CH. 05 - The Incident at Oak's Lab

– Prof. Oak's Lab. –

[2:26 PM]

<Prof. Oak's POV>

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"Bye Prof. Oak!! Bye, Mom!! Bye, Everyone!! Thanks for coming to see me off!", said Ash as he left while dragging a reluctant Pikachu tied by a clothesline.

*sigh* "Hope they will be fine."

Soon after, the crowd dispersed and Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother, stood beside me.

"They'll be just fine", she said with a smile.

"If you say so. I had bet a million PokéDollars with Gary that by the time Ash reaches Viridian City Ash will have caught more Pokémon than him."

"Oh my!", said a surprised Delia.

"I was not that keen on giving him Pikachu since Pikachu has always been shy and does not get along with others while electrocuting anyone close by. By the manner things are going I think they would take more time than the others to safely reach Viridian City. But seeing how Ash is as easygoing and enthusiastic as he is, he would sure in no time befriend Pikachu and get along well."

To that Delia replied, "He is his father's son after all."

"Now that you brought him up, have you heard any news on Red's whereabouts?"

This question must have caused her a lot of anguish since her happy, beaming complexion suddenly turned into a sad, desperate one.

"Oh, sorry about that Delia. My bad.", I said feeling bad myself for asking it.

"No Professor, it's alright. As for any news about Red... Other than the message he left 5 years ago nothing else has come up since then."

A few moments of silence crept into the conversation. Ahh... This has become awkward.

Aha!

"So Delia, would you like some tea?"

"Oh Professor, thanks for the offer but I have some chores left to do back at home and Mr. Mime's all alone. See you later." She left after giving a nod and a gentle smile.

"Later then."

'Ahh... shouldn't have inquired of Red. The boy had been missing for the past 5 years during a joint mission with the Pokémon League in the Johto region. In the mission report, it was written that he was last sighted at the base of Mt. Silver. His last radio message was, "Don't come looking for me." It was strange coming from him. And what was stranger was that he was nowhere to be found even after scouring every area that was accessible on Mt. Silver. Red being Red I hope he is safe... Ever since then, Delia has been taking care of Ash alone. Poor girl.' I thought to myself as I watched Delia leave.

*sigh* Be safe kid, don't make your Mom worry too much.

As I returned to the Research room, I remembered that I had promised that kid Alex to call Ms Joy at Viridian City regarding his sponsorship.

I went to the living room and accessed the video phone dialling the Viridian City Pokémon Centre.

*Ring-Ring*

*Ring-Ring*

"Hello, this is the Viridian City Pokémon Centre. This is Nurse Joy speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hello Ms Joy, this is Prof. Oak speaking from Pallet Town."

"Oh Professor, how do you do?"

"I am doing just fine Ms Joy. Just finished giving out the Starters to the new Trainers starting their journey today."

"Okay. I will keep an eye out and make sure they have healed their Pokémon and are well-rested before they depart to Pewter City."

"Thank you, Ms Joy. That's kind of you. Oh, and among them is a boy named Alex. By the way, he chose a Pidgey as his starter."

"Eh? Were you out of Royal Starters to give out Professor? You could have just dialled me. I would have sent out a set myself."

"*mumble* Well even though I was out of any more Royal starters *mumble* I couldn't have given him any since he was 16 years old."

"You could have offered him a Pokémon from the Regular Set. And if I remember correctly Pidgey isn't a candidate among them. Usually, the Regular Starters include a Nidoran ♀️/♂️, Abra and a Machop, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. But Alex was a rather unusual case. He has amnesia."

"Amnesia?"

"Yes, and he only remembers his name and age. I couldn't find any positive matches in the Region directory."

"So it's a case of unknown identity. Hmm... But still, you could have offered him the Regular set. But why didn't you?"

"Ehh hehehe *nervous chuckle*"

"Are you also out of the Regular starters, Professor?", asked Ms Joy with a glare.

"Yeah... Yes, I am.", I answered dejectedly.

"*sigh* So with Alex being a case of unknown identity and amnesia, I assume you would also want me to sponsor him for his journey?"

"Yes, Ms Joy. Is it too much trouble for you?

"No problem, Professor. I would be delighted to help. And I will ask Jenny to search for his family and their whereabouts."

"Thank you, Ms Joy."

"Okay." She nodded and then continued, "Out of curiosity, may I ask what Pokémon excluding Pidgey you offered him to choose from?"

"Ehh... a Rattata and a Poliwag."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"That's it. Since I am going to sponsor him anyway, I might as well give a new starter to choose from the Regular set."

"But..."

"No 'buts' Professor. Was there anything else, Professor?"

"No Ms Joy. That is all."

"Then, good day to you Professor."

"Good day to you too, Nurse Joy."

*click*

Ha~ah... *sigh* She sure is headstrong as usual.

Hmm... Alex. That kid sure is lucky.

Even though he might just be a simple case of amnesia and there might be nothing that seems to be out of order at first glance, my guts say that there is something big at play here.

Anyways, let's just wait till Jenny investigates his background.

Let's head back to the Research room to work further develop the PokéDex Project. It's a device that records data of Pokémon. What's the difference between a PokéDex module and a PokéDex Device you might ask. The PokéDex module only records the data after a successful capture of a Pokémon species, while the PokéDex device records data even when a Trainer comes in contact with a Pokémon, this enables gathering data on a rare Pokémon that is elusive or difficult to capture.

Out of the three available PokéDexes that were with me, one was given to Gary and the other to Ash for testing its practical application in the field.

I approached the Cabinet where the PokéDex was stored safely. Or so I thought. I opened the cabinet only to find it empty and the PokéDex missing/stolen.

***

- Research Room, Prof. Oak's Lab -

[A few minutes ago]

< ∆∆∆∆∆'s POV >

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"Jiggly, we got the PokéDex. Now let's go find Silver before 'he' catches up!!"

"Jiggly Jig!!"

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