The air crackled and Bianca stepped out of a crackling prismatic cloud followed by a small, pale blue humanoid Pokemon with a large head floating in the air.
>Elgyem used teleport
Her shoes made no noise on the soft grass as she made her way toward the professor’s lab, as she moved she pressed the button on the face of the ball, and the Elgyem disappeared in a swirl of red light leaving behind a slight scent of ozone.
The building that was now professor juniper’s lab had once been a small, town house indistinguishable from the others in the small town. Eventually the professor needed more space for experiments, Pokemon and her assistant. Bianca still felt guilty about that last one. The house had slowly evolved, with ugly, featureless rooms being erected on either side of the original house, giving the impression that it had been stuck in between two white shipping containers.
As Bianca pushed open the wooden doors of the laboratory, they made a soft squeak as they opened and then closed behind her, she stepped carefully in, the wooden boards that made up the original floor creaked gently in solidarity to the door, but the noise faded as the boards transitioned to clean white tiles.
Sitting at a desk surrounded by machinery Bianca was only beginning to understand, using a microscope-like device to peer into Pokeballs to safely examine the contents, was the professor herself, unlike her media appearances, her hair was unkempt and held at bay by a black strip of cloth which had clearly been torn from something that may have once been a t-shirt.
“Welcome back Bianca” Juniper muttered, keeping her eyes firmly on her work “I hope everything went smoothly”
Bianca paused, she couldn’t lie to the professor, she respected her far too much, and besides, if she tried to hide it, things would only be worse in the long run.
“I lost my Pokedex” Bianca blurted
Juniper continued examining the balls, completely unfazed
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“You lost it? Where did you lose it, do you need help searching?” she said calmly, not turning from her work. Bianca felt heat rise to her cheeks.
“Heva has a rival, a boy called Ben” she said, trying desperately to keep her voice calm “I gave it to him.”
Juniper stopped, moving her face away from the device and leaning back in her swivel chair.
“Why did you give it to him?” she asked, a twinge of curiosity in her voice “you know i can't get you another one on short notice, you already distributed them”
“I know professor” Bianca replied “but he had an incredible look in his eyes, intense determination, I had my time in the gym challenge, I know what a great champion looks like”
Juniper pondered the information before swivelling around on her chair to face Bianca, eyes sparkling with curiosity
“Very well, but what about Heva? After all, she was the standout audition”
Bianca hesitated “she’s talented, exceptionally so. She and Ben had a battle, she won using a Pokemon she had just met against a Pokemon he had raised from an egg.” She paused before adding. “She reminds me of Hilbert”
Juniper began to lean forward in her seat, meshing her fingers together just below her chin
“Hilbert? I suppose you knew him best” she asked “Didn’t he leave for Kalos after defeating team Plasma?”
Bianca nodded
Juniper leaned back in her seat, spinning it idly as she stared at the ceiling, she made 3 rotations before stopping abruptly to face bianca.
“I must say, my attention has been piqued”
Juniper rose noiselessly from her chair like some sort of ancient god arising from its slumber. She made her way slowly to an Xtransceiver that had been left on another desk.
“I need someone to keep an eye on them” she announced “one of my colleagues is in Castelia, i'm sure she can help”
Just before Juniper dove headlong into some kind of full scale gym challenger surveillance operation Bianca had to make sure she was in the clear.
“Professor, what about the Pokedex?” she asked quietly.
The professor turned to her, for the first time in the conversation, looking Bianca directly in the eyes. The professor had a gleam in her eyes, despite her slouched posture and messy hair, she was excited
“Forget the Pokedex”
A slashing smile cut across Juniper's face, revealing a perfect white seam of teeth within. The smile held a manic quality and was saved for only the most exciting times.
“it's been a year or so since i payed attention to the gym challengers” she reminded Bianca “but i must admit, the way you describe this duo intrigues me, I can't wait to see what happens”