Assistants

With our acceptance Oak nodded in affirmation as he said,

"Good! You can begin right now while your mother and I begin working out the details. Daisy, would you please show Ace and Ash around?"

"Of course grandpa." Daisy said sweetly while the two adults left us, before her little brother snidely remarked,

"I still don't see why gramps wants to sponsor these two, all they'll do is waste our money." Daisy whirled around at her brother, and stated firmly,

"You mean GRANDPA'S money! And he's free to sponsor whoever he wants with it!" Gary just scoffed at her as he turned away and said,

"Pft, whatever. Try not to fall too far behind Ashy boy, Ace the waste." He then walked away, leaving Ash and I alone with his sister.

"Sorry about Gary, he's kinda hardheaded." Daisy said to Ash and I, to which I told her,

"It's ok. I'm not going to worry about it." Daisy smiled gratefully that I wasn't to offended by her little brother's antics, though Ash just huffed and grumbled about how he was going to be better than Gary.

Daisy was three years older than Ash, Gary and I, with long blonde hair that she kept tied back with a headband, and was dressed in jeans and an old shirt. While not 'professional' attire, it made sense considering what we were about to do next as she gestured for Ash and I to follow her.

"Over here, I'll show you guys what you'll be doing." The two of us followed after Daisy while Dragonite followed us out of interest, or perhaps so he could get his snout scratched some more. Who knew.

After making our way to a shed, Daisy opened the door to reveal several rows of feed and numerous farming instruments. "Our job is to help take care of all the Pokemon my grandpa has, and that begins with getting their breakfast ready. Let's go!"

With Daisy leading the charge, the three of us began preparing food for well over a hundred Pokemon that called the fields being the lab home, while Dragonite watched us with interest.

That was just the beginning though, as after that we had to help groom and maintain several of the Pokemon there as well, from brushing their fur, to polishing their scales/shells, and even bathing a few.

"You're doing so well Ace." Daisy said after a while, while the Meowth I was brushing mewled cutely in approval.

"Thanks, I just listen to what they want." I told her back, making Daisy tilt her head curiously.

I wasn't sure why, but I had a fairly easy time understanding Pokemon and what they were saying to me. Even though all I heard was essentially gibberish, I knew what the intent behind it was.

"Meow." The Meowth suddenly cried as I was brushing it, prompting me to brush a specific area that soon had the cat-like Pokemon purring.

I could feel Daisy's eyes on me in amazement at the sight, making me puff out my chest in pride until a commotion drew our attention.

"Just get in the bath!" Ash shouted at a Growlithe, who was desperately trying to avoid getting in the water. Daisy and I snickered as we watched the situation develop, until Ash ended up falling head-first into the tub of soapy water.

"Grow!" Growlithe declared its victory, before trotting over to Daisy and curling up at her side.

"Growlithe is a fire type Pokemon Ash, it won't get in the water. You have to gently spray it." As she spoke Daisy took out a spray bottle as she began to gently spray and wash the Growlithe's fur, which it enjoyed immensely more than someone trying to make it get into a tub filled with water.

"You're really good at that." I said as I watched Daisy work, to which the older girl blushed slightly as she said,

"Well I want to be a Pokemon groomer and stylist someday, and maybe even style Pokemon that are used in contests so everyone can see my work." Daisy then began going on about several of the different styles she'd seen on the television, as well as the different stylist brands that existed.

All the while I listened patiently while brushing a Slowbro, which was infinitely easier to deal with since they didn't move that much. As the sun began to climb higher though, Daisy suddenly started as a beep was heard from the watch she was wearing, before she stated after checking the time,

"Oh goodness! I've just been chatting away until it became lunchtime! Let's go boys!" Leaping up suddenly, Daisy made to show us what we were supposed to do next, but before we could Ash's voice stopped us as he weakly asked,

"Can you help me first?" Daisy and I both looked at him to see Ash laying on the ground, completely covered from the neck down in Caterpie and Weedle silk, while the culprits danced victoriously on top of him.

After taking a few extra minutes to free Ash, once Daisy and I got our fill of laughter first, she then showed us how to prepare the lunch for all of the Pokemon on Oak's property, which she stated was the end of our work.

"Really!?" Ash exclaimed with relief, as he had never had to work so hard in his life, to which Oak responded as he appeared for the first time since that morning,

"Really. I'll expect you two here at eight o'clock sharp Monday through Friday from now on, at which time you'll start the day by making breakfast for the Pokemon here. After that you'll alternate between grooming them and doing various other things, before finishing by making lunch. Then begins the study session as either myself or one of my aides will teach you two, along with Gary, different subjects."

"Nooooooooooo..." Ash groaned as he collapsed to the ground, while I just smiled wryly at him. Apparently my little brother didn't realize that numerous people would probably kill to learn from THE Samuel Oak himself, while he was literally paying us to learn from him.

That was one of the things he and our mom had been discussing earlier, was how to handle the money we made working on taking care of his Pokemon. From the brief explanation he gave us, I guess the money we made would go directly to our mom, who would put most of it into a savings account for us while only giving us a little bit to spend as pocket change.

This was so we could save up our own funds before we began our journey, as we would need to make sure we had the money necessary to take care of our Pokemon on the road.

So, with professor Oak leading the way, Ash and I returned to the lab where we saw Gary again for the first time since that morning, and we began our first lesson.

...

With our newly created routine, time seemed to fly right by in the blink of an eye.

After my morning workout Ash and I would have breakfast before going to professor Oak's lab, where we would spend our mornings taking care of his Pokemon in various ways, wether it was grooming them, feeding them, helping maintain the different enclosures, or even treating them if one got hurt or sick.

Then after spending the morning working, we'd spend a few hours in the afternoon learning various things like I was back in school. Except unlike my previous life, I actually paid attention.

The topics we were taught often varied by the day, ranging from basic things like reading, writing, and math, to subjects about battling, the Pokemon League, and the history of Kanto and the other regions of the Pokemon world. It was topics like that, as well as about Pokemon themselves, that I paid attention to the most since there were numerous regions that I was unaware of before reincarnating.

I had known about the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh regions, but our lessons also included places that I could only theorize were in the games that I hadn't played after gen four, such as Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, and Paldea. But then came the truly staggering information, about how there were nearly a thousand Pokemon.

I had heard repeatedly about Pokemon I didn't know about through watching battles on tv and stuff, but I hadn't known what the actual number was up to now. But if I considered the possibility of there being numerous Legendaries that weren't listed, like how I hadn't seen Arceus or the other Sinnoh Legendaries mentioned, then the number was even higher than that.

Then there was the specifics of the League itself, which was roughly the same in every region. Firstly one couldn't challenge the Pokemon League until they were at least seventeen, while one had to be at least twenty to become a Gym Leader.

That meant that Ash and I had to wait for ten more years after we started working for professor Oak before we could leave on our journey, as well as get our first Pokemon. The last part however was one of professor Oak's own rules for us as his students/assistants.

While there was no limit on age when children could get a Pokemon, or battle them outside of Gyms, one of Oak's rules for receiving his sponsorship was that we couldn't get a Pokemon of our own until we began our journey at seventeen. The reason for this was so that we couldn't spend the years before then training it with the knowledge we were learning from Oak, and cheese our way through the League without effort.

Professor Oak truly believed that it was the journey and experiences that made the person, not endless victories. He simply wanted us to enjoy ourselves and grow alongside our Pokemon as we traveled, for which I couldn't find fault. The only problem I had with his view was that I'd have to find a way to quickly grow my Pokemon in case I ran into any Legendaries early on.

Like this five more years quickly passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye, and Ash and I were now both twelve.

As we started growing and maturing we also started looking slightly different in our facial features and body type, as my figure became slightly sharper and toned from my training. For a while now I had been trying to incorporate training my aura as well, mainly through meditation since I didn't know how to train it, and was surprised when I made a discovery about it.

According to Acreus aura was used to strengthen the body and enhance the senses, as well as creating barriers and understanding the intent of others while also projecting your intent to them. And as I thought about this, I couldn't help but wonder if I had been unconsciously using aura for most of my life.

Even with my training I was stronger and faster than I should've been, my hearing and sight seemed to be improving with each day, and I've always been able to understand Pokemon fairly well when interacting with them. Not only that, but I was also fairly intuitive of who was around me even when my back was turned.

Originally the idea that I had been unconsciously using my aura for most of my second life excited me, and made me think I was some kind of never before seen prodigy. But unfortunately I learned that didn't quite seem the case when I actually started trying to train my aura.

Even after two years of effort the only thing that changed was that my senses and physical abilities seemed to have slightly improved, but that was it. And unfortunately I couldn't try to find someone to teach me, as when I casually mentioned aura to professor Oak, he had no idea what I was talking about outside of the way some Pokemon used it.

Also naturally I never awakened any psychic powers after all these years of trying, no matter how many spoons I tried to bend.

...

Now, at twelve years old, I found myself waiting on a beach to the south of Pallet town, where the village met the ocean.

What we were doing there, I had no idea... But professor Oak was also present along with the majority of his assistants, Dragonite, and the muscle of the lab.

"Chaaamp?" Cried out the large Machamp, a humanoid Pokemon that stood at nearly six feet tall, with a second set of arms coming out the back of its shoulders.

Accompanying it was a group of five Machoke, who were shorter with only one set of arms, and a solitary Machop that was only a few months old, and stood at just under two feet. Just because it was only a few months old didn't mean it wasn't already strong though, as it and I faced each other while glaring intently.

The two of us were currently standing in the middle of a circle drawn in the sand of the beach, and were surrounded on all sides by several of professor Oak's assistants, as well as the rest of the fighting type Pokemon. Only the sole Machamp was in the circle with us as it held one of its arms up as a signal, before dropping it as it stepped back and cried out, "CHAMP!"

Immediately Machop and I rushed each other as I tried to overwhelm it with my superior size, and it tried to use its short stature to unbalance me.

"Not this time midget! I got your number!" I stated as I sidestepped its attempt to grab me, before grabbing its arm instead. I then lifted up on the short Pokemon, who only weighed about thirty-five pounds, and threw it out of the ring.

"And that's two outa three!" I exclaimed while dusting off my hands, making numerous spectators grown while others celebrated, and I added, "Remember! I get ten percent of all bets made on me!"

There was another round of groans as the same assistants that had been celebrating handed over several bills, making me chuckle as I watched my savings go up once again.

"Splendid show as always my boy! It's certainly a good way to pass the time, as well as lighten everyone's wallets." Professor Oak said as he approached me, before reluctantly handing over a few bills of his own.

"And it helps Machop get used to fighting." I said pointedly, to which the same Pokemon that I'd just thrown eagerly cried out in agreement, "Chop!"

Smiling at its comment, I then said to the professor,

"Though, it would be easier waiting if I knew what we were waiting for, and how long." The professor smiled wryly at my probing comment, before saying,

"Sorry my boy, but it's a surprise. You'll see soon." Rather than try to get anymore information out of the old man, I turned to another source of Intel.

"So Dragonite, know anything about what we're all doing here?" I asked the eight foot tall dragon slyly.

"Dro." Dragonite replied sharply, saying that it's lips were sealed. Rather than being deterred though, I simply grabbed the backpack I discarded for the match earlier, and reached into it while saying,

"Really? Even for a Dragonite snack?" As I said that I pulled out Dragonite's favorite snacks, a Sitrus berry.

The large dragon audibly gulped as it smelled the berry in its proximity, but surprisingly it held fast in its silence as proceeded to bite its own lips to keep silent. My smirk widening, I slowly reached into my bag and pulled out another one as I said,

"What about two Dragonite snacks?" Beads of sweat began to appear on Dragonite's scales as it eyed the two berries longingly, and I could almost imagine a miniature Dragonite on each shoulder, one with a halo and the other wearing a hood. The former was telling it to remain strong, while the other was saying 'do it' over and over again.

Eventually Dragonite broke as it grabbed both of the berries while saying, "Drododrag."

I looked at the giant lizard in disbelief as it began eating the berries, before asking, "professor Oak's friends are visiting? Which friends?"

Unfortunately Dragonite merely shrugged from not knowing the answer to that himself, as apparently he only knew that some friends of the professor were coming. So all I could do was click my tongue from annoyance, and wait to see who it was when they rounded the mountains that framed the harbor.

Thankfully though, after we already waited for about two hours until now, a small brown bird that was somehow flying while carrying a green stalk in his wing approached us.

"Far fetch fetch Farfetch'd!" The Pokemon, a Farfetch'd, cried out once it landed before us, to which I said,

"So they're just around the bend?"

"Fetch!" Farfetch'd reaffirmed confidently, making me ponder while everyone else watched on before saying,

"I'm sorry, but that seems a little far fetched."

"..."

There was a beat of silence to my horrible pun, in which no one really knew what to say. Until,

"Pft.... FETCH FETCH FETCH FETCH! FETCH FETCH FETCH FETCH!"

The little Farfetch'd completely cracked up at my bad pun, while I heard numerous groans around me from the people that were tired of it. But I couldn't help it, Farfetch'd simply loved horrible puns, and doubly so if they involved its own name.

But as the little flying type devolved into a fit of laughter so extreme, it began slapping the ground with its wing, we all finally saw the prow of a small ship coming around the bend, signaling that our wait was finally almost over. And as the ship slowly sailed closer, I was shocked when I recognized two of the people on board as they eagerly awaited returning to land.

'Is that May and Dawn!?!'