The professor was hard at work when she got the text, and she frowned at it. She had the number saved, even though it had been several years since she had roomed with Takara, or even spoken to them. In fact, she'd meant to send them a congratulatory text when they got the CEO job, but work had picked up and she'd never gotten around to it ... Did they mean they were here? At the Lab? Unannounced?

Remembering what Takara was like, the professor decided that she'd better head to the lobby posthaste. She put aside the files she'd been going through -- reports of what Pokemon were contained in the Lab's Pokeballs -- and headed out to the main reception area.

"Takara?" There they were, and they even had a Pokemon with them, a Riolu. Of course, the professor shouldn't have been surprised that Salve Co. had the resources to give their CEO a Pokemon -- or that Takara would take to the challenge of "Pokemon trainer" as they had to every other challenge Yew had ever seen placed before them. Her gaze moved down to the suitcases. "What are you doing here?"

She should have been more polite, perhaps, asked if she could help them. But, well, it wasn't like they were strangers.

The professor stared at the cases, then at Takara. She'd known Salve Co. had Pokeballs -- of course they did -- but she'd never expected to actually see them. The Lab hadn't even made any efforts to get their hands on them, assuming that the company would turn them down. After all, plenty of people had their Pokeball hoards, though not 217 of them.

"Are you sure you want to give these up?" She ought to have just accepted them, of course, rather than giving Takara a chance to change their mind. But the professor imagined that Salve Co.'s board would not be thrilled to learn that Takara had given away their entire supply of Pokemon. If this was actually their entire supply.

"Oh -- I've been quite well, thank you. Busy, now that Pokemon are back. And it's very nice to meet you, Shri."

Professor Yew nodded. She appreciated Takara's generosity, and she shouldn't really have been surprised that Salve Co.'s board had failed to stop them -- no one else had ever managed it either. "All right, well, let's take these back to my office. Probably best not to stand around with them in the lobby."

She grabbed one of the suitcase and beckoned for Takara to follow her to her office, past the reception desk and down a corridor.

"I certainly do know work," the professor said ruefully. She glanced at Shri. "Riolu is a solid choice of Pokemon. She'll get quite powerful, if you treat her well."

Takara probably already knew that; they clearly hadn't come here for the professor's professional advice. But she couldn't help it. Force of habit.

"Seeing new trainers meet their Pokemon is delightful," the professor added with a genuine smile. "A lot of them hit it off right away. It's heart-warming."

The professor nodded. "I feel the same way. The Lab offered me a fully-trained, more powerful Pokemon, but I wouldn't even know how to handle it. I think giving an inexperienced trainer a powerful Pokemon right off the bat is more likely to do harm than good."

They reached her office; as they entered, she parked her suitcase by the door and gestured to one of the chairs in front of her large desk. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable."

Memories of grad school suggested that she might regret giving Takara that option, but surely they'd gotten a little more professional since joining Salve Co. Otherwise they never could have become CEO.

"I have two, actually! One given to me by the Lab, and the other I caught on a trip to the Exegg Islands." The professor reached for the Pokeballs she wore on her belt -- Absol's at her hip, and Oddish's ...

Oh dear. She'd forgotten that she'd let Oddish hang out in her office, as she often did to try to accustom the nervous little Pokemon to her new home. Engrossed in speaking to Takara, she hadn't even noticed Oddish when she came back in. Where ... ?

Oh. Rising from the pot of soil she'd moved into her office because Oddish seemed to like it, she saw a trembling tuft of leaves.

"Oddish is right there," the professor said, gesturing, "but she gets nervous around strangers."

Technically a bit of an omission: Oddish still got nervous around Yew sometimes as well.

"It's certainly an experience," the professor said, thinking about her trip to the Exegg Islands. It hadn't gone entirely as planned, what with being unable to battle Drifloon and all, but: "It's beautiful out there. You can see the natural world blooming now that Pokemon are back."

She turned her attention to the large pot and the Riolu standing by it. "If she can, that would be most welcome. Oddish has a rather nervous disposition, and I worry -- I'm afraid we scared her quite badly when we captured her."

For a long moment after Shri's approach, the pot sat in silence, though the leaves gradually stopped shaking. Finally, the Oddish raised her head just enough to get her eyes out of the dirt and look around a little. At the sight of Takara, she ducked back down with a tiny little, "Dish?"

"You should, if you can find the time." The professor smiled a bit ironically, thinking of how busy Takara had always been, back in school. And it had to be even worse now, running Salve Co. She was surprised they had even a moment for this visit. "Deprin is a beautiful place, now that it's ... well, not 'back to normal,' but no longer empty."

The professor glanced at Shri as she waited for Oddish. "I think she'll be a good match for you, then. And when she evolves, she'll be a force to be reckoned with. I believe Riolu only evolve if they really trust and bond with their trainers, though."

The Oddish raised her head, looking first at Shri, then at the professor. The professor gave her Pokemon an encouraging smile, but didn't speak or move, not wanting to startle her. Oddish turned her attention to Shri. "Diiish?"

The professor smiled, remembering the days when she had been the one trying -- and often failing -- to make sure Takara ate and slept. "I'm glad she's asserting herself. Pokemon definitely have the capacity to bond deeply with their trainers -- the experiences of the trainers who've signed up so far bears that out. Including myself ... It's something I don't think we ever could have understood without experiencing it. So I'm glad you've chosen to raise Shri."

That ending was the professor's attempt to pull her thoughts back to the present, relevant to Takara and Shri, rather than get lost wool-gathering about the bond between Pokemon and trainer, something Deprin had sorely missed for decades.

Oddish tilted her head (her entire body, really) and stood up slowly. She still wasn't sure about Shri, but the little Riolu did seem much less intimidating than Absol, or than a human. Cautiously, Oddish climbed out of her pot and examined Shri more closely.