It was disorienting.

Vanta was intentionally designed to be as different from Lily as possible, and being dropped into his skin felt a bit like being lost underwater, not knowing which way was up.

Her center of balance had shifted, her height had increased, her skin was branded across every inch with markings she painstakingly designed by hand...

...And, of course, Vanta was male. She reached up a hand slowly, noting that the digits were longer and bonier than her own. The gray wrappings were snug. Impulsively, she tugged the bandages with her other hand's index finger. It was weird.

In hindsight, though, maybe going barefoot wasn't the best option. As soon as she heard the Professor's voice, she jumped back- or attempted to- unintentionally snagging her heel on the vivid carmine waist-cape. The resulting maneuver was an inelegant contortion midair that had her landing on her ass.

Oh god. It's totally an interview.

She fumbled to her legs, the tentative whine sounding and feeling utterly alien through Vanta's adam's apple. "Oh, I, o-okay, I'm sorry-"



In other words, she was off to a pretty good start.

The lack of response to her impromptu nosedive is both relieving and intimidating.

Both emotions stirred uncomfortably in her gut. The sensation could be likened to eating an entire carton of ice cream in one sitting despite her lactose intolerance.

Oh god. What was in her refrigerator?

...

......

She couldn't remember. Is this how she whites out for the first time? If she didn't have a pokemon, would she just be permanently locked in that creepy death area forever like a fucked up version of the matrix?

She was going to die.

The blurted answer ended up being "Food!", followed by an awkward pause. "That's. Where it's supposed to go!"

The next question about the afterlife nearly had her keel over- both in game and out of it. Just a game just a game just a game- "I don't know I have lots of thoughts please don't make me white out I'll literally tell you whatever you want I'm sure the afterlife is great!" The whole thing was spoken in one breath, Vanta's breath cracking unpleasantly at every other word. Is this what puberty feels like if you're a dude???

"Uh." Superpowers. That was a really hard question, because in her rampant maladaptive daydreams it was one she considered quite often. "I want to be a wizard with disposable income." There. Wizards could do lots of things, and they had sick bathrobes. The money part was a complete non sequitur- she just didn't want to rely on her parents.

The last part was mumbled so quietly it was barely audible. _{"Please don't kill me."}

BULBASAUR.

The lettering is innocuous, but something treacherous wedges itself in her chest. She thinks it might be excitement, but it could just as easily be a stress-induced heart attack.

"Thankyougottago!" she blurts out after a moment, gently grabbing the Poke Ball. The thoughts that buzz in her head like hornets range from 'oh god how do i take care of dinosaur frogs?' to 'will it love me?' to 'i should've just told her i had leftovers'.

As she finally nears the area's exit, one final thing occurs to her.

Vanta didn't have any pockets.

Where was she supposed to put this...?