Fary was taken slightly back by the professor's mannerisms. She had heard he has lost it some, but she didn't expect him to be THIS bad. She looked over at the gym leader with an empathetic look. She noticed the rest of her group so far had been polite or just not acknowledge the man's failing, scratch that, completely shot sanity.

Her face morphed into one of slight confusion, and concern as she pointed a finger at the wizened Oak, her voice showing hints of sarcasm, "Umm, did he try to smoke a Shroomish or has he just lost it THAT much of his sanity? I knew he was a bit... senile but not quite like this. She knew she was being rude in a way, but she didn't feel like starting her Pokemon journey like this.

Emily was completely shocked, being used to Professor Juniper. "Zorua zooooruuua, ruru zoru ahhh?" What the hell, this is the famous Professor Oak?

Fary turned to look at Emily, and nodded her head whispering to her, "I know right? Professor Juniper wouldn't act like this."

Fary also didn't like how he scared Lizbeth, and walked over to check on her new startled friend. "Hey, are you ok Lizbeth? If you want, we can step away for a bit, or I can have Emily bite the old mans heels." She laughed softly, trying to cheer up the younger woman.

Emily hit Fary in the ear softly with her tail and stood up, clearly not a fan of that idea."ZORR, zoruaaa, ruru zorua. Zoruaaa zorua!" NO WAY, I'm not biting him. Bite him yourself!

Vivian meanwhile, had lost it at the Professor's yelling at the other girl and was currently bent over, tears streaming down her face as she tried her best to keep her egg from falling out of it's silken cradle near her chest. "Th-That's, THAT'S OAK?! The young woman exclaimed, falling into another gigglefit as she tried to speak again. "Arceus... If that guy is what we can expect in Kanto I'm gonna die of laughter before we even hit the first gym."

"Bud-Budew...Budew."Whatever you say, just don't let that guy 'study' me alright? He gives me the creeps. Curry grumbled, having quickly hidden itself between Vivian's legs at the appearance of Professor Oak. Vivian straightened up, wiping the tears of joy from her face as she straightened her egg cradle. "The other girl has a point though Mr.Oak, where are we starting? And do I need to keep a camera ready for folks like the Professor?

Gary Oak shouldn't have been surprised that his grandfather's appearance would have elicited such a response. The little kids that used to come by may have still bought his wise old man shtick in his current state, but for a group of adults who appeared to be around his age, it was transparent that the venerable professor was not what he used to be. The elder Oak even managed to scare one of the women to tears from the looks of things. "Why couldn't this just be easy?" he muttered to himself.

He let out a sigh and turned back to the group assembled before him. "Let me try this again," he restarted. "You are here, at the still-world-famous Oak Laboratory. Countless trainers have begun their journey here, including myself, the one and only Gary Motherfucking Oak. Don't you ever forget that name!" He pointed at each of the trainers standing before him to emphasize that last point.

"Anyway, this is where you officially get registered to try and take on the Kanto Gym System and eventually the Indigo Pokemon League. I am a part of that system, and Viridian City is the closest gym to Pallet Town, but don't challenge me. If you challenge me, I will stomp you like the insignificant Bug-types you lot are right now. Your best chance to get that first badge is to go through the forest and head to Pewter City. Challenge Brock. He's pathetic. Should be an easy target for... well all of you since you have an Oshawott," he pointed at Ezra, "And the rest of you are women, so that foolish virgin will probably give you badges just for gracing his presence. This is also where you get your Pokedexes. You can upload them as apps onto your phone if you have one, but these serve as your ID for the challenge, so don't lose it. Don't break it. Because we aren't flying new ones out all the way from Kalos just for stupid klutzes!"

"So since I see six people, and I have six Pokedexes, just come up when I call your name and grab your device." Gary quickly flipped through his phone to get to his notes. "OK... Vivian Aurora... Ezra Daly... Fary Nitashi... Karen Rose... Karen?" While the first three Pokedexes were quickly claimed, no one was budging on the fourth one. It was way too early for Lilith to let the glamour fall from her mysterious cloak. Especially with her cursed birth name. "Kaaaaaren? Really living up to your name aren't you, huh? Well you've seen the manager. Go complain. See if I care. We'll process of elimination this anyway... Lizbeth Rowe... Hana Tatsu-"

"Good news Trainers! I have your Pokedexes for you right here!" Professor Oak burst back into the main hallway with a small shoebox in his hands. "My apologies for running off like that! I just had to go get your brand-new Pokedexes! I made them myself you know!"

"Gramps, what the hell are you doing?" Gary was visibly pissed off now. "We've been over this! You don't make the Pokedexes anymore! Not after gave a 10-year-old a device that just consisted of your grocery lists and some damn dirty limericks!"

"Nonsense! These are my finest inventions!"

Gary quickly rifled the box that his grandfather brought out. "These are just iPods... with red nail polish all over them!" He clicked the button on one of them. "And they're broken! Where did you even get these?!?"

"I told you! I built them myself!"

Meanwhile, Lilith had attempted to use the distraction provided by the old man to try and sneakily acquire her Pokedex. However, the old man was too perceptive for her.

"Hello there!" Oak shouted at the Unovan. "Tell me, are you a boy or a girl?"

What an insult! How dare this senile coot even think I could be a boy? Lilith was as irked as Gary was, and she let the old man know it. "That depends. Which gender would you prefer ends your over-extended life and feeds your soul to the flames?"

"Hah! You've got spunk! I like that!" Professor Oak didn't even seem to register Lilith's needlessly dark answer. He was too busy slapping his grandson on the back. "This is my grandson! He's a trainer just like you! Um..... what was his name again?"

Gary's face was beet red as he blurted out, "You fucking......SHIT!" He turned to the assembled masses. "NO ONE ANSWER HIM! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

But it was too late. "I remember now! His name is Shit! That's right!"

"No! No it's not! You fucking know it's not!"

"Shit! Calm down! No need to yell! Besides, now that these trainers have their Pokemon and Pokedexes, our work is done! Let them go explore, Shit!" Oak waved his arms in the air. "Now go discover the wonderful world of Pokemon!" He ended with a flourish before the mop atop his head slowly slid off and plopped on the ground. With that he turned away and headed to the back of the lab.

Meanwhile, Gary was in a Primeape-like level of rage. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, OLD MAN!" He turned, his head in his hands as he tried to control himself. "IT TOOK ME THREE YEARS TO GET HIM TO STOP CALLING ME DOUCHE!

"Shit! Shit! I need your help! The toaster isn't accepting my bagel!"

"I... I can't. I just can't fucking deal with this anymore. I'm getting the fuck out of here. No one come to the Viridian Gym! I am in no mood to face any of you pathetic scrubs! You knock on my door, you're getting fed to my Arcanine, dig! Later, losers!" Gray huffed out the frontdoor before summoning his Pidgeot to fly him away from this nightmare factory.

Meanwhile, with her Pokedex safely tucked away in her bag, Lilith just stood there, blinking at the display from one of the top gym leaders in the country. Sia stood sentry on her shoulder, looking none the wiser considering everything that had happened. Well, I think I finally found something I'd want to be called less than my actual name...

Quickly thinking, she scooped up the remaining Pokedex and handed it to the woman who she was talking to earlier. "I believe this is yours. Shall we all get the hell out of this place before the old man decides to set this place on fire?"

Lizbeth was grateful that Gary would explain to them again what he had previously said. She was honestly kind of dumbfounded that the old man was THE Professor Oak. Like, for real, it was him. She had of course heard about him, and he'd been mentioned on the challenge site anyway, but this was all just too damn weird.

She also appreciated that Fary wanted to take her outside, but instead of taking her up on the offer, she simply opted to just ask to hold hands before Gary then started to hand out their Pokédexes. He mentioned them being able to have it as an app, which Lizbeth would have to remember for after they were done there.

Which didn't seem like it would take all that much longer, given that the older Oak was back. With a shoebox. Lizbeth tightened her grip on Fary's hand as he came back, but he didn't yell in her face again, and she sighed out of relief. Instead, a different type of yelling happened, as Oak had now apparently overwritten his own grandson's name with quite the inappropriate name. It wasn't at all funny to her, but there was no time to say much about it as Gary went out in quite a huff and was gone when she went out.

That was...definitely something, alright. Best stay clear from him until later. Much, much later. With all of that over and done with, she allowed herself to let go of Fary's hand, if only while she was downloading the Pokédex app on her phone. The Rotom inside hovered with the phone in front of her, and once it was done, it was time to get started on some entries. There was only one first option.



Reading through the entry it gave her, she wasn't sure how to feel about it. "I had no idea you were capable of that, Ace. You could have told me, you know." She gave a small giggle towards the little goblin on her shoulder, who just gave her a grin back and a little chuckle of his own.

The conversation about the Indigo League was rather... hit and miss, in Hana's opinion. Was the registration supposed to be this informal, or was it just Gary's everyday demeanour? It did, however, give her the chance to learn the names of the others that had arrived, quickly matching names and faces.

However, seeing Gary's seemingly exponential anger at his grandfather, the look on her face turned from dismay to shock. Hana made a mental note that if she had a chance to contribute feedback on Sengun's own Pokémon League as it developed, then the Gym Leaders of her homeland would be candidates with some degree of stable temperament. Had she not invested a considerable sum into travelling to Kanto, she would have begun making plans to book a flight out to another region. Hoenn and Galar had seemed suitable destinations, but were ultimately tied for second pick at the time she had made her decision.

"I believe this is yours. Shall we all get the hell out of this place before the old man decides to set this place on fire?"

"As much as I hate the idea of leaving him there on his own... that would probably be best. Hopefully someone comes by to check on the Professor before anything happens." Accepting her new Pokédex from Lilith - or possibly Karen; Hana wasn't sure how to address her - she led the way out after the two girls that had left the Laboratory before her. Once outside, she began to thoroughly examine the Pokédex itself. It seemed to be roughly the size of her own smartphone, featuring a camera to scan Pokémon face-to-face and a connection point to assess the contents of a Poké Ball. Out of curiosity, she had the device scan Satomi while she was still in her Ball:


Hana's eyebrows furrowed at one detail in particular. "Sucker Punch?" Perhaps that was how they named the move outside of Sengun. She set the idea of looking for the editing functions aside for another time, perhaps over dinner. "Never mind... That certainly just happened to all of us. I suppose our next move is to travel north, then? Perhaps as a group?"

“Aw man, Ezzie would have a field day with these two.” Ezra held a grin as he watched the comedy routine play out between the grandfather and his grandson. Between Gary’s brash attitude and Professor Oak’s eccentric qualities, he couldn’t help but imagine his sister taking in a loud laugh at the whole display, much like the tired-eyed blonde girl with the egg and the Budew.

There was a lot to take in for the boy in a short amount of time, what, with the extra trainers and the Pokedex bundled with instructions for the league challenge. Some of the girls held pokemon that Ezra didn’t usually get to see.

“Huh, that one girl’s got a Litwick, cool. Also...she got a bit of a goth thing going on, huh? I can dig it.” He made mental note of the pale, pierced female, failing to catch her name. He made a quick, quiet “Thanks” as he collected his Pokedex, a little surprised to receive what looked like a fairly sophisticated device for free. Even if he ultimately bowed out of the challenge halfway through, he could show off the ‘dex as a bit of a souvenir from the adventure.

...Unless he had to return it. Would they have to return them at the end?

Fary collected her device after he took up his, and he pondered on the rules on Pokedex ownership as he examined it. Quickly, he was snatched out of his thoughts as he watched Lizbeth’s phone zip about her person and cooperate with the Pokedex.

Following suit the best he could, Ezra brought his own phone forward, bringing it close to the Pokedex. Through the marvels of modern technology, mere contact of the two devices caused a reaction, a sudden prompt on his phone asking to download the app. Naturally, he did so.

“Gotta say, Lizbeth, I’m really vibing with your phone!” He said to the girl as she scanned her Impidimp. Brie overheard the pink imp chuckle and shuddered.

“Oshhaaa." Dear Arceus, the weird demon laughs. She failed to hide her discomfort.

“I could really use something like that. My family’s always making video calls, so something hands-free like that would be perfect for me!” He took his eyes off of his devices for a second and they both vibrated with notifications. “Huh?” At that moment, they acquired information about his partner, Brie.



“Ohhh-sha!” Hey, that’s me! Brie perked up as she looked over the entry. Ezra raised an eyebrow as he muttered over the information. “Huh, her shell’s officially called a scalchop...the more you know.” He turned his attention back to Lizbeth.

“Are they only available in Galar?” He continued on about her phone. “Would probably be killer on import costs…” Pondering aloud, he subconsciously began following some of the girls out of the lab and signaled for Lizbeth to do the same. He overheard the one in the long skirt make mention of leaving the professor to his own devices, picking up her calm disposition and a strong accent. The situation sat in his mind for a second.

“I suppose our next move is to travel north, then? Perhaps as a group?" Almost seemed like the girl was reading his mind, or at least they were on the same wavelength.

“Are we...all going the same way?” Ezra asked while trying to properly identify the girls. “Uhh...Hana? Right?” He pointed to the girl in the long skirt. It seemed like a dumb question in hindsight, it was clear they were all partaking in the challenge. Considering the environment, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to assume the path ahead was simple and singular.

"Are we... all going the same way? Uhh... Hana? Right?"

"If we are all here for the Indigo League, and our first challenge is north of Viridian, then I would say we are all going the same way, yes," Hana answered. "And yes, Ezra, my full name was interrupted. I am Hana Tatsuyama, of the Sengun region's Kingdom of Platinos." It was the exact same choice of words she had given earlier, but it was the best way to ensure everyone was on a level playing field in terms of introductions. As before, she sketched a short bow, though this was aimed at no-one in particular due to the larger group. Hana imagined if everyone sketched bows or conducted handshakes all at once, they would be standing outside the Laboratory for longer than some of them would like.

"Sengun... really?" It was a region that was rarely discussed. Naturally the name caught his attention. "I got family out there! An aunt and uncle (well, great aunt and uncle) in Mystriver Isle!" He said, trying his hardest to keep his voice and tone regulated. "They own a dojo out there. Last we talked to them, they were planning on passing ownership down to their son." He nodded and crossed his arms.

"You have family in Mystriver? How curious. I haven't been out that way myself, but that Kingdom is one of the most popular among travellers and folks who wish to move to a new region, as I recall." Hana paused a moment, thinking this over. Extended family likely meant that one of them had moved to Sengun at some point in their life and settled down there. Ownership of a Dojo - presumably the most well-known in the Kingdom's borders, if Ezra was aware of the details - likely meant that that part of his family line had inherited some Warrior traits, or would do so at some point in the family tree. She didn't give voice to any of this immediately, however, knowing that it would likely overwhelm her new acquaintance with information. That was just bad form.

"It seems my day is full of surprises," she eventually noted aloud.

As Gary explosively left the room, Fary felt a small pang of pity for the gym leader. She had never met him herself, but she had heard of his talents as a gym leader and understood slightly as to why he was so volatile to the shenanigans that had transpired. The elder Oak was clearly not mentally sound by any stretch of the imagination and this was obviously not the first time this kind of thing happened. However, Professor Oak wasn't fit to be left on his own and Gary seemed to be just as happy to keep him here on his own without any assistance or supervision.

Fary took her Pokedex silently, turning it over in her hands; it reminded her of a cell phone with it's huge touch screen and camera on the back. Fary pointed the camera at Emily and snapped a picture after she finished setting it up, and fiddled with a few of the settings, such as turning up the brightness of the screen.



"So, you're a trouble maker Emily, even the Pokedex agrees." Fary smirked and laughed as Emily huffed, standing up a bit stiffer at her trainer's jab and flicked her tail again on the back of the head, this time jostling Fary's ponytail. Fary already knew a vast majority of the information the Pokedex gave her on Emily, but it was nice to have a record for it.

"Zo zorua, zo zorua rua." Hey, I can't help what's in my nature." Emily sniffed at the screen that showed a picture of her and Fary give her a stiff pat on the head, an awkward feeling washing over the pair as Fary was still feeling weird about starting her Pokemon trainer journey so late in life from when she was supposed to leave. Emily just laid down on her trainer's shoulders, ignoring the stiffness for now.

Fary elected to not join in the current conversation regarding them going as a group, she had kind of assumed that would be the case anyway. Instead, Fary elected to silently walk back outside, some old feelings creeping back into her head as the reality of her starting her journey starting to sink in, her Pokedex still in her hand. She slipped it into the back pocket of her shorts.

Fary started to drift into her own thoughts, "I should have done this ages ago with Sarah in Unova... Emily isn't a bad Pokemon, she... she's just not my Sarah." She took a seat at a bench outside and removed her pack from her shoulders. Opening the dark leather pack, she pulled out her sketch pad and started back on a drawing she had been working on for a few days, silently working away as Emily watched.

“Are they only available in Galar? Would probably be killer on import costs…”

As Ezra asked her, Lizbeth thought about whether they actually were only available in Galar. She'd never really thought about it. But she could do one thing for him. "If you want, I could ask my Mum about it when I call her." She wasn't sure if her Mum could bring one with her and send to her daughter, let alone when that would even be due to the flights she was on, but asking was possible.

When they moved out, Ezra and one of the other women she hadn't introduced herself to, Hana seemed to be her name, talked about moving as a group. "Oh, that would be quite lovely. Ah, excuse my manners. My name is Lizbeth Rowe, as you no doubt heard from Gary. I come from Galar myself." It was starting to sound like most or all of them came from different regions than Kanto. Though she had so far only heard Hana and Fary mention their regions, she was curious whether Ezra and the other woman also came from somewhere else.

Lizbeth noticed that Fary had withdrawn herself, and although they were still strangers for the most part, she felt it wouldn't be right to just leave her alone, so she went over to her. "Excuse me." she said before sitting down beside her. Her Rotom phone had just finished scanning the Pokémon from the other people in their little group, so it retreated back into Lizbeth's pocket. "I like your drawing. Looks quite well drawn." she said to Fary with a soft smile. Ace nodded as she said that to show his agreement with her.

Kanto was proving to be something of a disappointment so far. Between the supposedly most learned man in the land proving that things as complex as his family member's names and basic etiquette were elusive in his advanced age, and the toughest gym leader proving to be as insecure as a 16-year-old birthday girl with a zit on her face, it was frankly comical. Still, Lilith got what she came for. She got a Pokedex, she got an official start on the Indigo League journey and she got proof that Unova is much better than this Arceus-forsaken land. There was still a master thesis to be completed, but still, the ego boost from the events so far outweighed a potential reveal of her dreaded birth name.

While the other trainers who had assembled were chatting, Lilith turned to her partner. The little candle Pokemon was still calm as ever, smiling on her shoulder as if it didn't witness that utter shitshow inside the laboratory. "Hold still for a sec, Sia."

"Litwick?" But why?



"Huh... Lilith looked back up at Sia. "Is that what you've been doing all this time? Just tricking me so you can suck the life force out?

"Lit! Lit! Litwicklitlit..." No! No! I mean, it's a nice perk, but...

"Look, I'm happy to keep you fed with all the life force I got. Just don't lie to me, OK?

"Litwicklit!" I never would!

"OK then..."

"That certainly just happened to all of us. I suppose our next move is to travel north, then? Perhaps as a group?"

Hana wanted to get out of town, and that sounded like a great idea to Lilith's ears. "The spirits seemed to have aligned us that way. We might as well." The Unovan looked around. There wasn't much to look around at, and it was pretty easy to spot a path that would lead out of this quaint little town. Lilith couldn't wait to leave it behind. "This way. You lot can keep yapping as we move.

With a place as small as Pallet Town, it wasn't long before the path opened up to an grassy plain. There were sure to be Pokemon in the area.

"If you want, I could ask my Mum about it when I call her."

“Oh, uh...word?” There was a bit of jest to Ezra’s quip about the phone, so Lizbeth’s sincere reply kinda caught him off guard. Didn’t stop his curiosity from getting the best of him, however.

“Yeah, okay, sure!” He replied again, giving a grin before watching the girl approach Fary. Looked like the blue-haired girl found herself in a cloud of melancholy. But the sun was out, and the day was nice. Ezra himself knew the detriment of keeping his head in those dark, metaphorical clouds. He was almost a step behind Lizbeth, almost ready to provide some support alongside the punky trainer.

But the thought of the weather sidetracked him some. The sun, indeed, was out. And being adorned in a sea of sweat clothes would prove to be a detriment, especially for the road ahead. Even now, he could feel the heat inside himself build, and soon he was gonna be drenched in perspiration and blinded by his big ol' shaggy mane.

“Hop down for a sec, Brie.” He muttered, helping the Oshawott to the ground before removing his duffel bag. He stood back up and quickly cast off the hot clothes, pulling the large hoodie up and over his head. Goofy as ever, he was briefly lost in the article as he struggled to get his head out.

But once that was done, he placed it in his bag before pulling on his sweatpants. Tearaway pants, naturally, that made their removal all the more convenient.

The warm outerwear made way for what lied underneath: a fitted compression tank, dark shorts, and grey leggings.

“Ah, much better. Shoulda did that from the get-go.” He stretched his arms and legs and chuckled and took on the cool wind that moved through the area. Brie was willing to assist her trainer, digging through a smaller pocket on the duffel and finding a frilly lilac hairband.

“Oshaa oshaaaa.” You always look like you're ready to run. She mentioned, reaching up to the boy. Noticing, Ezra reached down to the young otter.

“Thanks, Brie-wait. This is one of Ezzie’s hair ties. How’d this get in my stuff?” With a shrug, he used the band to keep his hair in a ponytail.

“Uh, random question: Are any of us from Kanto? I mean, I’m from Alola. I’d be lying if I said I knew my way around...” He asked the air, getting his pack comfortable on his back. The road looked to be a no-brainer, as it looked like a natural path out of the small town. Couldn’t say the same for anything beyond that. The goth girl was clearly ready to get the show on the road and was the most gung-ho on proceeding down the path. The Litwick she conversed with caught his attention.

“You’re from Unova, right? It’s the only place I’ve seen Litwicks. I mean unless you got her through a trade..." Before he knew it, he found himself approaching her, just to ensure he was addressing her specifically. It was impolite to point, after all.

Vivian was, surprise surprise, not paying attention. The Pokedex was an interesting piece of tech to be sure, though apparently when a Pokemon is trying to get a chip bag off it's face, the camera can't recognize what kind of Pokemon it is. Vivian tucked the device into a pocket on her bag, steadying the egg hanging in it's cradle with one hand, and reaching out to try and catch the now panicked Pokemon waddling it's way through the group of trainers until it tripped over itself in front of a trainer and their fox-like Pokemon.

"Bud-Budew.... Budew" I guess nobody noticed the plant with no arms needed help... yea?

Vivian couldn't help but chuckle as she knelt down to suddenly rip the bag off Curry's head and stuff the trash in a pocket that rustled and crinkled, as if to say that this is an embarrassingly common occurrence. "If you could stop embarrassing me in front of all the cool, exotic trainers and their Pokemon? That would be greaaat." She quickly prevented rebuttal by tapping the shining black and red Pokeball that hung from her waist like a key-chain.

Vivian looked up, seemingly just noticing how close she was to the other trainer. "O-oh, hey... sorry for bothering you I'm Vivian, the chubby plant down there is Curry." Her eyes lit up as she noticed the sleek black fur and red accents of the new Pokemon next to their trainer who seemed busy in a sketchbook. Her voice faltered, as if she was about to cry. "Who are they, and what business do they have being that cute?" Curry rolled their eyes as they waddled up, trying to stand up straight as if it would make them seem larger. Budew, bud bud."Never seen something like you before..... And yet, somehow, impossibly, the smell of oversalted fried chips somehow made it even more difficult for Curry to seem intimidating.

Vivian continued as she reached into her bag, mumbling something about healthier treats as she geeked out. "I've never seen a Pokemon like yours, nobody ever had one at my Grandmother's daycare in Hoenn.... oh here we go!" A sudden change from the chips and sweets, Vivian pulled a slim package of cookies from the pocket on her bag. The package held tight against the contents, vacuum sealed to keep them fresh. Opening the package she smiled as she offered the trainer and their Pokemon, Curry now very agitated at the sight as they waited for the admittedly inevitable point that Vivian would hand them one. "Lava Cookies, from my hometown. My grandmother is convinced they have some kind of healing properties, but I think that's a bit of Old People logic, trying to get me to eat better. These are made by my grandmother so they might be a bit sweeter than a regular Lava Cookie but I swear they actually are good for you."

PANIC
Why?
We lack situational awareness that's why.
Again?

Vivian went pale as she realized just how hard she tunnel visioned on the new Pokemon. She turned to the other trainer who had been there, a taller girl with red hair who was followed by what she could only describe as a gremlin. "Oh Arceus, I'm sorry about that.... I guess the introduction applies to you guys too, only fair right?" Vivian shrugged, this was not the first, and it would not be the last time that a cute Pokemon had prevented her from noticing her surroundings. IT seemed they weren't moving just yet, so Vivian sat down in front of the two, moving the blue speckled egg to rest in the space between her criss-crossed legs. She held the egg tight, some primal thought in the very back of her mind telling her to keep it close, and safe.

Fary was snapped out of her focused daze by the presence of Lizbeth and let out a small yelp of shock due to being startled."Oh, umm thank you. It's one of my favorite places from back home, it's the Rondez-View Ferris Wheel in Nimbasa City. I used to ride it quite a bit when I was younger." Fary forced a smile, not wanting to bring down the mood of their excitement.

“Uh, random question: Are any of us from Kanto?

Fary cleared her throat and answered Ezra. "I may not be from Kanto, but I do know the region really well. I can help guide us around if that's what you're worried about. All we have to do is head north to route one and then to Viridian City."

Not soon after, another trainer came her way. She didn't get a chance to catch her name before, so it was a bit nice to be able to meet her now. It didn't take Fary long to notice the egg she was carrying, and she became curious, but that could wait."I'm Fary, and this here is my zorua Emily. You have a cute Budew with you, Curry seems to be a bit of a handful. I seem to recall a chip bag over their head a bit ago." Fary laughed softly giving Emily a pat

This whole time, Emily had fallen asleep next to Fary, but was jostled awake by all of the noise that had decided to join them. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted to the sigh of some green thing that smelled of fried oil and heart attacks. "Zo.. zoruaaaa? Zora, zorua. Zoru zorua, zor zorua zorzor zorua. Rua zoruu zorrua?" What is that smell? Oh, it's you. I'm Emily, a zorua from the Unova region. What are you? Emily seemed to perk up a bit when Fary put a hand on her, her pet must more relaxed this time around.

"I think I've only had one lava cookie and it was the time I went with my mom to a Pokémon Contest in Verdanturf Town. This looks great, thank you Vivian." Fary broke off some for Emily. "Here ya go, Emily, enjoy."

Emily gave the cookie a sniff and looked up at her unsure if she should eat it. Fary smiled softly, petting Emily again and took a bite of her part of the cookie. After thinking for a moment, Emily ate her portion of the cookie and found that she enjoyed it, and the look on Fary's face seemed to indicate she liked it as well.

"Oh wow, these are good. I just had a prepackages lava cookie all those years ago. This is so much better."

While her trainer conversed with the other humans, Brie concocted different agendas. Much like Ezra, the young otter didn’t handle hunger very well. But unlike Ezra, she posed no politeness when it came down to the subject. Either she had food, or someone would have to answer to her scalchop.

So while her trainer distracted himself with the alluring qualities of the fairer sex, she sprung into action. She scaled the tall boy, reaching and rummaging through his duffel bag for treasure. Standing frim like a tall tree, Ezra barely seemed to notice. Shoveling through his things, Brie hit pay dirt: one of his packets of jerky laid untouched. She opted to just relax in his bag and enjoy her bounty, but instead something outside captured her attention.

A sound of a package being opened, followed by a sweet scent of what could only be assumed to be baked goods. Jerky in tow, Brie sprung out of Ezra’s bag to track the scent. What she found on approach was the blonde from earlier, offering up a pack of unique looking cookies.

“Oshhaa!” Well, don’t mind if I do! If the girl was offering, who was she to say no? Shoving past the green, armless, pudgy flower bulb, Brie helped herself to Vivian’s cookies, picking out one of the confectionaries with a flipper while holding her jerky in another.

“Osha oshaa wott!” Mmm, something sweet to go with my savory! With nary a motion of thanks or recognition, the pushy Oshawott felt comfortable plopping down right there amidst those trainers and their pokemon, so she could properly enjoy her meal.

"I suppose this is where everyone really starts out, isn't it?" Hana thought aloud to nobody in particular as she, Lilith, and Ezra took the lead on the road to Viridian. With the majority of her shock at the state of Kanto's Professor out of the way, enthusiasm took hold anew. But first, she had her end of a deal to uphold. So while Ezra approached Lilith, Hana set her suitcase down by a section of long grass and let Satomi out of her Poké Ball, immediately fishing the case of food out once more.

Meanwhile, her companion got acquainted with her new surroundings. Bladed arms raised, Satomi was on alert quickly. But Hana setting down half a cube of food quickly got her attention. "Satomi, the second half as promised." As the Pawniard ate, a short bark from nearby grass caught their attention. "Zig!" A brown and cream Pokémon poked its head out from the grass, tilting to one side then the other as it studied this new occurrence.

Hana, however, took a step backwards on a reflex: this was an unfamiliar species. The scene paused for a few seconds, then the creature barked at them again and retreated back into the grass. Moments later, it re-emerged from another point and began to gambol about Hana and Satomi. And it did so in a most strange fashion. Always back and forth, one way, then the other.

Satomi wasn't about to let this stranger have a go at her food. "Pawn-ya!" Who or what are you?

"Must be a local species... right. Pokédex. Yes. That's what it's for, Hana." Berating herself a little for being slow on the uptake, she pulled the device from her jacket pocket and began to track the Pokémon's movements to get a proper scan:


"Well, that explains why this one looks like he wants to go for an early lunch," Hana mused as the strange Pokémon continued to scamper about. It was travelling in a strange zigzagging arc back and forth while she and Satomi hesitated. What was the right move here? Was this species a good starting point, or could she hope for a more promising candidate? She didn't know. It occurred to Hana that her studies hadn't accounted for species outside of her homeland.

We have to start somewhere, she soon decided. "Satomi, time for some practice. Start with a Scratch, nice and simple."

Instead of giving a verbal response, Satomi shoved the last piece of food into her mouth and got it down quickly. She flicked her arms to clear any scraps, and entered a fighting stance, watching the Zigzagoon's movements for a second. Then she dashed forward to land a solid hit across its flank. The Zigzagoon recoiled, but fixed Satomi with a look and a short rumble of discontent.

"Looks like it's about to charge. Daring Strike!" As the Zigzagoon began its odd back-and-forth runup, Satomi sprang forward herself, leading with both blades for a pair of slashes. The Zigzagoon was undeterred, and continued its charge to meet her head-on. Both Pokémon tumbled into the grass as a result of the collision, but tufts of grass flying everywhere made it easy to find where Satomi was cutting a small clearing around herself.

And it looked like - yes, she had the upper hand, sending her opponent packing with another scrape along one leg. With the battle over quickly, Satomi hurried out of the grass, scraping scuff marks off her arms. "Ya! Pawn-ya!" Hardly a challenge.

She received a quick scratch under the helmet for her trouble. "Nicely done. But stay close, there may be more of them around. Don't want to push ourselves too far on day one."

"Ya." A monosyllabic response could still hold a lot of meaning. I feel like I'm just warming up. The run earlier was nothing.

"Oh, sorry to have startled you, I really didn't mean to do that." Lizbeth did feel a little bad about doing it, but felt better when Fary smiled back towards her. When Fary replied to Ezra's query, she felt that she could rely on her a bit more. It would be great to have someone who was familiar with the region.

Just then, a Budew, the one from before, approached them with a bag of crisps on its head. Before she could do anything, its trainer approached them to take the bag off of it. Vivian, as Lizbeth remembered from when they were handed their Pokédexes. Although, at first it just seemed like she was more approaching Fary than her, but that was fine. Maybe she just really wanted to talk to her. Lizbeth couldn't help, though, but to feel a tinge of being simply brushed aside, but she didn't let it affect her. This was fine.

Not too long after, anyway, Vivian turned towards Lizbeth, turning whiter than a salted cream Alcremie, apparently just genuinely not noticed her. It did kind of make Lizbeth feel a bit relieved that it wasn't just a case of her being ignored for malicious intent.

"Oh Arceus, I'm sorry about that.... I guess the introduction applies to you guys too, only fair right?"

She simply gave the woman a smile as she replied to her. "Oh, no worries. It's a pleasure to meet you, Vivian and Curry. My name is Lizbeth, and this little scoundrel..." She pointed towards her shoulder, but there was no one there. "Where in the world could he-" It didn't take her long to find that Ace had joined the newly arrived Brie in snacking on Vivian's cookies. "For heaven's sake, Ace, can't you stay still when you see others misbehave? You're still so easily influenced."

He just looked towards her and stuck his tongue out. "Impidimp! Impi, imp!" I couldn't just sit here and not have one! They smelled good, and taste even better! He motioned to high five Brie, but was grabbed by Lizbeth who folded both arms over the little goblin when she sat back down beside Fary. He knew well enough not to try and escape from her grip, or he would simply be put back in the ball. It had happened enough times as is. Lizbeth turned towards Vivian again.

"I do apologize, he might be nice most of the time, but he still misbehaves now and then. His name is Ace, although right now I think the proper name would be Menace." Ace just chuckled at the second name, but she simply ignored it. "I hope he wasn't being a bother."

While she was curious about Vivian's egg, she also noticed that some of the others were making ready to leave town. Fary had mentioned that they simply needed to head north to get out of town. Lizbeth stood up, putting Ace back on her shoulder. "Come now, you two. We mustn't let the others leave us behind." She was getting a bit giddy at the thought of starting a journey, meeting new Pokémon, and now possibly getting to know her fellow journey goers better. "We should see what new Pokémon we can meet. I hope there are Fairy or Psychic Pokémon." Motioning for the two of them to stand up, as well as poking and encouraging Brie to go back to her trainer, Ace joining in said poking, she made her way towards the route outside of Pallet, following behind Lilith, Ezra and Hana.

It wasn't too much to look at, but it was definitely still exciting. So many Pokémon wandering around, most hiding in the tall grass present here and there. Lizbeth asked her Rotom phone to scan them, since she didn't know all of them or their types. It appeared that most of them were Normal, with one who was also a Flying one, though that went without saying just by looking at it.

But one of them definitely caught her eye. The Dark type, Poochyena. Lizbeth approached one, who immediately growled at her. "Alright, Ace, this is our first battle. Do me proud, little guy." Ace hopped off her shoulder and made what he thought was a battle ready pose. "Impidimp!" You can count on me!

The Poochyena looked like it was ready to take him on, howling to bolster itself before going for a tackle. Ace narrowly dodged it, or so it seemed. It was a ploy to fake it out, letting him give it a good slap before it ran past him. This caused the Poochyena to flinch and give a little cry at the attack, but didn't stop long to feel sorry for itself, instead turning right back around as soon as it could to hit him again, this time actually hitting him. Ace was sent flying backwards into the grass, making Lizbeth worry. "Ace, be careful!" Her worry was unfounded, though, as he came right back, a little bit worse for wear, but still doing well enough to grin at his opponent.

As the Poochyena came back towards him, Ace went for a low kick this time, hitting its front legs, making it tumble over and roll towards the grass. It stopped itself before getting there, though, and growled at Ace. "Dimp, impi!" Growl all you want, I'm still winning and you know it! It lunged back at Ace, aiming to tackle him again. But instead, Ace grabbed onto it. With his teeth, using its attack to get closer and get off a bite attack. Holding onto it as it cried out in pain, Ace used the opportunity to kick it again, taking it down. It didn't seem to be struggling much at the moment, but that was no reason to wait. He looked towards Lizbeth who quickly rummaged in her backpack for her Premier Ball.

"Gotta mark our first catch of the region with this." She threw it at the Poochyena, who had become too fatigued to try and roll out of the way of the ball. It connected, and the Pokémon was sucked into the ball with a red light. The Premier Ball hit the ground, and Lizbeth watched in anticipation as it started wiggling once. She had only done this once before, when she had put Ace into his Dusk Ball, but that had been with consent, and only wiggled once before clicking. The ball wiggled a second time. Lizbeth grew a little more anxious. A third wiggle. "Come on..." And then...

Click.

The Poochyena had been caught. Lizbeth couldn't help but pump her fist into the air. "Yes! Got it!" She was so excited to have caught her first Pokémon from Kanto. Walking over to the ball and bending down to grab it, she looked at it in her hands with a wide smile. Ace quickly climbed up to her shoulder, definitely very tired from the battle, but not too tired for climbing. "Good work, Ace. You deserve this." Lizbeth had already grabbed a Potion from her backpack and sprayed the goblin with it. "Imp, dimpi. Impidimp imp."Damn, that feels nice. So this is what post battle treatment feels like. He had been curious about it when he'd watched trainers back in Glimwood Tangle treat their Pokémon with the various sprays they carried.

The Rotom phone returned to Lizbeth to give her the data she'd previously gotten for Poochyena, in addition to the information she got after catching it.



"I guess that explains why she was so adamant about fighting you. You were simply her prey." She teased Ace, poking him in the shoulder. "Dimp, imp, impidimp!" Oh yeah, well, the prey became the hunter in the end! They both chuckled at that remark before Lizbeth turned around to see that Hana was having her own battle, but seemed to have opted not to catch the Pokémon her Pawniard had fought, Zigzagoon judging by what the Pokédex in her Rotom phone told her.

Click



Vivian chuckled to herself "Poison, clean water... I got those right but I'm guessing chips are ok cause every time you've pricked me with one of those thorns of yours I've been on the ground crying. Yep, already knew most of this through experience unfortunately." Vivian looked down, noticing that Curry barely had time to realize what was going on around it to even notice her own pokedex entry. Pokemon around every corner, seeming to crawl out of the woodwork just to steal her cookies. The tiny plant let out an awful screech of frustration just before being snatched up by Vivian with one hand as she stood.

"BUD BUUUUD!" Lemmie go! I'll show them! I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!

Curry wriggled in Vivian's grip until the trainer rolled her eyes and stuffed the screeching plant into a side pocket on her backpack, leaving the plant stuck snugly with only her face poking out. "Ok missy, naptime for you, sheesh."
Curry reacted by struggling in the pocket, until her annoyed screeching was eventually replaced by snoring. At Lizabeth's beckoning Vivian followed, holding the egg as tight as ever as it only just now seemed to dawn on her, the adventure had already begun and not much could be done to stop it now.

The wooded area was, well it was a bunch of grass and trees, not much different from the woods back home. Vivian watched the scuffle between Lizabeth's pokemon and the poochyena, taking the time to copy out the entries for the two as well. Vivian sped up her walk as she approached the pair again, holding her egg steady with one hand and putting the pokedex away with the other. "And to the victor go the spoils, mostly just bragging rights and a Pokemon right now huh? I'm gonna wait a bit to put Curry into a fight, might let her chill out for a second so she doesn't cause any lasting harm, she kinda freaked out at the crowd. Plus, she has this idea in her head that any food that I have, actually belongs to her." Vivian patted the egg hanging from it's makeshift sling as she watched a bird Pokemon dart between the trees. "But yea, go ahead and ask, everybody does at some point. Plus I like talking about it, but I'm not gonna force you to listen if you don't wanna."

“Uh, random question: Are any of us from Kanto? I mean, I’m from Alola. I’d be lying if I said I knew my way around... You’re from Unova, right? It’s the only place I’ve seen Litwicks. I mean unless you got her through a trade..."

Lilith's ears perked up at the sound of the question and what exactly it implied. Her? A Kantonian? Disgusting. As if she would live in a place that treated its departed souls with such disrespect.

She stopped in her tracks, not even turning to address the person asking the question. Sia, on the other hand, did rotate around, wax bangs facing Ezra. "Yes, I AM from Unova. A place that offers a bit more respect to the departed than this land. But, one would be a fool to travel into another realm without doing all research possible about the surroundings. For example," She gestured to the open plains behind them that led out of town and towards Viridian City. "Kanto's Route 1 serves as a nursery for both new trainers and young Pokemon. It's unlikely that many of the creatures here will grow up to become champion-level Pokemon, but that doesn't mean that there aren't a few potential diamonds in the rough that can be trained to take on even that hot-headed imbicile ........ Gary! Gary Oak. Yes." Lilith almost let the Professor's demented ramblings obscure the Viridian gym leader's true name with the expletive that became his moniker in the lab.

As if to punctuate her point, a tiny bird Pokemon hopped out of the swaying grass in front of the two trainers. It pecked timidly at the ground, as if searching for spare crumbs that might have fallen loose from a previously-enjoyed cookie. Finding nothing, it looked up at the two humans as if they might be able to provide something. "Pidgooooo..." the Pokemon cooed.

"For example," Lilith pointed out. "It's a known fact that when Gary was the Indigo champion all those years ago, he did so with a Pidgeot that he raised from a Pidgey caught on this very route. That's where we will start the conquest of this land. Sia, use your Smog!"

"Litwick!" Sia hopped off Lilith's shoulder, the flame on its head growing larger as a cloud of smoke billowed from it and shot towards the Normal/Flying type. The Pidgey took a little bit of the gas before blowing it away with its wings.

"Smart. I like that in my Pokemon. But you can't fight fire, Pidgey. Sia! Ember!"

"Wick!"Flares shot out from the Litwick's head towards the Pidgey and the bird Pokemon wasn't able to blow these ones away like it was the smog attack. The fire singed the Pokemon's feathers as it took direct hits from the attack. "Pidg..."

"Hmmm, must still be young to take that kind of damage. No matter, that just means it has more room to grow stronger." Lilith produced a Pokeball from the pocket of her bag. "It's mine." She tossed the Pokeball with as much grace as she could muster towards the toasted Pidgey. Unable to bat the ball away, the red energy enveloped the Pokemon with ease as it was brought into the enclosure. A couple of feeble shakes did nothing to allow its freedom and the ball soon clicked shut.

Lilith smirked as she bent down to allow Sia to return to her perch on her trainer's shoulder. She then strolled over to where the Pokeball rested and picked it up. "And just like that, my powers grow as my roster does.

The little Litwick beamed, staring out triumphantly as it claimed its first victory over an opponent. "Litwicklitlit!" Yay! More friends to feed me their energy!

Lilith walked back over to where Ezra stood. "So...where is your Pokemon again?

Ezra almost seemed to let his mind wander as the trainers began their stroll down the beaten path. As Hana broke off to do her own thing, the dark-haired goth girl took a pause, replying to the boy in kind. She talked in a way that made Ezra’s ears perk, with such prose and rigidity that made him feel like a child. But instead of feeling insulted, the tall boy felt almost entranced. The way her voice deepened, darkened, filled itself with some sort of disdain or disgust. Like a rolling growl lurked underneath the murky depths of her words as she examined her peculiar circumstances.

The girl laid her motives bare, all without making eye contact. She was more focused on surveying her surroundings. Her Litwick contrasted her frigid stance, turning to face Ezra with curiosity and invitation. It didn’t seem to have a problem smiling as she looked up at the trainer, though the moment was cut short once a wild Pidgey hopped out of the brush. Both trainers seemed to quickly lock on to the unassuming little bird as it harmlessly enjoyed its day.

“...That's where we will start the conquest of this land.” The girl switched gears with a focused ferocity that almost made Ezra jump. ”Sia, use your Smog!" As did the Litwick as it hopped from her shoulder and into the fray, assaulting the tiny bird’s senses with a billow of dark smoke.

---

Back in front of the lab, Brie looked on as a plant bulb shouted empty threats in the general direction of herself and that weird magenta gremlin that just insisted on invading her personal space. Her trainer did well to restrain her, and soon she was no longer awake. An amusing display, to be sure.

The Oshawott turned her attention back to her snacks. Before she knew it, everyone else had moved on. “Oshaa osh...” Eazy’s gonna give me an earful if I don’t share this jerky with him… She looked away from her foodstuffs to spot her trainer, only to perk up once she realized he was nowhere in the scene. Even the girls that had once chatted around her had begun down the path.

”Osh!” Crud! She spotted Ezra on the horizon, down the road without her. Good chance he didn’t even realize she ran off. She broke into a trot, waddling to catch up to her trainer before he could be any the wiser.

---

"...And just like that, my powers grow as my roster does.” With the practiced words of a burgeoning supervillain, the goth girl strode over to her completed catch, retrieving the capsule that held her new Pidgey. Suddenly he confided an observation that bugged him the second she started talking to him.

”...She reminds me of Ellowyn. Yeahh~! With the goth look and big words and everything!” He thought of one of his similarly-aged cousins, one from Kalos that he and Esmerelda had the pleasure of getting to know when they vacationed in Lumiose City.

”Wonder if she does fanfiction too…” He pondered as the girl approached him.

"So...where is your Pokemon again?" The pale-faced pierced trainer asked, with a tone that seemingly dripped with condescension. Almost like she struggled to keep her eyebrows from raising with cocksure smugness as she looked up at him.

“Brie? She’s…” He gestured towards his shoulder, only to realize said shoulder was bare. “Uhh…” He looked about his person, doing a goofy twirl for the girls. Soon he spotted her, speeding up on his rear. The Oshawott was quick to bounce up the boy’s bountiful biceps, resting on her shoulder perch similar to the goth’s Litwick.

“Here she is!” He confirmed with a grin. “When’d you take that out my bag?” He noticed the snack pack of dehydrated meat Brie held. “Shaa.” Just now. She quickly lied, shoving a piece of jerky down the boy’s gob to distract him.

“Whaphs mmyour nameh byf th’ wayf?” He asked the girl in-between chews, as the thought occurred to him. He swallowed, and Brie tried slowly easing more into his mouth. "Realized I didn't catch yours back at the lab." As he talked and he had to ease her flipper away from his gnashing teeth. He knew he was being impolite as he spoke with his mouth full, but the question came out before he could stop himself.

"Now, what to name her..." Lizbeth was thinking out loud as she held the Premier Ball containing her new Poochyena in her hands. Maybe it was a little too early to give her a nickname. She put the ball on her belt next to Ace's ball, and decided to leave it until possibly once they reached the first Pokémon Center.

Vivian joined her, congratulating her on the catch before commenting on her Budew. "She does appear to be a rambunctious little scamp, doesn't she?" She said with a small giggle.

"But yea, go ahead and ask, everybody does at some point. Plus I like talking about it, but I'm not gonna force you to listen if you don't wanna."

It was true that Lizbeth was curious about the egg, which is what she assumed Vivian was talking about, but had been hesitant to ask about it. Now was no different, though. "Perhaps another time." she said with a soft smile.

While talking to Vivian, Lizbeth took Ace down off her shoulder to have him do a bit of training on his own. "Imp impi! Dim!" I'll be back before I get too hurt! Promise! With that, he found a nearby Rattata to pick a fight with, who did not appreciate the disturbance to its peace.