[FIN] Something about a Place Somewhere

[Tori Honoo]

Once again, Dove found herself up and about early in the morning, though by now the sun had risen fully in the sky. After a quick run and some breakfast, she and Lovey now found themselves strolling carefully through the woods, searching again for a new place to train, their efforts seemingly in vain until at last, a clearing appeared.

With an almost relieved sigh, the young woman squeeze through a few close nit trees and surveyed the area, deciding it to be secure enough to release her more dangerous team member, though even as she pressed the release catch on the masterball in her hand, red flags flew in the back of her mind-- the area might have been secluded, but there was really no where safe for a pokemon like this...

In a flash of red light, a small pink legendary appeared, blinking in the early morning sunlight before turning it's little head to it's trainer with a soft, curious "Mew?"

With a small smile to it in return, Dove released the rest of her pokemon after another look around the tiny field. They could stretch their legs here, before picking up with their training.  

[Gwennythe]

Henrietta could rise early sometimes, though today hadn't been one of those days, in her plans.
She was learning to sleep rough when there wasn't anywhere nearby to stay, or when she simply didn't have the money not too, and the woods were a safer bet than the streets of a city, besides she kind of enjoyed it and who knew what sort of pokémon lived just out here.
Bug types, she thought, and they'd be awesome to catch, or even just to see and battle.

Gummy was asleep in her arms until he was awoken by the sounds of something, or someone, nearby.
The Totodile pushed his way from the hug, waking his trainer, and began to waddle out toward where the sound had come from.

Henrietta blinked awake mumbling "Pancakes? Are they ready?" before getting her bearings and realising where they were.
"Hey, Gummy, where're you goin'?!" She pushed herself up from tree she'd been sleeping on and trotted after the water type.

He stood, vacantly 'staring' at (or rather, just past) Dove and her team from their place among the trees.
Henrietta only bothered with any remote kind of 'quiet' until she realised there wasn't a wild pokémon ahead.
"Oh cool! A Typhlosion!" Henrietta called enthusiastically as she almost 'burst' from the trees, recognizing the starter-type pokémon.
She wasn't really sure what exactly that cutesy pink thing was, but the others were familiar to her, either through pokémon she'd met, or from TV.
As his trainer was striding out of the trees without a care, Gummy waddled out behind her.  

[Tori Honoo]

Though the mew took pause long enough to study its surroundings, it did fly toward it's trainer with a gleeful trill, curling against her chest excitedly in greeting as she opened her arms to it. It had been locked up for so long, and now she was letting it explore again!

Dove smiled and hugged the little one to her, kissing its head before leaning back and kneeling to check on the other baby pokemon-- this one a Togepi that toddled over to her foot, just as pleased to see her as the Mew had been. The Typhlosion, Eevee, and Ponyta simply stood around the small field, watching comfortably, though the entire group was suddenly on alert as a figure--two, they soon noted-- burst from the treeline with a rush of noise.

A quick stab of panic flew through the girl, and the Mew in her arms quickly moved around her and under her long, dark hair, its ears just barely visible as it peeked over it's master's shoulder to look curiously at the newcomers as the young woman turned to face them. Sparky, the Typhlosion, stood tall, moving to the woman's side protectively.

Lovey barked happily in greeting, moving just in front of her trainer to greet the new girl and her Totodile.

After a split second of composing herself and team, Dove looked to the younger girl, blushing, trying to rid her face of the startled expression she had donned. "Why, yes. That's Sparky," she told the girl with a smile, her tone amiable and amused. "And you are...?"  

[Gwennythe]

If either of the new figures noticed the sudden tension that they inadvertently caused, they certainly didn't seem to show it.
The purple-haired girl was bouncy, excited and striding with purpose to meet the other trainer and her pokémon.
It didn't look like it even occurred to her that she might have interrupted training or anything.
Gummy just wore an expression that didn't seem to tell anyone anything about his feelings or thoughts.
When Henrietta stopped, he collided gently into her leg and then stood there, blinking one eye and then the other, not exactly seeming to look at anything.


"Sparky's a cool name! Cute Eevee!" The girl declared, grinning at the fire type, then Lovey, and then turned as she was asked her name.
"Oh! Henrietta, but you can shorten that if you want, I guess... Some people do." Henrietta then crouched and pushed Gummy a half step forward gently.
"And this is Gummy!"
She looked around at the team, standing, it seemed, as tall as she could, which wasn't very.
"Your team looks awesome! Are you training?"  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove giggled again when the girl proved to be even more energetic than she had first appeared. "Thank you! And it's nice to meet you, Henrietta...I'm Dove!" she offered in return, kneeling a little to greet the Totodile. "Hello, Gummy! How are you?"

Lovey barked softly at the compliment, waving her tail before trotting over to the younger trainer to greet her more properly.

Sparky and Thierry stayed back, watching cautiously.

At the girl's question, Dove rose as well, then nodded, tucking her hair back over the shoulder the Mew wasn't hiding behind. "Sort of... we just got here, really," she told her, wrapping an arm over the Mew's tail as it curled it around her waist, hoping it was hiding still. "Are you on a Pokemon journey?" The girl certainly looked about the age that most young trainers did, and she definitely had the energy of someone filled with the excitement of such adventure.  

[Gwennythe]

"Dove?" Henrietta immediately looked sympathetic. "That's okay, sometimes people call me 'Hen'." She brightened back up again though as Dove greeted Gummy.
The Totodile seemed to look... past Dove's shoulder, rather than at her, but his tail swayed from one side to the other then stopped, perhaps in response to the greeting, but perhaps not.
"He's good! We just woke up so he's all pumped up for the day!" She seemed to be a little bad at adjusting her volume, not quite 'shouting' at least, as she crouched to greet Lovey.
"What's your Eevee called? She's cute!" Her enthusiasm for Sparky appeared to have been momentarily transferred to Lovey as she reached out to pet her.
"Oh! Yeah! We are! Gummy and Winglet," Henrietta tapped a Quick Ball at her belt "and me! We're an awesome team! Hey, are you on one too?"  

[Tori Honoo]

For a split second, Dove's face fell at the girl's reaction to her name, though she quickly recovered, laughing fully. "It's just a silly nickname I brought over from home. My real name is Tori, if you prefer that," she told the girl, her smile still truly bright. She had begun to feel the same about the name anyway.

The older girl tilted her head a little at the Totodile's peculiar disposition, though she smiled and returned her attention to Henrietta. "Oh, that's good! I'm sure you'll have a good day, if you've gotten so much sleep! And her name is Lovey" she added, watching fondly as the eevee rubbed her head into the younger trainer's offered hand, soaking in the attention like a sponge. "She's been my best friend since I can remember."

At the positive response to her question, Dove shook her head, though the smile stayed. "I'm afraid I missed my chance to have an Journey quite like yours. But I guess we're doing parts of one. We're certainly not touring the region. Have you all been traveling long?"  

[Gwennythe]

"Tori's cool!" Henrietta piped up. "If you don't like 'Dove', I mean. I don't really like 'Hen'." She admitted, scrunching her nose slightly, but Lovey's happiness at being petted brought her enthusiasm back very quickly.

"Awesome! Gummy's my best friend but we've only been together for a few months now; we're really close though and he's awesome at battling! He won a competition for me when we first came here!" The young trainer boasted, happily, about the little reptile.
As Dove turned her attention, Gummy, apparently, turned his. Or. Turned his head anyway. He now appeared to be staring at the fire types.

"Oh, man! You really should! We've only been here for... uh... a few weeks, maybe a month, I dunno... But I already went down to... uh... Sagestone and this really cool tall woman, called Ray, helped me catch Winglet. I want to go back down to Makko and to Jinko... or whatever that's called... But I heard there's lake out in this direction after a few days so I haven't really decided what to head for first!"  

[Tori Honoo]

"Either is fine," she laughed, watching as Lovey sat, content with the girl's attention.

As the girl told her about her triumphs, she smiled even brighter, looking to the Totodile. "That's wonderful! Congratulations! It looks like you two are off to a good start."

The two fire types watched back, Sparky's gaze more lofry than the Ponyta's-- the latter was clearly more friendly to new comers, though more timid.

At the mention of a name she knew, Dove blinked, nodding a little as the girl enthusiastically continued to tell her of her journey. "Hey, I know Ray," she chipped in, grinning. Though her own experiences so far hadn't been quite as exciting, helping a young trainer catch a pokemon did seem like something she would be willing to do. "She helped you catch Winglet? What kind of pokemon is it?" she asked, before tucking her hair back again, again careful to keep the tiny Mew hidden. "That really does sound like an adventure... I think the lake you're talking about it Elemi Lake, and if it's the one I'm thinking of, it's beautiful. It is a long walk though..." And sleeping in the forest? Not easy.  

[Gwennythe]

"Yeah! He was really awesome! There was a whole group of pokémon and they all had to battle at once in this... underground room place. Gummy was the last one in the ring and not fainted so we won!" Henrietta rattled on enthusiastically, hand paused halfway in petting Lovey.
"Do you battle a lot? Some of yours look really strong!" Henrietta piped up, pointing a finger at Sparky. "Was he your starter?"

Gummy didn't really seem to have any reservations about how he was looked at, or even greeted. His eyes didn't even seem to be looking at one fire type in particular. His jaws open and closed in two 'snaps' and then he waddled, changing direction midstep, toward the Togepi.

"Oh cool! Yep, in the caves!" Instead of answering what kind of pokémon Winglet was, Henrietta simply plucked the ball from her belt and a second later, a little Zubat was fluttering between the two trainers, moving to swoop and circle around Dove.

"Awesome! The three of us are the best team! I bet we could make it there in record time! D'you know what kind of pokémon are there?" Henrietta either didn't understand just how far away it was... or simply didn't care and had decided, maybe stubbornly, that she could make it anyway.  

[Tori Honoo]

"Oh, underground?" the girl sounded as though the idea startled her a bit, though it was reasonable as to why. With her upbringing, she certainly hadn't had any dealings with what she could have considered underground. Nonetheless, she nodded. "That's wonderful! I'm sure he's strong," she laughed, looking at him again. "He certainly looks unique..." She watched as the odd little pokemon toddled over to the Togepi, a little wary to have it around the baby of her group. It seemed friendly... Blinking, the Togepi turned to look up at it, offering a soft 'prriiii!' in hello.

"Oh, Sparky is... sort of my starter? I guess?" she told her, glancing at the Typhlosion. "My parents and boyfriend at the time bought him for me, for protection. He's been trained before, but...not really by me. We've just started working together, really, though I've had him for what seems like forever." It was kind of sad to admit--she really wished she had had more of a hand in his training growing up. At least now they had time to work together.

Again, Henrietta pulled her attention, the smile on her face returning, though as the Zubat swooped around her, she ducked a little before giggling a bit nervously. "Oh, I see! How long ago did you catch him?" she asked, watching the fluttering pokemon curiously.

When asked about the lake, Dove nodded, "I'm sure you can! As for pokemon... You've got to be a little careful." She shrugged a bit, though a little concern seeped into her voice. "We didn't see any when we were there, but I've been told Usaring wander in the forest around it." She looked at the Zubat and Totodile again. "If you're careful, you should be okay, though, I think."  

[Gwennythe]

"Yeah! We met this guy in the station at Camphoreon when we got los- erm, went exploring when we first got here! Apparently this competition thing happens underground- I guess it was a basement or something?- Anyway, we won! Thanks! He really is! Strong and unique; he's totally awesome! So's Winglet too though!" The girl grinned, watching the bat flutter, though she certainly didn't look markedly different in appearance to most any other zubat.

"Oh, that's cool." Henrietta wrinkled her nose; boys- who had time for that? "He's really awesome though I bet it'd be more fun if you'd gotten to train him first, right? Still he looks really strong so I bet he helps you catch loads of other pokémon! I bet he could win a lot too... Maybe not against Gummy, but y'know..."

Her grin was back and big as she was asked about Winglet.
"We're pretty sure Winglet's a girl. It was a few weeks ago now; I guess not really very long but the three of us are an awesome team so it feels like longer!"
The topic of discussion was fluttering closer to Dove. She had an odd shape with that... whatever that was... hiding in her hair. It piqued Winglet's interest and she passed a couple of times to direct her soundwaves at the trainer and have a good 'look'.

"Ursaring! Awesome!" Henrietta was still loud and, unfortunately, the warning seemed to be met with enthusiasm rather than caution. "It would be so cool to catch one of those! Winglet and Gummy could take one, I bet!"

The water type, now, seemed to be stood beside the Togepi, 'staring' over the little pokémon's head. Unfocused eyes blinked, un-synchronized, at the 'hello', and then Gummy's jaws fell slowly open and stayed that way.  

[Tori Honoo]

The girl's brows furrowed. An underground basement battle? That certainly didn't sound safe... At least the girl was alright, and had made it out on top. "Huh..." Well. The girl certainly was brave, she thought, watching the fluttering Zubat. Or just completely careless.

She nodded at the girl's speculation over Sparky, offering a small shrug. "I got to watch, and he stayed with me when he wasn't training. We're pretty good friends," she laughed, looking at the Typhlosion with a smile across her face. Sparky simply huffed and grinned back, shaking his head fondly. At the next comment, however, the Typhlosion tipped his head, looking at the Totodile skeptically. Water type or no, the pokemon in question didn't seem like much of a threat to him. Dove only giggled. "Is that so? Gummy does look pretty strong. Have you had many other battles with him?"

Tobi, confused by Gummy's behavior, stepped back from it, staring. The baby pokemon had no idea what the older one was looking at, and the unfocused state of his eyes was a little scary... and it's teeth were sharp....

Dove blinked as the girl corrected her on the Zubat's gender, her face flushing a little in embarrassment. "Oh! I'm sorry, Winglet!" she apologized, watching it yet again as it fluttered closer. As it drew even closer, however, 'looking' with it's waves, the girl tensed, the tiny pink pokemon pushing itself over her shoulder and hovering just in front of the other girl's pokemon, just before turning into an exact Winglet replica. The dark haired girl gasped, then reached out to grab it, missing by inches as it fluttered over her head, tilted down at her playfully. "Trill! No!"  

[Gwennythe]

"Being friends is cool! Totally important too! Gummy and me 've been best pals since we got together and now Winglet just means we're an awesome trio! I bet either of them could take any pokémon!" She grinned between the Typhlosion and Dove, then nodded.
"Yeah, the three of us battled at, uh, that big flowery festival thing they just had in Camphoreon. Actually," Henrietta pulled a face "We kinda lost most all of our battles there but I reckon there musta been really strong pokémon competing every time from all over, ya know, and we were all full of junk food and not very focused. We'd totally win any rematches though!"

Gummy tilted his head and then, without him even noticing, it seemed, sent a short stream of water out of his mouth, a little like a sprinkler. It wasn't aimed and would likely fall across anything close to him in droplets.

"Nah, she won't mind!" Henrietta, apparently, tried to reassure Dove and then leaned forward, eyes wide, at what happened next.
"Wow!" There had been a pink thing there and then, quite suddenly, there were two Winglets.
Silence for a good few moments as Henrietta, perhaps, tried to process what she'd seen.
"... You've got a Ditto?!" Apparently she hadn't caught exactly what Trill was before the transformation, or perhaps she didn't know anyway and had made a best guess. "That's awesome!"  

[Tori Honoo]

She nodded, again amused at the girl's enthusiasm and pride in her pokemon. Seeing yet another young trainer so full of energy and life made her almost wish she had been able to go on her own journey. "Treat them well, Henrietta. Sometimes your pokemon can become your best friends." At the comment, Lovey barked happily.

The talk about the Spring Flower Festival and battles was completely set aside as Dove reached for the fluttering pokemon above her head, the girl's eyes wide. After a few moments of reading it's trainer's expression, the little bat fluttered back to her, nestling in her hair and sinking low, as if ashamed of itself for doing something she had to scold it for.

Dove's hands moved up to her head, and she scooped the pokemon up, giving it a gentle toss and watching as it fluttered in front of her again. "Just stay like that. Don't change until I tell you to, okay?"

At Henrietta's question, she looked conflicted for a moment before she shrugged a little. "Something like that. Right now Trill wants to be a Zubat. It must really like Winglet, huh?" She didn't like lying to the girl... but to get such a young, vulnerable trainer excited about a Mew? One that even she was scared to possess? The knowledge of it could be dangerous, and she didn't want that for her new friend, even if Trill itself was harmless.