Beginning Sparks [Starter]

[Onigoko]

It had been an... interest, if you could use that word; journey from Kalos to Enera. Coming by boat left Aria with little to do other than eat, drink, sleep, and squeal over every little cute pokemon she'd seen swim alongside her boat. She had encouraged Dokrand to jump in more times than she could remember but every time he would decline with grace. What a puffball. Still it was nice to have him around when she mingled with the other passengers. The folks on board were plenty kind and many invited her to sit with them, a few would even play little games with her whether they were card or some other variety. One particular old man had challenged her to a puzzle duel. That was an interesting game that involved puzzle boxes rather than a normal piece-by-piece puzzle. Dokrand had been included in that, something about being able to win even without hands. He made it second after Aria, much to the old man's amusement. His Aipom Daemon couldn't stop giggling after that and offered the duo an assortment of sweet goodies.

That's how their boat adventure went. When they had reached land, she bid each of her fellow passengers good bye and rolled herself off in the direction of the nearest map. She'd bid Dokrand to travel ahead to see if he could find one but they struck lucky by running into a friendly fisherman. He was kind enough to give the Daemon instructions and after being thanked profusely, the serpent returned to his soul-mate. "Over that way then? Aria had asked, already rolling off in the direction given. Poor Dokrand never had a time to answer or even speak with the girl's quickened rolling skills.

Excitement, anxiety, and some mix between childish joy and an odd calm made up the cauldron in her mind. Those only increased when the duo found themselves outside the structure known as 'Pine Laboratories'. "Oh this so exciting! I wonder what kind of person the Professor is." Aria had hummed. Dokrand lowered his head down to her level, most likely holding a teasing smile but it was never noticeable with him. "Only one way to find out, no?" Aria grinned, pinching him on the tip of his snout before rolling away and giggling. He made a sort of 'hmph' sound, before slithering after her.

Inside was as technologically obvious as the automatic doors that had swung open for her. Simple, but with that touch of science. Her grin still on her face, Aria slid her darkened glasses farther down her nose to get a better look. Her eye sight wasn't all that bad, more or less nearsighted with a sensitivity to harsh lights. The lights in here were nice enough for even her pink eyes to glance about, searching for the established figure of this place. Dokrand coiled around her chair to keep her from rolling off into some off-limits place (she would so do that given the chance), his eyes staying on his human rather than searching about with her.

[Birdybot]

A little bleep from his watch told Professor Pine that someone had just walked through the doors and would now be waiting in reception. He wasn't doing much, just reading a frankly rather dull paper that had been published a couple of days ago, so he was glad for the excuse to go and do something more interesting. With a smile he got to his feet. His movement was rather too sudden and enthusiastic for Telepa, the Noctowl-dæmon flapping her wings indignantly to remain perched on his shoulder despite the disturbance. "Hey, I wasn't done reading," she complained.

"It'll still be there when we get back. Come on, this'll be loads more fun," he grinned, and she knew there was no winning. She did enjoy having visitors most of the time. It depended on the visitor, though, and she didn't like to stop being her usual grumpy self. Her human was making it difficult to cling onto his shoulder as he hurried down the corridor, so she flew behind him instead.

With a swift swipe of a key card, a door unlocked for him and he stepped into the airy entrance room, big welcoming smile ready on his lips. His eyes quickly found the visitor, a young woman with a Milotic-dæmon. She looked excited and he wasn't expecting any young visitors, so he guessed she must be a new trainer. Wonderful! He loved giving out starter Pokémon. Telepa settled on his shoulder again now he wasn't moving so much. "Hello! I'm Professor Pine, and this is Telepa. New trainer, I take it? Good good, now there's a list here of some starters we have. You can pick up to three from there, and in addition to that if you tell me up to three types - fire, ghost, whatever - you're interested in, I can check to see if we have any of those for you! Take you time, of course." He offered Aria a laminated sheet of paper with pictures and names of Pokémon on them. Telepa was examining her as she did every newcomer. She liked to gauge how well she thought they would cope. An uninterested expression rested on her face as always, but there was more activity going on in her mind than she let on as she looked over the wheelchair and pale albino colouring. Pine had completely ignored it, but she always saw every aspect of a person. Not in a judgemental way, she was just curious. She was interested to see what requests this newcomer would make.

[Onigoko]

The wait wasn't long at all, in reality it seemed like the official figure which had appeared from behind some locked doors had some sort of ESP. His arrival was far too quick otherwise. That or it was the cameras. Cameras tended to do that. A cheery smile was met by the man's welcoming one, "Why hello there Professor, Telepa." She had motioned her head toward the uninterested looking Noctowl while Dokrand echoed her greetings with a silky tone and a quick bow of the head as a sort of wave. She'd accepted the protected piece of parchment, a little excited twinkle in her eye as one hand motioned for her Milotic soul-mate to take a look as well. With his head hovering over hers, the duo scanned the contents; Aria making little contemplating humming noises.

"Lapras!" The girl had suddenly exclaimed after a quiet moment's thinking. "Mother had one of those didn't she? I love that lil darling." She'd giggled, earning a huff from Dokrand. "I'm sure you do. After all, you did try to ride on her back despite not being able to climb up properly." There was a chuckle from the albino girl, one hand reached up to poke the noble boy in the nose. "Yes and if I remember correctly, you kept 'advising' me against doing so even when Mother had told you it was fine. You'll always be such a fussy nanny won't you?" Dokrand looked taken aback, his head swerving to emphasize the pink ear-like tendrils as they swooshed for like some fancy lock of hair. He said nothing. Aria turned her attention back to the paper one last time before looking to the Professor. Handing the object back the girl made her decision, "Could I meet Lapras, Honedge, and Ponyta please?"

"What of the extra three types?" Dokrand sounded. There was a second of hesitation. "That's the harder choice isn't it? I'd love to meet any who would like to meet me but I'm sure it doesn't work like that." Her free hand went to her cheek, silver brows furrowing. "This is like gambling... What would be the lucky number?" Dokrand scoffed, fanning his tail at his human. "If we were to go by usefulness in terms of traveling companions and battle partners, I believe Fire and Fighting would be two good choices."

The girl shook her head. Pushing up her now-lightened glasses, Aria clapped her hands together. "I know, why don't we go with the types my first three friends were? That would be... Steel, Ghost, and... Poison? Yes, poison." She'd counted those on her fingers as she listed them, "Sound good Nanny?" Dokrand straightened himself as much as his serpentine body could go without smacking his on the ceiling. The Daemon gave a solemn nod, looking expectantly toward the Professor.

[Birdybot]

Professor Pine waited patiently for Aria to make a decision, listening a little to the discussion she and her dæmon were having. They knew you best, so it was wise to take advice from them - rarely he saw new Pokémon handlers go through the labs without conferring on some level. On occasion the dæmon and human had stubbornly disagreed, which could get interesting in a particularly fiery duo. These two seemed to be reasonably on the same page, though, and said what they would like to narrow their choice down to fairly quickly. He nodded and disappeared off through a different door, one through which he kept the Pokéballs of all the starters waiting for a trainer. He found enough to show Aria, but made a mental note that they were running dangerously low on ghosts.

When the Professor returned into the large room, it was with six Pokéballs in hand. This was the second best bit after seeing the new companions walk off together! He liked to see how the different Pokémon acted together, and how the visitors in turn reacted to that. Some people were better at handling Pokémon than others. Some tried not to let any preferences show, some rushed for the cuddliest ones, some were more thoughtful and reserved. There was just so much variation! Being the social person he was, Pine loved seeing people and Pokémon socialise. He released the Pokémon inside the Pokéballs one at a time, to give each one a chance to take in its surroundings for a moment before it got more company, and to allow Aria and Dokrand a chance to see each one in turn briefly before they looked and interacted with each one in as much detail as they wanted.

Lapras was the first. It looked around slowly, the large Pokémon looking somewhat out of place in the modern room. It could move faster than one might think on dry land, but still not quick enough to be expected to be a speedy fighter. It kept its distance from the humans, taking care not to do anything too alarming. It smiled at the group, and nodded to Aria in greeting.

The next to emerge from its Pokéball was Honedge. It made a beeline for Aria, having no notion of a human being anything but friendly. "Hello! What're your names? Have you come far?" it asked in a bright, interested tone.

Ponyta was not so well behaved. It didn't have much of a sense of this as a place it didn't have free roam over, so it went and examined anything that looked interesting. An odd statue on a table was batted to the floor by a misjudged nuzzle. Jumping back in surprise, it then batted a book to the ground, and another. "Ponyta..." Pine warned. The Pokémon locked eyes with him, then slowly, and very deliberately, jarred the desk with a hoof, scattering still more things to the ground. Seeming pleased with itself, it trotted over to Dokrand and began sniffing him curiously, eyeing Aria's wheels with a worrying glint in its eye. It might be more unruly, but it was also quite young and exploring the world.

The steel type, a Klink, whirred softly. It hovered in the air for a moment, calm and calculating. It moved towards Lapras, paused, and hovered in a space between the Lapras and Aria. It was hard to tell what was going on in its head.

Next a Phantump peered out, blinking at the sudden change in scenery. It went right up to Aria, looked like it was about to say something, then closed its mouth and looked down at the ground. It seemed shy. It glanced back up at the young woman again, but couldn't make eye contact.

The final Pokémon to be released was a Bellsprout. This one was daring. It nimbly jumped across a table and sofa - it was a bit of a show-off, too - and swung around a lamp to jump onto a shelf and talk to Dokrand from closer to his eye level. "Don't mind that there Ponyta, sir!" It said with confidence. "It just needs to learn some more manners! Might I ask your name? Mine's whatever my new trainer and I agree upon whenever it is I leave, but for now you can call me Bellsprout," it was friendly and confident for all its showiness.

[Onigoko]

The new duo waited patiently as the Professor disappeared for what seemed like a few second, Aria clasping her hands together to keep herself from fidgeting. It was certainly an exciting few moments, one filled all sorts of anticipation. When he'd reappeared, Aria was certain her heart was going to flutter into a stop. One by one, the prospects were summoned out before her. Her breath was caught short at the very first pokemon's arrival. Lapras, the transport pokemon. She knew that species well thanks to her Mother (her family's Lapras was the woman's pride and joy after all). Next up was quite a friendly little Honedge, all sparkles and greetings. Third, a mischievous Ponyta who'd earned a good-natured chuckle from the albino. The next three were her surprises though and she acted the part rather well. The Klink earned the girl's curiosity and admiration, while the Phantump made her almost want to squeal at how adorable it was. Thankfully she didn't do that (she'd never stop otherwise). And the final was a common pokemon known all over the world. Bellsprout. Yet strangely enough, Aria didn't know much about the bell-headed pokemon. Dokrand was more than eager to begin translating for her.

She greeted each, starting with the Honedge who'd gone out of its way to greet her. "Bonjour!" A smile on her lips Aria slipped back into her Kalosian accent for a mere second, "I'm Aria and this is my Daemon, Dokrand. We came from Kalos." It was a simple reply, easy and short to sate the curiosity. For that first second anyway. Aria looked closely at the steel/ghost type, her smile still plain on her face. "How about you? May we know your name and where your from?"

There might have been more questions if the sudden shatter of something important sounding hadn't distracted the girl. Both girl and Milotic looked over to the Ponyta, Aria grinning widely while Dokrand held a neutral pose. She couldn't help but let out a giggle when the fire pony kicked a little revenge at the poor Professor's desk. "What a spunk little chéri." Aria commented, watching the fire horse trot up to them to sniff at her proper Nanny. That worried gleam in the creature's eyes toward her wheels did not go unnoticed but the girl merely tapped the chair and held a finger up to her lips like she was going to share a little secret. "No need to fret mon petit chéri. Its not nearly as bad as it looks." She gave the Ponyta a wink before looking toward the other pokemon once more.

While his human tried to reassure the little fire-type, Dokrand had been stiffing a repute at the poor behavior. Thankfully he had distraction in the for of the Bellsprout. Though the graceful Daemon hadn't watched the little plant acrobat its way over to them, it had certainly gotten his attention when it addressed him personally. "I will spare the youngster for now." He announced, putting his full attention on the yellow headed pokemon. "A pleasure monsieur Bellsprout. I am Dokrand, Daemon of Aria Mayran De'Oliveira." Yeah, he spared no expenses at proclaiming their family even if those outside Kalos would have little to no idea who the girl actually was. In reality, it wasn't important to Aria anyway; which is why Dokrand kept to poke` speech when he said that.

Aria had eyed Dokrand during his brief moment of non-translating but turned back to the remaining three she had yet to greet. First was the Phantump since that little one was the closest. The way it looked down at the ground just after about to say something reminded her far too much of a shy child. It earned a little blush from Aria as she beckoned the tiny ghost over. "No need to be shy darling." While she was at it, pink eyes peered over at the steel and water types as well. Lapras was fairly large though not nearly as large as Dokrand but it held a certain aura of care. "Hello. Why don't you two join us?" Aria asked gently, "I would love to know more about you two as well. Like... what kind of adventures do you dream of?" That question was for all of them even if Aria was looking at the Klink-Lapras duo.

[Birdybot]

It was no surprise to Honedge that Aria was from Kalos after the greeting she gave it. It was a nice accent, in its opinion. Technically it was its native region too, though it had never actually been there. "I'm just Honedge. I'm from a ranch not far from here. They thought I'd make a good starter Pokémon, so they sent me here when they thought I was ready," it said brightly. It had been nice at the ranch, and here it was well cared for, but what it was really waiting for was to get out there into the real world.

Ponyta, pleased by a positive reaction, warmed quickly to Aria. It didn't even try to interrupt when she gave the other Pokémon a chance with her attention. Bellsprout thought the name sounded long and possibly important, but any proper meaning of it went straight over its head. "Quite a fancy-sounding name there. Good to see you have manners, Dokrand," it replied. Good manners were something it approved of. Too many people these days, mostly the young ones, were far too laid back. Casual behaviour was fine when in an informal setting, but meeting people for the first time and talking to elders or business partners called to proper manners and polite behaviour. The way it'd seen some people act was truly shocking. Once it had even caught the Professor of all people taking food into the part of the lab where food was prohibited due to the risk of contamination with nasty chemicals - his own rule, no less! "And as for what I'd like from an adventure, I'd love to see how people from all different walks of life live, and I'd like to learn to become faster and more agile. Perhaps more of a contest sort of thing than a battling thing," it answered Aria's question.

Phantump was anxious at being spoken at, but smiled slightly at the gentle tone. It floated silently closer to Aria. While it felt a little more comfortable, it couldn't think of anything to say, so still said nothing until she asked the room at large what adventures they wanted. "I... um, it paused, surprised with itself for speaking, "I would like to see things I didn't even know existed. I want to learn new things, and... and to become strong," it didn't like being so shy, and hoped a journey would help improve that.

Lapras waddled over to Aria, giving Klink a bat to startle it into moving as well. Lapras looked up at Dokrand, pleased to see the girl's dæmon was a fellow large water type. It admired the graceful form. "Anything, really, so long as there's a new challenge every day. I don't like things being too easy," it smiled.

"I wouldn't mind being pretty strong one day," Klink said after a moment of thought.

Honedge piped up cheerfully. "Me too! I want to be really strong, and to make loads of new friends," it swiped the air enthusiastically to emphasise its words, making Klink decisively move away from the energetic Pokémon.

Despite its energy and its previous attention-grabbing antics, Ponyta was the last to speak. It pawed the ground uneasily. It hated to admit it, but it didn't feel nearly so confident as it acted. "I kind of don't have a clue what I want to do. Training to be a strong battler would be nice, but so might focusing on my skills and abilities for contests, and learning and meeting people and everything sounds good too... I think most of all I want to be happy. Or make people happy," it was gathering its thoughts even as it spoke, unable to pick any one ambition.

[Onigoko]

So Honedge had come from a Ranch right here in Enera. It was good to know that people admired the ghost-steel types just like those from back home did. They were, after all; native Kalos. She'd have to make a mental note to visit that ranch on her journeys, that was for sure.

On reply to her question, it seemed the majority just wanted to go out and experience life. There was the specifics of getting strong mostly, a few mentioned the more aesthetic charms of contests. Seeing as how she herself was aiming for both the Trainer and Coordinator roads, this was indeed a very lovely pick. If anything, the girl knew she probably wouldn't get too many complaints about her goals down the road. Yes, her goals. Dokrand had made a vocal dislike of her choices, he himself preferring her to choose something simpler with not as much movement. Like a Breeder or even a Rancher. He'd have mentioned Merchant if he didn't already know her Father had already tried that route. In the end he could only give up and go along with her whims.

There was a soft chuckle from Aria as she watched the Klink try to avoid the ever-energetic Honedge. Her eyes going to each of the pokemon as they spoke in turn, laying on the last before she said anything else. "Those are all lovely aspirations. Quite a few of you even sound like me." She giggled a bit more, earning a sigh from Dokrand. "And seeing as fair is fair, I shall tell you my aspirations. I plan to train as both a Trainer and Coordinator." The girl puffed out her chest confidently, "So not only will I be traveling a lot, but I will taking on many extra difficulties. But what's a good life without challenges?" She laughed, straightening herself in her chair. Dokrand's coil, which had still made a protective circle around her; had tightened ever so slightly. His eyes had gone from the Bellsprout to his human then back to the Bellsprout the moment he had finished translating their answers for her.

While she had been speaking to the rest, Dokrand had taken the initiative to make sure that the grass-poison pokemon knew exactly to whom he was speaking to. "Fancy? It is merely a name of Kalosian Nobility."[/i] He had stated like it was a trophy he had to show off 'modestly'. "I will not bring shame to my human by acting as anything but a gentleman."[/i] It was fairly true, that statement. Aria tended to make quite the fool of herself and get herself into all sorts of unsavory trouble. If it weren't for him, he was sure that the young albino would have been kidnapped or worse by now. Certainly, her ability to adventure was because of him. But that was only in his mind. Aria had quite the different opinion on all of that.

"So I must ask now... Do any of you have a particular desire to travel with me? Knowing my goals and seeing my situation, do you think you can-" She had to pause to keep herself from quivering with laughter, "Ahem. Can handle my good ol' Nanny here?" That was definitely going to be the real challenge. While Aria liked to think of herself as a challenge taker and a free-spirit, Dokrand was like the ball-and-chain that made sure she couldn't fly far very easily. And really? He had been speaking in poke` chat so they had to know his personality. Besides, with all the answers she had received it was becoming rather hard to pick her first life-long partner. Dokrand seemed to have something to say about though. "Rather than opinions, you should be thinking of pros and cons. Out of all these pokemon, Honedge is the one with the most resistances and immunity. Travel-wise, Ponyta and Bellsprout can help you get around."[/i] He left out the extra part that was most obviously going to be 'since you can't walk.' Still he wasn't cruel and Aria wasn't dumb. She merely smiled at the serpent. "Now, now Dokrand. Don't get fussy just because I called you 'Nanny'. One of these lucky souls will be our first life-time partner. I want them to decide for themselves if they think they can handle the difficulties."

Dokrand still stood tall, clearly stating that his option of 'logic over emotion' would be better. Yet he said nothing, only looking down onto those before him. He would take no indecisive ninnies or those who didn't seem to really care what they were going to say next. His gaze was harsh, something that demanded a well-thought answer - an answer that he could put faith in. There was a promise in that stare-down, a promise of misery if they dared to take his human's sincerity for granted. Aria might have stopped him if she knew she could but alas, that was his thing. Even her maids and family members suffered that glare at times and not even she could stop him from that all-too-serious aura.

[Birdybot]

Bellsprout's eyes widened momentarily at the mention of the word 'noble'. Now that was impressive. To be the Pokémon of nobility was to be a part of a noble family, and that was, to someone who valued the way they were seen by others, not something to be turned down lightly. They didn't think Aria looked much like the picture of nobility in their head, but Dokrand did not seem like the sort to falsify his position. "I like your attitude!" They said with a smile. This dæmon they could get along with! As for Aria's question, that was an easy one. They thought much of themselves, so naturally they also thought they would be perfect for any traveller, capable of dealing with most challenges. If not now, then surely they would adapt. "I would like to travel with anyone, and I think I can certainly rise to any challenge you two might pose," they said with confidence.

Phantump was more worried about what travelling would mean. It didn't want to claim to be able to cope with something when it couldn't. Not living up to promises brought far too much guilt with it. "I would like to go with you, I think we all would be happy to if you picked us, but... I've got a lot to learn, I might need more help," they said anxiously, wanting to be honest but still wanting to be picked. Their main concern was that if Aria chose it, it would then struggle to keep up. If Aria needed any assistance, it might take longer for it to be able to deliver that. Needing to be helped itself to come out of its shell and grow was surely a hindrance in its opinion.

Lapras looked more content. Not that it believed it to be any better at dealing with the new, more that it was happy to embrace challenges. It failed just as often as the next Pokémon, the only difference being it relished the chance to really put itself to the test. Finding the limits of its abilities was a risky thing to do. All the same, it had a love of taking chances. "Absolutely! As I said, I love a challenge. Whether or not I'd be the most suited out of those of us here to dealing with whatever challenges you think will be crop up most is something you'll probably be the better judge of," it said. After all, Aria knew her needs better than any of the Pokémon there.

Keeping up its energy, Honedge nudged Ponyta in a friendly, boisterous way. A little too hard; Ponyta staggered to one side, and gave it a miffed look but shook it off. "Growing and adapting to your environment is all part of the journey, right?" Honedge said happily. Ponyta realised after a moment that it appeared to be looking to them for an answer. "Oh - yeah, right. Training and coordinating sound just fine to me, maybe experimenting with everything will help me find what it really it I like," it wanted to explore as many areas as possible before settling on one thing. It also thought that perhaps it being a large, ridable, fast Pokémon would help Aria in her wheelchair, but didn't know how touchy that subject was so didn't want to bring it up.

Klink whirred vaguely. "Yeah, I guess that'd be all right," it didn't seem too enthused. This all was fairly casual to it, it wasn't particularly bothered who was chosen from the selection.

[Onigoko]

Their answers were only a slight bit different than last time, albeit the obvious few who didn't seem want to impress. Dokrand sniffed at the end, sending his approval and disapproval through their link as he translated. It was time to decide. Taking her Daemon's preferences into consideration, Aria narrowed it down into three: Honedge, Poynta, and (suprisingly) Bellsprout. Although the remaining surely had their own unique ways to help, it was those three the girl would pick from. Willingness, adaptability, and confidence - out of those three traits only one was going to come along with her. Oh how she wished she could just take all of them, especially that little phantump. The poor little thing was absolutely adorable with all its shyness and child-innocence. But Dokrand had made his disapproval for that one very clear through their emtional link. Very. She looked at all of them, her eyes falling on those particular three for just a half a second longer than the rest. Now came the logical side.

On the road she was sure both honedge and ponyta would be able to help her get around and train alongside her. But Bellsprout had a unique ability that the other two lacked: commonness. That may not seem like much of anything to most people, in fact its probably what deterred them anyway; but those who are the most common tended to make the best connections. They had the ability to fit in. Ponyta could do the same probably but Honedge would have a little more trouble until they managed to reach a region where more of his kind were. When you had connections, you had information and information tended to help quite a bit for those who knew how to use it.

Closing her eyes, Aria leaned back. Arms folded over her chest as her brows furrowed to think. Abilities and stats were also something but Aria still wasn't too keen on what those were. Not even for Bellsprout. Dokrand kept his side of the link quiet while she thought, respecting the deep decision. His eyes looking down on the top of the girl's white head as he waited. It took her a few minutes to calculate what she did know, fit all that information into little mind-barrels before seeing which one held a consistency.

Then her eyes opened. "I truly wish I could bring you all along..." she murmured to herself, letting out a soft sigh before laying her eyes upon the Ponyta. Out of all of them, the fire-type was the only one to express concern over her well-being which had been a huge plus in Dokrand's mind and despite not knowing just what it wanted to do, it held that clear glimmer of wanting to be of help. Plus, Aria liked how it wanted to make both itself and others happy if it could. "Why don't you come with me Ponyta." It wasn't so much of a question as more of a statement. The girl's smile, which had disappeared while she had been thinking; reappeared on her face as a gentle sort. She probably just broke some of the others' hearts but honestly, she wanted to see how someone who didn't know what they wanted would do.

Dokrand merely nodded his approval in the end. While he voice his own opinions in the matter whatsoever, he felt a little wary about the youngster but the pony was probably the second or third most useful in this lot. Personally he would have liked the stronger looking Honedge or even the Bellsprout who clearly knew how to treat others but he kept that to himself. Merely releasing his coil from around Aria's wheelchair to curl his lengthy tail around himself. It was his way of 'unlocking the chest', or better said - allowing the chosen to get close enough for the either pony or girl to touch.

[Birdybot]

Aria didn't say anything for a while, and most of the Pokémon knew what that meant. A couple of them exchanged glances nervously, while others just watched her either because they didn't want to look at the other candidates or because they hoped to see a hint in the girl's expression. Finally she spoke. While those not chosen were naturally disappointed, they took it well. They knew they would be picked sooner or later. If they didn't even find a trainer here, there were plenty of other places to go to try finding a trainer, or they could live out their lives in the wild. Professor Pine returned those not chosen to their Pokéballs, which he kept in his pocket ready to put away once Aria and Dokrand had left. That had looked like a difficult decision for her. He was pleased she had made it, and confident with her choice. There were no reasons he could see for her and Ponyta not to have a good chance of success.

Ponyta almost seemed in a state of disbelief. It had been rejected by trainers before for being too unruly, but at last someone had picked it! "Of course, I would love to! Thank you!" There was no question about it. Training, coordinating, exploring, it was all up from here! Dokrand had moved, allowing it to nuzzle its new trainer in a kind of greeting. This was all very exciting. Its fiery mane and tail flickered and burned strongly in happiness. It wouldn't burn Aria or Dokrand, but similar to a Charmander's tail its own fires gave some insight into how it was feeling.

"You'll be needing this," the Professor offered Aria Ponyta's Pokéball. "These should come in handy, too," he said, passing over a small bag filled with a few basic items any Pokémon handler was bound to need. "I just need you to fill in this form, and come over here so this camera can take your photo," he gestured towards a webcam fixed to the top of a computer screen, "for your trainer's license. Should only take a moment. Just have to keep track of everyone officially on a Pokémon journey!" He indicated a sheet of paper with a few basic details - name, date of birth, etc - to fill in and sign. He didn't like making people do the boring bit, but the Pokémon League wanted it done. It helped prevent people abusing Pokémon, anyway, which was certainly desirable. Whenever Aria and Dokrand had filled out the form, they would be free to leave to head out wherever they so wished with Ponyta.

Aria got her starter and starter pack!

Name: Choice
Species: Ponyta
Gender: Choice
Level: 5
Ability: Run Away OR Flash Fire- Description.
Attacks: Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Egg move of choice
Personality: Choice

[img]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/077.png[/img]
[b]Name:[/b] [i]Choice[/i]
[b]Species:[/b] Ponyta
[b]Gender:[/b] [i]Choice[/i]
[b]Level:[/b] 5
[b]Ability:[/b] Run Away OR Flash Fire- [i]Description.[/i]
[b]Attacks:[/b] Growl, Tackle, Tail Whip, Egg move of choice
[b]Personality:[/b] [i]Choice[/i]


Pokéball x 10


Potion x 6


Antidote x 4


Burn Heal x 4


Ice Heal x 4


Awakening x 4


Paralyze Heal x 4

[img]http://serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/pokeball.png[/img]
[b]Pokéball[/b] [i]x 10[/i]

[img]http://serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/potion.png[/img]
[b]Potion[/b] [i]x 6[/i]

[img]http://serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/antidote.png[/img]
[b]Antidote[/b] [i]x 4[/i]

[img]http://serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/burnheal.png[/img]
[b]Burn Heal[/b] [i]x 4[/i]

[img]http://serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/iceheal.png[/img]
[b]Ice Heal[/b] [i]x 4[/i]

[img]http://serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/awakening.png[/img]
[b]Awakening[/b] [i]x 4[/i]

[img]http://serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/parlyzheal.png[/img]
[b]Paralyze Heal[/b] [i]x 4[/i]