The Beginning of a New Generation

[Ryushikaze]

In Hilaya, people were sort of staring. A young man had walked, as if it were no big deal, down from the mountains to the east.
It was a big deal, however, since the boy's first comment was regarding how good it was to be back in Selenica.
Amids rumors of his having made the trek from Johto, the young man boarded one of the many daily bullet trains towards Lodo, and checked his pokedex, now with new batteries, to see what the date was.

"Oh, New trainer day. Can't hurt to look, can it guys?" He asked of his Pokemon, who were standing about him, much to the consternation of his fellow passengers. "Though you'd better get back into your pokeballs, the conductor over there is giving me a bad look" He commented, fishing three red and white spheres from a pouch on his belt and using them to retrieve his travelling companions.
Or, at least he tried to. Another passenger bumped him and the retrieval mechanism targeted a small old woman a few feet away. After a release and an apology, the young man gathered his Pokemon and rode the rest of the way to Lodo.  

[BonzaiRob]

Perin and Odeko were walking in from the south east side of the city, where they had camped out in grasslands after making it through the Taklakan badlands the previous day. As the neared the city centre, the crowd of people around the Pokémon Centre became apparent. Perin's eyes narrowed.
"[Wow, what a crowd. Some of those mothers look pretty excitable, better stay back, dontcha think?]" Odeko asked.
"Yes."
"[But on the other hand, I could make us a path..?]" the Bagon lowered his hard head stamped the ground.
Perin thwapped the back of Odeko's head with his hand.
"Low profile. We don't want to get retrieved by Master Dow."
"[Good point, good point... pity. Might have been fun. Look at that one,]" Odeko pointed to a particularly large woman wearing dark green. "[Think there might be some Snorlax in her ancestry?]"
Perin zoned out as Odeko chattered. He was obviously very excited, and while Perin didn't see much point in it, he didn't want to hurt his friend by telling him this. So best to keep quiet.  

[Paran]

Rylie skirted the edge of the crowd near the pokemon center. She wasn't really comfortable being around all these humans, and their combined emotions nearly overwhelmed her. While all the excitement felt kind of good in a way, the strong undercurrent of apprehension from parents worried about their children made Rylie feel nauseous.

An attendant suddenly spotted her and hurried over, calling "Hey there! Are you lost, little girl?" Startled, Rylie ducked behind a nearby bench. "It's okay, I can help you find your parents if you want me too." Rylie dug around in her pocket and, pulling out her ID, held it in front of herself like a shield. The attendant scanned the ID and said "Oh, you're here to become a trainer, eh? Why didn't you say so?"  

[BonzaiRob]

After the majority of the crowd had filed in, Perin and Odeko followed. Perin singled out the professor by listening; the large lady in green was shouting at him. He approached.
"Professor Hemlock, why are there no Dragon-types here? My daughter had her heart set on a Dratini."
"Because the proper raising of a Dragon-type is beyond the skill of any beginner. Even if your daughter were to get a Dratini here - which she won't, I assure you - she wouldn't make much progress with it."
"Mommy, I want Dratini now!"
"Professor, isn't there some way you could get around that?"
"I'm sorry, madam, but the rule remains. Now if you'll excuse me, there are people who are ready with available pokémon." Professor Hemlock cut off the woman's protests and turned to Perin. "Can I help you, young man?"
"Perin Zai." He gestured downwards. "Odeko." the Bagon was using his hind leg to scratch. "We would like to register for the Selenica league."
rofessor Hemlock's eyes began to water from Perin's unwavering stare. It was still better than talking to the Snorlax lady though. "I hope the Hilaya tribe know about this..." Hemlock made a note on his clipboard and handed over the Selenica League's badge disc, along with the PokéGear and a bag containing five pokballs. "Welcome to the Selenica League, Perin."
Perin nodded slightly.
"[Thanks professor!]" Odeko headbutted Hemlock's leg gently, almost knocking him over. As Perin went to a bench to sort out his belongings, Hemlock turned slowly (wincing slightly) to the Snorlax lady.
"Well?" she demanded.
"What can I say? He brought it with him and they've obviously bonded already." Odeko was resting his head on Perin's bench, nosing at the pokéballs. "Good day, madam." Hemlock limped away to oversee the children picking their pokémon.


((Frankenpost!))  

[Paran]

Watching the attendant return to the pokemon center, Rylie sighed and patted down her clothes. Finally, she sat down on the bench and began to wait for the crowd to shrink to a somewhat less overwhelming size.

((OOC: It's Rylie's natural inclination to wait until the crowd is almost completely gone before approaching the Professor, unless convinced into doing it early by an outside force, so if anybody else plans on participating during the middle of Novice Initiation Day, I'm waiting on you here. I don't wanna accelerate the day prematurely.))  

[Elfgirl M-chan]

A few moments later, the figure of Winry Kunvar appeared at the front door of the Lodo Pokémon Center before she quickly opened it and released a heavy sigh. Her Cubone tottered into the main room before she took a step forward and carefully closed the door behind them. She appeared to be a little hassled despite the half-smile she wore as she made her way further into the Pokémon Center. Cubone looked up at his trainer and gently nudged her with his bone club.

"Cubone?" He asked.
"No, I'm fine Cubone...just a bit aggravated that our little run-in with Team Vuurpijl (or whatever they're called) delayed us in getting here." Winry told him as she crossed her arms.
"Cubone bone-bone."
"True, but I wanted to at least see some of the sights from earlier today. They're always good for a laugh or two. Anyways, let's get you checked out, okay?"
"Cu-BONE!"
"I know you didn't get hurt too badly, and you did a great job in that fight against the Team's goons, but since we're here, we might as well take advantage of the facilities."

Winry smirked as Cubone grumbled slightly underneath his skull mask. She looked towards the counter and smiled when she saw the professor there. She had not seen him since she had last visited the town a few months ago, so it was nice to see a friendly face. "Hey, Professor Hemlock!" Winry waved to him, her own demeanor improving already.  

[Elfgirl M-chan]

"Ha-ha, you know it!" Winry winked and flashed a smile as she gave the professor a thumbs-up.
"Cubone!" Cubone made his own wave using his bone club.
"Sorry I missed all the excitement this morning...how busy have they kept ya? Bout like usual?"  

[Ryushikaze]

After an unusually long delay involving a geodude, a landslide, and a snorlax, Tim had made it to Lodo. Deciding the best thing to do was to check up with the Prof at the local center, he headed towards the center of the city and, after a couple of wrong turns, made his way there.

Upon walking in, he wound through the remaining trainers- including one small , strange young girl who seemed to be waiting for more people to leave- into the distribution area, and up to Hemlock, who was talking to a girl with a Cubone.
"Say, Prof... can only new trainers pick up a pokemon, or is anyone invited?" He joked by way of greeting, sitting down on a now empty table. "The name's Tim. Yourn?" He extended his hand towards the girl with the Cubone.  

[Elfgirl M-chan]

"It's been going great, thanks!" Winry replied to Professor Hemlock. "I've learned a lot of Breeder tips and have gotten some good hands-on work. Haven't caught any more Pokémon of my own just yet, but part of that has been to help me focus on working with Cubone here. It's definitely been worth it though...heck, we had a run-in with Team What's-It-Called on the way here and Cubone helped me clean them up nicely. They shouldn't be a problem for a while, at least around here."

Professor Hemlock laughed before he and Winry continued their conversation. A few moments later, a boy about her own age came up to the counter and addressed the professor.
"Say, Prof... can only new trainers pick up a pokemon, or is anyone invited?" He joked by way of greeting, sitting down on a now empty table. "The name's Tim. Yourn?" He extended his hand towards her.
"Ah, I'm Winry!" She extended her own hand and shook his with a nice, firm handshake. "Nice to meet you!"  

[Ryushikaze]

"Always good to meet a fellow trainer, especially one with some experience under their belt." He shook back, trying not to squeeze down his grip too hard. Winry had a good firm handshake, but Tim figured she'd rather not experience the full vicegrip he'd been developing in his travels. After the handshake, he turned his attention to Prof Hemlock.
"Oh yeah, Hemlock. There's a kid out there seems ready to get a pokemon, but isn't coming in for some reason. No parents with her either. Maybe you should go check on her. I can hold down the fort if needed. I promise not to steal anything."

He turned to Winry again. "I'll be blunt. I've been in the boonies for the past year or so. What's new in Selenica?" He asked the blonde trainer. "And who's this 'team whats-it-called?' They anything like 'team such-and-such' from a few years back?"  

[Modenopfer]

As the first hints of consciousness began trickling back to Vee, she opened her eyes and looked around in sleepy confusion.
Where am I?
Within seconds, the events of the previous night returned to her memory and she knew where she was: the magnet train's central depot in Lodo. The journey there hadn't gone as well as she'd hoped; not ten paces out of Wandell she'd been surrounded by feral rattatas, and while Peloria wanted to fight, Vee was less confident and opted to retreat. Back in Wandell she began to wonder if this was a sign that she should give up, but after giving herself a motivational speech she decided to keep going and wound up spending nearly all of the money she'd been saving on a magnet train ticket. She nearly panicked when she got on the wrong route and wound up at the bottom of a canyon, but a kind gentleman at the train station gave her a map of Selenica and told her which routes to take to get to Lodo. She finally arrived at the capital city in the wee hours of the morning and, overcome with exhaustion, immediately fell asleep on one of the benches at the station.
She slowly sat up and yawned, watching the masses of people as they boarded and exited the train.
Lots of people...
She bolted to her feet as she remembered why she had come in the first place. Grabbing her bike, she turned to her pokemon companion. "Come on Peloria, we've gotta go! I hope we're not too late..."
It took some trial and error (and the help of a few kind strangers) to find the Pokemon Center, but when Vee finally arrived she was all smiles. Finally she would recognize her dream of becoming a pokemon trainer!
She peeked through the glass door of the Center but only saw three older people standing around talking. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a small green-haired girl sitting patiently on a bench outside.
Is there a line to get in? Maybe I should wait too...
Vee propped her bike against a nearby wall of the Pokemon Center, and with Peloria in her arms she sat down beside the girl and gave her a warm smile. "Hi! Are you gonna be a trainer too?"