Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo. The only things I own are my OCs.

Get Out of the Bag

Professor Birch couldn't be more grateful for some vacation time. He had just finished a big study on how Pelipper transport their eggs in their spacious bills when they don't have a nest to keep the eggs in, or when unexpected danger occurs and they scoop them into their bills and take off. Seeing a prime opportunity, he took the chance to go on vacation before his next study. There was also the bonus of saving money on airfare since he heard from Professor Oak that there was a special deal on flights to Alola. Alola was a lot like Hoenn, but something about it screamed 'vacation' so even if his environment didn't change all that much, he could still relax.

Sighing contently, he sunk into his beach chair with the intent to soak in the sun's rays (not to the point of sunburn thanks to sunscreen). He closed his eyes, ready to take a blissful nap.

"Mog." A light, cheery voice spoke.

The professor opened his eyes in response.

"Smooog," the voice said, almost as if it was as relaxed as he was moments ago.

The professor sat upright on his chair, and looked around for the source of the voice speaking. He thought he spotted a dark blue thing in the corner of his peripheral vision, and cast a glance down at his bag.

If there was one thing that people knew about him, it was that he had a habit of taking his trademark research bag along with him whenever he stepped outside of his lab no matter what he was heading out to do. He couldn't really help the habit, really. It was a gift from his parents when he began his lab work as a professor on Pokémon habitats. Even if it was intended to be used for his research, he used it for multiple other occasions, such as using it as a travel bag when he went on vacation. As such, his famous bag sat on the ground next to his chair.

Leaning over it, he could see something- a Pokémon, it seemed- inside. He couldn't tell what it was doing; it just seemed to sit in there.

"Um," the Professor cleared his throat, "excuse me?" The Pokémon's attention was caught, and it turned to stare up at him with its light blue eyes. The Pokémon looked like it was a ball of gas of some sort with what could be described as two puffs that resembled ears. "What're you doing in my bag?"

"Mog, cosmog," the Pokémon replied before turning away, and making itself comfortable. "Cosmog…"

Professor Birch frowned in confusion. "Cosmog? Is that what Pokémon you are? I can't say I've seen a Pokémon like you before." Despite knowing hundreds of Pokémon species, he could safely say he never heard of this one. He could swear, however, he thought he heard Professor Kukui say something offhand about a Pokémon called Cosmog.

"Junior!" The professor glanced up at the shout, and saw a Kanto-native boy wearing a shirt and necklace not unlike the uniform of the infamous local gang Team Skull. The boy seemed to be running around the resort area, calling out for somebody. "Junior, where'd you go?!" He called out once more, and noticing the professor, ran over to him. "Excuse me, have you seen- Junior!" The boy happened to glance down at the bag beside the professor's chair, and stared at the Pokémon inside it.

"I take it this Pokémon is yours?" The professor inquired, getting to his feet.

The boy quickly nodded in response. "Yes sir, he's mine." He crouched down, and scooped the Pokémon out of the bag with both arms. "Junior, how many times do I have to tell you? You can't run off like that. Also, what have I told you about getting into other people's bags? You shouldn't be doing that either."

"Cos, cosmog…" The Pokémon in question ashamedly responded.

Professor Birch chuckled at the boy scolding his Cosmog. "From what it sounds like, he does this quite often?"

"Yeah," the boy reluctantly admitted, "about as often Nebby would escape from Lillie's bag." He groaned, looking down at his Pokémon. "Like parent, like child it seems."

"Nebby? Lillie? Wait, do you know a girl named Lillie who used to live with Professor Kukui?" The professor couldn't help but prod when he heard the two names.

The boy stared at the professor. "She's my friend. How do you know she- wait, I know who you are! You're Professor Birch, the professor from Hoenn who gives out Mudkip, Treecko, and Torchic!"

The professor threw his head back, laughing at the boy's astounded expression on his face. "Yep, that's me."

"Wait, so the bag Junior was in," the boy gazed down at the professor's bag at his feet, "that's yours?" He turned to his Cosmog. "Junior, what were you doing in the professor's bag?"

"Cosmog, cosmog, cosmog." The Pokémon hovered up and down in a movement Professor Birch guessed was its equivalent to a shrug.

"The way you sounded before, it sounds like he has a habit of hiding in other people's bags?" Professor Birch asked.

The boy slouched in embarrassment. "He does. I don't really get why he does that, though. When Nebby was a Cosmog, he hated being in one. He used to always escape from Lillie's when she was trying to keep him hidden from the Aether Foundation. Junior, on the other hand, loves them. I don't know why. He was bred from Nebby, so one would have assumed he hated them too, but whenever he's out of his ball, he sees an open bag, he'll jump right in. Sorry he was in yours."

Waving a hand, the professor dismissed the apology. "Eh, it's alright. I'm on vacation; I don't have any valuable research in there right now that I wouldn't want set on fire or anything."

"Even so, it's embarrassing he did that. It's one thing to hop into some random person's satchel, or something. It's another entirely to hop into the bag of someone famous." The boy put a free hand to his face, pulling down over it in exasperation. "I really need to get to the bottom of this." He waved to the professor. "Thanks for being understanding about all this, but we should get going. Alola!" Beginning to walk away carrying his Pokémon, Professor Birch heard him mumble under his breath, "Maybe I could ask to borrow May's Manaphy, and have him do Heart Swap on us…"

Once the boy was out of earshot, the professor smiled to himself. "Nice kid." He sat back down on his chair, and got back into his relaxing position. About to close his eyes again, his mind suddenly reeled from a realization. "Did that boy say something about borrowing May's Manaphy? How does he- wait, that kid was the Alola Pokémon League champion!" He sat up with a start, staring in the direction the boy went. "How'd I not recognize him before? What was his name? Elio?"

The professor glanced down with a confused expression. "Er, what're we doing?"

The Cosmog hovering in his open bag answered with Elio's voice, "Figuring out why Junior loves being in a bag so much." He glanced around the bag's interior. "Okay, I'll be honest here. I'm starting to see the appeal."

"Okay," Professor Birch nodded warily, looking up and over at Elio's body, which Junior was using to experience the sensation of having limbs. May's Manaphy sat a few feet away, watching Junior. He sent a pointed gaze at the man standing nearby. "And what's he here for?"

Nanu shrugged, not at all interested in what they were doing. "Don't mind me. I'm just here to make sure that the Heart Swap reverses, and that you don't accidentally kidnap the champion or his Pokémon, whichever is in the Cosmog's body if that does happen."

Professor Birch raised an eyebrow at Nanu's answer. "How do you accidentally- you know what? Don't answer that." Consciously, he readjusted his hand's grip on the strap of his bag. Once the grip was reaffirmed, he glanced down at the Cosmog in his bag. "Why am I here for this?"

"Scientific curiosity?" Elio offered. "Now, start walking around and stuff. We're not going to get all the answers just standing around."

"Uh, okay." Not sure what else to say, the professor started walking around the area.

The End