(Third Person POV)
The group that arrived was certainly unique, standing from left to right are youngsters only 2 years younger than Kaori himself.
The first has raven black hair with shining red eyes, he wears a red jacket over his black undershirt, black wristbands on both wrists, blue long pants and red with black sports shoes, finally, a red cap over his head.
The next one was a young boy with orange spiky hair, sharp grey eyes wearing a black shirt, purple wristbands and purple pants with blue with black sports shoes and a white bag on his waist.
The next boy looked a lot like the last, but his eyes and face were rounder, he also has dark brown hair and wears a purple shirt with dark blue pants and a small necklace, instead of grey he has black eyes.
Finally, the last kid wears a black undershirt with a Special Edition Official League Cap, first edition, blue pants and some and white with black shoes. Other than his black hair and eyes, the only other remarkable trait about his appearance are the small marks on his cheeks that look like Z's.
"Professor! I need a borrowed Pokémon to defeat Red's Poliwhirl!" The Z marked kid shouts as he enters the lab.
"You know you're gonna lose Ash, Poli's the strongest!" The kid with the red cap answers.
"Highlight of your life, eh Red?" The boy with orange hair snarked.
"Shut up Blue, you're just jealous that you don't have a single Pokémon yet." The red cap boy, now known as Red, snapped back.
"Why did we even come here today? Grandpa said that we shouldn't bother him today." The brown-haired boy asked with a tired sigh.
"Hehe~ Are you tired Gary? You're such a slob~" The Z marked kid teased with a smirk.
"I'm only tired because I was studying my type matchups, perhaps if you actually read a book every now and then you'd know that Electric-Types are ineffective against Ground-Types, Ash-boy." Brown-haired Gary talked back.
"Stop calling me Ash-boy! It's annoying!" The Z marked, Ash, complained.
"Only when it stops being funny, Ashy-boy." Gary kept going with the nickname.
The group of kids just resumed their usual banter, unaware of the new person inside the Professor's lab and acting like this was a simple Tuesday.
Oak just sighed in disappointment and even a bit of shame of seeing the boys being so casual about this, Kaori on the other hand felt like he just met Chuck Norris after his Martial Arts Championships.
Ash Ketchum, one of the few with an actual full name and the future Pokémon Master of the Anime series. Loved and cherished by many as well as being hated by many as "the ultimate releaser" or "Mr. never fully evolves his mons" or "Lost a 6V5 against a braindead idiot in Unova" or "Never catches legendary Pokemon" or "League Loser" or "Bullshitter strategies" or "Pikachu reset to level 5 each region", although that last one's more for Pikachu than Ash himself, or "I've seen that Pokemon before but I'll still check it again in the Pokedex for the nth time" or "I'm so dense that light bends around me" etc. you get the idea.
Still, it would be a CRIME to say that Ash is less lovable than Liko and her gang in Horizons, eugh. (Author's personal opinion, Kaori loves Horizons as well).
Red, the OG Manga protagonist, the guy whose Pikachu managed to hurt a Ground-Type with an Electric-Type move. Several arcs of character development made him the respected trainer in the future, he even bagged a cutie that was just three years younger than him, by the time he hits his 20 she'll be legal.
Blue, the best trainer there is, although a smartass brat at times has the effort and to back up everything he says, using the Pokédex as a tool to train and learn more of his Pokemon, Blue developed a ruthless battle-style that focused on him exploiting his enemies' weakness while enhancing his advantages, he's also a Tsundere.
Gary, the OG rival that Ash had throughout the first and second season of Pokemon. Unfortunately he just become an average professor that will eventually participate in the Mew Project, which didn't do jack shyte, but yeah, at least he was more relevant that Richie, or Barry, or Stephan, or Paul, and Paul was the GOAT of rivals, ideologically opposite to Ash's but still having better outcomes when training.
Anyway, the bottom line here is that Kaori is using every ounce of willpower to not freak the F out as the geek he is.
'Calm down Kaori, they're just real versions of the fictional characters you've come to like and even respect, not to say idolize, so just calm down and say something normal.' Kaori.
"So, these the kids you were talking about?" Kaori asked Prof Oak.
'Flawless.' Kaori.
"Yes, give me a second Kaori." Oak starts approaching the group.
*AHEM* Oak coughed to get the attention of the boys.
The boys in question looked at Oak and then realized a tad of their childishness, except for Ash.
"Professor! I need to have a Pokémon battle with Red and win!" Ash announced, not reading the mood at all.
Oak got a small tick mark on his forehead. "Ash, do you remember what I told you guys a few days ago?" Oak.
"Told us something…? Hm...…was it about brushing our teeth before eating breakfast even if the minty flavor of the toothpaste makes the food taste funny?" Ash asked.
"No." Oak.
"Hm...That Charmander's not a Ground/Fire-Type?" Ash took a guess again.
"No…" Oak's patience was depleting.
Before he could continue, Blue shut Ash's mouth shut and answered instead.
"That you were gonna have a visit in a few days and that we shouldn't come here unannounced." Blue.
"Correct." Oak sighed in relief.
The group then look around Oak and see Kaori, who's just awkwardly waving his hand at them.
"Oh…."Ash realized.
"Hello." Kaori greeted the group.
Oak sighs. "Kaori, these are the kids I was talking about, they are Red." Oak.
"Sup." Red waved back.
"Ash."
"Hi!" Ash.
"And my grandsons Blue and Gary." Oak.
"Yo." Blue.
"Hey." Gary.
"They're the trainers from Pallet Town that will be starting their own journeys after some months." Oak explained.
"Well, Red and I could've started this year but since we're waiting for my baby bro and Ashy here to become 10 we're just using this time to prepare a tad more." Blue commented.
"You're only a year older than me, and Daisy's older than both of us, so drop it." Gary commented, clearly irked about his brother's words.
"So, you're also a professor?! You look like you're just a little older than us." Ash.
"Well, I'm twelve, how old are you?" Kaori.
"You're only twelve and already a professor? I don't believe it." Gary.
"Ash and Gary are 9 and will be 10 this year, Blue and I on the other hand are already eleven." Red.
"I see, also quick note, I'm not a professor yet, I'm planning to work under Prof Oak here to become one." Kaori explained.
"Still, aren't you telling us all the time about how this takes time and whatnot?" Blue questions his grandfather.
Oak awkwardly coughs in his fist before regaining composure. "In most cases that's true, Kaori however appears to be quite the formidable scholar, I'd even dare call him a genius." Oak.
Kaori blushed from embarrassment as he denied the claim. "Me? A genius? No, no, no, no, I'm just as average as everyone else Prof Oak, no need to flatter me that much." Kaori.
"You don't have to be that modest about it but I'll drop the subject here then." Oak walks towards Kaori and taps his shoulder. "Anyway, now that everyone's introduced to each other, I hope you won't cause too much trouble to Kaori, understood?" Oak.
"Ashy-boy and Red are the ones who're always causing trouble." Gary defended himself.
"Hey!" The two kids complained.
"Regardless of anything, I was just finishing instructing Kaori of his new internship and he was about to settle in his room, I'll let you guys borrow a Pidgeotto if you wait for me in the backyard." Oak.
"Alright! Prepare to lose Red!" Ash immediately rushed outside, leaving his friends.
"I wish I could see that battle *YAWNS* but I'm feeling a bit drowsy professor." Kaori comments as he scratches his left eye.
"Of course, rest well Kaori, I'm scheduled to remain here for the rest of the day so, if you need something don't be shy and ask." Oak.
"Goodbye guys, see you later." Kaori commented as he walked towards the stairs.
"See ya." Gary.
"Bye." Red.
"Smell ya later." Blue.
Kaori waved back before finally leaving.
'Why do I feel so drowsy? I just arrived. Is it out of shock of meeting so many important future people all at once? I don't know but with the egg safe, I'll just take a nap.' Kaori.
He entered his room, it was a plain-looking room, white sheets in a white bed with light green tapestry in the walls, a small desk near the window with a chair to write and a wardrobe for clothes.
Kaori left his bag gently near the bed before he sat on it, he took off his shoes and hat before laying on the bed.
'This is truly the best thing that's ever happened to me…' With those last thoughts, Kaori went to sleep.
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Kaori woke up inside a black space, he looked around only to see darkness.
'Wait…did I died again?! No!!!! I just got started!!' Kaori wailed in his mind.
A few seconds later, the scenery shifted, grabbing Kaori's attention. He saw a tall woman carrying a child in her arms, the woman looked frail, even if her face looked obscured Kaori could still see the tears dripping from her face as she laid the baby in the entrance of a building before knocking the door with unnecessary force.
After the woman left, a man wearing a pastor's clothing opened the door slightly, once he saw the baby on the floor he immediately came out of the building and carried the boy inside.
Kaori didn't need to know any context, its very clear that what he's seeing right now, are his memories, the memories of Kaori before his consciousness took over.
The next scene shows Kaori playing with several wild Pokemon, including some of the Star Region like Iriden and Mabonny, Kaori looked so happy playing, eating and sleeping around Pokemon.
Kaori smiled at the new memory, that although its not one he experimented, he does love the heartwarming scene.
The scene then shifted to Kaori in the age of 6-8 reading several Pokémon books and writing his notes about what he learned, some kids called out to him so he closed his notebooks and went to play with them.
'Good, at least I wasn't an antisocial person.' Kaori thought with relief.
The scene now shifts to a more dramatic memory.
Kaori is running throughout the forest, he looks to be just 11 or so as he's trying to get away from two black dressed people chasing him with two Raticates behind him.
Past Kaori ran until it saw a big gap between to jump and a loose vine atop of a tree in between that gap, Kaori sped up and slid on the ground to grab a stone, he then threw it at the vine, making it fall but a side was still tangled to the tree.
Kaori then jumped and grabbed the vine, swung across the gap and made it to the other side before snapping the vine, leaving his pursuers without a way to catch up easily.
Kaori was amazed by his physical prowess, he didn't expect his past self to be this athletic.
'Still, why am I running away from them? did I do something bad or are they...I hope its not them.' Kaori cursed in his mind, hoping those grunts weren't the grunts he thought they were.
Past Kaori is now making his way to what appears to be an illegal Pokemon trading zone, many of the Pokemon injured inside cages and even crying, Kaori's expression for the first time ever showed an angry expression, only softer to his present self's who's boiling in rage.
Kaori climbed a tree and stood atop of a grunt near were the Fire-Types were being held and he, I kid you not, let himself fall with all his weight on top of that grunt. His elbow smashed against the grunt's skull, probably breaking something, but Kaori only cared about two things, the captured Pokemon and his probably broken elbow.
Once again, Kaori was surprised of his past self, not that he disliked it though.
Past Kaori then took the guard's keys in hopes that one would open the cages of the Fire-Types, which indeed it does, the loud sound however, alerted the other guards, who unleashed their Pokemon.
Kaori coordinated the attack such as Embers and Fire Spins to attack the enemies, it was at this moment that Kaori found a lonely egg inside a semi-open crate, Kaori then defeated the grunts one after another and freed the entire batch of captured Pokemon.
Past Kaori was about to leave with his group when an explosion caught him off guard, someone attacked the strongest Pokemon first, the larger and stronger Pokemon decided to stay back fighting this new foe as they left the younger ones leave alongside Kaori.
Past Kaori only managed to get a glance, but it was enough to engrave his appearance in his mind for the rest of his days. Donning a black set of clothes with a remarkable long red scarf that always dances with the wind, his silver eyes and hair glowing under the moonshine alongside his large cleave of a sword, below him was his trusty Flygon, already preparing another Hyper Beam.
Kaori immediately recognized him as Kustem, the Dragon-Type specialist and Leader of Team Rekiem. Even through this memory, Kaori could FEEL the pressure this guy has, he isn't seeing Pokémon like profit, he sees them like prey...and he's enjoying this small "mishap".
Flygon shot his Hyper Beam at Kaori's group of fleeting Pokemon, Kaori used his body to protect the egg as he was pushed due to the explosion and fell down a cliff into a river, leaving the destiny of the other Fire-Types unknown.
Kaori made a small prayer for the sake of those Pokemon before the Memory resumed.
Arriving at his Orphanage and being nursed back by the Priest working there, Kaori then felt fear of dragging his friends and family to his mess. After looking online for several Prof Oak's numbers, because there's a lot of scammers, Kaori somehow hit jackpot and actually got a videocall to Prof Oak.
After a back and forth of reviewing different Pokemon theories and abilities and overall analysis, Kaori managed to convince Prof Oak that he was someone who was about to become a Pokemon Professor but needed a recommendation from a professional or the committee of the region.
Intrigued by his knowledge, Oak agreed to take him under his wing and paid for a ticket that the S.S. Anne would arrive for a few hours for legal democratic reasons that Oak didn't specify on.
After packing his bags and leaving a note of apologies, Kaori boarded the S.S. Anne, just in the nick of time before Star's Lockdown, laying on the bed crying himself to sleep, Kaori arrived at the world while unconscious.