Just Another Day in the Lab

[Brooke Verity]

"Lorna McKinley? The famous Johto Champion?"
"Well I dunno about famous, that was way back in '99 after all."

Brooke snickered at Jack's awestruck behaviour around Lorna, she was quite a legend in her time, "I bet this is a bit of a daze for you Jack, two Pokémon Champions in the same room and all." She laughed, when Brooke became Kanto Champion it had all been a bit of a surprise really. She was preparing to take on the Champion and really she didn't bank on winning! It was only when they both had one Pokémon left, and it was sheer chance it was his Blastoise versus her Raichu. Raichu did her proud! She sorta had to do Johto out of principle after that, but once she had become Champion of both regions it's when she knew she ought to step down. She missed her training days, but never the less her work as Pokémon Prof' for Maple Town suited her just fine!

Brooke eagerly took Lorna's reports and skimmed through them, looking through the photos she had taken, "Fascinating... It looks like the Salamence keep to themselves but the Bagon and Shelgon..." She trailed off, then snapped back to reality at mention of the egg. "Oh! Yes. I hope so too, won't do much good here by the sea but it'd be great to study." She agreed, allowing Lorna to do as she wished with the egg, "It should be in it's case but uh..." She shot a sideways glance to Jack, but instead of placing the blame she just handed him the pen that was tucked behind her ear.

"So wait... you're both from Johto?" Seth piped up, Brooke grinned, "I'm from Kanto!" She added, with all these Johto-ians around she felt lonely! Not really.

"I just came from there, I was born in Goldenrod. Excuse my intrusion, but my name's Seth. I'm trying to gain more experience before battling Claire and joining Ranger School. I... got a little lost on the way in, a storm threw Unfezant and I off guard."

Brooke was suddenly very interested in Seth, he was still a trainer! Bless his little cotton socks, "Oof, battling Claire huh? I hope you have a good ice type with you. Watch out for her Kingdra, it's a nightmare." She shuddered at the thought, it took her three attempts to beat that Kingdra! "So you're going to become a Ranger? I know one, he ought to be here soon, he's just running an errand for me." Yey for linking in characters from players that haven't had the chance to join yet! He will be soon though~

She stroked her chin, "Yes.. The storms have been pretty rough lately, some of the weaker water Pokémon are getting a bit distressed... Ah, I'm Brooke Verity by the way. Welcome to Maple Town." She replied, "It's nice to meet you Seth. Currently we're researching the behaviour exhibited by Dragon type Pokémon, we're also patiently awaiting for this egg to hatch that Professor Elm from New Bark Town sent over to us."

[zember]

Steve was jogging up the hill to the Maple Town Lab, Growlithe happily running alongside him. He wasn't late, but he figured that this was as good a way to train Pokémon as any other. He arrived, panting, outside the lab and took out his water bottle to give Growlithe a drink, Growlithe happily lapped up all of his water as he shook his head and laughed. "They should have some more water inside." He reassured his worried looking Growlithe.

He pushed the door open slightly worriedly when he noticed the small patch of blood on the wooden panelled door. He spotted that a trail of blood was leading up to a well dressed man who was in conversation with Brooke and another man and woman whom he didn't recognise. "Hey Brooke" He smiled as he entered. "I'm Steve, a Pokémon Ranger on the island" He said as he shook the three people's hands and pulled Brooke into a hug.

[Seth Galloway]

Seth was excited to hear there was another Ranger, and when he came by Seth stood a little taller in respect. He'd had no idea he'd stumbled upon such prestigious people.

"If it would help, I do have a Quilava who can hold the egg and keep it warm while it's out of its casing." Seth wanted to show he was somewhat useful, especially since he was the 'lost trainer' as of right now.

"And, if it's not too much to ask, do you mind if I go and watch the dragon pokemon? I'd keep a good distance and wouldn't battle, but since a Dragon battle is in my future, it might help."

[Lorna McKinley]

Lorna looked up from the egg briefly as a man - Steve he introduced himself as stepped in and greeted Brooke with a warm hug. He was a Ranger apparently - one she'd hadn't come across before which surprised her given all the time she spent roaming the wilds of Kansai. Seth, finally finding his voice spoke up.

"Hmmm the ambient temperature of the lab isn't all that far from ideal but its not a bad idea," she said. "As is your dragon watching."

The field biologist stood up straight and put away her camera as she glanced over Brooke and Steve. "If he's going to face Claire watching dragons is a good start - Dragonite will keep him out of any trouble. I can go with you if you'd like Seth, and we can let Professor Verity catch up on her work. I can give you a few pointers if you'd like."

[Jack Springs]

While everyone was talking Jack was wandering around the laboratory, failing to make sense of the statistics and charts that littered the screens and printouts. It may as well have been another language. He was sure that some of it was.

He took out his notepad and began to note down some of the amazing facilities available. The description of the article was vague, which gave Jack a lot of freedom with what he wanted to write about, but he was struggling with ideas. She was famous for her dragons, but a lot of people knew about that. He wanted the inside story. He wanted to show the real Professor Verity. The problem was that he couldn't really interview her with all of these people around.

"Ms Verity, if you'd like I could come back later. I don't know if you had any ideas about the article, but I was thinking that we could talk about how you went from a Champion to a Professor?"

But it seemed that the Seth guy and Lorna McKinley were heading out. "Ms McKinley, before you go?" Jack smiled, holding out a Pokeball and a marker that he grabbed off of one of the counters.

[Brooke Verity]

"Hey Brooke"
"Steve!" She returned his hug with a tight squeeze, "So good to see you, did you manage to get those herbs from the wilds?" She queried, then turned towards her computer, multitasking away!

"If it would help, I do have a Quilava who can hold the egg and keep it warm while it's out of its casing." Brooke perked up at such a notion, "You would do that? I mean. I'd have to give you a book to fill in the progress of the egg but that would be incredibly helpful!" Warm bodies helped eggs hatch faster, dammit, why didn't she think of that? Charizard - actually no, not Charizard, he'd stamp on it by accident. But Ninetails would've been able to do that quite comfortably! Never the less, she had a trainer here who was eager. She plucked up the egg from her jacket and held it out carefully to Seth, "Here you go then!" She grinned, then went to grab a spare notebook, labelled it 'Egg' then handed that to him also.

"And, if it's not too much to ask, do you mind if I go and watch the dragon pokemon? I'd keep a good distance and wouldn't battle, but since a Dragon battle is in my future, it might help."

Brooke loved Seth's idea, it would give her an opportunity to take a break. Though she wasn't that hot with her battling these days it could provide valuable information to the young trainer - she wished she had had such a chance in his position! So she was hardly going to refuse. She was just tapping away into the Pokemon storage system to retrieve her Garchomp when - "...I can go with you if you'd like Seth, and we can let Professor Verity catch up on her work. I can give you a few pointers if you'd like."

The Professor turned, a Pokeball had just been transfered and it was held in her hand triumphantly, "Oh I could use a break to be honest. Hey Lorna, Garchomp v Dragonite? Those two always get riled up, it'd be good for Seth to see no?" She clicked the button on the Pokeball, the size tripling to fill her entire palm as she sauntered over to the door, clearly Brooke wanted to get outside for a bit!

"Ms Verity, if you'd like I could come back later. I don't know if you had any ideas about the article, but I was thinking that we could talk about how you went from a Champion to a Professor?"

"If you have other business to attend to Mr Springs then by all means don't let me keep you held up. You'll just miss out on two of the strongest Dragons on the entire island duking it out. But we can talk as much as you like in the morning, the lab opens at 8.30." She grinned, hoping it would convince him to stay a little longer.

[Lorna McKinley]

Lorna beamed when Brooke enlarged Garchomp's pokeball in her hand. It had been a long time since she'd actually battled and having two high level dragons on the same field - oh that was a good show at any time of the day.

Still grinning she accepted Jack's pokeball and pen, scrawling her name on its time in her sharp, cursive handwriting before handing it back to him. She turned to Seth and gave him a broad wink. "Looks like you'll get to take some notes on battling after all! Jack you should come along too if you want to learn just how the good Professor became a champion."

Lorna reached over and took Brooke by the arm, still grinning mischeviously. "C'mon Brooke you've got me all riled up, I want to see how strong that Garchomp of yours has gotten and you know Dragonite's been dying for a re-match."

The biologist opened the lab door and stuck her head out, letting out a sharp whistle. "Oi Dragonite, your old pal Garchomp wants to play!"

There was a distant roar before a large orange blur streaked through the sky and landed in a clearing just beyond the lab. Dragonite roared and flapped his wings in delight, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

[Jack Springs]

"Jack you should come along too if you want to learn just how the good Professor became a champion."

Jack's grin was huge. He took back the pokeball and nodded enthusiastically, shoving it into his satchel. "I would love to! Please tell me someone has a camera, my brother would never believe me if I told him what was happening!" he chuckled.

Honestly, a moment ago he was smashing his face into doors and threatening the lives of unborn Pokemon, and now he was being offered to watch a couple of Champions go toe to toe live. He could barely believe it himself...

[Seth Galloway]

Seth was beyond excited when the Egg and notebook were handed to him, and immediately pulled out a Pokeball.

"Come on out Quilava!" he said as the Pokeball opened and the Johto start emerged. It was a little bit bigger than the normal Quilava, but not by much- it had refrained from evolution time and time again.

"Here buddy, we're going to watch a dragon battle, but I need you to help me warm this egg into hatching. You up for that?"

"Lav, Quilava!" the fire Pokemon grinned, taking the egg tenderly and holding it close, its warmth already spreading to the egg.

Jack asked if anyone had a camera, and Seth lit up. "I do! My buddy Garrett wanted me to take photos, this would be epic!" Seth reached into his bag and pulled out a nice camera and handed it to him.

Seth headed outside, Quilava following. The Dragonite was so eager to battle, and Seth was just too excited to restrain himself from saying so aloud. "It's so excited! This is going to be a hot battle!"

In its hands, the Egg shook a little. "Qui!" Quilava pointed it out to Seth, who remembered his notebook. He made a note quickly of it, and Quilava stood beside him, also very interested in this upcoming battle.

[Brooke Verity]

(NPCing Steve for him as he won't be on til Saturday!)


”I sure did, I’ll leave them on your desk.” Steve smiled, pulling out the small paper bag and dropping it on her desk.

"C'mon Brooke you've got me all riled up, I want to see how strong that Garchomp of yours has gotten and you know Dragonite's been dying for a re-match."

Brooke clapped her hands together over the ball and swayed her hips slightly as if she were going to throw a baseball, ”Alrighty then! Let’s get on with this.” Brooke felt herself shiver with excitement when she heard the distant roar of Dragonite outside, she’d head outside and see where the orange blur landed nearby in the field by the lab. She’d begin heading there, turning to see Seth and his Quilava with the egg, ”Thanks again Seth, I appreciate this.”

The professor laughed when Jack got so giddy over this, but she thought she ought to drag him back down to earth – especially if he wanted this job with the Sentinel, ”Calm down Jack, we don’t want your colleagues thinking you’re a soft touch now do we?” She tapped her nose, ”but we’ll keep it a secret.” She didn’t doubt that Jack could definitely be professional!

When they approached the field, Brooke jogged over to the opposite side, ”Hey Steve, can you referee?” She called, Steve nodded in agreement, ”Sure!” He took up his place at the side in the middle of the field.

Through the brush Brooke’s Charizard, Gabite and Axew appeared. Gabite started jumping up and down eagerly, after all Brooke was about to release its mother to fight! Brooke tossed the ball up and down in her hand, then threw it out onto the field, a white light burst from it and formed into the large hulking shape of the dragon whilst the ball flew back to Brooke who caught it with ease.

Garchomp roared at the sight of its opponent, hunkering down defensively to prepare for the battle; but that grin on her face showed the dragon had been waiting a long time for this.

[Lorna McKinley]

((Haha never RP'd a pokemon battle before this should be fun!))

Lorna grinned and walked to the opposite side of the field as Steve stood in the middle acting as referee. Brooke released her Garchomp with a flourishing toss of her pokeball and the hulking dragon appeared with a roar of its own. Lorna stood up straight, standing in the classic en garde position as Dragonite swooped down in front of her with a bellowing roar.

"Good boy, let's give them a show," Lorna chuckled as she pointed at Brooke's Garchomp. "After the last battle we had I'm eager to see what yon lizard is capable of!"

Dragonite flapped his wings gleefully, eyes gleaming with excitement. Lorna smiled. The big orange dragon treated all his battles like one big game; he was just so happy when he battled and it had certainly been a long time since he'd had the oppourtunity - and with his long standing rival to boot. "Alright let's get thing thing rolling! Dragonite you know the drill, time to fly!"

Dragonite roared its approval and pushed off with its muscular legs as it leapt into the air, wings extending and catching a thermal as it glided above the battle field, hovering above Lorna who gave Brooke a wink. "Come on hun we promised these boys a show!"

[Jack Springs]

Professor Verity was right, he was here on business and really needed to calm down. But this was amazing! He just needed to act more... mature. He smiled as they head outside.

He didn't think that they'd been in the lab for long, but the sun had fallen towards tree level. Pom clung to his shoulder, as eager for the battle as Jack was. The power that emanated from the pokemon was incredible. With a single command, Lorna McKinley's Dragonite pushed off from the ground and took to the skies with such force that the wind hit against Jack's face and blew through his hair. He struggled to hold back a look of amazement.

Jack was no photographer, but maybe he could get some snapshots with Seth's camera for the article. He pointed the lens at the dragon as it soared above, silhouetted against the setting sun.

[Brooke Verity]

((It's hella fun, though the two of us will need to discuss who wins/ties xD))

"Come on hun we promised these boys a show!"

Brooke grinned, her entire body language had completely shifted; from the sleek and clean cut appearance of a professor to the sudden determination of a trainer. She bent her knees slightly, really getting into the feel of a battle again, "Alrighty then Garchomp, let's hope you've still got it!" The blue pokemon roared with anticipation as it hunkered down even lower, its arms tucked in tightly at its sides; claws poised for attack with fins sharp and rigid. It swayed its head from side to side, glaring at Dragonite. Even though Garchomp looked so fearsome and seemed to want to hurt Dragonite, that wasn't the case, Garchomp was just as thrilled... She just didn't really show it.

Gabite roared happily, cheering it's mother on; it hadn't seen her fight before, so it was good for the little pokemon to learn from its parent. Charizard placed a hand on its head, trying to calm it as Steve raised a hand, "Okay! We have a one on one Pokemon battle. You know the rules, let's go!"

Brooke cracked her knuckles, her hip cocked in a position that formed her signature stance when in a battle; it certainly didn't take long for her to get back into the swing of things! "Garchomp, let's get that big ol' bird out of the sky! Use flamethrower!" She ordered, pointing forward as the blue beast charged and lept into the air; mustering all of it's strength to unleash a mighty torrent of flame at her opponent.

Brooke was well aware that Dragonite had half resistance to two of Garchomp's moves, but she didn't have much else of a choice. Resistance or now, sheer power upon impact was what she was banking on; not the actual element itself. She was aware that Draco Meteor would probably win this battle, but she was a good trainer and would not resort to this, it simply was unfair in this situation!

[Lorna McKinley]

((Yep got your PM btw, I replied haha))

Lorna's grin widened when she saw Brooke's stance shift and her Garchomp hunkered down low. It was subtle, but easily picked up on by the Johto veteran. Garchomp looked ferocious, to some it might seem overly so but it only made Lorna smile and her Dragonite do an aerial flip in anticipation. Garchomp was merely excited - dragon's were some of the most powerful pokemon on the planet, excitement was often shown through ferocity, but Dragon Tamers knew that when it all boiled down it was all in good fun.

Brooke barked out her commands swiftly and efficiently, her pokemon responding accordingly. Garchomp leapt up and let loose a massive jet of flame. Dragonite barrel rolled to avoid it but the torrent of flame was so broad it still managed to clip his left wing. Even if Dragonit was resistant to the fire-type moves the power Garchomp packed behind it was enough to make even the large orange dragon wince. It righted itself in midair, though it hovered significantly lower now, eyes flaming.

"Shake it off old boy," Lorna called out calmly as she took up her own signature battle stance, bringing her feet close together in what could be described as a dancer's fourth position as she made a flourishing gesture towards Garchomp. It was nice to break out the old battle moves and she intended to make it as grand a spectacle as she could for their guests. She could've brought out the big guns with a Hyper Beam but she'd save that for when she really needed it - that and Brooke probably wouldn't appreciate having half the turf in the clearing scorched beyond recognition. Still she wanted to keep him above the ground, that's where he'd have a slight advantage over Garchomp, "Dragonite quick use Aerial Ace!"

Dragonite bellowed and angled his wings sharply, launching himself into a steep dive as his claws began gleaming with building power. He became an orange blur hardly visable as he streaked towards the earth and his roaring opponent.

((Sorry I had no other way to describe Lorna's stance XD this is what happens when you're a dancer for five years haha))

[Seth Galloway]

(lol I'm excited just reading this! )

Within the first two moves of the battle Seth was already itching to battle again. The sight of two champions and their dragons was beyond amazing, but even in the heat of the moment Seth was watching with a keen eye.

It was interesting to see a flying dragon facing a non-flying one, one with the advantage of speed and the other of height. He made a mental note that Claire had a Kingdra, which was more non-flying. The many kinds of dragons were already expanding beyond just their basic strengths and weaknesses, but their individual areas of expertise.

The Flamethrower caught Seth off guard, and the sheer force of it made the heat spread as far as the small audience. Immediately following it was the swift Aerial Ace, causing the large Dragonite to become a blur in the wind.

Outside, Seth was all awe and anticipation. Inside, he prayed Claire was not this strong.