Aww.

Bye kids!

Eevee gives Professor Oak a friendly chirp, then has a thought - "Hey can you hear me from over here?" she directs at her human.

The lack of response seems to indicate no.

Well maybe her human just can't telepath back.

Eevee goes to find her human.

Ellie is right where she was left, though she's switched to typing on a computer.

Eevee chirps, then, "Hi! I think you couldn't hear me from all the way over by the Professor."

"Oh! Hi, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a line of sight thing. Could maybe push it further with practice or higher quality components, but this is about the limit of my operating budget."

"Okay." She jumps up to nuzzle her human. "Can we get more budget in championships?"

Cuddle.

"Yeah. You get a grant for starting a Gym challenge the first time, and gyms'll give you a cut of the advertising money if you agree to let them broadcast your match. Plus there's a culture of wagering on friendly matches with trainers out on the routes, though you have to actually win to collect."

"Fun! Do we need more pokemon first to do a championship?"

"League regulations specify a maximum team size of six. Most serious trainers hit that cap, but there's an expectation that you'll fill your team out as you progress."

"So we could start with just me?"

"We could."

She wiggles her entire body!

"The others on our team should be eevees, too! We're the best."

"You are, it's true. And I'm pretty sure that the transmitter will work best on species that have an innate psychic talent or the potential thereof, like espeon in the eevee line."

"Further proof we're great."

She pets the top of Eevee's head.

"Try not to puff up so much you float off."

"But then I could have a wing harness and fly!"

Hee. "Okay, little miss aireon."

She trills, short and staccato, in what's possibly an eevee-style giggle. "I want to evolve into one of those!"

"Breaking new ground all the time."

Headbutt. "Reaching new heights, more like."

"Pfft." Ear scritches. "Okay, I should have seen that one."

Rumbling mrr!!!

"Where do we start?"

"The closest gym's in Viridian, which is about a day's walk north. I just put in my registration for the challenge, so after lunch we'll get supplies together, and then we can leave tomorrow morning."

"Good!" Nuzzle. "...I'm tired but also I want to talk to you. You're nice. I've had lots of things to say since ever."