Chapter 31: Meeting Professor Rowan
Lucas went to the Pokemon Center that evening after returning from the Canaclave City Gym. While his Pokemon were being healed from their exhausting trek through Iron Island, the young man sat at one of the Center's tables and stared at his new badge. Unlike his other badges, the teen was less than thrilled on how he received his Mine Badge. He didn't actually challenge Byron and defeat him in battle. Instead, Byron had given him the badge as well as the TM for the steel move Flash Cannon as a grateful reward for saving him from his trap on Iron Island, and destroying the Team Cosmic created device that had caused the island's Pokemon to become vicious. Byron had explained that Lucas' actions were more than enough to earn the badge, and that he would be closing the Gym for a week anyway in regards to his Pokemon. It was true that Lucas wouldn't be able to wait a week for the Gym to reopen. He still had a favor he had to do for Professor Oak.
As Lucas picked up the badge and rolled it between his fingers, its shiny surface glinting in the light, he thought about how much he changed. A year ago when he was still running around with his gang in Cherrygrove City, he wouldn't have thought twice about taking something someone gave him that he didn't fully earn. His relationship with his family, his brother and the town left him with a huge chip on his shoulder and a very large sense of entitlement. Now that he was a Trainer, just like he always dreamed to be, his outlook on life took almost a one-eighty. The best Trainers and Champions became what they were because they worked towards everything they got. Every Pokemon they captured, every creature they evolved and every badge they fought for. Lucas did accept the badge in the end, but only with a promise to one day battle Byron for real. He may not have fought for his Mine Badge, but for his last two badges he'd give everything he had.
With Sunnyshore still in its strange isolation, the next Gym would be in Snowpoint City, a perpetually frozen city just a little bit past the peak of Mt. Coronet, the only two ways to get to it was via a dock to an island that still needed access to Sunnyshore, and going through the mountain again itself. But before that Lucas had something he needed to do. Before going to Canaclave, Professor Oak had asked the Trainer to go to Sandgem Town, a small burgh south of Jubilife City, and receive and deliver a package from someone named Professor Rowan.
The nurse called over to Lucas and he regained his Pokemon. Going to the PC box, he decided to rearrange his team again. Though he felt slightly bad for Gizmo, he decided to box Donna and his new lineup was made up of Gizmo, Hotrod, Franky, Sparky, his Gabite and his Buneary Stella. Stella and Lucas' relation was complicated. He had received her egg from the Pokemon Coordinator Ashley, the offspring of her two most powerful Pokemon, and he had promised Ashley he would raise the baby with love and care. When the egg first hatched he and Stella seemed to have a loving connection, her newborn eyes looking at him with trust and wonder. But after boxing her for his Gym lineup in Veilstone City, her Buneary personality set in. He was told that Buneary are terrified of humans, and would demonstrate that fear through obnoxious tantrums and refusal to be handled. Stella was becoming a strong Pokemon in battle, but Lucas was determined to have the young Pokemon love him like the rest of his team did. He knew somewhere in that fearful glance and miserable whining, was that gentle look that she gave him the day she was born.
Returning back to the table, Lucas summoned both Gizmo and Stella. Stella had not begun shrieking yet, her indecisive look towards Lucas gave him hope. He set Gizmo in front of her as well as a packet of sweet Pokemon treats he had bought from the Center's vending machines, "Stella, I'm your Trainer, but I also want to be your friend. I know I seem sorta scary, even by people standards, but I really care for you, just like I care for Gizmo here. I know you feel alone, and not entirely sure what's going on, but we're a family now. Gizmo has a lot of children, and if you want, he can be your dad, too. I know you want to trust me, I can see you do,"
Gizmo picked up one of the treats and walked over to the Buneary. Being roughly the same size, the baby Pokemon didn't scream and cry like she did in battles against the larger creatures she faced when Lucas was traveling to Pastoria. Stella reached for the treat but Gizmo pulled away, luring her away from the edge of the table and depositing the treat on Lucas' hand. Stella cautiously approached the human before quickly snatching the treat from his fingertips and running back to her side of the table. When she had finished, Lucas picked up another treat and scooted his hand towards her, stopping a few feet in front of her. Gizmo sat next to his Trainer's hand and chirped cheerfully. Once again, Stella edged towards Lucas' hand and grabbed the treat. The teen repeated this several times, sliding his hand closer and closer towards the wary normal-type with each treat until he was close enough to touch her. But when he tried to pet her head, she smacked away his hand with her paw. With a defeated sigh Lucas recalled her to her Pokeball and turned to Gizmo, "Thanks for all your help, pal. But we were both fooling ourselves if we thought it was going to be this easy,"
The next day Lucas headed for his chore in Sandgem. Using Hotrod, he flew to Jubilife from Canaclave and started his trek south. Fortunately, the road from Jubilife to Sandgem was short and he was able to walk there within an hour. Along the way he found some of the weaker Pokemon that most beginning Trainers in Sinnoh had a chance to catch, and fought them himself to complete more of his Pokedex. Using Stella in battle he caught a Starly and a Shinx. Stella was a strong fighter and did exactly as she was told, but every time he tried to pet her or hold her after a victory she would either wail or kick at him. Obedient, but not affectionate, Lucas thought sadly.
Sandgem Town itself was microscopic, one of the smallest towns Lucas had ever seen. It consisted of only a few buildings and houses, making Professor Rowan's lab incredibly easy to find. The teen Trainer wasn't sure how to approach the lab, he didn't know if he was supposed to knock like at a home or just go in like a business. Standing awkwardly in front of the door, he was eventually invited in by a twelve-year old boy with dark blue hair and a lab coat, "Good Morning and welcome to Rowan Labs. I'm Lucas, Professor Rowan's junior assistant,"
"Uh, I'm Lucas, too, I guess. I'm here on an errand from Professor Oak," Lucas scratched his head. Something told him another person with his name was going to make this task overly complicated.
"Right this way!" the boy showed him in and bounded down the hall cheerfully. While Lucas had been to both Professor Oak and Bebe's house, he had never been inside a real laboratory before. The glass-lined hall revealed scientists in various rooms conducting experiments with different chemicals, observing Pokemon walking around a large pen and reading papers from the large shelves in the research library. Professor Rowan was in his office at the very end of the hall. Like Professor Oak's house, Rowan's office was an amalgam of framed and jarred samples, scattered books and papers and computer equipment that could run circles around the average personal computer. At the same time, it felt very different from the other professor's work space. It felt more organized, the furniture and décor was more stark and clinical and the whole area felt more serious and efficient. Professor Rowan himself was busying himself with a microscope, scratching observations onto a notepad next to his work, all the while his back turned to his guests. The young assistant gave a small cough to try to announce their presence. When this act was unheard, or possibly altogether ignored, he called out instead, "Professor Rowan!"
The professor took a moment to finish writing something down before pushing himself away from the table on his rolling chair and spinning around to face his intruders. For a moment he said nothing as he took in the teen Lucas' appearance from his hair to his clothes to the Eevee tilting its head curiously on his shoulder, "You must be the boy Samuel sent,"
"Samuel?" the teen Trainer cocked his own head slightly.
"Ah yes, you know him as Professor Oak. Before he became the esteemed 'Pokemon Professor' Samuel was one of my best assistants. I have a great respect for him, but I'm afraid I can only call him Samuel and not confuse myself about whom I'm speaking," the older Professor lifted himself out of his chair and held his hands behind his back as he continued to observe Lucas with the same intensity he would a particularly interesting Pokemon. The young man shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Professor Oak was stern and to the point, but he also had a friendliness about him that countered the intimidating property of his distinguished reputation. Professor Rowan on the other hand came off as one of those no-nonsense, old-school teachers that had no tolerance for stupidity. It didn't exactly come off as cruel or mean, but his presence with his somber tie, sweater vest and thick mustache made Lucas feel uncomfortable. When the older man grew bored with studying the teen he got back to his point, "My research is about the connections of ancient human legends to Pokemon facts. Sinnoh has the good fortune of having some of the best preserved Pokemon myths, and I see how much of that myth is really fact. I borrowed an object from another researcher in Celestic Town. All of my people are far too busy with breakthroughs to go to return it, but Samuel informed me that you would go through there anyway," The professor then snapped his fingers, "Lucas!"
"Yeah?" Replied both the teen and preteen boy.
Professor Rowan gave a puzzled glance to both boys, not being entirely sure what just happened, "Lucas..."
"Yes?" both young men responded again.
"It looks like Professor Oak never actually told you my name. My name is Lucas, too," the older of the two boys finally explained.
"Ah, I see then. I was referring to my assistant," the old man clarified.
"How about you call me Tattoed Lucas and refer to him as Assistant Lucas. That way we avoid turning this whole thing into a Monty Python sketch," The teen suggested.
"Agreed," the professor nodded curtly, "Assistant Lucas, take this young man into the main lab and get him the package that he is to deliver to Celestic Town as well as the reward we had prepared for him for doing us this favor. When you're done come back here,"
"Right away professor!" Assistant Lucas saluted happily. The younger boy motioned to the sixteen-year-old to follow.
Once again Tattoed Lucas got a chance to see the work in the lab. Science was always one of the most difficult subjects for the teen to master in school with its complex formulae and difficult theories, but while he failed at it every year, he did have a good respect for what science could do. As he watched the younger Lucas chat with some of the researchers he met down along the way to the main lab he wondered how someone so young became a researcher with such a distinguished and very intimidating Pokemon scientist, "Hey Lucas, how did you become Professor Rowan's assistant? I mean, you've got to be in what, middle school?"
"Well, I'm not actually an assistant here. I mean, I don't do any of the experiments or research," Assitant Lucas explained as they finally arrived at the main lab. This was the first room the Mohawked Trainer has seen when first passing down the hall, "My dad is Professor Rowan's top aide, so I've been around the lab my whole life. When I'm not at school I'm volunteering here. It's my dream to become a great scientist like the professor. In fact, the only time I've been away from the lab is when I went on a Pokemon Journey when I turned ten,"
The older Lucas suddenly remembered seeing the name of another boy with his name on all the plaques outside all the Gyms he had been to, "So you got all your badges?"
"Yup! All my badges but not a Championship. I was never that serious about it, not like my friend Dawn," Yet another time that the teen had heard about the current female Champion. Saturn had mentioned her, though not by name, and the Gym Leader Barry talked about being her friend as well, "Yup, me, Dawn and Barry all went on a Journey together. Dawn and Barry lived in the next town over, which if you can imagine is even smaller than Sandgem. We've been friends all our lives,"
"Ah yes. Barry." the tattooed young man grumbled.
"I take it you've challenged him recently at his new Gym. Barry does take...getting used to. He's a good guy once you get to know him. Problem is that he's always fifty light years ahead of everybody, including himself sometimes,"Assistant Lucas explained with a sigh before walking over to storage shelf and pulling a two-foot-long box off of one of the higher levels, "This is the package we need you to deliver. And this is what Professor Rowan wanted me to give you. It's the Hidden Machine for the move Surf. Unless you have it already, the professor wasn't sure. If you do we can get you something else,"
"No, that's great, I've been needing Surf. I appreciate it, thank you," the teen Lucas stated gratefully as he carefully put the long package into his bag. With the task complete the two returned to the professor, who was once again absorbed with his work. Once again Assistant Lucas had to practically scream to get the old man's attention.
"Ah, welcome back. Tattooed Lucas, the person you will be delivering the package to is a woman named Cynthia, make sure you give it to her and only her. The item you are carrying is quite valuable for its age if not just its intrinsic value. The other thing I want to do before you leave on your task is to see your Pokedex. Samuel charged you with filling it out and I want to see how well you are doing," Professor Rowan explained. The teen Lucas reached into one of his vest pockets and handed the device over to the man's waiting hand. The professor wasted no time as he began pressing various buttons on the device, his expression concentrated but revealing no other emotion. Satisfied with whatever information he received, he handed the Pokedex back to its owner, "How long have you been Training, young man?"
"Um, lessee. Like four or five months now, I think. I didn't really pay attention," teen Lucas shrugged.
"I see, I see," Rowan mused, "You do have a pretty good selection of Pokemon, including quite a few rare ones. But you've seen far more Pokemon than you've caught. Sinnoh has an amazing diversity, try to make sure you don't just rely on bumping into new Pokemon along the way. Start fishing more, it seems the only Pokemon you caught with a rod is a Magikarp. Also check out the honey trees that are all around Sinnoh, that's the only way to catch creatures like Combee,"
"Yes sir," the young Trainer mumbled somewhat sheepishly.
"There is no need to be upset. You haven't been doing half-bad. I just want to see you succeed for both your sake as well as we Pokemon Researchers. In fact I can give you another Pokemon to help fill up your Pokedex," The professor reached into a drawer on his desk and pulled out three Pokeballs, "Samuel told me you received one of his starters but I don't see why you shouldn't have one of mine too. After all, you did start in the Sinnoh region and not Kanto. You have the option of Turtwig, a grass-type, Chimchar, a fire-type and Piplup, a water-type,"
"Why are professors so generous with giving away Pokemon?" the teen thought aloud as he looked at the three Pokeballs he was offered.
"I told you, it's in our interest to see successful Trainers who catch lots of Pokemon. Trainers that start out with weaker Pokemon like Rattata and Bidoof rarely go very far in the League or with Pokemon research," Rowan commented dryly.
"Then I'd like Turtwig, I don't have a lot of grass-types yet," Lucas concluded as he selected his new Pokemon.
"Good. Since that's the last of the business I have with you today I'll let you get on your way. When you finish your delivery call Samuel and he'll let me know. Good luck Tattooed Lucas and keep filling in that Pokedex!" With that final order Professor Rowan sent Lucas on his way to Celestic Town.