Plagiarism/Imitation Is The Greatest Form Of Flattery

With Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont having taken off running towards Professor Sycamore's Pokémon Research Lab, Luca, Luci, and I jogged after them to catch up.

With Ash running ahead, I saw no need to really exert myself; thus, I used this time to continue looking around, enjoying the different sights.

Luci spoke up as we were enjoying our little run, trying to grab my attention.

"Carrr~!" She cried out, pointing her right paw to the other side of the street.

We saw Clemont huffing and puffing there, seemingly struggling with all the exertion.

Well, not that I blamed him. In all their rush, Ash and Bonnie had left Clemont to carry their bags. Couple that with his already heavy bag, which, to my knowledge, most likely contained a surplus of his inventions and tech; it was no wonder he was out of breath.

After seeing that the aforementioned street was clear of any traffic, we made our way to the other side, catching up with him in no time.

"Got left behind, huh?" I asked rhetorically.

"Haaa, haaa, I'm, haaa, not used to, haaa, to running so much, urghh, haaa, haaa," he replied, barely able to get more than a few words out without gulping for air.

Seeing his condition, I decided to stop running before grabbing hold of his backpack and halting him in place. He turned to look at me in confusion before realising I was telling him to take a break.

"How far to the Professor's Lab?" I asked.

"Haaa, haaa, not far, just up the rest of this hill, then maybe another, haaa, haaa, 200 or so meters further, haaa, haaa."

"Alright." With that, I started pulling off each of the bags he was holding. I handed Ash's bag to Luca and Bonnie's bag to Luci before finally pulling off his backpack and slinging it onto my shoulders.

Feeling the weight of the large bag, I turned to look at Clemont with a bewildered expression clearly present on my face.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" He asked in confusion and slight nervousness.

"I understand, you being the Lumiose City Gym Leader and all, that you like everything to do with science, technology, and Electric Pokémon, but have some mercy on yourself, man. Do you really need to be lugging around each and every one of your inventions in this backpack of yours? You're gonna injure yourself with all this extra weight you're carrying!"

"Hey! My inventions are my pride and joy! Of course, I'm going to bring them wi-...." Clemont began, only to suddenly pause, staring wide-eyed at me in horror as if I'd just murdered an Eevee before his eyes.

"H-how…" He stuttered.

"Hmm?" It was my turn to be confused until I finally realised what I'd just said, causing my back to break out into a cold sweat.

"How did you know that I was the Lumiose City Gym Leader…?" He asked with apparent unease.

Hearing his question, my mind raced for an excuse before letting out a deep sigh.

"Haaaa… I don't know why you're keeping it a secret, but unlike our happy-go-lucky Pokémon-Master-Aspiring friend, who, from the looks of it, apparently hasn't done any research on the Kalos region, I made sure to learn all that I could before I came here."

Hearing my words, the confusion slowly left Clemont's expression; however, I continued.

"One of my topics of 'research' was, of course, the different Pokémon Gyms and their current Gym Leaders. You obviously came up. So imagine my surprise when we met today. Not only that, but it seemed as though both you and Bonnie were keeping 'hush hush' about who Lumiose's Gym Leader was whenever it was brought up."

"Haaa…. well, you got me there. So? I'm guessing you're wondering why a Gym Leader is keeping his identity a secret from his new friends?" Clemont asked.

"Hmmm, no, not particularly," I replied rather nonchalantly.

"Well, you see- wait, what?" Clemont began before catching himself.

"Hey, it's not my place to be asking you about your reasons, Mr Gym Leader. Whatever the case may be, you earned the right to be Lumiose City's Gym Leader. What you choose to do with your time is none of my business. I'm nothing but a random Trainer visiting a new region; I've got no qualifications to be judging you."

Clemont looked at me with wide eyes, he also seemed to be contemplating my words, but I continued anyway, saying,

"Plus, we're friends now, right? I'm sure that when you're ready, you'll tell all of us your reasons on your own accord. So, as your friend, it's my duty to just support you, through whatever it is you wanna do."

Finished with what I had to say, I smiled. But, of course, some of what I'd just said was a lie. I knew the reason why he was out here instead of performing his duties as a Gym Leader.

I didn't like the feeling of lying to Clemont; I honestly did want to befriend not only him but Ash, Bonnie, and of course, any future cast we'd meet. But I can't exactly go around revealing my knowledge of future events.

I mean, hey, just me interacting with them is probably screwing up a whole lotta stuff, what with all the butterfly effect shenanigans. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Dialga had his eye on me from all the changes my existence might be causing. Things might've already changed drastically from how I know the events would usually play out. So, I think I get a pass in that regard.

After a while, Clemont returned my smile, sticking out his hand.

"In that case, let's make it official. Hi, my name is Clemont; I'm the Lumiose City Gym Leader. I hope that we can have a long-lasting friendship!"

Seeing his actions, a pang of guilt struck me as I, sure as hell, had many secrets of my own, secrets that my family had made me swear to keep.

Being unable to reciprocate his gesture in good faith entirely made me feel like an asshole, but, in the end, I remembered my training, buried my emotions, and reached out to grab his outstretched hand.

But when our hands made contact, and I looked into his sparkling eyes full of childish innocence, I changed my mind and decided to be upfront about some things without actually breaking my oaths.

"Hi, Clemont. My name is Kai, and like you, I have a couple of secrets of my own. I may not ever be able to reveal them, but if you're willing to be my friend in spite of that, I hope we can become good, long-lasting friends as well."

Though he definitely had no idea what my secrets entailed, a look of understanding and acceptance shone through his eyes. His grip firmed up as if mirroring his resolve, stating,

"Through thick and thin, let's continue to support each other."

"Through thick and thin," I replied with a small smile.

…

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With the extra weight relieved from his burden, Clemont and I were able to close the remaining distance to Professor Sycamore's Pokémon Research Lab in around 5 minutes.

When we entered, the front hall was relatively empty. However, we didn't have to wait long as a few heavy sounding footsteps began to approach us from the corridor on our right.

Luci and Luca were about to step in front of both Clemont and me to protect us from whatever was coming toward us; however, I stuck my hand out to stop them, signalling that everything was okay.

Soon enough, a large Garchomp appeared from the shadows of the corridor. It turned to look at us, choosing to stare for a couple of seconds, before approaching, stopping just in front of us.

"Hey there, Garchomp. Did a boy around his height and a little girl come through here by any chance? They're our friends."

"Garrrr~" Garchomp nodded its head before looking towards the corridor it had just exited.

"So they're back there, huh. I'm guessing they're back there to get Froakie treated."

"Gaaar~"

With Garchomp nodding his head, I smiled before reaching out my right hand. Garchomp was around 190 cm tall (6'3). With me being around 179 - 180 cm tall (5'11), I had to reach up a bit.

"May I?" I asked, which Garchomp nodded once more.

I then began to scratch just under the appendage on the left side of its head. Feeling my touch, Garchomp's eyes shut as its mouth formed into a shape reminiscent of a smile. Then it began to tilt its head towards my hand, much like a cat would do when being pet.

"You're really good with Garchomp for having just met!" Clemont said.

"Ah, you see, I've got a Garchomp of my own," I said as I reached into my bag with my left hand, pulling out a Pokéball.

The ball burst open, releasing its familiar multicoloured energy, forming into a Garchomp of roughly the same height and size as the one standing before me.

"Gaaarrrr~!" My Garchomp exclaimed before looking over to me and the Garchomp before me.

"Hey, Kaida. I wanted to introduce you to Garchomp here." I called out to my Garchomp, whom I'd named Kaida.

Kaida meant 'little dragon' in Japanese, and knowing some of the genuinely massive [Dragon] type Pokémon out there, compared to the relatively small Garchomp, I thought it fit at the time.

Garchomp and Kaida looked at each other, with Garchomp pulling away from my hand, seemingly having some sort of telepathic conversation with each other shared between their similar species. I could tell because they would both look at me from time to time before looking back at each other.

After a bit, they both turned to look at me, with Garchomp nuzzling its head against mine.

"Hahaha, hey! What'd you tell it, Kaida! Hahaha, stop, that tickles!" I said as it licked my face.

"Gaaaar~!" Garchomp said.

"Hahaha, yeah, yeah, we're friends now," I said in response to its nuzzles.

"Well, well, well, Garchomp seems to really like you!" Said a voice from the corridor.

Turning to see who'd called out, I saw a lady wearing a white lab approach us with a smile.

"Hi there, my name is Kai; this here is Clemont, and these are my Pokémon, Kaida, Luca and Luci."

"Hello," Clemont said, followed by Kaida, Luca and Luci.

"Gaaar~!"

"Carrrr~!"

"Welcome to the Pokémon Research Center! My name is Sophie." She said as she smiled before continuing.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Ah, you see, we're with Ash and Bonnie, the two who'd brought in Froakie," Clemont said.

"Oh, I see! Come along; I'll bring you to them."

"You go ahead, Clemont; I'm gonna hang around here with Garchomp and Kaida for a bit."

"You sure?" Clemont replied.

"Mhm, I'll catch up."

"Okay."

Clemont then followed Sophie back into the right corridor.

In the meantime, I decided to sit down and get to know Garchomp.

Luca and Luci sat down next to me, while Kaida and Garchomp sat in front of me. Thinking that this might be a good time for a meal, I reached into my bag, pulling out a black container.

The rest watched what I was doing with curiosity.

Opening up the container, a sweet fragrance suddenly permeated the surroundings.

"Gaaaar~!"

"Caaaar~!"

"Mhm, it really is a pleasant smell. So here, let's share!"

Placing the container down in front of me revealed to the others that it was chocked full of PokéPuffs.

Luca and Luci reached out to grab two each, both of them handing one each to Kaida and Garchomp.

I reached down and grabbed a chocolate flavoured one.

We all decided to dig in with everyone with a PokéPuff in hand.

"Mmmm, man, this is good stuff!" I exclaimed, getting nods of agreement from the rest.

While we were enjoying our Puffs, the doors to the Research Lab opened up. Looking over, I deadpanned hard as I witnessed the worst disguises I'd ever seen on a group of people.

Noticing my expression, the rest of my group also looked over. I then exchanged glances with Luca and Luci; I could tell they'd both recognised them as well.

"Haaaaa…. Here we go again." I said as I stood up and walked over to them. The rest also rose and followed me over.

Noticing our approach, the group stopped in their tracks before the lady of the group stepped forward.

"Hello there! We're a group of Pokémon researchers here to aid in the study of Mega Evolution~!"

"Yes, Yes, so if you would be so kind as to go and call over our fellow researchers, that would be splendid~!" The man of the group stepped forward and said after.

"Dat's right~! We're on da clock here, so tick tock~! Run along~!" The middlemost 'person' said.

Hearing what they had to say, my deadpanned expression miraculously grew even more deadpan. However, I then turned to look at Luca and Luci, who were on my left and right, respectively, and a glint shone across my eyes as I had a funny idea pass through my mind.

Noticing my look, the two could almost immediately tell what I had in mind because of our bond. They then nodded, smiling in response themselves.

Seeing my expression and lack of response, the ragtag group of 'researchers' began to become slightly nervous.

"D-didn't you hea-" The lady began before I cut her off.

"Prepare for trouble~!" I suddenly exclaimed, which caught the group off guard.

"Carrrr~ (And make it double~!)" Luca hopped up next to me and struck a pose.

"To protect the world from devastation~!" I continued.

"Carrrr~ (To unite all peoples within our nation~!)" Luci then mimicked Luca, striking a pose.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love~!"

"Carrrr~ (To extend our reach to the stars above~!)" They said simultaneously.

"Kai~!"

"Caaaar~! (Luca~!) (Luci~!)"

"Team 'Twerps' blasts off at the speed of light~!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight~!"

"Caaar~! (Meowth, that's right~!)"

"Caaar~! (Wobbuffet~!)"

Complete silence. That is all that followed.

…

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