~ Le Démarrage d'une Aventure ~

[Ecrivaillon]

Le Démarrage d'une Aventure - Starting a Journey

---

Followed by the clack of her heels, Marie stepped out of the street and into the ground floor of Professor Sycamore's laboratory complex. The place was quite expansive, even somewhat empty. She looked around smiling, feeling suddenly at home within the sterile white walls. It reminded her of her bedroom back home. Intuitively, she brushed a strand of pale hair out from in front of her dark eyes. The whole of it was still a little messy, due to her arrival by helicopter only an hour before. The travel was nothing to her; she wished that it was as easy to keep unwrinkled after a flight as it was for her to travel.

She had entered the Professor's complex for a specific reason: she was to begin a new journey—in a new country, no less. The recent events in her life had left her feeling confused about her self-direction. She felt as if she no longer knew herself. In light of this news, her parents had taken the recommendation of an acquaintance (some actress or what-have-you) to send her to Kalos, to start a new adventure. She was all too ready to oblige them. And so she was here, in Kalos' capitol city, prepared to receive a complimentary Pokémon with which to travel. It was all quite exciting.

She searched for anyone around, before calling into the space. "Hello? Is anyone there?" She cleared her throat. "I'm here to receive a Pokémon. From an 'Augustine Sycamore'?"

[Sparx]

A bumbling assistant had been fumbling with a collection of pokeballs and other assorted items when Marie walked in, and her call into the laboratory had startled him so much that he jumped and nearly dropped everything he had been carrying.

"J-just a moment!" the assistant stuttered, trying to cover up his clumsiness quickly and shoving his bundle onto a counter before it could all fall to the ground. Adjusting his lab coat awkwardly, he scurried out to meet the aspiring trainer and flashed her a big, strained smile. "Hello! I'll be more than happy to help you! Professor Sycamore is off doing field work, as usual, so he doesn't usually tend to new trainers... There's a lot to study, you know!"

The man seemed genuinely excited about whatever was going on out in the field, and perhaps a little disappointed that he was stuck inside giving out starter Pokémon and filing paperwork while the Professor and more senior scientists were exploring the world.

"A-anyway!" The assistant stepped over to a large computer and pressed a button, which caused six pokeballs to rise out of the device. "These are the Pokémon you can choose from: Bulbasaur, charmander, squirtle, chespin, fennekin, and froakie!" As he talked, he clicked a button on the keyboard that shuffled through pages featuring a large picture of each Pokémon and a brief description of each.

"Do you know which you'd like, or would you like to hear more about them first?"

[Ecrivaillon]

At the assistant's introduction, Marie gave a polite smile in return; it was her nature. There were many converse thoughts, however, running around right under the surface. This man is so... Sloppy, she noted. With a quick glance up and down, she formed quite a few opinions about the young man. Look at the state of his coat. And his hair! Oh, his glasses are all askew. She resisted the urge to frown, and the compulsion to reach out and fix him up. He was quite excitable, however, and in her mind Marie figured that he could be effective at helping her with the task at hand.

When he moved over to the computer screen along the wall, Marie followed at a respectable distance, her hands behind her back. She started to think about Professor Sycamore, and how she felt almost insulted that he had left her with some assistant instead of taking care of her himself. As the young man put up the images of the Pokémon on the screen, explaining them very briefly, Marie took a moment to think. She scanned the images presented to her with a certain aesthetic scrutiny, and then responded to his question after a moment's pause. "To be quite frank, I would like to know some more about them all. This is a very important decision, no?" She smiled tightly as she said this. She may not be feeling wholly comfortable, but that didn't mean she should show it.

[Sparx]

"O-of course!" the assistant replied to the suggestion of explaining each starter. He was slightly surprised, as most trainers who came in were quite arrogant, claiming that they already knew exactly what they wanted and knew everything there was to know about their starter. He never was tasked with assisting someone indecisive or otherwise unsure, but he was more than happy to tell Marie what he knew of each of the available Pokémon.

"Well, first of all, there's bulbasaur! Bulbasaur is a grass and poison type Pokémon that specializes in special attack and special defense. It learns a lot of status affecting moves, such as sleep powder.

"Next is charmander, a fire type Pokémon. Its speed is its best stat. It learns a lot of special offensive attacks, and eventually evolves into a fire and flying type.

"Squirtle is a water Pokémon, and stays that way even when it is fully evolved. It's known for its high defense stats, and its moveset is fitting; it learns a lot of defensive moves.

"Chespin is a grass Pokémon with high defense and attack stats. Eventually, it becomes a grass and fighting Pokémon. It learns a lot of physical attacks.

"Fennekin is a fire Pokémon that evolves into a fire and psychic type. Its special attack, special defense, and speed are all rather high. It learns a lot of special attacks.

"Froakie is a water type Pokémon that learns a great variety of moves. It evolves into a water and dark type Pokémon. Its speed is its best stat by far.

"All of the grass Pokémon have the ability Overgrow, which increases the power of grass type moves when their health is low. The fire Pokémon have Blaze, which does the same with fire type moves, and the water types have Torrent, which affects water attacks.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know, or do you think you can make your decision now?" asked the assistant with a grin, clearly proud of himself for all the information he had given.

[Ecrivaillon]

Marie feels the corner of her eye twitch at his surprised response to her question. If you didn't actually want to discuss them, she thought, why did you offer? Despite her misgivings, she listened intently to what he had to say about each of the prospective Pokémon. She mentally worked her way down the list, attempting to focus on both the images on the screen and the assistant's new information.

Bulbasaur. Could be interesting. I've never had any sort of prejudice against Grass-type Pokémon. I am from Celadon City. That would be ridiculous. A Poison-type, though... Perhaps I'll come back to it.

She frowned harshly when she heard the words "Fire-type." I suppose that crosses this "Charmander" off the list. Besides, it looks so violent and reptilian. I'm not sure I'd want it if it was an Ice-type, even. She sighed and let him continue.

The information on Squirtle piqued her interest. How interesting. A Defense-focused Pokémon. One can never go wrong with a strong Defense. Besides, it's a Water-type. I'm sure it's exceptionally clean. She quirked her mouth to the side, thinking in more depth on the possibility of Squirtle. 

Marie sighed at the information on Chespin. You don't say. An actual barbarian Pokémon. Looking at the image of it, spines sticking out haphazardly, confirmed its distastefulness in her mind.

She all but skipped over Fennekin, especially when she looked at its ears and heard its type. All I needed to hear to cross that one off the list. She allowed him to move onto the last Pokémon, a small frog-like thing. Her thoughts moved faster than his words, however.

Froakie. A Water-type, so it's exceptionally clean. It's varied and talented, probably learning lots of interesting moves. She looked more closely at the image of it, and smirked when she noticed its less-obvious features. It has a little scarf, made of bubbles. And a pince-nez. She felt herself smiling wider, the more she thought about it. "A fashionable little frog-Pokémon," she thought out loud. Without much more thought, she directed her gaze back at the assistant.

"I believe I've chosen Froakie, if you don't mind."

[Sparx]

The assistant watched with a wry smile while Marie thought about the Pokémon and eventually made her decision. A froakie! An excellent choice; he was very fond of the little frog-like Pokémon, and its collar of bubbles. Of course, he enjoyed all of the starters, and knew that any of them would make a great partner.

"Excellent!" he exclaimed, grabbing the pokeball the new trainer had requested. He clicked a few buttons on the computer before handing her the pokeball. "Here's your froakie, and you get a few other things as well." The man turned away for a moment to pick a bag up off of the counter, which he placed a few items into before holding it out for her. "This is your starter pack. It includes a few necessary items for your journey, including an ID, pokédex, and Pokégear. That's about it!"

Congratulations! You are now a trainer!

You've received a froakie!


Name:
Gender: Male
Level: 5
Nature: Sassy
Ability: Torrent
Moveset: Pound/Growl/Bubble
Stats: 20HP/12ATK/10DEF/12SPATK/11SPDEF/11SPD
Exp: 0/10
Happiness: 0/200
Affection: 0/100
Held Item:

[img alt="" src="http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y317/pokemonxyz/656.png" style="max-width:100%;"]
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b] Male
[b]Level:[/b] 5
[b]Nature:[/b] Sassy
[b]Ability: [/b]Torrent
[b]Moveset:[/b] Pound/Growl/Bubble
[b]Stats:[/b] 20HP/12ATK/10DEF/12SPATK/11SPDEF/11SPD
[b]Exp:[/b] 0/10
[b]Happiness:[/b] 0/200
[b]Affection:[/b] 0/100
[b]Held Item:[/b]
A starter pack, too!

Pokeball x5
Potion x5
Oran Berry x3
Lumiose Galette x3

2000 poké

[img alt="" src="http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/pokeball.png" style="max-width:100%;"]Pokeball x5
[img alt="" src="http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/potion.png" style="max-width:100%;"]Potion x5
[img alt="" src="http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/oranberry.png" style="max-width:100%;"]Oran Berry x3
[img alt="" src="http://www.serebii.net/itemdex/sprites/lumiosegalette.png" style="max-width:100%;"]Lumiose Galette x3


Good luck on your journey!

[Ecrivaillon]

Marie took the Pokeball as it was handed to her, and marveled at it for a moment. "This is the beginning of everything." She looked back at him as he handed her the parcel of items; moving it to her right hand with the Pokeball, she then opened up the purse slung over her right shoulder and placed both objects inside. "It's reassuring to know," Marie began, still rifling about in the bag, "that at least I'll have a few hand-outs on this voyage of mine. Quite generous, really." She looked back at the young assistant, then, and smiled courteously. "I want to thank you, earnestly. We would've been here for years, me debating with myself, without your sensational advice." She cleared her throat, and looked at the door as she continued. "I suppose I'll be going, then. I wouldn't want to get started too late. Traveling in the dark isn't my idea of a pleasant outing, for sure." She began walking out. Finally. I can get started. She looked back at the assistant as she left, shooting him a dainty salute.

A breeze pulled at her hair as she walked through the entrance, and she stared out into the sunlight. She could feel the new beginnings like she could feel the day.