Riot was already in the parking garage, the morning sun made its way through. This gave a nice, warm red-orange tint to the garage. The scientist sat with a cup of coffee in his hand, waiting for a car to come by, one that this Daniel guy had given details about. He was back to being a human, as Casper's curse had worn off, a week-long curse, as the Ninetales had promised. Obviously all of Riot's colleagues wanted to write that down so their funders would be happy and keep paying them. In the excitement of being a Vulpix, Riot didn't really make any notes about it; he did keep note that any progress he had on telepathy got dropped as soon as he was reverted back to a human.
"So did you make sure you left Ninetales and Vulpix in their cell?" A voice Riot was all too familiar with. Casper sat her rear on the stair beside her trainer, fitting her paws onto it, like she was pressed for space. The shiny Ninetales' glorious tails fanned out behind her as her eyes were set on the garage. "Yeah, I wanna make sure they're surprised when their trainer comes in. Then their excitement will be even greater than if I did tell them…" He paused and turned around. Ninetales was sitting behind him at the top of the stairs and a snow white Vulpix was sitting beside him. "Shit," Riot chuckled. "I should've expected that… you guys are way smarter than some of the scientists give you guys credit for," Riot chuckled as each fox's ears perked up.
"As in almost everyone except for you and that lady?" Casper giggled. She didn't really care for how smart she might've been, the fox was just happy that she hadn't gotten shot. Ruby was hiding somewhere in her tails, she had a trainer that she loved, so being called stupid didn't matter to her nearly as much; she watched one of said scientists struggle with a rubiks cube. A car, a small, red Toyota drove through the parking garage, its driver was trying to find a spot to park. Casper barked something at the other Ninetales and Vulpix. "So much for your trainer's visit being a surprise," Riot shrugged at got up to greet his guests.
Ninetales whined as he tried looking past Casper's tails, hoping to get an early glance at the face he expected to see. Instead a little Vulpix poked its head out of the wall of tails, barked, and hid itself before the fox's instincts could kick in. His Vulpix, the Alolan one, was still walking beside him. Vulpix was also trying to get peeks at the car that had pulled up, but was completely blocked off by the wall of tails that Casper had made. "I know, I know. But it's like, six in the morning. I need something to keep me awake," Riot said, almost to himself. Ninetales was smart enough to know he and Casper were having a light chat.
0-0-0-0-0-0(i guess this is the new transition thing)
"Riot, I told you to stop drinking coffee. At your age, you could have heart problems, and your heartbeat picks up at… a pace I know is not normal for a human heart," Casper scolded her trainer as he took another sip. "I know, I know. It's six in the morning, I need," he paused as the coffee left his hand and flew into a trash can."I need something to stay awake," Riot sighed as he knew it was best for him; he needed to stop drinking coffee. "Just because you are no longer in the body of a Vulpix, does not mean my desire to protect you has died out. Even from minor things like a caffeine boosted heartbeat, your well being is important to me," Casper said. She sat down as they stopped outside the parked car.
"And the last thing I would like is to see my human die from a heart attack," Casper put an emphasis on the word "human" like she had ownership over Riot. Obviously, the fox knew she couldn't own her trainer, but trainers can also be labeled as owners. Like any protective Ninetales, she figured the term "owning" went both ways. The human owned her, she owned the human. The owner keeps her safe and well fed, she keeps Riot safe. She keeps Riot safe, along with Ruby, she can be happy. That was all Casper needed from life. Riot turned his focus onto a skinny person, who had gotten out of the car.
The man's build was slender, not much screamed that he was particularly well fit, or out of shape. One sniff and Casper could tell that this man was more like a kid? A prepubescent? What did humans call young humans that could fend for themselves, but not quite as old as Riot? Young adults? That might have been it, but it didn't matter. The fox could feel her companions, an unnamed Nineales and Vulpix vibrating in sheer excitement. Riot exchanged words with the man, and the word "Daniel" told Casper that she should get up and out of the way. She watched as Ninetales and Vulpix stared at their human, and how their human stared back at them. Silence filled the parking garage.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Daniel took a step forward, kneeling down on one knee, and was now at level with Ninetales. He so badly wanted to come and meet them, but didn't know how his Pokemon would react to him basically abandoning them, at least, that's how he saw letting them be taken as:
Letting them be taken by an officer with little force felt like leaving them in the middle of the ocean. It felt completely horrible, as he didn't do his job sufficiently enough. He should be looking after his Pokemon, his friends, and family. "Hey guys," Daniel was forced on his butt when Vulpix jumped after him, tails were wagging at speeds nobody could keep up with, and was washing his trainer's face. Vulpix quickly calmed down and settled for laying in his human's lap as his shoulders were being massaged. Sure, petting was great, but the massage felt otherworldly. Ninetales controlled himself a bit better, even if he couldn't control his tails, which were wagging as fast as Vulpix's.
The young man quickly took notice of his Pokemon's slow approach to him. "Hey Ninetales," Daniel stretched a hand out, which was met with protest from Vulpix. This was shut down with a hand ruffling the fur in between the fox's head who settled for that instead of the spa day he was having. "Do you hate me? Or…" Ninetales barked and shook his head; how could he even imagine hating Daniel. Sure, being taken by cops might have halted potential bonding over the last month or two, but that didn't matter to him. "C'mere. No need to be careful with me, buddy," Daniel said warmly.
Ninetales' heart fluttered when he soon found his back curled up against his trainer's leg, his left legs were held up, as a hand met his soft underbelly. Usually belly rubs weren't the most exciting thing in the world; he wasn't a dog, but he had to admit that they did feel nice. And right now, with a month of depravity, he was happier than ever to receive pats on his belly, his head, anywhere Daniel could reach, he scratched. These spots tended to be on Ninetales' hind legs, his snout, cheeks, belly, side, ears, anywhere that wasn't in the fox's private regions were scratched and petted. At the same time, he could tell that Vulpix was being treated similarly.
"You guys have no idea how long I've missed this," Daniel took one of Vulpix's tails in his hand, and gently used the other to rub it. Much like how one would shake a dog's paw, Daniel had gently shook the tail, and Vulpix cooed. Unlike the Kanto variant, Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales weren't too concerned with their tails being touched as long as they weren't being tugged on. Ninetales happily let his trainer take a tail and shake it as well, being tenderly rubbed and petted all the while. "Why must the softest parts of you guys be your tails? Your forbidden tails?" Daniel said as he held a tail close to his cheek and rubbed against it. Ninetales rolled his eyes and he jokingly pulled his tail from his trainer's graspe with a fake growl. "Mine," Ninetales barked, even though he knew his trainer couldn't understand him. The tail was back in Daniel's possession as the fox let it land back in his trainer's palm; it was in good hands.
"Excuse me," Riot said reluctantly. He knew how much this moment meant for the trio. After knowing he had caught the man's attention. "You've got a week here, and I got a few questions and experiments that require your permission to do. We've got a room for you, where you and your Pokemon can enjoy each other's company…" Riot paused as he clapped his hands together. "Hopefully by the end of week, you can leave with two Ninetales rather than a Ninetales and a Vulpix," Riot said. "What does that mean?" Daniel asked. "We might have a way to evolve your Vulpix, but we need your permission to even attempt that," Riot said. Vulpix jumped at the notion, barking all the way. "I guess, if Vulpix wants to, who am I to stop him?" Daniel and his Pokemon flinched as a sharp sound stabbed their ear drums.
Alarms were going off.