Pavlov's pup gotta hit the road.

[ZOM]

Mackenzie was used to travel by sea, since he had gone back and forth between Dolonn and Litai many times in his life, and only some of the time by plane. He preferred boat rides, really. He didn't have trouble with seasickness, and he liked watching the waves and imagining what lived beneath them. Pok?mon of all kinds, of course, Magikarp and Tentacool and such, and maybe things like mermaids or even Pok?mon of legend, like Lugia. It occupied him for a while, creating a colorful mental image in his head. He certainly wasn't lacking in imagination.

What he was lacking was patience. The benefit of plane rides was that they were shorter than boat rides, although they also tended to be more dull and involve a lot more ear-popping and crying babies whose shrieks couldn't be avoided without leaping out the emergency door. Boat rides were prettier, and more comfortable, and there was freedom to move around on a boat, so it balanced out how awfully long the trips always seemed to take. Once Kenzie grew bored of staring at waves as the ship made its leisurely way towards the Solastella isles, he rolled himself across the deck and into the cabins, into the little room that was his.

It wasn't a large vessel (which was why he was retiring to his cabin instead of zipping around in his chair), and there were only two passengers counting Mackenzie himself; the captain was a friend of his granddad and had offered to take him on board for free, and the other passenger was the man's wife, but typically he didn't ferry too many folks around. That meant he didn't really have anyone else to interact with, since the other passenger had spent most of her time in her cabin with seasickness, or so he'd heard. Some of the crew had chatted with him during breaks, but that was all. He was left with his old cell phone and a notepad to doodle on. He wasn't very artistic, so his "artwork" was cringe-worthy at best, and it turned out that there was a time difference between the Solastella Region and Dolonn, so even Kath wasn't answering his messages beyond an initial "sod off need sleep" and some incomprehensible button-mashing. That had made him grumpy for a bit, since apparently he had left so recently that Kath had yet to start really missing him enough to answer his late-night texts. Hmph. She'd come around.

In short, Kenzie was bored, to the point where he gave up trying to entertain himself and simply lifted himself out of his chair and into the cabin bed so that he could nap until they arrived. This strategy was a wise one, because by the time he was jolted awake by the blaring of the boat's horn, they were nearly at dock. "Nggh," he grunted, sitting up abruptly and feeling lightheaded as a result. He blinked blearily at the wall in front of him.

Several seconds later, it sunk in that hey, they were here.

That was enough to get him scrambling out of bed, pulling himself into his chair, and zipping out the door with his belongings strapped across the back of his seat. He was met with the moisture and salty scent of sea air, and the sight of a bustling port. Nothing he was unfamiliar with, since Dolonn was also an island and had plenty of ocean and ports to go around, but it was so warm here, and just... different. More tropical. Mackenzie took in a breath of fresh air, grinned, and thanked the captain ("Not a problem, lad; tell yer grandda' I was happy t' do et, aye?") before making his way down the ramp.

His first and most important destination was the lab, which he realized very quickly he didn't know the location of. A little asking around set him in the right direction, and after rolling through the town for a while to take in the sights, he reached the building he was looking for. There he sat, staring at the entrance, for about a minute. This was it. He was going to go in, and he was going to meet someone who could give him a Pok?mon, and this would be the beginning of his journey. He was going to prove what he could do, to his family and to himself, but maybe not to Kath; although he'd certainly tell her everything, he had the feeling that she believed in his abilities more than he believed in his own.

Taking in a deep breath, he rolled into the lab. He glanced around and fidgeted as he waited for someone to show up.

[Crim]

Arceus, she felt like hell.

The lab assistant had only recently blinked awake from her own, unauthorized slumber recently before Kenzie's awakening, though the added hour or two of sleep had done nothing to ease the horrible, obnoxious aching in her bones, or the pounding in her head. She should have gotten used to it by now, as it had been a couple of weeks at the least since her symptoms had begun, but that had not been the case for her.

As she shrugged the concept of sleep from her mind, she got up, heading into the bathroom of the lab and gazing at her own appearance with a horrible, disgusted grimace. At least she hadn't started to leak poison again. That had frightened her enough the first time, and it had only become a worse phenomenon as her fear had risen. After a few moments of blind staring, and realizing for the fiftieth time that this was not all some bad dream, the girl had approached the Pok?mon.

Caring for them was one of the few things she'd enjoyed in the day, despite her never-ending nausea. The Pok?mon tended not to realize there was anything the matter with her currently, and they were just as affectionate as they had been in the past. It was one of the few things which made her still come to work, though she couldn't have taken off anyway. After all, evolutions, even the most horribly slow evolution, were not contagious, and the former Eevee Morph was technically not 'sick', even if she felt worse than she ever remembered feeling in her life.

She had immersed herself in caring for the Pok?mon out back for a long time, though it felt longer, when her own Pok?mon, a little Shuppet, materialized next to her. The girl didn't flinch, used to it by now, and merely turned her gaze upon the Shuppet, who addressed her in a soft, unnerving voice.

+There's a living one in the lab again... He's rather cute, actually... If I still had a heart...+ the Ghost giggled lightly, before going on, +But, he's rather strange, too... I would say he'd run off at the sight of you like the last one, but... hee, well, you'll see, I'm sure~+ the Shuppet vanished as quickly as she had come, leaving the girl confused and rather annoyed. She considered not going to greet the newcomer. He'd come back another time if he thought no one was there, right?

Guilt prickled at her as she thought this, and with a shake of her head, she brushed off her strange Pok?mon's words and headed inside. Once there, she stopped dead as she noticed Kenzie, simply staring for a few moments. However, she had a rather strange sort of appearance herself at the moment, so... perhaps the boy wouldn't even notice.

The girl had once been an Eevee Morph, that much had been clear, and a rather morphed one at that. She had been covered in rich, luxurious brown fur, particularly thick around her neck and tail. However, the fur was patchier now, flecked and disordered with clashing blacks and even a few instances of yellow. Some patches of fur had dropped out of her tail and neck fur altogether, giving the ugly appearance of mange, and the rest of her fur was obviously falling out too, thinning to reveal the thin, black fur underneath. One ear was fully changed into a different shape than it had formerly been, while the other was in a very slow change towards the same shape. Her eyes had also begun to slowly change from brown to red. Overall, she looked like a rather strange creature, though she was far more annoyed by her body's molecular changes into those of an Umbreon Morph, but... seeing this new trainer made her problems seem insignificant.

He seemed happy enough, but she wasn't blind enough to fail to notice the wheelchair, and she bit her lip as she caught herself staring, realizing exactly how rude she'd been being. She might have had to deal with a particularly bad and slow case of evolving, but this kid had /no legs/, and he still seemed as bright and happy as a kid his age could be. The Morph felt almost ashamed of herself as she uttered awkwardly, "Oh.. Er, well, hi.", flattening her mismatched ears as she glanced down at him. "Sorry about the wait. What can I do for you?"

[ZOM]

The sound of footsteps caught Mackenzie's attention, and he turned his head to stare back at the female Pokemorph. He met her gaze evenly, although he looked at first surprised, and then maybe a bit bitter; his lips quirked upwards at the corners ever so slightly, and his eyes narrowed a little from their widened state of moments ago. He'd gotten used to funny looks, and occasionally he threw insults back at those who stared -- "you're staring, but look at you, you look mangy, don't you?"

But he didn't say anything like that. He took a deep breath, let it out, and put on a smile. Water rolling off his back. No big deal. Just another day in the life of Kenzie Lister. He saw her ears flatten (how could he not, they were huge), practically feeling her shock transform into shame and pity, and pretended not to notice. "'Ello," he said, remembering why he was here and getting back to fidgeting. His own ears twitched and perked, and he shimmied up a little straighter in his chair. "Well, uh, I'm Mackenzie. I'm here to get a Pok?mon and all. You work here, I guess...?" He supposed she had to work here, since she was wandering around. Why else would she be here if not because she was an aide?

Whatever. Here was the part where he asked for which Pok?mon he wanted... right? So which did he want? He nervously glanced down at his thighs, trying to think fast. He should've used the time on the ship to think... damn it. Well, he knew fire-types were out. Not a chance in hell he'd touch one'a them with a ten foot pole. Grass-types were nice, and he identified with them, but he had a feeling that he'd worry for their safety if he was ever up against a fire-type. He knew what it was like to go up in flames, and he'd much rather start off with something that no fire-type could mess up permanently. Hmm... well, water-types, of course. But something that was both a water-type and a ground-type, that'd leave fire-types completely out of commission.

"D'you have any Tympole?" He knew of a few water- and ground-types, but Tympoles grew up to be so cool, right, and who'd want to mess with a giant toad? Plus he liked the sound of their songs at night in the summer. It was relaxing. Quagsire would have been alright too, Kenzie supposed, but not as effective at scaring off opponents. Nope, Tympole it was -- a soon-to-be Seismitoad! "I'd really like to see some if you do, please." Manners, right, have to be polite, Kenzie. He had to remind himself sometimes of that, especially when he was dealing with someone he really didn't want to offend. This lady, presumably, could kick him out without giving him a Pok?mon. And then what would he do, after coming all this way with all these big (shaky) plans of proving himself?

As he stared up at her with an anxious smile, too eager for his own good about getting on his way, he noted again her patchy fur and overall disheveled appearance. Evolution, he supposed, although slower than he'd heard of -- not that he had known or heard of many Pokemorphs in his life, save for himself and those in his family. He wondered what kind of looks she got, and for how long she'd be getting them before she became, what, an Umbreon morph? With the fur all over, maybe she'd never stop getting looks. He didn't pity her, because he hated being pitied himself. He could sympathize, though. He wouldn't think any more or less of her and her patchy fur, then. Kath had always liked to complain about hypocrites, and he'd hate to get on her bad side. Hah.

[Crim]

The young Morph thought the newcomer looked rather bitter for a moment, and she cast her gaze towards the floor briefly, feeling, if possible, more ashamed than she had moments ago. Really, this kid probably got stares wherever he went, she didn't need to simply stand there and /gawk/ like an idiot. She was, therefore, intensely grateful when the Morph seemed to simply brush it off and answer her question. She glanced up and met his gaze, smiling a bit despite herself (she was glad he hadn't mentioned anything about her own ragged appearance).

"Well, nice to meet you, Mackenzie. I'm Lily, and I do work here... Not the most exciting job, but, it is fun, so, I can't complain." she smiled a bit more, possibly as a means of pushing the rather awkward meeting even further back into the past. "Do you know what sort of Pokémon you'd like?" she queried, though she wasn't surprised when the boy seemed to think about his options. Basically everyone did, and she'd seen a wide variety of options from the people she had sent off on journeys. (There was one time in particular where she'd had to reason quite viciously against some crackpot who /insisted/ that they simply had to have an Eevee available as a starter, no matter how much Lily had explained about them not exactly having access to such rare Pokémon. Hopefully Kenzie wouldn't want such a Pok?mon).

When the Morph stated his choice, the woman couldn't help but feel a little surprised. No one had really requested a Tympole yet, as far as she knew, though that meant that the Water/Ground-types would probably be quite happy to have the chance to get picked. "Of course we have Tympole. If you wait here, I'll go ahead and get them for you."

At this time of the day, the Pokémon tended to all merely be relaxing out back. The woman disappeared into the back, retrieving the tadpole Pokémon from their pond with their Pokeballs, which had been found much easier than one might have guessed as a result of one of the other assistant's meticulous organizing process. The Morph then headed back inside to where they kept a large, glass tank, filled daily with water from one of the spare tanks. This tank was only used if the person wanted to see some of the smaller Water-types, particularly those who needed water to move around. (She figured that Tympole didn't need it, though of course they were fond of the water and wouldn't mind being in it for just a while longer before one of them was taken off on a journey.) She released the three Pokémon into the tank, before wheeling it out, after a quick stop to grab a few items, into the main area where Kenzie was waiting.

"Sorry about the wait. These are the three of them, and you can go up and interact a bit, though you can also use this--" she handed him one of the items she had picked up, a rather ordinary-looking smartphone, "-- to check their stats and genders and such. That thing also has a Pokedex and a few other applications, so of course it's very useful. And /this/ is your ID, or... it will be in a second. Here, look this way and smile really quick." the woman held up a blank, black-screened card as if it were a camera, positioning it at Kenzie before pressing a button. With a snap as if it were actually a camera, the Morph handed it to Kenzie. The screen was now bright and alive, with the picture of Kenzie's face on it and a few places to submit information. "Just submit your information onto that card before you go, and make sure you put all the right information down. I had a friend who made quite the spelling error with his name by mistake, and it wound up being quite embarrassing."

She then gestured towards the tank, where the three Tympole had all begun to stare at Kenzie, obviously rather curious and excited about what exactly was going on. One of the Tympoles was swimming around rapidly, as if attempting to get Kenzie's attention, and emitting cute little sounds. +Oh, pick me, pick me! I'm the strongest one here, just watch!+ Without further hesitation, she shot a few Bubbles towards the nearest Tympole to her, who ducked down rapidly with a little noise and nearly hit the bottom of the tank. The other Tympole seemed to merely watch, though there was something about his face that made him seem almost condescending towards the other two Tympole and their antics.

[atrb=border,0,true] ♀ Tympole, Lv 5 #1 Scroll for more details This Tympole's main personality trait can be summed up in one simple word: confident. She shows no fear in any situation, declaring that fear is for the weak, and she is usually seen merely rushing into things without considering all the consequences of her actions. She isn't a bad little creature, though; she can be really quite nice, especially to her trainer, and especially when there's praise given to her. She's also completely driven to train and succeed, because one of her main goals is to evolve and become the greatest Seismitoad in the world. She can be a bit of a bully, however, especially to those who are smaller or weaker than she is. Since she doesn't hold her tongue in any situation, even the words she says towards others can have very painful barbs attached to them. Name: - Ability: Swift Swim Moves: Bubble, Growl, Supersonic

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♂
Tympole, Lv 5
#2

Scroll for more details

-NAME- is quite the timid creature, though don't deem him weak or useless simply because of that. It's true, he's very soft-spoken and nervous, though that can be blamed on the other Pokémon he's met so far in his short life, many of which have simply cast him aside as being a wimp because he's not nearly as keen on fighting as they are. This little guy's very intelligent in reality, and he /knows/ that he could do very well as a trainer's Pokémon someday, but... the confidence the others have taken away from him won't be regained quickly. With help, he can grow into a very strong, wise Pok?mon, and it's possible that all he needs is someone willing to listen to his ideas and give him some affection.

Name:
-

Ability:
Hydration

Moves:
Bubble, Growl, Supersonic

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♂
Tympole, Level 5
#3

Scroll for more details

-NAME- isn't the most social creature around, and he seems to always have a strong opinion about everyone. He simply can't stand overly obnoxious and childish creatures, yet he doesn't exactly have a fondness for things that are too quiet and mature. Really, he simply seems to find fault with everyone but himself, and it's certain that his trainer won't be exempt from his criticisms. When he isn't criticizing other people, he's usually complaining about some issue in the world that needs to be fixed. If you try to tell him to go and help fix said problem, though, he'll simply brush you aside, saying that in no way is /he/ important enough to change that issue all on his own. This comment is perhaps one of the few that allows one to see that the Tympole himself isn't the most confident Pokémon out there, which is why he spends so much time being a jerk to everyone else. It could take a lot of patience to even tolerate this Tympole, and much more to try and get him to be more reasonable towards everyone else.

Name:
-

Ability:
Hydration

Moves:
Bubble, Growl, Supersonic

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[ZOM]

Kenzie wasn't left waiting long, but he was antsy enough that it felt like ages. What would his choices be like? What if he didn't like any of them? Worse, what if none of them liked him? He fidgeted, and looked around as though it would help him kill time, although there wasn't much to see. It was clean, and there were cabinets and drawers and desks, and then there was the door that Lily had exited through.

Then Lily returned, rolling a tank into the room which housed three Tympole. Mackenzie hastily rolled himself over, careful not to go too fast and accidentally careen into the platform which supported the tank. With wide-eyed excitement and interest he peered at the creatures in the water, only pausing in doing so when told to look over at Lily and smile. The electronic ID fascinated him briefly, but only long enough for him to take the offered items with a "thanks" (he'd have to remember to switch over his contacts to this new phone), after which he returned to watching the Tympole.

At first, Kenzie found himself drawn to the energetic female Tympole that was zipping around in the tank. He laughed a little at her antics, although faltered when she fired Bubbles at one of the calmer Tympoles. The poor recipient of her attack, who hastily dodged out of the way, seemed much meeker, but he also seemed good-natured enough. The remaining Tympole had a sort of sneer on his face, and immediately Kenzie knew that he didn't want that one. Too mean.

It came down to the first two, then, and he worried about the female's attitude. She seemed like kind of a bully. He'd had enough of bullies in his life, and he sympathized with the male Tympole. So... that was his choice, he supposed. Belatedly he recalled that Lily had mentioned some fancy feature on his new smartphone, and he pulled it out to scan over the three Pok?mon. From the looks of things, he had no reason to doubt his initial decision.

"I think I'd like him, please." Mackenzie pointed at the meeker Tympole who had shrunk away from the more boisterous female. The Pokemorph smiled and raised a hand to wave at the little guy. "That alright with you, mate?"

[Crim]

The Morph watched Kenzie as he made his choice, being sure not to lean him in any particular way. That was, after all, not her job, and this was a choice that had to be completely made by Kenzie. She wouldn't steer him in the wrong direction. Instead, she merely watched the antics of the three Tympole, wondering which one would be leaving the Lab today. When Kenzie made his choice, the Morph wasn't altogether surprised: she would have probably picked the first one, since she seemed like the strongest, although she did seem rather mean. The one Kenzie had picked seemed friendly enough, even if it was a bit timid for her liking. Of course, Lily wasn't the one that mattered in this situation, and she quickly pushed the almost selfish reasoning to the back of her mind.

The third Tympole wasn't upset in the slightest by Kenzie's choice. He seemed far too friendly for his liking, and not really strong or worthy of any sort of respect. And, of course, there was the issue involving the wheelchair and the lack of legs. The Tympole didn't have legs right now, but that would change when he evolved. ... He was, really, quite a big jerk, and he merely turned his back and floated through the water idly, ignoring everything now that the choice had been made.

The first Tympole looked a bit offended, however. She opened her mouth, obviously ready to say something, to ask /why/ he'd choose a Pokémon like /that/ over someone like her, but Lily silenced her before she could even begin with a glare. Lily then returned the two not-chosen Tympole to their Pokeballs, possibly to prevent anything cruel from being spoken.

The chosen Tympole looked rather startled, and for a moment, he wondered if he had heard wrong. But then the Sawsbuck Morph was waving at him and he knew that he hadn't. The Tympole couldn't say anything for a few moments and merely nodded, though a large, warm smile spread across his little face as he looked at Kenzie.

Lily nodded, "Well, that's that, then. Here's his Pokeball, and... I guess that's it, really. Oh, and, before I forget, that card also has some money on it. You'll be getting 100 Soleres, unless you'd rather have them converted to Parsennes. And, if not... Well, good luck."

Kenzie recieved a Smartphone, a Trainer ID, 100 Soleres, and a Tympole!

[img]http://i.imgur.com/IjiL1.png[/img] Trainer ID
[img]http://i.imgur.com/C8Owi.png[/img] Smartphone

[img]http://www.serebii.net/blackwhite/Pok?mon/535.png[/img]
[b]Tympole, Level 5[/b]
[b]Name:[/b] Choice
[b]Gender:[/b] Male
[b]Ability:[/b] Hydration
[b]Moves:[/b] Bubble, Growl, Supersonic
[b]Overworld Moves:[/b] --
[b]Nature:[/b] -NAME- is quite the timid creature, though don't deem him weak or useless simply because of that. It's true, he's very soft-spoken and nervous, though that can be blamed on the other Pokémon he's met so far in his short life, many of which have simply cast him aside as being a wimp because he's not nearly as keen on fighting as they are. This little guy's very intelligent in reality, and he /knows/ that he could do very well as a trainer's Pokémon someday, but... the confidence the others have taken away from him won't be regained quickly. With help, he can grow into a very strong, wise Pok?mon, and it's possible that all he needs is someone willing to listen to his ideas and give him some affection.

[ZOM]

He noted the expressions of the other two Tympole before they were recalled; one seemed like he couldn't have cared less, and the other seemed rather offended. Kenzie was glad he had chosen the remaining Tympole, then. The grin on the critter's face was so overjoyed and warm that Mackenzie just had to grin back. "Brilliant."

The Pokemorph turned to Lily with a grin still wide on his face, happily taking the Pokeball. "Thanks!" He plopped the capsule into his lap along with the phone and ID, then pulled a lever on his chair to hold the wheels in place before pushing himself up with one arm to stick his other arm into the tank. "C'mere, okay? Let's get you out of there!" Although the tadpole was startled for a moment, he shyly swam towards Kenzie's hand and allowed himself to be lifted out of the water. "Aha! There we go!" He plopped back down in his seat and sat the Tympole on his lap as well, grinning, not caring that his shorts were getting wet. "I'm Mackenzie. What's your name?"

+I... um. I don't have one. Yet.+ The Tympole was still acting quite bashful; he wasn't used to people being this enthusiastic and friendly, especially towards him. It was pleasant, but overwhelming. He was waiting for someone to pop out of hiding and laugh, announcing that it was all a joke, and who would ever want him?

But Kenzie was still smiling. "That's okay, then. We'll name you in a bit." He turned his attention away from his new Pok?mon for a moment to glance at Lily. "Thanks very much," he said, and he sounded so completely, sincerely grateful; he was wiggling in his seat a little, this time from excitement instead of nerves. "Good luck to you, too! With, you know, whatever. Everything, I s'pose." He unlocked his wheels, gave the Tympole a fond pat on the head, then spun himself around so he could begin wheeling towards the exit. "Bye!"

He was paying only peripheral attention to his surroundings as he rolled out of the lab. Mostly he was looking down at the Tympole, chatting away. Oh, man, he'd have to call Kath soon.