[IC] Pokemon: Lurking Darkness

[Ryuzaki]

Lia sat in the back portion of the Lab. The five kids she sent the letter to should be arriving soon. She was so excited to see some new faces in the region, and one that she would rather not see. Her aunt would have killed her had she not invited him, but it worried Maple to think of what that boy would do if he had a pokemon. If her mother was still around...... But she wasn't, her and her husband had disappeared a year ago. Maple decided not to reflect on her past and instead pushed the buzzer and said "You can go ahead and open the front door now. They should Be here any minute."

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The receptionist opened the door and Devon pushed through. His aunt had called him here to get a pokemon, it was about time. The receptionist asked him to take a seat. "Take a seat my ass" he mumbled to himself and leaned against the wall nearest to his aunts office.

[geminironin]

Viola jumped at the sound of the buzzer. She'd been standing outside the lab's doorway for hours, waiting for the chance to finally get a Pokémon of her own. She hurried inside just behind Devon and took the seat closest to the receptionist's desk. She grabbed a pamphlet ("101 Facts about Pokémon Nutrition") and skimmed it while waiting for others to arrive.

The boy who'd gone into the lab first was way too intimidating to start a conversation with, but she was sure some others would be along. After all, the letter she'd gotten asking her to move here didn't seem like the kind of thing that was meant for her alone. She wondered who else would be there, and who she might want to travel with.

[JudgeApatow]

As Wim arrived to the lab he saw the front empty. Pride took over him, as he knew he was the first one to arrive. "Typical." He left out a slight chuckle and a giant grin.

The lab's doors were unlocked, so he went for the big entrance. Wim took about ten steps back and started trotting confidently to his destination. Walking in with his eyes closed and whistling, he chose his first words wisely. "Am I really the first one to arriv--" Damn, he wasn't. Just as he was finishing his sentence, he opened his eyes and noticed two other kids (in reality not that much younger than him) already in the lab. "-- whatevs."

Wim sat down next to a girl with a pamphlet in her hands and purple hair on her head. "What cha reading?", he asked, trying to substitute the first impression he had made.

[Ryuzaki]

Devon looked up from the ground to some cocky kid striding into the Lab. "What a joke, as if you were the first one here. Apparently you weren't told that this region was inhabited." the insult may have been muttered but Devon thought he had made his point. What other dorks are showing up? Devon thought, seeing that Lia had no taste in trainers. He looked over at the receptionist and said, "I'm the professor's cousin, so you don't mind letting me in early, do you?" The receptionist gave him a stare that could freeze magma and replied, "Professor Maple has specifically asked that you enter last" The hostility of that statement caught Devon off guard, so much so that his usual composure dissipated for a second and returned to leaning on the wall.

[geminironin]

Viola grinned as the older boy took a seat next to her. Looked like showing up early had some side benefits to it.

"This? Just something that was on the counter. I had no idea how many kinds of berries grew out here... But other than that, not too interesting."

She tucked the pamphlet into her satchel and looked Wim over. He wasn't too bad looking, but she was more interested in the crystal around his neck.

"Hey... Is that a Thunderstone on your necklace? It looks kind of like one..."

[JudgeApatow]

"Why, are you looking to buy one?" Wim felt like he was being an ass, but also thought consistency was important, so he didn't apologize. He looked over to the kid by the counter, who seemed like a troublemaker, and started doubting his decision to come to Newvorean.

Standing up, he walked towards the receptionist and said, "So, when's the party starting and will you be there?"

[Draconis Nevyn]

Percy took his time in walking, as a young man of 16 he had only recently moved to this region and so far, he enjoyed it even without a pokemon of his own. He looked up at the sky and smiled, he loved the feel of the wind on his face, the aroma of flowers and grass. Mostly he loved open space, great grassland, climbing in the trees of a forest to peek across the land. If there was one thing Percy didn't like, it was enclosed spaces, especially ones without windows. If a building at least had windows he was able to stand it but without them he got uncomfortable though he would never say anything about it.

Once he looked down he saw the building, the place he had been asked to travel to. His parents had uprooted themselves from Hoenn to travel with him to this region, all based on the words of the letter that this "Professor Maple" had sent him. "Well, the doors are open. That's an invitation if ever I saw one." and with a smile he began running, after all he didn't want to be late.

He slowed a little to a jog just before he entered the labratory and stopped to take off his hat. At this point he could see the others, two other young people, around his own age, one who seemed to prefer his own company, one more cocky and as he entered he saw the other, a young lady whom he smiled at before continuing his walk up to the counter so that he was standing a little aside from the other two who were there, talking to the receptionist. He waited for a pause before grinning and letting her know that he was there. He was a little anxious, the room was a little stuffy but at least it was large-ish but he kept his smile before going to take a seat nearby the girl with the purple hair. He opened his bag and pulled out a book named "Pokemon types and weaknesses" it was an interesting read and at this point he was focussed on Flying type pokemon, his personal favourite.

[Ryuzaki]

@JudgeApatow
The receptionist didn't seem to be happy with the other boy's words, especially since Devon harassed her directly after, chiming in with, "Hehe, we need new pole dancers, you want the job?" The woman let out a fed-up "Harrumph" and turned to face the wall, flipping the Delibird at the two boys. "Nah, maybe tomorrow, I'm a little tired." Devon said, enjoying the bit of fun before leaning against the wall by the door to Lia's room. "So, you from around here?" Devon's question was directed at the boy that helped him terrorize Lia's receptionist.

[JudgeApatow]

"Not... really. Just got here by boat." Wim was slightly taken back by the kid's aggressiveness. "Hey lady, what I'm asking is when are we going to see this Professor Maple?" The recepcionist didn't seem to take his previous comments too well, and got even angrier after the other kid made his own, so he tried to explain himself and deescalate the situation.

He turned to the kid, "Do you think is the good prof is going to be a total babe or what?" He didn't know when to stop. "By the way, name's Wim. That's with a W."

[geminironin]

Viola sighed and fixed the two troublemakers with a level stare. It seemed that some people who'd been called were far from being model Trainers. She hadn't expected everyone to be as dedicated as she was, but these two were... hooligans.

"There's no call for that, you two. We're here to get Pokémon, not bother the staff. I doubt Professor Maple would approve."

[Ryuzaki]

Devon hardly looked at the older boy while he talked, "I hardly believe my cousin is a 'Total Babe'" Devon snickered upon saying this. He definitely did not think Lia was a babe of any sort. "W as in 'Dweeb'? Got it." after he had fired off an insult at his new found friend a girl in the seats chimed in. Approval my ass, Devon thought, for once not uttering the first thing to come to mind. "Approval? Who needs it? Lia would barely approve of me being here if she had a choice." Devon just couldn't stop. He was making sure all of them knew he was top dog in Newvorean. May as well hit the bookworm who came in too. Devon walked up to the shelves and grabbed a random book. 'Delta Species and How They Came to be', this one would do. "Hey Buddy!" Devon said, pointing the book at the kid, "You like books? Read this one, might do ya some good!" The book flew from Devon's hand with the flick of his wrist.

[JudgeApatow]

"Oh boy, cousin?", Wim mumbled to himself as things started getting out of control. The purpled haired girl made some comment and the kid retorted. Soon, a book was flying towards some other kid Wim hadn't even noticed.

"What a fun way to start a new adventure in a strange land. There's no way this could end badly."

Wim turned once again to the recepcionist. "Hey lady, could you deal with the, uhm, kids?", he realized how dumb he sounded. "Things are starting to get violent."

[Ryuzaki]

The receptionist buzzed Maple so suddenly she dropped the box of pokeballs on her foot. "Your cousin is being quite the uhhhh..... nuisance Professor." The voice resounded. Maple tisk-tisked and told the receptionist to have him come in.

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Devon turned as the receptionist called for him, then he was directed to enter the back room. Once inside Lia directed him to take a seat. He obediently sat, knowing how much influence Lia had with his parents. "Now, this is my house, and you follow my rules. You will get along with the others atleast while your here." The edge in her voice could have cut Devon clean in half.

"Only if I can have a pokemon before them," Devon said with a clever smile, "Come on, Lia. You know I deserve it."

"Fine, but you have to leave after. Understood?"

"'Course, girl, whatever ya say." And with that, Devon snatched up a pokeball from the box, put it at his belt and strode back into the lobby. "Look, I got a pokemon already. Later Dweeb," He looked at Wim, "and you too, Books" he looked at the boy he threw the book at, "And I cant forget you sweetheart" He finished, winking at the girl.

[geminironin]

Viola scoffed and stood up from her seat, glaring after Devon.

"Seriously? He just strolls in there and gets a Pokémon? Some of us have been here for hours."

She looked around the room, realized that everyone else knew she'd been early, and sat back down, embarrassed.

"I skipped breakfast to get here..."

[JudgeApatow]

"Is he going to keep up with that? Dweeb doesn't even start with a W."

Wim wasn't sure Devon actually knew how to spell dweeb, but what frustrated him the most right now was how fast he had gotten a Pokemon. "Nepotism, huh kids?", he said to the other two waiting with him.

The wait was grueling and patience had never been Wim's biggest attribute. He liked things to happen fast, now, in an instant. After considering for a couple of seconds flirting with the irritated receptionist, Wim decided to move away from her desk. He walked towards Viola and stood next to her. "So, learn anything else about berries."

[geminironin]

Viola groaned internally at the mention of food.

"Well, they go really well on top of waffles, and... ugh, I'm just torturing myself. I think I'll check out the book collection."

She stood up and walked over to the shelves, looking for anything related to local knowledge. She spoke to Wim without turning to look at him.

"Really, I knew most of what was in there already. I did a lot of studying for Trainer Exams, back home. I guess it won't matter here. We probably don't even need licences..."

[JudgeApatow]

"Guess you wasted that time then, huh?", Wim felt self-aggrandized knowing he had used his time better. "There's nothing like natural talent and life experiences, you know? You can't really learn how to be a Pokéballer by reading books." He smirked satisfied with his wisdom.

"Where are you from anyway? Where I come from kids didn't even like to read."

[geminironin]

Viola raised an eyebrow at the term "Pokéballer," but resisted the urge to comment on it. She grabbed a recent issue of Pokémon Racing Superstars and flipped through it as she continued the conversation.

"Well, it wasn't all books. I'm from Alto Mare, an island in the Johto region. We have canals running throughout the city, so we tend to use Water-type Pokémon to travel."

She folded over the magazine, showing Wim a picture of herself standing next to a Milotic and holding up a trophy.

"And when we get bored? We race."

[JudgeApatow]

"Nice, I'm from Vermilion City, in Kanto. We are a coastal city, so I have quite some experience with Water-types as well."

Wim was trying his best to boast his superiorness subtly. "I once saw a red Gyarados jump a hundred meters into the air. And Lt. Surge, our local gym leader, once asked me to look out for his Raichu for a couple of weeks." He wasn't too good at beign subtle.

[Draconis Nevyn]

Percy registered the shouting in the back of his mind, making sure to flick his eyes up every so often. He was mostly paying attention to his book however and was reading about which types were weak against flying and which were strong against them, he liked to go into a lot of depth with research, trying to gather as much knowledge as he could so that once he finally got his own pokemon he'd be able to train it and care for it a lot better.

He looked up again, he didn't like how rowdy the pair of boys were. Percy was a cheerful person and enjoyed laughing but their sense of humour seemed a little more.. warped to him and he agreed silently with what the girl said, he didn't think that the Professor would approve and he didn't approve either. He managed to catch the boy shouting at him and throwing a book at him. He put his aside and, thanking his father for helping him improve his reflexes as his father was someone who preferred to train fighting types, caught the book in mid-air, checking the spine and opening it to the index.

He smiled politely at the boy, he seemed rude but Percy wasn't the rude type so in response he simply said: "Hey thanks, this should make for an interesting read!" and went back to the book. Maybe it held clues to this region, he began skimming through the titles, occasionally flicking to an interesting-looking page. He was so engrossed that he didn't notice that it had calmed down until he looked up to see the older boy and the girl with the blue hair standing by the bookcase.

"So, he left I take it?" he said while standing up to replace the book that had been thrown at him.