The Crease

Draft 1

".....Professor S—amour."

Lip upturned. A hand shook a lab coat-shrouded shoulder harshly as the words repeated... foggy, yet present.

"Professor Sycamore!"

Eyes flew open, face peeling from the coarse pillow of now-drenched papers and hard wood. Not even allowing himself a yawn, the Professor glanced at the one who had roused him from quite the untimely slumber.

"You're on the clock! You really can't be napping! Someone is here to see you!"

"Someone? Ah, wait, Sina don't leave so qu—"

Door slammed behind as the plum-topped girl rushed to her next job. Perhaps it was that this newcomer was important? Or she had spent too much time trying to wake him? The thought was a headache he would try to avoid.

Drowsy eyes looked at the mess in defeat, a lone arm dragging across the desk to at least clear a small area from the tossed papers and graphs. Most were just half-written musings or even drawings of mega evolved Pokémon. Hand accidentally tapped a small, round, rainbow stone, allowing the sphere to cascade towards the ground. He closed his eyes, ready to hear a sharp impact.

"Careful, Auguste!"

The mega stone was returned to him by a gloved hand owned by a chuckling man.

"Lysandre!"

Within seconds, the once-drowsy man was out of his seat, gushing with a joyous greeting. His old friend—how old he could not tell. It seemed as though the founder of Lysandre Labs was a quintessential part of his life. An unchanging variable—hopefully forever. Even gazing up to his stern gaze, he knew that the other man felt quite similarly.

"You really must upgrade from all of these papers, mon ami. You may lose something precious in all this clutter."