Novis Shannon | @Lab PokePark
Novis arrived at the Professor Grevillia's labaratory in Beryllium city, like so many other teenie-somethings before him. He wasn't there to "set out on his journey" persay, more so just to officially sign up for the League challenge. There were far too many ten-year-olds for his taste, but hey, not everybody starts eight years later than most. He would've just done it back home at the nearest Poke-government insurance agency or whatever, but it was of course necessary for pretty much every facility in the region to undergo a region-wide network upgrade. The only big place open to sign-up at was the lab, and thus every tween and their mother crowded around it.
Okay, maybe he was exaggerating: there weren't
that many people, and they certainly weren't all like twelve. But he couldn't help but feel a little late to the party. Mostly because he was tired and zoned out during the basic intro the prof gave. By the time the Growlithe by his feet had dragged him back to reality with a tug on the pant-leg, everyone had already dispersed from the little crowd they had formed while the professor was talking, leaving Novis standing like a nerd in gym class in the middle of the park.
"Looks like the lines are already a mile long, buddy." Novis frowned, and Nier gave a low whine. The Professor was retreating from a crowd of eager newbies grabbing for a 'Dex, and the League registrations were a far-off dream. The early bird gets the worm, as one might say. Any opportunity available was locked behind a gate of waiting, and Novis was not one for standing around idly.
A bunch of kids were squaring up around where the professor was, and Nov was pretty tempted to try to go show 'em up. He was a step towards them when Nier jammed himself between Nov's feets, almost sending himself face-first into the floor. Luckily, Nov's a god of dexterity and managed to catch himself with his hands.
Nov considered his Growlithe for a moment. "You're probably right buddy, you're kinda garbage right now." The dog gave a feisty little yap in response. It was hard to imagine the little thing growing into a big mean Arcanine, but Novis's uncle was too stubborn to let Nov take their Arcanine, Major, with him, so Nier was all he had. "Don't worry though, I'm an expert at raising guys like you!"
Novis jumped up to his feet, bouncing on his heels a bit. He was not pleased to see that his endearing character moment had only taken up several seconds and that the lines had barely moved. He paused to consider the situation for a moment, before he noticed the Professor had made a quick return. Novis made his way into the crowd around her, the second wave waiting eagerly for their 'Dexes. He tried to be subtle about his cutting, slipping in front of a few kids and assertively stepping up for the first one he could. The Professor gave him the same "here you go, feel free to ask questions" statement as everyone else. Novis wasn't really here to chat with the Prof, so he evacuated himself from the group immediately again, almost running into someone on the way out. In all honestly, he didn't really care too much about the PokeDex; it was just in case, since he didn't see much variety back in Damascus Town.
With that, he was half-way done with the task at hand. All that was left was to get to the registration sheets. Luckily, Nier was one step ahead, though, and knew what to do from example. Novis followed close behind, sneaking up around the line. He crept up near the front, and before anyone could question it, dashed into the line right as the last person put down the pen.
"Hey! You can't cut in line!" Some brat shouted, voice nasally and exactly what you would expect from someone who would say that.
"Sorry kiddo," Novis gave a cheeky grin as he scratched down his details on the registration form. The kid looked ready to throw punches, so once he got some scribbles down, Nov turned face and ran away. Except, his trajectory was horribly aimed and, almost comically formulaic-ly, he nearly rammed right into the guy with the messy orange hair who had just registered. Nier barked at the Fletching. "Sorry, man!" He called back. Nov's velocity had hardly wavered from the near-impact, but he only made it a couple of meters before turning back. Nier hadn't moved an inch once the Fletchling had came into his view, giving low rumbles and little yaps at it.
Novis scooped up the small Growlithe in his arms, though the dog Pokemon refused to break eye-contact with it. Nier was a little lighter than the average Growlithe due to its Espeon roots, but its almost silvery coat and inherited abilities were considered more desirable among the more glamour-orientated. At least according to Nov's uncle. Regardless, that didn't slow down Nier though, as he quickly broke free from Nov's grip after a struggle and jumped down to the floor again. "He doesn't like birds too much, excuse the noise." Nov gave a grin, eyeing up the Fletchling too. He'd seen them a few times around Damascus, as they like the fire-y atmosphere, but they weren't exactly the most common. Nov would've just assumed the stranger was from Chromis, but... "You from Kalos? Does everyone there dress like that?"
