Before Florian knew it, the moment of truth had arrived. On the ground, Clavell and those residing in nearby Cabo Poco and Los Platos braced their knees as a successive series of quakes struck the Earth. The sound of forests being crushed and hordes of birds flying fretfully away filled the air, preluding the arrival of the gigantic Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. With their near-unrivaled size, dwarfing the trees with their toes alone, they were a truly intimidating force to be reckoned with even among the other Dynamaxed Pokémon.
Meanwhile, Florian stared down at the brightly colored specks that had joined behind Director Clavell in shock. He couldn't believe it; there were Pokémon out there that he could actually see! They must have been huge, bigger than the Academy and possibly even Mesagoza itself! He had no idea at first how he hadn't noticed them before now, but looking closer, there was a faint trail of what looked like footprints layered over several valleys and hills coming from the eastern prairie. That must have been where they came from.
"I sincerely apologize for not being able to find Pokémon more suitable to your height," Director Clavell said. "My hope is that so long as you're able to see and interact with them, we will be able to have you participate and learn in the Academy to the best of our ability."
Florian nodded to show that he didn't mind at all. He could actually see them, and more importantly touch them, which meant it was possible for him to be a Pokémon trainer! Of course, Florian would have to be really, really careful when handling whatever starter he chose, but that was nothing he wasn't already used to. He'd spend enough time diligently scanning the ocean at least three times over so he didn't get any islands stuck between his toes to feel relatively confident in his ability to handle delicate things (or in his case, a delicate world). Granted, he's had a lot of help; ever since he was Dynamaxed, whenever he moved across the ocean, massive water tendrils would sprout out wherever his soles hovered over, directing the flow of Pokémon and boats away as he planted his feet. Florian had no idea what kind of power was responsible for that, but he knew some super-ancient, mythical Pokémon like Kyogre and Manaphy had to be involved. Regardless, words couldn't describe how grateful the region-sized boy was for the intervention: it went a long way toward towards easing the burden on his mind, particularly when he had no control over the tsunamis that came about in his wake with every step.
Still, help or no, Florian had been practically training every second of the day for this out of sheer necessity, so he could handle caring for a "speck-sized" Pokémon, no problem. If he happened to be wrong.... well, that was what the Academy was for, wasn't it? Yet as excited as he was, he couldn't help but feel a little intimidated as well. The first step of a trainer's journey always began with choosing your first Pokémon, and now that it was here, the realization that he was on the cusp of one day being able to head out and "explore" all of Paldea by himself was almost... paralyzing. Even more so considering literally every person in Paldea had their eyes on him, from the breezy coastal town of Porto Marinada to the frigid peaks of Montenevera. Then again, seeing how most of South Province could be overshadowed by his palm alone, maybe he wasn't one to talk.
On top of that, he had no clue who he was supposed to pick. Any one of the three presented before him would be his lifelong companion on his path to becoming Champion of the region. He needed to make sure he picked a starter that he was compatible with, but where would he even begin with finding that out? He couldn't even rely on choosing which one seemed the coolest or cutest to him, since he couldn't actually make out what the starters looked like, other than a green, blue and red dot. If only he could get a better look at them...
"E-excuse me, Director Clavell?" Florian thought out loud. He knew from experience (a lot of experience) that Telepathy worked both ways, so hopefully he could hear him loud and clear. "I hope I'm not imposing myself, but could I lean so I can, er... pick them up and... maybe see them better? If you don't mind, of course! I promise I'll be really gentle!"
The director blinked twice. Admittedly, it wasn't the most unconventional request he'd gotten, but he was hesitant to grant it off-hand. Just to get as close as he had to see what was going on, Florian had condemned most of the southern coastline to be claimed by the seas, the most unfortunate victim being the Secluded Beach just downhill from the marshes. There was every reason to be concerned about the boy flooding most of the South Province if he leaned down too closely. At the same time, Florian appeared all too aware of that. It was hard for Clavell to get an exact read of his incoming student's expression - his face was so far up as to be rendered hazy by the upper atmosphere, and what could be seen was mainly just a wide expanse of upper chin. Though Clavell's own Dynamaxed state had rendered him tall enough that the trees reached up to his ankles, the simple truth was that Florian's feet alone were large enough in sheer breadth to constitute twin regions unto their own. Nonetheless, the nervous, yet yearning tone in the giga giant's voice rang loud and clear in his mind thanks to the Gardevoir that was perched on his shoulder. Florian had already gone through innumerable difficulties because of the Dynamax phenomenon; Clavell would be doing a great disservice if he didn't do everything he could to help with mitigating that to the best of his ability, especially on a matter as basic as getting to know what your Pokémon looked like.
"Very well," the director replied, "However, perhaps it would be better if we have the Pokémon come closer to you so you can come down without endangering the region."
"Ah-!" Florian blushed; that would be really bad. He didn't know how he hadn't thought about that before now. "O-of course. Thank you!"
With a gesture, the starter Pokémon were sent off towards the vast landscape of flesh and bone in the distance. Florian, in turn covered his eyes with his hand in an attempt to block out as much of the sun as he could, unwittingly casting a shadow over most of Area One. He narrowed his eyes and gently lowered a finger down several kilometers off the coast of Area One, waiting patiently as the three slowly waded across the ocean.
~~~
Like any starter Pokémon, the trio were naturally eager to present themselves before their prospective trainer-to-be. Regardless of what size they were compared to everyone else, this Arceus-granted instinct would always hold true. Even so, as they approached the region-sized boy in the didn't, their mountainous steps grew more hesitant. They couldn't help it; though they put a majority of skyscrapers to shame, the Pokémon couldn't help but be cowed by the sheer difference in scale between themselves and Florian.
It was one thing to see Florian from a distance as he absolutely commanded the skyline. Though many in Paldea had grown used to the sight of Pokémon and humans towering over their surroundings, everyone was paralyzed with pure awe at the boy whose shadow stretched all the way towards the neighboring region of Kalos. Even with all that had happened since the Dynamax phenomenon, with notions of what was considered big and what wasn't being constantly redefined, Florian was exceptional in just how unreasonably, all-encompassingly huge he was. His toes couldn't even be considered mountains: they practically made mockeries of the towering steeps and cliffs that formed a protective shell around the Great Crater of Paldea Perhaps, with some effort, he could fit one of his feet through the crater itself, but no one in any hurry to test that hypothesis any time soon, least of all Florian.
There was so much, and so little that could be seen all at once, that the starter Pokémon didn't even think to run when Florian's finger eventually made contact with the ocean. Though he set the tip out leaning forward with delicate touch that in any other circumstances would leave even a bubble unblemished, the impact was still sent out a massive shock wave that the Pokémon had to brace themselves against just so they wouldn't get blown off.
Looking at each other uncertainly, the three eventually climbed up. Entire towns could fit with the crevices of his fingerprint, lost in the labyrinthine walls of condensed tissue that barely formed the outer lining of his skin. They were only just big enough that they could fit on the tip of his index finger without falling into the space between his fingerprints. All there was left to do now was hang on for dear life as Florian lifted his finger up way, way past the cloud level.
~~~
Florian squinted down eagerly at the three dots that had gathered on his fingertip, being mindful to not put them too close to his face. He knew from first-hand experience the sheer suction power his nostrils possessed, one that even major cities couldn't withstand easily.
Honestly, now that he could make out some details, he could go for any of them. Unfortunately, he needed to decide which one he would choose quickly: from the way that they had barely moved around on his finger since climbing on, he could tell that none of the starters were having a good time being dozens of miles in the air. It would take time to get them accustomed to being around someone as big as him, especially when they were so clearly to being the biggest fish in the pond, but eventually, hopefully, they would come around. He wanted to prove to everyone that his size didn't matter. Pushing forward against whatever walls came your way was what being a Pokémon trainer was all about, wasn't it?
Florian decided to choose:
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