The Heights of Londo [IC 4: Turnabout Trainers]

[Comissar]

Leah nods at Bibi's statement, "Yeah, umm... It's ok if you say no, as well. Umm, I know we, uh, we're already asking for your help a lot. But... Yeah." Leah rubs behind her neck, "Umm... I don't know if, uh, if you'd be able to loan her a pokémon for, uh, for her battle..?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa turns to Leah and continues her line of questioning, turning back to Bibi to ask "Or, um, was she caught around here?"

[Hazuki]

"I do not carry any Pokemon to loan, but I may know some who could," Bibi answers Leah, then looks to Alyssa. "I do not think so. She looks Southwestern, but I am not sure."

[Comissar]

Leah nods, "If, uh, if you have suggestions, those'd help too! Umm, assuming they're not too far."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa nods with Leah. "I don't think there's a lot of Pokemon around here that would do against Poison-types, at least from what we found."

[Hazuki]

"Nothing for Poison, eh?" comes a vaguely familiar voice from the end of the small path the girls are sitting in.

Standing there in the sunlight is an older teen, a white tank top sitting in stark contrast to her skin, a pair of pink shorts, with her thick hair tied into a bun and a pair of sunglasses hiding her eyes. It takes a moment for the memory to return, but for Leah it's especially stark: the foreign trainer they met at the docks in Thundercrag, whose Tsareena had used the young botanist's back as a stepping stool.

"I think I can help with that," she announces, shooting a thumbs-up towards the girls.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa waves and smiles, recognition flitting on her face. "Oh, hi! Good to see you again. How are you doing? It's been a while."

[Hazuki]

"I'm doing good, my friend, I'm doing good," the older girl says as she hustles up the path to stand over the girls. She stares at Bibi for a second. "I'm going to challenge the gym leader here soon, but then I heard a couple of voices, saw a couple of familiar faces and I thought...oh no, that's the girl my Pokemon stepped on. Sorry about that, again. May be I can make it up to you, though."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa's face turns a bit red from second-hand embarrassment, but she shakes it off. "So, um, you said you could help us?"

[Comissar]

Leah looks up to face the new arrival, and feels her cheeks heating moments later as she recognises the trainer. She glances away, feeling mortified at the memory of their interactions at Thundercrag. She winces as the trainer then recognises her as the girl who got stepped on. She shakes her head, looking up at her and smiling with a confidence she didn't feel.

"Y-you, uh, y-you don't need to, uh, to apologise. Umm, it, uh, it wasn't your fault." Feeling awkward at having a conversation from the ground, she hesitates a moment, then pushes herself to her feet, "I, uh, I don't know how much you heard but, uh, but our friend is looking to, uh, to take on the challenge here..?"

The statement comes out more as a question, Leah finding herself wondering what the new arrival might be able to offer.

[Hazuki]

"Yep, yep, heard it all. And..." The trainer reaches into her bag and retrieves a clearly foreign Pokeball, not Kantoan or Londoan. "I've got a little lady right here who's begging for a new home. She doesn't really get along with my team, or me, bummer, right? You always hope they will, but sometimes things just don't work out. She's a Mawile, you've got those over here, right?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Yes! In fact, they're rarely found around Alyssa's hometown Vibrost Town and Lord Vibrost uses one as his ace.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa's eyes light up. "Oh, I think I know that one! I've seen them before at home." She smiles looks at Leah. "I think Sass could use one?"

[Comissar]

Leah nods, "Ah, umm, yeah! Mawile would, uh, would be perfect, actually." She hesitates, "Why, uh, why didn't she fit in with your team..? Is there anything we need to, uh, to be aware of with her..?"

[Hazuki]

The girl chuckls a little cautiously as she scratches the back of her head. "Well, uh. Y'know, my girls, they'll all big, big personalities, they know their worth. This girl's not that. She gets stressed out when they're acting like that and I don't want to force her to put up with Pokemon that upset her."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa feels a pang in her heart. "Oh no, poor thing. I, um, I'm not sure how good she would do with our friend, but if she's not doing good with you, we'd be glad to find her a good home. Did you catch her where you're from?"

[Comissar]

"I mean, at worst we can just see how she gets one with Sass?" Leah gives a shrug, "It's possible she, uh, she won't get on with her either, but there's no harm in trying, right..?"

[Hazuki]

"You bet I did! Well, it's a long story, but she's from Alola," the girl says. "Which is, as you guessed, where I'm from and where most of my girls are, too. I'm happy to let you see how she likes your friend, but I'm gonna want to be there too, naturally. Can't just go having her pop out with new people and not have a chance to say goodbye."

[tgva8889]

"Probably a good idea." Alyssa turns to Leah and Bibi. "Thanks for your help, Bibi. It was good to talk things out. I, uh, guess we should go find Sass?"

[Comissar]

Leah nods as the Alolan girl comments on wanting to meet Sass before she passes over her Mawile. "Yeah, uh, that makes sense. We can, uh, we can head back to her. She should still be at the pokécenter."

[Hazuki]

"I will be here," Bibi tells the girls as they get ready to leave, out of the shade and once more into the sunny Diwyneb day. The large woman seems perfectly content to continue with her brushing of the Mudsdale, while Ibib gives a faint wave of its tendrils.

The walk back to the Pokecenter is familiar by now, and fortunately all the walking they've been doing on their journey has meant their legs don't protest too much to the return trip. The Alolan girl quite happily makes conversation along the way, most of it revolving around battling strategies, battles she's had, and battles she plans to have. She seems to be a font of knowledge on the matter, like some kind of...ace trainer.

Sass is, in fact, still in the Pokecenter, sitting cross-legged on the floor and sipping some water as she fiddles with her Pokedex. It seems it's up to the girls to make introductions.

[Comissar]

Leah doesn't have much to contribute to the battle conversation, though it does sound like their new compatriot is going to be a competitor for Sass going forward..? "Honestly, sounds like you're gonna have a lot to, uh, to talk about with Sass." She comments with a smile as they reach the Pokécenter.

Heading inside, Leah raises her hand and calls out "Hey Sass, we've, uh, we've found someone who might be able to help you out!"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa makes sure to grab Maggie before she they leave, holding her in her arms as they head back to Sass. Though she doesn't follow most of the conversation, she tries to keep the Alolan girl going as they walk, nodding and commenting at the best times she can to continue the conversation. She does notice Leah's tone and gives her a supportive smile, giving her a comforting squeeze of the hand.

She spies Sass and points her out to the group as they approach, though she lets Leah lead the introduction for the moment seeing as she has a better relationship with Sass. She does wave when they get back, smiling while she holds Maggie carefully.

[Hazuki]

Sass peers up from where she sits, having to push her visor up to get a good look at the group that come in.

The Alolan girl shoots a cool thumbs-up at her as she's spotted. "Hey there, little lady! Name's Royal, and it might just be your lucky day, because you need an ace up your sleeve and I've got one too many in my deck."

"Huh?" Sass asks, as she clambers to her feet and fixes Royal with a stare. "Little lady? Really?"

"Sorry!" Royal flashes a smile at her, then looks to Leah. "Y'wanna take over explaining for me?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa moves a bit forward and coughs slightly to clear her throat. "Um, Royal here has a Pokemon that might help you against the Poison-types you'll fight at the Gym, and wanted to see if she would get along with you." She looks at Leah and Royal to make sure what she said was right, then looks back at Sass to make sure she understood what Alyssa meant.

[Comissar]

Leah nods, adding "Uh, Royal has a, uh, a Mawile that's looking for a new trainer to travel with. There's, uh, there's no pressure if you don't get along with her, but we figured there'd be no harm in seeing if, uh, if you'd get along with her..?

[Hazuki]

Royal gives a cool thumbs-up to Alyssa.

"Oh...that's pretty...cool, I guess," Sass replies, her stare softening into something like a more normal. "Why would you do that?"

"I'm just that cool," Royal replies as she reaches for her belt and retrieves a traditional Pokeball. With a push of a button, a crackle of red light, there appears...a Mawile! The pale yellow humanoid, complete with a mighty black jaw that hangs from the back of its head like a ponytail. It blinks at its surroundings, red eyes drifting from girl to girl, Pokemon to Pokemon, before snapping back to Royal with a tilted head and a little cry. "Hey girl," Royal says, crouching down to meet her at...as close to eye level as she can get. "Y'know how we've been talking about finding you someone you might get along with better than my team? Well...that's what's happening now. If you both end up wanting it, I mean. This girl here? Here name is Sass."

Sass gives a little wave to the Mawile, her eyes wide as she steps closer. "Hey! What, uh, big teeth you have!" She says, glancing to Leah and Alyssa as though to say "look at the size of those!"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa nods, smiling. "Definitely a good Mawile." She waves at it nicely, though she makes sure to keep further away than either Royal or Sass so as to make clear that she's not the intended recipient.

[Hazuki]

The Mawile glances back at her maw, which also glances back at her, then at Sass and gives a little double nod of her head.

"This is Yraelle," Sass says, her Sylveon padding around her to come to her side and face the Mawile. "Yraelle was my first Pokemon, so...they know me, so if we all spend a little time together, we can all get to know each other better. How about that?" she asks, to which the Mawile considers the room, then Royal, then Sass and gives a noncommittal shrug. "Is that okay, not-as-litte lady?"

Royal gives her a thumbs-up.

With that, Sass, Yraelle, and the Mawile dip outside, leaving the gang inside to...do whatever they want to do!

[tgva8889]

Alyssa lets out a breath she wasn't sure she was holding and smiles, turning to the others. "Well, I hope that goes well. Thanks for your help, Royal." She looks after them as the door closes behind them. "I think they'll get along all right."

[Comissar]

Leah keeps to one side as Sass is introduced to the Mawile. She breaks into a grin at Sass being wowed at the jaws of the Mawile, giving a shrug and a nod as if to say 'Yeah. Pretty impressive!'

She calls out a quick "Good luck!" as Sass takes her leave, glancing to Alyssa and giving a nod. "Yeah, hopefully so." Looking over to Royal, she continues, "I, uh, I know it was your suggestion, but, uh, you're sure you're ok with this..?"