The only thing this story takes along from the original Pokémon series is that Pokémon exist. Aside from that it's set in 'the real world' and we mostly follow the story of my own Ocs too. I might, let some names slip of already existing characters- but as it is, I really doubt I will write any interaction between them and my Ocs.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. At current time, I think it's owned by Tsunekazu Ishihara.
Chapter 1 The Dutch Pokémon Headquarters
Anna van Vliet's pov:
In the midst of the Dutch ponders, rising above the seemingly endless sea of grass fields and gentle fosses stands the nation's central Pokémon Headquarters. Rebuild from a massive castle from times long ago and enhanced with the latest technology, it is renowned as the Netherland's prime location for any and all things related to the extraordinary creatures better known as Pokémon.
"Well, no doubt about it… This is it." A young girl breathes out in awe as she took a moment to pause in her cycling and take in the sheer magnitude of the famed building. The girl appeared native to the Netherlands, with the common blonde hair and blue eyes combination. She was also relatively pale and had a dusting of freckles on her cheeks.
"Vee…" Stated the Eevee in a resembling sense of awe from over the girl's shoulder. The creature was looking over the castle-like structure with curious brown eyes. Its fox-like body leaned further against the girl's back as it heaved itself a little higher over her shoulder to get a better look.
"It's a lot bigger in person, isn't it…" The girl commented and worried her lower lip.
"Eev vuee." The small Eevee agreed.
The girl took a deep breath as if to further calm herself but didn't make any action to get back onto her cycle and ride those last few meters to the building. The Eevee gave her a confused look. "Vee?"
"…It's really big…" The girl explained nervously. "Like 'massive research facility filled with professionals' big. Or 'what the heck is that teenager doing in a place like this?' bi- OUCH! Okay, Okay! I'm sorry! Please, let go of my ear! Ow! Come on, let go!"
The Eevee unsunk his teeth from the girl's throbbing ear and placed one of his front paws on the side of her head to properly glare down at the girl, "Vee! Eev vuee!"
"I know- I'm sorry, I won't-" The girl let out a sigh and sent an apologetic look at her little friend, "I won't back down. Not again. It's just- it's scary. I actually want this so… If this doesn't work out then…"
"Eev vuee, eev."
"I know, I know. I'm a worrywart." The girl relented and then gently stepped off of the ground and sat herself back down onto her saddle. Eevee huffed smugly as it settled back into her backpack.
"We're going to take part in the European Pokémon League one way or another and if this isn't the way then we'll just find another one..."
"Welcome to the Dutch Pokémon Headquarters!" The receptionist exclaimed happily at the blonde teenager as the younger girl stepped to the front of the line. "Do you have an appointment?"
"Ah- yes!" The girl fumbled for a second, "The nurse Joy from the Pokémon center in Arnhem told me she'd make a referential call for me with Professor Adams? For a lead-up position as a trainer?"
"Right, of course …" The receptionist nodded absently as her eyes drifted down to her computer screen en she furiously started typing away on her keyboard, "Say, aren't you a little bit young to be a Pokémon trainer? Most are well into their twenties before they even think about starting, you know…"
"It's what I want to do- and no one mentioned anything about an age restriction so…"
The receptionist snorted in amusement, then after a little longer stopped in her typing and placed a little device with a clear screen on top of the front desk. "Please scan your ID here so we may identify and record your presence in our facility."
The girl nodded and then mindlessly slung off her backpack- a small squeak was heard and the girl abruptly struck a coughing fit. Moving a little slower the girl took out her wallet from the front pocket of her backpack and tried to laugh off the receptionist's confusion when she stood back up straight again. Her ID was scanned and her backpack slowly found its way back onto her back.
"Alrighty then, now- Miss Van Vliet, is it?" At the girl's nod the receptionist steadily continued. "Pay close attention 'cause I'm not gonna saying it again. Professor Adams is our head of the Trainer Division- he oversees pretty much every aspect of what you may imagine his job includes. What missions which trainer is sent on, housing situations for the trainers and their individual Pokémon within the facility and at different centers throughout the Netherlands. He also keeps an eye on which trainers battle each other in tournaments and in private so as to keep track of their process and lastly he's also the person you have to impress most if you wish to have any future as a Pokémon trainer here in the Netherlands."
The girl's eyes bulged and nervously tugged on the strap of her backpack, "He's really that influential?"
The receptionist hummed, satisfied with the younger girl's reaction. "Perhaps another word to describe him would be strict- Pokémon are dangerous creatures, you know. We simply cannot effort having poor quality trainers as that will cost us lives."
The younger girl's blue eyes steeled themselves and she nod, "A lot of people depend on the trainers to regain control over situations with Pokémon- most of which are usually considered too dangerous for civilians… I'm aware that it is hardly all sparkles and rainbows but thank you for the warning regardless."
"As long as you know it, dear."
"So my appointment..?"
The receptionist huffed and leaned slightly forward over the front desk, she pointed at an elevator door down the left hallway. "He'll be expecting you in about ten minutes. On the fifth floor there's another waiting room area, his personal assistant will pick you up from there."
"Thank you."
"Yeah, yeah. Ah-" The receptionist absently waved the girl off and then swiped out a white plastic card. The teenager took it and clipped the visitors pass to the front of her vest. "Just don't get too upset if he turns you away- you can always try again when you're thirty-something like the other trainees."
"I'll just take that as a wish of good luck." The teenager commented dryly over her shoulder and the receptionist let out a laugh.
The teenager hurriedly walked down the left hallway and actively kept her gaze on the floor. There were a lot of people walking around with white lab coats- scientists, she was sure. They made her nervous. Though luckily none of them seemed all to worried about her presence in the building. They were rushing about- reading over the papers in their hands, moving carts filled with curious-looking tech and talking through what seems to be ear pieces. She let out a sigh as she waited for the elevator to come down. She wanted to look around. She wanted to see what they were working on. Perhaps they were researching some groundbreaking Pokémon fossil? Or maybe they're trying to improve the healing equipment used at the Pokémon centers? Maybe they're making a new kind of Pokéball? She shifted so what uncomfortable on her feet just as the elevator doors opened. A female scientist stepped out, her eyes glued on the clipboard in her hands. The teen side stepped to let the woman through and quick scurried inside the elevator. She pushed the button for the fifth floor and breathed out in relief as she took note of the fact that she was alone in the elevator as it went up.
"I'm sorry about earlier."
She felt Eevee rummage around in her backpack as it made a sound of disgruntlement and annoyance.
"I'll try to be more careful next time when I'm taking off my backpack." The teen promised absently.
"Vee?"
"I'm fine. Just nerves." The teen admitted, "I didn't think that we'd be talking to the big guy, you know? I thought that maybe there was a separate course or something for new trainers. Something like a try-out period? But it seems like we're instantly tossed in front of the final boss, huh…"
"Vuee…"
"I guess we'll just have to see how this one goes… I don't want to wait till I'm thirty though..."
"Eevee!"
The teen let out a giggle, allowing herself to relax at the familiarity of the interaction.
The elevator door pinged open. The teen carefully walked out and glanced around- she was relieved to find that the elevator had actually opened up at the waiting room area instead of yet another hallway. The last thing she wanted to do right now was get lost into what she was sure to be a labyrinth of hallways… She slides her backpack's straps off of her shoulders and carefully placed it next to her on one of the benches. Making sure to at least keep one of her hands on top of it as she nervously waited for someone to approach her or call out her name like they tended to do at the dentist. Some time passed before an office lady stepped up to her. The woman was dressed sharply in a navy dress suite elegantly embroiled with what seemed to be tiny decorative poliwags, pointy shoulders and a white bow around her neck. The woman didn't smile nor did she seem all that bothered to look at the teen as she kept her eyes trained on her sleek black I-pad. "Anna van Vliet?"
"Ah- yes?" The teen replied caught off guard.
The woman nod once and then sharply turned on her heel, "Good, follow me."
Anna quickly scrambled to her feet, mindfully placed one of her backpack straps over her shoulder and hurried after the nameless woman- who she belatedly realized must be Professor Adams' personal assistant. The woman didn't bother to speak to Anna as she led the young girl down several hallways and Anna wasn't sure if she found that reassuring or not. She wasn't sure what to make of the woman aside from the fact that she obviously took her job very serious… Would Professor Adams be like this too? She suddenly felt a little sick. The personal assistant walked through a set of double doors and Anna followed without a second thought- she blinked in surprise to find that the room was actually some kind of observation room rather than a richly furnished office. There were a number of screens displaying what seemed to be recordings of Pokémon in their natural habitats. There were a handful of office people sitting around and discussing things with each other whilst vehemently pointing at things shown on the screens- others were either typing away on the computers and Anna was sure that at least one man was sleeping sitting upright in an office chair…
She was a bit distracted looking at the guy and was lucky that she caught herself from walking right into the personal assistant as she had come to a stop. "Professor Adams? The referential from Arnhem's Pokémon center is here for her appointment."
Professor Adams looked different than what she had expected. He was older- somewhere in his late forties if she had to guess- and he was dressed familiar to the other scientists that walked around this place. His lab coat was pristine white but his clothes underneath were left untidy- wrinkly and slightly out of place as if he had slept in them not so long ago, though… That might not even be far off from the truth. There were a bunch of pens sticking out of his lab coat pocket and the golden ID card hanging under it- indeed identified him as Professor Adams. Anna noted absently that his black hair was graying in the same metallic colour that perfectly matched the Magneton floating lazily behind him. She eyed the electric Pokémon curiously, having never seen one before in person- were its eyes supposed to look droopy like that?
"Right, right." The Professor muttered as he stood up from his seat and stretched out his arms then settled Anna with a critical gaze and stepped closer. "So you're the person Nurse Joy was so excited about, huh? God, she did say you were younger than our usual trainee candidate, but you… are you even out of school?"
"I'm finishing my last year of secondary education this summer… Legally speaking that means I'm still required to go to school somewhere until I'm eighteen but since this lead-up position could technically count as a pre-education for becoming a Pokémon trainer, it can be considered the equivalent of a vocational education..."
The Professor let out a startled guffaw and the Magneton circled around themselves in a low buzzing sound, "Hah! Yes, I suppose that it could be seen as such! Though most people would just go for a specialized University if they wished to go into the field of Pokémon… Like the Pokémon Academy in the Zeeland province. It offers all kinds of different courses in Pokémon research or even the Pokémon Medical School up north which mainly focuses on prepping Nurse Joys for their future jobs in Pokémon centers…"
"I'm aware of that sir, but none of those schools offer a mixed education for Pokémon Trainers specifically so…" Anna pointed out, feeling her nerves once more seep into her being as she uncomfortably took notice of the sudden shift in atmosphere. The professor's expression shifted from slight amusement to a grim awareness in almost a heartbeat and the reproachful frowns they were getting from the other occupants in the room weren't helping her case either.
The professor sighed out in slight frustration and scratch the back of his head, "The reason people usually got for those places is because it's good prep work for the job- it also seconds as a safety net to fall back on in case the Pokémon Trainer profession doesn't work out… or if they become physically incapable of continue that line of work. The dangers of it is one of the reason why people usually only start as trainers later on in their lives- of course, there have been a few people in the past who came in from an entirely different line of work and ended up being an useful asset as new Pokémon Trainers but…"
"The lead-up position offered here is efficient in educating new trainers but that isn't the problem." Anna summarized almost tiredly, "It's my age which-"
"'Your lack of experience'." The professor corrected not unkindly and nodded, "which, yes, is a result of how young you are still. I'm glad to see that you at least understand why this is an unusual and difficult proposition..."
"Pretty much everyone around me has been warning me about how dangerous it can be from the moment I told them- so it honestly wasn't hard to consider the nasty aspects of the job…" Anna admitted softly, her hand clasped tighter on the band of her backpack. "I still really want to do it though."
The professor sighed again and crossed his arms as he seemed to think things over, meanwhile Anna clenched her jaw in sheer desperation. She hadn't even done anything yet- no test or anything- and she already risked the chance of being turned away. She hated it. Hated how small she sounded when she relayed her wish to the professor. Maybe if she sounded more confident and sure of herself then maybe he wouldn't even have to think about it… Maybe then Eve and her would already be on their way-
"What I'm most curious about though…" The professor mutter out after a while of silence and Anna steeled herself, "is what Nurse Joy meant when she mentioned your odd relationship with your Eevee."
"Odd?" Anna echoed in bewilderment, looking about as confused as the professor sounded.
Professor Adams nod and Anna frowned as she tried to figure out for herself what the Nurse Joy could have possibly meant, describing her relationship with Eve as an odd one- but she couldn't think of any reason as to why the kind Nurse would see it as such. Was there really something weird about how Eve and her treated each other? Anna sure didn't think so… "Odd?" She inquired again though this time as a question rather than a confirmation.
The professor nod again, a small smile playing on his mouth.
Anna frowned.
"Would you be willing to let us observe your interaction with your Pokémon? And possible a couple of others in the facility?" Professor Adams asked kindly and Anna found herself nodding before she could even really think about the question. "Excellent! Jan!" The professor called out and another office worker- who was named Jan, apparently- stumbled out of his chair and hurried over.
"Yes?" He breathed out.
"Please lead Miss van Vliet down to the grounds, will you? Area 2A will do. Just go ahead and let her in and we'll be joining you in a second." Professor Adams ordered the man and then casually waved the two off as the Magneton buzzed behind the professor in lazy curiosity.
"Yes sir!" Jan cried and then turned to Anna with an expecting look, "Please follow me…"
"Sure." Anna agreed and was quick to fall in step with the sweaty man as he lead her out of the observation room and back to the elevator in the waiting area. It was a bit awkward for a while- Anna could tell that Jan wanted to either say something or ask something of her if his side eyes were anything to go by- but she felt unsure of how to start a conversation with the unfamiliar man herself. So incapable of changing anything about the situation she found herself in, she settled for simmering miserably in the awkward air between them.
"So…" Jan finally started in his attempt to break the ice, "An Eevee, huh? That's awesome, a lot of potential too. How did you get it? The Pokémon breeders?"
"My dad actually bought it at a kennel. Everyone though it was just a small dog with crazy long hair until my sister tried to put a bow on it and got a stomach full of tackle…" Anna let out a small laugh at the alarmed look Jan was giving her.
"Was she alright?"
"Yeah, she was fine. Eve wasn't in the best state when we got him so she only really lost her breath for a second or so..."
"But what luck to come across an Eevee like that…" Jan gaped in amazement at the thought of it just as the two of them stepped into the already occupied elevator, "You know they're actually kind of rare? I mean, I know that it's said that they appear pretty much anywhere but it's exactly because of that near-global coverage that they're really hard to find…"
Anna snorted softly to herself, "Mine was brought into the house and pretty much dropped onto my lap." There was a sharp nudge against her spine and Anna groaned under her breath, "Sorry, sorry…"
"What?"
"Nothing… oh, actually-" Anna turned to give Jan a hopeful look, "Can I take Eve out now? I mean you guys did want to see my interaction with him, right? So it's okay to have him walk around here?"
"H-here?" Jan stuttered out nervously and his eyes momently shifted to glance over at the other two scientists behind them, "In here? I'm not sure that's-"
"I promise that he won't cause any trouble. He just really dislikes being stuck in tiny spaces for a long period of time, you see, so-" Anna felt Eevee rummage around in her backpack impatiently and let out a tired breath at the sudden look of realization and horror Jan was sporting. The other two scientists in the elevator cautiously flatted their backs against the elevator wall in the back.
"He's not in his pokéball?!"
"Yeah, well, I did say he hated small spaces so- Ouch Eve! Keep still for a little longer, will you!"
"Vuee!" Came Eve's muffled reply and Jan squeaked.
"You can't just bring a Pokémon into the facility like this! They're not supposed to be inside the building!"
"Eh? But wasn't there a Magneton back in that observation room just now?"
"It works here!" Jan protested weakly, "Those electric type get specially trained- programmed from the moment they hatch and becomes a Magnemite to discharge at certain points in the building and keep our energy levels balanced! It isn't allowed to move about freely or- god forbid- be left unattended by its caretakers!"
"Well okay, but Eve's a well-behaved Pokémon and I'm here?" Anna defended calmly, keeping her stance and tone as even as possible. She didn't want to see what kind of chaos could result simply because there was a Pokémon out of its pokéball. Heck, she was pretty sure Jan was already preparing himself to jump on the emergency button…
"Come on, calm down." She insisted steadily, "He's already been in my backpack this entire time and he's done nothing. If he intended to cause mayhem or whatever then he would have already done so by now. Take a breath. Everything is just fine. You said Eevee's are rare, right? Then you must have never met one before. Would you like to?"
"I- yes?" Jan admitted shakily, still visually thrown by the previous revelation.
Anna nodded as she carefully tugged down the backpack's zipper to the side, "Eve promise to be nice, yeah? We've got to be on our best behavior today."
"Eev!"
Anna smiled, "Good."
Eevee squeezed its small round head out of the backpack and its large ears followed a second later. Eve glanced around himself with curiosity gleaming off of its big brown eyes, its big ears wiggled about as he took in his surroundings. It crawled out further and perched himself on Anna's left shoulder, then it shook out his little mane with what seemed to be a breath of relieve. Meanwhile, Jan and the two scientists seemed terribly nervous about being in a confined space with the Pokémon.
"Eve, this is Jan." Anna introduced with a slight motion of her hand to the sweaty man, "You probably heard already, but he's leading us to the next area."
"Vuee!" Eevee greeted.
Jan sent Anna a weird look, "It can-?"
The door pinged open and Jan suddenly seemed to realize where they were and what he was supposed to do. "Ah, right! This is our stop. P-please follow me…" Jan hurried out of the elevator and Anna had to rush to keep up to speed with him. Anna only became aware of the looks they were getting from the people around them because she herself looked over at the receptionist from before. She thoughtlessly gave the woman a small wave as they passed but only got a stupefied look back. Eve hummed lowly in her ear- it seemed he had also taken notice of the looks. Anna patted her Eevee on its side, hoping it would soothe its unease. "So what's in area 2A?" She found herself asking.
"It's a specific habitat out on the grounds behind the facility. We've altered them to fit the needs of the Pokémon we keep." Jan explained as he shakily walked on.
"Oh! So it's kind of like a zoo?" Anna asked with a tilt of her head, she felt Eve copy her movement on her shoulder.
"Essentially, yes." Jan explained sounding oddly tired, "There aren't any real cages or anything though, so when you're on the grounds you can pretty much come across anything- but the Pokémon do tend to herd in specific areas because they're most comfortable in them. Area 1 exists mostly out of grass fields familiar to the ones in front of the building. Area 2 is parted up and surrounds the waterways- 2A is a nearby pond... Area 3 is mainly underwater and area 4 and up is further out on the grounds, though with this alone I think you might already have a pretty good idea of the system."
"Oh, I see…"
"Vuee…"
"So the professor wants us to hang out with some of the water type Pokémon then?"
Jan sent the two of them an uncomfortable look, "Well, it did sound like it… But to be honest, I'm not sure if that's such a good idea. I mean, I imagine that there will be other caretakers around to keep an eye on you but we usually don't allow visitors out on the grounds…"
"Professor Adams said to 'just let me in' though." Anna protested.
"Vee!" Eevee agreed with her from his place on her shoulder.
"You have to understand…" Jan grounded out weakly as their small group came to a stop in front of a big round door, "There have been cases in which new caretakers have been injured- simply because they weren't careful enough… Honestly, I kind of feel like I'm sending you to your death here…"
"We'll be fine." Anna assured the man though his warning did make her a bit nervous. After all she didn't know what kind of Pokémon they kept on the grounds though it sounded like a lot. She wondered what other kinds of Pokémon the trainers could have brought in from their travels. There might even be some she never even heard of before! Anna's chest grew tight and she suddenly found herself more excited than scared. She shared a look with Eevee and was delighted to find that her little buddy seemed to sport familiar thoughts. "I know that Eve and I will be alright as long as we have each other's back. I'm serious Jan. We'll be just fine out there."
Jan seemed struck for a moment, then he let out a small laugh of disbelieve. "You're so weird."
"Hey!" "Vee!" "That's so uncalled for!"
Jan let out a sigh and shook his head, "I'm not authorized to go in with you so you'll have to wait here until some of the caretakers let you in… They're the ones wearing the white overalls."
"Sure thing." Anna nod, "Thanks for showing me the way Jan."
"Vuee." Eevee agreed.
"Y-yeah." Jan replied uncertainly and then stepped away without another word. Anna and Eevee watch the man go before sharing a look and turning their curious eyes simultaneously to the big, circular, metal door- waiting almost impatiently for them to open. They didn't need to wait long. The doors twirled open in a way which neither had ever seen before- though Anna linked it to something she had seen once in a sci-fi movie. It opened from the center of the door with a tiny hole and then that opening grew swiftly in size until it opened completely. There were two men in white overalls on the other side and they beckoned her in though neither bothered to talk to Anna, which she thought was a little weird. She didn't comment on it though as for all she knew this was simply the expected routine for them. The circular door closed behind them with what appeared to be a code one of the white overalls typed in and then Anna and her Eevee were lead out onto a grassy field- there were already a couple of Pokémon walking around which Anna recognized. A mischief of Rattata and Raticate scurried by and disappeared into the taller grass off in the distance and there were a few Hoppip floating around themselves in what seemed to be a vague dance. There was also a pair of Tranquill nesting just on the edge of the tall grass and- Anna wasn't entirely sure if she saw them correctly but she was pretty sure that there were a pair of off-coloured pitchu hiding behind a fallen tree. She wasn't sure what a blue and red pitchu was called but they did seem terribly cute. Eevee nudged his nose against Anna's ear and it was then that she noticed that she had stopped walking to look at the new Pokémon and that the two white overalls were waiting for her to catch up. Anna flushed and hurried after them as they lead her further through the grass field.
"This is where area 2A starts." The smaller white overall explained ones they came upon a pond- there were a whole bunch of poliwags and even a few of its evolutional forms swimming and lounging around. There was also a big green frog-like Pokémon which Anna wasn't familiar with and about three solepokes from which she could tell. Though that was only what she could see above the water. "According to Professor Adams' orders we're supposed to leave you to your own devices from here, but…"
"I'll be fine. I have my Eevee with me after all." Anna assured the man to the best of her ability and luckily that seemed to be enough for the two men to slowly step away. Meanwhile Anna felt like sighing. The constant worry- although understandable- was truly starting to become something of an annoyance.
Eevee jumped down from her shoulder and moved ahead a bit before turning back to look over at Anna. "Eev eevuee!" Anna laughed and went to follow, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."
The two of them walked leisurely closer to the edge of the pond- and that's when the biggest, meanest-looking Poliwrath emerged from the water to glare at them. Both Anna and Eevee stopped in their tracks, though while Eevee lowered himself into an attack ready pose, Anna threw up her hands in a show of surrender and flashed the Pokémon a nervous smile. "Hey there! Poliwrath, right? Hey, would it be alright if my buddy Eevee and I hung out around this pond for awhile? I promise that we're not here to cause any trouble…" Anna hunched over and placed one of her hands on Eve's back and the little fox-like Pokémon slowly relaxed in its stance. "Vee…"
"See? We mean no harm." Anna went on- she didn't bother to raise herself back up to her full height again and instead kept still. The Poliwrath growled lowly in distrust as it kept its fists raised in front of him.
"If you don't want either of us in your pond then I understand. I wouldn't want to mess with your living place after all." Anna went on and she felt Eve nodded below her hand. "Vuee!"
The Poliwrath growled again and then slowly moved and sunk back into the water- its suspicious eyes never left their beings though and Anna knew that in this moment it was probably the most trust she could expect from the Pokémon. Anna smiled in relieve and sat herself down on the grass just a little ways away from where the water lapped at the land. Eevee made a small circle around her before he sat down on her right- the little guy made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a tired sigh and Anna found herself snickering as the other Pokémon around the pond slowly but surely went back to their own business. Well, most anyway. The Poliwrath seemed unwilling to let his gaze stray from the strangers and a handful of others seemed curious about their arrivals.
Anna let out a sigh herself and let herself fall backwards, her backpack was disregarded somewhere to the side. "What am I even supposed to do..?" She lamented and Eve made an empathetic 'Vee.' in agreeance. "Earlier the professor said that Nurse Joy thought our interaction was weird… But I don't really see it? What do you think Eve?"
"Eev eevuee..." Eve commented with just as much confusion.
"Do you think the other trainee candidates have to do something like this? Like just… hang around a pond for a while? I mean, it's nice to be around so many different Pokémon for once but…"
"Eev eevuee- Vee!"
"What?" Anna sat up and glanced down at her Eevee to see what was wrong, Eevee bounced up and down and then struck his paw out to her backpack- which was now moving about with a transparent tail poking out of it. Anna let out an amused sound as she gently lifted up the flap of her backpack. "What are you looking for in there? If it's lunch then I can promise you that Eevee already ate it."
"Vee!" The Eevee barked up in indignation.
"Yeah, yeah." Anna laughed as the stray Poliwag crawled back out of her backpack, it looked up at her with an innocently curious eyes and Anna felt the smile on her lips solidify even more.
"Poli! Poliwag!" It seemed to cheer and its tail bounced along behind him.
"Do you want to play?" Anna asked it and then looked over at Eevee with a grin. Eevee jumped eagerly on its spot as Anna picked up her backpack again and rummaged around it for a bit to pull out a tennisball-sized, green and pink spotted ball. She tossed it lazily to Eevee and had it easily head butted back into her awaiting hand. Then she held it up for the Poliwag as the creature wiggled about in excitement. "Ready?"
"Poliwag!" It cried and Anna tossed it over underhanded. The Poliwag missed it by an inch or so and seemed sad when it watched the ball roll off on the sand. "Wag…"
"Hey, it's okay. If you keep trying them I'm sure you'll get it eventually." Anna gently reassured it as Eevee retrieved the little ball for them. "I know! Why don't you go see if your friends would like to play too? Then you can all learn to do it together!"
"Poliwag!" The little Poliwag excitedly seemed to agree and quickly waddled back into the water.
"…What am I looking at right now?"
Professor Kumar inquired tiredly of his personal. His left eye twitching. He had seen a lot of things in his years- plenty of them horrible as was common in his line of work. You sure didn't become the nation's top Pokémon Handler by twiddling your thumbs all day. No. When it came to Pokémon he was sure that he had seem and experienced more than enough to keep the people working under him, in the very least, alive. Sure there were the odd moments where mistakes were made and someone lost a limb or two but those cases- he was proud to say- were far and in between.
Pokémon were dangerous creatures. Not only because they possessed some kind of unknown supernatural power, but they were some of the most intelligent creatures on the planet to boot- second only to humans. Aryan Kumar knew that, had the Pokémon been just a smidge more sentient, that the humans wouldn't have been the superior species on earth. That if these creatures had been able to properly organize themselves, that they would have been a formidable army against mankind… It was no wonder then that some countries sought to weaponize these creatures for their own gain…
Professor Kumar believed that he was fighting against this horrid fate by applying himself and trusting his faith in the actions made by the Pokémon Headquarters- a global-wide organization set into place through an official agreement between a myriad of nations across the seven continents. Together, humanity now worked as one unit to discover the secrets of the Pokémon and worked to further arm themselves against nefarious groups of people trying to interfere and disrupt these progressions.
It was his job as the Head of the Keeper Division to watch over the Pokémon being kept on the grounds of the facility. He was the one responsible for any and all harm being done by the little critters- whether it was harm done to themselves, to each other or to the researchers whilst they were trying to do their jobs. Who he wasn't responsible for though, was the teenage girl playing catch- of all fucking things- with a plethora of water type Pokémon in area 2A as she carelessly broke well over fourteen different safety regulations and was clearly working herself- and whoever was dumb enough to let a literal child onto the grounds- up to a very costly lawsuit.
"That would be little miss Anna van Vliet," Professor Adams- because of course it was him- piped up as he swaggered into the observation deck. He then had the audacity to ignore Professor Kumar's irritated gaze to smack his hand down on the shoulder of a random office worker in a friendly gesture, "Sup' Jan! I hear you had a bit of a scare down in the elevator?"
"Yes sir…" The office worker all but sobbed as he was unwillingly dragged in what was sure to be a vicious argument between his two superiors, "Miss van Vliet's Eevee apparently isn't willing to go into his pokéball, so she's just carrying him around in her backpack, sir…"
Professor Adams let out a guffaw of laughter and Professor Kumar gritted his teeth at the sound. He vaguely noted his own personal leaving the room- he never was really sure whether they did so to offer some privacy or to simply continue their working elsewhere in peace… but he sure was happy that they left him to his well-deserved outbursts.
"What is the meaning of this Professor Adams?!" Prof. Kumar barked out. He wasn't in the mood for his co-workers practical jokes- especially not if it endangered some poor kid's life. Really, what was the man thinking?! "You better have a good explanation for this, or-"
"A funny girl, isn't she?" Prof. Adams remarked as he stepped away from the nervous wreck of an office worker and up to the sheer wall of the observational deck. He watched in fascination as young miss van Vliet nearly got pushed over by one of the slowpokes as it nudged it's head into the girl's stomach- seemingly demanded being petted or scratched. Meanwhile, her Eevee was skipping around the Poliwags as they tossed around the little colourful ball she brought in. "I got word from a trusted friend about the peculiar relationship between her and her Pokémon… naturally, I got curious and wanted to see how she'd do with others... They seem to trust her- her and her Eevee- what do you think?"
Prof. Kumar let out an exasperated sigh, though even he had to admit- albeit bitterly- that what he was seeing was interesting, to say the least… "She all but strolled into what is Sander's Poliwrath's claimed territory and just… blend in with the Pokémon there. Hell, she even taught a few of them to play catch and is now actually sunbathing with that slowpoke! I can't say that I've ever seen this behavior before… Well, not this quick, anyway. Usually it takes my keepers well over a couple of weeks, if not months, for them to be trusted by the Pokémon to this extend. It's familiar to how most Pokémon Trainers struggle once they've obtain a new wild Pokémon… They tend to be a bit faster in their process since they work more one-on-one but even then it would still take them weeks to be allowed anywhere near a pokémon's space…" Prof. Kumar sent his coworker a nasty side eye. "Which is exactly why it was incredibly irresponsible of you to allow the child onto the grounds in the first place."
"Man, she did with an entire colony of Pokémon in less than twenty minutes what would have taken an experienced Pokémon Trainer weeks to accomplish..." Prof. Adams noted in amazement as he ignored his coworker's accusational words.
Prof. Kumar growled under his breath. "You put that girl in danger. You couldn't have possibly known that the Pokémon would reacted this way to her presence and-"
"Oh, come on now, dear Aryan. You should know by now that I do this with all my new Pokémon Trainers- it's all part of the hazing process~." Prof Adams sang to his coworker and Prof. Kumar froze.
"You can't be serious."
"Oh, but I am." Prof. Adams replied and motioned his hand towards the girl near the pond. "She's a natural. Just look at her!"
"No Aaron. For fuck sake, she's a literal child!"
"And she's already more capable than all the trainee's I've had come knocking this past decade combined!" Prof. Adams protested. "Sure, she'll need some proper guidance and- Oh, stop looking at me like that! You know that I'm not in the practice of sending out inexperienced Trainers. If Miss van Vliet joins my ranks then I can promise you that she won't be going on any missions for a long time still."
"A small mercy…"
"And she wants to be a Pokémon Trainer! Honestly, what would you do if you were in my place? Refuse her for the next decade and then just hope that her talent and interest haven't wasted away? She wants to be learned right now! Most that come in are already nearing their thirties and the longer they're under my wing the less they're actually able to do! Just imagine what Cynthia Sokolov would have been capable of had she been in her prime-"
"Aaron, Miss Sokolov is still in her prime. She's literally been the reigning champion in multiple Leagues for years now."
"I know. But just imagine what all she would have been able to accomplish with all that extra time and effort had she started in her teens rather than her late twenties! Anna van Vliet is still a white canvas- one that's basically ready to paint itself! All we need to do is offer her to possibility to learn the fundamentals and other essentials in a controlled environment and- I'm telling you, in only two years time we'll have a serious candidate for the next Pokémon champion on our hands!"
Prof. Kumar was quiet for a long while as he considered Prof. Adams passionate proposal. He absently watch the girl in question slowly but surely gain the infamously wary Poliwrath trust with what he could only imagine were the smallest baby steps known to men. He saw her potential- how could he not with Prof. Adams crowing her praise right into his ear… But then his mind flashed as it now had the tendency to do, and he saw that same little girl being covered in a landslide… And then burned by a stray flamethrower… And then brought to complete madness by whatever ghost type Pokémon managed to get their claws in her and…
"Bring it up with the board if you have to- but I'm not signing that girl's dead sentence any earlier than I have to."
"Awh, come on… You're actually going against me on this?" Prof. Adams whined out just to be annoying and Prof. Kumar took that as his cue to leave. "You'll break her heart you know!"
"Rather that than all of her fucking bones..."
I hope you liked it so far!