Chapter Text
Nathan Birch has a worry.
It isn't something that can be called bothersome or serious but he still can't stop himself from thinking. It's about his adopted daughter, one he has for over a year now.
Don't get him wrong, even if the girl is not blood related, he still loves his little princess very much. Ariel is nothing but adorable, a little quiet but very obedient. Too obedient, in fact, that it becomes a problem.
The professor look at the navy hair girl on her bed through the gap of the door, a little lost at what to do.
This girl is so hard to read most of the day and no one beside Brendan, his other child, is able to get any reactions out of her that isn't passive politeness. As if she is a guest in her own home.
It's understandable that she isn't warming up to her new family instantly, he tries to give her some space as much as he could. But it's another story to barely get a chance to interact at all. Sometimes it feels like this girl intentionally avoid interacting with them, prefering the Pokemons and her little notebook than the humans in this house.
"Father?"
The girl's voice pulled him out of his thought. Look like he is caught red handed. The professor gently push the door and get into the girl's bedroom.
"Can't sleep?" He asked.
"Uh-huh."
He then look at a pen and the notebook in her hands.
"It's pretty late now, what are you doing before? Can you show me?"
She seems really surprised by the questions. Seeing that makes the professor want to rewind the time before he said such a stupid thing. Of course, it would be uncomfortable! Who would want people to look into their personal notebook if it isn't someone they really trust.
"Uhm- okay?"
That's why he is shocked when she just offered said notebook to him without much thought. Maybe their relationship is better than he thought? Something to think about later.
After opening the page, the first thing that caught Nathan eye are strange symbols littering all over the notebook. They are a string of dots and dashes, sometimes there's a shape above or below those row of lines. Those symbols offen accompany by a random word like 'red' 'berry' 'tackle' or a sentence, usually around longer string of symbols.
He must look so confused because the girl then starts explaining.
"Oh, that's a word mimicking Pokemon way of speaking. The line is long sounding syllable, the dot is short sounding syllable, the up stroke represents raising pitch- or that what I'm trying to do. I still can't decide on many things so the symbol keeps changing around."
The explanation didn't get rid of professor Birch's questions at all, in fact, it only worsen the situation.
"Wait a minute, these are words? Of Pokemon?"
"Yes?"
The girl answered as if it's the most normal thing in the world.
"And these are the equivalent human words?"
"Uh-huh"
Looking at his daughter completely innocent face. Suddenly, professor Birch feel a little unsure. Did he just heard the most mind-blowing thing or is it just his hallucination?
Ha! as if- There is no way the world's most groundbreaking discovery would just appear in his daughter hands so casually.
"So is that mean you can understand Pokemon?"
Ariel looks a little embarrassed when hearing those words.
"Uhmmm a little? I'm still not good though but a shorter sentence is fine, I think."
The man's face changed to shock but still have a trance of doubt. You can't really blame him since understanding Pokemon language is the most rare and most valuable talent in this world after all, the kind that usually only appears in legends.
"Can you show me?"
The girl tilted her head, thinking a bit.
"Well, how about you draw something and show it to Feebas there? He will tell me what picture it is. Is that all right with you Feebas?"
She paused a little.
"Here"
After receiving the pen, Nathan started drawing something on another page then show the picture to the fish Pokemon in the jar beside the bed, making sure his daughter can't see it. Little Ariel looks at the fish with concentration, her brow fold together.
"What do you actually draw? He said it has five circles and four? Five? Rectangles? Oh, some kind of Pokemon? Well, I have no idea what this is, sorry."
The professor look at his drawing again. He can't help but acknowledge that the 'Skitty' he drew is very questionable. It did indeed has five circle and five rectangle (one is actually a body part which he intended it to be an oval more than a rectangle but he will never admit that.)
His terrible drawing aside, this does prove beyond doubt that she indeed understand what the Pokemon said.
"Incredible! You do really understand them. How did you do it?" He can't help but asked in amazement.
"Uhm- I just recorded Pokemon word in this notebook and tried to memorize as much as possible, starting with land Pokemons that's easier to understand, then move to the other type: Cocoon insect Pokemon, Mineral Pokemon, Aquatic Pokemon and so on. They have the same language but express it in a different way so I have to try it out through trial and error a lot. I bet half of your habitat Pokemons think of me as an annoying kid now."
She sighed.
"Like Feebas here, he use bubble for speech. More bubble mean raising pitch, Less bubble mean lower pitch, the duration of the bubble is the duration of the word. Actually, almost all aquatic Pokemons that live in water are hard to decipher so maybe I shouldn't use him as an example in the first place? Well, it's too late."
This is the first time he heard someone explaining Pokemon language so clearly, so logically. It's almost like he can learn it if he try. Which means what exactly? That Pokemon language can be learnt and taught? Suddenly, the world where people can all understand Pokemon is not impossible anymore.
If the ability to understand Pokemon is worthy of being a legend, then what about the ability to teach Pokemon language to someone else?
The ability that can and will change the world.
And that ability is already in the hands of this little girl, in the hands of his daughter.
"Ariel" the next word feel so heavy, as if it's carrying the fate of the world. "please tell me honestly. What do you think of becoming a researcher?"
Because love it or hate it, there is only one path for a genius such as herself. Someone who already suppressed almost everyone in this field even before taking the job officially.
Looking back at how she spent every moment in this house, looking at her dense notes in the notebook she painstakingly wrote down one word at a time until she has all the word that can make up a dictionary. He can see that she is a genius indeed, a genius of hard work. One that probably only appears once in every hundred years.