"I find that it's annoying when you two happen to be on the same wavelength," I said, going back to scrolling through a page about Nacrene. Maybe there would be something that would pique their interest... I paused, staring at a link. Clicking on it, it brought me to a new page.

"Hey, what about this?" I asked the two, shoving the screen in front of their faces, blocking their outside view of warehouses.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "150th Anniversary of Day Jobs?"

"Day jobs..." Robert muttered, then sat straight up. "Day jobs!"

"That's what it says," Alex said, sitting up straighter as she gave him a quizzical look.

"No no, you don't understand," Robert said excitedly. "This happens once every year in Nacrene! I forgot it was today!"

"Mind explaining?" Alex was starting to sound irritated.

"It says that Nacrene has had a tradition of having anyone be able to volunteer anywhere in the city for a day," I said, skimming through the information provided. "There's no pay, but there's a festival right after and anyone who volunteered that day gets food and carnival games for free. Oh, there's even a tour of the museum in the evening that will be opening a new exhibit to showcase some newly discovered relics."

"Okay okay, but what jobs are available!?" Robert asked quickly.

"Let's see," I scrolled down further. "Ah, here we go. We sign up online here. There's more than a couple available." I began to read them off. "Someone named Mina needs someone to help out with their art-"

"Me!" Robert's hand shot straight up. "Pick me! Pick me!"

I continued, ignoring him. "Wanted help to clean up the trash around the city-"

"Not me," both Robert and Alex said in unison.

"A library assistant is needed-"

"Doesn't sound too bad," Alex said, nodding. "Might pick that one."

"And a specific request from Nurse Joy," I finished. "Seems she needs an extra hand to help with errands and desk duty."

"Isn't that a woman's only job?" Alex asked, leaning over my shoulder to get a look.

"There's no restrictions stated," I shrugged. "If you two want the other jobs, then I'll do this one. Doesn't matter too much to me."

"What about helping pick up trash?" Robert smirked. "Would you do that?"

"As I said, I've decided on helping Nurse Joy."

...

It was still an hour before noon, but there were already a couple of trainers sitting down in the lobby, likely waiting for their Pokemon to heal. I went over to the front desk, but Nurse Joy wasn't there. I went around to the door on the side and knocked. Nothing for a couple seconds until it opened.