Thanks to darkshade 2.0 and AnimeCrazy88 for the reviews!

Sorry for the delay. Time flies by me if I don't pay attention. I'll try to update fast. Lately, my mind's been in other places.

Also: Marina's Spearow, Kenya, is a reference to a Spearow named as such in the original Gold/Silver/Crystal games. :)

Chapter 8
Mr. Pokémon's Discovery

Another morning arose, yielding to another fair-weathered summer afternoon. In the main lobby of the Cherrygrove Pokémon Center, Kenta and Jackson sat beside each other. It was quiet for some time, at least until Kenta sighed at the already heavy atmosphere.

"It's okay, right? Your Pokémon, I mean," he said.

Jackson nodded. "Yeah, she's fine. I picked Chikorita up earlier."

"Same here with my Cyndaquil." The two again sat in an empty silence, drifting in their thoughts. But Kenta again broke it as he started to ask, "Do...you think that Totodile was Marina's?"

"I hope not, but in the end that jerkface didn't take our Pokémon." His expression morphed to a scowl. "He better not have stolen it from her, or I'll sock him in the face next time I see him."

"I feel the same way," Kenta agreed.

"As expected from my rival."

"Don't start that again."

"Well then," Jackson stood from his seat, "I'll be off."

"Why?"

Jackson's eyebrow rose and he exclaimed, "How can you forget? Mr. Pokémon's discovery! We were told to get it, remember? We should go see if Marina made it there yet."

"Hmm..." Kenta somewhat leaned back a little. "That's true, but I think I'll wait here for you two to come back instead."

"Fine with me!"

"I hope Marina doesn't go too far ahead of us," Kenta murmured the latter part, though his friend had heard him.

"Tell me about it. I wanna ask if she wants to travel with me!"

Kenta made a half-smile, only slightly amused by the boy's comment.

"Heh-heh! Just keep your eyes peeled in case Marina comes by with Mr. Pokémon's whatever-it-is. You have my number, so call me if that happens," Jackson said. He raised his arm and punched at the air. "Also, if you happen to see that jerkface again, give him a good punch in the face!"

"That's... Fine, sure," Kenta gave in and waved him away. "See you later."

"Same to you, Kenta. Later!" At that, Jackson sprinted through the lobby and was out of the building in seconds.

Reunited with some peace and quiet, Kenta sighed under his breath and stared at the ceiling lights.

What am I going to do until then? I don't have her PokéGear number…I want to talk to her, and Ho-oh knows she'll want to talk to me, if Marina is Marina... But I want to see her Totodile.

I can't do that now though, so—. He bent over where his backpack sat beside him, unzipping one of the pockets and retrieving a brush.

"Mom really did think of almost everything," he murmured to himself, "Must've gotten it from Mrs. Shimizu..."

Sending his sleepy Cyndaquil out of his Poké Ball, the boy examined him carefully. The wounds Cyndaquil had gained from the Nidoking the day before were pretty severe, but thanks to the Pokémon Center they were almost all healed. It appeared as if the Pokémon had fought a battle much less intense than the one he had.

"You look great, Cyndaquil. How are you feeling?" Kenta asked. Cyndaquil looked up at him drowsily. The boy smiled and lightly began to run the stiff hairs of the brush over Cyndaquil's navy fur.

"Yes, I made it! The sign didn't lie after all!" Marina exclaimed as she sprinted through a clearing in the woods and primly kept yard.

In the middle of the forest sat a tiny cottage. As if offsetting its mediocrity, gardens full of exotic flowers and wind decorations flourished around it. The flowers bloomed in a variety of shapes and colors, some of which were incredibly unusual. As a light breeze flowed by, the wind chimes hummed as flags depicting strange Pokémon fluttered in the air.

Marina smiled at the sight and walked up to the front door. With a moment of preparation, tidying her hair and brushing off the wrinkles in her clothes, she knocked on it and waited patiently. During this time, she spotted a bronze knocker further up the door that she could have used. Holding the metal ring in its mouth was what looked like a lion Pokémon. It was extremely tempting to grab the ring and knock on the door with it, but her manners managed to keep the impulse in check.

"That Pokémon looks just like… Which was it?" she murmured. But she shrugged as she heard footsteps from the inside of the house.

The doorknob turned and the door opened, and Marina stepped back in surprise as she recognized the person before her. The man was quite old, his hair slightly graying with the exception of his thick black eyebrows, but he stood distinguished in a classic white lab coat.

"You're Professor…um, Professor Oak?!" Marina gaped even when he gave her a friendly smile. Not only had she heard of him from radio shows, but Professor Elm often praised him and told her of his achievements as a successful and renowned Pokémon researcher. Most famously, he invented the digital Pokémon encyclopedia for field researchers—the Pokédex.

"Hello there. Looks like I've given you quite a shock, haven't I?" he asked with amusement.

"Y-Yeah," Marina said softly and nodded. She stepped back some more and bowed. "It's an honor to meet you, Professor Oak! ...I'm actually here to see Mr. Pokémon, though..."

"Come on in! Mr. Pokémon is, in fact, here."

The girl hurriedly walked inside, and he shut the door. The large room was filled with all sorts of peculiar clutter; many odd devices were on the shelves and floors, hanging on the ceiling, or stored in the labeled drawers of the multiple desks. She hardly recognized half of the trinkets sprawled everywhere. As Professor Oak walked over to the large desk to her right, she followed until he stopped her from advancing.

"You have a visitor, Mr. Pokémon," he said.

"Sorry I made you get the door, Professor. Who is it?" Marina heard a lighthearted voice ask, but the desk was messy with stacks of papers hiding the person from view. Not a moment later, a man wearing a surprisingly neat black suit and hat emerged from the fortress of papers, books, magazines and other such things. He smiled quirkily as he saw her and made a quick bow. "Hello, hello!"

Marina bowed slightly in return. "Hello," though before she could continue, Mr. Pokémon went on.

"You must be one of the three Trainers that Professor Elm said would visit, correct?"

"Yup! My name is Marina Shimizu, and the other Trainers are my friends: Kenta and Jackson."

"Of course." Mr. Pokémon, younger than Professor Oak but still fairly in his forties, turned and went back to his desk. "Hold on for just a moment."

"Aha! So you're Marina!" Professor Oak exclaimed as they waited for him, making Marina jump.

"Um, yes. I am," she replied somewhat stupidly

"I was just visiting my old friend Mr. Pokémon," he explained, "I heard that you and your friends were running an errand for Professor Elm, so I waited here."

"...Oh, I see," replied Marina, somewhat speechless in her attempt to look more formal for her age.

Really? Why would he wait for us? I wonder what he wants...maybe I should ask.

"This is what I want Professor Elm to examine," Mr. Pokémon interrupted her thoughts.

When Marina turned to him, he held out a pearl white egg for her to take. Carefully she took it in both her arms, and he made sure she held it correctly and securely before he let go. The warm, smooth shell of the egg was also curiously dotted with red and blue triangles.

"I didn't know it was an egg," Marina murmured in amazement, though she was pretty much stunned at everything she had seen the moment she walked into Mr. Pokémon's yard.

"Indeed. I know a couple who run a Pokémon Daycare service just south of Goldenrod City. They gave me that egg, you see. I was intrigued, so I sent an e-mail to Professor Elm. For Pokémon evolution, Professor Elm is the authority. Even Professor Oak here recognizes that," with an acknowledging nod from Professor Oak, Mr. Pokémon carried on with a hint of refined energy, "If my assumption is correct, Professor Elm will know it.

Though I thought that the three of you were going to come at once," he finished with a hint of questioning.

"Well, we split up so we could get more of a feel for being Pokémon Trainers, since we're brand new at it. I only made it here first, so they might come by too."

Marina glanced at her belt and frowned, remembering her missing Totodile. Hiding the bitter memory for just a moment, she smiled falsely and looked back up. "Do you have a videophone, by any chance? I want to call Professor Elm."

"Why yes, I do. Follow me," Mr. Pokémon answered, leading her to the back of the small house. The living room, large and surprisingly spacious, took up half of the home.

"Here it is," he said as he showed her to the machine. It was much thinner than the one her mother had at home and those Marina had seen at the Pokémon Center. "As you can see, it's the latest model of the videophone. You can use it, of course.

Ah, but don't show him the egg just yet," he added quickly.

Observing the shiny new videophone in admiration, she absentmindedly nodded and smiled. "Okay."

Cautious as she handed back the egg to Mr. Pokémon, she sat down in the metal lab chair in front of the video phone. After getting directions on where there buttons were and how to use it, Marina dialed Professor Elm's number.

Back at the laboratory in New Bark Town, the scholar himself slaved away on his laptop, eyes scrolling across the screen as did the letters he typed. The clacking of the keyboard conducted a slight echo across the quiet lab. The sounds of his busy assistant nearby occasionally reminded him that he was not alone.

The videophone next to him rang, and he rolled his chair over to it, though not without saving his progress so far on his work. He pressed the speaker phone button and waited as the perturbing ringing halted. Marina's somewhat energetic face appeared on the screen.

"Oh, hello. Good morning, Marina," he greeted. "Are you getting the habit of calling me every other day now?"

"Maybe, but I made it to Mr. Pokémon's house."

"Fantastic! And what is it that Mr. Pokémon wants to show me?"

"He said that he wants to keep that a secret from you until I deliver it," the girl said as she darted her eyes away for a moment, grinning slightly. He guessed that she was glancing at Mr. Pokémon himself, who had convinced her not to tell him about the discovery either. If it were Jackson or Kenta, they might have told him anyway, but little Marina was more likely to play along with that sort of mischief.

The young Professor exaggerated a sigh. "Ah, I see. How typical of him."

"Teehee." But Marina's wavering smile withered away as she continued, "Um... Professor...there's something else I have to tell you."

"What?" His smile too faded as he saw guilt overshadowing her expression, which was highly unusual for the perky girl. "What's the matter?"

At first, Marina hesitated, but eventually she explained her predicament. She told him about the absence of her Totodile, her theory of it being stolen, followed by a few apologies that the Professor patiently put aside in his sympathy. After hearing this, a troubling memory resurfaced in his mind. He sighed as he thought deeply for a moment, but decided it was best to keep it to himself.

"That's just a terrible thing to happen... A red-headed boy, though? How sure are you?" he asked.

"It's just a guess. He just seemed suspicious to me, that's all. But now I don't have a starter Pokémon... I-I'm not asking for a new one," she quickly added, "But I was just wondering...

Did Chris send my Pokémon to you yet?" Marina asked softly with a bit of hope lingering in her tone.

At this, Professor Elm closed his eyes for a moment, smiling and standing from his seat. He had expected the question to come once again, and this time he had the answer she wanted.

"Hold on a second," he said and walked away from the videophone.

"Okay," the girl replied, sounding unsure of his vague answer.

He headed for a small machine that contained a Poké Ball, which was displayed behind a protective glass window. The glass moved away after he punched in a specific code, allowing Professor Elm to pick it up. He stared intently at it, sighing with an odd relief.

"I should've known this would happen," he said quietly. "That boy is a handful and a half…"

"Professor?" Marina's timid voice echoed in the lab. Her sadness wouldn't last for long, he knew, not with the Pokémon that he would soon entrust her with. It couldn't fix the guilt she felt for losing her Pokémon to a stranger, but he would explain the situation to her sometime in the future.

With a light smile, Elm returned to his desk. He placed the Poké Ball onto a device that was fitted to all videophones—its purpose was for specifically transferring Poké Balls and other such items.

"Yes," he finally answered her question.

"Huh?"

"I received the Pokémon from your brother not too long ago. He stopped by personally, and he was rather upset that he had missed giving it to you."

As expected, Marina's face lit up. "Chris? Really? He actually did?!"

He nodded. "I'll send it to you now, Marina, okay?"

"Okay!"

Professor Elm pressed a single button, and the ball vanished. A moment later, he watched as Marina picked up the same Poké Ball in her hands and stared at it with joy. She threw it up in the air and then squealed in delight as a Cyndaquil landed in her lap in a brief display of golden sparkles.

"Oh my gosh! A Cyndaquil! Just as he said; it's so cute!" she exclaimed.

But she froze as she took a better look at the Pokémon. Its color scheme was unusual from that of all the Cyndaquil she had seen before; instead of the normal navy fur, this one had deep, burgundy-gold colors. Honestly, it almost made Professor Elm want to keep it for a day or two for research, but his heart would never allow him to.

"Wow, what's up with its fur? It's totally different," she said in wonder, running her hand down the Pokémon's back. It shivered, having been curiously looking up at its new owner.

Mr. Pokémon's excited voice said, "How wonderful! Is this Chris your brother? He's very generous! Pokémon Color Alternates are a very rare thing to come across!"

"Pokémon Color Alternates?" Marina inquired, fascinated still by her new Cyndaquil. "I don't think I've never heard about that."

"Yes," another familiar person spoke up, although Professor Elm was unable to see him. "Pokémon Color Alternates are Pokémon whose colors are different from their species. Some people call them Shiny Pokémon. They are ways to heighten your chances of getting one through tricky breeding, but are overall very rare."

"Wow," Marina murmured and looked back at her Cyndaquil. "I like this color; it's really pretty! Like he's royalty or something." She petted him again, smiling in her joy at the Pokémon that found a sudden interest in the room around him.

"Oh! Professor Oak is there?" Elm exclaimed. Professor Oak stood beside the girl Trainer and leaned over to look at the screen, waving briefly.

"Hello, Professor Elm! It's been some time, hasn't it?"

Elm nodded, grinning at the pleasant surprise. "Yes, it has—. Oops!" He turned to his laptop, where many windows and notifications had popped up.

"What is it?" Marina asked, looking at him.

"I just received a lot of messages. I have to go," he responded.

"That's all in a day's hard work for researchers like ourselves. Good luck," Oak responded.

"Very much so," Professor Elm said hurriedly. "Oh, and Marina, I'll be expecting you to come by with that whatchamacallit as soon as possible, all right?"

"Yes, sir! I'll definitely be careful with it, Professor!" Marina proclaimed, waving at him. "Goodbye!" Her cheerful face faded to black as the man turned off his videophone. Professor Elm sighed again and rolled his lab chair back over to his computer.

"Now that all that's settled, time to sort out this mess..."

Unknown to him, a figure watched him from outside. She was draped in all black; however, her shoulders were covered in sleek crimson hair. Beside her was a drowsy-looking grass Pokémon as well as a black crow Pokémon, who both waited quietly.

"So this is the famous laboratory of Professor Elm," she murmured. Her scarlet lips smirked as she peered through the window, giggling to herself. The two-way radio on her waist cackled when she held it for just a moment.

"I'm going in."

As Marina ended the call from her side, she again looked down at the Pokémon resting on her lap. Giggling, she picked him up and hugged him.

"I love Cyndaquil so much; they're so cute! Thank you, Chris!"

"H-Hino," the Pokémon made a small mutter as his Trainer loosened her grip on him and stood.

"Well, are you going to give him a nickname?" Mr. Pokémon asked eagerly.

Marina gazed at the Pokémon, who was busy glancing around at the unusual trinkets on the ceiling. Eventually he returned her stare, his long nose almost bumping into hers. When she smiled, he chirped in response.

"King," she said.

"King?"

"Yeah," confirmed Marina with a nod. "Since he'll be the leader of my team! And I guess because he's a Shiny Pokémon," she finished with a giggle.

"That sounds enlightening," Mr. Pokémon smiled as he shared her enthusiasm.

"I'll certainly take care of King the best I can; he'll never leave my sight!" She snuggled her head against her Cyndaquil's affectionately, to which the Pokémon squeaked but stayed in her cuddling grip. She then turned to him and said, "I think I'll head out now."

"Are you returning to Professor Elm already?"

"Absolutely," Marina answered. "And I'll take care of the egg too, of course."

"Excuse me," Professor Oak interrupted. "Could you show me your Pokémon thus far, Marina?"

Marina blankly stared at him, but nodded. "Okay." Allowing King to leap from her arms onto the floor, she briefly checked for some free space beside them and threw her four Poké Balls. "Come out, everyone! Someone wants to see you, and you have a new friend!"

Almost sleepy at first, her Pokémon appeared before them. They stayed together somewhat clumsily, eyeing their new team member, but they barked and twittered happily as Marina greeted them.

"Hello everyone!" She sat down and patted each of them on the head. Looking up at Professor Oak, she introduced him to her team, "In the order which I caught them, there's Nana the Sentret, Tata the Rattata, Kenya the Spearow, and Phany the Phanpy."

The man observed the Pokémon from where he stood, and they occasionally gazed back with a puzzled but childlike interest. Marina felt a little nervous of his stare, taking to scratching Phany's ear in the meantime. The little elephant giggled in delight, poking her with his trunk as her other three Pokémon began crowding around her in mild jealousy. King even joined in, climbing onto her lap as though already trying to prove his leadership over them.

"Okay, okay, that's enough," she assured.

Marina petted them as equally as possible before she told them to stay still. She stood again only to have her Spearow fly up to her shoulder and tweet at her expectantly.

Professor Oak laughed with a sense of satisfaction.

"I see! I understand why Professor Elm allowed you to become a Pokémon Trainer." He turned to Marina, who had conceded to petting Kenya. "As you might know, to researchers like Professor Elm and I, Pokémon are our friends. He saw that you would treat your Pokémon with love and care. I'm quite impressed to see your Pokémon so attached to you already."

"Th-Thank you," Marina accepted the compliment with a start, finding herself wearing a humble smile. "Professor Elm let me help take care of the Pokémon of his lab for the last couple of years, so I think I can handle them pretty well."

Her Spearow chirped once again, as though in agreement.

"Yes, you seem dependable. How would you like to help me out?" Professor Oak held up three red gadgets in front of her. Marina recognized them at once. They were slightly different from those she had seen in pictures, but they were unmistakable.

"A Pokédex? Three of them!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm glad you know of them. This is the latest version of Pokédex that automatically records data on Pokémon you've seen or caught; a high-tech encyclopedia!"

"But how can I help when you have them?"

"I've decided to give one to each new Trainer that Professor Elm sends off at the moment. These three are for you and your friends, so can I trust you to give the other two to them?"

"O-Of course! Thank you so much!" The girl accepted the Pokédexes without complaint, gratefully bowing again. Taking off her pink backpack, she slipped them inside.

"Now I'd stay longer to explain the new features of this Pokédex, but I've stayed too long," Professor Oak stated while looking at Mr. Pokémon also, "I have to go to Goldenrod for my usual radio show. Marina, I'm counting on you!"

"Right!" Marina responded and nodded proudly. "Goodbye, Professor Oak! Thank you!"

The renowned researcher swiftly left the house with Mr. Pokémon and Marina seeing him off. Afterward, the gleeful Mr. Pokémon turned to Marina.

"I know that you were going to leave too, but you and your Pokémon should have a rest here for a little while," he offered.

"Alright," Marina accepted, beaming. "Thank you! It's a long way back."

The next half-hour, they and Marina's Pokémon ate lunch provided by Mr. Pokémon, though he and Marina had to sit on the couch due to the little table space available. Nonetheless, when they finished, Marina made her final preparations and she was sure to give attention to each one of her Pokémon before returning her team of five into their Poké Balls.

As Marina stepped outside, Mr. Pokémon disappeared into the house for a moment and returned with a silver-colored rope.

"Here, take this," he said.

"What is it?" Marina took the rope curiously, holding the egg with care in her free arm. The rope contained tints of colorful metal threads, and she blinked as she noticed the metal ring that was attached near the knotted end that she held.

"I got a few of these recently; some new invention I call the Teleport Rope. It teleports you to the Pokémon Center you were last at! The rope doubles up as an Escape Rope as well, so long as you have the necessary rings for it. No idea why it hasn't been mass-produced yet and I forget where I even saw them, but isn't it amazing?"

"...Does it work?" The query was her only response to his small, excited ramble.

"Of course it works! Almost everything here works at least a little bit. That's why I'm giving it to you. You need to get back to New Bark Town quickly with that egg," Mr. Pokémon replied.

"Alright, thank you," Marina smiled, "You have a lot of really interesting things here, Mr. Pokémon!"

"Thank you, I'm proud of my collection! Not everything is as credible as that egg and rope, but nonetheless I'm still happy with it... Well, spin it around," the man urged her.

"Okay...bye-bye?" Looking slightly unsure, Marina waved the rope around in the air above her. It began glowing, and she squinted as sparkling dust fell from the metal ring and landed on her.

"Goodbye, young Trainer, and make sure your arms and legs are connected in the right spots when you arrive!" Mr. Pokémon called.

"W-What?!" Marina screamed aloud, but vanished a moment later.

"I'm just kidding," laughed Mr. Pokémon heartily as he walked back into the cluttered house, making a note to water his colorful garden.