Alright everyone, I've decided to restart my fic. Mostly because after leaving it so long I want to take the fic in a whole new direction. The beginning will be the same, and then after that the fic will skip ahead a few years. So, here's the first chapter of the reboot.
As a note, this is part of the Non-Competitive Trainers Hangout Canon. A few of the other fics that are part of the same canon: League of Heroes (this is the one that started all of the other fics), Friends of Draco (and the others that are by Dracoburn), Journeymen, Tempest, Shiny Expert: Xander, Galactic Files, and Heroes League. I know that there are more, but I haven't been able to keep up with them all. They are all excellent reads.
***Professor Xander’s Laboratory, Formerly the P2 Lab***
“Alright, Jacobs, turn the power up by forty percent,” Professor Xander was attempting to revive an Anorith Fossil that he believed to be a shiny pokemon. Xander was an expert on shiny pokemon, and if this fossil turned out to be one, then his theory would become fact. He had been waiting for this moment since he was eighteen when he wrote his first paper on the phenomenon that is shiny pokemon. That was more than four years ago, and so much had happened since then. He put a dangerous criminal behind bars, he took out an attempt by Team Magma to force Mount Chimney to erupt, he helped in the Team Omega crisis, got promoted to Elite Four member, he had gotten married, and many other things. He had only become an official Pokemon Professor a short seven months ago. The P2 labs were discovered by two friends of his, Jo and David, during the Omega crisis. After all of that had been settled he came and checked out the abandoned lab, and found that it fit his needs perfectly. He had done a lot of renovating since then, and even put a battle field in.
“Yes Professor X,” That was Jacobs, Xander’s right hand man. Jacobs had been with Xander since the beginning. He was Xander’s assistant, and had become a good friend of his. A tall and lanky man with glasses, he fit the stereotypical scientist perfectly. This was in stark contrast with Xander, who was a man of six foot two, and was solidly built. Xander worked out regularly and on several occasions has tried to get Jacobs to join him, but to no avail. Professor X was a nickname that Xander had received amongst people in the scientific community, due to his name starting with X and the comic book character that goes by the same name. Xander’s friend Raj was the first one to coin the name.
Jacobs was just the one of many assistants that stayed at the lab to assist Xander. All in all, there were twenty-one staff members on the island. It was like one big family, you had the brother that you were close to, the weird cousin that you wondered if he was adopted, the crazy uncle, and everything in between.
The laser that was focusing on the fossil lit up brighter, “Alright, keep it there Jacobs. Just a little more…”
The fossil began to glow the familiar white light that appeared when a pokemon evolved. After the light faded, there was a red Anorith in the glass jar.
Xander smiled, “Raise the glass jar, and shut the machine down!” The assistants scrambled to do what he said, and in a moment, the machine was totally powered down and the glass was raised. Xander approached the pokemon and held it up. It was definitely a shiny pokemon, “Yes! This proves my theory!”
“Congratulations Professor X!” Jacobs ran over to see the Anorith, “Before you can make an announcement though, we have to examine this Anorith fully.”
“You’re right Jacobs, let’s get to it.” Xander stroked the Anorith as he and Jacobs walked down to the examination room. Although Xander studied pokemon, he wasn’t detached. Every pokemon that he studies is more often than not, one of his own. This Anorith he would train and it would become a part of his family of pokemon. When they got down to the examination room, Xander’s Xtranciever began to ring, “Jacobs, go ahead and start the examination process, I need to take this.”
“No problem Xander, we’ll have this done by the time you get back.”
“All right, just make sure you guys are thorough. I don’t need something for skeptics to pick at.”
“Hey, aren’t we always?”
Xander smiled, and left them to their work, he pressed a button on his Xtranciever, and a familiar face popped up, “Hello Prof. Birch, how are things going?”
“Things are going fine, but I’ve found some interesting pokemon.”
“How so, are they shiny?”
“No, these are normal in that respect, but I just scanned them with a pokedex, and their abilities aren’t what they should be.”
“First, could you tell me what species of pokemon you’re talking about?”
“Oh, right, sorry,” Prof. Birch was always a bit disorganized, even by Xander’s standards, “They are the standard Hoenn starters that I give out to new trainers, Torchic, Treecko, and a Mudkip.”
“So you said that their abilities are different than normal?”
“Yes, they are! The Torchic has Speed Boost, Treecko has Unburden, and Mudkip has Damp.”
Xander had encountered pokemon like this before. During one of the large scale battles against Team Omega they had encountered Drizzle Politoads and Drought Ninetails. Xander had used his illegal Snag Machine to capture one of each, and both were good friends of his now. “Those sound like interesting pokemon, but, why are you telling me this?”
“Well, after I read your latest paper on shiny pokemon, I began thinking that maybe these odd abilities are linked to one of the genomes of the pokemon. You’re the foremost scientist on pokemon genetics, so I thought I’d see of you could come and check them out.”
“Well, I suppose I could. It’ll be a few days before I can make out to Hoenn though.”
“No worries, the pokemon will still be here when you arrive.”
“Thanks Birch for letting me know, now I need to get back to the examination room.”
“Alright, I’ll be expecting you in three days, does that sound good?”
“Sounds fine Birch, see you then,” Xander logged off, and went back to the examination room.
***Two Hours Later***
“This can’t be right,” Xander was looking at the data that he had triple checked.
“It’s undeniable Professor X, this Anorith’s ability is Swift Swim,” Jacob was just as dumbfounded as Xander.
“This is very interesting. I wonder what’s causing this phenomenon?”
“What do you mean ‘phenomenon’?”
“I’m not quite sure. I’ve heard reports, and even seen firsthand, of pokemon that have different abilities. I mean, look at my Politoad and Ninetails.”
“True, but I thought those were isolated incidents.”
“So did I, but it’s looking like it’s more widespread. It could be a genetic mutation that’s beginning to show up in a few species. I wonder if all pokemon have this potential?”
“Perhaps now that you’ve solved the mystery of shiny pokemon, you could look into this. If you don’t mind me asking, who called?”
“I don’t mind, and it was Prof. Birch. He said that he has three Hoenn starters that have different abilities than they should have, just like this Anorith. How fortuitous that he would call today.”
“That is interesting; are you going to go visit him?”
“Yes, that is, after I finalize my paper, so I told him to expect me in three days, which means that I have about two days to finish it because of the plane ride.”
“Alright then. Do you want me to hold down the fort while you’re gone?”
“Please Jacobs, that would be a big help.”
“No problem. Enjoy your vacation.”
“Hey, I’ll be working the whole time I’m there.”
Jacobs began walking out of the examination room to input the data into the computers. Just before he left he turned around, “Sure you will.”
***Later that Night, in Xander’s Private Dining Room***
Xander had set up a beautiful dinner for him and his wife, Christy. He had met her back when he was eighteen, and they hit it off; though, they hadn’t started dating till about eighteen months ago. They had been happily married for the last six months to the day. He wasn’t into all of these little anniversaries, but Christy put up with a lot, and she liked to celebrate these kinds of things. His work often took him away from home, and, although Christy did come with him, they rarely got to spend much time together during these trips, due to Xander having to work. He had cooked the meal himself, and thought he did pretty well. Cooking was one of his hobbies, and he wasn’t half bad at it.
Christy walked in with a big smile on her face. She was a beautiful woman, she was thin, 5’5, and had long black hair. She was wearing simple blue jeans, and a white T-Shirt, the same as her husband. Neither of them really liked getting all dressed up, and preferred casual clothes whenever possible.
“This looks lovely dear,” She said with a smile. “What’s the occasion?” She joked.
“Here comes the test,” Xander joked back, “Luckily, I know the answer this time, it’s our six month anniversary.”
She nodded, “Hey, you actually remembered.”
“Of course I did, why wouldn’t I?”
“Come on, you’ve forgotten some important things.”
“Name one.”
“You forgot the rings at our wedding.”
Xander had forgotten the rings in his car on the day of his and Christy’s wedding, and while she was never mad about that, she did give him a hard time about it. She liked his little quirks, though, and thought it was cute. “I’m never gonna live that one down, am I?”
Christy laughed, “Nope, but let’s sit down and eat. What did you make?”
Xander pulled the chair out for his wife, and then lifted the lid off of the plate i
n front of her, “Crown rack of lamb.”
Xander had known that this was Christy’s favorite dish, and hoped that it would put her in a good mood for when he told her the news, “This looks delicious honey, but you didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
“It was no trouble at all,” That was one of those lies that was often told to someone. It actually was quite a bit of trouble as Xander had never tried to make this before, and screwed up twice before he finally got it.
They began to talk over dinner about all sorts of things, Xander’s research, starting a family, and other miscellaneous things. When they were almost done, Xander decided it was time to tell her, “So, you know how we first met on that plane ride to Hoenn?”
“How could I forget, that may have been the worst flight I had ever been on. The only good part about it was that I met you.”
Xander smiled, “Well, I was thinking that maybe we could fly back there the day after tomorrow, and spend a few weeks there, you know, as a vacation.”
Christy’s smile grew wide and she jumped up and hugged him, “Are you serious?”
Xander kissed her, “Yep, it’s all booked.” He had planned to tell her about work, but he just couldn’t. She was so happy, and besides, he would only need a few hours with Prof. Birch…he hoped.
The rest of the night went well, but as Xander was lying in bed, he began to think, *Now just to figure out how to sneak away long enough to see Prof. Birch.*
***On the Plane to Littleroot Town***
Xander was flying in first class, well actually, there was only one class. He and Christy were flying in the one of the Researcher’s Foundation’s private jets. Christy had fallen asleep in the chair across from him, and he had some time to think. He thought about all that had happened in the last eighteen months or so. The biggest thing was undeniably him marrying Christy, but a close second was the quick succession of promotions in the Journeymen League. While they were staying at the Flare Gym, Raj asked him to officially join the League. Before this, Xander was just there paying Raj back for helping him during the Battle for Floraroma. After everything had been resolved, Raj had asked to speak with him. It turned out that one of the Elite Four members had given up battling because of Team Omega, and all of the destruction they caused. Raj then proceeded to promote him to the Elite Four. This suited Xander and his wife just fine, as Elite Four Challengers were few and far between. This allowed him and Christy to travel more.
Xander also thought about the relationships he had with the rest of the league members. Raj, who had gotten the league together, but wasn’t actually part of it himself, was a very good friend of Xander’s. The two had known each other since battling in Castelia City, almost four years ago.
Nate, who was perhaps the nastiest man Xander had ever met, well, Xander didn’t know much about Nate. He knew that Nate was the Dark type Elite Four member, but nothing besides that. Last Xander heard he was starting his journey over with a Mudkip. Why he was doing this, Xander had no idea.
Jo, who was a part time archeologist, wasn’t actually part of the league at all. She was currently challenging the gyms, just as Raj was. She had been called in to help during the Omega Crisis, and apparently, she used to be a gym leader. Xander talked to her a fair bit during down time. They both shared the same interest of uncovering pokemon mysteries. She had called him up multiple times to ask him questions about his Heatran, Latias, and his bond with Thunderus.
Cole was a bit of a mystery to Xander. He was known to the world as an elite trainer who helped to put down Team Galactic, Team Rocket, and Team Plasma. During the Team Omega crisis, Cole was pretty much the impromptu leader of the Journeymen, due to his knowledge of Ghetsis. Xander had never gotten to know Cole very well, and that was just as well. Cole didn’t approve of Xander having a Heatran and shiny Latias. Xander thought this was slightly hypocritical, as Cole himself had a shiny Entei, and a Victini. It didn’t really matter though, because after he had defeated Ghetsis, Cole left for the edge of the world looking for a pokemon named Keldeo. Xander had heard rumors of this pokemon, but never really thought about it much. If Cole wound up finding it, then more power to him.
Becca was another one of those people that Xander just never really talked much with. She was a bit brash, but besides that, he liked her just fine. They had visited during their stay at the Flare gym, but Xander had visited with everyone during that odd three month period. She and Cole seemed to be pretty close, but how far that relationship went, Xander didn’t know.
Mozzeh, who was a Dragon Master, was actually a friend of Xander’s before all this happened. The two had a friendly rivalry going on. Every time they got together they would have a pure dragon battle, and see whose team was the best.
Fire, who was actually the Steel type leader, was a free spirit, which was evident by her blazing red hair. Xander was actually a bit confused when he heard her name; he had thought that she was the Fire leader instead of Cole. Xander thought she was fun, but was too busy training to spend a lot of time with the members of the league.
Ammy was the Water leader of the Journeymen. She went through a tough time during the Omega crisis, as her pokemon were stolen. They were recovered by a strike team led by Cole. Xander was slightly bitter that he wasn’t part of that team, but he tried not to let it get to him.
Karin was a user of the Electric type, and one of the pokemon that Xander remembered vividly, was her Rotom, nicknamed Spooks. Xander remembered Spooks so well because it crashed his computer as a joke. He wasn’t amused. He was working on his final draft of a paper, and Spooks snuck in and just fried it. Xander had a few choice words to say to Karin, but Spooks restored his computer, and they made up. Karin became one of Xander’s close friends during those dark three months.
Xander sometimes wondered if the Journeymen were a bit too disorganized. He may travel a lot, but he was an Elite Four member. He hadn’t even had a single challenger since they had become an official league nine months ago. The fact that gym leaders were all over the place bothered him a bit. Cole had fallen completely off the map, and there was no way to contact him. This was the other problem he had with Cole. He wasn’t sure if he was completely committed to the league. The others could at least be contacted and a challenger could set up the time, but no one could with Cole. This league was just starting out, and they didn’t have more than eight gym leaders. Xander would never get a challenger until someone beat Cole. Xander did respect Cole, but deep down, he knew that he was a bit jealous of the man.
Just then, the PA system came on. Christy was stirred from her sleep, and looked around drowsily. Her hair was a mess, but she straightened it out quickly. Xander smiled a bit at her quickness to fix her hair. One of her quirks was that she didn’t really care what she wore, but her hair had to be perfect at all times. She actually carried her husband’s Leavanny around to style it. Leavanny had pretty much become Christy’s pokemon, and Xander was happy for Leavanny.
Xander and Christy buckled their seatbelts, and waited for the plane to land. The landing was smooth, and Xander was glad to be able to stretch. He went to go grab his luggage while Christy waited out in the main part of the airport. What Xander didn’t know is that Prof. Birch had sent a driver to pick the couple up.
After Xander got back with their luggage, he saw the look on his wife’s face, “What’s wrong?”
She smiled sarcastically, “Who’s that?” She pointed towards the man who held up the sign that said, “Professor X”.
“I can say with total honesty that I don’t know who that is, or who sent him,” He really didn’t know the man, or who sent him for sure. Although he knew that what he said was a lie that was truth by technicality.
She looked hurt, “You came here for work?”
“No, I came here for a vacation with you,” He held her hand, “It just so happens that Prof. Birch has something that he wants me to see, so I thought I would stop by and see it as long as we’re here.”
She wasn’t buying it, “Which came first?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, did you book this trip first and then he called, or did he call first, and then you booked the trip.”
Xander looked sheepish, “Does it really matter?”
“Yes it does, so which was it?”
He sighed, “Prof. Birch may have called me first, but-“
“I knew it!” She yelled. “Why can’t we ever just go anywhere without you having to visit someone, or someplace?”
“This won’t take long, we’ll go check into the hotel, and then I’ll visit Prof. Birch. It won’t take more than an hour.”
“Fine.”
Xander knew that he hadn’t heard the end of this one, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to go and see these pokemon. He would make it up to her later.
***Prof. Birch’s Laboratory***
Prof. Birch’s lab looked like it did the last time Xander had been here; messy, unorganized, and in general disarray. Xander wasn’t the neatest person in the world, and he knew it, but there’s no way he could work in this type of environment. Birch came out of his examination room as Xander walked in, “Ah, Professor X, thanks for coming.” He sat down at his desk and moved some papers that were on the chair down to the floor. He pointed to the chair across from him, it too had a pile of papers on it, “Just set those on the floor, please sit.”
Xander did as he was asked, and sat down in the seat that was about four inches too short for him to be truly comfortable, “So how goes your research Birch?”
“It’s going pretty well.”
“What do you research anyways?”
“I’m researching the behaviors of pokemon when they are put into an alternative habitat.”
“Sounds interesting, but my wife wants me to hurry, so I don’t mean to be rude, but let’s get onto the reason for why I’m here.”
“Alright, that’s not a problem, if you’ll just come this way,“He motioned back to the examination room.
Xander followed Prof. Birch into the examination room, and this room was actually spotless to Xander’s surprise. Sitting on the examination table were three pokemon, a Torchic, a Treecko, and a Mudkip, just like Birch had said over the Xtranciever. “They look healthy,” Xander pet all three pokemon in turn, “But can I see their abilities.”
“Oh, um, yes, of course. Let’s go out back.” Birch returned all three of the pokemon, and left the examination room.
Xander followed Birch out back to a battlefield. “Alright, which one do you want to see first?”
Xander thought about it, “Let’s see Mudkip first.”
“Sounds good,” Birch sent out the small blue pokemon.
“Kiiiiip,” (Yawwwwnnn. Who are you?) It cooed cutely.
Birch grabbed another poke ball, “Now, for the pokemon that’ll let Mudkip show his ability,” He sent out a Geodude.
“Dude.” (Looks like I get to be the punching bag again.)
“Alright, Geodude, use Selfdestruct.” Geodude began to glow brightly, but Mudkip didn’t look concerned. It simply focused on the ground beneath Geodude, and he became soaked to the core in water. The explosion was anticlimactic, as it was nothing more than a little puff of smoke.
“Impressive,” Xander commented.
“Exactly! Which one do you want to see next?”
“Let’s see what that Treecko can do.”
“Alright, but he’ll need an item.”
“Then it’s a good thing I brought one,” Xander pulled a perfectly white gem out of his pocket, “This’ll do.”
Birch let out the small green gecko-like pokemon, “Ko!” (Where’s the fight?!) It called, ready for battle. Xander touched the stone to the pokemon’s head, and the stone turned a dull and opaque white. “Alright, now the Normal Gem’s power is imbued in Treecko. All he has to do is use his Pound attack and it’ll activate.”
“Alright then, looks like you’re way ahead of me. Okay, Treecko I need you to run as fast as you can around the arena.”
“Tree,” He nodded, and took off an incredible pace for a pokemon so young.
“That Treecko’s speed is impressive.”
“I know. Just wait till you see what happens after Unburden takes effect. Alright Treecko, use Pound on Geodude, and then run around the field again.”
Treecko did as Birch asked him to. He leapt at Geodude, and his tail began to glow the white that it always did during a Pound attack, but this time, it glowed twice as bright as normal. Usually this attack didn’t even faze Geodude, but he felt it this time.
Immediately afterwards Treecko began to run around the field at almost twice the speed that he did before, “Well, that’s impressive. Sceptile’s are already very fast. Something like this is very powerful.”
“You haven’t seen powerful yet. Look, before I show you how strong Torchic is, I want you to promise me something, don’t tell anyone about Torchic’s ability.”
“Why not?”
“A pokemon with the ability Speed Boost is very powerful. So far, the only pokemon that I can think of that have it, are Ninjask, and Yanmega. Neither can really use this ability to its full potential, but a Blaziken definitely could. I talked to the other region Professors, and we all agreed that the existence of this Torchic should be hidden from the general public, at least for now.”
“You’re afraid of poachers, aren’t you?”
“Yes, we are. I believe that a Blaziken with Speed Boost could take on legendary pokemon.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. Xander, I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. Not even your wife.”
“Does your wife know about this?”
“No, Annabel doesn’t.”
“Alright, I swear.”
“Thank you. Now, let’s get on with the demonstration!”
Torchic was let out of his poke ball, “Chic?” (What’s going on?) It asked confused.
“Alright Torchic, are you ready?”
“Tor,” (No.) The small orange pokemon shook his head.
“Come on, I know you can do this,” Prof. Birch was kneeling down to be at near eye level with the tiny pokemon.
Torchic seemed to think about it for a minute, “To-Torchic…” (Al-alright, I’ll go…) He trotted off to the battlefield.
“He’s never liked battling.”
“Kind of ironic.”
“Yeah, it is. He has the potential to be on par with legendary pokemon, but without someone to show him the ropes, he won’t ever reach that
potential…”
Xander looked sideways at Birch, “Nice little hint there.”
Birch just shrugged, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Alright,
Torchic, use Protect.”
Torchic concentrated really hard, and a wall of red energy appeared around him, “Tor!” (I did it!)
“Good job Torchic. Alright, Geodude, use Rock Throw.” The pokemon formed a boulder out of the dirt, and sand beneath him, and sent it flying at the wall of protective energy. It bounced off, and Torchic started dancing.
“Torchic!” (It worked!) Just then, he began to glow red, and after about three seconds it dissipated.
“Good Torchic, now use Scratch!”
Torchic ran forward faster than before, and struck Geodude hard. Geodude tried to fend off the attacks, but Torchic was coming at him from so many different angles. Geodude tried to use another Rock Throw, but Torchic just dodged it with its enhanced speed. After another few seconds, he began to glow red again, and sped up even more, “Alright, I think Geodude’s had enough for today. Torchic and Geodude, return.”
“They are definitely impressive.”
“I know, that’s why I called you down here. Now, I have a favor to ask-“
“You want me to take these pokemon with me and travel with them?”
“Yes, I guess I wasn’t too subtle.”
Xander shook his head, “Not really.”
“So will ya do it?”
Xander thought about it for a moment, *These pokemon are interesting, and I am an Elite Four member. Besides, my final paper on shiny pokemon is about to be published, and I do need a new project…* “Alright, I’ll take them with me.”
“Thanks Professor X. These little guys need some world experience, but I can’t give them to just anyone.” He grabbed the three poke balls off of his belt and handed them to Xander.
“It’s no problem,” Xander took the poke balls.
Birch and Xander began walking back into the lab, “So, how’s the Journeymen League coming along?”
“It’s…coming, I guess.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just the fact that we’re kind of scattered.”
“How so?”
“Most of us are off doing other things in our down time, but for the most part we can all be contacted and told to go back our gyms for challengers.”
“For the most part? Is one of your members missing?”
“Not really missing, more like he’s chosen to drop off the face of the earth. I guess he’s doing some soul searching, which is all well and good, but I just wish that he wouldn’t just disappear.”
“Which leader’s missing?”
“Cole.”
“The elite trainer?!”
“That’s him.”
“He’s world renowned for being one of the best trainers in the world! You say he’s disappeared?”
“Yeah, I guess he’s looking for some legendary pokemon. I don’t care about that, it just bothers me that he can’t be contacted.”
“Yeah, I can see where that could be a problem,” They had arrived at the door to his lab, “Well, it was good to see you again Professor X, drop by anytime.”
“I will Birch, and thank you for these pokemon, they just might save my butt.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing,” With that Xander left and headed back to the hotel.
***Back at the Littleroot Hotel***
Xander was riding up the elevator, and holding the Mudkip in his hands, *Let’s hope that this works…* He reached his floor and stepped off. His and Christy’s room was right in front of the elevator. He walked up and inserted his key card. It didn’t work. He tried again. It still didn’t work. After the eighth try the Christy came and opened the door, “Key card isn’t working?” She had a little smile on her face.
Xander raised his eyebrow, “What did you do?”
“I had them deactivate your key card.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I’m sorry, I know that I shouldn’t have, but you just really frustrated me. I know that work is important, but sometimes it feels like it’s more important to you than me.”
Xander felt bad, and he looked her in the eyes, “Trust me, you’re more important to me than anything, and to show it, I brought you something.”
“What did you bring me?!”
“Look at your feet.”
At Christy’s feet there was a Mukip that was rubbing against her leg, “Who’s
this little guy?” She said cutely as she picked him up.
“Muud!” (You smell nice, I like you!)
Xander laughed, “Well, he sure seems to like you, which is good considering he’s yours.”
Christy’s mouth gaped, “Really?!”
“Yep, Prof. Birch gave him to me for some research, but-“ Xander was interrupted as Christy kissed him.
“I’m sorry that I was so mad at you.”
“It’s fine, I kind of deserved some of it.”
“You’re right, you did,” She smiled and laughed. Xander joined in on the laughter.
“Well, there’s a reason why Prof. Birch gave me that pokemon. It’s special.”
“How so?”
“How about we discuss it over dinner, my treat.”
She seemed to ponder it for a minute, then smiled, “Sounds good.”
Ok, so this wasn't anything new to people wo have read my work but it won't be long before I have new chapters up. Reviews are always welcome.
As a note, this is part of the Non-Competitive Trainers Hangout Canon. A few of the other fics that are part of the same canon: League of Heroes (this is the one that started all of the other fics), Friends of Draco (and the others that are by Dracoburn), Journeymen, Tempest, Shiny Expert: Xander, Galactic Files, and Heroes League. I know that there are more, but I haven't been able to keep up with them all. They are all excellent reads.
Chapter 1: A New Discovery
***Professor Xander’s Laboratory, Formerly the P2 Lab***
“Alright, Jacobs, turn the power up by forty percent,” Professor Xander was attempting to revive an Anorith Fossil that he believed to be a shiny pokemon. Xander was an expert on shiny pokemon, and if this fossil turned out to be one, then his theory would become fact. He had been waiting for this moment since he was eighteen when he wrote his first paper on the phenomenon that is shiny pokemon. That was more than four years ago, and so much had happened since then. He put a dangerous criminal behind bars, he took out an attempt by Team Magma to force Mount Chimney to erupt, he helped in the Team Omega crisis, got promoted to Elite Four member, he had gotten married, and many other things. He had only become an official Pokemon Professor a short seven months ago. The P2 labs were discovered by two friends of his, Jo and David, during the Omega crisis. After all of that had been settled he came and checked out the abandoned lab, and found that it fit his needs perfectly. He had done a lot of renovating since then, and even put a battle field in.
“Yes Professor X,” That was Jacobs, Xander’s right hand man. Jacobs had been with Xander since the beginning. He was Xander’s assistant, and had become a good friend of his. A tall and lanky man with glasses, he fit the stereotypical scientist perfectly. This was in stark contrast with Xander, who was a man of six foot two, and was solidly built. Xander worked out regularly and on several occasions has tried to get Jacobs to join him, but to no avail. Professor X was a nickname that Xander had received amongst people in the scientific community, due to his name starting with X and the comic book character that goes by the same name. Xander’s friend Raj was the first one to coin the name.
Jacobs was just the one of many assistants that stayed at the lab to assist Xander. All in all, there were twenty-one staff members on the island. It was like one big family, you had the brother that you were close to, the weird cousin that you wondered if he was adopted, the crazy uncle, and everything in between.
The laser that was focusing on the fossil lit up brighter, “Alright, keep it there Jacobs. Just a little more…”
The fossil began to glow the familiar white light that appeared when a pokemon evolved. After the light faded, there was a red Anorith in the glass jar.
Xander smiled, “Raise the glass jar, and shut the machine down!” The assistants scrambled to do what he said, and in a moment, the machine was totally powered down and the glass was raised. Xander approached the pokemon and held it up. It was definitely a shiny pokemon, “Yes! This proves my theory!”
“Congratulations Professor X!” Jacobs ran over to see the Anorith, “Before you can make an announcement though, we have to examine this Anorith fully.”
“You’re right Jacobs, let’s get to it.” Xander stroked the Anorith as he and Jacobs walked down to the examination room. Although Xander studied pokemon, he wasn’t detached. Every pokemon that he studies is more often than not, one of his own. This Anorith he would train and it would become a part of his family of pokemon. When they got down to the examination room, Xander’s Xtranciever began to ring, “Jacobs, go ahead and start the examination process, I need to take this.”
“No problem Xander, we’ll have this done by the time you get back.”
“All right, just make sure you guys are thorough. I don’t need something for skeptics to pick at.”
“Hey, aren’t we always?”
Xander smiled, and left them to their work, he pressed a button on his Xtranciever, and a familiar face popped up, “Hello Prof. Birch, how are things going?”
“Things are going fine, but I’ve found some interesting pokemon.”
“How so, are they shiny?”
“No, these are normal in that respect, but I just scanned them with a pokedex, and their abilities aren’t what they should be.”
“First, could you tell me what species of pokemon you’re talking about?”
“Oh, right, sorry,” Prof. Birch was always a bit disorganized, even by Xander’s standards, “They are the standard Hoenn starters that I give out to new trainers, Torchic, Treecko, and a Mudkip.”
“So you said that their abilities are different than normal?”
“Yes, they are! The Torchic has Speed Boost, Treecko has Unburden, and Mudkip has Damp.”
Xander had encountered pokemon like this before. During one of the large scale battles against Team Omega they had encountered Drizzle Politoads and Drought Ninetails. Xander had used his illegal Snag Machine to capture one of each, and both were good friends of his now. “Those sound like interesting pokemon, but, why are you telling me this?”
“Well, after I read your latest paper on shiny pokemon, I began thinking that maybe these odd abilities are linked to one of the genomes of the pokemon. You’re the foremost scientist on pokemon genetics, so I thought I’d see of you could come and check them out.”
“Well, I suppose I could. It’ll be a few days before I can make out to Hoenn though.”
“No worries, the pokemon will still be here when you arrive.”
“Thanks Birch for letting me know, now I need to get back to the examination room.”
“Alright, I’ll be expecting you in three days, does that sound good?”
“Sounds fine Birch, see you then,” Xander logged off, and went back to the examination room.
***Two Hours Later***
“This can’t be right,” Xander was looking at the data that he had triple checked.
“It’s undeniable Professor X, this Anorith’s ability is Swift Swim,” Jacob was just as dumbfounded as Xander.
“This is very interesting. I wonder what’s causing this phenomenon?”
“What do you mean ‘phenomenon’?”
“I’m not quite sure. I’ve heard reports, and even seen firsthand, of pokemon that have different abilities. I mean, look at my Politoad and Ninetails.”
“True, but I thought those were isolated incidents.”
“So did I, but it’s looking like it’s more widespread. It could be a genetic mutation that’s beginning to show up in a few species. I wonder if all pokemon have this potential?”
“Perhaps now that you’ve solved the mystery of shiny pokemon, you could look into this. If you don’t mind me asking, who called?”
“I don’t mind, and it was Prof. Birch. He said that he has three Hoenn starters that have different abilities than they should have, just like this Anorith. How fortuitous that he would call today.”
“That is interesting; are you going to go visit him?”
“Yes, that is, after I finalize my paper, so I told him to expect me in three days, which means that I have about two days to finish it because of the plane ride.”
“Alright then. Do you want me to hold down the fort while you’re gone?”
“Please Jacobs, that would be a big help.”
“No problem. Enjoy your vacation.”
“Hey, I’ll be working the whole time I’m there.”
Jacobs began walking out of the examination room to input the data into the computers. Just before he left he turned around, “Sure you will.”
***Later that Night, in Xander’s Private Dining Room***
Xander had set up a beautiful dinner for him and his wife, Christy. He had met her back when he was eighteen, and they hit it off; though, they hadn’t started dating till about eighteen months ago. They had been happily married for the last six months to the day. He wasn’t into all of these little anniversaries, but Christy put up with a lot, and she liked to celebrate these kinds of things. His work often took him away from home, and, although Christy did come with him, they rarely got to spend much time together during these trips, due to Xander having to work. He had cooked the meal himself, and thought he did pretty well. Cooking was one of his hobbies, and he wasn’t half bad at it.
Christy walked in with a big smile on her face. She was a beautiful woman, she was thin, 5’5, and had long black hair. She was wearing simple blue jeans, and a white T-Shirt, the same as her husband. Neither of them really liked getting all dressed up, and preferred casual clothes whenever possible.
“This looks lovely dear,” She said with a smile. “What’s the occasion?” She joked.
“Here comes the test,” Xander joked back, “Luckily, I know the answer this time, it’s our six month anniversary.”
She nodded, “Hey, you actually remembered.”
“Of course I did, why wouldn’t I?”
“Come on, you’ve forgotten some important things.”
“Name one.”
“You forgot the rings at our wedding.”
Xander had forgotten the rings in his car on the day of his and Christy’s wedding, and while she was never mad about that, she did give him a hard time about it. She liked his little quirks, though, and thought it was cute. “I’m never gonna live that one down, am I?”
Christy laughed, “Nope, but let’s sit down and eat. What did you make?”
Xander pulled the chair out for his wife, and then lifted the lid off of the plate i
n front of her, “Crown rack of lamb.”
Xander had known that this was Christy’s favorite dish, and hoped that it would put her in a good mood for when he told her the news, “This looks delicious honey, but you didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
“It was no trouble at all,” That was one of those lies that was often told to someone. It actually was quite a bit of trouble as Xander had never tried to make this before, and screwed up twice before he finally got it.
They began to talk over dinner about all sorts of things, Xander’s research, starting a family, and other miscellaneous things. When they were almost done, Xander decided it was time to tell her, “So, you know how we first met on that plane ride to Hoenn?”
“How could I forget, that may have been the worst flight I had ever been on. The only good part about it was that I met you.”
Xander smiled, “Well, I was thinking that maybe we could fly back there the day after tomorrow, and spend a few weeks there, you know, as a vacation.”
Christy’s smile grew wide and she jumped up and hugged him, “Are you serious?”
Xander kissed her, “Yep, it’s all booked.” He had planned to tell her about work, but he just couldn’t. She was so happy, and besides, he would only need a few hours with Prof. Birch…he hoped.
The rest of the night went well, but as Xander was lying in bed, he began to think, *Now just to figure out how to sneak away long enough to see Prof. Birch.*
***On the Plane to Littleroot Town***
Xander was flying in first class, well actually, there was only one class. He and Christy were flying in the one of the Researcher’s Foundation’s private jets. Christy had fallen asleep in the chair across from him, and he had some time to think. He thought about all that had happened in the last eighteen months or so. The biggest thing was undeniably him marrying Christy, but a close second was the quick succession of promotions in the Journeymen League. While they were staying at the Flare Gym, Raj asked him to officially join the League. Before this, Xander was just there paying Raj back for helping him during the Battle for Floraroma. After everything had been resolved, Raj had asked to speak with him. It turned out that one of the Elite Four members had given up battling because of Team Omega, and all of the destruction they caused. Raj then proceeded to promote him to the Elite Four. This suited Xander and his wife just fine, as Elite Four Challengers were few and far between. This allowed him and Christy to travel more.
Xander also thought about the relationships he had with the rest of the league members. Raj, who had gotten the league together, but wasn’t actually part of it himself, was a very good friend of Xander’s. The two had known each other since battling in Castelia City, almost four years ago.
Nate, who was perhaps the nastiest man Xander had ever met, well, Xander didn’t know much about Nate. He knew that Nate was the Dark type Elite Four member, but nothing besides that. Last Xander heard he was starting his journey over with a Mudkip. Why he was doing this, Xander had no idea.
Jo, who was a part time archeologist, wasn’t actually part of the league at all. She was currently challenging the gyms, just as Raj was. She had been called in to help during the Omega Crisis, and apparently, she used to be a gym leader. Xander talked to her a fair bit during down time. They both shared the same interest of uncovering pokemon mysteries. She had called him up multiple times to ask him questions about his Heatran, Latias, and his bond with Thunderus.
Cole was a bit of a mystery to Xander. He was known to the world as an elite trainer who helped to put down Team Galactic, Team Rocket, and Team Plasma. During the Team Omega crisis, Cole was pretty much the impromptu leader of the Journeymen, due to his knowledge of Ghetsis. Xander had never gotten to know Cole very well, and that was just as well. Cole didn’t approve of Xander having a Heatran and shiny Latias. Xander thought this was slightly hypocritical, as Cole himself had a shiny Entei, and a Victini. It didn’t really matter though, because after he had defeated Ghetsis, Cole left for the edge of the world looking for a pokemon named Keldeo. Xander had heard rumors of this pokemon, but never really thought about it much. If Cole wound up finding it, then more power to him.
Becca was another one of those people that Xander just never really talked much with. She was a bit brash, but besides that, he liked her just fine. They had visited during their stay at the Flare gym, but Xander had visited with everyone during that odd three month period. She and Cole seemed to be pretty close, but how far that relationship went, Xander didn’t know.
Mozzeh, who was a Dragon Master, was actually a friend of Xander’s before all this happened. The two had a friendly rivalry going on. Every time they got together they would have a pure dragon battle, and see whose team was the best.
Fire, who was actually the Steel type leader, was a free spirit, which was evident by her blazing red hair. Xander was actually a bit confused when he heard her name; he had thought that she was the Fire leader instead of Cole. Xander thought she was fun, but was too busy training to spend a lot of time with the members of the league.
Ammy was the Water leader of the Journeymen. She went through a tough time during the Omega crisis, as her pokemon were stolen. They were recovered by a strike team led by Cole. Xander was slightly bitter that he wasn’t part of that team, but he tried not to let it get to him.
Karin was a user of the Electric type, and one of the pokemon that Xander remembered vividly, was her Rotom, nicknamed Spooks. Xander remembered Spooks so well because it crashed his computer as a joke. He wasn’t amused. He was working on his final draft of a paper, and Spooks snuck in and just fried it. Xander had a few choice words to say to Karin, but Spooks restored his computer, and they made up. Karin became one of Xander’s close friends during those dark three months.
Xander sometimes wondered if the Journeymen were a bit too disorganized. He may travel a lot, but he was an Elite Four member. He hadn’t even had a single challenger since they had become an official league nine months ago. The fact that gym leaders were all over the place bothered him a bit. Cole had fallen completely off the map, and there was no way to contact him. This was the other problem he had with Cole. He wasn’t sure if he was completely committed to the league. The others could at least be contacted and a challenger could set up the time, but no one could with Cole. This league was just starting out, and they didn’t have more than eight gym leaders. Xander would never get a challenger until someone beat Cole. Xander did respect Cole, but deep down, he knew that he was a bit jealous of the man.
Just then, the PA system came on. Christy was stirred from her sleep, and looked around drowsily. Her hair was a mess, but she straightened it out quickly. Xander smiled a bit at her quickness to fix her hair. One of her quirks was that she didn’t really care what she wore, but her hair had to be perfect at all times. She actually carried her husband’s Leavanny around to style it. Leavanny had pretty much become Christy’s pokemon, and Xander was happy for Leavanny.
Xander and Christy buckled their seatbelts, and waited for the plane to land. The landing was smooth, and Xander was glad to be able to stretch. He went to go grab his luggage while Christy waited out in the main part of the airport. What Xander didn’t know is that Prof. Birch had sent a driver to pick the couple up.
After Xander got back with their luggage, he saw the look on his wife’s face, “What’s wrong?”
She smiled sarcastically, “Who’s that?” She pointed towards the man who held up the sign that said, “Professor X”.
“I can say with total honesty that I don’t know who that is, or who sent him,” He really didn’t know the man, or who sent him for sure. Although he knew that what he said was a lie that was truth by technicality.
She looked hurt, “You came here for work?”
“No, I came here for a vacation with you,” He held her hand, “It just so happens that Prof. Birch has something that he wants me to see, so I thought I would stop by and see it as long as we’re here.”
She wasn’t buying it, “Which came first?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, did you book this trip first and then he called, or did he call first, and then you booked the trip.”
Xander looked sheepish, “Does it really matter?”
“Yes it does, so which was it?”
He sighed, “Prof. Birch may have called me first, but-“
“I knew it!” She yelled. “Why can’t we ever just go anywhere without you having to visit someone, or someplace?”
“This won’t take long, we’ll go check into the hotel, and then I’ll visit Prof. Birch. It won’t take more than an hour.”
“Fine.”
Xander knew that he hadn’t heard the end of this one, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to go and see these pokemon. He would make it up to her later.
***Prof. Birch’s Laboratory***
Prof. Birch’s lab looked like it did the last time Xander had been here; messy, unorganized, and in general disarray. Xander wasn’t the neatest person in the world, and he knew it, but there’s no way he could work in this type of environment. Birch came out of his examination room as Xander walked in, “Ah, Professor X, thanks for coming.” He sat down at his desk and moved some papers that were on the chair down to the floor. He pointed to the chair across from him, it too had a pile of papers on it, “Just set those on the floor, please sit.”
Xander did as he was asked, and sat down in the seat that was about four inches too short for him to be truly comfortable, “So how goes your research Birch?”
“It’s going pretty well.”
“What do you research anyways?”
“I’m researching the behaviors of pokemon when they are put into an alternative habitat.”
“Sounds interesting, but my wife wants me to hurry, so I don’t mean to be rude, but let’s get onto the reason for why I’m here.”
“Alright, that’s not a problem, if you’ll just come this way,“He motioned back to the examination room.
Xander followed Prof. Birch into the examination room, and this room was actually spotless to Xander’s surprise. Sitting on the examination table were three pokemon, a Torchic, a Treecko, and a Mudkip, just like Birch had said over the Xtranciever. “They look healthy,” Xander pet all three pokemon in turn, “But can I see their abilities.”
“Oh, um, yes, of course. Let’s go out back.” Birch returned all three of the pokemon, and left the examination room.
Xander followed Birch out back to a battlefield. “Alright, which one do you want to see first?”
Xander thought about it, “Let’s see Mudkip first.”
“Sounds good,” Birch sent out the small blue pokemon.
“Kiiiiip,” (Yawwwwnnn. Who are you?) It cooed cutely.
Birch grabbed another poke ball, “Now, for the pokemon that’ll let Mudkip show his ability,” He sent out a Geodude.
“Dude.” (Looks like I get to be the punching bag again.)
“Alright, Geodude, use Selfdestruct.” Geodude began to glow brightly, but Mudkip didn’t look concerned. It simply focused on the ground beneath Geodude, and he became soaked to the core in water. The explosion was anticlimactic, as it was nothing more than a little puff of smoke.
“Impressive,” Xander commented.
“Exactly! Which one do you want to see next?”
“Let’s see what that Treecko can do.”
“Alright, but he’ll need an item.”
“Then it’s a good thing I brought one,” Xander pulled a perfectly white gem out of his pocket, “This’ll do.”
Birch let out the small green gecko-like pokemon, “Ko!” (Where’s the fight?!) It called, ready for battle. Xander touched the stone to the pokemon’s head, and the stone turned a dull and opaque white. “Alright, now the Normal Gem’s power is imbued in Treecko. All he has to do is use his Pound attack and it’ll activate.”
“Alright then, looks like you’re way ahead of me. Okay, Treecko I need you to run as fast as you can around the arena.”
“Tree,” He nodded, and took off an incredible pace for a pokemon so young.
“That Treecko’s speed is impressive.”
“I know. Just wait till you see what happens after Unburden takes effect. Alright Treecko, use Pound on Geodude, and then run around the field again.”
Treecko did as Birch asked him to. He leapt at Geodude, and his tail began to glow the white that it always did during a Pound attack, but this time, it glowed twice as bright as normal. Usually this attack didn’t even faze Geodude, but he felt it this time.
Immediately afterwards Treecko began to run around the field at almost twice the speed that he did before, “Well, that’s impressive. Sceptile’s are already very fast. Something like this is very powerful.”
“You haven’t seen powerful yet. Look, before I show you how strong Torchic is, I want you to promise me something, don’t tell anyone about Torchic’s ability.”
“Why not?”
“A pokemon with the ability Speed Boost is very powerful. So far, the only pokemon that I can think of that have it, are Ninjask, and Yanmega. Neither can really use this ability to its full potential, but a Blaziken definitely could. I talked to the other region Professors, and we all agreed that the existence of this Torchic should be hidden from the general public, at least for now.”
“You’re afraid of poachers, aren’t you?”
“Yes, we are. I believe that a Blaziken with Speed Boost could take on legendary pokemon.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. Xander, I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone. Not even your wife.”
“Does your wife know about this?”
“No, Annabel doesn’t.”
“Alright, I swear.”
“Thank you. Now, let’s get on with the demonstration!”
Torchic was let out of his poke ball, “Chic?” (What’s going on?) It asked confused.
“Alright Torchic, are you ready?”
“Tor,” (No.) The small orange pokemon shook his head.
“Come on, I know you can do this,” Prof. Birch was kneeling down to be at near eye level with the tiny pokemon.
Torchic seemed to think about it for a minute, “To-Torchic…” (Al-alright, I’ll go…) He trotted off to the battlefield.
“He’s never liked battling.”
“Kind of ironic.”
“Yeah, it is. He has the potential to be on par with legendary pokemon, but without someone to show him the ropes, he won’t ever reach that
potential…”
Xander looked sideways at Birch, “Nice little hint there.”
Birch just shrugged, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Alright,
Torchic, use Protect.”
Torchic concentrated really hard, and a wall of red energy appeared around him, “Tor!” (I did it!)
“Good job Torchic. Alright, Geodude, use Rock Throw.” The pokemon formed a boulder out of the dirt, and sand beneath him, and sent it flying at the wall of protective energy. It bounced off, and Torchic started dancing.
“Torchic!” (It worked!) Just then, he began to glow red, and after about three seconds it dissipated.
“Good Torchic, now use Scratch!”
Torchic ran forward faster than before, and struck Geodude hard. Geodude tried to fend off the attacks, but Torchic was coming at him from so many different angles. Geodude tried to use another Rock Throw, but Torchic just dodged it with its enhanced speed. After another few seconds, he began to glow red again, and sped up even more, “Alright, I think Geodude’s had enough for today. Torchic and Geodude, return.”
“They are definitely impressive.”
“I know, that’s why I called you down here. Now, I have a favor to ask-“
“You want me to take these pokemon with me and travel with them?”
“Yes, I guess I wasn’t too subtle.”
Xander shook his head, “Not really.”
“So will ya do it?”
Xander thought about it for a moment, *These pokemon are interesting, and I am an Elite Four member. Besides, my final paper on shiny pokemon is about to be published, and I do need a new project…* “Alright, I’ll take them with me.”
“Thanks Professor X. These little guys need some world experience, but I can’t give them to just anyone.” He grabbed the three poke balls off of his belt and handed them to Xander.
“It’s no problem,” Xander took the poke balls.
Birch and Xander began walking back into the lab, “So, how’s the Journeymen League coming along?”
“It’s…coming, I guess.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just the fact that we’re kind of scattered.”
“How so?”
“Most of us are off doing other things in our down time, but for the most part we can all be contacted and told to go back our gyms for challengers.”
“For the most part? Is one of your members missing?”
“Not really missing, more like he’s chosen to drop off the face of the earth. I guess he’s doing some soul searching, which is all well and good, but I just wish that he wouldn’t just disappear.”
“Which leader’s missing?”
“Cole.”
“The elite trainer?!”
“That’s him.”
“He’s world renowned for being one of the best trainers in the world! You say he’s disappeared?”
“Yeah, I guess he’s looking for some legendary pokemon. I don’t care about that, it just bothers me that he can’t be contacted.”
“Yeah, I can see where that could be a problem,” They had arrived at the door to his lab, “Well, it was good to see you again Professor X, drop by anytime.”
“I will Birch, and thank you for these pokemon, they just might save my butt.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing,” With that Xander left and headed back to the hotel.
***Back at the Littleroot Hotel***
Xander was riding up the elevator, and holding the Mudkip in his hands, *Let’s hope that this works…* He reached his floor and stepped off. His and Christy’s room was right in front of the elevator. He walked up and inserted his key card. It didn’t work. He tried again. It still didn’t work. After the eighth try the Christy came and opened the door, “Key card isn’t working?” She had a little smile on her face.
Xander raised his eyebrow, “What did you do?”
“I had them deactivate your key card.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I’m sorry, I know that I shouldn’t have, but you just really frustrated me. I know that work is important, but sometimes it feels like it’s more important to you than me.”
Xander felt bad, and he looked her in the eyes, “Trust me, you’re more important to me than anything, and to show it, I brought you something.”
“What did you bring me?!”
“Look at your feet.”
At Christy’s feet there was a Mukip that was rubbing against her leg, “Who’s
this little guy?” She said cutely as she picked him up.
“Muud!” (You smell nice, I like you!)
Xander laughed, “Well, he sure seems to like you, which is good considering he’s yours.”
Christy’s mouth gaped, “Really?!”
“Yep, Prof. Birch gave him to me for some research, but-“ Xander was interrupted as Christy kissed him.
“I’m sorry that I was so mad at you.”
“It’s fine, I kind of deserved some of it.”
“You’re right, you did,” She smiled and laughed. Xander joined in on the laughter.
“Well, there’s a reason why Prof. Birch gave me that pokemon. It’s special.”
“How so?”
“How about we discuss it over dinner, my treat.”
She seemed to ponder it for a minute, then smiled, “Sounds good.”
Ok, so this wasn't anything new to people wo have read my work but it won't be long before I have new chapters up. Reviews are always welcome.
Last edited: