22 Ch 22. Cerise Laboratory

After having completed the quest and received payment, Ares spent a couple of days just training and sightseeing in Vermilion city. It was all pretty new to him, even if he had been to a few other cities before. It was still an amazing sight to see so many buildings in one place, don't even mention the heights.

So when he walked throught the streets, he couldn't help but feel small next to those towering sky scrapers.

Today Ares had decided to visit the still being constructed laboratory of professor Cerise. If everything was as described on the website, he could already visit the professor. The greenhouse should be nearly completed, so maybe he could even see some unusual pokemon, who knows.

He had also called professor Oak just to be certain. Professor Oak was delighted to hear he was visiting professor Cerise and had called said professor immediately to inform him.

Aparently he wasn't the only one who was visiting today, as the daughter of the professor was hanging out there with one of her friends, a boy called Goh. Goh was apparently really into pokemon and came by every now and then to learn more about them.

As such, it was requested of him to tell them of his story and how he got the pokemon he currently had.

Ares didn't see any problem with that and had agreed. There was nothing wrong with sharing a bit of his experiences, it just depended on how the two youths acted.

Currently he was standing in front of the laboratory, which was clearly not open to the public. Scaffolds could be seen behind the main building, indicating there was still work in progress.

"The question is if I should show all my pokemon..."

Ares mumbled, as Mew had poked her head out from his bag, staring at Ares and waiting to hear what he would say.

"I guess I should just ask?"

Not completely sure how to go about things, Ares took out all his pokemon and asked them. Not surprisingly, all of them didn't have any problem with it. They were strong enough to protect themselves, so Ares had nothing to worry about.

Seeing the other pokemon respond like that, Mew couldn't help but say something for herself as well.

[Then I want to go as well!]

"I'm not sure if that is wise, you are a Mythical pokemon after all."

Ares said, a bit worried about how he should go about this.

[Then just catch me. It won't change much. I still travel with you and it will only mean I can rest in the pokeball as well. It's not like I hate it. Besides, if you catch me, I can play around as much as I want. They can't catch me if I'm already caught by you!]

Mew said, sticking out her chest in full confidence.

"If you're fine with it..."

Still not certain if this was the right decision, Ares nervously scratched his head.

[You are such a worry wart.]

Mew huffed, taking matters into her own small hands as she reached out for an empty pokeball and pressed on the button. Mew was sucked inside before Ares could say otherwise, the pokeball turned in quick succesion and eventually stopped to indicate the capture was a succes.

Not waiting any longer, Mew came out by herself as she landed on top of Ares's head.

[Nothing to do about it now, so let's get a move on!]

Mew pointed her little paw forwards, spurring Ares on to start moving.

Ares sighed at the abruptness of it all and decided to just let matters rest. Like Mew said, what's done is done. Nothing to do about it.

Without any further ado, Ares walked inside and looked about as he saw a few assistants working on the computers, while near the main station, Professor Cerise was talking with a younger boy and girl.

The girl looked a lot like Professor Cerise, so she must be his daughter. Then the boy beside her would most likely be Goh. Professor Cerise saw him come in and waved him over.

"You must be Ares. Professor Oak has told me about you. This is my daughter Chloe and her friend Goh."

(A/N: For those who watched the japanese version like me, Chloe's name in Japanese is Koharu. Professor Cerise => Professor Sakuragi.)

Ares nodded as he looked at the two kids who were about the same age as Ash and Gary.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Ares, as professor Cerise told you. I am a pokemon trainer. I was asked by professor Oak to tell you guys a bit about my journey. That is after my conversation with professor Cerise of course."

Goh and Chloe were smiling brightly at the idea of seeing what kind of pokemon he had. Apparently, Mew was not visible to their eyes at the moment, causing Ares to sigh slightly in relief. It would be annoying if he had to explain why she was hanging out with him.

Walking towards professor Cerise, Ares began to speak to him about what he was currently looking for and if he might have some clues. From what he had heard about the professor, he had a lot of knowledge about pokemon and their habitats. It wouldn't be strange if he might have heard about his previous village, even if it might have been hundreds of years ago.

Unfortunately, the professor didn't have a lot of information, only knowing that aura guardians were more well known in Sinnoh as well as in Kalos. He suggested Ares should start his search over there.

A bit dissapointed at the lack of information, Ares thanked the professor for the little he did know.

"Don't worry too much about it, I will contact you when I find out more. I have been made aware of your circumstances by professor Oak."

Thanking the professor in advance, Ares left and went to find Goh and Chloe, who were having some snacks in the laboratory kitchen.

"So, do you two know a place where there is a pond or a pool around here? I have a large water type pokemon that would appreciate it if there was one."

Speaking up first, Chloe raised her hand.

"I know! Dad is building a big garden where he can observe pokemon. It isn't done yet, but we can play there with the pokemon. I'll go ask dad!"

Not waiting for a reply, Chloe ran towards the lab, coming back shortly with professor Cerise in tow.

Receiving permission, Chloe guided them forward, leading them to a wide space filled with plains, a small river, a lake and a forest. Looking around in approval, Ares let out his pokemon, eliciting a excited gasp from Chloe as she was immediately in love with his Clefairy.

"It's so cuuuute!"

As she was knowledgeable about pokemon, due to her dad, Chloe asked Ares and Clefairy for permission to touch it. Getting the okay sign, Chloe was smiling brightly as she patted Clefairy.

Goh was more drawn to Lucario as well as Umbreon. Umbreon because of the fact it was bigger than a normal Umbreon and because it was quite unusual to see one in Kanto and Lucario because of its coloring. Shiny pokemon were even rarer than a rare pokemon after all.

Professor Cerise was more interested in Lapras, taking notes on its behavior as well as the size and patterns it had.

The only ones who were left alone were Pidgeotto, Pichu and Mew. Mew was naturally sticking close to Ares under invisibility, sticking tightly to his head like glue, while Pidgeotto was sitting in a tree, looking in gloating at his unfortunate companions. Pichu was having none of it, as she snuggled close to Ares. She had no intention to let other people touch her unless she gave them her permission. And she was not in the mood for them to get handsy with her.

Laughing at the sight of his pokemon, who were a bit overwelmed by the attention, Ares sat on the side as Umbreon and Lucario joined him, far from the possible hands that wanted to touch.

Not that they needed to worry, as Goh was more about the habits and their basic information and Chloe was more drawn to Clefairy.

As asked of him, Ares began to describe how he met each of his pokemon and as well on how he caught them. The only one he didn't really elaborate on was Lucario, but that was only about how he got his egg. The others noticed it was something private and didn't ask anything more about it. He shared his caretaking experiences as well, mostly about their diets and how he made their food.

They were paying a lot of attention on the how's and the peculiarities of the situations. Like the love for food some pokemon had, the behavior others showed to humans as well as how some of Ares's pokemon seemed to dislike being touched by others.

"They haven't been with me that long, but I consider them as family."

Ares patted Umbreon and Lucario on their heads, causing them to both exclaim sounds of delight.

"They look very strong. You must've trained them a lot."

Chloe muttered, still hugging Clefairy in her arms.

"They do train a lot, but they know they will be rewarded when they show results. Don't be deceived by how they look. Cause they are all foodies."

Ares chuckled as the most pridefull of his pokemon, Pidgeotto, had first stuck out his chest in pride. Though when it heard the last words, it nearly fell out of the tree.

'No way was it admitting it was drawn in by food! He had a reputation to uphold.'

His other pokemon laughed as well, not able to suppress the joy they felt at Pidgeotto's embarrassment. It was usual so arrogant and haughty. It was entertaining to see it so flustered.

"Then it is a must for a trainer to be a good cook?"

Goh asked, not sure if it was truly that important.

"It is a part of being a trainer, as a pokemon's diet needs to be balanced. I feed my pokemon food I've made myself, all tailored to their own needs. The content of each meal is different for each pokemon, the overal ingredients being as fresh as possible when I make it. This is one of the reasons they are as healthy as they are, as well as the reason why they can train so hard. They need all the energy and nutrition they can get, especially since they need it to become stronger. If a pokemon dislikes the food it eats, it might eat a lot less. This will be detrimental to its training and its health."

Not going any further on the subject, Ares returned his pokemon to their pokeballs, only leaving Lucario out. Umbreon was rather tired and didn't seem to mind it at all. He even seemed glad to return to his pokeball.

"It is time I take my leave. I still need to prepare for my gym challenge."

The kids seemed a bit disapointed, but professor Cerise just showed him out.

"You no doubt have a lot to do. We won't keep you here any longer. Here, contact me when you have any questions."

Ares took the phone number professor Cerise handed him, as well as glancing at Goh, who was handing him his own phone number as well.

"I would like to contact you some time too, if you don't mind. I have a lot of questions I really want to ask you sometimes. I would really appreciate it if we could stay in contact."

Goh said, which Ares didn't really mind. He didn't have a lot of friends in this age group so he welcomed them with open arms. That is, if they truly wanted to be his friend. Trusting others was still a bit hard after all. Exchanging numbers might be a good start.

"I don't mind."

Ares handed him his own number as well before he left. He had some work cut out for him after all. Lt. Surge was strong and he needed a strategy if he wanted this to go smoothly. He needed to be stronger if he wanted to reach his goals.