Mimi was not a morning person. She never had been, and she likely never would be. Didn't mean her boss cared if she was or not. She was still scheduled for plenty of morning shifts out at the ranger station, and just thinking about it made her want to crawl back into bed. As it was, she'd offered to cover an early shift for someone like a fool, so here she was. Stuck as the only ranger in the office that morning. There were other rangers still staffed, of course, but they were performing habitat upkeep which meant Mimi had the office to herself. Well, her partner Shirley was there as well, but that was a given. She hadn't sat down for more than five minutes before she was already face down on her desk, snoring lightly as she made other odd sounds.

< Mimi, you can't be sleeping on the job like that! What if somebody came in and saw you like  this? > the Chimecho sighed, taking a deep breath before issuing a loud, ringing sound. Mimi shot straight up in her chair, moving to wipe away the bit of drool that had already started dripping down her chin. 

"I'm up! I'm up!!" she shouted, and Shirley gave a satisfied nod before quieting down. 

< You shouldn't have been asleep in the first place, > she chided, ignoring the look Mimi gave her.

"Ugh. I know you're right, but still. You know how these shifts get to me! I'm gonna go get some coffee, okay? Keep an eye on the place for me," she mumbled, and Shirley gave her a soft nod as she left the room. Not like they were likely to get much company anyway; not many people liked to get up this early, aside from a few trainers who were early risers, or researchers who seemed to work around the clock sometimes.

Of course, it was while Mimi was out of the room getting her coffee that Akina made her way into the ranger station. Shirley jolted up, not having expected anyone to actually show up while she'd been assigned to watch the office. < Oh! Please hold on a moment! > she softly called across the room, floating her way over to the door Mimi had disappeared through. She used a hint of her psychic powers to open the door and she made her way inside. 

Impressively, Mimi seemed to have dozed off standing in front of the coffee machine. Shirley was a little impressed, if she were being honest, but she let out a softer ring near her trainer's ear as to not scare the poor girl who had come in. Mimi's head snapped up, almost giving herself whiplash. < There's a trainer here to see you, > she said, and Mimi sighed. Then again, if this was someone here about a starter traipsing around in one biome or another might do her some good trying to remain awake and alert. She grabbed the pot and filled a mug, taking it and a plastic spoon with her as they made their way back into the lobby. She'd have to do without the cream for this cup; couldn't keep their guest waiting after all.

"Good morning! Surprised to see anybody up at this hour, especially looking as ready to go as you. What's your secret?" she laughed, setting the mug of coffee down on her desk as she beckoned Akina over. "I hope you don't care, but I'll be mixing my coffee while we talk," she continued, digging through her desk drawers until she pulled out a fistful of sugar packets. "Anyway, my name's Mimi and this Chimecho here is my partner, Shirley. We'll be the ones helping you this morning!" Usually she'd move to shake their hand at this point, but she figured that could wait until after coffee. She tore open three of the packets at once, a bit of the sugar flying onto her desk from the force of it. Shirley sighed at the mess as Mimi dumped the packets into the coffee, stirring it less than carefully as she looked back up at Akina again. "So how can we help you today?"
 

Mimi laughed at that, her whole body shaking with the force of it. It was impossible for her to keep quiet, it just wasn’t in her not to put her all into everything, especially laughing. Even that seemed to wake her up a bit more, and Shirley couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “That’d do it, wouldn’t it? Makes me wish I’d had siblings! I begged my parents for a brother or sister, but it never happened,” she snorted out another laugh, nearly spilling a bit of coffee as a result. “Obviously as a kid I didn’t get why they were so weird about it. You know how embarrassed I was when I realized what I was beggin’ my parents to do year after year?” Shirley had been hoping that Mimi’s tiredness would have given her a bit more tact, but it seemed she was in peak form as usual.


Mimi blew on the hot coffee as Akina introduced herself, pleased enough with the job she’d done with mixing. When Akina noted shed never been able to have a full cup of the stuff, she gave her a sympathetic look. “If you want, I’ve got buckets of instant coffee mix stashed in the break room. I can give you enough to make your own cup later, if you really wanna try it. No siblings around to delay you now, right? And don’t worry about the bother; I was gonna sleep the day away if nobody showed up so you did me a favor!” Honestly,she’d get in trouble with her boss again if everyone came back from their rounds and she was passed out again.


She finally felt the coffee was cool enough, so she took careful sips as Akina asked her questions about the registration. The poor girl really hadn’t been filled in about how things worked here at the station, but it was part of her job to help her understand. It was too much for some people; they had to be shipped back to the lab before even starting. Mimi felt that Akina was tougher than that, though. She set her mug back down, digging through her desk again until she pulled out a form and a couple of pens. She set them down, sliding them across the desk to the other girl.

“Just gotta fill this out and we can be on our way. It’s just normal info so we know you won’t come in here twice for this, and a safety waiver,” she said, taking another quick sip of coffee before continuing, “As for how it works, one of us rangers takes you out into one of the biomes. Once we’re there, you’re gonna have to try and catch the first Pokemon you see. Depending on you, and mostly depending on the Pokemon’s temperament, will decide how easy or hard it is. And it has to be the first thing you see. Which might be something cool, like a Growlithe, or it might be something you can catch just about everywhere, like a Pidgey. Me and Shirley will be there for moral support mostly, or to help out in case things go south. Not every Pokemon out there is very friendly, after all.” Mimi decided to bite the bullet and finish up her coffee, downing the rest in a few swift, hot, and slightly painful gulps. She coughed hard a few times, and she pounded on her chest until she stopped. “If that doesn’t sound like your thing, the lab’s always an option too. What do you think?”


 

“Five!? You have five siblings!?” Mimi exclaimed, assuming Akina had only meant about two or three at most when she’d mentioned them before. “There’s no way I could have handled that. Are you the oldest? That sounds like a ton of work!” Maybe it had been better that she hadn’t gotten a sibling after all. Five siblings and never a full cup of coffee? She had some mad respect for the girl across from her now. And it got even worse, Mimi groaned very loudly when she mentioned The Talk. “That’s a nightmare! It was hard enough when my parents talked to me, I’d never be able to tell someone younger than me about it! Especially if we were related. At least you’re away from any talk of butts that you don’t initiate for yourself,” she laughed, and Shirley sighed. She prayed that Mimi wouldn’t be muttering to her about butts the rest of the day.


Mimi understood, it had been tough when she’d started drinking coffee back in her teens. She’d been quite sensitive to caffeine back then, and it took her years to build up the tolerance she had now. She used to stay up for days straight after a cup, but now she was lucky if one got her through the morning. “I hear you! if I wasn’t here right now, I’d still be passed out for another five hours. Life sucks sometimes.” Especially when it sucked because you’d agreed to cover a shift that wasn’t even yours. “Glad you’ll finally be able to get some, though. Can’t even imagine trying to sleep with that many kids around. Five! Jeez!” It was still hard for her to wrap her head around.


Boxing? Did Akina box? She must have, judging by what she said. Plus, it sounded like she’d punched people before. That was so cool! “I don’t think it’ll come down to you having to punch any Pokemon, but it’s good to know that you can defend yourself in a pinch,” she laughed, watching as she finished up the paperwork and slid it back across the desk. She looked everything over before nodding satisfactorily, getting up to her feet. As she did so, she set a sign on her desk that stated the office was empty for the moment, and that any other guests would have to wait for assistance. “If you’re ready, let’s do this! I’m actually kind of pumped to see what we find out there for you,” she said, grinning as she scooped up her travel pack from the ground and slung it around her shoulders. She headed over to the elevator with Shirley, waving Akina inside when the doors finally opened.


“As you can see, we’ve got plenty of Pokeballs lining the wall here. You’ll only be able to take one though,” she said, leaning back against one of the free walls as the doors slid closed behind them. Instead of the usual movement of an elevator, there was a definite sense of an angle to the downward slope. Mimi couldn’t tell which biome they were heading to from the odd angle, but she hoped it would be one of the more exciting areas. It wasn’t long at all before the rocking stopped, and the doors opened as Mimi ushered Akina outside. It was dark; The only sources of light were torches that lined the walls of what appeared to be an incredibly large cave. “And here we are! Everything we do from here will be up to you. Feel free to take a torch if you want, but Shirley and I will just be tagging along for the ride.” Visible from the wide area they’d landed in, there were four tunnels spaced a decent amount apart from each other on the walls. Mimi knew some of those tunnels were more exciting than others, but she couldn’t tell Akina that.
< Also, it's obviously dark in here but the ground is uneven and covered in rocks in some areas, so please watch your step! > Mimi knew she could always count on Shirley to remember the little details she forgot to mention. She was glad her partner had her back.


 

“This elevator was built special. Because we’ve got all those different biomes scattered out up here, this one elevator can get to all of them! There are different tracks that lead to different areas, which is why we were traveling at that weird angle,” she said matter-of-factly, and it was probably the most knowledgeable thing she’d said all morning. She grabbed her own torch as Akina grabbed hers, partly to give them a little more light and as a backup in case something happened to Akina’s torch. “It can be pretty easy to sprain an ankle if you’re not watching your footing,” Mimi noted before sighing, “Man, I wish we’d gone to the beach biome. Sand and sun sounds a lot nicer than a dank cave…” Shirley gave her a look at that.


< No complaining. Remember, this trip is for Akina, not for you, > she chided, and Mimi sighed again as they started down the tunnel Akina had chosen. “You’re, right, I know. Sorry about that.”


As the walked, the path seemed to get quite narrow for a bit before it began to widen out again. There were twists and turns, yet still there had been no signs of Pokemon activity. Mimi had figured that would be the case, considering where they were heading. The tunnel started a downward slope then, widening out even more the lower it went. Eventually, they reached a large, open cavern that was very sparsely lit with one or two spare torches. Half of the large cavern lay in darkness, but as they began to enter it more properly the light from the torches they carried showed what surrounded them on the floor: pools. There were dozens of shallow pools that filled the cavern, the sound of water dripping into them from the ceiling the loudest sounds apart from their footsteps. “These pools come up to just below the knees, so watch your step,” Mimi noted, keeping away from the edges of them herself. “There are a few Pokemon that either live in or like to sleep at the bottoms of these pools though, so I’d recommend keeping an eye out.” And with that, she was quiet again. As a guide, that was what she was supposed to do.
It was just hard for her sometimes; she couldn't help that she liked to talk!

 

Mimi tried to keep quiet, though it was a hard task for a girl who liked to talk as much as she did. She didn’t want to ruin this moment for Akina though, and that thought kept her strong. Instead of say anything while Akina was taking in the natural sounds of the cavern, she opted to make faces at Shirley, trying but failing to hold some kind of silent conversation with her. Shirley just shook her head and thought she was being silly. Mimi quickly stopped when she saw Akina move again, raising her torch to get a better look around the immediate area. The surface of the pools seemed calm, no ripples or anything to break the crystal clear water.

As she moved to the pool’s edge and took a closer look, the bottom of the pool was dark with some sort of mossy-looking plant. There were several rocks scattered about the bottom of the pool as well, as motionless as rocks typically were. “Oh man, you draw stuff too? What kinds of things do you usually draw? Landscapes and stuff like that?” Mimi asked, finally unable to contain herself. Shirley gave her a look which she ignored, still keeping her distance though in case a Pokemon popped up when they least expected it.


If Akina continued to examine the pool, she would have noted that one of the rocks at the bottom seemed to be moving just slightly, a few small bubbles traveling up to the surface and popping quietly as they made contact. That rock was…alive? Or perhaps something was moving about beneath it.


 

Mimi looked awfully excited to hear that Akina did those sorts of drawings, smiling wide as she sat down on the cave floor. Who knew how long they were going to be in here, after all? And she wanted to save her legs for whenever they found what they were looking for. Never knew when you were going to have to chase down or run away from something, after all. “Do you still take requests? How about Shirley and I as super spelunkers?” she laughed, Shirley giving one of her pigtails a psychic tug at that. “Ow! Hey, I was just joking! Even I know it’s rude to request stuff from someone you just met,” she whined, massaging her scalp a little to help ease the pain. “Would you at least be willing to show me some stuff you’ve drawn later? As someone who’s only good at drawing stick figures, I’d love to see!”


As soon as Akina started tapping on the floor of the pool, the movement of the rock froze completely. It was a bit like tapping on a fish tank, whatever it was startling for a moment. But it was only for a moment, and suddenly the rock began slowly moving in the direction of Akina’s hand. It didn’t stop until it hit the edge of the pool, and bubbles began pouring from it furiously. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to be able to get a good grip on the smooth curve of the pool’s hard edge, and it was stuck at the bottom. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem happy about this development.


If Akina paid close attention to the smooth surface of the rock, she would have seen two beady black eyes looking right up at her. The rock wasn’t a rock at all, but a Pokemon.




 

Mimi seemed glad to be useful, taking up the second torch with only an enthusiastic “I got you!”. She held the two torches high, trying to light the immediate area to the best of her ability. Shirley floated close by in case she’d be needed, but that remained to be seen. Both kept a close eye on the pool and Akina, waiting to see what exactly she was fishing off of the bottom.


As it turned out, Mimi was relieved to see it was a Kabuto. They were generally pretty calm, and weren’t too combative on the whole. Of course, there were always exceptions, and she hoped that wouldn’t be the case here. Kabuto kept still as instructed, waiting patiently for Akina to set him down on the floor. As soon as she had, he hauled himself up just a bit so that the glowing red eyes on his stomach faced Akina now. < First off, let’s get a few things straight, human. I wasn’t stuck in there. I live here. I’m pretty happy living my days in this nice, dark cave hanging out with whoever else is stuck at the bottom of this pool, > he started, sounding none too pleased about the whole ordeal.


< I’m only up here because somebody obviously wanted to get my attention. Well, you’ve got it! > That last bit sounded a bit sarcastic. Of course, this Kabuto couldn’t have been one of the nice, calmer ones. He flexed his tiny yellow legs, trying to appear slightly menacing. Of course, it didn’t work very well. < So what do you want? Or did you disturb me for nothing? I was in the middle of eating, you know. Do you want a fight? Is that it? Because I’ll happily oblige. Bring it on! Just because you’re bigger than me doesn’t mean you’ll win!! > He lowered himself back down to the floor, slowly making his way toward Akina on his small, skittering legs. They really weren’t built for fast movement.