Alola! Welcome! [First Topic]

Laine had followed everyone else into the reservation as soon as the doors opened. He was too caught up in the excitement to really pay Mason any mind. He knew the young teen could take care of himself. The blond boy could feel himself being drawn over to a certain area. Feeling the electricity in the air. Eyes flashing with what appeared to be a different color. The change seemingly didn't shift in what appeared to be posture didn't phase him at all.

Laine came out to what appeared to be a rocky area. The yellow brown stone covered this section of the reservation. Sandalits and Other creatures that enjoyed the terrain scattered when he came too close. Where was that certain feeling he was getting that was drawing him to this area? It felt like it took him an hour before he finally found the source of what he was feeling in his gut. A group of Helioptiles were sitting in a group. Their frills exposed to the sun, while they also basked in each others electricty. As soon as Laine stepped to close they all scattered. All but one.

This certain one, just stared at him for a moment before tilting it's head in what appeared to be happiness. The little lizard like thing came skipping up to him before putting it's little arms on his leg. "Well.. I guess you are mine then. Hella, right? Yeah Hella. Glad to met you." The older blond crouched down to meet his newest partner.

Fey sighed, allowing herself to be dragged along. There was no point in trying to resist Stella, even if it did result in them being more and more lost. Her soft blue eyes looked up at Angel as she spoke, seemingly prying for more of her story, if there was any. The little girl was an observant type rather than talkative and excitable like her childhood companion. She gave a curt nod of recognition, then said, "I... I think that's Dr. McKinney over there..."

She scooped up her Mimikyu friend and made an approach. "Miss, may we have Poke Balls?"

Stella beamed at her new probably-human friend. "Angel, huh? And Seraphim! Well... Maybe you're not a ghost after all, but an angel is even better! Oh, but-- I'm Stella! And that's-- Fey! Where'd you go?" A moment later, however, she caught sight of her friend speaking to Dr. McKinney and sighed in relief. "Okay, she's over there. And-- Oh, there's the Professor!" Stella exclaimed, practically skipping towards Professor Magnolia. She tried to channel what little patience she possessed to wait her turn, and focus her attention on keeping Nathaniel - what she had decided to refer to her new Pokemon friend as, and he didn't seem to mind it - from stealing anything from all the people around them. She simply scooped him up off the ground and refused to let go. "No taking things from anyone else for you," she told him simply, scratching him behind one ear.

Still beaming innocently, the dark-skinned girl puled Circus back at her chest, scooting away from the boy who, quite energetically, had already gotten up to leave. She settled the heavy Pokemon in her lap, stroking its back with her thin fingers. It looked backup at her, clearly appreciating the petting, begore returning its beady eyes to watch the other. "Ooh, I'm so sorry about that!" Iulia apologized, her face burning with genuine embarrassment. Seeing her leave, she waved her hand towards him, even if he was turned away, smiling until he was out of sight. Then, her expression dropped to one of wooziness as she dropped on her back in the grass.

After a couple of hours of laying, she quietly left the reservation without bothering any of the professors. She could get her Pokeballs later at a shop.

Miss Old Lady Person? It's a good thing the girl was young, otherwise, she'd be getting some words. Before she could assist the young girl, a few others walked up to the breeding expert to collect their Pokéballs. Claire reached into her apron and brought out a few miniature Pokéballs. She handed them each one, and upon seeing their confused gazes, she smiled. "Press the button, it'll bring them up to normal size," she told them.

OOC: sry 4 laziness

Turning to face Angel and answer her question, Stella laughed. "No, Nathaniel's a Purrloin, not a Meowth. He is cute though, isn't he? It's what Purrloin do. Look cute and take your stuff. He's actually got my keys." Nathaniel leaned into Angel's hand with a purr, as if to prove her point. "He seems to like you, though!"

As soon as they were given the indication to go in and the hand from her childhood friend no longer was holding her shirt to stop her, Dreyma dashed into the reserve alongside the rest of the soon-to-be trainers with a huge smile to find the partner that would be at her side from now on.

She rushed past several future trainers without really looking to where she was going, she could only think on going forward in hopes of finding her own Pokémon without stopping to think that she was rushing past many potential partners that could’ve been closer to the entrance. She allowed her feet to carry her as she ran without a real direction, her mind busy with the images of the hundreds of Pokémon pictures she had seen in the many books in her house before coming here.

She never really realized when she had arrived to the arid area of the reserve, not even noticing how the grass and dirt had disappeared and now she was stepping on soft sand. She probably would’ve kept running without direction until she ran out of steam in her distracted state if it wasn’t for an irregularity on the terrain that caused to her to trip and fall on the sandy terrain, forcing her out of her daydreams.

She groaned a bit as she shook the sand that had managed to get over her with the fall and complaining a bit by the uncomfortable feeling of having it on her hair and in her clothes. But before she could put her thoughts back together to get back on her feet she heard what she could only describe as a mad Pokémon cry behind her. She turned around onto her back to see what was going on…and what she found was an angry trapinch with a half-built bowl-shaped pit that she had accidentally destroyed.

“Oh, shoot…I’m sorry buddy” The trapinch snarled a bit and jumped forwards, clearly throwing a temper tantrum over the mess Dreyma had made. However, in his attempt to express his annoyance he tumbled forward and rolled over onto his back. His angry snarls soon turned into panicked cries as he wiggled his stumpy legs on the air, unable to turn himself around “Hey, hey! Calm down, let me help you” Carefully to not put her hands near the powerful jaws of the trapinch she grabbed him and counted down from three before helping him get back on his feet.

After that, both human and Pokémon looked at each other awkwardly for a couple seconds in complete silence. At some point both looked apart quickly, embarrassed. Dreyma tried to dissimulate by sitting down on the hot sand and pulling out a bottle of fresh water from the small backpack her mother had given to her before she left for the reserve and opened it, but before she could even give the first gulp she looked down at the trapinch which was looking at her with huge puppy eyes and making cute sounds “Thirsty? Can’t blame you, living in such an arid place” With a small sigh and a smile she gently placed the bottle against the Pokémon’s mouth “Don’t bite, ok?” And with that she started to pour it slowly so the trapinch could drink comfortably.

She couldn’t tell for how long the orange Pokémon hadn’t been able to have anything to drink, but she guessed longer than she originally thought by how eagerly it emptied the bottle’s contents and how happy it seemed afterwards. She smiled before putting the cap back on the empty bottle and placing it inside her backpack, she wasn’t going to leave trash behind on the reserve, nor anywhere else.

She was rather surprised to feel a small nudge against her leg as she got up and started to look around to figure out where she was in the reserve. She looked down to see the trapinch looking at her with curious eyes and then at her backpack “Uh…more water?” As she spoke she reached into her backpack, realizing she only had one bottle left. She just sighed and pulled it out, kneeling and opening it to offer it to the Pokémon. It wasn’t until half the bottle was emptied when the trapinch pushed it up with a small almost purr-like sound, looking at her “My turn?” Like understanding her the trapinch nodded with a smile “Well, thank you” She took a couple good gulps of the water and then offered it to the pokemon again, but it once more pushed it up to her “You sure?”.

The trapinch nodded gain.

With a smile she nodded back and finished it before putting the bottle back in her backpack with the other empty one “Well…uh…sorry for destroying your pit, really…” With an embarrassed scratch of the neck after saying that she turned around to walk away, but she was almost knocked out of balance when the trapinch ran after her and pushed her a bit too hard, making her look down “I don’t have more water, sorry” After letting out a soft huff, the trapinch rested his big head against her leg “Hum…what do you want, buddy?” She gave a couple steps more, only for the trapinch to follow and again rest his head against her again “You want to come with me?” The trapinch smiled and let out a happy cry, causing Dreyma to smile too.

“Well…I guess we are a team now! We just gotta get you a pokéball at the reserve entrance!” She almost squealed as she started to walk again…only for the trapinch to bite her pants gently and tug on the other direction “Uh? Wha….oh!” She looked on the way the trapinch was trying to pull her to, and in the distance she saw a line of trees, she was going on the wrong direction! “Hehehe….yeah, guess that way is better” She said a bit embarrassed as she turned around and started to walk in the right direction.

“I guess we gotta give you a name…uh, Sandy?” The trapinch snarled “Errr…what about Digger? You like to dig right?” Her answer was a snort and annoyed look “Ok, ok…geez, wonder which is the name that tunes in with your soul” At the mention of the word soul the trapinch raised its head and tilted its head with curious eyes “…really? Soul?” The trapich gave a small jump and let out a happy cry “Well, guess Soul it is then!”.

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Ragnor wasn’t surprised when Dreyma bolted forward as soon as he let go of her shirt, letting out a long sigh. Hopefully she would stay out of trouble this time…

Unlike most of the excited trainers that rushed into the reserve, he just placed his hands inside his pants and calmly walked inside. He seriously had no idea of what kind of Pokémon he was even supposed to find, he was even starting to secretly wish he had paid closer attention to Dreyma’s silly rants about the many Pokémon she knew that could be in the reserve to know what he should be looking for.

One thing he knew for sure though, any clingy or overly sweet Pokémon he didn’t want. He had more than enough dealing with Dreyma, if he had to also tolerate those traits on his partner Pokémon he would lose his sanity in a heartbeat.

He walked calmly through the lush forests of the reserve, avoiding most places where he heard human voices as he wasn’t too interested in human interaction at the time…and in all honesty he was starting to wonder if he truly wanted a Pokémon at all. With those thoughts he sat under the dark shadow of a tree, far away from any trainer or visible Pokémon, grumbling and talking to himself as he rested his head on his hand, trying to realize if he should keep looking for a Pokémon at all or just return and apologize to the professor for the trouble.

The soft sound of rusting leaves caused him to raise his gaze and look around him until his gaze landed on a small black and red feline Pokémon that walked out from the bushes, looking at him with slightly annoyed eyes “Spot is taken” His words were near to a mere whisper. The Pokémon just snorted and laid down on a shady spot a couple feet away from Ragnor.

The two stood where they were, silently tolerating each other in their attempt to avoid the bigger crowds of people and Pokémon. Once or twice their gazes met before they quickly looked away. Several minutes passed by like this before the Pokémon, who Ragnor couldn’t remember the name of the species to save his life at the time, turned his head and let out a small meow. Ragnor sighed and turned to look at him “What?”.

The Pokémon made a small movement, pointing with his head and a clearly bothered expression. Ragnor turned to where he was told and had to hold in a soft groan as he noticed some approaching trainers with what he guessed were their chosen partners.

“I see…I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to talk with anyone right now, so I’m going to find a better spot…” With those words he got up and slid his hands inside his pockets, walking away without really looking back. His feet carried him around the forests until the voices and Pokémon cries died out, this time he picked a spot under a small rock formation that made a small cave-like space.

However, as soon as he sat down he heard a soft snort and turned to see the same feline Pokémon looking at him with a neutral expression, lying down not far from him behind a rock, reason why he hadn’t seen him at first “Seriously now? Who is following who?” The Pokémon just twitched its ear before lowering its head silently “Well, at least you’re…ok, I guess, in my book”.

He rested his back on the flat rocks behind him and closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift into a light slumber and hoping he wouldn’t be interrupted. He wasn’t sure how long he was in that weird state between the waking and dreaming world, but when he woke up he felt an unusual warmth at his side. When he looked down he saw the feline Pokémon resting against him, curled up and apparently sleep “Ok dude…” He gave a soft nudge to the Pokémon, causing it to open its eyes and look up “You like me, I guess, and I think you’re ok. Way better than any noisy and sickly sweet and clingy Pokémon wanting affection twenty-four seven, so if you want we can just get this done and get you a pokéball to make it official, but we gotta set limits, like personal space” The Pokémon just huffed softly, but dragged himself a couple inches away from Ragnor, no longer touching him “Thank you…and since I don’t want to call you Pokémon all the time and I can’t remember your species’ name I guess I’ll just give you an actual name…I like Merikh”.

The newly named Merikh just meowed a bit at the sound of the name, and Ragnor took it as a yes “Good…now lets go back to the entrance, I think I had enough of the reserve for a day”.

Jasmine was too busy thinking about her next project that she didn't even notice the fact that the doors had opened and most of the center had already cleared out by the time she came back to reality. "Oh!" She said before walking through the large double doors, and out into the opening of the reservation.

The first thing she noticed was the protective wall encircling the area. She realized they didn't want anyone getting in or out unless it was through those doors. It was a well built wall. Jasmine, being the way she was, decided to follow along the wall. The way the wall was built was grabbing her attention more than the potential Pokemon partner.

The closer the wall followed to one of the colder areas that was man made by the build team, the more Jasmine wished she had brought her jacket with her though it was spring time. She had forgotten that they had colder areas in the reservation. The pokemon in the area not even catching her attention until she came across a brownish white that was digging a hole near the wall.

It poked it's head up from it's hole, and it's blue eyes landed on her. What was this pokemon again? It looked like a Vulpix except white. Was it the alolan form? She didn't think they would have these here at the reservation but she was wrong, and the proof was right in front of her. And her first thought was that it was so stinkin cute, and it seemed like it didn't mind getting dirty either. Oh man she had to have it.

She stepped a bit closer then crouched down, holding out her hand for the pokemon to come to. The little white vulpix looked down at her hand then turned it's eyes back to the hold it was digging, before back to her hand. It didn't take but a single second for the vulpix to trot over and rub it's head against her hand, leaving a little bit of black on it's fur. At first Jasmine was confused as to what happened there but then she might have missed some oil on her hands or picked it up from her clothes. "I guess you are mine now." Jasmine said. The girl picked up her new, and already dirty pokemon feeling the cold air radiate off of it. She then turned and head back for the welcome center hoping to get a pokeball for it.

Fire lit between them as their eyes met. Cato shifted his weight, turning the stone over in his hands, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Were all wild Pokémon this aggressive? He could hear the voices of the other children, carried on the soft breeze, the affectionate coos and nicknames. All around him, people were making friends, and he was trying not to get mauled. "So you don't like me." That was fine. Who'd want a grim Pokémon like that anyway? They stared each other down, poised to strike each other at the first hasty movement. "I don't think I like you much either."

Cubone flared, flinging the bone club toward his head. He flicked his head to the side to dodge it, just as the Cubone charged him again, but he twisted like a matador, letting the sharp stone in his hand crack against the thick white helmet. The poor little thing hit the grass, its skull mask vibrating like a rattled snare, just as the bone arced back, boomeranging into the back of Cato's head.

He ate dirt. Hard. Cato flicked his eyes up, meeting the Cubone's gaze as they laid there together on the ground. Gritting his teeth, he slipped his fingers into his pocket, ignoring the throbbing ache spiking down his spine with every jolted intake of air. "That's all right. We don't have to be friends. But I do need a partner." With a bloody-toothed grin, he pulled his hand out from his coat, shaking some loose berries around in his palm. "You just stay as mean as you are and let me handle the talking. If I'm swimming in money that means you'll be swimming in poffins. Think we can strike a deal?"

The Pokémon eyed him with a cold distrust, but he noted the way its posture shifted, from two legs to all fours, sniffing suspiciously at the food in his hands. "Go on. It's not poison." Cato reached back, popping one of the berries into his mouth, chewing with a deliberated 'mmm-mmm,' and the Cubone lunged toward it with bestial ferocity, scarfing it all down within minutes.

Cato flinched under the wetness and sandpaper texture of the creature's tongue, the light scrape of nubby teeth and the splatter of berry juice across his fingers, but he laughed all the same, because he still hadn't been bitten, and that meant he'd won.