Looking at us from within the cave was the old Sentret that had pointed the way to civilization some time back. To my surprise Birch let out a gasp of astonishment as a look of recognition appeared on his face. "Trent!?" he exclaimed in astonishment. The Sentret merely snorted in amusement at the professors reaction. "I take it you know this pokemon then?" I asked Birch and he nodded vigorously. "Tyson was his trainer before old age took him. I knew that all of Tysons pokemon were released as per his will but I had never expected to come across one of them like this." he said honestly.-
"No wonder he's so strong , I always thought it strange for such a powerful pokemon to be here until now but that answers that." I said calmly. It didn't surprise me to learn that the old gym leaders will was respected and his pokemon released despite the unbalance they could bring to the ecosystem if they wanted to. Especially since this was one of the leaders personal pokemon which meant that it was likely champion tier in terms of skill and experience. I was pretty sure that the only reason it's level was so low was that it was suffering old age and injuries.-
"Unexpected pokemon aside this was the cave were we stayed before you met us." I said casually. Birch looked it over carefully at this point and clearly spotted the traces of my previous residency here. The charred black spot on the ground , the claw marks Gaia left on the stone as she dug it out as a Larvitar and even a few hairs that Vulcan shed while healing that were left on the ground. "It's strange how perfect this spot is for survival" he said slight confused.-
"What do you mean?" I asked curious at his statement. "The placement of this cave , the surroundings and even the pokemon found in this area are all nearly ideal for survival. You have water , food can be found not far from here and this cave serves as a perfect place to take shelter from the elements. It's hard to imagine a truly malicious psychic type would knowingly send you here , it's simply too perfect. The possibility of it being unintentional is unlikely as well since the pokemon tampered with your memories as well." Birch explained and I was surprised about it at first.-
How could I not be? Until now I had assumed I was just randomly chucked into this world by whatever brought me here but now that Birch pointed it out this spot really was a little too perfect. "I honestly can't say for sure what it was that sent me here but this is where I met both Gaia and Vulcan so I am grateful either way." I said honestly with a small genuine smile. "Perhaps it was a member of the mew species that sent you here? No one has ever figured out why they do some things and this mystery fits them like a glove." Birch offered an unsure explanation.-
"Mew , species?" I asked genuinely confused since I had thought there was legitimately one one Mew. "Ah right! I forgot that this was not public knowledge. Well basically there are two types of Mew , the progenitor Mew that is spoken of in legend as the origin of most pokemon we know today." He said before checking to make sure I was able to follow what he was explaining. I nodded and he continued "Then there is what we call the Mew species which is believed to be that Mews pureblooded descendants and hold great power."-
"These are the ones that seem to travel the world correcting balance in ecosystems and sometimes interfering in the lives of humans. We don't know exactly how many members this species has due to their ability to perfectly mimic any pokemon species letting them blend in. It may only be a handful or even thousands but we have no idea. All that is really known about them is hear say and legends as none have ever been captured or killed. The few fossils that have been found have been studied but are almost never complete enough to get any useful data." Birch explained seriously.-
I was VERY interested in information like this as it was very different from what I knew and was thus a novel thing. I suddenly remembered the task I wanted to get done with this trip and changed the subject. "As a gym leaders pokemon Trent here is probably pretty good at not accidentally killing his opponents right?" I asked while pointing at the Sentret with my thumb. Birch was confused by the sudden change in topic but nodded to show I was right.-
Trent on the other hand was looking at me curiously as it was interested to know what I had planned. "Sly here just so happens to need a firm push to evolve and I can see no better safe challenge than Trent here." I said with a smirk. Birches eyes lit up "Now that you mention it that would work out perfectly!" he said eagerly. "So how about it old man , think you have it in you to give this youngster a firm kick in the backside?" I asked the old Pokemon with a smirk. Trent snorted and got up slowly and hopped out of the cave on it's large furry club like tail.-
"Looks like you are feeling spry today huh old man?" I joked and Trent snorted in amusement. We headed over to the spot my pokemon usually used for training and sparring and Birch rubbed his eyes as if he thought he was seeing the wrong thing. "You weren't joking about how destructive your pokemon were , look at this place!" he exclaimed. I shrugged at that since I had never exaggerated when I talked about what they were capable of should they get serious.-
Sly did as I had taught it and quickly checked the terrain before taking it's position while Trent went directly opposite Sly casually. "Start!" I called and backed away from the area alongside Birch and my pokemon. Sly started out with a tackle towards Trent but the older pokemon didn't react at all. I was starting to wonder if it had gone senile when it sudden moved. In a blur of white glow and movement the older pokemon vanished from it's location with a stupidly fast quick attack and slammed into Sly , hard. The racoon pokemon cried in pain as it was launched backwards from the sheer impact of the attack.-
I could almost feel my jaw dislocate at the sight of an old pokemon absolutely manhandle a younger one. Trents move pool was clearly extensive as it used close to a dozen different moves all while holding back enough not to fatally injure or knock Sly out. It was a brutal beatdown that was honestly hard to watch as Trent barely even seemed to be using any effort in the matter while Sly looked like a particularly mean chainsaw had went to town on it. It was worth it in the end though when Sly lit up and was covered in a glowing rainbow light orb.