Quinn Rio and Sentra

[Quinn]

“Hey,” the man asked with concern in his eyes, “are you okay? You look kind of sick...”

Quinn immediately straightened up and gave a bout of forced laughter. “I never get sick!” she boasted, though her face said otherwise. A light greenish cast washed over her cheeks as she leaned forward and hugged the Lapras's neck tighter. Quinn would never admit, even to herself, that seasickness was possible for her. She was, after all, extremely strong. Many had actually believed that she was virtually indestructible – she lifted impossibly heavy objects, and punching her usually resulted in broken knuckles. Nothing could ever harm me, she repeatedly told herself, especially not a little nausea!

The man who had so graciously ferried her to Route 21 looked a little dubious. “We're here,” he said, leading his Lapras along the coastline. Glad to finally see land again, Quinn scrambled to the shore and leaned against a nearby tree. “I'm only curious, but why did you want to come here in the first place?”

She brushed a few ginger strands of hair from her eyes to look at him properly. “Job hunting,” she replied. “After that fiasco in the Safari Zone, I figured Pokémon weren't for me.”

Here the man winced. He had seen the damage done there; somehow the girl had managed to lead a stampede of Kangaskhan right through the gates. “Don't blame it on the Pokémon. Maybe you should just try again, but with something a bit more low-key.” He paused and unclipped a Pokéball from his belt. “I got this one in the lottery a few days ago. It's pretty weak, though, so you'll have to train it. Want it?”

Hesitating slightly, Quinn reached forward and took it. However, this caused her to totter on the edge of the shore, her arms pinwheeling until she finally fell into the water with a large plop. Several feet inland, she reappeared sputtering water and clinging to dear land. The Pokéball was still clutched in her hand, but it was open – the Abra it previously contained was perched upon her head, calmly acting as if similar events happened every day.

“Thanks,” the girl gasped, weakly patting the small creature.

When the man seemed to get over the shock of watching someone almost drown, he smiled. “You two look like you'll get along well,” he said. “By the way, his name's Sentra.” He waved, tipping his hat a little, and he and the Lapras surfed their way back to Fuchsia City.

[Quinn]

-blink... blink blink blink... blink...-

Quinn stared at the little Abra. A slight breeze picked up the ends of her hair. Birds chirped in the trees and children played in their yards. Pallet town was perfectly calm, and the girl and her Pokémon were completely unmoving. The two simply sat there, her staring and him wondering why she was staring.

Finally, after several minutes of this, Quinn spoke up. “Why are your eyes always closed?” she asked. Sentra decided not to answer this in the hopes that she would realize the sheer silliness behind her question.

Silence.

Total and complete silence.

Quinn sighed. “Fine. Don't tell me,” she said in a miffed tone before a sheepish grin broke over her face. “Wow, I can't believe I just did that. After all, Pokémon can't talk. Sorry.”

<Actually, we can,> he replied, <it's just that most people can't understand us.> He could tell from his mistress's unchanging expression that she was a member of the “most people” category.

She stretched and stood up, filling the air with sounds of cracking and popping. When she got around to cricking her neck, Quinn scooped up the Abra with ease. “We should get going, then. I don't think there's anything to do around h–”

“–Excuse me! Miss?” a voice sounded from behind her. Quinn turned to see a short, studious-looking man stumbling in their direction with a rather lumpy package. The man eventually reached them, gasping for breath. “Thank goodness I could find you! Most of our trainers are out of town, you see...” He coughed and proceeded to explain. “I'm one of the aides of Professor Oak. We have this new type of Pokéball, and one of my fellow aides was supposed to be experimenting with it, but he took the wrong item!” Here he forced a laugh. “Could you go to Route 1 and give this to him? I'll make sure you get something for your troubles.”

Quinn was looking skeptical through most of the (one-sided) conversation. What made him think she wouldn't just take the thing and run? “Experimental”, however, usually meant “it has issues.” But at the mention of a reward, she immediately perked up. “Of course!” she said innocently. “I'm always glad to help. Sentra, return!”

She clipped Sentra's Pokéball to her belt loop and gathered the large, lumpy package in her arms. How much Styrofoam packing did one Pokéball need?!

While the aide said his thanks, Quinn surreptitiously glanced around, combing the town for a sign. Preferably an “exit” sign; she had no idea which way Route 1 was...