“Oh that’s Hop,” Kiki said without any further explanation.
“And Ari? Well I dunno where I got him,” she continued as the arcanine bowed his head and Kiki climbed on his back, sitting there politely.
“I just grew up with him as a growlithe. Just recently did he evolve. When I was… three maybe?”
She pet his back happily, the arcanine gleefully contributing in his conversation with Zoru.
“May I ask what your names are?” Kiki asked, cocking her head.
(Heck yeah you can mention Hau!)
Evie smiled. "Thanks," she said to Lucario, then turned her attention back to Hop, who seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "He wouldn't have actually hurt you, you know." Hop gave her a slightly skeptical look. "I'm serious! Lucario's super serious around strangers, but once he gets to know you he'll relax," she assured him.
"If you say so," Hop said, deciding to drop it. Maybe the Lucario really was just on edge with new people. "Ah, hello, Kiki," he greeted. "And you must be Logan, right?"
(Again, sorry for the late response. I'm busy in quite a few of my classes and don't have a lot of opportunities to check or actually write a decent reply)
(It’s alright, don’t worry about it :)
Kiki smiled gleefully at Hop, teetering her head back and forth and kicking her feet off of Ari, making sure to not hit his side but still keeping up the childish action. She ruffled his mane, the newly brushed fur flowing through her fingers.
“Hi, Hoppy,” she called down. “Happen to know where Professor Sonia is?”
"Yeah, I'm Logan. And this is my partner, Zoru." Zoru yipped gleefully. "Nice to meet you." When Logan looked at Hop, she was instantly reminded of her friend, Hau.
"Nice to meet you, too. Hang on a sec, I'll go get Sonia for you guys, " Hop said, walking deeper into the lab. He came back a few moments later with the Professor in question, who looked sheepish.
"Sorry, I didn't even realize you were here! I'm Professor Sonia, but you lot probably knew that already."
(Hey by the way, what's Logan there for? A pokedex?)
Lucario was still growling quietly, not liking the amount of strangers in the room. He offered a curt nod to the Arcanine out of respect, but otherwise just stayed close to Evie and glared at everyone. He was quite powerful himself, and he would have no problem attacking the Arcanine or Zoroark if they dared to touch him or Evie.
Kiki slid down from the side of arcanine, smiling at the Lucario. She waddled over to his side, but kept more distance than normal, respectful of his space.
“Hewo,” she said quietly. “You look very cool. I’ve never seen a Lucario before.”
She kept her hands behind her back like before, smiling softly up at the Pokémon.
(well she has an Alola Pokedex but she needs it updated even tho she forgot that and also she just wanted to check it out)
Lucario eyed the girl warily. Hmph… more respectful than most. He observed. He relaxed a little when she didn't just run up and latch onto him like most children, but he still kept his guard up just in case. Nonetheless, he didn't seem like he was about to attack her.
Kiki turned so she was facing the same way as he, still rocking on her heels. She turned her head to him, her white hair falling a bit into her big eyes. She then glanced over to Evie and Logan, smiling.
“I’m Kiki,” she said to Lucario. “It’s nice to meet you, sir. Did you come with that girl over there?”
She pointed a diminutive finger to Evie, looking inquisitively up at the blue Pokémon.
Lucario looked over to Evie and nodded stiffly. I do not belong to her. We are… 'friends', as I believe humans call it. He told Kiki, telepathically of course. Like the majority of pokemon, he hadn't really learned how to speak aloud, but he had mastered telepathic communication. This type of communication tended to feel weird to people who weren't used to it, but Lucario had communicated with Evie that way for years, so she was comfortable with it now.
Kiki nodded slowly. “Well of course,” she said aloud.
She tried to keep herself calm, but she certainly was excited to encounter a Pokémon she could actually communicate with. Although it felt like she could speak with arcanine, this was still different.
“It’s cool that you can talk,” she said happily, voicing her thoughts.
Evie didn't let Lucario's exchange with Kiki go unnoticed, even if she could only hear the little girl's half of it. Hop chuckled. "Friendly with kids, huh?" he asked.
"Not usually, actually," Evie commented, "but she's being a lot calmer than kids normally are around him. Aaaanyways, Professor Sonia, I'm Evan Foster–Evie's fine, though–and Kabu recommended me for a Pokedex?"
Sonia nodded. "Of course! Can I see your Rotom phone?" she asked. Evie obliged and after greeting the Rotom that lived inside the device and fiddling with the phone for a few seconds, Sonia handed her phone back to her. "There you go! Now you should be able to access data on Pokemon here in Galar wherever you may be! Pretty handy, huh?" She turned her attention over to Logan. "Right, and you must be Logan. Professor Kukui filled me in and gave me the data your 'dex will need. Mind if I take that for a moment?" she asked.
Logan handed the Professor her Pokedex. "Yeah, I'm Logan. And if you could, tell Professor Kukui that I said hi. And tell him to tell Lillie that I'm still alive." Logan laughed. "I haven't even been here for a week, but Lillie fusses over everything, so she's forcing me to check in, but I'll call her later. I gotta get settled."
Kiki nodded slowly. “Well of course,” she said aloud.
She tried to keep herself calm, but she certainly was excited to encounter a Pokémon she could actually communicate with. Although it felt like she could speak with arcanine, this was still different.
“It’s cool that you can talk,” she said happily, voicing her thoughts.
It isn't quite 'talking', but I suppose. It is my aura that allows it. Lucario explained, audibly grumbling a bit with the telepathic message. You said that 'Kiki' is what the humans call you. Is that correct, small one? He asked.
Sonia laughed and threw Hop a grin. "Sounds like she'd get along pretty well with Vic, huh?" she asked while working on the Pokedex.
Hop huffed in amusement. "Hah, yeah. You'd think the Champion would be more concerned with League business, but he called like three times a day for a month when I said I'd be working on becoming a Professor," he said good-naturedly. "Of course, now we barely get to talk because both of us are so busy, so I shouldn't really complain, eh?"
"Mm." Sonia agreed, then handed Logan her Pokedex back. "All up-to-date! You might want to give the regional variants section a look-over, since you're new. Though I'm sure you've at least already seen a Galarian Zigzagoon? They're fairly common around Hammerlocke, especially in the Wild Area."
Kiki nodded, again one of her energetic motions that was typical of a child. Though, the rest of her entire being was less than childish.
“Yep,” she said proudly. Her eyes flitted over the lucario, and she gave another smile.
“You’re spikes are really cool,” she said in a breath, excitedly. “And they look even cooler in person. Say, where did you come from? You don’t seem like a Galarian lucario.”
(Oh yeah, I should probably elaborate. Victor, the male protagonist, is the Galar Champion and Gloria is off traveling in the hopes of getting strong enough to kick her brother off the throne. I hc them as twins pretty hard, so twins they are lol. Victor is a worrier and super sweet and Gloria is every Scottish Trainer meme out there at once.)
Lucario shrugged. It isn't important. Besides, I don't remember. He looked over at Evie again. That may be a question better suited for her. He nodded towards Evie to clarify who 'her' was.
Logan nodded in agreement. "Thanks! And I saw some Zigzagoons on the way here. They look so different than the ones I was used to, and I thought it was a different Pokemon! I also saw a few Meowths on my way here. They evolve into a complete different Pokemon than in other regions, right?"
"Yep! Pretty cool, right?" Hop chipped in. "Alola has a regional variant of Meowth, too, right? Dark types?" he asked, remembering reading about them at one point.
"Yeah! But my neighbors brought a Kantonian Meowth with them, so now I've seen all the variants of Meowth!" Zoru chimed in with a yip. "Oh, yeah. I got lost because Zoru wanted to fight one. I said no. He ran off chasing it. I ended up in Motostoke." Logan pulled her mask down around her neck to reveal a somewhat sheepish grin. "We both tend to get a little excited around new Pokemon."
"Oh, Motostoke?" Evie asked, "That's where I'm from! Did you cut through the Wild Area to get here, or just head to the station there?" Her eyes went wide as a thought struck her. "Oh! Have you been in a Dynamax Den yet? They're the weird glowy red things, and the Pokemon inside are huge!"
(Yo idea but you might have been trying to imply it but are the neighbors that Logan's talking about the S/M/US/UM protagonists?)