Ezra found himself awestruck. His eyes almost bugged out of their sockets as he took witness of the legendary pokemon professor. In hindsight, he kicked himself mentally. He was in Kanto partaking in the Indigo challenge, of [i]course[/i] he was going to encounter him! It’s one of the few things most trainers do when taking on a region challenge, it was only natural. 

Ezra himself encountered Kukui a couple of times during his life, though never in this context. It was usually through family terms, outside of his lab. Ezra's mother and father usually brought up a casual conversation with the professor and his wife. Esmerelda was the one who did all the fighting, so she would’ve been the one to approach him about taking on the league or something similar. Ezra was usually just there for support, but not much else. This scenario was new to the boy, and he found himself in rarified air. Rare in the sense that he was in the presence of an amazing man, and also in the sense that he found himself in stunned silence. 

...Also, Gary was there.

Ezra wanted to overwhelm Professor Oak with questions, reminisce over his nature documentaries and television appearances, compliment him on his flashy-yet-intelligent sense of style and fashion, maybe even obtain a slice of his limitless wisdom alongside an autograph or a picture. But before the boy could open his mouth to speak, the good professor shouted down the punk-clad Lizbeth with an interesting query.  

[color=gray][b]"HELLO LITTLE GIRL! Are you here to get your first Pokemon?"[/b][/color]

The peculiar outburst surprised the boy as much as it did Lizbeth. He was loud and moved faster than Ezra anticipated, and even spooked Brie. The tall trainer found his eyebrows raised and mouth slightly agape, prepared to make a dumb reply. Instead, he found his balance shifted slightly once the frightened redhead yanked on his bag to cower behind him. Like a Sawsbuck in headlights, Ezra was also petrified by the happenstance, and could only look on as the younger Oak reined in his eccentric grandfather. 

On his opposite shoulder, Brie tracked the punky trainer burying herself into the boy’s duffel, taking notes on her clear and present panic attack. Professor Oak vanished from the scene and, like the world’s most interesting tornado, left everyone to comment on his ways. 

Lizbeth spoke up, and in the moment, Ezra was able to properly identify her accent. [color=#00FFAE][i]“She’s from Galar! I knew I've heard it somewhere before!”[/i][/color] He thought, noting the accent as one he’s picked up from movies and tourists visiting Alola. 

He lifted his arm and twisted a bit to get a look at her, but she began to recover and took a step towards the gym leader.

[color=mediumvioletred][b]"I'm sorry, I actually didn't catch any of what you just said. That old man scared me too much for me to hear what you told us..."[/b][/color] Her voice was the clearest it seemed since she introduced herself. Sobering words that brought Ezra back to the moment. 

[color=#00FFAE]“Heh, yeah, me too. He kinda caught me off guard with that outburst…”[/color] He backed her up bashfully, getting a hand lost in his hair as he chuckled and grinned. He probably could’ve asked about local lodging opportunities, but was too busy recovering mentally to think about it.

[color=#00FFAE][i]“What the heck-? This is crazy…”[/i][/color] The circumstances of the situation were finally beginning to take hold in the boy’s brain.