Needless to say, I quickly won over the Hitmonlee couple by demonstrating a series of kicks I learned in Tae Kwon Do class. I may have only been a green belt then, but it was ironically just enough to earn the couple's approval. Not only them, but even the Tyrogue was in awe, jumping up and down at the variations of hook to roundhouse and front kicks.
I followed it up with some basic stances that came from the sport and finally completely won the Tyrogue over. It was difficult to communicate with the parents, especially since I was taking their baby away, but after demonstrating my sincerity with a dogeza bow and my forehead even hitting the ground underneath, they had no choice but to let their son go. Luckily I had a spare pokeball for moments like these and had willingly captured my first Pokémon.
But before I could officially battle, I had to legally obtain my youngster's trainer license. There were a series of restrictions involved, including not being able to evolve your Pokémon, but that's a story for another time. For now, I had to see one of the greats. Professor Oak.
I gave one of his assistants a brief call from the poke center that I'll be over by tomorrow and started trekking my way over today, so by night I could camp out in a designated ranger safe zone.
Professor Oak POV
After popping my back one too many times, I ended up groaning a little too loudly within the lab. Briefly, I heard a knock from Daisy, who came in red-faced and informed me that Aaron Fox is on his way. Before I could explain that the moan was non-sexual, the door was slammed shut, and I was left in an awkward position once more. Getting old really does make life difficult in ways that surprise.
Still, since there's no one to explain to, powering through the embarrassment by pretending it never happened is what he tends to revert to. You don't get to become a champion without sacrificing a pound of flesh and drinking a gallon of shamelessness. The same could be said about becoming the best fucking research professor on the planet, bar none. It's just that now that he's proved himself twice over, there are very few things that pique his interest with regard to worldly affairs.
The story of Aaron Fox's childhood is one of them. From the data recording weird brain fluctuations at birth to turning his mother in at the ripe age of 5, along with his shamelessness to ask for a reward from him and his confidence to do so without a starter, Oak hasn't found a more interesting child since, except maybe Ash Ketchum, whose enthusiasm and aura feel different from most others.
There's also the fact that most find it hard to track him down, especially after he seemingly shaved his red mane and the suspicious absence of a guardian that's supposedly taking care of him.
Sigh, regardless of the extenuating circumstances, the fact that others are wary of him because of his Team Rocket parentage, along with anger from those whom he had betrayed, the boy is still just a boy after all.
Do the sins of one's father (or mother in this case) really get passed down to their child? Do noble children deserve to get treated well for what their ancestors had done in the past?
Despite his brilliance and the fact he leans towards children being innocent, there's not much else he could do but sponsor the boy. And so, sponsoring the boy is indeed what he does.