"Say, is it really a good idea for us to go in such a hurry?"
In the forest leading from Celadon City to Fuchsia City, Whitley was carrying Chimchar in her arms, with a large backpack on her back that contained the egg incubator.
She looked at Rope's back and asked, slightly puzzled.
"Or what? We've already said hello to Erika haven't we? The class is over, the guests have gone back, and everyone knows you're considered my student. You've got your Pokémon egg too, so what else are we going to do where we stay?"
Rope asked without looking back.
"I just... don't feel good about leaving without saying hello to anyone."
Whitley stammered a bit.
Rope stopped in her tracks, Whitley didn't react for a moment, and then slammed into Rope's back, causing Chimchar, who was being held in her arms, to whimper.
"Why did you suddenly brake sharply!"
Whitley rubbed her head, realizing that Rope was also carrying a large backpack on her back, and slamming into it still hurt.
Rope looked back quizzically and asked, "Are you feeling like you've become friends with both Eri and Yutsuki?"
"Er, isn't it?" Whitley was a bit confused by Rope's question, so he asked back rather puzzled.
"Emm, that's not really what I meant."
Rope pondered for a while, then looked down at Whitley and said, "What do you say, how about I enroll these two in my institute?"
Whitley: ????
"Where would you get an institute?"
Whitley then wondered. She'd been with Rope for a long time, and the guy didn't seem to be short of money, but it was also true that she hadn't seen the guy do much serious research, including that new paper he'd given in the open class before, which Rotom had drafted and then Daisy had done the filler.
He'd done very little hands-on work on his own, not at all like a newly minted doctor, and now Rope was telling her that he had an institute, wasn't that a joke?
Rope, on the other hand, looked at her rather strangely, "As a Professor, is it strange that I have an institute?"
Whitley was silent for a while, don't say, it's not really a problem, usually Professors have their own institutes, even most of the researchers can have one at this stage of senior researcher.
The difference between them is just the area of the institute, the number of researchers and so on. And it's not like you'd have a problem smashing yourself a huge research institute if you're really rich.
"Even though I haven't built one yet, there will always be one~"
Rope waved his hand and gave a wide smile.
Whitley: ...
"What the hell are you talking about?[1]"
Whitley growled violently before a Pokémon covered in purple fur and a pair of large red eyes, along with two long tentacles, suddenly sprang out of the bushes to the side.
"Venonat? (Who called me?)"
Venonat cocked his head and called out suspiciously.
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
Rope was close to rolling on the floor with laughter. But he laughed so hard that fire came out of his mouth... so it startled Venonat and scurried off into the bushes out of sight.
Chimchar on the other side burst out laughing in kind. Though he didn't actually get what Rope was laughing at.
Whitley picks Chimchar up by the back of the neck and carries him to her eye level and asks viciously, "What are you laughing at?!"
Chimchar:(/▽＼)
Whitley helplessly put him back in her arms then rubbed his head viciously.
Then he gave Rope a hard kick and said helplessly, "Will you grow up, the great Professor Rope!"
Rope got up and shrugged, "I've matured enough in the last two days, give me a break."
Whitley gave him a blank stare and didn't say anything about it, turning to ask, "You're going to lure Eri and Yutsuki to your still-shadowed institute immediately? It's unlikely, isn't it. After all, both of them aren't exactly weak in terms of family and ability. There's no need to wait for that institute of yours that you don't know when you'll get up."
Rope stroked her head and said, "I'm actually not too far behind these two in my institute. They're still in my institute because they're your friends, okay."
Whitley sniffed and also rolled her eyes and said, "Eri aside, Yutsuki is Charles Goodshow's granddaughter, what makes you think she'll hang herself from the crooked tree that is your institute?"
"Because my institute would be the only place to have daily access to Legendary Pokémon."
Rope took another step forward, rambling.
"Where how... what are you talking about???"
Whitley was startled for a moment, then hurriedly followed up by tugging at Rope's cuffs and asking, "Everyday access to Legendary Pokémon... are you planning on keeping Entei at the Institute all the time?"
Rope bristled, "Do you think the only Legendary Pokémon I can find is Entei? In the future Legendary Pokémon are all going to be there. Far from it, Hoopa, the Demon God who's still over in Pewter City, hasn't gotten his powers back from probation yet, but that's going to happen sooner or later. And Mewtwo, who I just met, that guy will be back sooner or later, and might even bring me some surprises."
Speaking of which, Rope thought of the theater version she had seen before, although quite a bit of time had passed, she did remember the one with Mewtwo and the Steel Bug God - Genesect quite well, after all, Mewtwo in that was indeed a female voice, and shouting out a Moe-two wasn't too much of a stretch.
The logic of the plot doesn't really stand up to scrutiny... but really, how many theatrical releases of Pokémon have stood up to scrutiny? People don't go to see it for the plot, they go to see Legendary Pokémon.
And this world's Mewtwo is also Moe-two, so Rope's pitch for her to travel out to the Unova region to find the Steel Bug God was a big part of the impetus.
But then again, with Team Plasma all screwed up, will the Steel Bug God be revived and revamped?
It doesn't matter if they don't, Rope doesn't have a problem with the only god of the bug system anyway.
Happy if he was, not sorry if he wasn't.
"And there should be more Legendary Pokémon around me by the time I actually start fulfilling the duties Arceus spoke of. What I said before about the subject being difficult to study was only relative to those not in my institute."
Rope shrugged and said so.
Whitley didn't know what to say for a moment, except that Rope said it in a rather underhanded but still handsome way.
"So, am I the assistant at the institute?!"
Whitley asked with a hint of a leap of faith as if something had suddenly occurred to her.
"No, it's not."
"I knew it had to be me... what did you say???"
Whitley wondered why you were telling me so much when it wasn't me.
"I'm going to let Daisy be my assistant, and you, more than anything, are going to be out there running contacts and exploring the ruins on your own or with me."
Rope said lightly.
"Ah~ Boring...why do I have to follow you!"
In the middle of the conversation, the two had gradually stepped into the depths of the forest. The voices also faded away.
Thus, the 'Brief Introduction of Research Institute', which was famous in the latter days, had completed its initial staff conception in the midst of the joke-like talk.
[1] “没有你说个毛球啊！” - '毛球' is the Chinese name for Venonat, '个毛球' is a way to curse