[center][color=9efbb6][h1]Valen[/h1][/color] [@PlatinumSkink] [/center] [hr] After Valen had received his pokemon from Kalmia, he was off to explore Pureplain City, his new partner floating by his side. He hadn't opted to participate in any battles because he'd been far too nervous, but now Valen had felt as if he may have missed out some. His thoughts were distracted by Qwerty squawking. "Kre! Kre!" Qwerty the Porygon honked in excitement, floating circles around Valen. [color=9efbb6]"Qwerty, you're so energetic,"[/color] Valen said, half impressed and half worried. [color=9efbb6]"I mean, I hope you don't hurt yourself. Maybe you should slow down..."[/color] Qwerty shook her head fiercely, insistent on whizzing around in frenzied circles. Having spent most of her time in cyberspace, the outside world was quite literally an entirely new universe to explore. How could she waste even a second not taking in the sights? All she had ever seen in her life were pixels, binary numbers, firewalls, and data streams. And while that had been an interesting and fun part of her life, she had [i]always[/i] wanted to experience other things. She was a pokemon, too! Qwerty hadn't even [i]seen[/i] other pokemon until she had been transferred to the lab. Of course she knew information and quite a bit of it. For example, she knew about most pokemon she had read about. But reading and seeing were two different things. And [i]now[/i], well, she was outside. Qwerty was seeing grass, flowers, buildings, even more pokemon, and the [i]sky.[/i] The sky was like an air ocean, Qwerty thought in her own pokemon-like way. Would she be able to voyage across it one day, to outer space? As the glitter of the blue ocean sparkled with promises in the distance, Qwerty decided she had to cross the sea on earth before she went into the sky, at least. While Qwerty excitedly zipped along, checking out the cracks in concrete and the jasmine blossoms that crawled along the local fences, Valen walked aimlessly, feeling quite empty and strange. [color=9efbb6][i]It's so different being so far away from home. I wonder how mad Mom and Dad are. I wonder how many times they've called me. I wonder if they're right about me not being able to become a pokemon trainer... I wonder if I'll have to come back. What do I do now? I've got a pokemon, that's step one. But where do I go from here?[/i][/color] Valerian, having been quite sheltered and a homebody for most of his life, had never truly gotten to explore or make decisions for himself. He'd always been listening to his parents. And now he had all the freedom to do what he wanted to do, but he had no idea what to achieve. He sat down on a bench, a little bummed out and overwhelmed. Qwerty looked at him quizzically. Her human seemed to be exhibiting signs of sadness. This was not good. They needed to keep exploring. She needed to make him smile because if he smiled, that meant he was happy. She gently nudged his shoulder with her flat, blue and pink bill. "Kre?" Valen patted Qwerty. [color=9efbb6]"I'm sorry, we can get up in a minute. I'm just feeling weird..."[/color] Could Qwerty understand him, he wondered. Talking out loud helped, at least. He found himself wanting to do it more. [color=9efbb6]"My parents are probably really mad at me and I'm just feeling kind of scared. You know?"[/color] Qwerty shook her head. [color=9efbb6]"See, that's what kind of surprises me. Kalmia said you hadn't seen the outside world before either, she said me and you were really alike. But you're really happy and you're not afraid of anything. Why not? Isn't being out here really overwhelming?"[/color] Qwerty shook her head. "Kre! Kre! Kre!" Her energy and all around happy attitude were infectios, Valen thought, a grin coming onto his face. He found himself standing up. [color=9efbb6]"Alright, you know what, this is your first day as much as mine. We should find something you want to do, Qwerty."[/color] If he couldn't think of the next move, Qwerty's choice was the next best thing, he figured. Qwerty's eyes widened at at thought, and she immediately began spinning her polygon feet like the wheels on a car. Her human was letting her decide! There were so many things to do! Well, the first thing that caught her immediate attention was a bulletin board, numerous notices tacked on. [color=9efbb6]"Hm? Oh, hey, there's a bunch of advertisements and stuff here..."[/color] Valen muttered. One ad in particular stood out to him, however. It was asking for help in dealing with some wild pokemon that kept attacking a circuit breaker box. [color=9efbb6]"Well that's interesting. I didn't know pokemon cared about stuff like that,"[/color] Valen said. [color=9efbb6]"Qwerty, look. Some guy's having trouble with some pokemon attacking a part of his house or something..."[/color] As he said it outloud, Valen felt nervous. What if something went wrong? [color=9efbb6]"So you want to see if you can help? You sure? It sounds dangerous..."[/color] But Qwerty shook her head and 'jumped' up and down in mid-air, demanding. "Kre kre kreeeee," she said, sounding almost as if she were pleading. [color=9efbb6]"Okay. Maybe it won't be so bad. I mean, maybe we could help this guy out. Maybe we'll get something cool? We'd kind of be saving the day,"[/color] Valen said dreamily. Porygon's seemed to be a smart and bright species. Qwerty probably was going forward because she knew what she could handle. It would be experience for sure, Valen thought. And if he could do something like this, why, maybe he'd be able to call his parents about his sucess and show them how well he was doing his first day. [color=9efbb6]"Well, I guess... Okay. Okay, let me put this guy's address in,"[/color] Valen said, taking out his pokedex and typing in the coordinates. [i][color=9efbb6]Proving Mom and Dad wrong and showing them that I don't have to be whatever mold they always want to fit me into,[/color][/i] Valen thought. [i][color=9efbb6]It'll be good. I've got to be different than the Valen in Sinnoh. I've got to do more![/color][/i] Having convinced himself, the two went along, ready to tackle the first task of the day. After a short, 15 minute stroll, Valen found himself in front of a one-story wooden house. The dark blue shingles on the roof looked somewhat crooked and the white, patchy paint on the exterior didn't do the abode any favors either. From the way the porch creeked as he went up the steps to how the window screens had holes, the whole place looked like it needed sprucing up. But he wasn't here to judge, he and Qwerty were on a mission after all. Valen knocked on the door three times and waited. What pokemon would they be facing? What would their client be like? Valen and Qwerty waited in nervous anticipation. [hr] [hider=Pokemon] [center] Qwerty the Porygon [img]https://img.pokemondb.net/sprites/x-y/normal/porygon.png[/IMG] Ability: Trace [ Sharpen, Tackle, Conversion, Conversion2 ] [/center] [/hider] [hider=Inventory] 500p Potion x1 [/hider]