[S] The Beginning of It All

[Crim]

"... Huh."

Now that he'd actually gotten here, that uncreative little grunt of a word was the only thing Avery Briggs could think to utter. The process of actually getting here had been less than ideal; in fact, Avery was relatively sure that he never wanted to fly in a plane every again. Just the memory of that jarring, unnatural flight allowed the dread to resurface from his stomach into the roof of his mouth, like a particularly nasty bit of sickness that simply couldn't be kept down. Still, he'd endured it with only some distress, and, upon his feet finding that loved solid ground once again, most of the nervousness that had been plaguing him about approaching the lab seemed to have left. Indeed, the thirty-one-year-old ginger felt nothing but an eerie sort of calm now, much like the sort he'd always felt minutes before taking a college exam, when all of the cramming and studying was far behind him.

He took a moment to check everything on his person, ensuring that his money, his financial information, and all of his belongings felt safe and secure in that little black bag of his. He then patted the pocket on his coat, smiling faintly at the reassuring plastic of the cigarette carton contained safely within. Only polite courtesy prevented him from removing one of those white sticks and lighting it -- he was going into the lab, after all. Smoking was likely frowned upon. The man breathed out a little sigh and slung the bag once more over his shoulder, brow furrowing as he made his way to the front door, pausing for a moment and attempting to peer inside without looking particularly suspicious. Things seemed welcoming enough, at least; the man found little reason to hesitate to idle around waiting outside. Pushing down the faintest feeling of nervousness, he braced himself and made to shuffle his way inside.

He stumbled awkwardly and tripped in the doorway, only just managing to stifle a quiet little French swear as he caught himself on the frame. Probably not the greatest first impression to whatever aide or receptionist happened to be there at the time. Straightening himself up, the middle-aged man glanced around, hazel eyes seeking out the first sign of human life they could. They paused briefly upon seeing the numerous flyers and posters about the area (an injection? The hell was that about?). His curiosity was piqued, but the ginger managed to suppress this train of thought, clearing his throat and speaking up.

"... Uh. This is where I can get a Pokemon, right?" The epitome of certainty and poise, as always. ... Nice going, Avery.

[ZOM]

The man's entry was noisy enough that the receptionist had looked up from her computer at him before he even spoke, and her disdainful expression implied she had seen him stumble. "Smooth," she muttered under her breath, though she quirked a pink eyebrow when he approached and opened his mouth. "Uh, yeah. Hang on."

She pressed a button to the right of her computer, holding it down. "Need some Pokemon in here for this guy. Don't send spazzypants this time, 'kay?" That said, she released the button and leaned forward a little, apparently interested in the soon-to-be trainer. Though her wavy pink-and-black bob had previously camouflaged them, her floppy ears were slightly quirked with her intrigue, and she licked at her sharp, protruding lower canines before speaking. "So, where you from? You got an accent. Kinda cool." She smirked, twirling a curl of hair around a claw-tipped finger. Was she... flirting? Never mind that she appeared to be no older than eighteen.

While her one hand remained idle, playing with her hair as she endeavored to appear alluring to Avery, her other hand was tapping away at her computer keyboard and her gaze would occasionally flick over to the screen to double-check that her typing was correct. The screen was turned at an angle that would not allow Avery much vision of it, but it appeared that she might have an instant messaging program up as well as something that could have been a blog. Hard at work, apparently.

[Crim]

Avery hid the faintest sign of a grimace as he noticed that look, as if his attempts to play off his less-than-savory entrance had all been for naught. The brief look he gave the strange-looking woman barely registered in his mind, and it took him a few moments to do a double-take, hazel eyes shifting back to gauge her strange appearance. This observation was less than subtle, and the more he looked at her, the less subtle things seemed to get.

The pink hair could have been brushed aside as some sort of trend; hell, more kids than not these days seemed to be delving into the fads of hair dyeing and whatnot. That wasn't exactly uncommon. What was uncommon, however, was those ears. He was pretty sure those weren't supposed to look like that naturally, and they seemed to be quite real, with the way they quirked and rose. He noticed those sharp teeth, too; how had he not noticed those immediately? They certainly stood out from what he perceived as the norm.

He realized a little too late that he was staring and not really paying much attention to what the girl was saying or doing, coughing and straightening up a little. His eyebrows had been raised in a seemingly perpetual state somewhere between confusion and interest, and they finally lowered, furrowing instead as he tried to recollect what had been said only a few moments ago. The man didn't even seem to register the flirting motions that the woman was making, though his general, flustered appearance and his awkward social skills in general might have led one to infer differently.

"Oh... Oh! Uh, Lumiose City. Kalos Region." he replied finally, flashing an awkward little smile as he adjusted his coat, eyes glancing around at seemingly everything but the receptionist. They lingered on that poster again, though they failed to put two and two together for the moment and didn't dwell for long on the poster, or the injection suggested on said poster. He might have been a relatively bright individual, but intelligence and common sense weren't necessarially the same thing.

He was silent for a moment before deciding that, hey, maybe he should attempt to be a little social too. Asking questions was good, right? He withheld the rude question brewing in his mind, thankfully, opting instead for a much safer and less intricate one.

"And you? Are you... from around here?"

[ZOM]

"Kalos, huh? Good coffee there, I hear." The receptionist tapped and tapped away at her keyboard, momentarily focusing more on the screen than on Avery, although she returned her attention to him shortly after with a toothy grin. "'Course I am. You seen Pokemorphs anywhere else but here? I doubt it." She raised the hand that was playing with her hair to scratch at one of her floppy ears, then lowered it to pat at the blue ruffles around her neck. The latter may have appeared to be a fashion statement at first, but upon closer inspection the ruffles were clearly attached.

"You'd look pretty good with the injection, y'know. Maybe... an Arcanine, or a Charizard. Somethin' fiery to match your hair." She nodded slowly, clearly imagining it. While she was lost in thought, a door across the room opened, and out came a woman in a lab coat carrying two small bags, one in either hand.

The scientist smiled at Avery, striding over to him while shifting both bags to one hand so that she could offer out the other for a handshake. "Hello there. My name is Kyla, I work here at the lab on projects related to Pokemon immunization. How do you do?" She turned her attention briefly over to the receptionist, and her expression became distinctly less friendly for that moment. "Keeping our visitor entertained as always, Helen?"

"You know it," said the Snubbull girl, sneering at the older woman and turning her full attention to her computer. Kyla glanced back at Avery.

"I have five Pokemon here for you to choose from. You're free to let them out of their Pokeballs if you'd like to meet them before picking, and I can answer any questions you may have about any of them. These are all we have for you to choose from right now, though. So, let's see..." She opened one of the bags and peered in, scanning the contents. "Looks like... Yanma, Luvdisc, Pachirisu, Drifloon, and... Snubbull. Hah, get a load of that, eh, Helen?"

"Whatever."

Name: ? Species: Yanma Gender: ? Ability: Speed Boost or Compoundeyes Level: 5 Friendship: 5 Moveset: Tackle, Foresight Nature: ? Met: Lab @ lvl 5	Name: ? Species: Snubbull Gender: ? Ability: Intimidate or Run Away Level: 5 Friendship: 5 Moveset: Tackle, Scary Face, Tail Whip, Charm Nature: ? Met: Lab @ lvl 5	Name: ? Species: Luvdisc Gender: ? Ability: Swift Swim Level: 5 Friendship: 5 Moveset: Tackle, Charm Nature: ? Met: Lab @ lvl 5	Name: ? Species: Pachirisu Gender: ? Ability: Run Away or Pickup Level: 5 Friendship: 5 Moveset: Growl, Bide, Quick Attack Nature: ? Met: Lab @ lvl 5	Name: ? Species: Drifloon Gender: ? Ability: Aftermath or Unburden Level: 5 Friendship: 5 Moveset: Constrict, Minimize, Astonish Nature: ? Met: Lab @ lvl 5

[Crim]

The mention of coffee sent a little pang of longing through the man, and this wasn't lost on his expression, which looked almost wistful as he recollected just how great the coffee in the Kalos Region was. Sure, it was a little (read: a lot overpriced, but... even he had the right to splurge sometimes? Going to the various cafes in Lumiose every morning had become a strict routine over the years, and having to break that routine after so long was jarring. He hadn't really had much time to think about it between travel and being nervous about everything, but now that it was brought up once again... Hell, he really wanted his coffee. Somehow, he didn't think the coffee around this area would hold up to his expectations, when he managed to find it at all.

"... Mm. The best coffee, in fact."

He could have been lost in caffeinated imaginings had the Snubbull Pokemorph not continued speaking, and he refocused, brows lifting a little at her reply. The word 'Pokemorph' sounded almost but not-quite foreign to his tongue, as if he'd heard the word in passing somewhere without really registering it or trying to figure out what it meant. This wasn't exactly far-fetched; after all, the idea that he might have heard the term thrown about in discussions about Decona, or even by the pilot on the plane, was very feasible. He simply hadn't paid much mind to it or thought to ask for an explanation of the term. He also had been too distracted by various thoughts to really register any other Pokemorphs he might have seen since landing. Truth be told, he was far less observant about certain things than he liked to admit.

"Well... Truth be told, you're the first... Pokemorph I've seen." he admitted, testing the word out with the faintest hints of sheepishness. His hand reached to awkward scratch at his neck in near-sympathy as he caught sight of those frills. He wondered whether there was any way those could be comfortable. He highly doubted it, but... hey, maybe you could get used to it? A question to confirm this theory was held back, as well as others. Were those ears as sensitive to sound as an actual Snubbull's? How did someone even obtain such characteristics in the first place?

The last question was inadvertently answered when the girl continued talking, and things finally began snapping into place. He made the connection between the poster and what was currently sitting at a computer desk in front of him. His brows furrowed at the idea that he might be eligible for such an injection, suppressing a shudder at the thought of razor-sharp fangs replacing his boring human teeth or fuzzy Pokemon ears replacing his little human ones. He didn't even understand the full implications of the injection, or the process, and he was still filled with obvious discomfort. He suspected he didn't want to think about the specifics too much.

"Well, actually, I don't think--" he cut off at the sound of a door opening, eyes automatically flitting over to the source of the noise and settling themselves upon the scientist. His posture, barely-relaxed after getting used to conversing with the Snubbull Morph, straightened up again into a rigid, awkward sort of stance. He dipped his head and extended his hand for a handshake which was quick, polite, and almost overly formal on his end. "Avery. Absolute pleasure."

The soon-to-be trainer was almost too focused on this new interaction to notice to seemingly mutual disdain between the two women, though he did notice it, brows furrowing faintly as the Snubbull Morph turned back fully to her computer. He decided it best not to ask, gaze shifting back to Kyla as she began to talk about the Pokemon in her bags. He listened intently; this was, after all, the whole reason he'd come here in the first place. This was where everything was going to begin.

He was knowledgeable enough to be able to put a Pokemon to each name, picturing them and what little he knew off the top of his head about each one as they were listed. The trainer hadn't been expecting to be given such a small range of choices, though he supposed it made sense, in retrospect. The choices would obviously be different depending on what Pokemon were present in the Lab at the time, and he imagined a lot of Pokemon were used for various testing purposes. The fact that a Snubbull happened to be one of the Pokemon in question was vaguely amusing, and the faintest of chuckles escaped him, though he was already thinking about which options to exclude right away.

Ghost Pokemon had always filled him with a certain unease, so the Drifloon was the first crossed off of his list. Luvdisc was excluded for more selfish reasons; he was by no means a hopeless romantic, and didn't appreciate the implications of a love-centered Pokemon being the starter of a man who was at best only vaguely experienced in the realm of romance. The three remaining choices were a little more difficult to choose from, so his mind shifted back to what he knew about typing as well as evolutions.

Bug-type Pokemon certainly had their benefits, though their weaknesses to certain, potentially common types filled Avery with apprehension. After another brief moment's mental consideration, Yanma had also been excluded, which left Pachirisu and Snubbull. The fact that the dog Pokemon was a Fairy-typed Pokemon, a type relatively centered in the Kalos Region, was appealing. Even though he'd been desperate to leave the Region behind, he didn't want to forget it. Maybe a Fairy-type would allow him to keep it in his mind just a little more easily.

He breathed out a quiet little sigh, having decided, dipping his head to Kyla and offering a little smile. "I think I'd like the Snubbull, actually, now that I think about it..."

[ZOM]

It took Avery a while to settle on a Pokemon, but that was fine; Kyla would prefer a well thought out decision to a hasty one any day. Trainers who rushed into their choice tended to return to the lab mere days or hours later whining that they wanted to trade, they didn't like this one after all. Pffah. Ingrates. No, contemplation was a good thing, and Avery could absolutely take his time.

Kyla did look a little sour once Avery came to a decision, though. "Snubbull?" she repeated, just as the receptionist looked up from her computer and beamed at Avery, waggling her plucked pink eyebrows. The scientist scowled at Helen, then sighed and put on a smile. "Well, that's a fine choice. Here you are." She plucked the Pokeball from one of the bags in her hand, then handed it to Avery along with the other small bag. "One Snubbull, with all of its shots, as well as a few items to get you started. If I were you, I would pull out the Pokedex in there and have a good look at it, get familiarized. It's a very handy device if there's anything you'd like to know about Pokemon, and if you'd like you're able to upload new information yourself."

Kyla straightened up and smoothed down her lab coat with her free hand. "Now, do you have any questions?"

[img]http://www.serebii.net/xy/pokemon/209.png[/img]
[b]Species:[/b] Snubbull
[b]Gender:[/b] ?
[b]Ability:[/b] Intimidate or Run Away
[b]Level:[/b] 5
[b]Friendship:[/b] 5
[b]Moveset:[/b] Tackle, Scary Face, Tail Whip, Charm
[b]Nature:[/b] ?
[b]Met:[/b] Lab @ lvl 5

[img]http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/pokeball.png[/img] Pokeball x 5
[img]http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/potion.png[/img] Potion x 2
[img]http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/tmcase.png[/img] TM Case
[img]http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/famechecker.png[/img] Pokedex

[Crim]

The man hesitated briefly before taking the Pokeball, eyes widening just a tiny bit as the realization set in: this was it. This was actually it. Holy shit he was actually doing something. He wasn't used to actually doing things, and hurried to take the Pokeball with a dip of his head and some muttered gratitude, glancing down at the little red-and-white orb with some wonder. The bag was taken with equal urgency (he'd probably put all of that shit in his own bag once he figured out where precisely he wanted to put everything -- his bag was huge).

He almost missed the slight look of disdain on Kyla's face, or that near-exuberant eye-waggling of Helen, though when he did notice, the only offered the faintest, half-apologetic smile in response. He hadn't really chosen the starter based on anything aside from the reasons he'd already gone over in his mind, and didn't want either of them to think differently (he wasn't sure why he cared -- there was a good chance he'd never really see either woman again). He'd always been a little to concerned over what other people thought.

He nodded at the scientist's explanation about the Pokedex, glancing into the bag and lofting his brows curiously. That certainly was handy; he had his 'little' encyclopedia, yes, but the online information would almost certainly be more detailed and more applicable to his journey. He'd definitely have to utilize both sources to the best of his ability. He straightened up, glancing down at the new items in his arms, and then to the door. He didn't really think he had any questions, no... He had no clue where precisely he was going, but that was part of the fun, right? He'd be able to figure something out.

"Hm... Not really." he decided, offering another little smile. "Thanks, though... For everything." The thirty-one-year-old edged just slightly towards the door, unsure whether there was anything left to really be said. Things might have been changing, but he was still utter shit when it came to knowing how best to end a conversation.

[ZOM]

Kyla looked a little relieved, although chasing Avery out was not her intention. She simply had work that needed to be done, and if Avery didn't need any further assistance, that meant she had done her job here and was free to go. She smiled at the man and nodded. "You're very welcome. If you ever need anything, or you're interested in finding work, we always have jobs that need doing at the lab. Stop by anytime, and good luck training your Pokemon." Seeing that Avery had angled himself in such away that he could make a quick escape if he chose to, Kyla followed suit and waved goodbye before turning on her heel and heading back into the depths of the lab.

The receptionist, on the other hand, wore a frown on her face that might have suggested disappointment or irritation, it was hard to tell which. She peered over her computer at Avery. "You're leavin'? Lame." She tapped harshly at her keyboard for a few moments, then poked her head up above the screen again, this time wearing a sly grin. "You come back soon! Pay me another visit, or else." She winked and bared her fangs, then at least returned her full attention to her computer, apparently deciding that Avery was allowed to leave... for now.

[Crim]

He dipped his head as he watched the older of the two women go, mind already drifting on where he was going to go next. The only way to really get off of the island seemed to be going across that lake, though, from what he gathered, he had a lot more options depending on which way he decided to go from there. He'd also heard about some strange festival coming up; perhaps he should check that out as well. There was definitely a lot to see, and, for once, the man had the time and resources to go and see it. He certainly wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

The Snubbull Morph's words caused him to pause briefly, to drift from his mental ponderings back into reality for just a second or two. He grinned a little nervously in response to that bared smile, hand scratching at the back of his neck as it always did when he felt a little awkward. He was probably going to have to come back here at some point for some reason or another, if he thought about it... He shrugged and gave a little nod.

"Heh. I guess I might see you around, then." was all he could really think to reply with, pleased that he seemed to be able to leave now, at least. He shot one more glance down at that Pokeball and the items in the bag, before straightening up and heading out of the door. He'd have to find the place to rent those little boats before he did anything else, he figured. Surely it couldn't be too difficult.