Two days after the professor's visit, Sam found himself walking along the path that had been worn out by so many trainers from before. He still didn't know how, but his parents agreed to let him go through with this job. They did seem really worried but Sam found that it was surprisingly easy for him to convince them. His parents have never been strict with him before but you'd think that after your son gets brutally beaten that you'd become a little more protective of him.
As he walked along the curve, he heard voices coming from the forest to his left. Sam quickened his stride in fear of being ambushed again. The voices, which appeared to be a man and a woman, followed him, matching his pace. Eventually, he came to an abrupt halt and turned to the forest.
"Leave me alone!" he yelled into the darkness, "Go away, or at least show yourself!"
For a while, there was silence. Sam turned to walk away when a loud rustling came from behind him. He snapped his head back to the moving foliage so he could know if they were friend or foe. The think undergrowth parted and two large beetles stepped out, rubbing their hands nervously. Sam was taken aback by this, because he could have sworn he heard human voices.
"Are you the two who were following me?" he asked the Heracross. The two Pokémon nodded earnestly. Sam followed his question with another, "Why?"
The Heracross exchanged confused looks before one of them started talking, "We were making sure no one attacked you," the male said in a quiet, if not embarrassed, voice. At the look of Sam's shocked face, the female continued, "We saw what those goons did to you two weeks ago. After seeing that you recovered, we decided that we would watch over you from the forest, so that no one would jump you again."
The Heracross started to become uncomfortable under the human's stare. Sam wasn't trying to disturb them, he was just staring in astonishment because he could actually understand what they were saying like they had been speaking English.
"Wait, you saw what happened to me?" he asked after regaining his senses. The male nodded rapidly.
"We saw everything," he said, "once they left you in the ditch, we picked you up and dropped you off at the hospital. Quite honestly, I didn't think you were going to survive," he paused once he was done talking but a look of bewilderment spread across his face, "You understood what I said before?"
"Yeah, I know, I surprised some Chansey at the hospital," Sam told the confused Heracross, "I have no idea how I can understand Pokémon now, but I think it has something to do with the fight."
"It's a good thing we saved you then," the female boasted, "you have a valuable skill now."
"Honey, don't take all the credit," the male sighed, "all we did was get him to help. We didn't actually heal him or give him these powers."
"Without us, he would have definitely died!"
"I know, just try to be a little more modest for once."
"I'll show you being modest!"
Their verbal argument escalated into a fist fight between the two bug-type Pokémon. Sam didn't know what to do so he thanked them for saving his life and continued to Birch's lab. He was still trying to figure out how he gained this strange new power when he found himself at the door to the lab. Reasoning that it was a secret best left untold to a professor, he rang the bell and Birch let him in.
Sam had never seen the inside of the lab before so it took a moment for him to take it all in. Massive pieces of machinery hugged the walls and covered the floor. Pokémon of all different shapes and sizes could be seen being examined by different researchers. Just the noise of it all overwhelmed him. He could hear hundreds of voices, coming from what he guessed were Pokémon and humans alike.
Birch prodded him in the back for him to get a move on. Sam followed the professor through the maze of machines, occasionally catching parts of a Pokémon conversation. They entered a separate room and Birch shut the door, muffling the sounds from the other side.
"It gets pretty hectic in there on some days," he said with a grin. Sam tried to return the smile but could only grimace. The noise had made his headache return, something he was going to have to get used to after receiving such a bad concussion.
"What was the point of coming into this room?" Sam asked, "It doesn't seem too different from the other one."
Birch's face turned serious, "In here we have more privacy," he told Sam, "only you and I can know about what the package is."
Sam's mind rose to full attention as the professor rummaged around. He wondered what could be so valuable and rare that people would kill to get their hands on it. Birch gave a quick shout of triumph and half ran back to Sam. He stuck out his hand, showing the rare item to the teen.
"It's a ball," Sam stated flatly. The professor gave a tired sigh.
"Examine it more closely," he told him. Sam picked up the ball and studied it closer. It looked exactly like a Pokéball, except instead of a red top, it was deep purple. On its sides were to orbs that slightly protruded from it, which were a lighter shade of purple. The letter 'M' was stamped on the front in white.
"It looks like a Pokéball, only a different colour," Sam said after inspecting it to the best of his abilities.
"That's exactly what it is, except this is a one of a kind Pokéball," Birch told Sam, "this particular one has a catch rate of a hundred percent."
Sam nodded before realizing what this meant, "wait a minute," he said, stopping mid-nod, "that means this ball can catch any wild Pokémon, no matter how powerful it is, on the first try."
"Spot on, Sam," Birch congratulated him, "I've always been told how smart you were. Do you understand now, why this is so important?"
"Someone could use this to capture a Legendary," Sam said slowly, "and then they would have complete control over it."
"Yes!" the professor exclaimed, "And if the same people manage to replicate it, they could rule the world. Capturing all the Legendaries would give them unimaginable power."
Sam went to run his hands through his hair like he used to, but stopped when he remembered that he didn't have any left. He just shook his head in disbelief, understanding why he had almost been beaten to death. Something still bugged him though.
"If this is so valuable, why are you getting a kid to do it?" he asked the professor, "I mean, there must be dozens of more qualified people out there to deliver this. Why not hire one of them? And why can't you send the ball through the teleporter like other Pokéballs?"
"Good question," Birch said, "the Masterball can't be teleported for some reason. As for the delivery, I thought of that too. The people who want to steal this ball, mainly Team Rocket, would expect me to hire a qualified team. So I reasoned that if I could get an ordinary kid to do it, and then send a decoy team, they would be more likely to follow the more experienced people other than just a regular kid."
"Well, I have the scars to prove that didn't work," Sam said while tracing his hand over the jagged line that ran across the centre of his face, "they knew I was going to be delivering it and they ambushed me on the path."
"I know, someone must have tipped them off. However, it's too late though to hire another team. I'm afraid they won't get here on time. By then, Team Rocket could just break in here and steal it themselves, other than waiting to steal it off someone else."
Sam breathed out heavily through his nose. He didn't like the idea of intentionally throwing himself into harm's way, "I'll do it," he said suddenly. Birch stepped back, puzzled at first but then joyful.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" he asked, wanting to see if Sam would reconsider, "remember what I said. This could be really dangerous."
"I'm positive," Sam said clearly, determination in his voice, "nobody else wants to do it. As you said, if an evil group gets their hands on it, they could hurt a lot of innocent people."
"Good, but before you go, I have something to give you," he went back to a table that was cluttered with Pokéballs. He sorted through them and picked out an unremarkable one for the group, "after I visited you in the hospital, I talked to your parents about this job. They seemed worried but I promised them I would think of a way to keep you safe."
He placed both Pokéballs in Sam's hands and continued, "Recently, a trainer in Kanto caught a really powerful Pokémon. I talked to him and he said he would be happy to let you have it."
Sam held the red Pokéball away from him like it was poison, "I don't want to be a trainer though!" he claimed, "getting a Pokémon will make me one and I've already made a pact not to never become one. I want to become a scientist."
"Getting a Pokémon makes you as much as a trainer as sleeping in a garage makes you a car," Birch explained calmly, "being a trainer is more than just owning a Pokémon. You have to make them fight to get stronger. I'm giving you this one because I personally think that less people will try to hurt you if you have him as a guard."
"But... I..." Sam tried to think of an argument but he couldn't. The professor's logic made perfect sense. He was too weak to do this alone, "fine, I'll keep it."
He didn't want to admit it or even think it, but Sam thought that having a Pokémon partner would actually be useful. Other than protection, he would have someone to talk to on his journey. Since he could now understand them, talking to a Pokémon might prove very interesting.
"Good, you know where you're going, right?" the professor asked after Sam accepted the balls. Sam shook his head and Birch explained, "You need to get to Kanto and give the ball to Professor Oak. He is the most experienced researcher alive and he could crack the Masterball's mystery. The lab itself is well protected because of all the Pokémon that are there act like security."
Ha gave a Sam a slip of paper as well and continued to talk, "that's a boarding pass for S.S Anne. Go to Slateport City and you'll find the ship. It will take you Kanto with a quick stop in Johto. If you're fast enough, you can make the delivery to Oak's lab and make it back to the ship before it departs. If all goes well, you should get home in a month."
"And what if I miss the ship?" Sam asked, just in case the occasion should arise.
"Then find a blimp operator who can fly you to Johto," Birch answered. Sam raised an eyebrow as if to ask if he was serious, "no, that wasn't a joke. A blimp may be the only way you can get to the other regions. Few Pokémon can fly that distance and it'll be a long journey by sea if you try a water type."
Sam nodded and Birch gave him some more miscellaneous information on various subjects. He just nodded, only vaguely paying attention to the professor. Before he left, Birch gave him a Pokédex in case Sam came across any unfamiliar Pokémon. With the package secured safely in his bag, Sam headed home to stay one last day before starting his journey.