From the moment he had the WorldScreen set up, Adam could feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins. This was everything that he had been hoping for in his teenage years, even well into his adulthood. He may have forgotten about this sort of dream halfway through his twenties, but from the moment that Nintendo had announced this... it all came crashing into him once again. Was this the same exact thing as having Pokemon in the real real world? Maybe not. But it was as close to it as you could reasonably hope to ever get to, and that was enough for any die hard fan to lay awake until the sun started peeking through your bedroom curtains.

As the initial loading screen that came after setting up his character image faded, he could could feel his heartbeat rising. The lab began to come into view, and everything settled. It was better than he had even been thinking. He could smell, hear, see, feel.... and although there was nothing to taste exactly, he had the same kind of taste in his mouth that he did in every day life.

There was a woman with long, perfectly sleeked silver hair that stood, and Caspian knew this had to be Professor Ash. He knew it was probably incredibly silly of him, but he had actually been expecting to see an older version of... well... Ash Ketchum. It was a strong enough though to bring about a smile to his face as he realized how silly that may have been. But Adam was very careful to not read into any spoilers for the game, wanting to be able to be surprised by everything.

He looked up at the screen of all of the starter Pokemon through the generations of mainline games. There were a few that drew his attention, having had a soft spot for them growing up. But if he was going to really experience this the way that he wanted, then he needed to let some things come naturally. And one of them was the very first thing to happen. Obtaining his starter Pokemon partner.

Doing his best to contain his excitement, Caspian clasped his hands together and held them at his navel, eyes on the professor. "Okay. That sounds good to me, Professor."

Right to the action! He could see that this was definitely one of those game setup mechanics that were made to be smooth and fast, to get players what they wanted as quickly as possible. Clearly the developers knew what they were doing.

But the first question actually made him pause. Caspian knew what the immediate answer was that came to mind. Was this one of those games where he was supposed to give rapid fire answers? Part of him said yes, because that's what games generally expected. Easy, fast answers. But this wasn't like other video games, now was it? No, this was definitely meant to be more in tune with reality. And he couldn't help but assume that the game's coding would be able to decipher an entire answer, pick it apart and piece together the response in a way that would tailor a Pokemon match best fitted to him. So maybe his answers actually could be more complex.

"It would depend on the conditions of the situation really. Are we talking sloppy mud? Because that'd be a hard no for me. Whereas hard rocky terrain, you could most likely reasonably get stuff off of it. Plus how hungry am I? If I've already eaten most of it, then I'd probably just leave it or throw it away. If I'm incredibly hungry, though, then I'd be more prone to accept a bit of dirt in exchange for some delicious turkey and provolone goodness."

Even as he said it, he could see that some might find that gross, no matter how hungry you were. But desperate calls could call for desperate measures. And honestly, with all the chemicals pumped into the things people ate these days, he hardly thought it was that scary.

The question about his friends was definitely easier to answer, at least to him. "Definitely loyal. Funny. Smart. Hard working for sure. Loud! Yeah, my friends say that I'm very loud, all of the time. Not really in a bad way, just that I'm... I don't know. Kind of boisterous I guess."

Now as for saving his life... he had never actually been in a position where his life needed saving. Not literally, anyway. Should he turn this into a deeper question than it was? Eh, some things were probably best left simple.

"My life hasn't ever been in danger where I needed saving... oh wait, no! I do remember my parents telling me when I was very little, visiting my grandparents, I was running for the busy highway. My dad sprinted and scooped me up before I made it there. My mom says she had never seen him move so fast in his life before."

Was that good? He figured it had to be. Yeah, it all sounded good when he said it. Best not to overthink these things.

It certainly did appear that the professor was taking this interview quite seriously, and actually considering the notes that she had taken. Which was a good sign, in terms of being able to leave here with the belief that this whole experience was tailored specifically to Caspian. So he could rest easy, knowing that whatever Pokemon he was about to be given, it was perfect for him.

As Professor Ash began to look through her notes and the drawer, Caspian cast his eyes back up to the images of all starter options once more. Were there any that would have disappointed him. If he was being perfectly honest, the answer was yes. He knew that he wasn't so fond of a handful of them, and he was hopeful that he wouldn't find himself morose upon leaving here. But he did have to believe that no matter what he ended up leaving with, he would end up being perfectly fine, and may even come to grow into liking the starter. Even if it was Chimchar or Tepig.

Turning his head back to the professor as she began speaking again, his eyes fell to the Pokeball being held out to him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and took it, his heart pounding in his chest. And then, looking down at the letters that spelled out BULBASAUR, he felt a rush of relief wash over him, quickly followed by joy.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed. "This... it's perfect!" And it was. It really, truly was. He looked back up, and the incredibly amount of happiness and excitement shone in them, bright like the beacons of Gondor. Clearly a warning to all that this was one character whose levels of exuberant elation were perhaps a bit higher than most could handle. For now, at least.