[center] [color=ec008c]~Cerise Fontaine~[/color] [color=7ea7d8]"If you're looking for a psychic pokemon, go with Natu."[/color] Unfortunately, before Gwen could answer her, Yuu decided to give his own advice. Natu?...what a silly name. If it was a psychic type though, then well, she couldn't really be that picky. More importantly...was he eavesdropping on their conversation? Talk about rude. Well, not like she could really talk that much. Eavesdropping was a valuable way of getting info. Especially finding out someones dirty little secrets when they think no one is listening. Still, his advice and help was very much unwelcome. She'd let him know that later. [color=ec008c]"A...Natu? Is that a pokemon native to Johto, then?"[/color] She replied to him, still thinking about it. She was likely going to go with it either way, even if it was advice from him. Its not like she really liked many other pokemon. She had a whole list of reasons why she didn't like other types so much, especially those creepy bug types. [color=ec008c]"Ah, Excuse me Gwen, I'm going to go take a look."[/color] She proceeded to walk up to the table with the pokemon laid out on them. Several already had been taken. A Nidoran by Abigail, Gwen took a Tyrogue, Yuu an Eevee, and someone she hadn't met yet took a Totodile....wait, didn't she see him with Zeph earlier or something? She should at least introduce herself. Later. She needed to get her pokemon now. She scanned the names accompanied by the pokeball. Someone had just taken a...Misdreavus? Ew. Ghosts. Cyndaquil? no. Ah, Natu. Finally finding the right pokeball, she grabbed it. It was a psychic type, right? That Yuu guy better not be messing with her or something. If he was, she'd make sure he never made it to Cherrygrove.... She picked up the pokeball then walked over to where Alfred was, taking her card in the process. She was actually surprised she was able to get one with little difficulty, considering she had never handled pokemon before in her life. Or went to school, like Abigail. At least everyone else had some basic knowledge, but well, she didn't have the slightest clue. Just shows how greedy people are, if you flash enough money in their faces. Hrm...maybe she shouldn't have decided to not come here on a whim...once she got to Goldenrod she'd have to make sure she got enough money. Well, whatever. Time to see what this guy looked like. She released the pokemon in front of her. When she did...well, the round little bird thing was definitely not what she expected. She thought something more like Espurr might come out. Needless to say, she was a bit surprised...and a bit annoyed. This thing, was a bird, and definitely did not look like a psychic type. At least it was kind of cute. ....she supposed she could go with it. The little bird was looking up at her impassively, almost bored, really. In fact...the longer she stared at it, the more she got...a bit creeped out by it. It was almost like, it was...sizing her up? Could pokemon even do that? After a few minutes, the little bird chirped in what sounded like annoyance, before jumping up with a small flap of its wings...and perching right on her head. [color=ec008c]"H-hey, get down! I spent hours doing my hair this morning you runt!"[/color] She shouted. The bird simply ignored her as it looked around at the other trainers in the room, seeming to size them up as well. Whatever it was doing, Cerise was certainly not happy with it. After a moment of fighting with the thing, She plucked the bird from her head, and visibly glared at it. [color=ec008c]"Just what do [i]you[/i] think you're doing! My hair is not a nest!"[/color] Did...did that Natu just roll its eyes at her?! She almost threw the small bird pokemon across the room, before remembering where she was and that she was probably drawing a bit of attention to herself...the unwanted kind of attention. [color=ec008c]"Aha, uhm..." [/color]She somewhat nervously chuckled.[color=ec008c] "S-sorry, I take my hair seriously..."[/color] The Natu rolled its eyes again, though it didn't seem to do anything else. She went back towards Gwen, trying to avoid any more unneeded attention being drawn to herself. [color=ec008c]"Uhm...people usually name pokemon right?"[/color] She asked, mostly to herself. [color=ec008c]"So...Uhm, what about you?"[/color] The Natu simply stared at her in its blank stare, before seeming to ignore her, giving her a small peck on the cheek. It didn't hurt, but that was definitely a challenge. Oh great. She got a bratty little pokemon who wasn't going to listen to her. The two spent the next few minutes glaring at each other after it hopped off of her shoulder. [b]~Professor Elm~[/b] The professor watched all of the trainers get their pokemon. It was a nice feeling, really, to finally be able to see new trainers after such a long time. Sure, there were those who got theirs through other means - they had an elder sibling catch one for them after they got their licenses, or they chose from an internet or something, and a lab aide delivered them to the person after they got their license. Having them visit the lab though? Yeah, that was always his favorite part. Meeting the trainers in person, and getting to know them a little. Call him a silly old man, but that was still his favorite part. Let's see...Gwen. She had lived here in Newbark most of her life, from what he could remember. Nice girl, a bit of a loner though - but she was a good person. Abigail Blanchett. Her scores in the school were phenomenal, as were Yuu Nozumu's. Those two could definitely handle themselves, so he wasn't worried. Nathaniel - he didn't know too much about him or Mattie Linder, though Mattie was related to some gym leader or something, so she could probably handle herself. The one he was worried about, though, was the redhead who chose the Natu. Aside from the fact that he was fairly certain she used less than legal means to get her license, it was clear she had very little handling with pokemon before. well...there wasn't much he could do, really. She was with a good group of people, she could easily learn from them. [color=7ea7d8]"Say, Professor Elm,"[/color] Yuu's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. [color=7ea7d8]"Why are there no pokedexes? Rather peculiar as in this time, I thought it would be proper to hand trainers those devices... I mean, some of us are interested in why pokemon have gone berserk, plus from what I know, Professors don't go into the wild too much anymore, but trainers do. If you're doing research on them, wouldn't it be helpful for a trainer to record the info about them, and send them behavioral patterns back? That could speed up the process of finding out why they all became randomly aggressive... just my two cents I guess, sorry for the rambling."[/color] Well...he supposed that was a rather valid question, although pokedexes hadn't been given out to trainers in quite some time. He made some fairly valid points too, although he was assuming they'd find anything. Also, he seemed to be misinformed about the fact he didn't go into the field much any more. It was true he didn't go out very much that often, unless it was for a major discovery, such as that egg that was in the back. [color=7bcdc8]"I'm of the same mind. I was told that, along with our starter pokemon, we would also be handed our own Pokedexes. I find it really strange that there's not even a single pokedex that I can see inside this room. Why's that, Prof. Elm?"[/color] Nate was the next to speak up. Who told him they would be getting pokedexes? He never told any of them that - Pokedexes were now reserved for professors, researchers, and assistants. [b]"I apologize if anyone told you that you'd be getting one."[/b] He started with a sigh. [b]"But you're not. We haven't given pokedexes out to trainers in quite some time. They're typically reserved for research assistants and other people that are helping with research. Aside from being somewhat expensive, they are valuable research tools. You are right though, Yuu, we could give pokedexes to every trainer that wanted one and it could be a great help. But when we first started noticing something was wrong with the pokemon, we did exactly that and found nothing abnormal with them, aside from their increased aggression. All the professors enlisted the help of all of the pokemon trainers that were willing, but..."[/b] Professor Elm sighed again, before turning to look at the egg that was being studied. [b]"It's taken awhile, but I'm finally close to a breakthrough, I think. I'm not sure...but whatever affecting them is starting when they're eggs, and not pokemon. Its just a theory, but If all goes well, I could have a breakthrough." [/b] He turned back to Yuu and Nate, giving them a smile. "[b]But enough about that, you all shouldn't concern yourselves with it. Its a problem for us professors to solve."[/b] He didn't want to expand on it further, but he left out the part that all the anti-pokemon movements in the region were just looking for an excuse to slow down research even further. A death of a young trainer because he was being reckless with a pokedex would be just the ammo they needed. He may not really be a politician himself, but him and the other professors talk on a regular basis, and that was the conclusion one Professor Gary Oak came too. [color=662d91]~Abigail Blanchett~[/color] [color=ec008c]"H-hey, get down! I spent hours doing my hair this morning you runt!"[/color] ...looks like Cerise was going to have trouble with her Natu. Considering her lack of experience, that was kind of expected. Well, at least everyone mostly had theirs, now. Or did they all have them? She hoped they got moving soon, whatever the case was. She didn't really want to travel with these guys that much - though, it'd be smarter than traveling alone. She'd need some help in making sure Cerise didn't get hurt either. She knew her way around the city and the people in them, but outside of it? Well, she was a helpless puppy. Not like Cerise would have trouble getting the others to help them, though. She'd need more help with that Natu of hers. Speaking of pokemon, where had her Nidoran gotten? The little guy apparently liked messing with things - or at least poking his nose into places he probably shouldn't. It took her few seconds to pinpoint exactly where the little guy had gotten. ...he was right next to the white haired chick...staring right at her prosthetic leg. Now, that by itself was harmless. However, attempting to use it as a chew toy...was NOT. Tyrian had decided that the artificial limb, looked delicious apparently and was already attempting to eat it. [/center]