Well, he wasn't in his lab, so Morgan hoped for the best as she headed toward the house.
She wondered what sort of Pokemon would be available- and for that matter, what sorts there were. The video showcased dozens, but there were practically a thousand out there, assuming the information was even updated properly. If it had been a while since it was made, there might be even more!
And that was just in terms of species. She wondered too what sorts of personalities she'd encounter. Perhaps one like Persey, her magical pet back home. Of all those she'd left behind, Morgan probably missed Persey the most, but honestly, she knew that as long as the little weasel had something to fight, she would be happy.
Perhaps most Pokemon were that way as well. Perhaps they really did enjoy combat to a point that it was worth the risk to them. She supposed it would be hypocritical of her not to support that if so.
Morgan found herself at the door and hesitantly knocked.
A weary looking woman greeted her and showed her in, a stark and homely contrast to the arrogance of her own sponsorwoman. "Sera will be so excited to meet you," she said as she scrambled for tea. Morgan felt it would be more polite to decline and save her the trouble, but… tea. To her, very possibly exotic tea. She supposed one cup wouldn't hurt.
"Oh, do make yourself at home by the way. She's upstairs in her room. Head right in, she shouldn't mind."
"That's uh-"
"Oh, go on, go on. I should be done by the time you're through with intro- oop!" She nearly dropped a plate, but caught it just in time. "Introductions."
But Morgan wanted tea, and to maybe not barge in on someone who was dealing with just as much confusion as she was, because privacy?
The woman- Mrs. Birch she assumed- insisted, though. Morgan sighed. Guess I can just knock…
Or… not. It seemed the stairwell poured directly into the girl's room? Who would do that? Who would design a house like that? Or... had this been a living area once, perhaps? Whatever.
In the corner, Morgan spied a head of pink hair, about as bright as her own scarlet, although it was long and limp-straight as opposed to her own mid-length curls.
Similar, yet different, she thought. Fitting for rivals, I suppose.
The girl noticed her then and startled, but quickly settled and brightly. "Oh, hi!" she almost squealed, bouncing toward Morgan to greet her. "You must be Norman's kid, right?"
Ha. The way she said that made it sound like he was her dad or something. How about no. Still, she got the intent. "I would hope so, or else there's a random stranger wandering through your house."
Sera giggled at this, and Morgan had to admit that appreciating her humor was an effective way to get on her good side, even if the girl did seem a bit… excitable. "I do have to admit, though, with Norman sponsoring you, I was kind of hoping you'd be a guy."
...Because she was 'Norman's kid'? Was he some kind of sexist asshat, or what was the implication there, exactly? ...Whatever. "Hoping" was better than "assuming", at least, right?
"Hope I don't disappoint?" Morgan cracked a cheesy grin and struck a faux-sexy pose. "I think I could make a pretty nice guy, if it's that important. Wha'd'you think?"
Sera laughed, but shook her head. "No, you're fine. Sera, by the way!"
Morgan knew, but nodded at the formal introduction. "Morgan."
"Nice to meet you, Morgan! So, do you have a Pokemon yet?" Morgan shook her head, and Sera's smile brightened. "Well then hey! Maybe I should help you catch one some time~"
Morgan frowned a bit. "Uh… No, I was supposed to get one from the professor?"
Sera giggled. "Oh I know, I was just teas- ….." Her face slowly shifted from grinning to gears turning to fearful realization. "Oh, crap! I was supposed to help him in the field today!"
A pile of papers went flying off her desk- wow, she had managed to accumulate a lot; maybe she'd been here longer than Morgan awaiting a rival?- as she practically tripped over herself racing toward the door.
"Oh wait I need-" she rushed back across the room and wrapped in a long red cloak, the grabbed a baske-
"...Are you cosplaying Little Red Riding Hood."
"...Maybe."
"..."
Well. If there was one high point to that, Hoenn and Snaska apparently shared some fairy tales as well as a calendar.
Sera didn't seem to notice the critical eye on her for more than a second, though, as she stuffed several things into said basket and headed for the door again. "Hey, c'mon! You should come with!"
Morgan started to object, but seeing as she failed to think of a good way to say 'no let me just hang around your house where I could easily rummage through your stuff while you're gone and chill with the lady who apparently has no sense of privacy', she soon gave up and followed.
As they quickly cut through the living area, a fragrant whiff of the tea Mrs. Birch had prepared caught her nose, but even as she wafted toward it, Sera announced, "Hey, we're going out, be back later!" Then she grabbed Morgan's arm and half-dragged her along behind.
A slightly surprised Mrs. Birch watched after them. "Oh uh.. All right, have fun girls!"
"But…." Morgan stared back at the table where Mrs. Birch stood waving. "Tea…"
"Don't worry too much about the wilds, we're not going too far," Sera said.
"Shooould I be worried if we were going farther?" Then again, neither of them had a Pokemon yet.. did they? Sera had offered, if jokingly, to catch Morgan one, so had she already gotten her starter? Morgan hoped so. "And if you could let go of my wrist that would be great."
"Well then hurry up, Slowpoke!" The pun was lost to Morgan.
About the time she managed to reclaim her arm, a childish shriek arose. "Oh no, oh no, someone help!"
The girls rushed to see what was the matter. The frantic child stood where their path crested a hill, and at the bottom a rather large gentleman- Professor Birch himself it looked like- was being chased by a rather small animal. Judging from his reaction, however, the creature must have been quite dangerous.
"Someone, please! Ahh! Down, down girl!" He jumped over small rocks and skirted around a tree stump in an effort to lose her, but the creature was faster, repeatedly cutting off his retreat and making him change course until he tripped and fell down. The little gray Pokemon stood taller and moved in with imposing footsteps.
Sera gasped. "Oh no! Don't worry, I've got it!" Rushing forward, she reached into her basket-
And stopped cold. A stiffness came over her as her gaze slowly rose from the basket to the professor. "I…. um…."
"What are you waiting for?!" he barked.
A tiny whimper escaped her. "I forgot my Pokemon…"
"YOU WHAT."
Sera tried to smile, but her eyes showed something else. "I'll uh- I'll fix this, I'll be right back!"
"Sera, just-" But she didn't hear. As she rushed off, Birch's eyes fell to Morgan, and he sighed in exasperation. "I swear to-.. You! There are Pokemon in that bag there. Use one!"
Morgan pointed to herself questioningly, but then did as she was told. It wasn't like the little gray Pokemon was just going to loom menacingly forever- even if it did seem to be taking its sweet time, conveniently.
She saw three Pokeballs on top of the bag's other contents, and although she could faintly make out a form in each one through the barely-transparent red tops, she did not have a clear idea what any was nor have time to analyze them, so she simply grabbed one at random and released it as she'd seen trainers do in her video.
"KO!" A green reptile appeared, striking a combat pose and drawing the… pup's? attention.
"Ah good. Use your Nav!" Birch called.
Glancing down, Morgan found herself looking at a sort of battle interface. It provided her with information and vitals for the Pokemon she was using- Treecko, that was it- as well as a rough analysis of the opponent's vitals. Well that took out quite a bit of the guesswork.
Several "moves" were also listed on her side. While more advanced strategies were possible with practice, the more basic moves provided a good foundation for communication, according to her video.
"So uh…. Pound?" Morgan guessed. Almost immediately, the Treecko slammed his bulky tail into the pup, and Morgan found herself smiling. That was oddly gratifying; she was not accustomed to others doing what she said without question.
The opponent quickly tackled Treecko in turn, causing Morgan to flinch, but it seemed the damage was not too severe- or at least, rather less than it- she?- had taken from their own attack.
"Hm… Leer?" It didn't sound very imposing, but surely it was just-
It was not just a name. Treecko literally just leered at his opponent. ...How was that a designated move? To her surprise, the pup did seem to react a bit, but remained undamaged. She threw her full weight at Treecko again.
"Oh dear.." What was the last one again? Hm. Now that was an interesting name. "Absorb!"
All of a sudden, Treecko began to glow a faint green, and soon his opponent followed suit. Her eyes grew wide, her once-snarling jaw went slack, and she appeared to be trapped by this grip. Then orbs of green light began moving from her to him, each brightening his light and dimming hers until it had faded entirely.
What it left behind was a withered husk of a Pokemon, which staggered a few steps before falling down and ceasing all movement.
"Uh…." Morgan wasn't entirely sure what to make of that.
"Treeeecko~!" her Pokemon sang, striking a dramatic victory pose. Well, he did look to be feeling better. Looking down at her Nav, she confirmed that his vitals were almost completely back to peak condition.
Well then. Draining another creature's life force did not sound like the most morally sound thing she'd ever done (although it was probably not the least either?), but doing so to restore her own- or rather her partner's- sounded like a fantastic edge in this game.
N-not that he was her partner officially or anything. But it was good to know, she noted.
"Ah, you handled yourself wonderfully!" remarked the professor.
"I just read the screen, really."
"Nonsense, girl. Your feelings were in tune with your Pokemon's, and that's why it performed so well!"
That did not sound very scientific, even by a wizard's standards, but Morgan shrugged. "If you insist."
"Now hey, recall that Pokemon and come with me to my lab." Come to think, the mechanics for recalling did not seem terribly scientific to Morgan either, but they appeared to work. It seemed there was much yet to learn about this place.
She was about to ask what to do about the pup, but when she looked, it was gone. How odd… Had it been okay after all? Gotten up and wandered off perhaps? No sense dwelling, though, she supposed.
The walk was short and mostly silent, but she could hardly complain.
Once inside, Birch turned to her. "So! You're going to be Sera's rival, yes?" Morgan nodded. "Well, then, you're going to need quite the partner. I warn you, she's rather tough."
How could she be? Wasn't she just as inexperienced as Morgan? Whatever.
"I have quite a selection. Or…" Birch looked over his shoulder slyly at her. "Would you prefer to keep the one you battled with already?"
Morgan blinked. "Uh… I don't know, is it a good one?" It occurred to her she'd been given no instructions on which starters to look for or how to choose one in general.
Birch laughed, again in a way that felt as though she was supposed to laugh along, yet made her feel the opposite. "Yes, yes, I assure you it's one of the higher grade options. For what Norman paid, you wouldn't get any 'better', only different."
Morgan shrugged. "Then sounds good to me."
"Excellent! Then if I can just see its ball and your Nav a moment?" Morgan handed them over, and after a few fiddlings both were given right back. "There! You are now fully registered as an official trainer, and Treecko is officially yours."
Morgan nodded. "Well, thank you!"
"I've also installed a PokeDex and the latest associated Nav app. This will keep track of every Pokemon you've seen and caught, provide you with information about them, and a number of other things. It's all fairly straight-forward, so just play around with it and you'll figure things out."
Meaning you don't have an owner's manual printed up, eh? thought Morgan. Her sarcasm was outweighed by her awe, however. "That is.. really amazing. Thank you very much."
Birch nodded. "Now head home and get some rest, girl. Tomorrow, the games begin."
By the time Morgan made it "home", it was getting rather late. To her surprise, a luxurious dinner awaited her. Her sponsor seemed thrilled by her choice of starting Pokemon, and even invited him to have dinner with them, for which Morgan was quite grateful.
Afterward, she and Treecko were ready to retire to their room, but Genevieve insisted she had just a few more gifts to bestow. First was a bed for Treecko, which one of the Machoke Movers still lingering about was carrying up to the room now. And second was what could loosely be referred to as a hat.
It was the most God-awful piece of clothing Morgan had ever seen, and she had essentially zero interest in fashion. She had favorite colors, but valued comfort and function over appearance, and pure personal taste when the first two factors were about equal. Still, this thing… Who designed it? It was too long to actually fit on her head, yet didn't stand up like a top hat. It was almost like a giant sock stuck to a headband, but with little spikes for some reason?
But Genevieve seemed so eager to see her wear it, and she did always love red-and-white and hats as a general thing, at least… "Er… Thanks." Hesitantly, she put it on. "So does it do anything, or..?"
Her sponsor shook her head. "Oh no. This one's just a gift from me. I made it years ago for.. my little brother, but-" Her tone seemed to shift. "I never ended up giving it to him." Morgan didn't ask. The usual smile returned. "But I'd love to see it finally get some use, and who knows? Perhaps if you become a celebrity the design will catch on~"
Morgan wasn't quite sure what to say to that, but did find herself appreciating the awkward apparel a little more. "Thanks then," she literally guessed. "I guess we're going to head to bed though."
Genevieve nodded. "Sleep well, dear!"
Morgan did have to hand it to her planning. She had bought several different Pokemon bedding options to be prepared for whatever starter Morgan chose, including one that came with a tree. He immediately took to it, and watching him scurry all around it proved rather soothing.
Despite the unsavory circumstances and questionable nature of this whole affair, she had to admit: this, right here in this moment, was nice. Perhaps if she played through this ridiculous game, she could have a set-up like this when it was over. Start a new life in this new land, with no constantly raging war, no daily fear of a miniature apocalypse, no Commander Ranik barking orders every five minutes.
Her thoughts wandered to said Commander and all the other people she'd be leaving behind, but… Hell. All of them were used to losing people by now, whether by death or deserting or just being forced separate ways and finding it difficult to stay in touch. She'd miss a few of them, but for all she knew, a few of them might be elsewhere in Hoenn, brought over like her. If she found any, perhaps they could tell her what exactly happened.
Meanwhile, for all those left behind knew, she was good as dead anyway. They'd move on. And while a tinge of guilt did plague her for considering just leaving them to their fate, she knew not one of them would blame her for getting out while she could- especially when, she realized now, they could be dead by now; she had no way of knowing if there even were survivors back home. And without the people… She never had any special connection to Snaska, honestly- no sense of patriotism or duty. She fought to survive, not for king and country. And now she had a chance to not only survive, but perhaps even live.
As she thought of home, though, she waved a hand in front of her and muttered a phrase, then frowned when nothing happened. That much would take some getting used to. But not everyone back home had magic, and she could hardly justify ignoring what was otherwise an overall improvement for the loss of what had always amounted to a luxury, if a highly useful one. She didn't even have proof it was the land making the difference; what if something had happened during the time she couldn't remember before arriving here?
Magic was part of her… but perhaps Pokemon could fill that void in time?
She resolved to do her best to discover at least what had happened to her power, but drifted off a short while after this sentiment. Throughout the night to follow, it was not dreams of home and loss to fill her mind, but of future and promise.
The following morning, Treecko woke at what must have been nearly the crack of dawn, and quickly climbed to a higher branch of his tree to dive onto Morgan's face, waking her with a jolt. He clung there for a few moments as she flailed about before realizing precisely what was happening. Once she did, she laughed lightly. "Well, good morning to you, too, then."
He climbed down, and she got up to stretch and get dressed, realizing she'd slept in her hat. It was surprisingly comfortable, she had to admit. She supposed it wouldn't be so bad to keep up with.
Downstairs, she saw a cat of sorts stretched out on the kitchen table. "Hey kitty kitty."
"Oh that's Muffin, my Purrloin," called Genevieve from the next room. Naturally, Morgan had to stop and pet it.
A minute later, Genevieve came in with freshly brewed tea and a cup and bowl- for the Purrloin purrhaps? Morgan mentally laughed at her own lame pun even as her mouth began to water.
"Oh dear, your clothes."
Morgan looked down at the same robes she'd arrived in. "What about them?"
"You…" She looked slightly offended at having to explain this. "You can't wear that. You're going to be on tv. You have to look nice."
Morgan pursed her lips. She was very tempted to call out that insult, but… No honestly she was entirely right, the robe hadn't looked all that great when it was new let alone now. Once again, function over fashion and all.
"Did you not see the wardrobe I had for you?" she asked as she poured her tea.
"I…." Morgan recalled the frilly shirts, poofy dresses, and short-shorts she'd noticed in her room. "Oh, those were supposed to be for me?" She forced a weak smile.
"Of course, dear. Why else would they be in your room?" Morgan could not take her eyes off the cup as Genevieve took a sip.
"I… see. How uh… nice of you?"
Genevieve frowned. "Do you not like any of them?"
"Well I-... They're not.. really my style but-"
The woman set her tea down rather firmly. "Very well then." Oh no, was she angry? "It seems I have no choice." She rose and left the room, leaving Morgan's mind to wander through possibilities.
She told herself she'd find out soon enough, though, and turned her sights instead to the cup that had been left on the table. Carefully, she moved toward it. Surely she wouldn't miss one little sip, right? That would be a lot quicker and easier than trying to figure out where another cup was, at any rate.
Just as she reached for it, though, Genevieve returned, causing Morgan to startle and her hands to instinctively fly behind her back in a pitiful mockery of innocence.
The woman held out a card. "Here. You'll need this on the trip for any non-training expenses anyway. Food and the like; just try not to overspend. But right now, I want you to go pick out a new wardrobe before your kickoff this afternoon."
"I see…" She wondered just how much she could afford, given her other sponsor was apparently one of the most powerful men in the country. But given her utter lack of any concept of Hoenn's economy, she realized asking a number would be fairly pointless. "Th-thanks, but I'm really fine, you don't have to-"
"This is non. negotiable. dear." The corner of Genevieve's smile twitched. "You will find some clothes and you will look. nice. This reflects on my sweet Norman and me, you know~"
Morgan sighed. Yet you insist I wear this hat, she thought. All the same, she grudgingly accepted her fate and headed outside.
As she passed by the Birch house on the way to Littleroot's tiny commercial "district"- if one could call a street and a half a district- Morgan noticed quite a few Pokemon playing in the yard, and also Sera. She supposed it was normal for the professor's home to have so many of the little beasties running around, but she couldn't say she wasn't a little bit jealous all the same.
Currently, Sera was bathing a small blue Pokemon in a kiddie pool with one hand, while the other arm held a small yellow one. The prior had four legs but seemed otherwise aquatic, with orange fins on its face. The latter was a fluffy bird with orange fringe around its neck and orange crest on its head.
The blue one suddenly sprayed both the girl and other Pokemon with- Water Gun, Morgan was pretty sure. Sera laughed, but the bird was less amused, jumping down and shaking violently to dry itself. "Mudkip, you know Flash hates water."
Mudkip smiled sheepishly in response, and Flash seemed to go off on a small tirade.
Treecko decided this was a good time to leap off Morgan's arm and onto the fence of the yard, so Morgan shrugged and followed him. She and Sera would be seeing a lot of each other soon. She may as well say hi.
"Er…. hi?" Yes. Nailed it.
Treecko made himself rather more at home, running over to play with the other two Pokemon.
Sera looked up from turning off the water hose. "Oh, good morning!" She glanced to Treecko, then back to Morgan. "I'd heard you got your starter~ Is this him?"
"Yeah." Morgan nodded.
"What a cutie! Did you name him yet?"
"Name-?" Right. Of course they would name Pokemon here, like any animals. Even warsteeds got names, back home, if they were worth their salt. "Not yet," she answered, implying the thought had crossed her mind previously.
"That's okay~" Sera assured her. "This Torchic is named Flash, but Mudkip doesn't have a name yet either."
Morgan nodded again. "I'll think about it."
"So are you ready for the game to start?" Sera asked, sitting to play with the Pokemon as she spoke. Although her hands moved to pet and prod at them, her red eyes stayed firmly locked on Morgan's blue.
Morgan felt sort of awkward just hanging on the fence, but remained where she was regardless. "Almost. Sponsor says I have to go buy new clothes first."
"Oh how fun!" Sera exclaimed. "I wasn't gonna say it, but that should really help your early ratings."
By the gods, I get it, my robe is shit, Morgan mentally muttered. And what would you know about ratings anyway? "...Yeah. Should be uh… great."
"Can I come with~? I might pick up something new to mark the occasion myself."
Morgan shrugged. "Sure. Why not."
"Wobbuffet!"
"What?"
Sera giggled. "Nothing. You'll get it later~"
Morgan blinked. "O… kay then. I should probably be hurrying though, so…"
Her so-called rival jumped to her feet and trotted toward the door. "Just let me get my cloak~"
"Ohh, look at this cute ribbon~" Sera chimed, tying the red accessory into her pink hair.
Morgan feigned a momentary interest before returning to her browsing. "Eugh.. Why is everything here so skimpy or frilly?" she mumbled to herself.
Sera responded anyway. "What do you mean? Of course it is." Morgan cocked an eyebrow, and Sera shrugged. "I don't know what you expected? It's… It's women's clothing. This is pretty normal in most places?"
"What? No hey I know frills are a thing but most is probably an ov-..." Then she reassessed her statement. She looked to the one decent shirt she'd found thus far, then to the assortment of fluffy, frilly, form-fitting, low-cut, cut-off, or otherwise hyper-feminine clothing as far as the eye could see. (Of course the eye could see only about the next aisle or two over in any direction, but that wasn't the issue here.)
Promptly, Morgan spun and headed across the store.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"To find some decent clothes."
Twenty minutes later, Morgan walked out of a dressing room in loose black-and-gray shorts that came to about her knees and a moderately dressy but sleeveless red shirt with a feminine cut. The latter had a few bows trimming it, but at least they were small- subdued compared to other options. And she did love this shade of red.
She found Sera standing before her in rather shorter and tighter black-and-white shorts and a brighter-red-and-black tank top that displayed quite a bit of cleavage. The ribbon from before had been shifted to tie up a high ponytail, though shorter locks still hung on either side of her face.
Looking over herself in the mirror, and then her rival, Morgan smirked. "It's kind of amusing how similar-yet-different our taste is."
Sera tilted her head into a small shrug as she laughed. Then turning a more critical eye toward Morgan, she remarked, "Not bad. ...But you know those are boys' shorts, right?" Something about the smile she held made it feel as though she were talking to a small child rather than a person of similar age- if not a bit older than her.
Morgan frowned. "They're comfortable shorts is what they are."
Sera did not seem to acknowledge this. "And what's with the hat? If you don't mind my saying so, it doesn't really seem to go with the rest of the outfit."
Why yes I do mind. "Sponsor insists," she said simply instead.
Sera shrugged. "All right then. I guess if you're happy with it~"
Morgan got the distinct feeling that Sera, in turn, was not, but dismissed it. She was right, after all. All that mattered was that Morgan liked it. And between the terrible heat thus far in this region and the amount of time she'd be spending in the wild, something cool and comfortable with multiple deep pockets would be far more practical than anything in the so-called "girls' section". Shirt-wise, she couldn't find anything that offered any better benefit than not being too hot, so she hoped this would satisfy Genevieve's request that she "look nice".
They checked out and removed all the tags from their new clothing. "I don't suppose you know exactly what time this whole thing is starting?" asked Morgan.
"Hm?" Sera checked the time on her Nav; it seemed she had one too, although it looked a bit different from Morgan's. "Oh, we still have a few hours." A mischievous smile slowly crept onto the girl's face.
Morgan felt a directly proportionate sense of dread rising. "What is it."
"Dooo you maybe wanna hang out until then?" Sera asked with a random whimsical spin.
Morgan searched for an excuse, but what else could she possibly have to do? Besides, friends close and enemies closer, right? She may not have been entirely sure just which category a rival in this competition would fall into, but either way dictated she accept the offer. "Eh… Why not."
"Wobbuffet!" Sera chimed again. Morgan facepalmed, yet knew it was futile to even ask.
"So… Are you nervous?" Sera asked as they left the store.
"Huh?" Morgan glanced her way.
"About your journey. Are you nervous?" Her hands locked behind her back, and her eyes held a bit too much interest for Morgan's taste.
"Well, yeah, I guess. I'm kind of worried about being able to do it more than 'nervous', but. It's not like I have much choice, you know?" She shrugged. "So I'm just trying to roll with it."
Sera nodded. "That makes sense."
Morgan nodded in turn, the hesitated before finally giving in to her sense of etiquette. "How about you?"
Sera offered an uneasy laugh. "If I had any more butterflies in my stomach I'd float away!"
Morgan found she was chuckling despite herself.
"But I'm really excited, too, honestly. I can't wait to meet all sorts of Pokemon!"
"I can see that," said Morgan.
"Oh look, there's a Pokemon now!" Morgan snapped to attention and wondered if she should have brought hers along for their shopping excursion, but she quickly saw that the Pokemon Sera was referring to was some sort of adorable purple butterfly-thing. It hardly looked threatening. "Hi there!" Sera called to it.
The Pokemon seemed to cheerily acknowledge them, so Morgan felt it polite to at least wave herself. The Pokemon appeared to appreciate it.
"She's a Venomoth," Sera informed her. "They aren't native to Hoenn, so it's a real treat to see her."
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Littleroot is a small but really exclusive place to live, and a lot of the trainers here keep rare Pokemon either from past journeys or just as pets."
"I see," said Morgan. "So that one probably belongs to someone in the community then, right?"
Sera nodded, then turned to Venomoth. "So where do you live, hm?" The butter- or, moth apparently- let out a few squeaks and squawks in response. "Oh, really?"
Was… she was talking to the moth. A 'hi' was one thing but..
"That's interesting, huh."
No… She was having a conversation with the moth. Not.. that Morgan hadn't talked to Persey and even the horses she rode pretty often, but not.. generally in front of people, and she certainly never butted anyone out of the conversation to talk to something that couldn't talk back.
Sighing heavily, she decided it best to just ignore it. Sera seemed nice enough overall, and this wasn't the first eccentric behavior she'd shown. She'd probably get used to the quirks in time, right?
Together they arrived back at Sera's- or rather Birch's- home, where they had left the Pokemon to play in the yard. Currently, Treecko and the two Morgan had seen before were caught up in some sort of game with two fuzzy brown ones- Zigzagoon, Sera informed her- and a second Treecko a bit smaller than her own. ...And very apparently female.
"Hey stop that!" Morgan cried, flustered, as she rushed to the gate.
Treecko, upon hearing his trainer's voice, acknowledged her, but took his time in distancing himself from his newfound companion.
Morgan then remembered how PokeBalls worked, and promptly dug his out to recall him. Turning to Sera, she bowed her head apologetically. "I am.. so sorry about that. I- he's not very well-trained just yet, I guess."
Sera, however, only chuckled. "Oh it's no problem. The two seem to get along very well!"
The reference was lost on Morgan. "Be that as it may, it-"
"It's fiiiine. Believe me, no one would complain about having an extra Treecko egg magically appear. They're pretty rare."
For a moment, Morgan's instinct was to ask if it was okay that she took this one, then, but she quickly decided against it. She'd seen its strength in action and needed every advantage she could get.
"I guess. Not exactly what I was expecting to come back to, but I guess they are animals after all."
Sera cocked her head, looking suddenly borderline offended. "How do you figure?"
"...How do you not-figure?"
"I… Animals are a different thing. We have animals in captivity but most don't survive well competing against Pokemon in the wild. ...Everybody knows this?" Great. So it seemed Miss Know-it-all here was definitely from a Pokemon-inhabited region herself, then.
Morgan didn't feel like dealing with this. Just as she began searching for a subject change, however, one was provided for her.
"Oh, Flash, don't pick on them." Sera hurried inside to break up a pile of Torchic and Zigzagoon, wherein the prior kept jumping on the heads of the latter and pecking at them.
"So uh. Since Flash has a name, is he your starter or the family's pet or?"
Picking up the golden bird, Sera turned back to her rival with a bright smile. "Yup, he's mine, all right~!"
Hm. What type would he be? Flying? Grass was weak to that, right? This day just kept getting better.
"So is Mudkip, though~!" Sera added.
…And … better. "Say what."
"Well I mean, I've been taking care of both of them for years, and I couldn't bring myself to choose just one to bring along on my journey, you know?"
Morgan rubbed her temples. "...Of course. That certainly makes it better." Sarcasm dripped from each syllable. Then her brain clicked. "...Did you say years?"
Sera blinked, never fully losing her smile. "Yeah. Why?"
Her hand drug down her face in exasperation and disbelief. "Are you trying to tell me you've been waiting years to start this stupid game? What, were they waiting until you were matched with a suitable rival or something?"
Sera offered a confused laugh. "No? That's just.. how long it took to convince daddy to let me try it? ..And by 'convince'-"
"Dad-..?"
"-I mean I'm almost 18 now so he couldn't say no much longer."
"Sera."
"I'm sure they've told you it can get dangerous out there-"
"Sera-"
"-but I've watched the games on tv since I was a kid and I've always dreamed of proving myself in them, and-"
"HOLD UP," Morgan interrupted louder. "Are you trying to tell me you're native to this sh-..place?"
Sera did frown now. "You didn't know?"
Morgan opened her mouth, then closed it. A deep breath. "Please.. Please don't tell me your dad is the damn professor."
"What's the problem with that?" Her face shifted to a pout.
Morgan facepalmed with an audible 'thap'. "Just.. I need to take this all in-"
"Hm, wha'd you say Flash?"
"Oh for fuck's sake."
Sera leaned in to the bird a moment, then without looking to Morgan replied, "I agree, she does seem a bit wound up."
"I'm right he-know what? No. I'm not doing this. I'll see you later." With that, she made sure she had her things and began to head back across the field to Genevieve and Norman's home.
"Huh? What?"
"Nope. See you at kickoff. Bye." She never looked back.
Sera gave a small whine as she was left alone with the Pokemon. "I wonder what her problem was?"