Chapter 2:
Seb woke and opened his eyes slowly. Looking around, he took stock of everything he could see. He was in a cramped room with pale blue walls and wood trim. A small dresser and chair, a small bed he nearly stretched off of. There were two doors in the tiny room and a tiny window on the opposite wall presented a view that confirmed his suspicions just as his body felt the surge of a wave raising his world upward before dropping it down again.
He was on a ship. Which meant he was still on the ocean. He groaned. "How did I get here?" With a rush, the garbled memories of being lost at sea came back to him.
"Wow. It must have been bad. I was hallucinating Pokemon." He muttered as he dropped one scrawny, none-too-hairy leg off the side of the bed.
And nearly stepped on a silver rodent armadillo thing.
"Oh, the hallucination is ongoing." He whispered simply, looking down at his Sandshrew companion. "Hello there, little one. We seem to have made it past the immediate danger."
With a yawn and a stretch, the Sandshrew looked up at him and blinked. It stood up slowly and stretched wide one more time before waving tiredly.
"Sorry to wake you. You can go back to sleep if you like." It would not do to annoy his closest friend in his current circumstance. Even if he thought that friend may entirely be in his mind.
It shook its head and watched him patiently. They stared at each other for a moment before Seb spoke up. "Right then. I guess I need to get dressed first." He was wearing a t-shirt and underwear and nothing else. A quick investigation found his jeans from before in the top drawer of the dresser along with his rather worse for wear jacket. He put them both on for the time being and then looked around for shoes and socks before remembering they ended up in the ocean.
"What do you think of the barefoot look?" He asked of the little Pokemon patiently watching him. It's only answer was to cock its head to the side in puzzlement. "Yeah, not sure that it matters much to you."
Seb sat back down on the bed and took a deep breath. Out of the context of immediate peril, his thalassophobia was exerting itself physically only as unsteady breathing and trembling hands. But he was careful not to look out the window and was failing to keep the constant movement out of his mind. Beyond that, he was still a bit shaky. And he seemed to have been badly sunburned, though that was recovering.
With one last steady exhale he stood back up. "Okay little Sandshrew my old chum, let's see what awaits outside." Mustering his courage, he reached forward, grabbed one of the doors, and opened a small closet.
With an embarrassed look to the Sandshrew, he sheepishly asked, "Any chance we could pretend that didn't happen?"
After a moment's consideration, it nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate that. Let's see what's behind door number two." Without the buildup or fanfare this time, he opened a door into a thin hallway. They passed through and Seb looked around. There were four other doors and a stairway leading up. As he was taking this information in, footsteps accompanied the sight of a pair of slim, jean-clad legs descending the stairs towards him.
A late middle-aged woman with reddish-brown hair beginning to gray came into view. "Hey you," her face lit up with a wide beaming smile upon seeing him standing there. "you're finally awake!" Her smile faded slightly as she saw Seb's eyes darting around. "Easy there, you're alright. I'm Coral. I'm the skipper of this fine, little ship."
"Uh… hi. I mean, thank you." He shook his head to clear his thoughts and rearrange his frame of mind for polite conversation. "I'm… I'm Sebastian. Where am I?"
She walked towards him with a steady, but slow pace. "We pulled you out of the water uh…" She looked up at the ceiling to gather her thoughts. "Not yesterday, but the evening before. Got some fluids and medicine into you and we've been letting you sleep. I was coming down to check on your progress just now. And you are on the Dry Mantini. It is probably my second most favorite thing in the world, named after my third favorite thing." She delivered with a practiced smile. Seb guessed it was a rehearsed introduction.
"Okay, and-"
"Hold that thought." She said, holding a finger up to silence him and then dashing back to the stairs. "Manny, I'm going to entertain our newly awoken guest! Look after the ship for a while, yeah?!" Seb heard a muffled response coming from up above and then she hurried back to him. "Sorry about that, let's head on in here." She indicated one of the doors with a jerk of her head and opened it up without any further preamble.
It led them into a small dining area. What's it called on a ship? The Messdeck, maybe. Two rectangular tables held total seating for 12, the tables and benches were all bolted to the floor. Or is that 'deck?' A long counter separated the kitchen portion from the dining portion. "Hungry?" She asked him knowingly.
And Seb realized he was. "Oh wow, yeah. Hadn't even noticed."
With a smile she swept into the kitchen. "I've got some sandwiches pre-prepped for quick grab-n-go's. Nothing fancy, but it'll get ya started. I'll grab ya a couple. Go ahead and take a seat."
Sitting down at one of the tables, Seb asked. "So, uh 'Manny?" He watched as she slid back around the counter. The woman had grace and energy to spare.
"My husband and First Mate." She said with a wink and eyebrow wiggle which made Seb snort with a shake of the head. "I named him after my top three favorite things." This finally made Seb smile, even if it was accompanied by a sigh.
Seb took the proffered sandwich and asked, "So we're on the Dry Mantini. Where is the Dry Mantini and where is it going?" He had enough restraint to ask the question before he started eating, but only barely.
"Currently, we are in the greater Gyarados Sea region. We're probably another couple of days from docking in Kanto. You were way out in the middle of nowhere." She gestured for Seb to keep eating as he tried to respond. "We dug around a bit, radioed in, reported your discovery." She winced hesitantly as she continued. "We found your pokedex. It raises a couple of… unfortunate questions."
Seb paused and put his sandwich down. That did not sound good. "Uh… like?"
"Authorities did some looking around when we gave them your name." She hesitated. "You and your family left from HeaHea City on Akala Island over two weeks ago. You were supposed to have landed in Olivine city by now. It looks like you were prepping to start your Pokemon journey from there."
Seb took all this in with a wide eyed stare. "Uh… yeah, and?"
The Skipper gave him a look of both great pain and desperate hope. "Any chance you know what happened to the rest of your family or your family's boat?"
Headlights at the wrong angle. Disorienting motion and deafening noise. Intense pain. A police officer saying "two in the front here are definitely goners." He shook the memories out of his head for now. He'd deal with that later.
Coral had said they had left Akala Island. That was an island in Alola from the Pokemon series. He had never been to Akala island, obviously. Because it wasn't real. It didn't exist. Okay, just like the Sandshrew and the Pokedex. Just roll with it. He needed to figure this out. It was just like… It's just like an isekai anime.
He had to think this through. He needed a moment. "Is there a bathroom?" He looked up at her and saw the sadness in her expression. He had been slowly panicking in front of her and hadn't even realized it. It had confirmed her suspicions for her well enough.
"Head's through there." She waved towards a door on the other side of the room. "Take your time."
Seb made his way into the bathroom as he heard Coral getting some food for the Sandshrew. He splashed some water on his face and took a few deep breaths. He sighed as the ship rocked to the side forcing him to remember how much water was everywhere around him. He stared into the sink and thought about what story he could tell. He can't just say he isn't from this world. He'd be institutionalized.
He let out a deep breath and looked into the mirror and startled. He was himself, that much was sure. He remembered when he looked like this. In High School. Early High School. He really was fifteen again. But there was one difference.
His eyes. His eyes had always been the same blue as his father's eyes, a solid cobalt blue. Now they were ice blue with scattered silver flecks. And the light reflected off them wrong. They didn't glow or anything overly dramatic, but they had a dull sheen like polished metal. He pulled out his pokedex and compared the picture there to what he saw in the mirror. The pokedex had his old appearance. Cobalt blue eyes.
"What in the world?" He asked of the empty bathroom. No answer came. "I have anime eyes?"
A few minutes later, he made his way out of the bathroom and back to the table. "Okay. Sorry about that. Umm.. quick question: Do you know what happened to my eyes?" He asked her while holding up his picture for comparison.
She studied the picture and then him for a second. "Oh! Wow! You're Pok-Effected. That's kind of rare. But I guess the circumstances make sense." She told him, fading out slightly at the end.
"What do you mean?"
"Pok-Effected only come about through two things, exposure to pokemon over generations or being with them through an intense, life-threatening experience." She explained patiently, but with a quirked eyebrow.
Crap. This must be common knowledge. Seb scrambled to play it off. "Right, but… just never thought I'd be Pok-Effected, I guess. And now I have Alolan Sandshrew branded eyes."
He took his seat and then another bite of the sandwich. He finished chewing and looked back up to her. "We were celebrating my parents' anniversary. We got sloppy, complacent I guess. We weren't paying attention and the storm… just. We weren't ready."
Coral sighed and patted his hand. "What can you tell us?"
"The mother of all waves rolled us. I was thrown out the bridge's viewing window. I don't… I can't say I know, but the ship was going under." He stared down at his sandwich. He saw her slump back in her seat in the periphery of his vision. "I was saved by multiple pokemon. Staryu guided me to this Sandshrew who was in a similar situation on a bunch of palm trees. After the storm passed, a Mantine brought us some berries with a couple other pokemon helping."
He looked up at Coral to see she was watching him with a thoughtful frown. "Were you attacked by anything in the storm?"
Seb thought about it for a second. "No. We just heard some distant roars, but nothing attacked us."
She nodded slowly. "While I can't say you were fortunate, given the circumstances, I will say it was very lucky that you were not attacked by Gyarados. Storms always rile them up and sends them into a frenzy, makes them inclined to attack any easy target they can find. Manny's Lanturn had to keep a couple off of us."
There was another long pause while Seb ate more of his sandwich. The Sandshrew was nearby and looked up from her own food curiously at the silence. "So where are we headed?" Seb finally asked.
"Kanto. A couple days away yet. We're ferrying some research assistants. They were looking for some super strong Wailmer people had reported. I don't understand any of it. We plan on docking at some small port near a smaller town called Pallet." She waved it off as unimportant. "Only thing that place has going for it is the research lab of-"
"Professor Oak." Seb interrupted with surprise.
Coral gave him her own surprised look. "Oh, you've heard of him?"
"Is he not the leading expert on the relationship between humans and pokemon?" Seb asked in confusion.
She shrugged and scratched her head. "Maybe, I guess? I don't really pay attention to all that academic stuff." Seb made that mental adjustment. The Professor was big in academic circles, but not necessarily super-stardom big.
Seb finished his sandwich and Coral pet the Sandshrew that had made its way back over to them. As he finished, Seb had one final question. "So what is your most favorite thing?"
She grinned, letting him know she did this on purpose. Holding up a pokeball, she said. "That would be my Mantine, 'Mantini,' obviously."
"Right, obviously."
The voyage was not wholly unpleasant for Sebastian. While the ever present ocean was less than ideal, he managed to at least pretend to forget it from time to time by staying inside and talking with the crew, the research passengers, and the Sandshrew. Over the two days on the ship he made up his mind. He was, apparently, in the Pokemon World. Whether it was real or a wild delusion on his part he couldn't say, but it seemed real to all of his senses. Except maybe my common sense. In any case, he would have to proceed forward as if it were real.
The date had interested him when he learned of it. It was currently April 8. He had lost consciousness for some time and the storm was a blurry mess, but he would venture a guess that he had arrived on April 1st, the morning after the night of the crash.
He had also determined that his Sandshrew friend was female. It had been bugging him, but he did not know of the visual markers to distinguish male and female Sandshrew. Or even if there were any. Eventually he solved the incredibly complex problem with the equally complex method of asking the creature directly.
The last evening before docking, Seb actually braved the deck in his battered windbreaker to watch as Cinnabar Island went by. Manny, or Manuel, stood beside him, leaning his back against the railing. Manny was a big man with dark hair and a thick beard. He wore a heavy sweater to hold off the chill as the evening wore on.
Seb looked past the waves and tried to focus on the stationary land mass. He felt a tad lonely without the Sandshrew by his side. She was resting down in his temporary quarters. She, like Seb himself, was still recovering from the ordeal at sea.
"What's with that building?" Seb asked Manny, indicating the husk of a large, burned out building they could only just make out from where they were. It stood high on a hill outside of the main city with a great view of the ocean. Seb was pretty sure he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear the story that most people would know.
Manny turned to look at where Seb was pointing. "Oh, that? Used to be an old research lab. I think they invented pokemon fossils or something." Coral and Manny were a matched set in regards to academics it would seem. "Had an accident and the whole thing burned down." He scratched his beard thoughtfully. "Not sure why they haven't done something about it though. Been like that for twenty years or something."
How much of it is real? Seb found himself thinking. Was he going to have to deal with Ash Ketchum? Or would it be Red? Maybe he was ten years before they set out at all and that was why Oak wasn't as well known yet. His mind kept swirling around a host of questions he couldn't possibly answer while sailing out in the ocean. He shook them free with an effort and turned to go back below deck only to be met by Coral coming up to fetch them.
"C'mon boys! Suns going down, we're nearing the end of our voyage, and Corin has the watch. Let's unwind a little." She waved them on as exuberantly as ever, her heavy jacket doing nothing to hamper her exaggerated motions.
With a tolerant smile, Manny pushed himself off the rail using a timely rocking of the ship to do so with practiced ease. "Alright, alright. We're coming. Aren't we, lad?"
Seb took one final look back at the mansion before the light faded too much to see it anymore, then turned to join them. "Yeah, I would love to."
Coral led them down to what Seb now knew was called the galley, and swirled around the counter. "So what'll it be Manny? Seb, you're getting water. We are pumping you full of water until we get to land and a medical professional tells us to stop."
"Yes, ma'am." Seb responded with smiling resignation. He watched as Coral went about grabbing bottles and glasses and jars. It finally sank in what they all were. "Hey, what are you doing?!"
Coral looked up with surprise, but then flashed him a grin. She gave the bottle of gin in her hand a small shake. "Making one of my favorite things, of course. No you can't have any, young man."
"What is wrong with you? That is so…" Seb took a deep breath and blocked his face from view with a hand held to his forehead. Without making eye contact, he continued. "I'm sorry. That's not my place. Your ship, your rules, but I'm uh… I'm going to turn in."
Seb didn't see the understanding come upon Coral as she watched him leave. An anniversary celebration and lax attention, he had said. She looked at the various things she had accumulated on the counter and nodded to herself before putting them back away, grabbed the water she had set aside for Seb, and settled in next to her husband.
April 9
The barest hints of dawn were visible when Seb stepped off of the Dry Mantini. He refrained from doing anything quite as embarrassing or silly as literally hugging the ground when they docked, but it was certainly how he felt. He was finally free of the evil, vicious, cruel ocean and had no plans of going out on it ever again. He wasn't so optimistic as to think he wouldn't have to at some point, but he certainly wasn't planning it himself here and now.
The Sandshrew did not have Seb's qualms about shame or embarrassment and fell to the dirt and stretched out, luxuriating in the perfect stillness of solid earth beneath her. A couple people laughed and she contentedly ignored them. Seb studied her for a moment and shrugged. "Eh, screw it. She's right." He flopped down beside her and sighed happily. "That's the stuff."
A researcher by the name of Cole, one of Oak's aides that had been on the ship, came over and hoisted Seb back to his feet. "Up ya get, Seb. Medics want to look you over. And there is a Nurse Joy for your Sandshrew as well." Cole was of medium height, but rather thin. He kept his dark hair short and was frequently adjusting the glasses he wore.
Seb dusted himself off, instructed Sandshrew to go get checked out too, and let Cole lead him to the waiting medics. He got along fairly well with Cole. Cole was in his early twenties and though Seb now inhabited a younger body, it meant they were roughly the same age experientially. Cole didn't know that, but he found that Seb was a fairly like-minded individual to him, fascinated by Pokemon and always eager to learn more.
Seb was sat down behind a makeshift screen and given a fairly extensive scan and check-up by a pair of medics. They asked him a bunch of questions, drew some blood, asked more questions, checked his various vitals, asked more questions, and on and on. They spent extra time checking the scarring on his back and confirmed his Pok-Effected status with a device he couldn't remotely begin to understand, but ultimately pronounced him mostly healthy. They gave him a small vial of pills he was to take for the next week to help assuage any lingering complications and a tub of ointment to apply to the scarring on his back to help alleviate them somewhat. "Though, given how long it was before we could get to it, it won't go away completely." One of them admitted.
Seb nodded and thanked them and then was surprised by how promptly they left him alone. He was startled by how fast it was, all things considered. Cole soon came back accompanied by an older man Seb didn't recognize. With an outstretched hand, the older man greeted him. "Hello there. Sebastian Strategoi? I've been hearing a bit about you over the last few days."
The voice was a shot of nostalgia straight to Seb's brain. Now that he was looking for it, it was obvious the man was Professor Oak, but the translation from animated 2d character to living flesh and blood in front of him had been so unexpected. Slightly messy gray hair with a touch of color still around the temples. Brown eyes framed by a network of crow's feet and a big smile accompanied by laugh lines both gave testament to a life well lived and largely enjoyed. Kanto's friendly grandpa, all innocence and joy and zeal for the wonderful world of pokemon, was here in front of him.
Seb took the hand and shook it eagerly. "Professor Oak, I believe? It's a pleasure to meet you."
Oak grinned and scratched the back of his head in a self-effacing manner. "Oh, thank you. It's an honor to be recognized." Seb saw Cole roll his eyes behind the professor, a wide smile to go with it. Ah, Professor Oak is a big deal and gets this all the time. Coral and Manny were just really out of the loop in regards to Pokemon studies.
"Oh Seb, I am going to miss you!" Coral said as she grabbed him up in a big hug from behind. She leveled a glare at Professor Oak. "You'd best take care of him or so help me I'll sail my ship all the way to your doorstep and give you what for."
The idea of Coral sailing a ship twenty miles inland was enough to make Seb smile. "Hey, hey. Let me down, let me down. What do you mean, miss me? You've known me all of four days. And I was unconscious for half of that."
She dropped him to the ground and whirled him towards her. She gave him a long, steady look. "Are you sure you don't want us to get you to Olivine? We'll take you straight there."
Seb did not want to tell her the idea of stepping foot back on her ship made him want to throw up, nor did he want to say he had no more idea what he would do in Olivine than he did here, but she deserved an answer of some kind. "I appreciate it Coral. I really do, but that was a plan for different circumstances. The idea was to start my Pokemon journey from there, but now… well. I need to figure things out."
Coral sighed. "I get it. I do. You look after yourself and if you ever need any help, don't hesitate to look us up."
Seb was caught off guard by the sudden sting of tears in his eyes. He brushed them away before answering. "I will. Thank you for everything. You saved my life. I owe you and like… four different pokemon a life debt." He said, getting a small laugh out of her.
She gave him one more hug and turned him around. "Alright, go find your Sandshrew. I've got docking procedures to take care of and cast off to prepare for. The sea is a harsh mistress and all that."
From a couple dozen feet away, Seb heard Manny loudly mutter. "Not half so harsh as you are." He had clearly intended everyone to hear it, breaking the tension of goodbyes.
Coral spun with the force of a tornado. "Oi! Manny! What was that?!" Seb smiled as he watched her chase after her husband back to her second favorite thing in the world.
He started to turn, but had one final thought. "Hey Coral! I never figured out where your husband ranked on the list of your favorite things!"
"He's number 1!" She answered back.
Seb frowned in confusion. "I thought Mantini was number 1?"
She grinned back at him as her husband guided her backwards footsteps. "All the people that matter to me are number 1 Seb, including you!"
"C'mon then, Sebastian. Let's go check on this Sandshrew of yours." Once more, Seb turned and half expected to see an animation in front of him, but was met with the entirely real form of Professor Oak.
"Good idea, Professor. Cole? You know where she is?" The three of them walked a short distance away to yet another makeshift pavilion where Seb had yet another shock of uncanny valley mixed with nostalgia.
Nurse Joy. Pink-haired, cutesy outfit Nurse Joy was talking to Sandshrew. She was wearing a jacket over the uniform, but other than that she was a perfect living version of what he used to see in the anime. "Hello. Are you Sebastian?" She asked as they came into view.
"Uh, yes. I'm Sebastian. Any problems?" Seb was suddenly concerned. He had no idea what he would do if something happened to his little, quiet companion.
She frowned. "Yes and no. She is healthy enough, everything is working properly. The expected malnourishment from her unfortunate travel at sea is there, of course. But there seems to be older issues in regards to that as well."
Seb's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I can't be certain, but based on her well below average size and general physique I would guess she has been underfed most of her life. I'm not sure I can, in good conscience, return this Sandshrew to you if it has been suffering under your care for so long." Nurse Joy's look was grim and determined.
Sebastian was dumbfounded for a moment before he began to stammer out an explanation. "She, well she isn't even mine. We found each other in the ocean."
Cole spoke up in Seb's defense. "We've looked into it. Seb has no registered pokemon and apparently neither did any of his family. With the Professor's approval, we will follow up with the Sandshrew itself to see if it is registered at all, but we believe it is wild." Oak stood beside him, nodding his agreement.
Joy's mouth opened in a little 'o' of surprise and then she bowed in apology. "I am so sorry. I thought she was yours and I… I rushed to a conclusion and-and… please accept my apology."
Seb wasn't quite sure what to do with somebody bowing to him in apology. "You are plenty forgiven. You were looking out for Sandshrew. Looking out for her best interests is something I can always forgive."
"Oh, thank you. Again, I am so sorry I misjudged you." Seb waved it aside awkwardly. He would prefer to get through this. He felt distinctly uncomfortable with it.
"So what would be your next theory then?" He asked in a rush to redirect the conversation.
"Hrmm…" She looked up at nothing in particular, thinking the question over. "It is the sort of thing that can happen in the wild. If there was an overly large litter then they may have prioritized the larger, stronger infants. There is no real way to be certain."
Seb nodded his head at that. "Alright, so break it down for me. What do I need to look out for and what can I do for her?"
"Right," Joy said, snapping to business mode, "there were two main things I wanted to address. First is the diminutive size. I had to look it up as we don't see them too often here, but the average height for Alolan Sandshrew tends to be 2 feet and a few inches. This one is about a foot and half. Nearly a foot shorter than average. In addition, she is about 30 pounds under the average weight, only weighing 52 pounds."
Seb took this all in with rising fear, but Joy's next comment did some to stifle it. "All that said, her dimensions are appropriate and all the musculature seems well formed. She has completely normal mobility. So long as she gets proper, normal care from here on out she should live a long and healthy life. She won't have the physical strength typical of a Sandshrew, but battling should be as safe for her as it is for any Pokemon, medically speaking."
Seb breathed a sigh of relief. Sandshrew was going to be okay. It suddenly struck him just how important her health meant to him despite only having known her a week. They were desperate survival buddies and they both had to come out of this together. "Okay, what else do I need to know?"
Joy frowned again. "Well… has she said anything?"
While Seb was thinking, Cole answered. "None of us on the ship heard her say anything. I noticed it myself and asked around."
"I am pretty sure she spoke when we were on the raft." Seb tried to call up the memory. His recollection of the ordeal wasn't the clearest. "It was very quiet and only a couple of times, but I'm pretty sure I heard her speak."
Joy nodded thoughtfully before finally declaring, "I believe she may have trauma induced mutism."
Oak hrmmed in thought. "Yes, that is certainly possible, though rather rare. The conditions would allow for it though."
Seb dropped to the ground to look at Sandshrew. "Okay, little lady. All these people are talking about you. I'm just going to ask what you think: are you freaked out by what we went through out there?" She just stared at him for a few seconds before nodding. "Okay, because I am too. And if you don't want to say anything for a while, I'm fine with that. We've got this physical communication thing going on and I think that is pretty neat, actually." The Sandshrew smiled and hugged him.
"We've got a pretty good duo, a real buddy cop thing going on actually. I'll be the really talkative one and you can be all intimidating and terse. It will be great." She nodded in response. "I'm going to go talk to these weirdos up here. Gimme a moment."
Sebastian stood up again. "I think that sorts that out. So, she's a bit on the small side and a bit on the quiet side. I think I can work with that."
Oak laughed. "I think he's got the right idea."
Joy sighed. "Yes, but…" She studied Sebastian and then took in both Sebastian and the Sandshrew together as a unit. "I guess you two sort of need each other at this point, huh?"
"'Fraid so. We're a package deal."
Another sigh from Joy. "Alright, I'll sign the clearance paperwork and you all can be on your way."
When he turned back to Cole and Oak, Cole addressed Seb. "You'll probably want to make it official, but we want to get a full assessment before she gets captured officially. A capture would throw off the assessment."
Seb nodded along without really understanding. "Sure, sure. I get that. I haven't talked with her about it yet, anyway. We can hold off."
"Still," Oak moved them along towards a nearby vehicle, "No reason to put it off too much longer. Let's go get this taken care of at my lab today and we'll see where we go from there."
April 9
Seb had tried not to rubberneck all around like some kind of tourist as he was led through Oak's Lab for the first time, but he had failed. He couldn't help but take in everything he could. Similar to meeting Oak, it was a childhood dream come true, if to a lesser extent than the professor himself. A few young trainers a year started out from this building in the Pokemon World, but on Earth millions upon millions of kids had first been introduced to Pokemon in this very building.
It was larger than the games made it out to be, but it had some similar features. It opened into a library-esque area filled with research books of various kinds. Almost a complete wall of bookshelves made an impromptu partition separating it from the back half of the lab where the more technical equipment was kept and where Oak had placed his office.
Oak and Cole were in the back with Sandshrew, confirming that she was an unregistered wild pokemon and Seb had largely been left to his own devices in the front. He browsed the bookshelves aimlessly, taking in the dry titles of academic works. "Legends and Myths: A History of Cryptid Pokemon" seemed like it might be entertaining. The title suggested some of the Pokemon he was familiar with might not be proven which would be interesting. Alternatively, it suggested pokemon he would be completely unfamiliar with which was just as interesting, if not more so.
He finally settled on a section with a dozen copies of one book. "Rethinking the History of Human-Pokemon Sociology, by Dr. Samuel Oak." He whispered the title.
"Ah, I see you zeroed in on the work that made him the legend he is." Cole interrupted his thoughts.
Seb looked up, startled. "What? Oh, yeah…"
"It is his magnum opus. Revolutionized the field, broke paradigms, shifted worldviews, all the other stuff you say about an academic work. But in this case… it's true. We've been scrambling to build off of it since it came out." Cole explained with a strange sort of casual reverence.
Seb looked at the book in his hands. "Any chance I can have one of these? I'd like to read it if I could."
Cole grinned. "Sure, it's why we keep so many around. Oak doesn't like to put them out there like that, but we, that is his research team, insist. It's a bit advanced, but you're welcome to try." Cole patted Seb on the back. "C'mon, we're ready for you back here." Seb put the book back for now and followed after Cole.
"Ah, there you are Seb." Oak greeted them as they walked into the main lab area. "We have confirmed that the Sandshrew is wild. And I registered your pokedex in the Kanto region so the default setting will give you a listing of 150 spaces in Kanto."
Seb took the offered Pokedex back, as Cole snorted beside him. "Are you still sending them out with an empty 150th spot? Kanto only has 149 official regional species, Prof."
"There were only 143 until the fossil pokemon were added in thirty years back, giving Kanto five more for 148. And Ditto was only actually captured and confirmed fifteen years ago to bring us to 149. There are always more pokemon out there to be discovered." Oak answered good naturedly.
"Right, but they didn't keep an open spot on the off chance a new pokemon would be found. It is easy enough to update." Cole shook his head and held up his hands in defeat. "Never mind, I doubt I'm ever going to convince you on this. Your lab, your sponsors, your rules."
"Anyway," Oak said, turning back to Seb. "You can access information about any of the known pokemon at any time, but it will automatically display when they are encountered. It also tracks what you've encountered and, if you get close enough, performs a rudimentary scan of the pokemon to help give us as much data as possible to aggregate into a greater understanding of each species of pokemon."
Seb nodded understanding. "I imagine caught pokemon provide even more data because they become registered as owned and allow more in-depth scans? Is that a part of pokeball tech?"
Oak beamed a proud smile. "That's right. Well done." In his other hand, he offered a pokeball. "I typically provide a starter for the Trainers that start out from here, but I don't think you need me to give you one."
Seb looked at the ball hesitantly. "But Professor, I'm-... I'm not actually sure I want to do the Pokemon journey right now. I kind of need to figure out what I want to do."
Oak nodded understanding. "That is reasonable. But take this ball anyway. I can afford to give it to you regardless of what you choose." Seb reached out slowly and took the pokeball. It was cool and smooth in his hand, lighter than he expected. "Seb, why do you think we send young people out on a Pokemon journey?"
Seb sighed. "Are you going to tell me it is to discover themselves and figure out what they want to do?"
Oak laughed. "There are a lot of reasons, but that is one of the main benefits for the children that set out. By thirteen, children have largely formed a personal identity, but by venturing out on their own they learn independence, they become more familiar with both the natural region they live in as well as the society and culture. It also gives them a chance to learn what it is they truly want to do with their life. It exposes them to a lot of different lifestyles and careers."
Seb nodded. It made sense, but something stuck out to him. "What are the other reasons then?"
Oak nodded approval again. "Attentive, aren't you? Do you know my research specialization, Sebastian?"
"The relationship between humans and pokemon." Seb answered immediately.
"Yes, but I don't just focus on the individual level. I also look at the societal and global relationship as well. If you go back in history 300 years, or just over that now I guess… Anyway, you'd find a world where pokemon and humans were completely divided, enemies more than anything else. Nobody had pokemon companions. Not a single one."
Seb took this in with wide eyes. This was not a history he was familiar with. "But then, a young man in Kanto went out into the wilderness and got lost. He was gone for months, presumed killed by the elements or by wild pokemon. But then the village he was from was attacked by a horde of pokemon. The villagers were barricaded in their houses, losing all hope.
"It was in this desperate hour that the young man came back astride an Arcanine. The pair of them ran into the village and chased the pokemon off. Have you ever heard Arcanine called 'the Legendary Pokemon?" Seb nodded slowly, transfixed by the story. "It is because Arcanine was the first pokemon recorded being attached to a human trainer. Their status as legendary was earned for being humanity's first pokemon friend."
Oak smiled coyly, reaching under his lab coat and pulled one pokeball loose from the set on his belt. He opened it and an Arcanine appeared in a beam of red light and greeted him with an affectionate bark and nuzzled up against him. "Oh yes, hello Tinder." Oak pet the pokemon affectionately. "That village was only a few dozen miles away from here, though it is now just a historical site with nothing to show for it. This Arcanine is descended from that very legendary pokemon. And I am descended from that first trainer. My family has been raising and breeding these Arcanine for over three hundred years now, loyal and faithful to each other.
"You see Seb, I'm not called The Pokemon Professor just because of my scholastic work. I didn't truly earn most of my reputation. Mostly it was handed to me by the achievements of the past." Seb saw Cole rolling his eyes and shaking his head behind the Professor. "But this past did get me interested in my current studies. Why did we go so long through history without befriending these creatures when it was so easy and natural to do so?"
Seb thought about this for a long while, before speaking. "That is all fascinating, but… what did it have to do with the Pokemon journey?"
Cole snorted out a laugh and Oak smiled sheepishly. "Oh, right. Oops. Got distracted by my own story. Okay, following that event the idea of taming and befriending pokemon spread like wildfire and we found that the more we did so the easier it became. The pokemon journey is important because it continues the tradition of befriending pokemon, it maintains this relationship between us. Pokemon have an inherent tendency to competitive battling and so are obviously violent by nature, but they are rarely malicious about it. Especially near human civilization. Starting at the age of thirteen, we send children out, who are smaller and less threatening, to keep up this status quo. The children stick to the formal Routes which are safer and also patrolled by Rangers just in case. We are displaying to pokemon that we wish to be friendly. The pokemon journey helps the individuals prosper, both human and pokemon, and it helps the society prosper, both human and pokemon."
Again, Seb was silent for a long time while he thought this through. "So you're saying I should do the Pokemon journey because it will help me, it will help Sandshrew, and it will help society?"
"I'm saying you should consider it for these reasons. It's not mandatory, only encouraged."
Seb nodded thoughtfully. "Okay. I'll give it some thought." Now in a pensive mood, he approached Sandshrew. "Well Sandshrew, you heard that the same as I did. I'm not going to make up my mind about it today, but I know that no matter what, I'd be delighted to have you with me. If you want to make it all formal-like with a pokeball we can, or if you'd rather, we can just be friends, a wild pokemon and a wild human. Your choice."
Sandshrew gave him a profoundly unamused look at his silly joke and grabbed the pokeball from him. She tapped the button against him and nothing happened. Did she just…? With a shrug, she bopped it against her own head and got sucked inside in a flash of red light and the ball clicked instantly.
Seb picked it up and turned slowly to Oak and Cole who were struggling to contain their laughter. "Did she… did she just…"
Cole broke first. "Oh Arceus, I think that means you're just too wild to be caught, Seb." He managed out while laughing.
Oak soon joined in. "Human! I choose you!' Oh man, I'm not sure I've ever seen a Pokemon try to catch their starter human before."
"Yeah, yeah." Seb groused, but looking at the ball in his hand he couldn't help but smile.