This isn't what Oz had expected.

A lot of people had mentioned how they game began, his friends included, but when told that he would be teleported straight to the lab after creating his avatar, Oz sure as hell hasn't expected to be barefoot, nor had he expected said lab to be so... messy. Honestly, the lab part is kind of cool, though. He has always really liked clutter and maximalist spaces. They just have more character, you know? They tell a story. But, the gut-wrenching smell that he assumes must be coming from the pile takeout containers in the garbage bin nearby? That part is just gross. Goddamn deep dive VR, it's too realistic at times.

Glancing at the garbage bin, he scrunches up his nose in disgust, but within seconds his expression changes to total bewilderment when greeted by the supposed doctor that sits with her legs dangling off a desk nearby. Is that the professor that will give him his first Pokémon? She's also not what he had expected at all. Nya nya nya... Bunya. Wait. Had she just called him a noob?! Rude as hell... but also fucking hilarious.

Oz smirks at this point.

"Hey. Dr. Bunya, huh? I'm Oz. I'm curious, though, 'doctor' in what? ...Wait... Let me guess... Purrensic Science? Hisstory? Litterature? Econyamics?" Is it rude of him? Yeah, maybe so, but it's also so dumb that it ends up making him chuckle. Plus, you get what you earn, right? This 'doctor' that looks more like a little kid than a professor had called him a nyewb, so really, he has no reason not to be rude. Wait... "Oh, wait. I got it. You're the Pokémon Purrfessor."

Had he guessed right? Probably not, but he's curious about how she'll respond. So, now that he's satisfied with his answer, he invites himself to take a seat... right on a stack of books.

What? All the nearby chairs have stuff on them, alright?

Now, his gaze wanders towards the Pokéballs, and although the idea of finding a way to just take one and run playfully intrudes his thoughts, his attention returns to Bunya within seconds.

"Alright, Dr. Shoot." Oz says then, and in this he manages to demonstrate an impeccable lack of ability to follow instructions to the letter. Is it intentional? Maybe.

"Ah, Palenyantology. Of course." Oz responds as if this had been the obvious answer all along, sagely nodding to himself and all. Still, the playful smirk returns to his lips in less than five seconds. "You'll make a great purrfessor."

There's a certainty in the way he speaks, even though he has no reason to be certain of this. He had just met Dr Bunya, and from what he has seen, nothing so far acts as evidence of her qualifications, yet... she's so fucking funny. He's rooting for her, in a way. Plus, if in UNOVR a character like this can become a doctor, surely she can also gain the title of Purrfessor. Little does he know that Bunya had very recently gotten herself a promotion.

"The most expensive thing I've ever bought? Hmm..." At this, he pauses. There is a checklist of obvious answers that most people would give, and while Oz is very conscious of his finances, he needs a second to think about it. Is it a house? Nope, he's still paying rent along with his roommate, although they recently moved to a much nicer place. Is it his workplace? Nope, the location for the tattoo studio is also rented. Is it a car? Yes, but—...

"Guess that'd be my Jeep. My gaming set up was pretty expensive too, though." Honestly, the old Wrangler hasn't been that bad, he has bought it from his uncle, who had been in a rush to sell it because 'it's not a family car', so the family discount had been substantial. If he were to add up how much he has spent in every piece of his gaming set up, though? Well... Oz would rather not think about that.

"As for Pokémon, you got that right: bird Pokémon are the best Pokémon, no doubt. I've always liked—" Here's another pause, this time to recall a name. Good thing he had redownloaded the Pokémon Go app recently, when considering if he wanted to bite the bullet and buy both a WorldScreen and UNOVR. "...Pidgeot, that's the one. A classic, simple but neat design, strong, fuckin' awesome mega evolution. Totally underrated, if you ask me."

Should he be swearing in front of an NPC? Ah, well, good thing he had messed with settings before creating a character, a profanity filter would have been annoying to deal with. With this in mind, Oz moves on to the next question, this time starting off with a joke and a short laugh:

"My favorite book wasn't The Wizard of Oz, that's for sure. Never even read it. Hm... I'm not sure. I never really read much as a kid. Maybe The Hobbit? I had to read it for school once and I got really into drawing dragons after that." Then again, he had thought dragons were cool (and who doesn't?) long before that one book assignment, but why bother with explaining all that to Dr Bunya? Better to just move on from the subject.

What was her next question?

Ah, yeah, it was his turn to ask one...

Considering the matter for a moment, Oz crosses his arms, his gaze inspecting his surroundings before finally falling on the aspiring purrfessor one more time. Then, serious as can be, he asks a question as if it were the most important thing to ask someone:

"Is cereal a soup?"

Unexpectedly, Dr Bunya's answer is full of logic and significantly lacking in 'nyas', but most important of all, she doesn't even appear fazed by the question. That's the best part. After all, any answer would have been fine, because that's the sort of thing people only ever ask as a joke or to throw others of. Is a hotdog a sandwich? Is ketchup a smoothie? Is cereal a soup?

Naturally, Oz nods, his arms crossed, and just like that, he comes to a simple conclusion:

"Ha. You're pretty cool, Dr Bunya." There's a smirk there, and when the Pokéball "dramatically" shoots out of her sleeve, rolls over the desk, and falls on his lap as if it had all been planned, his eyebrows raise while amber eyes inspect the upside-down label. Piplup. "Oh. Is that...?"

Before finishing this question, he takes hold of the Pokéball, clicking its singular button, and in a beam of light, a small blue creature appears before him... A bird, penguin-like. Yep, that's the one. It looks up at him with its beady eyes, puffing out its chest and raising one of its flippers to point directly at him:

<'You! Are you my trainer?'>

Oz blinks.

"Doc, I think this bird is broken, it's asking dumb questions."

The Piplup shakes its small body, raising both its flippers in the air this time.

<'Hey! Not dumb. Certainty is important.'>

The smirk returns.

"On second thought, I like it. Thanks for the help, Doc... Guess I'll have to come up with a name for this little guy."

He already knows just the name, in fact.