Chapter 37 : Detective

That last question is a trick question.

The correct answer : All three! And maybe a couple more!

Don't forget to drop those power stones!

*

Ring Ring Ring.

Ring Ring Ring.

Click.

All of a sudden, the call connecting to the other end connected, and an image appeared before us. We could be seen sitting in three chairs in the left walk of the Pokemon Center now. After we settled into our room, we went backdown to the first floor, only to see the place was quiet now.

As such, it was a good time to make a call or two with the Center's pcs. We arrived at one on the left wall, which overlooked the main street in Viridian City, and I out in one of the numbers I knew. And now, it connected and an image on the screen appeared before us.

What appeared on the screen was a rather old looking white haired man wearing a lab coat, seated at his desk. In front of him was a box of pizza with several toppings on it.

"Oh boy, anchovy, spinach and pineapple pizza. You will soon be mine!" The white haired man said happily.

"Pfft.", Serena giggled, seeing this.

The man was Professor Oak of course. The moment he heard Serena giggle as we saw him pick up his first slice of pizza to eat, he reacted and fumbled around with it.

"Ah!", Professor Oak exclaimed, letting his slice of pizza fall face first back down onto his plate.

"Just Great. The first slice is ruined--Eh?", Realizing the source of the voice, we saw Professor Oak blink for a moment. He then turned his chair around, only to see his monitor active, with us three on it.

"Ooh! Well if it isn't Itsuki. Haha, sorry about that just now, I just had a pizza arrive not too long ago. Looks like you three made it to the Viridian Pokemon Center then!"

"Hey, Gramps. We did indeed. Had to stay a night on a Route 1 though. We decided to not chance that storm."

"It's only been a couple days but it's good to see you again, Professor!", Serena greeted happily.

"Hello, Professor.", Lillie also greeted with a smile.

"That was a pretty rough storm if I do say so myself. As long as you made it It's all good. Were you able to register for the league?"

"Sure did!", I replied with a smile too. We then brought out our badge cases out, and each showed him the empty eight slots.

We saw Professor Oak raise his eyebrow seeing three cases instead of one.

"So all three of you decided to become Trainers? It makes sense for Serena since she graduated Trainer School but didn't partake in Caretaking classes instead? I did recommend you just in case, but I didn't think Nurse Joy would approve of you."

"Perhaps because I showed Nurse Joy my background. I did take some Trainer classes on the side too so maybe that helped. But I do thank you Professor for recommending me."

"Are you going to take the gym challenges alongside Itsuki and Serena?"

"That...I'm not sure. I am currently a Trainer in name only, but I'm starting to think otherwise..."

After a moment in silence, I spoke out to Lillie.

"I think you should give it a try, Lillie. Just looking after Pokemon isn't the only way to care for them. Training and battling lets them experience growth naturally. You'll be able to get close with them that way too.", I said to her.

Professor Oak nodded in confirmation.

"It's as Itsuki says, Lillie. I think experiencing gym battles will help your growth too, not only just with you and your Pokemon. It will let you experience many interactions with other people. Not to mention they're really exciting, haha!", Professor Oak responded with a laugh.

"I can definitely attest to that. Watching Itsuki battle and catch that Spearow was really fun to watch!", Serena replied.

"Yeah. I enjoyed it too. If you guys think I should....maybe it's not such a bad idea.", Lillie nodded with a firm tone.

"Hoho, well I wish you three best of luck. You guys can contact me again once you get the Boulder Badge. A pizza is waiting for me."

"Heh, will do. But before you go, can you have a look at one thing for me, Gramps?"

"Oh? What would that be? I saw the Spearow you registered was quite a find. Did you encounter something else?"

"Kind of...", I began to say, only to reach into one of my pockets of my bag. I then felt the feather Ho-Oh presented me.

"We sure did! We saw a really big beautiful bird pass by over a giant rainbow after the storm broke in the morning. It looked really similar to one of the three birds on the mural behind us!"

"Hoho, those are the three legendary birds of Kanto. You're not your mother, Itsuki, so I doubt you saw one of those three--?", Professor Oak started to say, only for his eyes to turn wide the moment I brought out the Rainbow Wing.

"--I-Itsuki...that can't be what I think it is, can it?", Professor Oak asked.

"It is a Rainbow Wing, yes.", I answered bluntly, with a grin.

"So you're really saying you encountered the ruler of the skies, that Ho-Oh?"

"That's exactly what we are saying, Gramps."

"Hah...Just hearing that strange laughter from earlier and now this. Itsuki have you shown anyone else?"

'He must be referring to Mew', I inwardly said. I shook my head no, answering his question.

"No. To be honest, I was thinking of sending this wing to you to research."

"Hoho, I'm flattered for you to say so Itsuki, but no need. I know well of what it does already. And seeing you have it, have you looked it up too?"

"Yeah, we did. Are you saying there's no need to go further into this?"

"Nope. Ho-Oh chose you. It is said as long as one is of pure heart, it will give you eternal happiness. Not to mention the wing gives you recognition. You may get to challenge Ho-Oh in the future. There are rumors of those who keep the wing on their person grants them good luck too, so if anything you should always have it on you."

"There was such a thing?", I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Well, rumors are still rumors, but I must be going now. It was great talking to you three. You know when to talk to me again!"

"Take care, Professor!", Serena replied.

With a clicking sound, the monitor turned off. I then let out a sigh.

"Hah...Guess I was worried for nothing then."

"Well, it's good knowing the Professor was able to confirm it with his own words. And he said it might even bring us good luck So keep it in your pocket or something, okay?"

"Sure, Sure.", I replied gently.

"That was a good call though. I do think I'll give the gym challenges a proper go after all. But I didn't get a starter Pokemon, so I need to decide who to catch first."

"We'll come across that once you're ready to do so. I always like to go with favorable matchups or a good variety moveset."

"Yep! But that isn't the only call we are making, right? We need to call Cynthia too! We've had our fair share of calls with her over the years but not recently. I'm getting excited just thinking about it."

"Me too. Now that she is Champion of Sinnoh, I wonder where she will currently be. I hope she's taking breaks since being a Champion must put a lot of stress on her."

"I'm sure she is doing just fine. Let's make the call."

As I inputted Cynthia's private number into the screen to connect the call, it started to ring.

Meanwhile...

Deep within one of the back streets near Viridian Gym, three figures soon emerged into the shadows of an alley.

"Everything has been planted, James-nya. At 00:00 tonight, we will go into action."

"Good. Make sure you protect the switch."

"Aye aye-nya!"

"Are you by chance referring to to this switch right here?", a different voice said, speaking out to them.

"W-What!?", Meowth spoke out in shock, only to fumble over his body, unable to find the switch he was referring to just now. "James, the switch is gone-nya!"

"Impossible. It was just on you--!?", James started to say, only for the sound of breaking metal struck their ears.

Catcha.

All of a sudden, a foot stomped down on the switch they spoke of, and it broke into tiny pieces, rendering it useless.

"Who are you?", Jessie finally asked.

As she did, a fourth figure emerged from the shadows. He appeared to be a classic detective. He had a brown leather trench coat over some dark mahogany dress shirt and pants. He had brown hair as well.

"You guys don't need to know me. The gig's up Team Rocket. Come with us peacefully. We already disabled all your bombs at the Pokemon Center. You've nowhere else to run."

"Shit. Then that means our plan has failed. We can't afford to be captured now. Meowth, Jessie, retreat at once!", Hearing the detective before him say that, James spoke out. He knew their plan was fooled, especially seeing him break the switch to the bombs before their very eyes that somehow magically appeared in his grasp. He wasn't sure how, but James knew not to mess with this detective.

As such, he issued a prompt order to retreat, and the three vanished just as quickly as they arrived.

Afterward, a couple more figures who also appeared to be detectives, arrived beside the first one.

"Are you sure it's wise for us to not go after them, Detective Looker?"

"Yeah.", the first detective said, who appeared to be called Detective Looker. He then reached into his pocket, only to bring out a cigarette and lit it up. After puffing out some smoke he continued to speak.

"That blue haired fellow is not ordinary. He was able to make such a prompt retreat. It would be hard to chase him down like that. He likely figured out our whole squad was waiting to ambush the three."

"Hmm, then what do we tell the Viridian Officer Jenny? We failed to apprehend them.", the detective beside Looker said worryingly.

"Haha, that may be true, but our mission was still a success. It seems Team Rocket was up to something. I can't believe they were about to do something that crazy. We can let her know the mission was successful."

"So we were at the right place at the right time...huh? Glad we made the decision to have our team tour Kanto. With the buzz happening in Sinnoh thanks to that new Champion, there won't be any troubles there for a while."

"Yeah. So we are spreading our wings. Might as well keep Kanto under our wraps during our stay here. Team Rocket is no joke. The Pokemon I've seen them using...be careful of them. They aren't right."

"Yes, Detective Looker!"

"Shadow Pokemon...such an unpleasant name.", Detective Looker uttered softly, only to let another puff of smoke.

"Let's head back to our office."

"Yes Sir!", the many detectives yelled out at once in the shadows beside Looker. The one beside him also nodded his head. As they started to return to where they came, the one beside Looker spoke out once more.

"By the way, according to Officer Jenny, it seems that bright upcoming Professor just entered Viridian as well to start his journey. If I recall, Officer Jenny called him the Little Professor."

"The Little Professor huh? He is quite the rare genius for him to become a Professor at such a young age. I've seen him in the news recently. Perhaps Kanto will get lively this year if he is involved. However, we mustn't slack off on our duty either."

"Of course."

And just like that, they vanished from sight. It appeared Team Rocket's plan to set fire to the Pokemon Center was thwarted this time, and I wouldn't even get a chance to know about this.

As for me, I was still at the Pokemon Center, waiting for the other end to pick up. Just as I thought the call wasn't going to go though, it clicked.

*

I'm planning 2 small lemon scenes and a date scene while the three are in Viridian City. It will then move onto Viridian Forest and Pewter City.

Each gym they go to too, planning three battles per gym if Serena and Lillie partake in the League with Itsuki. It will give different perspectives, but I won't try to stretch it out.

Itsuki planning to catch around 5 more mons before reaching Cerulean City.

Expect the lemons next chapter!