"yeah i met him. he was . . interesting. kept spouting some nonsense about not aging. i'm not sure i would trust him if i were you."
"well . . i sort of already made the deal, di."
i could hear her sigh from the other end. "fine. just promise to be careful. you're heading to shalour today, right?"
"yep."
"hmm . . . looks like it's supposed to be clear skies all day around there. still, if you need to talk to someone, just give me a call."
"will do."
"oh, and i think i might have found a few things on the stone. i'll keep looking, but i should be able to swing by tomorrow and show you what i've found so far."
"sounds good, di. enjoy your day."
you as well, august. be careful."
"will do." with that, i end the call and stand up.
out of all the pokemon that i had at the lab, squirtle was the one who had wanted to come with me. so i had her pokeball in one pocket of my labcoat, and the rainbow stone in the other.
it was quite a drive to shalour, but not too terribly long. once there, i release squirtle, figuring she would enjoy the shoreline. of course, she takes off her necklace and secures it with me before wandering off.
i move forward in the sand, towards the oddly-constructed tower of mastery ahead. as well as being the home of both korrina cetrillo and gurkinn cetrillo, her grandfather, it also functioned as the shalour gym.
squirtle was, of course, very mindful to where i was. so when i was at the stone footsteps leading up to the tower, she wasn't far behind, approaching with just a touch of wavering caution.
we both take to the stairs and i very lightly rap on the door. it only takes a moment, with what sounds like a crash inside, for the door to come open just a tad, revealing the face of korrina cetrillo, grey eyes shining and blonde hair falling down her shoulders. "yes",she whispers, just barely audible.
"hi, i'm professor sycamore. i believe diantha told you i was coming?"
the girl of sixteen looks me up and down before glaring at me. it soon breaks, and a tight smile appears on her face. "o-of course. you . ." her voice breaks when she catches sight of squirtle. "is that . . . the kanto pokemon?" her voice was slightly higher when she said this.
"it is." i crouch down. "this little one's name is squirtle."
"oh . ." she shakes her head lightly. "anyways, you come in." with those words, she slightly thrust the door open and quickly walked inside.
my deduction was that she was probably sick, hence why her voice was quiet and her patience oddly thin. granted, i had never met the young gym leader before. maybe this was how she always was.
inside, the architecture was a gorgeous masterpiece. my feet lead me slowly down the long hallway and into an open area, a small table in the center and a looping staircase starting at one side of the wall. a few tall windows showed the ocean on each side of the room. korrina sat at one side of the table, so, out of respect, i move to the other side.
she looks at me with an odd gaze for a few moments before turning away.
"korrina, allow me to formally introduce myself. i am august-t sycamore, a researcher here in kalos." i was about to say my first name in full, but ultimately decided against it. "it's a shame that i've never had the pleasure of meeting you before. i don't think there has ever been such a young gym leader in kalos, and i believe you hold much promise."
"you don't think i've already released some of that promise?"
"well, of course, dear-"
"don't call my dear. korrina is fine."
i blink. "then, korrina, you are sixteen and a gym leader. that takes talent. what i meant was, you might grow to be something bigger than a gym leader as you get older and stronger."
"oh." she turns her head away. "that's nice of you."
i feel a nudge on my side and turn to see squirtle gesturing to her neck. with a nod i reach into my pocket and pull out her prized possession, wrapping it around a single time before she tottered off to the other side of the table, holding up the crystal for korrina to see.
the girl raises an eyebrow me but, at my shrug, bent down just a little to look at it. "it's very pretty", she notes. "is it yours?" this was directed at the water pokemon, who nods to her in return. "huh."
she looks up at me. " . . squirtle, right?" at my nod, she turns and puts up a small smile for the pokemon. "hey there squirtle. my name's korrina."
a smile grows on the water-type's face. she lets out a sound of happiness and sticks out her hand, which korrina shakes, before coming back towards me, still smiling.
i clap my hands together. "ah, i suppose i should show you what it is i came here for." my hand slips inside my pocket and cups around the stone. i bring it out and towards korrina, but she leans back, gesturing instead to the table. so i set it down there and pull my hand away.
i see korrina's eyes widen out of the corner of my vision. "my aunt found it close to geosenge", i tell her. "she had wanted me to figure out its mystery, but i've been going at it for quite a while with no results. would-"
"grandfather isn't here", korrina mutters. then, a bit louder, "grandfather isn't here. i'm sorry. i will let you know when he returns, but i cannot help you until he does." she stands up, gesturing towards the door. "please."
i stand up as well, taken aback more than i was when i first met her, and snatch up the stone before quickly walking towards the door, squirtle at my heels. once there, i open it and take a couple of steps down, looking back, with my hand still on the door. korrina approaches with an air of caution.
"well, it was very nice to me-"
before i could finish, she had reached out and shut the door. just like that.
i look down at squirtle, who looks up at me, still smiling, and sigh. that had clearly gone nowhere. guess all i was left to do was draw up more layouts for lysandre and await diantha's visit the next day.
it was quite an elaborate visit.
for starters, she brought me flowers. not many, four at most, but still, flowers. not knowing exactly what to do, and considering i had no vases, i ended up slipping them to bulbasaur, who took them happily.
diantha sits down in the seat viola had occupied not long ago and takes out a folder. it slides across the table towards me, and i open it just a bit to see photocopies of yellowed documents.
"i appreciate this, di."
"don't mention it. i'll try and find more. and see about steven. how was it with gurkinn?"
oh. that. "well, uh . ." i press a few fingers to my forehead. "he actually wasn't there. i'll have to go by at a later date."
"did korrina at least know anything?"
"i . . showed it to her, but all she did was call it pretty." not technically a lie, but not the whole truth, either. but i couldn't help it. i knew korrina was a good kid, and a good gym leader. i couldn't talk poorly of her in front of the woman in charge of the gym leaders.
di's eyes narrow just a bit, but she didn't push the issue any further. "all right. what about the pokedex? how are things going with that?"
now that was something i could talk about. "absolutely great. here, i'll show you -i already have a sort-of model." i say this while scrambling up and moving around the lab to the white-walled room, where i grab a cardboard contraption and hurry back to diantha. she's now standing, arms crossed.
"so", i begin, holding it out. "the base design is a screen protected by two pieces of a case, two pieces meaning they can move around." i turn and hold it up parallel to froakie, who is in the next room over, then take my hand and slide the top half of the cardboard up, revealing a thinner piece underneath.
"once you point it at a pokemon, this piece will slide up and the screen begins detecting things. things like possible type, height, nature. and it also stores the image of the pokemon once captured."
"very impressive. so i'm taking a guess, but is lysandre the one working on the screen?"
"right on." i close the model and lie it on a counter. "i'm so excited, di. i can't believe this is happening."
"i almost can't either. it's been so long since you first became a professor. but somewhere . . i think i've always had faith that it would happen."
"it hasn't been that long", i mumble.
she lets out a small laugh. "right, only two years. oh, i almost forgot. vi said she took pictures of the kanto pokemon? would you let me see them?"
"the pictures or the pokemon?"
"mmmmm . . both. but pictures first."
i nod. "sure. they're upstairs. oh, well . . i guess some are downstairs too."
"make up your mind, august."
"hey, i'm sorry! i have notes about the pokemon downstairs and pictures of every pokemon vi has captured upstairs. once i get done down here, they go up there."
she raises an eyebrow. "you've been doing that and working on the pokedex and finding out about the stone? august, how are you functioning?" she leans closer. "wait, are those bags under your eyes?"
"coffee, m'dear", i say with a grin. "lots of espresso. lots of sugar. let's go upstairs, tis lighter."
she scoffs. "you're going to crash eventually, i hope you know that." she says this, yet she still follows me to an actually well-lit-by-natural-light room upstairs.
i turn towards a bookshelf and, after a few moments, grab a folder and lie it down on the desk, casually flipping through to the back with di looking over my shoulder.
i find the first one of squirtle and back away, letting her look.
she takes quite an interest before flipping over to the next one. i can see her eyes moving across every detail, then coming back to the pokemon, a soft smile on her face when she does. when she turns to the next, she lets out a little laugh and glances at me.
"august, this is cute."
i step closer, seeing it's the one of me and squirtle, her perched on my shoulder. "vi thought so too. she let me have it right then and there, when we were looking over them."
"and a smart choice to take it." she taps it a few times. "you really get along with this one, don't you."
"squirtle?" i take a moment to think. "well, i like to think that i get along with all of them, but i guess i'm the closest to squirtle, yeah."
she suddenly changes topic. "vi says she had this brilliant idea about the pokedex. mind enlightening me?"
"mmm we . . met a couple kids at the museum in santalune. one said he was really interested in being a pokemon professor, like me. vi thought he would be the perfect one to give a pokedex to."
"i guess that seems logical", she muses. "but aren't you responsible for sending off trainers with pokemon too? did he seem interested in that?"
"well . ." i hadn't thought of that. "i guess he never specifically talked about wanting to be a trainer, no. but he's only a possibility. hopefully the list will grow, so if some don't work, there will be back-ups."
"yes, that's well thought out. august?"
i had taken a moment to lean against the desk, using my hand to do so, and ended up closing my eyes. at my name, i shot up. "y-yes?"
she shakes her head. "you need sleep. seriously. go get in bed and i'll take care of the pokemon. when i have to leave i'll get you up."
"deal", i mumble, stumbling towards the door. "thanks, di."
she shakes her head again, but a smile is on her face. "no problem", she murmurs once i'm gone.
it was fairly quick to fall asleep, and when i wake, i find that the sunlight coming in has taken on a darker shade.
downstairs, i don't find diantha immediately. it takes going through all the rooms before i go outside and find her sitting against a tree, the other pokemon elsewhere. i make a move to go towards her when a movement stops me.
a small chespin carefully comes out of the bushes by diantha. the grass-type cautiously sniffs the air before approaching her side very slowly. it shocks me.
this is the last of the batch of kalos starters, and i had only seen him a couple times, considering he was terribly shy. it was indeed an unusual sight to see him out, but it made my heart warm nonetheless.
chespin carefully approached diantha's hand and sat beside it, looking up at her. it was almost a shame she wasn't awake. she would certainly be disappointed when she awoke to find out she could've met the only pokemon here that was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to even get a glimpse of.
chespin puts his paw on diantha's hand and smiles. it was this movement that caused her to stir, fluttering open her eyes. chespin hadn't taken notice.
i stand there, watching her, as she moves her other hand towards chespin, who had now curled up where he was. di's hand touched down on the pokemon's head and he sprang up, backing away a few steps. diantha cast him a gentle smile and he calmed down just a little, but still moved to another area.
"di", i call out.
she turns to look at me, sees i'm there and awake, and gets up herself. "pokemon are all good", she calls out.
"says the girl who was asleep!"
"it wasn't for very long!"
she's in front of me now and i smile down at her. "fine. i forgive you."
"i should go, though", she mumbles. "it is getting late. um, keep me up-to-date with what's on those papers, okay?"
"will do."