[X] My Assistant

[LittleShadowPoke...]

Joey settled down rather easily into the limo with the help of the driver. The young boy became startled at the initiative and awkwardly accepted the help although it was a wholly new experience for him. He had yet to make up his mind whether or not he liked it. Despite his unusually clean routines that morning, Joey still felt dirty against the plush leather seats and that he was intruding. There were some snacks and drinks tucked under the seat along one side and both hunger and curiosity overcame Joey's hesitation. He started to pull them out, and then hastily stuffed them back upon thinking that he shouldn't chance it on his very first impression, and instead put his rumbling tummy to rest. The limo drfited smoothly along a well-packed dirt road towards a tropical hut-styled house, although Joey couldn't tell because of the tinted windows and the divider between himself and the driver. Joey enjoyed the distance and privacy, which came to an end as the limo slowed to a crawl over a small patch of gravel outside the elevated hut. The driver came around to help Joey out of the car, who winced at the intrusion of a strong grip. The driver also held out his hand to take Joey's bag and upon realizing it, the young boy quickly slung his pack over his shoulders and started heading up to the house. He mentally kicked himself all the way to the bamboo steps for possibly seeming ingracious.

The ascent into the magazine-quality home was time-consuming but not burdensome, due to zigzagging ramps and intermittent wooden steps with a viable spring. The entrance was a modest sliding glass door free of any mark, which was set into the side of the long and low wooden abode. Joey crossed to the door from the recreational patio, only preceded by the driver who gracefully sprung ahead to get the door. Stepping through the glass etntrance was vaguely reminiscent of a fairy tale analogy for Joey as he gazed upon all the furnishings.

Right from his position, he could spot the living room and kitchen. All the furniture and appliances were well maintained, clean, and new-looking. Joey wasn't sure what he had expected, in terms of having holograms and everything seeming as if it had come from futuristic space, and being waited on by robots, but he couldn't argue against that anything was a step up and therefore better than he could have hoped. He didn't have long to wait as Jana de Vries glided out of an adjacent room in a flowing sun dress, and concisely addressed, thanked, and dismissed the driver who exited with a polite tip of his chauffer's hat.

Following Jana's cues, Joey was led down a spacious well-decorated hall towards what Jana designated as his chamber. Inside, he found what anyone would expect of a dorm room. It was modestly furnished compared to the rest of the house, but Joey thought it was magical. It was spacious to start, and probably enough room to hold a small Pokemon battle on the floor if he wanted. A two-person bed fitted with fresh sheets and a comforter was perpendicular to the wall opposite the door with nearly equal open space on either side. A shelf system was perched on the far side complete with elaborate marble Dragonite bookends. On the other side of the room was a desk and a chair, and behind him just opposite the door was a deep-set closet with a shelf and various clothes hangers. A dresser completed the ensemble in the remaining reasonably open space. Joey took all of this in quickly while Jana explained.

"This is your space now while we are in Fidona. Respect it, keep it clean, and organize your possessions properly. This is non-optional. There is a trunk under the bed for your miscellaneous possessions." Jana stalked around the room taking inventory while Joey distinctly felt the lack of weight his meager pack of possessions betrayed. "You may decorate however you please provided that the preceding principles are upheld. Mounting tacky is found in the desk drawer. Do not mar the walls. All cleaning supplies with directions are in the bathroom cupboard," Jana gestured to a joined bathroom that Joey had overlooked before. "I assume you can read." Jana pulled him back to the closet and inspected him.

"I can guess at your size, so I'll buy some clothes while I'm out today. Later this evening you'll find them in your closet," she stated as she pulled some of the bagginess of Joey's clothes tighter to get a better sense of his form, which elicited a blush and a wince from the young boy that mostly went unnoticed by Jana, who was now muttering about exercise.

Jana filled some more time by outlining Joey's responsibilities and emphasized his obligation to not only follow-through, but to succeed. He now had various training and educational schedules with a hired hand in charge of each. He also had a hired nutritionist who he would meet later that day and all his meals would be planned and provided for now on, and heaven help him if he consumed a single unplanned calorie. A packet of all this information in detail was placed on his desk for later review.

Joey was shown around the rest of the house and was impressed by the entertainment center, the office, and mostly by the expansive library with everything from scrolls and leather-bound editions to a wide-screen computer terminal by the desk. He couldn't wait to use some free time to peruse the books and do some reading. Jana gestured to the computer and said something that he was sure he had misinterpreted. His personal assistant would show him how to use that later? Before he could question it, he was whisked away back into the living room, where Jana started to wrap up her end of the day.

"Aside from meeting your nutritionist later, consider yourself free for today. Oh, and here, you'll be using this to communicate," she said nonchalantly as she handed him a C-Gear which he took gingerly in awe, not quite knowing what it was. He had been introduced to various communication devices for trainers before, but nothing quite like this. "It has text features and preloaded contacts in the X-Transceiver. Mine is only there for incoming calls. I don't want you contacting me. Everyone else is free game: driver, Co-ordinator coach, tutor, nutritionist, PA, etc."

After a short bidding of goodnight despite it still being early afternoon, Jana retreated into her private office to organize some event, and Joey was left alone to stalk back to his room in contemplation. He tossed his pack on the bed and sat on the corner, and started skimming through the packet that had been left as instructions on his desk. It looked so intense at first glance with a plethora of overbearing and intricate rules (there were even specifications to use prism corners when making his bed!), so that for a brief moment he considered making a break for it and returning to a life of running, hiding, dumpster-diving, and freedom, but he shook it off. He couldn't deny that he felt compelled to stay and stick it out to achieve some form of a dream. The more he scrutinized the packet, the more he was able to reason himself into confidence of his competence. After all, he had taken more control of his own life lately, and he had managed something of a schedule as dictated by Fidona city dumpster rotation and library hours. Near the back of the packet, a section even detailed a vague reward system, but the terms seemed to be purposely mysterious as Joey couldn't manage to glean any details. With a twitter of excitement, Joey opened a desk drawer and placed the packet inside for future reference and then started to unpack.

First, Joey unpacked his stadium blanket depicting a Spinda and folded it into fourths to lay across the foot of his bed. His emerald pajama set was re-folded and neatly placed in a dresser. He lovingly arranged his old, disheveled textbooks on the bookshelf between the Dragonite bookends a few different ways before being satisfied with the order and appearance. Then he placed his notebook and Spinda pen on the desk. After taking a long sweep around and feeling quite odd trying to think of this room as "his" room, he looked at the clock and decided it was almost time to meet Lori for her gym match. He pulled out his C-Gear and started fiddling with it to text the driver. He wasn't quite sure if he would ever be able to feasibly use the call features, but that was a problem for another day.

This post has been edited by LittleShadowPokemon: Jan 3 2013, 04:13 PM