Ash entered the central lab. This lab was owned by Professor Oak, the most well-known Professor in the world. While each region had a Professor like Elm, Birch, Rowan, Juniper, Sycamore, Kukui, Magnolia, and Sada/Turo, each based in Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, and Paldea respectively, none of them could compare to Professor Samuel Oak, or as he prefers, just Professor Oak. His name was well known across the world for his advances in the understanding of Pokémon and for his greatest invention, the Pokédex. The Pokédex was a portable encyclopedia of Pokémon that many trainers used to learn and become better trainers.
Ash looked around the lab and saw that it was a mess, which made him roll his eyes. Oak's lab was always covered in papers and other random science stuff. Ash didn't know the uses of most of the items. His former traveling companion Tracey Sketchit did his best to keep the place clean, but there were times where he couldn't keep up with the researcher's mess.
"Professor Oak? Tracey?" Ash called out, trying to find one of the two people he knew should be in there. He then heard an older voice call out, "I'm in here, Ash!" Smiling, he entered the room the voice had originated from, which was Professor Oak's office. It was a small room, around 10ft by 10ft cube, with a single window pane glass window pointing out to the ranch, allowing him to witness a vast majority of his property. Oak sat behind his desk typing away at his computer, looking like he was typing up some kind of report.
"Ah, hello, Ash. Did you need something?" the 50-year-old asked, giving the younger male his attention.
"Oh, am I interrupting something? Looks kinda important," Ash said, eyeing the computer. Oak shook his head. "No, no. Don't worry. I'm just editing this paper I was writing for Professor Sycamore. No need to worry," he waved off the worry of the young trainer before he reached down, picking up a cup of coffee he had been sipping away at for the last hour or so. "Now tell me, what's up? I saw your Pokémon gathering through my window. I also couldn't help but notice you talking with them, and I can't help but say I'm quite curious about what you were saying to them to get so excited," he took a sip at his cup.
"Well, I came here to make you aware that I will be trading most of my Tauros," this caused the professor to perform a spit take, caught completely off guard by the statement. Yes, trading Pokémon was common for other trainers, but Ash was a different trainer with a unique bond with his Pokémon. Professor Oak wiped the coffee from his chin and raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Ash's decision.
"Trading most of your Tauros? That's quite unexpected, Ash. May I ask why you're planning to do that?" Professor Oak inquired, setting his coffee cup down on the desk.
Ash took a moment to gather his thoughts before he responded, "Well, Professor, you know how much I love training and battling with my Pokémon, but lately, I've been reflecting on the journey me and my Pokémon have been on since I first started. And I have come to realize that having so many Tauros might not be the best for their growth and development. It's true they are each strong and dependable, but due to my choices, I have only used a single Tauros in every battle I used a Tauros in. So, I think it's time for them to find trainers that could give them the proper attention and training they deserve," Ash admitted, showing off some maturity that surprised the Professor.
"Well, Ash, I didn't expect that level of maturity from you," Professor Oak joked playfully, getting an indignant "Hey!" from the trainer. "Hey, don't be so upset. I was only playing with you," he held his hands up in surrender.
"Now, do you have a plan?" He questioned Ash.
"Plan?" He asked, confused by what he meant. Oak rolled his eyes. "I meant, how do you intend to trade them, and how many do you intend to trade?" He asked.
"Well, I asked the herd, and it turns out only one of them wants to stay. So, I'll be trading 54 of them away," he rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "And I honestly don't know where to start, so I came here to ask you," he asked, looking up at the professor.
"Well, you're lucky I do. Please follow me," Oak gently pushed past Ash and exited the room. Confused, Ash followed, and Oak led him to one of his lab's computers, which had a built-in ball transporter. "Here, sit down with me," he pulled up a second chair next to the computer before sitting in the chair directly behind the computer, turning it and beginning to type away, pulling up an unknown website. Ash took the seat next to the Professor. "Do you mind handing me your new Rotom phone?" Ash recently was given a new Rotom Phone from his mother the other day, which was rather handy because it could call like most mobile phones and also had a Pokédex app and a portable PokéBall Transporter. Ash hadn't used it yet, so he wasn't sure how to use that function.
He pulled up a specific website. "Here we go. This is a Global Trading System or GTS. It's an online trading hub where trainers can 'list' their available Pokémon to trade, and other trainers can request trades with each other, even across regions, so long as they have access to one of these," he motioned to the PokéBall transporter. "And even chat with and video call each other," he smiled happily, explaining to Ash, inserting the Rotom device into a slot on the computer tower before clicking away.
"Here, I made you an account. With it, you can specify which Pokémon you wish to receive for your Tauros," he questioned.
"I can specify which Pokémon I want?" He asked, as if Ash was completely new to this and knew nothing about this Global Trading System, so he was confused by this statement.
"Yes, here," he moved the mouse to a small icon in the top right corner of the screen that looked like a clipboard. "You can specify which Pokémon types you're looking for and can even specify specific Pokémon you want," he showed off these features.
"Uh, I don't have any Pokémon in mind for now, but I'm looking for some types I'm lacking in, like Steel-Types, Rock-Types, Ghost-Types, Fairy-Types, Psychic-Types, Dark-Types, Ice-Types, and Poison-Types," he listed off, just realizing how many types he was lacking in.
"Ah, good choices. I'm aware your only Psychic and Fairy-Type is the Mr. Mime that stays with your mother," he said as he set the account up.
"Yeah, Mimey is great, but he isn't much of a battler, and he prefers my mother over me," he said, sweatdropping at the dual-typed housekeeper.
Oak chuckled as he removed the phone
from the tower. "Here, your phone will send you a notification whenever someone requests a trade, chat, or video call. I already put up most of your Tauros for trade," Oak said. Ash took the phone and smiled.
"Alright, thank you, Professor," he smiled happily as Oak stood up to return to his office. "No need to thank me. I'm glad to help. Oh, and feel free to use this computer whenever you need to, be it for trading or if you need to research plans for training or anything else," he said, surprising Ash.
"Wait, how did you know I'll be training my Pokémon?" He questioned. Oak, in response, laughed. "I was a trainer once, you know, so I know how Pokémon react when told they will be training rather hard, and I also knew you were, by the tone of voice, you would be getting more serious," he showed off his skills of observation to the still sitting trainer. Ash shook his head and jumped when the phone in his hand beeped with a notification. "Chat Request!" the voice of the Rotom phone showed it was, well, a chat request. Oak chuckled, "My, it seems you got a nibble already. I'll go get a Tauros for you while you talk with whoever is on the other end of that chat." With that, Oak left, allowing Ash to scoot forwards into the vacant chair Oak was in earlier, pulling up the message request on the computer, which was still opened to the GTS website. It took him a bit to open the message request and saw it was from somewhere from Paldea.
Ash pulled open the Request and saw the message came from someone called Jacq. He raised a brow and accepted the chat request, sending Jacq a message to initiate a conversation.
Ash Ketchum: Hello?
Jacq: Oh, hello! I wasn't expecting a swift response, but I'm glad that you did.
Ash Ketchum: So, you were interested in trading? Sorry, I'm new to using this website.
Jacq: Yes, I am, and do not worry about that. So, I saw you have 54 Kantonian Tauros?
Ash Ketchum: Yes, I do, but why specify Kantonian Tauros? Are there any other types?
Jacq: Yes, there are. Here in Paldea, there are three different breeds of Tauros. There's the Combat Breed, which is pure Fighting-Type, Blaze Breed, which is dual Fire/Fighting-Type, and finally, Aqua Breed, which is Water/Fighting-Type.
As this Jacq person explained the differences between the types, they actually sent pictures of the three different breeds. It amazed the trainer who had assumed Alola was the only region with alternative forms for Pokémon he knew of already.
Ash Ketchum: Oh, those are so cool!
Jacq: Yes, they are, and that's why I am contacting you. You see, I am a teacher here at Uva Academy in the Paldea region, specifically specializing in Pokémon Biology. I wish to trade an Aqua Breed Tauros for your Kantonian Tauros so I can show my students the difference between the two of them. Is that alright?
Ash thought about this. Trading one Tauros for another didn't make much sense to him, but this was a regional variant, and at the very least, this meant that his one remaining Tauros wouldn't be alone.
Ash Ketchum: Yes, that is alright. Give me a minute, and I will try and find the one best suited for handling around groups of people.
Jacq: That will be greatly appreciated. I can wait. I shall prepare my Tauros while you do that.
Ash stood up and went to find Professor Oak, who was outside recalling several of his Tauros to their PokéBalls, likely prepping them for trading.
"Hey, Professor, you probably know more about my Tauros than I do, so do you think any of them would be good in a classroom setting? The trade request is from Jacq from Paldea, who works as a Biology Teacher and wishes to own a Tauros to show the difference between Kanto Tauros and Paldean Tauros," he explained. The Professor hummed before turning to a cart carrying the PokéBalls containing most of his Tauros before retrieving a single one near the top. "This one is one of the younger ones and one of the more friendly and outgoing ones. Certainly the best for such a situation. Oh, and she is a girl, if Jacq is curious," he said, handing the ball over.
He nodded, jogging back to the computer. He placed the ball on the transporter before typing into the computer.
Ash Ketchum: Alright, I am ready to trade. Oh, and the Tauros I'm sending is a girl, in case you were wondering.
Jacq: Alright, I'm ready, and thank you for the heads up.
A message box appeared on the screen saying, "User Jacq wants to trade." Below were two boxes saying "Accept" and "Decline." Ash clicked the accept button, the PokéBall in the transporter turned blue before being teleported away and was replaced by a Great Ball.
Ash Ketchum: I got the Tauros on my end. Did you?
Jacq: Yes, I have. Thank you, Mr. Ketchum. I shall take great care of her. I hope you do the same.
Ash Ketchum: I will, I promise.
With that, the conversation ended, and Ash's first trade since he traded his Butterfree on the S.S. Anne for a Raticate, only to trade right back minutes later. He smiled, taking the Great Ball, and eagerly jogging back to his group of Pokémon. He could see that all of them were training in various methods, even Snorlax was getting in on the excitement and was training with Muk, who was taking his hits likely trying to increase his endurance. He blew a whistle, getting their attention.
"Hey, guys!" He called out, showing off the Great Ball. "We already have a new member of the family." The Pokémon gathered around, eager to meet the new teammate just as much as Ash was. He threw the ball upwards, and out came a new form of Tauros. It looked like a normal Tauros, but instead, it had a charcoal black coat instead of a brown one, with a dark black collar of shaggy fur around its neck with 4 blue raindrop patterns on the bull's chest. The only other difference was that its horns were curled with the tips pointing upwards.
The Paldean Pokémon looked around at the group in front of it before turning around, sensing something behind it, and saw Ash.
"Hey, I know it's weird to be here, but I'm Ash Ketchum, your new trainer, and these are the rest of my Pokémon," he motioned back to the group behind him. "If you don't mind, we wish to welcome you into our crazy family, if you wish to join?" He offered the Pokémon in his kindest tone possible. Ash wanted the Pokémon to join his team, but he didn't want to force it to oblige just because it was traded to him. The Bull Pokémon tilted its head, confused, before turning to look at the group of Pokémon again, its eyes gl
ancing at each member, sizing them up, before smirking at the strength each one possessed, especially the heavy hitters like Charizard and Snorlax.
"Is that a yes?" Ash questioned the Water/Fighting-Type who smiled at their new trainer and nodded.