Getting a Starter. What Else?

[Lee]

Phaise had stayed up late the entire night, trying to decide on a starter. She was horrible at making decisions, afraid she would have made a wrong decision, which meant she second guessed everything she did. Then she second guessed her original second guess, and you could picture what happened next.

However, she'd finally come to the conclusion that she would pick a letter (She was tempted to choose X, because she didn't know a pokemon that began with that, but if none did she would choose O because O was a nice letter) and take the quiz, just in case she got a better choice. If neither of them were acceptable, she would take Pineco.

Pineco was actually a fairly interesting pokemon, even if it looked like a...Well, like a pinecone. Which is where it's name came from, she was certain.

As it was she had chosen her favorite dress to wear today, because she wanted to feel as comfortable as possible, so that she wouldn't be nervous. It didn't stop her from being nervous, but she didn't bite her fingernails, so she was safe.

Taking a deep breath she...

Took another breath. And raised her hand to knock...

Lowered it and breathed carefully a few times, smoothed out her hair, dusted imaginary dirt off her dress, breathed a few more careful breaths, and then knocked.

[MorriganFearn]

The doorman of the building looked a little confused through the glass door. Another nervous trainer hopeful, he surmised. He opened the door. "Miss, are you hear to get your starter? The Lab is on the eleventh floor. Use the elevator over there. Alternatively you can go ask the secretary for directions to another place within the building, if you're looking for something else, ma'am."

[Lee]

Blushing furiously, she hurried to the elevator, jabbing the button and staring at the floor as she waited for it to show up, before hurrying in and jabbing the "11" until the doors closed and she was able to lean against the back of the elevator and get over her embarrassment. She still dreaded leaving the building, but at least she wouldn't knock to get out.

Heavens. A glass door and she had knocked! And went through all the trouble of working up the nerve to do so!

How mystifyingly embarrassing.

Well, at least she knew the eleventh floor was the floor for the pokemon...

So she was quite ready when the doors of the elevator opened.

[MorriganFearn]

The lab was separated from the real world by a small waiting area and another set of glass doors, this time sliding ones. However, the Professor of Tejan could be clearly seen, sitting behind a desk, and sorting paper into little piles. In a terrarium that took up one side of a wall, two seviper lounged under a heat lamp.

All in all, the environment seemed a little sterile, which could have been intimidating for Phaise. However the doors were open, and Edwin looked up from his desk. He frowned a little, and then raised one very neat eyebrow. "Welcome to the Tejan Lab. You're a new trainer, I shall assume. Do you know what you want? The list is posted on the lounge wall," he indicated a neat, laminated list that was tacked above what looked to be doctor's waiting room chairs in the small reception area before the glass doors. "If you don't like any of the choices, then take the type quiz, and I'll add an extra choice."

[Lee]

Phaise smiled, "Ah...Hello." Deciding she would take a look at the paper, just in case Pineco wasn't offered anymore (It had been a while since she'd looked at the paper), she walked over there, almost afraid that she would be tracking in dirt.

Pineco wasn't offered anymore, but there was a Venonat-And there was always a couple of others she could fall back to. First though she would expand her choices, so she decided to take the quiz. Looking at the paper she circled her answers quickly, it being such a simple quiz.

Question 1: In a battle, would you rather attack:
- A) from far away?
- B) up close?
Question 2: Would you rather take part in:
- C) a challenge of wits?
- D) a challenge of strength?
Question 3: Would you rather be awake during:
- E) the day?
- F) the night?
Question 4: Do you generally prefer:
- G) hot colors? (red, orange, yellow)
- H) cold colors? (green, blue, purple)

Once she was finished, she walked over to the desk, holding out the paper for him to take. "Ah, here you go. Do you still do the thing where I pick a letter? Before I got here I read a pamphlet that said you did that...If you do, I'd like to choose X-If there even is a pokemon that begins with that. O if there isn't."

[MorriganFearn]

"Well, in addition to the starters on the board, then," Professor Cerveaus coughed as he scanned the list of answers, "your type match up is water, and you get a squirtle, and the only pokemon that begins with "X" is Xatu. Of course, this is assuming that we are speaking English, but I shall take the assumption as a given. As Xatu is evolved, natu is added to your list of starters."

<Ssssso,> Fukko added for Phaise's benefit, <You can choose between squirtle, natu, torchic, piplup, chikorita, budew, pinsir, surskit, exeggcute, venonat, slugma, corphish, bellsprout, magnemite, and rattata.>

[Lee]

Phaise blinked-Xatu? What was that? For that matter, what was a natu? Deciding it couldn't be that horrible, and she had said she would go with it if there actually was one, she nodded resolutely. "Okay then, natu it is." The professor was a curious creature, Phaise thought. What other language could they be speaking if they were both speaking it and it was clearly english?

She didn't even know any other languages-Well, she knew a spattering of spanish from an aunt, but it wasn't even enough to order food or give clear directions with.

So. She was almost ready to go. She had no clue what to do after she received this natu (whom she'd be sure to figure out what it was as soon as she was out of site of the professor), but there was probably some way to find out. Besides asking anyone in this building, since she was sure the professor thought she was somewhat dim, and she knew the receptionist thought so.

[MorriganFearn]

"Interesting choice," the professor raised a black eyebrow. "You are aware that natu are psychic, correct?"

<Of coursssse, she isss,> Fuuko rolled a yellow eye. <She wouldn't choosssse anything that she didn't know about.>

"Well, if you're certain," Professor Cervase said, heading over to a bookshelf filled with neatly labeled pokeballs resting in their own brackets. He returned with a pokeball, and a pokedex. "Here is your pokedex, and your newly acquired natu. Make friends while I get the rest of your supplies."

Stats:
Name: ? ? ?
Gender: Female
Level: 5
Moves: Peck, leer
Special Ability: Early Bird - Sleep only lasts half as long
Personality: She's a little batty. Her special ability verges on insomnia, which makes it very hard for her to get enough sleep, and as a result, this little girl is crazy, crazy, crazy! She might try to wake Phaise up, or attempt to fall asleep during battle, or just be in a weird mood all day, and constantly chasing dreams. She's going to be a bit of a handful unless she's had the right amount of rest.

[Lee]

"Eh...hehe...Right..." Of course she wouldn't choose something she knew nothing about...

/Please, please, please don't be something completely crazy and frightening.../ Slipping the pokedex into her purse-like bag, she released the natu, glad that she could at least do that. What emerged from the pokeball was something she couldn't decide on whether it was cute, or strange.

The little bird, at least, qualified at being crazy. Perhaps it was for the best of things that she was half-asleep when released, but perhaps it wasn't. it did mean that Phaise wouldn't learn about crazy tendencies until it was too late, but at least Phaise didn't freak out in front of anyone. "Hey there...Uh...Natty. Do you mind if I call you that?"

<Natty? Szno...Youz ca' calls meh tha'...> The green pokemon yawned, perking up a little. It didn't please her at all though, changing her mood. <Why'd you go an' wake me up anyways?>

Phaise, confused by the change in mood raised her hands up, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up..."

[MorriganFearn]

<Oh dear,> Fuuko hissed, looking over the desk, and looking at the trainer and pokemon pair. <Cerasus--,>

The Jentan Professor reappeared behind the counter, with three potions, five more pokeballs, a dark green pokedex, and 5000 pyen on a swipe card. "Miss Storm? I have your trainer's pack. Now, you should know that Ruby City actually is home to the first gym in Tejan. You might want to check out the Furuhashi building. Since the Ruby City gym is a normal type gym you can find mankey in the simulator, on the third floor of the Furuhashi Building, I believe, and gastly on the seventh floor. Both can be helpful against Carmen in different ways."

[Lee]

Phaise nodded, "Thank you Professor." Slipping the trainer pack into her bag, she looked at her pokemon, "Um, would you like to go back to sleep?"

"No, no! You woke me up now, I can't possibly go back to sleep." Natty complained, hopping about until she was sitting comfortably on Phaise's shoulder. "Let's go where the nice professor said." Tugging on Phaise's ear with her beak she tried to harry the girl out of the room.

"Oh, okay! Um, thanks again Professor, and bye!" Her footsteps were hurried as she left the room, rubbing her ear as Natty chattered in her ear.

A quick dash out of the lobby and Phaise was on the streets. "So. Mankey and/or Gastly. Which one should we pick, Natty?" Looking at street signs was enough to get her pointed in the right direction, so soon enough Phaise was at the correct building.

"Zzz....S'what? Oh right. Gastly. Manky are loud and ugly. And violent." Natty assisted Phaise by pressing the button that would take them to the correct floor.

[MorriganFearn]

((Y'know that whole Furuhashi building? It's actually the Kobayashi Building -- the Lab is in the Furuhashi building. I'm just stupid and can't keep place names straight. Anyhoo -- which pokemon are you after?))

The elevator was a nice elevator, with wood paneling and a bronze plaque which gave the names of the people who had donated money to the building over the years. By the buttons was a list saying which floors contained which pokemon:

Second Floor - Sentret

Third Floor - Wurmple

Fourth Floor - Poochyena

Fifth Floor - Mankey

Sixth Floor - Starly

Seventh Floor - Gastly

On the other side of the elevator was another placard which read:

Battle all you like.
However, because of restocking
problems trainers are only
allowed to catch three pokemon.
So, choose wisely.

[Lee]

OoC:
I noticed. I did a little bit of researches and found that out.
She's on the seventh floor. Gastly and all. Sorry I didn't make that clear.

BiC:

Phaise shrugged, nearly displacing her pokemon. "We can always train on the mankey though. You'll have a type advantage, according to this thing." She was looking at her pokedex, on a screen that resembled Natty quite a bit, although the picture was a bit pixelated.

"Well duh. Of course I do. But no catching them. I mean it. If you do, I'll keep it knocked out all the time and won't ever let you sleep. I'm warning you." Glaring at her trainer, Natty nearly fell off her perch.

"Okay! No catching mankey's. But we should get at least one...Personally, catching a Gastly would be kind of fun. You don't have anything against them, do you?"

"Nope. Gastly are fine. They let me sleep." With that closing remark, the two stepped out of the elevator onto the seventh floor, Phaise looking for the pokemon.

"I don't see any..."

[MorriganFearn]

The seventh floor, unlike the other five simulator floors, was totally bare of holographic environment. The floor itself wax a pale beech wood, while the room had no windows, and only one overhead chandelier for light. Something giggled behind Phaise.

<Kekekekekekekeh. Welcome to my parlor!> a huge pair of eyes appeared out of the air, which opened up into a wide maw ,seemingly about to eat Phaise and Natty.

[Lee]

"This is ra-eep!" Stumbling forward, Phaise tried to get away from eyes and mouth, dislodging Natty from her shoulder and sending the little bird pokemon to the ground beneath the floating face.

<That was rude!> Natty, however, wasn't shouting at the ghost, but her own trainer. The little bird, with ruffled feathers, didn't even seem to notice it. Or perhaps she did. <And you! Rude way to welcome someone! Everyone is so rude!>

"Oh...Pokemon...Gastly...ghost...Eep..." Gasping for breath, Phaise remained sitting on the floor, staring at her soon-to-be-opponent. She had come for a Gastly after all, and she doubted any other Gastly would be less frightening than this one. She'd just get used to it. "Okay Natty...Ready?"

<Of course.> Looking up at her opponent, she blinked lazily.

"Well then...peck!" Natty lunged upwards, ready to try and peck the nearly invisible pokemon.

OoC:
...Do natu fly? I can't remember...

[MorriganFearn]

((They probably fly just as well as other small birds. That is they're okay over short distances, but don't expect anything over a long haul.))

<Ooooh, I'm sooooo scared,> the gastly laughed nastily, rolling his eyes, and mocking the short bird. His tongue lolled out of his wide open mouth, and that was what Natty hit. Her beak glanced off the sensitive muscle, causing the ghost pokemon to cry out with a loud: <HEY! Ow!!! Dat wub my ton! Oooh. You'll pay.>

He glared, and his eyes suddenly appeared in front of the natu, having grown incredibly large and beginning to swing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in a hypnosis attack.

[Lee]

<S'what you ge'....bein' ru'....an'...all....> Slowly Natty fell asleep as she unwillingly followed the moving eyes, having already been running on a lack of sleep, as was her common condition.

"Wake up Natty!" Phaise bit her fingernails, still on the floor. "Oh dear, this isn't good..." Scrunching the hem of her dress in her hands, Phaise wished she had stopped by a store to buy some awakenings or something. "C'mon Natty!"

[MorriganFearn]

The gastly chuckled, and then appeared full bodied in a burst of gas right in front of Phaise's face. His opponent was snoozing now, and there was no reason not to take the opportunity to gloat and scare the human.

<Do you know what haunter do? Do you? They lick you, and take your soul! If you get licked by a haunter, you'll shake and shake for hours until you fall down dead! Kekekekekekekeh! Want to find out what happens when a gastly licks you? Huh? Or perhaps I should just taste your starter?>

The ghost swiveled upside down, grinning ferociously, before flying back to Natty, and sticking out his tongue, which went right through the bird.

[Lee]

"Eep!" Raising her hands up in a vain attempt to fend off of the gastly, Phaise's lips trembled as the pokemon continued to frighten her. "No!" Lunging upwards to her knees, Phaise didn't get a chance to attempt to stop the gastly, and was now convinced that something horrible was going to happen to her pokemon.

"Zzz-znugle!" Natty, startled awake by having the gastly stick his tongue through her, which induced a very chilling sensation, started pecking at the appendage once more, flapping her tiny wings furiously. "S'eeep! C-cold! Eeps!"

"Natty!" They had to get to a pokemon center, right away! What would she do if Natty wasn't okay? She'd just met the little pokemon today!

[MorriganFearn]

<Ow, ow, ow!> the ghost yelled, withdrawing his tongue quickly. <Stop dobing dat!>

That stupid bird was really beginning to hurt him. Her, and her stupid peck attack. He glared balefully at her, and then began to cackle, as his idea began to form. <Here, birdy, birdy, bidry, why don't you stop that, curl up into a little ball of earwax, and die!> the ghost hissed, his large eyes glowing red, as he spited her.