Revised Content Edition of Back to the Basics! Part 2; December 31st, 2010.
"Hmm... Pokemon Forensics." Ryan thought as he skimmed through a book he was holding. Various graphs and pictures of different objects lined the pages Ryan looked at. A Meowth paw was missing it's Meowth in one picture, for example. Other pages had statistics on pokemon used in organized crimes and domestic crimes using pokemon. The book would be a goldmine for a rising pokemon criminal, as it also contained case files of the most notorious criminals in the Pokemon World.
"Sounds interesting, but I need more stuff on battling." Ryan closed the book and set it on top of a stack of ten books. Pokemon for Dummies was the next book for Ryan to read; he actually found it after a painstaking hike through the entire library, twice. The book had a stereotypical nerd with twirly glasses on the front with the orange colored spine and cover.
"I'd better read that last..." He thought as he put Pokemon for Dummies aside. Ryan was sitting at a table on the bottom floor of the laboratory library, after spending time finding books, sifting through books he deemed valuable to his cause. Some of the books he chose weren't even related to battling; one of them was a dummy's guide to breeding. Ryan immediately put that book aside the moment he saw it.
The next book was titled, "Mysteries and Legends of Sinnoh". The book looked like an ancient volume, due to the brown leather covering and the fancy metal corner coverings. A red ribbon meant to be used for a bookmark was found on the inside cover as Ryan flipped it open. It turned out the book itself wasn't ancient, as publishing information was found on the inside cover.
"Hmm..." Ryan debated reading the book. He was reading strictly for battle information, but he reasoned reading about a little myth couldn't hurt. Ryan turned to the table of contents, which held the following,
Chapter 1- Mysterious Birds
Chapter 2- The Legend of the Three Heroes
Chapter 3- Legendary Nightmares
Ryan quickly skimmed the first three chapter titles and decided to turn to the first chapter to begin reading, as the title caught his attention.
Mysterious Birds?
Seafoam Island, an abandoned power plant, and a long forgotten cave near Indigo Plateau. What do these places have in common? At one time or another, three legendary pokemon had called those places home.
"Whoa. That must mean-" Ryan's eyes widened in realization as he recalled his younger days with his gameboy.
The three legendary birds of Kanto; Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres have dwelled in those places.
Ryan recalled times when he was playing Pokemon on his game boy as a little kid. He remembered the painstaking task of catching those three legendary pokemon. Ryan also remembered asking Carter for help after accidentally making Zapdos faint repeatedly.
"Wow... that was a long time ago. And I think I only caught Articuno..." Ryan rolled his eyes with a smirk in amusement at the recalled memories and continued reading.
The authors of this book have not seen the legendary pokemon up close and have relied on a number of eyewitnesses- many were travelers who were either stranded or lost in these areas.
An eyewitness attempting to climb Seafoam Island was separated from her climbing party as a blizzard raged. She recalled a fuzzy figure of a large blue bird with long tail feathers landing next to her as she collapsed and lost consciousness. She also said when she woke up, she was out of the blizzard and next to the ocean. Her party found her in one piece- she suffered from minor hypothermia, but otherwise she was fine. We also had a talk with the party members. They recalled a faint blue figure flying into the mist above the Seafoam Islands. Now, people reading this book may ask, "Why have the writers of this book not gone to see this mysterious figure?" First of all, the figure is theorized to be the Freezing pokemon, Articuno. Second, the stranded woman was the last person to catch a glimpse of Articuno, nearly ten years from when this book was published. However, the Seafoam Island in Kanto is not the only place where Articuno roams. While most eyewitnesses of these legendary Kanto pokemon were indeed in Kanto, a few people have reported descriptions matching Articuno in Sinnoh.
"Really?" Ryan's interest was stirred.
It appears Articuno has left Kanto to roost in Sinnoh. As far as the authors know, nothing has repelled Articuno from its home- Seafoam Island was left alone after the climbing incident. It is unknown as to why Articuno has come to Sinnoh, and for how long. If one were wanting to maybe catch a glimpse of Articuno, they would have to travel up north towards Snowpoint City, home to frigid temperatures. It's also worth noting Articuno was also sighted in other rural areas around Sinnoh.
Ryan stopped reading and put the book down on the table. A legendary pokemon he knew was wandering around Sinnoh?
"It'd be nice if I caught a glimpse of Articuno sometime... although I'd better focus on the task at hand." Ryan thought as he re focused on Eevee's and Umbreon's dilemma. He closed the book, set it on top of his "Read This Later" pile, grabbed the orange Pokemon for Dummies book and opened it. The prologue was the first page within the book.
Before you begin reading Pokemon for Dummies, make sure you understand one thing- a book will not be the deciding factor in making you a better trainer. This book will act as your crutch as it teaches you the basics- this is not a substitute to an Academy! Remember, the world of pokemon changes with new discoveries made every day. If you are in the region of Sinnoh, see Professor Rowan- he is a great mentor of mine and can help out beginning trainers with their questions.
"You have to go to an academy to become a Pokemon Trainer?" Ryan thought as his heart slightly plummeted. A thought crossed Ryan's mind; didn't a person have to be a trainer to keep a pokemon?
"I wonder if I can even keep Eevee and- wait." The teen quickly lifted his head from the book and turned his head back and forth, frantically looking for a clock.
"Oh no! What time is it?" Ryan's gaze found a grandfather clock next to the staircase he came down in. Since Ryan already faced the stairs, he looked at the hands on the face of the grandfather clock.
"Six thirty? I completely forgot!" He got up in a panic, left the "Pokemon for Dummies" book on the table and began his brisk walk up the stairs. Ryan sped up through the hallway he came through earlier, almost to a jogging speed! He went down the flight of stairs leading past Emily's desk and out the front door.
"Oh man... guys, hang on..." Ryan was so focused on getting back to the Pokemon Center that he nearly ignored a call from Emily. She noticed the panicked look on Ryan's face as he came up to her.
"What's up with you?" Emily asked Ryan.
"I gotta go get my pokemon, I'll be back later;" Ryan quickly said and went through the sliding doors of the lab. Ryan's legs moved him a few steps after the doors closed, but he didn't look at where he was going, since he ran into a man.
"Oh! Sorry!" Ryan apologized as he realized what he had done. Neither Ryan nor the person was knocked down. Ryan looked up at the person's face; he was somewhat taller than the teen, about six feet tall. A man with white hair and a rough look stared down at Ryan. The man wore a brown trench coat and a brown hat. Ryan gulped as the man answered.
"Whoa, is it just me or does he look... mean?" Ryan couldn't find the right words to describe the man's "air".
"Its fine, I suppose. Be wary of your surroundings next time." The man said, surprising Ryan.
"Thank you! I'm really sorry, I really am! I gotta go and get-" As Ryan was explaining himself, and backing up, a familiar brown catlike pokemon jumped onto him, knocking him off of his feet due to Ryan not expecting it, and made him land on his bottom.
"Ryan!" Eevee started to happily lick Ryan's face like he was a long lost brother.
"Eevee! What- are you doing here?" Ryan asked while being licked. He looked up through Eevee's licks to see Umbreon and a lagging Squirtle coming up to greet him. Squirtle grunted a small afterward and pretended to shift his attention to a bush nearby. Umbreon and Squirtle stopped in front of Ryan and next to the man.
"Hi Ryan!" Umbreon greeted him, who was still being attacked by Eevee's tongue. The man in the trench coat looked at Eevee, Umbreon and Squirtle and knelt down to look at Umbreon. Umbreon simply looked at the stranger, wondering what he was looking at. Was there something on his face?
"Hmm..." He said as he examined Umbreon. The man suddenly turned to Ryan, who was still on the ground fighting off the invasion of the slobber, and asked him a question.
"Is this Umbreon yours?" The man asked in a tone that seemed to say he didn't tolerate nonsense. Ryan laughed from the tickling of Eevee's tongue an begged her to stop. Eevee obliged, considering he was needed by some stranger.
"N-no, I just met Umbreon yesterday," Ryan answered as he sat up from the ground and the man raised his eyebrow.
"You met an Umbreon out in the wild of Sinnoh?" The man was intrigued by Ryan's answer.
"W-well, Umbreon was an Eevee when I met him," Ryan patted Eevee on her head, let her on his shoulder and got up to his feet to see a hint of astonishment on the man's face.
"That would mean that the Eevee evolved no less than twenty four hours ago! Hmm..." The man thought in equal astonishment shown on his face.
"Are you by chance a trainer?" The man asked Ryan, not able to recall Ryan's face from his memory.
"Me? I-" Ryan was cut off by a boy with a Pikachu on his shoulder and a girl with a Piplup in her arms coming up to them and calling out to him. He noticed the girl didn't have her white beanie hat on her head now, which allowed her long, tamed blue hair to show. A couple of yellow hair clips held a couple of bangs to the side of Dawn's face.
"Hey, Ryan!" Ash and Dawn came up to him and the man, who turned at the call. A warm smile emerged onto the man's face as he looked at Ash and Dawn, recognizing them immediately.
"Ash! Dawn! Pleasure to see you." The man greeted. Ryan was a bit surprised; the man knew them?
"Professor Rowan!" Dawn and Ash recognized as they came up to him and Ryan.
"You know them?" Ryan asked Professor Rowan, in surprise.
"Of course! Professor Rowan gave me my first pokemon; Piplup!" Dawn answered for Professor Rowan. As if on cue, Piplup hopped out of Dawn's arms and greeted Professor Rowan with a wave of his wing.
"Why, hello Piplup, you look well." Piplup nodded and stood in his proud stance with his wings at his sides.
"Professor Rowan, what're you doin' here?" Ash asked as he noticed a warn, brown briefcase in Rowan's hand.
"I am here to assist an old student of mine with his lecture on the evolutions of pokemon." Professor Rowan answered.
"An old student?" Dawn asked.
"Yes, in fact, he is a recent student from a few years ago," Professor Rowan peered down at his raised wrist, which had a wristwatch that read a familiar time to Professor Rowan.
"I have an appointment to make, so I will see you later," Rowan waved good bye as he turned to go through the sliding glass doors.
"Okay, bye Professor Rowan!" Dawn and Ash said farewell to Professor Rowan.
"Oh, bye!" Ryan quickly said. As soon as Rowan went into the lab and the doors slid to a close, Ryan looked at Eevee on his shoulder. "Sorry I nearly forgot about you guys," Ryan apologized.
"It's okay," Eevee nuzzled a bit into Ryan's cheek, signifying that he was forgiven. Umbreon did the same to the side of Ryan's leg. Squirtle, just stood facing away with his arms crossed, grunted and shook his head up and down slowly.
"Thanks guys," Ryan was glad they had accepted his apology. He wasn't sure if Squirtle was really accepting his apology, or if he was chastising him. Ryan shrugged in his head at the thought and turned to Ash and Dawn. "And you guys too! Who knows how long I would've spent in there reading if I did forget them?"
"No need to worry!" Dawn gave Ryan a thumbs up.
"Yeah, no biggie." Ash added. "Did you find anything?" He asked Ryan.
"All I found were books on," Ryan recalled, in his head, the various books he had discovered in the lab's library. He answered, with his hand to his chin, and as they came to mind,
"Let's see... most of them were about battling and basic trainer knowledge and a few were on the history of Sinnoh and other places. Wasn't anything about hunters though," Ryan couldn't remember the rest of the books he found; well, minus the odd pokemon breeding book, but he stuffed the thought. Squirtle's ear twitched a bit while he was still faced away from the group.
"So, he really is looking for him." The tiny turtle thought as he tuned in, listening to them.
"Nothing, huh..." Ash commented.
"By the way, what were you talking about with Professor Rowan?" Dawn asked Ryan.
"He was wondering if Umbreon was mine and if I was a trainer." Ryan answered. Dawn nodded as she heard.
"Oh, I'd better go and put the books away..." Ryan suddenly said.
"We'll help you out!" Ash suggested, in the interest of helping a friend. Pikachu raised his hand with a thumbs up.
"Yeah!" Dawn agreed.
"Thanks." Ryan thanked them for their generosity as the three of them walked past the sliding glass doors of the Arrowroot Laboratory as they opened, leading them to the lobby once more, and Emily.
"Are you alright? It's not every day you run into Professor Rowan, literally!" Emily asked Ryan, who stopped in front of her desk with Ash and Dawn. Umbreon and Squirtle stopped next to Ryan, both wondering who the woman was.
"Well, I'm fine; just gotta be a bit more careful," Ryan rubbed the back of his head in a tidbit of embarrassment; there was a light shade of red on Ryan's cheek for a slight moment before it disappeared.
"So, what made you rush out like that?" Emily asked, curious as to why Ryan nearly ran Professor Rowan over.
"Me!" Eevee cried out in response to Emily's question. A warm expression that was normally save for babies popped onto Emily's face.
"Aww, is that your Eevee?" Emily asked, with a melting feeling in her heart from Eevee's cuteness. Eevee suddenly nodded, answering Emily's question, but left Ryan and Squirtle surprised.
"I guess so." Ryan went along with Eevee's response, for ease of conversation. Sometimes it was better to go along with the flow, for the sake of being somewhat sociable; as Ryan recalled.
Emily was slightly confused by the lack of conviction in Ryan's answer, but dismissed it and asked Ryan a question. "Guess? Oh well, I understand; if I had a pokemon as cute as this little Eevee, I'd rush out too. What brings you back?"
Ryan recalled the time; six thirty. There was the possibility of Brock finishing up dinner preparations, so reading more was out of the question. There was only one thing to do."I was reading some books, and I figured I should put 'em back, you know?" Ryan told Emily who, in her head, approved of the responsibility he showed.
"Glad you think so. But, you can just leave the books on the return cart on the first floor of the library." Emily suggested. She figured she might as well cut the kid some slack; besides, she needed something to do later.
"Okay, thanks!" Ryan waved thanks. "Come on guys, this way!" Ryan motioned for Ash, Dawn, Umbreon and Squirtle to follow him up the flight of marble stairs, which led to the red rug hallway from earlier. Ash and Dawn both looked around the hall, both comparing it to labs they've been in before. Ryan led them to the opening where the library showed in it's full beauty.
"Whoa, this place is huge!" Ash said as he looked around the open floor of the library and bottom floor, where the sunset's light still lit up the floor, via the skylight window. Ash's eyes fell onto a stack of various colored books that looked like they varied in age as well. "Are those the books?" Ash got Ryan's attention and asked him as he pointed to the table Ryan sat at earlier.
"Wow, you already read all of these?" Dawn asked as she looked at the stacks of ten or so books.
"I skimmed through some of it, and read little tidbits," Ryan explained as they went down another flight of stairs that led to the bottom floor. They went up to the table with the stack of books and Ryan grabbed a few in his arms. "We'd better get started," He said as he peered around for the return cart Emily mentioned earlier.
"Hmm... Conference Room Three..." Professor Rowan thought as he walked through a hallway. Unlike the others, he went up the flight of stairs on the right, which led to a different section of the lab. Did Emily tell him to make a right at the intersection; or was it a left? Rowan tried to recall as he stopped in front of the intersection she mentioned about; there was one way that went to the left and one that went to the right. A red rug with yellow trimming graced the middle of the halls, as before. The red rug, unfortunately, went both left and right, so it wasn't able to help Professor Rowan out. Professor Rowan's eyes laid sight on a subtle sign with white lettering that almost blended in with the part of the sign had a white arrow pointing to the left with the label, "Library/Archives". The other part of the sign had a white arrow pointing to the right and was labeled, "Laboratory".
"Why, he did say the conference rooms were past the library..." Professor Rowan decided. He turned to the left and started walking down the hallway. Eventually, he approached the open floor of the library, where Ryan and the others were currently, unknown to Professor Rowan. The hallway Ryan and the others traveled through earlier was Professor Rowan's next stop; he recalled a few Professor Conferences being held in this part of the laboratory. Before he could take another step, A familiar male voice called out Professor Rowan's name from behind him, slightly echoing down the hallway.
"Hmm?" Professor Rowan turned around to see a young man coming up to him who looked like he was in his low twenties. He wore a white lab coat similar to Emily's, only his Identification Card showed his picture; brown short hair, hazel eyes, a medium width nose, and a silly pearly smile. His name, "Matt Maple" showed underneath the picture. The white lab coat covered a black long shirt and a bit of Maple's blue jeans. Professor Rowan recognized his former student and didn't waste anytime.
"Matt, I thought you were holding your lecture in the conference room?" Professor Rowan asked.
"Professor, its Professor Maple!" Professor Maple corrected Professor Rowan before continuing. "And I had to move the lecture to my personal lab; the conference rooms are scheduled for remodeling tomorrow."
"Surely you knew that beforehand." Professor Rowan pointed out as he "smelled something fishy". Matt twiddled his fingers, almost as if in nervousness. Professor Rowan decided it'd be best to save his questions for later. "Anyways, let's not waste time; you have a lecture that needs assisting?" Professor Maple nodded, glad his former mentor decided to let the issue slide; for now.
"Yeah, my lab is this way; hold up," Professor Maple noticed Ryan and the others carefully setting books onto the return cart they painstakingly found. "Who's that?" He also noticed a few pokemon along with them, who were helping them hold books.
"Why, that's Ash, Dawn, and their friend," Rowan noted aloud.
"What're they doing there? I thought I told Emily not to let anyone go into the library..." Professor Maple thought as he prepared to call out to them.
"Okay, here's the last one!" Ash handed a thin scarlet colored book, that Pikachu handed to him, to Ryan.
"Alright!" Ryan placed the thin scarlet colored book right side up on the return cart next to the numerous books he had pulled out.
"Well, that takes care of-" A male voice boomed out a cry, but only loud enough to the point where Ryan and the others could hear the voice clearly.
"Hey, kids!" Ash, Dawn, Ryan and their pokemon looked up towards the second open floor of the library. A man they weren't familiar with, Professor Maple, was calling out to them. The trio looked at each other with questioning looks and figured they should talk to the man and see what was wrong. They climbed up the marble stairs leading to the open second floor, where the Professor Maple stood with his arms crossed, and with a familiar face Ash and the others already knew.
"Hey, Professor Rowan!" Dawn greeted as she and the others noticed it was Professor Rowan standing next to Professor Maple, who decided to ask a quick question; his class was waiting on him!
"What are you doing? The library's closed!" Professor Maple hastily asked and explained.
"The receptionist didn't say anything like that," Ryan explained as he tried recalling, in his head, anything about Emily telling him the library was closed. Nothing even remotely close came up in his head.
"He has a point, Matt," Professor Rowan suddenly cut in before Professor Maple could say anything. "The receptionist did say the library was open, unlike you, who says it's closed." Professor Maple retraced his thoughts before realizing what happened.
"Oh, how could I forget to tell Emily?" He thought aloud and quickly rebounded to an apology. "I'm sorry about the misunderstanding, but yeah, the library isn't supposed to be open due to," Professor seemed to stop his explanation for an excuse. "The construction tomorrow," Ryan noticed the sudden stop, but decided to disregard it.
"Oh, okay. Wait, Professor Rowan; this is your former student?" Ryan turned to look at the white haired Professor Rowan and asked him.
"Why, yes. This is Matt Maple, a special-" Professor Rowan was interrupted by his former pupil, who seemed to not take a liking to his former mentor using his first name; like he was still his student!
"That's Professor Maple, professor!" Professor Maple sighed in annoyance and put his hands to his hips. He continued with a bit of monologue, recalling what he had said to his mentor a few years ago. "Jeez, I did say I'd become a professor and," Professor Maple's thoughts recalled why his former mentor was even visiting him. "Wait a sec; the lecture!" Professor Maple started to run down the hallway Professor Rowan traveled down earlier. "Come on, professor!" Professor Maple called back to his mentor as he rushed down the hall. Professor Rowan turned to Ash, Dawn, and Ryan, who were still absorbing what had just happened, with blank stares on their faces.
"I had better follow him, and if you would like, you may come along and listen to the lecture." Professor Rowan offered. Perhaps it would shine a better light on his former student, he reasoned in his head. With that, Professor Rowan turned with his brown briefcase in his right hand and went down the hallway he came from to follow his former pupil. The blank stares on the trio's faces were replaced now with looks of wonder. Ryan knew this was a rare opportunity.
"He did say he was lecturing about pokemon evolutions, and maybe I could learn some more about Eevee's evolutions, instead of reading about it in a book!" Ryan thought. He decided what he was going to do and turned to face Ash and Dawn, who were asking each other if they both really saw a young professor. "I'm gonna go to the lecture, how about you guys?"
Ash had a look on his face that practically said yes, while Dawn did, as well, but it dimmed when she looked down the hallway they came."It sounds great, but I feel kinda bad leaving Brock out of this," Dawn said as she thought about Brock and knowing that he'd probably want to listen in too. Ash put his hand to his chin for a split second, to think, and came up with a solution.
"We could go get him and come back real quick! He should be back at the Pokemon Center by now!" Ash suggested, snapping his fingers as if in a "eureka" moment.
"Yeah, it's not like shopping could take that long," Ryan said. He suddenly recalled shopping trips with Taylor and instantly wanted to take back what he had already said.
"We'll be back, see ya!" Ash, with Pikachu on his shoulder, and Dawn, with Piplup hopping into her arms, bi farewell as they walked back down the red rug lined hallway they went down earlier. Ash and Dawn both disappeared from Ryan's sight and when they did, Ryan turned to Eevee on his shoulder, than Umbreon and Squirtle standing on the ground.
"Okay guys, let's go!" Ryan said to Eevee, Umbreon and Squirtle as he started his walk down the hall Professor Maple ran down with his mentor in calm pursuit. The two professors were out of sight, however, meaning they had already reached their destination. Ryan thought about Professor Rowan, who he had just met moments ago.
"Professor Rowan... come to think of it, I didn't even introduce myself, even though he probably wouldn't care much." Ryan's old memories of his gameboy adventures told him of another professor her was all too familiar with. "I wonder if there's a Professor Oak here? Eh..." Ryan shifted from his thoughts as he came to the same intersection Professor Rowan ran into earlier. However, this time, since Ryan came from the library, the white arrow and sign labeled,"Laboratory" were pointing straight ahead from where Ryan was. The hallway Professor Rowan took from the front lobby was to Ryan's right noticed the sign and arrow pointing in the laboratory's direction, even though he nearly missed it due to the blandness of the color used on the arrow and lettering. He took one good look at the sign and figured, "That's where the professors went!"
Ryan decided to go straight, following his hunch on where the professors went. He also recalled them talking about a lecture, various times. The way he chose made sense to Ryan as he wandered down the hallway with Eevee on his shoulder and Squirtle and Umbreon walking alongside with teen's thoughts wandered back to why he was in the library earlier as he walked past more keypad equipped doors with silver knobs.
"I wonder if I can find info on the Pokemon Hunter. What was I thinking; looking inside of a book? I could ask the professors about this,"
An opening ahead of Ryan held a few doors, but one stuck out, as it was labeled, "Professor Maple's Lab". Ryan approached the end of the hallway and he found himself going into a spacious circular foyer, with the walls painted in a taupe color. There were dark brown doors, with silver knobs, spaced evenly around the circle shape of the foyer. Each room, Ryan guessed, probably led to a different part of the lab. Across from where Ryan stopped was a door that held a sign above it, labeled with the brass colored words, "Professor Maple's Laboratory".
"Here we are, come on guys," Ryan motioned for Squirtle and Umbreon to follow him across the foyer as he walked towards the closed door. He grabbed the silver door knob, twisted it counterclockwise, and slowly pushed the door open. Ryan stepped into the room, meeting many pairs of eyes, to his surprise. Professor Rowan and Maple stood in front of what looked like a college classroom. Professor Maple's Lab shared the same color scheme outside in the foyer. The walls were covered, however, with many posters, each variously describing aspects of pokemon. The parts that weren't covered by posters showed a similar shade of taupe like outside in the foyer as well. The ceiling was noticeably higher than the foyer, however, which made for more breathing room. Windows that stretched from bottom to top with black metal supports separating each separate window were on the opposite side of the door where Ryan came in. The windows also seemed a bit dim looking outside, leading to the assumption that they were tinted to the point where outsiders wouldn't be able to see inside the lab.
Ryan looked at the many pairs of eyes looking at him. Many of the owners of the eyes looks younger than he did, approximately three of so years younger. They were sitting in rows of raised seats that kept going up towards the back of the lab. A medium sized desk made out of what looked like aluminum stood at the bottom of the raised classroom; it probably was Professor Maple's desk, since he was the teacher, after all. A simple black computer stood on his desk, along with a standard black keyboard and computer mouse. It was indeed similar to a college classroom, more so than a laboratory. A polished tabletop stretched along each row of seated students, allowing for classwork to be worked on. Ascending stairs in the middle of the rows of seats split the class into two halves and allowed people to get to and from their seats. He noticed a boy with light brown hair and glasses, who looked a lot younger than the rest, sitting next to an older looking girl that wore a white fisherman's hat in the top back row. The many pairs of eyes staring at Ryan reminded him of Speech class and the uncomfortable feeling of the class seemed to return for a moment.
"Uh, hello...?" Ryan nervously squeezed out as the stares continued. The stares, unknown to Ryan, were ones out of curiosity, since they didn't recognize him. Some of the students reasoned it was a newcomer that wasn't from around town; some of the students were from various parts of Arrowroot.
"Why hello, young trainer." Professor Rowan walked up to Ryan greeted him, pleased that he took his offer on listening on his evolution speech. He then realized as he tried calling Ryan by his name that he had not properly introduced himself. "I didn't catch your name earlier, what is it?"
"It's Ryan." Ryan answered through a shroud of nervousness, from the stares directed at him.
"Ryan, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Professor Rowan," He extended his right hand out for a handshake, which Ryan returned. "I would like to ask you more about your Umbreon after the lecture, if you don't mind." Professor Rowan asked in a lower tone of voice as the two released their handshake.
"Sure, I- I don't mind. Do you mind if I listen in on the lecture?" Ryan managed to ask as he couldn't manage to shake the stares for much longer.
"I'm sure Professor Maple wouldn't mind, right Matt?" Professor Rowan turned to Professor Maple.
"I don't mind, you can find a free seat over there," Maple pointed towards a seat next to the young boy with glasses and the girl wearing a white fisherman's hat Ryan noticed earlier.
"Okay, thanks." Ryan walked up the stairs and over to the seat that Professor Maple pointed at while the uncomfortable stares followed him. As Ryan disappeared up in the back, the stares shifted back to Professor Maple in the front, relieving Ryan instantly. As Ryan pulled the seat back and sat in it, Eevee hopped down onto Ryan's lap from his shoulder and laid her head down. Umbreon sat upright next to Ryan and Squirtle stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the back wall..
"You guys can take a nap if you want." Ryan whispered to them, knowing the lecture wouldn't exactly appeal as much to them, if at all; even though it pertained to them to a certain degree.
"Okay!" Eevee nodded, acknowledging that she heard him, and closed her eyes, preparing to slumber through the lecture. Umbreon and Squirtle nodded, but stayed in their previous position. A nap in their position, and on the wooden floor?
"Psst! Hey." Ryan turned to the source of the whisper; the young boy with glasses was trying to whisper a suggestion to Ryan after seeing Umbreon, Eevee and Squirtle follow him up the stairs and to his seat. "Why don't you put your pokemon in their Pokeballs? I know what I'm saying; I'm Professor Maple's assistant!" The boy said with a hint of pride.
"Say what?" Ryan looked at the boy again; he didn't look any older than seven. Either he was fibbing, or he was one of those super-geniuses, Ryan reasoned. "Are you sure? I mean, you still look like a little kid." Ryan asked, which earned an annoyed/offended look from the boy.
"Hey! Don't call me kid! I'm eight years old!" The boy attempted to retort. Ryan laughed in his head, which made his face show a slight smirk.
"Yeah. You're still a kid." Ryan pointed out his age group. He and the boy started a whispering argument between each other, earning a condescending look from the girl with the white fisherman's hat sitting next to Ryan. The girl was about to grab the boy and tell him to knock it off, but Professor Maple looked at her and shook his head, meaning he had it.
"Don't-" The boy was interrupted as Professor Maple gave a warning cough that the boy knew was subtly directed toward him. As the boy and Ryan stopped and turned their attention back towards the front, Professor Maple started talking.
"Well, welcome to the Evolution Lecture by yours truly and a special guest; my mentor, Professor Rowan!" Professor Maple Rowan slightly bowed for a second as applause started. Ryan joined in on the applause before turning to the boy to ask him something, out of curiosity.
"Hey, why does it seem like Rowan is famous?" Ryan asked him. The boy seemed offended by the question and looked at Ryan like he was outlandish.
"You're kidding, right? Professor Rowan and big-" The boy seemed to cut himself off at the word big. "I mean, Professor Maple, are famous for their inter-dimensional research!" Ryan's eyes lit up when he heard the word, inter-dimensional.
"Inter-dimensional research; does that mean...?" Ryan focused as Professor Rowan started talking. There may be a way home after all, Ryan reasoned, as he started to focus on the lecture and started to think of questions to ask the two professors afterward.