Bonding with pokemon

Idril and Aragorn agreed to the study. Vali milled about the lab before ending up in an observation room where young pokemon were running around and playing together. She heard someone walk in behind her, "Who are they? They look like they're old enough to be starter pokemon."

"They are," It was Zelda, "Unfortunately, it came to pass that they were not eligible to become starters. The Chikorita was too young when it came time due to her egg hatching late, the Totodile is too aggressive for a new trainer to try for, and the Cyndaquil is half blind due to his mother rejecting him,"

Vali looked over them with a sad look, "Can I go in?"

"Of course though be careful of the Cyndaquil, he can be jumpy when people approach from the wrong side," Zelda warned gesturing from the fire-type currently had what looked like a ball in his paws, "He's otherwise very calm,"

"I see," Vali headed for the door, "Well hopefully I can bring their spirits up a bit,"

Zelda nodded to her as Vali opened the door and walked into the room. She found all the pokemon within looking at her immediately with wide eyes. Offering them her kindest smile, she said, "Hello everyone, I'm Vali. I'm going to play with you for a bit, alright?"

While keeping an eye on Elm's studies, Vali spent time with the young starters. She learned a couple things about each one as the days passed and each one grew a bit closer to her. While aggressive to a point, Totodile just had a lot of energy and with his teeth constantly falling out causing some pain, it was understandable why they wanted to find someone else to send the poor thing out into the world with. Young and wide-eyed, Chikorita was clumsy with a gentle nature and tended to give her flowers whenever they saw one another. Despite his lost eye, Cyndaquil got around with an ease born of necessity and patience. Interestingly enough though, Cyndaquil loved to listen to stories and could read on a basic level.

Vali spent time with all three, but the latter two drew close to her with each visit while Totodile kind of slunk away. While Vali spent time working with Cyndaquil on his reading level since that's what he wanted, Chikorita cuddled up against her and braided small flowers into her hair. She did try to play with the little croc, but he didn't really find her interesting. She eventually gave it up as a bad joke towards the end of her time at the lab as the two starters that wanted her attention dragged it back towards them. If he wanted it, she would give it to him right away.

Professor Elm smiled at her as Vali returned Idril after checking the Sandslash over, "This definitely helped, Vali. I thank you and your pack for helping along my research."

"It's no problem especially since I got to spend time with those cute pokemon," Vali replied feeling a bit sad that she'd be leaving so soon, "If you need us back, you know where to find us,"

"Indeed," Professor Elm nodded before reaching into his pocket and pulling something out with his closed fist, "Now I know that I said that you'd be able to take along one pokemon should you wish, it would seem that two of them have volunteered," He held out his hand and Vali's eyes widened as she slowly extended her hand, "Chikorita and Cyndaquil wish to go with you. It's no surprise really given how close you three had become,"

"B-both of them?" Vali felt both pokeballs fall into her hand and inwardly sighed at the warm coming from them, "But why?"

"Because these studies will lead to new knowledge for our community," Professor Elm smiled gently at her as he moved his hand away, "Besides these two hated the idea of letting you go, you were the first besides me to actually take time out of your life to spend any real time with them,"

Vali swallowed slightly, "Really?"

"Yes, Vali," Professor Elm turned away from her, "They wanted to go with you. Now I believe you're due to meet with Lt. Surge?"

"Right," Vali nodded slowly as she placed the pokeballs onto her waist, "I..."

"I've already registered them with you," Professor Elm informed her, "Take care of them, Vali. I'll miss them greatly and I'm glad that they'll be safe with you,"

Vali nodded though Professor Elm wasn't facing her, "I will, Professor. Thank you for trusting me."

Throat feeling weirdly tight, Vali rushed out of the lab feeling strangely uneven. She supposed that meant her team no longer needed a grass-type anymore.

Telling Surge what had happened at the lab, Vali looked at him feeling somewhat panicked, "What am I going to do?"

"Keep your promise, brat," Surge replied with a serious look, "Now release those two pokemon of yours, we need to take a look at them and see what we'll be dealing with,"

Vali nodded feeling somewhat settled as she took the two newest pokeballs from her waist and tossed them up, "Come on out, my friends."

The two appeared and blinked. Cyndaquil regained his bearings quickly and focused on her though he didn't approach just yet. He turned his eye towards Surge and gave the blonde a suspicious look. Chikorita regained her bearings slowly and caught sight of Vali. With a clumsy rush, Chikorita rushed to her with a cheerful cry and slammed into her kneed. Bending down she ran her fingers across the soft peach fuzz coating Chikorita's head, she looked up at Surge as the man said, "They're both small."

"A lot of pokemon are small," Vali remarked as Elrond floated down to converse with Cyndaquil, "And these two are starters,"

"True," Surge ran a hand through his hair, "We'll have our work cut out for us, but this'll be good practice for when you add new pokemon to your team. Let's get to work and hopefully these two will be able to keep up with what we're doing,"

Vali nodded as she straightened, "Sounds good."

Cyndaquil and Chikorita fit in fairly well though it took a couple days for them to figure out where best they fit in. Chikorita fell in with Celina and Idril. Cyndaquil fell in with Balto and Smaug as well as Irmo. Magby and Eowyn disliked the two though they barely approached them, it was easy to see they weren't happy even though the circumstance as to why this had happened was not normal. Despite this fact, the pack still worked to accept them and Vali was happy to see their progress.

Chikorita, the Leaf Pokemon. Sweet aromas drift from the leaf on its head, the type of aroma changes depending on how the Chikorita feels. With their aromatic leaves, they're able to check the temperature and humidity often helping their trainers pick the perfect days to garden. At birth the leaf on its head is quite brittle, it becomes as strong as steel allowing it to defend itself from predators that are attracted to it due to the sweet scent it emits. Often times its aromas induce feelings of friendship due to their sweetness, they are often regarded as less reliable on the battlefield due to this factor and their gentle natures. To battle, they swing their steel-like leaves around to fight though it often makes them a bit clumsy due to the weight of their leaf.

Chikorita, Leaf Guard. Moves are Growl, Tackle, and Leaf Storm.

Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokemon. Often Timid due to their sensitive inner ears, Cyndaquil curl up into a ball to protect themselves with the weak fire that comes from their back. Staying hunched over to allow for better protection, it has a better angle to shoot the flames from its back if someone surprises or angers it. If too tired, the flames it creates will splutter and become black smoke. Despite it's timid nature, Cyndaquil's flames become blazing hot with its temper when provoked.

Cyndaquil, Blaze. Moves are Leer, Tackle, and Flare Blitz.

The two had a basic set of moves with a rather nice pair of egg moves attached to it. It would be interesting to see how the two adapted with them.