Chapter 13: Michael
(Unknown Location.)
A tall, medium built middle-aged man sat on a high-seated brown armchair accompanied by a large, feline Pokémon contentedly resting besides him. The man had short brown hair and wore a formal black suit that had an 'R' stitched on its breast pocket with a white long-sleeve buttoned shirt underneath.
In front of him stood his secretary, Matori, currently reporting on Cerulean City's affairs. She had brown eyes, short-cut purple hair and wore a standard crimson corporate suit.
"… After losing several bases in Cerulean City, a decision made by one of the on-site commanders to pull our forces out and relocate to prevent any further loses." Matori finished reciting the report and waited patiently for further instructions.
The man sat back and steepled his fingers together as he digested the report. After several moments, his deep, slightly sinister voice resounded across the room.
"What lead to such an extreme outcome?"
Matori flipped through several pieces of paper and responded, "It seems to have been caused by a recruiter stationed at Nugget Bridge. It states here that he found a trainer that had potential and wanted to recruit him. However, after failing to do so, he exposed himself as a member of Team Rocket in hopes of scaring the trainer into joining only to end up being defeated and soon after, arrested."
The man shook his head in disappointment, "What's the identity of the trainer?"
"We are not sure," Matori frowned slightly, "The authorities have kept his identity a secret given the seriousness of the situation. Though, from what our agents gathered, it seems that he is accompanied by a Shelgon."
"A Shelgon… I can see why the recruiter was adamant on recruiting him." The man said with interest before issuing his orders. "While I am displeased with the overall results, I'm aware that the remaining members in Cerulean City reacted quickly and appropriately. Taking this into account, deduct their pay by half for the rest of the week."
"Yes, Mr. Giovanni." Matori bowed slightly before she prepared to dismiss herself.
"And another thing," Giovanni called out, causing Matori to halt her actions and focus her attention back on him. "Have the members around the region gather information on this trainer. The last thing we need is an anomaly getting in the way of our plans."
"I'll notify our agents immediately." Matori nodded and left the room. Once outside the room, she released a breath she didn't know that she was holding and made her way to the communications area.
Back in the room, Giovanni patted the resting feline and turned his attention to the computer monitor with a chilling smile. The monitor displayed a small Pokémon suspended in orange liquid with several tubes attached to it.
"Well Persian, it seems like things are going to be very interesting…" Giovanni chuckled darkly.
Persian opened its eyelids, revealing its blood-red eyes and looked at its master in amusement before closing them again
.…
(Pokémon Centre.)
Noah and Leaf entered the Pokémon Centre amidst the bright morning sun. As they made their way to the front desk, they were greeted by the beloved pink-haired nurse.
"Welcome back, how can I help the two of you today?" Nurse Joy asked with a smile.
Before Noah could open his mouth, Leaf walked towards the elevator and waved at him. "Don't mind me, I'll head up to my room and grab a few things. I'll meet you in the underground battlefield in five minutes."
"Mm, I'll see you in a bit." Noah nodded and turned to face Nurse Joy. He gestured to the Pokémon in his arms, "I'd like to get Misdreavus here checked-up. It looked to have caught a cold and I'm worried that the Full Heal I used may not have helped it recover properly."
"Oh dear, would you mind returning it to its Pokeball for the check-up?" Nurse Joy asked as she reached below the counter and took out the all familiar tray that had six indentations.
"Pokeball?" Noah looked down at Misdreavus before scratching the back of his head, "You see, I've just come across this little guy several minutes ago and the thought of capturing it didn't cross my mind."
"I see, don't worry about it then. I'll register it under your name for the treatment and whether you want to capture it afterwards would be up to you." Nurse Joy beamed at the actions of the young man in front of her and called out to her trusted partner in the operation room, "Chansey, would you mind bringing a stretcher out here?"
"Chaann~" A reply was heard a moment later and soon, Chansey came out with a stretcher in tow.
Nurse Joy looked at Noah and smiled warmly, "Would you mind placing Misdreavus on the stretcher? I'll see to it that its properly taken care of."
Noah returned the smile before turning his attention to his newest team member, "I'll leave you in the hands of this wonderful women in front of me, she'll make sure that you're all healed up. Is that okay with you, buddy?"
"Mea?" Misdreavus processed its trainers' words and observed the nurse in front of it for several moments, hesitation apparent from its expression.
Nurse Joy and Noah waited patiently for its decision as both knew the importance of letting a baby Pokémon learn about trust from an early age. Noah placed his hand on the top of its head and gently rubbed it to assure Misdreavus that he would agree with whatever it decided.
After feeling Noah's touch, Misdreavus soon decided to listen to its trainer and nodded in agreement.
"Thank you for placing your trust in me, Misdreavus." Noah's gently voice reached Misdreavus' ears as he patted its head one more time before placing it on the stretcher, "The check-up shouldn't take long. After it's done, I'll come to pick you up and introduce you to the rest of the family. How does that sound?"
"Meaa!" Misdreavus bobbed her head in excitement.
Nurse Joy watched the interaction between the two and couldn't help but feel warmth surge through her heart. It was rare for her to see such a young Pokémon place so much trust in a person that wasn't its trainer, let alone someone it met not too long ago. 'This just means that there's something special about Noah here, huh?'
"I'll call you the moment the examination is complete," Nurse Joy chirped after breaking out of her small trance and signalled Chansey to take Misdreavus into the examination room. She then looked back at Noah with a smile, "Now, I believe you have a battle to attend?"
"Thank you for your help. I'll see you later, Nurse Joy!" Noah smiled at her and made his way to the elevator.
Nurse Joy watched the boy step into the elevator with a smile before turning around and entering the examination room.
…
(Pokémon Centre, Underground Arena.)
Noah stepped out of the elevator and looked around in wonder, he had yet to enter any of the Pokémon centres underground arenas due to not needing to. There was only one battlefield, a standard one made of dirt and rocks – 'probably due to the ease of fixing it after destructive battles' Noah remarked inwardly.
The battlefield itself was installed in a brightly lit space with raised stands surrounding it. Noah saw two trainers battling each other, one was using a Sandslash whilst the other used a Tauros.
As Noah made his way up the stands, several trainers greeted him with a nod to which he returned whilst others either ignored his presence or were too focused on the battle in front of them.
Not taking their attitude to heart, Noah found an empty seat not too far way from the entrance and sat down, waiting patiently for Leaf to arrive.
In the meantime, he turned his attention to the battle. One thing he learned during his time as a trainer was that, no matter the level of the battle, there's always something to learn from watching other trainers fight each other. Whether it be their tactics, habits, or even their reactions to certain situations, Noah would find himself gaining insight into his own strategies and techniques.
As Noah's attention was focused on the match in front of him, he didn't notice the orange, bordering red-haired trainer with green eyes sit on the seat next to his. The trainer grinned as Noah peeled his eyes away from the battle and looked at him in bewilderment.
Before Noah could question the trainer, the teenager had already stuck his hand out, "The name's Michael, what's yours?"
"Noah." Noah said, shaking Michaels hand before letting go after a moment. For some reason, he found the trainer to be familiar but he couldn't recall from where, "Say, have we met before? I feel like I've seen you somewhere but…"
"Haha! I'm glad that you somewhat recognized me." Michael chuckled before he resolved Noah's doubts, "You're battle against Brock was wonderful."
Realization dawned on him after remember where he had seen Michael and a smile made its way on to his face, "Ohh! You're the trainer that was going to battle him after me. How was it, did you win?"
"Of course," Michael said as he flashed the Boulder Badge, "It's pretty hard for me to lose, my teams pretty advanced you see."
Noah nodded in understanding, "So what brings you to Lavender? Most trainers would avoid coming to this town, you know, with there being ghosts and whatnot."
"Exploring mostly," Michael shrugged his shoulders, "It's my first time in a new region, and I don't see the point of missing out on an entire town because of some ghosts."
"Hmm, new region?" Noah's interest was piqued, Michael's the first person he's met on his journey that came from a different region, "What region are you from originally?"
Michael hesitated for a moment before sighing, "Orre…"
"I see, Orr–" It took a moment for his answer to register in Noah's mind but once it did, his eyes widened in shock as an image of a trainer popped into his head.
He hurriedly looked at Michael again, but this time in greater detail. He saw that the teenager wore a yellow zipped vest over a black long-sleeved t-shirt with orange stripes coming down the arms, jeans that too had orange stripes coming down the side and brown boots. He also wore a small black bag around his waist and a pair of goggles around his neck.
"Michael, the hero of Orre…" Noah couldn't help but mutter, but in his mind, he added, 'And the protagonist of Pokémon XD.'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
moee
moee Well, here's a long overdue chapter. I'll try to update every other week but please understand that I have a pretty busy schedule with University and my part-time job. I don't want to drop this novel since I love the franchise a lot so bear with the slow updates.
Thank you for reading!
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