IN1 - Unexpected Partner

Xander POV

"Ah, Professor Hawthorn!" Birch greeted jovially, "So glad you could make it! I'm terribly sorry I pulled you from your journey, but I couldn't wait to try this out!" The rotund professor was excited, apparently. In truth, I didn't mind being pulled away, the nine hours spent on the plane helped me rally my emotions from my little nightmare episode a couple of days ago. That was one of my worst ones yet… not only getting taunted with something that could never happen, but that very same taunt I fell for, getting ripped away from me…

"Professor Hawthorn?" Birch asked worriedly.

I sigh as I stick my hands in my grey labcoat's pockets.. "The nightmares struck recently, one of the worst…"

He winces in sympathy. When I was nominated to become a Professor, everyone received a file regarding my health. Needless to say, many were a bit worried about my sleeping problems. With mild insomnia (caused by subconscious terror of sleep), DRC (Dream-Reality Confusion), my depression (caused by the previous two and that), and my poor social abilities, I was almost rejected. It was Professor Oak playing recordings of my work as his Apprentice that convinced the majority to name me a Professor.

Birch was the only one besides Oak who approved of me right off the bat before the recordings. As such, I do have a bit of respect and trust in the man. I admitted the cause of insomnia was due to my terror of sleeping, and told him of my nightmares. Birch, despite being one of the goofier and more vocal professors, was an excellent listener.

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that," he apologizes. "Would you like to talk over some tea?"

I shake my head. While he was a good listener, I couldn't talk about her. Never.

"Hmm… how about I introduce you to my family then?" he suggested. "Though, I do have a guest over… she's about your age, I think."

"That'll be fine."

Mrs. Birch was a very kind woman, though her son, Brendon, had much to be desired. The dark haired preteen wasn't a bad kid, but it seems about 90% of the boys in this world believe they are the next emperor with their arrogance. After the first five minutes of bragging, I decided to show who is who here, and let Java take a few shots with Zap Cannon.

He stopped bragging after that.

What really caught my interest was the girl who was staying with them.

"Ah, Professor Hawthorn, meet our guest, Ms. Anabel Destra," Professor Birch introduced me to the girl about my age. Now, I don't remember everything about the anime of Pokemon, but I do remember the Battle Frontier, and Anabel was not 16!

In the anime, the purplish-pink haired girl had the appearance of a boy, being only eleven, and had a somewhat formal white and gold long sleeve and loose lavender pants. The girl in front of me matched only two things, the lilac hair and lilac eyes.

The Anabel in front of me was clearly female, if her curves had anything to say about it. Now, I am by no means a pervert, but I am a male. I, of course, limited myself to a single discrete glance before smacking my hormones out the window.

Her clothes, thankfully, were quite modest, being a black and silver trimmed long sleeve with a purple psychic type symbol where the left breast pocket would be, and her pants were mildly loose blue jeans.

She nodded, "A pleasure to meet you, Professor Hawthorn." Her voice was soft and lyrical, but there was a clear iron will within it. She then made to shake my hand. The moment my hand touched hers, however, pain flashed across her features and she jolted back as if struck.

"Anabel!" Birch cried, worried.

I sigh, knowing exactly why she reacted in such a way. "You're an Empath, aren't you?"

Anabel's eyes widen. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I'm a Psychic," I explain, "I felt something similar to Psychic energy, but aimed more towards my heart instead of my mind." It was total bull crap, but Psychics and Empaths hardly ever communicate… so the chances of proof against such a claim are little to none.

It was at this moment that Birch, ever the smart one, decided it was time to leave the room. He had a feeling that this could go one of two ways. One, the path he felt was most likely, was that Hawthorn would go hyper defensive and warn Anabel to control herself sternly. Two, the path he felt was highly unlikely (but didn't discount the possibility), was that Hawthorn explained some things. Either way, it was best to not be around… this was a private matter.

I eye Birch slightly as he leaves the room, and sigh once the door closes.

"How…?"

I turn to Anabel, whose voice was strained with shock and hurt.

"How can you hold so much pain?"

I sigh at the question, and gesture to sit down on the couch in the room. She does so, and I sit on the opposite end. "Normally, I'd just brush people off and tell them to mind their own business," I say with a sigh. "But you're an empath, and that means my emotions are pretty much an open book to you, aren't they?"

She hesitantly nods in the affirmative. "My powers are more focused through physical contact, but I can read the ambient emotion of people, yes."

"Well, if I tried to play off and use my cold mask, I'd just waste time looking like a fool as you can see right through me," I state. "I am not one to waste time, nor am I one to look like a fool, so I'm not going to bother with any of that."

"I see…" Anabel noted quietly. "But at the same time, you aren't just going to tell me everything about yourself. You seem to be a very private person, and you have a large amount of loathing and distrust to everything."

I nod. "Correct. So I will tell you this…" I breathe deeply. "The truth is, I can't handle this pain. I bottled it all up and stupidly let it fester. Now…"

"You're scared you'll lose your mind if you let it go," Anabel finished. I nod slowly. Anabel sighed ruefully. "Perhaps this is why Raikou and Entei were so insistent I come here… to help you."

I raise a brow. "Raikou and Entei told you to come here?"

She nodded. "Yes, though they never said why. All they said is that a Mew wanted them to pass the message. Oh, and please don't ask about them, I made a promise to not reveal their location."

I wave it off. "It's fine. The Mew in question was probably the one I came across. It informed me of my psychic ability and to open my heart unless I want to go mad."

"Ah, the Psychic's curse…" Anabel sighed. After a few moments of silence, she looked to me with a determined glint in her eyes. "I don't know if this was the Legendaries true intent, but I can't just let you suffer so much pain. I'm going to travel with you."

I blink in surprise. That wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

"I don't know how much help I'll be," she admitted, "but I have to at least try."

I felt my lips twitch as I reply. "I have a feeling you're just as stubborn as me."

"So…?"

I sigh, but even I heard the mirth in it. "I'll be staying here about a week working with Professor Birch, after that, we'll be heading to Kanto and joining up with some friends of mine. We'll often be leaving them to help with other Professors, but that group is where I'm trying to be."

"So we'll be travelling a lot then?" She inquired, knowing that my statement meant she could come along with me.

"Oh most certainly," I nod. "But if you ever need to head back to wherever you need to be, I'll travel with you. You'd probably try to convince me anyways, so let's save some time."

Anabel giggled. "Sure, if that's how you want to say it."

Yes, Anabel has officially joined the party. And yes, she will break through to Xander. Still gonna take a while though, probably not until Ash gets to Hoenn, if I can get there.

Also, this Anabel is the Battle Frontier Anabel, not the International Police Anabel. I personally just don't believe any eleven year old could get into such a powerful group of trainers, even if she had telepathy/empath abilities. Now, a sixteen year old with several years of battling under her belt and telepathic abilities… that makes much more sense.