Like No One Ever Was

Charizard let out a tired yawn beside my desk before slumping back down again. He was curled up on the floor of the school laboratory I was ‘working’ in. I reached a hand down to absently scratch the top of his head as I went over the acceptance letter one more time.

‘Dear Professor Friede, we were thrilled to see your application letter and are happy to welcome you aboard as the latest member of Exceed. Your thesis was nothing short of marvelous. We look forward to…’ Yada yada yada. A bunch of nice words thanking me and telling me to get ready for 12 hours a day in an office or maybe a laboratory, if I'm lucky.

My partner stopped enjoying my service and looked up at me with a big sigh.

“No clue, Charizard, just in a funk."

With further prompting from my partner, I added:

"This was supposed to be what I wanted, everything I was looking for. Everything we worked so hard for." The flying lizard next to me may have been more inclined to take to the skies than read dusty textbooks, but when it came time to study for exams, he was always right there. Whether it was pointing out something I had missed or simply creating a light with his tail that I could study by deep into the night.

“Char char. Rizard.”

“It's a nice offer, really generous given my inexperience. This Director Crave seems to love my ideas, I just... I don't know." Charizard cocked his head to the side, puffing out a small ring of smoke nearby the acceptance letter. "Yes, I could turn it down, but what then? Work for the League? All of them are gearing up for Turo’s big expedition.” It was still many months off even starting yet, but the scientific world was abuzz with the idea of another foray into the Great Crater.

Probably have all the papers printed about as soon as the ‘great Professor Turo’s’ next research becomes public knowledge- No, I couldn’t think like that. Sure, it sucked to have my big achievement of becoming the youngest-ever accredited Pokemon Professor be overshadowed, but that wasn't the dude's fault.

Having met him, I found him to be somewhat stiff, but not rude or condescending. I could totally join up with him, especially for a shot at exploring the Great Crater!... If it wasn't for what that little girl had said.

Why was she so convinced it would be bad? Maybe she was just acting weird, little kids do that, right? It felt wrong, like a conclusion that fit the current data at first glance, but was completely wrong when you delved deeper, correlating the wrong evidence and getting an incorrect result.

No, that's definitely not right, Turo was acting very strange. I was waiting for him to say something, defend his invention, and then he just... didn't. Seemed more interested in whatever was on his phone while we were all shocked, then almost annoyed at having to look for Nemona after she ran off.

The door to the laboratory opened suddenly, and I turned to look at the newcomer. She wasn't dressed like any Professor or student, the tall woman wore a dark blue suit. Her long black hair with yellow streaks looked familiar, but it wasn't until she opened her mouth that I could place her.

“Apologies, this wouldn't happen to be the bloodwork lab, would it?” The referee who helped us search for Nemona before asked.

“Nah, it's down the hallway. Why's a referee asking?”

There was a flicker of a frown that crossed her face before she smoothed it out. “Ah, you remembered me. I'm Geeta, a League Official,” she pulled out her ID to verify her words as she spoke. “I'm investigating a certain matter and got permission to use these facilities.”

Well, that answers less than nothing, I noted before getting up. “Professor Friede. Let me show you where they are, the testing apparatus can be a bit tricky.”

As we walked down the hall, I also thanked her. “Thanks for helping us find Nemona, we were all kinda worried when she ran off like that.” From the few messages she'd sent me, she seemed to be doing much better, but I knew it was hard to tell how someone was doing from just a few texts - and she, in particular, had a plethora of hidden depths.

“It was no problem. Are you close to her?” The question was polite enough, but there was something steely about her gaze that made me think there was more going on. What it could be though, I have no idea.

“Not really, I met her the day of the tournament. Nice kid though, real bright.” I said as I opened the door to the blood works lab.

“As bright as yourself?”

“Hah! Well, maybe,” I added after a moment of reflection. What she said about Hisuian Zoroark was true after all. I dug through damn near every document in Uva Academy on ancient Sinnohan Pokemon to collect barely what she had told me off-handedly, but the facts were there.

She raised an eyebrow but didn't press the topic, moving over to the analysis machines. From her pocket, she pulled out a vial with a blood-soaked cloth within.

“Alright, you'll want to place that here to begin an analysis. What's the sample from and what are you looking for?”

“Any traces of unusual vitamins, drugs, or the like in this blood. Belongs to a Flying/Steel Type.”

“OK, given those parameters you'll want to be running these scans…” I walked her through the basics and she was able to run her test, the results popping up on the screen.

“Looks like a female, decent health, high-ish iron, but that's to be expected for a Steel Type, and some trace Powerephenol.” At her questioning glance, I clarified. “Power Herb. It's an ingredient only found in that plant and where the chemical takes its name from.”

“I see. Is there any chance this trace element could be a false positive or have been consumed long ago?” She inquired while pressing the button to print out the results.

“No, no way. This equipment is state of the art and it’s quite a distinctive chemical. Powerephenol gets burnt up fast by any Pokemon that eats it - that's why Power Herb is a battle item, it's best eaten and used to power up a Move right away. Even a trace amount like this could have been consumed no more than half an hour before the sample was taken.”

“Could a ‘trace amount’ still affect a battle?” She pressed.

Ooh, that's a toughie. “... I think so, yeah. I believe Professor Fir did a study on it and proved that there was a noticeable effect on Moves at any point where we could still measure the Power Herb in the system. Double blinds were done to ensure that there was no placebo effect as well.”

Geeta blinked. “That's quite knowledgeable of you. I see that the standards for Professorship remain high.” She nodded, seeming quite pleased with that fact.

“Why thank you,” I said back faux modestly. Then, I added: “Honestly, part of it is just looking into other studies, running my own confirmation tests while waiting for my applications to go through. And now, I'll be able to run my experiments.” Sure, I'd have tasks assigned to me by Exceed, they had their corporate interests, but I'd have plenty of leeway to run my own projects as well. I might not be able to supervise them all that closely due to my responsibilities for Exceed, but having those resources to run them is a bright side. I have to remember to keep looking out for those.

Her Rotom Phone chimed and floated up to show her a new message, and I caught a glimpse of just the person who sent it. They were titled 'G. Investigators,' and whatever they had to say had her quickly giving her farewell. “I see. I wish you the best in your future endeavors, and thank you for the help you've provided me.” She gave me a small bow before turning and walking out.

“No problem, best of luck in your investigation.” Whatever it is you're looking into. A Steel Flying Type using Power Herb eaten early sounds like a weird case… my mind flashed back to the final battle Nemona had, the glowing Corviknight diving down at Dunsparce.

“Were you-!” I ran out the door, but in the time it had taken me to put the pieces together, she was long gone. Curse her long legs!

I explained the matter to Charizard, who was upset but didn't know what to do. “Me neither.”

This feels like something Nemona would want to know, but should I tell her? Especially before the investigation is over, it might just make her upset.

Resolving to review the matter later, I still brought up my phone to text and check in with her.

Friede: ‘Hello young scholar, how's it going?’

Nemona: ‘Lol, told you, Friede, you don't need to call me that. I'm doing well, just had my birthday party. I got a bunch of cool gifts, especially stuff to help me train Dun and Rotom!’

Sounds like she’s feeling more chipper. She hasn't mentioned anything about the end of the match. I kinda want to ask, but if she's avoiding it, might be best to let things lie.

Friede: ‘And you didn't think to invite me? How cruel, everyone knows I love cake :P’

Nemona: ‘Ah, I didn't think you'd want to come. Also, there was no cake.’

Friede: ‘What? No cake??? But I thought you were loaded.’

Nemona:‘Yeah, and being rich doesn't preclude me not liking cake.’

Friede: ‘I don't know if I can trust the scientific acumen of someone who can ignore the fundamental greatness of cake.’

Nemona: ‘Hah, I can kick your butt any day of the week in Pokemon knowledge.’

So formal in her texts, but also childish. It was an odd mix that seemed to define the young girl.

Her last text was also a decent opening so I decided to pick her brain a bit on something I’d been wondering about.

Friede: ‘I doubt that. Though now that you mention it, you did say some interesting stuff about Hisuian Pokemon before…’

Nemona: ‘(Biggrin) What is it you wish to know, oh humble seeker of knowledge?’

Friede: ‘Alright big brain, what’s your theory on some of the regional variants of the era? The stuff about inactive volcanos and polar shift can only explain so much.’

Nemona: ‘They can explain some things, like the more base Elemental Type changes. As for the other changes, while I can't be certain, a lot of those regional variations were only recorded by Professor Laventon and the Survey Corp, during the Sinnoh Crisis. At that time there was a massive distortion field hanging over the land. That kind of environmental influence could have had a huge effect on the Pokemon there at the time.’

I blinked, staring at my screen. Of course, how did I miss that? No, how did she figure that out? For a little girl to have instantly figured out a solid-sounding hypothesis to my problem… it was more than just impressive.

Friede: ‘That would make a lot of sense, especially with some of the Ghost and even Psychic varients at the time! How did you know all of that?’

There was a long pause before she finally typed a message back.

Nemona: ‘I like studying the past, there’s a lot of interesting stuff that happened back then. And like I said, I don’t know any of it, just assumptions really. Gotta go train now, talk later.’

Glancing over at Charizard I saw him staring suspiciously at my screen as well before letting out a scoff of scorchingly hot air. “Yeah, I think there’s something off with her too. But for now…”

Taking out a new sheet of paper, I began sketching up an independent research application form for my new employer. ‘Study into the effects of heavy saturation of Ghost Type energy over the living space of…’ Who to test first, Cyndaquil or Zorua? Hmm, let’s go Zorua, they’re naturally Dark Types so less likely to suffer any side effects if the experiment goes wrong, not that I think there’s much chance of that. ‘Zorua, to see if it creates a variation in their natural Typing.’

Already I could feel a bit of the malaise that had been lingering over me start to shake off. “This will be fun. Can’t wait to see what happens.”