Two Starters To Go, Please.

[TopazPikachu]

Sami wandered around Ruby City, trying to find her way to the lab. Unfortunately, she was very lost, and on the wrong side of the city. "I see the building with the gym, but where is the lab?" She muttered, turning around in a circle for the upteenth time, making herself dizzy enough to fall onto her rear.

Good thing she ran into her cousin, never mind the fact that Jenni tripped over Sami, she had found her, though there were three Jennis in front of her.

"Hi, cuz." Sami said disorientedly, the world still spinning.

Jenni turned to see Sami sitting on the ground looking as if she were drunk as much as she was staggering once she stood up. Jenni grabbed one of Sami's arms and led her through the city towards the lab.

By the time they got off the elevator, Sami had stopped being dizzy and started being excited and nervous, which made her nauseas. Both girls walked inside the lab, looking around the neat room for a moment before they indicated thier presence.

"Professor? We're here for our starters." Jenni spoke since Sami was too busy fighting off her nausea and silently hoping to get an eevee to start her eveeloution team.

[MorriganFearn]

"Hello," the man looked up from a computer at the two girls, a slight frown on his face. He disapproved of loud noises, and sickness. One of the girls displayed one, and the other displayed the other, and that was very uncomforting in his position. He didn't want to give one of his starters out to trainers who were like that. However, he also realized that first impressions were not everything, and everyone can have a bad day, so he made allowances.

"Welcome to the Ruby City Laboratory," he began, "you have quite a range of starter choice, actually. First there are our regular starters: slugma, corphish, bellsprout, magnemite, and rattata. Then, again, if none of these are to your liking, you could choose from some special starters that we have for this week: grimer, meditite, sunkern, shuppet, and electrike. Or, if you're familiar with the rare starters from other, more main stream regions, we do have a small selection. The three we have at the moment are: charmander, totodile, and turtwig."

He let the names sink in, and then cleared his throat. "If you are uncertain, perhaps there are two that you have trouble deciding between, or none of these is the right fit for you, you could broaden your selection even further by playing the "Letter Starter Game" -- please ignore the dubious title, my seviper believe it is more entertaining -- or take the type quiz. If you want another Pokemon added to the list by using the letter game, you can pick a letter from A to Z. A random Pokemon will be selected that begins with that letter, and the base form in the line of that Pokemon will be added to the list, so if you pick U you might get an unknown added, since it is a base for already. Or you could get umbreon, and that would give you an eevee as a starter option. It is completely computer generated, so getting a rare pokemon is not as hard as it could be.

"It's also perfectly okay to do both the letter game and the type quiz. If you take the "what type are you" quiz, you can have another Pokemon of the type you get based on your quiz answers. The quiz is five questions long, and can be found on that rack," he waved to a rack containing pieces of paper the size of note cards, with the questions on the front. "Just fill them out."

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)

[TopazPikachu]

It only took a moment for Jenni to decide which pokemon to pick. "I'll take a charmander, please. Gender doesn't matter, but I'd like a loyal one, please." She said in a much quieter voice that didn't hide her excitement.


Sami took a bit longer to decide. She knew what she wanted as her starter, but it wasn't in the lists that were given. "I'll take the quiz. Can I pick a letter if none of my answers give me the pokemon I want on the list?" Her answeres from the quiz are B, C, E and G. She handed her answers to the professor and waited for the results quietly.

[MorriganFearn]

The professor had already moved around to the front of the lab, and the long shelf with the alphabetized pokemon on it. His fingers moved along the "c" row, and came away with a charmander. "This girl should be loyal," he told Jenni, handing the ball to her, and then heading over to the right side of the room to get her potions, and pokeballs. "Please choose a pokedex, miss," he added, placing the required items on the counter in front of Jenni, before taking Sami's paper.

A large seviper slithered up from a back room, and looked over his shoulder. The thin tongue flickered in and out a few times, before the reptile reared up slightly higher, and looked at Sami with bright yellow eyes.

"Enough Fuuyu," the professor remonstrated, before looking at Sami, as well. "Well, miss, you can have a weedle added to your assortment, if you like. Would you prefer to pick a letter?"

[TopazPikachu]

Jenni took her charmander and items from the professor and chose a pokedex while waiting on her cousin.


Sami watched the seviper curiously for a moment before the professor repremanded him/her. "I'll pick a letter." Her mind started spinning as she thought of which letter to pick. "I'll pick E, pease." She decided after a few moments of thinking, hoping to get an eevee added to her list of starters.

[MorriganFearn]

"All right," the Jentan professor looked down at the computer and typed a few things in, before looking up again. "E got you an electrode, and that will get you a voltorb added to your choices, Miss."

The seviper was already heading over to grab the items that Sami would receive.

Stats for the charmander:

Name: ? ? ?
Gender: Female
Level: 5
Moves: Scratch, Growl
Special ability: Blaze - Increases firepower in a pinch.
Personality: Loyal to humans, but quiet. She's a little shy, so she might seem stand-offish, and thus it might be hard to figure out that she supports her trainer.

[TopazPikachu]

Sami sighed quietly, disappointed she didn't get an eevee as a starter choice. She thought about her selection, narrowing them down quickly in her head before finally deciding which she would like. "I'll take an electrike, please. Gender doesn't matter, but I'd like one that isn't too hyper or depressing. Cheerful and loyal, if you have one with that personality." Her nervousness and nausea left as soon as she made her decision, she was feeling confident she made the right choice for a starter.

[MorriganFearn]

"Hmm, a non-hyper electrike," the professor said, pondering. "That can be hard with electric types, let's see what we have."

He walked over to the pokeball filled shelf, and began to peer over his selections, finally choosing a pokeball. "I think this one will suit you young lady. He might not be as cheerful as you would like, but he should be fairly level headed, and he is definitely a trainer's pokemon with a thirst for battle, does that sound okay to you?"

((Note: If Sami doesn't wasn't a battle happy pokemon you can always ask for a different one. I'm not sure how well she'd deal with one like that.))

[TopazPikachu]

"I don't think I'd do well with one like that, would you have any other pokemon with the personalities I asked for?" Sami replied, looking at the pokeball uncertainly.



Jenni stood to the side quietly while Sami chose her starter. "You don't have any eevees do you? That's what she wanted as a starter. It's her dream to have an all eeveeloution team."

[MorriganFearn]

The professor looked at Jenni, and it was clear that he was trying not to smile. "Young lady -- you are aware of how rare and delicate eevees are? They were created for use in laboratory work, and don't thrive well outside the hands of experienced trainers. Even if I had an eevee, I would give him to someone who had earned at least four or five badges, and had a well rounded team that could back up the eevee as he was trained. They're very weak at the beginning, and need the help of teammates and a trainer who knows the ropes of training. I will look out for one, if you want, for when you have a few gyms beaten, but not while you're still so young and inexperienced."

Over his shoulder the seviper hissed <Psst! The breeding center,> to Sami.

The professor looked around with his eyebrows raised. "Excuse me, Fuuyu?"

The seviper coughed. <Just something caught in my throat. Shouldn't you be giving her a pokemon?>

"Well, yes," Professor Cervase said, turning back to the shelf. "Hmm, well, we could try this girl," he said, handing a pokeball to Sami. "She's marked down as cheerful and optimistic, and since she is an electrike, she's likely to be loyal just on principal."

Stats:

Name: ? ? ?
Gender: Female
Level: 5
Attacks: Tackle, Thunder Wave
Special Ability: Static - Physical attacks against this pokemon have a one in three chance of paralyzing the opponent. Reception for cell phones is also boosted.
Personality: Always ready with a kind word for every situation, and a smile for anyone. This little puppy firmly believes that every cloud has a silver lining, and that everything will work out well in the end. She can be a bit trite and motherly at times, but always tries her best in every circumstance.

[TopazPikachu]

Sami had to hide a smile as she heard what Fuyuu whispered, making a mental note to pay a visit to the seviper with a present in the near future. She took the pokeball from the professor at the instant the smile could no longer be fought off. "I'll take good care of her." She promised, now smiling from ear to ear.



Jenni tossed a pokeblock in Fuyuu's direction while the professor wasn't looking. "Let's get going, I wanted to look into the building with the pokemon enviroments, maybe catch some new pokemon and train Arani there."

[MorriganFearn]

"That is a good place to start," the Professor nodded. "Carmen has level nine pokemon, and if you two journey together, you'll be facing both at once in a double battle, so getting both your charmander, and electrike up to level nine might not be a bad idea. Also, the simulator building has mankey on one of the floors, and you might want one a piece, seeing as they are strong against normal types. Or you could try a gastly, which can also be found there, since gastly have the ultimate defense against normal types."

<And there is the breeding center,> Fuuyu interjected around his pokeblock, which was sour, just the way he liked. <They have machop there, if you're looking to build a team based on attack to face Carmen with. And there are several other rare pokemon there, as well. But the rarer they are, the more pricey they are, which might be a problem.>

"There is also the pokemart," the Professor Cerasus added. "But you should be able to do well on your way. Make sure you have your items stowed properly, and then off with you. Tejan is waiting for its next champion, after all."

((Your complete starter pack:

Jenni	Sami
1 charmander (level 5)	1 electrike (level 5)
1 standard Tejan Pokedex 3 potions 5 pokeballs 5000 pyen	1 standard Tejan Pokedex 3 potions 5 pokeballs 5000 pyen

[TopazPikachu]

Both girls put thier items away and turned to leave, thanking the professor and Fyuu for thier help. The exited the lab and rode the elevator to the first floor and left the building, heading for the Chiiaka building.

[MorriganFearn]

The lobby of the building contained a nervous looking young man sitting behind a large desk, and trying to look official. Behind him were five doors, each with some sort of drawing carved in them. The most visible as the two relatives came in was the near door with a small flame carved into the wood. The boy sat up a little straighter and looked at the two girls. "Hello. Uh. What business brings you to the Chiiaka building today?"

[TopazPikachu]

The girls looked around briefly before walking up to the desk with the nervous looking young man behind it. "We'd like to see some of the pokemon for sale, please." Sami replied, trying to hold her excitement in. Jenni stared at the door with the fire emblem etched into it, wondering what kind of fire types they had in the room behind the door. Sami noticed Jenni staring at the door and made a mental note to see what kinds of fire pokemon they had, knowing Jenni would pesture her to come back if they didn't.

[Nyaa-Neko]

The boy sighed. Another group of trainers asking him questions he couldn't answer without opening a brochure. He really needed to memorize the list of offered pokemon and the prices...

But nevertheless, he grabbed a brochure, and opened it up so the two girls could look on as he pointed to each pokemon.

"Okay, so, um, we offer five kinds of pokemon for sale to the general public, and you can, uh, see them right here," he began, poking the picture of the machop, which was listed first. "They're all at level 5 and available in either gender, 'cept for the smoochum, since they're only girls. Anyway, we got machop for 2500 pyen," he motioned towards the door with the fighting symbol off to the far left. "They're pretty practical, and the cheapest. Prob'ly the best overall, 'specially against the Ruby City gym."

Then he dragged his finger across the next three pictures. "We also got, for 3000 pyen each, elekid, magby, and smoochum. Just go through the door with the electric, fire, or psychic symbol," he gestured behind him in the general location of each door, "and talk to the breeders if you want one of 'em. They're kinda weak in the beginning, but if you can evolve them, they're pretty good."

He paused, then poked the last picture, though he looked reluctant about it. "We also got eevee, but they're really expensive - 7500 pyen for one of 'em. So most trainers can't afford 'em until after a badge or two. But if you're in the market for a well-bred, no-birth-defects eevee somewhere down the line, Chiiaka Building's the place to go."

[TopazPikachu]

"Thank you for your help." Sami said once he was finished. The girls stepped away from the desk and began talking in low tones. Sami wanted to get an eevee and Jenni wanted to buy a magby, but the eevee was very expensive and she could only afford one if Jenni lent her the pyen to buy one. After talking for another moment, the girls walked through the door where they sold eevee. "Hello? I'm here to look at the eevee." Sami said, looking around the room.

[Nyaa-Neko]

((Haha, smaaart with the lending of the money. Nyaa-Neko stamp of approval, right there.))

A young woman looked up from texting on her cell phone, obviously a little bored. She brightened when she saw the two women walk in - she hadn't had anyone come in all day. "Hi," she greeted, tossing her sleek little periwinkle cell phone back into her University of Tejan at Ruby City tote bag along with her pokemon developmental psychology textbook (UTRC was, in fact, the best university in the Jenta Union for pokemon psychology and very selective, thankyouverymuch). "You're here to look at the eevee? Great!"

She sped over to the eevee pens, where a couple of the younger ones were snoozing, and got out a clipboard, flipping through it to look at the various bios of all the eevee for sale through the agency. "Any gender or personality preferences? Or should I just bring out a couple that we would recommend?"

[TopazPikachu]

Sami had to stop herself from rushing to the eevee pen herself. "I have no preferances, so could I look at some up close?" Jenni grabbed hold of Sami's coat tail to keep her from moving unless the young lady gave her permission to look into the eevee pen.



(Thank you, NN-Chan. One of the advantages of having two characters travelling together. I think Bunny's writer's block is contagious, or maybe my brain is too cold to think.)

[Nyaa-Neko]

She nodded, and went off to go grab three of the pokeballs in one of the "outbound" shelves. The three she grabbed each had a number - 073, 091, and 104.

"These three are fairly mature and generally recommended by the breeders working here," she explained, opening each of the three capsules, revealing two males and one female.

The first male eevee, the largest and oldest of the three, examined Sami first with an eye beyond his years. "<So you got enough money to buy us?>" he asked, obviously doubting her ability to retain money.

The female rolled her eyes. "<You're so mean, Seventy-three,>" she whined, using the identification number of the other eevee as if it were his official name. "<Why do you have to be so mean?>"

He shrugged, and they both looked at the third eevee, the smallest. "<Um,>" he said in reply, looking between the other two. "<I dunno.>"

Then they all looked up at Sami, as if trying to pull her into the nonsensical babyish conversation they were having.