Another starter

The early sun filtered through scattered clouds as Ayan made his way through the New Bark Town. It wasn't far—the rooftops of the lab and a few homes peeked over the hill. The air here had a different quality—less touched by civilization, more rustic, more alive.

It wasn't long before he reached a modest building with a sign that read:

Professor Elm's Research Lab

Authorized Trainers & Researchers Only

Ayan hesitated only briefly before stepping inside.

The lab was bright, lined with monitors and shelves of books, some digital displays flickering with evolutionary charts. It felt less grand than Professor Oak's facility—but there was something homier about it.

A man in a lab coat stood near the back, fiddling with a device that looked half like a Poké Ball and half like a thermos. His brown hair was tousled and he had a tired but curious look in his eyes.

"You must be… Ayan?" he said, looking up.

"Uh—yeah. Professor Oak said he'd send a message."

"Oh, he did," Elm grinned, wiping his hands on a towel. "Said you were special. And from the way you just popped up in Johto unregistered, I'd say he undersold it."

"Yeah… I kind of… landed here by mistake." 

"Hmm. You weren't warped by a Teleporter, and there's no Trainer ID record of your arrival. Interesting…" Elm tilted his head, studying him. He walked over, tapping something on a nearby console, then looked at Ayan again. "You ever felt anything strange when around Pokémon? Or experienced moments where the world seemed clearer, more connected?"

"Once or twice. Why?"

"Well… if I didn't know better, I'd guess you had some form of latent Aura ability. Or Psychic affinity. But it's inconsistent. I'd like to run a few diagnostics—non-invasive."

"Sure. But I don't have much time." Ayan said as he only had around 1 hour, before going home. 

"Neither do I," Elm chuckled. "Let's do a quick scan."

Ten minutes later, Elm pulled away from the readings and scratched his head.

"Unstable energy signatures. Nothing dangerous, but definitely unique. Your aura patterns aren't consistent with anything we've cataloged. You might be tapping into dimensional properties." 

Ayan's heart skipped a beat. Was there anything wrong with his body since he could travel here. He wanted to do a full body check up at home, but that could also be dangerous as hospitals might able to catch something in his body and he might really have to go under blade. 

He couldn't trust anyone in the original world. He needed to tread carefully. 

"I don't have any idea of that Professor." Ayan said.

"Well, you're an anomaly. A good one. But I'd need a full team of researchers to study what's going on here, which sadly I don't have at the moment." 

"Maybe someday," Ayan said. "For now, I was actually hoping to return to Kanto."

"Alright... But I could also use your help with something." Professor Elm said. 

"Go on." Ayan's eyes narrowed. 

"I'm expecting a delivery from a colleague of mine—Mr. Pokémon. He's just outside Cherrygrove City. I need someone to go and pick up a Pokémon Egg. Nothing dangerous, but I can't leave the lab right now."

"That's… easy enough."

"And," Elm added with a smirk, "I'll let you choose one of the Johto starters to accompany you."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Call it field testing. Plus, if Oak trusts you, that's good enough for me."

Elm walked over to a side table and tapped a concealed button. A circular hatch opened, revealing three Poké Balls. One with a flame symbol, one with a droplet, and one with a leaf.

Ayan stepped forward, gazing down at them.

"Cyndaquil. Totodile. Chikorita," Elm said, naming them in order. "Take your time."

Ayan didn't need much time. He chose Cyndaquil. He was having a hard time between Cyndaquil and Chikorita. Though he didn't have a water type yet, he knew for sure that he would be able to get himself a water type soon, and though Totodile was powerful in the last evolution, Ayan felt that he could get better water types later. 

Totodile, for him, wasn't enough. Now among Cyndaquil and Chikorita, both exceptionally cute and powerful, he at the end went with Cyndaquil. Only reason being he found Cyndquil much cuter than Chikorita. 

"I'll take Cyndaquil."

"Excellent choice," Elm said, smiling. "Here's his data."

The PokéDex buzzed in his pocket.

Cyndaquil — Male

Ability: Flash Fire (hidden ability)

Moves: Tackle, Leer, Smokescreen

Friendship: 60/255

Ayan released the Poké Ball. Ayan was more ecstatic inside as he got to see that Cybdaquil had the hidden flash fire ability. The flash Fire ability was quite powerful. The official description was - 

When a Pokémon with Flash Fire is hit by a Fire-type move, it does not deal damage but instead raises the power of the bearer's Fire-type moves by 50%. Subsequent hits do not raise the power even more, but the effect remains while the ability-bearer is in battle.

But in real world, if the other Pokémon isn't that powerful, than any fire type moves wouldn't be much effective on the Pokémon with the ability of flash fire. Of course, the Pokémon wasn't immune to fire type moves but it provided huge resistance to it. Ayan was thanking the stars for his choice. Maybe Neil was right, he was lucky. 

A tiny, mouse-like creature with closed eyes and a flickering flame along its back emerged. It sniffed the air and turned toward Ayan.

"Cynda?"

"Hey there. We're going on a little trip, alright?"

The Cyndaquil tilted his head. Then, in one smooth motion, climbed up onto Ayan's shoe and curled up like a sleepy puppy.

"He likes you."

"I like him too."

With his newest partner resting on his foot, Ayan stood and gave Elm a salute.

"Thanks, Professor. I'll get that Egg."

"Good luck. Cherrygrove's just west of here—follow Route 29 until the signpost splits. And… do let me know if anything weird happens again."

Ayan nodded, Cyndaquil in tow. Now he needed to see if he could get back to Route 1. If he could it meant he could access both the regions simultaneously and progress together.