Some Things Just Can't Be Understood

Soon two men in white coats arrived, two Machop with them. "Hello professor! What happened this time?"

"This happened," replied Maple, pointing to Goldie. "...No it's not a Pokemon. It's...a creature from a distant land, a griffin. That apparently can tear through steel if it wants to."

"We'll try not to make it mad then," replied one of the men.

"Oh, he's not vicious," Maple explained. "Though he might try to lick you to death."

"If he likes you" Pheobie giggled

"Looks like we're screwed either way," said one man to the man with an amused grin and shrug. "Machop!"

Both gray humanoid creatures hurried over to the ship and lifted it up effortlessly, which was impressive considering their size.

"Wow! They're so strong!" Pheobie exclaimed

"Well they are Fighting-types," said Maple. "But I must admit this is quite something for Machop. Been doing a lot of training?"

"Of course!" said the first man, looking proud. "One of them even beat a Machamp the other day."

"Mach!" cried one of the Machop, presumably the one described.

"Good job!" Pheobie praised.

"Alright then, onto the lab!" Maple announced, leading the way.

(fast-forward to lab)

Pheobie stayed close to Maple and kept a firm hold on Goldie's leash.

The building was not especially fancy. It was just plain and white. There wasn't even a sign outside that announced what it was. The Machop carried the ship to the side of the building, where there was a hangar of sorts.

"Ah home sweet home-away-from-home," announced Maple, before going inside. "Hello! I see things are still standing!"

Pheobie was uncharacteristically shy and quiet. Goldie, on the other hand, wanted to sniff around and explore.

Both various people and various Pokemon came up to greet them.

"Yeah, the place is still standing because you haven't been around," teased one coworker.

"Well, I suppose that didn't hurt either," answered Maple. "So what did I miss?"

"Warping glitches, overlevel Pokemon, ghosts and dolls."

"Doesn't sound like I've missed too much then."

Pheobie struggled to keep the griffin pup in check. "Goldie, behave!" She hissed under her breath.

"Hey, stop that," Maple said, giving the griffin a warning nudge. He calmed down, but still looked eager to meet all the new people.

"Oh, what kind of Pokemon is that?" asked another one of the colleagues.

"It's not a Pokemon," Maple answered. He had a feeling he would be saying this a lot. "It's a griffin. A badly-behaved griffin."

"also what put a whole in the ship." Pheobie muttered.

"Ah, yes! Let me introduce you to Pheobie!" Maple announced, putting an arm around her. The room was suddenly abuzz with greetings.

Pheobie blushed. "ah, er, um... Hi?" she squeaked in embarrassment, unused to such a warm greeting from so many people at once.

"Pheobie meet Bob, Harry, Louie..." Maple went on, listing a bunch of names and not being too clear on who was who.

(lol)

"Hi" Pheobie squeaked again meekly.

Goldie eagerly pranced in pace and pulled at the leash, wanting to meet people.

"Behave," growled Maple. The griffin sadly laid down. "Anyway, why don't you show them your color ability, dear?"

"Dear?" echoed the others with both disbelief and amusement. Maple's face turned red at the reaction.

"I don't want to hear it!"

Pheobie blushed and ducked her head. "I've never done it in front of so many people before" She murmured.

"Well that will change today," Maple announced cheerfully. "Turn my hair green."

Shyly, Pheobie reached up and ran her hand through his hair, turning it an annoyingly bright lime green. Her hand quickly snapped back to her side.

The room was filled with amazement and laughter. Maple brought down a strand in front of his face to see the results for himself. "Yep, that's green alright."

"Now you can be that rock star you always wanted to be," joked one cohort. "All we need is some hair gel."

"I've got some!" offered one of the girls. Judging by her purple spiky hair it was no surprise.

Pheobie crouched down and pet Goldie, still embarrassed.

Bob, the owner of the Machop, noticed her shyness.

"Don't mind us, we're a bunch of weirdos," he said.

"And Maple is the weirdest of us all," chimed in his friend.

"And damn proud of it," Maple answered smugly.