Admittedly, it took a few minutes for me to calm down from seeing my first ever pokemon. But when I finally managed to we all relocated to the table for dinner, where I was sitting while holding the little Charmander in my lap.
"Say ah."
"Chaaaaa."
Charmander opened it's mouth wide as I brought a bite of food to it, which it chomped down on and chewed contently.
"Char char~!" It trilled happily from the food, and I prepared to give it another bite. While also accidentally knocking over the salt. Again.
"For someone who said pokemon aren't real, you sure are doting on that Charmander quite a bit." May pointed out with humor in her tone as I cleaned up the mess.
"Of course! It's the first pokemon I've ever seen!" I told her seriously, before giving Charmander another bite of food.
"Is that so? I find myself increasingly curious about your origins." Professor Oak said.
"You and me both." I muttered with a grumble.
"You said you remembered your goal, catching one of every single pokemon." Professor Birch pointed out.
"That's it though." I told him irritably. "Its weird... I know certain things, like that this isn't my body or face, but when I try to recall what I actually used to look like I draw a complete blank. Its like I know things, but when it comes to my own history there's nothing there."
"Then let's focus on what IS there." Professor Oak suddenly said, and we all turned to look at him. Even Charmander. "You know that your goal is to catch one of every single pokemon out there. Any ideas how you intend to do that?"
"No..."
"Any idea where you'll go first?"
"No..."
"What name do you plan to use? After all, you can't just go by 'You' for the rest of your life."
"I don't know..."
"Then let's start with that first." The professor declared, and suddenly every eye was on me. Even Charmander's.
"Do you want me to just choose a name, just like that?" I asked him hesitantly.
"Why not? Unless you want one of us to come up with one."
"How about Garth?"
"Liam?"
"Tommy?"
"Ajax?"
I suddenly found myself being bombarded by names from every direction as everyone threw in their options, leaving me no room to either consider them or decline.
"ENOUGH!" I yelled, though no one looked put out by my outburst. Rather, they all appeared amused instead.
With the newfound silence I was finally allowed to think as I ran through the list of names I knew, only each one felt cringier than the last.
I didn't understand how a person could just name themselves, and NOT sound pretentious, arrogant or cringe worthy. And I had to do so here and now.
Slowly, I went through the list of every name I knew and what they stood for, or how they sounded. After all, no one wanted a name that sounded lame. But when I thought of good names for pokemon masters, one suddenly leapt out at me. The name of someone who did catch them all, twice.
"I have an idea." I finally said, gaining the attention of everyone once more.
"There's this story I know of, involving a man who was warned the world would be submerged in a deluge that would wipe out all life. He was commanded to build an ark, and to fill it with two of every single animal to repopulate the earth after the deluge ended. He literally caught them all, twice."
"How interesting. And this man's name?" The professor asked with what seemed like genuine curiosity.
"Noah." I answered.
"Noah..." The professor mused, trying out for himself.
"I like it. It is nice to meet you Noah." He sudenly said while reaching across the table.
"Nice to meet you too professor." I replied with a chuckle, reaching out to shake his hand while trying not to dislodge Charmander.
"Nice to meet you, Noah." Professor Birch immediately followed up with his own handshake. I then shook hands with everyone else at the table, ending with May beside me before we resumed out meal.
"Now onto the next order of business, your goal to catch one of every pokemon. Or you could follow your namesake and catch two of them." Professor Oak continued with a smirk.
"Let's just focus on one for now, unless I find a group of them." I replied with a wry smile, before turning serious as the professor continued speaking.
"Luckily for you, I happen to be sponsoring a new group of trainers in a few days, including my own grandson. May was actually supposed to receive a starter from me as well to start her journey through Kanto. I can sponsor you too by giving you that Charmander you're growing attached to." The professor said while looking at Charmander pointedly.
"Really?!" I asked, feeling more than a little excited at the idea. After all, who wouldn't be after getting to see their first ever pokemon, and then getting told they could keep it?
"Charmander char!" The little fire gecko cried in agreement in my lap, before looking pointedly at the steak on my plate. Of course I gave him another bite of it.
"I'll take that as you both agree." The professor said with a wry smile.
"That's cool Noah! I chose a fire type for my first pokemon too!" May stated happily while pulling out a pokeball, and then tossing it to produce a full sized flaming chicken.
"Blaze." The Blaziken growled as it surveyed them cooly, before leaning back against the wall behind it.
"I want one..." I immediately whined while looking the fire/fighting type up and down.
"Char..."
"OW!" I yelped when my arm suddenly started to burn, courtesy of Charmander's Ember attack.
"Hehe, looks like someone's jealous." May said playfully, even as her Blaziken smirked. I just rolled my eyes at them while giving Charmander more food, which it appreciated as it happily ate.
...
"Now then." Professor Oak said as we finished dinner, and moved to the same room as before to continue talking. "If I'm going to sponssor you, then I'll need to figure out how much you know about pokemon."
"Is there a test or something?" I asked curiously.
"To become an official League trainer, there is. League certification allows you to challenge the Gyms within certain regions, however, you'll also be called upon if there is a war or similar conflict." The professor explain patiently.
"Pass." I immediately said, making him blink in surprise.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I mean, I plan to travel the world to capture every single pokemon. Challenging the Gyms sounds fun, don't get me wrong, but its not my focus." I told him.
"Fair enough..." The professor said while stroking his chin in contemplation.
"So where would you plan to go first in your goal?" Professor Birch asked this time.
"Viridian forest." I immediately responded without thinking, having an answer this time compared to before. "The forest is home to all sorts of bug and grass type pokemon that call Kanto home. It'll be a great place to start on my goal, along with all of the pokemon I could encounter along the way. Plus bug type pokemon evolve quickly compared to other pokemon, which would give me a few decently powerful pokemon to work with when I need them while my other pokemon catch up."
"Is that so?" The professor asked while looking at me intently. "What pokemon exactly can you find there?"
"Pokemon of the Caterpie line and Weedle line for starters, plus possibly a few more bug types like Scyther, maybe some Pinsir, or Venonat. Then there are sure to be an abundance of grass types as well, Bellsprout, Oddish, Exeggcute, maybe even some Bulbasaur if I'm lucky. Then a few miscellaneous pokemon on top of all of them, Pidgy, Rattata, maybe some Mankey or Pichu. If I'm lucky I might also be able to find a Nidoran or two with all of the other potential poison type pokemon in the area. What?"
It was only then that I noticed everyone looking at me weirdly as I finished speaking. "Was it something I said?" I asked worriedly.
"Noah, have you ever been to Viridian forest before?" Professor Oak asked with a weird tone.
"No, I haven't. Why?"
"Because you just sat there and analyzed numerous pokemon, which you just the denied the existance of as a whole earlier, and deduced the majority of the population you would be able to find within a habitat you never laid eyes on before. Where is this information coming from?" He asked, appearing equal parts disturbed and excited by whatever answer I would give him.
"I don't....know..." I answered slowly, disturbed by my lack of answer.
"I just know for a fact that Caterpie and Weedle are there, as well as their evolved forms, so it just stood to reason that other bug types would be as well. Additionally, it wouldn't make sense for grass type pokemon not to live within a forest, so I figured there had to be plenty of them living there as well." I told him, even as I thought about it myself.
Did whatever erased my memories put the knowledge there as well, or did I already know it all from before? The former was disturbing to say the least, while the latter made me wonder why I could recall that in particular so easily.
"How interesting..." The professor muttered quietly, while his eyes studied me intently.
***
"Well, that was interesting." Professor Birch said as the two men sat across from one another, with everyone else having gone to bed for the night. Of course, Noah took his new Charmander with him after Oak officially transferred ownership to him.
"Which part? The fact that he only remembers information that doesn't pertain directly to him, or the fact that he's practically a walking encyclopedia for creatures that he didn't even believe existed until a couple hours ago?" Professor Oak asked as he poured some whiskey into a couple glasses for the two of them.
"All of it. Everything about that kid is fascinating, and disturbing." Birch told him, accepting the glass as he did so before taking a quick drink.
"You mean the story behind his name?" Oak asked while sitting across from his friend.
"Yes... I mean, choosing a name based off a story of a man who is sent to collect two of every creature in the world to repopulate it after disaster wipes everything else out? When you yourself have apparently been sent to do just that as well?"
"Do you suddenly have the urge to build an ark?" Oak asked with a macabre smile.
"Maybe something... Its not like we can't pretend the world isn't heading to a bad place." Birch told him seriously, his mind wandering to two groups in particular.
"Are they getting worse?"
"Always... But its not like you don't have your own worries here in Kanto and Johto."
"True... but they aren't the only ones." Professor Oak said as he started ticking them off his fingers.
"Sinnoh has Team Galactic. Unova has Team Plasma. In Kalos there's Team Flare, and now Samson tells me there's rumors of a Team Skull forming in Alola... It seems every time we turn around there's a new criminal group forming somewhere in the world, each one more ambitious than the last."
"And now we have random men falling from holes in the sky." Birch finished for him.
"Yes... We do."
The two professor sat for a moment without saying anything, both equally worried about the state of the world, but not knowing how they were supposed to handle it.
Suddenly, a loud booming sound echoed throughout the lab as someone pounded on the front door.
"I'm coming." Professor Oak stated irritably as he rose to go and answer it, as all of his aides had already gone home for the night. And when he opened it, he was completely unsurprised to find who was on the other side.
"Is he here?" Demanded the surprise visitor, a tall man dressed in a uniform of dark blue, complimented by red accents. His scarlet hair stood straight up from his head, and a majestic cape flowed from his shoulders.
He was none other than the man who was currently the Champion of TWO regions, the only one in the world at that, Lance.