Isla Gill
Mentions: N/A Location: Byjerlfal City, Camphor’s Lab
"Heya! You guys in the same boat as our lot, huh? We get to be guinea pigs! For money!"
"I suppose we're apt to be coworkers—er, co-assistants?—from here on out. Name's Richard Evans; it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Aster! You can't just litter like that!"
"A pleasure to meet you as well, Richard. I'm Clarissa Ryte."
"Guinea pigs, seriously. Did you even bother reading about the job you were applying for or did you blindly sign up without even bothering to do any research?"
Isla suddenly felt extremely small and, in comparison to everything around her, very, very out of water. Some of them were making their own introductions, loud and friendly as can be, one was having trouble with her Aipom, and the guy from before who had a moment seemed to also be having another, though this time it was disgust from a high horse. She’d seen
that sort of behavior before, from trainers at the tower who’d felt like they couldn’t lose,
wouldn’t lose, to a “lesser trainer”. Well, that went pretty well until one of the older people stepped down from wherever they stayed and while Isla had never had the desire to watch one of those battles she had watched the aftermath. Those ones either stuck around to try and regain something, being a little quieter about it, or slunk off-island on the next Seagallop. It seemed this one hadn’t yet had the experience. She blew a breath out of her nose at the thought.
One of the others, who’d also had his own Pokemon, spoke up at the last comment. What was it…a bat, something from one of the other regions that she couldn’t really place. His long, purple-hue hair made him stick out, though, even when compared with the last speaker who had the same if not slightly shorter. She craned in just a tad, to listen to him.
"Well, I kinda have to agree, we are not guinea pigs. That is not what the job is about, and before that gets talked about more. I am going to say my name is Alexander Nells, and this is Cora. It is nice to meet you all."
The other three introduced themselves, one after another and displaying some of their own qualities. The younger guy seemed alright, friendly enough, the one with the grass-type cat seemed haughty, and the sleeping one was in fact no longer asleep. Hired by Camphor herself…what sort of ‘administrative pressures’ were there for them to worry about and get to the lab early? Isla couldn’t really think of any. Before she could introduce herself to the rest, Prof Camphor seemed to materialize.
I didn’t know they made Professors that short.Isla snorted in her chair with barely contained laughter before actually listening to what the woman had to say. She rose to her seat, though, almost unthinkingly as Camphor said to come on, that she didn’t have all day, and that her tone definitely suggested such. Following them, somewhat in the back of the group with her duffel once again slung on her back, she strained to listen to the shorter woman. Going to the habitat…all of the partners there…and something to do. She couldn’t help but notice the directions in the hallway.
Floor G...who listed floors by letter? Stranger and stranger still. They turned right,
Habitats, Simulation Room, Server Room that way. A Simulation Room sounded like it would be the thing done after, almost. A test, maybe? It’d been easy enough to get into the program so far, as far as Isla could tell. Maybe she wanted to see how well they meshed with their partner? Maybe?
They finally came to the Habitat. Where had they found all the space for this, in such an unassuming building? Isla could barely see the city through the high-up glass, though her attention was drawn down and down to the trees and grass below. It seemed like they’d put the whole Viridian Forest down in miniature, at least as she’d read and seen videos about it, right down in a city.
“Welcome to the Habitat. We use it to see how different pokemon adapt to different environments in real time and we have, well, an easy enough time making variations to it if we need to. Helps gather hands-on data the simulator doesn’t quite let us. Now, that aside…there’s something I’d like you all to do here. Those of you that don’t have your partner already…well, they’re in here. Go find them.”
A Pokeball in hand, her fingers closing around the plastic exterior…go find them. Go catch them. Was it just that mechanical? Was it just that simple to catch what the Professor called a partner…Isla hesitated, barely listening to Camphor’s other words. They washed over her, a few touching here and there.
Figured you’d all like to catch them properly. Is that what it was? Just a formality, a little dance done and forgotten afterwards? She exhaled out. Stepping out into the habitat, Isla could feel the humidity change just a little as others ran-off here, there for their own partner. Where would hers be…she remembered filling out a little questionnaire on what was ‘wanted’ and really, in all honesty Isla could only somewhat recall the one she’d chosen because it was the most open-to-the-future, vague thing open. Where would he be…she sucked on her lip at the thought, fingers running over the smooth surface of the Pokeball. Well…no, no. She pocketed it in her pants, slinging her duffel bag off. Where
was that bag of…ah, there it was. Isla pulled the bag of jerky from her bag, closing it quickly and slinging it over her shoulder yet again.
So where is he…a little walk to the more forested areas, some of the other trainers still in the corner of her eye, and suddenly Isla felt truly in nature. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, she could still see the glass far above, in between all the trees and foliage, but it was as close to being in the middle of a forest as the islander had ever been. Where would he be…ah, she could see a little white shape, just a little ways away under the foliage of a bush, shaped almost…oval. Isla stopped in her tracks, slowly lowering herself into a crouch as she unzipped the bag of jerky. Holding it in her hands at the sound, which didn’t seem to rouse the Eevee in the distance, she let out a small sigh of relief. Well…one hand grasped on the inside for a second, finding a smaller chunk. Was her aim really good enough? She tossed it to find out, some movement under the bush following as the jerky landed just a foot from the shape. Another little shift as a yawn revealed a gaping maw of a mouth amid the shadows, the lil guy slowly trotting out for the jerky.
Lean down, smell a little, pause…a little ear twitch that seemed smaller than usual. Maybe peppered wasn’t the best? Isla stayed stock-still to find out.
Nom. Another sigh of relief at the sight of the little Eevee munching on the jerky. It paused, too, looking up at Isla in her crouched pose.
Oop. Maybe that wasn’t the best move. Their eyes met for what seemed like a minute, though of course was far shorter, before she finally made the decision to move just a little. Slowly, carefully, she picked out another piece of jerky from the bag, throwing it again between them. It stared at the jerky again, blowing out from its nose before trotting up.
The little guy barely even stopped to pick up the second piece, continuing to approach as it chewed with the excess poking out. Pausing a foot in front of her, he let his head down again to better finish off the jerky with a paw. Looking back up again, the Eevee yawned a big, wide one. A step…another…he was
right there, leaning his head in to smell at the bag. Well…there goes nothing, then. She poured out some into her hand, shaking the bag, careful to not spill any more onto the ground…held it out. Well, he was perfectly fine with that, taking another step forward to better attack the jerky held out. Setting the bag down by her crouched leg…awkward, awkward considering the pose she’d found herself in…Isla reached out her free hand. Maybe? Possibly? Should she?
Oh, heck. She gently started to pat at the space between the ears, then the base of the short little ears, watching as the Eevee paused, let out a puff again from its nose, and continued to eat. Well…better than expected. Altogether better than expected. She just sort of stayed there, shifting her legs to be more comfortable, feeding the small Pokemon and petting at its head as a smile slowly grew on her face.
