[center][color=6ecff6][h3]Shane[/h3][/color]
[color=6ecff6]Pokemon in Party[/color]
[img]http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/duskull.gif[/img]
[@Sketcher][@Alias][@Sudkurve]
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Shane watched silently as the final member of their cohort picked the last of the Pokemon that had been set out for the new trainers.  He felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the creature that popped out of the final Pokeball.  He knew a thing or two about a number of Pokemon, having watched a fair share of league tournaments, not to mention reading up a good number of Pokedex entries online.  He knew this Pokemon, or rather- he knew what it evolved into.  It was the creature he had jokingly referred to as "Hax-'R-Us" due to how utterly badass it always seemed to be on the big screen.  It was somewhat shocking and almost a little alarming to see a freakin' dragon being given out to newbie trainers.  He had really been expecting something closer to the more traditional starting Pokemon that the first two trainers had received.  

As might be expected from a teenage boy who might have had his very own dragon but had ended up with a floating eyeball in a bed-sheet due to picking randomly, Shane felt a distinct pang of jealousy.  This feeling was almost immediately drowned out by an even greater feeling of guilt.  Here he was, being given a Pokemon and fancy new Pokedex for free and all he could do was think of how much cooler other people's Pokemon were?  There was more to it than that.  Watching the reactions the other trainers had at first sight of their own Pokemon had stood in stark contrast to the relatively ambivalent reaction Shane had given.  It wasn't that he wasn't thrilled (he was ecstatic), it was just that- blah.  There were no good words to describe what he was feeling at the moment, though it was clear that he should probably make more of an effort to be friendly towards his new partner.  After all, they were probably fairly eager to be out and about in the world with a new trainer.  Looking up to where his unnamed Duskull still floated in the air, he waited until it's single red-eyed gaze settled on him.  He tried his best at giving the new Pokemon a friendly grin, though after a moment of silent contemplation the ghost Pokemon simply rolled that one eye in an exaggeratedly impressive arc before resuming not paying any attention to Shane.  It figured.  To be fair, there was no reason why any Pokemon should be that enthused to be stuck with a trainer like him.

With everyone all set and ready with their new Pokemon, there was some brief discussion about grouping up with one another to head out as a sort of team prompted by the professor.  If he was a little less socially awkward, he might have let out a gigantic sigh of relief at the suggestion.  The thought of trucking it through the wilderness all by himself was honestly quite terrifying, even if the alternative was wandering around with people he barely knew.  He had just opened his mouth to reply to the invitations when another scientist arrived to have a brief word with the professor.

Of course, Shane had been 100% convinced there would be some sort of random problem dropped into his lap out of nowhere to somehow ruin everything forever.  Sure enough, before he knew what exactly was happening, he was being ushered off by another professor, his unnamed Duskull lazily floating along behind them.  [color=6ecff6]"I- err, excuse me."[/color]  He managed to stammer out after the initial shock had worn off and the reality of the situation began to weigh in. [color=6ecff6]"I really couldn't tell you where my parents are at the moment, or even what region since they move around so much.  B-but I could call them up if I needed to. Couldn't they so some sort of e-signature or something?"[/color]  It seemed ridiculous for him to get this far, only to be stopped at the final hurdle by a bit of minor bureaucracy.  He would have assumed the lab was advanced enough that they had transitioned at least that far technology-wise, though you never knew when you'd run across that one professor who clung to a near-obsolete age of technology and insisted on having everything done by hand.  Though, hang on a second, wasn't there some other ancient technology older people tended to gravitate towards? [color=6ecff6]"Oh, right.  Could they, err, fax you some forms or something?"[/color]