Chapter 05

In the blink of an eye, a week passed and Professor Rowan was almost in front of Carolina's house quite early in the morning to fetch his new student, Mikael, whom he grew even more curious of after learning more about him from Carolina.

After all, he saw the picture of the Reverse World and learned about what happened to the children inside of it, at least to the extent of Lusamine's and Cynthia's explanation to Carolina.

He also learned about how she found the boy alone, injured, and without memories inside of a forest, how quick he was at healing, learning, and his coveted ability to converse with Pokemon.

The last one was indeed a surprise, it was only something that one could find in old legends, and he agreed that it should be kept a secret as most as possible until Mikael can protect himself.

For now, only Eric, the doctor who healed the boy, Carolina, her two granddaughters, and himself knew about it, and the lower they are, the better.

After all, nefarious people exist everywhere and the power one could have by using someone like Mikael is bigger than anyone would believe at first.

It's also dangerous even within the researchers' circle because it can greatly help them in their researches, and greed is not uncommon for humans, making them do things they could regret later on.

Nevertheless, all the thought that Rowan had quickly disappeared as he saw the ready to leave Mikael with a specially made bag hanging on his side and his Eevee on too of his head.

What seemed weird however was the saddened, almost disappointed expression Mikael had on his face supported by the Eevee's ears being down with the same pessimistic expression.

Rowan understood that something happened as he only saw Carolina along with Mikael with no trace of her two granddaughters in the vicinity while it was their last chance to see each other for a long time.

"...Is everything alright? Are you ready to leave or do you need a few more minutes?" Rowan asked as he could wait a little bit but not delay the departure even for just another day

Mikael looked at Rowan before shifting his gaze to Carolina who simply nodded at him, which seems to stabilize Mikael's mind as he clapped his face with his hands before replying "Yes, I'm ready to go." with a faint smile as he recalled what happened to be put into this situation

*Yesterday*

As the day of Mikael's departure couldn't be any sooner, Cynthia decided to secretly take Mikael to a special place the three children loved to hang out at.

The place was actually where the Reverse World's event happened a while ago, where a beautiful pond with clear water was existing inside of the forest, and although trees were surrounding the area, the pond was clear in a large radius, except for one single tree.

This tree was bigger than the others, not the tallest you could find in the world but it did stand out since it was completely alone and larger than normal trees in this forest.

And on this tree, something seems to have been carved, a drawing depicting the three children being together.

"It brings back memories, don't you think, Mika?" Cynthia said as she laid her hand on the carving they did a few years ago with a melancholic expression

"The first one that comes to mind for me isn't great, but the countless ones following it sure are." Mikael replied as he put down his Eevee so she could hang out with Gible

Cynthia giggled as she remembered the past and declared "The time where I acted far too rashly and almost got us harmed... You know, as much as this day was terrible, it's also the most precious for me, do you know why?" as she rubbed the carving while a smile adorned her face

Mikael approached her and looked at the carving she was brushing before replying "Because it made you realize that you had to change the way you acted before thinking?" believing that it was the right answer

Cynthia huffed as she exclaimed "Wrong, dummy." in a teasing tone before adding "It made me realize how important you are to me and remember how easy it can be to lose someone precious." which left Mikael in a daze as he tried to process her words

"I-Important? P-Precious? I... I am still thankful that the three of you accepted me like family, and I still think that I don't deserve it, but why did you use such weird wording?" Mikael blurted out as he still believed that everything positive happening to him was not deserved

Cynthia, who was gazing at Mikael's beautiful green eyes the whole time he answered, took her hand off the tree trunk, twisted her body to face Mikael, got on her tiptoe, and closed her eyes before planting an unexpected kiss on his lips, making the boy's eyes widen in surprise while his face quickly reddened.

But the kiss didn't last long as Cynthia moved back, crossed her legs while her body was slightly leaned forwards, a hand behind her back and the other one in front of her face as she said "You are that 'kind' of important and precious to me, Mika... And seeing your flustered face is a good enough reward for now." while teasing the poor boy as she licked her lips one last time

This time, however, it didn't take long for Mikael to understand what she meant by that 'kind' of important, he knew about the phenomenon of 'love' and the difference in meaning it could bear.

But when he started to open his mouth to speak, Cynthia put one of her fingers on his lips before mumbling "Now is not the right time for an answer..." which stopped Mikael from saying anything before adding "I know that you always helped me with training too, but I need to get stronger by myself or I wouldn't be able to become the greatest Pokemon trainer in the world... That's why these four years of separation might be needed for both of us."

She then took a few steps back and looked at her Gible who was playing with the Eevee and finally announced "The next time we will see each other I will show you how stronger Gible and I became, and we will also make our feelings clear... Promised?"

Mikael who quietly listened and finally lost his shade of red carefully touched his lips before smiling and replying "It's a promise then."

This outcome pleased Cynthia and with a beaming smile she fetched her Gible and as promised, the next time they would see each other would be in four years.

Mikael was then left alone under the tree as his Eevee climbed back on his head while pondering about Cynthia's suggestion, thinking that it was far from being a bad idea.

Unknowingly to the both of them, the earlier scene was being watched by a younger blond girl who ran back to the house before anyone else with tears in her eyes, but quickly dried them as she found her grandmother and thought about something before asking "Say, Grandma, the new type that Mika found... It's strong against a dragon type, right?"

Carolina, who was gardening at that time while her Garchomp slept under a tree near them looked at her youngest granddaughter with a curious look and didn't see her red eyes because of Lusamine's hat before eventually explaining "Indeed Lusamine, the fairy type is not just strong against dragon type, it's also immune to it. Why did you ask?"

A smile more akin to a smirk appeared on the young Lusamine's face as she replied "Nothing, nothing, I was just curious about it." while she walked away towards the house as if nothing truly happened

Carolina decided to simply shrug it off, but what she didn't see was the dangerous glint that appeared in Lusamine's eyes, a glint that even made her Garchomp wake up and shudder from fear.

*End of Flashback*

Back to the present, everything that transpired yesterday could explain why both girls did not come and say goodbye to Mikael, although the boy didn't know why Lusamine didn't want to see him since that day.

Mikael sighed once more before looking at Carolina again who gave him a big hug as she said "Don't forget to send us letters from time to time and answer my calls when you arrived at Sandgem Town alright? I will do the same."

"Hm, thank you, grandma. I will miss you." Mikael replied as she slightly tightened her hug for a second before releasing him as she finally said "I will miss you too, Mikael."

Mikael then joined Professor Rowan's side and both of them waved farewell to Carolina, Eevee included as she waved one of her front paws.

The reason why Carolina and Mikael would exchange letters and not use another way of communication except a one-sided phone call was because of Sinnoh's tardiness in technology.

Things like radios and colored televisions started to be used a few years ago in Sinnoh, while portable phones and video call devices were only recently created by engineers from Galar and Kalos.

Those technologies were already widespread in those countries, but not within the Pokemon Nation, although it might no longer be so in a few years.

As of now, only Pokemon Centers have the old kind of phone which required you to turn a small wheel to call a number and Professor Rowan's laboratory does as well, which is why it was hard for Mikael to call Carolina since he called directly in the Pokemon Center of Celestic Town.

They then left Celestic Town by taking Route 210 as Eevee started to cheer up the boy by nuzzling herself on his cheek while releasing a calming aura.

This wasn't unnoticed by Professor Rowan who got more and more interested, not only about Mikael but also his Pokemon as he was mainly studying Pokemon evolutions and form changes, which this mysterious Eevee fully characterized.

"If we keep up a good pace we should be able to reach the Pokemon Summer Academy in the evening, there are currently no students but some of my assistant researchers are living in the facility and will let us stay for the night." Professor Rowan said as the trip was going to take a while

Although Rowan could have traveled in a car, he enjoyed traveling on foot far too much to use one which was why the trip would take a few weeks at least.

Mikael nodded before taking Ori off of his shoulder as he said "Then you will walk alongside me, Ori, so we can get used to traveling long distances in the future alright?" before putting the lazy quadrupeds on the ground

"Vee..." Ori mumbled as she enjoyed sleeping on her trainer's head

Rowan, who was curious, asked "Do you intend to travel around in the future even after becoming a researcher Mikael?"

Mikael nodded while looking at his Eevee who walked with her eyes semi-closed before explaining "Cynthia wants to become the Pokemon Champion of Sinnoh, and I promised to accompany her during the journey... Also, I have a dream to catch a lot of different Pokemon, and show everyone how strong any Pokemon can be while visiting the wonders this world has to offer."

"So you will compete with her for the Champion's title then?" Rowan asked as he looked at the boy but Mikael shook his head negatively and replied "No, I am not interested in becoming the very best like her, however, I will still participate in gyms battles and why not the leagues across the world while traveling."

Rowan then shifted his gaze back at the horizon and exclaimed "You sure have marvelous dreams kid, and you got all the time you need to achieve them, life is long but you should still travel when you are young."

"Thank you." Mikael shortly replied as he was happy that his dream was respected by Professor Rowan

And during the day, the both of them kept on talking about various subjects on Pokemon while not forgetting to stop on their way to eat lunch, until they finally reached the Pokemon Summer Academy in the evening just as planned.

When they were in front of the main gate, they saw a young boy playing with a Croagunk who noticed them but before he could ask anything, Professor Rowan introduced himself as he said "I am Professor Rowan, may I know if any researcher is here so we could enter?"

[Croagunk]

The boy nodded and replied "Dad is inside, I will be right back!" while taking a glance at Mikael before blushing for a second and promptly left to fetch his father

Mikael titled his head on the side as he didn't know what happened but shrugged it off before a voice exclaimed "Professor Rowan, it's been a while!" as a middle-aged man whose black hair already left the top of his head dressed in a scientific coat with round glasses appeared from the building followed by the boy who acted timidly and his Croagunk

"Long time no see Jake." Rowan replied with a smile as the scientist opened the gate to let the two travelers inside

"You plan on staying here for the night right?" Jake asked to which Rowan replied with a nod before asking "Are you the only one here?" as it was strange that only a single scientist and his son was in the facility

"Oh right, everyone but me left to do some research at the Mt. Coronet and are camping there for two weeks, it's only been three days." Jake explained before looking at Mikael and his Eevee with a curious look

"And this child is..?" Jake asked while his son looked away whenever the two kids' eyes met, but Croagunk was silently chuckling when he saw his trainer's complexion

"He's Mikael, my student." Professor Rowan proudly declared which made Mikael happy but the other boy jolted in place before shouting "U-Uh? She's a boy?!" confused by the previous revelation while it made Eevee sneer at him and Mikael embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head

The boy's face was even redder than before because of the humiliation he felt from his misunderstanding and while clenching his fists, he smirked as he saw that it was an Eevee mocking him and declared "I-I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" as he pointed a finger at Mikael whose eyes were wide opened from astonishment

Jake sighed before smacking his son's head as he said "It's impolite to point your finger at someone Luke!" which made the boy rub his head from the pain

Rowan then looked at Mikael and saw the look of determination in his eyes before suggesting "How about allowing them to have a small battle right now? I'm sure that we have everything to heal their Pokemon's injuries."

Jake looked at Mikael and asked "Are you sure you want to fight my son and his Croagunk?" worried about the poor boy's Eevee getting beaten

Mikael's and Ori's gaze crossed and both nodded before Mikael announced "I accept your challenge." as he looked at the boy named Luke with a cheerful smile

It would be the first time that Mikael and Eevee fight against someone other than Cynthia's or Carolina's Pokemon, and their first experience in a real Pokemon battle as well.

But the outcome might not be as Jake and Luke expected...