The tech blinked and gave a very tired nod with a smile that did not even attempt to reach his eyes. Instead ot failed around like a magikarp on the shore, being slowly eaten by a pack of wild dog pokemon. He was so tired. And still not recovered from his boss, well...

"Sure is! Follow me, its much more quiet back here." He quickly made his way to the back and began pressing some buttons on a large machine stocked with pokeballs while his smeargle marked off the name with their tail. "Okay, standard rules. You get six choices. No, you cannot take more than one. Yes, I will know if you try. Yes, I will call the cops and the Salve Security Corp that patrols the place. Yes, we will press charges. No, you cannot exchange your starter if you don't like them. Yes, pokemon need food and water. Yes, by taking a pokemon, you are promising to take care of them. Yes, we will take them back but we will not give you a new one. No, these terms are non-negotiable."

He picked up a box that was filled with six random pokeballs. He turned on his heels. "Questions? No? Good! Sorry, things are a bit busy as you can see, so we gotta move a bit fast. Sorry for the lack of fanfare."

He tossed out the first pokeball to reveal a Togepi. The pokemon was in a colorful egg-shell, as if it didn't fully shake it off. The pokemon gave a happy smile and a friendly wave, looking as sweet as could be. "Togepi. It's a pokemon in an egg. Very nice, friendly, sense emotions, etc. etc. etc. Okay, next," they said as they tossed out the next one.

"Mudkip! A traditional starter in Hoenn. This is a water type, becomes water/ground and very big and very strong. Very blue." The blue pokemon shook some moisture off of itself and gave a happy cry and a smile, sitting down and looking Moist.

The third ball was tossed out. A little yellow and tan dog appeared. It gave a friendly bark, electricity sparking off of its fur. "Yamper! A pokemon originally from Galar as I understand it. Evolves into a sort of... shepherding dog. Or something."

The fourth was tossed out. "This is an Alolan Diglett. They have some hair that is actually a result of volcanic activity. I do not know if they have feet. No one knows. Please don't ask. I have had so many people ask today..." He sighs with the broken soul of a defeated man. The diglett blinked, looking confused... yes, it was partially burrowed into the floor of the lab, why ask?

"This one is corphish. It's... it's a crawdad. I don't know what one would expect." The corphish snipped its snippers at the two humans, looking ready to fight and like someone should have some rubber bands ready.

The last one that came out was a deino, immediately walking into the device and shaking its head. Then walked into it again. That's a Deino. It has eyes, but it can't see worth shit. Not right now, though. When it evolves once it gets two heads."

The tech gave a heavy sigh. Now was the part that always took the longest: the deliberation. The parents trying to tell their child who to pick and what to do, not knowing this was a very important, careful decision. A starter pokemon was special. Unique to each person.

"If you need time, I can put them all on hold and you can come back later or tomorrow for your choice."

The tech shrugged at the question about the diglett. Like hell he knew! But he did turn his attention to the deino that was.... still walking into the machine.

"Well, Deino there is a dragon-type pokemon, well, dark-dragon to be specific. Very powerful, dragons. Hard to tame when they evolve. Sure, they look cute now, but just you wait... this evolution is blind and bites everything. It's the base evolution, obviously. It's second evolution, Zweilous, has two heads that uh... well, hate each other. A lot. The few we have here at the lab have to have cones on because sometimes they rip each other to shreds. To get to a Zweilous takes..."

The tech double checked their tablet. "Oh jeez.... a long ass time. At least a solid year? Less if you focus on them entirely and have a talent, I guess. Now, it's last evolution is called Hydreigon and it's been referred to as the 'brutal pokemon'. Only thinks of destruction, hates humanity because of the past, yadda yadda...heads on arms, attacks anything that moves, destroyed villages. Pretty standard dragon stuff, really."

The tech sniffed and looked back at the deino. Yup. it was cute now, at least! Blind as as bat, though.

The tech gave a nod. "Good choice! Mudkips are great partners, and they can swim with you on them once they get bigger, so its a win-win! There's a reason they were starter pokemon in another region, too. An- Corphish!" The tech withdrew the corphish back into their pokeball. "Aw, jeez, sorry about that... anyway, hold on a moment."

They recalled all the other pokemon back, putting the pokeballs to the side as they started to prepare a go-pack complete with the mudkip's pokeball, some empty pokeballs, a few potions, some pokemon food, and a squirt bottle filled with some water. "The squirt bottle is to keep your mudkip moist and happy! It is a water type, so if you are in a very dry area, be sure to spritz them sometimes, or as a treat. There's some food to last you a while, too."

"And.. that's it! Have fun out there, be careful, and remember: treat your pokemon well and they'll defend you when things get tough. Treat them badly and they may very well leave you to die, who knows." He looks down at his smeargle who gives a wise nod. "At any rate, you'll be fine now. Wild pokemon will think twice about attacking you when you have a pokemon. They seem to understand battles are between pokemon, like they view your partner as an extension of your strength. They beat your partner, they beat you. It's weird, but how it is." The tech waved and grabbed the clipboard. "Anyway, bye, get out please, gotta go bring in one of those 11 year olds now! Oh and always feel free to come back and ask us questions, just not today!" The tech ran out to go fetch the next person on the list.