Chapter 7: The First Progress Report
Loud Residence (8:02 A.M.)
As the scent of freshly cooked food hit Lisa's nose on the way to the dining room, she thought 'Smells like breakfast is ready, which hopefully means that everyone else should be awake by now. Thank goodness for that.' with a tired smile on her face.
As soon as she had reached the dining room, the four year-old genius peered inside, noticing that aside from Rita, everyone else was seated at the dining room table, ready to eat breakfast with each other.
'That's odd...where's Mother? I assumed she would be here as well...' thought Lisa, wondering why the blonde-haired woman wasn't sitting with the rest of her family.
Before she could take the time to think about it further, Lynn Sr. notices her and with a smile, he says "Good morning, Lisa. Come on in - we're just about to have breakfast."
"As much as I would like to join everyone here in breaking my fast, I'm afraid that I have to decline at the moment. I came here for another reason." replied Lisa, causing the others to look at her curiously. "Professor Oak called me earlier this morning - he wants to speak with us as soon as possible."
"That friend of Marucho's wants to talk to us? Why?" asked Luan, raising an eyebrow. "Did Lincoln do something wrong?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did." grumbled Lynn as she continued to eat her breakfast. "Lousy, no-good, stinking jinx..."
Ignoring Lynn's comments, Lisa answered "Fortunately, no. Rather, from what Professor Oak told me earlier, he has finished a progress report on our brother's activities in Kanto and wishes to meet and share the details of it with all of us."
"A progress report? Why would he need to give us a report on what that little twerp is doing?" asked Lori.
"What even is the deal with this Professor Oak guy anyway? All we know about him is his name and his general field of study," Lana pointed out.
"Lana does raise a good point. Why should we meet with this guy?" Lola asked.
With an unsure look before giving her sisters a questioning glance, Luna asked, "What do you girls think? Should we go see what he wants?"
"Might as well - I'd like to see for myself what kind of person Professor Oak is." replied Lori, shrugging. "That and I'm kind of curious on how Lincoln's doing without us."
"I bet he's crying like a wuss and wishing he was back home with us." said Lynn as she speared some of her food on her plate with her fork. "As for this meeting with Professor what's-his-name, you girls can count me out - I don't care about what kind of stuff Stinkcoln's been up to."
"Junior, that's no way to speak about your brother." scolded Lynn Sr. with a disapproving frown. "Plus, it might be a good idea for all of you to meet Professor Oak for yourself."
"But Dad..." protested Lynn, only to stop speaking when her father narrowed his eyes at her. "...Fine, I'll go. Just let me finish my breakfast first."
Nodding in approval, Lynn Sr. says "Glad to hear it. Now then, you girls should go on ahead while I let your mother know that Oak wants to speak with us." before leaving the dining room and heading towards the stairs.
"We should get going as well. I'll need to get into contact with Professor Oak as soon as possible." added Lisa before leaving the dining room as well. After glancing at each other for a few seconds, everyone else aside from Lynn and Lori follow after her.
Eyebrow raised at the sight of her oldest sister waiting for her, Lynn asks "What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be heading upstairs with the others right now?"
"Someone has to make sure you don't conveniently 'forget' to attend the meeting." replied Lori, giving Lynn a narrow-eyed glance. "Not to mention that there's something I need to tell you before we head upstairs."
"Whatever it is, hurry up and say it already - I just want to get this stupid meeting over with."
"We're going to be meeting Professor Oak for the first time in a few minutes and considering the reason why Lincoln was sent to Kanto, it's for the best that he doesn't find out about what happened over the last week." answered Lori as she crossed her arms. "So keep that mouth of yours under control and don't say anything stupid about Lincoln or his bad luck. Got it?"
Rolling her eyes, Lynn replied "Yeah yeah, I get it." as she finished off her breakfast before getting to her feet. "So are we going to get going or what?"
"After you."
Lincoln's Room (8:05 AM)
While his daughters were making their way to Lisa's room, Lynn Sr. headed to Lincoln's bedroom door and opened it, quickly noticing that Rita was sitting on Lincoln's bed in the same dreary state she was the night before.
'Looks like she went through another sleepless night.' thought the brown-haired man worriedly as he glanced at his sullen-looking wife. Walking over, he placed a hand on her shoulder and asked "Honey...are you alright?"
Giving her husband a tired look as he sat down beside her, Rita asked "Lynn...what do you want now? Can't you just leave me alone, please?"
"I came here to get you, honey - Lisa said that Professor Oak called her, wanting to speak with us. All of us."
Surprised, Rita asked "Professor Oak wants to talk to us...?"
"That's right. I think Lisa mentioned something about him giving a report on Lincoln's progress in Kanto." replied Lynn Sr. as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I came here to get you so that you could hear it with us."
Sighing sadly, Rita answered "What's the point, Lynn? Sure, it'll be nice to know whether Lincoln's okay or not, but why bother when he hates us for what we've done to him?"
"Rita, I've told you this before and I'll tell you again - Lincoln doesn't hate us. He's not the kind of person to let hatred overtake him." replied her husband before a smile appeared on his face. "Tell you what, we'll go speak with Professor Oak right now and if our son's still there with him, you can find out for yourself and put those worries of yours to rest."
"Do you really think he'd be willing to speak with us, Lynn? Even after treating him like an outcast and sending him away?"
"I'm sure that he'll give us a chance to talk to him."
After considering her husband's words for a few minutes, Rita nods and replies "...Okay, I'll come with you."
"Great! So are you ready to get going? Lisa should be contacting him anytime now."
"I'm ready." answered Rita as she got to her feet and started to follow Lynn Sr. out of the room. "Lynn...?"
"What is it, honey?" asked Lynn Sr., turning around to give his wife a concerned glance.
"I'm...sorry about what happened last night. You were just concerned about me and I snapped at you like that."
"It's alright. I understand that you've been stressed out about this whole ordeal." replied Lynn Sr. reassuringly before giving his wife a stern look. "However, I want you to start sleeping again after this - this self-destructive behavior of yours is something our family can't afford to deal with at the moment."
"I'll...I'll try, Lynn." answered Rita, nodding.
Satisfied with her answer, Lynn Sr. nods before opening the door and leaving the room. After spending a few short seconds glancing back at the bed she had spent the night sulking on, Rita followed after him.
Lisa's Room (8:09 AM)
"So how much longer until we're able to talk to this Professor Oak guy?" asked Lana as she watched Lisa attempt to gain contact with Professor Oak's laboratory with the VideoPhone.
"Shouldn't be much longer - he's expecting a call from me, so we should be speaking with him shortly." answered Lisa before noticing that Lynn and Lori had entered the room. "About time the two of you got here."
"Be thankful that I'm even here at all - I'd rather be in my room psyching myself up for my upcoming softball game." replied Lynn irritably. "So how are we going to talk with this Professor guy anyway?"
Pointing at the VideoPhone, Lisa answers "We'll be using this to speak to him."
"What in the world is that thing supposed to be?" asked Lori as she gaped at the large machine.
"It's a VideoPhone - I'm not going to go into further details about it, but essentially this is how we're going to speak with Professor Oak." answered Lisa before she returned her focus back onto contacting Professor Oak. "And no, I'm not going to make another one for you so you can use it to talk to that boyfriend of yours. If you want one so badly, build or buy one yourself."
"Like I'd want something that big and clunky-looking in my room, anyway." muttered Lori, turning away with a huff.
Ignoring Lori's comment, Lisa muttered "Still no answer - let's try calling him one more time..." before re-dialing Professor Oak's number and sending another call to Oak's lab. As soon as she had finished sending the call, the bedroom door opened once again with both of the Loud parents entering into the room.
"Lisa, have you managed to connect to Professor Oak's place yet?" asked Lynn Sr. as he led Rita over to the chairs set up by VideoPhone.
"I've given his lab a call - all he needs to do is answer it." answered Lisa before walking over towards Rita with a look of concern on her face. "Goodness...she looks like she hasn't slept in days. Is she alright?"
"Your mother's had a rough couple of nights ever since Lincoln was sent to Kanto. I think she's worried about him."
Crossing her arms, Lynn mutters "Just another thing that no-good jinx is responsible for...", only to let out a slight yelp of pain as Lori elbows her in the side.
"Knock it off."
With a reassuring gesture, Rita says "I'll be fine, Lisa...I just...I just want to talk to Lincoln and see if he's okay."
"...Alright, If you say so." replied Lisa, looking unconvinced.
Suddenly, the sound of beeping could be heard coming from the VideoPhone, causing the four year-old to mutter "About time he answered..." before rushing over in order to answer it.
"So that's what that beeping sound was...I was wondering what was causing it." mused Luna as Lisa quickly picked up the receiver and answered the incoming call, causing the visage of Professor Oak to appear on the VideoPhone's screen.
With a smile on her face, Lisa greeted "Hello again, Professor Oak."
"Hello again to you as well, Miss Loud. I'm presuming that you're calling me about the progress report?"
Nodding, Lisa answered "That would be the case, yes." before gesturing towards the rest of her family. "And as you requested this morning, I've brought the other members of my family here to listen to the report as well."
"Goodness...you weren't kidding when you mentioned that your family was a large one." commented Oak before noticing that Rita and Lynn Sr. were there as well. "Ah, it's good to see the two of you as well! How are you?"
"We're doing alright, Professor." replied Lynn Sr. as he wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders. "So how's Lincoln doing over there? Everything going smoothly?"
"Lincoln and the Brawlers are doing quite nicely for himself here in Kanto. As a matter of fact, I've asked Miss Lisa to bring you all here so I could give a report to you about that particular subject." answered Oak with a nod. "Before we get to that however, I feel that it would be best if we got introductions between myself and the rest of your family out of the way first."
"Sounds good to me." replied Lynn Sr. before giving his daughters a small glance. "Alright girls, go ahead and introduce yourselves."
"I'll go first." said Lori before stepping forward and giving Professor Oak a small wave. "Name's Lori. Nice to meet you, Professor Oak."
"Nice to meet you as well, Miss Lori." replied Oak with a smile. "I take it you're the oldest of all your siblings?"
"That's right. I'm guessing Lincoln's told you about me?"
"He's told me a lot about all of you." replied Oak with a nod. "So who's going to go next?"
"Ooh! I do, I do!" chimed Leni before stepping forward as Lori returned back to her seat. "Hi there, I'm Leni! It's like, nice to meet you Mr. Professor Guy!"
"Er...it's nice to meet you too, Miss Leni. And the name's 'Professor Oak' - please try not to forget it, if you wouldn't mind." responded Oak as Leni sat back down while Luna and Luan stepped forward to introduce themselves next.
"Name's Luna. Nice to meet you, dude."
"And I'm Luan - comedy and pranking extraordinaire!" added Luan with a wide grin. "Say, do you wanna hear a joke?"
At this, the other siblings silently started shaking their heads wildly behind Luan's back, hoping that the old professor wouldn't accept her offer.
"...Maybe another time, Miss Luan. I'd like for us to finish up with these introductions first so we can get started on the report." answered Oak, causing the others to let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh." replied Luan, feeling somewhat shut down by Oak's reply. "Well, suit yourself. Your loss."
Once Luna and Luan had retaken their seats, Lynn started to step forward, only for Lori to quickly grab her arm, stopping her.
"Remember, not a single word about Lincoln or his bad luck, got it? Just introduce yourself and sit back down."
"Yeah, yeah - I got it." muttered Lynn, prompting Lori to give her one last narrow-eyed look before letting go of her. Now freed from her older sister's grasp, the sporty thirteen year-old said "The name's Lynn. Nice to meet you or whatever." before heading back to her seat.
'So that's Lynn - the one that apparently started this whole 'bad luck' mess...' thought Oak as he watched Lynn sit back down while Lucy stepped forward in her place.
"Lucy," Lucy said.
Realizing that Lola was attempting to introduce herself first, Lana growled and grabbed the back of her dress, saying "Hey, I'm going first!"
"No, I am! I'm the prettier of the two of us!" leading to the pair starting to argue with each other, much to the embarrassment of the rest of the family.
Watching the argument rage on with a raised eyebrow, Oak asked "...Are those two usually like this?"
"Nah, this is a tame day compared to how those two usually fight with each other." answered Luan. "That's Lola and Lana - the twin sisters of our happy little family. Lola's the one wearing pink while Lana's the one with the red cap."
"Finally, we have Lily - our youngest daughter." said Lynn Sr. before holding Lily up to the VideoPhone's screen. "Say hello, Lily."
"Poo-poo."
"It's nice to meet you too, Lily." replied Oak before a smile appeared on his face. "Well now, that seems to be everyone here. Shall we get started with my report on Lincoln's progress as a Pokemon Trainer? I'm fairly certain that it's something all of you have been looking forward to."
Raising an eyebrow, Lori asked "Pokemon Trainer? What in the world is that and what does it have to do with Lincoln?" As everyone else aside from her parents, they nodded in agreement, curious to know what a Trainer was as well.
Even Lola and Lana had stopped arguing long enough to give the old professor a curious glance.
"Ah yes. I'll give a brief explanation. Pokemon are mysterious creatures that inhabit various parts of the world. They can be found just about anywhere within any of the known regions, be it forests, plains, rivers, lakes, mountains, caves, the sky, even the vast ocean. Positively fascinating creatures," Professor Oak briefly explained, as he tossed a Pokeball, releasing a large canine-like Pokemon with an orange pelt marked by jagged black stripes and shaggy beige-colored fur on its head, chest, legs and tail.
Eyes gleaming in delight as she gazed at Arcanine, Lana squealed "Oh man, they have giant dogs over there!? That's so cool!"
While the Loud sisters gaped at the canine-like Pokemon in awe, Oak said "I'd like for you to meet Arcanine, a very good friend of mine." as he gestured towards the Fire-Type with a smile on his face. "Go on ahead and say hello."
In response, Arcanine lets out a loud howl before releasing a large jet of flame from its mouth into the air, startling the entire Loud family as they back away slightly from the screen.
"That thing breathes fire!?" asked Lynn with widened eyes while the two parents looked at each other in concern, worried about the fact that their son may end up encountering an intimidating-looking Pokemon like that during his time in Kanto.
Oak then recalled Arcanine back into his Pokeball. After putting it away, he gave Lana a smile and said "I hope that was a sufficient enough showing for you, Miss Lana."
Nodding eagerly with a toothy grin, Lana exclaims "Definitely! Can you show us another one?"
"Maybe another time, perhaps. So does anyone else have any questions to ask before we continue?"
After getting over the initial shock of seeing a Pokemon for the first time, Luna raises her hand and says "I've got one, Professor - what do these Pokemon things have to do with Lincoln?"
"I'm glad you asked that, Miss...Luna, was it?"
"Yeah, that's right." replied the rock-loving brunette before pointing at him. "And don't add the 'Miss' part, dude - I don't care much for formalities."
"Very well then. As for your question - your brother had managed to capture some Pokemon of his own during his and the Brawlers' time in Kanto."
At this, Lori, Leni, Lana, Lola, Luna, Luan and Lynn blinked in surprise - their brother had managed to capture Pokemon?
"Wait...so Lincoln managed to catch some of those Pokemon things?" asked Luan, getting a nod from Professor Oak in response.
"Indeed. He's good at it, too - I've seen him battle and capture one myself."
"Well, how about that? Looks like the twerps found something that he's good at after all." said Lori with a smirk.
Nodding in agreement, Lola replied "About time, if you ask me."
"So he captured a couple of dumb animals. Big whoop." said Lynn, trying to keep an unimpressed look on her face.
"First of all, please refrain from calling Pokemon 'dumb animals', young lady - they're not fond of being insulted." replied Oak with a stern frown. "Secondly, your brother has done a lot more than just capturing a couple of Pokemon - he also managed to complete the Trainer's exam and became an officially licensed Pokemon Trainer two days ago."
"And how is Lincoln doing so far capture-wise? Did he manage to acquire anything?" Lisa asked.
"Before I go into further details about that, I think I should tell you and your family about his starter Pokemon first." answered Oak before pressing a button on a nearby console, causing an image of Pikachu to appear on Lisa's VideoPhone screen.
Eyes widened in awe, Lana said "Whoa...I've never seen anything like that before! What is it, Professor?"
"Aw, that thing is, like, totes adorable! Just look at that funny-looking tail it's got!" gushed Leni as she cooed over the picture.
"This Pokemon is called Pikachu - one of the species of Pokemon that are found within the Kanto region." answered Oak as a smile appeared on his face. "And your brother had managed to capture one to serve as his starter Pokemon."
"So what's with its tail? It looks like a lightning bolt." asked Lola as she stepped closer to get a better look at the picture.
"The Pikachu species are Electric-Type Pokemon, Miss Lola - that means they're able to utilize electricity generated within their bodies in order to attack their opponents." added Oak before noticing the blank expression. "...They can use electricity to shock their enemies."
"Ah...I see now." replied Lola before giving Oak an eager look. "So tell me - has that thing managed to zap Lincoln yet?"
Unnerved by the six year-old's question, Oak replied "Er...not really. In fact, the two seem to be on friendly terms with each other."
"Dang it. I was hoping that he would have gotten zapped at least a little bit..."
"Not cool, Lola. How would you like it if that thing decided to zap you, huh?" scolded Luna with a frown.
Scoffing, Lola retorted "Like I'd let it get the chance to do something like that."
"You mean to tell me that Marucho knew that Lincoln was doing this kind of stuff in Kanto?" Luan asked.
"Of course. Marucho did say that he was going to be doing a lot more than just helping Professor Oak with his research, didn't he?" replied Lisa in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yes, and that includes catching/training Pokemon to utilize in the Pokemon League challenge as well."
"Pokemon League challenge? What's that?" asked Leni curiously.
"The Pokemon League challenge is a competition to determine who is the best Pokemon Trainer within a certified region."
Giving Professor Oak a questioning look, Lori asked "So Lincoln's competing in some kind of competition with other Trainers? What does he get if he wins?"
"Well, alongside a sizable cash prize, he'll also get a chance to battle against the Elite 4 - four of the strongest Trainers in the entire Kanto region. If he manages to beat them, then he gets to challenge the Kanto League Champion. And if he manages to win that battle, then your brother becomes the new Champion."
"Wait...Lincoln can make money doing this stuff?" asked Lola in disbelief.
"That's correct. In fact, every time he wins a battle against another Trainer, he wins prize money that gets put into a bank account I've set up for him."
"You've set up a bank account for my son?" asked Lynn Sr. with a raised eyebrow. "I mean...not that I mind or anything, but why?"
Shrugging, Oak replied "Every Trainer, upon starting their journey, gets a bank account meant to hold their winnings. The same reason applies to your son as well."
"So Lincoln's getting paid to do this stuff and he's getting a shot at some kind of championship - sounds like he's got a lot to gain from this whole Trainer thing after all..." mused Luna thoughtfully.
"Professor, we're starting to get off-topic here - can we get back to the report, please?" asked Lisa, receiving a nod from Oak in return.
"Of course. Now then, Pikachu isn't the only Pokemon Lincoln has managed to capture - he also caught a wild Fearow while wandering around Route 1." answered Oak before pressing another button, causing an image of the golden-brown Flying-Type to appear on screen alongside Pikachu's picture.
"This Pokemon's name is 'Fearow'. They tend to be a rather vicious species of Flying Type Pokemon, but Lincoln was able to catch the one he encountered," Professor Oak explained.
"Oh man, look at the size of that thing! And that beak looks pointy enough to punch through anything..." said Lana as she stared at the image of Fearow, awestruck.
"Electric yellow animals and giant birds? Where do I sign up to be a Trainer too, Professor Oak? I wanna catch monsters, too!" asked Lana eagerly.
"Well...I'm afraid that you're going to have to wait a few years before you can attempt the Trainer's exam, Miss...Lola, was it?"
"Lana."
"Right," said Oak with a nod. "Anyway, as I was saying, you'll have to wait until you're ten years old before you become eligible to take the Trainer's exam."
"Aw man...I have to wait? That sucks!" whined Lana as she pouted while crossing her arms.
"Quit whining, Lana - you only have to wait four more years before you're eligible to take the exam for yourself." said Lisa, annoyed with her older sister's complaining. "I have to wait six more years before I can legally take the exam."
Returning her attention back to Professor Oak, she asked "So, is anything else in the report you wish to share, Professor?"
"There is, actually." replied Oak, as a picture of the Brawlers appeared, with Lincoln holding a Rainbow Wing. "Before he officially became a trainer, he spotted the legendary bird Pokemon Ho-Oh, and received a Rainbow Wing as a parting gift."
"So what's so special about that bird and what it gave Lincoln anyway?" asked Lori with a raised eyebrow. "Surely, it's not that big of a deal, right?"
"Well, I don't know too much about the lore surrounding Ho-Oh's legend, but from what I do recall, it's said that it was able to resurrect a trio of Pokemon that had perished during a fire in the Johto region a long time ago."
"And what about that thing it gave him? What can it do?" asked Lola as she pointed at the picture of Lincoln holding the Rainbow Wing.
"Well...I don't know if the stories regarding those particular items are true or not, but the Rainbow Wing is said to bless whoever holds it with eternal happiness." Oak replied.
Letting out a low whistle, Luan said "Wow...to think that our little brother would be entrusted with stuff like that." before a grin appeared on her face. "At least if that Sacred Ash stuff works, we won't have to worry about kicking the bucket anytime soon."
"You said that Ho-Oh was a 'Legendary' Pokemon, Professor...does that mean there are more Pokemon like it out there somewhere?" asked Lucy with a curious expression on her face.
"Very astute of you, Miss Lucy. To answer your question - yes, it's said that there are many different Legendary Pokemon who live on the same planet we do." replied Oak with a nod. "And all of them are said to have strange and unique abilities from manipulating the weather to time travel. In fact, I believe that there are two Pokemon said to live in the Sinnoh region that are able to control the aspects of space and time itself."
"Professor, can we move on to the next part of the report, please?" Lisa asked.
"That's one way of putting it. Anyhow, after catching Fearow, the Brawlers made it to Viridian City, where they received help from Officer Jenny in reaching the Pokemon Center, which is where they called from last night," Professor Oak continued.
"I'm assuming this Pokemon Center thing is a necessity for Trainers?" Lisa asked.
"Indeed. The Pokemon Center has many functions, such as being a place where trainers can heal and rest their tired Pokemon, as well as a Pokemart for shopping for the road ahead, as well as lodging," Professor Oak explained.
"Sounds like being a trainer has all kinds of perks," Luan commented.
"Indeed. But some trouble arose when a duo from Team Rocket, an organization that you would classify as 'the mafia', attacked the Center with the hopes of stealing the Pokemon from the storage facility," Professor Oak continued.
"Sounds like this 'Team Rocket' gang is some kind of bad news," Lynn Sr. commented.
Giving the father a very serious look, Oak replied "Team Rocket is the most powerful criminal organization in the entire Kanto region, known for stealing Pokemon - both from Trainers and from the wild - and exploiting them for profit. And your brother, along with the Cerulean City Gym Leader, managed to prevent two of their members from robbing the Viridian City Pokemon Center last night."
Finally speaking for the first time since the meeting began, Rita asked "Professor...speaking of Lincoln...is he at the lab with you, by any chance? I...I want to speak with him."
Giving the matriarch of the Loud family a concerned look, Oak asks "Goodness...you don't look very well, Mrs. Loud. Are you alright?"
"Rita hadn't been sleeping well since Lincoln left us to go to Kanto, Professor. She's really worried about him." replied Lynn Sr. as he placed a hand on his wife's shoulder reassuringly.
"I see. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he's not here or even in Pallet Town for that matter - he and his friends left for Viridian City sometime yesterday morning."
"Oh...I see." mumbled Rita before giving the older male a pleading look. "Professor...I mean no offense by this, but when you speak to him again, could you let him know that I don't want him staying in Kanto anymore and want him to come back home?"
"I have to agree with my wife on this one, Professor. After what you had just said about this Rocket organization, I don't feel safe with Lincoln and his friends being on his own out there." added Lynn Sr. before a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "Maybe we can still see about having him stay with Aunt Ruth when he gets back..."
"We're not sending him anywhere else, Lynn - he's coming back home to stay with us!" snarled Rita with a furious look on her face, causing her husband to back away nervously.
"But honey, what about..."
"I SAID NO, LYNN!"
"Okay, okay - I get it! We won't send him away!"
After calming down, Rita returns her focus back to Oak and asks "Professor, how soon can you have Lincoln sent back over here?"
"Well, uh...I don't know of a better way to put this, but..." said Oak, scratching the back of his head. "...It's not my call on when - or if - your son will be able to return. That's for him to decide, not me."
While the others gaped at Oak upon hearing the response, Lisa asked "Er...what do you mean by that, Professor? Is there something else about Lincoln's Trainer status that we need to know?" as she raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Well...yes - actually, there is." answered Oak before taking a short breath in order to prepare for what he had to say next. "...I don't know of an easier way to put this, so I'll go ahead and say it right now - upon managing to complete the Trainer's exam, Lincoln has been legally emancipated from your family and recognized as an adult as long as he stays within any of the Pokemon region's."
Upon seeing the Louds gape at him wide-eyed and completely speechless, the old professor worriedly thought 'Oh dear, I think I broke them...'
Thankfully, the silence didn't last very long as all of them started shouting at him all at once, creating a jumbled cacophony of voices.
Once the ruckus had calmed down a few minutes later, Lynn Sr. sputtered "P-professor! Why didn't you tell us that something like that was going to happen!?" with a look of complete shock on his face. Of all the things he expected to happen during Lincoln's trip through Kanto, his son becoming legally emancipated wasn't one of them!
"To be fair, you never bothered to ask about something like that." answered Oak with a raised eyebrow.
"My poor baby has been emancipated!?" cried out Rita, dismayed.
"Uh...what does emancip..emanci...what does that really big word mean?" asked Leni, confused.
"It means that Lincoln is officially considered a legalized adult in all but name and age, entailing him with the privileges, responsibilities and even the consequences of adulthood." replied Lisa, only to receive blank looks from everyone else in response. "...In short, he's considered an adult over there and therefore can do stuff that adults are normally allowed to do."
Eyes widening, Lori asks "Wait...does that mean that Lincoln, despite being eleven, can even do stuff like learn how to drive over there?", worried that her monopoly over the family van was being threatened.
Nodding, Oak replied "If he wanted to. Then again, why would he need a car when he could teach his Fearow how to fly and use that to soar through the skies of Kanto?"
"Aw man, he gets to fly on the back of that bird of his, too?" whined Lana before crossing her arms with a huff. "Not fair..."
"So, let me see if I've got this right - while Lincoln is staying in Kanto, he can do pretty much whatever he wants over there?" asked Luna, getting a nod from Oak in response.
"Pretty much - if he wants to stay up all night, he can." replied Oak with another nod. "As long as it's not against the law, he's allowed to do it. He could even get married tomorrow, if he wanted to."
Raising her hand, Leni asked "Wait...Linky can, like, get married over there?", oblivious to the seriousness of the situation at hand. When Oak nodded in agreement, she squealed before adding "Ooh, can I, like, come to the wedding, too? I always wanted to attend one!"
"That's...completely up to him, Miss Leni. And that's even if he decides to get married in Kanto in the first place."
"My son is not getting married at his age! He's too young to be starting a family of his own!" shrieked Rita hysterically.
"What about if he breaks the law, Professor?" asked Luan nervously. "Would he serve time in jail if he's found guilty of doing something illegal?"
"Yes. If he commits a crime, he'll face an adult's punishment for it." answered Oak before a small smile appeared on his face. "Though I'm fairly certain that you won't have to worry about that - your brother seems smart enough to keep out of trouble."
"...That's not exactly reassuring..."
Recalling something that Oak had said before, Lynn asks "So, Professor - you said before that it's up to Lincoln to decide when he comes back home, right? Does that mean that if he wanted to, he could stay in Kanto for good?"
"Theoretically, yes - he could, if he wanted, find new residence somewhere in any of the Pokemon Regions and live there for the rest of his life." replied Oak, causing everyone else to quickly turn their attention towards him with looks of horror on their faces.
"Wait...so Lincoln could decide to stay there and never come back...?" asked Luan, dread starting to overcome her as she, alongside the rest of her family, started to envision how their life would be without Lincoln in it anymore.
Needless to say, it wasn't something that they liked the look of one bit.
"It's his call. If he wants to stay in Kanto, he can. If he wants to come back home, that's his decision as well." answered Oak with a nod. "He could even choose to come back home right now if he wanted to...though I doubt that would happen considering that he intends on competing in the Pokemon League challenge."
"Well, good for him - if he wants to stay in Kanto forever, let him!" said Lynn with a smirk on her face, satisfied with what Oak had just said. "That just means that we won't have to deal with his stupid bad luck anymore."
"Lynn...I told you earlier to keep your mouth shut about 'you-know-what' and not to bring it up." snarled Lori threateningly as she grabbed the collar of Lynn's shirt and pulled her out of her chair. And what do you go ahead and do? You mention it anyway! What's wrong with you?"
"I have to agree with Lori on this one, dude - you picked a bad time to be bringing something like 'that' up." agreed Luna, giving the thirteen year-old a glare of her own.
"And by 'that', you're talking about your brother being considered bad luck, yes?" asked Oak, causing everyone in the room to quickly look at him, surprised. "To be honest, that's the other reason why I wanted to speak with all of you."
If what they had heard about Lincoln's journey before didn't worry them enough, what Professor Oak had to say next chilled the Loud family to the bone.
"After our flight to Kanto, The Brawlers and I had an...enlightening conversation about the circumstances regarding why Lincoln was heading there in the first place. And now that all of you are here, I want to hear your side of the story regarding this whole 'bad luck' situation Lincoln told me about."
Realizing where the situation was going, Lynn rolled her eyes and said "Oh, here we go. Let me guess - Stinkcoln went crying to you about what happened last week?"
'Oh no...she just had to go and start running her mouth...' thought Lisa as she winced at what her sister was saying.
"So you're aware of what I'm speaking of then. I'm assuming by your words that you don't feel any sort of guilt over your actions?"
"Of course not! He jinxed my game and not only cost me my softball game, but made me lose the championship on top of that! He deserved everything he got and then some!" said Lynn as she glared at Oak defiantly while the others winced as she continued to speak. "And you know what? I think that this whole report of yours is nothing more than a bunch of baloney that you and Lincoln cooked up!"
"Young lady, throughout my career as a Pokemon Professor, I've never included a single fallacy in any of the progress reports I've sent to the families of the Trainers I've sponsored and I don't intend on starting now, especially with your brother. Everything I claimed so far has been the absolute truth." replied Oak with a frown.
"Right...like that little nerd could ever do any of that stuff you said earlier." snarked Lynn before getting to her feet in order to leave the room.
Crossing her arms while glaring at her sporty sister, Lisa asks "And just where do you think you're going, Lynn? Professor Oak hadn't finished speaking with us yet."
"Like I'm gonna stay around while some old codger spouts a bunch of crap before trying to guilt-trip me over Lincoln's bad luck ruining my game." replied Lynn with a roll of her eyes before turning to face the rest of her sisters and adding "I don't know about the rest of you, but there's no way I'm going to buy any of that nonsense he was saying earlier. I mean, come on - Fighting off a pair of criminals? Meeting some kind of supposedly legendary bird? Lincoln actually getting recognized as an adult? Don't tell me you girls are actually falling for all of this!"
After taking a few seconds to consider Lynn's words, Lola stands up and says "You know what? She's got a point - why are we listening to this old guy ramble on about stuff that'll never ever happen?" before grabbing Lana's arm and dragging her out of her seat. "C'mon Lana, let's go."
"H-hey, wait! I wanted to talk to Professor Oak some more!"
"Lynn's right - I can't believe that I wasted my morning listening to some old man spouting a bunch of nonsense." muttered Lori as she stood up as well. Giving Lisa a menacing glare before she walked away, she added "Next time you decide to waste my time like this again, I'll literally turn you into a human pretzel."
"Um...but I thought we were going to find out more about what Lincoln was doing in Kanto, Lori." said Leni, confused. "Why are you leaving?"
Rolling her eyes, Lori answered "Leni, that 'Professor' is nothing more than some old geezer who doesn't have his head on straight. For all we know, this could be something him and Lincoln made up."
"So you're saying that he lied to us?"
"I'm saying that I don't believe in this so-called 'progress report' and if I were you, I wouldn't either. It's nothing more than a load of crap." replied Lori with a frown. "Now come on, let's get out of here."
After giving Oak one final glance, Leni nods reluctantly and replies "O-okay..." before following after her.
"Sorry Lisa, but I'm leaving too - even I'm having a hard time trying to believe what's being said here." added Luan before a grin appeared on her face. "Though I think I'll be able to come up with a few good quality jokes out of what I've just heard."
Giving Oak an apologetic look as she got to her feet to leave as well, Luna says "Same here - no offense dude, but some of that stuff you were saying sounded a little over-exaggerated."
Watching the others in complete disbelief as they made their way towards the door, Lisa asked "Wait...you're actually leaving!? What about the answers you were after?"
"Who cares?" replied Lynn with a frown as she headed towards the door. Halfway there, she turns towards Lucy and asks "You coming with us, Lucy?"
Shaking her head, Lucy replied "...There's something I need to speak with Professor Oak about. You go on ahead without me."
"Suit yourself, though I wouldn't take anything that old geezer says seriously if I were you."
Narrowing his eyes, Oak asks "So that's it then? You're just going to walk away without giving me a good reason why you treated your own brother like an outcast?"
Sneering, Lori replied "Why should we? This is a family matter and has nothing to do with you."
"Yeah! Butt out, old man!" added Lola as she pointed at the old professor. "What happens between us and Lincoln is none of your business!"
"Girls, stay right where you are! We are going to hear this progress report!" Rita stated.
"Mom, this is a family matter! That old cook is NOT part of the family!" Lori stated.
"Yeah! Both he and Lincoln should just butt out of OUR affairs!" Lola proclaimed.
"Girls, we are staying in this room to hear the progress report to the end, and that's final!" Rita warned, only to see Lisa getting to her feet with a remote control in her hand.
"Mother, let me handle this." said the four year-old coldly before pressing a button on the remote, causing an electric current to start running through the door knob, preventing them from leaving.
Glaring at the young genius, Lynn snarls "Let us out, Lisa - we're not going to stick around so your stupid scientist friend can give us flak because Lincoln couldn't keep his stupid bad luck under control."
"No. There's no way I'm going to let any of you walk away from receiving the treatment you all deserve." replied Lisa, eyes narrowed. "So unless you can find a way to open that door without risking electrocution, you're not going to be leaving until Professor Oak is finished with what he has to say."
Realizing that they had nowhere to go and Lisa didn't look like she was going to shut off the electric current anytime soon, the seven sisters begrudgingly walked back over and returned to their seats.
"Alright, continuing off from where I left off, after spending a night at the Viridian City Pokemon Center, Lincoln went back to Route 1, where he managed to catch a Poliwag," Professor Oak said, displaying a picture of the Poliwag Pokemon.
"Whoa, that kind of looks like a tadpole," Lana commented, receiving an elbow to the side by Lola.
"Well, Lana was it?" Professor Oak asked, getting a nod in response, "Poliwag is classified as the 'Tadpole Pokemon'. Afterwards, he met with Mako Tsunami and defeated him in a Bakugan Battle."
"Bakugan?" Lynn Sr. asked. "Isn't that the game you guys play?"
"Yeah, but like that actually happened" Lynn confidently said.
"I think he's telling the truth, Lynn. Look." Lori said, holding out her phone to show the rest of the family.
"Lincoln Loud, currently ranked 39th worldwide." Her phone said, showing the results of his battle with Mako.
"WHAT?! HIS RANK WAS 115th LAST I CHECKED!" Lynn screamed, angry that her brother's rank increased so much and that the battle with Mako was indeed real.
"Now that the progress report is complete, I'm going to give you a chance to explain your actions regarding this whole 'bad luck' mess. How did this all start?" asked Oak with a stern frown on his face.
After giving the rest of his family an uneasy look, Lynn Sr. replied "Well, it all started when..."
One Explanation Later…
Once the brown-haired man had finished his explanation, Oak sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose before asking "So...let me see if I've got this right - this whole mess started because Miss Lynn lost a softball game that Lincoln had attended?"
"From what I understand, that would be the case, Professor." replied Lisa before glaring at Lynn. "However, what Lynn hasn't told anyone yet is that she had forced Lincoln to come to the game in the first place by threatening to hit him with her baseball bat."
"That's a lie! I never did anything like that!" screamed Lynn, though the panicked tone of her voice stated otherwise.
Raising an eyebrow, Lisa replied "Really now?" before walking over to her computer and pressing a few keys, causing a video to start playing that displayed Lynn holding a bat threateningly with a grin on her face as she spoke with Lincoln in the hallway. "Then how do you explain something like this, then?"
While the other sisters glared at Lynn, Rita asked "You mean to tell me that you threatened your brother in order to make him come to your game, Lynn? What in the world possessed you to do such a thing?" with a stern edge to her voice.
"I...I just wanted him to come and watch me play and he was being stubborn about refusing! I wasn't really going to hit him with it! Honest!" stammered Lynn nervously. "Besides, something like that doesn't matter - he still cost me the game! He's bad luck! Even he said so himself!"
"So Lincoln was the one that claimed to be bad luck...is that correct?"
Nodding her head, Lori replied "That's right. He managed to convince all of us that he was unlucky, even going so far as to end up damaging my golf clubs to prove it."
"I see. So what happened after that?"
"Well...after that, we stopped bringing him along to our activities, worried that his bad luck would end up messing things up for the rest of us." answered Luna, frowning. "Then we ended up taking things further than we should have and sealed up his room. After that, we started locking him out of the house."
"Um...didn't we, like, sell off his furniture, too?" asked Leni, causing the elder siblings and her parents to look at her, horrified. "...Why are all of you looking at me like that?"
"Leni, why did you have to go and say something like that!? That's something that we didn't want Professor Oak to know about!" screamed Lori, upset with her younger sister.
"Oh...I wasn't supposed to say that?"
"...You sold his belongings." said Oak, trying his hardest to keep his temper in check. "It wasn't enough that you had to lock him out of the house during the night, but you also had to add insult to injury by selling his furniture. What in the world possessed you to do something like that?"
"Professor, we didn't have bad intentions in mind when we sold Lincoln's furniture. Our family isn't exactly well-off and we really needed the money." replied Lynn Sr., hoping that his response would keep Oak from losing his temper.
"And where is this money now? Have you already spent it?"
"Well, at the urging of Lincoln's friend, Marucho, we gave Lincoln the money," Rita replied, nervous at the sound of the Professor's tone.
"And what happened after that? Did you let him back into the house?"
"Well...no. There was one time where Lincoln attempted to speak to us, claiming that he wanted to confess that he was faking being unlucky the entire time to get out of attending our activities." replied Luan, crossing her arms. "We thought that he was just saying that to get back into the house, so we didn't buy a single word he said."
"A few days after that, Lynn lost her softball team's championship game." commented Lisa before giving Lynn a nasty look. "Of course, she had to go and blame the loss on Lincoln, even though he was nowhere near the game at the time."
"He must've been there, cursing my game with his stupid bad luck!" snarled Lynn as she glared at Lisa, incensed at her words. "I wouldn't have lost otherwise!"
"'Bad luck' this, 'bad luck' that - is that the only excuse you can come up with to justify why you lost your game, Lynn?" replied Lisa as she glared back at Lynn. "I'm starting to think that our brother was right about you after all - you're nothing more than a sore loser."
Getting to her feet in anger, Lynn snaps "What did you just call me!?"
"Did I stutter? Or perhaps you didn't hear me the first time? Then allow me to repeat myself once more: Lincoln was right - you are a sore loser."
"Junior, please don't do anything drastic..." advised Lynn Sr. cautiously as Lynn's fists clenched in fury at Lisa's words. "We don't need to be causing a scene in front of Professor Oak."
"Yeah, Dad's right - this isn't the time for any of us to be fighting with each other." added Luna as she stepped in between the two sisters to prevent them from starting a fight with each other.
After glaring at Lisa for a few more seconds, Lynn relents and says "...Fine, but don't think that I'm going to let that 'sore loser' comment slide, Lisa." before returning back to her seat.
"While I'm glad to see that you've gotten that familial dispute out of the way, I'd like to know about what happened after that, if you wouldn't mind."
"Well...once we got back home from Junior's game, things got a little...er, heated between her and Lincoln." replied Lynn Sr. evasively.
"And by that, he means that Lynn tried to crack Lincoln's head open with her bat, blaming him for her loss and telling him to, in her own words, 'take his lumps like a man'." commented Lisa, scowling at Lynn.
"Your daughter tried to attack Lincoln with a baseball bat because of something like that?" asked Oak, surprised. "And you did nothing to try and stop her?"
"We managed to restrain her before she could actually manage to hit him with it." answered Lori quickly. "After that, Marucho, who was over at our house at the time, gave us all an earful about how we treated Lincoln. We then had a discussion on what to do, it eventually led to him being sent to Kanto to help you with your research." Lynn Sr. explained.
"Which of course leads us to where we are now." replied Oak with a nod. "All of this matches up quite well with what Lincoln and Marucho had told me. So now that I've heard what all of you had to say about this entire ordeal, I just have one question I want to ask all of you..."
Feeling uneasy about what Oak was going to say next, Lynn Sr. asked "And what's that, Professor?"
"Well, I just want to ask...JUST WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!"
"W-well, we couldn't have Lincoln's bad luck affecting the rest of the family..." stammered Lynn Sr., shaken by the raw anger Oak was showing.
"Bad luck or not, Lincoln is your son! Your own flesh and blood!" snarled Oak as he glared at the two Loud parents with a look of disgust on his face. "What in the world were you two thinking when you decided to lock him out of the house!? Or deciding to sell his belongings!? What kind of disgraceful excuses of parents are you!?"
Caught off-guard, Rita stammered "It's just that...well, bad things started happening whenever Lincoln was around and..."
"And you think that's a good enough excuse to do something like that to your son!?" answered Oak, glaring at the matriarch of the Loud family. "Have you ever considered what kind of psychological damage something like this could do to Lincoln's psyche?"
"I...I hadn't thought of that..."
"And that's not the worst part of it, Mrs. Loud. I don't know if the two of you are aware of this or not, but by locking your son out of the house at night, both of you had ended up breaking the law."
"Wait...you mean to tell us that our parents committed a crime!? Seriously?" asked Luna, wide-eyed.
"Indeed - the crime of child abandonment." answered Oak, causing the two parents to look at him, appalled.
Pointing at Professor Oak, Lynn Sr. protested "But we didn't do anything else to him aside from locking him out of the house! We'd never abandon our son!"
"Fourth degree child abandonment." replied Lisa, causing her parents to stare at her in confusion. "To put it simply, both of you knowingly locked Lincoln outside of the house, potentially placing him in danger. Something like this is punishable with imprisonment up to a year, regardless of whether he had been harmed by your actions or not."
"T-that's actually a crime!?" asked Rita, terrified at what she had just heard.
With a shaky nod, Lisa answered "It is, Mother. And we should be considering ourselves lucky that Lincoln hadn't contacted the police about what happened."
"You should be considering yourself lucky that I haven't contacted the police either!" snarled Oak, causing the Louds to pale at his words.
"P-Professor...surely you...you wouldn't..." stammered Lynn Sr. with a fearful look on his face.
"If it wasn't for the fact that your son wouldn't want something like this to happen, I would have the two of you arrested without any hesitation!" snapped Oak before turning his attention towards Lisa. "As for you, Miss Lisa, Lincoln told me you were the only one who tried to help him. Why didn't you bring this matter to a close sooner? Or do anything to stop your family from selling your brother's belongings?"
"I tried to tell them their actions would lead to extreme consequences, but they didn't believe me." mumbled Lisa, ashamed. "Everything else I tried resulted in failure."
Oak sighed and nodded, realizing it must be more difficult than he theorized for her, "I understand. You were doing the best of your ability to help him." He said before returning his attention to the rest of the family, "As for the rest of you, I suggest that you start working towards making amends with Lincoln as soon as possible. Otherwise..." Oak said
Not liking where Oak was going, Lynn Sr. repeated "Otherwise...?"
"Otherwise, he might end up deciding that staying in Kanto would be more preferable to returning back home to his overly superstitious family." answered Oak before hanging up his receiver. "Goodbye."
Once Professor Oak had hung up, Lisa snarled "Well, I hope you fools are satisfied now - not only did you manage to anger Professor Oak, but you may have potentially destroyed the only chance any of us had of fixing our damaged relationship with Lincoln!" Pointing at Lynn accusingly, she added "As for you, none of this mess would have happened if you hadn't blamed the loss of that stupid softball game on him in the first place!"
"Hey, if it wasn't for Lincoln's stupid bad luck, I wouldn't have lost! He's the one that deserves to be blamed for this!" snapped Lynn as she stepped towards the four year-old genius threateningly.
"And here you go again, using that same tired excuse in order to justify why you lost!" countered Lisa as her face reddened with rage. "Well, news flash, Lynn - you can't win all of the time! It's just a fact of life that you're going to have to learn to face!"
"That does it! I'm gonna..." snarled Lynn, only for the rest of her sisters to quickly move in and restrain her before she attempted to attack her younger sibling.
Giving his daughter a pleading look, Lynn Sr. asks "Lisa, could you remove the electrical current in the doorknob, please? I think it would be best if we separated you and Lynn for a while until things calm down."
After taking a few seconds to consider her father's request, Lisa nods before pressing the same button from before on the remote, causing the electrical current in the doorknob to stop flowing. "The doorknob is no longer electrified, so all of you are free to leave. However, before you go, I want all of you to seriously consider what Professor Oak had said to us before he hung up."
"You're talking about him saying that if we don't try to make things right with Lincoln, he could decide to stay in Kanto for good, right?" asked Luan, getting a nod from Lisa in response. "Do you really think that he would actually decide to stay there instead of coming back home?"
"At this point, I can't be too sure." answered Lisa with a sigh. "But what I do know is that all of us should work towards making things right with Lincoln before something like that becomes a reality..."
Author's Note:
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