It feels like the train ride lasted forever.

You only needed to change train once, for the last part of the trip to Bébagne, the village closest to the Cadien region. That train was very short, with only a single cargo cart, and one passenger cart. Even that cart seemed superfluous, as there seems to be only four passenger on that trip.

When you see the actual village, you can't help but wonder why there even is a train coming here. Not only is Bébagne sitting on the only land border of an often hostile region, it seems pretty small. There's just half-a-dozen building in the town itself, including a general store and a hotel. A rather big hotel, for such an out-of-the-way village. A few peoples are walking around, though none of them seems to pay attention to you.

Judging by the instructions you were given, professor Callery's lab is on the northern edge of the village, near the edge of a forest.

"Well, this seems to be our stop," Seymour commented to Portia. He adjusted the sleeves of his shirt as they disembarked, then took a deep breath of the small-town air.

"Bébagne sure is a tiny town, isn't it? Were you planning on heading to Professor Callery's lab right away? Or did you want to stop somewhere else first? Not that there are a lot of options here... Either way, I would be happy to give you some company, if you so desire." Truth be told, Seymour was a bit nervous being here all on his own. Excited, yes. But also nervous. And Portia was the only person he sort of knew thus far.

All things considered, Portia was not at all fond of trains.

It was the only assured way into the Cadien Region, sure, but that didn't make the trip any more pleasant.  The young woman had spent much the ride in stoic silence as she hugged a quietly snoring Abra in her lap, apparently torn between sleeping away the trip as well or furtively staring out the window.  Seymour's company and conversation was some comfort at least - a good distraction to help settle her mood.  Whatever the reason for her upset, Portia was glad to be off the locomotive even if they did end up in a nowhere-town on the line.

"With an inn like that?  Must mean they're hoping for a tourist expansion." she observed as she hopped to the platform and shifted her still-slumbering Pokemon to rest riding her shoulders.  The snoring critter seemed content to slump against the back of his Trainer's head, not the least bit disturbed by the bellow of the train whistle.  Seymour's line of questions about her plans, however, took Portia a little off-balance.  There were vanishingly few Trainers allowed into the Region in the first place; while she only knew the guy from the duration of their trip, it seemed like a bad idea to run off their own separate ways right off the bat.  Besides... as the young woman looked anxiously about at the few passerby, she couldn't help but feel they were probably going to spend their time being closely monitored by the powers-at-be in the Region.

"I'm not really in any rush, myself, but it doesn't seem like there's much here to explore in the first place.  Besides, the Professor is expecting us." she reasoned with a shrug and implicitly accepted the offer for companionship.

As you pass in front of the hotel, you get the impression that it's pretty old. Definitely older than the negotiations to open the border. You don't know why, but it's just a weird little something that bugs you.

Finding the lab is easy, being a bit out of the way. It seems rather small though, more like a log cabin than the usual Pokémon lab, with circular windows. And though the trail to the lab seems rarely used, you spot another trail heading into the forest. One that seems used far more often.

It's clear you're expected, as the professor steps out as you draw near. At least, you think that's the professor. He looks more like a woodsman than a scientist, wearing a red plaid shirt and with a tan you can only get by staying outside most of your time. "Hello there! You two are early. I suppose you are some of the trainer who want to explore Cadien?"

The town felt gloomier to Eve than it really was. Not that she hasn't had help in seeing it that way, thanks to the ominous warnings given to her before her departure from Kanto. She hadn't even been allowed to fly in, she'd had to stop at the closest airport and take a car to Bébagne. It was all the better for her, really, the less travel she had to do, the better. She already knew this trip was going to be very difficult. But she had promised her uncle to get the information he wanted, and she was sure she'd learn a few things about herself too.

Her long hair tied back into a braid that reached her waist, she peered into her compact mirror and made one last adjustment to her make up before stepping out of the front doors of the large hotel. Her back, which was no small thing, was carried easily by the deceptively small Pokemon beside her. But the Riolu seemed to take no mind, and did not look winded or complain as it followed Eve onto the sidewalk and off toward the lab.

It was slow going, as always. She stopped to rest once on the way, the Riolu patiently waiting, before she started up the trail leading toward the lab. She saw ahead two other youths several meters ahead closing in on the laboratory as she approached it. Other trainers come to explore the region, she supposed. She knew there would have been others, sent for other reasons. She glanced down at her Riolu, who wordlessly glanced back, and moved again toward the lab. Even as the man in plaid stepped out to greet them, she continued on toward them.

Once she had come near enough to hear and be heard, she immediately shifted to the side and sat down on a tree stump, rubbing her outer thighs in slowly, deep motions. "Sorry," she said quietly to the professor, smiling slightly as her arrival drew some attention. "Am I late?"

Portia wasn't entirely certain how to feel about the rustic nature of the Pokemon Lab.  On one hand, it was undeniably charming on its face.  But on the other, she had to wonder what its funding was like... it looked totally out-classed from the grand lab in Kalos's Lumiose City.  Though she'd thought the same thing when she visited Alola and had been pleasantly surprised in that case, so there was really no room to judge based on appearances.

"Suppose we are.  Do you expect any more to be showing up, Professor?" she didn't yet introduce herself.  There was a cautious air about the young woman that grew only that much stronger when Evelyn suddenly arrived, though Portia perked up significantly at the sight of her Riolu companion.  She offered a pleasant little wave to the Pokemon before even looking again at its Trainer at all.  "Nothing to worry about.  Apparently we're early."

Seymour nodded politely at the girl who had arrived just after himself and Portia and gave her a smile, but his main focus continued to remain on the professor. To Professor Callery, he said, "Yes, I am her to explore Cadien. You must be Professor Callery. My name is Seymour. Seymour Mons." Seymour pushed his glasses up with one hand and offered his other for a handshake.

"What do we need to do before we begin our exploration?" he asked, including Portia and Evelyn in his use of "we." "My lotad and I are certainly eager to see what all the Cadien region has to offer!" And with that, Seymour pulled a pokeball off of his vest, resized it, and let out his lotad. The little leafy pokemon looked around curiously, but remained otherwise quiet and stationary.

"There should be..." He pulls out what looks like a smart phone. "One more today, I believe. Bit of a late arrival, it seems. Well, let's get started. Seymour Mons, you say? The expert from Hoenn." He nods, and turns to the ladies. "And you two are?"

The crack of a branch breaking underfoot on the road announced Jake as he tried to make up for his late dismounting from the train. He only had a small bag for luggage that he carried in hand, and waved calling out loud,
"I'M LATE, I'M LATE!"

He slowed to a walk still a ways from the rest of crowd, breathing heavily. Jake looked fit enough, so he must have run all the way from the train. He wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to muss his messy hair into something resembling respectful, then he cleared his throat and continued,
"Oh man, everyone beat me here. I didn't miss too much, did I? Is there any pokemon left? Oh man, this place is so much smaller than Saffron city!"

Despite still being out of breath and worried he was too late, Jakey was still smiling broadly. He couldn't believe his luck, he was finally out of Saffron city and on his way to being a pokemon trainer!

"Oh, good. I hate when I'm late. It happens unfortunately often," Eve said with a small chuckle as she kept rubbing her legs for that moment. She looked up at the professor as he spoke, and pushed herself back up to her feet with effort. The Riolu, who chirped slightly at Portia when greeted but didn't otherwise move away from its master, followed, still carrying Eve's pack. She moved to stand near the other two, her hands clasped softly in front of her. "I am Evelyn Nomua, from Kanto," she said, bowing in introduction and greeting. "Please, call me Eve."

The sudden crashing from behind drew her attention and a surprised expression, staring back down at the boy approaching up the path. She stared at him for a small moment as he ran up behind them, and couldn't help but to smile a little when he tried to fix his hair. "Never fear," she said brightly, but gently. "We only just arrived ourselves."

"Portia Duval, and this slacker here is Houdini." she reached back to give the slumbering Abra on her shoulders an affectionate pat, which only earned a soft grunt and snore in return.  Between her name and the Kalosian trill of her accent, it wasn't hard at all to pick out where she hailed from.

She was about to continue speaking, though Jake's sudden and quite noisy arrival startled her right out of whatever she'd planned to say.  Even her Abra jolted momentarily awake but immediately yawned and slumped back into dreams once more without issue.  Had he been on the train with them the entire time unnoticed?  Perhaps he'd fallen asleep in the back of the car?  She looked to Seymour as if he could offer any enlightenment and gave a hapless shrug of her own.

"That... eh, would appear to be all of us then, Professor." Portia mulled as she tried to get herself back on track with the matter at hand.

Professor Callery looks at the newest arrival in surprise, before continuing. "Ah... right, Evelyn. I'm sure you'll do your uncle proud!" He says with a smile.

"Portia, yes..."

"And you must be... Falkner." He says to the last one to arrive.  "I see you don't have a Pokémon yet, correct? Well, if you will all step inside..."

The interior of the lab is more cozy than usual sterile of most research buildings. In fact, the place seems rarely used, with only a desk on the side showing clear signs of wear. Another weird thing you notice are the windows. It seems the glass is deformed, making it a bit hard to see outside.

"First, Falkner, choose your starter Pokémon. Pick carefully, he will likely be your first and most important companion. You can choose between Torchic, the chic Pokémon. Mudkip, the mud fish Pokémon. And Turtwig, the tiny leaf Pokémon."

Jake looked to the other trainers as the professor re-iterated the names. He had arrived just after the rest had introduced themselves, which was a bit embarrassing, but at least he knew two of their names. That just left the other boy that he didn't know the name of, but that was OK, he would know the name soon. He didn't immediately perk up when he heard 'his' name, but only missed a beat before responding with a quick grin,
"Yup, Falkner Diamond, that's me! Thanks a bunch."

Atop of arriving late, he was further embarrassed by the revelation that he was the only one who did not yet have a pokemon, still, it meant he was in the company of REAL trainers. Despite a rough start, the day was really turning out to be fantastic, and now he got to decide on which pokemon he would receive for free! -- Or perhaps just on someone else's dollar (Jakey wasn't thinking too much into it, it was free for him after all).

Lost in the mix of emotions whirring in his head, he couldn't take note of the environment... he was busy mulling over the choice of pokemon. He did not want to be totally honest and admit he actually did not know what a turtwig was, so he ruled that out. He knew both what torchic and mudkip were, so the decision between the two was harder. Not wanting to be the center of attention too long, his mind was decided by a single memory,
"I don't think torchic can learn fly, and torchik is a bird pokemon. That doesn't make sense, so I will pick mudkip! Final answer!"

He glanced around to the others. Wait, did he misremember, can torchic learn fly? If he is wrong, maybe they would realize he doesn't know enough about pokemon to be a trainer. He looked nervous, but tried his best to keep smiling.

Callery nods as he hands you the ball. "That covers the Pokémon. Next up, the Pokédex!"

He hands you each something that looks like a smart phone. "Now, place your finger on the circle at the bottom." As you do, the screen lights
up, and as for a confirmation of print registry. "Each 'dex is now locked by your fingerprint, to prevent it's use by other people. I know that may
seem excessive, but unlike in other regions, this Pokédex has many functions beyond Pokémon analysis."

He pauses, and glances at the window. He guides you to a table against the far wall, where the windows will be to your back. "First off, it
serves as your identity papers when in Cadien, so don't lose it. Odds are, any officials you meet will demand to see it, including the nurses
at the Pokémon Centers.

Next, it takes audio and video recording... constantly. And police officers can look at those recording at any time. It won't start recording until
you leave this lab, but after that, everything you do will be recorded. Keep that in mind."

His expression softens once his warning is delivered. "Of course, it also connects to communication satellites, letting you communicate with
people across the world! On monitored lines. And, of course, the map!"

As only one of them turned out to be in need of a Pokemon, Portia inwardly sighed in relief.  She didn't want to be saddled with a new companion so quickly - she could hardly take care of herself and Houdini as it was.  Though she was rather surprised the other boy needed a Pokemon at all; he was really just starting off his journey?  In a place like the Cadien Region?  Well, if nothing else, she had to admire his guts.

The state-issued Pokedex handed out, however, was met with an obviously displeased scowl even as she had no choice but to take it.  Portia already figured if she refused then they'd just try and kick her out, so she had to play along for the sake of keeping her welcome.  "And it's got a GPS tracker so the authorities can always know exactly where we are and what we're doing, I bet." it was less of an accusation and more a surrender to the obvious.  Bio-metric scanning, constant observation and recording... ugh.  The higher Cadien authorities probably even had powerful Psychic Pokemon to keep an eye on the population or try to peer into the future for upcoming problems.

Portia sighed and waggled the device she'd been given about between her fingers.  "Just out of curiosity, what would happen if our Pokedex was lost or destroyed?  Pokemon Training is dangerous work, after all - anything can happen.  Do you have some means of replacing it?" she pointed up at her slumbering Abra.  "Or what about if I jump around the region hundreds of kilometers at a time, or leave entirely?  The proverbial guard Watchogs aren't going to freak out on me, are they?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:18, Thu 24 Oct 2019.

Eve followed the others into the lab with a somewhat slower pace; she wasn't dragging her feet, she just walked a bit slower than most people. Inside, she took particular interest of the surroundings. It certainly was a much different environment than her father's robust and busy lab. This place, strangely, looked as if it hadn't been used for actual research in a long time. It looked more like a gatekeeper's dispatch than a real laboratory. How curious that someone was obviously funding the lab, but so little seemed to be done in it. Or, perhaps, Professor Callery did more field work than actual lab work. That would make sense, too. The area seemed right for it, if you were looking for very specific Pokemon.

She nodded her thanks as she took the Pokedex and registered it as she was ordered, but privately she echoed Portia's words, even slightly smiling. It was expected, of course, that Cadien would be so intense in their monitoring of the trainers, as outsiders in the all but closed off region. "Just the price to pay for the privilege of entering the region, I guess," she said, more to herself but in a soft, soothing tone for Portia's sake. No one liked to be babysat all the time. But if they wanted in, they had little choice.

She stuck the Pokedex into her pocket underneath her over-sized knit sweater and looked at Jack, smiling at him pleasantly. His choice didn't seem odd, necessarily, but his vocalized reasoning for such did strike her as a little strange. She was no Pokemon expert like her Dad, but she knew a thing or two. There were other bird Pokemon who couldn't Fly, so it seemed a little strange that that had been the stipulation. "Is that your first Pokemon?" she asked curiously.

Seymour was certainly a bit disappointed that they were going to be so closely monitored, but not really surprised. He was just glad they were being upfront about it. Still, he would need to remember to keep his pokedex out of sight whenever he changed clothes or went to the bathroom...

The map, however, quickly occupied most of Seymour's thoughts. His eyes poured over every detail, excited to capture a glimpse of the unexplored area. Well, unexplored by outsiders. Once the professor asnswered the others' questions, Seymour added a couple of his own. "Do you have a suggested path we take through the region? Especially since we are still getting adjusted to a new place. What are the gym leaders like around here? Is there one that would be better for less experienced trainers to face?"

Jake squirmed with anticipation as he received the pokeball. Still, he had just enough self-restraint to not open it immediately. The professor was still talking, and he did not want to be too disruptive. He also accepted the pokedex/phone with both hands respectfully. He seemed less ecstatic about this than the pokeball, and somehow the pokedex seemed to calm him.

He followed the instructions for initializing the phone and stared at the display while listening, squinting a bit to try to get his brain working harder to work out what the different functions were. It all seemed reasonable enough, though he was not sure about being tracked everywhere. Nobody paid much attention to him before so he felt both a bit special and a bit intruded on by the fact people may be listening to him. Still, a thanks was in order,
"Thanks Professor! Wow, I don't know what I should call my mudkip. Maybe I'll come up with a name later, maybe Kip! Or Skip!"

He gave an odd look to Portia, her questions seemed a bit suspicious to him, but he supposed she knew better than him. He nodded enthusiastically and replied to Eve,
"Yup! This is my very first pokemon. I've met a lot, but I've never been partners with one before. After we are done here, can you tell me how to be a good trainer?"

He then turned to the professor and squirmed a bit more. The other boy asked an interesting question, and he wanted to know the answer too. Jakey knew he was the least experienced trainer here, so visiting an easy gym might help him get accustomed to a gym battle without worrying about being totally outclassed. He also raised his own important point -- and perhaps another explanation for his squirming,
"I, uh, need to use the bathroom, where is yours?"

If given permission, he'd listen to the professor's response to Seymour before racing the the bathroom and back.