Forum Thread

Is it still fashionable to be late? That Farah didn't know but they sure do hoped so. They opened the door before any sort of anxieties could catch up and greeted others with a showy sweep of their wide sleeve and bow of their head in an apology before coming to stand at the back, where they could easily watch the whole room and all its people at once. "Farah Devi-Rosewood present, Sir. I apologize for my lateness, a Litten passed across the street so a small detour was in place."

And oh my, looking at the professor, Farah was reminded of all the actors whose show took a turn for the worse in act 2. They could smile and banter all they want, but Farah was always aware that the face under their mother's hands was shaking and one misspelled line from falling apart. Just another layer of the job, their mother told them before teaching them the tells and hows.
Unfortunately, Professor Hop definitely didn't have an extra on the phone and Farah wasn't about to out their illusion of control to others and *be* that misspelled line. Still, they made sure the smile on their face came off just a tad more encouraging.

“I-I’m Maria, it’s nice to meet you!” Maria introduced herself with a smile “I hope I get a Pokemon that can listen to me...” she said out loud

---

Prof. Hop

With a nod he pulled up a notepad. "Alright, so that's around half of you... maybe more." Gesturing his Dubwool closer, Hop picked up the tray. "I have Twyla, Caddie and Cyrus here on this tray." Setting the tray on the table he took off the pokeballs in groups of three setting them on the table. Each pokeball was labeled.

Twyla - Ghastly. Each pokeball wa labeled in a similar fashion.

Twyla - Morpeko. Twyla - Slowpoke.

Caddie - Panchum. Caddie - Munna. Caddie - Pumpkaboo.

Cyrus - Ralts. Cyrus - Sneasel. Cyrus - Jangmo-o.

"The rest are in the back." Hop explained, headed into the room. He then emerged holding another tray, Dubwool carrying a second.

Farah - Azurull. Farah - Espurr. Farah - Totodile.

Maria - Cleffa. Maria - Aron. Maria - Meowth.

A few more read. "Go ahead and pick one."

---

Twyla looked at the options. Not what she'd hoped more, but she'd already made a decision on taking the dark type option before she got here. "I guess I'm going with Morpeko!" She announced before lifting the creature's Pokeball off of the tray. It didn't matter that she'd gotten a rather lame selection...maybe the little vermin would surprise her, and besides, this was what she wanted, her first Pokémon! She dug through her pocket, pulling out a list of names for it...

---

Maria walked over and picked up a shiny, red pokeball “I pick you!” She said softly picking up Cleffa’s pokeball, satisfied with her choice

---

Caddie tapped her chin thoughtfully. Hmm...Pumpkaboo, Pancham, or Munna? Munna was kind of off-putting, and Caddie, well, she'd never admit it, but Ghosts terrified her. That just left Pancham. Caddie loved Fighting Types. They were strong and spunky. Her father had had a Tyrouge that followed him everywhere, and it had been such a good friend whenever he visited. "I'll pick Pancham!" she declared, quickly picking up the Pokeball. But what should she call it? "I'll call you...Racer!"

---

𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐀 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐖𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐃
[ profile - trans male - no partner - location: the laboratory - tags: farah devi-rosewood ]

---

He was late. Quite late in fact.

Sara easily caught the door as it swung open behind a colossal black haired female as he sauntered into the laboratory, coming up on the back of the group. His cheeks burned with exertion and bashfulness, having sprinted up to the lab’s doorstep. Honestly, he could’ve just kicked himself when he got turned around Goldmire, and the fact that it took him ten whole minutes for him to realize. He gave the female beside him a small smile, somehow not at all intimidated by the fact that she looked more like an ursaring than human. She was massive, truly, broad shouldered and built like a wrestler, a fact that was instantly chased from his head upon one stare at her jovial features. Not threatening. He waited politely as the female introduced herself. Farah huh. Interesting. She seemed like a fun sort, and frankly, Sara wanted a traveling partner, just in case things went awry.

Reminding himself to perhaps interact with her later, his eyes were immediately drawn towards the pokéballs that were borne by the professor and his Dubwool. Let’s be fair, the dubwool was adorable. For the most part, the trainers seemed happy with the choices. He stared jealously at the Espurr pokéball. His mother had had an espurr, a female one, and she had been a true friend to his mother before he had been taken away by Team Rocket. Much to his confusion, he also didn’t see any of his name on the tray. Biting his lip, he raised his hand, “Excuse me, professor?” He called politely as he could, “I, uh, don’t see any of the pokéballs with my name?” Should he be following Hop? Should he just stay here? He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

This was what he got for being late he supposed.

Cyrus looked at the pokeballs, it was hard to choose one, each of them seemed very interesting and he´d probably be able to learn a lot from each of them. He did wish to give them an equal chance yet the pokeball titled ´Ralts´ caught his eye first. Ralts… his mother had a Gardevoir before it was taken away. A Ralts made the memories of their Pokémon being taken flare up again, so Cyrus looked at the pokeball with sneasel in it. A dark and Ice type... He knew it. His father used to have one but released it because it was weak. He never understood why his father had released one of his best friends.

His father usually only trained a strong team, carrying Six Pokémon, fully evolved, and fighting machines. Cyrus remembered a Metagross and an Infernape, as well as a Gallade, an Elektivire, a Milotic and a Leafeon. Yet his Pokémon had not helped his father while being executed, it was the worst thing to see and that was the point his mother had turned off the Tv and started packing up their Items and Pokémon.

Cyrus stopped thinking about that, his hand wandered over to Jangmo-o´s Pokeball. “I´ll choose him…- “He muttered, he took the pokeball off of the tray, for once he seemed sure with his actions. "I´ll call you.. Ryuu.." He said as the dragon pokemon came out of his pokeball and made a sound of acceptance

Cadie decided to release Racer so she could get to know him better. She knelt down and released Racer, and shook his tiny paw. "Hi, Racer! I'm your new best friend, Caddie. At least, I hope to be." Dad had always said that you should ask if the Pokemon wanted to be friends. That way, your bond was stronger. Racer gave a loud, "Pancham!" Caddie grinned. "I'll take that as a yes." She held out her palm, and Racer slapped his paw against it.

---

Maria sent out her pokemon “Since your related to stars and meteors.... maybe... Wish?” Maria said, the cleffa cheered in agreement “I hope we get along well” Maria said with a smile to her new Pokemon

---

Pressing the little switch in the center of the capsule, Twyla released the small creature from the pokeball. In a flash of light, a golden-brown and black mouse creature emerged, blinking at it's new master. "Morpeko!" It squealed excitedly, running up and hugging Twyla's leg. The girl bent down to pet it, tucking the list back into her pocket. "I'll name you...Paige!" She decided aloud, announcing it to her new friend, meanwhile scritching da lil chin.

---

Farah had a sort of a sixth sense of being able to recognize when people stared. It comes naturally when you get used to people doing that all the time- For all the good reasons, Farah hoped. They were... made aware of how they might seem to someone's eye but to themselves, they genuinely thought that all the hard work paid off well. There's wasn't anyone else who stared at Farah's reflection as much as they did, so they think they would definitely know if something was off.

So at catching Sara's eyes, they didn't exactly preen- But they couldn't help to puff out their chest a little, clearly pleased at gaining someone's attention. They took a longer-than-necessary road to their tray, just so they could bump shoulders with the kind person, in what they hoped would be recognized as a comforting gesture. (Which really ended up being more of an... bumping their upper elbow against his shoulder, but the intention was there.)
Farah couldn't help but notice that Sara looked as if he had one of those rickety garden folding chairs somewhere down the bloodline- so the whole interaction was so gentle that it was clear they must have toppled someone by doing this least once in their life.
"Oh, must have been just the tiniest miscalculation there! With a face like yours, stringing you along all this way just to pull a nasty April fool would practically be a hate crime, don't you think? Revolution isn't exactly known for those, as far as I know. What I do know is they have a fondness for never leaving anyone behind- And that includes you and your teammate soon-to-be. Extra emphasis on soon. Myhaps just try to focus on that while they fix the mishap?"

And although their first idea was to stay while they find this mans (Soo thin! Farah had half a mind to consider giving him the Poké Snacks right there) missing starter, they didn't want to make their own Pokemon wait too much, so they shot Sara a poster-worthy thumbs-up and made a show of indecisively tapping the tip of their black-painted nail on their chin, as they neared their tray. They had a speech prepared a long time ago, didn't they?
When they were around 8 and dreamed about the day they get their first Pokemon. Someone strong enough to menacingly guard the entrance to the backstage while they do their job, someone that their mother could do the sizing on for some of the more complicated but ultimately boring costumes instead on so Farah would catch just the tiniest break... (And what a foolish thought that was! Mother's costumes were always worth some standing still and much more. They did come to recognize that later, alongside just how much fun she could have with her make-up and well, here they are.)

Well... They aren't 8 anymore, and maybe it's just dawning on them that it's not as simple. Pokemon never tended to be.
Because faced with a selection between a creature whose ancestors are a direct link to primal times of before, a Pokemon they seemed paired up with twist villains too much to ever be able to underestimate it... All they could think about was the soft laughter of Azurills playing in a pond. They don't even really remember how it looked- Just the noise and a spark of such child-like glee that might have been woven into their heart all this time, just waiting for it to be awoken again.

There were cries, too. That's the thing about Azurills- they grow through bonds. When the friendship they held onto soo much.. breaks, it tends to throw their world for a spin. That's what their mother said, with baba sagely nodding like he always did when she said something smart and he fell in love with her just a bit more.

Farah doesn't know if the Marills that were left behind ever get better but a part of them years to hope.

So it wasn't simple. And Farah of today didn't need a speech and admittedly didn't even come to this journey with the Pokemon in forefront of their thoughts... But that strange bout of happiness that came out of nowhere? They might get used to that.

And so they reached out to Azurills Pokeball, their fingers brushing its surface just for a moment as if testing if it could bite them through it before cradling it in both of their hands. Were Pokeballs always this small? "You two are both very strong, I can tell. It won't be long before someone comes for you too, so don't lose faith. This little one just needs a bit more encouragement. The faster start they get on that, the sooner we all get there eventually."

Prof. Hop

The pokemon Professor paused, hearing Sara's response. He quickly flipped though his pages, no name. What had happened? Setting the paper down he moved into the back. Maybe he left his response in the desk. Throwing opens few drawers, he grimaced. Nothing. Arceus, how could he have been so careless! Shoving his hand in his face, he noticed a few pokeballs in th office. They hadn't been paired with anyone. Picking up the two, he stepped out from the back. The Espurr for Farah was still sitting there. Picking that one up he walked over to Sara. "Sorry bout this." He rubbed the backof his head sheepishly (Wooloo-ey?) and held out the three pokeballs. "I think any of these could work."

Farah - Espurr One read. The rest of the labels were scuffed and torn.
I__an_ - Milcery
S__n - Magnemite

---

~ || McQueen Mejiro || ~

Peeling open the laboratory doors, McQueen quietly slipped inside, her violet eyes were keen to examine her surroundings. A frown formed on her face upon seeing trainers with their starters, which only meant one thing. After fixing her posture, and smoothing out any wrinkles in her clothes, she took a step towards the group to introduce herself with an apologetic bow.

"Hello, is the professor here? My name is McQueen Mejiro, I'm here to pick up my starter for the mock journey. I'm awful sorry for my lateness, it's not like me. But it's a pleasure to meet you all.."

Straightening up, however, reveals a flustered face, red from embarrassment. Had her family been here to witness this, she would have most likely ran back home and completely toss away any idea of going on a journey out of pure shame. Though just this once, considering the journey had yet to begin, she'd allow herself one mulligan.

Caddie, who had been playing with Racer up to this point, looked up. "Hey, it's okay! There's nothing wrong with being late." She looked back down at Racer, who was kicking and punching against her palms. She loved Racer's bundle of energy. It reminded her of herself. She had known from the start that she wanted Racer, but it was now becoming more and more apparent that Racer was just as "sprightly," as her mother called it, as her. She was going to enjoy journeying with this little guy.

---

Under the shadows of the laboratory, a light snap could be heard as a glint of sunlight reflected off a polished hand mirror. Squinting at his reflection, Kaoru gently tucked a lock of hair behind his ear, turning his face this way and that in self-admiration. Satisfied that his appearance was spot on, as perfect as he could get it, he slipped his pocket mirror into his coat pocket and swaggered out to the front of the building. He didn't even attempt to be subtle like McQueen and sauntered in with a yawn. "'sup." He flashed an easygoing smile and a small wave before leaning against the nearest wall. "Apologies for being later or something I guess." He didn't seem all that interested in acquiring a starter pokemon, and truthfully it wasn't his choice to on the mock journey. He had been roped along for the ride and while he did want to jump ship and just skip the whole event altogether, he did have a love for pokemon and the opportunity to finally own one was too good to pass up

---

Prof. Hop

While Hop was speaking with Sara, Dubwool noticed the new comers. With a small bleat, it made it's way over to McQueen and Kaoru. The pokeballs shifted on the tray as it trotted over, making a distinct sound as they slid around. The sheep pokemon stopped in front of the two, staring up at them expectantly. On top of the tray sat some pokeballs, and just like the others, they held labels.

McQueen - Stufful. McQueen - Togepi. McQueen - Phantump.

Kaoru - Nickit. Kaoru - Wooper. Kaoru - Noibat

---

As the Dubwool trotted up, Kaoru also stepped forward, leaning down to look at the pokeballs. Huh, this was easier and faster than expecting. He was expecting some kind of long-winded explanation about "responsibility" and "not being careless", how "this was the greatest honour you can get" or something to that effect. Or maybe that was just his dad.

Picking up the Noibat first, he gently rolled the ball within his palm. Noibat was cute and it fit his rocker motif. Girls also really like cute things and Noibat certainly fits the bill. However, if the pokemon were to evolve, Koru suspected that it would since that they were going on a journey, a Noivern would only scare away people. He could think of a few acquaintances who would gladly pick the adorable bat pokemon up though, and he could only hope that once they came of age, that they would choose Noibat. Every pokemon deserved a good trainer.

Putting Noibat back onto the tray, Kaoru picked up the next Pokeball with his name on it. The Wooper within its confines blinked back at him and he smiled at the rush of nostalgia at seeing such a familiar pokemon. And suddenly Kaoru was once again 2 years old, sitting by the banks of a pond as his mother scooped out from the water yet another pokemon, her voice charming him as a siren would. Muddy and slimy skin was pressed in his small childish hands and Koaru would squeal and recoil while his mother laughed and explained how Wooper's slimy skin was a defensive mechanism against drying out and how the mud helped regulate their body temperature. The days he spent by the water with his mother had been the best days of his life. As his mind slowly eased him back into the present, Kaoru gently set down the Pokeball and blinked away any tears before anyone could comment. And while taking the small adorable pokemon was tempting, Kaoru wanted to check out all his options and picked up the final Pokeball

Nicket was adorable, and Kaoru had a soft spot for adorable pokemon, not just to help him pick up cute girls. The mischievous would also be great, he could play pranks on the others with this pokemon's help nature of the pokemon. Yet a nagging feeling had him putting the Pokeball down. Really nostalgia was too powerful of a weapon, he thought ruefully as he picked up the Wooper. Rolling the ball around in his hand, the weight of the Pokeball, as well as the affection flooding his heart all felt. Right. Like this was what was meant to be.

"Thank you for all your hard work!" He grinned as he ruffled Dubwool's head. "But I'll be taking this cute one."

---

~ || McQueen Mejiro || ~

'Stufful, Togepi and Phantump.'

-read her choices as she looked down at the tray of red and white capsules presented to her. Although she didn't have much of an opinion on any of them, it didn't stop her from being hit with the tiniest twinge of jealousy. If she were being honest, McQueen wasn't sure on what to expect, but this trio certainly wasn't the traditional starters that her older siblings got to choose from. Ryan and his Cinderace and Doe with her Typhlosion. Both pairs had an amazing bond. But could McQueen live up to it? She hoped so.

With time ticking on, she had to pick, not wanting to make everyone wait any longer.

'Stufful, the flailing Pokemon, type: normal/fighting. I-i mean, it's cute. But it's ability Fluffy would put it at even more of a disadvantage to fire-types. Or, Klutz, would prevent it from using items.'

'Togepi, the spike ball Pokemon, type: fairy. Also cute. It's a baby Pokemon, however. So it'll require a lot more care in order to evolve. Could I provide that..?'

'Phantump, the stump Pokemon, type: ghost/grass. Another cutie. Although it's immune to both normal and fighting type moves, it still has a lot of weaknesses. Ghost, fire, ice, flying, dark...'

"I'll take this one," McQueen finally decides, her hand trembling slightly as she picks up the center Pokeball containing the Togepi, "..thank you, Dubwool."

S A R A C R A W F O R D
[ profile - trans male - team - the laboratory/mount quetmel - tags: farah devi-rosewood ]

---

The tips of Sara’s ears turned bright red at the tips when he noticed that Farah was actually looking at him. No, not just looking, smiling. Really, Sara had never thought himself something to look at to be frank. He gave Farah a warm smile, surprised that he had no doubt delayed their first pokémon. What was once a smooth, perhaps rehearsed, line soon tangled on his tongue as she bumped his shoulder, gently. The gesture’s coquettish nature was not lost on Sara, and the male blushed heartily at the contact and the mischevious glint in their eye. Somehow, he didn’t even realize the professor was calling his name.

”Oh, must have been just the tiniest miscalculation there! With a face like yours, stringing you along all this way just to pull a nasty April fool would practically be a hate crime, don't you think?” Farah chirped blithely, their eyes twinkling, “Revolution isn't exactly known for those, as far as I know. What I do know is they have a fondness for never leaving anyone behind- And that includes you and your teammate soon-to-be. Extra emphasis on soon. Myhaps just try to focus on that while they fix the mishap?”

Sara definitely wasn’t preening at the attention, but he was definitely basking it. Since his parents were away often for long business trips, he had really only had his younger sister - and her pokémon - for company. It meant he got a lot of alone time. But this trainer…the spark in their eyes was almost magical. He watched Farah step up to the tray that was for them, examining the three pokéballs on the tray, all the while rapping his foot patiently. Most of his disappointment had been alleviated by Farah’s words, but he couldn’t help feeling disappointed that none of the pokéballs had his name on them. Oh well.

But, it seemed that he would be getting his pokémon today, because the professor approached him with three other pokéballs for Farah. Speaking of, they had picked up a pokéball that read ‘azuril,’ which made him assume that the choice was made already. Farah grinned broadly. Good choice. An azumaril, if trained well, would make for a lovely start to the team, as well as a faithful and playful companion. The professor smiled woolooishly as he held the pokéballs. Espurr. Milcery. And Magnemite. He, in fact, had no idea what a milcery even looked like, though he suspected it had soemthing to do with milk. He gave Professor Hop a wave of the hand to indicate that there were no hard feelings. “I get that mornings are hard sometimes. No worries.” To be frank, seeing the pokéballs in front of him gave Sara a massive seratonin boost. Here they were, the future of his pokémon career and his future best friend. His mother had had an espurr, a female one that grew into a lovely and proud meowstic. Just one of the many powerhouses on her team, the others being an alolan ninetails, a staraptor, a florges, a goodra and an espeon. He’d gotten close with all of them, while they were still around, as memories of these pokémon escorting the four year old boy into the woods around his house to see the other pokémon that liked to gather around Soleil’s massive berry garden. It had been daunting at first, seeing these creatures for the first time, but gradually, he and his sister had made many friends. The meowstic in particular, had influenced Sara’s demeanor growing up.

So it was hardly a choice when he picked up Espurr’s pokéball. If he looked closely, he could see the petite violet-furred feline waving her paws around, staring up at him with wide, guileless eyes. A warm flower of loving acceptance bloomed in Sara’s heart, both trainer and pokémon acknowledging their companionship and bond. He nodded to the professor, “I’m going to go with Espurr. My mother caught an espurr when she was younger, she was a very good friend when she evolved.” The dark shadow of grief lay overcast with these memories, as his mother was no longer with him. But she would’ve ordered her son to move on nonetheless. His mother wasn’t called the pryroar of sinnoh for nothing.

Turning back from the tray, he scanned the lab for Farah, whom he hadn’t finished conversing with.

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