Playmate...Playmate...

[Lee]

Zach had to shove his hands into his pockets to avoid nervously twisting the end of his braid. It was a good idea, he agreed with Rapheal on that. Jasmine did need a playmate, no doubt. But how was he supposed to know if there were ghosts here or not?

It had really been an ongoing arguement after Jasmine dragged Zach into the wishing well. When Rapheal had heard about it, he'd proclaimed to Zach that Jasmine needed a playmate. She was young, after all, hardly more than a babe, and all the rest of the pokemon on his team were much older. Zach hadn't wanted to adopt a baby pokemon, since Jasmine was so much trouble...But he did love Jasmine. He wanted her to be happy. And since she had overheard the entire conversation and had been dragging at his pant legs and begging, he couldn't say no, could he?

Oh, but he wasn't going to be here by himself. First off, it only made sense for Jasmine to speak with the other pokemon, so that they could get a playmate that she would get along with. Because she didn't like to be carried all of the time, that meant Rapheal had to suffer too (although Zach would have told him he deserved it anyways), but it wasn't really a good punishment, because Rapheal was enjoying the walk and looking around the building as much as Jasmine.

Well, considering there weren't any ghosts around, Zach was beginning to enjoy it as well. There were so many interesting things in large buildings, and he was kind of excited to be getting a new pokemon, in such a way as he wasn't terrified or forced to battle the creature. It just wasn't right, somehow, to faint a baby pokemon. And since Jasmine was a baby, that would have been required, so that the playmate would be the same age...

Maybe Rapheal hadn't had such a bad idea after all.

Stopping at the receptionist counter, he looked over his shoulder at Rapheal as he held Jasmine firmly in grasp as the little sandshrew attempted to streak by the counter to meet all of the other pokemon in there. Shaking his head and smiling, he turned back to the counter and asked, "I was wondering about adopting a pokemon?"

[Nyaa-Neko]

The "receptionist" - actually one of the baby-room workers - looked up with a jolt. "Awwww! We're so shortstaffed!" She cried, waving her hand (which was holding a bottle for one of the babies) around. Pouting, she got up. "Well, I work in the baby room...I assume you want one of our babies, then?"

Without waiting for an answer, she ducked into said room to the tune of a crying zigzagoon. "Sorry, Tripod!" She dashed over to the little three-legged raccoon, holding the bottle out for the shiny 'coon to suck on. Once she quieted, the worker looked over her shoulder at Zach. "So yeah, the babies...we have five, though I'm not sure you want Shasta..."

The woman stole a look at a sleeping shiny dratini. The young woman, a second-year college student at Sapphire University named Samantha Larson, always had a thing for dragons...especially the dratini line. And when her first dratini didn't work out (why, oh why wouldn't somebody just TAKE him?), she suddenly found herself falling in love with the disabled cutie...

Well, that and because of her condition, she wasn't supposed to let just anyone take Shasta. But really, she'd end up fighting even Corwin tooth and nail before she let somebody take her baby away...

((Yeah...so Sammy and Samantha are one and the same...apparently. ^_^;; ))

[Lee]

((Tripod huh? Well, I'll take her -actually liked her and was planning on prying her away anyways- if she manages to get along with Jasmine. Which she probably will. Yea...))

Jasmine streaked off to look at absolutely every single potential playmate the moment they entered the room, let off her 'leash' when Rapheal decided that it'd be more trouble to keep her close than it would be to let her look at the other baby pokemon. She wasn't going to hurt anything, after all, and there weren't many ways she could manage to disapear from view. Not that she was likely too, with as many potential friends here as there were.

Zach sighed in relief as he saw that there were indeed no ghost pokemon. It set off the train of thought that ended up in his completely random question of, "Are ghosts even capable of being baby pokemon?" He pulled his hands out of his pockets in a warding gesture, "Not that I want one, mind, just curious."

Behind him, Rapheal sniggered and innocently left Zach to deal with the whole business part (the money and such) of getting a new pokemon, opting to follow Jasmine around and look at the cute babies. Despite being the fearsome shiny Zangoose, he had an amazingly large spot for baby pokemon. It was, some might say, even pathetic. He liked being a nursemaid, even if Jasmine tried his patience sometimes.

The Sandshrew was poking her head near Tripod, staring with wide eyes. < Rapheal, did you know that she only has three legs? I wonder how she gets around...Do you think she'll show us if we ask? How old is she? Can she talk? Can she walk yet? >

Zach frowned at Rapheal-There was no cause to laugh at him, although he did check The Pocket to make sure that Akriso's pokeball was still in there-before placing his customary not-a-frown and not-a-smile expression on his face. It was hard to smile if you didn't have any real reason to...So why bother?

"Shasta is the dratini?" Placing his hands into his pockets, he shook his head. "I don't think so. Jasmine seems to be more interested in-What did you call her, Tripod?-than the dratini. That's why I'm adopting. She needs a playmate, and the Elekid that's her age...Well, a bit older, but still around her age, he's not a very good playmate. All scientific and mature. So whatever pokemon Jasmine gets along with the most, or likes the most, or however she chooses best friends, that's the one I hope to adopt."

[Nyaa-Neko]

((YAY! I really wanted Tripod to go to Zach. ^_^))

Sammy nodded, touching Shasta's head. "Yeah, this dratini is named Shasta," she said softly, looking down lovingly at the cooing dragon. That, and she was happy the boy didn't want Shasta. SHE wanted Shasta, darn it!

The woman then looked over the crib at the zigzagoon. "You want Tripod, huh? Okay, let me get her out." She then did an incredible feat of maneuvering, where she picked up the raccoon without her elbow squishing the dragon.

Sammy nodded her head in the direction of another room. "Let's see how you like him, huh, Tripod?"

"<Yaa!>" Tripod squealed. She had just begun to talk a few days ago, but couldn't say much.

Once inside, Sammy sat down in a cross-legged position on the floor (there were cushions, but not much else inside), letting Shasta lie in her lap. She then put down the happy Tripod on the ground, so she could interact with Zach.

The small mammal zigzagged over to Zach. "<Hi!>" She cheered, beaming at the trainer.

[Lee]

Zach blinked, wondering if maybe Sammy was one of those people who could bend their body into really wierd shapes. It would make her act of manuevering easy to explain at least. Or maybe she just had alot of practice...

Shaking his head, he followed after her, nearly tripping over Jasmine as she streaked ahead to walk right beside Sammy, staring up at Tripod and babbling on about something. She was speaking too fast for it to be made out, although occasionally a word would be clear. Not that that helped. Since things like, 'Sky' and then 'Candy' and then 'Stones' hardly made any sense. Still, it was obvious that she was excited.

Rapheal walked behind Zach, looking back over his shoulder at all the other babies. Did he have to leave so soon?

Zach set cross-legged opposite of Sammy, a smile actually appearing on his face as Tripod zipped over to him. "Hello there." He rubbed her head with his hand, chuckling slightly as Jasmine clambered into his lap and poked her face close to Tripod's.

<Are you going to be my friend? Oh! We can be sisters! Wanna be sisters?> Her questions were cut off as Rapheal's claw descended over her mouth, his other hand in front of his mouth in a 'shushing' gesture.

Zach shook his head, pointing at each member of the little team as he spoke their names. "That's Rapheal, and that's Jasmine. I'm Zach."

[Nyaa-Neko]

Tripod grinned a raccoony-grin. "<Sis! Sis!>" Jumping up and down crookedly (it's a little hard to jump with three legs), she clambered into Zach's lap, laughing. "<Yaaaa!>"

Sammy smiled. "She's a really sweet zigzagoon, and will probably be a good battler, though you'd probably want to wait a bit before having her go through rigorous training. Her physical problem usually doesn't give her much trouble, though sometimes she's a bit sensitive where her leg should be - she'll cry if she gets hit there. It's her weakest spot."

((Bleh...))

[Lee]

Zach's lap was quite crowded with both a sandshrew and a zigzagoon in it, but it didn't seem as if it would be getting any more crowded. Rapheal was hardly going to climb into his lap, and Zach would probably have pushed him off anyways.

Speaking of the Zangoose, he was busy laughing behind Zach's back, leaning against it. The two baby pokemon were quite amusing to watch, and Zach had the most peculiar expression. He was actually smiling, and Rapheal had only seen a straight line on his face, or one of terror (that being when Akriso was out, or when in Sunstone Tunnel).

Zach turned his attention to Sammy as Jasmine clapped her hands and started going on and on about how wonderful everything would be, and how they could get Zach to get them candy as a celebration (Zach purposfully pretended not to hear, since he wasn't supposed to, according to Jasmine who had told him to not listen), and how they could make dolls out of some stuff in his bag (Zach wondered when she had gone through it). "I'm not likely to make it to the group one routes for a while yet anyways, so the most training she would have would be play fighting with Jasmine." A sarcastic light appeared in his eyes, "Although I fear the dolls my clothes may be turned into will have more training than them." He nodded though, "I'll remember that though."

[Nyaa-Neko]

Sammy nodded. "That's fine. She seems to like you," she noted, pointing to the raccoon, who had started calling Zach "<Dah-y!>". Sammy assumed she meant "daddy", but was having trouble saying it.

Meanwhile, Tripod giggled, excited about the concept of dolls, a sister, and a daddy. She was very excited - not many people she'd met liked her this much. And Jasmine was so nice! And yay...DOLLS!

[Lee]

Zach grinned, poking a finger over his shoulder at Rapheal, who blinked and looked up from his intense study of the two. "Well, with Rapheal I won't have to worry about being overrun. He may look like a fierce Zangoose, but I think he's a Chansey, or a Kangashkan in disguise."

Rapheal looked indignant, <A Chansey? Oh come on! I'm a Zangoose Give me something to battle and I'll prove it to you!>

Zach stuck his tongue out at Rapheal, feeling quite a bit cheerier. He liked Tripod, and he didn't even mind being called daddy. Which usually bothered him (He was only fifteen! He wasn't ready to be a father!).

Jasmine suddenly threw her arms around the neck of her new sister, giving her a hug. In typical little girl fashion, she was already convinced that Tripod was the next thing to a goddess. Plus, she was going to be able to play dolls with someone! She'd asked Rapheal one time, but that was one thing he wasn't going to stoop to. She'd thought about letting Akriso out (The shuppet seemed like she'd like to play) but any time the ghost pokemon came out she was always worrying about Zach. So she figured that wouldn't work.

[Nyaa-Neko]

((Now then, I am growing tired of this nonsense...PH34R T3H TIM3 SKIP!))

Half an hour or so later, Sammy yawned. It was obvious Tripod loved the team, and she'd done a background check while they were getting acquainted. The guy was completely harmless, and a good match for the raccoon.

With a grunt (Shasta was a bit awkward), she stood up, grabbing Tripod's Pokeball. "Well, Tripod just reached the age she can leave, like, today. So yeah...do you want to buy her? If you do, that will be 5000 pyen."

[Lee]

((That's good, because I was running out of things to say. XD))

Zach was stuck on the floor, considering both Tripod and Jasmine were still babbling to each other on his lap. So he settled for looking up at her and nodding, "Yea, I will." Thankful that he'd put most of the money (except for a little bit in his jeans pocket) into a small bag in his backpack, he dug it out without disturbing the two pokemon on his lap, although he ended up whacking Rapheal with it, and shocking the Zangoose out of a daze as he stared at Tripod and Shasta.

"Here you go." Yea. Rapheal better not decide that they needed another playmate any time soon. It wasn't like Zach was someone rich, after all.

[Nyaa-Neko]

Sammy took the money, and handed Zach the Pokeball in return. "Thanks, and please check in with how she's doing!"

And then they could leave...((>_<;; *ran out of stuff to say*))

Zach's Pokedex then beeped, as it had just received the stats of the zigzagoon from the eggery's computers. They were:

Zigzagoon
Gender: female
Level: 5
Group: 1
Nickname: Tripod
Note: shiny
Note: born without her left back leg
Ability: Pick Up: has a 1/10 chance of finding an item after every battle
Attacks: Tackle, Growl, Tail Whip, Sludge Bomb
Personality: Happy, cheerful, excited, optimistic...wonderful. She has very high stats, a great personality, and loves to battle. However, her physical disability can sometimes get in the way (the area where her leg should be is very tender, as well as her weakest spot) during battles. She loves her team like a family - Zach is her father, Rapheal is her uncle, Jasmine is her older sister, and Akriso is her mommy.

((So does that mean Zach and Akriso are her parents...? EW NO! Akriso thinks SHE is Zach's mom...okay...ewwwww...))

[Lee]

Zach nodded and nudged Jasmine off of his lap, while standing up with his arms holding Tripod. "Alright, I will. Thanks." Looking down at Rapheal (who had taken ahold of Jasmine's hand) he murmered, "Happy now? Let's go."

And so they left the Eggery. And the Nishiara building, to be exact.

((-poofs out- XD))

[Nyaa-Neko]

((When I said Sludge Bomb...I meant Shadow Ball. Sorry, she knows Shadow Ball, not Sludge Bomb. ))