If I had to choose between New Bark Town and Pallet Town, I would nine times out of ten go with Pallet Town.

Call me biased, but I've grown attached to the quiet and comforting ambiance of my hometown. New Bark Town may clearly be a town of beginnings for Johto like Pallet Town is for Kanto, but that was where the similarities between the two end. Pallet Town was a quaint little place just south of Viridian City, the actual border town of Kanto.

New Bark Town is Johto's border town, and that meant more authorities and pokémon rangers that are strict with their rules. These rules also include stopping and scolding reckless trainers who attempt to fly over New Bark Town without checking in. Yeah, they sure chewed me out just as Asch and I set our sights for Violet City.

I was given a harsh warning and actual instructions to check in past the town's own border check before flying away. Compared to home where we only had Ranger Gabe and Ranger Rachel, New Bark Town was actually packing a whole squad to patrol around the town.

With our travel momentum killed after getting grounded by the Rangers and taken into the border check building, I was now stuck walking around town as dusk was fast approaching. I did want to reach Violet City before the night descended, but that option was off the table now. I've done some night flying back in my first journey, but the risks of getting ambushed by wild pokémon up there was not worth it.

A murder of devious Murkrow almost knocked me off of Sparrow's back once.

"Looks like I'm staying the night." I searched through my phone to check the local Pokémon Center's lodging types then frowned. "Ugh, communal bunk beds?" On second thought, I'll just find a good spot in the nearby route to set up camp.

Then an idea struck me. I was in New Bark Town which is home to a multitude of future prominent characters and one particular professor, who's the Indigo League's leading researcher in Pokémon Breeding, Pokémon Abilities, and the discoverer of a couple Pokémon evolutions.

All the professors technically knew each other so if I could use the power of nepotism, I just might eke out a place to stay for the night. Yet if he denies me access to stay overnight then I can just go and camp out like I originally intended.

Still, it was late out right now and since this was still a quiet town the majority of the residents were already heading on into their homes. Asking for directions without seeming like a bother to a few exhausted adults was a bit challenging. Thankfully, I did come across someone who gladly showed me the way.

She wasn't much of a talker and seemed just as much as a stranger to the town as me, but she walked with so much confidence that I decided to trust her. My trust did win out in the end because we had arrived at what appeared to be a two-story laboratory.

"This is it. Goodbye." The lady walked off before I could thank her or even ask for her name. Should we meet again, I'll apologize for taking up her time and see if I can repay the favor. Although I did like her fanged necklace, in a way it resembled Mrs. Verdant.

Approaching the lab's front door, I took a deep breath. "Fingers crossed." My knuckles knock against the reinforced metal surface of the door as loudly as I could. No one responded. "Hello? Is this Professor Elm's lab?" I kept knocking the door and exclaimed, "I'm here to see if I can talk to him?"

…

Still nothing.

I sneezed a little as the night breeze blew against my form as I patiently waited for another three minutes.

I groaned and knocked on the door once more. "Two more minutes and I'm outta here." Then the door began to creak open, and my mood suddenly brightened as a young man in a cap appeared. He was tall and used his body to block the doorway, obscuring my view of the building's interior.

"Sorry, but we're closed for the night. If you want to schedule an appointment with da-I mean Professor Elm, you'll have to wait until the lab's secretary comes in in the morning." He slowly sighed with a quick rub to his temples.

Okay, Luke. Go time. "Well, I'm not really here for an appointment per say." I started off with a slight chuckle. The guy now looked unamused. Better hurry and make my case before I get a door slammed in my face. "I was wondering if I can speak to the professor about staying over for the night?"

I internally cringed at myself for my delivery, no, the fact that I'm even doing this in the first place. Ugh, it seemed like a good idea before but now its hitting me about how weird it would be for some random kid to pop out of the blue to ask for residence at a complete stranger's house.

"…You want to stay the night at our lab?" Ugh, please don't look at me like that dude. I know how stupid this sounds but…urgh…its only going to sound stupider.

Sunken Cost Fallacy please don't fail me now. "Mhmm." I nodded then pulled out my pokédex and pressed a button.

["Greetings, I am Dexter! A pokédex programmed by Professor Samuel Oak for Pokémon Trainer Lucas Delilah Ketchum."]

I cringed at the mention of my middle name. I had tried to convince Prof. Oak to omit it from the system but he refused on account of the League requiring one's full birth name to match their Birth certificate and Trainer license.

"Huh, one of Prof. Oak's kids." The young man glanced at my pokédex then back to me. He noticed my slight frown and nodded. "And your name is Lucas Ketchum?" Gah! He didn't use my embarrassing middle name. He's so chill! Thank you so much! I won't even care if you tell me to scram, I'll happily get the fuck out of dodge if you asked me to.

For an instance the guy's eyes widened before he rubbed his chin in thought. "Wait, right here and brace yourself."

"Huh?"

"Just wait, okay? Also, we'll be having breakfast at 8 AM sharp so if you don't want to miss out then be sure to wake up bright and early." I-I don't understand what's happening.

"What?" I blinked.

"One moment." Then he slammed the door in my face.

"…What just happened?" So, I heeded the man's strange instructions and quietly stood in place on the lab's front doorstep.

"WHAT!?" I jumped in fright as a deranged yell emanated from within the building. I heard and "felt" the thunderous footsteps of what was no doubt a Rapidash approach the door. My Flight or Fight response kicked in as the prospect of roughing it out in the woods sounded mighty tempting about now.

Unluckily my slow ass couldn't beat the tenacity of the creature who slammed the front door open and roughly grabbed my shoulders. Bloodshot eyes examined me like prey as their jaws fell wide open to deeply exhale the breath all over my face.

I gagged and quickly pinched my nose. Their breath, no, their whole-body smell rancid. Like it was a combination of coffee, B.O., and energy drinks. My teary eyes looked past the heavy clouds of the creature's breath to focus on it and immediately I realized that the beast that had me in their grasp was none other than Prof. Elm, who was sporting quite the heavy five o clock shadow.

"YOU!" He roared.

"M-Me?" I gulped.

"I finally have the source to EVERYTHING right on my doorstep! Samuel's been stingy with his findings for long enough!" Elm growled.

"W-What findings?" Professor please don't tell me you secretly had beef with Elm this whole and forgot to tell me.

"Normal Type!"

"Excuse me?"

"That's the only explanation for that newly discovered Eeveelution's resistance to Dragon Types! It's various move coverage can only be explained as a Normal Type pokémon while it possesses an ability to resist Dragon Types. So Normal Type!"

All of a sudden, my fear deteriorated and only exasperation remained stuck on my face as I smacked my lips and raised an eyebrow at the rabid professor crushing my shoulders. "So, this is just about my Sylveon's typing?"

"Ohohohohoho, no." Ah, he's laughing like a maniac now. Yep, my fear has returned in full force. "I have loads to talk with you about. Togekiss and Electavire. Those two evolutions, I'm going to pick your brain for every thought process that allowed you to even reach the possible conclusions to discover those undiscovered evolved forms. I refuse to let Samuel's new Golden Egg slip through my fingers!"

Releasing me, the professor pulled a freaking Dio Brando and leaned his upper body backwards to proclaim his victory to the heavens. "There's still more! So many more possibilities available to me, and I'll discover them all starting toni-!" A hand viciously chopped the side of the professor's neck. Elm's limp body fell back into the arms of the cap wearing young man from earlier.

"Thank the Legendaries that worked." He grunted, hoisting Elm over his shoulder. He looked at me and deeply bowed his head. "Sorry for using you like bait, but he would not leave his main lab for days and topics surrounding that pokémon of yours and proving his rivals wrong has been on his mind for months." He began to turn around then paused once, noticing that I was still standing at the doorway. "What's wrong? Didn't you want to stay the night?"

Shaking my head, I kept my eyes locked onto the professor draped over his shoulder. "I'm currently reconsidering my options."

The young man laughed. "Don't worry, he'll be back to normal in the morning. Legends know I can't keep him strapped to bed longer than five hours." He waved me over. "C'mon, we'll walk and talk. As thanks for being my bait, I'll see if I can help with whatever reason you have for being here in Johto, Mr. Finalist."

Needing reassurance that Elm was actually knocked out, the brown-haired man, named Cal, smacked him a few good times across the face. Once no reaction was given, I happily followed him inside the building and spilled the purpose for my being there. He seemed pretty amenable to my decision to use my free time to train my newer pokémon and even had a suggestion that he wanted to go by with me the next day.

Until then, he provided me with full usage of one of their upstairs guest rooms and reminded me of the allotted breakfast schedule the next morning. With an actual bath and shower set, I was given the chance to bathe my smaller pokémon.

"Te-Tedd…!" I sighed and took the bar of soap from my gluttonous pokémon.

"Yogi, this is meant to clean your fur. Not for eating."

"U-Ursa…" He sniffled.

"I don't care if it smells good. This may have animal fats in it, but it's not meant for consumption." I groaned and went back to massaging my fingers through the small cub's fur. Though I didn't miss the slight snickering from the recently washed Aurion and Fafnir behind me.

"None of that you two…" I groaned and flicked Yogi's nose to stop him from throwing pawfuls of soap bubbles and water at the two of them. "Besides, you're no better Faffy? We had to rush you to the Pokémon Center that one time because you kept coughing up bubbles that entire day."

"Rio?" Riolu looked at the Dratini in askance but was met with the back of Fafnir's head. The little dragon found the opposite wall of the bathroom quite intriguing.

Since the space was far too small, I couldn't release Asch, but Leonardo was more thrilled to have the bathtub to himself for the night. As for Custard, he's in time out for refusing to take a bath, biting my finger, and running away to hide under my bed. Jokes on him, the little sucker's fin and wide body couldn't quite fit under the bed's frame without cramming himself under it so now he's stuck there until I balled him back up.

So, I happily sucked on the bitten thumb as I slept while Custard spent the whole night pitifully crooning for help. Karma was most definitely a bitch, huh?

----------------------------------------

"Please forgive me for my unprofessional behavior!" I jumped in my seat in fright as Professor Elm's forehead banged against the dining table's surface. I heeded Cal's instructions and woke up early to join him and Lab Aid Holley with setting up the table for breakfast. Miss Holley was technically the only assistant to Elm and acted as his assistant, maid, on-hand Pokémon Breeder, and chef.

Usually, she would be doing everything on her own, but I gladly volunteered to help out as my proper thanks for letting crash for the night. My task was to help feed the stabled pokémon and my own with Cal's assistance while Holley finished prepping breakfast for everyone.

Waking up the professor was the final task and Cal took that role onto himself. One loud yell later and Professor Elm was amongst the waking world while sporting a very red handprint on his cheek.

Now he was deeply bowing his head to me as an apology for going all 51-50 on me last night.

I shook my head and rubbed my neck. "It's fine, sir. You did scare the crap out of me, but I am glad that you took a well-deserved rest."

In a snap, the apologizing professor sat straight up and started talking a little fast for my own comfort. "That's good. Yes, I feel very well rested, and I think now is the perfect time to discuss more important matters." Dear god, he's pulling the Gendo pose. "You're Sylveon…would you mind calling her out so I can begin a proper examination?"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

*PAN!*

"Ow." Dully grunted Elm as Cal, who sat beside him, hit him over the head with a paper fan.

"Breakfast first, work after." The cap wearing man pointed to the plate in front of the man.

"R-Right." Elm grunted and quickly swiped for his utensils and began tearing into his food. Cal quickly coughed and slowly made a hand gesture that had Elm rolling his eyes. "Fine, I'll take my time." Elm grumbled as he ate his breakfast with the rest of us. "Superb work as always, Holley."

"Thanks, professor." The sweet Lab Aide happily cleaned the dishes from the Lab's personal kitchen. The lady was a swift worker, she had prepared her own breakfast and ate it while getting everyone else's' meal ready.

Now she seemed ready to assume her other duties. "Whenever you're ready, I'll meet you in the main lab." Elm grunted his thanks to her but kept his gaze locked onto me as he kept vigorously chewing his meal. Cal groaned at the professor's behavior while Holley only seemed amused. Giggling, she deeply bowed and parted ways with us.

Doing my best to eat while under the intense gaze of the professor, I began to stroll through all of the conversations I had pertaining to the man with folks like Professor Oak and Mr. Blaine. Professor Oak referred to the Johto Professor as an astute researcher with a one-track mind, and Mr. Blaine simply called him an Analytical Spaz. Meeting Prof. Elm for the first time, I'm afraid that I have to agree on both fronts. Cal kept apologizing for the man and explained away his passionate behavior for research and how that tends to get him into trouble.

I was just in disbelief that the guy responsible for deciphering the evolutions for Bellossom, Tangrowth, Honchkrow, Mismagius, and Weavile was this "all over the place". Although when you consider that he's a Researcher who worked hard to specialize in three separate fields of study, it becomes quite believable.

"Sorry to be the bringer of bad news kid, but Violet City's Sprout Tower is undergoing some serious investigation thats being led by Elite Walker." Cal explained after revealing my initial plans to tackle Sprout Tower challenge with my beginner pokémon.

"Investigation? And do you mean Walker from the Elite Four?" I slowly bit into my strip of bacon.

Cal nodded. "The exact one. Word on the grapevine says that the League picked up a hint from a mysterious third-party who linked a couple of Monks colluding with criminals from the Black Market to secure and stash away their captured pokémon."

"A real shame that." Elm spoke amidst chewing a mouthful of food. "Can't imagine how devastated Elder Li was to know that his own pupils were rubbing shoulders with the likes of Team Rocket. The only solace that he can get is that corruption had been rooted from his monastery before it could worsen."

I don't know why I'm even surprised that Team Rocket would still be pulling this type of shit in Johto. Just because I'm leaving home to clear my mind of them doesn't mean they aren't around bothering and exploiting folks. Still, I am glad that the League is already onto their schemes…all thanks to a mysterious third party.

I smiled to myself as I could only imagine the sheer lengths that Mewtwo probably went to just to be a bother to Team Rocket as a way to make "amends". This training at Charicific Valley will do more than just prepare Asch and I for our battle with Clair, I'll see to it that I won't forget that.

Shoulders slumping, I deeply sighed, "Well, at least getting stopped at the town's border did save me the trouble of wasting my time. Any news on when they'll be open to the public again?"

"No." Shit and that place seemed like the perfect stop to test out everyone's endurance. Plus, I really wanted to check out that swaying pillar and see if it was an actual giant Bellsprout.

What? I'm allowed to hold some childish wonder while trapped inside this youthful body. Also, it could be some variant of an Alpha pokémon that's being kept secret from the public!

I leaned back in my chair and dully looked at the ceiling. "Well, that's just peachy. Looks like I have to come up with another plan before I can actually go anywhere."

"Or…" I inclined my head to look at Cal, who held up a finger. "And just hear me out." I nodded and he continued. "You can stay here and battle with the Youngsters in town at our local Battle Club."

"Mmmmmmgh! Mmmhmm!" Professor please just stick to eating your food if not then just nod.

Still, that was quite the offer, but…

"Sorry, but I really want to focus on training my new pokémon. I'm on enough of a deadline as it is before I move on to train my experienced pokémon. Also, while I would love to help train your Youngsters, I don't think I can really juggle keeping my newer pokémon in line while dealing with…" I trailed in an attempt to describe "a bunch of rambunctious kids" without being too offensive.

"Snot-nosed, overconfident twerps?" Cal snickered.

"You said it, not me." I like helping the few that challenged mom's café, but there were just some Youngsters who loved to just drive you up the wall sometimes.

Cal chuckled alongside Prof. Elm. Until the professor started choking on his breakfast and Cal had to roughly smack his back to have him cough it out.

I almost gagged as the professor re-consumed the ejected bolus of food so nonchalantly while maintaining eye contact with me. Y-Yeah, I think I just lost my appetite.

"Never fear, I understand the want to hyperfocus on training. I'm the head coach and...okay, so I'm the only coach to all the Youngsters in the New Bark Town chapter so corralling a bunch of hyperactive runts is basically second nature to me at this point." Cal shrugged. "Just leave keeping their attitudes in check to me while you just focus on battling them."

"Okay that's a pretty nice bargain…" I trailed off.

"But…?" Cal raised an eyebrow.

"But I don't know if the Youngsters would provide a decent challenge if their style of battling is barebones basic." I scratched my cheek. Dealing with new trainers who simply ordered their pokémon to execute a move over and over again didn't sound too appealing for my training regimen.

"Hmph, I'll have you know that Cal here is one of New Bark Town's top trainers." Elm forced himself into our conversation and proudly boasted about Cal's accomplishments. "He's made it quite far in his runs through the Indigo Conference and has even ranked 25th on the Ace Trainer Leaderboards!"

Impressed, I turned to Cal, who was doing his best to look cool while sipping his cup of tea, but I noticed the blush on his face while he slowly slid down on his seat to avoid attention. "A-Actually, I've been bumped down to rank 75 after stepping away from the competitive scene…"

But Elm unaware of Cal's discomfort continued to lambast his achievements to me.

"The fresh prospective children who sign up as Youngsters and progress to become trainers have grown remarkably under Cal's tutelage! Shucks! This new batch even have a few who have earned the right to reserve spots to be sponsored by me!"

Ah, that's right. As trainers below the traditional age of 11 to begin their Journey, Youngsters are deemed as Probational Trainers with severe limitations on their ability to act. In response to the causality rates of trainers unprepared for their journeys, the Youngster law was made and passed by the League's President Pyrrha to provide more options and lower the number of avoidable deaths.

Youngsters can only travel in the Pokémon Ranger patrolled routes near their hometowns and must own a maximum of 3 pokémon. All regional professors are required to support this law and implement this law when providing trainers who wish to begin prepping for their journey ahead of time.

Prof. Elm was no exception to this while Prof. Oak…well, he certainly was.

Elm explained that he's given a couple of the prospective youngsters in town a traditional Johto starter while prepping newer starters for the trainers who've waited to journey at 11. He mentions how they earned the right to claim them after showing remarkable intelligence to pass his tests and aptitude tests. Already, Elm seemed to be putting a ton of work into trying to make this system work for him as his stables aren't as high as the Prof. Oak's and thus not all of the kids getting a traditional starter will be sponsored by him.

As for Professor Oak, he supports the Youngster law and encourages his fellow researchers to put into practice but refuses to do so. Eight year old me tried to get an answer out of him, but all he would say was that his method of only providing starters and support to trainers who worked through his courses and pokémon camps have proven their true character in his eyes to earn his sponsorship.

And though it seems messed up that the Professor can get away with it while Elm can't (not that I'm against Prof. Oak's choice to do so in the first place), I can see how hard it would be for the League to force him to follow the Law.

Professor Elm may have been a well-versed researcher who discovered loads of impactful findings, but he certainly wasn't the Founder of the Indigo League, or the last Kanto League Champion before Kanto's merger with Johto. As the main man who helped set up our government, I'm pretty sure that everyone universally agrees that he's allowed to get away shirking some of the proposed laws.

Now this would all sound horrible if the amount of leeway was given to any other person, but this was Professor Oak we're talking about. If you put a crying child in front of him, he'll automatically make himself that kid's honorary Grandfather. Trust me, I know from personal experience.

"Okay! Okay! I'm convinced!" I quickly shouted to stop the professor from jabbering on about Cal's accomplishments. The young man was now hiding under the table in sheer embarrassment from his father's antics. I allowed the professor to catch his breath before saying, "If the kids here are as skilled as you say then it might be worth it to stay for a while."

I thought it over and looked at the ceiling before coming upon a decision. "Right, if what I see today is good, then I'll stay here for two more days."

"Just two!?" For some reason, Elm was aghast. Cal poked his head up from under the table to shake his head in annoyance. Was I missing something?

I nodded. "I'm not sure if my real training will allow me the time to explore so I want to see as much as I can before the Cianwood tournament begins."

"A-Are you sure I can't convince you to stay a while longer?" Elm nervously laughed and rubbed his hands together.

"No." I crossed my arms.

"Are you sure? I mean, if you stayed longer, you could even fetch your Sylveon for me to study and-."

"Unless I need Sylvie with me at this moment, I'm not bringing her." God, why do all the professors in this world have to look like kicked puppies whenever I deny them the chance to study my pokémon. "The only one with express permission to do so is Professor Oak as is the terms of my sponsorship with him." And even then, there were still boundaries that I had to set with the professor just to avoid Sylvie throwing MORE of a fit.

"Tch! Dammit, Samuel…why do you always have to snatch up the good ones." Elm clicked his tongue in annoyance. He quickly shook it off and bowed his head. "I know it's a fools errand to compete with Samuel in terms of my support and drastically smaller Stabling space. However, I'm still interested in becoming a contact for you, Mr. Ketchum."

"Contact?" I repeated.

"Indeed, a contact." Out of nowhere, he pulled a stack of papers with a familiar amount data and paragraphs to smack onto the table. "I've read your Research Article pertaining to your Electavire." I cringed, prepared for the inevitable dressing down that he would no doubt give me.

He raised his hand and shook his head. "Don't worry, I won't bite your head off like Samuel no doubt did. I agree that the lengths you went through just to execute this method was far too dangerous, but…I couldn't help but admire the amount of thought and effort you put into getting your end result.

"286.4 thousand gigawatts of electricity. That's about as much energy that runs through Saffron City and it states here that you spent an entire week having your pokémon gather and form Cumulonimbus clouds with Rain Dance." Elm explained. "Your approach made me curious. Why did you choose this course of action to evolve your Electabuzz. Nay, was evolution even on your mind in the first place?"

"Of course it was, I got myself an Elekid and planned ahead to get myself an Electavire. When there was no signs of an Electarizer being made, I took matters into my own hands and decided to keep cramming Lightning into Thor until he kickstarted an evolution."

That is what I would say if I didn't care about ousting myself as a reincarnated dumbass.

So I gave a more believable answer, "During my journey, I noticed how places like Dark City used Electabuzz like Lightning Rods whenever a bad storm hit their homes. I noticed just how strong my Electabuzz got whenever he sucked the electricity out of portable generators and electrical sockets and thought that if possible, I could get him supercharged and increase his capacity to hold more electricity. And if a happy incident like him evolving occurred then…"

"That would be just as beneficial. A win-win situation." Elm smiled.

I "innocently" grinned and scratched the back of my head. "Plus, I found the idea of my Electabuzz slinging around a city's worth of lightning at my opponents to be sort of cool."

"Feh, what a childish goal." Cal huffed with a good natured roll of his eyes.

"Dude…" I chuckled. "I am a child."

"A fruitful child I would dare say." Elm grinned. "You're Electavire was only the tip of the Iceberg as your discovery of the Togekiss and Sylveon evolutionary lines also fascinate me since your methodology that produced your results are still fully unknown to myself and my colleagues. That's why if I can't get your support as a sponsored trainer, I'll gladly be another option should another idea strike you that requires my expertise.

"But first, I must know." The professor's mood does a quick whiplash as he leaned over to seriously gaze into my eyes. "What's your stance pertaining the release of your discovery's data to the world?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Released in what way?"

"Released as in the method of evolution and all the data that you gathered for others to reap the reward of your efforts." Huh, judging by how said that, I got the impression that he was deliberately making the question sound unappealing.

With nothing to really gain or lose, I spoke the truth with a smile, "Oh, I don't really mind if information on the evolutions I discover gets released out to the science community and the general public. Well, I wouldn't mind if it gets released a little later after I discovered them. It depends. As a trainer, having an advantage is pretty crucial toward getting ahead of your rivals, but the prospect of battling other trainers with similar evolutions to my own sounds just as appealing. Comparing and contrasting the same pokémon's evolutionary form would also better my understanding of my pokémon and what else I have left to learn.

"So, in all, I guess I'm down to share my work after I'm satisfied with all the good that it will bring me."

Elm just kept staring at me. His gaze judging and fierce before he quickly exhaled and sat back in his seat with a relieved smile. "A fine answer. My intentions remain unchanged, Mr. Ketchum. Would you be willing to at least consider me as an extra contact should an idea about a possible evolution pops into your head?"

"I…" The professor did mention that I should make more connections, and Prof. Elm's credentials do seem useful. But I should get a grasp over just how much he's willing to put into this proposal. "Okay, so lets say that I have an idea regarding a possible new evolution line for one of the Johto starters would you-?"

"Name the pokémon, and I'll provide them in the proper stage that you feel would contribute toward getting the result you desire." Damn, no hesitation whatsoever.

"Luke…" Cal groaned and tiredly pointed at the dead serious professor beside him. "I would just take him for his word. He's been too wound up ever since he got into a heated debate with his colleagues at their last convention in Celadon to joke around about this."

A part of me that knew the truth felt some schadenfreude that these guys were fighting each other just to prove that Sylvie's typing had to either be Normal type or Psychic type.

"Well, it doesn't really go against my sponsorship deal with Professor Oak, but you do realize that nine times out of ten, I would have to go to him first with most of my ideas." Along with Mr. Blaine if I needed more outside help.

Elm solemnly nodded. "I'm aware and am willing to play second fiddle if I can at least be around to observe your findings." Huh, that's some real dedication right there.

"Then sure, I'll gladly consider you when a new idea about an evolution pops up." My grin widened as the full grown man knocked over his chair to run around the kitchen to do a victory lap. Cal groaned at his father's behavior.

Coughing, I regained his attention. "In fact, if you're willing to still hear me out on that extra evolutionary line about the Starter, I'll even tell you about some research that I brought up with Mr. Blaine."

"Cinnabar Island's Gym Leader?"

"You even have Blaine as a contact!?"

Despite their astonishment, I continued with a grin. "Yup, we're working on seeing whether the weight of Exeggcute can be affected by the UV rays of tropical islands."

"Their weight…hold on." Elm rubbed his chin then slowly his eyes widened. "Of course there would be any grass types on Cinnabar Island, they're more indigenous to fire types. Hold on, could their weight be a Dependent variable towards initiating a different evolution?"

I just smiled and nodded. "Just be sure to mention me when you talk to Mr. Blaine, so he'll tell you how far along the experiment is proceeding."

And like that is was pretty Hook, Line, and Sinker.

I was already discussing my ideas to Elm while Cal sent a group message to all of the available youngsters in town to meet up with us at the local Battle Clubhouse. He even shot a photo of me and sent it. Of course I gave him my consent but instead of answering my query on why he saw the need to do it, he just gave me a wink and left the kitchen to allow me the chance to talk shop with his dad.

Prof. Elm was a chatterbox but one who knew when to stay on task when the topic pertained to his interests. We went from discussing my three possible ideas on how to influence a Cyndaquil with the Ghost type energy to me trying to talk him down from snatching Custard, an unknown and new pokémon, to study and observe in his lab.

The past hour before I followed Cal into town was hectic but incredibly engaging. If the youngsters really proved to be a suitable challenge to my beginner pokémon, then I can say that being in New Bark Town would be a pleasant affair.

Perhaps even the perfect place to clear my mind about home.

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(Elsewhere in New Bark Town)

"Silver? Silver!? You come back this instant, young man! Where are you rushing to all of a sudden!? You forgot your pokégear!?"