"It's raining, it's pouring..." [1]

[Quill]

Zane Wilson had caught a boat from Vermillion. It was about a ten-day trip, all of which he'd thought would be exciting. By the end of the third day, however, he was wondering whether or not he could've found a plane. Granted, this had been the cheapest of options, but the vessel was relatively small, and once he'd seen everything there was to see... There wasn't much else to do.

He was just about to go crazy when the announcement came: Attention -- two hours to Lanorae. Hallelujah, he mouthed sarcastically. He contemplated jumping in and swimming; he'd probably get there in better time. However... Water had the unpleasant side effect of making him smell like a wet dog, and nobody liked that.

- - - - -

While they landed in Konika Village, the laboratory itself was still a fair way off. Zane, a little irritated from his time on the boat, kicked off his shoes and stowed them in his bag. Houndoom feet or not, it was way to bloody hot outside. The hoodie went, too, leaving him in a pair of jeans and a plain grey t-shirt. Yes, yes... That was much better. He angrily shook a few stray bangs out of his face, ears twitching reflexively, and continued on his way. He supposed, as he sauntered towards the lab, that it was a nice day -- and while he didn't like the smell of the sea all that much, he appreciated the chance to be out in the sun.

It was a that point, however, that he noticed storm clouds starting to roll in. They were dark and fast-moving, as most summer storms are, and he was soon caught, running, in a near-torrential downpour. Lovely. He bounded up the wooden steps leading to Lanorae's laboratory and hurried inside, not waiting to knock or see if the place was open -- and, of course, as soon as he'd found shelter, he could hear the rain starting to let up.

Shivering in the air-conditioned breeze that seemed to be drawn to him and the rain water that he was now dripping on the floor, Zane took a few moments to glance around. It certainly wasn't as open as the lab he'd seen back in Pallet town, but, as he'd seen from the boat, it did cover quite a bit of land. ...Now, how to get someone's attention? If they hadn't already seen him practically knock down the front door, that is. He didn't exactly want to start barking, as that generally didn't leave a good first impression.

He settled on waiting somewhat patiently, arms folded across his chest. He had to resist the urge to shake dry, and hoped whoever met him didn't mind the smallish puddle he'd brought along.

[Lillian Carbunkle]

Lillian was... surprised to say the least to come out of the laboratory staff room with a mug of hot coffee in hand only to see a humanoid hound standing, soaking wet, in the main lobby. "Uhm..." she blinked, adjusting her half-moon glasses over her teal-coloured eyes as she tried to grab for something to say. It was certainly an odd situtation, and though you'd think that after several years of working as a lab assistant she'd be used to it, it certainly didn't seem so.

She tucked a few strands behind her ear, apparently not even noticing as a brightly coloured Chatot nearly cuffed her in the head as it flapped noisily to the top of one of the book shelves and sat down to start nibbling on a pencil it had managed to pick up during some escapade of his through the various rooms in the lab. Normally such an action would receive a harsh rebuttal on the part of aid Lillian Carbunkle, but today it seemed that the noisy bird was going to be able to get away with it just because his trainer was too surprised to really pay any attention.

"Uhm..." she started again, shaking her head as she realized she probably looked like a complete idiot just standing there with a mug of coffee in her hand, staring at the individual that apparently just walked into the lab after a rainstorm. "Can I... get you a towel or something? You're sort of dripping on the floor..."

Like Professor Aspen, Lillian normally didn't pay too much attention when it came to slight, humanoid oddities that happened to come along in hopes of gaining a starter Pokemon. They had heard stories of Pokemorphs and the like before, and while most of them originated from Team Rocket or another like team, they had never seen an individual that claimed to have been mutated by the resident Team Diamond. All the better. Otherwise there was the possibility of quite a panic on their hands.

Of course, the Konika Village lab had it's share of individuals that held a notable dislike for the... "unique" individuals, though fortunately the most prominent one was currently sound asleep on a couch in the staff room from his late-night research.

[/blockquote]

[Quill]

Zane, upon Lillian's entry, almost nearly mimicked the aide's expression. Perhaps he'd been distracted by her hair, or, more likely, was trying to figure out what his reaction should be -- he must appear very rude, after all, getting their floor all wet, even if he was only barely past the door.

"Can I... get you a towel or something? You're sort of dripping on the floor..."

Zane blinked, nodded, then reached for the board around his neck. He dried the face off with the bottom of his shirt, fished around in his pockets for his trusty marker, and, after scribbling down his response, presented it to the aide.

It was raining. And yes, a towel would be very nice.

I heard this lab gives away Pokémon.

The last few words were a bit smooshed together, as he'd run out of space: the word 'pokemon' was half-running up the side. He nodded again, a half-smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. She seemed nice enough -- usually people continued gawking after they'd managed to speak with him. Of course, he figured, she was probably more surprised by the fact that he'd let himself in with no knocking to alert anyone to his entry (and, of course, he was nearly soaked by the sudden rain storm).

[Lillian Carbunkle]

Lillian blinked again. She had to come a bit closer to make out what it said on the board, and tilt her head slightly to the side to make out the word "Pokemon". Why was it that he wrote on the board rather than just replying? She would have imagined it'd be a bit easier just to communicate vocally, but then... was it possible this lad was mute, perhaps? Well, it was a possibility, though the teal-haired aide figured it'd be rather rude to ask. After all, it was still technically possible to command Pokemon with hand signals.

Now that she thought of it, there was actually a coordinator that managed fairly nicely with hand signals seeing he was mute himself [lol, unashamed plugging of my albino mute coordinator, Ciro XD]

"Alright then. And yes, we do give away Pokemon to beginning trainers granted they don't have one of their own. I'm guessing that's why you're here uhm... sorry, don't think I know your name," she blushed faintly, her high-heeled boots making a quite audible tapping noise as she walked to a drawer set positioned next to the door and stooped down to open one of them. After a bit of shuffling, she straightened up with a fluffy, blue towel in her hand, which she held out for her guest to take.

What a drawer with towels was doing in the lobby though was anyone's guess. Perhaps people walking in soaked wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence.

[/blockquote]

[Quill]

Zane felt a strong pang of remorse -- or resentment, he could never straighten those emotions out -- as the aide had to lean forward to make out his handwriting. Remorseful, perhaps, because the experiment had half been his fault, and resentment for letting it happen. He shook off the negative feelings, however, and quickly wiped the slate clean.

"Alright then. And yes, we do give away Pokémon to beginning trainers granted they don't have one of their own. I'm guessing that's why you're here uhm... sorry, don't think I know your name..."

Zane nodded, feeling a tad guilty for not introducing himself upon arrival. Where were his manners? He smiled broadly and hurried to introduce himself:

My name is Zane Wilson, nice to meet you.

He paused for a moment, noticing the faint questioning expression before she turned to retrieve a towel, then scribbled down another quick sentence.

I can only speak like a Pokémon because of my morph. Hard to understand.

He let the board drop back to its resting place on his chest and gratefully accepted the towel -- not really noticing that, yes, it was perhaps a little strange for there to be towels stocked in the lobby -- and toweled his hair dry, before moving to wring the majority of water from the hems of his pants. That was the worst thing, of course -- take one wrong step into a puddle and a good pair of jeans is soaked up to your ankle for just about the rest of the day. When he was done, a horribly guilty look playing across his features as he realized how impolite it must seem to come into a building and demand a towel, of all things, he straightened up and gestured to the board -- in case she hadn't been able to see it, and neatly folded the now-damp cloth over his arm.

Eyebrows raised as he remembered something he wanted to 'say', he cleared the last message with the palm of his hand and wrote: May I see the Lanorae starters, please? I'm terribly sorry for everything.

[ooc: Albino, too? Sounds like a really cool character.

>< Blargh, sorry for the ickyness.]

[Lillian Carbunkle]

ooc. Yeah xD His Mawile also happens to be hopelessly in love with him xDD She likes "strong silent types" x3 And it's not icky D=

bic.
"Ah, alright, nice to meet you too Zane, I'm Lillian, call me Lily though. It's easier," she absently waved her own name away, not finding it to be of particular importance; at least not to her. Though what was scribbled underneath his introduction rather caught her by surprise. "I see..." she mused absently, looking back and forth from Zane's face to the note. "Well, I can certainly see some advantages to that I suppose. You probably won't have any problems at all giving your Pokémon commands."

The towel she had handed over seemed to have been deemed as "forgotten" to the aide as she watched Zane quickly scribble another message. She smiled faintly faintly. Of course, she should have guessed he'd be here for a starter. Anymore that seemed to be the only reason people came to the lab. "Ah, don't worry about it. We're here to do what we can after all. Though, of course you can see the starters. The Firecub may be a bit, ah, timid, I suppose considering the sudden rainstorm, but the other two should be out and about."

She turned and began to walk away, though came to a sudden stop as she realized she hadn't indicated it was okay to follow. Looking over her shoulder she gave a gesture with her hand. "Follow me. It's a bit nicer to let the Pokémon stay in the habitats rather than keep them trapped in the Pokeballs until a trainer comes by. Can get a better idea of what each one's like this way too. Oh, but please be careful. I don't want you slipping."

With that she disappeared down the hall that lead to the back of the labs, apparently assuming that Zane would follow after her.

[/blockquote]

[Quill]

Keeping his expression neutral as he wondered what it would be like to work in an official laboratory (something he likely wouldn't do now that he'd dropped out of school, and he was angry for it) and listened politely as the aide introduced herself. Lillian -- Zane thought that was a nice name.

"Well, I can certainly see some advantages to that I suppose. You probably won't have any problems at all giving your Pokémon commands."

At this, he actually smiled -- it was funny, ironic, almost, that he'd never realized this. Not even when he'd decided to head out and find a Pokémon to train had he figured it would be easy to speak with them -- because they spoke 'pokemon' as well. He nodded to himself. "...of course you can see the starters. The Firecub may be a bit, ah, timid, I suppose considering the sudden rainstorm, but the other two should be out and about." Firecub? Zane hadn't done his research on the region, you see -- but the name of the one she'd mentioned caught his attention. He liked fire types; something about the combination of beauty and danger intrigued him, and as he wondered what the creature would look like, he stepped towards the nearby drawer and hung the towel over the side. He didn't want to be stealing things from the lab that was going to give him his first Pokémon...

"Follow me. It's a bit nicer to let the Pokémon stay in the habitats rather than keep them trapped in the Pokeballs until a trainer comes by. Can get a better idea of what each one's like this way too. Oh, but please be careful. I don't want you slipping."

Zane nodded again and made to follow her, almost slipped, righted himself, and hurried to catch up. He was excited to see the new Pokémon -- perhaps that was part of the reason he hadn't bothered to look them up before coming here; it'd be a surprise. Firecub might be some sort of bear-like Pokémon... Zane liked the idea of that.

He fell into step behind her, ears absentmindedly perked forward and straining for... Well, Zane wasn't exactly sure.

[Lillian Carbunkle]

The walk towards the back rooms was rather uneventful save for the loud screech as Lillian's Chatot, Song, chose to randomly dive bomb his trainer, the pencil he had been nibbling on still fixed securely in his beak. However, at this point the writing instrument was rather chewed to bits, and had numerous marks from the bird's beak all over it. The aide sent a fierce glare at the bird, but waved him away as she reached a door in the far back and pulled it open.

"Here we are. Let me see if I can spot the Firecub, it's still a bit damp out..." she didn't even bother to explain what her Chatot had been thinking as she stepped out into the moist grass. The sun was shining brightly overhead, and it was completely cloudless, showing clearly the extremely unpredictable weather when it came to living near the sea. The aide shielded her eyes, looking closely at every aspect of the habitat as she pointed out where she say each of the respective starters.

"The Seaward are over there, in the sea. You'll have no issue finding them at all, they adore the rain. Sam goes for the Iglora, they're over there in that grove of trees right there. Be careful if you want to go see them though, Professor Aspen mentioned there's been a Terrador from one of the trainers that started a while ago hanging around there. Not the most friendly things..."

She looked for a few more moments before she managed to identify where the Firecub were located, and she gestured excitedly when she did. "Ah! There we go, right over there in that cave. There may be a Pyraness or two in there, but I wouldn't worry. Save for the Terrador and like species, most Pokemon here won't attack unless you antagonize them."

She glanced at Zane giving a slight inclination of her head. "You can go ahead and look at the species that interested you, see if you can find one with a personality you like. Most of them will be more than happy to have a trainer, so I don't think you'll have any problem getting them to come with you."

[/blockquote]

[Quill]

Zane jumped at the Chatot's sudden attack, having not noticed the thing before. Was that Lillian's Pokémon? Goodness, he hoped any Pokémon of his never behaved like that... Perhaps it wasn't trained well?

He blinked as the harshness of the sunlight hit his eyes -- there wasn't a cloud in the sky -- and stepped outside. The vast area behind the lab impressed Zane very much; it was it's own miniature ecosystem, which he figured the Pokémon enjoyed a bit more than being kept inside pokeballs. He shook his head clear of that line of thought (now was time to focus on finding a pokemon, not contemplate the inner workings of a pokeball) and followed along with the aide's descriptions.

Seaward, Iglora... Terrador? Why give out a Pokémon that evolves into something so vicious? Zane frowned, trying to make out the faint saurian shape in the trees. No, he decided, he really didn't want to go over there. Seaward migh make a good choice, perhaps (he could catch a glimpse of them from the door), though he wasn't sure how they would handle out of the water. Most aquatic Pokémon just... flopped around.

Squinting, he followed Lillian's gesture towards the 'cave'. It made sense, of course, that fire types would dislike the rain -- hopefully they weren't too agitated to invite along for an adventure? He did notice, however, that they were certainly not bears, when Lillian added:

"You can go ahead and look at the species that interested you, see if you can find one with a personality you like. Most of them will be more than happy to have a trainer, so I don't think you'll have any problem getting them to come with you."

Zane nodded at this -- he hadn't actually expected to be able to wander the grounds and meet a potential starter. He figured he was just going to get to, you know, look at them. This was much more interesting, however, and he was happy for it.

Thank you very much. I think I'll go over to see the Firecubs. He smiled politely and made his way toward the previously mentioned cave that she had pointed out to him. Sure enough, there were a few of the little Pokémon there -- fire-lions, from the look of it -- and he knelt down to get a closer look... Without actually getting too close, of course. Despite Lillian's comment that the only truly aggressive Pokémon was the Terrador, he still didn't want to mess with whatever the Firecubs evolved into should they be threatened by his presence.

<... Hello there, little guys...>

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Of course, it didn't actually sound like human speech, but more a combination of growls and 'doom's, but in order to save you the hassle of both reading the speech and translation, the former is left out.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Lillian Carbunkle]

Needless to say, the Firecub were quite.... startled, when a primarily humanoid-looking individual came over and started to speak to them in their own "language". For a moment they looked at each other, exchanging glances between themselves before one of them stepped forward and gave a small sniff in Zane's direction. From the look of its build, the particular individual was a male: it was more muscular that some of the others, and seemed to have a more angular muzzle.

`You... sound like a Pokemon` it said, cocking its head to the side as the mewls that were the characteristic of the Firecub's speech escaped his mouth. Seeing their older "brother" had approached the humanoid without much issue, a few more of the Firecub came closer, all three of them noticeably slimmer and therefore female, which was the more common gender among the evolution chain.

One in particular wagged her fiery tail back and forth and attempted to show off her fighting "skills" by tackling the male that had spoken to Zane, easily knocking him over on his back and placing her paws on his chest proudly as she looked up at the Houndoom Pokemorph, clearly pleased with herself as the male growled in agitation that the other had managed to catch him off guard.

The other two females were noticeably more cautious and relaxed, simply sitting where they were and absently cleaning their paws and faces from where they sat.

[/blockquote]

[Quill]

Zane was about to reply when the similarities between the scene before him and a certain animated movie he'd watched as a kid struck him. He decided, right then, that if he chose a female -- especially the one who'd pounced her brother -- he would most certainly not name her Nala.

He smiled at the mentioned female, but to the group, however, he replied: <Yeah. I can't speak to humans anymore, though -- my vocal chords are m->

He paused -- did he really want to finish that? And did he mean it? Though he surely meant it in a literal sense (Zane's life had changed a bit too drastically for his taste recently), he wondered for a split second if it might offend the Pokémon who had come to greet him. He was likely overthinking it, but to call another's form of speech 'messed up' (even if his throat really was damaged) seemed... harsh, even for him. Besides, they'd done nothing to him to deserve negative comments of any sort... Zane had always had something of a soft spot for animals (non-human ones, anyway). And these were so darn adorable, even if the canine instinct in the back of his head was screaming CHASE CHASE CHASE...

Now -- what exactly was he supposed to do from here? He hadn't thought much of this through buying boat tickets. Yeah, he knew where the first route was, but the whole "just wing it" approach hadn't given him much to work with.

<Uh. ...Well, I'm going to be a... trainer, soon. I was thinking, you know, out of the starters one of you would be the best choice.>

[/color]

He decided to leave out the part about his false assumption that they would be bears and quickly stole a glance at the group. The other two females seemed decidedly uninterested. The male who'd first spoke to him was bold, true, but that may very well be a more gender-specific trait. And the female that had tackled him... She almost struck him as amusing, and Zane had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. That's not to say he didn't like her; in fact, it was her that he was the most impressed with.

<So? What do you say?>[/color]

His question was to no Pokémon in particular, though his attention was most certainly focused on the one female. As he rocked back on his heels to wait, his stomach growled... He'd forgotten to eat breakfast. He frowned, trying to remember if he'd packed any sandwiches in his bag, before returning his attention to the Pokémon in front of him. Now was not the time to be thinking about bologna.
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[Prof. Aspen]

The female stole a glance around at the others of her species as the individual spoke, flicking her ears back. The other two females had taken to wandering off, muttering to themselves about something or other, while the male looked noticeably dejected that a female had been the one that attracted the prospective trainer's attention. She almost seemed to smirk at this, flicking her tail in a noticeably smug manner before she turned her emerald eyes to focus on Zane again.

`I think I'd like that,` she replied, arching her body to unsheathe and flex her small claws. `I wouldn't mind getting out of here finally. Gets boring after a while.'

[ The Firecub has joined you! You may now control her in your roleplay posts! ]

[Quill]

Zane watched the pokemons' movements half-nervously, wondering if any of them had even really been listening. What if none of them wanted to come with him? Well... He supposed he could ask the aide if he could catch one but that seemed like a poor way to start a journey with a creature that was supposed to be your friend.

`I think I'd like that,` she replied, arching her body to unsheathe and flex her small claws. `I wouldn't mind getting out of here finally. Gets boring after a while.'

[/center]

Zane grinned. <Well, then... I'll have to come up with a good nickname for you, but for the time being... I think we ought to get going? We have some training to do if we're going to beat any gym leaders.>

He stood, wincing as pain shot down his legs. Crouching for extended periods of time, as you know, is not advised over the age of five. The morph rubbed the back of his knees in a feeble attempt to get the blood flowing properly before motioning to his new pokemon. <Let's get going then, yeah?>

The firecub snorted at Zane's pain, but mewled happily and bounded past him nonetheless. <Let's get going, then!> she mimicked, tone ever-so-slightly mocking...

Zane half-smiled and trotted after her, scrambling for his pen. 'I think I've found my starter, he scrawled haphazardly, Is there anything else I need to do, or should I head out to the first route?


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