It Begins

[reeddragon]

Celia had never ventured this far. In fact, she had never ventured out of Wetherseed. Especially not alone. The journey to Featherwing felt more like a dream or reading about someone else and over-imagining things than reality. The landscape didn't feel real, either. It was such an unsettling change from the home and woods she loved. This was how it was to travel, though,and she was determined not to let anything deter her. Besides, even if she hadn't already been up to the trip, it was a requirement. Times were dangerous, and growing worse. Someday, she supposed, it would hit her, though likely not until after she obtained her pokemon and maybe fought a few battles.

Weird to think that I will eventually battle pokeon... she mused to herself as she neared the white bungalow that housed the lab where she would be meeting her first pokemon. First pokemon..at my age... It was normal for teenagers to come this way, but a woman in her thirties? She was sure she'd end up attracting a few stares. Although, since pokemon were now required, maybe she wouldn't be the only one. Not everyone went into jobs involving the creatures, after all. Not everyone desired one as a pet, either.

That's right. I can't be the only one. She focused on the building, then the door as she knocked once and then stepped into the lab, and then the interior. It was how she expected a lab to look, full of machines she couldn't identify and people going about their business. Celia watched them all for a moment, and then took a deep breath and stepped further inside.

Here goes...

"Um...hello?"

[TSAVO]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; padding: 6 6 6 6px; background-image: url(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g163/spazzy-lil-fishie/Lolsites/salempurple.gif); -moz-border-radius: 40px 0px 40px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 40px 0px 40px 0px; border: 1px #F2EFEB dashed;] welcome to nexivus laboratories professor maria hawthorne CHARACTER; professor hawthorne MODERATOR; tsavo WORDS; 359 NOTES; short. i know this is the part we all like to get done quickly. :3 Professor Hawthorne looked up from her desk as she heard someone enter. Spilling a bit of tea on her lab coat, she quickly jumped up, flinging all of her papers off the table in a futile effort to keep the tea from ruining them. She then quickly tried to wipe the liquid from herself. "Ow!" She cried as it burnt her hands and her belly. That was hot! She jumped from foot to foot in a bit of a dance as Lavender quickly soaked up the mess and Lilac used her powers to return the papers to a tidy stack. She was pleased to have such useful pokemon. However, while these two did the best they could to help, another plotted to do more damage. Quickly using the chance to escape his pokeball, Rose took off quickly toward the voice of the woman who entered. He was scrambling to get to her before anyone could stop him and it was only a moment before it looked like a stampede running toward this woman! Professor Hawthorne fumbled for the pokeball as she tried to return Rose, but he carefully dodged the red beams of light, not allowing her to return him. With a squeal of pleasure, he hoped to smash right into the trainer. Whether he hit her or the wall, it was still a perfect opportunity to return him. Daffodil, the Raichu, quickly appeared out of no where, tackling the dragon type long enough the Professor could successfully return him. Looking up at the visitor with a sheepish smile, she let out a weak, "Hello,". By this point she looked like a complete mess, her hair all over the place, her lab coat completely splattered with tea, and her hands covered in the substance. She sighed and looked around. "Sorry about that... you startled me" She giggled before leading the trainer down the hallway. "How can I help you, hon?" Hawthorne then quickly moved on, wondering if this woman could be a trainer. In preparation, she quickly began searching through her stacks to find that pokemon catalog to hand to this woman. Shuffling through everything, she wondered what it could be. "would you like some tea?" art & template by kitty for pkmn nexivus

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[reeddragon]

A woman had been drinking tea at her desk. Celia hadn't noticed her at first, but now - as she jumped up, the woman had all Celia's focus. She watched the woman fling some papers off the table, and took a couple steps forward to see what she could do to help. She stopped after those steps, though, as it looked like the pokemon had everything under control. These pokemon, like her roommate's, seemed perfectly happy and healthy, and that eased whatever doubts that remained in her mind about "enslaving" the creatures. It seemed that pokemon only resented their captivity when in the hands of bad people...though, even then...she had seen happy pokemon with some of the most unpleasant people she had ever before encountered. That was a bit worrying, but she tried to put it out of her mind. She, at least, would treat her pokemon like equals rather than playthings.

Then more chaos happened. A gible had broken free of its pokeball and was headed straight for her. Celia took a couple steps back and braced herself. The pokemon didn't seem dangerous, but she'd rather avoid being completely bowled over if she could help it and if she tried going to the side the pokemon would probably try changing directions with her. Fortunately, before a human/pokemon collision could take place, a raichu leaped out from somewhere beyond Celia's field of vision and tackled the ground/dragon type, restraining it until it could be returned to its pokeball.

With that little scene over, the woman turned to her, and Celia noticed the lab coat. Since the woman had been the one to greet her, she took that to mean she was the professor. She really should have known that, but Celia wasn't one to keep up with current events or celebrities, preferring to keep her mind in various fantasy worlds. "I'm sorry for startling you," she said as the professor lead her down the hallway. "I came here to get my first pokemon." She watched the professor search through things and noticed the tea stain on her lab coat. "Are you all right?"

[TSAVO]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; padding: 6 6 6 6px; background-image: url(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g163/spazzy-lil-fishie/Lolsites/salempurple.gif); -moz-border-radius: 40px 0px 40px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 40px 0px 40px 0px; border: 1px #F2EFEB dashed;] welcome to nexivus laboratories professor maria hawthorne CHARACTER; professor hawthorne MODERATOR; tsavo WORDS; 359 NOTES; -- "Oh, really its nothing to worry about," She giggled looking back as the woman apologized. She really had not been hurt or anything of the like, so there was no reason to feel sorry for scaring her. At least she had not broken anything in the few chaotic moments before. It was always so terrible when she had to go about replacing things because she had been frightened or because Rose broke free from his ball. She shook her head at the idea of the little fellow. Sure, she loved him, but he really was a handful. "A pokemon, you say?" She did not bother to look up as she continued to shuffle through the stacks. "Ah, ha!" After a few more moments, the words could not help but be shouted excitedly. Here was that darn catalog she could not seem to find! It had all the available pokemon written in it, the ones that were always there as well as the special starters that roated every so often. She flipped through it momentarily to make sure it was the current one before turning and smiling, holding it out to the girl, only to hear her again. Looking down, she blushed a bit at the new stain. "Oh yes, nothing to worry about! I can get a new lab coat no problem. Plus it is from my tea... Oh! That reminds me, would you like a cup of tea?" She smiled widely. Oh, how she loved her tea. "Either way, here is the pokemon catalog with all the current starters. Take a look through it and let me know if any of them interest you," She held the book out and waited to see if this girl wanted some tea. There should still be some left in the pot that she could pour out and they could share, although she was hoping that the liquid would not try to stain them both again, as that was not the most wonderful thing she had ever experienced. It was much to hot to be worn, better for drinking. "would you like some tea?" art & template by kitty for pkmn nexivus

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[reeddragon]

The professor assured her that she was all right, but Celia was still worried. Hot liquids could leave nasty burns. Still, she had reacted quickly enough. Maybe she was able to avoid any sort of lasting injury from the incident. Celia hoped so. She didn't like seeing people in pain.

The professor continued searching through her things, and Celia wouldn't think she was listening if not for her response. But then, she had to get things like this all the time, especially with recent laws being put into place. She could probably have guessed what Celia was after without Celia having told her.

The professor found what she was looking for and handed it to Celia. She thanked her and gave it a quick glance over. In it was a list of the pokemon she could choose from. This...might take a while. There were so many...

As she looked through the list of available pokemon, the professor assured her again that she was fine. Then she offered Celia some tea. The soon-to-be-trainer nodded. "Sure, if it's no trouble. Thank you." Celia loved tea, a fact that had amused her roommate, who thought the stuff tasted mostly like boiled water. Celia wisely decided not to share that bit of info with her current companion.

The professor explained that the catalog listed the current starters, and Celia gave it a more thorough look, making a mental list of the pokemon that interested her and attempting to narrow it down from there.

So many...how does anyone choose?

[TSAVO]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; padding: 6 6 6 6px; background-image: url(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g163/spazzy-lil-fishie/Lolsites/salempurple.gif); -moz-border-radius: 40px 0px 40px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 40px 0px 40px 0px; border: 1px #F2EFEB dashed;] welcome to nexivus laboratories professor maria hawthorne CHARACTER; professor hawthorne MODERATOR; tsavo WORDS; -- NOTES; very short :3 The Professor waited patiently, pleased that this woman had taken her tea. Oh, how she enjoyed tea. And it often seemed as if the more time went by, the less people liked tea. Anymore, she felt as if there were hardly any, and often worried that trainers only accepted it to be on her good side. Not that she really felt as if they could dislike it, really, it was the best drink ever created. But, the fact they might only take it to please her was an upsetting one, not that she would actually show this to this new trainer, whether she was paying attention to her or not. After a few minutes had passed, the woman had not requested to see any pokemon yet. This was something odd, usually they always asked to see one or two pokemon by this point. Hawthorne continued to smile before relaxing a bit, watching the girl patiently. She did not really have anything better to do, afterall. Still, she quickly began to worry that none of them interested this woman in the least bit. Oh, no. What would she do then? She could not just go and get new pokemon to offer her. The ranger union sent them in, even the rotating ones, she had to wait for them to come in. She looked around nervously before finally asking, "Don't any of them interest you? At least one or two?" Her head tilted to the side and she fiddled her fingers, growing anxious. "would you like some tea?" art & template by kitty for pkmn nexivus

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[reeddragon]

Celia sipped the tea as she looked through the list of available pokemon and worked out in her head which one she might want. There were so many...she liked them all, and it was hard to pick. Several of the species listed were among her favorites: xulpix, zorua, deerling, cubone, houndour, ponyta, meowth... She would love to simply request one of each, but she knew it wasn't aloud.

I can just catch a lot of these pokemon later... she mused. That...didn't make the choice any easier, though.

Then the professor spoke, asking if any of the pokemon interested her. She seemed worried, like Celia had just rejected the whole list. Celia gave the professor a sheepish smile. "Sorry for taking so long...they do interest me. So many interest me It's hard to narrow it down to the one I want to start with. I'm..well...very new to this whole thing..." She gave the list a last, quick glance. She could at least ask to see pokemon of one species. If none of the individuals appealed to her, then she could ask about another species.

"Do you have any cubone left?" she asked after a moment. "If not, that's fine, but if you do, may I meet them? I hate to be a bother, but I would prefer to make sure my first pokemon's personality meshes with my own." She normally preferred canine pokemon to other species, but right now a couple of the other species called to her just a little louder than the dog and fox pokemon, and she would try her luck with them first...if the professor was willing.