The next morning Lang woke far later than he had been the past handful of days since arriving in Nauwill. He scrambled to get up and out of bed and hurry to the cafeteria to get the both of them something to eat, not really noticing Torchic was already up and trying to entertain herself. She didn't manage to get out the door but it was a near thing and Lang missed it entirely.
When he came back with the plates of food for the both of them, he was pleasantly surprised to see her just sitting in the middle of the floor and waiting for him. She peeped innocently and fluffed her neck feathers out before hopping over to his feet. Chuckling softy, Lang set up her plates, his own neatly deposited on the desk for when he was done.
This meal was going to be one without berries, and Torchic noticeably deflated when she realized there weren't any. She ate everything provided, but sadly peeped at him as if to ask for the beloved berries. Lang felt bad, and quickly inhaled his own breakfast so that he could take her out of the room and hopefully get her mind off of it. This was a necessary step in the experiment process! At least, that was what he told himself anyway.
As was becoming habit, Lang collected the dirty dishware to bring back to the cafeteria before collecting Torchic and bringing her somewhere new. The town was small and new enough that it would only take a day, maybe two before they had explored everything that was considered in town. Lang could start taking her out to explore to get some energy out that way.
Today would be focused on places indoors. Such as the small building provided to the enrichment center. There were a couple rooms available to arrange playdates in and Lang borrowed one with permission to let Torchic roam around. There were some small things for her to play with, and slightly larger equipment for her to play on, and thankfully that managed to distract her enough that they spent a good half the day there. It didn't seem to tire her out, but she acted happy enough. Lang used whatever toys they had set aside for this to keep Torchic stimulated. He often had to switch up what he was doing or using to keep her attention. She got bored pretty fast with whatever he was using.
Lunch had the variety that she'd gotten the first day, and Torchic was pleased about the return of the berries. Gorging herself on everything available, she settled in for a brief nap on Lang while he wrote more notes and started getting everything set up for his final draft. These past few days of getting used to his new pokemon and learning about her had taught him a lot. Part of what he'd learned was that he was going to have to invest in some toys or another friend or something for torchic. As much as he liked her, he couldn't spent the entirety of his every day just playing with her. She had so much energy. Maybe someone at the enrichment center would have some good ideas for things he could use? Or maybe Lan would have some good ideas?
Running his hands through his hair a handful of times, Lang sat back and thought about it. They'd been inside the store and he hadn't seen anything that could be useful as a toy. Maybe one of the other trainers could craft something? Then again, Lang wasn't entirely sure what all would be a good toy for torchic specifically. The couple that were at the enrichment center had worked for a short time, but he didn't have anything similar and he didn't know where he could get something like that.
Before he could get too deep into his thoughts, Lang was brought out of it by torchic waking back up. A glance at the clock said she'd only been down for maybe fifteen minutes. Lang tucked his notes back into the folder he was keeping them in and then picked up his notebook and Torchic and made his way back out into town. Before the nap they'd been exploring some of the freshly constructed buildings that weren't quite inhabited yet. He was making sure that torchic wasn't making any mess near them, but it was definitely something she was interested in. Something about the freshly cut wood maybe? Or just the buildings themselves since Lang wasn't letting her inside them? Lang wasn't 100% sure where the enthusiasm was coming from, but it was a way to burn off some of her energy.
By the end of the night Lang was running ragged. Torchic had so much energy. That's it, tomorrow they would go out and explore. Tonight, it was time for a second bath and then bed. Their dinner was slightly later than he would have liked, but Torchic went full ham on the tray of nothing but seeded berries he brought her. By the end of it she was covered in small bits of seeds and berries. It was much easier to bathe her the second night, not nearly as much water got outside the bath, and by the time he was walking her back to the room she was passed out in his arms again.
After getting her set up in her nest, Lang sat himself at his desk to finish writing up the final details for his research. Tomorrow they'd turn that in and then head to the Newbreeze Grasslands just outside of town to do some exploring. Even if nothing came of it, it would be somewhere new to see and Torchic could start doing some battles to get stronger. Lang, for the first time since he had arrived, felt hopeful at what the future would bring.
