Professor Birch

It felt strange to me to know that I was willingly trading away what I have grown used to for a wide and mysterious world. Vulcan and Gaia seemed eager to truly experience what this world had to offer them though. The forest also seemed far more lively than normal as we passed through it as the various types of pokemon that had gotten used to our presence and inclusion into the food chain watched us pass by peacefully as if they were seeing us off. This included one rather old and gnarled Sentret that nodded at us from a stump as we continued our trip.-

After a couple of hours of travel we officially left all that I have known since arriving in this world behind as we reached a disused but visible footpath. It was overgrown but still present none the less. "Let's follow this path to see if it leads us to an actual road." I suggested and both of my pokemon agreed since we didn't really have any set way we wanted to travel. The foot path was a winding and uneven thing that traveled roughly in the direction of Littleroot village.-

A few of the local pokemon popped out to take a look at who was treading the path so loudly but after seeing us they immediately noped out of eyesight. I hadn't gone hunting with either Vulcan or Gaia so I was quite loud when I walked. Ironically enough this was precisely how I met professor Birch as well. We were traveling down the overgrown path when Vulcan growled and charged into the underbrush suddenly. "AAAWWW!?" a panicked scream rang out from that area which drew both mine and Gaia's attention so we also rushed into the underbrush after Vulcan. There pinned under Vulcan's right paw was a brown haired man wearing a pair of shorts as well as a white lab coat.-

The man had brown eyes and a wide face with a short beard that matched his portly frame perfectly , he wasn't fat or anything just very wide as he had a barrel chest and wide shoulders that sat on his fairly short frame. The man had a wide eyed expression as he stared up at Vulcan in both awe and excitement , but there wasn't a drop of fear anywhere on his features. 'I can see why he got attacked by that Poochyena in the game.' I thought with a chuckled.-

Pokemon will usually give ample warning before they attack in my experience even when they are hunting so if you simply leave the area after hearing them you would be fine , this man probably ignored that warning. "Let him up Vulcan." I spoke and the legendary obeyed without hesitation. "Fascinating! It listened to you without any hesitation , you must command a great deal of respect from it if nothing else." Birch said while standing up and dusting himself off since Vulcans pinning him had smeared dirt on his legs and back.-

The professor looked me over for a moment after that but looked confused "You don't match the description of anyone on the protection list , Why?" he asked with a frown. "I didn't have either of these two until about three and a half months ago when I met Gaia here. Vulcan is a much more recent addition at about three weeks or so." I explained with a smile. Birches eyes brightened as he figured out what I was talking about. "HAHAHA! Goodness you have quite the luck friend! If you don't mind me asking what is going on with your clothes?" He asked curiously with a smile.-

I had luckily planned for this question and thus had an answer already prepared. "I got teleported to a mountain over that way several months ago before I could even catch a single pokemon and this is all that's left of my clothes. I had to add a few scraps I had laying around to cover the important stuff you see." I said semi honestly since that story is mostly true. "That's simply terrible! I assume this extraordinary Pupitar is your starter from the sound of things then?" He asked and I faked discomfort at the topic.-

"No need to worry , I can assure you that you aren't in trouble at all! It's rare but not unheard of for folks to find pseudo legendries by themselves in the wild." he reassured. "My name is professor Birch by the way , nice to meet you!" he said holding out his hand with a smile. I took the extended hand firmly "Alexander Drake , I go by Alex though." I said returning the smile. I tried to be gentle when I shook his hand but apparently squeezed too hard as Birch grimaced in pain prompting me to release him and apologize.-

"Sorry about that. I underestimated my own strength it seems." I say honestly. Birch shakes his hand with a whistle "I'll be alright , but goodness you have quite the grip , it was like a Machamp had gotten ahold of me!" he joked and laughed it off. I scratched the back of my head with an awkward smile "I wasn't this in shape before I got teleported over to the mountain so I may have trouble adjusting to normal levels of strength." I said honestly. "Had to adapt to your environment to survive huh? Yeah the wilderness is no place for the weak in mind or body." he said with an understanding look.-

"Tell you what Alex , why don't you follow me back to my village a couple miles away and we'll see about getting you some proper clothes and food?" Birch offered kindly. I looked at my two pokemon and he hurriedly spoke again "They are of course welcome as well since they are with you , in fact I have a small area they can stay while we get you situated." He said and I relaxed. I had been a bit worried that my two pokemon would need to be put away but that wasn't the case which I was glad about.-

We started following birch after that and chatted along the way since it was a couple hour long walk. "So where are you from originally Alex?" Birch asked as we started walking. "No idea honestly , the psychic type that teleported me messed with my memories while it was at it so I remember very little about my origins other than that I was an orphan. I had also apparently only done the bare minimum to get legal with my I.D so that is no help at all." I lied easily.-

Birch sighed "It's not unheard of for some particularly mean psychics to do things like that from time to time. Normally a league certified psychic would try to retrieve the memories but in your case too much time has passed so they are gone for good I'm afraid." he said sadly and I acted disappointed but understanding. I worked in retail before I died so acting came second nature to me at this point. "Assuming you aren't aware already we are currently in the Hoenn region , at the south western part specifically." Birch explained and I nodded.