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“No, not this weekend, sorry. I’ve got to take Todd into town to have his beak looked at. No, no, nothing too major. Just a little scuff is all. That last bat- Oh! Hello! Mom, I’ll call you back! Hi! I'm Maggie!” the fluttery rhythm of a conversation between mother and daughter came to an abrupt and jittery end before the ranger on the cell phone who had just entered the room changed gears and went full greeting card shtick - something she always managed to slip so easily into. It wasn’t too far off from her natural buoyant and effervescent friendliness, but she definitely chose her words more carefully and tried to be an active listener in these circumstances.

"I see you've found the forms." she added, beaming. Good, someone with enough common sense to not just stand there like a knot on a log, or worse try to get into the biomes on their own when they weren't immediately serviced by a ranger. "Once you get that filled out and I take a look at it we can head down to a biome - I do assume that's what you're here for, right? Unless you just like filling out forms for starter requests as a hobby or something." she plopped down into a seat behind the desk and opened a drawer in the cabinet to her left to reveal a snoozing torchic, "Wake up, sleepy feathers. We've got a live one!" she teased the bird, tickling under his beak to rouse him.

"So why don't you tell me what your experience as far as interacting with pokemon has been so far? Do you feel comfortable with them, do you have any specific plans going forward once you leave here - well for legal reasons if you leave here today with a starter." she hurriedly added, "Not that you won't leave here today, I won't let anything in the biomes hurt you so long as you're not a complete idiot and don't listen to me, but well sometimes people just aren't successful in getting them or they do something wrong and I have to be a butthead and kick them out empty handed. But we won't have a problem like that, right?" she was obviously a bit scatterbrained when it came to using her words.

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Maggie was still looking at him expectantly, having accepted his form before she watched him swipe at his face and then pull out his phone. Well that was rude! She opened her mouth to tell him as much before said phone was thrust out for her to read his message. She then shook her head for what she hoped was a universal "No" ”Oh. Oh geez, I’m sorry I-” she felt like a complete ass, one for prattling on and on as she had and never even giving him the chance to clarify this for her and two for reacting as she had when he hadn’t answered straight away. While she’d always wanted to learn sign language it hadn’t come up in her to-do list as of yet. She was kicking herself now for wasting a month on martial arts to bond with fighting pokemon who still wouldn’t give her the time of day when she could have learned some basic signs for this exact sort of situation.

Should she take his phone from him to write back? Should she use her own? Could he read lips? Would it be rude to ask that of him? She didn’t think it’d be possible with as fast as her mind went and how her mouth seemed to run twice as quickly. She noticed him smile at the Torchic and plucked Todd up to plop him onto the desk as a peace offering and mouthed an exaggerated “Sorry” to nail home her earlier apology that was probably still garbled even once she’d realized what was happening. ”Say hi Todd. With your wings.” Todd, a pretty smart bird, had caught on that his trainer had goofed it up and did his best to save face for her. He gave his best graceful “parade wave” and strutted around on the desk looking adorable.

While her pokemon put on his little show she hurriedly typed out basic instructions on her own phone, before handing it over. Welcome to the Ranger Station! Your paperwork looks good. You’ll get to interact with the first pokemon we see and that could be your starter if you do well with it. I’ll be there with you and so will my Torchic to keep you and the pokemon safe. Are there any signs that would be useful to know in case I need to communicate quickly for safety?

She hoped that would be adequate for now as she let him read the message and pulled up the list of biomes on the computer to see what was ready for trainers to visit.

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Todd recognized the universal human symbol for ‘it’s okay little guy, come here and i will scritch that underbeak of yours’ and gave a chirp < Don’t mind if I do! > even if the pokespeech was lost on the young man, and promptly scurried across the desk to rub his cheek in the open palm. It lasted only long enough for Maggie to finish her own message to the would-be trainer and then came a series of gestures that he watched his human mimic along with unwavering concentration. She spoke each of them as they were covered so Todd would know what to look for too. He could communicate verbally with humans but he wasn’t quite at reading texts just yet.

Maggie smiled at the next message, figuring she may have frightened him with her talks of safety, I’ve yet to have an incident, but it’s part of our spiel. Some people just don’t have much common sense and don’t heed my warnings or those given by the pokemon. I feel like you have a good amount of practice reading body language and would know when you should keep your distance.

She showed him the message and gave him long enough to read before pulling her phone back to type another one, handing him a starter kit bag with five pokeballs, a map of the region of Inset, two potions, a TM case, and his very own Pokedex. Here are some supplies that will get you started on your journey once you leave here. We’ll be heading down to the desert biome now if you’re ready. You can use one of those pokeballs to capture your starter - it’ll be the first pokemon we come across in that biome. You just have to earn its trust, and I can translate between pokespeech and typing to get you started that way to get to know them. Oh, I just realized I never introduced myself here. I'm Maggie! And this is Todd.

She let him read that message as she stood and peeled off her sweatshirt to be down to shorts and a tanktop - it would be pretty scorching in the biome they were going too without much shade. A couple ice cold bottles of water went into her own backpack in case it took them awhile to find a pokemon or convince it to go along with Silas. Assorted other supplies were in there as well.

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She mirrored his thumbs up, figuring that was easiest and motioned for Todd to come along. The brave Torchic took a flying and flapping leap off the desk complete with a somersault that would have cemented Silas’s earlier theory about him being a contest pokemon once upon a time. And then the pair set off down a hall to a bank of elevators, leading the way to the researcher’s destiny. A few quick taps of coded buttons and fidgeting with a built in screen once they were inside an elevator and soon enough the threesome would be zipping through the building that was ~bigger on the inside~ than it first appeared to arrive at the desert biome sector.

As soon as the doors open they were hit with a blast of arid heat, turning the elevator into a tiny toaster oven that Todd basked in and Maggie grimaced from, taking a few steps out onto the hard packed sand and sediment. Even the breeze that blew threw as an effort of comfort left one feeling hot and sticky. The sooner they met his match and got out the better, in Maggie’s opinion. She turned to look at Silas with her best mustered smile and pulled out her phone to tap out a message, Lead the way. preferring to keep him where she could see him as well as any dangers that could lie ahead of them.

A cactus only a few yards away with some low lying brush growing around the base was rattling as if being bashed or thrashed at by something. That would be a good place to start. She pointed it out to him and nodded her head in that direction to make the point clear. Just as she started to walk there herself, the cause of the commotion made herself seen. A young and ambitious Cubone misjudged her next whack and spiralled right out through the shrubs into their view.

She leapt back onto her feet, oblivious to the humans and Torchic for the moment. Instead complaining aloud in a peculiarly high pitched and heavily accented voice, < Why you won’t come down, dahling? You know you wants to give it up. Zat sweet desert nectar. That wadda, give it to me! HHHHYA! > another solid but futile whap of her blunt bone weapon at the rigid trunk of the cactus. Her eyes were irate and a bit wild under her skull hat. Which, now that Maggie noticed it, was decorated pretty elaborately with red clay scrawlings almost like a sugar skull. And the accent the creature had seemed to oscillate between what exactly it wanted to sound like. Like a mash up of several trying to find just the right one she wanted to use.

Maggie did her best to translate all that Silas couldn’t hear into something easily digestible I think she’s trying to chop down the cactus to get water? Maybe you could offer some assistance?

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Maggie watched him tapping on his phone and followed along behind him, staying close enough to intervene if necessary, and realized he was typing something for the Cubone. She readied herself to read it aloud but his phone started to do it for him. Well that was nifty! Cubone stopped her toiling and pulled her bone back behind her head, ready to whap whoever was trying to make off with the spoils of her hard work. Like the assholes who came into the casino behind someone on a losing streak and got all the coinage! Her old trainer had hated those assholes! Assholes!

But he was offering to help her…..< What is catch, here, dahling? You wanting to get the sweet juice for yourselfs hm? You wanting to make me do the work? Assholes! > Maggie’s eyes widened in surprise as she took in the scene and tried to figure out how to explain to Silas what had just been said. Instead she explained to the Cubone herself, ”No, sweetie, he wants to help. We have our own um...sweet juices. Let us help you if you really want to cut it down.”

The Cubone looked to the other human with him, < Pretty enough, yes, but stronk too you vil do nice, jes. > her amalgam of accents completely lost on the would-be trainer but doing a number on the ranger guiding him. Even if his device could translate poke-speech it would have been having a field day with her garbled dialects. < Hokay, Seelass, you help. > she pronounced it as close to the way his phone had goofed it up. ”He can’t hear you, by the way. Todd give him a hand.” Maggie told her, just realizing she’d left that out, before giving her Torchic instructions and tapping out a message to Silas letting him know she’d accepted their help We’re good, I’ll take the right side you and Todd take the left.

The Cubone shrugged in the meantime, < Is kay. Old owner, she no hear too good either. She old. Sorry, boy, I SAY SHE OLD! > the Cubone screamed, figuring that would solve it for the trainer, since it had helped with the old biddy she had accompanied at the end of the woman’s life to every casino and bar in just about every region in this world. < HOKAY BOY YOU PULL ZE BRUSHIE AND I WHAP WHAP WHAP HYYAAAA! > she pulled her bone back once more and gave several rapid smacks to the cactus now that the path was more or less clear for her to do it back and forth. Silas’s solution had been a good one and she recognized this but didn’t acknowledge it.

Todd knew they were getting nowhere fast and let go of his tiny bundle of weeds that he’d been holding back to fly up onto Maggie’s shoulder and grab a small bottle of water from her backpack. He pecked a few holes in the bottom and held it over her shoulder to let it sprinkle trickles down to the ground in front of the Cubone as if she’d struck oil - or well….sweet sweet cactus juice. < Ha I TELLS YOU I TELL YOU ZIS HAHAHAHAHA IT WORKS SWEET JUICE YES! > she tilted her head back, one hand keeping her skull hat firmly in place as she opened her reptilian maw to take in the droplets of water happily. < Thanks you human peoples, you have done well. Ze Gods they will be shinink on you, yes, mhmm definite. I see it. > she added, tapping with purpose on the intricately drawn eye in the center of the skull.

Having had her fill of the water to drink she held her paws out to collect some and wipe her body down with. She had been hard at work. Todd, meanwhile was growing tired and a bit bored of their charade but stayed dutifully in place as the water trickled out bit by bit for the makeshift shower for the Cubone. < So what brinks you here, hm, I SAY BOY WHAT IS IT YOU ARE HERE WHY >

Maggie typed out an explanation with one hand and pet Todd with the other, taking control of the water bottle to give him a break. She wants to know why we’re here. I don’t want to ask too many questions of you but she says her old “owner” was hard of hearing so she’s screaming at you now to make up for it….and I wasn’t sure if you could hear that or if it’s nothing at all.

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