Drowning On Dry Land

"That wasn't very polite, you know," chimed a voice directly behind Aurelius. There, leaning towards the boy and looking rather huffy, was an androgynous creature with an angular face, huge blue compound eyes, and a pair of antennae sprouting from their head, the same grey as their pixie-styled hair. Colorful insect wings flapped agitatedly behind the Pokemorph's back. "Those flowers. You hurt them. The bug Pok?mon need those, you know. And they will be very upset." Petulantly, they -- she? he? it? -- jabbed their pointer finger at Au's chest.

With a disdainful sniff, they flitted away like a hummingbird, propelled by their Beautifly wings. "If you are quite done wrecking our gardens, then perhaps you could tell me what you need." They were still obviously displeased, but they had a job to do. The Beautifly morph was a free spirit by nature, and liked to wander Solastella with their team of bug-types, tasting pollen from every type of flower and sucking the sap from trees, building temporary hives in the forests and making friends with swarms at the many waterside locations. Still, they needed a permanent home for those times when they grew weary of travel, and in return for the shelter that the lab gave them, the morph would work as a lab aide when they were around. Au was so lucky as to run into them.

They did not like Au, not a bit. Very little could have offended them more than the crushing of poor, innocent, pretty, delicious flowers. (Now they wouldn't be delicious or pretty at all, would they? No. They'd be squishy and flat and would taste like boot.) The morph's feet never touched the ground as they moved towards the counter and sat down upon it, lounging back with a scowl on their face.

The Beautifly Pokemorph tossed back their head as if rolling their compound eyes. "Well, have you ever tried? Flying is quite handy, you know. Also there's a path." Everything about the creature's tone dripped sarcasm, and it suited their voice quite well. There was a mischievous and nasal quality to it, snotty and disdainful. They thought Aurelius to be highly unintelligent, it seemed. And once they were done scoffing, they stared at Au like something distasteful, a half-crushed insect under their boot. (Well, alright, they weren't wearing shoes at all, so just under their foot.)

"Ask politely and be a little more specific and perhaps I can help you." After a moment's pause, though, a wide grin spread across their face, and what appeared to be a very long, tube-like tongue lolled out. The tongue curled delightedly, then retreated back into the Pokemorph's mouth. "No, actually, I have an idea. You need to learn to appreciate the value of a flower, and what better way to do that... than to raise one?" Giggling, the pixie flitted off the counter and towards the back door. They vanished through it for perhaps a few minutes, then returned with three Pok?mon cradled in their thin, sun-browned arms.

"Budew!" exclaimed the Beautifly morph, beaming. The three grass- and poison-types shifted and wiggled in the aide's arms; one looked curious, one looked rather grouchy, and the last was chuckling as though the morph's antics amused it. "Unless you have any better ideas, Mister Flower-Hater, this is what I'll recommend to you. And I'm a professional, so maybe you should take my word for it, hmmmm?" They quirked a thin, angular grey eyebrow, daring Aurelius to argue. He still could, of course, because he couldn't be made to take a Pok?mon he didn't want, but the Beautifly morph seemed quite enthusiastic about their idea.

The morph looked rather snubbed, and gave the Budew an affectionate squeeze. The curious Budew looked disappointed, but the other two were apparently indifferent. "Well, fine. I'll be back." Grumbling, they flew out the door again. This time they were gone for longer, presumably gathering up a variety of specimens to pick from. When they returned several minutes later, they were carrying several different Pok?mon. "Alright, picky-pants, choose one and make it snappy. I'll get another two of whichever you want. Hmph."

They had managed to sneak in a part-grass-type, at least; one of the Pok?mon in their arms was a Deerling. It looked rather calm despite being squished against several other creatures its size, but it was eying Aurelius warily. Also present were a squirming Zigzagoon, a quietly mewling Skitty, and a Vulpix with only four tails, some of which were still a very pale red. "They're all perfectly sweet, and if you say you don't like any of them I'll suck our your innards." That could have been a joke, maybe, but then the morph opened their mouth, and out snapped their "tongue." It went rigid and straight, and upon closer inspection it became clear that the tube-like structure had a rather sharp tip, and chances were that the morph could pierce skin and drain fluid like a leech. Demonstration finished, they withdrew their tongue and rested their head on the Vulpix's fluffy head fur. It cooed a little in response.

It was impressive, given the Beautifly morph's high energy levels and lack of patience for Aurelius, that they waited through the Eevee morph's deliberation over his options. Granted, they fidgeted and huffed a little, but they bit back commentary and let Au think. When he finally spoke up, the pixie creature sighed. "Good, Vulpix it is." The other Pok?mon made tiny sounds of disappointment, except for the Deerling; it didn't seem to care either way, and in fact looked somewhat relieved.

The aide headed out the door a third time, and after returning a few minutes later with an armful of three different Vulpix, they paused at one of the drawers in the room to grab out some items. Then they fluttered towards Aurelius, spontaneously lifting up one of the items -- a card -- and holding it in front of his face like a camera. The pure-black card made a clicking sound, and within seconds had lit up with the picture it had just taken. "This is your ID. It holds your money, and it gets you into places, so if you lose it then that's your own stupid fault and good luck getting by without it." They grinned, and thrusted the other item, a small device, at Au. "There's already some money on the card. And here's a phone, it has a Pokedex app on it. If you can figure out how to use it you can see the specifics about these guys. Now hurry up and pick which you want, 'cause they don't have all day and neither do I!"

[atrb=border,0,true] ♀ Vulpix, Lv 5 #1 Scroll for more details -NAME- adores beauty in all shapes and forms. She considers one's appearance to be critically important, and holds her own beauty in high regard. More than that, though, she fawns over beautiful objects, beautiful landscapes, and anything else which she considers pretty. Artwork moves her, sunsets enamor her, and handsome people capture her attention. She easily falls for anyone who is attractive enough, and just as easily falls out of love when the glamor wears off. Grime, grit, and ugliness repel her, and she considers battling to be absolutely barbaric. Name: - Ability: Flash Fire Moves: Ember, Tail Whip

♂
Vulpix, Lv 5
#2

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Although very mature and calm in the face of almost any situation, this Vulpix has an unusual mutation: his tails have ceased their splitting prematurely, and have remained varying shades of pale red, which typically is only seen on very young Vulpix. He's rather embarrassed by this mutation, though it's purely aesthetic, because other Pok?mon and people tend to think he's just an immature little pup because of it. Comments which imply he is young and incapable of hanging out with the "big kids" are probably the only things which can consistently frazzle him. Otherwise, he can usually keep a cool head and act as the voice of reason for others. He constantly thirsts for knowledge and cares little for battling, although he will do it if the need arises. He'd much rather chat with others in hopes that he will learn something new.

Name:
-

Ability:
Flash Fire

Moves:
Ember, Tail Whip

♀
Vulpix, Lv 5
#3

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Never will you run into a more scrappy critter than this Vulpix! She's energetic, she's spunky, and she loves to play and play-fight and just fight. Any opportunity to get down and dirty is one she'll take, and she adores action and risk-taking. She believes in living your life fast and without reserve. Why hesitate about trying something new and daring when it could wind up being the best experience you'll ever have? She tends to come off as very brash but well-meaning. -NAME- believes strongly in molding your own fate and refusing to accept a life that makes you unhappy. "If you don't like it, then change it!" That's her motto.

Name:
-

Ability:
Flash Fire

Moves:
Ember, Tail Whip

They chuckled a little at Aurelius' teasing tone. Whether they liked him or not, they appreciated a little mean joking now and again. A pixie through and through, they were.

It didn't take long for Au to pick, thankfully. The Beautifly morph looked quite pleased by his ultimate decision. "Do you hear that, friend?" They glanced down at the Vulpix with the strange tails, who looked surprised and maybe a bit... agitated? "Aw, don't be like that. He didn't mean anything about your 'tail thing'. I still think it's lovely." After a second, the Vulpix sighed and nodded, and the Pokemorph beamed. "Wonderful! Okay." They were still holding three objects in one of their hands: three shrunken Pokeballs, belonging respectively to each of the Vulpix. The morph muttered apologies to the Vulpix that hadn't been chosen (neither one seemed tremendously bothered, and in fact one looked like it had dodged a bullet by not being picked), then enlarged two of the Pokeballs and recalled them. This left the strange-tailed Vulpix and his Pokeball.

"Take this," said the aide, handing the Vulpix's Pokeball over to Aurelius. "If you don't know how to use it, then you've been living under a rock and the internet is your friend." They nodded, and gently placed the Vulpix down on the ground. He blinked up at Au, head tilted. "We don't name any of the Pok?mon in the lab, except for little pet names that aren't meant to stick, so it's up to you two to decide on a name for him. He's yours now." They nodded, then leaned in close to Aurelius, eyes narrowed. "And you'd better take good care of him."

They flitted backwards, grinned, and gestured towards the door. "Alright, get out now. I have work to do." Ever-helpful, yes sirree.