Familiar but Odd [Starter-Complete]

[Venick Ayre]

inspire me ...

_{~January Week 2~}

<What am I even doing?>

Venick kicked a small stone that lay in the center of the dirt path in front of him. He was headed to the Laboratory, a familiar place of course. Many of his best - and definitely some his worst - experiences occurred at that very location. It was not unusual for the young man to visit the lab on occasion just to say hello to the good professor. Although, to be honest, that was mostly just because of how attractive he found the guy. But that's beside the point.

Today was different. Today was.. weird. Venick was about to receive his first Pokemon. That thought hadn't completely registered in his head, and really wasn't the primary cause of confusion today. The reason that this day was so odd, was that he was finally claiming his adulthood. He was about to enter the world, and not just any world. A wild one. And not only that, he had no clue what he was even doing! Venick shook his head, and almost banged it on the door of the lab in the process.

Oh. That walk was faster than usual.

Well. Here we go.
A smirk, wave, and forced laugh to the familiar attendant, and Venick was in Oak's main lab-office-thingy. Arceus he hoped that absent-minded man remembered they had this today. He probably didn't. Ah well.

"Hey, Professor? It's Venick, are you here?"

[EssGee]

There was no immediate response, but about thirty seconds later some clanging could be heard from the next-.. was that another room or a very large closet? Whatever it was, several papers, a few small boxes, and one medium-sized professor came crashing out.

Picking himself up off the floor even as the last of the papers fluttered to it, Quercus let out a grin, seemingly unaware or uncaring that onlookers might think him a fool. "Ah, Varric! Right on time I see!" In all fairness, he probably hadn't heard the boy saying his name a minute before. That he still messed up the name of one of his most dedicated students probably spoke volumes about the man, but in all fairness, it was a lot closer than he got with most people! That had to count for something, right?

After dusting himself off, the man chimed, "I've got your Pokemon choices right-" He stopped, patting his lab coat pockets a bit in confusion. He turned around a few times, as if that would make a difference, looked around the immediate vicinity; then his face lit with an "Ah!" before he disappeared back into the closet. A moment later, he came back out with five PokeBalls in his arms. "-right here!"

Without further ado, he leashed them all.

"First up is Ralts! I know you're a very intelligent young man, so any Psychic-type is perfect for you. Ralts in particular has the potential to become rather feminine-looking as it evolves. This one is male and will be no exception unless you can find a Dawn Stone. (Good luck, by the way.) But that won't make it any less formidable! So I thought you two would be a good match in that regard. Also, its talent for empathy might be a good influence for you. And I know you like green. I'm almost hesitant to give you other choices, because this little guy both compliments your strengths and supports your weaknesses. But rules are rules, and the others are pretty good too. .. I mean just as good because I am absolutely unbiased. That is what I said." Was he acting slightly out of character today? How odd. Not that he wasn't always odd. It was just.. a little bit different sort of odd.

"Next up is Eevee. It could become a Psychic type- a purple one no less- depending on how you raise it. Or a lot of other things! I can tell you have a lot of potential, but don't seem to have a very strong direction for it yet. With this Pokemon that's entirely okay, since it can adapt to whatever you choose! Also, I know you're pretty adaptable yourself, so it's a good match there.

"Feebas here would be an interesting choice. I know appearance means a lot to you, and this Pokemon leaves a lot to be desired in that regard, but if you raise it well, it could become one of the most beautiful Pokemon in the known world! ...Which might be a bit of a broken aesop, now that I think about it. Eh, too late to change it now." He sweatdropped a little and scratched at his temple as he said this, but quickly recovered his smile and moved on.

"In contrast, Petilil is a very cute Pokemon, and becomes very elegant when it evolves. Many of Liligant's moves call upon different types of dance, and with your interest in entertainment, I thought that might be right up your alley. Also, you can eat the leaves on its head in a pinch! No, really, they taste pretty awful unless you have an odd affinity for extremely bitter foods, and they won't do much of anything for Petilil itself or any other Pokemon, but they're really healthy for humans. They'll give you a burst of energy and speed up healing of minor cuts and scrapes, and they grow back in a couple of days. Just try not to overdo it; it won't hurt Petilil, but it might look weird, and you wouldn't want to be caught without one when you really need it. I thought since you're not the most physical person a little help making it out in the wilderness would be useful. Also. Green." He gave two exaggerated nods.

The final Pokemon down the list was a little bit off-color. [The sprite does not accurately reflect this.] Rather than its usual red markings, they were a lighter pink-ish color. Nothing like a Shiny, but a very subtle mutation. "Last up, we have Zangoose." Oak's usual smile was replaced by a momentary leer. "Because I haven't forgotten a certain incident." The smile returned. "I mean because you both have a lot of spunk. That was the reasoning for this one."

Reaching into his coat pocket, he offered a small pamphlet. "I also keep all the Pokemon in here on hand when I can, though I'm sure you know that. The pamphlet's more to show which are currently out of stock. If any I have at the moment catch your eye, just let me know and I can let you meet them~"

[Venick Ayre]

inspire me ...

If it were anyone else. Anyone. Venick would be utterly pissed off. But, it was Quercus, so being mad wasn't really an option. Instead he just massaged his temple and allowed a grin to appear on his face. At least Varric was a bad-ass sounding name. Not like the few years when Oak referred to him as Vicky.
His thoughts were interrupted by Oak's continued flailing, especially the such associated with  his coming in and out of the closet. The thought made Venick snort, but he quickly recovered as the professor released the Pokemon.

Before Oak even began speaking, Venick knew this would be a tough choice, except for the - damn it Oak. An eye roll and a sigh preceded the professor's explanations of why he chose the Pokemon. Most of which were all good reasons. Of course, they were all terrible choices for the same reasons, but that was to be expected of the good professor. Throughout the entire explanation, Venick found himself holding a hand over his eyes and suppressing laughter about his mentor's judgement of him. It was offensive, hilarious, and brilliant. But, being the over-analytic perfectionist that he was, Venick was going to need more than Oak's wit.

The purple-haired boy made a quick trip to the corner where he found a low-rising stool. He placed it in front of the Pokemon and sat. Venick eyed each one carefully, doing his absolute best to not show any bias or judgement until he knew more about each individual's personality. His grin transformed into the more natural, cocky smirk.

"So which one of you is going to be my partner?"

[EssGee]

The Pokemon all looked at each other in confusion.

'Does... He knows he's the one who's supposed to be choosing right?' mumbled one.

'Do you think it's a trick?' asked another.

'Maybe it's a test..' said another.

Of course, to the humans in the room, this ongoing conversation just came off as incoherent little sounds of 'vee vwee' and 'lil-et' and chirps and growls and other Poké-sounds. The confused tone was pretty clear, but that was about it.

Well, for four of the Pokemon, anyway. The Zangoose pointed to the ceiling/sky and walked out of the room. ..Actually, considering the look on his face and the fact that he only had two fingers, that probably wasn't pointing. Well anyway, that narrowed it to some extent.

The others eventually came to a conclusion and turned back to Venick, stepping forward in unison and each striking a pose.

Ralts spread his legs, one hand on his hip, and actually more distinguishably pointed to the sky in a power gesture that may have been familiar in another time and place, cracking a cocky grin of his own as he did so.

Eevee rolled around in a very cat-like manner for a moment as if to say 'I'm adorable', then shifted up into a 'beg' pose but winked with a sly smile.

Feebas.. splashed very dramatically! ..Yeah. ...If this had been an aquatic show, Feebas could have rocked it, but nooo. Arceus-damned stupid fucking land.

Petilil spun around with fairly impressive speed what must have been at least a dozen if not two dozen times before coming to a grinding halt facing Venick, then tossing its head dramatically to make its leaves move like hair in wind, as if to say, 'look what I can do and still be totally up for more'.

All of these happened in relative unison, so it wasn't even a matter of who showed initiative. (If anything, that award would go to the Zangoose.) Looked like Venick would have to go off of that, or be more specific in his interviewing.

[Venick Ayre]

inspire me ...

With an amused eyeroll Venick scooted closer. He ignored the Zangoose's gesture, though to be honest, it was pes.robably the best match for him so far, but he really didn't feel like going after it. So, instead, he focused on his other four choices.

Ralts was definitely an interesting Pokemon. It was intelligent, human-like, and eventually would be a very pretty Pokemon, it was also the obvious choice. Eevee. It was adorable, and sometimes being less human was nice, people were  hard to talk to after all, even people-like Pokemon. Also, Eevee could eventually be whatever he wanted it to. Petilil was very eh for Venick. Nothing really struck him about it, although he did give a snort about the professor's comment towards the grass type. Finally was Feebas. Now this was tough. Milotic was a gorgeous, powerful, and overall magnificent Pokemon, perfect for Venick. But, until then, Feebas would be pretty useless. Ugh this was too difficult.

A sigh escaped him. "Okay, I need to know more about you guys before I can make my decision." Venick gestured for the three mobile Pokemon to come closer and picked up the Feebas and placed it in his lap. "You see, you're all great Pokemon," he preferred to just lie to Petilil rather than hurt the poor thing's feelings, "but we need to see who's personality will fit me better." 

Geez how was he supposed to do this? It's not like they could talk, but all he knew now was that Ralts could pose, Eevee was adorable, Petilil was fast, Feebas was immobile on land, and Zangoose was an asshole. That was not enough information to choose a partner. "Is there anything you guys can do to show me that you're ready to adventure and learn new things and junk?"

[EssGee]

Uhh... They all looked at each other quizzically again. Anything they could.. do? Weren't they all already trying to show that they were eager and willing? Well... adventure and learning were a little more specific, right? But how could they very well show that in Professor Oak's office?

Petilil was the first to act, hopping up on a table and taking a pen in its mouth. Finding a blank sheet of paper (which was actually the blank back of something, but close enough right?) it wrote- wrote? Yes it seemed Petilil could write. Its hand.. mouth-writing? left a bit to be desired, but it had very clearly written a long division equation, and even showed its work! Huh. Pokemon that could math were certainly not something you saw in every alley and den, were they? Of course, since it was showing off, that was probably about the highest level of math that it could do, but.. It could write, and math! Certainly it seemed Petilil had a pension for learning.

Ralts, feeling suddenly a bit inadequate by means of recognizing what Petilil was doing but not entirely understanding it, suddenly disappeared into the closet.

Eevee decided to focus more on adventure. Standing on its hind legs, it began doing something that looked like.. marching? Then it shifted and seemed to be pantomiming climbing something steep, complete with minor struggle portrayed. It then began to 'attack' imaginary opponents, using Tackle with some various flairs. (Man it was great at sticking those landings.) After that, it struck a pose as if to say, see? I'm great!

Ralts reappeared at this point with a very large piece.. of.. posterboard? Is that what that was. Making sure he had Venick's attention again, he held it up. It read in enormous magenta letters:

PSYCHIC

Wh..why did the professor have that? ..Well, the lab DID double as a trainer's school. Maybe it was from one of the child classes. Like, really small children. Big flashcards for types seemed like a viable learning tool, probably? Probably best to just accept that explanation and not think on it too much more.

Finally, Feebas... sighed. It gave a sad look up at Venick, then hung its head and turned to hop off his lap, then Tackling his way across the floor slowly. It probably was actually a little less efficient than flopping, but it managed to stay upright rather than being on its side, so it did look.. a little more dignified, at least. Or Feebas hoped it did. It stopped just short of its PokeBall (why did the professor always just seem to leave these things lying around?), then finagled itself back around to face Venick again, looking up as if asking for confirmation that it didn't stand a chance before it just gave up.

[Venick Ayre]

will you inspire me ...?

This was by far the toughest decision he had ever had to make. Seeing their talents... really only made it harder. 
Petilil could write and do algebra, the latter was by far his weakest point. Still, not all that useful in the field, and Venick was more of a field researcher than a sit-in-the-lab-and-do-experiments-all-day researcher. 
Eevee though, it was just so stinking adorable! Cuddling that thing would be so nice! Of course, in order to evolve it he'd need a special stone, an special almost always translated to expensive. He scrunched the corner of his mouth in disappointment. Perhaps Eevee was not the best choice for now.

So now the decision was narrowed down to Ralts and Feebas. 

Ralts, good Arceus this Pokemon, he was hilarious. He had a very dry sense of humor and also an apparent star quality. There was a problem with this though, Venick did not need a little poke-version of himself running along his side and stealing his spotlight. Okay, so Ralts probably wasn't thinking about doing that, but there would always be that sort of competitive distrust that well matched rivals always felt. Venick sighed and let his eyes follow Feebas off of his lap.

The poor fish. Venick just felt so much sympathy for it, probably because he understood it like no one else could. Nobody ever noticed Feebas. They weren't the world's view of beauty, so the poor creatures were just cast aside. Did that strike home or what.. But what was even more amazing, was that, once Feebas was shown kindness and was properly cared for, it grew into the PokeEarth's most beautiful Pokemon. 

Its last attempt, though quite honestly the most pathetic audition in history, did something to Venick. The trainer attempted to keep a straight face. With a slight nostril flare and turn of the head, he pulled his emotions back inside. Venick wasn't entirely soulless, so emotions were still a thing, but he'd rather the professor, or the Pokemon, not see him cry. He shook his head and smirked. Allowing his clean, dark khakis to touch Oak's rarely swept floors - come to think of it, Venick was probably the last one to actually sweep these floors... Ew - the purple haired trainer keeled in front of the fish Pokemon. 

"You may not be the strongest... or the cutest - well not yet anyway," he said to the side, "- but you're the one that I understand, you remind me of me." A true smile brightened on Venick's face for the first time in forever as he placed his hand on the Pokemon's side.

"Let's do this Feebas. You and me, whaddaya say?"

~venick chose feebas!~

MADE BY OLIVE

[EssGee]

If Eevee could read minds, it would have scoffed and reminded the trainer that literally less than half of its many, many evolutions required stones, as a matter of fact, but it would have required having attained one of those evolutions to be able to either know that or communicate the response, so as it was, all of the other Pokemon just looked varying levels of mildly disappointed.. though aside from Ralts, they seemed really happy for Feebas!

Feebas, on the other hand, had given a look of confused dread when the trainer began to approach. Was.. was Venick going to give it a literal kick to go with the emotional one, or give it a verbal lashing to match the emotional one before letting it leave in peace? Surely the professor wouldn't allow-

..That tone didn't sound lashing...

....

Wh...what? R....really? ...REALLY?

For a good twenty seconds, Feebas just gaped. That one could tell the fish was actively gaping should say just how exaggerated this expression was! It was the gape to end all gapes.

Afterward, its eyes seemed to smile as it used its best Tackle on Venick, pushing the trainer to his back (oi vey that sent a few dust clouds flying; Feebas didn't seem to notice though) and then flopping ecstatically on its chest. Oh if only it had some means of giving a proper hug!

The professor seemed to find this rather amusing. "Congratulations! I'm sure you'll make a fine team!" He would have been even happier about it, what with having hoped that the ugly Pokemon would help teach Venick not to judge others based on appearance, but the whole 'love-something-ugly-enough-and-it-will-magically-become-physically-conventionally-beautiful-so-you-don't-have-to-deal-with-the-ugly-anymore' realization was still resonating a bit with him. Not much he could do about it though.

Pointing to a pile of items he'd actually laid out for once while Venick was taking so long choosing, he prompted, "You can also have two of these." In the pile was a Data Log, a Tool Bag, a Berry Sack, a Fishing Pole, and a Canteen. ..Had he forgotten something? No. No this seemed like a perfectly good selection, never mind. "And these," he added after a moment, handing Venick a small bag filled with 5 PokeBalls and 2 Full Heals.

[Venick Ayre]

will you inspire me ...?

Venick's eyes flew open wide as he was tackled to the ground. Wha? He understood the excitement, but dang this Pokemon was going to need to be taught how to reel it in. ...No pun intended. But to be fair, it was still pretty adorable. A very slight chuckle escaped him as he grabbed the Pokemon in his arms and stood up. Feebas was switched to his right arm as he dusted off his back with the other. It was actually pretty impressive that the little thing took down Venick with just one tackle - well, maybe not that  impressive, but still!

An eyebrow raised as he approached the choices. Wasn't there supposed to be a... Eh, oh well. He grabbed the Data Log and Canteen then placed them in his messenger bag. With a nod he took the bag containing the pokeballs and medicine and stored them carefully in his carrying device. 

Now Venick looked at Oak with an accomplished smile. This was a bittersweet moment. He was leaving to conquer the world, but he was  leaving. Sure he'd still probably talk to the professor plenty, but it wouldn't be the same as seeing him everyday. His cheek twitched a bit before he went in for a one-handed hug. Venick held on a little longer than necessary... but man that scatterbrained professor smelt nice! 

Clearing his throat, Venick pushed himself back and nodded to Oak, and with that, they were off!

received data log, canteen, 5 pokeballs, & 2 full heals

MADE BY OLIVE

[EssGee]

The Professor was clearly rather surprised by the hug, but aside from a brief "Ah-.." didn't protest. He was a sweet boy, at heart, and Quercus knew that. In fact, this was good: he'd had a Pokemon for thirty seconds and already he was starting to open up more! Yes, very good. With that in mind he gave Venick a bit of a pat on the back, then saw him off.

As the lad left, Professor Oak called, "If you need anything, just give me a call~" He apparently saw no discrepancy there, as the sound of the door shutting (and probably locking) hit Venick's ears before he would have even had time to turn around. ..Welp, that was the professor all right.