preservation...

Pitch gave a surprised growl as the trainer suddenly jumped in between them. He tried to stop his attack but the shadowball was already released, smaller than he intendet but it was still going to hurt. Jacks was just as surprised cause he did not expect that idiot to jump in between the attacks.

   “What the fuck are you doing?!” 

He walked over to the other when the smoke of the attack faded, to check on the guy as he found his glasses somewhere on the floor. Jacks picked them up and walked over to him, raising an eyebrow as he poked him.

“Yo.. You dead?” 

The Mightyena sat down beside Jacks, watching the trainer  with a tilted head. He had no idea what the hell just happened now. 

The impact of the shadow ball hurt about as much as he expected it to, and he had braced for it but the force blew him back quite a bit. He crashed into the wall and rolled across the floor, trying to shield his pokemon from harm the whole way. As the dust settled, he lay there on the ground trying to recollect his bearings after he was blown off of his feet. “Are you alright Louis..?” he asked his scraggy softly. Louis quickly nodded, looking to him and tilting his head. “I’ll be alright, I just didn’t want you to get hurt..”

“I hope for your sake that your words are true,” she hissed. Again, most of what he said went right over her head, but from what she gathered it didn’t seem like he was part of the group that did this to her. She’d take that as it was, allowing herself to become a little more relaxed. At the very least she didn’t look like she was going to pounce on him and tear out his throat.

“My words couldn’t get any more truthful.” This situation was still beyond baffling to him. What sort of scientists would go out of their way to make a pokemon look more human? If that is what was going on here.. but at the moment he didn’t have any reason to doubt what she was saying.

The lavender hues gazed skywards at the pokepuff box. Thanking him, she took a pokepuff and leaned over slightly while holding it in front of Purugly. The feline sniffed the treat, as if curious of its contents. It had been a while since she ate and she was expecting a meal back home. Unfortunately due to unforeseen events she was forced to eat whatever the other human offered. It took a while for her to accept the pokepuff that found itself scrunched between her fangs. 

Due to the dim lighting, Umiko couldn’t tell if the stitching on the blazer was off. The stitching was mostly well done, though there were a few parts that needed to be worked on.

“Nonsense. It’s still in pristine form and seems to fit pretty well. I’m satisfied with the results. But I’ll happily take it off your hands now if you like.”

He waited a bit after handing over the pokepuff. Admittedly he was eager to see how the other pokemon accepted the treat. He wanted to see how other pokemon besides his own took to them. It would help him tremendously in perfecting his recipes. “Does she like it..?”

He tried to examine the blazer, but it was incredibly hard to do so with just a flashlight. “Well, I’ll take your word for it. If there’s no more need to wear it I will go change as well.” With that, he promptly went to his room and disappeared for a minute or so to get changed. Soon he emerged again, fully dressed in a similar set of pajamas as Umiko was now wearing. Seems there wasn’t a whole lot of variety in his sleepwear.

Violet just stared at him as he greeted her. The feline was difficult to please and preferred not to interact with strangers. Turning away with a huff, she meowed sluggishly in return.

The sight of Scraggy and Joltik situated on Damian’s lap and head brought a mental smile to Umiko’s face. As someone who lacked concern for others, she wasn’t completely heartless. She liked seeing trainers and Pokemon bond. It reminded her of how lucky she was to have friends who stayed by her side despite her flaws.

“Unfortunately yes, but at least I’ll be comfortable.” She replied, rolling up the sleeves. Plopping herself right next to him, she petted Purugly as she purred against her legs. “Also I must apologize for Violet’s behavior. She isn’t used to staying over at someone else’s home. But it’s a good break from the blazer. How’s it holding up?”

He gently set Louis on the couch as he rose with his flashlight to head into the kitchen. Though, Louis did quickly follow him since that’s what he was curious what Damian was going to do. He returned shortly though, carrying a small case containing a few of his homemade pokepuffs. “Here, for your pokemon. They’re homemade, a recipe I’ve been making for years,” he said as he promptly retook his seat on the couch, with Louis quickly climbing back into his lap and looking accomplished.

He watched as she sat down next to him. “It can’t be helped. I don’t have any smaller than that.” He shakes his head. “There’s no need to apologize. All pokemon have different personalities and different ways they approach strange situations. It’s certainly no fault of hers.”

   “No, it is my tail. I am Salazzle and I have a tail.” Her gaze didn’t let up, if anything her stance became more aggressive. “I am asking because people like you have made me into this. If you are one of the scientists who did this, I will kill you.”

     “ Maybe I’m just a kinda Shady and suspicious person naturally, ah? ” The amusement remains earnest on her features even as he reprimands her, the woman’s lips pulling into a little smirk as she flicks a pigtail over her shoulder.      “ Come on, don’t try get up on that Mudsdale with me. You wen wanna know ‘cause you’re a little bit nosey, admit it. Too easy for distract you with bug talk and tea parties for you bein’ that concerned about havin’ your work disrupted. You could'a just sent me on my merry way. ”      As she speaks, Plumeria moves to retrieve the large paper cup of tea offered to her, flashing a knowing little wink back at him over her shoulder. But then you never would'a met me and that’d be a real shame.      If he lets her, she’ll lead him to an out-of-the-way table to sit, reclining comfortable on one of the decidedly less-than-comfortable chairs.       “ Marine biology, ah? Maybe in another life. I got my work locked down in this one. I did think about goin’ for chemistry when I wen school, though. ”

“Well, I can’t say you fit in here particularly well. But that tends to go for anyone that isn’t an employee, due to the whole white motif.” He raised a brow. “I was ‘nosy’ as you put it because I assumed you were going to employee restricted areas to cause trouble. You’ll have to forgive my presumptions. I like this place, as it’s serene and peaceful. I’d rather not have that sullied, which has happened before unfortunately. On top of that, bugs and tea are a few of my favorite things. I’ve been working since early this morning so I figured I was due for a break. It’s as simple as that.” It seemed like he wasn’t going to budge on that.

He does the same with his own tea, seeing her wink at him though not really.. processing what she was trying to get at. They shared some views but as far as he could tell, they were wildly different in most other aspects. Still, there was something about her that reminded him of.. well, home. It was probably the poison type favoritism.

He does follow though, preferring the remote table since the resounding chatter of the cafeteria wasn’t quite as loud here. He took a seat, sitting up straight and looking quite reserved as he took the first few drinks of his tea.

“Don’t worry I’ll find my way around.” The bluenette reassured. Closing the door behind them, she pointed the flashlight towards the pajamas laying on the bed. Obviously they were too big for her, but she knew she had no right to complain. Placing the flashlight on a nearby drawer, she changed into his pajamas. When she was done, she released Violet the Purugly. The moment she appeared, she automatically sensed that they were not in their own room. Crouching down at eye level, she explained the situation to her.  

“Sorry darling, but we have to stay here tonight. There’s a storm outside and we can’t go home until it clears out. We’re sharing this room with another Pokemon, so behave yourself.” The displeased feline responded with a sluggish “meow.” “Now now don’t be like that. It’s just for one night.” A few minutes later, they made their way downstairs.

“We’re back.” Umiko scanned the flashlight around the whole room. Suddenly she noticed a few more Pokemon she hadn’t met yet. “Oh. Looks like we have some new faces. Damian this is Violet. Violet this is Damian and Mortimer.”

When Umiko returned, Damian had his scraggy sitting on his lap with him and his joltik perched upon his forehead mostly obscured by his bangs. His magneton floated nearby Mortimer. “Welcome back. I trust those pajamas will work for the time being, correct?” he asked coolly, though quickly turning his attention to the beautiful purugly that accompanied her. “And hello to you, it’s a pleasure to meet you Violet.” he said gently, offering the pokemon a small smile. 

  Aether… wait, no, that did sound familiar. Just as there was Team Skull, there was an opposite to them. Not that it seemed to make Lazlo trust this scientist any more.

“I have lived here my whole life, human.” The mentioned tail twitched in irritation. “I’m not wearing anything. This is my tail.”

Pulling out her Holo caster from her pocket, the bluenette began following Araquanid. After firing up the flashlight app, she pointed the device towards the hallway illuminated by the LED light. The noises he was making were foreign to her, but she assumed he was pleased with showing her his room. Along the way, she stayed close to him while trying to memorize the layout. The darkness made it difficult to see, but she wanted to be able to navigate the area herself since she was staying overnight. 

When they went inside, she moved the Holo Caster around to search the whole room. It didn’t smell and was surprisingly clean. Especially the bed. A hum of approval rumbled from her throat as she smoothened out the mattress. Upon hearing Damian come in, she looked up, pointing the Holo Caster at him and eyeing the items in his arms. 

“Thanks. If you had given it to me earlier I wouldn’t have had to use it.” She chuckled as she turned off the app and took the flashlight. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to change. I suggest you leave the room. You too Mortimer. My apologies, but a girl needs her privacy.”

Although the araquanid was quite pleased, it wasn’t exactly easy to figure out since the pokemon’s expression was practically unreadable. That didn’t seem to stop Mortimer from trying to be a fatherly figure to the rest of the team however. The spider crawled onto the bed, his spindly legs even still spilling off the side since he was trying to leave room for Umiko. He still seemed content.

As Damian entered the room, his eyes were immediately pelted with the LED light from Umiko’s holo caster. He immediately was grateful he offered the flashlight instead, since that thing was bright. “I would have brought them to you if you had patiently waited in the living room. I didn’t have them as readily available as the candles.”

   A lot of those words went right over her head. Rehabili… what..? Pokemon biology, though… she’d heard that said many time before. Biology this, biology that. Genes, splicing, “the specimen took it well.”

“This place, Aether Foundation, what does it do? Does it do things just to do them, to see how far it can go?”

    “You are a scientist.” Her words held a harsh bite that really shouldn’t have been directed towards a stranger. “What science do you do?” More importantly, what was he able to get away with in the name of “science?”