บท 5: 004
Waking up to sweat beading his forehead, Toby unconsciously brushed this to the side as he swiped his hair away from his eyes. Squinting through his half closed eyes filled with sleep it was still impossible to hide from the light peeping through the blinds of the window.
"I am late for work, what time is it?"
Fumbling out of bed, Toby quickly dragged his body from under the duvet only to stop, standing to attention staring at the unfamiliar wooden door to the room.
'This is not my room...'
Reaching out behind him, Toby's hands quickly reached for the blinds close to the bed, staring out at the distant buildings and unfamiliar landscape.
"So it wasn't a dream but then, Toxicroak?"
Under the faint haze of last night's nightmare and the memories of his previous life, a shock slowly made its way to Toby's face and his blurred memories of his dream and the events from the day before slowly reassembled in his mind.
"I'm in the Pokemon World!"
'Stupid, what am I saying. Of course I'm in the Pokemon World and George is the Pokemon School Trainer in charge of the whole school.'
A huge grin began to spread on Toby's face as he quickly made his way to open the door to his room before stopping completely and skidding to a halt.
'Wait, I can't show any strange reactions or let them find out I'm not really Toby.'
"This is going be complicated."
Human nature is just so bizarre. It can be afraid of the unknown in one minute and in the next be exhilarated by the mystery of what it brings. This must also be the reason why over the long history of human civilisation, no other living thing has adapted as quickly to their environment as humans.
In this moment Toby was already planning how to ask George for his very first Pokemon or at the very least join in the lessons he conducted for his work.
Moving back to the desk in his room Toby carefully opened the red book that he learned was a gift from the aunt he met for the first time yesterday.
Flipping through he pages he started to examine the carefully bookmarked notes, the sensation of the weight in his hand comfortably fitting in his palm, as he started to read a description in the book: 'biology and habitats'.
"Grass Pokemon generally thrive in areas with abundant access to fertile soil, clean air and Bug type Pokemon."
Reading out the this sentence out loud, Toby could feel himself falling in love with the many surprises up ahead.
However it was not long before he came back to his senses after there was still one important thing.
'What day is it today? It seems to be awfully quiet. Did I wake up too earlier or?'
Tiptoeing silently outside his room, Toby first turned to look at the second door in the small hallway of the house. Just like before it was already open, clearly shouting that both George and Elda were awake.
Taking a small breath to relax himself and repeatedly telling his body to calm down, Toby quietly made his way downstairs.
Unlike what he expected, there was no sign of anyone in the house. The house was completely empty.
Looking towards the kitchen table it was not long before Toby noticed a small tray covered with a simple note "I will be out, enjoy the breakfast" a squiggle of a heart appeared at the end of the note.
Staring at the delicately prepared food in front of him Toby could tell how much Elda loved her son, even the bread still had a touch of warmth on it, obviously calculating the time his body would normally wake up.
It took less than a moment for Toby to finish the food which was both simple and comforting. Even the simplest meal tasted amazing after discovering his childhood dream could soon become reality.
Cleaning himself up in a hurry, he quickly went back upstairs to dress and go explore Rustboro Town and incidentally drop by the Pokemon School.
His reservations about the people and the strange environment had made him spend most of yesterday wandering out and looking afar from a distance. But knowing his identity now, there was no way he would ignore the chance to be more bold.
Walking out of the door, the wind slowly made Toby turn his back as he realised it was much colder in the morning than he thought. Still this was not enough to stop him and of course the first stop was the Pokemon School up ahead.
A large building greeted his eyes and the feeling of trepidation was like a Wurmple gnawing inside his stomach.
Breaking out of the uncomfortable feeling, Toby quickly sorted his thoughts as he wandered through the open door. A fact he had quickly discovered was almost the same as in the game. Not that he would complain though secretly he wondered if anyone in the Pokemon World had heard of locks.
Unlike what he thought, the first thing he saw was a line of shoes laid out at the front of the school. In front of a partition at the entrance he could see the other side of the room was slightly elevated and from this he heard the voices of other people talking in animated tones..
Making his way over to examine this mysterious environment Toby quickly spied the figure of George as he slowly pointed to a Pokedoll used to explain the effects of different status conditions.
"Now who can tell me what happens when a Pokemon is paralysed?"
An simple illustration board representing paralysis, sleep, confusion, burn, frozen and poison appeared in front of Toby's eyes. Every time George moved the Pokedoll to each of the panels showing the individual status condition a slight reaction would appear on it.
'Has the Pokemon World become so advanced that even a Pokedoll can have animated action responses?'
The class remained silent for a moment before a hand raised itself within the sea of students.
"Mike, what do you think happens?"
Watching from the side Toby could see that George had already noticed his arrival but had decided to remain focused on teaching the class.
A golden haired boy with blue eyes carefully stood up as he glanced towards Toby out of the corner of his eyes before responding back to the question which was raised.
"A Pokemon that suffers from paralysis has a chance to be unable to move and it's speed should drop."
A bright smile beamed from George's face as he showed a positive reaction to this response.
"Good, yes that is correct. But...?"
Pointing at Toby, George quickly gestured for his son to take the stage as well as assist in the explanation.
For a moment Toby's face unconsciously scrunched up and a bead of sweat appeared on his head before he quickly thought of answer.
"Some Pokemon might be affected by paralysis differently depending on how the status condition was inflicted. For example Stun Spore and Thunder Wave can both make Pokemon paralysed but this condition is different on grass and thunder Pokemon."
"Hahaha it looks you've still been studying even when you were sick. Guys, I like you to meet my son Toby. He's been absent from class for a long time but he will be joining you from today. Take a seat."
Sitting down Toby slowly digested the feeling that was churning inside his head like countless Rapidashes running around, cursing George for putting him on the spot.
'That stupid old man, what would have happened if I couldn't answer, was it all a test?'
An uneasy feeling. For the first time Toby appeared to re-evaluate George but little did he know the person who was most shocked was his Pokemon School Trainer father.
Not only did he not expect his son to have given such a detailed answer, he also never thought he would show the potential to be a technical Pokemon trainer. From Toby's answer he could tell his son had considered how the status condition was inflicted but also which type of Pokemon could be paralysed. His boy was a genius!
Or at the least the fever that had kept him in bed for most of the month had made him grow up. This was not a bad thing, after all didn't he go through an early childhood too. Reminiscing about his past George quickly woke himself from his memories before focusing back on the class.
Sitting at the back Toby was self conscious, the attention he grabbed at the start more than once making him rethink of his answer.
'From the death stares I'm getting it looks like I should keep a lower profile, its enough that my father is the leader of this Pokemon School, though not quite the same level as a Pokemon Gym Leader, not everyone can sit in this position without either the right background or a certain level of expertise.'
Watching the rest of the lesson go by slowly, Toby tried to remember what he knew about the Pokemon World, after all it had been a long time since he had even come into contact with it. Growing up watching the series on TV had been a sort of comfort and the countless hours invested in playing the games on his handheld console more of an hobby.
But like some hobbies, eventually time or other commitments took its place. Even so, there was still alot he remembered. For example within the Pokemon status conditions mentioned by George infatuation was another which was not described.
'Come to think of it, shouldn't there be more.. Such as flinch? I guess even here only those at the top can clearly understand and control Pokemon.'
As the class ended, Toby's eyes wandered to the Pokedoll which remained on the table and it was this exact moment that he saw it change.
A pink blob quickly appeared, dispelling his earlier doubts why the Pokedoll could be so realistic. The answer was right in front of him, Ditto!
"Everyone, remember to be back in an hour."
Clapping his hands to disperse the class George quickly reached the pink blob waiting quietly on the table before fishing something from his pocket and presenting it to his key assistant. A Pokeblock, just the right kind for his partner who liked spicy food.
Seeing an opportunity, Toby also drew closer to the Ditto in front of him as he glanced at George for approval before getting closer to Ditto.
"Ke-keumhm!"
As his hand lightly touched the fluid blob under his fingers, Toby could see once again that his ability had activated. An orange colour appeared as a hue on Ditto's body, and Ditto arched its body to his touch.
It looked like this Ditto recognised him and it wasn't long before it crawled from the table to land on top of his body. Moving from his shoulder causing him to lean to one side before jumping on his head.
"This Ditto is pretty brave, isn't it scared of falling?"
"No, it's always been like this maybe it's just in its nature."
Watching Toby quietly examing Ditto with curious eyes George felt a sense of satisfaction that the efforts he had put in so far were worth it, even as he nonchalantly answered his son's question.
Struggling to remove the Ditto from his head where it was starting to feel a bit heavier, George's answer somehow appeared to light a fire in Toby's eyes just like an Ember spewed by Charmander.
'Brave.. Nature? Does this have something with my ability? Do the colours refer to that?'
Knowing that the answer would not be so easily solved, Toby could only put his theory to the back of his mind before plucking his courage to talk to George.
"I.. I want to be a Pokemon Trainer!"
"Hahaha I wondered why you seemed like you've changed all of a sudden, so it's this. To be honest I knew this day would come, after all your contact with Pokemon is still far better than other people."
A burning fire seemed to ignite with George's words and Toby immediately realised that his dream could still become reality.
"Its not that I'm against it son. But to be a Pokemon Trainer is not easy, let's not say anything else, it all depends on your aptitude and raising a Pokemon, everything is an expense. How can you be a Pokemon Trainer without proper planning. Let's discuss this later at home."
Feeling that his goal was already half achieved, Toby could not help but be ecstatic. What George had said was not wrong. If by now he hadn't realised that being a Pokemon Trainer was not as simple as in the game, he didn't deserve the years he had already lived as an adult.
Just from what he could see in Rustboro Town and hints dropped by his new family, he had already realised that raising a Pokemon would not be easy. Still this did not stop him from planning.
At the very least with the knowledge he knew, he was sure he would not suffer as much as a School Kid stuck within Rustboro Town.
So the only question was: which Pokemon would best suit him?
'Pokemon are limited to the areas which have the right conditions for them to grow and survive, just like how fishes swim in the ocean. But still this is enough, what would be the best choice for me from the Pokemon that live in the vicinity of Rustboro Town...'
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