The hyper fang that shall pierce the heavens (Pokemon SI)

It was only a few minutes after they had finished the battle that Joey, Sabrina and Professor Oak were sitting at a simplistic square metal table in what looked to be the lounge room of the laboratory.

In one corner, a TV quietly broadcast the battling network, and the tea mugs steamed their heat straight into the air.

"I have to admit," Oak eventually started after seeming to consider a bit. "I am very impressed by what you've managed to do under the constraints of the youngster program, but it's exactly this program that makes me doubt if I should sponsor you."

"What does your political opinion matter?" Joey asked curiously. "We're awesome," he said while puffing up his chest and trying to pat Sabrina on the back.

The girl dodged, unfortunately, continuing to resist the bromance.

She'd grown up since that time he'd helped her with the Murkrow; he liked her more now. It helped that she was the only equal who had appeared in the entire year, even if she'd needed to get her starter years earlier and have four evolved Pokemon to barely clinch that spot.

"If only it were that easy," Oak said with a sigh. Took a sip of his tea and grimaced. He had obviously burned himself.

"He's a public figure," Sabrina muttered quietly.

"You know that the youngster program has been encountering some difficulties recently," Oak said, assuming that two twelve-year-olds cared about politics enough to follow such tedious topics. Of course, Joey actually did know what the man was talking about. After all, he'd spent enough time with Ruth to get the gist.

"Yeah, the tournament was supposed to be like, look at us, we're so good at developing talent," Joey sighed. "Unfortunately, I am very talented," he lamented and put up his hands in a 'What can you do gesture.'

Apparently getting comfortable with the children's antics, Professor Oak cracked a smile.

Joey wondered what the man would say if he knew that the two of them were actually the same age.

"Despite whatever talent they can showcase if the trainer age gets bumped down to twelve as they've been discussing, there really won't be much of a point," the man said.

"Unless they lower the youngster age to eleven," Joey shot back.

The professor grimaced. "Yes, unfortunately, this might actually happen. After all, it's what happened when the age for trainers went down to thirteen."

"What do you have against it anyway?" Joey asked curiously.

"The tier system, for one," Oak muttered. "It's intrinsically linked to the youngster and trainer divide, but what does it actually accomplish? If you're not cleared to train a Charmeleon, it won't mean you won't meet one in the wild. Similarly, even if you received a tier 0 starter, a Pokemon who you're incompatible with can hurt you no matter what they're classified as. The system reduces Pokemon to numbers, but research has shown that it doesn't work like that. Dysfunctional and dangerous trainer and Pokemon relationships can be much easier predicted with a basic personality test than with the tier system."

"So if I met a Dragonite who liked me…" Joey started with a quirked eyebrow. "I should be able to take him with me?"

Oak just shrugged. "Not allowing it doesn't only harm your agency but also the agency of the Dragonite," he responded, which actually struck a nerve.

Hadn't Joey been cockblocked from catching Misdreavus for way too long? The poor thing clearly wouldn't hurt a soul, but she was still treated as a dangerous ghost by the system.

"You're right," the youngster was forced to admit with a sigh. "But why punish us when you clearly would be willing to sponsor us otherwise?" he asked.

Oak rolled his eyes. "I never said I would be willing," he said petulantly. "But, as Sabrina said, I am a public figure. Sponsorship is an expression of support. I have political capital, and that means that my actions become restrained."

"Alright, sure, you have prestige. Sponsoring two youngsters would boost the program's chances of continuing to exist with some more age requirement modification," Joey reluctantly admitted. The man was Professor Oak, after all; that meant something to a lot of people. "However, do you really think that your actions can stop the wheel of history? The trend is obviously to send out children at a younger age. If you really want to abolish the youngster program, let the trainer age requirements slide all the way down to ten. No one will give a nine-year-old a Pokemon, and it will become a moot point. It's much easier to shift a requirement than to close a whole department."

Oak looked a bit uncomfortable at the suggestion. "But sending out children when they're even younger than they already are is what I'm trying to prevent. It's not healthy, economic pressures be damned," he said passionately.

"Economic pressures?" Joey asked with a raised eyebrow.

"They're sending us out younger so that we return younger and take on jobs," Sabrina realised next to him.

Joey thoughtfully scratched his chin. "The market conditions are becoming more complex as the basic needs of the population are met with increasing ease. The increasing sophistication of the skills necessary to participate in the labour market requires a longer period of time invested in education, while at the same time, the methods used to prevent danger from wild Pokemon increase in efficacy, therefore lowering the demand for qualitative trainers. Fewer trainers die because the systems in place to prevent that have become fully fleshed out in recent decades. More supply, less demand. A chain reaction of safety leading to a more laissez-faire approach of trainer governance." He shook his head, then looked at Oak, who was sitting there with his mouth open. "Give up," he suggested. "The forces you are fighting against are ineffable. You wouldn't be able to change the incentives causing the current situation even if you had remained champion."

Oak closed his mouth with a clack and opened it again before closing it again. "I have my principles," he eventually said.

Joey considered the answer. "I see your point. I guess if you gave up so easily, you would have never become successful enough for me to want your sponsorship in the first place." He stood up.

"What are you doing?" Sabrina asked.

"Leaving, what does it look like?" Joey asked confusedly.

"We just sat down," Oak reminded him, "and you didn't finish your tea."

"I don't make it a habit of getting in between people and their moral principles," Joey said. "It's a waste of time and also rude. I just came here to verify and try to change your mind. I see now that there is no point."

"Well, there is maybe something I can do," Oak suddenly suggested, and before the man could even blink, Joey was already sitting down again, elbows on the table, fingers interlaced.

"Tell me more," the boy said.

"Next year, after you participate in the conference. You won't be youngsters anymore," the man insinuated. "You'll be trainers, not youngsters and assuming you leave the region, which most ambitious people do, it would draw less attention," he said before leaning in sneakily. "And maybe, by then, the program won't exist anymore."

Considering that Joey remembered that Ash had gotten his starter at the whopping age of ten and that there had been youngsters in the Gen I games, he sincerely doubted that last part. The first one, however, intrigued him.

"We won't need stables until then anyway," Sabrina summarised efficiently.

"I really wanted that Pokedex, though," Joey complained. "Portable encyclopaedia with research-level information. Do you have any idea how heavy books are, and how expensive space expansion backpacks can get?" he asked.

Oak blinked in surprise. "So you want the sponsorship because of the Pokedex?" he asked in wonderment.

"I don't need the money, as stated in the letter, and I guess Sabrina is right. The ranch can wait a year. But the Pokedex is just so convenient," Joey groaned.

Oak obviously enjoyed the compliment as he straightened himself a bit in his chair.

"Well, about that. There are currently two Pokedexes in my lab. We're testing a new feature. Maybe you could help, give us feedback on a regular basis," the man suggested.

"What's the feature?" Joey asked curiously.

Oak waved his hand dismissively. "We extended battery life, need someone to test it for us," he said.

Joey nodded in understanding while Sabrina's social incompetence came to the fore once again.

"Can't you do that yours-?" she started before Joey smacked her on the back of the head.

"We'll gladly help you with this serious problem, Professor Oak," Joey said with a thumbs up while Sabrina crouched with her head in her arms next to him, breathing in deeply. "Believe it," he added.

Oak looked at the two of them with a faraway look in his eyes. "Whatever you say." He chuckled. "Then, for the ranch, let's see if you can impress me in the Indigo Conference." He stood up. "Let me get the Dexes," he said before exiting the lounge.

It was after he'd come back and handed them one each, Joey looking reverently at the red device, that he explained its functions and registered them.

Then, the moment the explanation was done, Sabrina disappeared from her seat in a flash of blue.

"She's a bit weird like that, don't take it personally," Joey said to Professor Oak, who had raised his eyebrows in surprise at the sudden disappearing act.

Then, the youngster paused.

Sabrina had brought him here.

Now, she was gone.

His favour had been to get taken to Pallet.

He didn't remember mentioning going back.

He turned to Oak. "Actually fuck her, goddamn weirdo," he said decisively.

-/-

After their conversation and being ditched every so abruptly by his talking taxi-cough—travelling companion-cough, Joey went to stand in front of Oak Laboratory to make a call.

He'd been making a certain someone wait for quite a long time now regarding their offer.

He pulled out his PokeNav and searched through his ever-expanding list of contacts. 

The ringtone resounded through the empty path down to Pallet. Oak's lab was on a bit of an incline, barely a hill, really.

"Hey, it's me."

"..."

"You saw my battle? I'm flattered. Yeah, the competition wasn't really fair, considering she had a third-stage and three second-stage evolutions while I had a Metapod and three first-stage Pokemon. But only losers complain about circumstances. If I ever have more evolutions, I don't want my opponent to try to invalidate my winning on those terms, either. Winning is winning. I chose not to evolve Rattata yet, and I suffered the consequences."

"..."

"Yeah, actually, that's why I'm calling you. Regarding your offer, I'm basically ready to accept. I just wanted to see if I could get four badges, which obviously changes the situation somewhat."

"..."

"Secondary gym or not, four badges are four badges, and I'm not planning to go to any minor gyms in the future. Sure, I came second in the tournament, but I'm still worth more than I was when we last talked."

"..."

"Yeah, that's more the price I was looking for," Joey said contently after being quoted a nice number. "Just one more thing, how much do you think the ranching is worth if we transferred it into Pokedollars? You have pretty Premium facilities."

"..."

"I know, I know, we can't tell yet. Also, a different situation if I catch a Snorlax in the future, right? Just give me a quote, I wanna know how much I'm worth in that regard."

"..."

"I guess you're right, I'll be worth more in the future, after I participate in the conference. Lower end offer, sure, since I wouldn't be using it this year anyway."

"..."

"I see that you value me quite a lot, huh, getting so much value from the ranch," Joey said with a smirk.

"..."

"What am I getting at? Well, I found that I won't need the stabling services actually, so I was thinking that we can just add the running costs that would have been required for that to my monthly stipend."

"..."

"Asking for a lot? What do you mean? You just told me it would be worth that much. If you don't have to spend it but get the same quality of service from me, wouldn't it make sense to add it to my remuneration?"

"..."

"Where did I learn how to negotiate?" Joey asked, thinking back to the businesses he'd started in his previous life. "School of hard knocks, old man, that's what you're paying for. Sheer, unbridled talent." 

"..."

"No one who didn't have a bit of arrogance got anywhere in life. Anyway, I'll show up for the classes and for the uniform measurement. When would be best?"

"..."

"You go on break for the Conference after that?"

"..."

"That sounds good. Lodging and food are included, I see. Wouldn't want to commute every day."

"..."

"It's nice working with you as well," Joey replied.

"..."

"You have an extra ticket if I can arrange my own hotel?" Joey asked with some surprise. "Do I look like I'm made out of money? I'll just treat it as an exercise in camping."

"..."

"Yeah, now I really have to go. Nice talking to you, and see you soon. I'm actually looking forward to the classes. I've been neglecting my theoreticals a bit recently. Winter break will be perfect for catching up."

"..."

"Good evening to you, too."

-/-

After the conversation with the PokeTech institute's principal, Joey reverently pulled out his Pokedex to admire its lustre.

Now that he had this bad boy and a promise to get Oak's stables after the conference… Then, adding PokeTech's money on top of that.

He was probably the most over-sponsored first-year trainer to ever exist.

But he'd achieved all of it with his own strength, so there was nothing anyone could complain about.

"Indigo Conference," he muttered thoughtfully.

He'd been playing with the idea of going. It was always different seeing it in person.

Now, getting free tickets, he could instead use the money to buy a full set of camping equipment and start practising living rough.

But first, he'd have to find a place to sleep in Pallet Town. It was too late to start getting back to Saffron via methods of public transportation, and he was pretty sure that when Sabrina ditched him, she had really ditched him instead of just joking about it.

-/-

AN: Conversation done, sponsorship arc finished. End youngster year written, a few more epilogue chapters then the trainer journey starts! If you liked what you read, consider supporting me on Patreon and reading ahead!