P. F. L. Office

[Whatevr89532]

Alongside the several ads for P. F. L. fights, there's always something like..

TABAre you a good fighter? Want to make money on violence that doesn't permanently hurt anyone? Join the P. F. L. today!

TABWhat's that? You're not a Pokemorph? You don't have to be! We are an equal-opportunity employer; as long as you're confident in your abilities*, you can join!

TAB*-and willing to pay a small one-time fee.

There are several places for those who want to join the organization to go, and this is one of them.

It's a largely unremarkable, business-looking section of a strip mall with a sign above it that says "P. F. L. Registration", followed by the same stylized pokeball the organization uses as its usual symbol. Inside is a front desk, with a door on the left leading on in to still more offices, and a door on the right that leads to some training areas and a couple of rings free for members to use.

As things begin, it is morning, and the office has just opened its doors. A Stantler-man sits behind the front desk, shuffling a few papers around, playing solitaire on his computer, and generally just trying to look busy until someone comes in. It's much easier for one to do this when people who scrutinize one too hard tend to be hypnotized by one's antlers.

[AmbushCat]

*Enter one shopaholic. Having just finished scouring the rest of the strip mall for consumable goods, Callista directs her attention to the P.F.L. office. Giving the place a once-over, she nods and enters.*

Callista: In the words of Ace of Base, "I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes." I'm here to register.

[Knight Errant]

Dact wanders into the office, hands in his pockets. He has no idea what a 'pokemon' is, but the advertisement had asked for good fighters who could do nonlethal combat. And that he could do well enough.

He raises an eyebrow at the strange reindeerlike man... then notices someone is ahead of him in the line. So, he waits his turn. Looking around the building curiously.

[Whatevr89532]

The man at the desk nods. "All right, let's see.." He hunches over in the desk, opens a drawer and pulls out a pair of stapled three-page forms, placing them on the counter so Callista can read it. "This here's the boilerplates. First one is you won't sue for pain and suffering in the ring as long as it's fixed after the fight--always is. League pays medical bills if anything does happen. Second one's name-and-likeness permission for promotion and merchandising, but you don't have to sign it and even if you do those things expire and get renegotiated all the time. Lemme know if you have any questions."

He waves at Dact while giving her time to look over it. "Hey, same for you?"


The forms have a place for signature and date at the end. If Callista reads them more carefully, they just say what the Stantler-man explained, but in comprehensive legalese.

[Knight Errant]

"Ah, so this is a kind of fight club, then? I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with the PFL."

[Whatevr89532]

"Ah, ah--okay," the antlered fellow says, getting a look of recognition. "Well, it's more or less a sport. A little like wrestling crossed with MMA." He starts typing something into his computer as he speaks. "This world being a..confluence or whatever it is, and there's a lot of pokemon-related worlds around, so a lot of pokemon and people like me, part pokemon, wound up here. Lot of the pokemon get transformed into part people too, you know, colors and all. Ah.." He turns the screen partway around so Dact can see what is now a fullscreened video of a Scyther-girl with blades out of her arms slashing wildly around trying to hit..well, it looks like a white blur. "Someone had the bright idea, lot of these people still like to fight like pokemon do. It's kinda flashy all on its own, without any special effects, and pokemorphs--they call us--always faint before they die, can be fixed up all the way every time with a spell they cooked up. So they made a fighting league for us. This here's a recent rising star at th'moment..curb stomping a scyther." He gestures at the screen just in time for the blur to slam straight into the scyther-girl and carry them both offscreen.

"Anyway, once things got off the ground, owners wanted more fighters for more fights for more money. You know how it is. But not all pokemorphs live to fight, you know, like not me, so they got a workaround for other people who can fight to make money in the league too. I hear it's good for blowing off steam, you know, even if you don't get into the real money in the upper tiers."

[Knight Errant]

"So, its an exhibition hall for these... creature people to fight? Hmm. Seems interesting. I'll give it a shot, sure." He goes to check over the form and sign it.

[AmbushCat]

The man at the desk nods. "All right, let's see.." He hunches over in the desk, opens a drawer and pulls out a pair of stapled three-page forms, placing them on the counter so Callista can read it. "This here's the boilerplates. First one is you won't sue for pain and suffering in the ring as long as it's fixed after the fight--always is. League pays medical bills if anything does happen. Second one's name-and-likeness permission for promotion and merchandising, but you don't have to sign it and even if you do those things expire and get renegotiated all the time. Lemme know if you have any questions."

.....

The forms have a place for signature and date at the end. If Callista reads them more carefully, they just say what the Stantler-man explained, but in comprehensive legalese.

Callista: *picks up the documents and looks them over* ... ...Eh, I'll just take your word for it. I can't make heads, tails, or edges out of these. ...Though I do have a question concerning that last bit. If my name has to be used for stuff, they aren't going to use my initials for it, are they?

[Whatevr89532]

The counter worker gets another pair of forms out on the counter for Dact so he has something to go and sign.

"Eh, if they think the initials are catchy they might, but I dunno how the ad Mankeys think. Really most joiners who aren't pokemorphs to begin with use a different name in the ring anyway, and they only ever advertise that one, so if you're worried you could do that."

He scratches his head. "Ah..right, aside from the contracts, the workaround I mentioned costs buying power five hundred pokedollars, uh, five US dollars about, to make each one, so they call that a fee to join. It's one-time and anyone halfway decent makes it back in their first fight with an audience watching."

[AmbushCat]

Callista: *thinks it over for a few moments* ...Eh, I think I'll just leave off my middle initial and use my real name otherwise. Enough people here recognize my Poké-form and/or voice anyway, so using an alias wouldn't get me too far. ... *gives the forms one last look* Alright, you've got the stuff for me to sign?

[Knight Errant]

Dact glances over the forms, shrugging and going to sign. "I'm not so into this for money, more the sport."

[Whatevr89532]

"Ah, so--if you already have a pokemorph form you don't need to pay the fee or anything." The stantler-man scratches his head and then taps the forms Callista was just reading. "Uh..the place to sign and date is at the end of the last page."

He nods to Dact. "It's not worth the money if you don't enjoy it anyway. Uh, you don't sound like you have a pokemorph form already, right? You'd need to pay the fee I mentioned."

[AmbushCat]

*The shopfreak nods in thanks and turns to the indicated pages, signing her name "Callista Wilson-Metallium" on them and dating them as needed.*

Callista: *hands the forms back* Here ya go.

[Knight Errant]

"No I don't have a... whatever that is. But alright." He gets out the required currency, setting it atop the form.

[Whatevr89532]

The one behind the counter nods, taking all the forms and money and stacking it all on the table. "Okay, they'll want you to spar with someone to help work out what tier to put you in. There's rings over that way," (pointing at the door to the right) "should be someone free to spar in there. Ah..and there's restrooms on the left of inside there if you want privacy to change form."

He then looks to Dact, and ducks under the desk and opens what seems to be a refrigerator somewhere, then comes back up and places a paper plate on the counter. It has something that resembles a blueberry on it, except that it's glowing in shifting colors. "This here's the workaround," he explains, "they call it a poke-berry. Gives you a pokemorph form with abilities and power similar to whatever skills you have. It's ah..a form granter, not a form changer, so once you take it you can go back and forth at will just about."
((I have one in mind unless you have a specific request))