Chapter 7: Meeting the Professor

The remainder of lunch time went by quickly for Michael and Gigi as they enjoyed their meals while discussing various things.

"Let's head back to Kenji's office. I'm sure he's already finished grading your entrance exams by now." The duo left the cafeteria after putting away their dishes in the designated area.

The walk back to the admissions building was much quicker this time as Gigi and Michael had somewhat familiarized themselves with the layout of the academy. Michael continued to observe the various Pokemon he saw on the way, entertained by the simple interactions he saw them share with their trainers.

Michael and Gigi eventually arrived at their destination and entered Kenji's office after speaking shortly with Lily at the front desk. As they entered the room, they were surprised to see that Kenji was already conversing with two other people.

"Ah, there's the young man in question! Welcome back, you two!" Kenji turned his attention to the mother and son that just entered.

"Bruno? I thought you had business over at Professor Oak's lab, Dear." Gigi asked in surprise.

"Hehe, I did, but then Kenji over here called the professor to talk about a 'certain' prospective student's incredible talent! Of course, I already knew it could only be our Michael that could get such a reaction from him! Since the professor and I had the same destination anyways, I thought I'd catch up with Kenji while we waited for you two to get back." Bruno spoke with pride and happiness.

"Ah! Michael, come introduce yourself to Professor Oak! He's the best in his field when it comes to researching Pokemon." Bruno beckoned Michael over.

The man he spoke about appeared to be in his 60's and carried a calming, friendly aura. He stood silently with a smile on his face as he watched Bruno excitedly call his son over to introduce himself.

In Michael's eyes, the old man in front of him had a thin layer of pink energy that never faltered all around him, signifying his experience and mastery in Typing Energy. For a moment, Michael was speechless as he could tell that the Energy he was seeing was intended to be invisible, or at least it seemed that way.

"It's nice to meet you, Michael! My name is Samuel Oak, and as your father already said before, I am a Pokemon Professor and the founder of this academy. Your father has told me about how you wish to pursue three different Pokemon professions at the same time, and I must say, your future is looking incredibly bright if these exam results are anything to go off of!" Professor Oak spoke in his usual joyful tone with a smile on his face.

"Mmm. It's nice to meet you, Professor." Michael replied with a short response as usual.

Professor Oak simply responded with a nod at Michael's greeting, turning his attention to Kenji. If one paid close enough attention they would see that the professor's smile grew a little wider, as if he had heard satisfying news.

"Before we continue showering the boy with praises, we should first let him and his mother know of the exam results." Saying this, Kenji picked up Michael's exam which sat on the table in front of his desk.

"Math: 100%. Science: 100%. And last, but certainly not least, Pokemon Biology: 120%!" Kenji announced as he flipped through the exam pages.

"120%? How does that make any sense, Kenji?" Gigi was confused at the nonsensical number in this context.

"I was surprised as well when I first saw Michael's answers, so I called the Professor over here to evaluate them himself. Sure enough, Michael answered every question in this section of the exam with such detail that we saw it fit to award him with extra points. This makes a new record for the highest score on the entrance exam!" Kenji responded with a hint of shock still present in his voice.

"Indeed! I must say, Michael, your illustration of a Pidgeotto's anatomy was impressive even by some professor standards. In addition, your detailed answer regarding Gloom breeding patterns would make one believe you copied text straight from a research paper, and it's a personal favorite of mine!" Professor Oak nodded to Kenji's words, adding in his own words of praise toward Michael.

"That's our Michael, for you! Gigi and I always watched him reading various books about Pokemon, but we always thought he just liked looking at the pictures in them. Our boy is a genius among geniuses!" Bruno once again spoke in a loud, hearty voice as he openly praised his son.

"I'm so proud of you, my little Machop! We should celebrate! Is there anything you'd like in particular, Michael?" Gigi asked her son as she praised him.

Michael, a bit overwhelmed by all of the attention he had on him, thought for a moment about what type of reward he wanted. He stood there pensively for a moment before finally speaking.

"Mmm. Professor, is it okay for me to see your Pokemon?" Michael asked with curiousness easily detectable in his voice.

Professor Oak's smile grew slightly wider once more as he heard the boy's request. It was rare for people nowadays to get to see the personal Pokemon of the world-famous Professor.

"I'm more than happy to oblige! Let's step outside before I let them out, I don't want Kenji's office to get damaged after all." The Professor responded happily, already making his way towards the door while the rest of those in the room followed.

Michael's eyes widened once more as he watched the energy surrounding the Professor's body shrink even further in size, leaving only a thin film that was impossible to notice unless he focused.

Michael's surprised gaze went unnoticed by all except the Professor himself, who could feel the boy's gaze on his back. This level of awareness was unimaginable for most people, much less a 5-year old kid, and Professor Oak simply smiled to himself as he continued to lead the group outside to an open area.

Turning around to face the group, Professor Oak proceeded to reach into his labcoat's pocket and take out three pokeballs. He tossed all three of them, producing a red light as they all opened simultaneously.

Three pokemon appeared in front of the group, naturally emitting a power that seemed unchallengeable.

The Pokemon on the left was yellow and anthropomorphic, floating a few feet off of the ground with its legs crossed. In each of its hands were spoons that emitted a pink glow. In Michael's eyes, he could see a massive pink aura coming off of the Pokemon. It gave off a feeling of supreme intelligence and wisdom. This was naturally Alakazam.

The Pokemon on the right reminded Michael of the legendary dragons from his past life, albeit much rounder in shape. The Pokemon naturally emitted a terrifying pressure, as if to declare herself royalty amongst commoners. The aura surrounding her was deep blue in color. This terrifying beast of a Pokemon was Dragonite.

The final Pokemon in the center was one Michael was unfamiliar with, at least in this form. It stood incredibly tall, resembling the palm trees native to Alola. At the top of its leaves hung three aloof-looking heads shaped like eggs. The aura it emitted was lax, yet powerful, taking a green hue. This Pokemon was Exeggutor.

All three of the Professor's Pokemon looked curiously at the group in front of them. Alakazam specifically directed its gaze towards Michael, as if studying him.

"These three Pokemon are some of the partners I've had by my side for a long time. Exeggutor over here became my friend when I was visiting my cousin in Alola for a research project. I found Dragonite during a fishing trip in Johto when she was just a Dratini! You could imagine my surprise when I first pulled her up." Professor Oak explained.

"And Alakazam is my oldest partner. Not many people know, but Alakazam was the second Pokemon I ever caught during my Trainer days! He's been with me for the entirety of my journey up to this point, and I have to say I'm incredibly thankful for his help during all these years." He smiled while looking towards Alakazam, who nodded toward him.

Michael remained still as he observed the Pokemon and listened to Professor Oak's explanation. He was in awe at the sheer level of power each of them carried, the many years of experience and training they must have gone through flashing in his mind.

'Incredible… These three Pokemon feel equal to the legendary Martial Masters I crossed swords with in my past… Yet the most impressive one out of this group of monsters is still the Professor himself. It's highly unlikely that he is not powerful in his own right after so many years, and yet I can't determine his strength in any sense…'

"Haha, I can see you're a bit awestruck, Michael! Don't let these three intimidate you, they're all big softies! Come here and get a closer look at them, it's your reward after all!" Professor Oak chuckled at the boy's reaction. The Pokemon in question seemed jokingly offended at the words of their long-time trainer, aside from Exeggutor that is.

Taking the Professor's invitation, Michael walked up to the Pokemon who looked at him with curious gazes.

"Nice to meet you all! I'm Michael." He introduced himself to the Pokemon in a polite manner.

"You are quite the curious human. Not many have the natural talents that you do." An old man's voice said in Michael's head, shocking him.

"Eh?! Oh! Thank you, sir!" Realizing the source of the voice, Michael turned to Alakazam. He had read in the past that psychic-type Pokemon are capable of telepathic communication with humans.

Dragonite kept her distance from the boy, simply looking toward him with a curious look. From her perspective, Michael resembled a certain Trainer her master was fond of.

Exeggutor simply lowered its head to the ground next to Michael, confusing him for a second.

"It would seem my friend here wishes for you to climb onto his head." Alakazam clarified.

Upon hearing Alakazam's words, stars appeared in Michael's eyes. He quickly complied and climbed onto Exeggutor. Once he took a stable position, he felt a rush of wind flow through his hair as he was lifted.

"Woah! This is amazing!" Michael exclaimed in a child-like glee.

Bruno and Gigi witnessed this all go down with a bit of shock. This was the first time they had ever seen Michael show excitement of this level. In their time raising him, they had simply gotten used to Michael's unusually-mature attitude.

The sight of Michael gleefully playing with the Professor's Pokemon brought an incredible amount of joy to their hearts. At that moment, they had forgotten all about the worries they had just a day prior.