[FIN] Nexus

[Tori Honoo]

Jave pulled the book closer, and flipped through it again, before setting it aside and pulling another one towards him. "Yeah!" he said excitedly as she mentioned the similarity in Charmander and Arcanine. Chester tensed a little, but quickly relaxed after the boy grabbed and hugged him again. He hadn't even needed to guess. "Chester sleeps with me in my room, and he is pretty warm, right buddy?" At the boy's happy search for affirmation, the young Charmander couldn't help but laugh and nod.

Jace tilted his head a little, and let go of his pokemon again as the woman picked a ball from her belt and started talking to it, his eyes now huge with anticipation. When the Bayleef appeared, he gasped, and watched it approach. The charmander, blinked at it's bright smile, but smiled back and offered a tiny wave, not quite used to introductions like this.

"A bayleef! It's so cool! It's name is Treestar?" he asked, scooting a little closer to watch it, and in turn, pushing his little fire type towards it as well. "It can hear inside it's ball? Pokemon can do that?!" The boy was clearly excited about the new information.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey smiled at the hug, and at Chester's reaction to it. The two seemed like a good match for eachother; the boy was clearly a little bit hyper, well read and very eager while his pokémon seemed 'quieter', and very patient. It was another thing that gave her a little bit of comfort- she surely shouldn't really wish for any trainer to be able to resist Team Rocket, and thus she supposed any other team, but with a good partner, a trainer could learn to defend themselves better, and despite her affiliation, she was rather glad that the pair ahead seemed like an example, eventually anyway.

"Well..." She considered the questions. "Yes, his name is Treestar; his colour is different, you see. His genetics will make it so that he'll have a green 'flower' around his neck one day, rather than the usual pink." Tambrey smiled and spread her hands. "So. Treestar."

She didn't explain how she knew that, but with so many custom pokémon around, she didn't think it was outlandish knowledge; especially when it came to plant types specifically, and the fact that the region had Sandalwood University to boast of. It wouldn't strictly be untrue anyway, she supposed, to say she'd been a student there, if asked.

"Honestly, I'm not very sure if anyone knows," She smiled again, the smile of a grown up who felt a little tiny awkward about admitting, to a child, that they didn't know something but had decided to be honest anyway "but they certainly seem to demonstrate some level of awareness. Personally," She confided "I think they do a little more than 'hear'. People often say how their pokéballs react at different times- like when they're in a battle or in danger- and I have heard people simply call to their pokémon to get them to emerge from their balls rather than pushing a button, so I suppose they can, at least, somehow hear their own names."
Tambrey blinked, aware that suddenly she'd been talking a lot, and smiled and shook her head.
"But like I said, nobody completely knows everything about pokémon senses; we have to guess a lot and though we have whole lives with them, we still don't know everything yet. It's up to trainers, and scientists, to do their best to find out more."

Treestar, meanwhile, seemed thrilled to meet the Charmander, and, no longer being a Chikorita, found himself a little big to 'claw shake' or offer any of his once usual greetings. So, as a sign of friendship, he tried to offer a gentle tap of his leaf to the fire type's head.
<>  

[Tori Honoo]

"Oh, I see! That's so cool! I never saw any specially colored pokemon before I moved here," he explained, still craning to look at the Bayleef that had been released. "Did you get to pick out the colors and stuff? Or are they just born like that 'cause of breeding?" His mom had helped one time with a litter of skitties... Otherwise, the boy wouldn't have known much about the whole process, but as it stood, he had been sure to be right there as the eggs were birthed and later on when they had hatched. Of course, his mom wouldn't let him touch them at all for a while, even though he super wanted to help out.

He picked up quickly on her unsureness in her answer, but nodded all the same. "Ha ha! That's so weird! I have heard about pokeballs wiggling in the middle of battles when the pokemon inside really really want to fight!" he told her, shrugging a little again. "Man, if I wasn't gonna be a Dragon Trainer Champion one day, I'd have to be a pokemon studier." A frown, immediately followed by a bright smile. "But, I'm gonna stay a trainer, so. Guess I'll just have to learn the ol' fashion way!" he prided, sounding as though he might be parroting a phrase his parents had said to him before.

Chester blinked at the Bayleef's immense excitement, and the tap of the leaf to his head, then chuckled, rubbing the back of his little neck. His cheeks might have proven to be a little more reddish orange at the introduction--he'd get used to this one day, he was sure. Hopefully. In any case, the charmander grinned back, and gave another quietened "Chaar! Charmander!" > he guessed, having only heard the name from the humans at the table.  

[Gwennythe]

"Well, yep; I mean, you can put in a request, I think," She grinned "but my m'ma actually got Treestar for me a couple of birthdays ago. I've been... studying pokémon genetics though, so I'm pretty sure, though it would be a lot of work, you could probably code for a close estimations of a request..." She couldn't reveal much after all, but basic genetic science was fun to talk about, especially as Jace seemed to eager about everything pokémon.
"Of course, you do get genetic anomalies sometimes, and even have environmental factors that affect colouration..." She tapped one hand thoughtfully. "Have you ever heard of Pinkan Island?"

Tambrey seemed very pleased to hear, for some reason, his mention of 'studier' as a second choice career.
"Well... Even the Champion is kind of a researcher, after all." She pointed out with a careful intention to encourage, perhaps. "So, when you're out learning things and becoming a Dragon Champion, you'll already be becoming a kind of a researcher anyway. Being a trainer is probably way more exciting though."

<> Treestar beamed happily. <>  

[Tori Honoo]

"Hey, I got Chester for my birthday too!" he told her excitedly, seeming to pick up on that quickest out of all the information she had given him. The rest processed soon after, however, and he nodded. Though he didn't understand a lot of it, it did seem pretty cool... "Anomalies..." He paused as though the word was completely foreign to him, but put it in context as best he could. "Like natural ones being different? Like Shinies!" Another pause. "No, what's Pinkan Island?" he asked, leaning forward a little, ready ready ready to listen to her explanation, though with a slightly skeptical look. "They're not all pink there, are they?"

Talk of the champion's duties made him nod a little, then smile brightly. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Gotta know a pokemon to train it right, huh? That's why me and Chester are best friends-- So we can be the best team!"

Chester smiled, a little more at ease as the other pokemon's enthusiasm didn't seem to fade at all. <> he asked, looking at the ball he had emerged from.  

[Gwennythe]

"Aw, well that's neat." Tambrey smiled as she was informed that Chester was, in fact, a birthday present too. "Best present yet, I'm guessing?"

She nodded, then, as he asked about shinies, and then about Pinkan Island and all the pokémon being pink.
"Yes, like shinies, I guess, only... slight different in mutation- um, the thing that makes them look different- but basically the same kind of effect." She agreed, then smirked. "And yep. Pinkan Island pokémon are all pink. They've spent generations eating a certain berry that grows there and over that time their DNA has altered to to encompass the pigmentation effect that chemicals in the berry itself are responsible for." She decided not to get Lasi out for a demonstration... One, she really didn't think the bat would be a good pokémon to let out into the library, and two, Pinkan Island was still a nature preserve and she wasn't entirely sure the reaction to a Pinkan pokémon would be favourable, especially with people being so aware of Team Rocket lately.

She smiled and linked the topics.
"Anyway, exactly that. Knowing things about pokémon- like about Pinkan Island- lets a trainer really get to know more about pokémon themselves, and the more you know about pokémon, the better you can look after and train them, right?" Tambrey nodded, turning to watch Chester and Treestar interact as she spoke.
"It's very good to be friends with your pokémon and it's good you understand that so well; a lot of trust is very important to become such a good team."

<> Treestar's leaf waggled back in Tambrey's direction <>  

[Tori Honoo]

Jace only grinned. Chester was, indeed, the best birthday present he had ever received.

When she confirmed his suspicion about the pink pokemon, the boy's nose turned up for a moment, before he shook his head and looked at her with a little shrug again. "That's pretty cool, I guess, even if they do turn pink. It's really the berries?" he asked, suddenly very serious, as if grasping to the information was a once in a lifetime chance. "Pink... I bet my mom would like them! Especially if it's natural! She likes that kind of stuff." The more he thought about it, the less it seemed to bother him that they were pink, however, and he decided that maybe it was someplace he should go, one day. "I bet it looks really awesome to see them all at once!"

He watched as she looked over to the two pokemon at his side, then nodded in response to her question, with a laugh. "Yeah!"

Chester's eyes widened a little, and he looked at the woman at the table with his boy. <> Since yesterday? His boy barely ever put him in his ball, unless it was raining or he had to.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey smirked at the initial reaction to learning about the island of pink pokémon, but was instantly rewarded with the boy deciding it was cool anyway; something she could definitely agree with.
She supposed a simplified explanation would be the best idea, with the trainer before her being so young, but not overly so; he seemed bright after all.

"Yep. They've been on that island so long, eating those berries so long, that they've completely changed to accommodate the pigment biologically. It /could/ be done in a lab, yes, but these are completely, one hundred percent, naturally pink." Tambrey smiled again and nodded. "Well, if she likes pink, then probably. It's a nature preserve, and the species in the wild there can be aggressive to humans... I know there are boat tours, and viewing opportunities though; I rather hoped to go there myself when I was your age, but my work barely gives enough time for something like that now. Perhaps you'll get to go one day, though?"

<>  

[Tori Honoo]

The boy nodded as she told him she had once had hopes to go to the island and see them for herself, and made himself remember all the information the woman was offering him. "So what kind of job do you have, then, if you know so much? You sound like you know a lot about it, but if you're not a studier..." Obviously, the fact that she didn't have the time to go to the island meant that she wasn't a researcher. Isn't that what they did? Go to places and look at stuff, to learn?

Chester stared, baffled, at the grass-type. <> he said, referring to both the trainer's broken leg, and the amount of time the bayleef seemed to be expected to spend in its ball. Would he be expected to do the same when he evolved?!  

[Gwennythe]

"I'm an assistant researcher." Tambrey smiled as Jace asked; this was one lie that was, actually, very easy for her now. How many times had she told her mother, or someone else this? She wasn't sure. She, also, didn't consider it to be very far from the truth.
"It's like being a student, but you're out in the field, or sometimes in a lab, helping fully qualified researchers do their work; I do hope to pass my exams and become full qualified myself one day soon though."
She wasn't too worried about Jace's questions; she had, indeed, been studying right up until her poor decision to join Team Rocket and, so, in a way, she considered that was kind of 'continuing her studies elsewhere' than the university she'd once attended.
The Rocket considered that, technically, it now sounded like she'd revealed a lot about herself; naturally, she supposed, people would offer a name now.
"Tabitha, by the way." She smiled, 'introducing herself'.

<> Treestar explained; he didn't seem very unhappy.  

[Tori Honoo]

"Oh, cool, so you do study pokemon!" he said casually, crossing his arms and leaning on his elbows as he looked at her. "Exams? Like test thingies?" He smiled, then nodded, seemingly coming to a conclusion about the woman. "I bet you're good at it; you know lots about pokemon, so far. You do study pokemon, right?"

He grinned as she introduced herself, and reached out to offer a hand to shake, wanting to be polite and grown up, but playfully. "That's a cool name. I'm Jace!"

The charmander continued to stare, then looked to his boy again, and sighed a little in relief. He highly, highly doubted that the boy would put him in a ball... He rarely ever did anyway. <> A soft chuckle, and a lowered tone, as though he didn't want his boy to hear. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"Yes," Tambrey smiled "like 'test thingies'. They make us do a lot to prove we're qualified." She blinked, a little surprised, but smiled still as she took the compliment.
"Thank you. Yes, I do, though I'm most interested in their evolution- how they change and their DNA. Everything about them, superficially anyway, is in their DNA; a lot like us." She grinned. "And if I'm 'good' at it, it is simply because I'm so interested. You, for example, will be a great trainer because, I can tell, you love everything about pokémon, right? This is how it is with my science," She smirked, and gestured around at the library "and books, in fact."

The woman, obligingly, stretched her hand across out to meet Jace's, but seemed startled to learn the boy's name, repeating it back questioningly.
"Jace? Well, that's interesting." Her eyes wandered to Chester, lingering on the Charmander, then returned to the trainer across from her.
She seemed to recover from her surprise and nodded slightly to herself, before smiling again.
"Well. It's nice to meet you, Jace."

<> Treestar looked, at first, surprised and then excepted it totally, and seemed like he was surprised he hadn't thought about that before.
<>  

[Tori Honoo]

His face lit up as she explained what she did, and he nodded vigorously. "That's so cool! If you find out how they change like that, you gotta let me know. Like, how do itty bitty pokemon like magikarp turn into Garados?! It's like magic!" he told her, shifting in his chair to sit on his knees more comfortably, his elbows propped on the table. "And yeah, I guess so. Pokemon are awesome so I gotta love them."

He grinned brightly as she shook his hand, but looked confused, and maybe a little worried over the reaction to his name. The glance at Chester didn't go unnoticed, and he tilted his head, curiously, even as she recovered. "Yep! I'm Jace Addison Redfern. That's Chester," he explained carefully, unsure of why she was suddenly so interested in his pokemon, but more than willing to reintroduce him.

Meanwhile, the fire type laughed, then rubbed the back of his neck again, embarrassed. <> He grinned a bit, then shrugged. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"Well, a very wise man once said a very wise thing about magic." Tambrey smiled, amused by the specific example; she supposed that really must be the most 'awesome' and 'bewildering' evolution for a lot of trainers. "Magic and dragons, hm? Pokémon are pretty awesome." She agreed, then grinned as he reintroduced Chester.
There probably wasn't much harm in just a small bit of truth.
"It's a very interesting name; yours I mean. Chester being a Charmander is very interesting too. I have friend- a very good friend- who happens to have a Charmander too, only his Charmander is called 'Jace'."

Treestar nodded quickly; sticks came off of plants, but they broke off, and got knocked off, easily and the thought of burning them was, to him, no worse than the idea of burning a detached hair might be to a human; it might not smell nice, but it wasn't gruesome or anything.
<>  

[Tori Honoo]

Jace tilted his head, unsure of who she meant, but he guessed that made sense, because really, tiny fish to giant dragon monster?! Maybe it really was just magic. In any case, he agreed with her final sentiment full heartedly. "Yep! Pokemon are the best!"

He grinned as she told him his name was interesting--he liked it, except for when his mom used his whole name-- and beamed, his eyes widening as she told him she knew of a charmander named Jace. "Whoa, that's awesome! I guess that just means me and Chester are the right kind of team! Like destiny or something."

Chester seemed to backtrack a little, and realize just what he had said to the grass-type in front of him. If he hadn't already been orange, a small blush might have been visible in his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck, even as Treestar didn't seem to puturbed by it. <> He actually hadn't met very many pokemon in general, if he were to elaborate. Just the few in the breeding home he had come from.