On the other hand, if you go by this one running past him like a maniac, there might be something going on.

(He woke up at sunrise for this he was so excited and Mum convinced him to wait until noon and he got distracted for what felt like five minutes and suddenly it was well past noon and if he doesn't get a Ralts because he got to the lab late he will light himself on fire, that is simply all there is to say on the matter.)

...heh.

Well, leisurely stroll boy will not speed up any, and walks into the building the both of them were headed to only a couple of minutes after him.

When he gets there, the running boy is panting, and between pants, apologizing profusely to Professor Birch, who is attempting to reassure him that he does not actually need to apologize.

Awwww that's cute. Tōkan will stand here and wait to be directed... somewhere... he confesses he's not actually sure how all of this works from the perspective of things he should be doing in the moment. Just, you know, the abstract, you go to the lab and get a starter and go on your journey~

The boy turns mid-apology and notices Tōkan standing there.

"- and now I'm holding you up - um. Are there. Any starters left."

(Because he can't just ask for a Ralts.)

"Yes," Professor Birch says. "We capture more than we need every year, you really don't need to worry about it at all. Mostly you just missed the social event." To Tōkan: "I imagine you're also here for a starter?"

"Yep! Give me an awful one."

Birch looks confused. The boy abruptly looks affronted.

"That's a terrible thing to say, how's he supposed to give you any now without making them feel bad?"

"They don't actually understand human language for the most part," Birch contributes. "Especially not when they're digitized."

"Well - but even so, you'll know."

"Okay, rephrasing—give me one all the other kids didn't want. One that might have trouble finding another trainer."

"Oh. Okay." The boy looks thoughtful.

Birch nods slowly. "...I think I have one for you." He goes over to a case of Pokéballs and removes one, then taps it on the table and releases a Charmander.

The Charmander turns to look at them and... Charmander do not have human facial expressions but somehow it seems to be exuding contempt.

"It's perfect! I'll call it—" Its face does not change at all and only moves minutely to the side. "Nothing at all for now!"

Birch turns to the other boy. "Now, what kind of starter did you want for yourself?"

"Um. A Ralts. If you have one."

"I have several," Birch nods. "Did you have any more specific requests? I can't guarantee anything, but..."

"...do you have one that's... gentle?" he asks. "Um. Just - one who really wants a trainer. And won't be too angry if I mess up."

"Easy," Birch says, moving back towards the case. He selects a ball, and releases a Ralts.

The Ralts shuffles over to him excitedly, and wraps its teeny little arms around his calf.

"Hi, little guy! I'm Edmund," says, apparently, Edmund. "You want to be friends, huh?"

"...aww! You're cute," he says to the Ralts as he walks over to the Charmander and gets down to one knee to look at it. "And you my friend, I feel you may be a weapon of mass destruction."

The Charmander does not roll its eyes—Charmander, like most lizard-like Pokémon, are capable of very little actual eye movement within their eye sockets—but it is giving Tōkan a look that Tōkan is pretty sure is meant to be something like that.

"I'm Tōkan, and it's fine if you don't want a name right now or ever, I can just call you Charmander instead."

It continues giving him a level look for a couple more seconds before breathing a pah and turning to watch Edmund and his Ralts.

Tōkan grins and gets back to his feet and likewise turns in that direction.

"I... had a name in mind, if you wanted to hear it?" he offers.

"Ra," says the Ralts agreeably.

"Do you like 'Cytherea'?"

"Tseh."

"Um. That's okay... what about 'Antiope'?"

"Tsehhhh."

"So much for that region... what about 'Dulcinea'?"

The 'mon shakes itself vigorously.

Edmund squints. "Are you a boy Ralts. Does that happen, I thought gender was just something humans projected onto Pokémon..."

"Ra!"

"Um. I admit I didn't really prepare for this. ...how d'you like 'Nigel'?"

The Ralts tilts its head, flopping its bangs in such a way that one eye is revealed.

"...is that a yes?"

Nigel hugs his leg.

Awwww they're very cute. Tōkan looks over his shoulder at the Charmander who's following him and asks, "May I pet you? ...no? Okay," before getting to where the other boy and his Pokémon are.

Edmund looks up from rubbing Nigel's head. "Oh! Hello, um... I didn't get your name... and hello Charmander as well!"

"Tōkan," he repeats. "Nice to meet you, Edmund." Despite the different language-of-origin Tōkan seems perfectly able to pronounce Edmund's name correctly.

Charmander looks up at Edmund and its tail moves very slightly—especially the tip—for a couple of seconds. Its face continues to not be very expressive, at least to human standards.

"You really don't like chatting, do you," says Tōkan to his Pokémon. The Charmander looks up over its shoulder at him, lowers its tail a little bit, then looks back up at Edmund.

"Sorry," Edmund says to Charmander, then turns back to Tōkan. "Nice to meet you as well, Tōkan!" (His accent puts just a touch too much pressure on the ō.) "Did you want to battle, or anything, or just say hi?"

"Just say hi, I guess. We're the two stragglers, it seems, and that's a good excuse to bond."

"Right... I woke up at sunrise, I couldn't even sleep I was so excited, and somehow I was still late."

"Did something happen? Um." He looks up at Professor Birch. "Should we see ourselves out?"

Birch shrugs, looking up from his computer briefly. "I don't have another appointment."

Edmund sighs. "I... started reading to pass the time... and apparently everyone thought someone else must have sent me off. And so no one did. And I thought someone would stop me reading when it was time to go, and so I didn't really notice the time passing."

Despite his tragic expression, he has one of Nigel's little handnubs between each thumb and forefinger, and he is using them to make Nigel perform the Caramelldansen. This is an important bonding activity.

"See that, Charmander? That's appropriate trainer and Pokémon bonding activity." Charmander breathes another pah that may or may not suggest he finds the suggestion amusing.

Nigel meeps happily.

"My suffering is nothing to you, I see," Edmund says with dignity.