Upon arriving at a door labeled 'Professor Linden', the coffee-haired girl rapped her knuckles against the wood nervously. Alis had begun worrying as she followed the Absol that the professor wouldn't allow her to travel alongside him, and would ask her to find another partner. She had wanted to ask Izrail what he had thought of it, but she would admit she felt awkward questioning a Pokémon about such a humanistic topic.

Not allowing her time to delve even deeper into mental despair, the man whom she had spoken to before appeared on the other side of the door way, blinking in surprise, as though he hadn't expected to see her. "Ah, Alis, you arrived quite early today." He commented in his moment of surprise, but gestured for her to enter his office, nonetheless. "I know I told you to come today, but I hadn't expected you to show up so early in the morning." He admitted.

"M-Morning?" Alis questioned, a rising tone of shock appearing as she realized it hadn't even become afternoon when she had spoken to him last. For morning to arrive… it must have meant she slept through the whole night!

"Yes…?" The brunette arched a brow in suspicion, but kept any comments he may have had to himself.

Alis cleared her throat and composed herself, standing straight as the Absol walked in after her, standing at her side. The brown-eyed girl began shivering where she stood, nervous to ask such a bold question from someone she had barely met. "I, um… I wanted to ask if… y'know… if, erm, I could take Absol as my partner." She muttered in a hushed tone, her face turning slightly red. She wasn't used to seeming so brash to those in authority positions.

"Hm… I kind of guessed you'd ask me something like that…" He mused, tapping his chin and closing his eyes as he pretended to be deep in thought.

What does he mean? She cleared her throat slightly, "Um, excuse me, why did you think I'd ask that?"

"Ah! One of my assistants came to me last night and told me they had spotted you napping in a corner. They saw the Absol blocking you in, and thought you may have been in danger, so they tried to grab the pokéball lying between the two of you. The Absol then proceeded to snarl at my assistant, I am told. Apparently, after that, he tried to call out to you to get you to wake up, and the Absol seemed even more upset at that, and nearly attacked him! It seems the creature didn't wish to leave you alone in the corner, though, so he receded." The young man explained, a small smile upon his lips as he imagined the situation.

"Well, I, Devron Linden, will grant you that Pokémon to begin you on your journey, Alis!" The professor grinned, placing his hands on his hips, accentuating his young age. He was much younger than most professional professors, and yet he had already reached a rank so high. After all, he appeared to be in only his mid-20's.

The brunette's eyes grew wide as she pivoted to face the Pokémon, beaming widely. "Izrail, did you hear that!? We can go on our journey together!" She reiterated, as though the Pokémon hadn't fully understood the first time he had heard it.

Yes, Alis, we may adventure together. The voice echoed quietly, leaving Alis to nod her head in agreement, turning to Devron once more. "Thank you so much for this opportunity, Professor!" She exclaimed ecstatically.

"Well, before anything else can begin, I have to get you to register yourself as a Solein trainer, so follow me to the card kiosk, and I'll help you out. I don't usually assist the new trainers with this, but since you're brand new to the region and haven't attended the trainer school, I'll make an exception." The brown-haired professor winked playfully as he led the girl and her companion out of the room and down the hall.

"Your Trainer ID will act as many things while you travel across the region. It will act as your credit card, your passport, entrances passes to many different things, and so on. After signing up, you'll be given a guide book in case you ever need to refer to the full list." Devron explained as they headed towards the lobby of the lab, walking over to a machine similar to a retro video game and photo booth cross. The machine was covered in renowned Pokémon from all over, making the machine look region-friendly no matter where it was. "You'll step in front of the draped black fabric for the picture, but you can be closer to the machine for the questions." He continued to inform the brunette, nudging her to stand in front of the machine.

Alis blinked in surprise from how quickly everything was moving along, but nodded diligently and walked to stand in front of the drape, noticing the machine turned on at the sight of motion. After giving a moment to boot, it immediately began offering questions on the screen as a keyboard popped out.

Please answer the following questions honestly, and be wary of spelling, as trainer IDs are non-replaceable.

What is your full name? (include any hyphenated last names and all middle names)

Razihel Mylin Brilar.

When is your birthdate? (DD/MM/YYYY)

13/5/20XX

To double-check, are you 17? If not, please hit the back arrow and re-enter your birthdate. (Y/N)

Y

What gender do you identify as? (M/F)

F

Please enter your Holo Caster Mail address for updates from your local Pokémon Professor:

Please enter you Holo Caster ID Number for communication with you local Pokémon Professor:

Is your Holo Caster from the region Ferirn? (Y/N)

Y

Would you like this region listed primarily on your Trainer ID Card? (Y/N)

N

Would you like this region listed secondarily on your Trainer ID Card? (Y/N)

Y

Do you have any medical disabilities to be noted of upon your Trainer ID Card? (Y/N)

N

Please touch the screen to select the following boxes for career choices to be listed on your Trainer ID Card:

[ ] Pokémon Professor

[ ] Pokémon Trainer

[ ] Pokémon Coordinator

[ ] Pokémon Idol

[X] Other/Undecided/All

Do you have a bank account with Caster Banking already? If so, enter your current account number. If not, type 'N':

N

Does this information look correct? (Y/N)

On the screen flashed an example Trainer ID card with all the information she had typed in or given the answer to, save an empty slot for the picture that would be taken shortly after. Alis gave a heavy sigh of relief after she realized that the bullet-quick question round was finally over for her, her face appearing weary from the concentration she'd finally relaxed from. She stretched her neck slightly to relieve built-up pressure in her joints before typing her final answer.

N

Please stand upon the stickers on the ground in front of the background for your picture. The picture countdown will last ten (10) seconds. Commencing… now.

The screen morphed to show the view of Alis, and where the picture would be cropped to, showing the countdown vividly in the corner of the screen, tauntingly ticking away. Alis jumped slightly at the quick countdown and moved her feet onto the stickers that designated her standing spot, lining herself up in the camera and giving off the best look she could.

3...

2…

1…

Click!

Thank you for choosing Caster Inc. for your traveling needs.

Alis heaved yet another sigh of relief as the machine began whirring away, producing the card she'd be using for the duration of her journey.

Devron popped his head in and grinned to his new pupil, giving her a reassuring pat on the head as he grabbed the warm card that came from the system. "Good job, Alis, you've worked hard." He murmured with a soft smile as he led her back to his office. On the trek back, Devron began to reminisce aloud about his own journey, "When I went on my journey, the most stressful part weren't the Pokémon battles or any competitions I entered; the most stressful part was definitely answering that damned machine's questions! It just goes so quickly…" He glanced down to her card in his hand and sighed before continuing, "At least your card design is cool. I went through all those questions and whatnot and got a boring looking card! And with all the stress pent up, my picture came out terrible, too!" He sighed dramatically once more as they reentered his office.

Alis smiled to Izrail as she sat down, the Absol coming to sit beside her chair, sticking close to her as they both watched Devron move behind his desk and begin to sift through his desk drawers. "We're almost on our way, Izrail!" She whispered, finally beginning to get excited once more as the weariness wore off.

Yes, and may our journeys be safe. The Absol responded telepathically, still looking ahead. His partner couldn't seem to understand how he could seem like he was smiling when his face never expressed anything except stoicism.

"Mm… I hope we can have fun together." Alis mindlessly murmured, realizing what she had said and quickly quieting herself. She had no room to be thinking of fun! She was only on this journey to please her grandfather! At least, that was how she started to think, but her shell was slowly wearing away, just as her grandfather had hoped.

"Alright, found it!" Devron smirked as he finally pulled a box from the seemingly bottomless drawer. "I guess if I cleaned up I could find things a bit easier…" He mumbled before snickering and shaking his head, "As if that would ever happen." He chuckled and handed the box over to her. "One Pokédex for an aspiring trainer!" He presented with grandeur, passing off the box.

Alis blinked in surprise and opened the box carefully, pulling out some Styrofoam casing. She separated the two pieces of foam to reveal a sleek, black and white-accented Pokédex, pulling it out gingerly. "There's no way I could take this… it seems much too expensive, and I could never afford to pay you for it!" She gasped out, her eyes wide at how advanced the machine in her hands appeared to be.

"Pay…? Oh, of course not, Alis! It's a gift from me, your patron professor! To be honest, I gave away all the Pokédexs I had ordered for the trainer quota today, so I'm actually giving you a prototype that Caster sent me. And before you say that that is more reason not to give it to you…" Alis froze when he gave her a knowing wink before continuing, "I find it a pain to transfer Pokémon data, and I can get mine to work via upgrades. I don't need a brand new one. And it's not for free, so don't argue there, either…" He snickered as Alis froze even more than the first time, "You'll pay me by telling me how the Pokédex works, alright? Then I have information to send to Caster. If it ever glitches up, just bring it back here to me, and we'll get you a regular one… but only if it comes to that, understood?"

Alis swallowed her comments and nodded politely, keeping to her manners above arguing with her patron professor. Her grandfather had told her on their way to Solein that this region was thriving with rare and exotic Pokémon, and as such, there were actually many professors housed in different cities with different agendas. Apparently it was a big deal over who your patron professor was, here, and it was like being in some sort of gang, as rival professors existed all over the region. Unfortunately, she had heard that Professor Linden was not well-liked by the other professors, for reasons unbeknownst to her. But, either way, she has already caught on that people who lost their patronage from any one professor was like losing the right to be a trainer. She was sure the conversations she had overheard were exaggerating, but she wasn't willing to find out.

"Good! Now, here are some pokéballs to get you started," He entered 'professor spiel' mode, handing her about ten small, red and white balls, all of them shrunken to an appropriate size. "I'd suggest first checking out the SD, which means 'shopping district' in Helia-lingo, and procuring yourself an adventurer's bag. They're sold all over, and there are many different types, so I'd take your time. You'll find anything you need in Helia, so, please, enjoy yourself before you start off! I'll call your grandfather to tell him how you fared." Devron smiled and patted her head before sending her out of his office and towards the lobby.

Alis blinked yet again at how rushed everyone and everything in this region seemed to be, and took a deep breath before heading towards the exit with Izrail, jumping in surprise when she heard him initiate conversation.

I think we should take our time, like he said. There's no need to keep up with someone else's pace on a journey that is your own. His voice echoed wisely, causing the brunette to smile, despite herself. She had never thought a Pokémon so wise until she met her new companion. As she exited the building alongside him, even her chocolate eyes smiled as she looked forward to the day ahead of them, and even the days beyond. She was willing to walk a trail alongside Izrail in search of something that could be 'hers'. A place where she'd no longer have any unwanted worries. A place of her own peace.