When she first opens her eyes, it's... far more realistic than she thought it'd be. Her fingers stretch and curl at her every whim, loose hair falling over her eyes and creating a mild sense of discomfort before she finally sweeps it away.

"Oh, you know my name already. That kind of makes sense actually." There's a hum to her voice, a soft melody that weaves into her words as she smiles at the professor before her. "And yes, I'd like to meet my..." She pauses, her gaze dropping to the ground for just a brief moment as she presses her tongue to her cheek. "Newest friend, I guess is the best term!"

Happiness is the main emotion that sparkles in her eyes, pure as her smile whilst she claps her hands together.

"Hit me with the questions, Prof!"

She remembers taking a seat in an office, attempting to talk her way into pursuing her wildest dreams. Now she sits in an entirely different kind of office, attempting to talk her way into another wild dream she'd never expected to be able to chase. The questions are placed down for her to consider, her tongue slipping out the first few answers that come to mind.

"I was creative and didn't like playing by the rules. Not so much a kid that got in trouble with the adults, but definitely a prankster kind of kid." She taps her fingers against her palm, pressing her thumbs together as she chews on the second question.

What does she think about that?
_{¿ʇɐɥʇ ʇnoqɐ ʍouʞ ǝɥs sǝop ʇɐɥM}

"Betraying them. Building up years of trust and friendship, supporting them through the thick and thin, only to destroy their dreams and everything they worked for."

Bitterness sits on her tongue, but doesn't quite reach her eyes as she quickly moves onto the third question.

"As for vacations... Snowbelle City does sound like a nice place."

She wonders how her life would be like if it only took her three questions to successfully discern someone's personality. As she reaches out for the pokeball, her attention immediately flutters to the label placed on the top.

"Bulbasaur..."

One of the first pokemon she'd ever been introduced to in the game series and probably her favourite starter of the generation. There's a bit of a moment where she tries to remember how these things work, but eventually she does figure it out, releasing her new partner out into the world.

"MAH EYES!!"

It's the first thing she hears as the little Bulbasaur appears right before her eyes, a little pout showing as he squints at his surroundings. After a moment of spinning in circles and shaking his head, he finally takes the moment to blink and catch a proper glimpse of her.

"Ey 'ey 'ey!! What's goin on 'ere??"

It's uncanny. He's almost like her, a replica of her younger self with just as loud a presence. Kneeling on one knee, she extends an open hand towards the Bulbasaur.

"I'm Althaea. What's your name?"

"Name?" He stares at her for a moment. "Name... name..." He sits right down, his hind legs splayed as he makes a tip-tapping rhythm with his front claws. Finally he stops, raising a limb up with the widest smile he can muster. "Don't have one!"

For a moment, she wonders if pokemon ever really have to worry about names when they can probably recognise each other by a number of traits.

"How about Kaleo then?"

Still, it feels better for him to have a name, a sound, a voice. It seems to resonate with him quite quickly, the name repeated on his tongue as he tries to understand his feelings on the matter. And when he next locks gaze with her, he shows her a rather toothy grin.

"Kaleo! I'm Kaleo! And you're Athy!! Nice meetin ya, Athy!"