Asch and Sakura arrived in room 649 with nothing unusual happening save for a small crowd. Yin, Pyre Heart, Narancia, and Zet walked over to the crowed to see what's up.
"You know no matter how many times I come here I keep seeing new species of Pokemon I've never seen before." Asch stated "How many known species are there?"
"At least 649 species have been documented, however new species have been discovered in different places and there is an an estimate of at least over 700 species. However new species seem to be popping up and we don't know the exact amount." Sakura explained.
"Damn that's just crazy!" Asch said in surprise "I can't believe there's so many of these guys, heck that's way more than the ones in this room!"
"Yeah it's amazing isn't it?" Sakura nodded "There's always something new to learn about Pokemon, it's almost impossible to know everything. It's almost like how there's so many different people in the world but you can't meet everyone"
"Well I'm glad I met you." Asch smiled.
"Me too." Sakura smiled back as went over to get a bowl "Anyway why don't I call Celty over, she's up in that tree."
Asch looked in the direction Sakura was pointing and saw a Skarmory preening herself.
"That sure is a scary looking Pokemon." Asch whistled "She's not mean is she?"
"Don't worry." Sakura shook her head "A lot of the Pokemon here are very friendly."
"Okay if you say so." Asch nodded.
"Celty!" Sakura called "Over here!"
"Ska!" Sephiria cried as she flew over to Sakura. She greeted her happily and nuzzled her with her beak.
"I'm so glad to see you too!" Sakura hugged the Skarmory "I have something for you here."
Sakura got out the plastic baggie with the Belue Berry scraps and put it in the bowl.
Celty cried happily as she began eating the Belue Berry.
"She sure looks happy." Asch smiled "Zeta seems to take good care of her."
"She does." Sakura nodded "She really has a natural knack with Pokemon."
"MAMO!" They suddenly heard as they looked in the direction of the crowd.
Suddenly a huge Mamoswine ran towards them at full speed before jumping the air and landing directly on Asch.
"Get off of me you giant fuzzball!" Asch yelled struggling to get out.
"Asch are you okay?" Sakura asked.
"I'm fine but I can't move!" Asch shouted "What's with this fuzzball!?"
"That's just Armstrong's way of saying hello." Sakura laughed nervously.
"Can you get him to get off of me?" Asch asked as he gave up trying to get away.
"Armstrong can you please get off of him?" Sakura asked nicely.
"Mamo." Armstrong nodded as he moved away from Asch.
Asch got up a little shaky but eventually regained composure.
"Are you hurt?" Sakura asked worried.
"Nah just a little stiff." Asch said as he began to stretch to loosen himself up.
"Sorry about that." Sakura apologized "Armstrong is a very affectionate Pokemon, but he often forgets his own strength and size compared to others."
"Mamo Mamo." Armstrong cried looking apologetic. Asch could of sworn he was crying manly tears.
"No worries." Asch shrugged "Not the worst thing that's happened to me, and he does look sorry. I forgive you fuzzball."
"Mamoswine!" Armstrong cried affectionately as he nuzzled Asch being careful not to knock him over.
"He sure is a nice guy." Asch laughed as he pet the giant mammoth Pokemon "I don't think I could stay mad at him even if he keeps squishing me."
"Yeah he's been like that ever since Zeta got him." Sakura smiled.
"Oh so this guy belongs to Zeta too?" Asch asked "How many does she have?"
"Only 6." Sakura answered "That's usually the maximum you can have without a place to store the rest."
"Is that why you only brought 6 to St. Acidburg?" Asch wondered.
"Yes." Sakura nodded. "That is the limit of Pokemon you can use normally. However those don't apply if your fighting an army and need to use as many as you need."
"Isn't that a bit unethical though?" Asch questioned "I mean it seems all they do is fight."
"It's also like that in the wild too, even without Trainers." Sakura explained "In fact Pokemon don't really mind if they are owned by Trainers because they either want to become even stronger or be protected. As long as you don't abuse them and treat them with respect then they'll be loyal to you."
"I guess that makes sense, it must be a sort of survival instinct." Asch pondered.
"You can see it that way." Said Sakura "Though most of the time you have to battle the Pokemon in order to catch them."
"Really?" Asch asked.
"Yes." Sakura replied "It's so that they see you're worthy to train and improve them."
"Huh I guess that makes some sense." Asch understood "If they want to get stronger it's important to see if the trainer can make them stronger."
"Yeah but some of them just want friends." Sakura added "Some Pokemon like Yin will decide to go with a trainer without a battle. Me and PB encountered quite a few Pokemon who were like that, and the only Pokemon Zeta had to battle was Celty there."
"Huh I guess Pokemon are kinda like people when you get right down to it." Asch remarked.
"Yup." Sakura nodded.
"Anyway what are those Pokemon huddling over anyway?" Asch asked.
Armstrong reacted excitedly when Asch asked the question and began to jump up and down.
"Mamo Mamomo swine Mamoswine!" Armstrong said with great excitement and more manly tears.
"Oh my god is that true?" Sakura asked astonished.
"Mamo!" Armstrong nodded excitedly with his manly tears still running.
"Ah that's amazing!" Sakura squeed.
"Okay I'm lost." Asch said confused "What's all the hub bub?"
"I'll show you!" Sakura said as she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the crowd with Armstrong following close behind.
The Pokemon moved away so Sakura and Asch could get a better view of what they were looking at.
What they saw was an Eevee which was surrounded by a Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, and a Glaceon. Next to the Eevee was a small brown and beige zig zag striped Egg.
"Okay I still don't get it." Asch scratch his head.
"Purity laid an Egg!" Sakura said with excitement.
"Wait...Pokemon lay Eggs?" Asch said confused.
"Uh huh." Sakura nodded excitedly.
"Somehow that just seems weird to me, but then again everything is weird to me." Asch sighed. "So if Purity is a girl who's the dad?"
"MAMO!" Armstrong cried as he went up to Purity.
"Vee!" Purity cried happily as they nuzzled each other affectionately and the other Eeveelutions looked at Armstrong enviously. The Jolteon in particular was really angry and electricity was sparking from it's spiky hide.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Asch's jaw dropped.
"There are somethings that are better not to be questioned." Sakura said solemnly.
"Right..." Asch said dryly "So now what?"
"I got to tell Vixy the news!" Sakura cried as she went away to make a call.
"Okay you have fun with that." Asch said still confused. He looked over at the Eeveelutions and saw the Jolteon was still mad.
"Hey there little guy." Asch said as he sat down and tried to reach over to the Jolteon "Sorry that happened but it'll be okay."
"JOLT!" The Jolteon cried out as it shot a bolt of electricity at Asch's hand. Asch winched a bit but wasn't phased though his hand had a few burns.
"Going to take a lot more than that to scare me." Asch smiled as his hand touched Jolteon's head and pet him. The Jolteon was stunned but eventually calmed down and rubbed Asch's hand.
"There you go, feeling a little better now?" Asch asked.
"Jolt!" The Jolteon cried happily.
The other Eeveelutions came over to Asch and also began to rub at him affectionately.
"You guys too?" Asch smiled "Guess you all just wanted some attention huh."
"I'm back!" Sakura said as she walked over to him. She noticed all the Eeveelutions around him and smiled. "I see you've met the members of Strike Force EON."
"Strike Force EON?" Asch titled his head.
"PB's prized Eeveelutions, Shock, Mental, Thorn, Frostbite, Blaze, Flood and Blackout." Sakura pointed them out.
"Oh so these guys belong to PB." Asch nodded "But what's a Eeveelution?"
"Well Eevees in particular are known for having many options to evolve into and those are all the options." Sakura explained.
"So in theory Purity can evolve into any of these guys?" Asch wondered.
"Yeah, though she doesn't seem to want to just yet." Sakura nodded.
"I see, so what did Vixy say?" Asch asked.
"She said she wanted to give the Egg to Zeta since it was her Mamoswine that Purity fell for." Said Sakura "She knows she'll take good care of it."
"So what's going to hatch from it then?" Asch questioned.
"Another Eevee." Sakura answered.
"Ah that's kinda nice." Asch smiled "I'm sure she'll love to here that."
"Yeah, let's get the egg and come back to PB and Zeta." Sakura said offering her hand to him.
"Yeah, let's go." Asch stood up and took her hand.
Purity gave Sakura the Egg to give to Zeta and the 2 of them headed back to the sickbay with Zet in tow.
(I really like characterizing Pokemon, but Zet remains forever in the background.
And Armstrong, just Armstrong.
)