Mia took her hand back after shaking it with Rio's own. She gave a weak smile to his question, "Pokemon battling? I might be. I… haven't really practiced."
Behind Rio, Birch entered the house. He waved towards Mia's mother, "Hey there. How's Norman doing? Wait, don't answer that. He's practicing at the gym now, isn't he? He never puts that stuff to rest." He rolled his eyes.
After a short conversation Birch had with Mia's mother, he turned to the child of Norman with a hand in a pocket of his lab coat. "So you're Norman's offspring, huh? I believe this is the first time I've met you. I'm Rio's father, the Pokemon Professor here in Littleroot, nice to meet you."
"Likewise. Name's…Ian." Mia said, trying to make her own voice more masculine by lowering it a bit.
"Well Ian, your father wanted me to help you out with something, as he's busy at the moment, like he usually is…" Mia gave a slight grunt that was barely audible to anyone around her after Birch's comment. Birch didn't notice and pulled out a pokeball from his lab coat pocket, "I can help you catch a pokemon just outside here in Littleroot to start you off with."
"Start me off with…what?"
"What, your father didn't tell you? It's what Tai and Rio here are starting once I give them a couple things. Their pokemon journey – to complete their pokedex. Your father wanted me to start you off with them, as it would be safer to travel in groups…being only fourteen, and all" He gave a light-hearted chuckle. Mia didn't laugh. Nor did Tai outside, who was having a brainfart at the moment, "Poke-wha? What's that?"
"I'll explain it once we use it outside in the field." Birch turned towards Mia's mother, "Do you mind if I can borrow 'em for a minute?"
"Go ahead, this place is boring until the Machokes finish anyway!"
"Thanks, we'll be right back. Only a moment." Birch exited, leaving Rio and Tai to follow. Mia did as well last, holding the pokeball that Birch had just handed to her with curiosity. Her father never told her about this…
Before she knew it, she was on the outskirts of Littleroot, before a large field of tall grass and a tanned trail inside it, leading towards Oldale. Birch waved his finger towards the tall grass, "Ok, Rio, help me out here a bit. We'll be needing Charmander for this." Birch heard a loud grunt behind him, "You can help too, Tai."
---
A clean white lab. The lab benches, walls, ceiling, floors, all were the same shade of the clean white, without a spot of dirt on it. The lab room was fairly large, with an equally large tube in the middle of it, reaching the ceiling. It had blue liquid flowing in it, with a few scientists in lab coats around it, studying the item. They had notepads out, scribing down their observations.
A figure walked past them, wearing an opera-like mask on, covering his or her face. The mask had an expression of anger. The masked person also wore a black trench coat, and wore a black hood to cover up his or her hair, the entire head was covered.
The mysterious person walked past the scientists and arrived at a steel door, which was painted the same color white as the rest of the room. The person took off his tight black glove on the right hand, and pressed it against the green pad beside the door. The door opened up, and the person entered, putting the glove back on.
The door closed behind him, leaving the masked person in a dim-shaded office. It's color looked like what a normal lawyer office would look like, shelves of books, an expensive looking desk with a computer on it, then more shelves of books behind the desk. There were no windows. The only source of light was the lamp on the desk, giving enough light that the masked figure could see who was sitting down behind the lawyer-like desk.
This person was also masked, which looked like a geisha mask. It was white with only small slits for eyes, and a paint stroke of silver where the left cheek would be. This person wore a trench coat identical to the other masked person's, but it was instead silver. The man in a black trench coat spoke first, in the voice of a young man, "You called?"
"Do you know who these children are?" The silver one spoke with the voice of a young man as well, but calmer than the other's, and somehow more sophisticated. He turned the computer screen towards the black man's. The computer screen showed Littleroot, and a few children on a trail. One was a boy with a Cyndaquil by him, smiling as if he had just won the lottery. The other boy beside him looked bored, a calm Charmander idly stood by him, and finally a child of questionable gender walking with the boys, beside a middle-aged man in a lab coat. The silver one pointed at the child with a questionable gender.
"Beats me." The black-coated man bluntly said.
"That is Mia, the daughter of Norman."
After an awkward moment of silence, the angry opera-mask broke it with another blunt comment, "Am I…supposed to be impressed or something?"
"I would believe that she's been trained by Norman ever since she were a young child." He chuckled, "Either that or skills in battling is genetic. I can sense that she is quite strong. I'm sure you know fully well that Norman is one of the strongest Gym Leaders in Hoenn? Probably the most skilled, and experienced."
"Wowzers. Next?"
"The one beside her with a Charmander is the son of Birch. Birch is the man beside Mia there. One of the most powerful pokemon researchers in Hoenn. He's quite intelligent."
"Uh-huh. Look, I'm going to break for lunch, so—"
The man started to go for the exit, but the silver man stopped him with his voice, "Stop. Do you not recognize this boy?"
"What? The brat with a Cyndaquil? What about him?"
"He's the son of Enjen." The silver man said. This made the black-covered man turn his head around to the computer screen, laughing. "Hahaha! Enjen, eh? Is the brat as curious as his old man?"
"I have just recently studied him. I do not believe that his father left any clues or anything of the sort to him." The silver man informed the black one, "But, you do realize…that there is always the possibility."
"Heh. Of course. No need to tell me anymore, I'm on it."
