Hickory Town

Population: 1,603 Gym: Yes Leader: Donovan Type: UNKNOWN Badge: Dedication Badge

People of Interest
Dr. Branch is a retired Pokémon professor who no longer does active research. Hickory Town, and the nearby March Forest, is his choice of place for retirement, where he indulges his hobbies of bird-watching, nature walks and long naps. An expert on so called "shiny" Pokémon, people who take contests and rare collection seriously still seek him out for advice, which he is usually happy to dispense, unless you're rude enough to wake him up for it.

Braxton Courage, and yes that is his real last name, is a local fitness enthusiast who has recently opened a very successful fitness center. Part of the success comes from Braxton's skill at martial arts and the instruction thereof, as well as those seeking him out for training on how to better control transformations.

Places of Interest
March Forest is a very large forest nearby Hickory Town, and a wonderful temperate habitat for forest dwelling Pokémon of all sorts. It also serves as a natural training ground for the trainers of the Hickory Town Gym. Trainers are urged to be cautious when traveling in the forest, as alongside the Pokémon of the forest, there are a few "back to nature" humans who have almost fully transformed that call it home. They tend to get even more territorial then the Pokémon they resemble, and don't hesitate to try and transform humans who venture too far in.

The Courage Athletic Center is a recent addition to the town, but is a huge hit with the younger crowd and is drawing in more people all the time. The three story complex is the single largest building in town, with all manner of exercise equipment, from the bare basics to the very modern, and even includes a competition sized indoor pool and hot tubs. Various classes in self defense and more rarely transformation control are taught here as well. Curiously, as Braxton Courage was a relative unknown before he opened this center, some have began to wonder just where he got the money to fund the building and operation of such a venture in the first place...