Varland sighed, replaying the events of the day over in his head. Not only had he met and captured his starting Pokemon in this new region (a delightful handful of a Pokemon at that), but he'd gotten a new job, traveled halfway across the region to meet with his new coworkers (a delightful handful of a man, though at least he seemed like he might be actually delightful, if not  bit eccentric. But who was he to judge?), and now they were both having a bit of time to collect themselves before really setting off on their journey. 

Varland was simply resting on a bench in the town square, gazing at the statues of Palkia and Dialga as his feet silently thanked him for letting them take a break. It had been a long day, longer than he'd known it would be at the start of it, but he couldn't help but think that things were going to go pretty well here in Inset. Sure, he had to learn the ins and outs of his new job as fast as possible or risk getting booted off the team for another more experienced cameraman, but he had faith he could do it. He had the handheld camera he'd been given in his hands now, and he was playing around with the settings as he used the distraction to drown out whatever Prima was chattering on about from the seat next to him. He was sure she was going on about the way he was slouching a bit, so he straightened up a little to try and appease her as he fiddled with the camera.

Playing with the zoom function was fun, but he realized it could also be dangerous. He had to get used to how long it took to adjust; if he held it too long and zoomed in too much, half of the scene could get cut out. He zoomed in on the Dialga statue's face, watching as the zoom blur adjusted to sharply bring the details of the statue into focus once he'd stopped. The same issue could happen when he zoomed back out; go too far, and there would be nothing central to the shot. He slid the zoom back out, and saw the entire square open back up. Action could be happening, but if he wasn't focused on it enough the shot would look incredibly dull, wouldn't it? But if he was too close, it would be hard to follow the action. It was hard to gauge from a couple of immobile statues, but he didn't feel comfortable turning the camera on anyone else who was walking through the area. He wasn't recording or anything, but it was pretty rude to practice on anyone without consent like that. 

He gave a big sigh, glancing about the area through the camera's lens. Everything appeared sharper, more crisp than with the naked eye. Just how fancy was this camera? It must have been the studio's, or there's no way O.V. would have parted with something with so much quality. He couldn't even begin to fathom just how expensive this piece of hardware was; he would have to take extra care when handling it. If something happened to it and the studio called on him to replace it, he might have to think about trying to sell off a kidney or two to pay them back. It was on this train of thought that a flicker of movement toward the base of the statues caught Varland's eye. It was small, a brief skittering, but he quickly brought the camera back to what it was. It looked like...some kind of bug? But it was a bug he'd never seen before in his life. It looked nervous; it twitched and glanced about with worry clear in its eyes, though it didn't seem to notice he'd spotted it. He leaned forward, zooming even further. Wait a second, the statues aren't even that far away. He took his eye away from the camera and he saw the bug was only a few feet away in actuality. 

"Hey, Prima," he whispered, stopping her short in the middle of her rant about the appropriate dress of a young man, "You see that bug over there?" She glared at him and her flame burned hotter for a moment as her cheeks puffed in indignation, but for once she decided to drop it. For later, at least. She would give him a big earful about interrupting and ignoring a lady after this. She turned to follow his gaze, making a different face as she spotted it. 

< I do, unfortunately. Bugs are filthy! Creepy, crawly, nasty little things, aren't they. > Of course she wouldn't like them. He felt kind of sorry for the bug. It jittered about, moving slightly to the left and right and back again but never really going anywhere, as if it couldn't decide where it wanted to go. Suddenly he remembered everything that had been in that kit Kieron had given him back at the ranger station, and he slung his backpack off his shoulder to rifle through it until he found the Pokedex. He'd never owned one back in Hoenn, so he'd completely forgotten he had the chance to learn a bit more about these newer Pokemon now. He pointed it at the creature, and after a moment the device began to speak.


" Wimpod, the turn tail Pokemon. An astonishingly cowardly Pokémon, Wimpod will whir its legs at high speeds to run away if anything comes near it."

Now he felt really sorry for it. He stood up from the bench, and the Wimpod trained its sights on him instantly. He held his hands up in a peaceful gesture, keeping a tight hold on the camcorder strapped to his left hand. "Hey, whoa! No need to be scared. I won't hurt you, and neither will she." Prima scoffed, glancing at the Wimpod with more disdain. < I make no promises. > Varland was glad she had his back with this one. What a charmer.

He took a step closer, and Wimpod went stiff as a board. "Really, I promise I'm not going to do anything. Cross my heart," he said, and the Wimpod's eyes flashed warily at Prima before locking eyes with him again. 

< What about her? > Varland was relieved to see the Pokemon wasn't too terrified to speak. His voice was high and whiny, about what he sort of expected. 

"I'll make sure she doesn't do anything to you," Varland assured, though Wimpod glanced warily at Prima's sour face again before relaxing just a bit. 

< So what exactly do you want, mister? > Mister? Did he look that old?

"Well, you seemed pretty unsure of yourself over here so I was just going to check and see if you were alright." The Wimpod seemed distressed when he said this, whipping back up into a bit of a frenzy.

< That's because I'm hopelessly lost! > he wailed, Varland's heard panging in sympathy a bit as the little bug looked like he was going to cry, < I live on a beach. I don't know which beach, but there was one. But I thought something big was chasing me, so I ran away. I just kept running! I slept a bit, but then I kept running because I kept thinking whatever it was was still after me! But now I'm here, and I have no idea how to get home! > Varland felt even worse for the poor guy.

"That's terrible! Have you considered trying to retrace your steps to get back?"

< Yeah, but I'd never make it. It's way too scary going by myself. I only made it this far because something scared me into making it here! > he sighed, curling in on himself a little. < Besides. It's not like anybody would miss me. All they really did was make fun of me. > Varland remembered a kid in his grade school that had gotten teased a lot for being a bit of a wimp themselves, and he wondered just how bad the poor Wimpod had been teased. < I just don't know what to do. At this point I should just give it up! Wait for a Pidgey to swoop down and eat me! It's all I'm good for now! > He started wailing again and Varland was beginning to panic too. He just kept feeling helpless, he couldn't stand it when people cried.

"Hey, hey! It's nothing to cry over! Why not come with us? I can try and help you find your home, and if you want to go back when we find it, I won't stop you!" Wimpod took a few moments to stop sobbing completely, and he sniffled a bit as he looked up at Varland.

< W-Well, it would sure beat trying to get back there myself. But...s-she's not really going to get me, is she? > he asked, once more eyeing Prima warily. She scoffed, brushing a bit of wax to the side before more dripped down to take it's place. Was that meant to be a hair flip?

< A little insect like you isn't really worth my time. As long as you don't get too close and you don't trip up my manservant here, I suppose I could tolerate your presence for a short while. > And that was probably as good of an answer as they were going to get from her. 

"It's your decision," Varland reiterated, setting a Pokeball down on the ground. "Just tap this bit here if you want to come along with us. I'll turn around, so you don't feel as pressured, okay? If you're gone when I turn around, no hard feelings." The Wimpod nodded, watching carefully as Varland stood back up, turned around, and walked back to the bench. He motioned to Prima to do the same and she glared at him, though she complied. After almost a minute Varland was sure the little bug had left already, but he heard the familiar sound of a Pokemon disappearing into the ball. He turned back around and it only shook a couple of times before it lay completely still. He sighed with relief, going to pick it up. 

< Well, he's certain to be a delightful travel companion, isn't he? He's probably afraid of his own shadow! Rather pathetic, and certainly pitiful. > Like she was one to talk about being a delightful travel companion, but of course Varland held his tongue lest it be burned. He hoped that the two of them would be able to get along. It took him a moment to realize that aside from Prima, this Wimpod was his first official Inset capture! With a spring in his step, he safely tucked the camera back into its holder before carefully placing it into his backpack before patting his shoulder. Prima floated up and settled down as he set off to find Kaleo. With maybe a bit more confidence than he should have had, he was ready to start this trip off properly.