Inside the monitor room, Birkang sat on the classic chair with his left hand on the cane.
His eyes were watching the screen in front of him showing Kota.
"This brings back memories."
The old man Birkang smiled while putting the cane to the side and picking up a tea cup.
* * *
"Alakazam!"
With his psychic powers, Alakazam lifted Kota up from the ground.
They started levitating in the air as their figures headed towards the black clouds.
The wind was very strong, making Alakazam use his full strength to keep them safe.
"Come on! Don't lose to this weather!"
Kota encouraged Alakazam with his best abilities, but in the end, he was just a weight.
'There's something wrong with this place. Pokemons are having a very tough time here except Guard.'
*Grm*
The thunder roared out loudly, making Kota cover his ears because of it.
They were going up at a slow speed because of the pressure delivered to Alakazam.
"Alakazam, we need to hurry! The longer it takes to go up, the bigger the energy depletion in you!"
Shouted Kota, he looked around to see that he couldn't find the end of the black clouds.
'Just how big is this storm?'
*Grm*
A thunder almost hit them in the air, Kota immediately made a choice.
"Down now!"
Ordered Kota, Alakazam nodded weakly and came down together with Kota.
Any longer in the air and they might be the target of the next thunder.
And so, the first attempt towards their escape ended as a failure.
"But it would have surprised and shocked me if I had managed to escape in my very first try. It would also be a slap to that old man."
Kota shook his head and called Alakazam back inside his pokeball.
Reaching the cave that led to the underground lab, Kota walked with some disappointment.
As he reached his temporary bedroom, which could be permanent if everything remained the same, he sighed.
"Where the hell is Mew after bringing me to this island. No, after it trapped me here."
Kota corrected himself while resting on the fluffy bed. He had already changed into a new set of clothes provided by Birkang.
His eyes closed, his breathing stable and his body completely relaxed.
"Sometimes I wish everything to just be a dream and I wake up in my old bedroom. But I also hope that this is true."
Time passed and Kota got up from bed. He started doing exercise to strengthen himself.
It all began from about a month ago before he became the Indigo League winner.
The lab didn't have any equipment for the exercise so Kota could only rely on himself.
Taking off his clothes except his underwear. Warming up with an on-the spot running, he loosened his arms.
Getting in the standard push up position, Kota started his workout.
3 sets, each containing a total of 30 push ups with three seconds gap between the sets.
Done with the push ups, Kota laid his back on the mat which was specially requested by him.
Leg raise, a simple exercise to strengthen your legs with your abs included.
His body laid down straight, and his end of the foot joined together, he raised his legs.
4 sets, each containing a total of 20 raises with a three seconds gap between the sets.
"Ha…ha!"
Kota breathed out hot air while his chest went up and down in movement.
His face had become somewhat red because of the exercises he performed.
But he didn't even reach the half number yet.
Crunches, Lunge, Squats, Plank, Burpee, Wall sit, these were all which needed to be completed.
"I don't want to be bold like Saitama."
It took him three hours to fully complete his exercises which also included the Pull-ups and Dumbbells.
Obviously Kota had to use something else instead of dumbbells.
"If I can be persistent, then I might be a strong man in the future."
Taking a cold bath, Kota felt refreshed as well as weak because of the exercises.
* * *
In the monitor room, Birkang was writing something in a small diary.
*Clank*
The door opened and Kota came in beside him was Gengar.
"How was your first try? Did you escape the island?"
Birkang asked as he turned towards his back to look at Kota who didn't have any expression on his face.
"What do you expect? Didn't you clearly see me on the large monitor screen?"
Said Kota, he sat down on the side next to a table. Soon it was lunch time as Guard came in with a tray.
"Where do you get these?"
Kota picked up a spoon and started eating the rice with the curry.
'I don't even know what it's called.'
Kota was in thoughts when Birkang answered his question.
"You didn't visit the garden right?"
Raising his eyebrow, Birkang stared at Kota for a second before understanding.
"Garden? There's a garden down here?"
Of course Kota didn't know about the existence of the underground garden.
"You can find it around the corner at that side."
Birkang pointed his finger in the direction of Kota' right.
"I will check that out in some time. By the way, old man. Do you have any way to increase my pokemons' strength?"
Kota asked, he wasn't expecting anything from Birkang because it's likely that he didn't have any pokemon with him.
"Many."
Replied Birkang while munching down the rice and finishing it.
"Huh?"
Both of them stared at each other before Kota realized that he didn't hear wrong.
"Gengar!"
On the side, Gengar was circling around the huge Guard.
The Guard stood standing like a statue making Gengar very bored.
"Once upon a time, I had a very strong Dragonair. It could even compete with a Dragonite."
Saying so, Birkang stood up with the support of his cane and walked in front of the monitor.
Pressing a few buttons, some new photos came visible on the screen.
They were very old, pretty similar to the ones Kota had seen before of the old man Birkang.
In one of the photos, Kota looked at Birkang next to a very long blue pokemon.
"Then, what happened?"
Asked Kota, he observed Birkang's face to see a very sad and bitter expression.
"In the storm together with my other pokemons, Dragonair fell into the sea. They were inside their pokeballs."
With that, Birkang sat back on the chair in front of the monitor and sighed.
'Unless someone or something let them out. Dragonair and the rest of the pokemons won't be able to come out. But there can be special cases like Misty's Psyduck.'
Thought Kota, he didn't ask further. He had already got the answer to his question.
Can Birkang help his pokemons become stronger? Yes, he can.
* * *
As time went on and on, three months have passed since the disappearance of Kota.
The outside world didn't change much in that time. Pallet Town was having sad days.
Kota was not only a very popular kid, but he was also very kind.
Yes, he can be cold and dark. But that's not something that can make the people hate him.
Ash, Misty and Brock went still on their journey for Ash to participate in the Orange League.
Not long ago, a sudden news came in Johto Region.
'The Monster' appeared in a port city of the Johto Region together with a legend.