Thank you to my new patrons for making this possible: Benjamin A. Joacim, Peeford, Christopher
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Regarding his planned reply to Professor Oak, Joey's thinking had been relatively simple.
The man had rejected his application for just a partial sponsorship, which wouldn't incur many additional costs, and had thus partially soiled what was left of Joey's month.
Team Rocket had scammed him out of a badge; he'd lost the battle to King, he'd lost the battle against Sabrina, and now he'd gotten this rejection.
If there was still something that could be done about it, then he was goddamn going to do it.
In the Pokemon world, the things that spoke loudest were battling ability and friendship.
Joey had a lot of ability, and he had at least one friend.
"Thanks, Sabrina," he told the taciturn girl as they appeared at the welcome sign of Pallet Town.
The girl simply threw him a blank look as she started breathing more deeply.
It seemed like the exertion of teleporting halfway across the region was a lot, even for someone of her prodigal talents.
"We're quit after," she said, at which Joey only nodded.
"Of course, that was the agreement," he said.
He quickly looked around to orient himself, only to see that they hadn't landed anywhere close to the world-famous Laboratory, and thus, they could only walk further in to go look for it.
Unfortunately, they were distracted from this intention by a young child who ran right up to them and, without saying any recognisable word, simply shrieked.
"Ahhhhh!" the young boy of what must have been approximately five years screamed as he ran up to the two youngsters.
He was dressed in blue pants and a yellow T-shirt. If the shades hadn't been subtly different, the outfit would have matched Joey's, and the older boy would have confused the child for an even younger youngster.
"Ash, what did I tell you about screaming at people?" A chiding voice suddenly sounded from behind them, causing the two youngsters to look up and see what was presumably the brown-haired mother of the child running up behind her excited kid.
"But, but," the child stuttered as the mother caught up and took his hand. "They're on TV," he eventually managed to shout. This caused the older woman to look up and to critically observe Joey and Sabrina. A flash of recognition crossed her eyes.
"Just because they were on television doesn't mean you should shout at them," she said. "If you have anything to say, say it politely."
"Can I get your autograph?" the young boy managed to say.
"What do we say?"
"Please," Ash added after a few seconds of thinking about it.
Joey for his part was already pulling a pen from his pocket which he kept around exactly for these occasions. He puffed up his chest and extended a hand with eyes closed so as to grasp whatever the child wanted him to sign.
It was only after grasping empty air for a few seconds that he opened his eyes and saw that it was Sabrina who was writing her name in cursive on a small piece of paper that the boy had produced.
"Thank you very much for indulging him," what must have been Delia Ketchum said as Joey deflated when Ash, upon getting Sabrina's autograph, simply ignored his existence and jumped around happily holding the piece of paper into the air. "What are you doing in Pallet Town? Wasn't the tournament yesterday? How come you got here so fast?" she asked, confusedly.
"We have our ways," Joey said mysteriously as he repressed his disappointment. Wouldn't it have been awesome if his first autograph would have gone to the protagonist of the series?
"I teleported him," Sabrina explained, which completely ruined the mystery factor.
Joey sighed, tilted his head up and looked at the cool blue sky.
"Oh, that's wonderful," the older woman replied happily, clapping her hands. Her little gremlin continued running around behind her. "Are you here for any specific reason? Maybe I can help you with directions."
Joey dubiously looked around the small town and just from the one look could already see 30% of it. He didn't really think they needed directions considering that the main street they were currently on would inevitably lead them into view of the Laboratory as long as they walked down it.
"Professor Oak," Sabrina replied while Joey remained quiet and sulked.
Delia's eyes brightened at the mention of the man, before she shrugged. "Oh, silly me! Of course, you're here to see Professor Oak. It would be a very boring town without him and his ranch," she said. Then she shook her head. "Unfortunately, I know he won't be here until the evening. He had something to do today. He'll be back soon. Would you perhaps want to wait at my restaurant? I just picked up Ash from kindergarten, and he'll be with me at work until I finish up."
Joey dubiously looked at Sabrina, wondering if the usually antisocial girl would be willing to spend time with anyone or if she'd simply teleport back to a Saffron and tell him that she would come back when he was done with his thing.
However, it seemed like the girl had exhausted her reserves and needed to catch a break because she simply nodded quietly which caused Delia to smile and to turn around and start leading them towards her establishment.
"Ungrateful kid, no eye for talent," Joey grumbled to himself as they followed the mother and son duo to the quaint little building with the sign "Pallet House" on its roof.
They must have come immediately after the lunch rush because the restaurant was empty, which allowed them to sit down at a red dinner-style table, where they quickly found two steaming tea cups deposited in front of them.
Joey looked at the red tea in front of him emanating a strong strawberry smell. Dried strawberry tea wasn't something that he saw every day.
"You have to stay warm in this weather," Delia said encouragingly, before turning to Sabrina. "You don't have to pay, of course; thanks for signing for my son," she said cheerily before turning to Joey.
"Would you like to eat something?" she asked. "I can bring the menu."
Joey considered it for a second before eventually shrugging. Two laminated menus were promptly deposited in front of the two youngsters.
There wasn't a lot of variety, but Joey eventually settled on the curry rice, while Sabrina ordered a ketchup omelette.
It was as they were waiting for the food that Delia at some point returned to the dining area from the kitchen to press the on button of the small TV mounted in the upper corner of the restaurant.
The channel was obviously battle station, which was just finishing a recap of the youngster tournament, with the now iconic shot of Sabrina standing triumphantly in front of a tired but intact Kadabra as she cooly looked down at the reluctant Joey withdrawing his starter.
"It is with a message of hope that we end this recap program; the Indigo Conference next year promises to be extremely exciting, and we are all looking forward to seeing how far our region's up-and-coming psychic specialist can go. Will she manage to break through the newcomer bracket in the top 16, or will she crash and burn out against another unexpected challenger?" the well-coiffed and suited man sitting behind a reporter's desk asked.
Joey looked away from the program in disgust and blended out the noise. He was starting to suspect that by the time next year's conference arrived, he would have to do a complete media detox. Already this minor amount of coverage was pissing him off.
A new experience, at least, he'd rarely been on TV for anything serious in his previous life. A cooking competition and an interview. This was much more intense.
Their food eventually arrived while Ash was sitting at the raised bar in front of the kitchen and filling out a Pokemon colouring book.
It was as they started eating that Joey noticed that he hadn't exchanged a single word with Sabrina since they'd arrived.
"So, you come here often?" he asked jokingly before taking a bite of the brown curry. It was very good.
Sabrina looked up from her omelette to stare at him blankly.
She just continued doing so for several seconds before Joey awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Sheesh, tough crowd," he muttered.
He decided to completely focus on his meal instead of insisting on a conversation and thus missed the small smile that briefly hushed over Sabrina's face.
-/-
It was after they were done eating that Delia came up to their table to take the dirty plates and happily informed them. "I've called Professor Oak's lab, and he just came back. If you want to go over now, you can probably still catch him," she said happily.
But, just when they were about to stand up and leave, she coughed awkwardly into her fist and extended a hand towards Joey.
The young boy gritted his teeth and paid out what the meal had cost while Sabrina got away scot-free because Ash Ketchum had shit taste in trainers.
"This slight will never be forgotten," Joey said as he and Sabrina exited the restaurant and started walking towards the Laboratory, a large yellow building with a wooden roof, which they could already see from a distance.
"I did win," Sabrina eventually said as the two of them walked together.
"Just wait for our rematch next year at the conference," Joey muttered darkly. "You might be strong, but that just gives me more motivation to get even better!"
He really was stuck in a bit of a dilemma with this whole rebirth into a child's body thing. If he had managed to beat Sabrina, he wouldn't have felt any particular joy because his victory would have been expected. After all, he was much older and much more experienced. However, since he had lost, he realised that because of these advantages, his pride was hurt more than it otherwise would have been.
He minded his loss to Sabrina more than to King. In fact, had he insisted on a three-on-three instead of taking the organiser's offer, he may have still won.
Using Diglett, Rattata and Misdreavus and leaving out Metapod would have increased his chances. Unfortunately, doing something like that was not really in the cards since he refused to discourage one of his hardest-working Pokemon. Although they were all hard-working...
Sabrina remained silent at his challenge, which just drove him further up the wall.
At this point he would prefer a rival like Gary who liked to shit talk rather than this awkward mute of a child who had less social awareness in her whole body then Joey did in his pinky.
They arrived at the lab and promptly rang the doorbell.
It wasn't long before the door opened, and they were greeted by the sight of the famous professor himself looking down at them with a pleasant smile. Then the man did a double-take, obviously recognising them.
"Jonathan, Sabrina. How did you come here so quickly?" he asked curiously.
"We have our ways," Joey responded mysteriously, to which Sabrina once again said.
"I teleported him."
Joey palmed his face and dragged the hand down. "You don't have to say that every time," he muttered. "It really destroys the intimidation factor, you know," he said quietly.
"I don't think he's very intimidated by us?" Sabrina replied awkwardly. "Isn't he like a former champion or something?" she asked.
Professor Oak couldn't help but guffaw at their interplay. "It's nice that the two of you are friends despite the battle," he commented. "But what can I do for you?" he asked curiously.
Joey, for his part, knew that rather than bringing up any logic or argumentative prowess, which he had already done in the letter he'd sent, he had to bring out his inner child.
He thus jumped backwards in a horse stance and raised one of his hands to point a finger at the older man in the white lab coat. "You recently dismissed my application! Unfortunately, due to your now-proven disregard for the meritocratic ideal, I am forced to refuse your refusal!" he shouted dramatically, startling the older man, who looked like he didn't know if he should laugh or frown.
"Me too," Sabrina said while raising her arm as if she were in class.
Joey quickly turned his head to look at her. "Wait, what!?"
"I applied as well," the girl said awkwardly while rubbing the back of her head. Then, upon seeing Joey's disbelieving look, she tilted her head down. "I'm also going to catch more than six Pokemon, you know," she said quietly while poking her forefingers together.
Joey turned, aghast, to the professor. "So you didn't only reject the strongest youngster in the region but also the second strongest one!" he exclaimed as if accusing the man of murder, causing him to somewhat instinctively raise his hands to defend himself. "Have you no shame!" Joey finished by crying out.
After Oak had raised his palms to defend himself, he suddenly paused, frowned and crossed his arms. "Why am I defending myself?" he muttered quietly, before shaking his head. "I can reject and accept who I want," he said in the end, almost petulantly.
"Nuh-uh," Joey replied, causing the old man's right eyebrow to start twitching and a vein to engorge itself on his head.
"I have space for three sponsorships a year, and that's it!" he said angrily, looking to be about one second away from telling these kids to get off his lawn.
"We don't want your stinky starters," Joey shot back. "What's the problem?"
"Taking care of your Pokemon costs money as well, and Pokedex aren't just simple Pokenavs which can be mass-produced," Oak reasoned.
Joey smirked as he caught the man in a trap. He was actually pretty rich, so he could mostly pay for the ranch costs himself if he had to. The issue was that Oak didn't sell the spots; he only gave them to those who he sponsored and those trainers who were contributing to his research. Joey really wanted his surplus Pokemon to stay here because Oak doubtlessly provided the best environment with the strongest Pokemon. His bringing up costs meant that Joey could reply with.
"Then I'll just pay you for the ranch use if the money is the issue," Joey said calmly.
"You can't afford it," Oak sputtered, eyes widening at the realisation of the kind of trap he had fallen into.
"The 800K Pokedollars I have on my account says otherwise," Joey said with a grin. Sabrina, for her part, was wildly shaking her head next to him.
"That's like 800 Ultra Balls," he heard her mutter, but Joey was focused on Oak.
No matter what kind of care the man provided, Joey sincerely doubted it was more than 200k per Pokemon per year. Since Joey didn't even have six team members yet, his needing the ranch would thus only come into effect next year. But what he wanted now was the Pokedex.
So when Professor Oak flustered, "I'm sorry, but the ranch is only for designated affiliates and isn't for sale!"
Joey could reply with. "Why did you bring up the cost then? You're clearly just discriminating on personal preference." He then calmed down his tone. "At least give us the Pokedex. I can even pay for the production costs."
It was here that Oak hesitated, before eventually shaking his head. "How did you even get that much money?" he muttered.
"Odds on Lance winning were super low; my confidence in his flying types was rewarded," Joey answered haughtily.
"A boy your age shouldn't be gambling," the professor moralised.
"You'd have partial control over my public image if you sponsored me; perhaps then I'd be more inclined to care what you say," Joey rebuked.
"Only the Pokedex and you pay for it yourself?" Oak eventually asked.
Joey nodded.
The old man cracked a smile before laughing. "Of course… Not!" he shouted, took a step back and slammed the door shut. A muffled shout "I do what I want!" resounded through the door.
Joey shook his head. The old man was stubborn. He critically looked at the peephole of the door, seeing that the old man was checking if they'd leave or not.
"You leave me no other choice, old man," he muttered darkly. He went up to the door, raised his fist to bang on it, and infused it with ghost-type energy.
The loudest knock Joey had ever heard resounded through the open space. "If you're too stuck in your ways to listen to reason, then I can only solve this with a battle!" the youngster shouted, before unsheathing his nuclear arsenal. "Or are you…" He drew out the next word. "Scared?!"
The top of the hill on which the Laboratory was built suddenly went very still.
The front door opened with an ominous creak, revealing a deathly serious Professor Oak. "What did you just say?" he asked calmly.
Joey tilted his head. "Ears failing? I'll repeat it. You're obviously too old to listen to reason, so I challenge you to a battle!"
"Kid, I can sponsor and not sponsor whoever I want," Oak replied with a shake of his head. "I admire your perseverance, if not the way you expressed it. Go now, you came to Pallet Town in vain. I refuse to support the youngster program."
Joey, for his part, hunched in on himself, going down on his knees and putting his hands to his torso so that his elbows extended to form faux wings.
"Are you a chicken? Bawk, bawk!" he suddenly shrilled, before putting his head down as if picking at seeds on the floor. He sputtered around, making the occasional chicken sound while waving his arms.
Sabrina palmed her increasingly pale face.
Oak's eyebrow developed a severe twitch, a spasm, an earthquake, while his mouth trembled.
"You asked for it," he said darkly.
"Maybe this wasn't the best idea, Joey," Sabrina suddenly piped up, taking a step back.
Joey, of course, knew that they had no chance against Oak, but he really wanted that partial sponsorship. Sometimes, you had to embarrass yourself to get stuff done; he'd died old in his last life. Shame wasn't something he experienced anymore when pursuing specific goals.
Of course, he knew that they couldn't beat Oak in a battle. But, considering that the man was ignoring all of his logic, throwing in a last hail mary in the hopes that the professor would be impressed by their tenacity and fighting prowess was something he was willing to try.
If the man didn't like him for it and refused to sponsor him, then what did Joey care? Oak was just a professor now. He wouldn't be able to retaliate in a meaningful way if he even bothered. If he beat him and told him to beat it, then Joey could just leave and get on with his life, knowing he'd tried his best.
"One on two, double battle, if you can impress me, I promise to consider it more seriously," Oak said.
Joey immediately dropped his chicken act and smirked.
"Prepare to get your socks blown off, old man," he taunted before pausing. "Wait, double battle?"
Oak smirked and pointed to Sabrina with a turn of his head. "You both want it, no? You're annoying enough to get into the battle, but I don't want to waste more of my time, so come at me together, and then I'll go back to my day. You obviously never learned the value of respect, so let's see if this will teach you."
"Oh, it's on, old man," Joey replied with a smirk.
Sabrina awkwardly shuffled her feet.
-/-
It was after Professor Oak had led Sabrina and Joey behind his Laboratory, where he apparently had a standard battleground drawn on the floor, that the man disappeared into his ranch with the explanation that he needed to gather the Pokemon he was going to use to teach them to respect their elders.
Joey turned to Sabrina. "I didn't come here unprepared," he said.
"What do you mean?" Sabrina asked.
"Oak used to be the champion of Kanto a few decades ago, and I don't think that he's caught and tried many new Pokemon since then. We're most likely going to be facing one of the six that he used to win and defend the title back then."
Sabrina paled at those words but held up a confident expression on her face.
"The six Pokemon he had back then were Alakazam, Charizard, Dragonite, Fearow, Arcanine and Exeggutor," he explained. Of course, it was likely that Oak had more Pokemon. Even if his championship team had lost their edge since the old days, it would make more sense to use something else. But those were the only Pokemon he knew, so that's what he'd prepared himself for.
"It doesn't matter which one he sends out. We just have to win," Sabrina eventually said.
Joey didn't necessarily feel that she was saying that out of any innate confidence, but simply because it was the logical thing to say in this case.
It was true. It didn't matter which Pokemon Oak sent out. They just had to win.
"Can you suppress your… thing, so we can set up a psychic link during the battle?" Sabrina suddenly asked, causing Joey to nod.
"Sure," he replied and did what he was asked.
'I'm here,' suddenly resounded inside his own mind.
'Good,' Joey replied.
'Starter?' Sabrina questioned as Oak walked back into the battlefield, surrounded by large trees. No one would see their battle.
Joey hesitated for a few seconds, thinking whether he should try to type-check whatever Oak sent out. Then he sighed as he realised that typing didn't matter if his starter was just several magnitudes stronger than his other Pokemon.
'Starter,' he thought back.
This probably wasn't going to be easy.
Oak released the Pokemon he'd gone to fetch.
A behemoth of a Venasaur was looking at them menacingly, as big as a jeep. It shook the tree on its back, causing the earth beneath to rumble.
Joey corrected himself, this, if anything, was going to suck.
-/-
AN: The next chapter is probably the most hype chapter of this story and I say that including the match against Bruno and the one against Sabrina 2 chapters ago. Support me on patreon if you want, or just wait 2 weeks :P