The Heights of Londo [IC 4: Turnabout Trainers]

Alyssa smiles as she sees Leah putting her skills to use, listening carefully to understand the situation. She nods to Leah's final explanation, then looks at the others as she finishes to see their reactions. As they discuss the plan, Alyssa shrugs. "W-well, um, we could try just asking." Walking over to the Minior, Alyssa puts on her happy face. "Hi, Minior! Or, um, are you Ditto?" She puts cheer in her voice. "I heard you could change into other Pokemon and I think that's really cool! D'you think you could change into Smeargle? I think Smeargle are really neat."

Spoiler: OOC

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I would guess maybe a Charm check?

[roll0]

The Minior wobbles to a halt in front of Alyssa when she goes to grab its attention. Its beady eyes flick across the denizens of the room, and it wobbles a little more on the spot. Alyssa gets the sense that it's listening to her, but she'll need a little push to win the Pokemon over.

Alyssa tilts her head a bit, still smiling. "Hey, um, I know y-you're maybe a but nervous. I totally get that. I'm n-nervous when I show off what I can do too. W-would it help if we looked away while you did it? Or, um, can we get you anything to help?" She looks over at Leah, not really sure what to give a Pokemon she has never heard of before.

Leah hesitates at Nowa's question, not sure how to prove her thoughts. Alyssa's simple strategy of 'why not ask' brings her a little relief, she hadn't considered being so direct. Her relief fades a little as the Minior simply doesn't transform. Seeing Alyssa look to her for advice, she moves over to join her, resting her hands on her knees as she drops into a crouch beside the pokémon. "Umm, we can, uh, we can get you a treat if, uh, if you do..?" She felt her ears begin to heat as she started worrying about how she'd look if she were wrong, "Umm, I'd, uh, I'd quite like to see it too..?"

Spoiler: OoC

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Charm roll of my own, won't stand up to Alyssa's sadly, but hopefully the bribery will help :smalltongue:

[roll0]

The Minior turns on one of it spikes to gaze at Leah. Her words don't seem to have had much of an effect on it.

From behind them, Maggie walks over and gently nudges Leah out of the way as she stands in front of the Minior. She lets out a few soft cries, her hands on her hips, and the Minior retorts with a few wobbles on its spikes. The conversation finally ends with Maggie crossing her arms. A few seconds pass, and then the Minior's body seems to shift in place. First its spikes retract, its body grows, and grows, various limbs extending from its form until what stands before the group is another Smeargle...that's cast entirely in shades of pink.

"Goodness!" Nowa exclaims. "My baby!"

Leah glances at Maggie a little confused as she's nudged out of the way. She follows the conversation between the two pokémon with a measure of confusion, her sense of concern growing as she watched. As the Minior begins to shift and change, she gives out a sigh and a smile, glancing up at Waye from her position on the floor. "Well, uh, now you, uh, you know where your egg, uh, egg came from."

Alyssa moves a bit to give Maggie some more space, looking at her and Minior as they talk. She tries to follow their conversation but doesn't have much of a grasp on what's happening. Her faith in Maggie seems to pay off, though, as the "Minior" transforms. She gasps as it changes shape completely, clapping when it's done. "W-wow! That's really cool! Thank you, Minior. I, um, I mean Ditto." She smiles and offers to pat it out of appreciation.

Turning to Maggie, she smiles and gives her some pats too. "Thanks for your help, Maggie. Um, w-what did you say to it?"

Looking up at Leah, she asks, "Um, what do you mean? Is it a female Ditto?"

Leah hesitates at Alyssa's question, rubbing behind her neck as she turns to face her, "W-well, uh, Ditto's can, uh, can change themselves into, uh, into anything. Umm, male or, uh, or female."

"...that's so weird." Waye says.

Maggie happily accepts Alyssa's head-pats.

Alyssa nods in understanding at Leah's explanation. "Oh, okay. So I guess those two probably made it." She looks between the pink Smeargle and the regular Smeargle. "Wow, Ditto is a cool Pokemon."

"Well...what now?" Waye asks. "I don't want it and I don't think Dude or Minior want it." She gives her Smeargle the side-eye. "You're not getting any treats. For not telling me. Jerk."

"And nor am I particularly pleased." Nowa shakes her head as she strides up to beside the former-Minior. "But...I endeavor to make my demeanor as fair as my appearance, so, I forgive you." She reaches down and pets the Pokemon's head. It makes a little happy burbling noise.

Alyssa smiles at Nowa. "Well, Ditto can ch-change its appearance to anything, so it can still be beautiful with you."

As Waye talks about what to do with the egg, Alyssa looks at it, then at Leah, then at Waye. "Um, if you d-don't want it...can I have it? I r-really do want a Smeargle, and, um, you have one you don't want." After a second, she puts up her hands and says "I promise I'll take care of it!"

Waye looks at Alyssa, then at the egg. "But you said you don't know what to do with eggs."

Alyssa shrugs. "I know the basics. Take care of it and it'll hatch. And, um, I have Leah and Maggie to help me." She looks at the other two as she mentions them, then turns back to Waye. "I, um, plan on being in town for a while, s-so I can spend some time at the library and, um, make sure I know h-how to do it right."

Leah looks a bit surprised at the reactions of Waye and Nowa at the Ditto's reveal, then gives Alyssa an equally surprised look as she offers to take the egg. She smiles and nods at Alyssa's assertion that she and Maggie could help, though. "Yeah, umm, I'm happy to, uh, to help you out."

Maggie looks at Alyssa as she's mentioned, blinking rapidly.

"I...guess?" Waye says. "But it's kinda Nowa's too."

"Oh, though it pains me to depart with such a thing, I've no time to raise a baby Pokemon. I've still got to learn how to take care of this shapeshifting little minx." Nowa says, as she wags a finger at the former-Minior.

Alyssa smiles. "E-either way, if, um, y-you don't want it, I'd like to help you f-find someone to take care of it, and, um, I'd like to volunteer to be included." She looks down at her feet, running a hand through her hair. After looking between Nowa and Waye, she smiles. "A-and, um, I'd like to h-help you if I can." She turns to Leah then, turning a bit red as she says, "I, um, w-want it to grow up with friends and people who can take care of it well."

"Well...okay." Waye says. "But you'll have to get your own bag to carry it."

Alyssa nods. "I, um, I think I can find something."

Leah finds herself giving an embarrassed grin back to Alyssa as she sees her blush, then lays a hand on her own bag at the talk of transporting the egg, "Well, uh, we can, uh, we can just, uh, just use mine for now..? Umm, I can, uh, I can wrap it in, uh, in my hat or, uh, or something to protect it..?"

Waye gently rests the egg on her bed until Alyssa is ready to take it, then stands up and yawns. "This is exhausting."

"...you're on my bed." Nowa suddenly points out, as she turns to face Nika with a hand on her hip. The Minior-Turned-Ditto, starts to tumble about the room like an acrobat and Maggie watches with a tilted haed.

"Yep, sorry. I can get off if you want, but I'm almost done with this Pokeball!" Nika holds up a very wooden-looking Pokeball. "...the outside, I mean, the shell, but it's cool, right? There's a little foldable hook here and if you flick it, it springs open!" She demonstrates, and it does indeed do just that, twisting open much like other Londo Pokeballs.

Alyssa, who has been paying some attention to Nika, smiles when the ball flips open. "Cool!" Looking over at Nowa, she then points to the stuff laid out on the bed. "We, um, sh-should probably give them some space, though. M-maybe some time to think about what happened and discuss it with their Pokemon?" She gestures to the now-tumbling Ditto. Back to Nika, she says, "We c-can find somewhere else for you to work?"

Leah rocks back onto her heels, then stands as Waye expresses her tiredness. Straightening herself out, she glances over to Nika, "Umm, we could, uh, we could head back to, uh, to the library..? Or, uh, or our room..?" She glances to Alyssa at her second suggestion, "Umm, either way it'd let Waye and, uh, and Nowa get some rest..?"

"Yeah, no problem!" Nika goes about gathering up her things, including tucking the shell into her pack, and slips off of the bed.

It turns out that Maggie has to put some serious effort into avoiding the tumbling Ditto-Smeargle, as a four foot humanoid requires much more effort to avoid.

"Oh, I'm not sleeping." Nowa points out. "I was simply observing. My bed is welcome to any," She pauses. "People can sit where they like. But if you're set on departing, farewell." She once more curtseys to the group, then grabs the tumbling Ditto-Smeargle by the tail. "Turn back this instant!" She says, and it makes a gurgling sound before turning back into its Minior form, which sits quite comfortably in her hand. "Now wave goodbye to our lovely guests." A hand suddenly extends from the Minior, which waves to the group.

Alyssa stands as Nika picks up her things, herself collecting her sketch pad. Walking over to the egg turns into a bit of an adventure as she dodges both Ditto-Smeargle and Maggie who herself is dodging. Once there she turns to Leah. "Um, can I b-borrow your bag, Leah?" She gingerly picks up the egg and puts it into the bag, testing the weight a bit before she slowly slings it over her shoulder.

Once they are ready to go, she bows politely to Nowa, careful not to let the weight or size of the egg disrupt her balance. "It's been nice to m-meet you both! If, um, y-you want any help with anything let us know. We'll be in t-town for a little while." She waves back at Ditto, smiling. As they head out, she gestures to Maggie, pointing out the door. "You ready to go?" She leaves last, waving behind her as she goes.

Leah nods, unslinging her bag from her shoulder and offering it out, "Yeah, sure."

As she makes her way out, she gives a bob of her head to Nowa and Waye. She breaks into a grin at the Ditto's wave to, returning it with one of her own. "Umm, it was, uh, it was nice to meet you all. Umm, hope to, uh, hope to see you around town..."

Once out of the room, she turns to Alyssa and Nika, "So, umm, I think we do, uh, do need to find Bibi. Umm, I was thinking we could, uh, we could go back to our room and, uh, and ask where she went..?"

"Who's Bibi?" Nika asks as she joins the girls outside the horseshoe-shaped building. Maggie, meanwhile, watches the egg Alyssa's carrying.

Leah turns to Nika, "Oh, she's, uh, she's our, uh, our guide. Umm, we, uh, we need to let her know we're, uh, we're going to be staying a while."

Alyssa nods. "Oh, y-yeah, right. Um, I guess we can go back now, then look for her? We sh-should also probably go into market and find a bag for this egg." She looks over at Maggie as she's watching the egg, smiling at the Gothorita.

The girls make their way back to The Duelist's Rest, where they soon find Bayla behind the desk.

"Hello, girls!" Greets the sleeveless woman, then waits for their purpose. "Ah, Bibi? Said she was off to visit the Pokecenters in the foreign quarter."