Chapter 7: I'm Just a Bill

The six boarded the helicopter quickly, every one finding a seat. Bill took the pilot's seat. When Reese questioned this, Bill said that he had piloting in his background, and that they'd be safe in his hands. The quiet girl just shrugged and gave him the benefit of the doubt. He then took out a Poké Ball and hit the button, releasing a young Natu. The green chick chirped groggily before staring at Bill.

"You know what to do, Natu. See any trouble on the horizon?"

The bird gained a blue aura as it used Future Sight. After a few seconds, the aura faded. Natu shook its head no.

"Great. Do you want to go back into the ball…?" Bill looked over at the other passengers. "…or do you want to burn some energy playing with them?"

Upon taking a look at the five passengers, the bird chirped happily, its mouth as close to a smile as its small beak could muster.

"Guess that's a yes to the second one. Go play!" With that, the bird took off.

After the rest of the pre-flight activities were done with, he gently lifted the copter into the air. He'd seen the amazed looks that the teenagers and Josh gave as the hangar's roof hatch opened and they took off. He smiled to himself. Even nowadays, he loved impressing people. It was just who he was.

Ever since he was born, Bill Langsford had been a showman. His mom even joked that he was born "wearing a top hat and cane". His dad was an Air Force pilot (which he probably owed some of his skills to) and his mom stayed at home. Bill's mom had seen his gift with math and computers and happily fed his hunger for knowledge. He sped through high school and college, and found himself working at a programming institute in Celadon. He rubbed elbows with many people over the years, from Gym Leaders to Pokemon Professors, and got along easily with all of them.

He got his big break in college though, as he helped digitize the first pokémon into a PC system. It was a Growlithe named Moses, and that system would turn out to be the precursor to the worldwide network that he would create. He wasn't alone, of course. All of the friends he'd made in the process: Lanette, Bridgette, Bebe, Celio, and many others, and the several hundred different types of pokemon he'd met over the years.

Sometime later, he'd purchased the Sea Cottage in an effort to duck from the constant notoriety he received. That's when he started dabbling in teleportation…

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the woman in his GPS announcing their arrival at their destination. Memories of his past could be further dwelled upon later. Right now, he had a mission to carry out.