City in the Sky #4

The time continued to pass by slowly as Amber made her way down the rows of batteries with her partner pokemon, Lumi. The shiny sanyatto used discharge as she moved along, the burst of electricity helping to power up nearby batteries. This was a much needed process since the city of Wintervale was in great danger. With their power supply dwindling, anything that could help charge the batteries was worthwhile.

However, once they got around halfway down the line of batteries the two had to stop. Lumi was now too fatigued to continue to use the electric type move. “Good work, let’s call it a day for that.” Amber said as she patted her pokemon on the head. The cat-like pokemon made a purring sound as her trainer scratched behind her rounded ears.

Still wanting to provide some more assistance before calling it a night, Amber approached one of the nearby Wintervale staff members. “My pokemon is too tired to continue the battery charging for now. Is there anything else we can help with?” She questioned and the other person seemed to think for a few moments before he replied.

“How familiar are you with electronics?” He asked.

“Decently. I’m a scientist in Grovehart.” Amber replied. It was true that she was somewhat knowledgeable about electronics but the trainer was still pretty far from being an expert. The unknown nature of the task also made her apprehensive. Her ability to complete it really depended on the complexity.

“That should be good enough.” The man said with a nod as he motioned for Amber to follow him. As she did so Lumi continued to trot behind them. “Our solar panels are in need of repair. I can walk you through the steps before you do them. It’s simple enough.” This request seemed reasonable enough to her, especially considering how much of lab working involved being able to follow instructions.

The man led the way through the cold snow and ice until they reached some of the solar panels. Even though it was just a small section of solar panels there were still long rows of panels. Other groupings of panels were scattered around the rest of the city, normally providing an ample amount of power. Of course this power was currently not being provided due to the damage caused by Rayquaza.

Once they reached the solar panels the Wintervale worker kneeled down on the snow, taking some tools out of his pocket. Amber crouched down on the snow beside him, making sure to get a good look at what he was doing.

The worker walked her through each step as he unscrewed some of the panels to repair detached or frayed wires. “Some of the panels have pretty heavy wire damage and were completely fried. Others were just detached. With some of the other panels you can see components are cracked or otherwise damaged.” He began to explain as he pointed to some of the nearby panels. Sure enough some of them had cracked glass or metal sidings. “There are more parts over there.” The man continued as he gestured towards a nearby building.

“Alright, I can handle all of that.” Amber assured him and the man nodded. 

“If you have any questions workers should be passing by from time to time that you could ask.” He told her before walking off, his shoes crunching against the snow. The man had left several tools behind for the trainer to use as she made the repairs.

Lumi watched curiously as Amber moved to the next solar panel, carefully unscrewing the panel as she had been shown. Though she found it was considerably more difficult than the man had made it look. With the cold weather some of the screws had been frozen in place. With the panel now off she inspected the wires. The rubber coating had come off some of the wires, leaving the copper inside exposed and damaged in some places. 

The trainer carefully removed the damaged wires and replaced them with new ones. Amber was glad the solar panels seemed to have been constructed with amateur workers in mind. Rather than potentially having to twist wires in or do complicated wiring all she had to do was put it into a slot. Although she was an experienced scientist, electrical work wasn’t in her job description.

It took some time to fix each solar panel as she went down the line. The trainer had to stop once the sun had set, casting the area in darkness and making the solar panels too hard to see. Normally the city might have bright and powerful lights, but with the current electricity problems that wasn’t an option. Amber would have to return to working the next day.