Emil - Solo RP & Special Encounters

This is more bugs than Emil's ever seen in one place outside of the big swarms in the fall. He looks around with wide eyes, taking in the hum of wings and the clash of pincers. If Emil was afraid of bugs... well, he'd have serious problems in general, never mind with this place, but this sure wouldn't help. He can almost feel the swarm's pulse.

Unfortunately, it's hard to ask Pokémon for directions, so he'll look around for more people, or at least for a door or something. This is where the Bug Branch is meant to be headquartered, so the entrance test has to be around here somewhere, right?

Ruby pops up behind Emil without warning. "Hey, Emil. Decided to give the Bug branch another look. How goes?"

The twins introduce themselves as Sabine and Sara. They are "veteran" members of the Bug Branch. Sabine explains that the entry exam is to not be put off by the amount of Bug Pokemon in the first room here. Especially the Pinsir. They tend to scare off the most people.

Both girls shiver at the mention of Zapdos. They may not have been around Viridian Forest when the bird passes over, but with all the varied Pokemon here in the Guild, it's almost as bad on those few times it's passed this way. That Pressure, man. It just spooks all of them. Not that one could blame a poor Pokemon for being affected like that. Zapdos and its kin are in a league of their own after all.

"As for what's next? Well, if you are really keen on joining, we can show you to the living area. Well, the human living area." Sabine giggles a little at her joke. "This way!" Sabine skips off down the hall, leading Emil (and Ruby, if she's joining) to the dormitory area. For safety reasons, they are required to keep dorms gender-separate. Boys on one side, and girls on another. She indicates the signage that displays which is which.

The mini-tour of the Bug Branch also indicates their job board (though you may need to shoo some Pokemon off in order to read the notices easily). Most of these missions are in-house; involving taking care of the "locals", as she puts it. There are, of course, missions that take you outside as well, but many of these are 'generic', Guild-wide missions that anyone who is so inclined may pick up. These generic missions are repeatable, with the rewards being the same every time.

Finally, the tour concludes with the 'interaction area' and the 'Veterans only' area. The 'interaction area' is where one goes to interact with or complete missions involving the Pokemon within the Branch itself. Emil (and especially Ruby) are cautioned not to approach the Pokemon outside of this area. It's okay to touch them if they do the approaching, but some of them get aggressive if you do so without their consent. If Emil has spent a lot of time in and around Viridian Forest as he claims, he should know the signs, and may instruct his friend so she knows what to look for. If you see any of the Pokemon battling one another in a given 'hive room', inform a Veteran member or the Branch Leader immediately. Ofttimes this happens when two rival Pokemon come across one another. Do not intervene without explicit instructions to do so. You are more likely to get injured yourself in trying to stop them fighting. The Branch Leader's office is just outside of the 'Veterans only' area. If she is not there, then she is either in her quarters within the Branch, or, more likely, in her shared quarters with Nalkeya of Poison Branch. There is more to the Branch beyond the 'veterans area', but Emil/Ruby will need to wait a minimum of three months before they can be considered for advancement (barring the completion of exceptionally difficult missions).

Emil guesses he can't be mad at Sabine and Sara being skeptical about his experience - he's probably not the only person to come in here bragging about how much experience they had with bugs. He thinks he has a pretty good feel for what it looks like when bugs get aggressive, but of course, he did come to the Guild to get more experience in the first place, so he's sure there's still more to learn there. And he can fill Ruby in as she needs it

He shakes his head and chuckles at Ruby's weird speculation. "Prob'ly just their own rooms, honestly. Vets probably get privileges us newbies don't. Maybe hives for Pokémon too dangerous to let 'em wander around out here." Though he's not sure what kind of Pokémon that could be if Pinsir aren't it.

He glances around thoughtfully. "Y'know, I gotta say, I'm surprised you're here? I expected you to follow Sapphire."

Emil sighs and straightens his coat. "I wonder, should we leave the Branch Head alone for a while, or is it good manners to go and introduce ourselves to the, uh, queen bee?" The joke is obvious, of course.

"I hope so. So, uh, should we? Go introduce ourselves, I mean? Or would it be bothering her?" He smiles apologetically, but he's asking the twins directly now. "I, uh, I'm not sure what the etiquette is. Things are pretty casual, out where I'm from."

Sara only blushes shyly while Sabine continues to grin. "Hey, it's fine if you're not comfortable here. We don't mind you saying so. If you don't want to be here, nobody is gonna force you to stay. Do what makes you the happiest. The most comfortable and all that. Ne?"

"Well, you can look around and see other branches. I guess I'll go see if the leader is in."

Emil will wander back in the direction of the Branch Leader's office that was pointed out earlier, with the intention of knocking on the door and introducing himself. The twins never did actually answer his question about whether that was a good idea, but he feels like it would be better to try and risk bothering her than to avoid her and accidentally snub her.