~Abigail Blanchett~

"Speaking pridefully like you always did in trainer school... you haven't changed much, have you..."

Hmph. If she did change, it would only be that she had gotten ten times better than this jerkface. Sure, she had to admit he was good - but she still didn't like him. Hell, he could go toe to toe with her, and she always welcomed a challenge. The guy was still annoying, though. Putting him in his place was always fun.

"Look, I've said it a million times to you - we are both equal in our skill... More importantly though, what the hell?! Didn't you see that I was standing in front of someone?! She could of been seriously injured if I wasn't good at reacting! What were you thinking?!"

Equal? Pfft. Not a chance. He was good, but she was better. That much was obvious. As Yuu talked, she was getting more and more annoyed by him as usual. Tch. Not only had he not changed any, he seemed to have gotten even more annoying. She didn't bother answering the last part of the question, though. It should be obvious to the guy, she didn't really give a crap about that. Well, she might feel slightly bad if the other girl got injured but she seemed fine, so that was good.

"... something tells me your that other red-headed chicks friend... Do I seriously need to clear up any smoke because I can only tell at this point everything is becoming one sided."

Observant as ever.


"Look, how about instead of ignoring me for once, hear me out on my recommendation because I don't want to further dump this whole event on the group as that's just rude. Cerise and I tell our sides of the story and we leave it at that."

Abigail folded her arms, and gave Yuu a smug smirk.

"Riiight...if you're going to kill Yuu, could you do it outside? Cause I'm pretty sure the kid might actually keel over and die if y'all keep it up...and, hey, as fun as that sounds, I don't think Elm would be up for handing out Pokémon with a couple of dead dudes in his lab."

...who was this crippled chick? Should she even be here? She was just going to get hurt if she got a pokemon. Abigail barely even registered her words as she spoke. Not because of being distracted, but simply because she didn't really think anything this kid could say was worth her time. She ignored her, and turned her attention back to Yuu.

"You haven't changed either. Struggling along behind me as always, chasing after my talent." She calmly and smugly replied. "Sorry about ignoring you. Really, maybe if you had anything worthwhile to say, I'd actually listen to you. Besides, you really, really, hurt Cerise. You think I'm just going to let that go? She was even just trying to be nice, too. Just because she's never left Lumiose before she has trouble talking to people sometimes doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it. No. I'm gonna make you apologize to her, or I'm gonna throw you out of this lab." She replied.

Well, its not like Cerise actually had trouble talking to people. Quite the opposite. She could very well be a nice person if she wanted too. Problem was, the red head had a...well, she just liked getting up to trouble and messing with people. That haughty attitude was really her actual personality - though she hid it well, even back at home. The only reason she probably let that friendly persona slip, was because as far as she knew Yuu was just a random person on the street she was never going to see again.

She took a few steps towards Yuu.

"Actually, nah, I'm just gonna throw you out of this lab. Hope you don't mind a few broken bones."

~Cerise Fontaine~

Cerise gave the guy a friendly smile as he ran off after Abigail. Heh. People, especially men, were always swayed by a cute face. Unless you were that purple haired guy. Weirdo. She'd suggest him being into guys or something, but well, she didn't exactly have a whole lot of room to talk in that department. She was a horrible person all things considered, but she wasn't going to be a hypocrite....well, maybe not. Its not like anyone knew about her preferences. She could easily lie about it. Well, except Abigail but that ship had sunk a few years ago.

But eh, whatever, those thoughts were completely irrelevant to the matter at hand. With a small sigh and a smile, she set off back towards the lab at a somewhat brisk pace. For this to go well, she'd have to do this herself. That other guy was probably going to make this worse, maybe. At best, he'd absolutely fail and not accomplish anything. It'd likely take her a few more minutes to get to the lab - she'd let Abigail have her fun with that guy for a bit before stepping in herself.

After a few minutes had passed, she finally got back to the lab...to see the Zeph guy and another guy run into each other.

...well, at least he hadn't made things worse. What was that old saying about doing something right you should do it yourself? Well, she'd technically figured this was the outcome, but it would have been nice to be pleasantly surprised. Well, if they wanted to make out that was on them. She'd just wait out here for a bit for something to happen inside.

...Hope you don't mind a few broken bones."

...goddamn it Abigial. She didn't want you to kill the guy. That was her job. Well, it seemed like she was going to have to go in whether she wanted to or not.

"Pardonnez-moi messieurs." She said to Zeph and Nate, giving Zeph a small smile as she passed. "Sorry, I know I asked you to help but I really should do something before the moron does something stupid. More stupid than she usually does." With that said, she walked into the lab, and was greeted with a sight that was about to spell trouble. A kid who she assumed to be the professors assistant or something, was trying to get Abigail and the other purple haired guys attention. Abigail, was also about to punch the other guy right in the face. As amusing as it would be to see him get his face punched in, she had other plans.

"Abigail Blanchett! That is quite enough!" She shouted. For someone who had a small of a body as she did, she could apparently shout quite loudly. "Vraiment...Must you always be such an idiot?" She sighed, walking over to the pair. As she approached, she took note of a few other of the trainers. Some quiet looking kid, the two outside were definitely other trainers, and the idiot purple haired guy. The one who caught her attention the most, though, was the tough looking girl wearing a shirt with something called 'Own Tempo' written on it. She didn't know what that was, but well, the girl...Cerise found herself thinking she was quite pretty. Huh. Well, whatever. The thought was only momentary.

"I told you to stay put." Abigail replied to Cerise.

"And I ignored you. Like usual." She replied, walking right up to Abigail. "And why do you think that is?"

"Aww, come on! Yuu is a jerkface! Come on, lemme beat him up! Besides, he made you cry!" Abigail replied. Cerise simply sighed in response before looking up at Yuu. So this was the guy Abigail talked about a lot. Something about him actually being a pretty good trainer and being part of the reason she worked so hard to get better at it.

"T-that doesn't really matter." Cerise sheepishly replied, her tone taking a much softer voice at the mention of Yuu. "Y-you always tell me I'm a cry baby anyways. Please just leave...Yuu alone, alright?" Abigail shot Yuu another glare before giving a defeated sigh.

"Fine." She finally replied. "You do anything to her again though, I'll throw you off a cliff." With that, she gave him a shove before taking a seat on the opposite side of the room, leaving Cerise to do whatever it was she was going to do. She was probably going to try to get on everyone's good side by pretending to be friendly, as always. Make Yuu out to be a bad guy here - or at least be nice to everyone else, and completely torment him when they were alone.

"Ah...uhm..." She quietly began, appearing as if she was trying to think of what to say. "I-i, uh, think we got off on the wrong foot." She said to Yuu, giving him a somewhat embarrassed smile. "I uhm, apologize if my words offended you earlier, I really didn't mean anything by them. I'm just...well, not good with people. B-being somewhat famous means I don't really get a chance to...talk to...uhm...comm-uh, normal people that much." With that said, she stuck out a hand again to introduce herself. "I would like to uhm, start over as they say. I am Cerise Fontaine, Fashion designer from Kalos. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Yuu. I apologize for Abigail as well, she's smart...but she can be a bit of an...idiot at times." She giggled.

Abigail simply shot Cerise a brief glare before ignoring the two of them.

With that said, she was curious as to what Yuu would do here. She was fairly certain he wouldn't buy any of that considering it was rather obvious the way she had acted earlier wasn't an act or her just having trouble talking. The others though? well, they didn't see any of that, and as far as they knew they just had their words to go on and what had already happened. She was fairly certain she already had quite a few points with the rest of them, as they might say. Would Yuu be a jerk here and make himself out to be a bad guy? No matter what he did, she'd get to have her fun with him. He was in a fairly lose-lose situation here.

Alfred simply sighed in relief, glad to see the argument was over with. Hopefully.

~Professor Elm~

Elm calmly watched the egg that was in the machine. Well, as calmly as he could, really. He constantly jotted down little notes and thoughts on a notebook as he watched the readings and other things on the machine. The machine in question, he built it himself after years of research. It was supposed to take a pokemon egg and analyze everything about it. Unfortunately, this was the first time he had been able to use it, since getting eggs was so much harder these days. It was an experiment, the first of its kind and he was extremely excited that he was able to get to use it.


“What’s that egg taste like?”

Elm gave a start at the voice, causing him to drop his notebook and other materials. Who in the world- oh, it was just Avery. Elm let out a relieved sigh, before he remembered what day it was and why Avery was in his lab.

"Ah! Avery! You're here. I completely forgot! Oh dear." The other trainers were probably here as well. How could he forget! He had been looking forward to this day for months! Nothing could beat the feeling of handing out a pokemon to a first time trainer. "Todays the day. Oh where did I put those licenses!..." He said, completely ignoring Avery's question about how the egg might taste. "right...over here. Thank you for the note Alfred...oh what am I doing, I should go greet the trainers!"

With that, Elm hurried out of the backroom, leaving Avery there.

by himself.

with the egg.

And the pokemon.

Well...it was Avery. What could possibly go wrong?

It didn't take Elm to long to reach the front of the lab. Thankfully, it seemed like everyone was getting along well! They would probably be traveling together, so it was good they were getting along well. It was much safer to travel in a larger group, after all. With the pokemon attacks and everything it was always a good idea.

"My goodness. I am so sorry everyone!" He said as he walked into the labs lobby, as someone might call it. "I was caught up in some research. I completely lost track of time. It's good to see all of you are getting along well. Ah, wait, let me introduce myself. I am Professor Elm. Today is a great day for you, young trainers! Ah, its always nice to see someone get a pokemon for the first time. But look at me, I'm talking too much again. Ah, follow me into the back and give you your licenses and the pokemon. Alfred, if you would go get the licenses for everyone ready."

With a smile and a nod, Alfred went ahead of everyone to prepare the necessary items. Aside from the licenses and the pokemon, a few potions and other things had been provided by Elm. The professor followed shortly after, making sure that the young trainers followed after him.

The second violet head turned, regarding her for just an instant before turning back to her mark. A muscle twitched by Gwen’s eye. The chick completely ignored her and laid back in on Yuu. Who the everloving fuck did this bitch think she was? Gwen’s hands curled into fists, and she could feel her joints pop. Honestly, she didn’t give a fuck what they’re deal with each other was, she didn’t like being ignored. That just didn’t fly. She took a step towards Abigail, fully prepared to take a swing at the admittedly larger woman.

That one step was all she was able to take before she heard someone shout from the door.

Gwen turned to see redhead from earlier, albeit with less tears this time. The sudden intrusion somewhat snapped her from the indignant rage, giving her a chance to look at things again. She stopped, crossing her arms and frowning. On second thought, it PROBABLY wouldn’t do her any favors to start shit here. If the purple asshats ended up getting in a fight here and get like, kicked out of the lab? Well, that served her just fine. Satisfied, Gwen loosened a bit.

…and the annoyance found its way back almost immediately. She noticed the new redhead giving the once over to the rest of the assembled trainers, herself included. That would have been fine, too, but...well, she could have swore that the girl’s sight lingered on her for a bit longer than the rest. Sure, she was used to the odd looks and gawking from passerbys by now, after all the scars were pretty jarring at first, but that didn’t mean that it pissed her off any less.

Ugh…

These people were stressing her out and she didn’t even know half of their names.

As if on cue, the redhead introduced herself to Yuu. Cerise Fontaine, eh? Great...

Really, the worst part about this was that she would probably end up traveling with at least a few of them, if not the lot o’ ‘em. She knew how the old man was…

Speaking of which…

“My goodness. I am so sorry everyone! I was caught up in some research. I completely lost track of time. It’s good to see all of you are getting along well. Ah, wait, let me introduce myself. I am Professor Elm.”

Gwen turned to face the professor. Lost track of time, eh? Yeah, that uh...that sounded right. She scanned the room, noting the new faces, a couple of guys at the door mainly, but…

Where the hell was the big lug? He came in...she knew that much. Honestly, the lab wasn’t even that big. How the hell could he get lost? The professor continued, cutting off her thoughts.

“Today is a great day for you, young trainers! Ah, it’s always nice to see someone get a pokemon for the first time. But look at me, I’m talking too much again. Ah, follow me into the back and give you your licenses and the pokemon. Alfred, it you would go get the licenses for everyone ready.”

Well...shit...looks like she was going to get her Pokemon. The professor turned and strolled down the hall. Gwen looked about the room, shrugged, then followed. She wasn’t about to let asshats ruin her day.

The hallway ended at a doorway. Gwen saw the Professor enter and she followed.

The light was blinding.

---

“Ah! Avery! You’re here!”

Avery blinked. Well...yeah he was here. How else would he have asked the question? Telepathy...but Avery wasn’t psychic. Or if he was, he didn’t know it. But neither would Elm.
Silly Elm.

“I completely forgot! Oh dear. Today’s the day. Oh where did I put those licenses! Right...over here. thank you for the note Alfred...oh what am I doing, I should go greet the trainers!”

Okay then.

Avery stood waiting for a moment, looking about the lab. It was...pretty clean. Cleaner than what Avery would do. He didn’t like cleaning up. If his things wanted to go to their own places, who was he to stop them? He wouldn’t want his things picking him up and putting him somewhere else.

…

Avery threw his arms back and let out a yawn. Alfie entered the room in a sort of hurry. He glanced about the room, searching for something. Avery smiled and waved at the little dude, who offered him a smile and a nod in return. He crossed over to where Elm had been standing, then looked about.

Avery walked over.

Alfie had the licenses stacked on a table by a mess of pokeballs and had crossed the room to retrieve some potions and other essentials that he had laid out earlier. The giant glanced back at Alfie before gazing down at the licenses. He waited for a moment before picking them up. The first belonged to a rather serious looking girl with purple hair. Abigail Blanchett. He didn’t recognize her. She looked like she needed a big laugh. He laid the card down and moved a number of Pokeballs beside it.

Next up was a flash of red hair that he had seen earlier. Cerise Fontaine. He didn’t get a good look at her face before she ran off crying. He felt bad for her. He didn’t like crying either. It couldn’t be good to have water leaking from your eyes. Again, he laid the card down and placed some Pokeballs by it.

Yuu Nozumu was the name on the next card. He remembered Yuu. He lived in town, but...Avery blinked. He didn’t really come around often. Huh. He didn’t really know much about him, oddly. Card and Pokeballs were laid by the others.

He smiled at the next card. It was Gwen. She was really looking forward to this. He hoped that she would be careful...she could be careless. He could too but…huh. The thought was gone. He placed down the card and some Pokeballs.

Another nest of red hair was on the next one. Avery raised an eyebrow. She...didn’t have any eyes? He hadn’t met anyone like that before. He hadn’t met many people though. He shrugged before setting aside the swag.

Zeph Bagley was the next one. There were several bandages on his face. Avery grinned. He sometimes forgot to take those off too...though sometimes he just got into the box and they ended up there without him knowing. Life was weird. His card and Pokeballs went by the others.

Nathaniel Douglas. Avery looked at the picture on the card for a few moments. Something seemed off about this one...oh! He saw it. A strip of blue hair. It seemed tucked away but nothing hid from ole Avery Eagle-eyes. Except for most things. Anyway. That card got some Pokeballs too.

Then there was the final card. Avery held it in his hands for a moment and turned it over and over. He gazed down and read it. Avery Garfield XXVIII...is what he so desperately wanted to see. But the face on the card was not his, nor was the name. His mouth turned down in a rare frown as his lips quivered slightly.

He tried so very hard. Harder than he had tried at anything else...but…

He had failed. He hadn’t been able to meet the requirements. He would not receiving a license, pokemon, or anything of the like. He glanced away from the card in his hands to Gwen’s. He wasn’t able to tell her...she had seemed so excited...he couldn’t bring himself to break it to her but...he wouldn’t be joining her. He had even went as far a packing up and everything…

His hands shook, but he managed to place the card on the table and move a couple more Pokeballs to sit beside it. Then his arm shot up to wipe his face. Alfie returned with the potions. He didn’t say anything, merely patting the giant on the back.

It took a few more moments, but Avery managed to pull himself together. He and Alfred distributed the potions in silence. Footsteps were growing louder. The others would be in the lab any moment now. Avery crossed the room to see if he needed to gather anything else.

He hadn’t been able to secure a license but...he was going to be doing something. Elm, after hearing about his predicament, offered him a chance to assist him in the lab, alongside Alfie. It wasn’t exactly what he had wanted to do, but he liked Elm and Alfie, and the lab could be fun.

But the sting was still there. The disappointment…

Still, he shook his head and the thoughts began to fade. It wasn’t fair of him to wish as he was. If he had succeeded, perhaps the owner of the last card wouldn’t have been able to go? He wouldn’t want that...after all, he still had the lab. He wished the new trainers the best of luck.

…

But he still felt a pang of envy.

The owner of the last card...this Sophia Rhodes…

Despite everything he had said to himself, he still envied her. And he couldn’t help but to wish that it was him, not her, that would be receiving a license, a partner, and a journey.

Elm entered the lab, other trainers in tow. Avery saw Gwen and lowered his head. He couldn’t look at her. Not now. Not yet.

Soon.

---

The girl bounced into town, her stride slowing to a stop. She bent over and grabbed her legs, calming her rough breathing into something a bit more regular. She was beyond tired, yet spurned on by a desperate desire to get to safety and an even more desperate desire to avoid tardiness.

She had been traveling for a few days by now, MUCH longer than she had planned. But the tunnel that would have led her from Blackthorne to New Bark had collapsed. She didn’t have the details, but people were hard at work trying to clear it when she arrived. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to just sit around so...she took a detour.

Through Mahogany, into Ecruteak, into Violet, Cherrygrove, and finally…

New Bark.

The girl, stood back up, and threw her head back, taking in the air. It was so very lovely...so...fresh.

…

Oh no. Oh dear.

The blonde pulled out her Holo Caster and saw the time. She was going to be late. She was just absolutely going to be late.

She took a deep, deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out slowly. She felt calmer, more in control. She wasn’t too late. She repeated that to herself over and over. She wasn’t too late. If she knew Elm even a little, and she believed she did, then it would be likely that he would be delayed slightly. She just had to hope such was the case, but relying on that uncertainty made her a bit uncomfortable. But what choice had she?

Giving herself a once over to make sure everything was still in place, the smiling blonde moved forward at a brisk pace.

As she approached what could only be the lab, her heart leapt. There were a couple of gentlemen standing at the door, peering in. If they were here for the same reason she was, then she really wasn’t too late.

Praise Arceus.

She patted herself and unconsciously adjusted her bow. After another deep breath, Ms. Sophia Rhodes, trainer-to-be, took the first steps of her journey, towards the door and who would likely be her future companions.

And she was absolutely ecstatic.

As she approached, she overheard some sort of commotion, but she wasn't able to make out any details. Uncertainty swept over her. If this crowd had gathered just to spectate a dispute well...this might not be the lab after all.

A heat rose in the girl's cheeks as, unbeknownst to her, they reddened in embarrassment. She had been so certain...

Well, she had committed too hard to turn back now. She came to a stop behind a gentleman about her height and after debating it for a moment, reached out and lightly tapped his shoulder with two fingers. He was...rather wet, actually, which caught her a bit off-guard. Still, she very quickly gathered herself and began to speak.

_{"Excuse me. This wouldn't happen to be Professor Elm’s laboratory, would it?"}

She spoke in a rather quiet tone, not quite sure if she could be heard over the purple haired couple who seemed to be having a disagreement of sorts. It wasn't her place to listen in on such a private moment, so she tuned then out the best she could, focusing almost entirely on the gentleman before her.

-Yuu Nozomu : New Bark Town-

Yuu took note of the girls blush deepening as she pushed herself off of his body, Mattie apologizing profusely as she did so. The lavender haired boy chuckled nervously and gave her a smile. The boy pushed himself up from the ground, ricocheting upwards onto his two feet. "Hey, it isn't your fault; you were just a victim to unprecedented circumstances," Yuu spoke calmly as he maintained whatever eye contact he could with the shrinking rose.

Yuus gaze lingered for a few seconds on Mattie to be completely sure that she was relitively stable. She did appear fine with no bruises or scratch on her being, but something so sudden might of shakers rosy red-head up a little. His smile did disperse slightly as he heard a rather passive-aggressive comment from another in the vicinity. His heart rotated to face Gwen who seemed aloof and uncaring about this situation? Right now was not the best of times to try to live up to what she calls herself.

"... Gwens attitude about this whole predicament is not exactly helping anyone... in fact, I think it could of made these turn of events more tense than before..." Yuu thought to himself, his face forming a slight pout before sighing sadly at these turn of events. "Uh Gwen," Yuu responded, his voice softly resonating towards her. Yuu please to himself that she would take the obvious hint he was about to give her."That isn't going to help diffuse the situation if we just start a fight in the lab... I don't want anyone else to get caught up in this unnecessary dispute."

Hopefully that could be enough to snap her out of that uncaring state of mind... "Alright... as long as nothing peculiar happens from this point forward, we might be fine? Hopefully..." Yuu Jynxed himself as a few moments later, a refreshed guy came into the lab holding... a soaked towel. Yuu couldn't tell why he had a towel in his hand and why he asked if there was a place to hang it up. Yuu blinked a few times, befuddled a bit at this whole spiel as it was probably one of the less probablamatic predicaments he would respond to today.

Awkwardly smiling a bit, the teen acknowledged the other boy through direct eye contact. It would be rude to ignore the guy and not give him any info about what hanging a soggy towel could do in a lab... which had myriads of electrical equipment about. "Er, I don't think this is the best place to hang up a towel due to how wet it looks ajd with the specific types of equipment around... hey, maybe you could leave it outside to dry instead of in here! Not like any one is going to steal a towel or anything, right?"

Yeah, stealing towels would make for a great job obviously, especially wet ones.

At any rate, Yuu could only wonder if he was here for a pokemon or not. Out of all the people he had encountered, it was difficult to tell since he randomly bursted into the lab, quizzing if there was a place to allow his towel to dry. With that said, the whole situation began going down hill at a rather swift pace with Abigails arrogant response. She kept her focus solely on him and only him, despite the fact someone else was speaking to her also. Did she not have any manners?

...

Yeah..... fuck the slippery slope, lets just jump off it completely.

Abigail was off in her own world again, claiming that he was struggling behind her as always while pursuing something he could care less about. She couldn't come to terms with reality as he knew both of them were the same. If anyone did their research on the records, others than him, it would come to light that she was his equal... Yuu began to frown a tinge bit more as he shook his head slowly, his purple bangs flowing back and forth.

Being flashy and making a battle like it is some sort of act isn't skill... if you just compared our records..." Yuu murmured, his voice annoyed with the disillusionment she had. He furrowed his eyebrows, Yuus frown deepened spontaneously as she continued to let out a slew of insults. Cocky and brash because of trainer school... it irritated him to no end.

However, that look of harboring hatred was replaced with a curious look of shock at her other claims. "... what?! There is no way that can even be close to a fact!" Yuu stared at the floor, his right hand going up to his lip to think. The boy tapped it in an even rhythm as if there was a catchy tune playing. If closely inspected, it was reminiscent of the beat in one of Own Tempos songs. "Knowing Abigail, she might of purposely be leaving out facts just to... oh..."

Yeah, Yuu felt like she was using her charisma to tailor out hatred towards him. Yuus facial expression was neutral, but his eyes were directed essentially on the lavender haired instigator. "Going from stuck up speeches to juvenile crying with name calling... and she is friends with Abigail... ugh, I don't wish to generalize Cerise, but they are trying to manipulate the group into having a general dislike of me! I'm positive that is their intentions."

Yuu let his arms dropped to the sides as she continued to spew out remark, never entertaining anyone else who wished to talk. Threats flew out that she would personally throw him out of the lab.

Yuu let out a somber frown, jutting his visible eyebrow up at her ridiculous claim. Guile was not an option here as he couldn't talk her out of it... however, he did know a way to settle the conflict. Telling the truth and then saying he would do it again, but would request for her to do the same... and end the charade... but first...

She decided to take a few steps forward and attempt to go on with her claims. "Well, looks like trying to honestly talk this out isn't going to work," Yuu spoke up boldly. "I distaste this sort of meaningless violence... I'm not going to fight you, however..." Yuu stared the girl down with a piercing stare before acknowledging the others. Yuu silently mouthed out "Please, just leave this area... I'm sorry, but I don't want you guys to get involved."

With silent but swiftly oath, Yuu returns his gaze to the smaller girl, frowning as if he did not want to let this passionate event further transpire. "... however, I'm going to defend myself from your assault... I wish you wern't blinded by... whatever clouds your mind..." Sighing morosely, Yuu awaited her first attack. The only thing he could do now was try to pacify her with words. "Just one thing before you try to discard me... I did apologize to your friend because I didn't want to see her with that composure when talking to others... I meant her no ill will."

"... I'll just point out the facts later... again."

Before the flurry of punches came flying, he heard a familiar voice shoot out. Yuu kept his guard high up just in case she went for a sucker punch an relocated his eyes to the entrance of the lab... to find that some other guy had run into the boy with a towel and Cerise with a disgusted look on her face. She immediately went on to scolding Abigail for her misdemeanor in... her familiar tone of voice. The same one that told him to leave the vicinity.

Eventually it was downplayed to the same fearful voice which gave off the impression of a nervous child talking. It was baffling how obvious she made herself to be! Did she honestly expect to escape unscathed at this point from her lie? As the two actors continued on, Abigail eventually gave Yuu the green light that she was going to do no harm. Yuu slowly began to lower his arms, the tension slowly easing not only out of him, but the room. Looking at the others, he took note of Gwen being... much closer than anticipated. Yuu honestly thought she was sitting down, but guess that was not the complete tale.

Next came the finale of this whole act, the outcome determined on how he used his tongue, whether as toughened iron or kindly fluff. This was to be anticipated seeing what came next as she began a cutesy act of acting all flustered in an adorable sense. Yuu wished he could believe it, but in reality could see through the facade well placed in front of him. It would help to probably be nice though as that would possibly dissipate some of the malicious feelings from earlier.

"... heh, guess it doesn't hurt to start over," Yuu said, his neutral expression improving to a slight smile. He outstretched his hand outwards to the lady, and delicately grasped and shook it. Yuu preferred firm handshakes, but just in case she with was or decided to play the sensitive card, he went with being as careful as possible.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Cerise, I'm Yuu Nozomu." This whole thing was possibly a lie to her... however, as much as he hated the lie, he acted as genuine and generous as possible. Hostilities were at a temporary stand still for now, but it wouldn't hurt to try and get his point across... even though she might fail to grasp it.

"I don't know how things work in Kalos, but I do know we got off to a rough start... just remember, I don't bite unless bitten first." As the boy smiled at the girl, he gave her the hint that he wasn't buying what she was doing. Along with that, he was also given a subtle invitation about what might of transpired during their little... discussion.

Letting go of the girls soft hands, he let his arm drop back to his hips, the flesh encased in the dark blue cloth wiggling before coming to a close. With the newcomers in the general area, Yuu found that maybe they could continue with introductions? As the boy turned, ready to dart for the door to assist the two, Professor Elm made an impeccable introduction, slightly catching Yuu off guard. Jolting a bit, Yuu immediately rotated his head to face the Professor. Elm gave the whole explanation at a swift pace before beckoning the trainers to follow after him and turning away, Yuu watching as he slowly made his way forward.

"... well, I guess we can continue with introductions later," Yuu commented as he rubbed the back of his neck, his smile still glimmering. Turning his head back to its original position, he found himself staring at... a cute blonde girl in a nice shade of green. She had a nervous disposition as he barely caught the girl mumbling something under her breath. Yuu couldn't exactly pinpoint the words coming from her mouth, but he responded to the girl with a friendly smile before saying one final sentence to everyone before departing deeper into the lab.

"Well, I look forward to knowing you all, see you in the lab."

And with that spoken oath, Yuu pivoted around and began walking with Elm, continuing deeper into the confines of the lab.

This was the beginning of the end. Yuu saw an endless stream of opportunities available for him.

And he knew which one he was going to grasp and take for himself.

"My word is my promise... I'll keep my oaths..."

~Cerise Fontaine~

As Yuu shook her hand, she gave him a small smile. It was a sincere smile to most people looking on - though Yuu might have been able to see a small smirk beneath it - as though she had gained a small victory. To her, she had. One step out of line for him, then, and she could easily, well, at least she thought she could easily get everyone to not like Yuu. Really though, it didn't even occur to her she was far out of her element since she had no standing here whatsoever. However, what Yuu said next earned a small giggle from her.

"I don't know how things work in Kalos, but I do know we got off to a rough start... just remember, I don't bite unless bitten first."

"Well,"She coyly replied, a small smile on her face - it didn't seem to have any malicious intent at all. "If there will be any biting, I expect dinner first." With that, she left Yuu and ran off, letting him think about what exactly that could possibly mean. Now, where was that white-haired girl she saw earlier? Abigail was going to be fine by herself. She herself, needed to mingle though. Get to know the people, what they were like, and how much trouble they were going to be. And of course, most of all, what she could use to...manipulate them, if she had too.

Thankfully, it didn't take her too long to find the girl. She was kind of easy to spot, really. What, with the missing leg thing. Some people might be a bit put off by it...and well, if it was anyone else she'd probably not associate with them...but well, aside from the obvious, the girl was rather cute. While she did like actual fashion, and lets face it, this girl had absolutely zero fashion sense, even less than Abigail and that was saying something. She found her rocker look kind of cute, to be honest.

"Uhm, Excuse me~" She began, trying to get Gwen's attention as she fell in line beside her. "I uhm, well...odd question maybe, but is that your natural hair color? Or did you dye it? Either way, I think it looks absolutely fabulous on you. If its dyed, could you tell me what you used? I'm rather uncertain of the products here in Johto."

~Abigail Blanchett~

As usual, Yuu talked to much, and acted less. Asshat. She was a bit concerned about what exactly Cerise had planned, but eh, whatever. It didn't concern her a whole lot. Even less so if she wanted to mess with Yuu. She could care less about what happened to the guy, though it would probably give her some satisfaction to finally beat the guy herself and prove that she was, in fact, better.

Ah well, whatever. No use in thinking about it. For now, it was time to get her a pokemon. She hoped they had a steel type...or maybe a strong ground type maybe. Perhaps a rock type? She would have to chose carefully, there were benefits and weaknesses for each type and pokemon. This first choice, was going to probably impact how she would build the rest of her team greatly.

...eh, whatever. She'd see once she got there. She fell in line behind the others - noticing that Cerise was a bit ahead of her. Next to that crippled girl with white hair. What...did Cerise want with her? She seemed to be talking to her. Eh, if Cerise wanted to befriend a cripple that should definitely not be on this little venture, that was her business. Really, though, what was that white-haired chick even doing here? She was just going to get in everyone's way. She had half a mind to tell her that too, if the girl decided to talk to her. Heh, that'd be funny to see how she'd react.

~Professor Elm~

The back of the lab looked just like one would expect. Machines whirred, with computers and other things running various complicated looking calculations, diagrams, and other things. The most notable thing, though, was the Egg and the machine that it was in. Whatever it was being used for, well, only the professor could really know. The Professor himself stood behind a table, a line of pokeballs' were set out on them - each with the name of the pokemon written out on a card in front of them. Alfred stood beside the table the stack of licenses in his hands, waiting patiently for the trainers to chose their pokemon.

"Alright, then!" Elms started. "Please, chose your pokemon carefully. These pokemon are all friendly, and shouldn't be dangerous. This is a huge step forward for all of you! Nowadays, not many trainers get their licenses, or even get to go traveling these days. But enough about that, I'm sure you don't want to hear about that. You've all probably heard about that to last you a life time. Alright, so, who wants to chose first?"

"Don't forget your license, either!" Alfred happily added.

"Yeah, this is Elm's Lab. You actually came right on time as they are about to give out the Pokemon to everyone. Better get back in there, we don't wanna be last in line!"

Sophia answered the guy’s smile with her own. That was a relief. A huge relief. She murmured a word of thanks as he turned and walked away. There was so much that could have went wrong...even the slightest delay and she would have been too late…

She took a deep breath and looked back towards town. It was a rather sleepy place, really. There were a few people here and there, but it was overall pretty sparse. That was...kind of refreshing, really. Blackthorn was much larger, much busier. She had heard that it too used to be a more sleepy place not too long ago but...well, Father happened.

Her smile wavered for just a few moments, but she quickly pushed away the thoughts. If she just stood around out here, then, well, what was the point of any of this?

Turning back to the entrance of the lab, Sophia pushed onward. She had come so far already. Sure, she was enjoying the small break she was getting but...it was time.

Entering the lobby, Sophie quickly realized two things. First off, somebody had carelessly left what appeared to be a guitar case just lying in the floor. And that she was completely alone. She could hear the sound of excited chatter coming from the direction of a nearby door. She started to head in that direction but paused at the last moment. She turned and moved over to the case, picking it up and laying it down on the bench instead. She felt odd touching somebody else’s belongings but...well, someone would be rather disappointed to see that thing crushed.

And with that, Sophia finally crossed over and walked through the doors.

It seemed like she was...the absolute last person in line. Well, that was fine. Right?

She gazed over to the Pokeballs housing the future companions for the young trainers in the room. She...finally realized that she hadn’t but any thought toward what starter she would be interested in. But, well, she wasn’t exactly in a position to be choosy. She would just have to love whoever she ended up with.

A swath of red entered her field of vision. Sophia, surprised, glanced down to see a rather tiny girl trying to get a better look at the labels. She considered offering help but...would she take it as her making fun of her stature? No...she would hold her tongue for now. There would be plenty of time for introductions later.

Surely.

---

Gwen raised an eyebrow at Avery who was...not in line? What the hell was he doing? She shifted her weight and crossed her arms, a favorite stance of hers, and stared him down. That bastard was purposely avoiding her gaze. The hell was his problem? Bah...dork. Dude was probably just playing some stupid game with himself.

“Uhm, excuse me~”

No. Oh no.

After the bullshit out in the lobby, she wasn’t even remotely interested in speaking with any of these people. If they were really completely cool with being asshats to the people you’d likely be spending the next couple months with was...well…

“I uhm, well...odd question maybe, but is that your natural hair color? Or did you dye it?”

…

What? Gwen turned her gaze to the nearby redhead, regarding her carefully. Her hair color? The hell did she care? What, was she going to give her some shit over her hair? This girl was nine pounds of dumbfuck in a five pound bag if she-

“Either way, I think it looks absolutely fabulous on you.”

…

wha…?

…

Actually, scratch that. This girl was alright in her books. What could she say? Chick had good taste. That or she was trying to fuck with her. Well...two could play that game. Gwen smiled as the girl wrapped up.

“Haha, well uhm, thanks. Really. But, yeah it’s uh...it’s natural.”

She started, finding herself oddly at a loss for words. Which was odd...she was usually a bit of a smooth criminal but this random ass chick had flustered her. Gwen chalked it up to her shitty mood beforehand. Completely. Not that it was a bad thing but...wait, crap...words, Gwen, words.

“So...Cerise, right? Cerise, tell me you’re not planning on doing anything to that wicked mane...that’d just be a shame, dude.” She waited just a beat before adding to the end, “Oh. Yeah. I’m Gwen, by the by.”

Elm started speaking, cutting Gwen off. It was probably for the best. Truth be told, she wasn't really used to complimenting others. She had been raised in households that usually bonded over insults. And was wicked mane really a compliment? ...maybe. Well, she liked red hair. If the chick caught that, great. If not, then whatever. It was no skin off her bones.

He went on a trademark Elm spiel...honestly she kinda zoned out a bit. But he eventually wrapped up and looked about the group.

…

Oh fuck. It was time.

Gwen gave a quick glance around the room, gave a shrug then walked forward. If no one else was going to, she’d have a go.

Elm flashed her a winning smile and Gwen returned a nod. She approached the table and looked at the line of pokeballs, taking in the names carved into each of the namecards. There were quite a few of them...she could pick absolutely any one of them…

…

Well, who would it be?

Totodile, maybe?
…Nah. Too...weird.

Eevee?
Fluffy as hell but not exactly her cup of tea.

…

Tyrogue.
Yes.

Gwen reached over and grasped the Pokeball. She held it in front of her face and tossed it up in the air just to catch it, repeating it two or three times. She considered letting the little guy out but…

Not yet. Not just yet. Soon…

She couldn’t really explain it but...she didn’t want a lab to be where the dude saw her for the first time. Maybe it didn’t matter at all, but she had made up her mind. She returned the ball to the smallest setting and slid it into a pocket.

Later, little buddy.

She then walk over towards Avery and the licenses. She glanced down at them before finding her name on one of the cards. Retrieving the swag, Gwen checked some of the others out of curiosity.

Something was off here.

Where was Avery's card?

Did he already take it? It was possible but...then wouldn't one of the other Pokémon be missing?

She didn't like this...

She REALLY didn’t like this…

But she didn’t press it. Instead, Gwen returned to where the others were gathered, ending up back near Cerise. She might not know exactly where the girl was coming from but...hell, oddly enough, this redhead, sketchy as she may be, didn't seem half bad. Or maybe she was. Really, hers was like the only name she knew in the room, other than Avery, but he was off being weird.

...well, there was Yuu…

…

…

Redhead it was.

Well, this couldn't be going any slower. As the trainers lined up, Abigail waited rather impatiently for everyone to gather. Well, they were taking their sweet time. She supposed she could go ahead and get hers, and her license, wait for Cerise and then leave. Or rather, that's what she would do if the redhead wasn't intent on being friends with gimpy. That was a bit odd, for her, but she wasn't really going to question Cerise' motives for trying to be friendly. Chances are, she just wanted them all to like her so she could mess with them later.

"Err, hey... remember me? It's err, kind of funny that we're both becoming trainers today after you know... what happened earlier."

Oh great. Training wheels was back. He better not think that just because of what happened earlier, they were like, best friends or something. Because they weren't, and if he was thinking that, she'd just bluntly tell him no. Actually, it was probably safer to do that then to let him even ponder the thought of them being friends. She turned to face the guy, not even caring she didn't know his name. It wasn't like it was going to be a name - Wait, he was becoming a trainer?

...she couldn't help but to laugh rather loudly at the thought of this guy becoming one. Well, its not like he'd be here for anything else, really. At least the cripple looked like she could handle herself somewhat, but this guy? Oh god, he was going to get eaten alive by some hoothoot or something. Or trip and fall down a ledge. That'd just be sad, but she felt like this guy might be that uncoordinated.

"Look here, training wheels. I only helped you because I was in a good mood." She smirked after she stopped laughing. One hand was on her hip and the other giving him a small shove with a finger as she leaned forward slightly. "You? A trainer? Don't make me laugh. I doubt you could even tell the difference between a male and female Nidoran." She chuckled again, shrugging as she spoke. The arrogance in her voice was completely clear, no doubt the other trainers would probably hear it as well. "Not that it really matters. Even if you were a decent trainer, its not like you have a shot at the league as long as I'm here since I'm the best trainer in the region. So don't act like we're friends or anything, because we're not."

With that, she turned quite quickly, not wanting to say anything else to him. She passed the white-haired chick on her way to the pokemon table, once again not even paying attention to her. It was clear that she had of course, no interest in conversing with her unless she was spoken too first.

Soon, she was at the table where the pokemon were lined up, and quickly scanned the available pokemon.

Misdreavus? Eh, one of the weak ghost types. A good beginner pokemon, she supposed but it was nothing special. Anyone who picked that thing would be hurting later.

The white haired girl took Tyrogue. Huh, well, at least she had decent taste in pokemon. She was partial to sturdier types, though, but fighting types were decent.

Natu?....well, she was fairly certain that was the one Cerise was going to be going for. She liked psychic types. She always complained about not being able to actually own a Espurr back home...

and...Nidoran? Well, now that was a pokemon she could live with. It wasn't exactly her favorite pokemon, but a Nidoking? Now there was a pokemon she could definitely see herself using. Strong, powerful, and well, it was the best color in the world too - purple. How could she say no? It wasn't like they had a steel type or something she could use. An Aaron would have been nice, but unlikely...Aggron was probably her favorite pokemon ever. Maybe if she visited Hoenn after she became the champion...

Eh, thoughts for later. For now, she simply picked up the Nidoran's pokeball before walking over to Alfred, who handed her her shiny new license. Well, she looked good in her picture as she always did. She shoved the card into her bag, before heading back and letting the next trainer chose.

Well, now to see what the little guy looked like. She released the purple pokemon from its pokeball, letting the little guy get used to being out of the ball. Mostly, so it could also see who his new trainer was. In a flash of usual red light, the small pokemon was released onto the floor of the lab. The small pokemon yawned as it was released. Must have been asleep or something. She knelt down, and in an uncharacteristically nice fashion, patted the small guy on the head.

"Well, now look at you! You certainly look strong." At the compliment, the Nidoran simply tilted its head quizzically. "You'll need a name...how does Tyrian sound? It was the color kings used to wear. I think it would suit you." Whether he liked it or not, he didn't make any indication. Instead, the small Nidoran started looking around the lab, it obviously being a bit on the curious side as he started sniffing around a few of the machines. Well, that was alright, she supposed as long as he didn't mess anything up...



“Haha, well uhm, thanks. Really. But, yeah it’s uh...it’s natural.”

Natural, then? Well, that just made her more interesting to Cerise. If it was dyed, well, that would let her lose some of her charm, but still.

“So...Cerise, right? Cerise, tell me you’re not planning on doing anything to that wicked mane...that’d just be a shame, dude. Oh. Yeah. I’m Gwen, by the by.”

...wicked...mane? Ugh. Ugh. Just no. She almost threw up a little in her mouth. What did that even mean? She was fairly certain it was a compliment...but manes should be left only to describe Pyroars. Okay, so she was cute, but that way of speaking was so...so, common. She was glad she went and got her pokemon soon after that comment, or she may not have been able to hide her dislike of the way she talked so well. She had half a mind to just leave her standing there and go back to Abigail.

Still, she supposed she could...accept it - or at least ignore it for now. She'd have to slowly get Gwen to talk in a less...crude way, maybe. At least stop her from using words like 'Dude' and...ugh, 'Wicked mane' Seriously, who even talked like that? Useless, idiotic, lifeless street kids with no future, that's who.

...well, now that she thought about it, Gwen kind of dressed like that. She'd have to get her into a dress at some point...or at least, something a bit more fashionable. Ooh, maybe she could make her something? She was fairly sure she could make something that would suit her very well. She'd probably like something easy to move in, but wasn't something exactly formal or dressy as hers was.

Eh, a thought for later. Maybe once they got to Goldenrod - the only city in Johto she'd ever even consider proper - she could do it. For now though, back to the thought of choosing a pokemon and responding to Gwen.

"Aha, no, I'm not planning on doing anything with it. I rather like the color, though I have dyed it before on special occasions." She replied after Gwen had returned, before focusing on the table with the pokemon on it. She would have complimented her name as well, but after her saying she didn't really know how to 'talk' to people that well, it might be a bit obvious she was lying a bit. Or at least, they'd find it a bit odd.

Come to think of it though, she had actually zero handling experience with pokemon, and knew nothing about them. Abigail gave her a crash course over the phone the other night, but...well, she knew Espurr was a psychic type, and that was about it. Maybe something with that typing, then? She couldn't really be sure, since she really didn't know what pokemon was what. She only knew Espurr, and very vaguely of a pokemon named Malamar from Kalos. She looked over at Gwen.

"Uhm, pardon, another question - Excuse me if I'm coming off as a bit annoying - but I'm not entirely too familiar with pokemon." She sighed. "Did they have a psychic type up there? That's the only type I even vaguely know, and I don't really know any pokemon from this...place well..."

-Yuu Nozomu : New Bark Town-

As the boy walked down the hallway with the rest of the group, he analyzed the current people enveloping the hallway. As Yuus eyes gazed around, he took note that a few people were ahead of him, namely Cerise who he suspected had some malicious intent while speaking to Gwen. Even though she was sucepitible to skepticism of him, Yuu pondered on why she made such an, erm... bold quip... Yuu lightly chuckled to himself while dwelling on the thought, his hand moving upward to tap on his lip, the left supporting the right arm.

"... sorry, but dinner doesn't serve the course I'm looking for," Yuu uttered in a low voice that could be mistaken for some enigmatic mumbling. In truth, it would of been entertaining to respond to the girl with a double entendre since it was obvious she was trying to control him. Yuus smile, which was still lingering about faded before he sighed. The boy seemed rather down about something, but it was difficult to tell.

"... maybe in another time..."

Yuu then took note of the boy in front of him who was ignored by almost everyone... well, at least his towel was gone. Despite the peculiar mindset, he did not see much from this guy, unlike the rest. This guy seemed like a regular airhead to him, however, the more Yuu squinted, the more the guy felt like an enigma to him. Sure, there were others around he really never got to know, but he seemed much more... active than the others... too active in a day and age like this.

"... eh, maybe I'm over thinking... the guy is probably optimistic to get a pokemon..."

Slightly rotating his head to get a better look at those behind him, Yuu wanted to check out how the others attitudes were being spent... too bad his purple hair obscured his left eye. Brushing it out of the way, Yuu found Abigail who was behind of him. He had nothing to think of her except she was a pretty girl with potential that was holding herself back. Shaking his head lightly, Yuu moved his hand away from his face and jammed both into his pockets.

Those scattered around here seemed to be compromised of people with red-hair. Yuu took note of Mattie who was seemingly nervous at the predicament. He still couldn't see past the girl's messy strands of red. Yuu hoped he could try and bring her out a bit more. Next was a boy who he never saw before who donned a timid grin. The guy was trying to converse with Abigail, but knowing her, she would probably respond in a volatile matter. Shrugging, Yuu moved his gaze to a lonely blonde lingering in the back.

...

Yuu compressed his thoughts about her. What almost feel like minutes were seconds in the making, conjured up consistently. The walk into the lab didn't take them all too long as Yuu let the buzz of mechanical equipment ring in his ear. The design and layout of the machines was something to be expected in a lab. Blinking, Yuu saw a couple of interesting items and people to address...

First off, there was Avery who appeared to be... less eccentric than he usually was. It was eerie to see such a disposition radiating off of him, and it caused Yuu to raise his eyebrow ever so slightly. Staring at the trainer cards all methodically laid out... "... eight cards laid out, yet Avery having that grim air about him... if he is in here already, doesn't that mean he should have procured his license already? Is he afraid of what might happen? Nostalgic of New Bark Town?"

"... somethings amiss."

The next curious item was the egg in the back. It was encased in a rather strange machine that had readings going off of it every couple of seconds from what he could keenly identify. The funny thing was, there was not a pokedex in sight which could help the newcomers analyze what pokemon the egg came from. "Interesting... I was hoping to get one for my secondary task... it could actually help progress research while keeping trainers safe..."

Crossing his arms, Yuu tapped his foot at a steady pace, his eyes came up to the final part that warranted his interest - the pokeballs. Each of them had a label, noting which pokemon it was. The boy waited in the back momentarily, allowing anyone else who was interested in one to procure one before he limitted the options... but then he noticed something off. All the pokeballs were in place... well, was until Gwen picked up one.

"Tyrogue, eh? Interesting choice; able to become one of three Hitmons... Hitmonlee is a pretty cool partner, but so is Hitmontop... Wonder what the little guy will become."

Smiling slightly, he found her choice rather off, but fitting since she seemed to be a bit aggressive. Gazing over the other options, Yuu found a few interesting starters. "Hmm... Maybe the Natu?" Yuu contemplating out loud, his chin occupied by the tapping of his finger.

The silence was shattered by the same haughty voice who always consider her skills superior to everyone else's. Yuu turned his head to the girl, a visibly unpleasant frown forming on his face. The girl was taunting a young boy with a rather disrespectful cackle. Yuu felt his hands fall to his side, slowly curling his hands into a fist. "... Abigail, that attitude reflects poorly of you... it is a surprise that you had any charisma in trainer school... Why are you so aggressive towards others?"

If looks could kill, Abigail would probably be bleeding in myriads of places right now. As she left the boys side, Yuu walked over to the red-hair trainer whose mood was probably shot. Letting out an irritated breath of air, Yuu felt his frustration fly out from his body. "Don't mind Abigail, she is... usually like that to people. Her head is not exactly in the right place due to her stances on life, a.k.a, disillusionment of being better than everyone."

"Er, anyways, sorry for this whole speech I gave to you... I'm just sick of her arrogant attitude and prefer for everyone here not to deal with her putting you guys down 24/7... I mean, the journey is going to be difficult enough already." Rubbing the back of his neck, Yuu temporarily looked before returning his eye contact with the boy. It seems his gaze was mainly focused on Abigail to see how she responded. "Hopefully pestering her enough will garner her attention on me for the rest of the time here and the journey if we are traveling together... pester her long enough, then she won't be able to see anything but me in her eyes... that way, if anyone does new help, she won't depreciate them and tell them to quit."

Upon refocusing himself on the boy, his serious composure broke away into a lax smile. Yuu discarded his miffed side for now and played it cool. He appeared to be in harmony as he introduced himself to the boy. "Anyways, I haven't introduced myself yet, sorry... My name is Yuu Nozomu, I look forward to knowing you and the others on this journey! Anyways, I'll talk to you later, I want to see who my partner is going to be..."

... that meant Abigail too. Maybe he could figure out why she was so crude to everyone, treating them all as if they were incompetent imbeciles. Breaking away from the boy, he gave him one small wave and a huge smile for encouragement before studying each label as if his own life was on the line.

Mareep? Nah, it wouldn't feel right taking their pokemon.

The boy soon came upon what he was going with. Grabbing the pokeballs, Yuu glanced over it for a couple of seconds before releasing his partner into the lab. The familiar flash of red light shot out from the ball, the shape of the pokemon coming to light. Brown fur, perky ears, and a bushy tail. The pokemon blinked for a bit, looking around the area, before looking up at the purple-haired boy in front of her. His mouth was slightly agape as if mystified. Shaking her head a bit, the Eevee blinked before cheerfully cried out it's name. "Vee, eeveeeee!" The pokemon sounded enthusiastic, and ran around her trainer for a bit.

Yuu could barely keep up with the speedy little Eevee, and even more so he could barely hold back his excitedness. A his lips were trying to avoid smiling to largely, but they kept shaking until the Eevee propelled herself up into the air in front of Yuu. Reacting rather swiftly to this unprecedented procedure, Yuu quickly caught the pokemon in his arms, the Eevee snuggling and looking up at the trainer, showing off her joy.

As she rubbed her head against the boys coat, Yuu could not hold back the happiness he was feeling, the one he hadn't felt in such a long time. His smile was rather larger than usual, and was of exquisite genuine quality. Warmly looking at the pokemon, she stared back and chirped gleefully before resting her head.

This was bliss.

"H-heya... I look forward to your companionship partner..."

Partner? No that didn't sound right...

"... Sylvie..."

...

...

...

As he cuddled the pokemon that was in his arms, Yuu recalled that he still did not have his trainer card. Putting Sylvie down, the Eevee yawned, before pushing herself off the ground. Wiggling her tail, she followed after Yuu who was in a truly pleasant mood. Giving a smile to Alfred, Yuu procured his card from the assistant, giving him an extremely well adorned smile that would not fade.

Eventually, something he knew came to mind once more, one that bugged him to no ends... but first, someone else who needed help. He was so caught up in the moment that he did not notice Cerise walking over to Gwen. The boy slightly eavesdrop on the conversation and was surprised at her limited knowledge of pokemon. He was certain he spotted Cerise's trainer card up there, but somehow she did not know much about pokemon? Strange. "If you're looking for a psychic pokemon, go with Natu."

After pointing out that fact, Yuu decided to move on to other things, namely, the absent pokedexes. "Say, Professor Elm," Yuu quizzically asked, curious to why none of the trainers got a pokedex. "Why are there no pokedexes? Rather peculiar as in this time, I thought it would be proper to hand trainers those devices... I mean, some of us are interested in why pokemon have gone berserk, plus from what I know, Professors don't go into the wild too much anymore, but trainers do. If you're doing research on them, wouldn't it be helpful for a trainer to record the info about them, and send them behavioral patterns back? That could speed up the process of finding out why they all became randomly aggressive... just my two cents I guess, sorry for the rambling."

The boy shrugged, before putting his hands back into his pocket, not noticing Sylvie had led his side. The curious pokemon was now staring at the egg, enamored by it. Her trance-like state was exemplified as the pokemon pawed at the incubator, nerve touching it though. Tilting her head, she let out a confused cry.

"... vee?"

~Cerise Fontaine~

"If you're looking for a psychic pokemon, go with Natu."

Unfortunately, before Gwen could answer her, Yuu decided to give his own advice. Natu?...what a silly name. If it was a psychic type though, then well, she couldn't really be that picky. More importantly...was he eavesdropping on their conversation? Talk about rude. Well, not like she could really talk that much. Eavesdropping was a valuable way of getting info. Especially finding out someones dirty little secrets when they think no one is listening.

Still, his advice and help was very much unwelcome. She'd let him know that later.

"A...Natu? Is that a pokemon native to Johto, then?" She replied to him, still thinking about it. She was likely going to go with it either way, even if it was advice from him. Its not like she really liked many other pokemon. She had a whole list of reasons why she didn't like other types so much, especially those creepy bug types. "Ah, Excuse me Gwen, I'm going to go take a look."

She proceeded to walk up to the table with the pokemon laid out on them. Several already had been taken. A Nidoran by Abigail, Gwen took a Tyrogue, Yuu an Eevee, and someone she hadn't met yet took a Totodile....wait, didn't she see him with Zeph earlier or something? She should at least introduce herself. Later. She needed to get her pokemon now. She scanned the names accompanied by the pokeball.

Someone had just taken a...Misdreavus? Ew. Ghosts. Cyndaquil? no. Ah, Natu. Finally finding the right pokeball, she grabbed it. It was a psychic type, right? That Yuu guy better not be messing with her or something. If he was, she'd make sure he never made it to Cherrygrove....

She picked up the pokeball then walked over to where Alfred was, taking her card in the process. She was actually surprised she was able to get one with little difficulty, considering she had never handled pokemon before in her life. Or went to school, like Abigail. At least everyone else had some basic knowledge, but well, she didn't have the slightest clue. Just shows how greedy people are, if you flash enough money in their faces. Hrm...maybe she shouldn't have decided to not come here on a whim...once she got to Goldenrod she'd have to make sure she got enough money.

Well, whatever. Time to see what this guy looked like. She released the pokemon in front of her. When she did...well, the round little bird thing was definitely not what she expected. She thought something more like Espurr might come out. Needless to say, she was a bit surprised...and a bit annoyed. This thing, was a bird, and definitely did not look like a psychic type. At least it was kind of cute.

....she supposed she could go with it. The little bird was looking up at her impassively, almost bored, really. In fact...the longer she stared at it, the more she got...a bit creeped out by it. It was almost like, it was...sizing her up? Could pokemon even do that? After a few minutes, the little bird chirped in what sounded like annoyance, before jumping up with a small flap of its wings...and perching right on her head.

"H-hey, get down! I spent hours doing my hair this morning you runt!" She shouted. The bird simply ignored her as it looked around at the other trainers in the room, seeming to size them up as well. Whatever it was doing, Cerise was certainly not happy with it. After a moment of fighting with the thing, She plucked the bird from her head, and visibly glared at it. "Just what do you think you're doing! My hair is not a nest!" Did...did that Natu just roll its eyes at her?! She almost threw the small bird pokemon across the room, before remembering where she was and that she was probably drawing a bit of attention to herself...the unwanted kind of attention.

"Aha, uhm..." She somewhat nervously chuckled. "S-sorry, I take my hair seriously..." The Natu rolled its eyes again, though it didn't seem to do anything else. She went back towards Gwen, trying to avoid any more unneeded attention being drawn to herself.

"Uhm...people usually name pokemon right?" She asked, mostly to herself. "So...Uhm, what about you?" The Natu simply stared at her in its blank stare, before seeming to ignore her, giving her a small peck on the cheek. It didn't hurt, but that was definitely a challenge. Oh great. She got a bratty little pokemon who wasn't going to listen to her.

The two spent the next few minutes glaring at each other after it hopped off of her shoulder.

~Professor Elm~
The professor watched all of the trainers get their pokemon. It was a nice feeling, really, to finally be able to see new trainers after such a long time. Sure, there were those who got theirs through other means - they had an elder sibling catch one for them after they got their licenses, or they chose from an internet or something, and a lab aide delivered them to the person after they got their license. Having them visit the lab though? Yeah, that was always his favorite part. Meeting the trainers in person, and getting to know them a little.

Call him a silly old man, but that was still his favorite part.

Let's see...Gwen. She had lived here in Newbark most of her life, from what he could remember. Nice girl, a bit of a loner though - but she was a good person. Abigail Blanchett. Her scores in the school were phenomenal, as were Yuu Nozumu's. Those two could definitely handle themselves, so he wasn't worried. Nathaniel - he didn't know too much about him or Mattie Linder, though Mattie was related to some gym leader or something, so she could probably handle herself. The one he was worried about, though, was the redhead who chose the Natu. Aside from the fact that he was fairly certain she used less than legal means to get her license, it was clear she had very little handling with pokemon before.

well...there wasn't much he could do, really. She was with a good group of people, she could easily learn from them.

"Say, Professor Elm,"

Yuu's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Why are there no pokedexes? Rather peculiar as in this time, I thought it would be proper to hand trainers those devices... I mean, some of us are interested in why pokemon have gone berserk, plus from what I know, Professors don't go into the wild too much anymore, but trainers do. If you're doing research on them, wouldn't it be helpful for a trainer to record the info about them, and send them behavioral patterns back? That could speed up the process of finding out why they all became randomly aggressive... just my two cents I guess, sorry for the rambling."

Well...he supposed that was a rather valid question, although pokedexes hadn't been given out to trainers in quite some time. He made some fairly valid points too, although he was assuming they'd find anything. Also, he seemed to be misinformed about the fact he didn't go into the field much any more. It was true he didn't go out very much that often, unless it was for a major discovery, such as that egg that was in the back.

"I'm of the same mind. I was told that, along with our starter pokemon, we would also be handed our own Pokedexes. I find it really strange that there's not even a single pokedex that I can see inside this room. Why's that, Prof. Elm?"

Nate was the next to speak up. Who told him they would be getting pokedexes? He never told any of them that - Pokedexes were now reserved for professors, researchers, and assistants.

"I apologize if anyone told you that you'd be getting one." He started with a sigh. "But you're not. We haven't given pokedexes out to trainers in quite some time. They're typically reserved for research assistants and other people that are helping with research. Aside from being somewhat expensive, they are valuable research tools. You are right though, Yuu, we could give pokedexes to every trainer that wanted one and it could be a great help. But when we first started noticing something was wrong with the pokemon, we did exactly that and found nothing abnormal with them, aside from their increased aggression. All the professors enlisted the help of all of the pokemon trainers that were willing, but..." Professor Elm sighed again, before turning to look at the egg that was being studied. "It's taken awhile, but I'm finally close to a breakthrough, I think. I'm not sure...but whatever affecting them is starting when they're eggs, and not pokemon. Its just a theory, but If all goes well, I could have a breakthrough."

He turned back to Yuu and Nate, giving them a smile. "But enough about that, you all shouldn't concern yourselves with it. Its a problem for us professors to solve." He didn't want to expand on it further, but he left out the part that all the anti-pokemon movements in the region were just looking for an excuse to slow down research even further. A death of a young trainer because he was being reckless with a pokedex would be just the ammo they needed. He may not really be a politician himself, but him and the other professors talk on a regular basis, and that was the conclusion one Professor Gary Oak came too.

~Abigail Blanchett~

"H-hey, get down! I spent hours doing my hair this morning you runt!"

...looks like Cerise was going to have trouble with her Natu. Considering her lack of experience, that was kind of expected. Well, at least everyone mostly had theirs, now. Or did they all have them? She hoped they got moving soon, whatever the case was. She didn't really want to travel with these guys that much - though, it'd be smarter than traveling alone. She'd need some help in making sure Cerise didn't get hurt either. She knew her way around the city and the people in them, but outside of it? Well, she was a helpless puppy.

Not like Cerise would have trouble getting the others to help them, though. She'd need more help with that Natu of hers. Speaking of pokemon, where had her Nidoran gotten? The little guy apparently liked messing with things - or at least poking his nose into places he probably shouldn't. It took her few seconds to pinpoint exactly where the little guy had gotten.

...he was right next to the white haired chick...staring right at her prosthetic leg. Now, that by itself was harmless. However, attempting to use it as a chew toy...was NOT.

Tyrian had decided that the artificial limb, looked delicious apparently and was already attempting to eat it.

As Gwen made her way back to the rest of the group, she passed by Abigail. She didn’t spare the girl a second glance, instead just focusing on returning to the group. She was ready to rock ‘n’ roll, so hey-ho, let’s go.

But it didn’t quite seem like that was in the cards just yet. There were still quite a few peeps hanging back in...in what appeared to be a line? The hell was that about? Gwen shrugged to herself though. How they got their jollies was their business, not hers.

When she returned to the redhead’s side, it appeared as if she was waiting Gwen’s return. She continued their conversation as if Gwen had never left. Odd...but hell, maybe it was a foreign thing? She also didn’t get why the girl wanted to know about the “products” as she put it if she wasn’t planning anything. Gwen raised an eyebrow and gave her nod.

A few moments passed of silence between the girls. Gwen was pretty alright with it, but apparently that was good enough for the redhead.

“Uhm, pardon, another question - Excuse me if I’m coming off as a bit annoying - but I’m not entirely too familiar with Pokemon.”

...wh…

What?

Then why the hell was she even here? HOW was she even here?

No...no this was some kind of fuckery. She was screwing with her. Gwen dropped back into her lazy grin and regarded the girl as she continued.

“Did they have a psychic type up there? that’s the only type I even vaguely know, and I don’t really know any pokemon from this...place well…”

Gwen was about to offer some sort of sarcastic retort, to either turn around this fuckabout or just get a good laugh herself, when another voice chimed in.

“If you’re looking for a psychic pokemon, go with Natu.”

Gwen narrowed her eyes at the source of the answer. Yuu. The fuck did he get off just jumping into private conversations like that? Mothafuckin’ asshat just ruined her fun, and defiled her privacy. That was strike two for that lavender shithead. There wouldn’t be a strike three. Bah, she could practically feel her mood worsening by the second. But she couldn’t just stand there with her thumb up her ass now, could she?

“...yeah, what he said.” she muttered before looking about. Cerise excused herself to take her pick.

Given a slight moment’s respite, she gaved about the room, checking out the others. Abigail seemed to have picked up a Nidoran and Yuu an Eevee. She could see the merit of both. Nidoran would eventually go into Nidoking, and that mothafucka was built like a truck. And Eevee...well there were options. She wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of the tiny brown dude but she could see why somebody would.

Another guy, one that Gwen vaguely remembered from earlier as muttering about some towel, was playing with a little blue dude. Totodile, she believed. That one had waaay too many teeth for her liking. Brr. A much smaller dude picked up a Chikorita. They were having a moment off by themselves. Gwen couldn’t help but grin. That was actually kind of a cute moment. A bit of red caught Gwen’s attention next and she whirled to see who she at first thought was Cerise playing with something...floating. A ghost-type. That...wasn’t exactly Natu...but she quickly realized that that wasn’t Cerise either. It was the OTHER redhead that Yuu had attacked. Creepy little sonuva…

“H-hey, get down! I spent hours doing my hair this morning you runt!”

Gwen blinked and turned to the sudden cry. She uh...she found the Natu alright. Good on her? It had declared itself King of the Hairtops, and Cerise didn’t seem too pleased about that. That got a chuckle from Gwen. Good luck with that one then. That…

That should be everyone then, right?

She looked about. Avery hadn’t picked up his Pokemon yet. Why…?

...there was only one card left.

Gwen heard footsteps from behind.

...what was goin-

Gwen heard something like...metal being scraped. And she felt a bit of pressure on her…

Her eyes widened as she looked down to see the Nidoran trying to gnaw on her leg. What the actual fuck was it doing?! Her leg was not some fucking meal for some shithead Nidoran. She pulled her leg back away from the little pink dude. For a brief moment, she considered kicking the damn thing. But as quickly as the thought came, it was gone, yet Gwen felt a bit of disgust at herself. That was a fucked up thought. She squatted down, an admittedly difficult stance for her, and poked the pink dude in the cheek. Her face didn’t betray her unsettled thoughts, rather she looked a bit bored.

“Right...none of that. You got me, little dude?”

She quickly pulled her hand back. It probably WOULDN’T bite her but...fuck, why risk it?

---

Sophia quietly and patiently waited at the rear of the group, smiling softly as each trainer in turn made the trip to the front of the lab and retrieved their first Pokemon. The joy was practically plastered on their faces...for the most part. She could see that a couple seemed rather anxious about the waiting. Whether that was from eagerness to get started or a dislike of crowds, Sophia couldn’t say. Personally, she wasn’t in much of a hurry. Not anymore, anyway.

During the procession of soon-to-be trainers to their Pokemon, one of the guys in the room asked Professor Elm about getting a Pokedex. Another one chimed in, also expecting one. Sophia raised an eyebrow. Would Pokedexes be handed out? From what she had read, they were great research tools. She couldn’t help but raise her hopes. Elm quickly dashed them. Sophia found herself slightly disappointed, but it passed. It wasn’t a big deal, really. Most of the information the device could provide would be easily available in books. She had a few books that may even fall under that category, though if she really wanted to load up, she’d need to stop by either the Academy in Violet or one of the bookstores in Goldenrod. But that shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

When it seemed as if everyone had gotten their Pokemon, Sophia stepped forward. She made her way across the lab and surveyed the Pokeballs for a while. She recognized many of the names, having come across them many times in her studies. And reading. And…

Oh dear. She couldn’t decide. Any one of them would make for an excellent partner but…

Cyndaquil.

Having scanned the remaining Pokeballs, Sophia found her gaze linger on the fire-type for just a hair longer than the rest. It was as good a pick as any, so she picked up the Pokeball. The weight of it honestly surprised her. It wasn’t at all what she was expecting...but it wasn’t bad. Not at all.

From there, she walked over to a counter with a younger child and...Sophia blinked. The other young man by the table, one of Elm’s assistants, perhaps, was quite possibly one of the tallest people that she had ever seen. It was...quite frankly a bit intimidating. However he didn’t quite strike her as any sort of ruffian. Rather, he seemed a bit...distant. Lost in his own thoughts if she had to guess.

She smiled at him and the younger child before retrieving her very own trainer card and various supplies. She neatly put them away before heading back towards the group.

She noticed many of the trainers playing with their new partners. It was beautiful. Sophia couldn’t help but to join in. She retrieved Cyndaquil’s Pokeball and unleashed the creature before her.

The Fire Mouse Pokemon materialized from the red light. It seemed petrified at first, but after a few moments shook its body. Sophia was concerned at first, but the little thing just kept at it. It was...it was almost as if it were dancing. It was adorable. Sophia started to chuckle, but quickly raised a hand to her mouth to muffle it. However, it was enough to startle the shimmying Cyndaquil. It was snapped out of its dancing fever and noticed the large number of people in the room. Slowly, it moved backwards, until it bumped into Sophia herself. That startled it more. Cyndaquil lept slightly, and from its back came a small ember.

The blonde girl was quick enough to take a step back from the flames. They persisted for just a few moments before dissipating. The Pokemon then turned to see what its attacker looked like.

Truth be known, the sudden flame had startled her quite a bit. That could have been terrible. Her heart was racing but...but Cyndaquil looked so much more terrified. Sophia, noticing the unease in the Pokemon, approached it slowly, before crouching down. She offered a hand out towards it. It looked from her to her hand and back again. Slowly, Sophia pushed forward, until she touched Cyndaquil again.

It...didn’t freak out this time. That was a plus. It still seemed rather unsure of her, but it allowed it. She could work with that.

_{“Hehe. I guess I might have frightened you. Terribly sorry about that, dear.”}

Honestly...she wasn’t sure if anything she could say would really hit home with the Pokemon. But she spoke in a calm, soothing voice. It didn’t matter what she said, but how she said it.

Cyndaquil...seemed to be responding well to it. The tense stance it had dropped ever so slightly. That was a relief. Sophia began to pet the creature, patting its belly, scratching around its arms.

It loved it.

The little thing dropped to the ground and began heaving, making sounds that almost resembled laughter. She kept at it for a short time before finally stopping. Cyndaquil looked at her quizzically. Then it got back to its feet and crossed over to her, nuzzling her hand as it rested on her leg.

Grinning nearly ear to ear, Sophia picked up the little one. It curled up into a ball and rested in her arms...and shortly afterwards she could hear soft snoring coming from the ball.

Adorable. Simply adorable.

Sophia returned to the group with her partner in her arms, practically beaming to everyone. She’d return it to the Pokeball but...well it would be a shame to disturb its sleep. She’d let it rest for a while, then send it back.

…

She would also have to found out what gender it was. And get a name in mind.

Oh dear…

This was rather exciting.

~Tyrian Vision!~

Note for future Tyrian (That was the name given by nice purple girl.): Shiny thing does not taste good.

Suddenly, it was pulled away before he could try and see if he kept chewing on it, it would taste better.

Addendum: Shiny thing can move! Attached to...nice smelling lady! (Addendum Addendum: What does addendum mean?)

Nice smelling lady suddenly poked him in the cheek. Oh hey, that tickled! Ooh, did shiny metal lady want to play? He reached up with his front paws, placing them on her. He rubbed his head against her non-metal leg, attempting to do the same. However, before he could do that he was suddenly flying! Ooh, did he suddenly gain wings? Could he fly? That'd be nice. He'd go play tag with a pidgey! Wait...what was even a pidgey?

However, it turns out he was not in fact, flying. Nice purple haired lady (mommy?) Had picked him up. He was...resting against something nice and soft. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it was nice! Maybe he'd lay here for a bit.

"I'm so sorry." Nice purple lady said. What was she sorry about? He shifted, trying to get into a more comfortable position against whatever this soft thing was. "I have no idea what he was trying to do." They were having fun playing. No one should be sorry for fun! Oooh no, did purple lady say fun times had to end? He was just getting started too! Oh well. He'd have fun with purple lady, then!

~Abigail Blanchett/Cerise Fontaine~

When Gwen poked him, Tyrian made a cute small growl. Abigail feared for a moment he might try and do something. While she certainly had no intention of being nice to that cripple, but she wasn't about to let her pokemon do something that might hurt someone. Thankfully, though, he didn't do anything. Instead, it looked like he just wanted to play.

"Nido!~" He happily cried, rubbing the side of his head against her leg, careful to avoid jabbing her with the sharp horn on his head. He continued to look up at Gwen, tilting its head to the side. It almost seemed like he wanted Gwen to pet him. However, before he could, Abigail picked him up, careful to avoid the spikes.

"I'm so sorry." She replied as Tyrian fidgeted in her arms, trying to get comfortable. "I have no idea what he was trying to do." She continued. "He didn't hurt anything did he?" Not that she particularly cared. Cerise seemed to like her though, so that was enough for her to at least be...somewhat polite. Speaking of the Red head, where had she...?....a glaring match with the Natu. Abigail couldn't help but to chuckle a little at that. Well, at least until Cerise noticed Abigail, anyways.

"Oh, hello Abigail." Cerise said, walking back over to the two of them. Natu flew from Ceries's shoulder, deciding to land on Abigails instead. It chirped happily, content with his new perch before nuzzling up to Abigail...giving a slight glare to Cerise in the process. Cerise audibly sniffed, before completely ignoring it. The bird pokemon simply rolled its eyes again before focusing on Gwen as Cerise went to introduce the two.

"I suppose I should introduce the two of you. Abigail, this is Gwen. Gwen, Abigail." Natu tilted its head at Gwen, almost seeming to size her up as he had done earlier with Cerise. He flitted from Abigail's shoulder, and circled Gwen for a second, before landing back on Cerise's shoulder - though not before giving her a soft peck on the cheek again. Ignoring him, she continued. "And don't worry, Abigail, I'm sure...Tyrian was it? I'm sure he wasn't trying to hurt anyone."

Hearing his name, Tyrian let out another small cry. Abigail simply gave Cerise a somewhat annoyed look. Why did she introduce her? Not like she was going to be friends with the crippled or anything. In fact, that would be the exact opposite of progress. She didn't say anything else, and instead waited for Gwen to speak first, if at all.

Thankfully, Professor Elm cut in before either of them could say anything else.

~Professor Elm~

Sophie was the last, then. Good, then they could all get underway! Things had went as smoothly as he could have hoped. Aside from a few misconception about the pokedexes, anyways, but those were easily sorted.

"Alright, since everyone has their pokemon I think its time all of you got going." He said to the group. He walked out from behind the table, Alfred following behind him. "It's already passed Noon! It would be better if you could go ahead and get at least halfway to Cherrygrove before dark."

Alfred waved goodbye to the trainers, before going back and gathering up placing the rest of the pokemon that weren't taken. They'd have to find someone else to give them too. Maybe a Daycare in Kanto or Hoenn. They'd keep them a few more days, of course, just in case there were any late comers, but they'd have to do something with them in the next few weeks.

So they were leaving, then? Finally. Abigail could hardly stand this lab any more. Not to mention being around certain...crippled people. Without another word, she left the lab and made her way towards route 29, Cerise following behind shortly afterwards. Tyrian climbed up on her shoulder...was he waving bye? Apparently he didn't understand they'd probably be seeing each other again on route 29.

-Yuu Nozomu : New Bark Town-

As Yuu questioned the reasoning due to his innate curiosity, another voice spoke up behind Yuu. The teen rotated his head to see the familiar towel boy supporting Yuus claim while stating that he heard about the trainers here receiving pokedexes. The boys right eyebrow shot up quickly at his statement. Yuu pondered on who he heard this from and groused over it. "Er, it has been common knowledge for a while that trainers were not procuring pokedexes.. Wonder who peddled that information to him... probably some jerk looking for a good trick to tell their friends, or possibly a misinformed person."

"Either way, I just wanted to inquire why on the matter due to the circumstances..."

As quickly as the duo responded, Elm countered the other kid and Yuu, all while apologizing about the information transmitted. Yuu nodded to the Professor and smiled to him, letting him know there was nothing to apologize for. His grin toned down to a regular, semi-relaxed tone. Elm did agree with Yuus statements, however provided essential evidence to why they couldn't hand them out. Yuus ears perked up as he spoke, and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I understand what you mean Professor, apologies for pestering you with that question... however, that isn't going to stop me from assisting you guys in whatever way I can. I'm just as interested to why they've become feral as it is slightly abnormal that they became like that due to their behavioral patterns." Yuu replied in a friendly tone of voice that was more of consideration rather than of disappointment or irritation. There was another idea that was lingering on his mind, and the boy almost looked ready to go into a convoluted explanation of what it was...

... but he refused since he did not want to waste Elms time much longer.

"Say, Professor, Alfred," Yuus voice perked up in a much more serious and reflective manner in contrast to his voice earlier."Have you guys read up on the history of Almia? Did some research on it and it has some hidden insight to this chaos, such as humans causing pokemon to attack anything in sight due to strange machines... either way, I think you can get an idea of my hypothesis."

With that statement in place, Yuu reverted back to his previous, lax composure. Yuu stared at where he previously took note of the pokemon egg, noticing Sylvia was still bemused about the technology. The eevee quietly patrolled around it, studying it as it got closer to the glass. Sylvias eyes furrowed a bit before pushing her paws down on the desk. The boy was a bit worried that she might not like the machine, and frown in an concerned manner.

"Er, pardon me," you spoke in a rushed manner as he hurried behind Elm and Alfred towards the machine. Mere seconds later, one could hear a cute "vee!" emanating from behind the duo with a flying Eevee... that was stopped mid-flight. Yuu got a grip on Sylvia as she bounced into the air, and managed to stop her from seizing the opportunity to... do whatever she was going to do with the scanner.

"Apologies Sylvia, but that isn't a toy to be played with," Yuu spoke with the struggling Eevee wrapped tightly by his hands. The furry brown creature kept squirming around in an attempt to reach it. "Vee, vee," it cried as it attempted to continue in its endeavor to reach the shiny object. Eventually she realized it was futile and stopped struggling to escape his grip. The small pokemon pouted, annoyed that her playful antics had come to an end. Sylvia relocated her head to face Yuu, showing her dissatisfaction. The boy awkwardly chuckled as he put the small pokemon down on the ground. The Eevee sat, and turned her head away, her little eyes squeezed shut in a cliche manner which reminded him of a stereotypical kid who didn't get what they wanted.

For a moment, how thought he saw the Eevee snickering a bit, but he shrugged as he let his guard down for two seconds. Next thing he knew was that he launched himself forward a few steps due to the imbalance of a furry brown hat latching onto his head. "Eh," Yuu expressed in a surprised manner as he tumbled on forwards, his one eye expressing surprise at the circumstance through widening. The boy barely managed to keep his balance as he flew forward, Sylvia expressing her joy as the events transpired with a few growls and smile.

As Yuu regained his balance, he was jolted back to the reality before him, Sylvia expressing the same distraught, confused expression as one of the trainers brandished their disatisfaction. The boy rotated his head to the ongoing situation, curious to what was going on. Sylvia tilted her head as she watched the ongoing chaos between Cerise and her Natu. The girls true colors were slightly flowing as she had a disgusted look on her face. It was blantly obvious she did not understand how to handle a pokemon, which invoked even more suspicion into Yuu.

The boy crossed his arms as he peered at the girl, his mouth centered like a straight line across his face. Her facade was temporarily down for the most part and she attempted to remask herself before it was too late. The response was clumsy for the most part and the Natu didn't appear to care for her appeals as it pecked her cheek. Sylvia had a different idea of what it wanted to do, and poised herself to try and prepare for a launch off yet again... although she did find it difficult to gain her balance... along with Yuu too since he was top heavy.

"Vee!" Sylvia exclaimed as she struggled to maintain balance. Yuu wrapped his hands around her body, to which she attempted to rebel against his grip, before giving up yet again. The boy immediately set the Eevee onto the tiled floor, to which she let out a small cry before stretching and trotting over to Abigail and Cerise.

...

What's the worse that could happen?

The small ball of brown fur cried out towards the two pokemon resting on their trainers, almost like a friendly introduction of herself to the other pokemon... except it was pretty energetic as she bounced up and down, keeping her attention on the purple ball of spikes and the green ball thing with legs and a beak. Eventually she returned to her trainer who was keeping a watch over the situation. Whatever glances they would shoot at him... he could care less at the moment as she rushed over to the other trainers who looked delighted to have their pokemon... namely the three around the table who had delightful looking pokemon.

The duo looked at them, filled with satisfaction that some trainers were getting along with their pokemon. The two strolled up to them, Sylvia taking the lead as she rushed forward to greet the new pokemon. As the Eevee went off excited exchanging "Vees," between each pokemon, Yuu began to say his piece as he began talking to each trainer.

"Looks like your newfound friends are enjoying your presence," Yuu calmly spoke to the trainers enveloping the area as he eyed the Misdreavus as it floated in mid-air. He moved his gaze between each pokemon, going from the red-headed boys Chikorita, to the blonde girls Cyndaquil. Yuu relocated his arm for a bit as he tapped his finger on his chin. It was peculiar that the girl in a beautiful shade of green didn't take the Chikorita while the boy in blazing red didn't procure a Cyndaquil. While they did fit, it piqued Yuus mind to why, before shrugging and letting his arm fall back into place.

"Anyways," Yuu spoke as he brushed his purple hair aside, revealing his other eye. "I don't think we all have been acquainted with each other yet... it would be nice to know each others names since we might be traversing Johto together." Yuu smiled in a lax manner at the three. Before he could go on any further, Elm gave an announcement. Yuus ears perked up and returned gaze to the Professor. The Eevee stopped bouncing to a moment upon hearing this revelation and curiously turned her head to see what the man was talking about. Once finished, Yuu let out a slightly disgruntled sigh before readdressing the three he was speaking with.

"Well... guess we can finish up introductions later when we are out of town," Yuu responding in a slightly lower tone. The boy slightly rubbed his neck before eyeing the tall boy. From what he could discern at this point, Avery definitely did not receive a trainer card. Furrowing his brows in a way to remedy his mood while appearing unbiased. Suddenly it came to him, and a smile was born on his face.

"Hey Elm," Yuu spoke as he gave the Professor his attention. "Maybe you could let your assistant take care of the pokemon with you maintaining custody over the pokemon due to laws. Everyone should experience the joys of pokemon, regardless of age. I know I did with my moms Gardevoir at times." Speaking his piece, he returned his eyes back to the three, his lavender hair obscuring one of his eyes he again as he smiled. Well, guess I'll see you guys outside then... Sylvia, shall we depart?"

As the boy walked toward the exit, he beckoned Sylvia to follow, to which she responded with a cheerful dash. Yuu did not rush past the boy who was already leaving as he found that to be rather uncustomary... a.k.a just plain rude. Once he got out, he noticed that the older boy did not have his pokemon out with him. "Hey, maybe you should let your pokemon out as it will probably enjoy the scenery... Oh, also, I don't think we've introduced ourselves, have we?"

As Yuu began talking to Nate Sylvia trotted forward, looking confused at why the Nidoran was waving. As she walked, she focused on the purple spikes that the nice purple lady was holding. The young Eevee associated it with her trainer, and almost ready to rest on her head before recalling what happened last time. Sylvia, feeling a tinge discouraged about the probability of the girl removing her from her head returned to Yuus side as they continued onwards to route 29.

The Nidoran was...quite a bit friendlier than she was expecting, really. She had heard of most pokemon simply flying into fits of rage. She had even seen it in some of the local pests but...well this little dude was the picture of serenity.

...or it was just stupid.

“I’m so sorry. I have no idea what he was trying to do. He didn’t hurt anything did he?”

Huh. So she COULD speak without being a hostile little bitch. Well imagine that.

Gwen shook her head and regarded the chick with her lazy smile. She was fine. Though Abigail wasn’t asking about her, but they never did. It was the leg. Always. Honestly, the damn thing was a bit tougher than people tended to think. That leg was made of pure Unovian engineering. It would take a bit more than a poisonous rat to break it. Maybe two or three. Four tops.

“Nah. Nah, he’s fine. Little dude was just curious, s’all.” She glanced down at the rat for a moment before continuing, “...maybe a bit hungry? I dunno.”

“Oh, hello Abigail.”

Gwen began to turn to acknowledged the voice, but something cut across her view quickly. Following it, she found...a bird sitting on Abigail’s shoulder. The Natu. Was it too much to ask for the bird to leave a hot steaming pile of humility on her shoulder?

“I suppose I should introduce the two of you. Abigail, this is Gwen. Gwen, Abigail.”

Gwen gave the lavender lass a nod, but didn’t add anything else. Honestly, she didn’t quite like the vibe she was getting from this chick. Too...ah, hell, call a duck a duck, yeah? She seemed like a stuck up bitch. But whatever.

An elderly voice cut the slight tension.

“Alright, since everyone has their pokemon, I think it’s time all of you got going. It’s already past noon! It would be better if you could go ahead and get at least halfway to Cherrygrove before dark.”

Completely disregarding Abigail and Cerise for a moment, Gwen finally managed to make eye contact with Avery. Some of the other trainers were making for the exit like Elm suggested but...he was just standing there. What the actual fuck was going on?

Yuu spoke up. Again. For the umpteenth time. Gwen didn’t quite catch it. It was directed to Elm, it seemed, so she didn’t rightly give a fuck. Instead, she crossed over to Avery. He seemed a bit nervous and tried to look away, but he didn’t move. Fucking moron probably forgot how legs worked.

When most of the people had cleared out, she finally turned to him.

“Yo. You coming or what, dude?”

Gwen crossed her arms and looked up at the impossibly large guy that she had known as a brother. Avery sort of hunched down, and rubbed the back of his neck. Despite their rather drastic height difference, it was as if Avery were looking up at a towering Gwen.

“Uhh…” he began, but faded off. He had a far off look in his eyes. Gwen frowned. She knew were this was going, and she did not like it.

“Un-fuckin-believable...you’re not going. The fuck d’ya lie to me?” she clenched her fist. She REALLY did not like being mislead, lied to, or otherwise had.

That was her job.

“I uh…” Avery seemed very uncomfortable. He obviously didn’t want to answer, but she wasn’t letting up.

“DUDE! You even packed. Wha, ya gettin’ cold feet or sumthin’? Stop fuckin’ around and let’s go.” She was getting agitated now. Stop beating around the damn bush already.

“I can’t.”

Gwen grinded her teeth a bit. It was like pulling teeth with him sometimes.

“Whaddya mean ya can’t?! Sure ya can! Just grab a ball, put one foot in front of the other, and we’re outta here.”

“No, I mean...uhh...I didn’t get a license.”
...

That one floored her. She wasn’t expecting that. Why didn’t get get a license? He passed the tests and shit (thanks in no small part to her), and did just about everything she did. It couldn’t be physical either...for fuck’s sake, SHE passed, and she had twenty-five percent less limbs than he.

“Didn’t get a - how? I know you passed the test. You…”

“I forgot to put the form in the envelope when I mailed it.”

…

This fuckin’ guy.

Completely fucks over himself because he forgot to stick a piece of paper inside another goddamn piece of paper. And...what, did he still mail the damn thing? ...this idiot actually mailed an empty envelope. He really fucked himself over.

And her too. Now what was she going to do? No, she was still going. She wasn’t about to sit around twiddling her thumbs waiting on this asshat. But she did LIKE having this asshat around. He didn’t talk much and made for a great packmule.

…

Oh fuck…

She was going to have to talk to those other asshats…

Gwen’s hand went up to her head and she lightly pressed on her temples. This guy was the cause of more of her headaches than just about anything else. Part of her wanted to just give him an earful. He had done some pretty stupid things but this…c’mon…

Before she spoke, Avery took his chance.

“But I’m going to work in the lab until I can try again. It’s gonna be fun. Professor’s going to let me be the first to taste that egg over there. Or, well, he never said that I COULDN’T be. And I’ll get to play with the other Pokemon until they leave. It’ll be fun.”

…

Gwen sighed.

She threw her hands behind her head and Avery’s shoulders relaxed in response.

“Guess that just means I get a head start. You BETTER get that shit in for next time though. If I become the Champion before you even get your first pokemon, I’m banning you from them altogether” she said playfully. Avery, being Avery, missed the banter, and his eyes grew wide with fear.

“You wouldn’t do that...would you?”

Mischief flashed on Gwen’s face.

“Maybe. Guess we’ll find out?”

And with that, she turned to leave. She heard Avery start to say goodbye. She spun around, raised her hand, and cut him off.

“Ehh-ehh-ehh, none of that goodbye bullshit. No farewells, no later days, and certainly no goodbyes. We’re gonna see each other again soon. After all, you lied to me, and I can’t have that. Now, I might not feel like it at the moment, but I’m still gonna have to kick your ass. Got it?”

Avery’s face was all scrunched up and...fuck, the dude was crying. But he still nodded. Gwen quickly turned around and left the blubbering giant. She entered the lobby and grabbed her things, not looking back. It was time to get this show on the road.

So she left.

...

Her face felt weird.

Odd…

Gwen wiped her face with her arm. It was wet?

Weird...

When did it start raining in Elm’s Lab?

---

“Never gonna happen.”

“Aww, c’mon, Delaney. Live a little~”

“Swing and a miss.”

“Hush it, Gramps.

From behind a veil of smoke, Detective Tetsuya Nishimura watched his colleagues banter. He barely followed what they were talking about, instead worrying more about why they were here in the middle of nowhere. Route 46...they were approaching the entrance to a cave that would open up onto Route 45 and after going through another tunnel, would put one at the foothills of Blackthorn City. It wasn’t exactly the busiest route in the region, but it was an important one nonetheless.

And now it was completely sealed off.

On both the Blackthorn City side and the Route 46 side, the entrances to the caves had been collapsed. Normally that might just be chalked up to nature being a fickle bitch but…

Tetsuya frowned. He took a deep drag on the cigarette before tossing it to the ground and stamping it out with his shoe.

“Alright, people.” he projected. The others quieted and turned to face the speaker. He continued. “Wilson, take Himura and block off the area. I don’t want anybody getting any funny ideas. Delaney, you’re with me.”

Akio Himura, the youngest of the quartet, frowned and began to say something no doubt moronic, but held his tongue and trotted off behind Malcom Wilson, or Gramps as he was known, instead. Not that he really had a choice in the matter, really.

That just left Tetsuya and-

“Thanks for the save, bossman.”

Zoe Delaney. Tetsuya started off towards the caved in entrance, and she fell in step beside him.

“So when are you and Himura going to stop playing your little games and finally tie the knot?” he casually shot over to her. The tall blonde’s grin didn’t falter.

“Pfft please. That kid couldn’t handle all of this.” Zoe gestured to herself.

Tetsuya chuckled and shook his head as they grew closer to the cave-in.

“Tell ya what, why don’t you finally grow some balls and ask out Natalie, and then maybe, JUST MAYBE, I’ll let the kid buy me a drink or two.”

That one elicited another laugh from the man in the dark suit. She had him there. He shrugged and nodded as they finally reached the cave.

…

It was blocked up alright. But judging by the surrounding area, it didn’t seem like anything else was really affected by this little slide. Not at first, anyway. Whatever it was, it was local. Zoe approached one side and Tetsuya the other. The more senior detective didn’t like this. Not one bit.

The Chief was right...something didn’t fit…

This cave-in was just TOO perfect.

…

It was almost as if someone had designed it...but...why? Why block off this path?

Tetsuya, standing up tall, just gazed at the pile of rocks.

Instinctively, he reached for his jacket and pulled out another cigarette, which he promptly placed between his lips before searching himself for a lighter.

"Hey Nishimura...you uh...you might want to see this."

Tetsuya raised an eyebrow. She found something, eh? He abandoned his search for a lighter and quickly crossed over to the younger Detective.

She pointed at something. He couldn't see it at first, but when he did, a groan escaped the man.

What a fucking headache...

---

Sophia trotted along carrying Cinder. The Cyndaquil that she had received from Elm was a male...and apparently rather lazy. He didn’t quite seem all that interested in walking. But that was fine. Sophia didn’t mind carrying him whatsoever. They had left shortly after noon, and now the sky was a fine auburn. The sun was hanging low over the trees. She didn’t figure they had much daytime left at all. But she had to say, the leaves against the dusk skyline? Absolutely breathtaking.

The trail had been a rather straightforward one. After they set out from New Bark Town, the small little group had pretty much stuck to the road. She had to admit, the path seemed much, MUCH safer with other people around. On her way in, she had practically flew, terrified of getting caught alone in the dark. She even had to admit that she felt the tiniest bit of relief when she found the tunnel out of Blackthorn closed. Sure, her trip took MUCH longer but...well she felt as if she grew a bit during it. She had found a way to travel for every stretch of her journey...but Cherrygrove to New Bark was all on her. Luckily, that path was fairly quick. Going back however…

RMMBLR

Sophia stopped for a moment and looked down. What was that sound?

RMMBLLRR.

Oh. It was a stomach growling, demanding nourishment.

…

Oh dear. She was getting rather peckish. And Cinder likely could go for something to eat as well.

She gazed at the ones in front of her. Surprisingly enough, the young looking girl with...well, the artificial leg, was among the frontrunners. She probably felt obligated to do so. To prove that she wasn’t just a burden. Sophia’s smile waivered upon that thought. She felt bad for the girl...but quickly she shook herself out of it. She had met people in similar situations as white haired woman. Pity was not something they usually welcomed.

But that was all speculation. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to the girl, and ever since leaving the lab, she had seemed rather sullen. The look on the girl’s face could kill. Probably. She didn’t want to test it, that’s for sure.

…

Come to think of it…

Sophia gazed about at the rest of the group.

She had heard a few scattered introductions, but nothing official as it were. Oh well.

When they finally decided to make camp, she could ask then.

But those were thoughts for another time. For now?

Sophia put one foot in front of the other, and marched on.

~Sidney Garland~

Ace reporter, coming to you form Goldenrod!

Co-starring her incredibly cute co-worker, Alicia Jackson!
(Naoto is out with food poisoning, poor guy!)

"GOOOOOOD AFTERNOOOOOOOON, JOHTO!"

"Gah! Sidney, do you always have to do that? Some people actually like hearing."

"Of course I do, how else am I going to get their attention and views? I get paid depending on how many people watch or listen."

"Sidney...that's-"

"Well, it's true! But anyways, lets get on with it. Welcome to the afternoon edition of the Garland Report! Coming at you live from Goldenrod Radio towers fifth floor! Stop by and get an autograph from moi sometime!~"

The girl in question, Sidney Garland was sitting behind a desk wearing her usual work suit - though she was wearing dress pants instead of a skirt like her co-host, and the suit was a bit messy. What? She didn't like skirts and dressy clothes. Too restrictive. How could she climb a radio tower to get a good scoop in a skirt? Well, not that she minded people seeing what color underwear she really wore, but that was a different story. Point - she hated suits and dresses, but the network insisted she wore them. Well, she'd wear them her way then!

Her bright red hair had been cut short, her blue eyes were as mischievous looking as ever and she was wearing her usual grin. Currently, she was holding a stack of papers. Scripts, info and other things she was recommended to say and do.

...kek. Like she had ever needed a script other than her own.

"Horrible at naming things as always..." Her Co-host, Alicia said.

Unlike Sidney, Alicia was a by the books person. She was wearing a blouse, skirt, and looked quite professional - even had a cute little pair of glasses to go along with her whole look. Honestly? Sidney found her adorable. Also hilarious to mess with.

"Horrible? Nay, you just have horrible taste!" Sidney rebutted. "My sense of naming is impeccable as always. Just ask my online fans who read my books!~" At this, Alicia visibly facepalmed and grumbled something that sounded like. "Please don't mention your smutty fan-fics on the air, please." Really, Sidney was too old for that kind of thing in her opinion. However, instead Alicia changed the subject to something a bit more on topic.

"Right...your impeccable writing skills aside...there was a tunnel collapse on Route 46, the one that connects Blackthorn to Route 29. Thankfully we've gotten no reports of people getting hurt."

"Oh, right. That." Sidney replied, sounding a bit unimpressed with the somewhat mundane news. "Yep, there was a collapse in...Dark Cave." What a lame name. Whoever named these places in Johto should have violently beat their head into a wall. "Seems the entire route has been completely sealed off for travel by normal trainers. Those who recently received a pokemon from the renowned Professor Elm are going to have to take the long way to Blackthorn if they were planning on going there first."

"Mhm, indeed. If they wanted too, they'd have to get an experienced hiker or other trainer to take them there. Quite the unfortunate occurrence, really, especially considering what has just happened in Violet. If they want their first badge they're going to have to go all the way to Goldenrod or Azalea." Alicia replied. This caught Sidney's attention, apparently.
"Oh? What happened in Violet? I haven't heard anything interesting happening there."

"Well, maybe if you read your script or suggested articles to go over...you would have read that Violets Gym Leader recently passed due to long-term illness."

"Seriously? That's some pretty bad luck for those trainers. I take it the league is doing what they can to quickly find a replacement?"

"Their official statement "Is that they are doing everything they can to find a suitable replacement." Currently, they're looking for someone young and new for the position."

"That so? The gym leaders could definitely use some new and up-and coming trainers in their ranks, that's for sure. Maybe I could sign up myself! Me and Sableye would be awesome at it!" This illicited a sigh from Alicia, but against her better judgement she went along with it. Despite her antics, since Sidney started hosting this, their views had gone up quite a bit. She'd be lying if she wasn't a tad bit jealous. As long as she didn't go overboard, she supposed it was alright.

"You and your little Sableye. A gym leader? The league would really be scraping the bottom of the barrel then." Alicia replied.

"Oi! Hey, Ruby and I are a pretty good team! How else would I have gotten those scandalous pictures of David of the Mexatus corporation and him on a date with someone?"

"Those pictures were horrible, and there wasn't an actual picture of someone else in them." Alicia replied, in a very matter-of-fact tone.

"Look at all this hate I get for my creative journalism." Sidney huffed. "No appreciation for my craft at all."

"Well, while Sidney is sulking, I'll continue with the next item on our venue. Let's see..." She flipped through a few papers. "Oh, right. Currently, a miner's strike is going on in Blackthorn."

"A strike? Really? Think it might be related to the tunnel collapse?"

"No, it was caused by natural causes." Alicia quickly silenced her colleague with a sharp glare.

"But wouldn't it be more exciting if it was?" Sidney replied, giving Alicia a quite excited look. Alicia could already see her gears turning. She'd want to go down there for sure and 'investigate' herself, and she'd inevitably get dragged along.

"Sidney, this is the news. We don't have time for your silly conspiracy theories." Alicia continued. Sidney pouted a bit at this, and quickly donned some fake glasses, mocking Alicias business like speech and mannerisms, earning a bit of a chuckle from the cameramen and rest of the staff who were filming. Alicia quickly looked back over at Sidney, giving her a bit of a suspicious glare, but by then the glasses were gone and she was just giving her an innocent smile, humming quietly to herself.

"Anyways," Alicia huffed. "Onto the Weather. Since Naoto our usual weather man apparently ate some bad shellfish, Sidney and I will be doing the usual report. So hows the weather look, Sidney?"

"Looks...normal? I mean, I'm not weather girl. I don't know what I'm looking at." Sidney said, looking at the screen with the various weather patterns on it with a confused stare.

"...you were sleeping during the course Naoto gave us, weren't you?" Alicia accused the redhead.

"Whaaaat? Me? Sleep during an important business meeting?...yeah, most definitely." She shamelessly admitted, earning a quiet grumble from Alicia.

"Well...I suppose I shall do it." With a sigh, Alicia stood, walking over to the screen in question. Clearing her throat, as she started. "Currently, those summer temperatures are falling slowly as we approach the Fall seasons. Around Cherrygrove, Newbark, and Violet, its still fairly warm so be sure to take plenty of water if you're going outside for extended periods of time."

Sid gave her a thumbs up from where she was sitting behind a desk.

"In the Olivine and other coastal regions, we have cooler temperatures moving in thanks to an approaching cold front, so be sure to wrap up and be warm! Ecruteak and Mahogany have fairly average temperatures, thanks to the approaching fall. Not to hot or too cold, but remember to stay safe! Lastly, Azalea is being hit by a nasty rain storm that will continue moving east for some time, likely hitting Cherrygrove in the next day or two. If you are caught out in the rain, be sure to have an umbrella with you and stay dry! Colds are not fun!"

With that, she went back to her seat and sat...or would have if the seat hadn't fell out from under her. Alicia hit the floor, landing right on her butt as she let out a rather adorable sounding squeal of surprise. Sidney was simply looking shocked - as if she hadn't expected that. Yeah right, that little brat was the culprit!

Now, Alicia wasn't one to get angry at a lot of things. But making her look like a klutz on air? Yeah, no.

"Sidney..." She said, giving the red-head a smile.

"Alicia that wasn't me, I swear." She said, trying to hold back a giggle.

"Well, aside from you, who could it have been, hmm?~" She asked, a bit too nicely.

"Uh...uhm, a ghost?" Sidney nervously replied.

"You know as well as I do that's not possible~"

"Eheh...uhm, uh, Mark, cut to a commercial, yeah? I'd rather not have my death filmed on live TV." Sid chuckled nervously...before promptly bolting out of the studio door.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE-!" Was the last thing the viewers on the TV saw before their segment was over with. Well, that and a certain red-head begging for mercy.

Near the ceiling, hiding on top of a bookcase, was a Sabeleye...who was rolling around on top of it laughing hysterically. Next to it? Sat two screws from the chair Alicia was sitting in, pilfered when she was giving the weather.

~Abigail Blanchett~

~Route 29~

After leaving Newbark with the others, Abigail mostly remained by herself, taking the lead. Well, at least she was walking in front of the others, anyways. Whether she was actually leading them or not, was questionable and probably wasn't the case. Little miss crippled was crying or something. She hadn't seen what happened, but apparently whoever she was going to be traveling with couldn't come. Well, good. That meant she would learn that doing things yourself without relying on someone else to do it, was the best way to get things done.

Of course, she didn't say anything though. Not like she cared all that much. She was only slightly concerned, because if she was going to be traveling with these guys, she wanted them not to slow her down. If she couldn't handle something like this, then she might as well go home now. She kept her mouth shut, though. No need to start something. For now, focus on walking and actually getting to Cherrygrove.

Unlike the others - some of whom who were taking in the sights and surroundings, Abigail was simply silently observing her surroundings. Not because she enjoyed looking at a vast array of nothing. She simply wanted to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. That, and make sure Tyrian didn't go around causing problems. She learned quite quickly Tyrian wasn't exactly the most...collected of pokemon. He had a nice curiosity about most things, but he was too...childish. Currently, he was pouncing on random tufts of grass, like he was practicing sneaking up on some pokemon.

...okay, she admitted, she found him slightly adorable, but no one else needed to know that.

Cerise, had decided to hang back with a few of the others. Not getting to far away from Gwen - who still seemed to be sulking a bit. She still didn't know what Cerise wanted with the girl, but knowing her, it wasn't that good. Well, if she wanted to make nice with everyone, she could. She'd probably just end up 'playing' with them later, if the situation presented itself.

Tyrian brought her out of her solitary thoughts as he nudged her leg. He was looking up at her with large, almost impossibly cute eyes. With a small chuckle, she knelt down, giving the guy a small pat on his head. He nuzzled her hand and placed his two front paws on her legs, tilting his head slightly.

"Nido?" He cried...and then both of their stomachs rumbled.

...seemed like they both agreed food would be good now. She picked the guy up in her arms, letting him settle before standing back up. She sighed, looking up at the sky. The sun was going down, and it'd be night soon. At this rate, if they made camp they'd probably be at Cherrygrove sometime around midday tomorrow. Plus, she was fairly certain she was getting hungry. Food sounded delicious right about now, actually. So much so, she could already smell the food she was imagining in her head.

...okay. yeah, camp sounded good. And food - mostly the food. She hoped someone here could cook well. Despite usually eating five full meals and various snacks all day, she was a terrible cook. Well, hopefully the others would agree with the idea. It would be better to set up camp either way, even if she was just wanting to do it mostly for food. Traveling at night would be a pretty bad idea. Pokemon in the day were easy enough to deal with - they could usually see them coming. But at night? They could sneak up on you fairly easily, if you weren't extremely careful, and she didn't fancy being food for a Noctowl or some other nocturnal pokemon.

"Hmm...I think it'd be best if we went ahead and made camp, here." She said, turning to face the group. "It's getting late and setting it up now, rather than later after the sun has fallen would be the best idea." Though she said that, it would still be a few hours before the sun actually set. Plenty of time for others to catch whatever pokemon they wanted too, as well, while others set about making camp and getting everything ready.

"This is a nice enough place, I think. Enough of a clearing for us to all set up a tent, and it'd be easy enough to deal with any pokemon that decided to mess with us." Tyrian nodded in agreement, though he was probably just doing that because it was Abigail who suggested it. The little guy probably didn't really understand anything other than camp meant sleep and food. "Besides, i think most of us are pretty hun-"

She didn't even finish the sentence before her stomach let out a rather loud rumble.

"Hungry. I think most of us are pretty hungry, so getting food would be a good idea, too." She finished, completely ignoring her stomach.

~Cerise Fontaine~

~Route 29~

Cerise walked, doing her best to get acquainted with everyone in the group they were traveling with - though she kept close to Gwen since Abigail seemed intent on walking ahead of everyone. She probably thought she was the leader. The thought made the red head giggle a bit. Typical Abigail - she hadn't changed at all since she last saw her during her graduation from trainer school. That was...what, a year ago? She couldn't exactly recall, but she was as full of confidence as ever.

That was just one of the many things Cerise admired about her friend. If Abigail wanted it, then she got it. And Cerise would help her in anyway possible.

In. Any. Way. Possible. She shot a glance over at Yuu. It wasn't a hostile glance - in fact, it was rather friendly. At least, to other people it would be. In reality though, Cerise hated the little man. Not just from him being rude to someone of her status earlier, either. Abigail often spoke of the guy to her. She always went on and on about how much he annoyed her - how good he was, actually. She'd never tell him directly, but she had told her on occasion.

And if Abigail considered him good, then that mean he was a threat to Abigail. But more importantly, he was a threat to...Abigail and her.

And that was something, she would not allow. Not. At. All. She'd remedy the situation, though. She would. Oh, she would. In time. She just needed the right moment. Right set up of events. Then Yuu would no longer be a problem. He'd be gone. Abigail's shot at the championship would be practically assured...but more importantly, there would be no chance of him getting between her and Abigail after he had an...unfortunate accident.

If she could make nice with everyone else in the group, that would make it much, much easier to do so. Gwen would be fairly easy, normally since she looked emotionally upset at the moment. But after talking with her for a bit, she decided it'd be best to let her cool off for a bit. If she didn't play her cards right, it could greatly backfire. Gwen was a lot like Abigail, she though. Both were highly determined, and Gwen was likely highly skilled as well. But most of all, the both were stubborn loners, and didn't take well to others interrupting them.

That was the vibe she got, anyways. She should go meet with the others, pick her marks carefully and befriend them in the easiest manner that she could.

"Hmm...I think it'd be best if we went ahead and made camp, here."

Before she could get any introductions done, Abigail chimed in, suggesting making camp. Well, if Abigail suggested it, it was probably a good idea since she knew what she was doing. The sun seemed to be sinking fairly low into the sky as well - even she was smart enough to understand traveling at night was probably a bad idea. She didn't fancy being harassed by some Hoothoot. She had enough of that from that runt of a natu. Where was that thing anyways?

As if on cue, the little bird lighted on her shoulder. He probably heard Abigails suggestion, and was agreeing with her. Well, it seemed he wasn't stupid. Just annoying.

"Besides, i think most of us are pretty hun-"

Abigails stomach rumbled rather loudly, and Cerise couldn't help but giggle a bit at that.

"Hungry. I think most of us are pretty hungry, so getting food would be a good idea, too."

"I think you just want food." Cerise teased. "I mean, you think with your stomach more than your brain anyways, and you sound fairly hungry, Abby, dear~"

This earned a small glare from Abigail, before she gave a small sigh.

"And so what If I'm hungry? Its a fact its going to be late, soon, and walking at night is a bad idea." Abigail replied, with a bit of a huff. "Besides, its not like I'm the only one."

"Easy to tease as usual. You really should stop being so adorable, sometimes~" Cerise giggled, earning a small blush from Abigail, who promptly huffed, and starting ignoring her.

"Aside from Cerise's incessant teasing...and me being hungry, I think its the best course of action to start making camp before night falls."