[PTU] A Place of Our Own IC

[Atrum Umbra]

All Adalicia could do was to stare in awe as the professor's pokemon descended on the crowd. It must be great to be able to command attention like that. This is why she needs powerful pokemon.

Adalicia mutters, "well see you inside," as she rushes to join the back of the crowd. She listens to the professor with great interest, it was unusual for somebody else to impress her as much as this. Without considering the color choice she picks up a blue Pokedex from the table then heads to the edge of the crowd to release Beau.

Un-clipping the pokeball from her belt Adalicia holds it up in-front of her face. "Ok Beau, I am going to release you now. There are a lot of people around but don't worry they are nice and I am here to help you." she explains as though Beau can hear her. She reaches out and presses the button to release her pokemon. A startled looking spritzee erupts from within in a flash of pink light.

Beau stays in place for a moment, blinking her eyes a few times looking around. "Brweeeeee!" sings out from her beak as she flies to the nearest corner. A sweet perfume like scent drifts from behind her as she settles down to hide behind one of the confusing machines.

"No Beau, come back, I just need to take your picture." Adalicia shouts as she tries unsuccessfully to catch her wayward Spritzee. Pushing a bit over the machine she manages to get a suitable picture with the flash, the blinding light earning her another whining noise from her pokemon.

"Spritzee the perfume Pokemon. The aroma that this pokemon releases can smell different for many reasons including diet and happiness. A well treated Spritzee will always produce an alluring scent regardless of an individuals taste preference."

That description made Adalicia glad that she always pampers Beau and fed her sweet food, given that the entire room now smelt of her. She returned Beau to her ball before she could cause any more trouble.

[tonberryking]

Loft looks up with an almost preternatural luck and leaps to his feet as the Professor makes her landing. When the dust clears, he's standing int front of the bench and his possible buddies, holding up his sleeping bag as a shield, and once more putting his 'skill' to use looking foolish. he stays there dumbfounded even after Sawyer and Adalicia pass him by before he sheepishly legs in after the others. Several times he looks for an opening to talk, but any interjections go unheard as the nearing dozen crowd goes through the place.

Nearly every person he passes or swerves out of the way from already has a pokemon to Loft's dismay. He feels like he's sinking more as each new creature already tied to a trainer grabs a pokedex to the point where hes surprised he didn't wind up in the basement.

In fact, he doesn't pick up one, though his hand hovered over a red one for a moment. Standing near there table, glum as can be, he finally catches the professor's attention, even though his cheeks begin to burn from embarrassment.

"Professor, wait!!! Um... I... I don't have a pokemon. I don't think I can go out exploring alone." he stares at his feet feeling ashamed, expecting to be ostracized at any moment, despite Sawyer's assurances. "Ah... Don't have much in the way of means or money, but if you have any pokemon that need a friend, or if I can just get a pokeball come hell or high water I'll try to catch one myself."

Loft's eyes screw up for a moment, though it's not from tears (Lord above, no. His father, brothers and all at once had seen to beating the tears out of him.) Rubbing at his nose (which is easy to see has been broken, at least once or twice in the past) he tries to look at the professor's aura, for even a small glimpse of hope that he's not wasting her and his time.

Spoiler: OOC

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Loft's using his Aura reader power on her, but NOT Aura pulse. Reading other people's minds is tricky business and he doesn't want to snoop unless it was necessary.

[Merilan]

Annie lets out a little squint as she limps gently towards the centre of the commotion to murmur, "You still are just as excited to make a scene as you were years ago, Yew. It's been a while." She looks towards the others gathered with a faint chuckle, and then reaches for her lone pokeball to release it. A Porygon appears, with an electronic little noise. "Go ahead and scan Nyneve if you'd like."

She looks towards the Professor to ask, "You... received my mail, didn't you?"

[Deadguy]

Grube, the Munchlax, seemed distracted as the sweet smell filled the laboratory. It licked it's lips and sniffed the air as it waddled through the throng of human legs that were distracted with taking pictures. It followed the trail to behind the computers but found nothing there. Frowning, it sniffed again, approaching Adalicia with an outstretched paw and puppy-dog eyes.

Meanwhile, Sawyer busied himself by taking pictures of other Pokemon that had been released, focusing on the Torchic that had approached him outside and the Larvesta since he had always thought fire Pokemon were almost as awesome as Grube... "Where is Grube? ... Oh! Hey, leave her alone you beggar. You just ate!"

"I'm so sorry Adalicia!" Sawyer bowed slightly to the girl as he approached and returned Grube to his pokeball. "He really is a bottomless pit."

[Elfbird]

"... Pokedexes huh? Pretty boring colors," she mutters, "Hey! Prof, do you have any other colors? Like... black or a darker shade of red than bright sports car cherry red? I'll even take purple if you've got it. These don't really fit my aesthetic, you know? Being all bright and neon-y and shhhhtuff," Liz asked, making a quick last second word substitution after reminding herself not to curse in front of authority figures. "I'll take red if you don't, no sense in not taking free things, but I'm just checking if you have something cooler."

"Weeeeell..."
Yew reaches into a drawer behind her, withdrawing something you can't quite see, then steps close to you and offers a charred-black Pokedex, speaking softly as if she didn't really want everyone to see.

"Does this one suit you? It's nigh indestructible - much more so than it's previous owners. Still works like a charm, even after surviving that tragic fire, and a tumble off a cliff before that; it might've even been struck by lighting! What do you say? Feeling... lucky?"

Spoiler: Intuition Check: Pass

Show

Professor Yew is a terrible fibber - she's clearly spinning a story to try to hook your interest. Whether or not you choose to bite anyway is up to you~
(I rolled it for you in Roll20, hope you don't mind!)

"Professor, wait!!! Um... I... I don't have a pokemon. I don't think I can go out exploring alone." he stares at his feet feeling ashamed, expecting to be ostracized at any moment, despite Sawyer's assurances. "Ah... Don't have much in the way of means or money, but if you have any pokemon that need a friend, or if I can just get a pokeball come hell or high water I'll try to catch one myself."

Loft's eyes screw up for a moment, though it's not from tears (Lord above, no. His father, brothers and all at once had seen to beating the tears out of him.) Rubbing at his nose (which is easy to see has been broken, at least once or twice in the past) he tries to look at the professor's aura, for even a small glimpse of hope that he's not wasting her and his time.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Loft's using his Aura reader power on her, but NOT Aura pulse. Reading other people's minds is tricky business and he doesn't want to snoop unless it was necessary.

Spoiler: Aura Reader

Show

Yew's aura is the bright green that shows she's really putting her heart into all this, and sincerely cares about the Trainers and Pokemon here. Excited yellow and serene blue play around the fringes.

"Oh, of course! Just a moment please! A lot of Trainers used to get their first Pokemon from Momma; it's just become a little less common with second- and third- generation Trainers inheriting a family Pokemon or doing their own breeding now."
She's typing away at a computer as she explains. Finally, there's a ding and a Pokeball appears in what you thought was a coffee maker. Yew casually tosses it to you.
"It's dangerous to go alone. Take this!"

Spoiler: Pokeball

Show

Inside is the Machop you made! Please RP her as you see fit~

Annie lets out a little squint as she limps gently towards the centre of the commotion to murmur, "You still are just as excited to make a scene as you were years ago, Yew. It's been a while." She looks towards the others gathered with a faint chuckle, and then reaches for her lone pokeball to release it. A Porygon appears, with an electronic little noise. "Go ahead and scan Nyneve if you'd like."

She looks towards the Professor to ask, "You... received my mail, didn't you?"

Yew offers a warm smile and a handshake to her old colleague.
"Dr. Marple! It's great to see you again! You know, I still haven't gotten over that talk you did on airship theory at F-Tex; we really must get dinner sometime so we can talk more..."
Her expression changes to one of business touched with sympathy.
"...But that's neither here nor there. I've already checked with the authorities regarding Milka, and if my suspicions are correct, there's not a thing they'll do about it.
Rest assured, you'll have my full personal and professional support. If you're committed to going out yourself, the best advice I can offer right now is to build a team you can truly rely on - of Pokemon and Trainers alike - and earn yourself a reputation as a battler to match what you have as a researcher. ...Well, maybe that's a bit melodramatic. Just watch out for yourself, alright? Can't help Milka if you need saving too~!"

---

After giving personal attention to those who need it, and making sure everyone's comfortable with their Pokedex's basic functions, Yew calls everyone's attention to some new things she's placed on the table.

"Okay everyone! I've got one more surprise for you all before I send you off into the great wide world! Your first test, you could call it!
On the table here are four prizes: three Safari Zone tickets, and one Ferry Pass that's good for the whole year! I'll let you do the math and work it out between yourselves however you like; if you feel the need to battle it out, help yourself to the room next door! All clear? Okay! Readysetgo!"

Yew dives for cover by her desk along the wall, watching eagerly to see how this pans out.

[Rune Knight]

Erik had only set Calder down to scan him and the rest of the pokémon as instructed. Then, Yew had to go and say the B-word, and Calder was off for the indicated door.
Shaking his head, Erik sighed. "I guess he's not going to be left out of it, if all of you do get into battles for these. But I'd rather hear any other ideas first." He eyed one of the safari zone tickets. I wouldn't mind having a look around there, though.

[frigidScholar]

Liz glanced down at the pokedex. Hmm. Even if the professor wasn't being completely terrible at lying about it, this wasn't really her style anyway. She wanted something matte black, not... charred black. Eugh. "Yeah, uh... no thanks. When I said black I wanted something a little more... solid in color? This looks like it might get charred bits all over my bag and it's pretty pricey.
So, yeah, I'll just take a red, thanks," Liz replied, taking one of the bright, cherry red pokedexes instead. What was she supposed to do with this again? Oh, right, check that the picture function worked. She grabbed the ball at her waist.

"C'mon out, Slash!" Liz said as she sent out her Skiddo. The goat creature blinked for several moments, seeming surprised to be out of the ball before he dashed over to Liz and bumped into her side. "Yeah, yeah, I think you're great too Slash. Now if you can hold still for a few moments- hey!" Liz stated before being interrupted by the Skiddo beginning to walk off toward the closest trainer, Sophie, most likely to say hi.

"Slash! Get back here! I will return you, mister!" Liz ordered firmly. Hearing her tone, the Skiddo made a brief cry of alarm before seeming to lose a lot of enthusiasm and moving toward her slowly with a sad look on his face. Seeing this, Liz's stony expression cracked a bit, "Oh, don't be like that. I just need you to come here and behave for now. You'll have plenty of time to say hi to people after this is over, okay?" Slash seemed still cowed, but not as disappointed as before, which Liz was happy about. Seeing Slash was staying in place, for now, Liz fiddled with the pokedex. "Now how do you...?" she muttered as she pressed some buttons. Eventually there was a sound effect of a photo being taken and soon the pokedex spat out: "Skiddo, the Mount Pokemon. It's docile, friendly nature makes it an easy mount. It was often used by ancient Kalosians as a way to cross mountainous regions and is still frequently used today to get from place to place."

"... Well, I knew a lot of that already, but okay. I guess that might be useful toward pokemon that I don't already own," she muttered. Seeing she wasn't paying much attention, the Skiddo made to move toward Sophie once again, though Liz managed to catch it out of the corner of her eye as she made to put the pokedex away. "Nuh-uh, mister! Like I said, you'll have time after this!" Liz said, returning him before he could do something embarrassing. Besides, there was something more important to consider. She eyed the offered ferry pass and safari zone tickets. Well, the ferry pass wasn't super useful since she was planning on getting something she could ride in the water anyway but... those safari zone tickets...

Liz sidled over toward Sophie, "Hey, Sophie, right? Would you want to try to split one of those tickets if one of us won? Well, not really split, but if it costs money or whatever, the other one of us could pay for the other half if one of us doesn't get one. Or if they're really hard to get, if only one of us gets one, the other could try to get pokemon that the other person is interested in." Liz froze for a moment, digesting what she just said. Did she just...? Welp, she guessed that if she had to travel with someone, Sophie was pretty decent. She was very... pink, but she had a style and seemed to stick to it which was enough for her. Also, she seemed nice. Which was also important. "So, uh, I guess traveling together would make that easier and I could help out with the ferry pass since I kinda want a Gyarados and those carry more than one person anyway so... I guess I'm also asking if you want to hang out for a while. No pressure or anything, but I think I'd make a pretty rockin' partner. I got music and as soon as I get pokemon big enough, I could give you rides on them to get to places faster. If, you know, me wasn't enough for you, heh heh..." Liz said quickly, seeming just the slightest bit unsure about herself, making the last sentence take on a slight ironic tone.

[aturtledoesbite]

Sophie eventually found the 'scan Pokemon' function. "Alright, Cotton, smile!" snap!

Espurr, the Restraint Pokemon. Espurr emits powerful psychic energy from organs in its ears. It has to fold its ears down to keep the power contained.

"Wow, that's neat! We'll have to keep those ears of yours safe, won't we?" Sophie pets the top of Cotton's head, scratching softly at the base of her ears.

It was around this time that a Skiddo wandered up to her. She didn't even have time to say hello before hearing Liz call out "Nuh-uh, mister! Like I said, you'll have time after this!" and returning it to a Pokeball. Oh well, maybe she'll get to say hello next time.

She listened to Liz stumble over herself to invite Sophie, without interrupting. Once she finished, Sophie put a finger to her chin, apparently in thought. "Let's see...now, I don't really know much about this, but are you asking me out on a date? Either way, I accept!" Sophie's smile as she says that nearly threatens to form a full circle.

"Now, how will we get those tickets... I guess there's always the direct option." Sophie strides forward to the desk, reaching for a safari zone ticket.

[tonberryking]

Something about the professor surprises Loft, and it's not just her carefree attitude in just throwing him a pokeball. He nearly fumbles the red and white orb, grabbing for it once, twice, nearly three times only for it to keep slipping up into the air until it falls into both his scooped palms. To the lank, often scared young man, this is like someone putting a treasure in his care; he may never have even held a pokeball before now from the looks of it. Trembling, Loft gives the ball a once over look, as if he could guess its contents. Well, to some extent, he 'sees' that it has an aura: a steely resolute blue one that doesn't waver or alter colors abruptly; something Loft has seen humans do in the short time his powers have been active.

In case he's drawing a crowd of expectant looks, the purple haired youth finally clicks the button and releases a small gray saurian with three ridges atop her head. She lands on her knees only to rise up and flex with purpose, letting out a gravelly chirping noise. Both Loft and the Machop seem surprised to see each other, though in the former case, if Loft has any dismay to get a pokemon that reminds him of his past, and sort of brands him as a certain kind of trainer, he doesn't show an ounce of it. The pair stand still, staring at each other from a few feet apart, the machop looking up at Loft quizzically for a hello.

Machop, the Superpower Pokémon. Machop have muscles that never tire no matter how much they exercise. Machop have enough strength to throw 100 average sized adults.

He was still by the pokedex table, after all. But after using the item, Loft dares to project a few, introductory thoughts at her, and she doesn't even blink in surprise. Whatever it is they silently talk about is kept between them, but in the time it takes for the two professors to talk, the machop eventually breaks the silence with a shrug of her shoulders and offers her left hand to Loft's. They're both new at this; working together hard will help the both of them.

"Yeah. I guess we can count on each other then. Well, you're a treasure and tough as all get out; I'm glad to meet you, Diamond. For now, I'm Loft."

And then Yew bursts into her exciting challenge, causing Loft to start in surprise, and the 'abruptly' named Diamond to perk up. She chirps once, before giving Loft a stare and taking him by the hand, she effortlessly starts to drag the poor lug towards the challenge room, not minding if anybody passes.

"Wagh... Hey, whoa hold up, girl... I, um, we don't need to cause a ruckus right off-- Diamond just looks over her shoulder as she marches forward and frowns slightly. Oh yes the hell they do, apparently. "No, I'm not trying to make a bad first impression, and...
okay, fine. Better here in a controlled environment. ...But I ain't fighting nobody.' Diamond intently studies Loft for a moment, sees something noone else can seem to, and then nods. She gives him that allowance.

She still drags Loft all the way into the battling room, however. Because if he ain't gonna fight, she will.

[Deadguy]

"Loft, wow! That's awesome. A machop. Can I get a picture too?" He left Adalicia after apologizing, hustling over to catch up to the other young man with his Pokedex held out.

"Are you gonna fight for one of the tickets? What are you going after, safari or ferry?" He leaned closer. "Personally, I think the ferry ticket is a better deal. A lot of the routes use the ferry and tickets will cost more than going to the safari, but that's just me. I like to travel, maybe we can go together!"

"Diamond is extra strong against Grube so I won't be battling you any time soon." He called out the portly Munchlax again. Grube inspected Diamond with a sniff. He gave a grin, with his tongue lolling out.

[tonberryking]

Diamond only stops when she realizes she and Loft are being followed, silently listening to (or perhaps enduring) Sawyer's barrage of questions long enough to regard Loft again. Friend or Foe? Loft's sudden head shake and arm gestures convey even without their newly acquired mental bond that Sawyer's a buddy. A "no, we don't need to fight this guy" kinda guy. The machop waves curtly to Grube.

Loft clearly didn't know which one he was planning to go for, the practicality of a year pass or the chance to meet ALL the pokemon (by his limited approximation, anyhow,) nearly fries his brain.

"Uh... Diamond doesn't mind photos, I think," she still hasn't go of Loft's hand, however, and expects him to answer the other boy's question. She gives Loft the benefit of patience but it's clear too she wants an answer just as much as Sawyer.

"Well, that is..." he lets out a sigh, and racks his brain, "You know, he begins quoting one of his father's former pupils; he had been 'asked' (forced) to try to straighten Loft out two years ago as a mentor and by Loft's approximation, he came close to striking a chord with the poor kid. Something Finn told him comes to mind: "Experience'll be the real reward here. I'll make do with whichever ticket we can earn, meanwhile."

Diamond blinks, and rubs her chin with her free hand. She seems to think this is the correct answer and proceeds to drag Loft into the room once again, Loft letting out a slight urk. "I wouldn't mind traveling together, though! Wait up for me, y'hear?"

[Atrum Umbra]

Shocked by the embarrassment that her pokemon had caused Adalicia didn't really notice Grube until he was disappearing into his ball. Not really understanding what there was to apologize for she simply muttered, "It is quite alright," as Sawyer walked away.

Professor Yew finally snapped Adalicia out of her thoughts. Listening to the prizes offered really made her want to visit the safari zone, but she wasn't fond of handouts. A quick count around the room showed that even splitting the prizes between two people didn't leave enough for everyone, she would be happy to pass up her share. Then the suggestion of battle brought her straight back to wanting it. After the poor display just now she wanted a chance to show that Beau was good for something.

Looking around everyone seemed to be pairing up for a battle, not wanting to be last up Adalicia headed for the indicated door with great speed and grace. She noticed that the sleeping guy from earlier being dragged by his new pokemon, Loft was it? He was the first to the battling room but judging by the type match-up challenging him didn't seem fair, assuming Beau didn't get spooked and just hide in the corner. "Hey Loft, your new pokemon looks cool, and strong too. I'm not going to challenge you, doesn't seem fair, but would you be interested in a doubles battle. There aren't enough safari zone tickets to go around, even split between two people, and it seems like they are the most sought after prize. If we win one in a doubles battle then I will happily let you have my half. Beau does know how to fight, she just gets a little nervous so it will be nice for her to have someone to fight alongside. I am sure I won't let you down."

[frigidScholar]

On the pink haired girl's response, Liz's face went through a variety of expressions. She spluttered a bit before replying, "I- what? No. I'm just- I wouldn't date you!" Liz stopped for several moments, considering what she just said. Wow, that was probably the worst way she could put that. Liz composed herself and brought a single finger up. "That's... not what I meant. I wouldn't date you not because you aren't attractive, but because I'm not into women," Liz said primly. That... wasn't much better. Arceus, what was her brain doing in there?! Liz racked her brain some more before giving it a third shot, "I- uh... Gah! You know what I mean! I'm happy you're traveling with me! We'll kick ass! There!" she near shouted.

Liz scrunched up her face. Mother Mew, what was she even doing? C'mon, she should be good at this sort of thing after all the lessons in how to conduct business meetings she was forced to sit through. She pinched the bridge of her nose until she was able to get her usual cool attitude back. It was enough time that she didn't see Sophie moving over to grab a ticket until her hand was inches away from it. "Woah! Are you just gonna... alright then. I mean, I have kind of a vested interest in you getting one, so I'm not going to stop you. But... we might not want to offend almost everyone here since that's most of the people we're probably going to be running into a lot. Plus..." Liz peered around the room at the chaos of everyone running into the battle room. Wow, did these people even know how to organize anything? This was just a mad dash and soon there were going to be a large group of people that said they'd won a battle and then bicker over who gets what when there's more than four of them. "They aren't even trying to organize things in the slightest, ugh. Apparently some people have to do everything. I have like... three quarters of a mind to go shout at them so we can organize this proper."

[tonberryking]

Loft seems put on the spot, bumping into Diamond once Adalicia stops the both of them yet again. Diamond only stops because she at first thinks she's going to challenge Loft, and nearly drags Loft all the way through the door until he manages to silently convey a plea to hear out the so-far-friendly girl. She lets out an aggravated noise, but Loft speaks up to drown it out. And even that gets interrupted, Loft's eyes going wide because of what he saw over Adalicia's shoulder when he turned around...

"Um... Well, that's mightly neighborly of you, Adalicia; I hope as a newbie I...um.. don't.. trip...

...up.

...Uh.... I still want to team up, but what are we gonna do now? That pink haired girl is stealing the tickets." he points, and Diamond FINALLY lets go of him, running around Loft and Adalicia and starts squawking a righteous fury, pointing angrily at the two "thieves" Sophie and Liz. Dammit, she JUST got a partner and the entire world seems conspiring to take even more of the fight out of him.

[Atrum Umbra]

"Oh, don't worry Loft, I'm sure it is just a misunderstanding. Everyone is just organizing contests in small groups rather than a whole." Adalicia has somehow managed to get between the girls at the table and the Machop that really wants a fight.

Speaking up so that the whole room can hear. "I'm sorry girls but there simply aren't enough tickets for us to fight one on one over them. Maybe we should have double battles to split up the tickets initially then the winning pair can decide among themselves who gets it. Plus that way there will be something left over for round two."

[Goliathus]

Unlike his other peers who were heading to the adventure at the same time as him, Loki was slow, late to the party even. Travel was nothing something he did often. Aside from having to attend card tournaments in other cities or regions, Loki has always been a couch potato. A couch potato who was almost 30 probably has the physical ability of a 40+ years old person and that was proven true in his journey to Hearthwood. As Heartwood Town was neighbouring Monte Belvoir, Loki decided to travel by foot. Knowing that the road might not be always friendly - though most of the time, you would be fine if you stick to the road - Loki has found a group of traveling backpackers to tag along with. The group was very friendly to him, they shared their stories, slowed down to match Loki's speed (a lot) throughout the short, one town journey and also gave him a little tips here and there for things to watch out and so on around the region.

Two days of travel later, they arrived at the outskirt of Heartwood. The group went to restock their supply before continue their hike away from the town. Heartwood was boring for most people as it has absolutely zero attraction to the traveler aside from the lab, which the group of backpackers could not give a Rattata's ass about. They were travelers, walkers of road, not scientist on some kind of field research. Loki found the lab easily. It was just too obvious to not find it in a small town like this. Walking toward it, Loki was surprised at the lack of people around it. So, I am the first one here, right? Wow, I must be faster than I thought. The man thought happily as he whipped off the sweat on his forehead. Waking up early in the morning and walking down the dull patches of green as early as 7AM was finally paying off. He would make a good impression and maybe the professor would give him something awesome for being the early bird. And he hoped he did not get an "Early Bird" kind of Pokemon. His knowledge of the sport was average at best - as there's no fantasy league for Pokemon Battle; with it being a single sport most of the time - but even that he knew flying Pokemon, especially the Birds, were not the strongest Pokemon out there. That and he really did not have much extra feelings to the Birds. They were alright, he did not hate them but he did not like them either. Let's just say he was true neutral towards them, how about that? Bringing out a gaming term after two days of zero gaming...only made him missed gaming even more. He has brought his handheld, but he was so slow with the group that he has to be moving with all his energies on the road than having something else to do.

Deep in his thought and between all the images of the 2D and 3D virtual worlds of gaming fantasia, Loki did not see the door coming...and BAM! "F***!" He said it almost too loudly as he went nose-first on the lab's front door, voluntarily. Thank Arceus he has his hoodie on so no one would actually see the face of this freaking idiot. He took a few seconds to rob his nose and getting ready and proper before opening the door. A jaw drop followed as he saw how crowded the inside was. The realization hit his mind like a truck -- he was f***ing late. All his tournament experience has told him that being late was the worst because you might as well be absence. With absence, at least you did not waste your time and money getting to the venue and be unable to play.

Ignoring the crowd that was completely unimportant to him at this moment, Loki slithered his way to the professor with ease. Unlike his physical capability in the wild, he was as great as an Ekan - or a Luvdisc in a tight space underwater - when it came to moving through crowd. He was just too used to it at this point. "Hello Professor Yew," He said to the two professors, unsure of their names. "Sorry I am late. I am Loki Larsen, one of the applicants for your Pokedex project. I am here for my Pokemon and Pokedex."

[Lorrel]

"Hmm... looks like we will need to earn what we want even here Breckitt. Maybe this won't be so different from what we are used to after all"

Vivi surveys the chaos unfolding as all the trainers scramle to try and figure things out. Spying one girl who seems to have a head on her shoulders, Vivi makes her way over to Liz.

"You seem as bothered by this," Vivi points at the jumble of noise around them, "as I am. Shall we try and bring some order to this?"


Vivi looks at Breckitt and nods, and Breckitt lets out a large Growl, hopefully getting everyone's attention. Vivi is clearly uncomforatbale being the center of attention, but presents a confidence that she knows what she is doing. Vivi had seen many tournemnts and battles set up before back home.

"Ok, it looks like there is a lot going on, and people are looking for different things. If we can figure out how many of us trainers there are, who is grouping up with whom, and who wants which prize, we can organize this and get moving. I doubt any of us want to stand around doing nothing when there are better things we can be doing.

Not.. not that I am in charge or anything, I just ... just think if we can get this organized it would better."
Vivi's confidence starts to falter, almost as if she realized what she was doing and that it was drawing attention to herself


Um... maybe..

Can everyone interested in the ferry pass go to the left of the room, and those battling for the safari zone on the right side?

We also need to decide it if it 1 prize per group, or each person gets a shot at what they want.

or.. well, I am open for other ideas.. maybe I shouldn't have... it's not really my place"

Vivi trails off, and shrinks back a bit, despite making herself the center if attention.

[Deadguy]

"Well, let's see here... there's nine, nope, ten of us total. Four prizes. Any of us plan on traveling in groups of three?" He glanced at Loft and Adalicia for possible confirmation of the proposal.

"Because, if there are, then two groups of three and two groups of two split the prizes even. Just have a team battle and the winners choose which they'd rather have. Then the two teams that lose can flip a coin on the selection of the remaining two prizes, since the pokemon probably won't be in any condition to fight a second battle."

While he spoke, he took the chance to take pictures of the other Pokémon that were released. His mind seemed to wander as much as the Munchlax that had again gone to sniffing through drawers of desks for candy stashes again.

[frigidScholar]

Liz had no sooner pointed out Sophie's move than a crowd of people and pokemon rushed over to her and began all speaking at once. Ugh, how annoying. "Hey! Calm down, speak one at a time, dammit." It was in the middle of this that someone she had looked over earlier approached her. Liz couldn't help but have her nose wrinkle as the wave of unwashed human smell washed over her. Her clothes were more patch than shirt or pants and what was she doing with her hair? She looked like some street urchin from one of those third world countries, what in the world was she doing around here? Liz suppressed the urge to ask just that when the girl started speaking. Huh, well even if she looked awful, Liz guessed that wanting to take charge was a trait she could get behind. As she tried to have her Torchic get the room's attention, Liz cleared her throat and with the practice of someone used to yelling over loud guitar music, "HEY! LISTEN UP!"

Liz glared at anyone who looked like they would dare interrupt as the girl stated out her thoughts. That was... surprisingly sensible. Huh, maybe this girl was worth more than her appearance. Though, that wasn't exactly a high bar to go over. Liz listened to the suggestion of some guy who was so boring looking that she didn't even take in his appearance before she replied, "Yeah, I don't think so. There's only one ferry pass, so people that really want that should battle for it separately from the people who want safari tickets. I definitely don't want the ferry pass and I'd be pissed if I was in a group that went for it. Plus I still haven't heard if all the people here want to battle for things and at least I don't really want to get stuck with people I barely know to trust if I'm going to win anything, no offense. I don't have any promise I'll see any of you ever again and while I'm okay with traveling with Sophie over here, I dunno if I want to get stuck with someone for a year if I got saddled with the ferry pass. Additionally, I kind of want my own merits to prove whether I win or not, otherwise you can totally just attach yourself to the strongest trainer and get a prize that way which is totally lame."

Liz crossed her arms before continuing. "So yeah, I'd much go with... what's your name?" she asked the scruffy looking girl with the Torchic. Liz glanced at her briefly before turning back. "Anyway, I'd much rather go with her idea. We can see how we're going to battle for each when we see how many people want each one."

[Deadguy]

Sawyer put away his Pokedex and sighed at the girl's attitude. "You literally just validated my plan. You have a team of two with a plan to travel together, both desiring the same item, so you battle together."

Grube, having found no additional snack, came back to Sawyer. He received a scratch behind the ear, which caused him to yawn and sit down, dozing off.

[frigidScholar]

Liz rolled her eyes, "I don't really see how it does. See, I'd much rather both me and Sophie got one. It's not like a team winning gets a ticket for everyone and I'd rather not have to share if I don't have to. No matter how buddy-buddy you are with your teammates, you still only get a thing that works for one person."

Liz inspected her nails as she continued, "Plus by your logic, why should we even battle at all? If everyone's getting something, then just form groups where everyone in each group wants the same thing and then they get that thing. Or if there are two groups that would prefer the ferry pass, just have them fight over it and whoever loses gets the safari ticket."

[Deadguy]

"Exactly. What's everyone else say?" Sawyer smiled as she gave the group an idea that he had hoped would come up all along.

Kneeling down, he waited for everyone's responses while scratching Grube's belly as he snored lightly. It didn't seem like this red-haired youth was in much of a hurry.

[aturtledoesbite]

It seemed a commotion was starting about the tickets. Sophie reluctantly set the safari zone ticket down that she'd picked up. Turning around after hearing Liz talk over a plan with some other guy, she walked up to the two of them. "Come on now, let's not sweat the details, okay~? I'd personally prefer if we didn't have to battle over them...maybe some sort of contest would work? Not a 'Pokemon contest', exactly, but...say, maybe there could be a race with one of the tickets as the prize? The other tickets could have different contests, and people who've won one would just not participate in the rest. And...I suppose, if you must, one of the contests could be a Pokemon battle, but maybe near the end so that people whose Pokemon faint can still participate in the other contests? How does that sound?"

[Lorrel]

Vivi looks over a Liz. "My name is Vi.. you can call me Vivi. My Torchic is Breckitt. Pleased... pleased to meet you."

She listens as the boy with the Munchlax speaks. It seems like no matter what the plan is, we need to figure out who wants what. Until we do, well, it all seems to be running in circles.

Personally, I am more interested in the Ferry pass, so I will stand on the left side for now. Unless someone comes up with a better way to get all of this sorted."

With that Vivi moves off to the left side of the room, hoping that some semblance of order will follow.

[Rune Knight]

Maybe dealing with Calder would be worth it to avoid this giant headache. He needs to learn how to mellow out, anyway. Regardless, Erik moved to the side of the room opposite of Vivi. If nothing else, it was a start to seeing what everyone wanted.

[tonberryking]

Loft looks between everyone, completely at a loss as to what to say, not to mention his efforts in reigning in Diamond who still seems a bit sour about someone trying to usurp the prizes.

"Ahh... well, I really kinda wanna go to th' Safari but... Well, I kinda feel like this is getting a bit heated. And um.. we'll be here all day making up contests, no offense, if we do this more'n one way. Why not.. um.. Why don't we all just.. go outside and try to catch pokemon if the idea of fightin' each other is undesireable?" Diamond rolls her eyes, but she respects Loft's attempts at diplomacy and trying to reach something everyone can agree to.

"First one back with a new pokemon gets first pick, or person who catches the most pokemon gets it...that kinda thing? Aheh... I mean... otherwise we'll be limping out of here if we just fight like a ruckus..."

[Atrum Umbra]

In an attempt to help decide on the system Adalicia heads to the right side of the room. While she didn't agree with the solution she wasn't prepared to fight it at this point and would rather just go along with it. She still didn't really want a prize but she may as well go for the safari zone ticket as they seem the most desirable to the people here.

[Merilan]

Annie quietly sighs at Liz and responds, "Yes, it has been a while since then, hasn't it? I... see. Yes, I thought just as much..." She frowns very quietly, pressing her hand to her chest for a moment. She glances towards the crowd in tandem, before shaking her head with a sigh as she shrugs. "Always with these methods... that's so very you, I suppose. But I'll have none of it."

She hobbles over on her crutch to join those that'd moved to the right side of the room, looking at Adalicia and Erik. "I prefer more mild-mannered companions, I suppose. What about you?" A pause. "Annie Marple, by the way."

[frigidScholar]

Liz let out a sigh, then moved over to the right side of the room with the people who wanted safari tickets. "Okay, whatever. You people don't have to do a pokemon battle if you don't want to. But you have to do something to decide who gets it. I don't care if its a dance off or some sort of underwater basket weaving competition." She looked over everyone.

"Once everyone's decided what they want, we can deal with how to choose winners out of each group. Hopefully it'll end up 6 and 4 and we can just do three duels on the safari side and a 4 person tournament on the ferry pass side. We can just pair off randomly and then the pair facing each other can decide on some sort of thing to decide who goes on or not. There, is everyone okay with this? Even the weird pacifists who are becoming pokemon trainers for whatever weird reason when you're going to get in tons of fights by being a pokemon trainer anyway?" Liz asked, sounding impatient.

[aturtledoesbite]

Sophie joins Liz and the others on the right side. Looking at how many people are already here... "I don't think it'll be 6 and 4, Liz, unless everyone else wants the ferry pass."

She looked around at who was here. There was that kid who was sleeping on the bench earlier...looks like he's awake now! There was also the girl who looked like she was his friend. And...two older people? The woman with the crutch looked about Professor Yew's age, give or take, but the man seemed even older still. Were they here for the professor's project, too? What little she overheard between the woman and the professor suggested she might not be, but to be honest, Sophie hadn't been listening closely. She wondered if it would be rude to ask...