Chapter 17: Dr. Oak's Dilemma
(Second Update!! New book seeking collections, seeking flowers!)
Satoshi didn't know much about her. She didn't appear in the game at all, but she had a high appearance rate in the Special Edition and the Extra Editions, as well as some extra comics.
And her background was also very complicated. In the Special Edition, she wasn't a new trainer. Since she was a child, she was kidnapped with one of the protagonists of the second generation, Gold and Silver, Aoi, by mysterious masked men.
After escaping, she stole Dr. Oak's Squirtle. The story in the Special Edition was different from the anime. In the Special Edition, Satoshi didn't meet Pikachu at first.
Instead, he chose Bulbasaur, while his rival Shigeru chose Charmander, who countered Bulbasaur, according to the game mechanics. Squirtle was then stolen by Aoi.
In the Special Edition, she was a clever, cunning, mischievous, and cheerful girl, but that was because she was kidnapped and received special training. Later, she took Squirtle and gradually became friends with Satoshi and Shigeru from the Special Edition.
She started as a trainer in Pallet Town and resolved many crises with Satoshi and Shigeru.
So her origin was actually unclear, but here, Satoshi learned that she was a native of Pallet Town.
Her personality was very cheerful, but you couldn't say she was cunning. This time, she formally came to receive a Pokémon as a new trainer instead of stealing one.
Satoshi also understood that this world was different from the anime, but you couldn't say it was different either. After all, the anime didn't mention the other two people much, and no one stipulated that there couldn't be Aoi.
There was an interesting legend about her. Many people said that Aoi was actually a Tangrowth.
The reason why Aoi only appeared in the promotional image and not in the game was because she drowned at the beginning. She was entangled by seaweed and drowned, so her soul transformed into a Tangrowth.
However, these were just legends and had nothing to do with the main storyline, not even with the Special Edition. But since he was Satoshi, the world view of this world should be the main anime storyline.
The main anime storyline is closer to the bright side of reality, while the Special Edition is not suitable for children who love Pokémon, reflecting the dark side. In it, not only are those organizations who want to rule the world, even the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four cannot be trusted.
Satoshi also greeted them, and the two greeted Satoshi enthusiastically. The group chatted for a while, and soon Dr. Oak walked out.
"You're here early!" He walked out from the stairs, opened the iron door, and looked at the four people in front of him with a kind smile.
"Good morning, Dr. Oak!" The four of them greeted him in unison.
"Good morning to you too. It seems like you're all ready."
"Of course, Grandpa. Let us choose our Pokémon!" Shigeru's relationship with Dr. Oak didn't need to be said, so he naturally didn't need to be polite.
"Alright, come with me!" Dr. Oak didn't say much either. He could see that the children were all very eager. He took the four of them into the research institute, while the others stayed outside.
Soon, they entered the research institute. In the research institute's room, three Poké Balls were placed on a cylindrical platform.
There were three Poké Balls on the platform, each with the name of a Pokémon engraved on the surface. Looking at the three Poké Balls, Dr. Oak turned around and looked at the three with a slight frown.
"There's something I forgot to tell you about the starter Pokémon this time. I didn't expect that there would be so many people signing up this time, so the research institute only prepared three starter Pokémon." Dr. Oak looked at the four people in front of him, feeling a little troubled.
It wasn't just Pallet Town, but many other places were the same. The number of people who could sign up at once was not many, so preparing three was more than enough. But he didn't expect that there would be so many people signing up suddenly this time.
"Ah! Then... wouldn't someone not be able to get a Pokémon?" Aoi asked in surprise upon hearing Dr. Oak's words.
"Yes! I'm already taking care of it. You can take these three Pokémon today, but one of you might have to wait a few days."
Seeing how eager they were, even though he knew it was a little unfair to them, there was nothing he could do.
The research institute would get the other starter Pokémon delivered later, but they would have to wait a few days. However, it was clear that all four were ready to leave today. It would be awkward to suddenly tell them to wait.
But there was nothing he could do about the current situation. Hearing this, Shigeru and the other boy both frowned, while Satoshi didn't react much.
"Then... I'll wait a few days." As the only girl, she seemed to have less desire to leave immediately and chose to yield.
"Grandpa, don't you have any other Pokémon here?"
Seeing the only girl say that, how could the boys let a girl give in to them like that. Seeing this, Shigeru looked at Dr. Oak and asked.
"The research institute mostly has Pokémon that others have entrusted to us. The rest aren't suitable for new trainers. There is one, but that Pokémon doesn't even listen to me. If you take it out, you might have problems."
Although Dr. Oak's place was a research institute, not all of the Pokémon were his. Most of them were entrusted by trainers who received Pokémon here and then caught others outside and sent them back to be entrusted. The Pokémon that truly belonged to the research institute were actually not many.
"I'll take it! Can I, Dr. Oak?" Satoshi spoke up immediately after hearing Dr. Oak's words.
"Hmm? You can, but you have to think it through. If you can't tame it, it will be dangerous!" Dr. Oak's eyes lit up when he heard Satoshi's initiative.
Satoshi had come to him often these past three years. Seeing how he interacted with the Pokémon, if any of the new trainers could tame it, it might just be Satoshi. But he still reminded him.
"It's fine, please give it to me!"
"Alright!" Seeing how insistent Satoshi was, Dr. Oak didn't say anything more. He took out another Poké Ball with a lightning bolt pattern on the outside.
Holding the Poké Ball in his hand, Satoshi could feel a restless energy. The creature inside seemed to hate being confined, and Satoshi felt this aura as if he felt a soul pulling him. Subconsciously, he threw the Poké Ball out.
PS: Although it's not about releasing, there's still a problem with the bottle. Does a creature like Charizard count? After all, he also entrusted them to Dr. Oak when going to other regions. The bottle doesn't want to write about the kind of cheating where he carries dozens of Pokémon.