II.
"I simply cannot go." Professor Elm was barking into the phone. The Professor was usually an expert at maintaining an artificial calm, but the conversation, which had been prolonged by the person on the other end of the line, had worn away at his neutral facade. "It is a holiday weekend and I have a Pokemon here who just hatched a clutch of eggs. I cannot leave."
Theo was sanitizing equipment on the other side of the room. He was hardly listening. His mind was on the holiday, when he would have a blessed day off. His mother still took half his paycheck, but with what he earned tomorrow he might see a movie. Alone, of course. He and his small group of friends had graduated high school last year, and though Theo had had the best marks, he couldn't afford any of the universities in Johto. His friends had mostly landed in Goldenrod City, where they seemed to be having fun forgetting about him, happy to have moved on from a dead-end town. Theo had been to Goldenrod City only once, when his father had taken him. They left early, after Theo's father had been roundly beaten at the Gym and lost all his money at the casino. His mother had cried the night they came home, while Theo went to bed and learned what it felt like to be embarrassed of your parent.
"Mr. Pokemon, I will ask my assistant to come, and I will let you know if she agrees," Professor Elm said loudly. Theo glanced up at Lyra, the assistant in question. She was mopping the floor, her little Marill following, spraying water at soapy spots she had neglected. She rolled her eyes and mouthed, "No way." Theo smiled.
Professor Elm slammed the phone into the receiver. "Lyra," he said. "That was an associate of mine, Mr. Pokemon."
"What kind of corny name is that?" Lyra asked.
"He dubbed himself that years ago," Elm said, rolling his eyes. "He thinks he's quite an authority, though he's still marveling over an egg." Elm spat the last word out. "As if I don't have enough of those. All he cares about are eggs."
Theo, thinking of the egg resting on a shelf at home, started to listen more intently.
"Where is he?" Lyra asked.
"He has a home on Route 30, way out past Cherrygrove. A massive house. You've probably seen it if you've headed that way. He says he has come across an egg he's never seen before, and he wants me to give it a look. Can you go?"
"I'm going away for the weekend to visit my grandparents near Goldenrod," Lyra said. "I have to leave right at the end of my shift." She cast her eyes significantly at the clock, which indicated that her shift was ending in ten minutes.
Elm sighed, pulled his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, I can't leave. These eggs are freshly hatched, and I've already sold all these Totodile. Heaven forbid something happen to them while I'm away. This Feraligatr isn't the most reliable mother."
"I would do it for you, professor," Theo said. "If I could."
Elm and Lyra looked at him, puzzled. He hardly ever said anything, so the noise startled them.
"What, you aren't going away, Theo?" Elm asked. He should have known that Theo could barely afford to go to Cherrygrove City for lunch, let alone anywhere else in the region, but Professor Elm didn't keep much information about other people in his head.
"No," Theo said bashfully. "I just mean, I don't have any Pokemon. It isn't safe to walk to Cherrygrove, and the bus isn't running over the holiday."
"You don't have any Pokemon?" Elm asked, dumbfounded. "Not even a Pidgey?"
"No, sir," Theo said. "That's why I like working here. I get to spend time with some." Theo did not mention the time he had coaxed a Rattata home without a Pokeball. When his mother came home and saw him wrestling with it on the floor, she shrieked at him.
"Do you think we can afford another mouth to feed? This town doesn't even have a Pokecenter. Who's going to get food for that thing?" She chased the Rattata out of the house with a broom. It hung around for a few days after, perhaps out of pity, but then it was gone.
Theo didn't do much more at the lab than put down bowls of food, clean up droppings, and brush a few of the easier Pokemon; he certainly wasn't allowed to work in the breeding centers. At least it was something, though. Almost everyone he knew had gotten a Pokemon in school, even if it was as simple as a Caterpie. He wasn't even allowed that.
"Well, I can't send you, then, can I?" Elm said, as if punctuating Theo's insignificance.
"Don't you have one he could borrow?" Lyra asked. "He's probably the only one in town who's available. Everyone else will have plans."
Theo flushed, but he knew it was true.
"My own are too strong," Elm said. "Most of them wouldn't listen to Theo." He pursed his lips. "I do have the babies, but they're all spoken for. I couldn't let you borrow one I've already promised to someone else." Professor Elm was known in the region for selling starter Pokemon, though not many who actually lived in town could afford one. In New Bark Town, they mostly went to the fields to catch the easy pickings that lived nearby. People came from bigger cities in Johto, and even from other regions, to order from Elm. He was the only reason people really came to New Bark Town at all.
Theo shrugged. "Just thought I'd offer."
Professor Elm looked him over, as if seeing him for the first time.
"Well," he said slowly. "I do have one Pokemon you might be able to borrow. Would you like to take a look?"