[IC] Pokemon: The Shadow of Nemesis

[Ogo]

~Avery Grant~

HAHAHAHA

Alright Brain, you good?

HAHAHAHA

Avery to Brain, I repeat, Avery to Brain, do you copy?

HAHAHAHA

BRAIN! Avery stopped laughing and sat back in his chair a bit, just feeling great. Feeling happy. There was good energy in the air. He could practically taste it. Although...what did energy taste like?

He pondered.

Salt. Energy would taste salty. So...if he ate a lot of salt, he’d have a lot of energy! Of course! He’d have to stop at a store and pick some up while on the journey. A little dash of salt on every meal and he’d have enough energy to run to Mt. Moon and back. He might even give it try. Why, he could go right now. What was he waiting on?

“Oh! Sorry for the hold up, kids!”

Oh yeah! Elm. Pokemon. That was right. Focus Avery. You too Brain. It’d take an Avery-Brain team-up, super throw-down to succeed in his quest. But he and Brain could do it. Certainly. Definitely.

No problem.

“I was running some tests in the back.”

If Avery had been paying more attention, he’d probably catch that, realizing that the professor really was onto something. But he didn’t. He was still psyching himself up. By the time he tuned in, Elm was introducing himself. He pointed at Avery, so Avery gave him a toothy smile a big thumbs up. Elm really was a stand-up guy. He went on a tangent about breeding and eggs, something he did often as of late. The longing in his voice always hit Avery.

The man was genuinely sad. Avery knew that the professor had been doing this way back before anything blew up. It was all sunshine and Ponytas then. But...well…

By the time Avery clued back in, the professor was signalling for everyone to follow him back to the inner lab. Which was one of Avery’s favorite places. Hands down. It was a treat to see it. To Avery, it might even be more exciting to go back to the lab than it was to get a Pokemon. Don’t get him wrong, though. He was insanely giddy about that as well.

But apparently not the most giddy. One of the older looking members of the group was on his feet and hot on Elm’s heels before Avery knew what was going on. Peggy scrambled up to her feet and followed behind them. Avery blinked, then followed suit.

The lab.

It never ceased to amaze him. There were just...so...so many…

THINGS.

Alright, so Avery didn’t know what half of the stuff did. Didn’t make it any less cool. If anything, it just made Avery desperately want to learn why Elm was using what he was using. And for what. Maybe one day he would, too. But for now?

Now was PokeTime.

He fell into line and watched the eager guy stroll up to the table. He didn’t even hesitate, just grabbed a ball and threw it.

OH WHOA!

The little dude that emerged was adorable. Dude One was lucky, he got a really awesome one. And he looked psyched about the little guy. They would be awesome together. Definitely! Avery was glad. Happy people were fun people.

Next up was Peggy. She approached the table and…

Well, she didn’t move for a bit.

Was she alright? Maybe...Maybe she didn’t know how to use a pokeball. Or...did she think they were all tiny Voltorbs? Avery thought that when he was little and first heard of Voltorbs. Scary things those. Why, what if you accidently picked one up and put it in your pocket? Those things exploded sometimes. But Avery wasn’t afraid of a little Voltorb. He’d blow up first, surprising it!

That’d teach it.

Oh. She moved. Slowly, her lips moved a bit, Avery could tell. And she was moving her finger between the Pokeballs. She looked like she was dowsing for water. Was she trying to dowse a Water-type? Avery crossed his arms and frowned slightly. He wasn’t sure it quite worked like that...but maybe it did. If so...WOW! That would be super helpful! If she knew that, what other wonders did she know? Maybe she was a hardcore survival enthusiast! She’d probably lived her entire life in the wilds. Maybe raised by Ursaring! She DID kind of remind him of a Teddiursa.

Aww.

She must have picked something though, because she let loose the inhabitant of her ball of choice. It was a…

Uhm.

Well, Avery had to admit. He didn’t know WHAT the skull-helmed poochyena was. It sure didn’t look like any Water-type Avery knew about. But who was he to doubt the master?

She cried out something and embraced the Pokemon. Avery’s Heart agreed with Brain, that was awesome. She looked so happy as well. The Pokemon though…

Well it bit her arm. She hit the ground. OH NO! IT PARAL-

No, wait, she was moving. Rubbing her arm. That one might take just a touch longer to bond than the first one. Avery still had hope, though. Surely the Outdoor Guru and her Water Pooch would conquer their differences and become an awesome combo!

He couldn’t wait to see who was next! What would be the next partners?

…

Why was no one going?

He looked around.

Then Brain kicked in. It whispered to him, telling him that, Hey idiot, YOU’RE NEXT.

Brain’s rude comment aside, Avery lit up even more excited than he had been. It was his turn then. Oh boy. This was kind of big. He wasn’t just picking out a pair of shoes or a nice fishing rod….

He was picking out a friend.

A best friend.

Oh boy.

He took a few steps to the table, dodging out of the the way of Peggy and her pal. He looked at the remaining Pokeballs…

So.

Well.

Who wants to come along?

It hit Avery. Again. Just how real this was. What was really happening. The weight of this choice.

He kept looking.

What if he chose wrong? What if his partner hated him or rejected him?

Did anyone want to join him?

Anyone at all?

But he didn’t feel any strong urge.

Anyone…?

He felt a little disappointment. Did no-

Wait. What?

He looked at the ball labeled ‘Phanpy’. Something about it seemed off. Something was wrong.

…

His best friend was trapped in it.

That wouldn’t do, would it?

Avery grabbed the ball and looked at it. Then he turned, returning to where he was in line. He crouched against the wall, and just held the ball in front of his face. He had to let the little guy out. He had to.

…

But he was so terrified. He could barely move. He couldn't feel anything. He was just numb. Forget about speaking, he couldn't breathe.

What if he…

What if he rejec-

NO! NO BUTS! NOT AVERY! No. Just...no.

Avery held the ball out towards the floor. A light streamed from the ball and…

There he was. With large floppy blue ears, and short trunk, Avery gazed at Phanpy and Phanpy back at he. Neither moved for a while. but Avery’s hand slowly went out. Phanpy hunkered back for a moment, but didn’t flee. He let it happen. Avery patted the little guy’s head. Little Dude bumped Avery’s arm with his trunk.

Then the Long Nose Pokemon did something Avery wouldn’t have expected. He rolled over onto his back and looked up at Avery. He looked so freaking happy to be out, to be free. Then Phanpy bumped him with his trunk again.

With that, a mixture of feelings collided with the young man. Relief took the place of doubt and fear.

And Avery cried. Not full-on, sob city, but the tears were just gushing from the guy nonetheless.

The world was gone to Avery. There was just he and Phanpy.

And it was right.

Because Phanpy was right.

[Nightmare Bunny]

~Melody Hemlock~

“Abigail. Abigail Blanchett.”

Melody’s smile brightened even further. Of course her new best friend –Abigail, Melody corrected herself—had a beautiful name! It was like… like with paintings, right? You didn’t paint a masterpiece and name it “untitled”, did you? Nope! You named it something amazing, and fitting of its beauty!

Before she had a chance to do anything (like, for example, praise Abigail’s name or ask her any more questions), however, a voice rang out from the back of the lab. An older man in a lab coat and some very, very ugly clothes emerged from the back room. He seemed rather chirpy. “Oh! Sorry for the hold up, kids! I was running some tests in the back. Let's see… Well, it seems like we're still missing one, but it can't be helped. If he's late, then he's late. Uhm... let’s see, right! Introductions first, I think!”

He introduced himself. Professor Elm, huh? Well, Melody had obviously heard the name before. He was world famous! Of course, he’d lost quite a few fans since the Pokemon all started getting aggressive. Still a household name, of course, but… well, he certainly wasn’t as popular as he’d once been.

And he was also nattering on and on about… eggs? Boring, boring! Melody’s attention started to drift, but before the Professor had rambled on for too long, his assistant came over to tug at his lab coat. Well, thank goodness for that!

“Hm? Oh, right! Sorry!” he said.

Melody frowned. “He’s kind of weird, huh?” she whispered to Abigail.

Nevertheless, after getting back on track, the Professor showed them to the back of the lab, and they all lined up. Somehow, Melody had ended up fourth in line, and Abigail was… last? What? How had that happened?!

Melody bit her lip, chastising herself for not sticking closer to Abigail. What if one of the other trainers tried chatting her up, or something?

The first kid in line had seemed pretty frantic about getting first pick. He chose his Pokemon easily… a Swinub? Huh, well that was pretty cool.

The next person was a girl. She was short: even shorter than Melody, in fact! Wow, that was actually pretty amazing. Melody didn’t meet many people shorter than her. She hesitated for a long time at the table, and Melody frowned. That wasn’t good. Abigail was all the way at the back, after all. The longer this girl took deciding, the longer Abigail would have to wait.

She decided on a Pokemon eventually though, and released it: a small, red and black… dog thing. Wait, she knew what that was! A Houndour, right?

It promptly bit her on the arm. Melody suppressed a smile: okay, this girl probably wouldn’t be a threat to her friendship with Abigail. She seemed too… helpless. Maybe she’d go strike up a conversation with her later.

The third person in line chose a Phanpy… and promptly starting crying.

What? Maybe she’d seen wrong. She took a closer look, just in case—woah, he really was crying! Okay, he definitely wouldn’t be a threat to her and Abigail. She’d talk to him too.

And then it was her turn. She walked up to the table… and promptly froze, suddenly uncharacteristically uncertain about what to do.

It was just… there were so many options, and she didn’t know what to do. What if she chose wrong? What if she chose a Pokemon that didn’t like her? Scratch that, what if she chose a Pokemon that Abigail didn’t like?

Or worse. What if she chose a Pokemon that Abigail really did like, and deprived her of something?

The thought sent chills down her spine. That was definitely the worst case scenario. She quickly went over everything she knew about Abigail: well, her name was Abigail Blanchett. She was really, really pretty, kind of like a goddess, descended upon earth. And… uh… she seemed kind of tough! Maybe she liked tough Pokemon?

Well, that settled it. She skimmed the selection of Pokemon, and quickly came to the conclusion that she couldn’t go for the Tyrogue. And Eevee was a pretty popular Pokemon too, wasn’t it? Well, she couldn’t choose that one either, then! After all, if it was popular, then there was a good chance that Abigail would want one!

What else couldn’t she choose? Hm… the classical starters. Everyone liked the classical starters. So she couldn’t take one of those. Instead, she’d choose…

The Mareep!

That was perfect. After all, it was relatively common, so if Abigail wanted one, she’d easily be able to grab one for herself. It wasn’t a popular choice for a starter, either, mostly because it was so common.

And it was cute. Okay, Melody wasn’t going to lie: that had been a big part of her decision too.

“I’ll take the Mareep!” she said out loud. She moved away from the table, and released it.

It was just as cute as she’d thought. To be honest, she had no idea if it was a boy or a girl, so she’d hold off on naming it until she got a Pokedex or something. She picked it up.

Ow, static shock. But never mind: it was so cute!

Now what? Should she go keep Abigail company at the back of the line? But she’d seemed kind of annoyed earlier… maybe she should talk to someone else. The crying boy? Yeah, the crying boy.

With that settled, she inched over and tapped him on the shoulder. Was he too busy crying to hear her? Well, she’d try anyway. Friends were important! Not the same thing as Best-Friends-Forever, of course, but important!

“Uh,” she said, bending down until she was eye level with him. “Hi. I’m Melody. Melody Avery Hemlock, actually! I was wondering… are you alright?”

There. That was perfectly friendly.

[Noklu]

~Ryley Grisdoe~

The door to the lab swung open as a young teenaged boy, presumably Elm’s assistant, greeted the soon-to-be trainers before inviting them inside. Ryley let some people enter before sliding in himself. Seats were then offered, and a seat Ryley took. As he waited for the professor to arrive, he looked around at the people he’d be journeying with. It was a widely diverse group, to say the least.

First off, there was a younger girl dressed in a verdant outfit. She seemed to be a bit… shy? That probably wasn’t the best description. Though she did seem to be nervous for some reason. Hopefully it was an “of the moment” type of thing.

Next, there was a young guy who seemed to live in this town of New Bark. To put it gently, it felt as though his head was in the clouds. To put it bluntly, he was an airhead. He probably had good intentions, but his sudden laughing made Ryley feel a bit uneasy.

Third, there was this stuck-up chick who was in a hurry for some reason. She… she did know she shouldn’t go by herself, didn’t she? Ryley thought about talking to her about this, but then again, it’s hard to change someone’s perspective when the world revolves around them. He settled with the thought that she’d find out eventually.

Ryley nearly missed the girl behind the stuck-up one. Something didn’t feel right about her. She was being really friendly, but her fixation on miss prima donna was a bit… creepy. He felt it would be wise to avoid her in most situations.

Then there was a smaller boy with a bit of grump in his face. He seemed to relax a bit as the wait continued though. He avoided the cluster of people, probably preferring a bit of calm. He seemed nice enough, but it would probably be wise to avoid conflict with him.

Lastly, there was an outgoing type of guy who felt full of confidence. Maybe a bit too much, in Ryley’s opinion, but he shouldn’t judge. In any case, he felt like one of the most ‘normal’ people in the room.

Ryley’s head whirred with inferences based off his observations. It was an… interesting group of people, for lack of a better term. He wondered how they would fare on their journeys.

Before he travel on his train of thought any further, Professor Elm entered, and proceeded to introduce himself, apologizing for the delay in the process. He mention one person not being here yet, which made Ryley curious as to who the eighth person could be like. Elm then led them all to the back of the lab and the array of pokeballs.

A line formed quickly at the suggestion from Elm, as everyone waited to choose their partner pokemon. Ryley managed to get the fifth spot luckily. Not as lucky as he could have been, but he was content on not being last.

The first person to choose was the confident boy. Needless to say, he strode confidently to the pokeballs, and chose a swinub almost immediately. Interesting choice. Not Ryley’s first pick, but hey, if the guy likey, don’t question it.

The next in line was the nervous girl. She took her time, looking confused as she glanced from one pokeball to the next. She ended up letting luck decide. Well, more like a rhyme. Either way, ended picking a houndour. She suddenly called it adorable and gave it a bear hug. The dog was quite surprised by this, and gave a small yelp and bite in response. Well, that’s one way to make first impressions.

Two ahead of Ryley was Admiral Airhead. He didn’t even realize it was his turn, until something made him realize he was holding up everyone else. He proceeded to stare at the phanpy’s pokeball while Ryley wondered if the guy had brain damage. When he finally chose and released the small elephant pokemon, he suddenly started crying. Yep. Definitely brain damage.

Lastly, the odd, disturbing, and creepy girl walked up and briefly scanned the choices before choosing a mareep. Exclamation of her choice included. Ryley tried to find a symbolic link between his assumptions of her and her choice of a starter, but failed. He just didn’t get that girl. Anyways...

“I guess it’s my turn now.”

Ryley strode to the table and looked down the line of starters. He briefly paused after a glance at each pokeball, giving each one thought. In the end, however, one pokemon spoke to him the greatest. He reached out towards the pokeball in question, stepped aside for the next person, and released the beast inside.

Beast might not have been the best description. The chikorita, now free of the pokeball, looked around the lab before settling it’s gaze upon Ryley. It then proceeded to direct a smile at him. With all his plans for introductions out the window, Ryley smiled back and picked up the small grass type, bringing it to eye level.

“So, I guess we’re going to going to be partners from now on. Glad to meet you!”

A bigger smile and nod responded.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Abigail Blanchett~

Well, it took him long enough to get everyone in the back. By the time she had gotten in line for her pokemon, though she had ended up almost at the back of the line. Even little miss cotton candy head had somehow managed to jump in front of her. Oh well, not that it mattered. Whatever Pokemon she got was sure to be the best anyways. So, the purple haired girl waited for her turn, if a bit impatiently judging from the way her arms were folded across her chest and her foot was tapping impatiently on the ground.

First up, was a kid who chose a Swinub. A respectable ground type. Well, she had a preference to fighting and ground types herself so the kid immediately was a little more tolerable in her mind. Unless he chose the Pokemon for it's Ice typing. Then that was a different matter altogether. She didn't like such flammable types so much. A bit of heat, and the Pokemon were nothing but little puddles. She liked more...sturdy Pokemon.

Second up, was a timid looking girl who seemed to take quite awhile choosing. She almost wanted to know what exactly the girl was pondering to be up there for so long. And then, she seemed to chose her pokemon almost at random. Seriously? This girl should just stay at home if she couldn't even handle choosing a Pokemon by herself. The fact was further confirmed when she opened the pokemon, releasing a Houndour from it, which promptly bit its new owner. Abigail smirked slightly. Well, the competition was going to be easy to crush, at least. It wouldn't even be competition at this rate.

Next up, was the guy who had been laughing quite loudly. She wondered what annoying pokemon he was going to chose. Probably something like maybe...what was that loud annoying Pokemon form Hoenn called? Whismur? Yeah, that's the one. Dear god, she hoped there was no pokemon like that up there. He seemed to take quite some time as well, choosing the Pokemon they wanted. It wasn't like this was some major, life altering decision people made it out to be and-was that guy crying?

A loud, amused laugh escaped her lips. Dude, if he was crying just from being happy at getting a pokemon, then he really wasn't suited on going on a journey. Didn't he come in with that girl who got bit by the houndour? Hah, they were probably friends and were probably going to fail together. What, a loser duo then? Haha, yeah, that seemed right. She wouldn't be surprised if they dropped out after getting thrashed by their first gym challenge.

She adjusted herself, pulling her attention back to the table, still snickering a bit to herself. Next up, was the cotton candy for brains. She seemed to take her sweet time too. In fact, everyone seemed to think this was some life altering decision. Well, at least Melody chose her pokemon soon enough. A Mareep?...seemed oddly fitting for the girl, actually. And a surprisingly good choice, considering what it evolved into. An Ampharos could easily be a powerful pokemon in the right hands. Maybe Melody was smarter than she gave her credit for? Oh well, not that it mattered much.

Next up, another boy. Blond hair, lose and comfortable clothes. He didn't seem like a person who took life to seriously. He immediately bored her. Well, until she saw his choice of pokemon. A hideous green thing she recognized as a grass type. She had nothing against grass types in general, but the color green? Well, it was something of a huge turn off for her. She absolutely hated the color. Just ew. She had to restrain herself from saying something of the sort to the kid.

And then, it was her turn. Right after the green guy. With a smirk, and as much confidence as she always walked with, she approached the table. She quickly looked at the pokeballs and their labels, walking quickly up and down the length of the table to make sure she didn't miss one, deciding only three had currently interested her for the moment. Tyroge, or the two Nidorans. The latter two were poison types, but if she remembered correctly, they evolved into poison/ground types. Nidoking and Nidoqueen respectively. And while she did love fighting types, she loved Nidoking more. After all, who could resist a pokemon that was the same color as their hair?

She picked up the pokeball containing the Nidoran M, and after moving a bit of away from the table, releasing it from its pokeball in the next instant. In a flash of red light, the little pokemon was released, and soon it was sitting on the floor looking around at its surroundings. Soon, its tiny eyes fell upon her, and it looked up at its new trainer with almost impossibly large and cute eyes. She found herself smiling at the small pokemon, as she knelt down and sat on her heels as she reached out and gave the Nidoran a scratch behind his ears to which he let out a rather pleased sounding cry.

"Well, aren't you just a strong looking little guy?" She let out a small laugh. "Yes, you'll do nicely." She hummed to herself, as she stopped scratching it. The Nidoran placed its front paws on her knees, still giving a quizzical look to its new owner, who decided to pick the small pokemon up, as she carried it in her arms. The Nidoran fidgeted for a bit as she held it before finding the nearest seat away from the others, she placed the Nidoran on her lap, and waited for the last person to chose so professor Elm could let the out of her. The Nidoran, simply seemed content to sit on its trainers lap for now, glad to be receiving a few more scritches on its ears as she waited.

[XxFellsingxX]

- Peggy Atkinson -

After finally recovering from the shock of being bitten, Peggy pushed herself onto her knees and gave the Houndour a sharp look, only to find the dog Pokemon was growling, with its fur standing on end slightly. And in its eyes... was that fear?

Well, now she felt like an asshole. She'd obviously startled the little guy - or girl, she wasn't sure. Feeling a little guilty, she slowly reached out her hand to pet the Houndour, only for its growling to deepen a little. She could feel her hand shaking slightly as its eyes fixed fiercely on her.

Maybe she should just leave it alone? Then again, though, it was her Pokemon, wasn't it? If she didn't at least try to establish a good bond with it now, it might never accept her. She reached out for it, ready to pet it gently on the head-

And it bit her again, this time on the hand. It hurt. A lot.

"Owwww," Peggy grumbled in pain and could feel tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. Again with the biting! However, she didn't withdraw her hand this time, in fear that doing so might make the wound worse. She waited for a moment, hoping the Houndour would let her go. Eventually it did, pausing for a second as if it were examining her hand. It sniffed it for a moment cautiously before finally allowing it body to relax a fraction, though the fear and fierceness didn't completely fade from its eyes, and Peggy wasn't going to risk petting it again.

Peggy cradled her arm against her chest like a baby as she got up back onto her feet. Well, she guessed that would have to do for now until she was able to completely earn her Pokemon's trust. Still holding her injured her arm, she noted Avery, who had gotten his own Pokemon after her, a Phanphy. Also, it seemed worth noting was that Avery was... crying?

Well, someone had started properly crying early on in this journey and for once, it wasn't Peggy.

Score one for Team Peggy and her superior resilience!

... but seriously, why was Avery crying? Somewhat nervously, Peggy tiptoed towards him, her Houndour following slowly after her, growling slightly at every living thing in its vicinity as is it so, ears flattened against its skull.... skulls?

"Erm..." Peggy was about to talk to when she noticed that someone else had come over to comfort Avery, a cute pink-haired girl who had chosen a Mareep.

“Uh, hi. I’m Melody. Melody Avery Hemlock, actually! I was wondering… are you alright?” the girl asked, bending down so she was level with Avery. Wait, this girl's middle name was Avery? She might possibly be travelling with two Averies?... Well, that was a weird.

"Ye-yeah," Peggy managed to stammer out. "Ar-are you alri-right, Avery?" Cautiously, she put a hand on Avery's shoulder, only to withdraw it a few seconds later as she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. "Y-your Pokemon didn't bite you too, d-did it?" She nervously eyed the Phanphy as she said this.

Speaking of biters, the Houndour was standing just behind Peggy and was glaring up at Melody, suddenly looking incredibly on edge again as its black fur was starting to stand on end.

"S-stop that!" Peggy scolded the Houndour, her tone surprisingly harsh for the little girl. The Houndour glared up at Peggy but, while it did continue to growl, it did so more quietly now.

[Ogo]

~Avery Grant~

Phanpy seemed pretty content, sprawled out on his back, allowing Avery the pleasure of giving him bellyrubs. A little treat, from me to you, Phanpy might say. But Phanpy couldn’t speak, so Avery would have to enough talking for the both of them. He could handle that. Phanpy seemed pretty easy going, and so was he. They were like peas in a canoe.

Wait. That’s not quite right.

He heard laughter. The way he was feeling, he could have joined in. Everything was just, GREAT, yeah? Laughing was great, so laughing would make what’s great already even more great.

He didn’t notice the cotton-candy swirl until it was right up on him. Err...bent down by him, might be a better phrase. She was looking at him and…

“Hi. I’m Melody. Melody Avery Hemlock, actually! I was wondering… are you alright?”

Melody…wait, Avery? She couldn’t be Avery. He was Avery. They couldn’t both be Avery, could they? But...if they were both Avery, then neither could be Avery. She’d be Melody and he’d be…

He’d be, what, Garfield?

That could work. Probably. The girl seemed friendly enough. But why ask if he was alright? He was obviously insanely happy. Right?

Just then a hand touched his shoulder, although it retreated just a few moments later. He looked over. Peggy? And she had also asked if he was alright. Was something wrong?

He noticed his cheeks felt wet and his vision a little blurry. He moved the hand not patting Phanpy’s belly to his face. Warm. Wet.

He was crying?

But…

No, crying wasn’t allowed. He had to be strong. He promised. He promised that he’d always be strong. This...this couldn’t count. They weren’t sad tears. They were happy tears. But tears were tears, and crying was crying. He wiped his eyes on his arm, and when he pulled it away, he was smiling ear to ear. He gave the girls a nod.

“I’m fine. More than that. I’m just so happy, y’know? This little guy,” he paused for a moment, eyes turning down to the Phanpy that had apparently been comfortable enough to begin to doze off. Lazy punk. Avery continued. Well, tried the best he could.

“It’s just...it...he-sh...e I…”

Well...that didn’t quite come out the way he was expecting. Brain, get ahold of yourself. Avery needs you, buddy.

He took a deep breath and stood up. Phanpy stirred from its half slumber and lazily looked up at him. Who said to stop the rubs, bubs? Keep on-a pattin’...is probably what the look meant. He wiped his face with his arm again and looked down at the two, rather short girls.

“It’s all good. Got too happy too quickly, ya? Little dude's too adorable for words.”

He finally got a good look at the room. Melody had an adorable fluffball, the really quiet guy had...a planty poochyena. And the eager beaver had picked up a Nidoran. They looked a lot alike already. Wow! A match made in Elm Lab.

Speaking of which, Avery looked over at the professor. He gave the man the biggest smile he could manage and another thumbs up. Then he looked back down at the Pokemon. They were all so...so different. Like, Peggy’s Waterhound was all protective and stuff. And it was singing! It must really like Melody.

Avery wondered if Phanpy could sing.

That’d be awesome!

[Nightmare Bunny]

~Melody Hemlock~

Got too happy too quickly? Melody nodded solemnly. Okay, okay— that made sense. “I get it,” she said. “I’m happy too!”

She really was, actually. She had her Mareep, she had her Best-Friend-Forever, and heck, she was about to start her Pokemon journey! So, yup, she was pretty happy.

Anyway, so she’d somehow managed to start talking to both the people she’d wanted to talk to, at the same time! How convenient.

“Anyway, yeah, I’m Melody! Great to meet you guys,” she said. “What about you two? What’re your names?”

The shy girl’s Houndoor had growled at her. Melody didn’t think she liked that, really: what exactly had she done to merit that? Nothing, that’s what.

Still, she squashed down her indignant feelings, and hugged her Mareep closer to herself. After the initial static shock, which really hadn’t been too bad, it turned out that her Mareep was really very huggable. Cuddly! And also, impossibly cute…

It was staring up at her with big brown eyes. She wanted to squeal. And it’s fur was just… so soft…

She wondered how she was supposed to tell whether it was a boy or a girl. Wait.

Wait a second.

She raised the Mareep up and flipped it over.

Ooookay. Definitely a boy.

What should she name it? Wait— memories of middle school science classes came back to her like a flood, which was strange, because those particular memories were usually locked away in a deep, dark box at the back of her mind.

“Tesla?” she mused aloud. “Yeah, Tesla. I’ll call him Tesla!”

She glanced away, over to Abigail, who’d just finished picking out her own Pokemon. A serious-looking boy had just finished choosing a rather cute Chikorita, who seemed rather pleased to see him. He'd been giving Melody weird looks all day, actually.

But Melody didn't care about that. She cared about Abigail. She hadn’t chosen the Tyrogue, like Melody had thought she would, or even the starters or the Eevee. It looked like she’d gone for the Nidoran-M.

She bit her lip. She’d made a mistake, then… but that was okay. It just meant that she hadn’t understood her new Best-Friend-Forever well enough yet. She didn’t like that, but it just meant that she’d have to pay more attention and try harder next time.

She wanted to go over and talk to Abigail, and show her how cute Tesla was, but… she was already in the middle of a conversation with these two. It wouldn’t be polite to just up and leave, would it?

Still, she waved at the other girl over her shoulder, giving her a smile. Maybe she’d come join the conversation?

Melody fidgeted. She hoped so. She really hoped so.

[Zoldyck]

-Alexander Elric-

While waiting for the proffesor to arrive Alexander took the time to assess the motley crew which had formed inside the lab. There was ofcourse the purple haired girl who seemed to have an attitude problem. There was the guy who shoved Alexander into the lab. He was not that easy to gauge at first glance. Then there was the idiot who was laughing out loudly in the lab, not the brightest one of the bunch it seemed. Then there was a girl who looked like she tried to connect with her inner Slurpuff, that hair looked atrocious. She also seemed to be rather obsessed with something, or someone. It seemed that way atleast as she was completely lost in thought. The fifth person in the room was a boy with a serious look on his face. He didnt look like he was really taking care of himself with his messy hair and such. Last but not least was a girl almost completly dressed in green, gee what would her favourite colour be? She seemed tensed at this all, wether it was anxiety for her Pokemon or because she was with other people Alexander couldnt see.

Exactly at the moment Alexander had made his first impressions of everyone proffesor Elm walked in. He mentioned that there was still one person missing. Great way to get a positive first impression Alexander thought. Anyway, that wasnt improtant. Elm went on to talk about his work which Alex found quite interesting. He seemed to be very upset about the fact that the wild Pokemon had become so aggressive, and who could blame him? Alex felt the same way. He had heard so many stories about how it used to be... If only there was a way to get back those old days Alex thought. He sighed as Elm stopped talking about his work and asked the group to follow him to the Pokemon.

"Alright then! If you could all form a neat line here, then you can chose the pokemon you want. Chose carefully! This pokemon will likely be your partner for a long time!"

Well, Alex knew how this was gonna end. If he tried to get there as one of the first he would most likely be pushed aside and end up last anyway, so why not save himself the trouble and let everyone else go first. Sure he wouldnt get first picks but it's not like that would be the end of the world. He had to travel with some, if not all, of these people, no need to cause a problem already.

The first person to get a Pokemon was the guy from earlier, the pushy guy. He walked up very confident to a Pokeball and without hesitation grabbed a... Swinub? Well that was suprising... The guy seemed very happy with his choice. Well good for him.

Second came the green girl. She seemed to be taking her sweet time picking her Pokemon. Alex was suprised to see her pick a Houndour as he had expected her to take a grass-type. Then it bit her and Alex couldnt help but feel sorry for the both of them, the girl because her Pokemon just bit her and the Houndour because it got suddenly embraced by the girl.

Now it was the turn of the guy who seemed to have an intellect rivaled only by garden tools. At first it seemed as if he didnt even notice it was his turn, he seemed so fixated at the lab's equipment and at the girl with the Houndour. After his brain finally decided to wake up the walked up to the Pokeballs and after some "thought" he picked one. A Phanpy came out of the ball and the guy seemed to be so touched by the little fella that he started crying. A smile formed on Alex's face. That guy might seem like he was so dense that light bends around him, atleast he had his hart in the right place.

Next up, the girl who had the Swirlix hair. She seemed to take a rather long time to consider which Pokemon she wanted to take. Then she eventually grabbed a Pokeball and released a... Mareep? Well, what ever floats her boat. She rubbed it against her, cuddling it. She didnt really notice that the static electricity was messing up her hair alittle, but Alex wasnt going to be the one to tell her.

Fifth, the guy who looked like he just stepped out of bed. He walked up to the table and after quickly scanning over the remaining Pokemon seemed to be fairly certain of his choice. He picked a chikorita which seemed very happy to see him. Seeing all these people get along with their Pokemon made Alex feel a little bad towards the girl with the Houndour, who at the moment tried to pet it but the Houndour had other ideas and bit her hand.

Now it was the turn of the last person before Alex, miss center of the universe. She stepped up very confidently towards the table and seemed to be debating about which Pokemon to take. After a short moment she picked up one ball, released the Pokemon and... Ofcourse. Alex sighed, ofcourse the girl would pick a Pokemon who had the same colour as her hair. She seemed pleased with her Nidoran, picked him up and walked over to her chair and set down, the Nidoran resting on her lap.

Well, now it was his turn. He walked over to the table and saw that there was still a decent amount of Pokemon left. One name alsmot instantly caught his eye however and he knew that this was the Pokemon he wanted. Alex picked up the Pokeball and held it in his hand for a moment. He then activated it and an Eevee appeared infront of him. It seemed to be on the small side, Alex found it funny as it seemed fitting. The Eevee looked around and scratched itself behind it's ear before looking up at Alex with it's big eyes. Alex smilled and sat down next to the Eevee, stroking it over it's little head. He then got something out of his pocket and brought it close to the Eevee. It's tail wiggled around in excitement. Alex opened his hand and there was a small Pokeblock in it. He gave it to the Eevee which immeditly started nibbling on it. Alex knew it for certain, this was going to be his best pal.

Alex got up and looked down at the Eevee who had now finished eating the Pokeblock and was now chasing it's own tail. Yup, he definatly made the right choice.

[Vec]

Blake Winterhawk

Blake knelt down and patted his new friend on the head/body/whatever, "Don't worry buddy, you might be small now but wait until you grow some" he told Swinub who at first looked at him with a puzzled look which quickly turned to a small smile. Blake lifted him off the floor and placed him on his head and surpisingly, the little Pokemon easily managed to balance itself on it. To anyone looking at them right then, it would seem like Blake had just put on a furry winter hat.

Blake stood up and turned his attention to the rest of the group. Some of them had already picked their first pokemon; the girl after him had, surprisingly, picked a Houndour. It went a little against what he had guessed she would pick, a grass type or a water type. She seemed pretty happy about her selection nevertheless, not something he could say about the Houndour though as evident from the bite it gave her when she tried to hug it.

The third person in line was the guy Prof. Elm pointed out earlier, Avery. He seemed a little on the goofy side but cool nonetheless. His pick was a Phanpy. Good pick! Blake wanted to say but then the boy started crying all of a sudden, What? Why is he crying? Blake started making his way towards the boy but stopped when two girls approached the boy and started talking to him. A moment later, he stopped crying and was now donning a smile on his face. Much better! Blake thought and again turned his attention towards the others who were still picking out their Pokemon.

It seemed now it was some other boy's turn to pick his Pokemon. He approached the table and took his time deciding what to pick. In the end, he grabbed a pokeball and released a...Chikorita? Well that's...interesting to say the least but, who am I to judge others' choices.

Blake scowled when he saw who was next in line. Yep, our little B. She walked up to the table and after a moment, picked a Nidoran. Blake didn't know if he should facepalm or feel impressed. Did she choose it because she knew it evolved into a Nidoking or because it was simply purple? Whatever may be the case, he was almost sure about who was going to be the party pooper of their little group.

Last but not least, the shortie. He walked over to the table and quickly picked up Eevee's pokeball and proceeded to release Eevee out. He seemed pretty happy about his choice and he even gave his little pokemon a PokeBlock to munch on. Blake had heard about those. Apparently, they originate from Hoenn. They are made by mixing a bunch of berries in a special mixer which then condences the mix into small little cubes. "Bummer" he thought, "I should have picked up some Berries on my way here for this little guy..."

Blake approached the boy, "Hey, I didn't really catch your name earlier. As I said, my name's Blake and this here is Swinub" he told him and pointed to the Pokemon sitting in his head. "I haven't really decided what to name him yet though so until then, he's Swinub, haha!" he said with hearty laugh. "Um, I saw you give your Eevee there some Pokeblocks. Would you mind sharing some with Swinub? I completely forgot to bring with me treats for him..." he asked the boy.

[DaDrummer676]

Jackson Grey

On the path from Blackthorn City to New Bark Town a jubilant young man walked. The young soul walked with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. A small instrument was in his arms, an ukulele. One of the boy's hands gripped the instrument, and the other strummed it lightly. Without a care in the world, the boy's mouth opened as he began to sing.

"I wanna be the very best,
Like no one ever was.
To catch them is my real test,
To train them is my cause.
I will travel across the land,
Searching far and wide.
Each Pokemon to understand
The power that's inside
Pokemon, gotta catch them all
its you and me
I know its my destiny
Pokemon, oh, you're my best friend
In a world we must defend
Pokemon, gotta catch them all
a heart so true
Our courage will pull us through
You teach me and I'll teach you
Gotta catch 'em all
Every challenge along the way
With courage I will face
I will battle every day
To claim my rightful place
Come with me, the time is right
There's no better team
Arm in arm we'll win the fight
It's always been our dream
Pokemon!
Gotta catch 'em all
It's you and me
I know it's my destiny
Pokemon!
Oh, you're my best friend,
In a world we must defend.
Pokemon!
A heart so true.
Our courage will pull us through.
You teach me and I'll teach you.
Pokemon!"

As the boy sang, wild pokemon watched in the shadows. If it was many years earlier, maybe a few bird pokemon might have joined him. But these days, the only voice to be heard during Jackson Grey's songs was his own.

During this time, the 16 year old boy had no idea how late he was! Today was such an important day in his life too! That's how much he loved music, if he was playing, nothing else mattered.

Finally he arrived, having started sprinting when he realized he was late. They had started without him? Was he going to miss his chance to get his first pokemon? As the lab moved into his sights he was filled with relief, the door was open. Maybe he wasn't too late.

Jackson flew through the door, yelling, "I'M HERE I'M HERE! I didn't miss it did I? I'll never forgive myself if I did!" Then the boy stopped moving and closed his mouth when he saw the small group of teenagers interacting with various pokemon. There were still some pokeballs left on the table! He wasn't too late! Jack could have cried with happiness. Drawn to the table, the teenager looked at his potential partners. Stopping at the one labeled "Totodile", he smiled. With slightly shaking hands, Jackson grasped the pokeball. "Can I have this one? Sir?" Jack smiled at Professor Elm, praying their wasn't some kind of rule that would stop him from keeping the Totodile.

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Abigail Blanchett~

Abigail was happily sitting by herself, contemplating a name for her new partner. It should be something as equally as unique as he was, and equally as cool. Something tough sounding for her future Nidoking...but what, exactly? Naming things was never her strong suit. While she was thinking though, it seemed her new pokemon got tired of sitting around. It hopped off of her lap, and landing on the floor - well, tried too. Instead it ended up slipping and landing right on its face. This caused a small giggle to come from Abigail. She was finding this little guy to be quite...cute? Yeah, cute was the word she was looking for.

He righted himself, sitting on his hind legs as if he had meant to do that. Abigail continued to sit, but instead decided to focus on more of the trainers. Melody was waving at h-Sweet Arceus, what happened to her hair? It looked like a swirlix fell into a washing machine, then dried itself with the tail from a charizard! If she didn't look like she was wearing a wig of cotton candy before, it certainly did now. Abigail's inner fashionista was just cringing at the site of it! She may not be one to care so much about her own outer appearance, but sweet merciful arceus, no ones hair deserved to look like that! She would have stood up and said so, had she not noticed her Nidoran had run off.

"Eh? Where did?..." She took a look around the immediate area, even getting up to see if he had found his way under the chair. Well, he wasn't around here, then where had he gotten too?

She looked up, at the various other trainers on the chance he had decided to check out the competition himself. After a brief look though, she didn't see him with any of the other trainers. At least, until her eyes fell back on the loser duo and Melody. After tearing her eyes away from the disaster that was Melody's hair, she spotted her purple little friend stealthy eyeing the tail of the Mareep, with a bit of a curious glint in his eye as he watched that little bulb of electricity.

What was?...

The nidoran opened his mouth...

Oh dear.

Got down on all fours....

Oh sweet arceus no.

positioned himself ready to pounce...

He wasn't?

And jumped.

He was.

Before she could even get out of her seat again, the as of yet named Nidoran, jumped. His teeth aimed to bite the little bulb on the end of Mareep's tail. The look on Abigail's face would have probably been priceless if anyone had glanced in her direction. The worst part about this, was that she was probably going to have to apologize to the loser duo, and Melody.

~Professor Elm~
The professor watched silently as the trainers went about picking their pokemon. It brought a smile to his face, seeing all of the new trainers take such an enthusiastic interest in their pokemon. The one wearing the Swinub as a hat even got a light chuckle out of the older professor. Today, was a good day indeed, wasn't it? Only just one problem. One of the trainers still hadn't showed up. He hoped nothing had happened, but as it stood he had to get things ready and he couldn't wait around much longer.

"I'M HERE I'M HERE! I didn't miss it did I? I'll never forgive myself! Totodile. Can I have this one? Please?" Well, it seemed all was right with the world. Professor Elm gave the trainer a small smile.

"Of course!" Professor Elm said, picking up the pokeball from behind the table, and handing it to the boy.

[XxFellsingxX]

- Peggy Atkinson -

Peggy listened to Avery's explanation, slowly nodding her head as she did so. Okay, so they were tears of joy, not sadness or pain. Made sense, though she hoped this wouldn't be a regular occurrence.

“Anyway, yeah, I’m Melody! Great to meet you guys,” the pink-haired girl introduced herself. “What about you two? What’re your names?”

Peggy gave a shy smile in Melody's direction. "M-my name is Peggy," she said. "I-it's nice to m-meet you too. Your, err..." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other awkwardly as she tried to think of how to finish her sentence. "Your hair is, err, really pretty. It's a nice, err, colour."

What she had planned to be simple compliment ended up sounding really weird and, has Peggy not been in the company of others, she would have face-palmed.

Peggy then watched as Melody flipped her Mareep over and Peggy frowned before realising, with only a slight feeling of embarrassment, what she was doing. Melody's next comment only further confirmed her thoughts. “Tesla? Yeah, Tesla. I’ll call him Tesla!” Melody said.

"Oh yeah, I guess we should name our Pokemon," Peggy muttered, before glancing down at her Houndour, wondering whether she should try and to determine her Pokemon's gender. The Houndour met her gaze coldly, its expression clear as day: 'If you come anywhere near me, I'll bite you again.'

Okay, better not risk it.

It was then that the purple girl's Pokemon - Nidoran, was it? - came dashing towards them and bit onto Tesla's tail, causing Houndour to instinctively make a lunge for Nidoran, as if to attack it, which also might cause it to hit Tesla - and possibly Melody - as well.

[Ogo]

~Avery Grant~

“Anyway, yeah, I’m Melody! Great to meet you guys. What about you two? What’re your names?”

"M-my name is Peggy. I-it's nice to m-meet you too. Your, err...Your hair is, err, really pretty. It's a nice, err, colour."

Avery had bent down and picked up Phanpy, pulling the little guy up to about chest level, cradling him. The mini-dude offered no resistance, thankfully. He weighed a ton. Not that Avery knew what a ton felt like, but Phanpy was probably close to it. At least heavier than it looked. Not bad, though. Phanpy wore his weight well.

“I’m Avery.” The real Avery.

“Nice to meetcha.” It was.

Then Melody flipped over the fluffball, deeming it Tesla. Poor Tesla. Avery wouldn’t like just being flipped like that. Phanpy might though. Maybe he would give it a go? But...If he dropped him, Phanpy MIGHT be a little bit miffed. That wouldn’t be cool, either. No flipping Phanpy, not until you lose some weight.

Peggy muttered something. Something...about names? She was looking down at her Pokemon. Ahh, it needed a name, eh? What does one call a singing water dog? Well, Avery wouldn’t have to think on it. Peggy would do that. Probably. Peggy looked like the kind of person that would come up with names. He’d just have to remember it’s name. That was MUCH easier than coming up with a name.

Speaking of which.

Avery looked down at Phanpy. Dude was still looking up at him with sleepy eyes. Avery could empathize. He could go for another nap right about now. What about the little guy. Avery mentally frowned, looking deep into Phanpy’s eyes.

What was his name?

…

Well that was easy enough.

He would be Blue.

Blue slapped his arm with that trunk, but didn’t remove it. It was nap time, as far as he was concerned. Avery understood. He shifted Blue to one arm, and with his free hand, tapped the Sleeping Phanpy with the Pokeball. They could have bonding time later. Now? Now was a siesta.

Someone flew into the room yelling. Avery had to give the person points for the energy. It was...well...He was about Avery’s height, but he looked pretty young. He stopped though. Running, that is. And yelling. Instead he strolled over to pick up a pokeball and asked Elm if he could have it. Avery then noticed the guy with an awesome hat talking to the small-fry who was feeding something to a little brown Poochyena. Huh. A lot of things looked like Poochyena if one held their head just right. Even Blue might look kind of like one if he squinted a bit.

Then everything happened.

Eager-beaver’s Nidoran had crossed the room and lunged at Tesla’s coil. But...but Water-doge ALSO lept in. Avery didn’t really have time to react. He just stood there and watched the madness unfold in front of him, stunned.

[Nightmare Bunny]

~Melody Hemlock~

"M-my name is Peggy. I-it's nice to m-meet you too. Your, err...Your hair is, err, really pretty. It's a nice, err, colour,” said the girl who apparently really, really liked green.

Melody beamed. “Thanks,” she said, suddenly pleased. Oh, she liked this girl. Not as much as she liked Abigail, of course, but… yeah. She seemed pretty decent. And she’d complimented Melody’s hair color! Most people didn’t notice Melody at all, let alone have an opinion on her hair. And a ton of people who did have an opinion on her hair… well, needless to say, it wasn’t a very good opinion. Well, fair enough. Not everyone liked pink, after all.

So, to have someone think her hair was pretty? Yeah, Melody liked that. Melody liked that a lot, actually.

“I’m Avery,” said the orange-haired boy who’d been crying. “Nice to meetcha.”

His name was Avery? But… her name was Avery! Or, her middle name was, at least.

Wait. Maybe this was Destiny too? Melody wasn’t sure what exactly that meant, since it was already pretty clear that Abigail was her destined Best-Friend-Forever, but… eh. Maybe Avery could be, like, second place?

You didn’t argue with Destiny, after all.

“Nice to meet you too!” she said, happily. Today was a day of happiness, and faith, and miracles, after all!

A lot of things seemed to be going on in the lab. A serious and kind of bored looking guy with a Swinub seemed to be trying to strike up a conversation with a short guy who was almost as short as Melody and Peggy, and looked about twelve years old, and—

And then a boy burst into the room, screaming about being late and apologizing and wanting to claim a Totodile. He was tall --maybe Avery’s height?— so it was pretty hard to miss him, to be honest.

Of course, Melody didn’t really have much of a chance to contemplate this, because suddenly there was a blur of purple, and a Nidoran was leaping at poor Tesla.

Wait, a Nidoran? Abigail’s Nidoran?

Well, Melody couldn’t really pursue that train of thought either, considering that there was a small and poisonous Pokemon attacking her Tesla. She squeaked in shock and stumbled backwards, just managing to get Tesla’s tail out of the way of the Nidoran’s mouth. Woah, that was close—

And then another Pokemon –-Peggy’s Houndour, the one that had growled at Melody earlier-- was lunging at her too. With Tesla in her arms, she couldn’t really do much but attempt to get Tesla out of the line of fire. Unfortunately, this meant letting the Houndour tackle her right in the chest (that thing jumped high!), and so it wasn’t really very surprising that she ended up tripping over backwards.

She landed hard on her tailbone, but at least managed to set Tesla down fairly gently. Well, it kind of hurt, to be honest, but at least she’d managed to cushion Tesla’s fall.

Of course, Tesla had decided that it didn’t really like the fact that all these Pokemon were attacking it, and promptly made an attempt at electrocuting both of them with a well-placed Thunder Wave.

Oooh. Whoops.

She winced. Mareep hadn't really been aiming for her, but she still ended up catching the tail end of the wave, and it... did not feel good. She felt a little stiff, actually, but... whatever. She'd live. Should she tell Tesla off? But Tesla was preening, looking somewhat smug, and he just looked so happy about his paralyzation attempt that... awww. Well, telling him off could wait.

Then she turned around, and— was Abigail looking at her? Had senpai her best friend noticed her?

Her hand went up to smooth her hair almost instinctively, and— oh Arceus. Oh sweet, merciful Arceus. Her hair... was an absolute mess.

She turned white.

How could she even think of being Abigail’s best friend while looking like this? Melody, as a matter of fact, did care about her appearance. She color-coordinated her outfits. She always made sure her make-up looked good. She took pride in keeping her hair nice and neat.

So obviously, she had to do something about this situation.

In other words… she stopped, dropped her bag to the floor, and whipped out her hair products.

A heavy duty hair brush and some detangling spray would solve this no problem. Right?

She started brushing.

[Noklu]

~Ryley Grisdoe~

As Ryley was introducing himself to his new partner, he realized something. It needed a name. Well, it would probably be a good idea to know what gender it was first. He decided to take an educated guess in asking.

“Girl…?”

A small nod from the chikorita brought a flood of relief to Ryley. One awkward situation successfully avoided. Now then, on to naming.

“I assume you’d like a name to go by”. A nod in response before he continued. “So, I’ll take a shot in the dark for names, and you tell me what you think, if that’s okay with you”. Another nod. Time to let the games begin

“Leaf”

Nope.

“How about Tulip?”

Still nope.

“Rose? Daisy”
Nope, and nope.

“Mulch”

DEFINITELY NOPE.

“Would Fern work?”

A simple nod ended the back and forth.

As Ryley and Fern were deciding a name, the next two people in line choose their starters. For little miss scion, a nidoran M. For the younger looking teen, an eevee. Done talking, Ryley thought about their choices.

Of course the purple haired fashion heavy girl would choose a pokemon to match her hair. He hoped she wouldn’t treat the little guy like a pet.

As for the boy’s decision, it was a whole other story. Eevee is a very special pokemon, what with it’s multiple evolution possibilities. Ryley couldn’t tell what the boy was thinking based on his decision. However, when he feed the eevee a pokeblock, Ryley decided he was a nice guy. In fact, it would be nice to talk to him. He motioned Fern to follow.

Ryley was beaten to the punch by the confident boy. Waiting for a break in the conversation wasn’t too bad though, so Ryley settled for that. The confident boy introduced himself as Blake (and his swinub as Swinub), and asked if the smaller boy could share a pokeblock. There! A break in the conversation! Ryley stepped forward and joined in the conversation.

“Smart thinking, bringing pokeblocks. I probably should have too. Yay hindsight…” Ryley shook his head before continuing. “Oh! Probably should introduce myself. I’m Ryley, and this is my new partner, Fern. Nice to meet you!”

[Zoldyck]

-Alexander Elric-

As Alex was looking at Eevee chasing his own tail the guy who shoved him in the lab earlier approached him. This fella was wearing Swinub on his head as some sort of hat. It seemed to sit pretty comfortable up there. The guy walked up to Alex and started to introduce himself. "Hey, I didn't really catch your name earlier. As I said, my name's Blake and this here is Swinub. I haven't really decided what to name him yet though so until then, he's Swinub, haha! Um, I saw you give your Eevee there some Pokeblocks. Would you mind sharing some with Swinub? I completely forgot to bring with me treats for him..."

Eevee stopped with what he was doing and looked up at the guy's Swinub, making Alex look at the guy infront of him. Eevee let out a happy bark(?) at the Swinub, almost like he was inviting him over to play. Well, since Eevee apparently likes this guy's Swinub the it probably wouldnt hurt to give the Swinub a treat would it? Alex looked at the guy, who apparently was called Blake and was about to respond before another person approached them. It was the guy who seemed to have a bad hairday, his Chikorita was following in his footsteps. “Smart thinking, bringing pokeblocks. I probably should have too. Yay hindsight… Oh! Probably should introduce myself. I’m Ryley, and this is my new partner, Fern. Nice to meet you!”

Well great, they both aproached him for his Pokeblocks didnt they? Did he look like a dispensing machine or something. Or were they maybe talking just for the sake of conversation? Well, he was going to be stuck with them for a while so he might aswell introduce himself. Besides, a little chat wouldnt hurt, right? Alex nodded at the two guys, Blake and Ryley before responding.Hey, the name's Alexander Elric, but just call me Alex, it's much easier. And here, take these.

Alex grabbed a little bag out of his pocket and opened it. He looked through it and eventually picked out some Pokeblocks for both the Pokemon. Eevee was now running up Alex's leg, it almost seemed like he wanted to say; "Why are you giving away my treats! I want more!". It made Alex smile and he leaned over Eevee and started to rub over his head. Hey now little fella, dont be so greedy! I've got more for you too, but we wouldnt want you to get fat now would we? Eevee continued looking at Alex and... Ooh how could he say no to such a cute little face? Alex got another Pokeblock, meanwhile Eevee happily wags his tail, knowing what was coming. Alex placed it right infront of Eevee, who instantly pounced the block and started playing with it.

Right at that moment there seemed to be some commotion with the Mareep, Phanpy and Houndour owners. Apparently someone couldnt keep her Nidoran in check and it decided to try to bite Mareep's tail. The Houndour apparenly didnt really agree on the pink hair of the Mareep's owner so he was having a go at her too... And she fell quite painfully before she withdrew the Mareep but only after Mareep was able to retaliate with a Thunder Wave. This was going great!

((I scrapped this paragraph because I was tired and missread things. In here Alex placed Pokeblocks on the ground to try and calm the Pokemon down.))

[Rune_Alchemist]

~Abigail Blanchett~

Well, things could have gone worse...and things could have gone much better. Right as her Nidoran attempted to do Arceus' knows what to that Mareep, one of the loser duo's pokemon, the houndour, also saw fit to try and attack. Either the girl, or Nidoran, she wasn't sure but thankfully Melody was able to pull her Mareep out of harms way, and she herself was able to avoid any major injuries, except for maybe a bruised tailbone. The Mareep then saw fit to zap little Nidoran with a thunderwave. The little guy, who had missed his target had landed on his face once again, and didn't even have a chance to dodge the little zap.

Abigail sighed inwardly in relief. Injuring a fellow trainer, would be the perfect way to start a journey! Well, she supposed she should...apologize or something.

ugh.

She walked over to the group, stopping for a moment to pick up her Nidoran, and cradle the small pokemon in her arms. It was obviously paralyzed and not moving so well.

"Well that's what you get, you little fauteur de troubles." She said, giving her Nidoran a harsh look, to which it simply gave her big, eyes and a small squeak. "Oh, don't do that with me. You're just trying to be manipulative. Behave and I'll get you a paralyze heal." The Nidoran, simply gave her a blank stare before giving a small little pout before poking its head over her arms and looking down at the Mareep. Abigail turned to the other three trainers that her Nidoran had interrupted. It was still eyeing the Mareeps tail with a playful glint in its eyes.

"Hmph. You should keep that mutt of yours on a leash." She scoffed, giving the girl an obviously annoyed look. "That mutt could have seriously hurt Melody here." That was all she seemed to have to say to the timid looking girl. Instead, she looked down at Melody, who just now seemed to notice her atrocious hair. She was on the floor brushing it vigorously....was now really the time? Well, she could sympathize at least. If anyone so dared to mess up her hair, they were getting a fist to the face. Other than the hair though, she seemed alright. No major harm done then.

"Well you're alright, other than your...hair." She let out a small giggle as she mentioned her rather atrocious hair. "I do, erm, apologize for Nidoran here. I think he was just trying to play with your Mareep." She said to her, the Nidoran simply letting out a small cry in response, as if confirming what she had just said. However, as soon as it did that, it managed to wiggle free from her arms, hopping onto the floor again finally nailing a landing. Well, sort of, if landing on your back counts as nailing it.

After scrabbling to his feet, the little pokemon ran behind Abigail. Fearing that he might try further mischief, she turned as well, following him and almost calling out to him. However, it seemed the little poison type had smelled the Pokeblocks that one trainer had left out for them, in an attempt to calm the pokemon before things got further out of hand.

It had picked up one in its paws, well tried to. Being paralyzed made it difficult for the little poison type to move very quickly, but with a bit of effort though, it had managed to make its way back to Abigail and the Mareep, before promptly dropping the Pokeblock, right in front of Mareep. Nidoran sat on his hindlegs, looking up at the larger pokemon.

"I uhm, think he's trying to apologize." She quietly commented as Nidoran tilted his head to the side.

[DaDrummer676]

Jackson Grey

Jackson stared in awe at the poke ball in his hands. This was it, this was really happening. He was going to become a trainer! He was going to catch a bunch of pokemon, he just knew it!

Jack released the Totodile from his poke ball and in a flash of light, he appeared. The little blue guy stared up at Jackson with his huge eyes and Jack grinned back. The Totodile looked around the room, still looking disorientated, God knows how long he had been in that poke ball.

The water type pokemon, after doing a full panorama of the laboratory, turned to face his new partner. Finding Jackson's head to seem particularly tasty, the pokemon attempted to jump at his trainer's face.

"Gah! What the-"

Jack was cut off by his head being engulfed by the Totodile's huge mouth. All that could be hard was muffled noises coming from what now looked like some sort of alien with a human body but a blue head. Now the pokemon was not attempting to actually hurt Jackson, thankfully, but it did seem content with getting saliva all over poor Jack's face. After a few seconds of the Totodile's wet greeting, it released Jackson.

The teenager took a huge gulp of hair, but instantly regretted it as he began to spit and wipe off the Totodile saliva off of his face.

"Awwhhhh Gross!"

The Totodile grinned, then waddled over to Jackson and jumped into his lap, seeing as he had fallen when his partner had attached himself to his head. After getting most of the saliva off of his face, Jackson sighed.

"You're a mischievous one aren't you bud? I think I'll call you... Fang, 'cause those teeth are sharp as hell!"

Jackson then grabbed Fang in one arm and moved him away from all the madness going on around them. The other pokemon seemed much more angrier than Fang, which was a good thing. Well, he did almost bite Jackson's head off so there was that. Sitting down Fang, Jackson pulled his ukulele out of his pack. "Hey Fang" he said, testing his partner's new name, "Do you like music?"

Fang just looked up at his trainer with his big eyes.

"Well I hope you do, because I play music a lot. Here, I'll sing a song for you okay?" Jackson began strumming his instrument, a smile forming on his face that always appeared when he was playing.

"When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid
Oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

So Fang, Fang
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh stand, stand by me
Stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
All the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry
No, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And Fang, Fang
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me
Stand by me

So Fang, Fang
Stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me, stand by me
Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me
Oh stand by me, oh won't you stand now, stand
Stand by me"

Finished with his song, Jackson grinned. "Did you like that?"

[Nightmare Bunny]

~Melody Hemlock~

Abigail was walking over. Abigail was walking over to talk to them!

"Well that's what you get, you little fauteur de trouble,” she said. "Oh, don't do that with me. You're just trying to be manipulative. Behave and I'll get you a paralyze heal."

The Nidoran was… still looking at Tesla. But it seemed to be paralyzed, so Melody wasn’t too worried.

Abigail, meanwhile, had turned her attentions to Peggy. "Hmph. You should keep that mutt of yours on a leash," she scoffed, looking annoyed. "That mutt could have seriously hurt Melody here."

Wait. Had Melody heard that right? Was Abigail… concerned about her?

A boy had started singing in the background, but Melody barely registered that. Suddenly, it didn’t seem to matter that her tailbone hurt, her hair had been messed up, and she’d gotten electrocuted. None of that mattered, because this was proof! Abigail cared about her!

"Well you're alright, other than your... hair,” said Abigail. "I do, erm, apologize for Nidoran here. I think he was just trying to play with your Mareep."

Melody blushed bright pink, in part because Abigail had pointed out the mess that her hair had ended up as, and in part because Abigail was apologizing to her. She finished up brushing her hair quickly, and smiled a little sheepishly, packing away the hairbrush and detangling spray.

“It’s alright,” she said happily, getting to her feet. Abigail was so wonderful. She’d even apologized to Melody! Oh, but Melody certainly couldn’t let her believe that it was her fault. “It wasn’t your fault at all. It happens to everyone! It just means that your Nidoran’s really energetic, which is going to be great in battles, huh?”

Just then, the Nidoran squirmed its way free from Abigail’s arms and leapt to the floor, before heading straight for the Pokeblocks on the floor. Melody watched, somewhat bemused, as it presented one to Tesla.

"I uhm, think he's trying to apologize."

Tesla cooed, obviously pleased by this turn of events, and took a bite out of the Pokeblock. Then he pushed it over to Nidoran: did he want to share it?

Well, that was… super cute.

“I think that means Tesla forgives him,” Melody giggled, and said as much. “That’s really cute.”

Of course Abigail had a wonderful Pokemon! She was, after all, wonderful herself. It was obvious that it would rub off onto whatever Pokemon she had.

Happily, she trotted over to Abigail’s side. “Um,” she said. “Abigail, this is Avery and Peggy. Avery, Peggy— this is Abigail!” My best friend, she wanted to add, trying her best to quash the territorial feelings rising up inside of her.

She smiled. She was a trainer, her Pokemon was getting along with Abigail, Abigail was being nice to her… all was right with the world.

[XxFellsingxX]

- Peggy Atkinson -

As Melody's Mareep let out a Thunderwave, Houndour was caught in the attack and paralyzed, not moving for a long time as it lay on the ground, and Peggy worried for a moment it was dead. She made a move to check on the little dog Pokemon, only for Houndour to raise its head and give Peggy a little growl.

Well, it probably wasn't too injured then if it could afford to be grumpy with her.

It was then that the Nidoran's trainer, a purple-haired girl, walked over to them.

"Well that's what you get, you little fauteur de troubles," she said, scolding her Nidoran. "Oh, don't do that with me. You're just trying to be manipulative. Behave and I'll get you a paralyze heal." The purple-haired girl then turned to Peggy. "Hmph. You should keep that mutt of yours on a leash," she scoffed, looking annoyed. "That mutt could have seriously hurt Melody here."

Peggy looked down at her feet, ashamed. "S-sorry," she muttered. "I re-really am. A-and I'm sure Houndour is sorry too."

As if in response, Houndour, getting up to its feet, gave a snarl in Abigail's direction before marching, or rather stumbling, over to Peggy's side, showing as clear as day that it wasn't one bit sorry.

Seeing this, Peggy sighed. "I think someone should be returned to their Pokeball," she muttered, and quickly got out the Pokeball and returned the dog to its Pokeball before placing it in her pocket.

After a little conversation between purple-haired girl and Melody, as well as purple-haired girl's Nidoran seemingly apologising to Tesla - why couldn't Houndour be that nice? - Melody introduced purple-haired girl, who was apparently her friend, to Peggy and Avery.

“Um, Abigail, this is Avery and Peggy," Melody said. "Avery, Peggy— this is Abigail!”

Peggy gave a low nod of greeting to Abigail, so low that it was practically a bow. "H-hi," she said shyly. "And again, I'm really, really s-sorry."