Chapter 6 – Revelations
The platter was picked clean by the time Fennel came back from whatever she was busy with. Numsy somehow managed to eat himself into a food coma and I was not looking forward to cleaning up the ashes left behind in his wake. He will eventually wake up to a sugar rush and literally burn up the extra calories filling the room with smog. Rena lost her appetite after seeing Numsy go to town, so she was scouring the waiting room taking in her new surroundings.
“Sorry for the wait I just got word from Professor Juniper that she will be back in about an hour.”
“That’s okay my team was stuck on a boat for three weeks, this is a luxury compared to that.”
“Are you planning to enter the circuit with those two Pokémon?”
“Yeah, me and those two go way back. Numsy the Numel is my starter Pokémon. I met him when I was seven years old, he kind of becomes uncontrollable around food. Rena my vulpix has been around since I was eight, she’s real responsible and likes it when you brush out the tangles in her fur. ”
Fennel kept looking at both my Pokémon with undisguised interest. While clinging onto the hem of her lab coat.
“I never had the chance to examine either a vulpix or numel before. Would you mind if I log their characteristics in my journal?”
“I guess that would be okay as long as you don’t pull on Rena’s tails, they’re really sensitive.”
Fennel pulled out a ruler a notebook, a few measuring devices a hand-held infrared Thermometer and a blood pressure monitor. Rena got nervous observing all the strange equipment being pulled out of the closet and jumped on my lap.
“Vuuul”
Fennel, seeing that Rena was getting nervous tries reassuring her. “It’s fine, see? Let me demonstrate on Numsy first.”
Numsy still sleeping off the food coma barely reacts as Fennel measures his limbs and checks his temperature. She was about to stick her measuring tape inside his crater when I quickly put a stop to her probing.
“Numsy has boiling magma inside his body. He can erupt when someone puts something inside his hump the conduit is extremely ticklish.”
“Really!? This is why I became a scientist the natural world has endless possibilities!”
“Okay… So, what’s working as a professor’s assistant like?”
“Amazing! this lab has any equipment a burgeoning professor might need. And all the trainer owned Pokémon are darlings! The professor I intern under is gone most of the time though. His field of study is distribution and biology, so we do a lot of fieldwork.”
While Fennel was busy pokehandling Numsy, she answered my questions with enthusiasm. Seemingly Fennel took care of most of the busy work around the lab. The current professor, a man named Cedric Juniper, has a flighty personality and tries to spend as much time outside of civilization as possible. Leaving almost all the administrative duties to his assistants.
“We do have a skulk of vulpix and ninetales living in Unova near route 14 but the region doesn’t have any numel or camerupt living here. So far none of our sponsored trainers have managed to catch a vulpix for us to study.”
“I caught Rena on Mt. Pyre. Mr. Moore my sponsor, told me that vulpix usually reside near places of high spirituality and I wanted to try my luck. Numsy just decided to walk into town one day. Where I come from numel are one of the more common Pokémon.”
“You are directly sponsored by an elite four from the Hoenn region? What impressive feat did you perform to get his attention?”
“Well… I couldn’t afford a poke ball to catch Numsy so his granddaughter let Numsy crash at the Lavaridge gym for a while. Afterwards he offered me a job at the gym, and I guess we made a good impression. ”
“Num!”
We made some small talk. Fennel clued me in on the ins and out of the Unova circuit which areas hold Pokémon dangerous to humans. Rena was finally comfortable enough to let Fennel take some measurements but was adamant that she was not to touch her tails, so I had to do those myself. Finally, during the late hours of the afternoon professor Juniper showed up at the lab. He was a jovial fellow with dirty blond hair and a goatee his eyes forming a permanent squint. After having a quick word with Fennel, he walked up to me and offered his hand in greeting.
“Hello there young man and who might you be? Most of our new trainers have already started their journeys this circuit.”
Shaking his extended hand, I replied. “The name’s Egon professor I just arrived in the Unova region.”
“We didn’t expect you to arrive so soon. Word of you came in about a month ago. Let me tell you young man your application for citizenship caused quite the commotion with the pencil pushers at immigration.”
His eyes darted across my face seemingly wanting to find something.
“Hmm the resemblance is uncanny.”
“Excuse me professor?”
“Ah never mind that. Now according to the letter, I received from the higherups they want me to conduct a paternity test on you. Would you terribly mind parting with some of your mucous membrane so we can run some tests on it.”
The professor started digging into his desk drawer until he found a test tube and cotton swab. Handing them over to me expectantly.
“Now just swipe your inner cheek a couple of times and deposit the collected material inside the test tube. Me and my trusty assistant will convey you the results in the morning.”
Doing as the man said I swabbed the inside of my mouth and handed over the filled test tube. Seeing as the professor would be busy for the rest of the day me and my team retired to the nearest Pokémon center, applying for the league circuit entry while there. The nurse Joy behind the counter was visibly surprised that someone was entering the competition this late but made no comments and quickly registered me and my team. After dinner me and my team decided to immediately use my new license to for a free overnight stay at the center and promptly went to sleep.
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The following morning, we had a quick breakfast before doing some simple exercises to get the blood flowing. Exercising sort of became standard routine while working at the gym. All the gym trainers and Pokémon are required to do so according to the gym’s guidelines, because not every gym Pokémon gets to battle daily, and Mr. Moore wanted to make sure we didn’t get lazy resting on our laurels. This Pokémon center had a single gym equipment room with some of the basic machines, nothing fancy like back home at the gym, but we could make do. My Pokémon both being quadrupeds just needed some basic cardio to get the day started. After completing our morning minutiae, we headed towards the professor’s lab. I rang the doorbell and was met with a familiar wizened face.
“Egon come inside; we have much to discuss.”
I was being led into the building by a somewhat jovial professor Juniper. We quickly skipped past the reception hall and entered what looked to be the professor’s private office, the sides of the walls decorated with diplomas and certifications.
“Now I don’t know how to tell you this, so I am just going to be straight with you and say it. You are indeed the son of a Unovan national. However, your biological father has been missing for a few years now which is not unusual him being an active trainer and all. Your extended family however is still very much present in the region and one individual in particular is a prominent league official. Since in the eyes of the law you are officially an adult, we can’t share your private information with the rest of your family without your express permission. How would you like us to proceed from here?”
This seemingly innocent question posed quite the conundrum for me. This could prove to be the solution of all my financial problems, not to mention having someone high up in the league vouching for me would turn into boon when I start acting on a few of my plans.
’Should I really start riding on another’s coattails when I have already resolved myself to get to the top on my own merits?’
“Would it be possible to keep my new family in the dark for now? When I set out on my journey I decided to try and make it on my own. Gaining preferential treatment even indirectly would go against my principles.”
I couldn’t help but notice a newfound respect gleaming from the professor’s eyes. Clearly my declaration surprised the old codger and why wouldn’t it? Not many trainers would say no to money and political power.
“That’s very admirable Egon and certainly I will try to keep quiet about your newfound status. However, that ambassador was quite forthcoming to his colleagues after having met you in the Slateport embassy. Your grandfather has probably already been informed that he has another grandchild.”
“Is my fraternal grandfather that involved with the newest bureaucratic gossip? that he already knows about me before I was even told I had an extended family?”
Professor Juniper stands up and scours his wall of memorabilia before finally finding the photograph he was looking for and hands it over to me.
“This photograph was taken during the inauguration of Unova’s current champion thirty years ago the man who’s hand I am shaking is your grandfather.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“…”
“You are joking right?”
Shaking his head, the professor’s mouth turned upwards showing his amusement and mirth at my expense “No I am not, Alder our reigning champion is your grandfather.”
“Oh! Now I get it! This is one of those shows with the hidden camera crew hiding behind a fake wall. You pranksters can come out now, you almost got me.”
One of the poké balls strapped to my sides suddenly started shaking and with a distinctive popping sound Rena materialized onto the chair next to mine. She quickly proceeded to leer at me promising future punishment if I didn’t quickly calm down.
“Vuuul!”
“Oh my, what a fine specimen she is. The fur on her tails is quite lustrous and well-groomed no tangles at all.”
Rena spared the professor a glance and gave him a small huff to acknowledge his clearly accurate observations. Before turning around and giving me her full attention. She and I both disdained dramatics and when my grandparents turned on their old rickety TV to watch Gallade’s daughters we both couldn’t get out of the house fast enough. Numsy loved watching that show. The loveable scamp being too slow witted to recognize the poor-quality writing for what it was.
Realizing I was acting hysterically very much like those poorly compensated kirlia ranchers. I quickly regained my composure and gave Rena a look of appreciation. “Thank you, Rena, for being the voice of reason that leads us hotheads.”
“Pix!” she replied as the fox settled down on my lap.
I never really considered my familial relations having any kind of impact on my career as a trainer. ‘Should I revise my plans? Some of my schemes will be tougher to pull off under scrutiny.’ Thinking about what to do I came up with my request.
“Is it possible to keep Champion Alder in the dark about me coming to Unova for now? I kind of want to take my shot at the gym circuit unmarred by expectations. The most battle experience my team has been from watching at the sidelines inside the Lavaridge gym.”
“Yes, I see you have already acquired a sponsor. This will help out immensely during your early career, but I am sorry to say the Unovan league association has set the minimum age for competing in the League conference at 12 regardless of your legal status. You could still partake in the circuit but would be barred from entering the tournament. There have also been talks about raising the age requirement to 14 in a couple of years so Unova would be a poor starting place for a younger trainer like you.”
‘Dang there goes my secondary objective of making it big in Unova, but this could also be helpful in my goal of going unnoticed by the league.’
I doubt league officials monitored lower-level badge matches. I was still planning on winning a couple of badges while here. The wager fights from a gym challenge are typically extremely lucrative for challengers to encourage successful trainers to keep participating in the circuit.
“That’s okay I guess… the main reason for us coming here is to find some more fire-types to join the team. Hoenn’s landmass is mostly below sea level so, there are precious few fire types despite the tropical climate.”
“Hmm fire types huh… being the region’s professor naturally I am an expert when it comes to all sorts of Unovan Pokémon. Especially when it comes to distribution, that’s my specialization.”
Professor Juniper ruminated for some time before finally giving me a resolved look.
“Okay! I’ve made up my mind. How about while you are in Unova you work for me gathering data on fire type Pokémon in the region?”
“Really!? But I am already sponsored by the Lavaridge gym any Pokémon I capture past my trainer carry limit is to be taken care of by the gym.”
“It’s fine. I am mostly interested in any data you will manage to acquire on the natural habitats of the Pokémon you plan on catching. A lot of the time I am required to be stuck in this lab, so I have not had much chance to venture out and observe those habitats myself. Additionally… I would like to acquire more data from this vulpix and any other Hoenn native fire type you carry with you.”
The rest of our conversation was very fruitful. The nature of my “employment” was as follows: I provide him with detailed reports on any fire type Pokémon I encounter, and the lab would pay me a modest sum for any new information or leads I could provide to them. It was more of a freelance gig since the lab didn’t provide me with any guaranteed income. However, I did walk away with a certain piece of specialized equipment all the prospective lab trainers received.
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“Behold Rena! The most vital tool in a trainer’s arsenal.
Now let’s see what Dexter has to say about you.”
Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. It controls balls of fire. As it grows, its six tails split from their tips to make more tails. This Vulpix knows the following moves: Ember, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, ???, ???, ???
“Geez. The professor wasn’t kidding about the lack of information on foreign Pokémon. This job might be easier than I thought if their database is so starved for information.”
“Vul!”
“Yes, extra snacks for you tonight as thanks for attracting Professor Juniper’s attention.”
This Pokédex is a technological wonder. It automatically records data on all my registered Pokémon with their weight and height listed together and their recommended nutritional intake. The device also came with a habitat list although incomplete the list was handy for trainers that were searching for the more commonly encountered Pokémon. Finally, it also doubles as my ID.
Me and my crew made one last stop at the Pokémon center to fulfil a promise I made to my sister before setting off. The obligatory long distance calls every time I got situated in a town with adequate facilities. This would be the first time I could use a center’s payphone for free.
Smartphones are not widely available yet, so people still have to use computers for this sort of thing. Luckily the center isn’t too far away from our home, so it takes little effort from our nurse Joy to let Zinnia know her brother was calling. After waiting for a bit my sister appeared on screen with an exasperated look on her face.
“Hey big bro! You finally decided to call me after three weeks?”
“You know I could’ve been stranded in the middle of the ocean or eaten by a school of Sharpedo right? Aren’t you happy to see your brother again after all this time?”
“You? Hmpff… how is Rena? You better hope you’ve taken good care of her fur during the voyage! Nurse Joy told me sea air is bad for a Pokémon’s coat of fur, especially so for fire types!”
“We are both doing fine, the professor in Nuvema town gave me this.” I wave my newly acquired Pokédex in front of the screen.
“No way for real? They must have really run out of competent Unovan trainers to allow a foreigner to walk away with a Pokédex free of charge.”
“Legally I am not a foreigner since that deal concerning my dad came through. Also, the Professor Juniper hired me as a freelance trainer. So technically this nifty gadget here still belongs to the lab. Anyway, since I am officially recognized as a Unovan citizen it won’t be much of a hassle for me to catch Pokémon in this region.”
At that news my little sister’s face lit up. “Really!? Could you please catch a Pokémon for me too? You caught Numsy when you were seven, I am eight years old now and totally mature enough to have a Pokémon of my own! I’ll even pay you back for the Poké ball promise!”
“All right All right, you remember the list of Pokémon I gave you before I left for Slateport? Pick any one of those and I’ll make sure to catch one for you.”
I did try my best to remember all the native dragon types in Unova before I left and compiled an arguably short list of potential wild dragons I might encounter on my journey. It has been a while since I played the games of course so the list might not be all that accurate. I left a few of the dangerous ones off the list I don’t care how talented a trainer my sister is I am not getting her a Deino as her starter. Those things chewed on everything including their naïve trainers.
“Dei…”
I scowled “No! those Pokémon are dangerous and aren’t even on the list, pick something more realistic please.”
“Uhmm… maybe an Axew or a Horsea? I would also really love to have a Dratini!”
By the sound of her voice, I can somewhat judge which one of those she would prefer to have. Horsea is an ocean Pokémon you could find in any region. Most seafaring fisherman know intimately where the local Seadra spawning grounds are on the grounds of having to waste money fixing their broken nets any time they venture too close.
Axew were localized inside the Mistralton cave system and the ones looking for a worthy trainer live on the upper levels challenging travellers and their Pokémon. This was a problem for me since my sister wasn’t here to prove herself worthy. Full on dragon types are prideful and most of those Pokémon wouldn’t accept merely being caught as gift for someone’s baby sister.
And finally, Dratini arguably the dragons with the most easy-going temperament and probably wouldn’t mind at all being caught as a gift. The problem lay in the fact their line has parents who will not let their juveniles out of sight. Forcibly catching one is almost impossible due to this and their nesting grounds are shrouded in secrecy. When it becomes known to them that humans managed to figure out where they raise their young, they’ll split the scene and relocate. If the games are anything to go by there should be a colony inhabiting the lake surrounding Dragonspiral tower.I already checked out those places on the pokénet. The tower and its surroundings are off limits to any trainers without at least six badges or those who have received special permission from league personnel.
I was preparing to catch a starter for my sister for a long while and trying to remember as many details of my past life as possible. This was the moment I could put all that knowledge to use. Even thinking about all the hurdles, I would have to cross in order to catch a Dratini for my sister gave me a headache. By the time I could catch her one she will have been waiting for months. The more logical option would be to catch her a Horsea and maybe poke my nose around Dragonspiral tower later when I am a more established trainer.
“I’ll see what is available. Do mind that two of those Pokémon need large bodies of water to swim in Zinnia. Our town’s hot springs won’t be enough in the long run.”
She made a cute frumpy face “I know! Before your next call I will find a way to accommodate aquatic dragons.”
The rest of our conversation was very enjoyable talking about when grandma is finally going to pick a successor to the shop, since both of us have made up our mind on becoming Pokémon trainers professionally. How master Quagsire might be able to help her set up some sort of pond in our backyard. Only to receive some disturbing piece of news from her side.
“I got a letter from my dad telling me that he and mom will come visit us next month. And you never guess what Pokémon delivered the letter?”
“A Pelliper?”
“No! A Noivern and a big one too! She almost shattered our windowpane with an awesome screech attack just to get my attention.”
I gave her my best deadpan expression. “Dragon otaku.”
“Stop calling me that! Otaku only means passionate and yes, I do admire dragon types.”
Outwardly I was joking, but inside I almost had a panic attack. Now of all times did her father decide to interact with his daughter!? After I am gone and unable to stop him from planting dangerous ideas inside her head. I am pretty sure he was going to try and talk her into joining their Rayquaza worshipping cult. If she accepted, I would lose contact with my sister until she came of age and started her own journey. Getting her a starter Pokémon just became my top priority. If only in an attempt to dissuade my family by marriage from enticing her with a dragon of her own.
“Something just came up lil’ sis and big brother has gotta run. I’ll call you back within the week. Bye love you!”
“Hold up! What’s the sudden ru…” Click*
Numsy popped out of his ball and gave me a questioning look. “Num?”
“It’s going to be okay little dude no way some old fogies are going to upstage her big brother.”
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We rushed our way into route 1 being one of the safest travelling areas for trainers starting their journey if they stuck to the route of course. Rangers made no guarantees of safety for numbskulls who left the established paths. This place also had a direct connection to the ocean. And according to the residents in town is also an estuary the place where salt and freshwater meet. Perfect for catching a wide selection of water type Pokémon. Now I had no fishing rod on me, and my fire type Pokémon and I had no intention of swimming in those deep waters, so the plan was to find a fisherman and ask for help with my predicament.
I made my way to the shores of this route spotting passing the occasional Patrat and an adorable group of Lillipup being watched over by a grumpy looking Herdier. Any other time I would have loved to interact with these unfamiliar wild Pokémon, if only to get some training battles in now that I was allowed to do so, but I came here with only one goal in mind.
It didn’t take long before I spotted a blue haired teenager fishing on an old rock groyne. He had a Pokémon floating next to him, a marine colored Frillish, one look at their appearance and I knew that I had my guy.
“Uhmm… excuse me? You wouldn’t happen to be a knowledgeable fisherman, would you?”