Chapter 5

3 days later

Alex woke up in an unfamiliar bed but before he could even open his eyes, his mind screamed in pain as he got a massive headache.

"Oh, you finally woke up", Alex heard a feminine voice from his side as he got up from his bed, his headache slowly fading as he looked at the source of the voice.

In front of him was a beautiful young woman in a sundress but unlike most people, Alex's attention fell onto the clock as he saw it read 2 AM. Alex's eyes went back on the girl's eyes as he asked in an emotionless tone,

"How many days?"

"3 days, by the way, how did you faint? Grandpa didn't tell me."

Alex deduced the girl's identity to be daisy oak, granddaughter of Professor Oak. Also the 'local beauty' if the gossip was correct but Alex only heard gossip for the factual news which was few and far in between but it did happen sometimes.

Alex looked around and found his school blazer laying on the chair next to the bed he had slept on, he grabbed the blazer and put it on in one smooth motion as he walked towards the exit. He, however, was blocked by one daisy oak standing in front of him.

"Grandpa said he wants to talk to you about a 'pristine opportunity'"

The 17-year-old girl told Alex.

"Where is he?"

"Busy, do you seriously think that he has time for everyone?"

Alex could pick up a bit of bitterness at the end of that sentence but he was in no place to talk about family relationships so he let it be for now. Alex pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and a pen from his other pocket and wrote down a phone number that he handed to daisy.

"Call me when the professor has time."

Alex pushed the paper into the girl's hand and tried to walk past her, However before Alex could leave, Daisy raised her questions.

"What's your deal? Most of the crazy people are usually above 20 and you look to be only 8, what's got you so down?"

Alex looked over his shoulder coldly and saw that the girl was curious and wasn't being malicious. Alex realized that she might have been sheltered a bit too much so he answered her bluntly.

"Only when one has no one to rely on does one improve, my entire life I have been alone, and all of my accomplishments come from my effort so I simply matured better"

"What ab-"

Alex cut her off by closing the door and walking back to his house. The moment he reached his small home, he reached for the half-stocked fridge and pulled out an ice pack which he placed on his head.

Alex looked through to fridge and realized a few of his groceries had spoilt in his 3-day absence but most were fine and seeing the food made Alex's stomach rumble so he made enough food for 2 people and had a nice... dinner? It was around 3 AM. The spoilt food didn't matter too much to Alex anyways, food was always his lowest priority as he had hunted enough in the forest to know which Pokémon are edible and which aren't.

Alex walked over to his desk where a few textbooks were kept but Alex's hand instead went for the drawer which contained a weird-looking book. Alex opened the book and started reading, his phone at his side but he fell asleep again in only 20 minutes.

The next day Alex awoke to the sound of his phone going off. He immediately grabbed the phone and answered the call.

"Hello, is this Alex?" The voice was male but it wasn't the professor or any of the aides he knew.

"Yes, this is Alexander Creed, how may I help you?"

"Mr. Oak has asked for your presence in his lab at noon."

Alex's head snapped to the clock on his phone and read the time to be 11:45.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great"

As soon as the phone was cut Alex brushed his teeth took a quick shower and grabbed the black and red outfit he used when he went hunting. He grabbed a sandwich to eat on the way and locked his front door and took off at an impressive speed as the lab was a 10-minute walk and it was already 11:55 and the sun was trying to suck the life out of him.

He reached the lab with only a minute to spare in which he tidied his outfit and combed his hair with his hand and walked into the cool air-conditioned room to see Professor Oak and daisy standing there.

"Hello Alex, I called you here to give you your reward."

"Well, I would appreciate it if I knew what my reward is."

Daisy looked to be confused as she was left out of the conversation.

Oak nodded before saying, "any other questions before we get to your prize?"

"When do I start?"

"The project officially starts 1 month and 8 days from now also, the limit was set to be 8 years of age to 9 years of age. Also, I would recommend waiting until your birthday which is in 1 month and 10 days to prepare and familiarize yourself with your starter."

Alex hummed in acknowledgment, not even bothered by the fact that he knew his birthday, or more accurately the day he was adopted.

"What are my incentives from the league and do I have any restrictions due to age?"

"Your incentives are the same as for any other trainer and no, there are no restrictions based on your age but you might need to carry around your ID cause this is not a widely publicized project and many will question you for your age."

Alex just nodded before looking oak in the eyes signaling that he had no more questions. Oak walked towards the massive open area in the back of the lab that housed hundreds of pokemon however what stood out the most was a small cave around 30 ft in diameter but it radiated immense heat almost warning you to stay out.

Oak called out a name that caused Alex to feel as if lightning had struck him, "Inferno"

Inferno, the strongest Pokémon of Professor oak, had at one point held the title of champion of Kanto. And that was decades ago by now that Pokémon could have grown even stronger. At its prime, inferno could turn a valley into a canyon and a mountain into a sinkhole with a singular attack.

A massive draconic roar echoed from the cave which caused Alex to push his legs into the ground and cross his arms as his jacket fluttered like there was a tornado while oak stood there as if there was a gentle breeze.

Out from the cave emerged a 10 foot Charizard that looked like a battle-hardened warrior, it had a scar running across its eyes and an even bigger one on its chest which looked like it didn't have an ounce of fat only muscle, and its scales glistened brightly under the sun but the presence it gave off just standing there nearly pushed Alex to his knees and Alex knew that Charizard wasn't even flexing its aura, it was just standing there.

"Don't flinch, it's a test"

Oaks voice rang out in Alex's eyes as Inferno slowly walked towards him as its maws filled with flame and one of its claws started glowing. The Charizard then appeared in front of Alex as if it had just teleported but the whooshing sound and the winds that ripped the ground up went against that assumption. the Charizard had placed its claw just in front of Alex's neck.

As Alex saw the massive Charizard that appeared in front of him, he took a step. But instead of taking one back like most sane people, Alex had just taken a step forwards and stood just in front of Charizard, still maintaining eye contact even as he felt the immense heat given off by the flames in Charizard's mouth and felt the claw of Charizard on his Jugular.

The Charizard then grinned, never in its years had he seen a boy so insane. He had tested only a few trainers in his life but all of them had become future legends. Even along with those legends, most had barely managed to not be pushed back and some had managed to dig in their feet, and here this hatchling that was barely 5 feet and hadn't even turned 8 had stepped forwards even while knowing the immense danger he was in.

It was at that moment that Alex noticed something in the large Charizard's arms.

There was a tiny little Charmander that looked like it was born yesterday. The little Charmander looked pretty cute as its little flame and soft scales made it look like a little hug buddy.

The Charizard just tossed the Charmander at Alex as he walked back into the cave without any expression. Alex caught the Charmander by instinct just as the Charmander woke up.

Alex's eyes widened as he realized what had just happened, he looked towards Professor oak to confirm his thoughts but he stumbled over his words as he was struggling to form a barely coherent sentence.

Oak just chuckled seeing Alex stumble over his words as he confirmed Alex's thoughts,

"That Charmander in your hands is Inferno's offspring who was born yesterday."