Pokemon!

[Aubs]

“A Smoochum, how fitting!” Professor Oak commented, taking a step forward. “Did any of you know that a Smoochum’s lips are so sensitive, that when they’re first born they use their lips to identify everything?

“I knew!” Anslee butted in! When Beautiful Gorgeous Sunshine Princess Spectacular-

Was that the name she said earlier, Fern thought as Anslee continued to brag about her pokemon. I could have sworn it was something else wasn’t it? Oh whatever-

“Beautiful is just like one of the greatest Pokémon I could ever ask for! Not only is she ultra adorable, but she knows how to dance too! Beautiful, why don’t you show them some of the moves we practiced!” Anslee pulled out her Pokégear and turned on some music for her Pokémon to dance to.

“How nice, dear!” Appletree applauded along with Yew. “Very nice!”
“Yes, very nice!” Professor Oak responded awkwardly, turning over to Cassidy. “And I supposed you have a Pokémon too, do you? Let us see it then!”

“I uhmm..” Cassidy spoke out for the first time since she’d introduced herself. She pulled her pokeball out of her pocket and released her Gastly.

“Interesting, a Gastly!” Oak exclaimed, his mouth wide with excitement. “Did you know that Gastly are able to topple an Indian Elephant within two seconds of enveloping it in poisonous gas?”

“I’d never heard that!” Cass responded, brushing her hair out of her face. “The only thing I’d ever heard about them was that they can talk like humans and transform themselves, is that true?!”
“Well.. nothing’s been proven, but-”
“So there’s a possibility then?”
“Yes, whenever something isn’t fully proven in science, anything is possible my dear!” He watched as Cassidy’s Gastly floated around. With a face so devious, it was bound that he’d been thinking about pranking someone in the room when in actuality he was pretty kind compared to other Gastly. “Your Gastly is rather intriguing.”

“Yes, but is he super cute like Beautiful Gorgeous is?!”

“Well, looks are perceptive to everyone. I’m sure there are people who prefer a Gastly’s appearance over a Smoochum, but I assure you you two girls have great looking Pokémon. You two girls may not have realized it, but you both have Pokémon that correspond to your personalities. You and your Smoochum, Anslee, are rather lively while Cassidy and her Gastly are much more reserved.” He looked over at Fern. “Fern, how nice to see you again.” He smiled.

“It’s nice to see you again too, Professor!” the young girl replied, standing across from him.

“My grandson asked about you in a call the other day. He said he’s doing well in Sinnoh, to give you his best.” Oak acknowledged his grandson, Gary Oak, someone Fern had been friends with for a very long time. While the two currently hadn’t been on speaking terms, Gary had always made his best to try to reach out to Fern unlike another one of her friends she chose to not mention.. “How long has it been, Fern? About Four years now?”

Fern stared. “Yep, and I think I’m finally ready to start a journey of my own!” She folded her arms across her chest. “I’d like to get a Pokémon of my own for once, so I was wondering if you had any available?”

“Well,” Oak grabbed a clipboard off of his desk. “I didn’t plan any Pokémon to be ready to be given away until a few weeks for now. Actually, a few days back we had quite a large number or people here receiving their first Pokémon also.. Hold on- it looks like we have one left!“ He looked to his door. “TRACY!”

Fern started to get worried. Last choices couldn’t be great. If anything, they were horrible! As Professor Oak’s assistant, Tracey, entered the room with a pokeball Fern got both excited and nervous.

“I think you’re going to love this Pokémon, Fern!” Tracey joyously commented, handing the ball over to Oak, who set it down on the table. “I’ve taken good care of him, so there’s nothing to worry about!”

I wonder what kind of Pokemon it is? She thought to herself. What if it’s a Vulpix?! OH, or a Squrtiel? That would be cool as well! Gosh, I’m so excited like a Pichu right about now! Oooh, a Pichu would be cool too! Stepping forward, Fern stopped in front of Oak’s desk. “So which Pokémon is it, Professor?”

“It’s a very active Pokémon! You’re going to have a great time parading around with it.”

“Active? Is it a Tyrouge? Oh, or a Riolu?!”
“No.”
“Hmm.. then who?”

[Aubs]

“Well, why don’t you take a look for yourself,” Professor Oak encouraged Fern as he continued to smile at the girl who couldn’t have been more nervous.

“Don’t be scared now, dear!” Appletree butted in, giving a firm stance. “Open the ball already!”

“Come on, Fern! You can do it now!” Yew added.

Fern sighed and took hold of the pokeball. “Here goes..” She anxiously spoke aloud, as she tossed the ball in the air. “Whoever you are, COME ON OUT!” The ball flashed a bright light and from out of the pokeball-

“Munch, munch, munch!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Duvet de Mot]

Everett stepped aside as the ensemble walked ahead of him and through the door of the white-washed building, the two young girls continuing their bickering straight through the front lobby. Following leisurely behind Professor Yew, Everett observed the curious duo’s immature tête à tête. It was evident that the pair were rivals; however, despite their constant brabbling, there was a certain camaraderie about them. This was the second instance that he had seen the two girls, and it was certainly under a set of conditions which left the two incidents inadvertently connected. Everett was intrigued.

I wonder what their story is... I'm su-

A heavy hand clamped down firmly upon Everett's left shoulder, halting his movements and jarring his train of thought. Attached to the hand was the body of Thaddeus Yew, complete with a jolly smile beaming up at Everett. "I'll send for you shortly, Everett. Have a seat in the meantime." Professor Yew turned abruptly and walked onward into the main lab, leaving Everett alone in the cozy lobby of Oak’s laboratory. Everett sighed softly and turned towards the open room, leaning his worn, cloth-wrapped hands upon the back of the couch and looking across at Professor Oak’s Pokepedia collection on the large wooden bookshelf which spanned the corner to his right. The Elite Four had a similar collection at their Indigo Plateau headquarters, a collection he’d read no less than five times (which was quite sizeable for a collection of thirty-six volumes) in his quest for understanding all there was to know about Pokémon.

Ring Ring Ring! Ring Ring Ring! Phone Call! Phone Call!

Everett jumped up and staggered back from the couch, fumbling for his phone from the pack on his belt. Pulling the phone to his ear, Everett frowned upon hearing the voice on the other line, hanging his head with the realization of just who had called him.

“Mr. Samiel… We haven’t heard from you in several days. Have you considered our offer?”

Rolling his eyes with the audacity from the other end of the line, Everett replied, attempting to remain non-committal in this matter.
“I don’t believe I can either accept or dismiss it at this point. What proof do I have that you’ll keep up your end of the
bargain?”

The mysterious voice let out a raucous laugh across the line, causing Everett to grimace in anger as it began overloading the speaker in his ear.

“To put things plainly, Mr. Samiel, you don’t. That is, unless you come to Saffron City to check for yourself.”

“If you do anything to them, I swear-“

“Now, why would I do that? Without them, I wouldn’t have anything over you, now would I? I hope to see you soon, Mr. Samiel. Don’t leave me waiting too long.”

Click.

Everett lowered the phone from his face slowly, squeezing it in a white-knuckled grip as he leaned forward against the couch. This was the second call he’d received in the past week and he couldn’t keep pressing his luck like he had been… They’d threatened his parent’s business. If he did not meet their demands, they would, as he’d been told, “be forced into an early retirement”.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Everett jumped at the screaming from within the lab, dropping the Pokégear onto the couch. “What in the world was that?”

Everett stuffed the Pokégear back into his pack as Tracey, one of Oak’s lab assistants, walked through the door, awkwardly clearing his throat to gain Everett’s attention. “Um… The Professor will see you now.” Taking a moment before turning around, Everett forced himself to smile at the assistant, as he followed him into the main lab where he could hear Professor Oak start speaking, “Did you know that Munchlax eats twice its weight in food a day?” Walking behind Tracey through the lab doors, Everett could see a small Munchlax running rapidly about the room, curiously investigating the lab. The young girl in the bucket hat seemed stunned by the hyperactive Pokémon, merely able to mutter a confounded, “I-I…”

Forcing another smile, Everett reached into his pack and pulled out an apple which he tossed at the energetic Munchlax, which jumped into the air to swallow it down whole. Everett grinned naturally for a moment at the Pokémon's behavior, before chiming in to break the silence, “Though, when in the wild, it prefers honey from honey trees, if I’m correct.” Everyone present, save for the Munchlax (which was still parading around the lab, having not been phased too badly by the food), turned towards Everett as he spoke, Professor Yew stepping forward to introduce him to Professor Oak. “Quite so, Everett. Professor Oak, this is Everett Samiel, the young man we were discussing earlier.” Everett extended his hand to the smiling Oak, “It’s an honor to meet you, Professor Oak.”

[Eva]

Anslee was not the type to hold back her opinion, whether it was wanted, needed, or even complete. And right now, her opinion about the current situation needed to be voiced.

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!" Anslee's loud harumphing was not quite up to par with Fern's shouting, but that wasn't the point. It took a moment, but Anslee eventually composed herself. "Fern, you're a ding-dong." she said dismissively, flicking her hand at her nemesis. Now that she was done knocking Fern down a peg, Anslee had more important fish to fry. Namely, getting in with the Professors. Beautiful was busy looking into the mirror that Anslee had given her when she had first received her, so she probably wouldn't get into any trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Anslee, this Smoochum is just a baby. I haven't actually trained her much, you know." Sally said, her eyebrow raised. Anslee rolled her eyes dramatically. "Look, Sal-amander, I want to raise one from scratch. For the EXPERIENCE of the thing." she snapped. Anslee folded her arms and turned her head defiantly. Sally just sighed. "Well. Okay. I don't suppose I can dissuade you." Sally removed the Pokeball from her belt and handed it to her sister. "She hasn't imprinted on me, so you should have no trouble. From what I've observed, she is somewhat...vain. She stole one of my mirrors when I let her out of the ball." Sally explained.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, 'given' may be a stretch. But still, she was preoccupied. She turned to Professor Oak and extended her hand. "Professor, it may come as a surprise but I would like to inform you that I am among the most well-read up-and-coming Pokemon researchers there are. I daresay that soon I may even surpass your vast knowledge." she said, trying to sound sweet. Oak looked mildly amused at this. "Well, anything is possible, my dear. The work of the current exists to give knowledge to the future. I daresay that if you do surpass me in knowledge, then my job will have been done well." Oak replied. Anslee thought about this for a moment. "You are right. So I guess that I'LL have to do an even better job for the kids that are younger than me! Being a researcher is hard work. Eventually SOMEONE is going to lose!" she sighed. "That...is one way of putting it." Oak said.

[Aubs]

Professor Oak, after some time, truthfully found himself quite overwhelmed. With Fern screaming her lungs out, Everett casually introducing himself, and Anslee asserting herself as the future hope for all Pokémon research, there was little time for him to properly be able to process a thought. Simply smiling and nodding his head along to Anslee, the Professor pushed her along to introduce himself to Everett. “The pleasure’s all mine, my boy!” He responded reaching his hand out to shake. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you from old Yew here.”

“Old?!” Professor Yew interrupted, a huge grin planted across his face. “I’m the youngest lad in the room!” He joked, obviously acknowledging that he’d been the opposite.

Professor Oak laughed aloud and walked back to his desk. He gave the room a few minutes to quiet down, as each of them surrounded him [sans Munchlax of course]. “Alright, now that everyone has gathered their thoughts, mine included! I just want to get down to why I invited you here-”

Fern looked over, she hadn’t been invited at all, but that sure hadn’t stopped her or Anslee from feeling like they were going to be included into something rather important at hand. Although she was only fourteen, she felt that she was old enough to belong in conversations and discussions with older people. She had opinions too! I mean it’s more than obvious the Jigglypuffs are the greatest band of the twenty seventh century! Eeveelution has nothing on them! She brushed her hand past her face to catch herself from thinking off into space. The Professor was finally continuing his sentence so she had to stay active.

“Professor, Ms. Appletree, Everett, ladies,” from the other room, Tracey walked in with a box. After setting the box down on the table, Professor Oak opened it. “Before you all beholds the newest mystery in the world of Pokémon.” From inside the box, he reached in and pulled out what seemed to be any ordinary pokeball. “I hold before you, the Hx ball.” [pronounced hex] “No Professor has yet to crack the true mystery behind the ball. While we all have our theories, no one knows what really is inside. For the past couple of years, I and a few other Professors from the other regions of the world have continued to pass around this ball hoping that someone would be able to be the first to uncover the secret behind it.”

“HOW MARVELOUS!” Ms. Appletree enthusiastically replied, as she admired the ball from afar. “Where did they discover the ball, Professor?”

“Great question, Beverly!” Professor Oak complimented Appletree, revealing her name to the young girls and Everett for the first time. “The ball was found a few years back in the Resort Desert in the Isshu region.”