Chapter 5: Meeting the Survey Corps

"So... why am I back here, again?"

Shiroe asked with a tiny hint of annoyance in his tone as he glance around at the familiar environment.

"The Obsidian Fieldlands is where you'll be taking your trial"

"I see... and who are you?"

Shiroe nodded in understanding before raising his head and staring at the person in front of him, inquiring who she was.

Though truthfully speaking, he knew her, or more accurately, he knew who she was in the game.

But he didn't intend to say anything as it'll be strange or creepy of him to know her which is why he asked.

"I'm Akari, a survey corps member"

A young girl with long blackish-grey hair, grey eyes, and fair skin while wearing a white bandana on her head stared at Shiroe as she introduces herself.

'She's a striking resemblance to Dawn, alright...'

Shiroe thought as he couldn't help but think whether she is Dawn's ancestor or just a person with the same appearance.

"Hmm..."

"I'm one of the people that's been tasked to supervise your trial, umm... er..."

"Shiroe, that's my name and this is my partner"

- Shing! Shing!

"Ah! Then nice to meet you two"

"Likewise"

Shiroe slightly bowed his head in greeting which made Akari instinctively bow in response.

It was after bowing that Akari made a strange face as she observed the young man in front of her.

"Shiroe... have you offended the commander or something?"

"...I don't think so, why?"

"Well... the trial you were given, it's..."

Akari put her hands on her chin, trying to find the right words to say as some hint of hesitancy and uneasiness could be seen on her face.

"The trial you were given was to capture ten different species of Pokemon"

"Oh... okay"

Shiroe reacted indifferently and felt that the task was not a problem at all. He even felt that this trial was much more enjoyable than challenging someone in a Pokemon battle.

"Is that all you can say?!"

"Yes, is there a problem with my reaction...?"

"Of course, there is!"

Akari had her eyes wide open in shock and felt dumbfounded at the nonchalant and carefreeness of this outsider.

'Does he even know the difficulty of the task?'

Akari thought, feeling slightly irritated as she felt the need to remind him of how dangerous wild Pokemon are.

"Ten species!? Do you know how difficult that is to achieve"

"...?"

"We already have a hard enough time catching even one when wild Pokemon come after us..."

"..."

"In fact for most people, just approaching one is already nervewracking"

Hearing her words, Shiroe finally remembers how 'weak' most of the trainers are in this era.

'Ah, I forgot... humans are still afraid of Pokemon at this time... well, most of them anyway'

Shiroe sighed and facepalmed himself internally for forgetting such an important detail.

As for now, he decided to act like he was enlightened by her words in order to avoid making the situation even worse.

"Ah, yes... this task is indeed very 'difficult' to achieve"

"That's right, just the other day my friend and I got hit with the move Thunder Shock and the others had to take us to our bed..."

Akari got so into the mood of telling the story that she didn't notice a person in a survey corps outfit appearing right behind her.

"What... are you doing, Akari?"

"...!"

Akari flinched at the sudden words of a familiar voice and instantly turned around just to see a young teenage boy with slate grey hair, grey eyes, and fair skin while wearing a red cap with a matching scarf around his neck.

"It's just you, Rei... you scared me"

"Hm"

"As for what this is, I was just telling him about the other day were we both got struck with the move Thunder Shock"

"Oh? Ain't that the day when we got Pikachu"

"That's right!"

The two friends began chatting with each other, forgetting about Shiroe who was just standing there beside them in silence with a disbelieving look on his face.

'Did they seriously forget about me?'

Shiroe thought as he stared up at the skies and asked himself whether he was that unnoticeable.

- Shing! Shing!

Honedge who had been floating beside Shiroe saw the lonely expression he had as the Pokemon started nudging at his back, worried for his trainer.

"Hm?"

- Shing! Shing!

"Hahaha, is that so?"

-Shing~

Shiroe chuckled and patted Honedge, not knowing their interaction was seen by another person in a lab coat.

"Oh my, what a wonderful bond you have with your Pokemon"

"Hm?"

Shiroe turned his head toward the voice and saw a middle-aged man with dark skin, lavender eyes, a stubbly mustache, and black hair running up to them.

As for Akari and Rei, they naturally heard the voice and turned their heads in the same direction that Shiroe was looking at.

And they both opened their eyes wide at the sudden arrival of a familiar individual.

"Professor Laventon?!"

"Professor...?"

Akari and Rei had question marks appearing all over their faces, seeing their professor appear right in front of the group.

"Why are you here, professor?"

"Ah, well, you see... Captain Cyllene told me of an outsider wanting to join the survey corps with an unknown Pokemon beside him and I couldn't help but be interested"

"..."

"And so, I came upon here"

After saying that, Laventon turned his eyes toward the floating Honedge with stars shining in his eyes before turning back to stare at Shiroe.

"Shiroe, was it?"

Shiroe nodded in confirmation as Laventon smiled in response.

"May I...?"

"Of course, professor. It's not a problem at all"

Shiroe grinned, already knowing what the professor wanted just from the way he stared at his Honedge.

And with a nod toward his Honedge, the Pokemon wiggled and floated forward, appearing right in front of the professor.

This got the professor to smile even more as he started observing every nook and cram of Honedge.

"Oh! Fascinating... it seems to be the Pokemon Honedge but its form seems to have changed to a blade instead.

"...Honedge?"

Both Akari and Rei felt doubtful at the professor's words as they have never seen or heard of that Pokemon.

As for Laventon, he ignored them as he kept circling Honedge with awe and curiosity while hastily jotting down notes in his notebook.

"..."

Akari and Rei turn to stare at each other before shaking their heads, feeling helpless at their professor's obsession as they decided not to care too much anymore.

And even after several minutes, the professor still wasn't done as Rei had already enough waiting and stepped in.

"Professor Laventon, how 'bout we do this later?"

"Rei?"

"Don't chu think our friend here wants to start his trial already?"

"Ah..."

Laventon chuckled and turned slightly red as he brushed the back of his head, feeling ashamed at his blunder.

"I do apologize for my attitude, Shiroe... I just couldn't help it when seeing a new Pokemon, haha..."

"It's fine, it's fine, I don't mind at all"

Shiroe waved his hand, not feeling offended as he truly did not care.

In fact, if he could gain a favor from the professor just by doing a small thing like this then he'll gladly do it.

"Ehem... Rei, I'm sure Captain Cyllene gave you something for our friend here"

"Oh, right... this is for you"

Rei walked up to Shiroe and gave him two things — a satchel, and 25 pokéballs.

"Nice"

Shiroe receives them with a wide smile on his face as he tied the satchel to his waist, not matching his modern clothes at all.

"That satchel doesn't exactly match your, er, mode of dress..."

Akari commented with a strange expression while Rei nodded in agreement, feeling the same way as her.

As for the Laventon, he just chuckled and smiled, not caring the slightest bit at the strange fashion of Shiroe.

"..."

Shiroe shook his head, feeling helpless as he didn't exactly have a choice in his clothes when he transmigrated.

He just sighed and decided that once the trial was over, he'll change his current one to era-appropriate clothing.

As for the 25 pokéballs, he stored them inside the satchel but secretly transferred them to the system bag as it was more efficient that way.

"So, when does the trial start?"

"You can start them anytime but the trial only last until midnight"

"Oh... if that's the case, then..."

Shiroe stretched his arms up and let out a mouthful of breath before turning around to admire the ever-expanding beautiful sight of the Obsidian Fieldlands with a smile.

"I'll start right now"