OEMGHEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! ALREADY!?!?!?!?!?

[Night of Fire]

The stars were just beginning to fade from the sky as Naomi strode confidently through the city of Origo. She glanced up, watching the sky get lighter and lighter as the sun approached the horizon. "Uh-oh..." she murmured to herself as she got closer and closer to the edge of town. Of course! The lab probably didn't open until at least sunrise, and at the pace she was going, she would get there quite a while before it opened, let alone when the professor or any of his assistants. Which, in the end, led her to being bored and worrying.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Naomi slowed her bare feet, shortening her strides. She sighed, absently fingering her long, blond hair. Of course, the teenager was a trainer-to-be, off to get her first pokemon from the professor. She still remembered the tearful goodbyes said to her familly...

Saria smiled sadly at her adopted daughter. "Are you sure your ready to leave? You could always stay a little longer..."

Naomi shook her head. "Mom...Dad..." She glanced between her two parents. "I love you two dearly, but I've already postponed this for so long...Most kids would have started their pokemon journey long ago."

Vladimir Pendragon smiled sadly. "She's ready." He walked forward, embracing her, a rare form of affection for him. Naomi sniffled and hugged him back, before turning to her mother and hugging her, too.

She smiled at both of them. "I'll miss you both. Good luck!" She gave them one last beam before waving and running toward the docks.

All of a sudden, she crashed straight into someone else. "There you are..." murmured the voice that she recognized as her twin brother. "Coryn..." she murmured in response as he pulled her up off the snowy ground.

Coryn gave her one of her rare smiles in response, and handed her something. "You forgot this." Naomi stared down at the Sneasel plushie. "Thanks you..." Of course her brother would remember what she would forget. Keep the Sneasel and Snorunt as far away from each other as possible.

Naomi stared into her brother's blue-silver eyes, level to her twin ones. They were two halves of a whole, the two of them. The two were rarely seen apart, even though their personalities were completely different, and the parting was hard on both of them.

Finally, Naomi stepped forward, hugging her brother, which he returned. "Don't worry," he told her. "I'll be following you to Novus soon. There are just a few more things I need to do here before." Naomi pulled back, looking at him questioningly. Coryn just gave her his mysterious smile of his. "Good luck. We'll see each other soon enough." With one last hug, he walked away.

Naomi shook her head, ridding herself of the memory. Now was not the time to be emotional! "I'll see him soon enough," she murmured to herself.

Naomi glanced up, seeing that she had arrived at the lab. Compared to the rest of the town at dawn, the lab appeared relatively quiet. However, as she glanced up, she was surprised to see that the sun's face has completely cleared the horizon and was beginning it's journey across the sky. "Seven o'clock...The lab should probably be open by now."

As Naomi approached the lab, she noticed a paper fluttering in the wind that was posted next to the door. "A list of starters..." she looked at the pictures of the pokemon covering the page. "Abra, Chikorita, Drinfloon, Torchic, Squirtle, Elekid, Doudou, Ekans, Combee, Murkrow, Tyrogue...Sneasel and Snorunt?" She reached into her bag and absently stroked the fur on the Sneasel plushie. "I hope he keeps them far apart." she muttered to herself. She made a quick decision. "I'll ask the professor to show me a few..." She knocked on the door, crossed her fingers, and waited.

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[Prof. Crow]

The research facility was dead silent, and as Naomi's hand pulled away from the door a loud creak echoed through the building. It dragged on and on for a good few minutes before... the door fell in! It collasped, its hinges clearly visible now and obviously broken, landing with a harsh clank against the facilities standard tile flooring. It was unbelievable! Who would've guessed that the door was so flimsy?

"No!" gasped a young man's voice. "Not again! I'd just gotten it up!"

Just inside the door knelt a man in a green jumpsuit with a worker's utility belt around his waist and a hard hat on his head. His look was that of an admittedly young man, however, stress lines and bags were forming on his face and under his eyes, which seemed to be caused by lack of sleep among other things. His dark eyes, though, were alive and awake and full of despair. He jumped to his feet, still eyeing the broken door. Pure anguish played on his face. He seemed a tad emotional about this.

In a hurry, he clamored beside the thing and brushed his hand against the shattered hinges. He looked truly pathetic, and one could only guess that he was some sort of maintenence worker around the lab. He seemed a bit irresponsible, though, and overdramatic. The man slumped down onto the tile floor and let out a long sigh. Oh why, oh why did his day have to start like this?

[Night of Fire]

As Naomi pulled back her hand, an odd creaking sound began. She tilted her head ever so slightly, listening to the sound, trying to understand where it was coming from. Eventually, a thought came to her - Why wasn't anyone here to open the door and give her her first pokemon. Gosh darn it, nothing, not even absent lab assistants or mysterious creaking noises were going to stop her from reaching her dream! She lifted a hand to push the door open.

Unfortunately for Naomi, the door fell in just as her hand was about to touch the door. She let out a shriek, stumbling backward a few feet before tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground. As she stood up and brushed herself off, still shaking slightly from the shock, she noticed the hinges - obviously repaired several times, they appeared to be completely broken. Again. However, Naomi was snapped from her (slightly random) thoughts about door hinges by a despairing cry.

"No! Not again! I just got it up!" Naomi's head jerked up in surprise as she noticed an young man kneeling right by the door. He appeared to a mechanic of some sort, and apparently, was having some trouble with fixing the door. "Can't be a very good one if he can't even fix a door," the evil, conniving part of her brain sneered. Her dominant, cheerful side pushed it back with a "Hush. Don't sneer at what you can't do yourself." Naomi watched as the young man silently lamented his woes. Finally, she found the courage to speak up.

"Hey, are you all right?" She extended a nervous hand to help him up. "I'm really sorry about your door. I didn't mean to break it. I just knocked, I swear!" She shook slightly, afraid that the man would blame the door on her and become upset.

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[Prof. Crow]

The man snapped his head away from the door immediately as he heard the girl speak. It seems he hadn't noticed her at all. How strange. He didn't look angry, though. His face was sober, though a hint of humor could usually be found in it. He took her hand gratefully and clamored to his feet, ears growing hot with embarrassment. He wasn't used to being walked in on like that.

"No, no, don't worry," he sighed, "It's not your fault. That thing's been broken for days. I've been trying to fix it, but I'm hopeless with these types of things. Perhaps I should hire a real mechanic..."

The young man turned from Naomi and took a few steps away from her, removing his hard hat to reveal a head full of dark hair that seemed to have a faint blue sheen. It fell into his face, though it didn't quite cover his eyes. The man sluggishly swept the stray bangs to the side and set the hat down on a small black desk situated a few feet away from a large, charred machine. Half of it was covered in what looked like scorch marks, and several parts of it were in ruins. One could only guess what had happened to have transformed it into its current, pathetic state.

The man still seemed a bit oblivious, as he unzipped the jumpsuit he was wearing and slipped it off. Luckily, he wore a plain tank top and casual shorts underneath, though it could still be very awkward for those around him. The man let out a long yawn as he moved to cover his mouth. It was only when he trudged over to a hook near another door inside the room, that he showed signs of realizing who Naomi was.

"Oh, but you must be here for something!" he deduced, taking the long white labcoat from the hook, his eyes suddenly alight and alive, "You must be a new trainer, right? What can I do for you?"

The man slipped into the coat easily and paced back to Naomi, raising his hand to greet her properly.

"I'm Professor Crow, pleased to meet you!"

[Night of Fire]

Naomi hauled the odd mechanic to his feet still slightly nervous. Luckily for her, the young man appeared to be relatively good-natured, and she breathed a sigh of relief when he did not express any words of anger.

However, when the mechanic started to strip down out of his jumpsuit, Naomi turned a bright red, completely embarrassed. Quickly, she back out of the lab, to hide in the safety of the outside, with walls to block her embarrassment. Finally, after a moment, when she thought it was safe to go back in, she peered around the corner. Thankfully, the mechanic was now in a lab coat, and she didn't think that he had noticed her leave.

As Naomi surveyed the lab, she noticed that the lab showed many signs of wear and tear. Scorch marks covered the desk, floor, walls, and most of the lab. Perhaps the professor had trouble with fire pokemon? Parts of the desk were even completely destroyed! Trouble with all kinds of pokemon? She contemplated the possibilities. Being crushed by a fighting type? Possible. Was used as dig practice for ground pokemon? Possible, but not probable. Attacked by Electric-type? Most likely as equally probably as the fire pokemon. Worn away by poison pokemon's acid? Maybe. Flown into by Flying pokemon? She doubted it. Her best guess continued to be the fire pokemon. After all, some pokemon had fire hot enough to incinerate parts of the desk.

Naomi jumped slightly when the mechanic approached her. "I'm Professor Crow, pleased to meet you!" So this was the professor, not a mechanic! Naomi smiled, now past her initial shyness. "I'm Naomi, it's nice to meet you, too! Yes, I'm the new trainer." This was the part she was nervous about. Actually getting her first pokemon!

"Do you mind if I see a few of the pokemon before I decide which one I want?" She bit her lip, trying to remember the ones she had been considering from the list. "Charmander, Eevee, Ralts, Larvitar, and..." she paused, not sure if she wanted both of them out at the same time. "Go for it!" her mind urged her. "Sneasel and Snorunt," she finished quickly.

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[Prof. Crow]

Professor Crow seemed oblivious to the girl's initial shyness, as he gave no signs of noticing her blush, or even of her walking out of the room. He simply, nodded as she introduced herself. The young man filed it away in his scattered mind. Naomi. He would have to remember it. As the to-be trainer listed the pokemon shewished to choose from, though, the professor's mind could no longer be bothered to keep the name locked away. Ah, well. He wouldn't be seeing her much after this anyway.

"So that's a charmander, larvitar, snorunt..." Crow repeated to himself, "eevee, ralts, and... sneasel?"

The man was repeating the names over and over again to himself as he suddenly returned to his desk, picking up a sheet of paper with names and numbers printed all over it. This was his 'key' to the pokemon storage room, so to speak. Without it, he'd never find anything in there.

As it turns out, the storage room was located just to the right of the machine behind his desk, and it looked no more than a mere closet, however, upon opening the door one would find a long narrow hallway lined by shelves that were filled with pokeballs. Under each pokeball was a label with a number to determine it from others. Professor Crow quickly gathered the six pokeballs that he needed and walked back to Naomi, leaving the storage room door open. One by one, he released the pokemon, each appearing in a bright flash of light that shot out of the capture device.

The first one, a charmander, blinked in surprise at being called out of its comfy pokeball and shrunk back when it laid its eyes on Naomi. It seemed shy by nature and easily frightened.

The next pokemon, snorunt, seemed much more lively. It danced as soon as it realized that it was free from its pokeball, and happily wandered up to the new trainer, piping up with a gleeful, "Snorunt!" to express its excitement.

The sneasel yawned, an arrogant look on its face, and gave Naomi one look-over before laying its back on the floor, legs crossed, and falling asleep.

The brown and tan-colored eevee growled under its breath at the sight of Naomi, its tail and neck fur fluffing out threateningly. Although small, it seemed willing to fight this much larger person for no apparent reason at all. Perhaps it was defensive and simply protecting its territory?

The next pokemon, ralts, looked at Naomi curiously, though didn't dare to approach her. Instead, it gazed at her shoes with interest and tilted its head. It was as if the only other human it had seen was Professor Crow.

Finally, the larvitar narrowed its eyes, a malicious grin spreading across its face. This pokemon seemed like the mischievous type. It wasn't hostile, like the eevee, but it was certain to be a trouble-maker for any trainer brave enough to take it.

"So," Professor Crow inquired, gesturing his hand over the six pokemon, "Which one would you like to start your Trainer career with?"

[Night of Fire]

Naomi paused as she listened to the Professor re-list the pokemon she was considering. "So that's a Charmander, Larvitar, Snorunt...Eevee, Ralts, and... Sneasel?" Naomi nodded affirmatively, watching as the Professor brought out the six pokemon.

The Charmander appeared to be rather shy and frightened by most things; it shrunk away from her in it's terror. Naomi shook her head, though it would be fun to try and call it out of it's shyness, she should probably wait until she was a bit more experienced as a trainer, she suspected that it would be difficult.

The next pokemon, Snorunt, seemed a much more likely choice, it seemed cheerful and friendly. Naomi smiled and chuckled at it, patting it on top of the head. "Your pretty cute, huh? Most of the Snorunt at home are terrified of most things because of the Sneasel." The Snorunt seemed a likely choice, but, deciding to look at all the pokemon before making a decision, she turned to the next one.

Naomi flinched as the Sneasel came out of it's pokeball, expecting it to attack the Snorunt which was currently at her feet. However, after a glance-over, the Sneasel yawned and fell asleep at the floor. She frowned at it. With a pokemon that full of itself, she wasn't sure if she had the confidence to keep up with it, not to mention it would probably be hard to control. Nope...She thought to herself as her eyes rested on the next pokemon.

The Eevee growled at Naomi, it's fur fluffed out. It didn't appear to be afraid of attacking a much larger person, having what she thought was a brave nature. However, it was also possible that it was just trying to protect it's territory...But what was it like under the brave facade? Shaking her head, Naomi decided to reassess it after looking at the last two pokemon.

The Ralts stared at Naomi's shoes curiously. Naomi stared at the top of it's head curiously. It appeared that the Ralts didn't see very many humans. She chuckled slightly. "Cute..." However, that curiosity could easily get in the way in a battle, so she turned to the final pokemon.

One look told her all she needed to know about the Larvitar. Definitely not. The malicious grin, the mischief in the tilt of it's head told her that this pokemon would be incredibly difficult to handle. Though, it would be interesting one day to find out what kind of mischief she could get into with such a pokemon...

Finally, she turned to the professor. "I'll take the Sno-" she cut herself off abruptly, remembering her promise to herself. Slowly, she turned back to the Eevee, and, crouching down, she offered a gentle hand forward to it, a sign of peace and showing that she meant to harm.

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[Prof. Crow]

Professor Crow watched interestedly as the girl stopped mid-word to reach a hand out to the eevee. It seemed as though most of the pokemon he cared for had some kind of personality defect, despite them all being healthy as horses and having every need met. Most trainers would immediately take the pokemon who showed the most normal personality traits, but Naomi, though she appeared to want the playful snorunt at first, seemed to want to give the eevee a second chance. It looked to be both noble and foolish of the girl. Professor Crow knew first-hand the pain of an eevee's bite. This one somehow grew to be easily angered and territorial, but he hoped that once it got used to new people it would form loyal bonds with them.

Meanwhile, the eevee blinked at the hand of the trainer before narrowing its eyes again and growling, baring its fangs in a show of power. It was warning Naomi that it wasn't one to mess with.

'Eeeeev eevee!' the pokemon barked in its high-toned voice. It was cute, despite the aggresion in its face.

Suddenly, the pokemon opened its jaws and clamped them down, trying to bite the girl's hand! Its fangs were small, though, and even if it did manage to bite the hand, it wouldn't cause serious damage.

[Night of Fire]

((WARNING: I'm about to go completely Nasicaa of the Valley of the Wind on you. =P))

Naomi chuckled slightly at the Eevee's continued hostility, even through it's cute "Eevee Eevee!" Them, it lunged forward, meaning to bury it's teeth deep in her hand.

Two things went through her mind at that moment. One, the side completely bent on survival and little else, screamed, "Pull back! Pull back! Avoid pain at all cost!" The other, more rational side, told her "You're wearing gloves. Leather ones. There's no way tiny fangs like that can get through. Even if they do, they probably won't break the skin. You're fine." However, before she could actually decide on a course of action, the felt the little brown fox pokemon's teeth connect with her hand.

Unfortunately for the rational side of her brain, the Eevee's teeth did break through the glove. And her skin. Naomi winced slightly, but thankfully, the wound wasn't deep. She smiled up at the Professor, who looked as if he had been waiting for the bite to happen. "See, there's nothing to be afraid of." She looked back down at the Eevee, reaching out with her left hand to stroke between it's ears. "Isn't that right?" she asked it.

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[Prof. Crow]

((Sorry for not replying to this sooner! *Shameshameshame*))

Professor Crow raised his eyebrows in surprise as the new girl smiled up at him. He was sure that wasn't how being bit usually went, at least not in his experience. Usually, there was some crying or screaming, and pulling away in pain. The girl, he decided, must be a glutton for pain, or some kind of masochist. ... Or possibly both. In any case, he realized that the bite had in fact broken the skin, and he fingered the bandages placed in his coat pocket. He kept them there for convienece's sake, since he found himself getting cut or scraped up more often than he'd like to admit. He didn't pull them out yet, though. Instead, he gave the two a chance to react to each other.

The eevee still growled, shaking Naomi's hand away. It was very foul-tempered, it seemed, or at least very protective. It didn't seem afraid at all. The little thing seemed to have no sense of self-preservation, and, as its fur began to prickle, it opened its jaws in warning, about to bite again. It was now that Professor Crow decided to intervein, scooping the little thing up before it could cause more damage.

He let out a disgruntled shout when the eevee sank its teeth into his hand instead.

"She's very aggressive, as you can see," Professor Crow explained, painfully pulling the pokemon's jaws from his hand. "But she battles well. She just needs the right trainer to calm her down."

The eevee grunted as if in reluctant agreement, sagging in the professors arms once it realized that it couldn't bite any other people.

[Night of Fire]

((No, it's fine! I've had moderators who are much slower than you. MUCH slower. Trust me on this one. =P))

This time when the Eevee tried to bite, Naomi pulled her hand back, deciding that she would rather not lose any more blood (even though she hadn't lost very much in the first place). She glanced back to the Snorunt. Even though the creature seemed very friendly, and as much as she loved it's cute face and cheerful cries, she realized that a bit of a challenge would probably help her grow as a trainer and a person. She glanced to the Eevee in the Professor's arms. It appeared to have settled down quite a bit, now that it knew that it couldn't bite anyone anymore, however, it still appeared ready to fight at a moments notice.

"Aggressive and battles well..." Naomi repeated. She was tempted to change her mind again and return to the Snorunt, however, she knew she needed a strong starter. "The right, trainer, huh?" A grin and a look of confidence that she often wore on her face when she was about to do something stupid, a grin that often left her brother and parents sighing and banging their head on the wall, grew on her face. "Then I'll just have to be that trainer!"

With one last apologetic pat on the Snorunt's head, Naomi stood and turned to the Professor, suddenly thankful that she had brought her gloves with her from home. Though they hadn't protected her from the full brunt of the attack, they had certainly lessened the damage, and it looked like she was going to need them from here on out! "I'll take the Eevee, please."

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