~New Bark Town~
~Professor Elm/Alfred Elm~
The pokemon lab of professor Elm. Used to, this place saw all sorts of trainers and was filled with the bustling activity and research of pokemon scientists. Used to, this place was the leading facility on pokemon breeding and eggs. The sleepy little town of New Bark was the perfect place to do that. Open fields, rolling hills and forests perfect for raising and breeding pokemon. Unfortunately, in recent years though, the activity had died down. Now that pokemon were all but feral at this point for some unknown reason, it made research difficult - especially when it came to breeding.
Still, it didn't deter the professor, nor his young assistant that lived in New Bark. Said, young assistant who was currently sitting listening to his granddad rant about pokemon. Professor Elm - his granddad was notorious for going off on long tangents and getting sidetracked quite easily when he was really engrossed in his work. It was something he hadn't grown out of, no matter how old he was. Alfred had to admit to himself, it was a bit funny to see his granddad go on long tangents and talk to himself. Well, to him, anyways. Still though, the new trainers should be arrived soon! This was exciting! This was the first time since working in a lab he was going to get to help new trainers chose their first pokemon! With the restriction on trainers, less and less trainers had been coming in recent years so this was a big occasion as far as Alfred was concerned. He just had to find someway to get his granddads attention...
"Fascinating! No matter how many times I see an egg, I never get tired of studying one!" The older professor said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he observed an egg in a glass incubator. The egg, was hooked up to various wires and other mechanical things. Various displays showed various life signs and other vitals of the baby pokemon in the egg. What they said, only someone who vaguely knew anything about pokemon research would know, but apparently it intrigued the aging professor. "If this experiment goes well, then We could have a major breakthrough as to why the pokemon are acting up! I'll have to thank that trainer again! Getting this egg all the way from Sinnoh must have been difficult at best..."
Elm went on some more, talking about a bunch of scientific variable sand Jargon Alfred didn't quite understand quite yet. It might have made some other kid a bit depressed, to learn they still had so much to learn about pokemon, but to Alfred it just brought a big smile to his face. He was eager to learn if nothing. He had a love of pokemon and learning that rivaled even his granddads. Now, he just had to get over his timidness, and he'd probably make a class A professor one day.
"Huh...well what have we here?..." Alfred shot a quick look over to Elm from where he was organizing the bookshelf, placing the books back on pokemon breeding in the correct order, turning his head over his shoulder to take a look at his Granddad. Apparently he found something interesting in the readings. Well, now was as good as time as ever to interrupt his Granddad. Interrupting him when he was going off on one of his tangents was almost impossible.
"Uhm, Professor Elm?" He said, hopping off the stool he used to reach the higher shelves.
"Curious..." It seemed Elm hadn't registered his comment. He was staring at one of the read-out screens, his brow furrowed in thought. It seemed he was still caught up in his own little world, then. With a bit of a sigh, Alfred walked over, giving the Professor a small little tug on his lab coat. For the briefest of seconds, it seemed as though Alfred got through to him. At least, until he turned swiftly around and completely ignored Alfred. "Where are my notes!"
The professor quickly walked past the young boy, completely ignoring him and causing Alfred to stumble a bit as the professor walked past him. He was surprisingly fast for an old man. Elm went to his desk as he started shuffling through some papers, stopping every now and then to take a look at a few of them.
"Granddad!" Alfred called out to him, walking to the front of his desk. Finally, it seemed Elm had heard him. The older man gave a small yelp of surprise, dropping the paper he was holding back onto the desk.
"Huh? Wha-Alfred! Sorry, I didn't see you there!" He laughed a bit to himself. "I was caught up in my research. There's something odd about one of the readings on this egg, but I'm not entirely sure what it is yet. Perhaps its whats causing all of the pokemon to be so aggressive! If I can identify it, perhaps I can find a way to reverse whatever effect its having! This is a major breakthrough!"
"Really? That's amazing!" Alfred said, reaching out and taking a look at the notes himself. He didn't see anything that was quite out of place - but he didn't have as much experience with such things - yet. With a cheery smile, he placed the papers back on the desk after putting them back in order. "But Professor! The new trainers are probably going to be arriving soon! We should get the pokemon Ready, shouldn't we?"
"Hm? Oh, I had completely forgotten about them! Of course, Alfred! Get the pokemon ready! I'll get everything else! Let's see...pokeballs...yes, they'll need those! Ooh, and maps too...they could always use a map! I'll need to remind them to stay in a group...where did I put those maps?"
"Top shelf professor!"
"Right, thank you Alfred! What else?..."
The professor was already lost on one of his tangents again as he quickly moved about, trying to find everything he had prepared for the trainers. Alfred smiled, as he got the pokeballs out of storage. Perhaps he should release them and let them get used to being out before the trainers came along?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~New Bark Town~
~Abigail Blanchett~
It was a sunny afternoon in New Bark town. The Pidgey would have probably been chirping on such a day twenty years ago, but now all one could hear was the soft noises of the sleepy little town as people went about their daily lives. Nothing seemed too much out of the ordinary today. For the last twenty years, the lack of pokemon in the area was perfectly normal. If there was a pokemon around here, then people usually fled indoors, unless there was a trainer around. Usually there was one or two here and there, but in recent years, the number of trainers had diminished, thanks to the rather dangerous nature of the profession nowadays.
Still, that danger was the allure to some teenagers, just now turning old enough to get their licences. One such youth, by the name of Abigail Blanchett, was just now arriving in New Bark town so she could get her first pokemon from Professor Elm. She had to admit, even for herself she was feeling a bit on the excited side. She might even decide to be nice to someone, if they caught her in this mood. Nothing could ruing this day for her! Nothing at all!
"Thanks for the ride." Abigail said, hopping off of the vehicle. It was an older vehicle, used by pokemon rangers or other outdoorsy people back in the day when pokemon weren't so aggressive. Now, most weren't in use since not very many people got stuck outdoors, since only those who knew what they were doing went out usually, but there were still quite a few around that worked. She was glad she didn't have to walk through route 29. That would have ended quite badly, probably.
"Aha, don't mention it kiddo." The older man said, with a kind smile. "When you said you were getting your first pokemon, I couldn't sit idly by. All kids your age should grow up with pokemon, not separate from them. Going on a journey is a great experience."
"Je vois...Well, Merci Monseuir." She thanked the man, stopping mid sentence. She had a habit of speaking the native language of Kalos, a bit to often sometimes. "I think I'm a bit late though, He said he wanted us there by midday."
"Oh, well sorry! Don't let me hold you up kid! Good luck out there, You look like you can handle yourself, but be careful." And with a wave of good bye, he turned his vehicle around and made his way back to Cherrygrove. With a sigh, she looked at the city in front of her. She found herself smiling involuntarily at the scene before her. She had waited quite some time for this! She would have gotten one when she was 16, but she graduated trainers school at 17, a year behind other kids simply because she was behind a year after the move to johto.
That was something, you did not talk about unless you wanted a face full of her fist.
"Now where is the pokemon lab?..." She took a quick look around, before pulling a map of New Bark town out of her bag. "Let's see...oh other side of town. Oh great...more walking." She grumbled, folding the map and replacing it in her bag. Oh well. At least she could walk off that rather large breakfast she had eaten. With a stretch, and still wearing a bit of a happy smile, she set off towards the Lab. She hoped they had a fighting or ground type for a starter...
