Chapter 04

"Gible, use Dig!" Cynthia shouted as her Gible started to disappear underground and suddenly appeared behind the Garchomp whose head suddenly turned into metal and headbutted the poor Gible to infinity and beyond

"That one was rough." Mikael said slightly worries as Carolina's Garchomp was not going easy on his fledgling

It's been a few days since Cynthia got her partner at the cave and they already strived to become stronger by fighting the experienced Garchomp of Carolina.

And as much as this Garchomp was friendly with Cynthia, he was going hard on her Gible, without Carolina around to order him otherwise.

"I know you want this little Gible to be able to protect Cynthia, but at least don't send her so far away each time you counter one of her assaults." Mikael said as he neared Garchomp and understood why he acted like that

The Garchomp looked at Mikael and was sorry before looking at Cynthia who was tending the wounds of her Gible after finding her exhausted on the ground.

The chance that Cynthia had was the possibility for her Gible to learn a few moves that Garchomp learned over the years, and also moves that may have not been possible for her to understand by herself.

The moves that Gible knew, for now, were Sand Tomb, Tackle, Sand Attack, Dig, Dragon Rage, and finally, Headbutt after getting countered countless times by Garchomp, even though it used Iron Head.

Mikael then approached Cynthia and laid his hand on her shoulder before saying "We should stop here for today. Tomorrow, we will run a few kilometers early in the morning along with her to increase our stamina."

"Alright, it's soon time for dinner anyway." Cynthia replied as she carried her Gible between her arms who stayed calm since she was getting used to this routine

Since the day she got her, Mikael suggested that instead of simply training her Pokemon she had to train herself as well.

There was no need for her to do something harsh, simply running a few miles to stay in shape was enough, and doing so along with your Pokemon would increase their bond, and also prepare her for the life of a trainer who travels the world on foot.

Mikael was also doing the same with his future Pokemon as he still carried the egg on his back since it was futile to leave it somewhere, always appearing at Mikal's side whenever he did.

Going back inside the house and leaving Garchomp behind as he was back into taking a nap, they scented delicious food coming from the kitchen and quickly discovered Lusamine cooking, who had a cooking apron over her clothes and was watched over by Carolina.

Carolina shifted her gaze on the two children who finished their training for today and with a worried gaze she announced "Dinner is... Ready." as she took a few glances at the food that Lusamine made

"You cooked for us today Lusamine?" Mikael asked as it was the first time he saw her cook, and her first time cooking as well actually

Lusamine then looked towards Mikael and cheerfully replied "Yes! Since I can't train with you and I still want to help, I decided to start cooking for the four of us and Gible as well!"

"It's smelling good, I'm sure you did something great." Mikael said as it was indeed not a bad aroma that was invading his nostrils

But that didn't last long because the moment they saw how the food looked like, they wondered if it could be called so and even more if it was edible.

'What is this? Why is my vision obstructed and forbid me from clearly seeing the food?' Mikael wondered as he was facing an amalgam of censored food with weird colors and movements

Lusamine then took a ladle and shoved it in the food before bringing it in front of Mikael's mouth as she said "Say aaah~" wishing for him to test the food before anyone else

Mikael saw Carolina praying for him at the corner of his eyes but knew he had to do the inevitable.

Not willing to make her sad, or maybe angry, he opened and brought his mouth forwards and gulped the 'food' at once.

And not even a second after, his face became greener than his hair and eyes as if the food was far worse than the most poisonous Pokemon toxin while he fell on the ground and held his stomach which was aching like hell.

"Mikael!" "Are you alright?!" Cynthia and Carolina exclaimed at the same time while rushing at his side while Lusamine was frightened about what she had just done to Mikael

But as they moved towards him, the golden egg that he was carrying on his back floated above him and started shining remarkably, halting the movements of everyone inside the room.

The light that was coming from the egg then enveloped Mikael and in a matter of seconds, his pained complexion eased.

Opening his eyes, he was also blinded by the light but suddenly felt something fluffy nuzzling itself at his neck.

"Who..?" Mikael mumbled as he brought his hands where he felt something and touched something small and indeed very fluffy

The light slowly softened and Mikael was now facing two elegant blue-green eyes on a golden furred quadrupedal creature with a bushy tail, two long ears, and a large furry collar still golden but slightly paler.

"An... Eevee? Weird, I never saw one with such a color, and it's not a shiny variant..." Mikael muttered as the little creature rubbed its head happily on Mikael's neck from the moment it was free from the egg

[Golden Eevee]

Carolina, Cynthia, and Lusamine were all in awe at the golden fur this little cutie has, and Carolina didn't forget its ability to heal Mikael with the warm light it generated before.

"I never heard about a golden Eevee either... Nor one who has a healing move at birth." Carolina said as she kept on looking at it, mesmerized by the color

"Vee!" the golden Pokemon cheerfully exclaimed as it didn't stop nuzzling itself on Mikael's neck

"She... She said that she's delighted to finally be with me again and that she kept her promise." Mikael explained as he translated what the Eevee just said in a single cry but was puzzled by her words

'Again? It couldn't be...' Carolina thought as she remembered finding the wounded Mikael alone and with memory loss back at the forest

Mikael then slowly got up while being helped by Cynthia as he carried who would be his new companion.

"She's so cute!" Lusamine cheerfully said before trying to rub the golden Eevee's fur only for the Pokemon to scare the young girl as her eyes shone

"Wha-" Lusamine exclaimed as the Eevee simply used Scary Face on her as a warning which made Lusamine fall on her butt while tears started to show on her face

"Please don't be mean with her, she didn't want to harm me." Mikael said as he rubbed the Eevee's head before going to help Lusamine by stretching out a hand at her

"Sorry Lusamine, she just tried to protect me since, hum... The food you gave me was truly bad." Mikael said while being completely honest about it, albeit a little worried about how she would handle it

This may have been a bit too tactless from Mikael but lying would only make things worst the more they wait.

Lusamine surprisingly didn't start to cry as a kid should have but instead declared "Then I will get better!" which surprised Carolina and Cynthia as she usually did a tantrum but not if it involved Mikael apparently

Mikael was glad that she didn't take it too harshly and instead wished to do better.

"Vee!" the golden Eevee exclaimed which made Mikael replied "You're hungry too?" before looking at Carolina to ask "Do we have something else to eat?"

"Of course, I have some leftovers if none of you mind." Carolina said before moving towards the fridge

'At least we won't starve today' Mikael thought with a smile before looking at his Eevee and exclaimed "That's right, I should give you a name, right?"

The Eevee's beautiful blue eyes shone as it exclaimed "Vee! Vee!" even stronger than before, agreeing to Mikael's suggestion

"Mmmh...Since you have such golden fur, your name should be accorded to it... Goldie is too easy and weird of a name... Maybe Auree, Aurelia, no that one sounds wrong... Ouroe? Oree? Ori?" Mikael suggested and when he said the last one, the pokemon between his arm interrupted him which could only mean one thing

"You like Ori huh? Then it shall be your name, welcome to the family, Ori." Mikael happily said as he scratched one of the little Ori's cheeks while Lusamine was looking at them with envy since she was now the only one without a Pokemon

And all of this was also supervised by a few presences that watched over Mikael, though he still didn't know about them.

Something else they didn't realize was that the golden color of this Eevee was far from being the most surprising aspect she had.

But before learning more about her, she was barely born and now was not the time to have her first battle along with Mikael.

====================

"Is it true that everything noted here was discovered and written by a kid, Carolina?" a middle-aged man whose facial hair was already brown with tints of white asked as he put down the stack of papers he had in his hands

"Why would I lie about that? You know full well of the consequences if I did, and the reward for me would be so great that I wouldn't have risked giving a breakthrough discovery to someone else." Carolina replied as she gave a cup of coffee to the man before her while keeping another one for herself

"Thank you." the man politely said before blowing on the coffee as he added "The discovery of a new type is a serious matter, Carolina... The last time it happened was nearly a century ago by a couple of researchers who are long gone now, and they had a hard time making the research community believe them."

"I know Rowan, however, the kid has found irrefutable proof that can be simulated again to calm the skeptics." Carolina proudly exclaimed before sipping some of her coffee

"You're right, still, we cannot make him a professor, not until he's at least ten years old and accepted as a researcher... The only time it happened before, the man had to wait two years before being officially called a Professor." Rowan said as he surprisingly showed a slight smile before drinking his coffee as well

"Professor Oak... The only one who did a discovery as a child before Mikael, although he was also the only one who lived his dream of being a trainer before settling down as a Professor." Carolina explained as she talked about the most respected Professor alive, even by the old folks

And right as Rowan was going to say something, a loud noise came from outside and the door was abruptly opened by two young girls followed by a helpless boy, who seemed to be dragged around more than anything else as both sisters were holding each of his hands.

And as the youngsters entered the living room, they saw the unusual man with a thick mustache sitting in front of their grandmother.

"So you are the boy who wrote all of this, Mikael is it?" the man said as he got up from his seat and approached the three children only to make Cynthia and Lusamine wary of him, not because he was dangerous but because they had a gut feeling that he would separate them from Mikael

"Yes, I did, mister..?" Mikael mumbled before Rowan completed "Professor Rowan, Sinnoh's appointed Professor." with proudness in his tone which was entirely understandable

The reason for that was because region-appointed Professors have the most authority inside of the Researchers Council, giving them the upper hand over any decision.

Mikael's eyes shone with respect as Lusamine and Cynthia were even more worried upon hearing his introduction.

Professor Rowan, recognizing how deep the respect Mikael had for him while simply introducing himself, and seeing the unusual fluffy Pokemon on top of the boy's head, couldn't hide his interest anymore as he declared "Would you like to become my student?"

Carolina's eyes were wide open when she heard her friend and co-worker's words as becoming the student of a Professor with the same rank as Rowan was extremely meaningful, and she still had a lot to talk with him about Mikael.

She expected to tell him more about his abilities so he would be more eager to accept him as a student, but she didn't expect Professor Rowan to suggest it so soon.

After all, there was indeed another way for one to become a Pokemon Researcher.

One could go to the Academy where only a couple of students are graduating each year, that was the most common way of achieving such a job, but there was also the possibility of becoming a Pokemon Researcher if you become the student of a Regional Professor if he finds you worthy enough.

There were a few downsides, however, as you had to be ten years old first unlike the Academy where you could graduate earlier but the cases were extremely rare, and although a Regional Professor could take multiple students, in case the so-called students are found doing something illegal, or the Professor gives the diploma whenever he feels like it, their position as a Professor can be revoked by the council, even though they have a higher authority.

And there is nothing worse than losing your rank as a Professor, as you would be forbidden to conduct any kind of researches or experiment as a punishment.

When Mikael hears his words, his mind was blank for a short amount of time before he exclaimed "Yes, Yes! I would gladly accept your offer, Professor Rowan!" like an overactive kid who received his long-awaited gift while Ori was letting out some happy noises for her trainer

But as he replied, he felt the two girls' grip on his hand tighten and quickly composed himself before asking "Hum... When would we be going?" as he knew that the moment he becomes his student, he would have to follow the Professor around until he's of age

Rowan started to stroke his mustache as he was thinking for a few seconds before replying "I still have business around Celestic Town so I plan to leave in one week, I will come and pick you up early in the morning then, is that alright?"

Mikael nodded and Rowan, who saw the change in the children's mood, said "I won't hinder you any further for the day, I have booked a hotel room for my stay and they are waiting for me." before looking towards Carolina to add "We will see each other at the Historical Research Center, Professor Carolina, we seem to have a lot more to talk about."

"That we do, Professor Rowan, see you tomorrow." Carolina politely replied as the man took his suitcase and put his coat back before leaving the now dead silent house

Everyone in the house knew that they only have one week before Mikael's departure and that they wouldn't be able to see each other in the next four years to come.

After all, Mikael needed four years to become a teen, and a researcher, to be allowed to travel back at Celestic Town alone.