Welcome/Welcome back, you crazy diamonds!

[spiritcrystal]

[An island! This is most certainly not where everyone was just a few moments ago. ...Alright, maybe some of you were on an island. Don't get cheeky.

At everyone's feet is a small note. It gives no description of their location or explanation, of course; it only says one simple thing.

Please choose one.

The note comes along with three Pokéballs with different "starter" Pokémon in them- the three Pokémon can be anything, from a Froakie, Charmander, and Treecko to a Rattata, Patrat, and Bidoof if you're particularly unlucky- and everything in between. If it's not a legendary Pokémon, it's fair game.

Of course, you can only pick one! Trying to go for a second will leave you thinking that you better not get too greedy. If you're one of those types that wouldn't care either way, the other two Pokéballs will simply disappear.

Now go forth, and into a world of Pokémon!]

Comments

[mindover]

[And then there's this kid staring very intently at the Pokéballs.

... Also rather quizzically, as if he's never seen one before. The Ralts at his side is doing something similar. What even are these things and why does he have to pick one?]

[normaltype]

[Joins you two in intently staring.

What are these things and why is everyone so excited about them? He smells a business opportunity.]

[reallylovespokemon]

[....WHAT IS THIS MYSTERIOUS MONSTER
HE HAS NO IDEA
BUT HE LOVES IT

There's a researcher-looking guy over in one corner of this bizarre gathering (you can tell he's a researcher because he's wearing a lab coat). He's probably from an earlier gen 'cause he's getting REALLY EXCITED over his new Dedenne. And maybe dancing with it now or something.]

[lovestalked]

[Who's that Pokémon?

No, really. Brendan here wants to know. He's walking over with a notepad in hand, already knowing his Pokédex wouldn't be able to record it.]

Excuse me, mind if I take a moment of your time?

[terra_et_sol]

[Terra doesn't look at all surprised to suddenly be on an island. She looks around thoughtfully, smiles, then leans down and pats the sand of the beach.]

Well, it's nice to see you again. Now what have we here...?

[She turns the note over in her hands for a moment, then examines each of the Pokeballs. She chuckles a little at the idea of her becoming a trainer all of a sudden as she looks them over. Swinub and Phanpy are adorable, but... she picks up the third ball, releasing a Sandile.]

Well, aren't you cute. You're one of my children, but I don't think I've seen you before, have I?

[And she proceeds to drop the empty Pokeball and cuddle the Sandile up in her arms. Anybody feel like bothering a crazy blonde lady in a toga who's cooing over a crocodile?]

[tearingdreams]

[Whoa, a really pretty lady. He can't help but overhear what she's saying before eying that Sandile.]

Looks like you're really liking your new pal, Miss! Do ya know what it's called?

[battlestandby]

[Well, this is... an abrupt change of scenery. And status quo. Where were those two idiots that were following him around just a minute ago?

Oh well. Paul's not one to turn away from a chance to get a powerful new ally to his collection of Pokemon, though he's not one to get his hopes up. These choices unfortunately don't have registered entries in his Pokedex, so Paul's got no clue what he's going to end up with.

He'll do what he does best: judge a book by its cover!

Espurr? ... No, cutesy types are not allowed, ever. Floette? That just looks cutesy AND pathetic.

Ferroseed.

Now THAT clearly looks like a tank in the making. If only Paul knew whether or not it evolved! Or... what type it was... well, Steel-type seems pretty apparent, but... maybe something else?

Ah what the hell. He's getting Ferroseed, which pops out of the Pokeball and into Paul's hands -- which he promptly drops because Iron Barbs fucking hurt.]

--Is this some kind of joke?! [Paul is disappoint.]

[subharmonics]

That's a Ferroseed! It's a Grass and Steel type. I don't use one myself, but if you can cover for the double weakness to Fire, they and their evolution, Ferrothorn, are good Pokémon.

[Where did she come from? Who knows.]

[feistytrader]

[That's... Uh. What was it called?

-Oh. Right. A Ferro...something. Thorn? Root? ...Seed? Seed.]

Having trouble? [Weavile and his new frog thing both casually observe Paul and his technical difficulties.]

[saikou_everyday]

[NEARBY Ash is crouched studying the balls, Pikachu sniffing them curiously. Ash...tries that too before noticing Paul]

--Woah, that's a nice one!

[loveforpokemon]

[Surprise! A strong trainer to speak to. One you know, in fact.]

Well! That would be a Ferroseed. Have you encountered that Pokémon before?

[subwayklutz]

[ Bianca stares at the note, scowling at it, before throwing it to one side and ignoring it. Words are pointless anyway.

Her attention switches to the pokeballs for only two seconds, and without even checking who's inside she grabs all three-- Only for her to grasp only one.

Okay. That's fine too. She blinks and releases the pokemon inside.

She doesn't recognise the Carbink but they seem happy to see her nonetheless! And Bianca is ready to go play with her new Pokemon. Happy sparkly shiny pokemon!

Happy sparkly shiny pokemon using rock throw throwing rocks at Bianca in a game of catch! Join in 8D? ]

[bsodrival]

[Here's Barry racing his new Doduo- why? No reason other than gotta go fast.

It's not until he's almost hit by a rock does Barry stop, and angrily point at Bianca and her rock throwing Pokémon.]

Hey watch it! That almost hit me in the face you know that?!

[terra_et_sol]

[Oh, Terra recognizes the little girl in the uniform. She reaches up and catches a stray rock, tossing it back toward Carbink far too easily for being in human form. She wanders over, with a little Sandile trotting behind her.

Then she hesitates, remembering what Bianca was like the last time they met. Perhaps it would be better not to confuse her...

Even if it might leave Bianca wondering how a giant golden dinosaur snuck up on her.]

Hello, Bianca.

[subharmonics]

[She's actually let out her three options--she only recognizes the Joltik, but the other two (Honedge and Pancham) seem really interesting!

She's going to feel bad when she has to pick only one of them.]

[unknownfactor]

Having a bit of difficulty choosing, are we? Would you like some help?

[Oh hey look, it's That Guy With The Glasses Weird Hair approaching. Surely Lily won't mind a bit of company, yes?]

[typeless]

[Leaf stares at the pokemon for a very, very long moment. She already has plenty of them, but she doesn't pass down an opportunity to expand her group.

Noibat looks like a possibility.

Honedge, also a fair choice.

Sylveon... probably an Eevee evolution from over seas. Not a necessary pick up.

She looks annoyed at the choice, before picking up Honedge.]

You're stuck with me.

[subwayklutz]

[ LEAFFFFFFFIIEEeE EEE e

I hope you were expecting a tackle from Bianca because it's coming. It doesn't seem to be a bother to Bianca that you're holding something potentially sharp and pointy. ]

[amarainean]

[There's a very tiny specimen of Red sitting on his knees, staring intently at the three Pokemon in front of him, mystified. He has a Pikachu, but no Pokeballs.

Three Pokemon, three Pokemon...this is kind of familiar? But what's he supposed to do? What if he picks wrong, is there a right answer? Do they belong to someone?

For the record, the three Pokemon are a Growlithe, Tropius, and an Elgyem.]

[foolsgoal]

[Free Pokemon? Cool beans. Island's back to its usual crazy, it seems. Somehow or other, Adrian missed this place. So, let's see our options!

...Giant blue turtle thing (Carracosta) that looks water-type and quite capable of eating Adrian-sized trainers. No thank you.

Giant blue jellyfish (Jellicent) that looks water-type and somewhat friendlier. Maybe.

Giant blue lobster thing (Clawitzer) that looks water-type and has a freaking giant claw. Not likely.]

Uh... I dunno what 'ny'v these things're... [UNSURE.]

[powerleveling]

... They all look like they're Water-type, but I've never seen any of them before. [Thank you for that excellent observation, Elena.]

[shieldedsweet]

[Sandile. Tympole. Spritzee.

Not that Dawn knows what any of them are. And her 'dex doesn't, either.

Well, she'll take the blue one and-- oh there...go the other two options.

Okay, plan B: figure out what her new Pokemon is!

There's now a very tiny and serious Dawn observing a Tympole and taking copious notes.]

[bsodrival]

[Was Dawn taking notes? Sorry, here's a Barry coming at you at top speed which ends with a

THUD!]

Hey, watch it! ...Dawn!

[Oh man is he happy to see her.]

[whatcoffee]

[This isn't where he was. That's okay. There are three balls in front of him? Sweet, he's got this.

Clearly the thing to do is juggle them.]

[getthedamncoffee]

[Boss.

Boss no.

You don't know where those came from. Never mind that she has three of them herself, but...]

[paisible]

[Being lost was something that Serena was used to; after all, Lumiose City was the biggest city in the Kalos region, and well? She got lost pretty easily. But once she sees the Pokéballs, she curiously checks each Pokémon.

Ironically, they give her the three starters that she had to choose from at the beginning of her journey: Froakie, Fennekin, and Chespin.

Uh.]

But I already have these three...

[championfire]

{ Oh man these all look really cool. Why do all you new kids get such awesome new things. Red will just peer over your shoulder trying to get a better look.}

...There's a lot of new Pokémon showing up here.

[monochromechoices]

[ Touya isn't good with choices, not usually. Other people tend to make them for him, really. But with Pokémon, it works out. With humans, it's easier to go along with others, but with Pokémon, they decide together.

He's sitting on his knees, patting his new Espurr's head. It stares up at him, not entirely approving, but at least curious enough. ]

I wonder where we are... Well, it's part of adventures to end up new places... I'd have thought I'd at least go or fly to them myself though, not just appear.

[goldenlyre]

Yeah, it happens, you should've seen the last place people appeared at... A big testing facility with no escape!

[Sigh. Sorry, Lyra is always sticking her nose into people's business. She's just riding her Meganium so casually this time. Sprouty is apologetic. Very, very apologetic, his trainer is energetic and talkative and friendly...]

It's so nice to be able to feel real sun... It seems like a pretty peaceful place, right? I can't wait to shake it up!

[gruntingtsun]

[You know what? This guy doesn't even care he has no idea where he is. He doesn't care there's a Sandile diligently trying to chew through his boot, and he certainly doesn't care about that bit of paper at his feet because he's much, much too busy fuming at the pokéballs on the ground.]

What the- I can't freaking believe this!

[He crouches down. As it happens, he actually recognizes some of the Pokémon at his feet; when your family is in the daycare business, you're bound to learn a thing or two. The thug-looking one is of course Scraggy, an Unova native, and he's pretty sure the blue Sandile-looking thing is a Totodile thanks to that one time some random guy bred a bazillion of them before releasing them all in the wild, disturbing the delicate ecosystem of the environs and holy fucking shit he hates trainers.
The last one though... is that- is that some sort of grumpy hands attached to a rock? Merciful pokégods, what kind of region would have a Pokémon that looks like severed hands glued to a rock? But hey, all Pokémon are equal in the eyes of Team Plasma, etc etc.]

Who would- [ANGRY GESTURING. HE IS SO ANGRY. TOO ANGRY FOR WORDS.] Who abandons their Pokémon outside on the ground?!?

[ON ONE HAND IT MEANS THESE POKÉMON HAVE BEEN FREED FROM HUMAN OPPRESSION
ON THE OTHER WHAT KIND OF ASSHOLE DOESN'T EVEN RELEASE THEM FROM THEIR BALLS FIRST
Whatever, better release them now. He'll make sure to punch whoever did that in the face if he finds them later.
Well, if his fist isn't bleeding and broken. You know, because it's now encased in a powerful set of razor-toothed blue crocodile jaws. Looks like someone didn't have any trouble getting out of their own ball.

Bellowing with pain in three... two... one...]

[gruntinglurve]

[GASP a sound of a screaming TRAINER- better ignore it because lol, it's a trainer who even cares about them.

Until Bob realizes who it is. He has to pry Caterpie off of his head to carry it under his arms (careful not to squish it) while rushing over at top speed.]

Diiiiiiick! Is that you? Finally somebody I recognize! It was s-so lonely without you!

[His eyes are so Luminose sparkling bright, never mind that Dick is hurt or anything, wow. A+ partner amirite.]

[powerofdragons]

[Lance is not expecting to have to choose between three Pokeballs, he remembers when he had his starter Pokemon and got a dragon type and that's what he got. What is this three business? He doesn't have a clue. Either way he looks at them all; a Togepi, a Cleffa, and an Igglybuff.]

...Is there something going on here?

[Why are there three babies? Three normal types. Not that he's against normal types, he just usually doesn't train them, being the dragon champion and all.

Someone please explain things to him, he is Lance and slightly/mostly clueless.]

this post needs more stupid grunts

[deserthobo]

[Who's got time to worry about getting back to Hoenn and back to work? Not Dimitri, who would rather not think about riding a boat to get back to the mainland anyway. As long as he's got a signal on his cellphone, he's happy as a Numel with a full tummy. He would much rather pay fetch with his yappy Poochyena anyway.]

Would you like to hold the fuzzy yellow ball in your jaws, Yen-Yen? [Yes, oh, god, yes, that thing, she wants that thing, she wants it in her mouth, yes, yes, yes--] Then-- chase after it! [Dimitri tosses the ball for Yen-Yen, who bolts after it while barking up a storm.] Do not forget to return it to me...!

[Between his laid-back attitude and the state of his uniform--(Hood thrown back! Boots and socks just abandoned and supposedly being "watched over" by the napping Darumaka he just picked up at random out of the three Pokeballs he was presented!)--Dimitri is not the most professional of Team Magma grunts. He doesn't have any posters or pamphlets with him right now, ok.]