Professor Samuel Oak liked to stare out the window when taking a break from research. It was a wonderful pastime, and it helped him stay connected to Pallet Town even during the most arduous sessions. He usually found people going in and out of houses, the sounds of Pokemon battles in the town, and sometimes even a new trainer heading for his laboratory!

Today, however, there was something about one of these new trainers that rubbed the town the wrong way. He was a young boy with a seal-like Pokemon, and he didn't respond to the warm greetings nor confused questions from the townsfolk as he headed to Oak's lab.

"Welcome to Pallet Town! ...Hey?"

"Greetings, new traveler! I suppose you're here in search of Professor Oak's labo- Hey, listen to your old man when he's talking to you, wouldja?!"

"...Did he hear us?"

The answer wasn't apparent as he marched on, leading to the town whispering loudly amongst themselves.

"Hey, Joshua, you're the expert on Pokemon species here. What kind's the blue one, the one with that kid who ignored us?"

"Looks like a Popplio. The kid might be Alolan, too, but they're never that cold over there."

"Poor thing. Having a trainer like that must be hard."

"The little guy seems fine, so maybe the boy's just shy around new people? Wouldn't be the first."

Of course the rumors had started... If this boy caused any trouble in his lab, he was well-equipped to deal with that. And speaking of that, he'd just entered the lab and was walking up the stairs.

Time to be unassuming and welcoming to the newcomer, but not be seated, just in case. "Ah, welcome to my lab! If you're here for a Pokedex, just tell me your name and I'll see if I have one reserved for you already."

Though the professor had tried his best to be welcoming to the boy, he answered in a manner conveying almost nothing but a flat calmness. "Hogoki Taki. It's normally not written right."

...What was with this kid? Even he had to look a little funny at the boy as he answered so strangely, but he couldn't just gawk at a trainer's peculiarities. "All right, then I'll just take a look at my list of reserves..." He went to one of his desks, and, taking out a paper, began reading the names out loud. "Maple, Karashina, Ghutoprihwenh... Mamoiki Takimura, son of Izumi Taki. I think I have your name on here! How does it feel, setting off with a former gym leader as your mother?"

"It feels good."

Oak nodded with a grin on his face as he waited for something else to be said, but it ended up being in vain as they had a momentary staring contest. "...Bit of nervousness, maybe?"

"Was more nervous before I left."

"Right, right..." It was rare for this old man to sweat nowadays. Conveniently, he had a distraction for the boy so he could have a moment to himself amidst the unnerving situation. "Say, I have a request while I find your Pokedex. There's a girl downstairs who's been thinking about which starter to choose all day, and the last one was already taken earlier this afternoon, so if I could ask you to inform her of that... Or you can just go to inform her yourself, that's also fine." The professor sat down for a moment and sighed before he noticed the boy's Popplio sitting confused at the top of the stairs still and addressed it. "And I'll ask you to take the Pokedex to him, little one." The seal barked while saluting him.

Meanwhile, downstairs...

"What do you mean, they ran out?!" A blonde girl looked at Hogoki with a face that was more shocked than a reasonable person would expect.

"They just ran out... Everyone else managed to pick one before you could." His tone of voice seemed less... restrained now, but it was still unusually calm like his face.

"You mean there's not even one left?" The girl closed her eyes in frustration, tugging at her hair momentarily before just sighing. "Darn it... I always take too long to pick when it matters..."

"Couldn't you catch one instead? A gym might even help by lending you one."

The girl had a surprised look on her face before she looked enthusiastic and nodded as if she knew already. "Right, right, I nearly forgot about that! There's a gym in Viridian too, so how about I join you since you already have a Pokemon? Don't wanna get attacked by wild ones or anything..."

Hogoki finally had a somewhat clear expression on his face, and it was confusion. "...They won't attack you unless you chase 'em or something, y'know. It'd be harder to travel with someone else, too."

Before the girl could reply, the Popplio jumped down from the top of the stairs, a bag in flipper as the professor ran down.

"So in this bag is your Pokedex, trainer's license, and five Poke Balls! Take care of them, take care of your Popplio, and take care of yourself, boy!"

The boy's demeanor completely changed from being calm to being somewhere between excited and anxious to leave upon receiving the bag from the Popplio, quickly patting the seal's head, and being told that info. "I will! I'm off to the nearest gym!" And with that, he and his starter ran out.

In the wake of that, the professor and the blonde girl both looked even more bewildered than before, turning to each other to confirm what they had seen.

"...What was with him?"

"He was a very... interesting child, wasn't he? I suppose someone from the Taki family might act a little strange. Don't be too surprised by that if you see him again..."

A little later, Hogoki had left Pallet Town, and he immediately relaxed dramatically as he sighed. "Finally outta there... Now we can travel without hurrying too much, yeah? Let's head to Viridian again while we catch something, Foccai!"

Though he began to walk, it turned out that he was going the wrong way when the aforementioned Popplio barked at him and pointed a different direction while holding the regional map.

"Darn it, still not good at navigating..."

Onward to Viridian City.