[FIN] Old Competition

[Blood_Goddess]

Winter was bad for business, though really, no one could be really surprised about that. After all! who wanted to go down into a dark wet cave in the middle on winter? HAH!

... Eh! People were wimps, whats a little cold?
Rayan smiled to herself a little at that thought, people were a bit too pampered sometimes... most of the times.
Whatever, their loss.

This did mean that she got most of the winter off, and she found it to be... extremely dull.

She couldn't even say that it was snowing out, but nope, it was just gray and dim. giving her the only thing to look at... were the trainers.

The residents of Sagestone had noticed a noticeable increase in visiting or passing trainers. and of course, Ray wasn't one to overlook this detail.

It was early afternoon that the tall women had taken up a comfortable seating outside of a local shop, rolling a warm cup of coffee in between the palms of her gloved hands.
Long legs were stretched out from her chair, and heavy boots crossed at the ankles.
Her coat was zipped up past her nose, comfortably keeping her face and neck warm, while mossy green eyes glanced around at the trainers and their pokemon as they passed. trying to guess specialties, or maybe where they were from... how good they might be.
Old habits die hard, scoping out the competition.
She arched her eyebrows.
Well, no longer competition is seemed.

Not officially. Old competition  

[Tori Honoo]

While some people enjoyed the icy air of the region this time of year, Dove found herself ruing the day she decided to strike out on her own, especially on days like this when she was determined to make progress, despite the weather. Lovey had even asked to be carried, pawing at the young model's legs until the girl lifted her and allowed her to snuggle into her coat, ears flipping into her face with every step she took.

At least they had made it to Sagestone in one piece, she thought, shivering as she looked around the city. There wasn't much going on at all, though she had been warned before that it wasn't exactly a tourist hit on the map. She just needed somewhere to stay and defrost until they decided to tackle the caves, even if she hated the thoughts of so much as stepping into them.

For now, she just wanted somewhere to sit, and something warm for herself and her team--the few that accompanied her-- to eat and drink. Spotting a tiny eatery, the young woman made a beeline for it, stroking the tiny eevee's head to wake her up. "Hungry, Lovey? I bet this place even has warm tea!

Lovey, blinking sleepily and shifting inside the trainer's coat, yawned, eyes roaming and falling to a silver haired person sitting close to the door. With a loud happy yap, the small pokemon wriggled free from Dove's coat and leapt toward the woman, tail wiggling excitedly behind her.

Dove shook her head, following quickly after the eevee. "Lovey what are you--!" The silver hair distracted her momentarily, even though she knew it couldn't be. There was no way her friend would be here, so far from home... even if Lovey had mistakenly rushed the person in her confusion. Shaking her head and stepping closer to the bundled up spectator, she bowed her head a little, smiling an embarrassed smile. "I'm so sorry! I think Lovey here mistook you for someone else..."  

[Blood_Goddess]

No sooner had the young women with an Eevee in her arms caught the momentary attention of the ex-trainer, than she found herself watching as the Eevee made an excited b-line for her.
the women's visible eye crinkled, to show that she was smiling, pulling her legs back so that she could lean forward to greet the eevee.

"Well hi there Eevee, look at you all excited. I'm not even worth it you know!"
Rayan reached down with her free hand, patting the eevee's head a few times, before glancing up at the trainer.
"You kidding? I never need to be apologized to if a pokemon wants to come and say hi,"
Reaching her hand up, she pulled the neck of her jacket down away from her face, A wide grin set on a strong jawline met the trainer.

"I remind you two of someone then?" She asked, in good natured curiosity, finding this pretty amusing.  

[Tori Honoo]

Lovey paused a moment, tipping her head at the voice; this person deeeefinitely wasn't who she thought she had been. Oops. At least she was friendly! As soon as the little eevee's excited wiggling had stopped, it started again. New people could be fun too!

Dove, caught herself from blinking as the woman revealed her face; she was striking. There was no way she could be related to her friends from home...
"Ah, yes, actually..." she laughed, tucking her long dark hair behind her ear. "A friend from home that I haven't seen in a while..."

The model looked longingly into the shop, watching yet another customer emerge with a warm cup of coffee. However, now that Lovey had found someone knew, a conversation was inevitable; the small pokemon would have to make further acquaintance. "I'm Dove, by the way. The crazy little furball is Lovey."  

[Blood_Goddess]

The grin on the women's face only spread, eying the girl for a moment as she wondered if she had seen her before. Maybe they had met? Rayan had been quite a traveler in the past.
But, after a couple of seconds she decided that nope. she had never seen this girl, or this pokemon before.

"Dove huh? I'm Ray." a long hand reached up and patted her chest before holding a finger up "R-A-Y"
Her notched eyebrow arched as her attention was returned tot he pokemon "Lovely!"
In a very swift, but gentle movement the eevee was scooped up off of the ground, as the tall women rose to her full height, cradling the ball of brown fur in her arm.
"I've always admire Eevee's for their versatility in evolutions. what are you training her to be? If you're a trainer even."
Her single visible eye fell on Dove again, waiting with intrigue for her answer.  

[Tori Honoo]

Lovey's eyes widened hugely as she was scooped from the ground, surprised at the sudden elevation. After a swift glance to Dove to assure her safety, the tiny eevee wiggled happily in the arms of the new friend they had made.

"It's nice to meet you, Ray." she laughed, watching Lovey's ears flip back and forth in her happiness. "Ah, well," she shrugged, "I've always trained for Contests, when we did train, but I haven't thought to much on training her to be anything but... Lovey. I think she likes being an overactive, bundle of eevee energy."

It was true. Though she had thought about it once or twice, and even talked to the pokemon about it, she just couldn't bring herself to choose an eeveelution. Lovey was wonderful just the way she was, and didn't have to be anything other than her friend, so why change her?  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Aahhh contests, yes. that makes a lot of sense now." Ray nodded in understanding, smiling and tapping the little heart marking on Lovely's head. "You two look like the contest type. I never got into it myself, not really a style I meshed well with." This comment was followed with a wink from the tall women.
Shifting her arms, she cuddled the little bundle of fur a little more, before crouching back down to let the Eevee hop onto the ground again.

"I don't recall Kodo being a hot spot for contests though, what brings you all the way out to this little up and coming corner of the league?"
Ray asked, tilting her head up to peer up at Dove with her single visible eye.  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove smiled, pleased with Ray's comment on their contest appearance. At least they still looked the part, even if they no longer competed. She watched Lovey hop down to the ground and weave between her (Dove's) own legs before laying across her trainer's feet.

"Ah, well... Home just wasn't... home, anymore," she sighed, her smile a bit smaller. "There was a lot going on that I wasn't a part of, and I just kind of felt like I was in the way. And besides, a little adventure is good right?"

She looked up at the woman, the green of eyes and the silver of her hair making the memories flood back in full force. No... she mentally told herself. She wasn't going to see him here... maybe not ever...  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rayan let out a good natured laugh, taking a couple more steps forward, leading her off the porch she had been sitting on.
"I'm afraid I can't really relate to that. For me, home is where the road is." Rayan winked "'A little adventure' just doesn't cut it for me. Soooo I can't really relate."

The women rocked back onto her heels a bit. "But don't let that difference detour our meeting! Glad to see someone from off Kodo! Where are you from?"  

[Tori Honoo]

She tried at a smile again, shoving the memories further back into her mind; they had no place here, especially with a stranger she had just met. "Oh, I'm from the Sinnoh region...Hearthome City," she said, scooping Lovey up from her feet and cuddling her to her chest.

She tilted her head at the woman as she stepped forward. "Have you been on many adventures, then, since your home is 'where the road is'?" she continued, urging the conversation forward. "We haven't travelled much, though I do know most of our home region rather well...  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Well, seeing as home isn't your home anymore, as you put it, looks like you're going to have an adventure of finding a new one! Funny place to pick, this Kodo island, you don't seem like the kind of girl to be drawn here becasue of the dangerous rumors about it."
Ray said this so casually it almost sounded completely bizarre. Though it was clear she didn't mind the danger.

she just smirked it off, though watched the girl closely for a reply. "So what happened to old home anyway?"  

[Tori Honoo]

"Dangerous rumors...?" the girl asked curiously, snuggling the eevee in her arms as it shivered from the cold. "We hadn't heard anything before coming over... We didn't know much about Kodo to be honest. Just thought it would be fun to explore for ourselves for once..."
Clearly, they still hadn't heard much in the way of common knowledge about the region.

When asked about home, the girl looked away, finding it odd a stranger would feel so comfortable to ask. "Ah, well... Things were just getting really... heavy."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Ray's notched eyebrow arched as she eyed the women "Thats a pretty big thing to miss out on." gray hair was shook momentarily from her second eye, only to have it fall back into place.
"There are reports of this place having a problem with being a focus point for the Organization called Team Rocket. You at least know of them, don't you?"

At the mention of home, Ray gave a sympathetic smile, and shrugged her shoulder. "Ah, well, you know what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. So sometimes a little weight to break you down can only end up bringing you up higher."  

[Tori Honoo]

"I've heard a few things..." she told the woman, tucking her hair back again. Of course, she hadn't done much research before coming across to the region. She hadn't planned on staying so long, afterall. Just a few weeks at most.

"Lets just hope it doesn't all hit at once," she laughed somewhat nervously. "A little weight is all good and well, but surely not on a vacation..."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Ray arched an eyebrow still, fixing the girl with a very obvious stare.
"Well you know, only one of the most dangerous and well organized criminal movements since ever, along with names like Galactic, and other lesser ones not worth naming right now. And you come walking onto the island with the most concentrated and highly reported Rocket activity anywhere just... flipping your hair." Rayan continued to give her a pointed stare. "Really? Common! you're smarter then that, aren't you?" She added, joined with a smile and a nudge.

Ray continued to smile, folding her hands back into her jacket.
"So this is a vacation now? You plan on going back to your home that's not to home? This this away time might help change it?"