[FIN] Pythagorean Theorem

[BlackFireKitsune]

With the sun shining brightly down on the sand below and reflecting off the rippling waves of the ocean, and a few fluffy clouds drifting lazily across the sky, it looked for all the world like a picturesque, perfect summer day - except fall was closing in, bringing with it cooler temperatures and cooler ocean water. It wasn't cold by any means, but Nicolette, as she walked along the beach with all of her pokemon in tow, couldn't help but think that today definitely was not a good swimming day.

Lulu would've disagreed, had she heard Nicolette's thoughts and wasn't busy following after the girl's Eevee that the Vaporeon had immediately and wholly adopted as her own. Angeline had long broken free of her trainer's grasp and had been racing around ever since, Lulu following as best as she could both to play with her as well as to keep her from getting into trouble - not that there was much trouble to get into on the nearly empty beach.

Nearly empty except for that large, blue pokemon up ahead. Both Nicolette and Angeline stopped where they stood to look at it, then both suddenly started moving again at a quicker pace - Nicolette at a brisk walk and the Eevee at a run - towards it. Lulu hastened after her kit while Epona followed her trainer patiently, Pascal and Agnes snoozing on her back. The Vaporeon managed to catch up to the brown and pink Eevee to snatch her up by the scruff near the Feraligatr, and not long after, Nicolette stopped nearby to regard the pokemon with a look akin to wide-eyed reverence. "Hello," she said softly. The girl had been tempted to speak to it in French, but having lived on the island as long as she had, it had become painfully obvious that most people and pokemon understood and spoke (in the former's case anyway) English, thus she'd had to cease using her favorite language as much as she would've liked. Regardless of her language, her expression of awe at the unknown pokemon's appearance didn't waver. "You're so pretty!"  

[Suudonym]

The pokemon in question, a massive Feraligatr with a glimmering iridescence to its scaly blue skin, raised its head from where it lay curled up on the shore, blinking passively at the tiny person and tinier pokemon who had appeared before it. The water-type exhaled a puff of warm breath at Nicolette in reply, tilting its large head with a docile expression.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The Eevee wriggled unhappily in Lulu's grip, finally giving up with a distinct pout as her long ears drooped and her nose scrunched up.

Nicolette on the other hand remained as close as she'd gotten when she stopped, still staring rather wide-eyed at the gorgeous pokemon. Her awestruck behavior finally gave way to an immense curiosity, and she crouched down before the large blue pokemon. A thought struck her suddenly, and her hands raised to her mouth as an expression of worry and concern spread over her features, "Oh! Were you napping? Did we wake you up? I'm sorry," she finished quickly, her hands lowered to ball into small fists over her knees, almost stumbling over her words in her desire to apologize for something she wasn't yet sure had actually occurred or not.  

[Suudonym]

The Feraligatr produced a soft, reptilian rumble from the depths of its throat as it tilted its head again in the other direction, then craned its neck towards her and into her personal space, curious about her scent.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When her question was neither confirmed nor denied, it left her at a momentary loss of what to do. Could it not understand her? Did it understand but just not want to answer? Did it just not w--

There was suddenly a large head in her immediate vicinity, startling her to the point where she nearly fell backwards, but managed to rock forwards and planted her knees in the sand instead. She had risen very early and spent the entire morning and early afternoon baking to her heart's content, specifically cupcakes, but also cookies and dessert pastries, so the smell of baked goods clung to her as it usually did - not that she even took notice of that. Instead, she half-raised her hands, very much wanting to pet the creature but unsure if she should actually do so, because to be perfectly honest she had no idea what it was doing or what it wanted, though she had yet to feel even remotely threatened. Instead, a smile lit up her face. The pokemon was so pretty. "What is it?"  

[Suudonym]

The Feraligatr thoroughly investigated Nicolette's person, apparently in search of the source of the intoxicatingly sweet smell she produced, moving to nudge aside fabric where it could and expecting to find some sort of baked goods hidden in her possession.

"Pi, personal space."

The Feraligatr snapped backwards and raised its head in attention, turning towards the water where a dark-haired man stood, still immersed to halfway up his shins. He raised a hand to push back the wet hair that clung to his forehead, his other hand holding a pair of swimming goggles.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Unfortunately for the Feraligatr, Nicolette had no baked goods - or food of any kind, for that matter - and the girl placed her small hands on the pokemon's large snout the closer and bolder it got, finally uncomfortable now that it was practically attempting to rummage around her person. It didn't hurt, though, but she nearly toppled over backwards again before it ceased its search - she still didn't know what in the world it had been doing besides making a number of odd snuffling noises - and her attention similarly snapped to the owner of the voice.

"Oh! This is your pokemon?" She asked, moving to stand up once more and dust all of the sand off of her tights. That done, she turned to properly address her new-found company, her hands folding in front of her out of habit. "It's very pretty, and rather friendly," the girl added after a brief thought to find an appropriate word. "Its name is Pie?" That was an amazing name - though with as much baking as she did, she didn't want to name pokemon after things she would make or use to bake with. "Oh! Forgive me; my name is Nicolette," the young girl added hastily, lest he think her rude. "May I ask your name?"  

[Suudonym]

Finding that he was being addressed, the man gave an inward shrug and advanced out of the water, approaching the pokemon and the stranger. He waved a hand at the Feraligatr briefly when he was within range, mumbling a brief, "Pi, the thing," and collecting the glasses and notepad the water-type produced from beneath its girth. "Yes," he finally replied, taking a few moments to scribble something onto the paper, "and no. Her name is Pythagoras. Shortened, Pi." He closed the notebook, turning his attention to Nicolette. "Nicolette. A pleasure to meet you. My name is Atticus."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Nicolette watched him with mounting curiosity - a curiosity that quickly became overwhelmed by the knowledge, as he fully emerged from the water and walked over, that he was really really tall. She looked up at him - quite literally looked up - her hands still folded in front of her as she watched him jot something down in the notepad the pokemon had given him. "Those are lovely names," she said brightly, and tilted her head to the side curiously. "Pythagoras - isn't that a mathematical term?" Not that she could remember what it meant or anything else about it other than it was math-related, but still. "Oh no, the pleasure is all mine," she insisted, offering a small, polite curtsy out of some sudden feeling of obligation to do so - though from where that feeling came, she had no idea.

Pascal, who had woken up with all the talking, peering around Epona's neck at the stranger and his pokemon. Immediately deeming the pokemon a potential opponent, the Buneary gleefully hopped down and bounded forward - much to Angeline's displeasure and jealousy, given she was still stuck in Lulu's motherly grasp - then halted before Pythagoras, striking what he thought was an obvious 'I challenge you' pose.  

[Suudonym]

"Not quite," he answered, shrugging lightly. "Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher and mathematician. He's credited with the discovery that in a right-angled triangle, the area of the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares of the other two sides - the Pythagorean theorem, which is probably what you're thinking of." He knelt down for a moment to collect the towel that had been stashed with his other belongings. "Pi has a mathematical correlation as well, as a matter of fact. The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, 3.14159 and so on."

Pythagoras looked down at the Buneary, mildly surprised, and snorted in amusement.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His answer thoroughly impressed her, especially since he seemed so confident in his knowledge of the topics, and she continued to watch him with wide-eyed curiosity as he further explained Pythagoras's nickname - Pi, not Pie. Oops. Him retrieving his towel served to remind her that he'd been in the water, and therefore in a swimsuit - which also reminded her that she was standing there, staring quite unabashedly at a half-naked young man wearing only a single article of clothing. What started as a small blush from her own error in nicknames quickly escalated to a full-on embarrassed flush of her face, and she hastily angled her gaze downward. "I'm afraid math was never my strongest subject," she admitted, her tone sheepish for more reasons than one. "Well, I'm fine with conversions because they're usually necessary for baking, but..."

..but wait - he'd been swimming. Swimming - and it was nearing the end of September, close to October. Autumn was practically upon them, and he was swimming in the ocean! "Wasn't the water cold?" She asked abruptly, her embarrassment suddenly vanishing as quickly as it appeared, easily and obviously replaced by concern. "Won't you get sick?"

Pascal had seemed almost insulted that the large pokemon found him amusing, and he raised and shook his small paw to clearly demonstrate his displeasure. Before he could issue a more proper challenge to battle, Agnes swooped over to tug at the Buneary's ears with her small feet before flying away, attempting to entice the normal-type to come after her, instead, and leave the larger pokemon alone - she obviously didn't want to battle him. With a huff of what he hoped looked like grudging acceptance, Pascal ceded and bounded after the yellow Swablu instead.  

[Suudonym]

He nodded in understanding, having heard the words many a time in the past. As far as he had learned, mathematics were just one of those subjects that was either adored or despised. "Conversions are excellent for when you can't fall asleep at night," he contributed, missing the point of her words entirely.

Her sudden change in mood was startling - or at least one could perceive the slight raising of his brows as a startled expression - and he raised a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "It's not really outdoor swimming weather anymore," he admitted, "but I'm not sure why that would affect my health. I suppose that's a common thought, though, isn't it?" He narrowed his eyes in contemplation, staring forward absently and eventually refocusing on Nicolette, "Do you want to learn something? And know where the library is?"

Pythagoras grinned slightly - but toothily - at the Buneary's gesture, watching the energetic little thing as it was easily tempted away towards another target.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

She nodded in agreement about conversions - hardly realizing what she was actually agreeing to until after the fact - before she shook her head again to affirm her opinion that no, it wasn't outdoor swimming weather anymore. "Oh yes," she agreed with another nod. "That's why you shouldn't be out in the cold too long, or you'll get sick." Though... now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure why that was, or how that worked.

The prospect of going to the library to learn something immediately sparked her interest, as learning was one of her greatest loves - after baking, of course - and her entire countenance seemed to brighten and tense with suppressed excitement. Her small hands even half-raised to ball into smaller fists. "Oh, yes! Yes, I do!" She was too excited about the thought of going to the library to read and learn to stop and think to separate her responses to both questions.  

[Suudonym]

He wagged a finger at her conclusion, the same thorough expression of thoughtfulness still on his face. "That sounds inaccurate, doesn't it?" he said. "Biology isn't my forte, unfortunately, but if you'll lead the way," he spread an arm in gesture, apparently forgetting that he had yet to clothe himself, "we can easily discover the truth of the matter."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The finger wagging stilled her, even forcing her to calm herself, and she lowered her hands as she nodded once, then paused to frown, her expression turning down in a pout, "But why would everyone say that if it's incorrect? There has to be some sort of merit to it, right?"

His suggestion of her leading the way to the library only fueled her excitement again, and she beamed happily as she turned to offer a brief word to her pokemon, almost all of which she returned to their balls and placed into the bag on Epona's back. If Pythagoras had a good nose, she might catch a hint of a smell similar to the one on Nicolette's person emanating from within the bag she just opened. "It shouldn't be too far," the girl said happily, standing on her toes and rummaging through the bag to replace all of the pokeballs in a specific section of it. She, too, had forgotten that Atticus still wore just a pair of swim trunks. "It's in the main section of the city, and very large with a plethora of books. It's wonderful."