Becoming the Champion of the Kanto region proved to be remarkably easy. Alfred's dragons proved to be more than enough to take out the Elite Four, and take them out fast. His predecessor, as far as Champions went, was pretty underwhelming as well. At seventeen years old, he posed for his photo, front and center with his pokémon behind him. The picture had been put up in the hall of Champions. Alfred got letters from his parents, and answered them to be polite, but he never returned home. After all, the attention and fame he got from living at the Indigo Plateau was far more exciting.

Years passed with Alfred as the Champion, and now he was twenty-four and still undefeated. Seven consecutive years of being the best trainer around hadn't weathered him in the slightest. However, the thrill of a good battle had dulled.

He had a number of people working under him now, including the Elite Four. Rather than get the mail himself, his attendant brought it. Said attendant now walked into his personal estate, and handed a letter to him. Alfred exchanged some brief pleasantries with them, and then opened the envelope.

It was a letter from his hometown, requesting that he come back for a visit. The new professor was going to be handing out starters, and as he read, one sentence in particular got Alfred's attention.

'We believe it would be both encouraging and inspiring for the young trainers, seeing as how you've come so far since you lived here.'

Alfred folded the paper, sighing as he tossed it down onto an end table. He'd think about it, but, there was no doubt the kids would want to battle and he didn't want to hurt the starter pokémon. At least, not until the kids had trained them somewhat and made it to the Plateau. But, in the end he decided to go. To turn down kids would be bad for his image, and he hadn't seen his parents in a while anyway. He'd just have to try not to beat the starters up too badly..

Alfred's driver parked his car in front of the Pokemon Lab, which had a crowd of kids going in and out with pokémon. He watched for a moment, switching his sunglasses for his prescription lenses. Once his vision sharpened, he stepped out of his car, going up to the entrance. Kids stepped aside for him, and he ruffled one boy's hair as he pushed the door open.

" 'Lo?" He called out, navigating through the area. It was crowded with stacks of books and equipment, and the room being full of kids didn't help matters. "Champion Alfred Jones, makin' his grand entrance. You ready for me, Professor?" He craned his neck to see into a doorway. The professor's back was turned to him, a familiar tone to his voice as he addressed Alfred.

"Yes, yes, here you are. You're on time, what to do you want, a prize? That's expected of you." The professor turned, thick brows knit in impatience. "You're not here to see me, you're here to talk to the children so get to it."

Just as Alfred was trying to place where he'd heard the man's voice before, a slightly overweight Bulbasaur waddled into the room. There was a roll of papers held in his vine, and Arthur took it, setting it on his desk with a thank you.

"Wait..you look- and your bulbasaur- You're that kid from Celadon! The one who fought me in Viridian! Are you serious, they made you a professor? Can like, anyone become the region professor now?"

The professor bristled. "That's Professor Arthur Kirkland to you. My colleagues sometimes refer to me as Professor Aspen, so you may use that if you feel you must. And as I said before, no matter what our past interaction, you are not here for me. You're here for them." He gestured out a window, where a few first-time trainers were waiting. "Now, go on, would you?" He sighed, rolling his eyes.

"What- no, no, I'm curious now. You were a trainer before, I wanna know what made you do this instead. What do you study anyway? Well, you battled me, so maybe you're studying what makes some trainers better than others."

Arthur scoffed. "I wanted to be a professor from the start. You didn't 'change' anything. At least, not anything you would remember. If you must know, I'm studying type advantages and their reasoning. Some, like water over fire, are obvious. But some aren't quite so clear, for example, dragon types and their weakness to fairies."

"Well, my dragons don't have weaknesses." Alfred retorted, and Arthur chuckled at that.

"You may not like it but they do. No pokémon is invincible."

"Prove it!" Alfred challenged, growing red in the face after being laughed at.

"After you do what you came to do. If you're so intent on battling, you can wait until the evening."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Once the children had left, Alfred dragged Arthur out of a vacant patch of grass, and sent out his Dragonite.

Arthur looked the Dragonite up and down, sizing it up and then picking a pokéball off his belt. He called the Pokemon out, and a smaller-than-average Sylveon sat at his feet.

"You're gonna beat me with that?" Alfred called out, crossing his arms. "Alright, Dragonite, take it out, I don't care what move you use." He waved a hand, sending his pokémon out on the attack. However, when Dragonite was done, Sylveon still stood it's ground, looking more or less fine. It shook his head, and Arthur called out a 'Moonblast', Alfred's Dragonite fainting after one move.

Arthur repeated the process with all of Alfred's pokémon, then picked up Sylveon when the battle ended. He praised him, feeding him a few berries and healing his minor scrapes with a potion.

"What the hell?!" Alfred yelled, putting his fainted Goodra away. "I, you- what did you do! How'd you win, I-" He pulled at his hair, cheeks flushing red at his frustration.

"It's quite simple." Arthur interjected, putting Sylveon away. "You used to have passion, I know that for a fact. But, you've grown bored. Battling is mundane. If you don't really care then neither will your team. Not only that, but you aren't the leader you used to be." He went inside, and Alfred followed, still livid.

"But, you aren't even a trainer, you've still got a Bulbasaur, for God's sake.."

"He doesn't want to evolve. I'm not going to make him." He took Alfred's pokémon from him, getting his medicine out of his cabinet and healing them all.

Alfred stared while he did so, his insults and remarks dying on his lips. "You're helping me?"

"Sort of. I'm..helping an old friend." Arthur shrugged, his Sylveon breaking out of his pokéball and rubbing against his leg.

Alfred looked down at it, a flash of realization in his expression. "You're..the kid from the park. From when I was nine." He looked up, the professor nodding slowly.

"...God, I'm a dick, aren't I." Alfred said after a moment, Arthur giving a soft chuckle.

"Well, you weren't always that way. You used to be quite sweet."

"Still, I, I really looked up to you, and, you were my friend and I forgot all about you." He looked down, beginning to feel embarrassment and shame for the first time in what seemed like forever. "I was your friend."

"You were." Arthur quipped, not even attempting to sugarcoat his lecture. "And now you're quite awful. You still are, unless you make an attempt to change."

There were a few moments of tense silence, and then Alfred breathed a sigh. "Can I..come back here? Like, to visit sometime?"

Arthur handed his pokémon back to him, giving a soft nod. "I think I'd like the chance to make things right. I considered you my best friend, you know."

"Yeah..we'll make things right. Or, I will, since it's my fault in the first place." Alfred gave a nervous laugh, and exchanged goodbyes, still a bit cautious as he talked to him. He went down the path without any pokémon at his side, hands in his pockets. He looked over his shoulder at the lab, giving a slight wave.

Arthur watched from the window, a smile quirking the edges of his lips as Alfred waved. He waved back, giving a content sigh. After years of trying to prove himself, he'd gotten his best friend back at last.