Day Two:

The specimen – Gardevoir, to be precise – seems to have experienced some sort of nightmare. This is indicative of the ability to experience emotional trauma. She was crying and trembling, but quickly returned to a state of rest. This shows promise – I may be able to establish some sort of link with her.

I pause as I write the text into my journal, and sigh as I return the tip of my pencil to the paper.

For the sake of integrity of the study, I feel I should mention that I currently have a trained Lucario in my possession. It is a male, and was captured in a Poké-Ball as a Riolu. Per his species, he is able to examine the "Aura" and is able to perform various degrees of telepathy, through which he may converse with me.

While this is definitely indicative of individuality, it is compromised by the firmly-held belief that a captured Pokémon is endowed with what is referred to as an "artificial personality". This entails the adaptation of the specimen to the presence of a human captor, which includes the fabrication of emotions to obtain a desired result of sustenance, shelter, or perhaps even procreation – such as the prompt to be introduced to the opposite gender of its species, or of a species within the same 'egg group'.

As a side-note, I am still personally baffled by Wailord's ability to mate with Skitty.

In any case, I am not able to utilize Lucario in this study due to the 2-century old research of one Professor Maple, which entails the contemporary theory of captured Pokémon mentioned earlier.

I will attempt to converse with her after she has healed from her various injuries.

I toss down the pencil on my desk and stretch across my chair. I look at the wall and the several degrees adorning the wall, the pride of which is my license as a Pokémon Professor. If only my dissertation professor knew how I would use it…

I've always been a rather...unique, Pokémon Professor.

Yes, I study, yes, I read, and yes, I write the occasional paper. But that's only a fraction of what I do. Most of my studies take place in the field, and are done without instruments. I mostly just track Pokémon and study their habitats until they notice me. When they do, my studying is compromised, as they begin to act differently when they know they're being observed. The differences can be subtle, such as being a bit more cautious or curious, but they can also be very obvious - such as immediately attacking me.

Not fun.

But in those regards, I'm not that different from most Pokémon Professors. What really sets me apart is my work ethic.

Thing is, my work is always high quality. One of the reasons for that is because I take a very long time to proof read it and collect the data. Some professionals believe that's because I'm very devoted and careful, which I let them believe - it means I get more money for my work.

However, in reality, while I'm being so "devoted" and "careful", I'm actually either training my humble team of Pokémon, or playing video games.

Mostly video games.

However, today is a day for work. I've got to put everything that's happened yesterday and today into a coherent format - such as the Gardevoir's seemingly individualistic tendencies and her emotional outburst when she woke up earlier today.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I index my responsibilities with this Pokémon. I doubt I'll be able to get much sleep tonight, as I'll have to monitor her wellbeing and ensure she doesn't regress into a previous state.

I sigh as I leave my study, and decide to flop onto the couch and watch some television for now. Shinx wanders over to me from his bed, and starts to rub against the back of my hand as he purrs. I smile as I scratch behind his ear.

"Heya, buddy," I whisper to him. "How're you doing?"

He mews in response, but my attention is shifted away from him as a new newscast comes on. It's about how Pokémon are being mistreated, and it's run by a group of activists. They try to get laws passed and open the eyes of the public to the true nature of Pokémon. I sigh.

Why can't more activists be like these guys? Most of them are radicals that go around attacking people that mistreat Pokémon, and when I publish this paper, they'll use my research to give "justification" to their violent actions, while the minority of them - such as the newscasters - will try to pass legislation and bring people to realization.

I roll my eyes as I shut the television. The broadcasters reminded me of something: if Gardevoir's an individual, I'm going to have to get informed consent from her - that, or deceive her and debrief her at the end of the study...I mean, I want to view her behavior as it would normally be, and not altered by the knowledge of what I'm studying her for...

Then again, if she does alter her behavior due to the knowledge that I'm studying her for determination of individuality, that would be proof in of itself, wouldn't it?

But, I mean...shit, there's a lot of stuff to take into consideration here. She's obviously emotionally unstable to begin with - nobody just wakes up in tears, hugs someone, and then goes back to sleep. Technically, if I can show that she has some sort of disorder that humans tend to have, that could be proof of individuality, but...

Well, whatever. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I have to monitor her physical recovery and possibly attempt to communicate with her again. Hopefully, this time won't be as inconclusive. Hopefully.

Ugh, I'd better do some research first. I don't want to be flying blind here. Unfortunately, there aren't many materials that refer to getting informed consent from Pokémon. Most experimenters apply the same ethical standards as animals - and some of them even include the use of euthanasia to terminate the experimentation.

"Fuckin' shit," I mumble to myself as I lean back on the couch with a sigh. This is a lot to deal with...

I'm startled out of my reverie when I feel a paw on my shoulder. I look up in surprise, and smile at my visitor - my Lucario.

"I thought you would still be asleep - it's pretty early," I remark. The Pokémon simply shrugs, and leans against the back of the couch. I smile as I adjust my seating to speak with him. "So, what's up?"

He gives me a meaningful stare, and refrains from utilizing his telepathy – something which carries meaning that I know all too well.

I sigh as I roll my shoulders. "You know that you can't be the focus of my study, man...I caught you in a Pokéball, remember? The hypothesis would be disproven by contemporary theory on the nature of a caught Pokémon." He rolls his eyes - it's a theory we both know all too well.

For those of us that believe that Pokémon are inherently individuals, that theory was - and still is - a hard blow. It's acceptance by several authorities on the subject make it a near-concrete theory, and affects how society interacts with Pokémon. This theory justified laws that allow for wild Pokémon to be forced into labor, as long as they're not caught with a Pokéball. They're treated like animals - sometimes even worse than animals. And when there's the occasional revolt, each of the Pokémon that attacked a human is put down. It's a cruel and brutal system, and it's one of the reasons as to why Lucario and I have been working so hard to find a way to carry out this study. In fact, it's one of the main reasons as to why I became a Pokémon professor in the first place - that is, to disprove this theory. Which will be tough, to say the least. It's sort of hard to disprove a theory that's been around almost as long as Newton's Laws.

Lucario sighs as he looks to me again. His irises glow a bit, and he finally utilizes his telepathy.

"So, I guess we're just going to have to get a wild Pokémon for this?"

"Yes," I sigh in exasperation. "We've already been over this, man - come on! We decided on this a long-ass time ago..."

"Good luck bringing in a wild Pokémon with their consent," he responds, sourly.

I stare at him in dull confusion. "What are you talking about?" He frowns at me. "I've already got one - she's healing up in the infirmary."

His eyes widen as he bares his teeth, clearly irritated. "You never told me, you moron!"

"Oh, right," I mutter as realization hits me. I chuckle lightly as I rub my eyes. "Sorry, I'm pretty tired - walked back through the woods and did some surgery this morning..."

"Walked through the woods!? You went out there alone!? I thought you a Pokémon Professor, not an Arceus-damned idiot!"

"I didn't go out there alone," I protest with a pout. "I went with Shinx."

"You went with Shinx!?" He demands, the veins in his forehead clearly bulging in frustration. "He's barely strong enough to fight a leaf!"

I sigh as I scratch the back of my head. Leave it to Lucario to be overprotective like this…Ever since he was a Riolu, he's always thought it was his responsibility to protect me. Even if he spent most of his time curled in a ball in my lap when he was so small...

Anyway, this means that I always have to defend myself against him. It's almost like arguing with an over-protective sibling…

"And if I had brought you, we wouldn't have a sample to work with!" I protest, leaning forward to stare him right in the eye. "You would've tried to intimidate it – and don't say that you wouldn't have, because you try to intimidate everything."

He glowers at me for a moment, and I can sense the tension between us rising. Finally, he breaks it off with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"Whatever. What's done is done. If you had been killed, it would have been your fault." I grunt in appreciation of his concern. "Now, let's just go see this specimen, shall we?"

I sigh as I stand upright. "Sure," I respond. "I haven't got anything else better to do..." He grunts and rolls his eyes in response. We walk to the infirmary, and Lucario balls up his fists a few times as he approaches.

I watch him with a frown of concern. He's usually so collected and level-headed. It's only when he's high-strung that he acts like this, and even then he's able to keep himself cool. Hell, even when I do something stupid, he calms down after a little while. It worries me to see him like this…

When we arrive at the Gardevoir, the first thing Lucario does is close his eyes and extend his left paw. I know full well what he's doing, but he feels that he must explain it anyway.

"I'm using the Aura to check for anything you may have missed," he needlessly explains. I nod, and he continues to move his hand over the space above the Gardevoir. He frowns to himself, and I frown as well – it's never a good sign when he frowns like that. I'm about to ask what's wrong when he opens his eyes, and turns to glare at me.

"She's not a wild Pokémon."

I stare at him in shock. "What?"

"I said, she's not a -"

"I know what you said," I spit. "What the fuck do you mean, she's not a wild Pokémon? I found her in the wild!"

"I scanned her Aura. She was once the Pokémon of a Trainer. She was released." He sighs. "You know, sometimes I can't believe how Arceus-damned dumb you are."

"Well, how the fuck was I supposed to know she wasn't wild?" I ask, irritated.

"You could have taken me with you," he growls in response.

"I already told you, I couldn't risk -" My words are cut off by his own resonating through my mind.

"Save it. What's done is done. Let's not waste any more time on discussing this." He sighs as he moves to leave the infirmary. I block the doorway with my body, and he looks to me in surprise.

"Hold up," I command. "You're gonna help me determine what we should do about this."

"What? But...this is your fault, not mine!"

"Yeah, but you're the one that wants to be a part of it so badly," I respond. "You're gonna help me with this, so that you can come with me the next time I'm looking for a specimen."

Lucario stares at me before sighing and grumbling in indignation. "Fine…But that doesn't change that you're a complete moron."

I laugh as I jokingly pat him on the shoulder. "Love you too, buddy. Now, come on - we've got work to do."

He nods, and we walk to my study. I sit down in my chair, and he surprises me when he attempts to sit on my lap.

"Whoa," I stop him. "You're too big for that, buddy. You're no Riolu anymore."

He sighs as he stands up, a light blush dusting his cheeks. His grumpiness is quickly replaced by embarassment. "Sorry. I...I'm still getting used to being this tall. I must admit...I still miss being a Riolu."

I smile at him as I remember. He only recently evolved into a Lucario - in fact, it only happened about a year ago. Not even. When he used to be a Riolu, he would sit in my lap whenever we were at my desk - so he could see what I was working on. And when he was really young, he used to sleep in my bed with me when he was having nightmares.

But now that he's evolved, everything's changed. He can't sit in my lap without it being not only painful, but...awkward, due to the fact that he's basically the size of an adult. And having an adult male sit in your lap is a bit...weird.

In any case, it's something I miss. And while we did try to work out him sitting in my lap while I worked at first, it ended up looking like a really bad comedy, so I ended up getting him his own chair.

Speaking of which, he's pulling it over now. I smile as I move to let him sit down next to me. He nods in acknowledgement, and I can't help but see a bit of disappointment as he settles into the cold leather.

"I miss it to," I respond with a sigh. "But it's in the past now, you know? We've just got to deal with what we've got."

He nods, but doesn't say anything as I boot up my laptop. We toss about ideas as to what we should do, and eventually Lucario says something that gives me pause.

"Perhaps you should release her." I stop scrolling through the list of wild Pokémon in the surrounding area to look at him.

"What?"

"Once she's healed...maybe you should just let her go."

I frown at him. "Yeah, but...she could get hurt again. I mean, she's obviously not very good at living in the wild, y'know? If she were, she wouldn't have been starving. She'd probably die."

"Then maybe you could put her in the hospital?"

I frown at that, as well. "And pay bills for something I can do myself? Yeah, no thanks."

"Give her to a Trainer?"

"When you find me a decent one that won't overwork her, come tell me."

"Then I don't know - become a Trainer yourself!" He leans back and crosses his arms, clearly frustrated with my stubbornness.

I chuckle lightly at that, but something about the words cause me to lean back in my chair in thought. I rub my chin as I think.

"Please, don't tell me that you're actually contemplating this..."

"Hear me out," I respond as I hold up a finger. He sighs, but perks up his ears to listen to me. I think it's kind of cute, but I wouldn't ever dare tell him that. "If the three of you - you, Shinx, and Gardevoir - were to become my team, I'd have an excuse to explore the entire region..." I grin to myself as the idea takes shape.

"We could battle wild Pokémon and study them that way! Not only would we be able to properly evaluate a lot more Pokémon in their natural habitats, we would get a more diverse sampling, we could meet new colleagues to help us out..." I grin as something occurs to me. "And I could be the first Pokémon Trainer and Professor! It would be a whole new way to study Pokémon!" I sit upright in my chair with a grin, and turn to face Lucario, who's giving me a bored - yet bemused - look as he leans on the arm of his chair. "It's a great idea! Lucario, you're a genius!"

"Of course I am..." He sighs to himself as he shakes his head. "Damn my words..."

I laugh as I stand upright, causing Lucario to jump in surprise as my chair wheels away. "C'mon - we've got to get ready! We'll need a fuck ton of potions, food, money from the bank..."

"You..." He stares at me blankly. "You can't be serious. You can't be. You just can't."

"I am," I assure him with a grin. I look to the door Shinx wanders in with a mew, curious as to the source of excitement. I smile at him. "We're going on an adventure, buddy!"

He smiles in excitement and starts to jump at my heels as I hurry about the room to make a list of what I'll need. I'm vaguely aware of Lucario pressing his face into his paw.

"You're acting like a Giratina-damned child..."

"I know!" I respond with a grin as I flip through books in search of valuable content. "I never went on an adventure as a child. I was going to, but I was too scared to do it - not to mention too weak. As time went on, I just sort of fell into the role of a non-adventurer. But now, I get to finally travel the region - and all in the name of science!"

Lucario gives me a blank stare. "And in the name of Peter, for his own entertainment."

"But mostly in the name of science," I recant. "We won't find a proper specimen here - we never will. If we want to do this, we've got to travel - I just never realized it until now."

"Why not?"

"I was comfortable here," I respond, growing thoughtful as I try to understand my reasoning. I nod as I find the truth. "I hadn't failed yet."

"You hadn't succeeded, either."

"Yeah, but there was still a chance. But now, I know that I won't find a proper specimen here – there isn't enough diversity, there's only grass, water, bug, and flying types. We have to travel." I nod to myself. "In fact, I think I've known for a while now - and that's probably why I was so eager to adopt the concept."

"Alright. I'll take it. In that case, we should prepare today - make sure we have everything. I will attempt to speak with the Gardevoir and convince her to join us." Lucario smiles as he stands, and I have a keen feeling that, no matter what he says, he's excited for an adventure. "We should leave tomorrow. The sooner we start, the better."

I nod, and Lucario exits the room, careful not to step on Shinx on his way. He rolls his eyes and scoffs in irritation as he nearly trips over the playful Pokémon. I snicker lightly, and I hear him growl as he pulls the door shut.

I smile to myself as I return to my books. I've got a lot to do...

Oh, no.

Oh, dear Lord no…

I need to get a Trainer's license…

So much paperwork…

I sigh as I put down the book I was flipping through for now. I'm going to –

"Shinx! Shinx!"

Shinx scratches at my pant leg. I smile and reach down to scratch him behind the ear. "Yeah, buddy – it's time for dinner. Let's go…" The mischievous Pokémon races about my feet and bats at my toes as we walk to the kitchen. I walk past the infirmary to tell Lucario that I'm getting dinner ready, but see that he's deeply engrossed in examining Gardevoir's Aura. I shrug and leave him to it – he'll figure it out when he smells the food cooking.