[IC] Pokémon: Chained Wings

[Shamitako]

Five friends sat around a table, each with but a bite left on their plates. This was it. It was daunting, being away for so long and challenging such a hard journey. Yet it was also exciting, meeting new people and fighting alongside their very own Pokémon.

 

There was nothing left to be said, they'd already discussed the event at length. All that remained was for each of them to take that final bite and embark on their journey.

[Swampellow]

Aia looked around the table at her friends with a smirk before grabbing her (almost empty) bucket of chicken and tilting it so that everything left inside tumbled into her mouth before slamming the now empty bucket onto the table. She chewed furiously with a closed mouth smile on her face as she looked at her friends before swallowing. Normally she would regret eating as much as she had today, but today was a special occasion so she felt as though it warranted a bit of excess.

 

She then put one hand up to her mouth and stuck the other one out in a “wait” symbol before letting out a fairly sizable belch a few moments later. She then let out a laugh.

 

“All right then guys, I’m ready to go when you are!" she said, cutting herself off by taking a sip of her drink.

[Siragon]

Liam was staring at the last piece of chicken in his bucket, suddenly fascinated by its looks. Not that it was any different from the previous pieces of chicken. After all the excitement during the meal, he was now beginning to feel a bit uneasy as they were now down to their last bite. It was not about the bite, obviously, more about what it represented. The end of this meal was also the beginning of so much more. And it was a bit scary.

 

A loud sound woke him up from his thoughts. Aia was finishing her own with a big reassuring smile followed by a burp and her laugh. Right, it's not like he would be leaving alone, he thought with the hint of a smile. In fact, being the youngest here, he was even the reason his friends left only now. He took a deep breath, caught the last piece and munched it until just the bone was left. He then let it fell in the bucket and rose his head. It was too late to back down.

 

"R... Ready to go." he said with a smile.

[rustytengo]

Cassandra had been blowing bubbles into her drink for a bit as she was seemingly lost in thought if any one could believe that. She was going through a list of items through her head trying to make sure she had packed everything she would need. After all she doesn't want to end up stuck in the snow without anything warm to wear. She was about the run the list once more but she was drawn out of her thoughts when Aia let out a large belch. She laughed along with Aia a little bit awkwardly before grabbing her last bit of chicken and quickly finished it off.

 

Though unfortunately for the girl she ate it to quickly and and when she tried to say something she started to to choke a bit and grabbed her drink and took a deep drink of if it to clear her throat. "Yep, yep I think I should all be ready to go. I hope the pokemon i get is really cute." She said in a sing songy voice and big smile.

[IntSys]

Caph had been savoring the very last chicken wing in his bucket, exhausting the little cup of ranch dressing that came with his order. Delicious as it may be, the taste was souring from the fact that he would be leaving Coldstone for a long time. He'd miss his younger brothers and sisters, and he'd miss his parents too. His eyes lingered on the familiar cityscape, but in particular that path he and his friends always took to eat some Blazing Chicken.

 

And then, Aia's belch pulled his attention back to the table, putting his mind at ease again. He still had his friends, and he might be able to see some of his older siblings working outside, too. He's had all the help a boy could ever ask for, he thought, and this would be the final stretch on the runway before he could soar into the skies and truly stand for himself. It was a path that he never had to walk alone, and for that, he was thankful for his friends and family.

 

He cleaned up the last bits of meat on his chicken wing, before dropping it in his bucket and cleaning his mouth and hands with some wet wipes. "I'm all set!" He declared with a hearty grin on his face.

[Twinwolf]

Petra finished at a moderate pace - she wasn't one to shovel food into her mouth. She was less focused on the chicken, delicious though it was, than what they were going to be doing. She wondered what pokemon she would get, would it be a boy or girl (most starters were male for some reason - are the girls usually breeding more?), where the group's first destination would be, if they would have enough supplies... The belch startled her out of her thoughts. She finished quickly then looked to the others, wiping her mouth and fingers with the napkin. "Suppose we're all ready then." she said, her calm tone not really showing the butterflies in her stomach. 

[Shamitako]

The walk to the professor's lab wasn't far, so it didn't take long for the group to get there. Unfortunately, when they arrived, a certain pair of twins were already leaving.

 

"Wow, you guys are pretty late, huh?" Nami teased as she held up her newly acquired pokeball. Though Mina and Nami had beaten them there, the group was, in fact, a bit early. It was pretty likely that Nami had come excessively early just to ensure she could brag about it.

 

Mina didn't say anything, but gave an apologetic look towards everyone else and she and her sister brushed past them.

 

Namu met any retorts with a haughty laugh and kept walking. "Smell ya later, nerds!" she called back over her shoulder once she'd passed. 

 

This prompted Mina to reach up to her sister's ear and cup her hand over it (the wrong way) to prevent being heard by the group and whispered very loudly, "They smell like chicken." Which prompted a glare from Nami. 

 

With the twins expedient departure, the group was finally free to enter the laboratory, and it was here that their excitement reached a fever pitch.

 

The lab was very clean and sterile inside, but decorated in an almost homely manner, with pictures and decorated shelves lining the walls in several spots. Two of these shelves had pokeball shaped jars which the group knew contained delicious homemade cookies.

 

"Welcome children!" Professor Magnolia announced cheerfully when she spotted her visitors, "The Pokémon you can choose from are on that table over there." she pointed to a simple white table with six indents, five of which housed pokeballs, and six screens in front of them. "Be very careful and don't fight. The touchscreens there will give you information, but feel free to ask me any questions before making your choice."

[rustytengo]

Waving bye to her cousins Cassandra took a quick sniff of her clothes to see if she actually smelt like chicken, She frowned a bit finding out she did smell like said chicken that wasn't a good impression to make. Once in the lab she slowly drifted over to the cookies as the Professor talked taking one before turning to Petra "Oh, what was that really cute one that i liked that you said was one that we could pick from?" She asked in between bites of the cookie. 

[Swampellow]

Aia rolled her eyes and let out a disgusted sigh when she saw Nami. It didn’t surprise her that she had shown up before them, no doubt to brag about getting her Pokemon first.

 

She paid no mind to Mina’s comment. They had just come from eating chicken at a chicken restaurant so of course they smelled like chicken.

 

Upon entering the familiar lab she smiled as she looked around. While she had been there many times before, there was a new feeling to it today because today was the day that she and her friends finally got their Pokemon.

 

“Hi Gram! I think that most of us know which one we want, I think it’s now just a question which one of us will choose first.” she said to her grandmother. She then walked over to the empty indent and inspected the screen to see which Pokemon had already been chosen. “Huh Turtwig. Perfect.” she said to herself with a bit of a smirk. She then turned back to her friends. “So how should we determine who goes first?”

[Siragon]

"Ho no" Liam muttered when he saw the twins in front of the lab. Obiously Nami would be there already. Great. Just great. He slowed down the pace to place himself at the rear of the group but it was unnecessary, the twins were already leaving. Good.

 

He didn't pay mind to Mina's remark, probably it wasn't meant to be mean and they were all in the same boat after all so it wasn't that shameful. Not that it was shameful to smell like chicken to begin with.

 

He entered the building, greeted the professor then went straight to the table she indicated. Out of the six holes, only one was empty. Wait. Did this meant that one of the twins didn't get a pokemon ? It seemed odd, but there must have been a reason. Liam took a look more in depth and let out a sigh of relief. It was still there.

 

Appeased, he spotted the jar of cookies and went pick one. It's not like they were in a hurry so he could take one. Besides, Cassandra was already eating her third so, if he wanted one before there was none left, it was now or never.

 

"The older ones first, maybe ? I already made you all wait until today so i won't mind going last." he proposed to Aia's question.

[IntSys]

"Hahaha... You sure are eager to get your Pokemon as well, Nami," Caph meekly laughed away the rude girl's words, before seeing the twin off. At least, everyone shared the sentiment today; having common grounds was certainly nice. He chuckled at Mina trying to smell them, wondering if she'd remember checking their smell later as well.

 

He walked into the lab briskly, paying the cookie jars a visit as per tradition, before approaching the table with the Pokeballs. His eyes turned slowly as he checked the touchscreens. It seemed that Nami had chosen Turtwig. What a relief.

 

"Since we've already discussed our choices, I say we all reach for our Pokemon at the same time," Caph suggested, "like how we're starting our journey together. What do you guys think?"

[Shamitako]

The professor shrugged at Cassandra's question. "I'm sorry dearie, but I'm afraid my memory is going in my old age. Why don't you take a look at the screens and see if one catches your eye?" she offered.

 

She didn't have any comment for what order the kids ought to pick in, though if they didn't hurry up she might try to come up with something to help move them along.

[Twinwolf]

"You said you liked... Fennekin, I think?" Petra said simply - she was only half paying attention, looking between the options on the screens with some thought. She'd actually liked Fennekin as well, but decided to let Cassandra take them. Maybe having her first choice would make it more likely that she would stick to training, rather than losing interest again. Besides - Petra already had a fairly solid idea of another she could pick. Although, now, in front of the pokeballs... "I guess we should pick at the same time - everyone made their choices? Nobody having second thoughts?" she asked, looking at the screen for a certain tiny blue penguin...

[Swampellow]

“Sounds good to me!” Aia said to her friends, “Alright everyone stand in front of the Pokemon that you want and then we will all count down from three,” she smiled “then we will all grab our first Pokemon at the same time.” She then positioned herself in front of Chimchar’s Pokeball and screen.

 

She waited until all of her friends were in front of their screens before beginning “3...2...1...Go!” she said, grabbing the Pokeball in front of her with a smile. She looked around at all her friends before focusing her attention back on the object which she now held. She had been waiting for this for a long time, and now it was finally here. She pressed the button on the Pokeball.

 

A flash of white energy burst out of the ball, settling on the stand from which it had previously been sitting. As it materialized Aya finally saw her first Pokemon, Chimchar. “Hey there...” she paused for a moment, thinking over the name she had thought of before before deciding that yes, it was good enough “Ares.” she said to the Chimp Pokemon. She then held out her arm. The Chimchar looked at her arm for a moment then towards her face before jumping on her arm with a smile.
 

[IntSys]

Caph took his position without hesitation, and, on the count of three, he took Chespin's Pokeball swiftly and held it up to his face with both of his hands. His eyes gleamed at the Pokeball, as he took five steps backwards slowly. He pondered for a good while, before finally, he flung it out of his hands and watched intently as the ball fell to the ground.

 

...

Well, nothing happened.

"Oh right! The button!" Caph snapped back to his senses, picking the ball up again hastily and making sure to do it right by actually giving the button a press. Luminous white energy burst out of the ball, materializing into a tiny figure, barely reaching his knees.

 

A short, glittery flash followed the Chespin's entrance, and the glow died down. Something was off... The Chespin's skin seemed to be a shade darker than what was shown on the screen, and the shell was a reddish brown rather than a soft green. But other than that, everything seemed to be right. He squatted down to greet his new friend. "Hello... Cheshire!" His smile widened as he put a hand forward. The little Chespin nodded, and put her hand forward as well.

[Siragon]

Picking all together was a great idea so Liam didn't protest. He took place in front of the screen of his choice and, at Aia's signal, took the ball before him. He held it with both hands with a dumb smile on his face for several seconds. This was it. He activated the ball and a flash of light blinded him.

 

When his sight came back, a Froakie was sitting before him, seemingly curious about who this guy in front of him was. "Hello, little guy. My name is Li-" he beginned to say while crouching, but before he could finish his sentence, the little frog jumped on his head with a happy cry.

 

"Well, aren't you the lively one." sighed Liam, still smiling. He took him in his arms and continued "I hope we'll get along well, Bunta !" to which the little Froakie answered with another cry of joy with a big smile.

[rustytengo]

"oh,right Fennekin. It looks so fluffy and cute I just want to pet its tail and ears." Cassandra said as she lightly skipped over to the pokeball's and looked through the screen eventually finding the cute little fox Pokemon. Cassandra held up her hand with three fingers up has Aia started her count down "And...One!!!" She said as Aia hit the number bringing her finger down on the button of the ball. In a flash of light the little fox appeared in front of her sitting near the ball. "Yeeeeee!!!" Cassandra let out a squee at the sight of it." Sooo cute!!" She said as she went into give the fox a hug but it jumped out of the way of the hug onto the floor and hid behind table leg. 

 

"Oh, meanie. I just want to give you a hug." Cassandra pouted a bit as she dropped to the floor and leaned towards the Pokemon. "I'm not going to hurt you. We are going to be besties from now on so you don't need to be afraid I'm harmless." She spoke softly to it as she reached out a hand to it. Fenekin slowly approached the hand and gave it a few sniffs before backing away a bit seemingly thinking. Cassandra moved the hand away from it as it thought still sitting on the floor shaking a bit in excitement. after a few moments the Fennekin slowly approached Cassandra who just patted her lap lightly. Once Fennekin got close it tapped Cassandras lap a few times before finally hopping onto it and curling up on it. Cassandra beamed a smile at the others as she petted it. "Its sooo fluffy."she said continuing  to pet it.

[Twinwolf]

Petra, at the same time of the others, picked up the Pokeball and activated it deftly - this wasn't the first time she'd handled pokeballs, although it was the first time it was one of her own. Out came a small blue penguin. For a moment, despite herself, Petra made a 'dawww' sound - the Piplup was adorable! Soon after, she took a few moments to get a good look at them, ascertaining their vitals - gender, height, signs of health, other little uniqueness in the pokemon. While to the untrained eye, most pokemon of a certain breed were identical, there were some differences that could be noticed if one took a good look. She gently picked the pokemon up and smiled, before looking to the others meeting their first partners. 

[Shamitako]

"Oh! Very good, very good." the professor cheered happily as everyone jumped stesight to letting their new Pokémon out and meeting them. It always filled her with joy to see new trainers meeting the first Pokémon they could call their own.

 

While the kids got acquainted with their Pokémon, she went over to one of several work stations and grabbed a bag of supplies.

 

"I ordered a fresh set of starter kits in preparation for your visit... But they haven't arrived yet." she informed the group apologetically, "I figured I'd have yot share a pokedex since gotre traveling together, but I'm sorry, you'll have to share this as well." 

 

She handed Aia the Pokedex, a small red device that looked a lot like an old CD player. When popped open, the round screen on the top would immediately notify the trainer of any newly registered Pokémon. The bottom half had a set of buttons used to navigate and a slit in the edge that looked like it could fit a disk inside.

 

The professor then divvied up the pokeballs and potions in the bag between the five, giving each two balls and one potion.

 

"The Pokedex will automatically register information about Pokémon you encounter or catch." the professor explained, "It can also be used to discover nearby Pokémon that may be hiding, to check the status of your own Pokémon when they're in their pokeballs, teach Pokémon moves via technical machine, and to check your location using the map function.

 

"Spesking of the map, I'd like to reccomend that you begin yoyr journey by traveling through the Itchy Forest towards Eyekeya City. I'm friends with the gym leader there and she's very good at choosing the right Pokémon to used based on her opponent's experience, so she's oe of the best options for a first gym badge."

 

Items:

Spoiler

Pokeball

A perfectly normal pokeball that provides no bonus catching potential

Spoiler

Potion

Medicine that restores a small amount of HP to an injured Pokémon

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Swampellow]

“Thanks Gram.” Aia said to the professor before giving her a hug. She turned her attention to the device which she now held, looking it over, but not actually opening it. She had seen the devices here in the lab before, but she had never really held one herself. She looked at her friends with a smile, “So who do you all think should hold onto this? My vote is Liam.”, sort of holding the Pokedex out for one of her friends to take it from her hand.

 

“Also, when do you all want to get going?” she said while securing the other items she received in her bag. She smiled as Ares climbed from her arm onto her back more, “Char!” he called, peaking over her head, looking out towards Aia’s friends.

[Siragon]

Liam got up and thanked the professor as she was handing out the basic items they needed to start their journey. He looked at them a little and put them in his bag. Meanwhile, Bunta, that he put on the ground when receiving the items, was jumping around and trying to climb to his shoulder. "Kieee !" let he out as he finally succeeded.

 

Aia's proposition took Liam by surprise. "What, me ? Well... i mean, i don't mind but..." he said while looking around, suddenly a bit nervous "Does nobody else want to keep it ?" He was actually quite interested at the idea of having such a high-tech device at his disposal (well, obviously it wasn't for the exclusive use of the holder but still, holding it meant using it for the entire group), but at the same time it was a pretty heavy responsibility. These things weren't as common as pokeballs ! What if he messed something up and rendered it unusable ?

[IntSys]

Caph stood up and said his thanks as he put away the two balls and a potion in his bag. Meanwhile, he considered Aia's question as he kept one eye on the device in her hand. Liam? He sounded like he was about to push himself again by taking the responsibility. As much as Caph thought Liam should grab hold of every opportunity to overcome his shyness, the kind of pressure didn't seem to be appropriate when they were just about to head out.

 

"We can always pass it around. But... I'd like to hold on to it for now if it's okay with everyone, since I might need a bit more time to get familiar with it," Caph said, withholding a reference to his slow learning speed.

 

As for the second question, Caph gave a lighthearted laugh. "I'm not the only one who can't wait to start our journey, right?" Cheshire cheered, as if she was backing her trainer's words.

[rustytengo]

"Thank you Professor." Cassandra said with as she stood up carrying Fennekin in one arm as she did her best to put the potion and pokeballs into her bag. "If Aia thinks that Liam should hold on to it I agree. After all I never see him lose anything." Cassandra said with a smile. "Yeah I'm so excited to get started. There are so many other pokemon out there that me a Fennekin can play with." Cassandra said as Fennekin struggled out of her arms and hopped into her bag before curling up in the clothes she had in there.