Chapter 10: Professor Noah Laboratory (2)

When they walked into the lab, the two men at the table immediately got to their feet.

"Ah, finally she arrived!" the older man said and went to give Mindy a hug. "How is my little granddaughter doing?"

"I'm fine Grandpa! Charmander and I learned a lot," answered Mindy suffocated in her grandfather's embrace.

"I'm glad to hear that," smiled Professor Noah. "How is the Charmander? Can you take him out for me?"

"Can I speak with you for a moment, Grandpa?" Mindy asked.

"Of course, sweetie. Are things okay with the Charmander, by the way?"

"Charmander is fine, Grandpa, but could we find a quiet place to talk?" Mindy looked worried and tense, and she kept glancing over at Dave, but the latter was too busy looking around the lab to notice her.

Mindy and her grandfather decided to talk outside. While passing Dave, she whispered, "Wish me luck," to him before following her grandfather out the door.

Dave wasn't sure why she said that at first, but he soon realised that she had gone to tell her grandfather about the Charmander. He thought that giving her a Charmander would solve everything, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

He had forgotten that the Charmander belonged to the professor and it was up to him to decide what to do with it. Dave began to worry about his friend.

"Forgive my daughter's manner, Dave. She forgot to introduce you to her grandfather," Susan said to him.

When she finished speaking, the boy who was with the professor walked up to Dave. He was dressed in a navy blue coat and black jeans.

"I'm Rusty," the boy told him, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Hello, I'm Dave from Grene," Dave replied and extended his hand toward the boy. However, the boy didn't shake his hand.

Dave withdrew his hand uncomfortably and gestured toward his Pokemon companion who stood at his feet. "This is my partner, Eevee."

"Ee—vee!" The Vulpine Pokemon lifted one of its paws in greeting.

"An Eevee?" the boy scoffed. "I feel bad for you Dave. If you'd like, I can ask my grandfather to give you a stronger Pokemon."

Dave's brows shot up in disbelief. Meanwhile, Eevee gave a low growl, sensing the boy's contempt towards it. Both trainer and Pokemon began to understand why Mindy was in a bad mood when she found out that her cousin was here.

Getting no response from Dave, Rusty continued.

"Hey, why don't you respond to my question? Are you stupid? Now that I think about it, I shouldn't be surprised. Only my cousin would be willing to find a friend with such a pathetic Pokemon. Looks like she won't even be able to leave on a trip any time soon."

Dave, feeling insulted, opened his mouth to defend Eevee and Mindy, but Susan spoke up before he could.

"Pay attention to what you're saying, Rusty. Mindy has just spent two months outside alone. That's already more than anything you've ever done." Susan seemed proud of what her daughter had accomplished.

"Don't think you can talk about my daughter that way just because you are my nephew! And just to let you know, she now has my permission to do whatever she wants!"

Susan stopped to catch her breath. Then, realising what she had just said to her nephew, she quickly looked around. She let out a sigh of relief when Mindy wasn't in the room. She was worried that her little girl might have overheard them just now.

Meanwhile Rusty was recovering from the unexpected scolding he had taken. A few seconds passed in an uncomfortable silence, where not even Eevee had the courage to speak, until, as if nothing had happened, Rusty spoke again.

"So Dave, what do you say? Do you want me to ask for another Pokemon from my grandfather?"

"No, thank you," Dave replied, looking at Rusty with a challenge face. "I'm very happy with Eevee, and I'm sure it's stronger than any pokemon your grandfather could give me."

Rusty looked at Dave in disbelief, then chuckled.

"Are you sure? Your loss then."

Tempers were starting to heat up when suddenly, the door to the lab was opened. Mindy came in beaming with her Charmander out of her pokeball. Seeing that, Dave knew her talk with her grandfather was a success.

"I can have the Charmander!" Mindy told him, when she reached his side.

"Congratulations!" Dave replied. "Oh, your mother had just told us that you can go travelling. Isn't this great?"

When she heard that, Susan made a couple of sounds like she was trying to say something, but then closed her mouth again. She had no idea Dave would go tell Mindy what had occurred.

Mindy looked to her mother right away, her eyes gleaming. Susan knew she'd lost the battle. There was nothing she could do about it unless she wanted her little girl to despise her.

"Thanks Mom! Thank you very much!" Mindy said. hugging her mother who was still a little confused.

"So you are my new rival, cousin," said Rusty looking at Mindy and Charmander. "And you chose the Charmander."

Rusty tried to hide his disappointment and envy when he said that. He was planning on choosing the Charmander.

"You know Rusty, I have another charmander," Professor Noah cut in. "Mindy gave me one so she could keep this one. If you still want the Charmander, you can take it away."

"No, I don't want it. I've always wanted a Squirtle anyway," Rusty said hastily.

"Sorry Rusty, but Chris took Squirtle a few days ago," the professor told him.

"So there's only Bulbasaur left?" Rusty said, a little let down. "No problem."

He tried to look confident and superior again. "Anything's better than a Charmander. With the exception of an Eevee of course."

After taking the pokeball that contained a Bulbasaur from Professor Noah, Rusty immediately left the lab without saying goodbye to anyone else.

Once that was over with, Professor Noah sat in his armchair and greeted Dave for the first time.

"Hello my boy. What a beautiful Eevee you have there! Who are you?" he asked, smiling at Dave.

"My name is Dave Mick, sir. And I come from Grene," Dave said, or at least he tried to say it, as he stumbled over the words due to being nervous.

"He's my friend Grandpa," Mindy said. She hadn't realised it at the time, but she had truly accepted Dave as her friend.

"Nice to meet you Dave. I assume you came here to participate in the rookie tournament," the professor said.

"Rookie tournament?" Dave asked, confused.

"Rookie tournament is held once a year in Cardo. Trainers from smaller cities can compete in the tournament if they have managed to capture a Pokemon. The winner gets a Pokedex, five new pokeballs and the opportunity to become one of my sponsored trainers. That means, you can send your captured Pokemon to me. You no longer have to carry all of your Pokemon with you all the time," the professor explained.

"That's great! I would love to participate! I think I should go train with my Eevee now," Dave said excitedly.

"Calm down, young man. I haven't finished explaining yet," the professor said. "The winner also earns the right to participate in an official battle with a rookie Cardo trainer. And the only trainer left here is Mindy!"