Hello, people of fanfiction.

I have recently signed in as a member of this site and this shall be my first story as a member.

As a first-timer, I hope that you would not be hard on me should you choose to review this story.

Enjoy.

Professor Samuel Oak leaned back into his comfy leather chair and reached out for his mug of Herbal tea, hoping to quench his thirst. He pressed his lips against the mug, expecting a sweet and slightly sour taste to stimulate his taste buds. What he did not expect was the long wait for it to happen. Curious, he moved the mug so that he may examine the content, only to find that it was empty. He placed the mug back onto the table and allowed his eyes to wander, until a table full of paperwork across the lab came into his line of sight.

He sighed. "Maybe I'm getting a bit too lazy here. If I had known that this job would involve this much paperwork, I'd never would have signed up for it." He closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating whether or not to hang up his lab coat and call it a day. "No, " Professor Oak exclaimed in his mind, "I love this job too much. Seeing the kids' faces when they received their first Pokemon..., it gives me great pleasure. So what if I have too much paperwork? I just have to buck up and deal with it..., no matter how much I hate it."

Ridding himself of that distasteful sight, he immediately focused on a strange, cylindrical structure located at the west side of the lab. It had lots of wires jutting out of it and an uninviting laser inside of it. Oak had it constructed last year as a means of transportation. However, no one has ever used it, not even himself for health reasons. He was starting to regret having a transporter installed in his lab. That regret was erased completely when he received a simple phone call.

Oak had just finished his brunch consisting of a couple of scones with strawberry jam as the topping. He was just thinking of working on that monumental amount of paperwork Professor Rowan sent in. He would have, if not for the annoying ring of the phone. Silently thanking Arceus for that timely intervention, he strolled to a machine that included a receiver on the top left side, the numbers one to nine surrounded by a white border in the middle and a red and green button lining side by side on the right. There was a huge monitor fixed onto the wall opposite the machine. Brimming with anticipation, he picked up the receiver and pressed the green button that was presently flashing causing the screen to come to life, revealing a familiar face.

"A very good afternoon, Mr. White," Oak chimed. "Nice weather we are having, don't you agree?"

"Hn," was Mr. White's simple reply.

Oak furrowed his brows in confusion. He knew that something was amiss. Mr. White often displayed a happier persona than what he is displaying now. Against his better judgement, he decided to humour his own curiosity.

Oak queried, "Are you feeling alright, sir?"

Mr. White gave Oak a long blank stare. It sent chills down Oak's spine. After what seemed like an eternity, Mr. White responded, "A boy shall be arriving there via the transporter soon."

Oak did a take. He did not know what to make of the situation. The transporter had not been used yet let alone tested so the side-effects from its usage were virtually unknown. Yet, here was a boy who was willing to gamble on his life just to meet him.

"He must be really brave or just plain foolish," Oak thought gravely.

"Oh and Professor Oak..," Mr. White suddenly added.

"Y-yes," he stammered.

"Bring a handkerchief. You'd be surprised."

Before Oak had a chance to ask why, Mr. White hung up.

Professor Oak decided to head his friend's advice and now had a handkerchief neatly folded in the left breast pocket of his lab coat though he was still struggling to comprehend what one boy did to make the chairman of the Devon Corporation a nervous wreck. Ironically, he was now acting like a nervous wreck. His hands were shaking with fear and his forehead was glistening with sweat.

"He was right," the professor breathed as he used the handkerchief to wipe off some of his sweat. "I'm not looking forward to meeting this boy but I guess I just have to suck it up," he half-heartedly resolved.

On cue, the transporter gave out a sudden flash of blinding light, forcing the professor to shut his eyes, falling down the chair in the process. He silently cursed the creators of the transporter for not installing a signal to alarm him of the situation he was facing now.

As the light slowly died down, Oak slowly opened his eyes to see a black silhouette in the transporter. He strained his eyes to get a better look at the figure but that was unnecessary as the smoke began to subside. When the smoke fully cleared, the figure's features became crystal-clear for Oak to marvel at.

"Whoa," he exclaimed.

Inside the transporter stood a young teen of about twelve years with neck-length, jet black hair that completely covered his forehead and concealed most of his ears. He had soft yet piercing sapphire eyes with a faint scar running diagonally down his right eye. He was wearing a white collared-up shirt under a dual-coloured vest; black with three white stripes running along the top to the bottom of the vest on the left side with contrasting colours on the right side. He also donned on a black scarf that hung loosely on his shoulders, a pair of white slacks with two black belts criss-crossing each other around his lower abdomen and a pair of white sneakers with a logo of a black Pokeball emblazoned on each sneaker.

"Did Mr. White meant that I would be surprised by his features or his clothing?" Professor Oak thought with a raised eyebrow.

The boy lazily ran a hand through his rather scruffy hair and released a breath of relief before taking in his surroundings. He noticed that he was in a typical laboratory setting. The pristine white walls, white floor tiles and various machinery, ranging from the giant supercomputers to the transporter that he was currently standing in, that entered his field of vision were a dead giveaway. His gaze immediately fell on Professor Oak who seemed to be glued to the floor. Shaking his head in exasperation, he strolled over to help the poor man up.

Oak silently observed the boy's actions, careful to not make any sudden movements. From the boy's appearance, Oak could tell that this was not someone to be trifled with. The professor drew a sharp intake of breath as the boy got closer and closer to him. He wanted to move so badly but his body chose that exact moment to declare mutiny. The boy, who was now standing in front of the professor, reached down to help him up. After a moment's hesitation, Oak accepted his gesture.

Professor Oak dusted himself and smiled at the boy in appreciation. "Hello, my name is Professor Oak. It is a pleasure to meet you," the middle-aged man greeted as he held his hand out to the boy.

The boy stared at the outstrecthed hand in front of him. Instead of shaking it, he shifted his gaze to the professor and nodded. "Likewise. My name is Seishiro Syuusuke."

Although the professor was a bit disappointed that the boy did not accept his handshake, he did not show it as he chuckled, "My, my. What an interesting name."

"Though it is only a fake name," Seishiro stated non-chalantly.

"Heh?" Professor Oak breathed while fixing Seishiro with an incredulous stare.

"Don't worry," Seishiro assured the baffled professor with an absent wave of his hand, "most people fail to comprehend it the first time."

"I er... see," the still-befuddled professor choked out pathetically. "Anyway, all things aside, I presume that your are here to apply for your Trainer's Licence. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"Well, based on your appearance and this confidence you're exuding, I'd say that you would fit the profile of a great trainer," Professor Oak praised. "However, whether you become a trainer or not solely depends on how well you perform on the written exam. It's a rather sad fact but that's how things work. Do you understand?

This time, the black-haired boy took on a silent disposition and simply nodded.

"Very good. Now follow me please," the professor asked politely as he led the boy into a room opposite the lounge area.

The first thing that Seishiro noticed when he entered the room was a table that was conveniently situated in the middle of the room. On it were a few test papers, a couple of 2B pencils and an black eraser. There were three open windows in the room, most likely to let the fresh air in. Seishiro calmly walked to a chair that was pushed into the table, pulled it out and sat down, awaiting the usual exam instructions.

Professor Oak let out a few coughs before instructing, "You are given a two hour time limit to complete your papers. If you require any rough papers, just press that green button on the table and some shall be sent to you right away." He then glanced at his wristwatch to make sure the 'second' hand was directly pointing at the number twelve. "You may begin."

Once Professor Oak left the room, Seishiro immediately set to work. The test did not pose too much trouble for Seishro. He finished it in half the given time, fully confident in all his answers except the ones on Pokemon Evolution History; but his answers were relevant enough. Looking to past the time, he casually flipped his hair before unclipping a small dual-coloured ball which was red at the top half and white at the bottom from his belt. He pressed a button in the centre of the ball causing it to enlarge. Placing the ball on the table, he simply stared at it and waited. On cue, the ball snapped open, releasing a bright beam of light which slowly materialized into a wolf-like creature that had a black body with a pair of crimson eyes and yellow bands on its ears, tail, legs and forehead. It shook its head a little before setting its sights on its part-time trainer, full-time friend.

It stared. Seishiro stared back. The silence between these two seemed to last an eternity but in reality it had only been a few minutes.

Finally, the eerie silence was broken.

"Don't I even warrant a hello, Noctis Umbra?" Seishiro asked.

Said Moonlight Pokémon's left eye twitched at the mention of that name. "Don't you think it is rather unnecessary to keep saying 'hello' when we see each other every single day?" the Pokemon countered. "I still fail to fathom the reason why you would always begin our conversations with that specific sentence when you know how much I loathe my last name. Noctis would be just fine.

Seishiro propped his elbow on the table and casually rested his head on his hand, never taking his eyes off Noctis. He then smirked before retaliating, "Although you knew that I was going to say that specific sentence, you made absolute no move to stop me from saying it. I'm curios. Could it be that you enjoy these daily squabbles between you and I?"

The silence that followed after Seishiro's inquiry provided substantial prove that Seishiro might be correct in his deduction. Instead of admitting it, Noctis turned its head sharply away from its trainer. "You're only kidding yourself," the Umbreon muttered.

Chuckling heartily, Seishiro reached out and scratched Noctis behind its left ear, much to its annoyance and pleasure. "Keep telling yourself, Noctis Umbra~a," he teased with a slightly higher pitch in his voice.

Noctis grunted in response and backpawed Seishiro's hand away, a faint blush across its face. Luckily, its dark fur managed to conceal it, not allowing Seishiro to further tamper with its emotions. It stretched to ease its body's blood flow and curled up into a ball on the table, keeping eye contact with Seishiro the whole time.

So, what's your first impression on the human professor?" it asked.

Seishiro thought long and hard before answering, "He's decent enough, I guess." A gentle breeze past into the room through the window, swaying Seishiro's hair and giving him a serene look. "I can see from his eyes that this job gives him great pleasure. He is also a very kind person as he accepts favours without any compensation. That mountain of paperwork on his desk solidifies my assumption. Though, I think that his kindness might be his undoing. He isn't getting any younger and the stress of handling such a demanding job must surely be getting to him. I wouldn't be surprise if the thought of retirement has crossed his mind a couple of times... but I like think he loves this job too much to give it up easily. Most likely, he would give up the position to a younger family member so that he can not only tutor the fortunate soul but also still be involved in Pokemon Research. I can see why he is one of the most respected individuals in this world."

Noctis tilted its head in faint amusement. "It is rather rare to see you heap this much praise on someone other than your grandfather," the Dark-type stated.

"Some people in this world deserve respect and that man has earned mine. It's as simple as that," Seishiro replied.

The Umbreon nodded, uncurled itself and sat on its haunches.

Their conversation lasted no more than a few minutes before Noctis retreated back into his ball. Though the majority of their talks were brief, they were pleasant none the less. Eriol had always found it easy to strike a conversation with Noctis as the Umbreon was very mature despite its young age of three summers. Noctis meanwhile felt that Eriol's company was very comforting and emotionally soothing for it. The bond that these two had nurtured had reached a point where it can never be eclipsed.

Professor Oak entered the room half an hour later. He looked a lot worse than the first time Seishiro met him. His hair was a bit ruffled, his lab coat was rumpled and his eyes were rather droopy. Seishiro said nothing as he held out the test papers to Oak which the professor idly took.

A few moments later, the professor came back into the room looking fresher than before. His grey hair was neatly spiked upwards, he donned on a new lab coat and his eyes were... glowing with excitement. Seishiro raised an eyebrow but did nothing to comment. In his opinion, everyone was eccentric in their own way and it would seem that Professor Oak had the ability to clean himself in just a few minutes. It was beyond Seishiro's comprehension and he did not want to comprehend it one bit.

"Out of all my years as a Pokemon Professor," the professor started, "I have never seen such a gifted individual. Not only did you aced the test but your explanations on the evolution of Pokemon, particularly on the emotions that evoked Pokemon evolution, leaves me baffled yet astounded at the same time. I'd even go so far as to say that your paper was as good or even better than Professor Rowan's theory on Pokemon evolution. I would be honoured if you would allow me to publish your paper in the upcoming issue of Professor's Weekly. It is a rather a great encyclopedia which many professors use as a catalyst to discuss their views on Pokemon."

Seishiro fixed Professor Oak with a half-lidded gaze. "I could care less whether or not you choose to publish my paper," he said. He then added, "My only request is that my name would not get published as well. I'd rather keep my low profile, thank you very much."

Professor Oak sighed. "I suppose that is fair. I'm sure you don't appreciate people fawning over you over such an... unimportant matter, at least scientific people like myself." He then immediately reverted back to his cheerful self. "Now then, would you please follow me? It's time to get you properly registered," he said with a rather giddy tone as he practically skipped out the room. Seishiro followed silently, unsure whether he was dealing with a reputed Pokemon Professor or a little school girl.

They both soon reached a machine which would register Seishiro as an official Pokemon Trainer. Professor Oak started by inserting a card into an empty slot blow the monitor and a thin rectangled-shaped gadget into another. He cracked his knuckles, took a deep breath and started typing away like a speed demon. Seishiro watched intently as various information about him were displayed on the machine's monitor before getting downloaded into the red gadget and his image was scanned onto the card. After wiping a few beads of sweat on his brow, Professor Oak pressed 'ENTER' and withdrew the red gadget and the card from their respective slots. He then turned to Seishiro and handed them to him. The black-haired teen accepted with gratitude.

"Now, I shall explain to you the functions of these items." Professor Oak let out a few coughs before starting, "The card that you are holding in your right hand is your Trainer's ID. As long as you have it, you are acknowledge as an official Pokemon Trainer. It will also allow you to spend the night in a Pokemon Center. It gives some sort of assurance to the Nurse Joys that you have been acknowledged by a Professor and can be trusted."

Seishiro nodded and pocketed his ID.

"Next, I shall explain to you the functions of the Pokedex," Professor Oak said as he looked at the tool in Seishiro's left hand. "Its gives information about all the Pokemon in the world that are contained in its database. Simply pointing it at a target Pokémon will give you the Pokédex entry for that Pokémon. A Pokédex can also display a Pokémon's stats, levels and moves. Another function of the Pokédex is that it is immune to most forms of outside interference from stimuli such as water, fire or electricity. It also grants you some sort of protection from the police force. Like the Trainer's ID, its gives the police some sort assurance as Pokedex holders are generally trainers of exceptional potential and skill. Normally, I would give the normal Kanto Pokedex but I decided to give you something special. It's the state-of-the-art Johto Pokedex. It was recently completely and its capabilities far surpasses that of the Kanto Pokedex. Why don't you try it out? Just click on the 'INTRO' button on the screen."

Seishiro once again nodded and flipped open the Pokedex. From what Seishiro could tell, this Pokedex is rather different from the ones he had seen from various books from different regions. Unlike previous models, this Pokedex has no buttons and contains a touch-screen and a stylus. There also seems to be a camera at the back. Shrugging his shoulders, he took the stylus from its holder and tapped the 'ON' button on the screen with it. Several other functions then appeared on the screen like 'INTRO', 'PROFILE', 'POKEMON', 'MONEY' , 'MAP' and 'PHONE NUMBERS'. Twirling the stylus in his right hand, he tapped the 'INTRO' button. The Pokedex beeped a few times before speaking its first sentences under the ownership of Seishiro.

"I'm Dexter," the red gadget voiced out, "a Pokedex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokemon Trainer Seishiro Syuusuke of the city of Hiun. My function is to provide Seishiro with information and advice regarding Pokemon and their training. If lost or stolen, I would instantly teleport back into my trainer's dominant hand."

Seishiro raised an eyebrow at that last sentence and thought nothing of it. With the technology these days, anything was possible. He carefully pocketed the Pokedex into the left breast pocket of his vest. He looked Professor Oak in the eye and gave a slight bow.

"Thank you, Professor Oak. I am grateful for the assistance you have provided me," Seishiro said in apperciation.

"Think nothing of it young man," the professor dismissed with an absent wave of his hand, "but it does seem rather late. I think you would have to delay your journey for tomorrow morning."

"I understand," Seishiro replied. "However, I do require a place to stay. Do you have any recommendations?"

"I have got that covered," Professor Oak assured as he handed Seishiro a piece of paper. "Here's the adress. The owner of the house is a very nice lady and she has cute six-year-old son. I am sure you would find this acceptable."

"Once again, thank you. Your assistance is appreciated. I shall be taking my leave now." He turned around and walked towards the exit.

Professor Oak nodded. "Goodbye and good luck," he called out.

Seishiro just raised his right index finger up into the air as a sign that he acknowledge Professor Oak's words of encouragement. He then raised his left hand and pushed the revolving doors, exiting the laboratory and entering the grace of Pallet Town.