I waited in the waiting area of the Portland Pokemon Research Institute. There wasn't a lot of people waiting unlike last time. I decided to pull out Charmander from his pokeball. He was excited to be free. I picked him up by the sides and cuddled it in my arms.

"Are you happy now?" I smiled at Charmander. He gave me a look and scoffed. "Okay, I know mom didn't want you in the house anymore after you set the carpet on fire with your damned tail. But you're still cute. Ah, what can I do, man. Just keep your tail away from me-"

The doors opened up.

"Guys seriously! Why couldn't we get McDonalds'?! We haven't had any forever!" A young looking guy in leather walked in first. He was throwing his hands in the air.

"Because Professor Willow is making lunch for us today. At least he has more of a thought process than cheap quality trash." A person in blue coat walked in next.

"Screw this fam."

"You can screw me whenever," a dark skinned woman walked in next smirking. Her white coat/dress thing caught my attention. Super stylish!

"Haha you wish!"

"I'm surrounded by idiots," the blue muttered to herself. They all pulled out their ID's and showed them to the front desk worker. The woman in the coat made eye contact with me.

Oh crap! She made eye contact with me, this is so awkward... Charmander grunted a bit since the shock made me clutch him.

The woman smiled back, "cute Charmander, honey."

Suddenly, the guy in leather appeared in front of me without realizing. Like did he teleport?

"Dude! He is awesome! What's his name?"

"Uh... I haven't name him actually."

"Hmmm, Boss Lord seems cool I mean he's going to be a Charizard someday-"

"Guys! Let's go," the blue nudged towards the archway. They all left. I kept watching them until they left.

"What the hell, Boss Lord? What kind of name is that?" I asked Charmander. He just shrugged to himself.

"Gabby you are needed," the front desk worker announced.

Professor Willow leaned over his desk and smiled.

"Nice to see you again Gabby now tell me, what ten Pokemon did you catch?"

I pulled out the ten pokeballs, "Four Pidgeys, five Rattatas, and a Tangela. I actually name the Tangela, Ford Tangela. It was the best thing."

Right after the disappointed look of the collection of the common Pidgeys and Rattatas, Professor Willow seemed to be impressed with the pun.

"Alright. Thank you. Now there was a reason why I wanted you back the at the labs. My three apprentice assistants are starting a competition to see how many bases their team can claim. I honestly see it more as a turf war but they... Seriously insist that they want that, mostly Candela and Blanche. They all have their own researching styles so see what you like. Guys come in! I have someone for you to meet!"

The door opened and the three people I met in the lobby walked in. They all looked at me and smiled.

"You're the girl we just met!" said the woman in the coat with a smile.

"Well! Early bird catches the worm- I'm Spark, leader of Team Instinct!" the guy in leather pushed them to the side jutting his hand out to shake. "Pokemon are creatures with excellent intuition! I bet the secret to their intuition is related to how they hatch. You never lose when you trust your instincts! Plus you can't spell success without succ!"

Goodness this man is way too much. I love it. (He's actually cute also?!)

"Oh. My. God. Spark!" Pushed the person in blue making Spark fly to the ground. "Hello. I'm Blanche, the leader of Team Mystic. The wisdom of Pokemon is immeasurably deep. I am researching why it is that they evolve. With your calm analysis of every situation we can't lose!"

I'm not that smart, calm, cool, and collective like that... Not like, her. I thought to myself. Wait. Is Blanche a Mr. or Ms.?

"I'm sorry to ask you, but are you a man or a woman? Really, I'm sorry to be rude..." I asked Blanche. Spark and the other lady looked at each other and began to snicker. Blanche's face began to turn deep red. She facepalmed herself.

I... I think I'll call her a she...?

"I guess I'm next! I'm Candela, the leader of Team Valor. Pokemon are stronger than humans, and they're warm hearted too! I'm researching ways to enhance Pokemon's natural power in the pursuit of true strength! There's no doubt that the Pokemon our team have trained are the strongest in battle!"

"So Gabby, what will it be?" Asked Willow.

Umm...

Spark seems super cool. He's really funny and attractive... His ideals were not that bad.

Blanche's team ideals were not like me at all as I said so I took that off my list.

Candela though. She seems super cool. ... Okay I said the same thing especially with Spark, but she seems so strong. Her confidence shines. It's something I wish I had. I want to be strong and confident like her.

"Candela... I'm joining Team Valor."

Candela smiled. Then her smile became a big grin. She jumped and pointed at Blanche with both her hands, "OOOOOOOH BLANCHE, I GOT HER!"

What...

"Pshh, I have more members than you, Candela. Don't get so cocky like usual."

Spark with his face still on the ground scooted to the nearest corner of Professor Willow's office.

"Oh my word, I'm no match for them. But... That's okay(?)"

"Here Gabby, upon joining the team I'll give you a pin," Candela handed me a red Pokeball/Lightning mash up pin. [The gym symbol for Pokemon X and Y] I pinned it to my bag. "You and Charmander are going to be the bomb diggity! Here is my card if you want to contact me."

As soon as I left the office with the door clicking, I could hear them.

"So that was the Gabby you were talking about, Professor?" It sounded like Blanche.

"Yup."

"You're right. She does seem like she has a lot of potential despite you saying she's casual about Pokemon. Only a few people I have on my team can catch using one ball if they escaped the ball. She didn't play baseball before has she?"

"She was able to catch the Charmander in one throw, just like you Blanche. I was watching her. It's the exact same Charmander that was giving a fit."

"Really Pops?! I can't believe it! I scorched my ass when I even neared it on the examine table!" Spark exclaimed. "I need to ask her how she did it! Candela do you have her number?!"

"Oh my word, he wants my number!" I whispered to myself.

"Sorry Spark, I only gave her my number," Candela responded.

"Now I want to know how quickly she got those Pidgeys and Rattatas."

"I only met her just yesterday at 10 AM. She called me back at 3. Candela, maybe you need to go catch up to her before she leaves. I think she would be a great apprentice for you," Professor Willow said.

"An apprentice? Really, when I'm also your apprentice," Candela chuckled.

"OH! You know what I mean."

The door opened. I ran to the waiting area, hoping that they didn't see me eavesdropping on them.

Am I really that good as they think I am? No way. I just went to the park and they were just blooming with those two Pokemon. I was lucky I caught the Tangela.

"Gabby! I'm so glad you're still here!" Candela rushed towards me.

"Oh?" I tried. "What's up?"

"Let's meet up sometime. I would like to help you on your research of Pokemon! What do you say?"

"Uh, sounds good!" I cracked a smile.

"Okay! What's your phone number? ... Thanks! I'm free this Sunday. Is that good?"

"Yeah!"

"Thanks sweetie. See you soon."