Chapter 5: Moving Day

The rest of the day went by quickly as I spent it in my mother's office room with her coaxing me to look into what I wanted to do when I grew up. According to my mother, she works as a 'Trainer Manager'.

Trainer Managers supposedly do all of the menial tasks that allow Pokemon Trainers to focus solely on training and battling, such as booking gym battle appointments and housing arrangements; she even met Father through her job when he was an up-and-coming Trainer. Due to the nature of her work, her office library was filled to the brim with books about Pokemon.

I picked out one of the books that seemed to fit exactly what I was looking for.. It was honestly quite fascinating to read the detailed accounts of various occupations in this world related to Pokemon as I flipped through its pages.

The three that most fascinated me were Pokemon Rangers, Pokemon Professors, and obviously Pokemon Trainers. From my understanding, it seems that Rangers act as Natural Disaster relief officers, opting to work together with the wild Pokemon around them instead of focusing on solely training their own.

Professors were quite simple to explain: they researched various mysteries surrounding Pokemon. The merit they received was directly correlated to the research results they produced. This particular occupation truthfully interested me more than the straightforward battle-focused nature of Pokemon Trainers.

However, I also can't deny the rush of excitement I feel whenever I witness the battles between my father's Pokemon. I'm positive that there are only benefits when it comes to learning how to train and battle with Pokemon.

'I can't seem to want to simply choose one of these paths. Though, who's to say that I can't aim to excel in all three occupations? It's no doubt that such a task would be incredibly difficult, but I am not one to shrink in the face of adversity. Hmm, then that settles it! I will become all three!'

Satisfied with my decision, I decided to put away the book I was reading and headed over to where my parents were so that I could tell them about my decision.

As I approached the end of the hallway leading to the living room, I heard them quietly talking to one another. I had no desire to snoop on their conversation initially, but my curiosity got the better of me as I truly wanted to learn more about my parents' lives.

"Are you 100% certain that he has all 18 Affinities? Could you have possibly made a mistake while evaluating him?" My mother spoke in a hushed voice, clearly awestruck at the news of my recent Affinity evaluation.

"Gigi, I'm certain. You and I both witnessed how oddly mature Michael has been as he's grown. His monstrous talent could be the reason for that as well. I mean, he was able to recreate every single technique that I took decades to perfect in the three years that he's been training with me, and he's still only 5 years old!" My father replied firmly, taking a breath that exited his mouth as a sigh.

"Look, my love. I understand your concerns, but you said it yourself earlier: Michael is still just a growing boy, no matter how mature he may seem. He needs to be in an environment where he can thrive and become the best version of himself, and he isn't going to do so secluded in a forest his whole life." I wasn't able to see my parents, but I could tell from his tone that my father was seriously trying to do what he thought was best.

"I know, I know, it's just… I don't want my baby to ever have to deal with the consequences of our actions. No matter how scared we are, he still deserves a normal life, Bruno. But... sending him to school will make him vulnerable, especially when 'those' people learn who his parents are. I can't just feel okay with that looming over my conscience, I just can't." My mother sounded as if she was on the verge of tears.

"I understand how you feel, Gigi… Listen, I called in a favor from Oak. We won't have to worry about Michael being in any danger, at least until he's out of school and ready to go off on his own." I peeked around the corner at this point, watching as my father put his hand over my mother's in an effort to comfort her as he continued speaking.

"The professor put in a recommendation for Michael to get into Pallet Town's Trainer School, so he's guaranteed to get in without any issues. I also requested that his background be kept private, so there won't be any dangerous eyes on him for the time being as long as we do our parts." He pulled my mother into a hug which she reciprocated immediately.

"Everything is going to be alright, my love. I won't let a single thing happen to you or Michael as long as I'm breathing." The hug they shared tightened.

Not wanting to invade the privacy of my parents any longer, I went upstairs to my room and decided to go to sleep for the night.

*The next morning*

"Michael! Get ready, my little Machop! We're moving to our new home today!" I woke up to the sounds of my mother shouting from downstairs.

After putting on a pair of gray shorts and a white t-shirt with a pokeball on it, I headed downstairs. I was greeted by the sight of my parents each with medium-sized travel bags in their hands and smiles on their faces.

My father uncharacteristically wore an orange button down shirt and a blue pair of shorts. His typically naked feet were instead wearing a pair of sandals. My mother was wearing a yellow sundress and a sun hat with a flower on its crown.

"Let's go, son. The plane is gonna be here soon, so we gotta be ready. Here, this backpack is yours. As soon as we get settled into our new home we have to stop by the Trainer School to register you for classes, and that backpack has everything you'll need to take the entrance exam." My father loudly spoke with enthusiasm in his voice, completely opposite to the somber disposition that I saw last night.

"Mm. Where are we going, Father?" I asked. I had thoroughly memorized the general map of the Kanto region that was in my mother's office in these five years, and I was curious about the location of our new home.

"We're moving to Pallet Town: A beautiful town with a beach nearby and a nice breeze always blowing by!" My mother answered this time with a cheery attitude.

"Won't we need our furniture?"

"Nonsense, son! We can simply get new furniture for our new home. Now c'mon, grab your bag and come outside with us."

*Neeeeuuuuuuu*

The sounds of something foreign to me could be heard outside.

"Ahh! That must be our ride. Let's go, everyone, our new home awaits!" My father brimmed with energy as he directed us towards the 'plane'.

'Truly an incredible technology, allowing people to fly without the need of Pokemon or Internal Energy. I will need to do a lot of learning if I wish to truly get used to this world.'

My family and I boarded the plane without any further delay. And so, my first plane-ride began as we took off towards our destination: Pallet Town.

*A few hours later* *General POV*

"Thanks for the ride, Jim! Tell your wife we say hello, alright?" Bruno waved goodbye to the pilot of the private plane, a friend he knew from his younger years.

The trio of Heartfields gazed on their new home, a lot more humble compared to their previous home with it being only one story now. There was still plenty of space, however, as the house could comfortably fit the family of three without any issue, not to mention the unusual connection to what looked like an exact replica of the dojo that accompanied their old home as well.

"Alright! I'm gonna head off somewhere to speak with an old friend, so your mom is gonna be taking you to the Trainer School entrance exams. Make sure you show those professors just how much of a genius you are, son!" Finishing his words, Bruno separated from his family after giving them a hug and went on his way.

Michael and Gigi made their way towards the busier side of town, eventually making it to the front entrance of their destination. Before them both stood a wide building with multiple facilities surrounding it, fulfilling different educational purposes.

One particular area caught Michael's attention as the sounds of various Pokemon could be heard. He turned his head towards the noise to see a couple of kids older than himself directing Pokemon to perform various moves while aiming at target dummies.

What surprised Michael was the fact that some of the Pokemon seemed to reject the orders of the kids directing them, some outright ignoring them. However, one particular kid seemed to be completely in-sync with her Pokemon as it followed her every order.

The young girl's hair was straight and black, reaching her shoulders. She wore a baggy red sweater and black leggings. The most interesting thing about this girl in Michael's eyes, however, was the faint pink energy that seemed to trail off of her body and connect itself to the Pokemon she was directing.

As Michael watched her performance with interest, he was slightly caught off guard as the young girl turned her head to meet his gaze in a way that made it seem that she could feel his eyes on her from the start.

Not intimidated by this unexpected outcome, Michael simply smiled and waved his hand at the girl who responded by waving back without any expression on her face.

"Oooh, is my little Michael already interested in getting closer with girls? My goodness, and I thought it'd be hard for you to get used to this environment at first. It's a relief that I was wrong, huh? C'mon, my little Machop! You still have to take that entrance exam before you can go about making the ladies fall for you, huhuhu!" Gigi giggled into her hand and Michael had a defeated expression on his face as they made their way to the main building.