#((forgot to add that my sycamore is presently 30))

[starry-eyed-pkmnlvr]

♬

“OOPH—” Starry falls backward, landing on the ground, hard. That’s gonna leave a bruise… The soft fur of a pokemon tickles her nose, and beady red eyes stare at her, full of excitement. “Oh, hello,” Starry says, reaching up to pet the pokemon’s head. It pushes its head into her hand, snuffling and purring happily. Starry giggles at the affectionate pokemon.

“Fennekin! Where’d you go? Please stop running off!!” an exasperated voice calls out. The pokemon spins around just as a young man wearing a lab coat walks into view, two more small pokemon in his arms. “Ah! There you are!” The young man notices the pokemon that had crashed into Starry, and walks over to scoop it up while apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry, she’s a bundle of energy, really. Did she tackle you? Are you hurt? Here, let me help you up!” He tries to pull the fennekin off of Starry, but it hooks its claws into their shirt and makes some pathetic-sounding squeaks of protest. The young man freezes with a face that looks like he’ll cry any second. The fennekin’s claws loosen their grip a little, and Starry can only assume it’s because of the same nervous pity they feel looking at the guy.

“It’s okay, I’m not hurt!” Starry strokes the fennekin’s head as he sits up, hoping to calm both human and pokemon.

“Oh, that’s good!! Phew, I was so worried she’d caused trouble again…” The young man visibly deflates, he seems a lot less anxious now. “Fennekin really seems to like you, huh?” he says, reaching out a finger to pet the pokemon’s nose, to which he earns a bite that doesn’t seem to phase him. He turns to Starry. “Would you mind coming with me to the research center I work at? I’ve been trying to keep these little rascals in check all day, and it seems fennekin’s finally decided to stop rampaging like the little tyrant she is.” The pokemon chirps indignantly at him, sounding offended.

“Sure,” Starry says. “This pokemon’s really soft. Fennekin, right?” The young man nods, offering Starry a hand to pull them up. “I’ll lead the way, then! Oh, be sure to support her back legs— yes, like that!”

[ … ]

While Starry settles herself onto a stool in the room the young man had taken her too, the fennekin adjusting herself on their lap, the young man pipes up.

“Ah! I forgot to introduce myself! I’m professor Sycamore, but Augustine is fine. I’m still in training for the moment, and the title of ‘professor’ still feels a bit strange. Right now I’m taking care of these three pokemon!” Augustine gestures to the fennekin on Starry’s lap as well as the two pokemon he was previously carrying, who were currently playing with a ball on the other side of the room.

“My name is Stavros, but usually people call me Starry.” They look around the room. So this is a pokemon research center. “How old would I have to be to work here? I’m eleven right now.” Augustine straightens up at the question, clearly preparing a long-winded answer.

“We take volunteers of thirteen years and older! And you can intern once you reach fifteen. But since you’ve got some years left before you can do any sort of work here, why not consider taking on some gyms? Battling is a great way to get to know both your and your opponents’ pokémon! But you’ll want to be paying special attention to each pokémon individually, as well as their bonds with both trainer and other pokémon, to gain as much knowledge as possible through experience,” he says, the words so neatly strung together Starry felt certain he was reading off some memorized script. “I first became an intern at sixteen, myself, and now I’m nineteen! Time sure flies, doesn’t it?” Starry nods, not sure what to say after all the information Augustine just dropped on their head.

“Wouldn’t I need a partner pokemon if I’m going to challenge a gym?” Starry asks. “That’s right,” Augustine replies. “How about fennekin there? She already seems rather fond of you!” The pokemon’s ear twitches at the mention of herself, but she stays dozing on Starry’s lap.

“Really? Aren’t you raising her?” Despite the question, Starry looks very excited at the thought of having fennekin as a partner pokemon. “That’s right, but I’m raising those three to be partners for young trainers! It’d actually be a big help if you could battle alongside her and tell me how she does,” Augustine says with a smile. “You don’t have to, though! It’s only a suggestion.” Starry gazes down at the fennekin in her lap, mumbling, “my partner…”

“I’d love to be her trainer,” Starry says, looking determined. Augustine’s smile widens and he nods. “That’s great!! I’ll go get you her pokéball… Got any name ideas for her?” he asks, beginning to rummage around in a drawer.

“Feni.” Starry says immediately as if on instinct. “It suits her.”

#ask upon a star #((for extra brownie points try and figure out the timeline of these memories)) #memory ask #pkmn irl #pokeblogging #pokemon rp #long post #((forgot to add that my sycamore is presently 30))