[FIN] Empirical Picnic

[BlackFireKitsune]

Jozette had grown more and more frustrated over the last few days, spent almost entirely in the library in Camphoreon while Ion pored over articles and various posts about Team Rocket. She at least had picture books to look at, but people were unbearably quiet in libraries and the staff there didn't allow food or drink inside, and the fire-type had gotten enough wary stares being out and around all the nice, dry, flammable books as it was. Luckily, though, Ion had deemed today a more lighthearted, enjoyable day, and the pair had ventured south of Camphoreon to see what trainers they could battle - Ion was indifferent about battling, but Jozette seemed to enjoy it, and he was more than happy to oblige her - and battle they did, with frequent trips to the nearby trainer center to heal once in a while.

After a few hours, the pair decided to take a break for a late lunch, and so they'd set up a large blanket on the grass near the edge of the forest upon which Ion set his backpack and took out various boxes and wrapped sandwiches. Jozette sat across from her trainer and helped him by spreading various things out, or repositioning them, while he finished pulling things out before setting his backpack down on the grass beside his staff. He hadn't been entirely sure how much food to bring, and so it was probably a little too much, but he preferred to have plenty as opposed to not enough. A rather frustrated, muffled growl caught his attention, and he looked up to see Jozette struggling to get the plastic off of the sandwich she'd picked up. Upon realizing she wouldn't be able to get it off herself - not without biting it and trying to rip the offensive plastic packaging - she huffed and held it out to her trainer, and he accepted it with an apologetic smile before unwrapping it and offering it back to her. "I guess I used to much plastic wrap," he noted, his tone as apologetic as his smile, but Jozette merely made a noise as she took the sandwich back and bit into it. Now that she was satisfied, Ion picked up his own sandwich again, unwrapped it, and similarly began eating. What a lovely day for a picnic; he was quite glad they'd decided to take the day off to enjoy themselves.  

[TawnyAngel]

The Backpack had been filled up again today and while Lovelace remained dubious about the large human's motives she couldn't deny that his actions currently benefited her... and gave her food for thought. Groaning in the privacy of her own head at the unintended pun she lifted it down from the branch and turned to withdraw back into the trees. A flash of movement caught out of the corner of her eye however made her freeze and then dive quickly behind a bush.

Human.

It wasn't one she'd seen before, at least she didn't think so, and she definitely didn't recognise the pokemon that was with it, in fact she didn't even know what kind of pokemon it was. Instinct made her tense up, made her short fine fur stand up on end and her blood start to pump faster with the jolt of adrenaline. Rather than charging in or fleeing however she forced herself to wait, to look, to pay attention and think. She had not forgotten the Absol's words. She had tried at first but she had not succeeded, and had ended up ashamed of the effort anyway. How could she claim to be a scientist and yet try to ignore evidence that was inconvenient, that ran counter to her world view?

So, what new evidence did she have today?

The two were sitting together on a large rug. They were conversing and... were they sharing food? It looked like it to her. The human was unwrapping something - sandwich? - and passing it to the... whatever the pokemon was.

They didn't look like master and slave, no matter how much she wanted to see it they simply did not.

Was it safe to approach, to try to find out more? She could speak to both of them, see what each had to say and... and... then... something. It wasn't much of a plan but since meeting the three captive pokemon - Captive? Owend? Tame? What was the right word to use? - she hadn't had much of a plan about anything anymore. She needed to know more.

Taking a deep breath and trying to remind herself that a lot of humans and pokemon were scared of her so that could buy her time to flee if she needed to, Lovelace shouldered the backpack again and stepped out of the treeline. she said as firmly as she could muster.

Are you having lunch??

She was starting to feel as stupid as the Absol had thought her.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The pair had expected to watch the few other trainers and pokemon mill about, though given the time, most had ventured inside for lunch. They were, then, not focusing on the treeline, or at least not until a sudden, rather large pokemon entered their field of vision and addressed them. Both stared up - quite a ways up, actually - at the pokemon, and might have been much more surprised or startled at its speech had they not previously met a talkative Jirachi.

"Yes, we are," Ion responded with a smile, since Jozette had a mouthful of sandwich and therefore kind of unable to respond at the moment, though she did give the tall pokemon a dubious, suspicious glance. Her trainer, on the other hand, was not, though he was passingly curious about the backpack. Not that he would ask about it, of course. Instead, he gestured to a spot on the blanket, "Would you like to join us?"  

[TawnyAngel]

That was not the reaction she had expected, was not any of the reactions she had expected in fact. She'd been assuming it would either be fear or an immediate attempt to catch her. Lovelace's tail twitched. If she didn't go over and actually talk then this whole effort was futile. she said, her mental voice ringing a little uncertain. she added a little more decisively after a moment,

Feeling faintly surreal and gripping the strap of the backpack Lovelace padded towards the rug, coming to a halt just short of it. She was starting a conversation with a human. Voluntarily. She must have gone mad.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ion was a little curious about the large pokemon's initial indecisiveness, but didn't comment or ask as he quietly shifted himself over a little to make more room for her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lovelace," he said warmly, smiling up at her. My name is Ion, and this," he gestured to the Braixen, "is Jozette."

The aforementioned Braixen, whose mouth was still full of sandwich and therefore rendered her unable to introduce herself, raised a paw in a brief wave to at least be somewhat polite. She wasn't entirely sure about such a large, unknown pokemon joining them, but if Ion allowed it...  

[TawnyAngel]

The human was polite, that was a good start wasn't it? After a moment more of hesitation Lovelace sat down, legs to one side and tail to the other as a balance. As she set down the backpack and opened it up she tried to think of what she ought to say next; somehow it seemed unwise to give away the depths of her suspicion to this pair, certainly it wasn't a good place to start.

she said absently, glancing up at Ion. Ah, here were the sandwiches; a bit squashed by the water bottle but still good, Lovelace fetched them out and unwrapped them, sniffing cautiously to see what might be inside today.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Jozette grunted quietly around her sandwich as she scooted over too, to also make room for their company, who was rather tall. Why did it have to be taller than her? That wasn't fair. Then again, a lot of things were taller than her... Obviously that just meant she needed to be taller somehow. Someday. Possibly.

The trainer paused as the pokemon spoke, then smiled with amusement at her question. "No, that wasn't the reason," he said with a shake of his head, his tone slightly apologetic since she seemed to like the thought. "May I ask why you're named Lovelace?"  

[TawnyAngel]

The sandwich was cheese and tomato; the Mewtwo bit into it with some satisfaction. she replied with an incline of her head; she might not trust the human but this was information she was happy to share with anyone who would listen.

All in all... well all in all she had to admit that so far - and admittedly she had not been here long - but so far this felt like a normal conversation. Neither the human nor his slave - his companion? - were threatening her, in fact they did not seem to find her especially remarkable at all.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ion listened to the explanation as it was given, his sandwich temporarily forgotten. That sort of story wasn't what he had expected, but then again, he wasn't entirely sure what he had expected from a talking pokemon. "I didn't know that," he admitted, curious now about the intelligence of this creature. She seemed very intelligent so far. "It's a beautiful name," he noted with a smile, "and I think it does fit you well."

Jozette finished her sandwich and happily licked her lips, her large ears perked up tall as she surveyed their assortment of food, trying to decide what to eat next. Hmm, maybe some chips...  

[TawnyAngel]

Lovelace replied sounding a little pleased, she was not immune to flattery even from humans and she also did like to be agreed with. Enjoyable though being agreed with and flattered were however it wasn't revealing a great deal of information which had been the whole point of putting herself at risk by joining the human and his companion. She wasn't sure what she could infer about him based on what he did, if anything, but the way he talked about it might reveal something. On the other hand maybe she was just grasping at straws because she really hadn't expected him to be so pleasant.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Her thanks received a smile in response, and Ion took the brief pause in conversation to take another bite of his sandwich he'd just remembered again. The next question she asked required a bit of thought with how best to phrase it before he began, "I'm from an island country called Grande Ile, and it's my job to look into potential threats to the safety of my country. Kodo unfortunately has an organization called Team Rocket, so I'm here researching them to try and gauge if they will indeed pose us a threat or not," he explained, hoping it would make sense, though with how Lovelace had been speaking throughout the conversation thus far, she likely would.  

[TawnyAngel]

At the mention of Team Rocket Lovelace's mouth pressed into a thin line... thinner than usual for a Mewtwo that was. It was a known fact that Team Rocket had created the original Mewtwo - ironic to call a clone original, even if it was a mutant clone - and she had her suspicions that she owed her own beginnings to that organization too. She had no proof of course, only a hunch, but that was hardly the point; the point was the way they used Pokemon. Lovelace asked after a momentary pause, taking another bite out of her sandwich and chewing aggressively.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Mention of Team Rocket seemed to incite different reactions from everyone he spoke to about it, but it wasn't too surprising to him that all of them were various degrees of negative. "That is my sincere hope as well," Ion replied with a nod, not missing the slightly more violent chewing Lovelace was doing now. While curious, it wasn't any of his business to ask - plus he didn't want to offend a pokemon capable of holding intelligent conversation. Not that he wanted to offend other pokemon, either, of course. "Unfortunately no," he said apologetically, "all of the reports I've read say they've been quiet lately, and some theories claim they're either rebuilding or they've moved elsewhere. I'm not sure about the accuracy of those, but they both make sense." He could only hope with all his heart that Team Rocket hadn't moved on and decided Grande Ile would be its new home.

Jozette added despite having a mouth full of sandwich, her ears perked up and determined to actually be a part of this conversation despite only being able to verbally communicate with one half of it.  

[TawnyAngel]

Lovelace's tail twitched. she continued, addressing both human and pokemon and nodding to Jozette, her expression grim. Lovelace had the vague impression that the 'league' was involved in such things but she wanted to hear what Ion and Jozette had to say about the matter.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Thinking of Team Rocket relocating elsewhere made him nervous, especially when he thought of them moving into Grande Ile, though he didn't wish that fate on any other region. It would've been best for everyone if Team Rocket did disappear with the latest event he'd heard about in the desert, as Kodo and its people could begin to heal.

"The Pokemon League has branches in most regions, though not all of them are very big. Their branch here appears to be small in comparison, but from what I've heard it's bigger now than it used to be," he explained once he'd finished his sandwich and folded his hands in his lap, "and they opposed Team Rocket in the past in another region, and I've read that they do here as well. The second organization I know of is more specialized, and is called Kodo Special Operations, and while the League is more general and encompasses a broader range of things, the KSO is more specialized and its main objective is specifically to combat Team Rocket."