Science and starters are a strange sorts of thing

[ashesofthesun]

Velasco slowly stalked into the small, yet promising Ellswood laboratory, both he and Naiara peering curiously. The building was rather small, but the yard and surrounding areas were plenty large to house a variety of Pokémon and experiments. Once they reached it, the door automatically opened for the two, and Naiara continued her stride confidently, leaving Velasco pondering what expression that he should use to charm the people inside in order to get the best Pokémon. After a few seconds, he was pulled by the invisible thread that tied him to his daemon, and Velasco continued in with just as much grandeur as Naiara had and glanced around.

Velasco had seen the building for the past two years after it was built, but had never actually gone inside. The large interior seemed to balance hospitality with professionalism. There was a cosy study that was practically begging for a fireplace and some cocoa, but aside from that, the rest of the area looked very, well, modern. The actual experiment part of the room had a variety of unnameable machines and tools surprisingly organised atop the steel countertops, and Velasco could see jars of samples from the corner of his eyes. The tile flooring and walls were a blinding white and each of the stainless steel pieces of machinery giving a clever sort of glint as Velasco passed them, obviously recently cleaned. The lounge on the other hand, had a bit of welcoming dust in nooks and crannies of the large bookshelf that was crammed full of novels, reports and décor, and the flooring was a dark wood that was covered in a beautiful rug.

Naiara was instantly drawn by the salon, gracefully leaping up onto the lounge chair, which practically engulfed her in all of its purple, velvety fluff. Obligated to stay close behind, but certainly not protesting due to the alluring mahogany bookshelf, Velasco shot Naiara an impressed glance as he followed her into the den.

Naiara loudly huffed, sprawled out upon the chair with a single lazy ear pointed in Velasco’s general direction. Either she was hard to impress, or, more likely, Naiara was simply pretending to be so.

“Don’t let your eyes be blinded by a pretty rug, Crow. They’ll come to us soon enough. Meanwhile....” She paused, a keen smile forming.

Velasco smirked, leaning back into Naiara’s curtain of tails and understanding her request for an observation. At a young age, he learned that a person could be quickly read from their surroundings. With a critical vision, he could quickly dissect the room. Certain quadrants were a bit neater than others, the messier one’s having crooked stacks of papers, but all were pretty clean in a hygienic and aesthetic sort of way.

The presence or lack of certain details, such as pens being placed in straight rows, meant that the people ranged from careful to perfectionists. In this sort of scenario, Velasco would either want to be helped by someone in the top or in the bottom of the spectrum. A perfectionist would work hard to find a perfect match, and more of a slob might just hand out a Pokémon way too good for Velasco. As for the efficiency of the place, the papers spread out among the tables with crooked, tight handwriting suggested important findings were being quickly recorded. All around the labs were several cameras, Velasco could barely guess the amount of ones that weren’t in plain sight, and several locked doors with some sort of security input machine outside of them. Something in the lab, the people, Pokémon or research was valuable.

After a few more minutes, Velasco had taken in his surroundings as much as he could really could, which, in truth, had made him all the more eager to get a Pokémon. Velasco sat up suddenly, not to the surprise of Naiara, who had anticipated his impatience, and had already shifted her weight forwards to leap off the chair. Velasco couldn’t think that all of the cameras couldn’t have spotted him, and honestly, he had found it sort of odd that there wasn’t anyone at the door. Velasco purposely sauntered in a manner so that his shoes loudly clicked upon the tile floor, hoping to get the attention of somebody or for anyone who sought him to be able to locate him.

((OOC: Short post is short! Sorry, I'm pretty bad at starter posts))

[Birdybot]

((The post is fine! You're doing great))

A small device implanted in the watches of Professor Pine and his three lab assistants bleeped loudly when Velasco and Naiara entered, sensors in the doors having sent out the signal to them. They had never bothered getting a receptionist, preferring to spend the expense elsewhere and trusting visitors not to break anything. It would have been advantageous to them to actually hire one, but Pine always thought they got on fine without one and figured they would be redundant since he had to talk to almost all the visitors himself anyway.

Presently he was busy, however. In one of the larger rooms for experimentation, he was at a delicate stage. The experiment required his full attention. Adding an acidic solution dropwise to a small cluster of cells under the microscope, he spoke without looking away. "Xeno, go and see what they want. If they need me give me a call and I'll stabilise this and be down to help as soon as I can," he said to the tall skinny man at his left. Once he had scurried away, he spoke again to the shorter woman on his right, "Harriet, could you make up some more hydrogen peroxide solution? Thanks..."

Xeno walked briskly towards the large entrance room, but the visitor must have still been in there for a while before he arrived. He height seemed excessive, as if someone had stretched him out and forgotten to put any extra meat on his bones. A Natu-dæmon perched on his left shoulder, watching Velasco silently and unblinkingly. The young man smiled, wiping a stray lock of loosely curled brown hair out his face. "Hey, I'm Xeno and this is Fiona," he indicated his dæmon. He studied Velasco carefully, trying to figure out what he was here for. He hadn't heard of any appointments. There may have been someone coming in around today for a starter, but new trainers were always coming and going. Velasco looked like he was eagerly looking forward to something, which could be the look of a new trainer... Professor Pine was far better at telling what his guests were here for.

"Are you here for your first Pokémon, or something else? Professor Pine has to sort out the official license stuff, so I'll need to call him if that's the case. In the meantime, you can have a think about what Pokémon you might like. There's a list here," he dug through a few papers before finding a laminated sheet with a list of fifteen starter Pokémon, "You can pick three from that list, and if you like you can also see if we have anything not on the list. Just ask for up to three different types, like Water or Flying or whatever, in addition or instead of any three you like on the list and I'll see if we have any. I'll show you the Pokémon before giving them to you so you can be sure you'll get along," he explained hurriedly. He tried to remember if he'd forgotten anything, and was fairly certain he'd covered it all.

Fiona said nothing, but looked at him. "Oh, um... if you want anything else, just say," it would be pretty awkward if he'd assumed wrong and Velasco was actually just a very young scientist like himself here to talk about some research with the Professor. Xeno didn't recognise him, so didn't think he was one of the Professor's students.

[ashesofthesun]

((Oh, Thanks!))
Naiara’s ears perked up as the steel lab doors slid open, bringing in a gust of cool air into the room. Velasco immediately stood up seeing the tall man. Although Velasco was certainly tall, this man surely had a few inches on him, but lacked 30 or 40 pounds that Velasco had. At a glance, he appeared to be Velasco’s elder by a fewer years and his expression appeared far older. His hair was loose curls in a chocolate color. Naiara and he both noticed the rather eerie Xatu that could have easily been stuffed with the exception of the serious eyes practically staring through them. At a glance, the tall man was clever, which was a good thing. His Xatu surely suggested such. The room was silent for a bit, as Velasco could see a variety of expressions on the man’s face. Finally, with a small smile, the man spoke.

"Hey, I'm Xeno and this is Fiona,"

The gaunt man was pretty friendly off the back, although a tad tense. Velasco felt the man’s eyes study him. It was a normal thing for people such as scientists and researchers to do. These types of people relied on observation, and other people were in the line of being studied. Plenty used to being scrutinized, Velasco countered with what he hoped would make a good first impression. He slipped naturally into the body language that tended to work well, being confident and open. Lean back a bit, so that he appeared confident but not arrogant, being sure to have his shoulders back so that he was opened up towards Xeno. Look, but not stare into Xeno’s eyes. Palms up, arms loosely by his side. Naiara bowed her head and Velasco extended his arm, hand relaxed, of course. Being tense would be intimidating, after all. With a warm, beaming smile he spoke, in a friendly, quiet voice, managing to hide his accent pretty well,

“Pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m Velasco and this is Naiara.”

Taking her cue, Naiara sat down and gave a small nod. Xeno began to ask several questions, wherein Velasco carefully listened with a focused, steady gaze. The man appeared to be in a slight rush, obviously a tad uncomfortable about something. What it was, Velasco didn’t know. Perhaps this man was simply introverted? On the other hand, Velasco had shown up without much of an appointment really. In truth, he hadn’t really expected anyone to be there anyway. He may have interrupted something, as the hasty movements of Xeno might have suggested. A piece of paper was thrust into Velasco’s hands. Velasco briefly glanced up with a sincere and hopefully reassuring expression before turning to the paper. Xeno seemed kind enough, and was obviously trying very hard to do his duties perfectly correctly. In turn, Velasco would try to make things a bit easier on him.

“I’m fine, thanks. Feel free to take your time. I came in unannounced, after all.”

On the laminated paper, Velasco saw the names and photos of several different pokémon. It wasn’t really in depth or anything. The pokémon didn’t have listed names or genders, so perhaps there was a large supply of them, after all, the February written atop the calendar may have suggested that those pokémon eggs hatched this time of year, or that this was some sort of ‘monthly special’. Looking down at the paper and its variety of pokémon, it dawned on Velasco that he hadn’t really thought about what he wanted. Naiara shot Velasco a look, popping his leg a bit with her tails. Hurry up! Her expression read, you should have figured this out before. Velasco quietly huffed, giving her a look back. Quiet now! Let me think, would you? Naiara jumped up on a nearby chair, peeking over his shoulder at the list.

“You’re going to be traveling a lot, aren’t you?” Naiara crowed from over his shoulder, speaking in Alboske (his first language), for simplicity sake, “You should get something you can ride on easily, Crow.”

Velasco nodded, seeing her point pretty quickly. He began conversing back in hushed Alboske, like a school girl gossiping as Naiara leaned in closer to him.
“So mantyke then? I could ride a mantine in the water and the sky.”
Velasco mentioned softly, gesturing to the picture of the baby pokémon near the bottom of the paper.

“But what about land?” Naiara countered, “That’s what you’ll spend the most time travelling.”

Velasco rolled his eyes, giving the paper a small shake of emphasis as he retorted,
“Yeah, but I can’t really see myself riding a dwebble.”

Naira let out a small laugh of sorts, stepping off of his shoulder and curling up on the chair once more.
“Deuce, Crow. Choose two other types”

Velasco distanced himself from the brief side conversation, turning towards the awkward man and giving him a warm smile. He spoke in a convicted, calm tone, returning to Enerian again.

“If you would, I’d like to see a mantyke, as well as a rock pokémon and a ghost pokémon.”

[Birdybot]

Velasco had been correct in his assumption that Xeno was introverted. He never really knew what to say, and meeting new people made him nervous. Seeing how calm and open Velasco was made him likewise feel calm. He managed a smile although his awkwardness hadn't left him. He'd been hired for his creative thinking, scientific mind and intelligence, not his people skills. The accent had been covered up so well Xeno wouldn't have noticed it unless he had been looking for it, but when Naiara initiated a conversation in Alboske he wasn't surprised. The young man's dark eyes and curly black hair were distintly Alboske. It did make him a little uncomfortable not being able to understand the man and his dæmon. He reassured himself that it was probably Velasco's native tongue so would be easier for him to converse with his dæmon in that language than any other.

Finally something was said that Xeno could understand. Mantyke, rock type, ghost type. Rather varied choices. Variety was good, gave a range of things to choose from. "I'll go get them, just a sec," he scurried off to another room, where prospective starters were able to roam and play without being worried by stronger Pokémon belonging to trainers. They had a Mantyke, and a rock and ghost type as well, so he returned them to their Pokéballs quickly rather than trying to drag them out the room.

Returning to the large main room, the door clicked shut behind him - it was activated by key cards. Xeno hoped Professor Pine would show his face soon, as he didn't know as much about Pokémon as he and so wouldn't be as qualified to answer any questions Velasco might have. He released the three Pokémon in turn.

Mantyke looked around eagerly. Spying a stranger, it immediately made for Velasco and Naiara, a happy smile on its face. Its stubby wings were waving gently to keep it aloft. It didn't look like it would be capable of flying as well as a bird Pokémon, but it managed well. Its antennae waved in a joyful greeting. "Hi, who are you? I don't have a name yet, but I guess you could call me Mantyke," it introduced itself with confidence. Naiara would be able to translate for Velasco.

The rock type emerged next, in a burst of red light. They were about the same size as Mantyke, not big enough to ride. Floating as well, the Lunatone was content to observe from a distance. They seemed far more calm than Mantyke. Although they did not hurry forward to introduce themselves, they still had a clear curiosity regarding the man and dæmon. It was hard to tell what they were thinking or feeling, being with limited expression, but they looked calm and calculating as they studied the strangers and listened to whatever they and Mantyke had to say.

The third Pokémon was a Shuppet. They floated higher to try getting a better look of Velasco, but didn't seem quite so interested. They had an air of deviancy, as most ghost types do. For now, they were behaving. Their eyes seemed innocent enough as they moved closer to Mantkye to see how this conversation went.

Professor Pine chose that moment to finally make and appearance. He'd managed to secure the experiment, and seemed far more comfortable around new people than his assistant, who looked quite relieved. "Cheers Xeno. Could you go back and help Harriet now? It shouldn't be much work. Have a break if you really want," he gave Xeno his cue to hurry out back through the door he'd first come from. The Professor then turned to Velasco with a broad smile. His Noctowl-dæmon shuffled her feathers and gave a soft coo, looking more interested in the Pokémon than the human. "Hi, how are you? Sorry I kept you so long, I was pretty busy with a delicate experiment and I had to stabilise it before I could come down here. I'm Professor Pine, and my dæmon is Telepa," he spoke slower than Xeno, and sounded warm and friendly. He offered a hand for Velasco to shake. "If you have any questions about these three Pokémon, don't hesitate to ask."

[ashesofthesun]

As soon as Velasco asked for his Pokémon, Xeno gave a quick reply and took an even quicker leave, and as the doors quickly closed behind Xeno, Velasco amusedly smirked. In a surprisingly short amount of time, Xeno returned with three pokeballs in hand. Velasco and Naiara eyed them like a starving lion would eye a gazelle, with Naiara literally being on the edge of her seat. Xeno began to toss the pokeballs, one by one. The first Pokémon to emerge was an excited mantyke, whose wingspan rivalled only a dodou’s. The little creature’s wings softly caressed the air beneath it, amazingly being able to support it as it quickly rushed to Velasco. Next out, a serious Lunatone appeared, engulfed in red light. It floated in a stagnant manner until it would rapidly shift to the side. For now, it kept its distance and watched. Lastly, a shuppet appeared, glancing in scarce interest at Velasco after floating high to see him.

The small mantyke floated over to Velasco in a joyful manner, immediately introducing itself, which Naiara willingly translated. Velasco smiled at its confidence, and gently petted the little water type’s velvety skin, giving his reply.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Velasco, and my Daemon is Naiara.”

To Velasco, mantyke looked very strong for its size and plenty healthy. At its size, it obviously couldn’t hold him up, but it would at least be able to carry him in water when it evolved. So far, it certainly seemed like a good candidate to be an ally. Mantyke was very confident and energetic, with an irresistible charm to it. Velasco was quite smitten with the little creature already, but Naiara was carefully examining the other Pokémon as well, eyeing the Shuppet with suspicion and Lunatone with great interest.
Lunatone looked highly intelligent, with piercingly analytical eyes. It stayed its distance and regarded the strangers with intrigue. Naiara took an instant liking to it. She, like Velasco, admired charisma and intelligence, but while Velasco enjoyed warm and friendly people, she generally preferred more quiet and refined people. While he hadn’t done or said anything, the way that Lunatone’s eyes flickered about were in and of itself, clear signs of intelligence. Naiara took it upon herself to give a small nod to the Lunatone, greeting it in a sort of way. As tempted as she was to scamper off towards it, Naiara knew that the invisible rope that attached her to Velasco wouldn’t let her stray far. She distanced a few feet, both she and Velasco only feeling a bit of discomfort.

The shuppet was a quirky little thing. Right after coming out of his pokeball, he had taken a great interest in the strangers, but once seeing them, seemed disinterested. Velasco was honestly a bit upset at this, feeling as though he wasn’t good enough for the Pokémon, but shoved the thought aside. In order to catch the interest of a ghost Pokémon, he tried to convince himself, he’d have to be halfway to a mental hospital. Although it initially moved with great speed, the shuppet lazily levitated towards Velasco and Mantyke. The small ghost gave off many vibes to Velasco, and his impression of the Pokémon changed whenever he met its eyes.

Hearing the small squeal of the sliding doors, Velasco turned to face Professor pine. Unlike Xeno, the professor lacked half a foot in height that Velasco had, and was a bit on the thin side. Pine’s wild tawny hair reminded Velasco of a Furfrou, sticking up in any direction as if it were even sentient. That being said, Velasco didn’t laugh, knowing full well that if his hair was straight, it would look the same way due to his own nervous habit of running his fingers through his hair. Even more shocking was Pine’s casual clothing, which was bizarre for such an occupation, especially one where he would be greeting people. Pine didn’t appear to be embarrassed by his clothes, and probably would have worn the same clothes whether or not he were expecting Velasco. Xeno ducked behind Pine, exiting swiftly once Pine retorted, .

"Cheers Xeno. Could you go back and help Harriet now? It shouldn't be much work. Have a break if you really want,".
Velasco smirked as he saw the gentle giant retreat, jokingly remarking,

“He’s quite the talker, isn’t he?”

As Pine introduced himself, Velasco quickly shook his hand and nodded towards Telepa.
“I’m Velasco Ochoa, and this is my daemon, Naiara.”

Once Velasco introduced himself, he shifted around to gesture to Naiara. While his head was turned, Velasco didn’t actually look at Naiara, but instead scanned the various books, folders and awards around the room.

“I’m a fan of your work on development in young Pokémon.”

[Birdybot]

Professor Pine smiled at Velasco's comment regarding Xeno. It was nice to see he was relaxed. A lot of the new trainers that came through here were pretty nervous about the new step they were taking in their lives. "Xeno isn't exactly a people person," he agreed.

Another thing that was unusual here was that Velasco took an interest in his scientific work. This pleased him as well. "Thank you! It's pretty interesting seeing how they learn and what they learn. There's a surprising difference between young Pokémon in the wild and those in a person's care," he could talk for a long time about the subject, but he knew he should focus on making sure Velasco got off to the best start as a new trainer with one of these Pokémon.

Mantyke seemed to like being petted; it moved closer to Velasco at his touch. He seemed nice and friendly. It wouldn't mind having someone like him as a trainer; it thought they would get along well. That said, it got along well with most people. It was a very easy-going Pokémon, energetic and sociable. "Are you going to be a trainer, then? Or a breeder? Or a coordinator? Or maybe a combination or something else entirely?" Mantyke was half-asked, half-wondering aloud. Everyone had a different story and different goals, and it was fun to hear them all.

Shuppet listened and chuckled softly. Mantyke heard and frowned at them. "Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

Shuppet smirked. "You. All those questions, you sound like an over-excited child. It's silly," they spoke their mind. They enjoyed eavesdropping and making the occasional snide remark. Sometimes their remarks were less snide and more outright insulting. They didn't really care. They spoke their opinions as they came. Anyone who disagreed, well, they were wrong.

Mantyke wasn't so happy about it. With a little humph noise, it turned to face away from Shuppet. "You're mean," it pointed out the obvious. To that, Shuppet only rolled their eyes.

Lunatone was prepared to interact with Naiara now she had made the effort to greet them with the nod. They appreciated the calm manner of it, too. Some people, especially younger ones, could get too excited and the noise and energy they had could be overwhelming. They floated over to the Ninetales-dæmon at a leisurely pace, relaxed and not hasty. Brilliant red eyes showed an intelligent mind behind them. Lunatone was a psychic type as well as a rock type, and so it was only to be expected that they would be intelligent. "Greetings. I trust you are well. Funny things, new beginnings. Such a huge and often daunting change in life, and all your own decision," they commented. Small talk bored them. It seemed pretty pointless to sit around talking about something neither party felt much about when there could be more interesting conversation to be had if only it could be found. Lunatone sounded polite and gentle, their words thought through and deliberate. They made sure they always knew what they were talking about, and tried to only make comments they deemed worth voicing.

[ashesofthesun]

Velasco smiled at Pine’s unwavering love for what he did, continuing to pet Mantyke, who had sidled up to him. As Mantyke questioned him, Naiara quickly translated without a second thought. Unlike Naiara, Velasco had to think. In truth, he hadn’t fully realised his intentions. He knew for sure that he wanted a travelling companion aside from Naiara, and figured he’d want to do something else on the side too. He probably wouldn’t be able to be a breeder, persay, as he would need to be on the go, but whether he would be a trainer, coordinator or both, he wasn’t too sure of yet. Naiara really wanted him to be a coordinator, as she claimed it required more practice and a deeper connection, but Velasco didn’t really know if that was for him. If he were travelling would he be able to be a coordinator, and did he want to do something that grandiose just for fun? Velasco knew that at some point, when he viewed his pokemon as kin, it wouldn’t be up to him. He would probably jump right into the battle if not for Naiara holding him back. Masking his internal conflict, Velasco beamed and answered,

“Well, I know that I will be battling whether on its own or in a contest, and I’ll dabble a bit until I figure out what I want”
Midsentence, Shuppet began to laugh impishly at something, and after completing his sentence, he saw Mantyke turn and anxiously ask why the Shuppet had laughed. Even from under his fingertips, Velasco could feel mantyke tighten up a bit and get defensive, and in turn, he was curious as to what the otherwise silent pokemon had been laughing about.

Shuppet turned a bit, with a wry expression and promptly retorted,

“You. All those questions, you sound like an over-excited child. It's silly”

Once Naiara translated, her tenor being quite accurate to the source, Velasco raised a single brow, keeping his composure as usual, unlike Mantyke who was obviously offended. In truth, those words wouldn’t have been that offensive if not for the condescending tone and face the Shuppet had accompanying it. Even among pokemon, body language had far more subtext than words themselves. Obviously, Shuppet had meant to offend, or wasn’t hiding it in the least.

Velasco’s brow furrowed a bit. Velasco felt the need to stand up for Mantyke, but in a roundabout non-confrontational way. Setting his hand on Mantyke, Velasco remarked loudly enough for both pokemon to hear, and quietly enough for it to ‘seem’ unintentional,
“There’s no issue in acting childish. Children feel the world in a vivid state, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying life on a higher scale.”

Naiara was distracted by the noise of the others, but not so distracted as to miss what Lunatone was saying. She almost started to translate out of habit, but stopped herself. After a quick glance to Velasco and the two pokemon, Naiara turned back to Lunatone and replied.
“I’m doing good, thank you. My human does a good job at pretending like he has any sort of idea what he’s doing. To think, we were born in poverty yet with a simple suit and an upturned snout, people assume we’re rich. It’s all in the way that you move and speak, I suppose. Anyways, Have you always lived in here?”

[Birdybot]

Tension grew for a moment as Shuppet looked poised to make another remark, but thought better of it. It was clear this human wasn't seeing their sense of humour. They had meant to offend Mantyke. To them saying things like that wasn't any issue. They failed to censor their thoughts from the outside world, and didn't care how mean or thoughtless they sounded so long as they got their view across. It was their belief that they were free to have an opinion so they could do what they liked with that, even if it meant someone getting upset. Velasco had sided with Mantyke in this. They heard his words of comfort and glared at Mantyke as if to let them know their statement still stood.

Mantyke was calmed by Velasco's kind words. It nuzzled him affectionately as a sort of thanks, grateful that he'd stood up for it. By itself it didn't have the courage to stand up and object to insults aimed at it. It wanted to learn in time, but it was hard. "Thanks. You know how to keep people in check," it observed. Velasco seemed to be know exactly what he was doing with each movement and comment he made, as if he knew precisely the results of every tiny change in tone and expression. It was quite the skill.

Lunatone was interested in hearing more about Velasco from his dæmon. Indeed it was strange how dressing and holding yourself differently could make people assume different things. In return, they weren't bothered about giving information about themsevles. "I haven't always lived here, no. A breeder raised me, and when I was old enough I was allowed to roam free as I liked around his ranch. He had some nice caves to hide in. After a time he asked if I among some other Lunatones would want to the offered as starter Pokémon, and most of us agreed," they paused for a moment, watching him speak to Mantyke. "He knows how people work, doesn't he?" it wasn't really a question as such.

[ashesofthesun]

Although he was turned towards Mantyke, Velasco could feel Shuppet’s cold glare. Velasco simply meets Shuppet’s eyes with a calm gaze, not glowering or rolling his eyes. He simply shot Shuppet an analytical and observing look, acknowledging the actions of the ghost type, but not really accusing him. In most cases, this would make others revaluate their actions or feel guilty, but chances were that Shuppet’s opinion would stand. After briefly meeting the eyes of Shuppet, Velasco turned back to Mantyke who was now pressing up against him affectionately.

Velasco smiled as Mantyke nuzzled up to him and began to speak, and Naiara translated,

“Thanks, you know how to keep people in check.”

Velasco wore a small smile and murmured his thanks, despite feeling Naiara’s gaze on him. In her own way, she was reminding him that it was her who kept him in check. She gave a small huff for emphasis, with the full knowledge that he could tell she was looking at him. Velasco nodded ever so slightly in sarcastic acknowledgement of her role, which pleased Naiara enough to turn back to Lunatone, who had started to speak.

Lunatone began to explain how it was raised by a breeder and chose to come to the facility, and as Naiara listened she made an amused expression. Part of her felt like the Lunatone probably loved seeing all the experiments. Naiara would probably enjoy herself seeing the daily operations of the lab.

“I’d imagine you’ve seen some fascinating things.”

Once the Lunatone mentioned Velasco’s charisma, the daemon made a complex expression. She seemed to have a bitter-sweet expression that was an undertone to the amusement of the irony. She sat down, shuffling her tails underneath her and answered in a slow, concise tone.

“He’s always known people, but he studied very hard as well. I think that if there were a single reason for me to exist, it would be to keep him in check. If he has a desire, he works hard to see it through, and with effort, will make it happen. You may not guess this, but he’s like a clever mightyena. He only respects those who prove they are worthy, and for those he respects, he’d be willing to kill. That’s why I’m here”

She didn’t quiet her tone much, as it wasn’t really necessary. While Velasco’s eyes were sharp and didn’t miss a detail, his ears were otherwise. He didn’t have any issue in normal conversations, but hearing distant things was a skill that had been dulled due to genetics and several ear infections at a child. Velasco wouldn’t get hearing aids, not admitting to having poor ears to him or others. The fact that he could only pick out titbits of Naiara’s soft speech from a short distance away was a testimony against his stubbornness, however. Velasco had started to look at her midsentence, asking for her opinion on the matter. Like anyone close, and especially a human and daemon, the two could easily communicate very basic thoughts and emotions through expressions alone, and the often met eyes.

Naiara finally looked back towards Velasco, and as the two met eyes, they made a consensus over which Pokémon to choose.

“Professor, I think I’m ready.”

[Birdybot]

Shuppet felt no guilt as predicted. They were a strong-minded Pokémon and refused to change their opinions on anything. The stubborn ghost had an odd sense of humour. It was mostly at the expense of others, but sometimes their wit would be applied to something more people would enjoy. For now they seemed dejected and grumpy at how flat their 'joke' had fallen. They continued to observe the others in the room with a scowl firmly planted on their purple-grey face.

Lunatone nodded in agreement to Naiara's comment. "That's true. The breeder who raised me had a lot of interesting Pokémon, and I've seen a few things around here, too. It pays to be observant," they added to the statement. They enjoyed learning new things. While they were not the sort to be affectionate, cuddly or make jokes, they were intelligent and picked up on things easily. All that was around them would be processed silently without need to any show of it. They didn't seek attention but were none the less worth paying attention to. More so than those who did seek attention, in fact, since they were far more careful about ensuring the worth of all their thoughts.

Mantyke, Shuppet and Lunatone watched the silent exchange between man and dæmon. None of them knew what it all meant. Mantyke glanced at Lunatone, whom it had noticed seemed to know a lot. The crescent shaped Pokémon had nothing. No words were spoken, and they'd only just met the pair. It'd take someone really close to them to decipher communication by purely facial expression. Remarkable, really, that it was possible at all between people who were close, or people and their dæmons.

The outcome of the unspoken discussion was made plain soon enough. All three Pokémon grew more attentive. Professor Pine, who had been leaning against the wall out the way, stepped forward. He had watched the whole proceedings, trying to guess which Velasco would picking and assessing each of the Pokémon on offer. The entire time he had shown no hints of bias towards any particular Pokémon - this choice was for Velasco and Naiara to make, no one else. Telepa looked vaguely interested and he looked excited. "Excellent! So, which Pokémon do you wish to take with you?" he asked.

[ashesofthesun]

Velasco stood with certain vigour to him, Naiara returning to his side, each of her tails flowing gallantly in enthusiasm. Velasco bore a grin, nodding at the Professor and briefly scanning the eyes of his surrounding Pokémon. Both he and Naiara had acknowledged the traits of the Pokémon, and Velasco only felt comfortable by explaining his reasoning. With his hands gesturing outwards, Velasco began to speak.

“I don’t have much to offer shuppet, and I know that there are plenty others who would enjoy his sense of humour.”

Velasco spoke with a certain sense of excitement, as if he would forget everything if he stopped talking. His words were lined ever so slightly with Velasco’s accent. His entire life was oriented on pleasing others and being a likable, charismatic sort so that he could have the power to help out his loved ones. His goals relied heavily on his reputation. On the other hand, Shuppet talked and acted on his own accord, commenting in his unusual sense of humour for himself, and not caring about what others thought. These two traits could directly harm one another. In the scenario that Shuppet he made a joke that offended a potential partner, it could be detrimental to Velasco. Naiara briefly looked shuppet in the eyes, with a mostly blank expression. She was simply observing him for now, seeing his response or reactions. Velasco looked back to his Daemon and then continued to explain his reasoning.

“I think that Lunatone would probably enjoy life more here and as much as I love to talk intelligibly, I think that there could be better trainers for it.”

Naiara and Velasco had come to the conclusion that living in the laboratories, Lunatone must see all sorts of exciting discoveries, and the lab is constantly busy. The creature seemed to love soaking up as much information as possible, and Velasco would feel a large responsibility to make sure the quiet Pokémon was pleased. In truth, Velasco couldn’t really think up a sure-fire way to improve Lunatone’s life. Both he and Naiara gave Lunatone a respectful look, acknowledging its skills, before turning to the last Pokémon.

“I know that Mantyke and I can learn from each other, and that I can become a better overall trainer.” Velasco loved the friendly nature of the Pokémon. It was affectionate and gave and required plenty of attention, but Velasco was enough of an extrovert that it didn’t bother him. Sure, he saw several flaws in its nature, but for some reason, they made the water-type more endearing, and the prospect of seeing her grow and change sounded interesting. The main reason that Velasco had chosen her was that he wanted his first Pokémon to gain something from travelling with him. Velasco knew that widening Mantyke’s horizons could make him a better Pokémon, and Velasco couldn’t say that for sure with Lunatone or Shuppet.

[Birdybot]

Shuppet looked right back at Naiara. He'd guessed he wouldn't be the one Velasco took with him, since they didn't seem like they would get along very well, but he was still a little put out by it all. It was more a prideful thing than anything else. He looked away from Naiara after a moment. He was still curious to see which Pokémon the new trainer did pick, but was definitely less interested in the newcomers now that his leaving the lab was out of the picture. Professor Pine didn't return him to his Pokéball just yet, wanting to listen to Velasco before making any further movements. The scientist loved seeing how excited the other man was. It made him feel happy too.

Lunatone nodded back at Naiara and Velasco respectfully. They wouldn't have minded leaving, but there was truth in what had been said. Life here was enjoyable, so they would be happy here for the time being. In the future perhaps some trainer would arrive who aspired to research the world in some way. There was a good match for everyone out there. Lunatone supposed they needed someone more calm and relaxed in their ways, who would be happy to sit and ponder the world for a time. Besides, with both themselves and Shuppet out of the pickings, Mantyke was the only one remaining. They could see the water type getting along extremely well with Velasco and Naiara.

Mantyke was at this point buzzing with excitement. It too had figured that it would be the one to be chosen, what with the other two being gently let down. It let out a happy squeak when what it already knew was confirmed, doing a loop-the-loop with a few strong beats of its wings. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" it could hardly contain its gratitude and joy.

The Professor smiled at the happy Pokémon, returning the other two to their Pokéballs. He handed Mantyke's Pokéball to Velasco, then walked over to a desk. It was great to see a pair match up so happily. There was still a little work to be done, however. Logging into a computer on the desk, he opened up a form and dug out a sheet from a drawer and a small drawstring bag from another drawer, this one locked. He offered the bag to Velasco. "Here are a few items you might need as a new trainer. I need you to enter a few details on the screen here, and to sign this paper. I'll also need to take a photo. It's all for your trainer's license. Standard stuff, the Pokémon League just demand everyone has one," he explained, brandishing a webcam. A pen was next to the piece of paper, which was mostly just saying that he agreed to follow the guidelines set by the Pokémon League and wouldn't be cruel to his Pokémon. The information that needed to be filled out was fairly basic; date of birth; ethnicity; who his dæmon was and what form she took, that sort of thing.

Velasco received his starter and starter pack!


Name: Choice
Species: Mantyke
Gender: Choice
Level: 5
Ability: Swift Swim OR Water Absorb- Description.
Attacks: Tackle, Bubble, Supersonic, Egg move of choice
Personality: Choice

[img]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/458.png[/img]
[b]Name:[/b] [i]Choice[/i]
[b]Species:[/b] Mantyke
[b]Gender:[/b] [i]Choice[/i]
[b]Level:[/b] 5
[b]Ability:[/b] Swift Swim OR Water Absorb- [i]Description.[/i]
[b]Attacks:[/b] Tackle, Bubble, Supersonic, 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]