Howie and I arrived about an hour later. Sandgem town was hardly more impressive than Twinleaf, although it did boast a Pokémon center and a Trainer’s supply store.
When I was younger, my father would take me into those stores, and show me all of the different types of medicine, all of the different types of Pokéballs. He would tell me, “August, when you’re 18, I’ll get you a Trainer’s license and you’ll be able to have your own Pokémon!” Now I am 18 (and a half), but my Father has been away for a long time, on “business” for Rocket Corporation. I always thought my dad’s secrecy was just the way he didn’t want to bring work home with him, but I began having my doubts a few years ago. But that’s for another time.
As Howie and I entered Sandgem, our eyes met a large building with large, glass panels and an iron statue of an older, stern-looking man next to a Buizel. The sign read “Rowan Evolutionary Studies”.
“…Holy shit.” Howie sputtered articulately.
“Well… Best not keep him waiting. Let’s go.” I opened the door and instantly felt like a fish out of water. Men and women filled the area, some with goggles, some with clipboards, and all with bleached white lab coats — except one person. A confident-looking girl about our age walked up to us. She had dyed hair, a pink skirt and a black shirt and sported a dorky knit hat despite it being late summer. She blinked a little bit when she made eye contact with Howie and gave us a funny look, spitting something that sounded like “Professor Rowan is expecting you.”
She took us down to a large office and ushered us in. The man depicted in the statue outside sat behind a large desk, typing at a laptop computer fervently. He made no effort to address us or ask us to sit down, though he did at least glance up once from his laptop to scan us over once.
“Yes, Dawn, thank you for bringing them here. Howard Palmer. August Howlett.” He said appraisingly.
“Yes, sir. Uhm… Before we get started discussing this internship, there’s something we need to discuss…” I set the briefcase down on the single chair in front of his desk.
Rowan stared at the briefcase for what must have been a full minute before he closed his laptop. He looked at—or maybe through—Howie and I as he said “You did the right thing in returning this to me.” He opened up the briefcase and was greeted by creased, dirty papers and three Pokéballs that were not in the button harnesses inside the briefcase. Again he stared for a full minute as Howie cursed colorfully under his breath.
“You used these Pokémon. “
I was silent. Sweat dropped down the side of my face and I ran my fingers through my brown hair.
Howie, naturally, panicked. “There were a bunch of Starly and I tried to smack them off of me but they wouldn’t leave me alone so I told Gus to hit them with the briefcase but it busted open and so we used two of them and they kicked ass and WE’RE SO SORRY.”
Rowan simply looked at us with his appraising eyes and said, “Well, if these Pokémon worked so well with you, I suppose we can skip the first part of the internship. I was planning on letting you choose, but you’ve taken care of that for me. I will give those Pokémon to you as a gift.”
Howie and I looked at each other with jaws dropped wide open as Dawn giggled at us.
“Now, let’s set them free.” Rowan released the Turtwig, the Chimchar, and a blue birdlike Pokémon. The Turtwig instantly walked toward me and the Chimchar jumped onto Howie’s shoulder.
“The internship is as follows: As young people, you have the ability to travel wherever you wish. With my workload and old age, however, I have not been able to do so myself. Take these.” He handed us Pokédexes already fitted with our identification. “Evolution is my specialty, and I need you to train Pokémon to record the evolution they go through. Now, I have all of your paperwork here. Pokémon training licenses for the both of you, compensation forms… Keep track of these. “
I didn't think my eyes could open any wider as I took my blank trainer's card off of the table. Eight slots for each of the Sinnoh league's badges, Six portrait slots for my team if I were to challenge the Elite Four, and it had my name on it. It was my own.
Rowan directed his gaze towards our new Pokémon. “You should give them names. After all, they’ll be your partners for the internship.”
Howie smiled. “Sun Wukong, after the Chinese monkey king.” He must have thought of it already.
I looked at my Turtwig and ran my hand down its back, feelings its carapace. I wanted to give it something strong, a name I could rely on. “I’ll name you Schild. It’s a word that means “shield”. You’re going to be the head of my team, and they’ll need a strong protector.”
Rowan gave an approving nod and continued. “Now, seeing as this is a very simple and straightforward internship, you are free to use your trainer’s licenses as you see fit. Many other trainers challenge the Pokémon league, and I encourage you two to do the same. After all, the stronger you and your Pokémon get, the more Pokémon you can meet. The more Pokémon you can meet, the more evolutions you can witness.“
Howies face lit up like a lantern. “That’s it! I’ve always wanted to do this! Gus, 3,000,000 to anyone who beats the Champion first! No time to lose!” Without another word, he snatched up his paperwork, his Pokémon, and his backpack and ran out the door.
I jumped to the door and stuck my head out, yelling “I can catch only the first one I find in each area and I can still kick your ass!”
Rowan sighed, frowning the slightest bit. “That's not very professional. August, this is a very serious undertaking. Are you really planning on limiting yourself that way?”
I looked at Schild, who was slowly sniffing my backpack. “I'm sorry... I understand how serious this is, Professor. I think I need a more disciplined approach than what Howie is taking, though. Howie has been pushing me as long as I can remember, and I just can’t take it anymore. I’ll only catch the first in each area, but I’ll record every evolution I find, be it one of my own Pokémon, one of Howie’s, or even a stranger’s.”
Rowan’s lips curled into what was supposed to be a smile. He obviously hadn't had a lot of experience doing that. “I understand. As long as the data is there, I couldn’t care less what methods you use.”
“Thank you, Professor. I won’t let you down. Oh, and another thing: Thank you for everything.” I gave a firm handshake, a polite bow and asked Dawn to show me the way out.
As she was walking with me, she handed me 5 Pokéballs. It surprised me every time how simplistic they looked, but how complex the technology really was. “You’ll need these for catching Pokémon. Your friend ran off before I could give him his.” Her little voice was clearer now. “Oh, and another thing… Can I have you and your friend’s phone numbers?”
I gave a little laugh. She really wanted Howie’s, I could tell, but also asked for my own to be polite. I wrote them down on her notebook and simply told her “He is single, just so you know. Just make sure you’ll be able to keep up.” I gave her a wink as Schild and I walked out of the lab together. “I think I should let my mother meet you, eh? After all, I will be going all over the Sinnoh province. Might as well let her know.”
