Chapter 7.
Professor Rowan's Lab
After arriving in Shelter Town and taking the train, Ash, Brock, Dawn, Leonardo and his cat Felix, Tony and Machamp, Echo and Chatot, Spike and Budew, Marianne, Lloyd and Snover and Amy were now in Sandgem Town.
"Now we have arrived in Sandgem Town," said Amy, "Where is Professor Rowan's lab?"
"Should be down this street somewhere," Dawn answered.
"Led the way," said Echo.
"Led the way," Chatot repeated.
Dawn chuckled at this cute bond.
"I can tell you and Chatot are already bonding, Echo," said Dawn.
"We sure are," Echo replied, giving the bird a little scratch on the neck.
"So more Animals from Zoosapia come to be Pokemon trainers, eh?" said a male voice.
"Huh?" Ash, Brock, Dawn, Leonardo and his cat Felix, Tony and Machamp, Echo and Chatot, Spike and Budew, Marianne, Lloyd and Snover and Amy turned to the right and they saw a man with white hair and a white mustache, wearing dark brown pants, coat, a blue suit with yellow bottoms on it and he was carrying a brownish orange suitcase, this man was Professor Rowan.
"Professor!" Dawn greeted him.
"I can see that Professor Successor has sent seven Animals here from Zoosapia to be Pokemon Trainers and that you three brought them here," said Professor Rowan.
"You know the professor?" asked Leonardo.
"I do," said Professor Rowan, "He's a very good friend of mine and he has come to my lab a few times using his Poke Portal."
"That explains a lot," said Leonardo.
"What is the Poke Portal?" Ash asked in confusion.
"Pikachu?" asked Pikachu.
"It's a device that teleports humans and humaniod animals from Zoosapia to any Pokemon region they like to go to," Tony explained.
"Is it dangerous?" asked Ash.
"No not at all," said Tony.
"What did it feel like?" asked Dawn.
"Actually we didn't use the Poke Portal, we used this Dimension Chat-Pad," said Leonardo as he showed Ash, Brock and Dawn the Dimension Chat-Pad.
"Wow..." said Ash.
"Pikachu," said Pikachu.
"Since you seven Animals are here to become Pokemon trainers," said Professor Rowan, "May I have your names please?"
"I'm Leo, and this is my cat Felix," said Leonardo.
"I'm Tony, and this is Machamp," said Tony.
"I'm Amy," said Amy.
"I'm Echo, and this is Chatot," said Echo.
"I'm Spike, and this is Budew," said Spike.
"I'm Marianne," said Marianne.
"I'm Lloyd, and this is Snover," said Lloyd.
"I can see that some of you have already befriended some wild Pokemon," said Professor Rowan impressively as he looked at Machamp, Chatot, Budew and Snover.
"Yeah, they really surprised us too," Echo giggled, scratching Chatot's neck.
"Yeah, they really surprised us too," Chatot repeated and Echo couldn't help but giggle.
"Will you three be wanting some Pokemon?" Professor Rowan asked Leonardo, Marianne and Amy.
"You bet," said Leonardo.
"Then come with me to my lab," said Professor Rowan, "I will fix you up with Starter Pokemon and Pokeballs."
So Ash, Brock, Dawn, Leonardo and his cat Felix, Tony and Machamp, Echo and Chatot, Spike and Budew, Marianne, Lloyd and Snover and Amy followed him to his lab.
"How long have you been friends with Professor Successor?" Tony asked Professor Rowan.
"We've been friends for five years," said Professor Rowan.
"Wow," said Tony.
"Professor Rowan," said Amy, "Can Tony, Echo, Lloyd and I have 6 extra Pokeballs as well please?"
"Of course," said Professor Rowan.
"But what for?" Dawn asked.
"Piplup?" Piplup asked.
"Echo, Spike, Lloyd, Amy and I have some brothers, sisters and cousins back home," said Marianne, "When we told them that we were coming here to catch Pokemon, we promised to bring them back Pokemon as souvenirs."
"Aw, that's so sweet," said Dawn with a smile.
"Do you have any ideas on what you would like to catch for them?" Brock asked.
"They said to surprise them," said Amy.
"Really?" Ash asked.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.
"Yeah, they like surprises," said Marianne.
"I'm looking forward to introducing Machamp to my parents and my twin sisters Tara and Tia," said Tony.
"Champ!" Machamp agreed. With a flex of one arm muscle.
"I am looking forward to introducing Budew to my Mom," said Spike.
"Budew!" said Budew.
"And I am looking forward to introducing Chatot to my Mom too," said Echo.
"And I am looking forward to introducing Chatot to my Mom too," Chatot repeated.
"I can see you have a bond with that Chatot, Echo," said Professor Rowan.
"Sure have," she replied, petting the bird.
After a few minutes of walking, the group of 17 arrived at Professor Rowan's lab.
"Here we are," said Professor Rowan.
"Wow..." said Spike.
"Is this your lab, Professor Rowan?" asked Leonardo.
"Meow?" asked Felix.
"It is," said Professor Rowan.
"It's also where I got Piplup from," said Dawn.
"Piplup," said Piplup.
"Was choosing it as your partner difficult?" asked Echo.
"No not at all," said Dawn.
"How so?" asked Lloyd.
"Because on the day I started on my Pokemon journey as a Pokemon Coordinator my Piplup got into a fight with Chimchar and they both escaped from the lab followed by a Starly and Staraptor," said Dawn.
"Whoa, really?!" asked Marianne.
"Yes really," said Dawn.
"Then what happened?" asked Marianne.
"I asked and was allowed to go and search for the four missing Pokemon," said Dawn, "While chasing the Chimchar, Piplup got stucked in a web that was weaved by an Ariados. I mange to get Piplup free by making the Ariados destroy its own web but that same Ariados came back with some more Araidos and they attacked me and Piplup."
"Holy smokes!" said Marianne.
"Piplup and I worked as team and fought off all those Ariados and returned to the lab," said Dawn, "And then I chose Piplup as my first Pokemon because I said our journey together had already begun."
"Sounds like you two were destined for each other from the beginning," said Leonardo.
"Meow," agreed Felix.
Upon entering the lab, Professor Rowan led Ash, Brock, Dawn, Pikachu, Piplup, Leonardo, his cat Felix, Tony and Machamp, Echo and Chatot, Spike and Budew, Marianne, Lloyd and Snover and Amy to a table with three white and red balls.
"Are those with the Starters?" Amy asked Professor Rowan.
"Actually, Amy, the Starters are inside those three Pokeballs," said Professor Rown.
"Isn't that...uncomfortable?" asked Amy.
"No not at all," said Professor Rowan, "Because Pokemon convert to energy while they are inside the Pokeballs."
Professor Rowan picked up the three Pokeballs, threw them into the air and they opened up, along with flashes of light and out came a Piplup, a Chimchar, and a Turtwig.
"Leonardo Turtle, Marianne Tiger, Amy Giraffe," said Professor Rowan addressing Leonardo, Marianne and Amy, "As you three are the only ones without Pokemon, you may choose either the fire type Chimchar, the water type Piplup or the grass type Turtwig. So which ones do you three choose?"
"What would you like, Leo?" Ash asked Leonardo.
"I think I will take Turtwig," said Leonardo as he picked up the Turtwig from the table.
"Turtwig!" the little Pokémon cheered.
"Excellent choice, Leonardo," said Professor Rowan, "Who wants to go next?"
"I will and I have decided to choose Chimchar," said Amy as she took Chimchar from the table.
"Chimchar!" it cheered, hugging her.
"Another excellent choice," said Professor Rowan.
"Then I can have Piplup," Marianne replied, picking up the penguin and giving it a hug.
"Piplup," beamed Piplup as she returned the hug.
"Now you've got a Piplup like I do, Marianne," said Dawn with delight.
"Yeah, Piplup Pals~!" said Marianne with a giggle.
Dawn giggled at that comment as Professor Rowan turned to Tony, Echo, Spike, Lloyd said their Pokemon Machamp, Chatot, Budew and Snover.
"Now that Leonardo, Marianne and Amy now have Pokemon," said Professor Rowan as he handed four Pokeballs to Tony, Echo, Spike and Lloyd, "Here are the Pokeballs you four can use to actually catch Machamp, Chatot, Budew and Snover and officially become their trainers."
"Alright! Ready, guys?" asked Tony as he, Echo, Spike and Lloyd took the Pokeballs from Professor Rowan and Leonardo, Marianne and Amy picked up Turtwig, Piplup and Chimchar's Pokeballs from the table but before Echo, Spike and Lloyd could say "Ready", the 4 Pokeballs they took from Professor Rowan and Turtwig, Piplup and Chimchar's Pokeballs began to glow.
"Uh...is that supposed to happen?" Brock asked.
"I don't think so," said Leonardo and then suddenly Turtwig's Pokeball he was holding turned Green & silver and a sword silhouette appeared around the button and another green sword mark appeared on Turtwig's back.
"Whoa!" said Leonardo in awe.
Suddenly the Pokeball Tony was holding turned Gold & violet and a crown silhouette appeared around the button.
"What the-" Tony asked in shock.
The Pokeball Echo was holding stayed it's usual colours, only a Red Lightning Bolt silhouette appeared around the button and Chatot squawked with surprise.
The red top of the Pokeball, Spike was holding, turned Gray and a Crescent Moon with the silhouette of a wolf's head appeared around the button.
"Huh?" Spike asked in confusion.
Piplup's Pokeball, that Marianne was holding, turned indigo and yellow and a Lightning Bolt crossed with an icicle mark appeared around the button while another appeared on Piplup's right flipper.
"Wow..." said Marianne.
The Pokeball, that Lloyd was holding, turned white and cyan and an Ice paw print mark appeared around the button.
"Cool..." said Lloyd.
Chimchar's Pokeball, that Amy was holding, turned Orange and blue and a E & S stretched out mark appeared around the button while another appeared on Chimchar's right arm.
"Char?!" said Chimchar.
"What was that all about?" Ash asked.
"Pikachu?" Pikachu asked.
"I don't know," answered the awed Brock.
"Machamp, are you ready to be catched?" Tony asked Machamp.
"Machamp!" it answered, flexing his new mark.
"Okay then," said Tony and he threw the transformed Pokeball at Machamp, "Go Pokeball!"
The Pokeball hit Machamp right on the head, then opened with a flash of light. The flash surrounded Machamp and brought it into the Pokeball, which then fell to the floor of the lab, it twitched three times before it gave out the successful dong.
"Alright," said Tony and he picked up the Pokeball, threw it and sent out Machamp, "Machamp, you are officially my Pokemon now."
"Machamp!" cheered Machamp.
"Chatot, are you ready to be catched?" Echo asked Chatot.
"Ready to be catched!" Chatot said.
"Okay," said Echo and she held the Pokeball more closer to Chatot and Chatot pressed the button on the Pokeball with his beak and the Pokeball opened with a flash of light. The flash surrounded Chatot and brought it into the Pokeball and it shook in echo's hand a bit before it gave off the dong.
"Alright!" Echo said and she sent out Chatot, "Chatot, you are officially my Pokemon partner."
"Chatot, you are officially my Pokemon partner," the bird repeated with delight.
"Budew, are you ready to be catched?" Spike asked Budew as she was still in his arms.
"Budew!"
Spike hit the Pokeball on Budew's side causing the Pokeball to open with a flash of light. The flash surrounded Budew and brought her into the Pokeball and it shook before giving out its dong.
"Alright!" said Spike and he sent out Budew, "Budew, you are officially my Pokemon partner."
"Budew!" it cheered happily.
"Snover, are you ready to be catched?" Lloyd asked Snover.
"Snover!" said Snover.
"Okay," said Lloyd and he threw the Pokeball at Snover, "Go Pokeball!"
The Pokeball hit Snover, causing it open with a flash of light. The flash surrounded Snover and brought him into the Pokeball, which then fell to the floor of the lab, it did its shake before going dong.
"Alright!" said Lloyd and he sent Snover out again, "Snover, you are officially my Pokemon partner."
"Snover!" said Snover with delight.
"That's great guys," said Ash, "It means you are almost ready to catch Pokemon."
"Pikachu," said Pikachu.
"Almost? Is there one more step?" asked Amy.
"Yes, you seven animals will be needing these," said Professor Rowan as he picked up a bag filled with 42 Pokeballs.
"Alright!" Spike cheered.
"Why give them a bag full of Pokeballs?," Brock asked as Leonardo took the bag full of Pokeballs from Professor Rowan.
"Well, six for each, of course," said Professor Rowan, "And some extra ones to catch Pokemon for their siblings and cousins."
"Good call," said Dawn.
"Piplup," said her Piplup.
"And one more thing," said Professor Rowan.
"What's that?" asked Marianne.
"These Pokedexs, " said Professor Rowan as he held seven Pokedexs.
"What are Pokedexs?" Amy asked.
"They're handheld computers that give you information on Pokémon you want to know more about," Brock explained.
"That's so cool," said Spike as he took his Pokedex.
"And they also serve as your trainer's license," added Dawn.
"That's great," said Leonardo as he took his Pokedex.
"So we should keep them with us at all times?" asked Marianne as she took her Pokedex.
"Oh yes," said Ash, "Dawn and I do."
Ash and Dawn then showed them their own Pokédexes to prove their point.
"Now that we have Pokeballs and Pokedexes," said Spike, "It means we are ready to go catch Pokemon."
"Alright!" Tony cheered.
"Machamp!" cheered Machamp.
"Well, let's get going then," said Ash.
"Pikachu," said Pikachu.
"Right behind ya!" said Spike.
"Budew!" said Budew.
"Good luck," said Professor Rowan as he watched Ash, Brock, Dawn, Leonardo, his cat Felix and Turtwig, Tony and Machamp, Echo and Chatot, Spike and Budew, Marianne and Piplup, Lloyd and Snover, Amy and Chimchar leave the lab and off they went for their Pokemon catching adventure.