The Heights of Londo [IC 4: Turnabout Trainers]

[Hazuki]

Royal flashes a smile at the pair of them. "I mean, we aren't done yet, we'll have to see how they get along on their playdate! But...yeah. I like that little gal, but if she isn't happy doing what she's doing with me...I don't like that. And if I come up against Sass over there some day and see my girl fighting at her best?" She holds a hand to her heart. "There'll be a battle stoppage because I'm so happy I can't stop crying."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa looks over at Royal. "Letting go like that is very hard. But I think they'll be happy together, so you did a good thing."

[Hazuki]

"That's the hope, isn't it?" Royal shrugs her shoulders as she finds a comfy chair to sit on and stretches out her arms. "So what're your plans for the rest of the day, huh? Can't have been planning to sit in the she shade grooming Mudsdales all day!"

[tgva8889]

"I, um, I think I have a session later but otherwise I'm not sure." Alyssa looks over at Leah, curious if she had any ideas for the rest of the day.

[Comissar]

Leah breaks into a smile at Royal's comment on just wanting to see her Mawile happy. "I'm glad you see it that way. And, yeah, I think she's gonna be able to go all the way, so if you're on the same track as her..?" Leah shrugs, looking to the door Sass had gone through, "I think there's a good chance you'll get your wish."

She gives a shrug as she's asked what her plans were for the day, giving Alyssa a supportive smile at the mention of her session, "Honestly, I, uh, I dunno. My main goal was to, uh, to patch things up with Sass. Which, y'know, I think I've... We've managed that. And, uh, thankyou both for your help." She rubs behind her neck and shrugs again, "So, yeah, I'm, uh... Honestly not sure what to do now."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa takes one of Leah's hands in hers and gives a supportive squeeze. "Glad I could help."

[Hazuki]

Royal points at herself at Leah's second-to-last statement, as though asking if she meant to reference her.

"You all ate recently, didn't you? Because I haven't and this girl right here is starving," Royal says. "I might go grab some grub, hang with my girls - uh, don't worry! I won't pop out Tsareena while you're around."

[tgva8889]

She looks at Leah. "I could eat I think." Alyssa looks down at Maggie. "You wanna get some food?"

[Comissar]

Leah rubs behind her neck, ears heating at the mention of Royal's Tsareena. Giving a nervous laugh, she shakes her head, "I, uh, I appreciate the offer. It's ok, though, you two can go on ahead. I think I'm, uh, I'm going to take a wander."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles and gives Leah a peck on the cheek. "Okay. D'you wanna meet up somewhere after?"

[Comissar]

Leah blushes and smiles at the display of affection, nodding as she responds "Yeah, uh, I'll, uh, I'll probably just head back to the room after I'm done wandering, can meet you there..? I probably won't be that long." She hesitates a moment, then returns the kiss on the cheek, "Hope you have a good time!"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles and nods, a bit of color on her cheeks. "Okay. I'll see you again in the room later then!" She gives a small wave, holding Maggie tightly in her other arm, and turns to Royal. "Did you know where you wanted to go eat?"

[Hazuki]

With that, Royal, Alyssa, and Maggie are off to find some grub in the East side of Diwyneb Town! There's fortunately quite a bit here that Alyssa hasn't had the chance to experience, but the eager trainer has a nose for something in particular and the pair soon find themselves standing beside what seems to be a stall. Their noses are immediately greeted by the scent of fried dough.

"This right here? Let me tell ya something, you're gonna love it! Yeah, hit us with two sweet ones!" she orders from the owner, who quickly delivers small packages of...malasadas! The doughnut-like food is unlike anything Alyssa has seen from Londo cuisine, but the sugar-coated treat offers mouthwatering delights. She can feel how warm it is through the package. "Straight from Alola, which is where I'm from, thank ya very much!" Royal says with a grin. Maggie is immediately pointing at the package Alyssa is holding.

~

Leah, meanwhile, sets about wandering. It's fairly pleasant, with the weather and the recent event of Sass getting a potential new partner! But just because she doesn't seek something doesn't mean something won't find her. In this case...she turns a corner and accidentally kicks a stray Pokeball. Not a design she recognizes. It's made of some sort of very shiny material, bright pink, and it rattles faintly as it comes to a halt alongside the corner of a wall.

[Comissar]

Leah takes her time walking. It was nice, just to have some time to herself. With the worry over her friendship of Sass eased somewhat, she was able to relax, her thoughts turning slowly to what they'd do when they got back on the road again. She wasn't totally sure about where they might be heading to next, travelling to Alyssa's home town sounded like a lot of fun, but-

Her train of thought is interrupted as she accidentally boots a pokéball into a wall. The soft 'tok' of her shoe against the material making her stop and glance down. Her first instinct is to walk over and pick it up, the strange design of it giving her a brief pause as she examines it. Looking up and around apologetically, she straightens up to see if anyone nearby had dropped it.

[Hazuki]

There are only a handful of people lingering on this particular path, Leah notices. One, who's just turned around the corner after her. Another, far down, and likely not the owner given they've only got a one-Pokeball clasp on their belt, and it's occupied despite the ruffling of their baggy shorts in the wind. But now that she's gotten a better look at it, she does spot something odd. A very fine, nearly invisible wire that connects it to a nearby, closed box.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa follows behind Royal, keeping her eyes open so she can remember the way back once they find their destination. She tries not let herself get too distracted by the various stalls and stores they pass by as they walk, though a few times she does glance at something that she thinks Leah might appreciate or something to maybe come back and look at later.

Once she can smell the food, however, Alyssa moves a bit faster to follow behind Royal, stopping at the stall. She looks over their offerings for a moment herself before Royal hands her one of the small packages. She watches Royal herself dig in first before taking a bite herself, marveling in the sweetness and warmth. She savors it for a moment before swallowing and nodding. "Oh, it is very good! Thank you for sharing this place." She looks down as Maggie pokes at the package. "Do you want to try some too?" She adjusts her grip, holding the malasada a bit closer to Maggie so she can take a bite while also keeping her held tightly in her arms so she doesn't fall.

[Comissar]

Leah glances around the few bystanders around her with increasing confusion. "... Who..?"

Returning her attention to the strange pokéball, she notices the fine wire. Her frown deepening, she lifts a finger against the wire gently, giving a soft tug to determine where it leads. Folding it into a loose loop around one hand as she goes, Leah follows the wire to the box. "... How did this fall out of here..?"

Looking around again, and feeling like she might be doing something wrong, Leah turns her attention to the box and tries to open it. Perhaps the strange pokéball had just been knocked loose by something..?

[Hazuki]

Maggie gives an eager nod at Alyssa's offering, taking a big bite out of the malasada and nomming it down with great enthusiasm!

"You're welcome! I mean, it's the fine person who made it ya should be thanking, all I did was point the way." Royal shoots her a thumbs up. "So tell me, where did ya find this little lady here?" she asks, giving a brief gesture to Maggie. "I can't help but notice she hasn't been in a Pokeball any time I've seen ya."

~

The fine wire is just as fine as it initially appeared, but not so fine that it would cut into Leah's fingerpad. The young paleontologist makes her way over to the box, flicks it open, and finds...a diminutive pink Pokemon, no taller than two feet, with silver eyes, a large mouth, and two long pale pink "pigtails" atop its heads. In it shand is a fishing rod connected to the wire, but it simply stares up at Leah as her head appears in the opening of the box. Stares between her and the rod in its hands, then back again.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

It's a Tinkaton! No hammer, though.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles as Maggie enjoys her bite, then takes one of her own, savoring the sweet flavor She nods at Royal's response. "You're right." Turning back to the stall owner, she gives a small bow. "Thank you for this food!"

As Royal asks her about Maggie, Alyssa smiles and pats the Gothorita on the head. "Oh, when we were coming here, she tried to steal our food but got caught. Well, not caught, I mean I haven't actually caught her yet, but she's been traveling with me ever since. I've kinda grown to like her, even if she's not really my Pokemon yet." She looks down at Maggie. "I guess we never really talked about it."

[Comissar]

Leah blinks as she finds the Tinkaton sat in the box. She follows its gaze to the fishing rod its holding, then down to the 'pokéball' in her hand. Then back to the Tinkaton. "Uh... Hi..?" She gives a soft smile, "What, uh... Whatcha fishing for..?"

[Hazuki]

Maggie wobbles her head happily as she's patted, then meets Alyssa's gaze with a little smile.

Royal snickers at that explanation. "Well, that's a sweet story! Can't say I ever had a Pokemon try to steal my food, and she seems a little big to be doing that, doesn't she? They're not exactly known for sneaking around..." she says, as Maggie puffs up her cheeks in a peeved response.

~

The Tinkaton points at Leah with its stubby hand, eyes still fixed in a stare. Apparently it didn't expect this outcome.

[Comissar]

Leah blinks in surprise, a slow smile forming as she puts a hand to her chest. "... Me specifically..? Or, uh, or are you just looking to find a trainer..?"

[tgva8889]

"Yeah, um, I guess she was just hungry? We did kinda leave the food out so..." Alyssa looks down at Maggie and smiles back at her. "Maggie does like food a lot. I understand that for sure!" She takes another bite of her malasada to punctuate.

[Hazuki]

The Tinkaton goes quiet for several moments, rubbing its chin with one stubby hand as it contemplates how best to mime its intention across. Then it reels in the ball, and tosses it like a trainer would. Perfect!

~

Royal laughs at that, an infectious earnest sort of laugh. "I mean, who doesn't right? Was just wondering how she grew up so big and strong without a way to get food for herself. But you do hear about wild Pokemon wandering out on their own, trying to get trainers. Usually if they battled some before."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles at Royal. "That is a good point." Looking down, she gives Maggie a bit of a friendly squeeze. "How did you get so strong?"

[Comissar]

Leah nods, "Ok... So you're looking for a trainer..." She glances around, wondering if there was a trainer for the Tinkaton just waiting to come around the corner, "Did you have a trainer already?" She looks back to the pokémon, waiting for it to reply, "Are you looking for a trainer who'll battle alongside you?"

[Hazuki]

Maggie lets out a little happy cry as she's squeezed, then turns her blue eyes upon Alyssa. Thinks for a few moments. Then shrugs.

"Full of mysteries, this one," Royal says as she polishes off her malasada. "You ever seen her battle?"

~

Leah can't spot any obvious trainers! Nor anyone looking for anything, though a couple do take a second glance at the foreign girl having a conversation with the contents of a box. The Tinkaton taps the ball in its hand, then points at itself, then holds it hand over its eyes and looks left and right.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa shakes her head. "I'm not much of a battler so I haven't asked her to battle for me." She looks over at Royal. "Do you think she'd be good at it?"

[Comissar]

Leah nods along, oblivious to the odd strange look she's drawing toward her. "Well, I know a strong trainer looking for pokémon to battle with her, I can introduce you to her if you want? Or, uh, or if you're just wanting to go on a journey, I'm travelling across the country with a couple of people..?" She hesitates, trying to think how to allow the Tinkaton to express a preference, "I guess, uh, I guess one finger for the strong trainer, two for travelling with me, and just shake your head if you're not interested..?"