Professor Willow continued, though most of what he said was the same thing, only rephrased. His peers seemed not to notice. After the professor finished his lecture, he took a bow and accepted his usual applause. Hopefully, his many hours of work would bring in some prestige. Prestige meant a larger budget, and Professor Willow was determined to crack this code.
Another professor stepped towards the screen, trading spaces with Professor Willow. As she began talking, her voice magnified by the speakers, Professor Willow took the opportunity to thank Blake.
"Blake, your hard work really means a lot to me. And the community for that matter."
"It's not a problem," Blake countered, trying to keep his modesty intact. "I should be thanking you. It's not every day that someone gets to work with a Pokemon Professor as well-known as you. I'm really looking forward to doing some field research."
"Speaking of field research, what ever happened to that young woman from before?" The professor glanced around the room, but could not find her.
"She left. Free spirit, I'm betting. If you'd like, though, I could go looking for her."
The professor smiled. "I would like that. But, before you go..." The professor reached into one of his many coatpockets, and produced two small devices, compact enough to fit into one hand with ease. "One for you, and one for the young lady. Bring her back here, though. I'd like to have a few words with her."
Blake nodded, and ducked out of the room, trying to avoid taking up any more attention from the professor speaking than he already had. He made his way to the elevator, and stepped in.
"To which floor may I take you?" asked the bell-woman. Which floor, indeed? It made the most sense to start from the top down, but the mall was very large, and Blake would sooner find her as quickly as he could.
"I'm actually looking for someone," Blake explained. "If you know where a young woman my age would hang out, I'd like to go to that floor. She seems to be a... free spirit, though I don't know too much about her."
After a good fifteen minutes of just sitting on the couch and thinking, Kendra gave herself a mental shake and stood up. Even if the Pokemon lectures were gonna drag on all day, that didn't mean that she didn't have work to do. Kendra left the restroom and hopped on the elevator, heading up to the food court that took up the entire top floor.
When the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, Kendra saw a bunch of her fellow employees standing around talking. When the saw her, the discussion died. She felt like smacking herself. Of course she had prompted gossip. Well, that professor had better let her help, or she'd be unable to face this place for weeks.
With a shrug, Kendra headed to the vending machines. After getting a bottle of lemonade, she returned to the elevator. Screw work. She was taking the rest of the day off for personal reasons. As such, might as well head back down to the basement and see what else was happening at the convention.
The elevator was really taking a long time to get here, Kendra thought. She'd only just gotten off, too! Someone else must have called it. Great. Kendra contemplated taking the stairs, but decided to wait for the elevator. It was bound to come eventually.
Ding! The arrival of the elevator startled Kendra. "Well, finally," she muttered. Once the doors opened, she started to enter, then stopped. Inside the elevator was the professor's assistant. Seeing the impatient look she was getting from the elevator operator, Kendra stepped in.
"Hi," she said to the assistant, giving him an awkward smile.
"Ma'am, if we could go back to the basement level?" Blake more told than asked the elevator operator.
The professor's assistant proceeded to scrounge around in his side pocket. He procured one of the two compact devices. "I was afraid I'd spend hours looking for you. For once, I'm having good luck. First, the program doesn't crash, and now I find the needle in the haystack. Oh, this is for you."
"If you would come back to the convention site with me, the professor would like to say a few things to you," he said, offering the compact.
"Oh, wow, one of the few times this whole acting without thinking things hasn't blown up in my face," Kendra said. She took the offered compact. "So, this is that new Pokedex, huh?"
The fellow nodded. "That's one of the things the professor will explain," he said.
"Gotcha, Kendra said, and then they were at the basement. The professor was waiting, and he grabbed Kendra's hand in a firm, almost bone-breaking handshake.
"I'm glad Blake caught up with you so quickly," the professor said. "I'm Professor Willow, and you are?"
"Kendra," she replied.
"Kendra. Good. Nice to meet you," said Professor Willow. "I'm glad to have another volunteer for this research project. Tell me, do you have a Pokemon?"
Kendra shook her head, fervently hoping that this wouldn't disqualify her.
"Hm... A slight setback," said the professor, "but no matter. I have some Pokemon at my lab that you and Blake can take with you to start with. Let's take care of that, and then I'll explain more about the project and how the Pokedex will work."
Blake was a bit shocked, though he tried not to let his surprise show. "Professor... We only have one ticket back to Fuschia. You seriously forgot to bring the Pokemon along?"
"Nonsense, Blake. I made sure to store them in the PC before we left." This was probably a lie. He had completely forgotten to bring the Pokemon along. However, with any luck, he'd have something on his PC. Thank goodness he didn't tell Blake which Pokemon he planned be bringing.
"I made sure to book my ticket back not too long after the exposition ended," the professor explained. "We should hurry to the Pokemon Center."
It was a short walk to the Pokemon Center. Despite living in Celadon City her whole life, Kendra had never been in the large building. When you didn't have a Pokemon, there wasn't much of a reason to go there. That's why, when the Professor and Blake made a beeline for the PC in the corner of the lobby, Kendra followed much more slowly, looking around to take everything in.
Trainers were everywhere. Couches and chairs lined the walls, and most of them were occupied. Quite a few couches had trainers sprawled out asleep, and many of the other trainers were busy fiddling with Pokedexes or other electronic devices, though a few were reading or talking to each other.
There were two staircases, and the one nearest Kendra had a sign next to it that proclaimed the basement to be the trading center. In the center of the lobby was a desk where a steady stream of trainers approached to either drop off or pick up Pokeballs. The sheer volume of Pokemon and trainers was frankly amazing. Kendra continued her observation until Professor Willow was ready.
Another professor stepped towards the screen, trading spaces with Professor Willow. As she began talking, her voice magnified by the speakers, Professor Willow took the opportunity to thank Blake.
"Blake, your hard work really means a lot to me. And the community for that matter."
"It's not a problem," Blake countered, trying to keep his modesty intact. "I should be thanking you. It's not every day that someone gets to work with a Pokemon Professor as well-known as you. I'm really looking forward to doing some field research."
"Speaking of field research, what ever happened to that young woman from before?" The professor glanced around the room, but could not find her.
"She left. Free spirit, I'm betting. If you'd like, though, I could go looking for her."
The professor smiled. "I would like that. But, before you go..." The professor reached into one of his many coatpockets, and produced two small devices, compact enough to fit into one hand with ease. "One for you, and one for the young lady. Bring her back here, though. I'd like to have a few words with her."
Blake nodded, and ducked out of the room, trying to avoid taking up any more attention from the professor speaking than he already had. He made his way to the elevator, and stepped in.
"To which floor may I take you?" asked the bell-woman. Which floor, indeed? It made the most sense to start from the top down, but the mall was very large, and Blake would sooner find her as quickly as he could.
"I'm actually looking for someone," Blake explained. "If you know where a young woman my age would hang out, I'd like to go to that floor. She seems to be a... free spirit, though I don't know too much about her."
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When the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, Kendra saw a bunch of her fellow employees standing around talking. When the saw her, the discussion died. She felt like smacking herself. Of course she had prompted gossip. Well, that professor had better let her help, or she'd be unable to face this place for weeks.
With a shrug, Kendra headed to the vending machines. After getting a bottle of lemonade, she returned to the elevator. Screw work. She was taking the rest of the day off for personal reasons. As such, might as well head back down to the basement and see what else was happening at the convention.
The elevator was really taking a long time to get here, Kendra thought. She'd only just gotten off, too! Someone else must have called it. Great. Kendra contemplated taking the stairs, but decided to wait for the elevator. It was bound to come eventually.
Ding! The arrival of the elevator startled Kendra. "Well, finally," she muttered. Once the doors opened, she started to enter, then stopped. Inside the elevator was the professor's assistant. Seeing the impatient look she was getting from the elevator operator, Kendra stepped in.
"Hi," she said to the assistant, giving him an awkward smile.
Reply
The professor's assistant proceeded to scrounge around in his side pocket. He procured one of the two compact devices. "I was afraid I'd spend hours looking for you. For once, I'm having good luck. First, the program doesn't crash, and now I find the needle in the haystack. Oh, this is for you."
"If you would come back to the convention site with me, the professor would like to say a few things to you," he said, offering the compact.
Reply
The fellow nodded. "That's one of the things the professor will explain," he said.
"Gotcha, Kendra said, and then they were at the basement. The professor was waiting, and he grabbed Kendra's hand in a firm, almost bone-breaking handshake.
"I'm glad Blake caught up with you so quickly," the professor said. "I'm Professor Willow, and you are?"
"Kendra," she replied.
"Kendra. Good. Nice to meet you," said Professor Willow. "I'm glad to have another volunteer for this research project. Tell me, do you have a Pokemon?"
Kendra shook her head, fervently hoping that this wouldn't disqualify her.
"Hm... A slight setback," said the professor, "but no matter. I have some Pokemon at my lab that you and Blake can take with you to start with. Let's take care of that, and then I'll explain more about the project and how the Pokedex will work."
Reply
"Nonsense, Blake. I made sure to store them in the PC before we left." This was probably a lie. He had completely forgotten to bring the Pokemon along. However, with any luck, he'd have something on his PC. Thank goodness he didn't tell Blake which Pokemon he planned be bringing.
"I made sure to book my ticket back not too long after the exposition ended," the professor explained. "We should hurry to the Pokemon Center."
Reply
Trainers were everywhere. Couches and chairs lined the walls, and most of them were occupied. Quite a few couches had trainers sprawled out asleep, and many of the other trainers were busy fiddling with Pokedexes or other electronic devices, though a few were reading or talking to each other.
There were two staircases, and the one nearest Kendra had a sign next to it that proclaimed the basement to be the trading center. In the center of the lobby was a desk where a steady stream of trainers approached to either drop off or pick up Pokeballs. The sheer volume of Pokemon and trainers was frankly amazing. Kendra continued her observation until Professor Willow was ready.
Reply
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