Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right

Aislin tread carefully on the beach, balancing precariously in the shifting sand as it slid into her sandals. Her oversized purse was getting ridiculously heavy between the three eggs she was toting along with all of her supplies. She’d stopped back at a chippie in the village to grab a bag lunch and thought she’d come to see the sea with her Budew for the baby’s first time. Astrape was snoozing in the purse in her pokeball and Aislin cradled the grass type in her arms as she stepped over what she thought were chunks of sea glass but….the beach seemed to be absolutely littered with it. Maybe the fish mongers and their wives didn’t have any use for such ornamental things and left it to collect from the surf.

She spotted a girl curled up with an alarmingly brightly colored egg a few yards away and couldn’t help but to find the scene sweet, sitting down to have her own lunch and let Chloris wander around the beach within arm’s reach, cautioning her to come back when she got too close to the tide. She would take her out to meet the waves later when she was full and could keep a good hold on her. She’d really grown to care a great deal for the toddler and her elekid, who she’d never in a million years have thought she’d ever pick for a starter. But they really felt like her kids now, which was weird, cause she’d never thought she had a maternal bone in her body. She reached into her bag and pulled out Astrape’s pokeball, releasing her and offering a chipped potato sliver, ”Hungry?” she asked, smiling as the kid gobbled it up and asked for another which she gave. Chloris came hopping back to them and opened her mouth for a tater too and Aislin obliged.

She looked over to the still sleeping girl and wondered if she had any pokemon of her own nearby or if it was just her and that egg. Feeling the warm sand beneath them and seeing how her egg was nestled into the sand she thought that was actually a good idea and pulled hers out of the purse to dig out a section and pack them in tightly as well. They weren’t handled nearly enough and she was scared sometimes that maybe she had made a mistake in taking on so many at once. It was one thing to take care of two basically baby pokemon but three more? The veteran coordinator glanced back to the two girls building a castle together in the sand and knew they’d have to step up and be helpful big sisters sometime soon.

Astrape gave a shrill squeal that echoed across the beach, bouncing off the cliff face at the end, as she swore she spotted a Dratini in the distance out in the water. Aislin waved her off, ”Just seafoam, that’s all.”, more than accustomed to explaining away childish fancy. No use getting their hopes up. No way in hell they could make it out there to try to catch it or interact, let alone actually battle the thing. Chloris had been taken out by a Weedle and Astrape had thrown a battle to spare the feelings of a rock-eating Pidgey. They weren’t exactly battle ready. Not yet.

Why was the beach so deserted? Emily couldn't make heads or tails of it. The merchants offered grand rewards for trade-ins, out of the three spots where gems had cropped up, the beach was easily the most pleasant one. Whatever the reason, it made for a quiet napping place and she was in no position to complain.

Emily was lost in dreamland for Kyogre only knew how long, chest rising and falling ever so gently. She looked perfectly at peace despite the unpleasant dream raging somewhere in her subconscious. It was a familiar one and it'd plagued her all through college: it featured Emily walking some nondescript class or another, only to find out it was the day of a big exam and she hadn't prepared at all. It was never a bad enough dream to properly wake her up--not that that said very much. Very few things were enough to properly wake Emily Bennett up. She'd learned early on that she needed the world's most irritating, high pitched alarm. Otherwise she'd sleep right through it every time. She and sleep were tight that way.

Once her annoying alarm woke her, she'd flip through her planner and her syllabi to see when the next tests were. Then she'd double check the date on her phone, just to be safe. Her heart pounded like a war drum until she was absolutely, one hundred percent, beyond-the-shadow-of-a-doubt sure that it really was just a dream and nothing more. And then she'd breathe and relax and study for an extra half hour before breakfast--just in case.

Emily had graduated already, sure. And, yeah, she was literally thousands of miles away from the University of Hoenn, where those dreams had begun. But you know what they say about old habits.

So anyway, there she was. Dressed in nice clothes, with a thermos full of coffee and a fresh layer of mascara--something dream-Emily had taken the extra time to put on, since she hadn't known about the dream-test--walking into class. And there was the dream-professor, handing out dream-exams. And there were the judgmental dream-stares of her dream-colleagues, as though each and every one of them knew that dream-Emily hadn't dream-studied as much as them. Her dream-thermos fell. Her dream-cheeks paled. Her dream-adrenaline surged. Dream-coffee spilled all over the scratchy carpet.

And then, there it was, just in time: the high pitched whine of her alarm.

Emily's eyes peeled open so very slowly. The bright sky overhead was blinding and she squinted her eyes. She felt the firm egg shell against her arms, heard the waves lapping against the shore, heard people talking (though she wasn't paying enough attention to make out individual words)... It took a moment for all the pieces to fit into place.

You're not at U of H anymore, she reminded herself. She supported the yellow egg with one hand and rubbed her eyes with the other. You're at the beach. Slowly, so slowly, Emily sat up. Her knees were pulled up close to her chest and her arms were wrapped around them, forming a makeshift cradle for the egg.

She looked to her left, then to her right, getting reacquainted with her surroundings. There were people there now. People and pokemon, none of whom had been around when she'd fallen asleep. There was an Elekid in the distance, she recognized that one, but what was the green thing? It had to be a grass type, Emily couldn't imagine it being anything else. But she wasn't familiar with the strange bud-like creature. And then--ooh, she definitely knew that one! The Hoenn native's eyes lit up at the sight of the familiar dragon.

"Is that a Bagon?"

WORDS ► 618
NOTES ► fitz wizz • Astrape's squeal wakes Emily up and she doesn't rly know what's happening. She basically just sees Bagon and goes ooh shiny. Egg thread for plusle. +5 opal gems (10)

The whine only lasted a short while as they saw the trainer they had avoided running into stir. The movement had Bagon blinking his beady eyes at the girl, tilting his head at her curiously when she said his name. It was strange because he simply wasn’t used to hearing it from anybody but Sam so far. But now? Now he was hearing it from other trainers and it sounded sort of... wrong? Maybe that wasn’t his name. Maybe it was just what they called him. Like Sam was sometimes called trainer. How interesting.

Sam smiled at her question and nodded, sheepish, because his Bagon had just about plowed her over while she was asleep and she had obviously missed it. “Yep! This is ... a Bagon.”

'A Bagon' because he couldn’t bring himself to pick a decent name yet. He tried, but Bagon just stared at him like he was an idiot for even trying. The closest they had come to anything was The Great and Wonderful Flying Machine but Sam had meant it as a joke because of it’s length. Wings was another that Bagon enjoyed- but again, it seemed a bit silly for something with no…. Well, no wings. Naming his Bagon was getting any easier, and he sort of wished they had a book that he could read hinting him on different names previously used by trainers and how to adapt them to Pokemon. But that would make it all a bit too easy, then wouldn’t it?

“He might have almost run you over- So, sorry about that.” He admitted with a smile.

His and Bagon’s attention was then jolted from him as he turned to look over at the crying that was heard. Once his eyes settled on a trainer, he gave a small sympathetic smile and shifted his feet so he could get a better look. “Seems like everybody’s got an egg or baby. Must be popular for trainers in the Inset region.” He glanced over at the girl. “Is it?” Maybe she was a local and could tell him. “Or are you just a tourist and you’ve no idea either?” He laughed out, smiling as he moved to take a seat in the sand with her. Bagon liked it when Sam was on his level with the egg.

The Bagon was oddly cautious around the egg. He moved over to Sam’s lap where he had the egg and nudged it lightly with his nose before moving and shifting to lay in Sam’s lap as well, slightly curled around the egg. Every once in a while he’d lick the egg and nuzzle it. Sam wasn’t sure what that was about but learned a long time ago with Bagon it was better jus tto go with the flow than to ask questions regarding his behaviors.

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right

Aislin nodded hearing their commentary about eggs and babies, ”A combination of both for me. I’m not sure how I ended up saddled with being mother of the year but here we are.” she said, perhaps a bit too sarcastically as if she were hiding the fact that no matter how much she tried to deny it she loved her little stinkers to pieces. She stepped carefully around the sand...glass...castle, gesturing for Astrape to follow with the purse and cradling Chloris as she strode the several yards over to join the pair of them. She hadn’t been invited but she had never really been one to wait for invitations. The way she was raised and with her success in contests before coming here, it was as if subconsciously she assumed people would or should be happy to have her converse with them.

She’d have to remember to pack the creation Astrape had made back to town with them. Some idiot fishmongers wife would probably pay a pretty penny for the garish piece of art. It was stunning but to Aislin’s trained eye lacked true effort or style, instead just a happy accident rather than a piece of fine art. No, they’d have to work on it to get anywhere with it officially the more she examined it. But that was fine, there was always progress to be made. This was a good start. Not that she’d say any of that aloud. Especially with the way the girl seemed to gape at Astrape’s castle. She’d been impressed, and even Aislin had been upon first glance - so there was no use toning it down. If she was impressed by her pokemon then more power to them! That’s the business she was in, after all. Showmanship, performing, impressing, beauty, grace, ahhhh so much lay ahead!

”I’m Aislin, this is Chloris,” she jigged the baby bud who waved a nub shyly, ”And Astrape.” she introduced the elekid. She had a seat, crosslegged in the sand, and pulled her purse to sit in her lap to keep the bevy of eggs secure there. The stupid Koffing egg was already showing signs of hatching soon, with little rumbles of activity. The hazy purple shell seemed to breathe even as it sat stone still in the bag. < Nice to meet you! > Astrape said cheerfully, looking beyond Sam’s shoulder back out to sea. She was certain she’d seen a Dratini that time!! But she was too shy to say it now in front of these strangers only to be told it was her imagination again.

Kyogre, that girl had confidence--charging up to two total strangers like that. How did people do that? Emily sometimes felt awkward approaching people she knew well. She absently stroked the egg in her lap. Half of her wanted it to hatch soon, so she could find out what it was. Half of her hoped it waited a good long while, so she could adjust to the whole concept of being in charge of an infant. It sounded like an awful lot of pressure.

While Emily was worrying about everything under sun, the non-worrying girl made a joke. Emily grinned and wracked her brain to come up with some witty response, but came up empty. So she settled for an introduction instead. "I'm Emily." She glanced at Astrape, then at the yellow egg in her lap, then back at Astrape. The Elekid's shade of yellow matched her egg almost perfectly. If not for the red splotches on her egg, she might have started to hope--playing around with those glasscastle things could've been fun.

"It's nice to meet you all. My appointment at the lab's tomorrow, so this egg's all I've got for now," she explained after they finished their introductions. Emily felt sheepish, inexperienced, almost unworthy, around these trainers were their rare pokemon. But that would change tomorrow. Maybe. Unless she got kicked out of the lab. She'd heard of that happening to other trainers. A shiver ran down her spine and she did her best to shake the worries off, to focus on the present. She watched Bagon interact with Sam's egg for a moment. "Does he need a nickname?" She was a scientist, not a pokemon enthusiast. She wasn't in the best position to say what was normal and what wasn't.

WORDS ► 294
NOTES ► fitz wizz • Egg thread for plusle. +5 opal gems (20)

Oh, she'd ask that, wouldn't she? Yeah, Bagon did need a name. It was embarrassing, but he hadn't found anything that fit the Bagon just yet. Not anything that wasn't something stupid like 'Skullcrusher' or 'Basher.' Actually, Basher wasn't so bad... but it all depended on if Bagon would remember to respond to it or not...

"Yeah." Sam let out a nervous sort of laugh at Emily's question. "He doesn't respond well to even his species name, and any nickname I've tried other than 'buddy' hasn't really worked out. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even respond to 'buddy' as much as he does me just raising my voice to get his attention." He laughed because if he didn't, he'd feel a little bit either bad for himself or like he wanted their pity. He didn't, but he wanted to explain his case. Bagon just didn't fit a nickname. Not right now, anyway...

Warm. Was that how he felt toward the Drowzee egg that would hatch here at some point? Or perhaps he was just a little bit excited? He definitely felt a warmth toward it. Like he did eggs when he was just a professor's assistant. Now he traveled and had a team of his own- well, starting team anyway. Bagon. And this egg- it was interesting to him... and he was enjoying the idea of feeling warm about something. When was the last time that had happened? Back in Kalos before his mother passed, probably.

A small relief lifted off of his shoulders. "This is my first time with a team of my own. So I'm not even sure which route to take with naming them other than letting them nearly name themselves. I mean, they have a preference I'm sure..." his hand moved over Bagon in a way the dragon adored, moving across his large pale tummy a few times before finally letting it rest on his neck. The Bagon loved the weight of Sam's hand there. Sam figured it was probably something his parents did to keep him calm. "Bagon doesn't talk well, he's still very young. So getting anything out of him about what he would prefer his name to be... well, mostly it's grunts and snorts, but he's definitely got his own opinion."

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right

”It doesn’t seem he’s got a handle on pokespeech just yet, so it may take some time for him to have actual words kick in as having meaning for him. It’s a bit unorthodox but maybe you could work backwards to meet him halfway? Observe his different sounds and what they may mean, and pick a positive sounding grunt or growl that he would respond well to? Develop your own language together.” she shrugged, ”Even if it doesn’t result in a name, just being able to know which sounds mean ‘yes, good job!’ and which ones mean ‘no, i don’t like when you do that!’ could go a long way when it comes to training. You’d know when you’re doing something right and can let him know what’s good and what isn’t.”

“It can be daunting having a team of your own - and it’ll grow in no time, one day you’ll come to the conclusion that you may even need to make some cuts that would work better for you and the pokemon who would work better with someone else. But it’s all a learning process, for you and them, and there’s definitely a learning curve involved for that matter.” she noticed Emily looked a bit piqued the longer the conversation went on and chewed her lip. She seemed overwhelmed - had Aislin done the thing again where she comes off as a know-it-all? She couldn’t help that she had more experience under her belt than most people her age. She’d started off young in contests and while she didn’t know much at all about actual training, coordinating and developing a strong bond with her pokemon was where she really did excel. Any wisdom she could impart on the youths was the least she could do in her eyes. She tried to be a little more encouraging, nodding along as Emily spoke in turn.

”Yes, precisely. It narrows the field. Imagine trying to name yourself - out of all the names in the world to possibly choose from. It’d do your head in!” she said, ”I love the motorcycle idea - I wouldn’t have pegged you for a….oh god what would the word even be? Hogger? That doesn’t seem right.” she said, laughing and scratching her nails at the nape of her neck nervously. She’d just had all the right words and now she was totally lost. She knew jack diddly about motorbikes. They’d always terrified her. Hurtling through space without a box of metal and padding surrounding you for protection. Just your body and the ribbon of asphalt waiting to have you smeared across it. Ich.

”What are some other subjects you find interesting? That’s a place to start if you’re stuck with a theme. Maybe famous authors or scientists, poets or politicians you find admirable and would want to honor.” she suggested, ”Fleming for a Chansey for instance, since they tend to be found among those in the medical field.” oblivious to Emily’s history of med school issues.