The More You Know [starter - Complete]

[Alistair Sharpe]

Alistair walked into the laboratory with long strides, his eagerness showing despite his desire to appear calm. He was completely prepared to leave, to look at this world that he had born into but never truly seen until now. He had said his good byes, had experienced the sadness of leaving the only place he had ever called home. His father had told him how proud he was, and Alistair had told him how much he would miss him. He would, particularly on Saturdays when they were accustomed to their weekly dinners. However, that was finished. He had done that yesterday. Today was for the excitement, for the adventure. There was so much out there, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to help but stumble on new things. Of course, new things would also stumble onto him but he was ready for that. That was why he was getting a pokemon, after all.

Other than the tools needed for survival, Alistair felt completely prepared. He had done extensive study on what pokemon were known to be in the area, theories about mutations, biological cross sections remembered from the old world. These were of mainly academic; a starting off point if you will. He would fill books with such detailed descriptions, as well as real logged data, pictures, and notations. It was going to be amazing.

He was about ten minutes early to the lab, and he walked right up to the desk,"Pardon me," he said, "I have an appointment with Professor Oak in approximately," Alistair looked at his watch, "Eight minutes."

Punctuality had always been important to Alistair, though he sometimes worried that this was too much a part of the old world. Shouldn't a new world have some kind of new time? The days had seemed to fall into line nicely, but it seemed highly improbable. He should... no, focus. Let future astrophysicists deal with that. What did it matter if it was supposed to be Wednesday but was actually Sunday? It didn't. However, the world he lived in know worked in time. Go with the flow. Alistair smiled politely at the assistant, expecting to told to wait somewhere. It would give him time to go over his notes.

[Jenn]

The receptionist looked at the rather calm gentleman before him. He seemed rather calm, an oddity on days when trainers get their first pokemon. “Just a moment, let me check.” The green haired male wearing a lab coat flipped quickly through a clip board. “Alistair Sharpe? Yes, you do have an appointment shortly, but the professor happens to be out for some research. Please have a seat and I will contact him for you.”

The seating area was just off to the side near a large green window. The view was decent with the lab being built on a small hill and looked over the city. Alistair would have no problem seeing the good professor come up the hill, if he remembered the appointment.

A good amount of time passed, much more than the measly eight minutes Alistair had expected. He had seen several people in lab coats come in and out of a room and the green-haired desk attendant

“Um… Alistair, could you come here a moment?” the attendant asked awkwardly. “I can’t seem to get a hold of the Professor. I believe he is out back in the ranch, just the door to your left there,” he placed a large bag on the desk, “If you could please go and find him I’m sure he’d be happy to come back in with you.”

As soon as he had finished requesting the favor the X Gear on the desk signaled an in coming call. “Hello, Professor Oak’s office. How may I help you?” It seemed the discussion was over. Alistair could only take the bag and head out to the portal.

Once outside in the large pen where Oak let his pokemon roam free, Alistair would be bombarded by a herd of stampeding Torros, nearly knocking the man off his feet. Clearly this wasn’t a place to trample lightly. The area was filled with several types of terrain to keep all pokemon happy. It was hard to tell the domestic apart from the ferals out here, but easy to spot the professor sitting on an icy surface nursing his newly blemished bottom.

“Ah hello. You aren’t allowed to be back here.” The man said smiling as he got up. Once Alistair explained things, the man was much more understanding.

“I am so sorry, Alistair. Time gets away from you out here. Let’s go inside and get you your first pokemon.”

Oak lead the trainer through a different door, this one connected directly to his office. He placed five pokeballs out on the desk. He gestured to for the man to sit in the seat across from him. It seemed slightly odd for the clumsy man to be so formal, until he attempted to sit and missed his seat. “Oh dear,” he said from the floor adjusting his glasses.

“Let’s not keep you waiting any longer,” the mentor said getting up. He reached for the pokeballs and released all five pokemon in a flash of white light.

“Here we have Zigzagoon. This pokemon is very inquisitive and tends to find plenty of things on any trainer’s travels.” The brown striped pokemon approached the trainer and sniffed at his feet. It looked up, as if smiling, before scurrying around the office.

On the floor was a red and orange decorative doll? If poked or pushed it just rocked back to its normal resting position. How odd. “That would be Darumaka. It appears to be asleep at the moment. Oh dear, not a very good first impression. They are a fire pokemon that can be quite lively when awake. When asleep they are in this state.”

Standing by the professor was the green deer pokemon. It looked very startled as the two other pokemon came bouncing forward from behind it. “This is deerling. They change colour with the seasons, a very interesting phenomena that was never quite figured out.”

The bouncing pokemon circled the trainer, clearly playing a game of sorts. “Those would be Spheal and Spoink. They are very bubbly pokemon with plenty of energy to spare. Make sure you never hold a Spoink, the bouncing acts as their heart to pump blood; just something to be aware of.”

“You may also select a pokemon from this pamphlet.  So what is your choice, Alistair?”

[Alistair Sharpe]

Alistair nodded, “Thank you,” he said. The calm was naturally a front. He was exploding inside, but he wanted to appear calm and collected like a scientist should be in his mind. He sat down on the chair, hands on his knees. The only betrayal of his excitement was the slight bouncing of his right knee. Alistair peered out the window at the partially constructed laboratory. He wondered idly what it would look like when finished.

Time dragged, and Alistair didn't really know how to handle the waiting. He felt like he should say something, but also was nervous to say anything. What was he going to do, tell the great Professor Oak to hurry up? It seemed like an eternity until the receptionist called him over and pointed him towards the ranch. Alistair took the bag and moved towards the door, the confidence that had filled him in the beginning vanishing with the slight disruption of his plans.

Alistair stepped into the pen carefully, glad that he had decided to wear his adventuring clothes to the appointment rather than his nice ones. He figured that the professor would rather see someone ready to go than someone who was dressed to the nines. Still, after a plop in the mud he couldn't help but look down in concern at his boots. Hadn't even made it out of Port City without getting them dirty. He would have been better served to keep his eyes up as a herd of Torros ran past at breakneck speed. One brushed Alistair, forcing him to wobble before regaining his balance in the nick of time. The creature hadn't even noticed the collision that had nearly knocked Alistair down. The young scientist looked around, frightened. There were so many pokemon, too many to count. He saw some ferals and domestic pokemon, some even with mutations. Imagine having a place like this to study pokemon.

The professor was not hard to spot, being the only human there. Alistair walked over to him. The man stood, kindly reminding Alistair that he was not allowed where he was.

“Oh, yes. I know. It is just that... I had an appointment and the receptionist said that I could find you back here and that you wouldn't mind...” Alistair's sentence drifted off.

The apology was immediate, and so forceful that it took Alistair back a little bit. He was happy to move inside where it was less tramply. It was certainly odd for Alistair to see the man fall on his backside once again. He seemed the opposite of scientific, yet he was the embodiment of it. Oak was quick to release the pokemon in front of him. Alistair looked at them with a studying eye. His brain stopped as Oak mentioned something, turning the notion over in his head. The professor continued describing pokemon, but Alistair was fixated on the deerling. It stood quietly on the ground, innocent eyes looking up at Alistair. "It changes with the seasons,” he thought. His brain raced for what little knowledge he had about deerlings. There were a lot of pokemon, it was impossible to memorize everything about all of them. He was fairly sure that it evolved into a larger pokemon with antlers that changed with the seasons as well. On earth, this was an interesting phenomenon but here it seemed absolutely amazing. After all, this was a domestic deerling. Though it was likely born here, its parents were likely domestic.

Alistair strode quickly to the Pokemon, somewhat dismissive of the others as his brain latched onto a mystery. The deerling clopped its hooves excitedly in front of it as it saw that it was being noticed. Alistair knelt, examining it. There were tufts of grass interspersed on it and it was the green of summer, “Fascinating,” he said, pushing his glasses up on his nose to get the best possible clarity, “The way it interacts with an alien world, not even knowing the difference,” he said, mostly to himself. This is the kind of adaptability that he was talking about, becoming part of this world rather than trying to make this world the old world, “It is almost as if…” his thought was interrupted as the deerling cried out in a high pitched squeak, jumping up and down before cantering over to the young man, rubbing his furry face on Alistair affectionately with a contented hum. Even the cold calculating Alistair couldn’t help but smile at the display of affection, “I think he likes me too,” he said, standing.

“Yes, I think that the deerling will make a fine companion and may provide invaluable insight into the environment of this world,” he said, his composure regained for now.

[Rex]

Oak watched the trainer with interest. He always liked to see the decision get worked around in the trainer's head as they tried to make this very important decision to start off their careers. It was one of the finer points of being an individual who gives out starters.

"Ah, Deerling. Wonderful choice indeed," he said with a big smile, returning the other four Pokemon to their poke balls.
Wandering away from the trainer without saying anything, the mentor pulled a case or two off the shelf and slowly worked his way back to the desk, arms piled with goodies.

"Now, son, pay attention. As a starting trainer in this region, you are given an X-gear, some poke balls, a mortar and pestal, and a data log. In addition, as a new researcher here in this region, you may choose a few more items. Using the Global Market as a reference, you may select two trainer items under 35, and two survival items under 35. In addition, you may select between a Dex Chip or a Photo chip." he said with a small smile. He stepped away and rested his hands behind his back, waiting patiently for Alistair to make his decisions.

When the deciding was done, Oak smiled and clapped his hands.
"Now then. My number is already saved in your X-Gear under a special contact.  Please reach out to me when you make any new discoveries. I will also periodically text you with news and other things going on. For right now, you should head to New Pallet. We are currently dealing with a Spinarak issue, and all the trainers available to help should.  Do you have any questions for me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

--------------------------------
Please choose Deerling's Egg Move, gender and ability
Please choose between a Dex chip or a Photo Chip
Please choose 2 Survival items which can be found at the Global Market for under 35₪
Please choose 2 Trainer Items which can be found at the Global Market for under 35

[Alistair Sharpe]

Alistair considered bringing deerling into the pokeball, but decided against it. After all, the pokemon interacted with the natural world, so it was always possible that he could learn something from it. He tucked the ball away for later. The small pokemon seemed pleased by this, smiling even more and eyes widening somehow.

His attention turned to the professor as he outlined what items Alistair could receive. It was a somewhat difficult choice, and he knew he wouldn't be able to get everything he wanted in one go. Really, he wanted both the dex and photo chip but he knew he would have to save his money, "I think that the dex chip will server me well to start," he said.

The next choice required a little more thought. For the trainer items, it seemed best to go basic, "I think that I will take two potions for trainer items," he said. He wanted to make sure deerling and any other pokemon he caught stayed healthy. There were other trainer items he wanted, but they were less expensive and he could probably procure them himself in a short time. He examined the survival items. These could truly be the difference between life and death. A tent would be needed as well as... oh, dang. He would definitely need those, "I think I will take a tent and some go-goggles," he finished, "Wouldn't do to have these falling off my face, would it?" he said, pointing at his glasses. He could see all right if things were pretty close, but get too far and things got fuzzy really fast.

Alistair listened as Oak briefly outlined what was happening in new pallet. Spinarak? Oh dear, and here he was with a grass pokemon. Well, even if he could only do but so much concerning this threat he was convinced that long term his choice was a wise one, "Wow, some kind over growth?" he asked, but then finished with, "I suppose I will find out when I get there."

Did he have any questions? Jeez, only a million but nothing that was important to the task at hand. He didn't want his mentor to think him needy, and honestly he was too nervous to take up any more of the man's time, even though he had been entirely friendly.

"No, thank you sir," he said, nodding. He turned to leave and his long legs carrying him to the door of the small house.

clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop.

The deerling's hooves rushed to keep pace, and Alistair paused a bit at the sound, turning to see the smiling face of his new pokemon who was clearly just happy that he was being looked at. He knew he couldn't keep calling it deerling. That made no sense. It wasn't like it was the only deerling on the planet. The name was very clear.

"Come on, Clipclop," he said, "Let's head to New Pallet,"

The deerling, Clipclop, brightened at the unique name, letting out an adorable squeak as it followed Alistair out the door.

clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop.

---

New nickname - Clipclop
Egg move - grass whistle
Gender - male
ability - Chlorophyll
Dex chip chosen.
Bedroll and go-goggles chosen for survival
2 potions chosen for trainer Items.

[Blue]

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