Walking In A Winter Wonderland - {Part I}

[Alaina]

Snowflakes fluttered to the ground, allowing only the tallest grass to peak through its frozen grasp. No life in sight was anywhere to be seen, save one girl. Alaina wandered up towards the laboratory, dressed in a medium-sized white winter coat and light brown snow boots. She twirled around happily in the midst of the flurries, tilting her head back, letting the snow melt on her face. Her muscles tensed slightly as she allowed herself to fall backwards into the snow. The snow wasn't deep, but her coat broke her fall nicely. She laid there for several minutes, head resting on her bare hands. Her green eyes shut loosely as her pale nostrils flared, allowing the wonderfully fresh scent that came only from cold winter and new snow to enter. Winter was her favorite season. It held many memories of her childhood - and a lack of memories of her mother. Perhaps that was why she was so drawn to it. But either way, she was so content lying there in the snow that she almost forgot why she had been wandering up the path in the first place.
Sighing, she pushed upwards, leaving her precious snow. She looked behind her, where the jet that had brought her to the lab had left only moments before. Each trainer from the orientation center had gotten on different ones, each jet going to a separate region to filter the new trainers equally. Most of the jets had had three or four passengers. She had been alone. Indeed, she was now more alone than ever before. First, no siblings. Then, no mother. More recently, no father. Now, no human companionship. None at all. She was one thousand miles away from everyone she knew and loved. The saddest part, she reflected, is that Dianto is the closest to home.
The majesty of the snow was suddenly lost as darker, lonelier thoughts overtook her. Shaking them off, she turned back around to face the professor’s laboratory. The flight attendant had informed her of her different options while she had still been on the jet. Looking out at the plains surrounding her, she had decided against looking through the wild to find a Pokémon. She had narrowed down the guaranteed choices from the professor down to one before she had stepped foot onto the path. She had decided that she would get in and get out, giving herself no time to chicken out. That would be the best course; once she had a Pokemon, quitting would be hard.
While considering the different Pokémon in her mind, Alaina had unconsciously walked the rest of the way to the laboratory. She walked up the steps, slightly winded from her time-consuming, albeit short, walk. She raised her hand and paused for a few seconds as options besides starting this unpredictable journey rushed through her head. Despite the large amount that came to mind, none of them were actually legit options. A wave of sudden nervousness overcame her, but she shoved her wrist forward and down, knocking on the large, white doors as the snow continued come down.

[Aroz]

(OOC: Thank you for reminding me it's supposed to be winter. xD)

"Oh dear. Oh bother. Please, baby Roran, please hush. Your sister is sleeping just fine. Oh please, please go to- oh no. Baby Rea, go back to sleep." Poor Neron Muzzle was having a horrible day. Professor Willows, his employer, had decided to go out for a stroll, and had decided to leave the lab, and everything in it, around it, above it, and below it, under his care.

In Willow's own words, "Hey, Neron. It's snowing and I want to take a walk. The kids should go to sleep soon, so it should be quite relaxing." Oh how he lied.

The day so far had been anything but relaxing. Sure, the twins had been sleeping when he arrived, and the Professor made his oh-so-quiet entrance. But, almost as if they shared a telepathic bond with their father, both woke up in an eruption of cries and screams. Well, one was crying, the other was screaming. At that moment, he did not know, and did not care to know, who was doing what. All he knew was that they needed to be back in bed before their dad got home- this was a once in a lifetime chance.

Roran and Rea eventually went back to bed, but then the fun started all over again. Somehow, and he has yet to figure out exactly what happened, the back door opened, and all of the starters, and other boarders at the lab, made their way into the house for a midday bash, crash, and trash session. Magby burned a chair, Pichu drained the electricity from the bathroom, and a random Jigglypuff was thisclose to putting Neron under her sleep spell. After an hour or two, he corralled them back into the backyard. And that is where you came in.

"Oh dear. Oh bother. Please, baby Roran, please hush. Your sister is sleeping just fine. Oh please, please go to- oh no. Baby Rea, go back to sleep." Both twins were now crying again, and things seemed as if they would go exactly as they had earlier- badly. But this time, there was a knock on the door. Muzzle had no hope, of course; the Professor wouldn't need to knock, and the chance of a nanny coming were slim to none.

"Hold on, please," he yelled, finding a bouncy chair to stick the crying boy into, poor Rea still stuck in her crib. The lab was somewhat a mess, as Neron had not yet had sufficient time to tidy up; hopefully the trainer would not be scared away. Picking up a lamp that had been tipped over, probably by the devilish Elekid, Mr. Muzzle opened the door with an attempted grin. "Hello, come in. How may I help you?" He stepped to the side; allowing the pale, redheaded, freckled, girl into the laboratory. "Is this your first time in Dianto?"

[Alaina]

((Lol, you're welcome =D ... And yay for dead muse! This post took me, like, nine times longer to make than posts like this usually do. x.x;))

Alaina stared somewhat cautiously at the man who looked slightly disgruntled. The lab was a mess, and the professor - Was it the professor? - didn't look much better. To her inexperienced eyes, he looked rather tired, as though he hadn't gotten enough sleep recently or something. Once she had stopped moving, her blood had slowed its speed, allowing her temperature to drop closer to that of the outside. Her back was chilled quickly; only once she felt her shirt beginning to stick to her back did she walk into the messy lab and close the large door behind her. She observed him, not saying a word at first, simply watching him as he absent-mindedly ((Whoo! New word!)) began to clean up the things that the Pokemon, she assumed, had knocked over and messed up.

"Um... Yes, today's my first time in... Dianto Region. And, uh, actually... You see, this is my first time with... Pokemon... In general."

She admitted quietly, her voice fading, getting quieter and quieter as she spoke, as though she didn't want the man who had dedicated his life to Pokemon to know the truth of her life. She compared her situation to admitting to a mathematician that you hadn't managed to pass second grade addition.

"And, I'm here for a starter Pokemon. Who do you have left, and who do think are the, uh... 'Best' for someone like... Someone like me?"

Alaina asked the question quietly; by 'me,' she had meant someone totally new to Pokemon. She just didn't feel like admitting to that two times in ten minutes. It was something she didn't feel like admitting t to twice in a life time, really. That was just slightly irrelevant, though, she reflected silently. Realizing that she knew absolutely squat about Pokemon besides type differences, she hadn't done so much as look at the list of starters; that would, after all, lead a decision that was about appearance. Looks weren't everything, and the prettiest Pokemon would probably make the worst starter anyway. So no, she had devoted herself to asking the professor instead. She had hoped that by doing that, she would be sparing herself from the opportunity of completely demolishing any chances she had of succeeding in her journey by requesting the 'wrong' Pokemon. Hopefully he would have some good advice as to which was the best - or which one would be good. Either worked for her.

[Aroz]

"Ah, a beginner trainer, I see," Professor Aide Muzzle mused, taking a second look at the girl who had walked into the lab, before moving over towards a bookcase where he began to insert fallen books into their correct spots. "So of course you're here to get your first Pokemon. Wonderful, wonderful. And you are new to them as well? Even more enjoyable." The man with the glasses turned, yet again, to Alaina, with a crooked smile on his face.

No, his mind had not traveled to any sort of gutter, but rather, he was enjoying the moment. This girl seemed to think of him as the Professor, as laughable as that was. Being honest with himself, he was not that experienced with Pokemon outside of books and papers. That was one of the reasons he was working for Willows, he figured it would be easier to be an Aide to a younger Professor. Of course, most may seem young to him, as he time was not slowing for him- slightly graying hair inferred as much.

"I see. So we are thinking of the perfect Pokemon for someone in your situation, yes?" He turned back to the books yet again, placing the last one back onto the shelf. A strange quiet had overtaken the laboratory, both Reron and Rea having stopped crying, the boy falling asleep in the bouncy chair. Neron had actually forgotten about him for a second, until he turned his head just a tad. Lucky him.

"Well, you've seen the list outside, I assume, correct?" It was now that he started into ramble mode, "Elekid is off, automatically. Azurill is cute, but occasionally difficult for beginners. Mime Jr. is...well, just no. Munchlax is also more for those with at least a little prior experience you understand."

His ramblings only continued, until there was only one Pokemon left. Mr. Muzzle turned towards Alaina, searching for approving eyes. "Igglybuff would be an excellent starter Pokemon for beginners. It is also rather popular with young girls, like yourself. It is cute, and evolves into the adorable Jigglypuff, you know. They are also very easy to get along with...usually. But yes, Igglybuff, maybe, my dear?"

[Alaina]

The girl nodded as he rephrased what she had told him earlier. To her inexperienced eye, he seemed almost malicious as he grinned his crooked grin; of course, he was just being friendly. But Alaina wasn't good at seeing the friendliness in people. Not anymore. She shook off her slight discomfort, and waited for the man to continue. Alaina listened to the "professor" - professor's aid, really, but she considered him the professor - ramble off about the different Pokemon available. She tried to remember the different names, but it was like trying to remember the names of streets on the back roads of a town while going one hundred miles an hour; she could barely make one out as he spoke. Finally, he finished and her head cleared. A cute Pokemon? That was good. True, she wasn't a girly-girl, but hey, what sort of girl disliked cute things? And, of course, being easy to get along with was never a bad thing. Once she had properly sorted through the information he had just recited, she connected to the slight information she had received at the orientation center.

"Really? That's cute. But, I heard that Cleffa and Igglybuff are sort of the same... And that Cleffa has a physical attack. Is that true?"

She asked, cocking her head slightly. Apparently, Jigglypuff was the famed pop star of the Pokemon world; other Pokemon COULD learn to sing, but it came to Jigglypuff's and their line far more readily than it came to any other Pokemon there were. Cleffa - Who do they evolve into again?, she thought to herself - were apparently rarer, but she had no idea if rarer always meant better or not. The Pokemon world was a strange, strange place, after all. While she waited for his reply, she mulled things over in her head. What was she doing here? She knew nothing of this new world or its inhabitants; she knew nothing of anything that was here. She sighed. The doctor had recommended this place for her health; he hadn't realized that this place was so... So... Confusing. She hadn't even started, and yet it already seemed like too much. Wow. This was going to be oodles of fun!

[Aroz]

That. Was. Embarrassing. To be upstaged, out-knowledge'd, and corrected by this young, inexperienced girl- how could he continue on as a Professor's Aide? He might as well turn in his license, recall all his books, and go home; there he could just wait for old age to kill him. But wait- maybe he could turn the situation around? It could not be lessen the blow to his ego, but he could at least seem a little more, knowledgeable. Curse his memory.

"Ah, yes yes. You are indeed correct," Neron muttered, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. Having decided to move passed his mistake, Mr. Muzzle moved over to the computer, taking a seat at the desk. "Indeed you are right, Cleffa is the Pokemon for you. Forget anything I may have said about Cleffa before. It is more definitely for you!" He smiled, waiting for the girl to answer.

At the moment, she seemed to be in a daze. As if she was thinking about something. What it was, Neron couldn't guess; he wasn't a psychic. Hopefully it wasn't another way for him to be outsmarted, humiliated for a second time. If it was to happen, he might just die. Right there on the spot. In front of the girl. Willow might walk in soon after, she'd have no time to get away. He'd probably call the police. Then maybe she would get arrested; what could knowledge possibly do for her in jail? Nothing, that's what! Neron, snap out of it! His old imagination was starting to get out of hand; luckily, with an inconspicuous pinch to his thigh, he returned to sanity.

"So Cleffa, then yes?"

[Alaina]

((Man. I was laughing so hard, I had tears coming down by the end of that.))

Alaina watched with mild interest as thoughts seemed to pour through his head - it was fairly easy to see that they were by way of his expressions. She nodded and grinned.

"Yes. Please, yah. Um, I mean, yes - please, a Cleffa, if you don't mind... Thank you. So, yes. Please and thanks... Again. Yah."

She could have smacked herself right then; apparently it was not only the aide whom was getting embarrassed in this situation. She could see that he was embarrassed, at the very least, though she didn't quite understand why. Either way, she wasn't alone. But either way... Wow. How much courteousness had she just used in three fragmented sentences? Oh well. Hopefully, she'd never be back here again. She twiddled her thumbs, staring downward, as she waited for the aide to get her a Cleffa so she could leave and both of their apparent embarrassment.

[Aroz]

((Haha. I'm glad. xD))

"Ah, so Cleffa it is then? Spot on." Without further hesitation, and so that she'd have no more opportunity to strike Neron with her knowledge, the man with the graying hair retreated to the back of the lab. The Pokeballs on the wall were organized very well, even after the Pokemon had escaped from them and caused chaos among the lab, each labeled with names dictating who was in which and where as well. So, it didn't take long before Neron grabbed the Pokeball containing Cleffa, and returned to Alaina.

"Here is your Cleffa, and here are your items, yes, you're welcome. Any more questions, I must ask, yes?" Though he really hoped she had none. He wanted her out of the laboratory as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, he was inclined to ask, and answer, for that matter. "Yes, no?"

Name: You decide.
Gender: You decide.
Level: 5
Attacks: Charm, Pound
Personality: You decide
Obtained: Pokemon Lab

You have obtained:

-5 pokeballs
-3 potions
-A Pokedex
-A Badge Case
-A Ribbon Case

[Alaina]

((Because I am lazy and don't feel like replying IC...

//Thread finished))