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— Participant(s): @Xaltwind
— Location: Byjerlfal City, Camphor's Lab Interior

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Tilly remaiend in the position she had been, squatting down, hands on her knees and a smile on her face. The little fuzzball in the bush kept staring at her, peering out from the safety of its little leafy bunker, observing and carefully trying to determine the intent of this bright-haired stranger with the vibrant red eyes that now kept staring at it.

Their non-verbal, non-active exchange continued, unabated and uninterupted, for who knows how long? It wasn't like someone was there to use a stopwatch or keep track. So, it could've been just a minute or two, or far, far longer. In the end, regardless of the time spent, a sudden rustle marked the end of the stalemate.

Out of the bush, the small pokemon eventually emerged. Either it had decided that Tilly didn't seem to pose any danger, or its curiosity had gotten the better of it. But no matter what the case was, it was now slowly, with careful and small trodding steps, approaching the girl. Tilly's smile got even a bit bigger then it already was, and she proceeded to slowly shift into sitting fully down on her knees and legs, thus, hopefully showing the little one that she wasn't going to suddenly spring back up and try to nab or attack it.

And... it seemed to work?

The creature got close. Very close. So close in fact that Tilly could feel the air coming out of its cute little nose. It plotted around, circling the girl, looking her up and down. It went over to the human's satchel that had been left on the ground, and gave it a sniff and few curious, angled look-overs, before returning back to Tilly's side.

And, finally, after a great bit of what - perhaps - would've felt like forever to anyone else, the pokemon made the first move, and gently, but carefully, placed one of its forepaws onto Tilly's left leg, looking up at her face as it did.

"... Stuf...?"

If there was a machine that could've seen through a person's being, it would surely have shown Tilly's heart just melt, right there and then. The galarian girl smiled, a small, glittery moisture forming at the ends of each of her eyes.

"'Ello, li'l one. i'm Tilly." She sad, her voice calm, soft and gentle. "Nice t' mee'cha."

"... Ful? Stufful~"

The pokemon replied, blinking at her. It didnt appear scared or frightened. A bit guarded still, perhaps, but at least it wasn't baring any fangs or revealing any claws. So, Tilly tried to raise an arm, slowly and delibaretly moving to the creature's flank, placing a fingerless gloved hand onto the fluffy critter's body, getting a feel of its fur for the first time. Thankfully, the pokemon did not recoil or respond aggressively.

It just tilted its little, fluffy and cute head, looked over at Tilly's arm, and then back at the girl.

"Stuuuf~"

"MMhmhmhm~ Aren' you a swee'eart." She giggled softly and gave the critter a gentle stroke with her hand along its side. "I be lookin' for my partner-pokemon, y'see? 'N 'at wouldn't 'appen to be you, wou' it?"

"Stuf? Stufful-stuf. Ful."

"Ahaha~ Sorry, I ain' go' a clue wha' yer sayin', li'l one."
"Stuf! Stufful!"
"Haha~Well, if ye can' tell me the answer, why dun'cha sho' me?"
"Stuf!"
"Ohh~!?"

Suddenly, the Stufful, as it was now obvius that this creature was, pushed it's little face into Tilly's exposed belly, nose first, and gave the girl a nuzzle with its moist little nose and fluffy face. Tilly, taken off-guard by this sudden display of affection, looked - for the first time since anyone here in Eidda had ever seen her - completely såpeechless and utterly, genuinely surprised - or shocked?

"Stuuuf~!"

There was a brief moment of silence and stillness. A moment lost in time, where there was nothing but a girl, and a Stufful, sitting alone on the outskirts of an artificial forest, on a man-made island. The stufful pressed its face into Tilly, and Tilly gave the stufful a series of soft but firm pets along its coat.

Then, time resumed, just as quickly as it had stopped.

"Y'kno' wha'?" The blonde said, now placing both hands on either side of the little bear-pokemon, who in turn looked up at Tilly's face. "I dunno if'n you be the starter tha' professor chose for me, bu'..." She paused, looking the little one straight in the eyes. "... Bu', d'you wanna come travel 'round Eidda wi' me? it'll be fun, promise."
"Stuf... Stufful...?"
"*at a no?"
"Stuuuf!"
"Mhmhm~ I'm jus' teasin'."
"Stu-ful..."

Tilly's hands relinquished the pokemon, and she slowly rose back up to a standing state. Walking over to her satchel, she retrieed the sole, lonely pokeball that she'd been givne. her one and only opportunity to catch the starter that had been meant for her. Holding it in her hand, the weight of the thing seemed to have somehow increased from when she'd gotten it earlier... Was it all in her head? No matter.

Walking on back, she squatted down again next to Stufful, and held the pokeball out towards the little teddy-mon.

"So, askin'gain jus' t'be sure. You wanna come wi' me?"
"Stuf! Stufful."

With a smalls swipe of its left foreleg, the pokemon somehow managed to boop the ball's front button. A flash of light, and the fluffy creature was gone, sucked into the red and white orb that now lay on the ground - as Tilly had dropped it out of surprise. It shook. Again. And again... And again... And then, the red button let out a relieved sound, and it turned back to white.

The galarian knelt down, picking the pokeball up with her hand. Holding it, she gently put both of her hands around it, and pressed it against her chest.

"... Thank you..."

---

Side Post: Vivi
Interactions with: Ryuuichi - @Renose, Camphor - @Rune_Alchemist, Lina - @Crusader Lord

---

While Vivi did understand why Yuu sent them away, they were still pouting, buzzing and whirring as they quickly floated back to the elevator where the other people were still standing around. As they did this, they pondered on something and peered behind them for a moment... before seeing that Yuu was still there, keeping a close eye on them.

The Rotom did the equivalent of a sight, making static noises in place as they turned back around and floated a little ways away above the elevator. Deciding not to let this ruin his funk, the small Pokémon put on an award winning smirk before slipping into the elevator above everyone else. As they did, they quickly identified the boy that Yuu was chatting with earlier as they began to spin around.

And with a loud, obnoxious static sound that heralded their arrival as they descended from the ceiling, unwittingly garnering more than the attention they were searching for... before eventually stopping their spin part way through with swirls in their eyes as they began to almost drift like a feather blowing through a city.

It took them a brief moment to regain their composure as they whipped themselves back and forth before making a static sound right by Ryuuichi. If anyone bothered to look at the phone screen they'd see the words 'Here to help' typed on it.

---

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"Wha- why do you still have that"

This voice enters Ryuuichi's ears right after asking his question. The sigh and the words that follow it make him lower his head a little more.

"You could of just... left it on the table back in the waiting room, or did those other four not tell you there was a table there?"

Ryuuichi remembers a little more about this person as their voice speaks to him. Is this the person who had gotten him the cup? The one who had introduced himself as "Yuu"? The voice sounds familiar to Ryuuichi's more sensitive ears.

Still, Ryuuichi couldn't have left the cup on the table. Sure he knew it was there, he had banged his shin on it upon arriving there first thing in the morning. The pain in his leg at the time, and the potential bruise the collision may have left, were nothing compared to his concern for the lab's table. He spent a good ten minutes worrying about whether or not he damaged it and whether or not he'd have to pay for repair fees.

His worries about said table had been cut off with the arrival of the first of those currently absent Trainers. No one seemed to say anything about the table, so Ryuuichi just assumed he hadn't thankfully damaged it.

Whether a bruise had been left on his shin... that was irrelevant. His legs had carried him to Habitat A's entrance just fine after all.

Leaving the cup on the table was impossible though. Doing so, when it isn't his table, is quite rude. He can't lose this job after all. Even if it is just a delivery job, feeling his parent's lights dimming because of his laziness being a burden on someone else is something he--

"...stand up for yourself more, kid."

A new voice follows a pat on his head. The owner of that hand, if it has any idea of how hair care works, could perhaps gleam that Ryuuichi's hair really is in horrible shape.

This voice and hand make Ryuuichi flinch quite visibly as that sudden touch jolts him back to reality. It isn't as startling as that prod from that strange pair earlier, but it still nonetheless gives Ryuuichi quite the start. Yet not enough of one for him to not notice those words. Why is this person saying those words?

"How can I do that for something I ----"

"Ryuuichi, right?"

This familiar voice cuts off his thoughts and makes sure he stays rooted outside of his head this time.

"I'll take the glass. Do you need help navigating?"

Ryuuichi deposits the glass in the hand of Professor Camphor, finally allowing Frieda to give Ryuuichi the Pokéball. A Pokéball... in his hands.

"I'd recommend searching somewhere quiet and away from people for your particular Pokémon - the forest, specifically."

Ryuuichi's fingers trace over its surface as he holds it in both hands, letting the now baton-length cane to dangle from his wrist by its strap. It's smooth, with a linear groove extending around the entire middle. A button rests in one part of that groove. Pressing it once expands the ball and pressing it again shrinks it.

His fingers press this button a few times.

Is this really Professor Camphor? Professor Camphor giving him, a murderer of all people a... Pokéball? Is something like this even allowed? Furthermore, the voice entering his ears sounds like the Professor's, but it doesn't feel as harsh as the one from the email. Those words hadn't approved of him at all, yet now he has a Pokéball in his hands from that person.

Now comes answering that question. Does he need help navigating? If he says yes, he will just continue to be a liability. A burden. So Ryuuichi opens his mouth to break the silence of the past few seconds, yet before he can get any words out of his mouth:

"BZZT!"

A loud sound right by his ear. Sadly, this one just so happens to be on the side of his current headache. A sudden jolt of pain matching the frequency of that sound shoots through his head, making him shut his mouth quickly and nearly bite his tongue.

The pain makes him focus out of pure reflex. A light. Yet this one feels... different? Why does it feel different? He can't even tell what the difference is, only that there is one. Its his first time encountering a light that is noticeably different than the others, yet those buzzes are not new.

Recalling that "Yuu" from before, he had been talking to something that buzzed a lot. Is this... his Pokémon? Ryuuichi has no idea why it is here even if others do. After all, the text on the screen is something he can't see at all. The light winks out though as the sensation brought about by "feeling" it sends another slight wave of pain through his head. Unfortunately this makes him forget what he had been planning on saying.

An outright refusal?

Something like that... but to say that to the person who may or may not be his boss, as the differences between the reality before him and his own memories make it hard to tell, is very rude.

A few seconds of silence pass.

Camphor, at this distance, would easily be able to see that the boy is fidgeting slightly. As he does, his fingers continue to deftly trace and go over every inch of the Pokéball.

"U-Umm..." he finally stammers, formulating something else to say. "W...Which way is the... forest?" he finally asks.

From Professor Camphor, Ryuuichi gets both the way to the bridge and the general direction he'd need to go to the forest. As for whether he needs help navigating? That question goes unanswered. Instead, Ryuuichi just nods in response to the directions given as he shrinks the Pokéball again and puts it in the pocket of his worn out jacket.

His cane creates more soft *taks* as he slowly makes his way towards and over the bridge. Of course, its not just his cane that helps him find his way. Vivi, the Rotom Phone that had been with Yuu before, also somewhat guides Ryuuichi with the occasional little buzz that ensures that he makes it on the bridge safely.

So now Ryuuichi... makes his way into Habitat A while certain words said by Professor Camphor moments ago play in his head repeatedly. Words that both confuse and make his heart beat a little faster.

"your particular Pokémon"

Is this truly a delivery assignment? Or is it something... different.

Unbeknownst to Ryuuichi, as his heart beats a little faster, he moves a little quicker than before. His pace is still very slow of course, but the time between *taps* of his cane on the now natural ground is about half a second smaller than the timing had been during his march towards Habitat A's entrance.

---

The moody boy, whose name seemed to be 'Yuu' as he'd introduce himself, certainly had a name that felt very Kantonian or Johtonian. Polite enough when he put his mind to it, hmm? Reminded her of some online trope from Kantonian animated TV shows, the same she'd also seen in Johto, but now wasn't the time to dwell on those. Better so he seemed to at least introduce himself to things in this case than the peculiar boy with the Budew had been initially, though he'd at least been partly polite as well in truth. But it still felt rude enough to just mention someone's disability so blatantly, pasuing before delivering a bit of positivity as if to give room for some doubt. Like they were in some TV show her father liked to watch sometimes sitting a big chair in their living room. Eh, but now it all just felt pedantic to think about it all. But even the Rotom Phone the sullen boy had also seemed to have its own name. Vivi? Felt fitting.

Soon, however, the Professor would arrive (looked about like she'd thought from the video message at laest) and take all of them in the room but a small few, those whom her eyes would quickly pass over as the Professor addressed them to stay behind for now, before they all were led onwards down hallways until they reached-....ah. A contained habitat in a climate controlled area, surrounded by glass walls and having its own observation deck as if it was an oversized terrarium. She meant no ill in that sense, but more that it did make sense as the Professor went on to expain its purpose. Rehabilitation and study made sense for a professional lab like this one, even if the Professor's taste in personal Pokemon seemed to make more sense as Freida chided her comments on the laughing Impidimp. Though as people without a mon' went to catch their first Pokemon, the white-haierd girl from outside seemed to come give Ryuuichi advice before heading out (she and Yuu didn't seem to mesh well anywho), and one of the more squirrely trainers named Hazel was invited to go with Freida to get hers in particular (a thing that drew Lina's attention somewhat)-

"Wha- why do you still have that," Yuu sighed, sounding rather befuddled and exasperated at what he felt was a contrived situation, "You could of just... left it on the table back in the waiting room, or did those other four not tell you there was a table there?"

She simply glanced to the side, and lo and behold the blind boy, Ryuuichi, still had the cup that Yuu had brought him. Yet the sulky purple haired boy would then seem to wander off among some of the others, seeking their first Pokemon partner within the habitat itself as they spread out. Not that a certain whizzing Rotom Phone didn't also ultimately return and buzz near Ryuuichi, the taller boy flinching hard once more as if recoiling in pain as the little Pokemon whirred about him like a fly on a-...ahem, never mind. All the same though, the screen seemed to have words on it simply stating 'here to help' that had been typed out by either it or Yuu. In any case, however, the blind boy seemed to go off on his own with some help from Camphor, who seemed to be mindful well enough of him and took the cup back from him before sending him on his way.

...Noted.

"Might want to watch the harsher noises around Ryuuichi, it would seem, good intentions aside," she would state in a matter-of-fact manner, albeit with a quieter tone somewhat, as she walked over to Vivi, addressing the floating little attempted helper and reading the words on his screen, "For now perhaps he needs a little quiet time, though, on his own. A little breathing room. That being said, you can hang around me a little until Yuu comes back if you want. Get to meet Jorm that way anywho, and he doesn't mind if you take a few pictures if you'd like."

Well, he was more patient for that sort of thing than she was anywho. Still, Lina's hand would go comfortably to the Pokeball at her side and would feel it grow in her hand as she tapped the button on the front, before she looked about for a safe amount of space to open it up before simply pointing it in the direction she wanted to release her partner Pokemon. Without having to be prompted, however, the Pokeball would pop open on its own, releasing a light that emerged from it and its occupant rapidly grew in size as it entered the physical plane (or whatever the inside of a Pokeball was like).



Clocking in at a slightly above average length of 30 feet and 7 inches for his kind, with a body composed of what looked like large, boulder-like rocks and a fin on his head, and asomewhat distinctive, discolored, and small (by Onix standards) scratch-like birthmark on the back right side of his head, Jorm or "Jörmungandr" would land on the ground and rear up to look about his immediate surroundings. His appearance would somewhat shake the ground, however, as if he'd been released ever so slightly enough off of the ground to land on it after materializing from the Pokeball. In that vein, though, the first thing he did after looking about was glance over to Lina herself with some kind of stare at first.

"Niiiiix"

"Hey, the Professor said to let everyone out to breathe. Figured the trip was cramped enough for ya, plus I had to make sure you had room to move before letting you out."

"Nix nix. Onix."

"Good morning to you too, Jorm."

Would be some good time for the Professor to get a good look at Jorm personally in this case, though as for Lina herself she would for her part begin to glance over the faces of the trainers who either hadn't walked off or were still standing around. Because now that people were getting their Pokemon, well, she had an initial trajectory in mind and had been hoping, to, ah, maybe see if she could grab up a party to head in that direction. Sure she'd head alone if she had to, Jorm was enough company if she needed, but it was preferrable to travel in groups for safety and all of that good stuff, yes? So she wanted to find a group.

...And maybe Jorm would draw a bit of attention himself as well, which could perhaps help with that. Though she had to think over a few ideas in the meantime anywho based on what little initial contact she'd had with and what little she'd seen of people thus far. Hmm.

Yuu seemed to be a grumpy, sullen sort who had some semblance of politeness to him when he put his mind to it. Victor seemed to be a peculiar sort in his own right, with little observational awareness and a relaxed-looking Budew that sounded and felt to her like it had just come back from being a beach bum somewhere. There was Ryuuichi, who seemed to be more nerves than body mass in a sense, but whom she felt could need a good guide in some sense to at least help him in his journey (not that he couldn't get around on his own, it seemed, but still). There was the motorcycle girl with an attitude, who had clashed with Yuu and came with a silent non-speaking red-haired Caterpie snack, but seemed to be softer towards Ryuuichi as well though with a somewhat harder touch in a sense as well (based on her own gut instincts there). There was also the hyperactive ball of energy that had bounced about from person to person like a Rotom-possessed ping pong ball, Melissa, and her Azurill that it seemed as if she didn't know the sex of still? Plus there was the Galarian girl who had a cheeky sound to her, ah, Tilly, yes?

She'd noted those thus far. There were also others, of course, beyond just these. Whoever was sleeping on the couch, the one serving coffee, and so forth, though she hadn't much a chance to talk to any of them as of yet either. Beyond getting glimpses of them thus far in her own interactions.

Jorm, for his part, would proceed to look about a bit more after stretching his body for a second. He'd glance at the bouncy Azurill sitting in Melissa's hands in front of the Professor. He'd spare a glance in Toshi's direction for a moment as well, due to his seeming proximity to the Professor as well, before looking over at Hazel briefly with a look of some small concern written into his expression. He then began to look more out at the habitat from his somewhat lofty position and 'height' of sorts. Toweringly he gazed over at Risette with her new Sandile-shaped hat for a few minutes first, tilting his head a little bit as he did so breifly as well, and would then proceed to also spare a glance over at the wandering Ryuuichi with some silence as well and would do the same for one short Galarian out of the corner of his visioon. At least doing this all from what he could 'see' currently.

...Hopefully his trainer hadn't caused too much trouble as of yet at least.

@Renose@Savo@Rune_Alchemist@Yankee@Floofenstein@Xaltwind

What a lively, lively group this all was. As it stood, Miharu could hardly keep track of even half the conversations going on around them until Professor Camphor deigned to appear before them all at last. And she...well. At least the Professor acted consistently the same in-person as she had online. That was something, right? There wouldn't be time to prepare tea now, as she'd been hoping to volunteer to, but moving along with the basics of finishing up at the lab would be good.

She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that a good half of the new hires hadn't brought their own Pokemon, and were being provided them by the lab. That was how many beginning Trainers did things, wasn't it? Hiddy let an exuberant ook loose as they moved along, returning to his usual space off Miharu's shoulder while Camphor spoke. Oddly specific rules, but she supposed that made sense in a laboratory environment. And were Pokemon labs supposed to be quite this large? Counting the admittedly very impressive underground habitat, one might as well dub this an entire compound instead.

Miharu took a moment to marvel at Habitat A. Truly, it was impressive how much the staff here had managed to replicate the outdoors while underground. For his part, Hiddy seemed to think so as well, looking around cheerily at the sight of the underground forest. It passed muster with him, evidently. As Camphor demanded to inspect the Pokemon of those who'd brought them along, Miharu found no reason to object. Unlike most of Camphor's demeanor, this was a sensible request.

"Go on, Hiddy." She gestured the Mankey forward towards Camphor, who reluctantly obliged. He leapt off Miharu's shoulder, trodding up to the Professor and...glaring at her. Ah, right. He'd gotten the gist of her video response. How heartening to see her partner so willing to be offended on her behalf! But best not to rock the boat too badly to begin with.

"And please, continue behaving. No bullying the poor Professor, now~" If that was said with just the barest-detectable hint of condescension in Camphor's direction, well. It wasn't her fault her ever-dependable Mankey had taken it upon his own initiative to be annoyed on her behalf, no?

While Camphor proceeded to do whatever it was she was going to, Miharu looked around once more. Evidently, Hazel was already deemed to get her own Impidimp. How wonderful! After seeing the little gremlins for herself, Miharu decided that she'd quite like to add one to her own budding team. But it wasn't likely she'd be allowed to simply take one from the lab. Perhaps out in the wild? Thoughts for later.

---

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— [b]Participant(s): @Savo, @Rune_Alchemist, @Renose, @Ryik, @Crusader Lord, @Azure Bubbles, @PlatinumSKink, @Floofenstein, @Psyker Landshark, @Yankee, @Double
— Location: Byjerlfal City, Camphor's Lab Interior

---

With her freshly found new friend, Tilly stood quietly at the edge of the forest for a bit. She took in the sights, the smell and the sounds all around her. This was the moment, the very first moment, after she'd gotten her very first pokemon. The very first, few moments of a brand new part of her life. With a smile, the pig-tailed blonde walked back over to her satchel that had been left on the ground, picked it up and re-settled it over her shoulder.

Then she held out the pokeball in her hand. She'd waited... So, so, so very long to get to do this... To get to say this...!

"... Come on out." Her words weren't dramatic or exuberant, nor full of gusto or unbridled energy. It was a phrase, said in her normal, relaxed and casual tone of voice... But it felt so great to say nontheless.

With a noise that couldn't be adequately translated into text, there was a bright light that shot forth from the red-white sphere, and then, in a flash, the little pokemon from before... Well, she was back outside in the world. Along Tilly. Sitting on her four paws, looking around.

"Stuf?"
"Hah, jus' wanted t' bring ye out 'ere 'gain."
"Stufful? Stuf-ful?"
"We'll be leavin' 'ere soon, thought you migh' wanna take a stroll'n look 'round tha' place one last time 'fore we go, ye?"
"Stufful!"
"Haha~ I ain't go' a clue wha' yer sayin' still, bu' I'm guessin' tha's a 'yes'. Lead on 'en."
"Stuf~!"

Yes. Tilly couldn't speak pokemon. And she didn't have a mental or emotional bond that was so strong with this little bear that she knew what it meant or wanted. Perhaps in time, by traveling, eating, sleeping,, playing and doing all sorts of things together, they could eventually get to that point. But for now, the galarian girl would just have to guess her way forward. And that was perfectly fine So, off they went, leaving the forest and traveling back into Habitat A, with Stufful leading the charge.

Stufful seemed to want to take the scenic route back, trotting and plotting along, stopping to sniff or look at things as she did. Tilly, for her part, was just content to watch the little cutie run around and do her own thing. As they marched along, Tilly spotted a few individuals along the road... or, path...? Therre wasn't reallya road here.. More like, artificial wilderness? Whatever, semantic nonsense! The first person she caught a glance of, was the blind boy. The one with the mug... Or cup... Who was traveling, seemingly on his own... Was that... Was that really a good idea...? The terrain here wasn't exactly... Suitable.. For someone who couldn't see where they were placing their feet...

However, Tilly then spotted something else with the boy. A hovering, flying... Thing... Was... That a pokemon? Or a ... Smartphone...? Since Tilly hadn't paid much attention to Yuu earlier, she had no actual idea that this little rotom-thingy was his, and instead mistook it as belonging to Ryuuichi. But regardless of that misconception, since he did have someone with him, and who also seemed to be helping to guide him, Tilly felt absolutely no need to interfere or approach. Stufful, additionally, seemed a bit apprehensive of the boy clacking his long cane all over the place... So, they continued on instead.

The next person that the duo spotted was the aforementioned Yuu. Who Tilly didn't actually know the name of. Thus, he was Sour-puss McLavender still. As per usual, he looked just as unfriendly and unapproachable as before. And with Stufful reacting to the sight of the tall boy, by jumping behind Tilly's legs... Yeah... Going over and talking to him didn't seem like a good idea. He felt like the kinda bloke who prefered his alone-time and didn't care to be bothered by other people. True, she hadn't directly spoken to him, so she didn't know for sure. But judging by the stink-eye he'd given her back on the boat when they first met the captain, she had a sneaking feeling he wasn't overly fond of her. Which was just fine, you didn't have to be chummy with everyone after all. So, after giving Stufful a light pat on the head and a wink, they gave Yuu a wide berth to not disturb him, and carried on.

"Ppffttt....! Now 'at's a sight..."
"Stufful?"

The next person, or people, they came across, was the rude, vulgar, insulting white-haired motorcycle chick... And... Her new, stylish cap... Who also sported a pair of sunglasses. The sight made Tilly chortle a bit. Not because she thought it looked silly or dumb, but because it was just so ridiculously adorable. Here she'd thought the albino with ketchup in her hair was just a stereotypical, mean girl, but here she was... With a little croc riding atop her head... It was too cute. Tilly rued the fact that she didn't have a camera. Stufful, on the other hand, just looked perplexed and tilted her head slightly at the strange fusion of woman and reptile before them. As with Yuu though - or perhaps evne more so - their first exchange hadn't exactly been positive... And Tilly didn't think the girl would appreciate seeing Tilly snickering at her and her new headgear, so again, the pair of Galarian and bear took a path that didn't cross-sect with the other two.

They were getting close now though... The blonde could spot the bridge leading back from Habitat A over the little water-section and back to the lab proper in the distance. She and Stufful walked leisurely along the 'coast' on the way back. As they reached the bridge, Tilly could see that some changes had happened... Melissa was shoving her blue balloon-mouse into Camphor's face... The black-haired cool girl had let out a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge rock-snake that towered over everyone and everything... There... Uh... There was also now a cotton-ball monkey that was apparently trying to glare down, or pick a fight with, the professor...? Alright then. Toshi had gotten back too, it seemed, along with some strange insect-pokemon that was now skittering on him as he gave everyone that cocky, self-assured grin of his. Apart from that, the rest seemed... Mostly the same?

Well, no, the mouse-y brunette girl was being dragged off somewhere by Frieda... For.. Some reason...? Maybe her pokemon wasn't on the island? Or... maybe she'd said something and was now going to languish in Camphor's dungeon for upsetting the professor? A scary thought... But, alas, such a cruel mistress was fate! Tilly won't forget you! ... uhm... Err... Wall-hugging girl with glasses!

...

Moving right along. Tilly looked on over to her new friend. The Stufful looked... Not enthused... To cross the bridge, to where all the people and unfamiliar pokemon were. The galarian threw a glance over at the gathered bunch, then looked back at Stufful. She recalled the professor having asked everyone who already had their own, to show her their pokemon. So, it stood to reason, that she'd want to see the pokemon the mon-less trainers had caught in Habitat A too. However...

"Hmm... You dun like crowds?"
"... Stuf..."
"Scared o' the big fella?"
"... Stuf-stuff..:"
"Wanna go back into tha' ball 'en?"
"Ful... Stuf..."
"Hmmm... Nope, no clue. So, c'mere, love~!"
"Stuf~!?"

With a quick, strangely fluid motion, Tilly was suddenly right next to Stufful, and scooped her up into the galarian's arms. The little thing was a lot heavier than she'd thought, but not as heavy as she looked. Maybe it was all that fluff that made her look bigger? Stufful looked around frantically, turning her head to Tilly and making small grunts and noises, like she was having a tizzy. Tilly just laughed softly.

"Don'cha worry. I'll keep ye safe."
"Fuuuul~! Stuf-stuf Stufful!"
"Jus' 'ang on a li'l while, awright? Jus' relax 'n rest a wee bit, ye?"
"... Stuff.."

While Stufful didn't seem entirely convinced, she more or less stopped struggling and settled into being carried by the blonde girl. Who, wasting no time, proceeded to cross the bridge and reunite with the others.

"Sorry for tha' wait, bu' we're back~" She announced, not particularly loudly, but clear enough. Holding Stufful in her arms as she rejoined the group. All while having a big old smile on her face.

---

"Might want to watch the harsher noises around Ryuuichi, it would seem, good intentions aside,"

The phone pauses when it hears those words.

Ryuuichi has yet to notice and continues to slowly walk over the bridge, his cane tapping upon it with each careful step he takes.

"For now perhaps he needs a little quiet time, though, on his own. A little breathing room. That being said, you can hang around me a little until Yuu comes back if you want. Get to meet Jorm that way anywho, and he doesn't mind if you take a few pictures if you'd like."

Vivi looks back and forth between Ryuuichi and Lina. It had been sent here by Yuu to guide Ryuuichi, so while Lina's words make sense, it chooses to listen to Yuu in the end. The phone does give Lina a salute as it lets out a "bzzt" of a much lower volume than before, indicating that it will make sure to be more careful around Ryuuichi when it comes to louder sounds.

Ryuuichi continues to carefully walk across the bridge, the Rotom Phone easily being able to catch up with him and float by his side. During that entire exchange with Lina, Ryuuichi hadn't really made all that much progress. Even if he is faster than he was before when walking from the reception area, it's not really by any noticeable margin.

He gets a little further, reaching about the 3/4ths point, before suddenly...



The earth shakes. The sound of something huge and heavy hitting the ground. A familiar sound.

His breathing accelerates. His forward momentum grinds to a halt.

"Niiiiix" "Dooooore"

The deep, powerful, yet somewhat distant voice hits Ryuuichi right in the core. His hand clenches more tightly around his cane. The left side of his face throbs more.

Something nudges at him repeatedly. Ryuuichi doesn't know what it is, but these nudges prompt the shaking, sweating boy to move forward step by shaky step. The forward progress does make each step shakes a little less, but does nothing to slow his rapidly beating heart or calm his heavy breathing.

Eventually, after a couple of long minutes, he makes it over the bridge. His cane hits the uneven, loose sand on the other side.

"Which way... which way was..." he freezes at the other side of the bridge. The pale hand holding the cane clenches tightly. The swirl of highly familiar pain and panic have already made him forget Camphor's earlier directions.

A quiet "bzzt" and a very noticeable nudge from that same something get Ryuuichi's attention.

He isn't able to focus, yet the sound is highly familiar enough that he recognizes the source. Even with all the things swirling in his head, he isn't able to forget how different that "light" felt. The fact that this Pokemon(?) is out here with him makes him remember Camphor's words from before.

"I'll take the glass. Do you need help navigating.?"

How could he forget those words? They came right after the words about that cup he foolishly brought with him. Is this Pokemon(?) the help that Camphor mentioned?

This isn't his first time getting navigational assistance from a Pokémon. Back in his days in rehab, they had employed specially trained Pokémon to help him navigate the hospital grounds. He wasn't able to refuse back then.

"I haven't... changed at all. I'm still... a pathetic burden" is the thought that goes through his mind. It makes him want to refuse, to tell the helpful Pokémon(?) to go away. That he doesn't need the help. In the end though, he can't. If this help came from Professor Camphor, refusing it could get him fired as it'd make him seem rude.

"Why help a m--"

Another nudge and a soft "bzzt" jolts him back to reality. Once again, Ryuuichi had been standing there silently for nearly half a minute. Who knows how many times he had been nudged or buzzed at during that time.

Ryuuichi doesn't respond to this latest one with any words, but instead just moves forward. His pace is even slower here as he crosses the beach. He never had any practice navigating through sand. A few times his cane stabs into the loose, grainy sand as he applies too much pressure and causes him to misstep.

Some of these missteps make him stumble. A few make him fall. The added weight of his pack doesn't make things easier either. Sure it is a lightweight bag, but to a weakling like Ryuuichi its actually decently heavy. His breathing is just as heavy as it was when crossing the bridge, but not out of the familiar feeling brought about by that earth shaking sound. Instead... it's at his frustration towards his own incompetence.

Overall, it takes him an entire five or so minutes to make it off of the beach and onto the island proper. The only reason he is even able to find the proper direction as well is due to the buzzes from Vivi ensuring that he doesn't lose his way.

The feeling of much harder dirt at the tip of his cane is quite welcome. The hospital grounds had dirt and grass, which aren't too different from pavement, wood, or tile to begin with. Maybe a little bumpy and uneven here and there, but not impossible to navigate.

By this point, the pain killers from before have kicked in and thus have finally settled his headache. The lack of pain and the guidance from Vivi both ensure that the journey towards the forest goes smoothly.

He can hear the occasional sounds of Pokemon all around him both before entering the forest and upon entering it. He doesn't stop though. "A quiet place..." is in his mind. That was the part of the instructions Professor Camphor had given him. Hoping to find a quiet place, Ryuuichi heads deeper and deeper into the forest.

He has a harder time finding proper purchase with his cane. It occasionally hits roots here and there. Thankfully with some buzzes from Vivi he avoids tripping over most of the roots. The Pokémon(?) nudging him saves him from walking face first into trees on several occasions.

Sadly the few times he does trip leave some noticeable grass stains on his clothes, but ultimately he and the things in his pockets are unharmed.

Eventually, after some unknown amount of time, Ryuuichi reaches a place in the forest where there seems to not be much activity. The only sounds he can hear are the occasional sounds of the wind moving through the trees. Ryuuichi here reaches into his jacket, nervously removing the Pokéball from his pocket.

"Heavy." With one hand carefully cradling the still shrunk ball, he begins to slowly move forward now, yet he is unaware of one thing:

He is being followed.

---

For about thirty minutes now, from behind the trees and in the grass, a small figure has been following the rather interesting pair of tall boy and floating phone. The figure's mere foot of height lets it easily hide in the taller grass or behind trees.

While the blonde human has no way of seeing it, the floating thing could... if the small figure isn't always managing to stay just out of its sight somehow. Unbeknownst to either member of this pair, the small little figure seems to always have a general idea of where the pair is going to move or look next.

Using this information, the figure is able to simply follow and observe them from a distance.

It had seen other Pokémon move or go away from this pair. There is a part of it too that wants to do the same. The red horn atop its helmet-like head of green hair feels quite warm, uncomfortably so.

A smothering warmth that sinks one to the ground.

A crushing warmth that smashes everything.

A heavy warmth that weighs down each step.

A searing warmth that obscures every sense and thought.

These warmths are just a few among the multiple that are currently piling up like an incomprehensible mountain, the warmths now more like a rather uncomfortable heat. It's this heavy heat that keeps the small figure at bay. In its entire life, the small figure's horn has never felt a heat such as this.

Despite the heat, it doesn't leave. Why? It wants to keep watching the pair. Its red eyes have been constantly observing them through its own curtain of hair that is the same length as the blonde human's own hair.

What is that strange stick?
What is that floating thing?
What are those strange sounds it lets off?
What is that thing on the human's back?
Why does the human tap the stick on the ground?
Why is the human's hair so weird?
Why is the human covered in sand?
Why does the human keep nearly running into trees?
How many more times will the human trip and get up?

There are so, so, so many questions running through this small figure's head. Yet there is one question that is constantly at the top of its red horn:

What are those other warmths?

There is a hint of... something in that heavy heat. It's so smothered by that heat though that it almost feels non-existent, yet... it's there.

The figure makes no sounds as it moves, since its able to slightly levitate off the ground. This makes it much easier for it to go undetected by the targets of its observation. For now it just continues to follow and observe the pair who continue to remain completely unaware of its presence.

---

@Azure Bubbles

Note that Victor wouldn’t leave Fantasia on her own when Stella had left. He’ll rejoin his other scenes when Stella recovers her Pokémon.

---

[@Rival_Stein]

‘Champion, huh?’ Victor said, maintaining his tone, mostly. ‘Cool. What does a Champion do?’ he asked, seriously.

So, Victor had hoped for a more detailed answer than “Eidda”, because that was the name of the region. Victor did pick up on that it was a joke about two seconds later, and then gave a tiny chuckle after having looked confused for those two seconds. He then listened to Stein…

_{‘Mexatus Institute?’} Victor hadn’t really ever had a TV to watch. While he felt like he remembered the name from various advertisements, he’d never been interested. Just sounded like another company. But, were they doing something interesting? Or contests. He had heard about contests, those were performances, right? That… Victor wasn’t super-interested in.

‘Hm. I suppose there is! Well met, maybe I’ll hear more later, then!’

He would have stuck around, but he had more scenes to be in.

---

@Rune_Alchemist

Victor was momentarily intimidated by Scarlett’s grin. Like she was gonna come over and eat him, or something. But Risette calmed him down.

‘Oh,’ Victor made a realization sound before looking over at Scarlett again about not being able to speak. He… couldn’t imagine that. Huh. Regardless, his gaze went back to Risette when she answered his question.

‘Vi-vigilantees? What, uh, do they do?’ Victor locked onto that word, surprised at its usage. Rocks weren’t particularly interesting, but Victor was way too distracted by “vigilante” to comment on it right now.

Anyway, he’d move on after wishing them both well after that.

---

[@Rival_Nevine][@Rival_Laurel]

So, it would seem that he’d been saved by the bell there. Victor quickly snatched up Bud (who seemed to have a great time smiling at the sniffing Vulpix and batting Sprigatito) and fled the scene.

---

[@Professor_Camphor]
Eventually, Professor Camphor appeared. Victor breathed in, adjusted his cape and stood as tall and straight as he could, he had to be as “Victor Gallagher” as he could when talking to the one person he absolutely had to fool. Bud looked unconcerned with his silliness on his shoulder.

But, well, for the moment, he was getting away with not talking to her at all.

He followed after them, and eventually reached Habitat A. This is it! It said in the application they were getting a new Pokémon. Now he was just gonna-

_{‘Wait, only those don’t have one already?’} Victor looked over at Bud, and Bud smiled back. Now, obviously, he wouldn’t trade Bud for the world, but. _‘Aw.’ He had kinda been looking forward to this.

He stood there, staring out into the wilderness of Habitat A. He really wanted to go out there, and get the experience of catching a Pokémon again. It had been so long since he caught Bud. Two years, that sounds about right? Bud, sensing this feeling, treaded over on his shoulder and pressed himself against the side of Victor’s head, smiling.

‘Hey, Bud,’ Victor smiled, reaching up and patting the creature… and then he got an idea. He did some small whispering, and Bud whispered small things back… and Victor chuckled.

‘Alright… Let’s do it.’

Moments later, Bud was dashing at full (Budew) speed into the Habitat towards the small forested section, giggling like mad. ‘Budew~’

‘Ah, I have been looking forward to this day!’ Victor announced, obviously in the fake posh voice because people could overhear, holding a hand over his eyes and grinning like crazy, holding up the Pokéball (that was already Bud’s). ‘Today is the day I will go out into this wilderness and find the best partner!’ His tone got gradually louder as he was making sure Bud could still hear him.

‘I can imagine it now! He’s gonna be green, he’s gonna be able to ride a skateboard, I’m gonna call him Bud! He’s gonna be the best little plant guy ever!’ Distant Budew giggles could be heard in replies to Victor’s shouts.

Eventually, Bud had gotten far enough away and blended into the greenery that he was no longer visible. After having waited a second longer, Victor removed the hand in front of his eyes so he could see once again, and he smiled so widely.

‘Alright, let’s find my Bud.’

And then he took off, rushing into the Habitat to find his partner, again.

_{He’d be back in a bit when he has more space to freak out about Jorm the Onix.}

---

"I wish I had my tablet..." laments Ryuuichi. With it, he could answer one of his questions:

How long has it been?

At this point? About an hour has passed since he managed to cross the bridge.

Just like that small figure there are many other questions rattling around in his blonde, messy head.

How many times have I tripped? 3? 4? 6?
How do I keep tripping?
Why am I doing this?
Why is this Pokémon still helping me?
Why did they give me this ball?
Why is this ball so heavy?
Where is this Pokémon?
Is this Pokemon really for me?
This Pokemon definitely won't like me, what should I do?
Why did I survive that day?
What are these cursed lights?
Am I going crazy?
Professor Camphor will fire me for being so slow, so what should I do after this?
Where is this Pokémon?
This Pokémon is avoiding me, it hates me, what should I do?
I will lose this job, what do I do?
Mom and Dad will dim again, what should I do?
Why did I accept this so recklessly? What was I thinking?

There are no more sounds from the outside. Ryuuichi can't hear anything anymore. There are too many questions to ponder, each entangling with the other.

---

The small figure's head tilts as it watches the human. Curiosity slowly turns into concern as the human has started walking faster. He is still tapping that stick against the ground but at a faster, erratic pace.

The floating thing is also making a bit more of those strange sounds at the human.

Can the human not hear the floating thing?

---

Ryuuichi can no longer feel that Pokémon nudging him anymore. It's no longer buzzing either.

"I guess it left" is added to the knot of noise entangling his senses.

---

The small figure feels its horns heating up a little more. The floating thing is buzzing, nudging, and pulling at the human a bit more now.

Can the human not feel the floating thing?
Can the human not see that tree?

---

A surge of pain moves through Ryuuichi from his forehead.

What did I hit?

He falls to the ground once again.

Why does it hurt?
Where is my cane?

Ryuuichi's hand grasps, yet he can only feel grass in one hand.

What am I holding?

In the other... that heavy sphere. That... thing? What is it? What is this heavy thing in his hand? He wants to let go of it, but he doesn't. His hand disobeys his desire to just drop it.

Why can't I drop it?
Why won't I drop it?
Why am I still doing this?

---

The small figure watches still, but not with curiosity. No, now it too is filled with worry just like the floating thing that is making noises and nudging at him.

It sees the human on his hands and knees. The strange stick has been dropped about five feet away. The thing on its back has fallen off. The human's breathing is heavy and raspy. The area on his forehead has a cut on it.

There are two more things that also catch the figure's attention, these making the figure slightly emerge from its current hiding place.

The red and white sphere tightly clutched in the human's hand and... something that is now dangling from the human's neck. Each of the human's slight movements makes this thing make slight noises.

What are those things?

Three raindrop shaped somethings dangle from the human's neck. Each of his slight, rough movements in his current state make them clink and clank together slightly. The upper part of them is gray, while the bottom curved part is yellow.

The small figure, despite the heat assailing its horn, can't help but watch and listen to the sounds. It also can't leave, out of concern for this human or the floating thing that is still trying its best to get the human's attention.

Is the human sick?

Despite everything though, the small figure remains hidden as it isn't sure what to do. The heavy heat from the human that is plaguing its horn is too much for it to get any closer... even if it really wants to.

---

The familiar clanking. That familiar sound. Ryuuichi's breathing settles slightly.

"I... don't want to lose this job."



More of that familiar sound. The sound makes his muscles tense.

I will can't lose this job. What do I do?

"I... stand up."

The necklace around his neck gives off several clangs and clings due to his rough and uneven manner of standing up.

Mom and Dad will won't dim again, what should I do?
I will won't lose this job, what do I do?

His breathing is a bit heavy and his legs are unsteady. In the midst of standing up he stood up too quickly, causing him to stumble backwards and hear more clinging.

How many times have I tripped stood?
How do I keep tripping standing?

He reaches his hand out behind him, stopping his fall by bracing against "a... light? No, a tree." Why had it been a light? Why had he felt it before he touched it? Where is that clanging coming from?

He steadies himself properly, finally managing to stand upright. His hand firmly grasps at his chest where the source of the clinging hangs. Tightly, his hand wraps around the polished scales.

"I... can't..." leaves his lips in a heavy gasp of air as he finally exits head.

Why How did I survive that day?
What are these cursed wonderous lights?
Am I'm going crazy.?

"Too... loud. I can't... focus..."

---

The heat is going away?. It's red eyes stare at the human that, before, it had considered fleeing from.

The floating thing seems to have calmed down and is just watching the human as well. The human's breathing still seems ragged and his legs are unsteady.



The little observer jolts at the sudden cacophony of sounds. The levitating, buzzing thing also seems a bit taken aback as well.

Why is the human spinning that?

---

Ryuuichi holds the end of his beloved necklace, which he had ripped off his neck, and is spinning it rapidly. Why? "I don't know."

He spins it faster as he grits his teeth.

"No more... stupid questions, I'm just... crazy and reckless, that's why" murmurs Ryuuichi as his thumb touches the center of the weird, heavy sphere Pokéball. It expands in his hand.

His head hurts. He feels nauseous. His heart is going at a mile a minute. The clanging is hurting his ears and making his headache worse. Despite all of this... "I can focus."

---

The small figure watches now, concern having returned to curiosity.

What is the-- HOT?!

A sudden burst of warmth like a destructive volcano assaults its horn, making it fall backwards from its hiding place onto the ground.

---

Why can't I feel anything? Where are those lights? Are they even real? I'm just an idiot. Why did I think those delusions could help me? Why was I reckless again? Why am I failing again? Why do they only appear when I don't need them?!

The questions begin to form a cacophony louder than the spinning necklace as the lights don't reappear despite how hard he is focusing.

He clenches his teeth as his trembling hand clenches the Pokéball. Tears begin to stream down the right side of his face.

"I just--" sputters Ryuuichi in the beginnings of a choked sob, "want to... repay them". The tall boy falls to his knees, the scales clanking on the necklace as he does. The spinning, by now, has stopped. The tears, however, continue to flow down the right side of his face.

The left side, however, throbs in pain. It has no tears to give.

---

For the small figure the heat begins to die down as something akin to a warm somber rain falls upon it. The warmth is a gentle,, yet somber warmth.

The figure moves from behind the tree, looking at the boy more closely. The floating thing is far too focused on Ryuuichi to notice the figure's slight approach.

As it looks at Ryuuichi while he says these words it sees... other humans? Two of them. They look similar to this human.

It also sees another much older human wearing something similar to those humans that brought the little figure to this strange place.

Then there is what looks like another Pokémon? It has scales just like the ones the human was spinning moments ago.

These blurry images bring great warmth to its horn as the human cries more. It wants to move over, but it still cannot. Instead it chooses to move over to some closer tall grass as a question enters its own mind.

Can... I help?

---

"I just... want to..." he pauses. A question floats into his mind.

Can I be... selfish for a moment?

Followed by a singular wish. The first wish he has ever truly made for himself in the past four years. Would it allow him to keep his job? Sure, that matters. But it also doesn't. In this one moment, all other things cease to matter. All other questions fade away. The noise in his head fades away.

The only thing that remains is but a memory. A memory of that day. His fist shakes, causing the necklace to shake with it.

The soft clinging of the scales reminds him of something. He made a similar wish that day. The day he was buried in the darkness of the rocks. The day his body was crushed.

Today, his spirit is crushed, buried in the darkness of his own mind. Today, he makes a similar wish.

"I just want to see... you..."

The scales in his shaking hand cling more. The scales in his memories clang more.

The darkness floats away.



The color of the trees. The grass. The dirt. The color of the Pokémon floating near him. It's in something that has no color.

Each color has a feeling. He can feel them all.

"Too... much"

Ryuuichi's head feels like it's going to explode. He clutches it tightly with one hand, almost dropping the Pokéball in the process out of reflex to clutch his head with the other. Yet... he doesn't. He keeps hanging on.

It's overwhelming.

Which color is what? What color is where? It's all a cacophony. He wobbles, nearly falling over from his position on his knees.

In the overwhelming world of indistinct, incomprehensible colors... he sees it. He feels it.

A blurry, small color. It's green. It's smaller than all of the other colors yet... it's so brilliant. Brighter than any gem. Even beyond that... there is something else. He can't tell what it is. In this one singular instant of experience... all he can do is sum it up with a singular word.

A word he hasn't used in the longest of times.

"B...Beautiful" It's raspy. It's pained. This word that had long since left his lexicon barely manages to escape from his lips in it's debut return.

The tears stream more. He can feel it though. The world begins to fade.

Consequences be dammed. Everything be dammed.

In this one instantaneous flash of color, Ryuuichi makes a choice. One singular, selfish choice.

He throws the ball.

It's with this one throw that the flash ends. The world of color crumbles away. The darkness, like a mountainous veil, comes crashing down once again, just like it had four years ago.

---

Beautiful, beautiful... beautiful!

The small figure thinks of that sound the human made. Questions enter it's own head.

What was that warmth?

It had been lovely. The warmth that sound created.

What was that glow?

The human's eye... shimmered blue! It was only for a moment, but it really glowed! Even the floating thing would have no doubt seen it!

What was... that world?

It had seen it. That beautiful world. That wonderful world. Well... it was only a glimpse. A very indistinct glimpse given off by the human's mind. The little figure can't help but want to see it again.

To feel that warmth again. To hear that sound again. To see that world again.

The little figure now notices what had rolled right in front of it. A red and white sphere. The human had thrown it, but had missed. It looks at the sphere. Somehow... the little figure knows what this means.

To go with the human meant facing that heat.

But it also meant seeing that world! That wonderous, strange world! It could experience that lovely warmth as well and hear that wonderful sound again too.

So, despite the danger of that heat, the little figure presses one of its small hands against the same place it saw the human push his finger. With that... the Pokémon known as "Ralts" is taken into the ball.

---

Vivi would be able to witness the Ralts go into the ball. One shake, two shakes, three... then...



A telltale sound known to many. Even the blind boy whose forehead and nose are both currently bleeding. His forehead is bleeding from hitting that tree. As for his nose? Also from that tree?

Or did it have something to do with that singular instance of the strange blue glow that appeared over his remaining eye?

The right side of his face is stained with tears. The left side? There is some grass and dirt on it from when he fell, but otherwise it's dry. His forehead? Also wet with some blood. His nose (and subsequentially the mouth below), also a bit bloody.

"I... did... it?" the confused words escape Ryuuichi in the tiniest of mutters. He reaches for the ball, but it's too far. He... cannot move. "I failed... even in the end..." is his next thought as he falls over on his face once again. The pain is too much. He can barely focus. Barely think. Barely move.

If anything, the fact that he can remain conscious is a miracle in and of itself. He is breathing heavy, raspy breaths. Each awkward, poor gulp of air he takes is his attempt to try and stabilize himself, all while both of his hands clutch and grasp at his own head in a very poor attempt to massage it away. Sadly with how his fingers grip and grab his own head, the actions just make the pain worse.

The pain is so great that he can barely even make a sound.

The only movement he can do... is writhe about in agony as he had four years ago.

Thankfully Ryuuichi is not alone. There is, of course, Vivi who is with him. There is also one more. The ball nearby suddenly bursts open, the Ralts within materializing.

She is going to go with this human! She will not let anything happen to him!

These thoughts are why she bursts from her ball where she floats over.

"Raaa~" a soft, sweet voice like a bell comes from her as she gently places her tiny little hands on Ryuuichi's head that is... probably around the same size as a Ralts' entire body. She tries her best to massage it, to help him calm down.

Then, she looks to the floating Rotom Phone. A burst of intention, of will. It's one simple request. It's manner of making is soft and polite. Its direct, mind based manner of asking is not.

Get help... please.

This is the general intent of the mentally made request, the Ralts' expression full of worry and concern for the human before it that continues to writhe in agony. Even a few tears form in its red eyes, although those are quite hidden behind its curtain of helmet hair.

---

---

”Whoa…” Whatever conversations were going on in the waiting area, they were interrupted when the Professor herself finally appeared and invited them all into Habitat A. Jack went along like everyone else, and the sight of Habitat A left him practically speechless and gawking.

”Wish I had something like this place at home…” He murmured to himself, his eyes instinctively trying to spot any Pokemon living in the Habitat. He wasn’t here to catch a partner, since he had one of his own, but that didn’t mean Jack wasn’t still interested in seeing more Pokemon up close. Actually, he almost missed the Professor’s request for everyone who already had a partner to go ahead and release them so she could see them.

”Oh! Right!” Jack said as he suddenly snapped out of it and retrieved the occupied Poke Ball from his belt. ”Wait time’s over, bud, you can finally come out now!” He casually dropped the ball and let it release Sparkplug, who stretched his muscles in an overly exaggerated manner with a grin on his little face.

”Oh come on, you weren’t waiting for that long.” Jack said with an eyeroll at Sparkplug’s antics, ”Anyway, the Professor asked to see you and then after that she said you can play around a bit. Now c’mon!” The two walked a few steps toward where the Professor stood and then Jack suddenly nudged Sparkplug forward with his foot.

”Here’s my partner, Professor!” Jack said, ”You wanted to see him, right? His name’s Sparkplug. Oh, and if he tries to zap you, you have my permission to give him a good smack as punishment.” That got a little indignant huff from the Elekid, but the Pokemon curiously looked up at Professor Camphor nonetheless.

”It’s just like I wrote in my application.” Jack explained, ”Caught him up in Giants Watch trying to feed off the electricity of the mining equipment. Took me quite a while to get him to warm up to me, but I won him over in the end.”

And then Jack proceeded to be immediately distracted by the appearance of the big Onix nearby. ”Whoa whoa WHOA! Is that an Onix?” He asked excitedly, ”Way cool! I’ve only ever caught glimpses of them in the deeper parts of the cave systems in Giants Watch. They look even bigger up close!”

Though she had stayed behind with the handful of people that already had a Pokémon with them, Hazel watched those that did not move deeper into the habitat more intently than perhaps was warranted. She watched some swagger confidently into the trees, and others that took a slower, more measured approach. When the blind boy moved Hazel looked worriedly back at Professor Camphor, but the short woman didn't seem too concerned. Plus there was the Rotom-possessed phone sort of guiding him. Actually now that she thought about it, that purple haired boy... Yuu, she thought she heard, did his Rotom not count as a starter Pokémon? It seemed lively with a mind of its own, which was the reason Hazel's parents did not have any Rotom appliances in their home, in case one pitched a fit for whatever reason and fried their electronics. But... maybe they were so common in modern tech that people more in touch with that sort of thing didn't even consider them proper Pokémon partners?

She considered this, and other tangents, as she looked on until the forms of the other trainers disappeared from her sight - which was when Miss Freida spoke to her, snapped Hazel out of her thoughts.

“W-well, I guess I’ll show you where Pix’s friend is instead of letting you blindly wander around,” Frieda nervously shifted around as she looked at the forest. As she did, a small group of bird Pokémon flew out through the trees, trilling in vexation as they went to find another place in the Habitat to rest. Frieda let out a nervous sigh at the scene.

As for Pix who was dangling off of Frieda’s shoulder, he was eyeing a different prize. A devilish smile crept on the Impidimp’s face as he began giggling, catching the attention of his trainer. “Pix, what is so fun-”

Before she could finish her sentence, the mischievous Pokémon lunged at Hazel, prompting a shocked ‘eep’ from Frieda and another small shout of surprise from the girl. In mere seconds, Hazel would go on from nervously trying to keep her Pokéball from falling out of her hands to no longer holding it, the ball in the clutches of its new ‘owner:’ Pix.

“Imp!” As he exclaimed this, he held the Pokéball up and did a silly little jig as he showed off his ill-gotten gains. Frieda’s eyes widened. “Pix! Give that back, that’s for Hazel to catch her Pokémon with!”

“Imp imp,” Pix stuck a tongue out at her before sprinting off in the direction of the woods with the ball; in spite of what anyone would initially do, that Impidimp was an extremely fast and evasive Impidimp. By the time Frieda had even grabbed her Pokéball to have Pix return, he was already halfway across the fields to the forest.

“Oh no… I’m so, so sorry for letting this happen,” she did a deep bow to the girl before turning and breaking into a sprint. “Sorry for making you do this as well, but please come with me so we can get your Pokéball back!”

It had happened so fast that Hazel didn't have time to do much but wobble her hands and arms in a panic and let out a "Wha-wha-wha-wha...?!"

She turned from Freida to Pix, Pix to Freida, and then suddenly the imp was gone and his trainer too, with Hazel unable to even accept the apology.

So even Pokémon knew she wasn't cut out for this, huh? It made sense, they were said to be very in tune with their trainers and the Impidimp had probably been around a lot of trainers before. He could tell that Hazel was destined to fail and was saving her from even starting... a little tear formed at the corner of one of Hazel's eyes as the rational side of her got the frantic one to calm down. She should probably thank the little guy all things considered. Sorry, Professor Camphor, your assistant's Pokémon has branded me a lost cause. Can I go home now? There won't be a bill since I got disqualified after coming to the lab, right? she rehearsed in her head.

Ah but when she looked over at the Professor, there was an expectant look on the woman's face. Hazel's eyes widened and she looked back to where Freida had disappeared to. Oh no, she'd told Hazel to go with her! And now she'd basically ignored Freida and had fallen behind!

"Oh noooooo!" she cried, more concerned about Freida than actually getting the Pokéball back. She hustled after the two of them, though it wouldn't be long at all until her stamina ran out.

As the two sprinted after Pix, the Impidimp took a look behind him before smiling impishly as he briefly stopped at the forest entrance. As they did, they held up their prize, jumping around mischievously before blowing a raspberry before running further into the forest. Frieda grit her teeth as she held out her Pokéball as far as she could but was unable to still recall her Pokémon.

Just as this failed, she cocked her arm back, ready to toss the thing as hard and far as she could before stopping and shaking her head with a defeated sigh. Peering behind her, she watched Hazel struggle to keep up with them and decided to stop at the forest entrance. Lightly panting, she looked over and waited for Hazel to catch up before resting against a tree.

All things considered the run was only a short distance, but it was the farthest and fastest that Hazel had run since her accident years ago. It was a miracle that she didn't collapse as soon as she reached Freida, though she did double over with her hands braced against her knees, breath coming in heavy gasps as sweat already dripped down from her forehead.

"I... (gasp) I'm so... (wheeze) S-so..."

The girl pushed her glasses up from where they had started to slip down the bridge of her nose, catching her breath a little more before trying to speak again. Her face was red from more than just the run.

"I'm s-sorry… if only I…"

“Don’t apologize; it isn’t your fault,” Frieda panted, wincing a bit as she looked into the forest. “I know Pix likes to pull pranks, but I didn’t expect him to do this.” As she said this, she looked up and stared into the artificial forest’s entrance before running a hand through her hair. “Look, if you need to take a break, feel free to wait. I’ll try to find Pix in the meantime and get your Pokéball back for you, alright?” As Frieda stated this, she stood there, waiting for Hazel’s response.

For a moment, Hazel considered it. Or, at least, pretended to consider it. Even if she wanted to try and help Miss Freida, there was no way that she'd be able to keep up - she would just be slowing the lab assistant down. Still bent over, Hazel nodded her head a few times. Another moment later and she thought to clarify.

"I... u-um. Okay. I'll... wait here."

Frieda nodded, “Sounds good, I’ll be back with your Pokéball in a jiffy. Now get back here Pix!” The assistant shouted at the Impidimp as she sprinted deeper into the forest, waving her Pokéball as she attempted to recall the creature. Her voice would reverberate a couple of times, and belatedly Hazel called after her, "um, thank you!" before the forest fell completely silent.

Well, as silent as a forest filled with baby Pokémon could be; there was chittering here and there, but it was overall silent. Maybe it felt like hours since the woman left, maybe it felt closer to minutes… but whatever the case, the fact of the matter was that Frieda hadn’t returned yet and who knows if she would make it back on time with Hazel’s ball. Maybe the girl might think she’d have to head back in spite of it all, maybe she might think that she was a lost cause again.

Whatever she was actually thinking (which was a mix of many things), it would be interrupted the moment there was rustling in a bush near the entrance of the forest. Hazel whipped her head around, her hands held tight to her chest.

"M-miss Freida?"

As she inched closer to investigate, an Impidimp holding a Pokéball popped out of the bushes and looked up at her. “Imp.”

"Oh! Pix...?"

It couldn't be any other random Impidimp with a stolen Pokéball, right? Hazel looked around for any sign of the Impidimp's trainer, but she still didn't see hide nor hair of the lab assistant. Hazel then turned a nervous glance Pix's way, and slowly crouched down to be nearer the Pokémon's level.

"Miss Freida is looking for you... I-I don't want her to get in trouble because of me... could... could you give that ball back, please?" she asked, reaching out slightly.

The Pokémon shook his head, pulling the Pokéball away from her. It looked like he wasn’t going to give it back that easily. As he did, however, a small, playful smile formed on his lips as he called out to Hazel with an “Imp,” before running over and grabbing onto her sock. As he did this, he attempted to drag her along, though unfortunately he was just a little Impidimp and Hazel was an average sized girl that he struggled to drag along.

It might have been an endearing sight to some, but Hazel froze up, unsure of what to do. Now statue-like it was even harder for Pix to move her, but after a few long, drawn out moments the girl moved herself. A hand darted out to snatch back the Pokéball - unfortunately, the Impidimp was much faster. He dashed out of range before trying to pull on her sock again and drag her somewhere. It seemed he was trying to take the girl somewhere and it didn’t seem like he was taking no for an answer.

Quickly recognizing that she was not going to win this, Hazel slowly and nervously stood up and shuffled in the direction that Pix was dragging her.

"O-okay, I'll follow you, but... then we have to go find Miss Freida, a-alright?"

Following the Impidimp, he would take her down a rather inconvenient path, ‘dragging her’ through bushes, tree branches that seem to reach low enough to get some leaves in her hair, and sometimes even splashing through a puddle. He seemed to ignore the set path created in the artificial forest, opting to continue dragging Hazel through this path he had set. After a few minutes of following Pix, and several scratches and teary, murmured complaints from the girl, they both emerged from a bush into an open alcove.

The alcove had a bunch of trees around the area that had holes in them, enough to house a couple of small Pokémon. However, each of the holes seemed to be occupied with a certain type of Pokémon: Impidimps. There were Impidimps everywhere in this part of the Habitat. Some were chatting about whatever Impidimps would chat about, while others were pulling pranks and having fun with each other. Some were resting on a branch or in one of the tree holes.

And at the back of it all sat a Grimmsnarl against the back of one of the trees in the area. While a few Impidimps were congregating around the large (at least to them) Pokémon save for one that was lying on their head as if they were a hat. The Grimmsnarl didn’t seem that largely perturbed in the slightest, only really stirring the moment Hazel and Pix entered into the area. The Grimmsnarl didn’t seem at all bothered by the newcomers, instead looking over to the unfamiliar face and her much familiar companion. “Snarl?”

“Imp imp! Impidimp!” There was a pause from the Pokémon as he looked around the vicinity for someone in particular before shrugging and looking up above him. Moving a hand to his head, he plucked the resting Impidimp resting atop of him and placed him down onto the forest floor. While befuddled, the Impidimp didn’t seem to react at all to what the Grimmsnarl did.

Pix giggled for a moment before letting go of Hazel and waving to them with a free hand, seemingly distracted for the moment.

The entire situation was bizarre, and so outside of Hazel's realm of experience that she could do little else but stand stock still and stare at the Grimmsnarl like a deerling caught in headlights. Wherever she had expected Pix to lead her, it wasn't into a nest of his kin led by a burly, intimidating Pokémon (even if all it was doing at the moment was lounging).

The Impidimp that had been resting atop its head let out a yawn as it was placed on the ground, lazily returning Pix's wave before eyeing Hazel curiously. The girl herself could have tried to retrieve the Pokéball at this point, but it was currently the furthest thing from her mind. She was more concerned with thinking about how to flee unscathed.

But Pix wasn’t distracted enough anyway, as much like before the Impidimp bounced back and away from the girl before stopping and pointing at the Pokémon the Grimmsnarl put down, “Imp dimp!”

Pix began hopping back and forth, one foot to the other before pointing to the Pokéball he was holding, “Imp imp.” As he finished saying this, Pix suddenly lobbed the ball in the general direction of the Impidimp.

Fortunately for Hazel, the Pokéball missed its mark, instead landing half a meter away from the Impidimp that the Grimmsnarl apparently left for her, “Imp imp!” Pix was pointing at the Pokémon and the Pokéball and didn’t seem to try and dash to snatch the ball up. Despite how active he seemed, Pix looked like he was waiting for Hazel to do something. As for some of the other Impidimp in the area, they began to clear out of the way, keeping a healthy distance away from the group as they chittered amongst themselves.

What was going on was obvious to all of the Pokémon present, but not to Hazel herself. When the Grimmsnarl didn't make any aggressive moves her attention eventually returned to Pix, but she only watched his antics, eyes flickering between him, his friend, and the Pokéball.

"Uh...?"

There was a collective groan from all of the imps gathered. The one still in the center of clearing with Pix rolled its eyes and then stood up to saunter towards Hazel. The girl shrunk back as it circled around her. Its eyelids were dropped slightly and its head raised, little claws cupping its chin as though it was appraising an artifact. The scrutiny made Hazel quiver - were they deciding if she would taste good or something??

After two laps around the girl, the Impidimp looked back at Pix with a tilt of its head, pointing at Hazel. "Dim?"

Pix shrugged, and his friend mirrored the movement before nodding to itself with a snicker.

Hazel herself stood there, slightly hunched over, her mouth tightly closed. It took a little while, but eventually she was able to tell that the mischievous gremlins didn't seem to mean her any harm. Freida was supposed to have shown her the way to an Impidimp... could it be this one, Pix's friend? And then... what was she supposed to do now?? Surely not... catch it...?

She slowly inched away from the Impidimp and towards the Pokéball. The Pokémon all just watched, some curious and some impatient. Hazel reached down to pick it up even more slowly, but when she had it in hand she quickly curled it up towards her chest protectively.

"I, um, I'll just... b-be going now... uh, nice to meet you all... oh, I'm Hazel by the way... just... h-have to get this and meet back up with Miss Freida...!"

Could Pokémon boo? The noises those in the trees made sort of sounded like booing.

"Dimi..." the Impidimp in the center said with a sigh. It glanced back at Grimmsnarl before turning to watch Hazel start backing away. Suddenly, a fangy grin spread on its face.

"Impi dim Dimi," it said, placing its hands along its side in imitation of a human putting them into their pockets. On one heel the Impidimp turned away from Hazel and made to walk back towards its leader.

Hazel had paused, curious over the Pokémon's next actions (and not just the central one) , a thin thread keeping her on the edge of the clearing. She didn't expect the little trickster to suddenly turn again, jump, and lunge at her, claws and fangs bared as a dramatically fake evil cackling sounded out from it. "Iiiiiiiimp!!"

Hazel shrieked, loud enough to shake the leaves of the clearing and probably enough to be heard throughout most of the habitat. She also reflexively, instinctively, chucked the Pokéball in her hands. It bonked against the Impidimp mid-flight, consuming it in red energy before it was sucked into the device. The Pokéball landed softly on the grass after that, giving one strong shake for good measure before it clicked shut.

The chattering of the Impidimps around the area grew louder, as if they could finally talk about it, some surely appreciating the little prank their fellow had pulled. Had they decided ahead of time which of them were going to leave the lab with a newbie trainer, and was it a privilege or chore?

Hazel's legs gave out from under her and she collapsed next to the Pokéball. She was still shaking slightly as she reached out to take the ball once again, holding it between both hands.

"I... I..."

I... I caught a Pokémon...!

Beyond the chattering of the Impidimps, therein stood Pix who had their hands on their sides, puffing their chest out as they made a resolute “Imp.”

Before sagging a little and performing an exaggerated sigh as they whipped their brow off, taking a seat in the middle of the forest floor. It was almost if he was acting like this was a job well done on his end, though he did wonder about something. Where was Frie-

“... Found you, you little troublemaker!”

Before he could even react to the voice, a Pokéball flew through the foliage and bonked the Impidimp on the side of the head before ricocheting back upwards as a red light enveloped the Pokémon. “Impidimp,” Pix shouted with a surprised cry as he was returned to his ball as a panting, exasperated Frieda held her hand up to catch the Pokéball that came tumbling down. She sighed through heavy breaths, “*Pant* Back in the ball *pant* for now…”

Clipping the Pokéball to her belt, she leaned over to catch her breath, only for her to look around, first staring at Hazel, then to the Grimmsnarl. “A-ah, hi Hazel,” she gave an awkward wave to the girl before waving to the Grimmsnarl, “and hi Nix; guess this *pant* is where you were hanging out this morning.”

“Grim,” the Grimmsnarl nodded, rising up from his spot and began stretching. In the meantime, Frieda walked over to Hazel, taking note that the girl had her Pokéball back. Taking a brief look around, Frieda let out an exasperated sigh before looking down to her own Pokéball and murmured “So that’s what you were doing…”

Looking back to Hazel, she put a hand on her hip and weakly smiled at the girl, “Well I suppose congratulations are in order. Good job on catching your first Pokémon! And sorry about that all; I didn’t expect Pix to run us through the wringer though.” As she said this, Nix, the Grimmsnarl, finished their stretches and began trotting through the forest, leaving the rest of the Impidimps and two trainers behind.

“Well, either he’s going to rejoin the Professor or heading somewhere else… either way, I think our time is up,” as she said this, she took a look at a small device before popping it back into her pocket as she gestured for Hazel to follow her. “Lets go to rejoin the rest of your colleagues, alright? Ooh and if you want to, maybe you can think of a name for him on our way back!”

It took Hazel a while to register what Freida was actually saying, still caught up in the emotion of actually catching a Pokémon for the first time in her life. She looked between the retreating Grimmsnarl and the professor's assistant, so torn between tearing up and smiling that her expression looked more like a weird grimace.

Congratulations, Freida had said. She also said that she was sorry, that they should get back, and a lot of other things. Hearing the woman's words but not quite processing them yet, Hazel held the Pokéball out triumphantly to Freida and just repeated what had already been said. "I-I caught one! A Pokémon!"

She then attempted to stand to follow Freida back to the others, but her legs were still very jelly-like. She fell right back on her rump, but at least this time she kept a tight hold on the ball.

"Eh... ehehe... s-sorry, I'm a little...?"

Freida got the gist of it, helping the girl to her feet where she wobbled until a few deep breaths later found her able to stand without help. She adjusted her glasses and smiled at Freida before turning the same smile onto the Pokéball in her hands. An Impidimp, huh? She would have to do some research on taking care of one... luckily it seemed this lab was uniquely qualified to give her some tips.

"Oh! Right, um, you s-said we should head back...?" Hazel piped up suddenly. "Let's do that... um, thank you, Miss Freida, so much. A-and could you thank Pix for me, too?"

The two humans walked back to one of the curated paths, making their way out of the forest and back towards the group of other trainers. At that point Hazel had forgotten entirely about trying to beg Professor Camphor to go easy on her for backing out of the project. Instead, she was taking Freida's suggestion and thinking on names for the Pokémon cradled in its ball in her hands.

Fantasia gave Victor a pleased little whinny at the compliment, lifting her head proudly beneath his hand. There was no real answer to his question. She had simply been born beautiful.

Stella glanced back toward Hazel when the girl finally laughed. It had been awkward, but Stella counted it as progress. She gave Hazel a small smile before Frieda returned with Professor Camphor.

Stella looked over the professor’s disheveled appearance. The lab coat hanging from one shoulder. The sweatpants. The hair. This was the person that had been judging her? How unprofessional. But she kept her thoughts to herself. At least for now.

She listened to the rules without interruption, one hand resting against Fantasia’s neck. The warning not to touch anything seemed obvious. The warning about irritable Pokémon was less comforting.

As the group moved deeper into the laboratory, Stella kept Fantasia close beside her and made certain neither her handbag nor her clothes brushed against any questionable surfaces. The building was much bigger inside than the outside suggested, though the hallways themselves still left much to be desired aesthetically.

The habitat, however, was far more interesting. The artificial island stretched out beneath them, complete with forest, beach, river, and pools of water. At least someone involved in the laboratory understood presentation.

Stella stepped from the elevator with Fantasia beside her, watching as Frieda distributed Poké Balls to the others. She did not need one, of course. When Professor Camphor asked to see the Pokémon belonging to those who had already arrived with partners, Stella stepped forward. “Fantasia and I came together.”

Fantasia raised her head, pastel mane shimmering as she looked toward the professor.

Stella rested her hand against the Ponyta’s shoulder. “She was a gift from my parents several years ago. We have been partners ever since.”

Her attention briefly shifted toward Hazel as Frieda announced that she would be taken to an Impidimp. An Impidimp? For her? That poor girl was going to need more help than Stella had thought.

Camphor Pokemon Habitat A

---

Camphor watched the trainers enter the habitat with some manner of curiosity. Well, they'd be back when they got back. For now, after taking the mug from Ryuichi she'd carelessly place it on a nearby desk and retrieve a suitcase from against the far back wall and set it next to it. And of course, the first person to jump on showing her their pokemon was Melissa. Camphor's lips subtly turned down before giving a huff and turning to the bouncy girl and her pokemon.

"Azurill. In fact, they are a normal and fairy typing, though its later two evolutions are water and fairy." Camphor responded tiredly, reaching out and ruffling the pokemon's head lightly. "Extremely friendly, and their tails are very important for their growth." Camphor gently picked up the small pokemon, proceeding to pet it perhaps a little more than necessary as she'd give the pokemon a brief inspection. "This one seems very well raised from what I can tell. Make sure you take good care of it. Azurill evolve primarily when they feel strong friendship and kinship with their trainer." She'd pass the pokemon back to Melissa before. "...and thanks for not...bouncing too much - hwaeh?"

Camphor stumbled as the ground rumbled lightly.

Ah right, the Onix.

Camphor exhaled, adjusting her labcoat to be a tad bit more presentable as she'd leave Mellissa and the Azurill, turning instead towards the Onix and Lina.

"Hm. Onix. Quite a difficult pokemon to raise, considering its size and their preferred habitat, Lina." Camphor walked over looking up at the pokemon that was objectively much taller than she was. "Its stones seem sturdy, healthy and...hm, maybe a bit of iron already forming? Maybe not." The professor reached out and lightly would pet the Onix on the stones lower on its body. "Jorm was it? Try not to wreck my lab while you're out, thanks. The area around Rivenwall has a good environment for Jorm, if you'd be interested Lina."

Camphor then turned her attention from the large rock type towards the much smaller fighting type monkey. Lively. Glaring in an obviously displeased manner, though such a thing wasn't unusual for a Mankey really.

"Well Miharu..." Camphor cast a glance towards the other woman. "...Taking care of a mankey is no easy thing, considering their usual temperament." Camphor didn't recklessly touch or pet the mankey like she had with Azurill or jorm - setting one of these critters off was a good way to get her lab wrecked. "They're also rather rare in Eidda, since they're not really native in the region completely." The walked a slow circle around the pokemon, nodding. "...hm, well taken care off. Fur is quite soft looking for a mankey. If you are planning to head up to the ruins...well, he'll do a good job. Just bring a jacket or a fire type because it can get a little frigid up there." She'd then turn to Jack and his Elekid.

She'd move over to where the electric type was, hand to her chin, studying it curiously.

"Elekid. Electric type. I do wonder what you were doing around Giants Watch. Its not exactly a field or electromagnetically active area like Thunderpoint peak or the Eiddan plains. I suppose they do make their homes in rocky areas, too, but...hm." She'd kneel next to the pokemon, studying it curiously. "You seem healthy and well taken care of." Nodding, she'd whisper then to the pokemon a little so that jack couldn't hear her. "Let me know if Jack doesn't let you get energy. The lab has plenty of budget for a bit more power use. And Mr. Gallagher...huh?"

Camphor blinked, watching as Victor announced that he was going to go find a pokemon.

She responded with a small chuckle as he left.

Well, it was probably fine.

That just left one last pokemon.

"Galarian Ponyta. A little too colorful for me, but I had one myself when I was in Rossaden Academy." She'd walk over to Fantasia, reaching out and gently placing a hand on the pokemon's snout. They say these pokemon can tell a persons intentions by gazing into a persons eyes, and if they find a person is evil they'll flee." Camphor turned towards Stella with a small smile. "Well, she looks healthy and lively. Galarian ponyta aren't found here naturally, but Eidda has plenty of space for her to run around and stretch those legs."

Unfortunately it seemed this was about as long as she was going to have for some individual meet and greets. The trainers that went into the habitat were fairly quick all things considered and she wasnt going to sit around and not get the ball rolling to get them out of here. She had other things to do anyways.

"Wew, seems im just in time." Risette would be one of the last ones to make her way back out of the habitat. Dusty was planted firmly on her head, giving the gathered people an excitable, toothy grin - sun glasses still worn on his snout, arriving at just about the same time as Tilly did. "...Stufful, huh?" Risette commented idly.

"Diiiile."

"Ahahaha, come on Dusty, no you can't eat the Stufful." The sandile flicked its tail, chomping its teeth a little in the Stufful direction. "Sorry, this little fella seems a bit too eager to fight. Did I get your name earlier, blondie? I'm Risette." She briefly glanced around to see if Ryuuichi was here, but he seemed like he was going to be a little late, but...hm. Well, if he couldn't swim she couldn't be bothered to really help more than she already did.

"Alright," Camphor stood up from where she was kneeling and turned towards Toshi. "Hmph. Dont overthink it, Toshi. Remember you're my assistants. I dont care if you do the gym challenge, but I do have things and work I need you to do for me...and speaking of." The professor would turn towards all the gathered trainers.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE GET BACK HERE. TIMES UP DONT MAKE ME COME FIND ANY OF YOU!"

For such a tiny person, she could throw her voice around louder than an Exploud. Whenever everyone would reconvene at the entrance of the habitat, the professor would start again.

"Alright, Listen up, I'm not gonna say anything twice, and hope you did everything you want because your time in the habitat is done for now." She'd walk over to the briefcase she had taken earlier and fiddle with the lock on it for a few seconds. A quiet click later, and the top of it snapped open. "Alright, so just a reminder for everyone. You technically are my employees, so act like it out there. Don't cause me problems and don't drag me or this lab into anything that would give me a headache, got it?" She'd start, opening the suitcase fully and spinning it around for the group of trainers to see. "Now, to start with I have some things for everyone."

State of the art custom made pokedexes were inside colored primarily white with green striping and embellishments. They looked extremely high tech, an oval shaped device that could fit into the palm of ones hand. A small groove ran down the middle of it.

"Made these myself. Custom software, functions as both a communication device, scan pokemon from a fair and safe distance, and has a near permanent uplink to the database here at the lab, and comes with a bunch of other functions. Weather, map, functions as a phone - and a direct line to me if you need anything. Please, please, hesitate to call. It also has all of yours numbers registered so if you need to reach someone, its easy enough too.” She'd grumble, demonstrating the device. The two halves of the device slid apart, revealing a sturdy screen in the middle. "It also has a virtual assistant that Frieda put a lot of work into that can handle most questions and as I said, has a direct uplink here to the lab so I can monitor your progress as far as catching and finding pokemon goes. Its also programmed with your trainer IDs, and will function as a Level 1 Research ID. That is, you can freely access the lab and anywhere on the Ground floor here and in affiliated labs across Eidda. The lab in Mireth comes to mind as well as the Mexatus Institute. It wont get you anywhere extremely important, though. It has remote box access and we can remotely give you your pokemon at any point, supposing the connection is good enough. Don’t go to some powerfully electromagnetically charged area or super far underground, or extremely rural area, though, and expect it to work."

Camphor would pass a device to each of the trainers.

"Go ahead. Scan your starters."

When each trainer got to the point of booting up the pokedex, it would start with a simple bootup sequence displaying the logo of what was presumably camphors lab. A simple stylized 'C' colored green and white. It lasted only for a few seconds before the pokedex properly started...and each and every trainer was greeted by what could only be described as a small, chibi version of Camphor that would pop out of the side of the screen and walk across it and proceed to inform the trainer about the pokemon they had scanned...along with perhaps some more personal opinions of the pokemon in question.

@Savo

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@Yankee

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@Xaltwind

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@PlatinumSkink

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@Ryik

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@Ryik

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@Psyker Landshark

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@Azure Bubbles

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@Crusader Lord

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@Floofenstein

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@Renose

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@Rune_Alchemist

---

"Yes, you just got paid," Camphor harrumphed. "Dont be surprised, that's literally your job I'm paying you for." She'd close the briefcase and fold her arms across her chest. "You get paid for both simple scanning a pokemon, and once for catching it. Amount is variable depending on the pokemon in question. Generally, rarer pokemon will get you more. Feel free to scan other pokemon too. Useful survey data for who has what." She'd pull out her own cell phone and narrow her eyes at it. "...now get out of here. I'm late for a meeting with someone...and stay out of the habitat. We'll be changing it soon. Otherwise, do whatever you want. Frieda can answer any questions."

She'd take the briefcase and shove it into Frieda's arms rather unceremoniously.

Toshi

Toshi thanked Camphor for the pokédex and scanned Nincada before frowning as he read the little guy's pokédex entry. While he could admit to having limited knowledge when it came to pokémon that rarely if ever made an appearance in the competitive scene, he had taken the time to do his research on the pre-evolved forms of pokémon species he had his eye on. Nincada almost always had the ability Compound Eyes, and it wasn't just for show; Nincada were proven to have pretty good accuracy with their attacks compared to other pokémon, it just seldom came up since it didn't learn many tricky moves in the first place. They were also known for having a relatively sturdy carapace; sturdier than their evolved forms, at least. They didn't have the stamina to endure too many attacks, sure, but the same could be said about most young pokémon.

Deciding to ignore it, he began scanning the starter pokémon of the other trainers, starting with the big ol' Onix he kinda wanted to climb up on, but he was a bit too distracted with his new companion to ask about doing so.

In fact, he was kind of still distracted now, with Nincada's antennae ocassionally tickling the back of his head or his cheek as he shifted about on Toshi's back. Maybe Nincada was feeling the same thing Toshi was; antsy as all hell. A feeling of prickly unrest vibrated underneath his skin, now that the metaphorical doors to the start of the rest of his life were open to him. He should probably at least finish scanning everyone's starter and telling people his plans before running off. It'd be best if he could run into some of them later on so they could battle, do some training together, and generally help point out each other's blind spots. To that end, he didn't know all that much about most of the other pokémon here, and decided he should probably scan them and check over their entries later.

As he finished scanning as many pokémon as he could, (and reciprocating for anyone else who felt it worthwhile) he would walk by Frieda on his way out. "Yo, Frieda. I'm gonna jet, but text me Camphor's payout criteria, if you know what it is." Then, before actually leaving, he'd turn back towards the group as a whole. "I'm hittin' up the parks of Byjerlfal to get in some training with my new friend here, and to gather some travelling funds. If any of y'all wanna travel together or otherwise end up lingering in Byjerlfal for a bit before leaving, feel free to give me a call. Better not to travel alone, yeah?" He made double pistols with his hands, smiled, gave everyone a wink, then turned and left so he could travel to the parks of Byjerlfal alone. Excitement was written all over his face. He couldn't wait any longer.

@Savo@Rune_Alchemist@Renose@Floofenstein@Crusader Lord@Azure Bubbles@Psyker Landshark@Double@PlatinumSkink@Xaltwind@Yankee

---

Toshi had a big damn journey to go on, but before he could go wandering off into the great outdoors, his first order of business was stocking up on supplies, and as he told everyone back in the lab, he wanted to pay a visit to the less great outdoors so he could get a feel for Nincada, gather some funds, and quickly heal Nincada up as needed at the local pokécenter. He returned Nincada to his Poké Ball so the little guy's limbs wouldn’t get tired before the real exercise began and went over to the nearest pokémart. Ten Poké Balls and a premier ball ran him 2000, though if he and Nincada did a good job weakening wild pokémon, the Poké Balls should pay for themselves.

He picked up some nice and healthy pokémon food appropriate for Nincada and a small supply of less essential snacks while he was at it, having set aside the appropriate funds for such after Camphor sent her acceptance video. It wasn’t enough to splurge for vitamins or anything like that, but it should keep him and his pokémon from going hungry. Vitamins and other such luxuries would be nice, but they’d have to wait, and any veteran trainer would tell him that they didn’t offer his pokémon anything that couldn’t be gained through hard work.

Leaving the city’s shops behind, he navigated towards the parks of Byjerlfal as Frieda recommended - the largest one also just so happened to be relatively nearby. With any luck, he could find a good spot to do some training with Nincada, and then they could go looking for wild pokémon in the surrounding area.

When he arrived, he found the park to be just what he had been looking for. Large fields broken up by rows of trees and sparse pathways winding around the park rather than straight through it. It offered plenty of open space for people and pokémon. After wandering off the beaten path a bit and finding a good spot somewhat obscured by the trees, Toshi pulled out Nincada’s Poké Ball and casually tossed it onto the ground, releasing him. After getting his bearings, The little bug looked back up at Toshi expectantly, with eyes that seemed to gleam like he was looking at the stars. It made Toshi a bit uncomfortable, if he was being honest with himself, not that he’d ever show as much.

“Yo.” He gave a casual wave while giving his pokémon his award-winning (and definitely not shit-eating) smile. “So, Nincada, I wanted to talk to you about the future. Battles. Evolution. Plans ‘n shit. That kind of stuff.”

Nincada let out an incomprehensible noise that could be vaguely approximated as “Zhazhit.” Toshi took it to mean that Nincada understood him, so he simply nodded as if he had understood Nincada perfectly.

“So, have you ever seen your evolved forms? Ninjask and Shedinja?”

Nincada made another noise and shook his head.

“Oh? Well, then I have good news. You, my friend, are going to be the fastest pokémon in the whole damn world!” He gave Nincada a huge grin, letting some of his own excitement show at the prospect of becoming not just one of the pokémon trainers he would watch on TV, but the trainer of a pokémon that was, in his objective opinion, really fucking cool.

At this, Nincada simply tilted his head. He had lived a mostly hermetic lifestyle in his underground burrows. If anything, stealth and the sturdiness of his carapace seemed more vital to his survival than his speed, currently.

Seeing Nincada not share in his enthusiasm, Toshi simply smirked and shook his head. “No need to be skeptical. After you evolve, you’ll be a Ninjask, gaining a pair of wings and becoming the fastest pokémon us humans have ever documented. As a matter of fact, You’ll be so fast that to most, you’ll be virtually invisible, faster than their eyes could possibly follow. You with me so far?”

Nincada paused, processing the concept of becoming so comically, ludicrously fast. It was hard to imagine, frankly, but when the little insect thought about it, he came to realize that the idea was extremely appealing. At that speed, couldn't he functionally be everywhere at once? Every berry and yummy tree root would be his to sample as he pleased, and if a super fast bird came barreling at two friends at the same time, if he were fast enough, couldn't he save them both instead of choosing one or the other? He nodded at Toshi, letting out an excited trill. He then made a bit more noise, asking for details, though that part was unfortunately lost in translation.

Barreling on, Toshi nevertheless began to explain. “Right, so, Nincada go through a super-unique evolution. Unlike all other pokémon, instead of evolving into one pokémon, Nincada are known to evolve into two - simultaneously. Not a split evolution, not a choice between one or the other, as far as I know. You’ll just - uh… well, one day, you will be two. Two pokémon.”

“Zzhizzh?” Nincada gave Toshi a look that he wasn’t sure how to interpret. Maybe Nincada was mildly alarmed? Or perhaps not, and he was just asking a question? Toshi made a mental note to work on his pokémon communication skills, but in his defense, insectoid faces didn’t really make human-like facial expressions.

Ultimately Toshi decided to assuage any potential worries, since that seemed more important. He gave Nincada a reassuring smile and continued explaining. “Don’t worry! Your other evolution is awesome as hell, too. They’re called Shedinja. Unlike Ninjask, which is a bug-flying type, Shedinja is a bug-ghost type. When you evolve into a Ninjask, a part of your… uh, soul? Spirit? Ghostliness? Eh. Well, something is left behind, and that something combines with the shell you shed in your evolution and becomes a Shedinja."

Nincada seems to ponder the idea, rubbing his two foreclaws together. He stops, shudders, then continues rubbing his claws together, antennae twitching in what Toshi assumes to be contemplation.

“Now, Shedinja are maybe the most unique pokémon - like, ever. Even legendary pokémon don’t have the mojo one half of you will one day. They’re tricky to use in battle because whatever makes them tick has a tendency to immediately go on holiday when they take any damage, at least until they are able to recover. They aren’t super fast like Ninjask either, so in a bad matchup, they’re often sitting Duckletts.” Nincada seemed to droop as he went on, but it was important that the limitations of Shedinja weren’t sugar-coated. “But! What makes Shedinja special isn’t that they’re easy to take down. It’s the opposite in fact. Your ability is Compound Eyes, right? You’ve always been handy with your moves even if other Nincada or birds or whatever throw sand at you, yeah?”

Nincada nodded, not sure where this was going.

“Right. Well, Ninjask have the ability Speed Boost - They just get faster the more time they’ve had to get going, and they can even pass on this speed-up with the move Baton Pass. It’s a pretty strong ability, but it’s nothing compared to what is universally agreed to be the most powerful ability in the pokémon world: Wonder Guard.”

Nincada let out a trill of awe. Telling someone they would one day be among the best at not one, but two unrelated talents, was quite a lot to take in, after all.

“What Wonder Guard does is protect Shedinja from any moves they’re not weak to. Since it’s a bug-ghost type, that means they can only take damage from fire, flying, rock, ghost, and dark moves. They can stand their ground against the fiercest of raging tides, shrug off the pull of the strongest psychics, and clash with the sharpest of steel blades. They’re comfortable in the most biting of blizzards, can take on the most devastating draco meteors, and dance among lightning that splits the sky, without any fear. Can you think of anything more badass!?"

Nincada’s eyes sparkled, well and truly hyped up by Toshi’s explanation. He began letting out excited cries that Toshi was beginning to think were pretty cute, oblivious to his Nincada telling him that he was already immune to lightning strikes, but the rest sounded cool.

“So, Nincada. Now that you know what your future holds, I’ll tell you what I hope for mine: I want to be the best. I want them to be singing my praises from the rooftops. When I walk down the street, I want people to ask me for my autograph because I’m so awesome. And I want you to be one of the pokémon there, by my side, not just basking in my radiance, but joining in. I want you to be so amazing that you have your own fan clubs. So amazing that people can’t help but gasp in awe at how amazing all the things you can do are. It will be a lot. It will be hard. Getting even a little close to being that awesome will be hard. A struggle. A lot of fuckin’ work. Once you evolve, we’ll have only reached the base of the mountain we have to climb. Two mountains, even, since you’re evolving into two pokémon. Like a huge pair of breasts, with just as much back pain.”

Nincada, being of a species without mammaries, had no idea what the fuck Toshi was going on about, but he understood the mountain metaphor well enough.

“So, do you think you can handle it? A trainer like me, I mean. One who will shoot for nothing less than the heavens! And, uh… stuff.” Toshi petered off, his smile twitching a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck and diverted his gaze to the side.

Nincada caught the twitch with his sharp eyes, but wasn’t well-versed enough in human mannerisms to think anything of it. Instead, it simply nodded. “Zhazhit!”

Without realizing his expression was any different, Toshi gave Nincada a goofy smile before leaning down to give him a totally casual bro-hug. As he stood back up, his grin turned sharp, and he began explaining his plans for Nincada’s training regiment.

In short, because both of Nincada’s evolutions were lacking in durability, it would be best to focus on training both of them in speed and offense. Other than Shedinja’s ability, evasion was the best form of defense both evolutions would have. He’d have to adapt the actual form their training takes based on location and evolution, but running laps and fucking up some tree bark would do well enough for now.

Despite being a novice trainer, he has consumed enough media related to pokémon battling to know that training alongside your pokémon is said to help motivate them. While he didn’t really know if it would actually help, it would be great for staying in shape, and he had to put in the work if he wanted to look his best up on the winner’s podium.

---

Toshi was panting heavily, hands on knees, as his first training session with his pokémon came to a close. It was rather freeing, to be able to go out and get his blood pumping without worrying about snide remarks from his family, and all the better to have a partner to do it with, even if failing to match the intensity of his pokémon's training was inevitable.

Still, he was satisfied with the progress they'd made for now. It was a good baseline for future training sessions that they could build upon as they went. He retrieved a juice box from his bag, inserted the straw, and handed it to Nincada (more accurately, set it on the ground in front of him) before taking a moment to hydrate himself and consider his next steps. Considering they were just starting out, they’d need to go over a bit more than rote physical training to get started properly.

When Nincada had finished the juice box, he first had him demonstrate all the moves it knew. “Alright Nincada, next up, I want you to show me your stuff!”

“Zhazh?”

“You know! Show me your sick skills!”

Nincada did not know, and its skills were perfectly healthy, thank you very much.

After eventually taking the time to stop and explain what he wanted Nincada to do and subsequently getting familiarized with Nincada’s current moveset, he began going over some simple code phrases for moves he expected Nincada to get lasting mileage out of. Not many did it even at the highest level, and verbal commands didn’t always travel across the field, but people needed to be heard by their pokémon, and there was no point in telegraphing what they would do to your opponent if it could be avoided. If he was going to establish code phrases at all, it was best to do so from the start, and like he said to Melissa, he was aiming to reach the level where he'd want and need every advantage he could get.

He didn’t bother for all of Nincada’s moves; there wasn’t much point hiding a command for scratch if its role in battle would mostly be replaced by other moves later on. It might even throw people off if he randomly gave a straightforward command to use such a move. Something like Night Slash, however, was easy to abbreviate as N.S. or ‘Enz’, if he were to verbalize the abbreviation with minimum syllables. If it took his opponents even one extra second to think about what the command was, it was worth practicing the ability to give out such commands. Personally though, if time wasn’t of the essence, he preferred code phrases like ‘Dark as Night’. It was just as vague for his opponent and just as intuitive for his Nincada, who only knew one dark move, but sounded much cooler.

He helped Nincada memorize these phrases by playing a game of Simon says with it. A famous trainer had recommended it during an interview for getting pokémon comfortable with following commands. For code phrases in particular, it definitely seemed to be worth the time investment. He’d have to continue this exercise as Nincada learned more moves and as his team expanded. The famous trainer didn’t say anything about letting your pokémon take on the role of Simon, but nobody he knew was around to see him make a fool of himself - as if the people who were around even care, and he could use the communication practice. He certainly didn’t do as well as Nincada did, mostly because he didn’t understand what Nincada wanted him to do, but he did get a couple of commands right based on context, which he considered to be valuable progress. Nincada seemed to enjoy it, in any case.

What else was there to do? Ah, right. Camphor's request. He should probably get on that.

“Ready for your first battle, Nincada? We’ve got to catch as many new pokémon we come across as we can for Camphor, and that means weakening them first. It should also help you get a sense for following orders in battle. It may take a bit before we’re perfectly in sync, but you know what they say: practice makes perfect.”

Nincada had never heard that saying before in its life, but the idea sounded pleasant. Toshi’s dreams were huge and dazzling, and he did want to have what it took to be there with him, living those dreams. Toshi said it would be hard, but it seemed like the kind of hard where they would traverse that tunnel when they came to it. Nincada nodded its head, letting Toshi know it was ready.

“Cool. Then let’s get to it.” They left the small open area they had been training in in search of wild pokémon in the park, if any hadn’t already been attracted by what noise they had made earlier.


@Savo@Rune_Alchemist