[FIN] High and Low

[BlackFireKitsune]

She noted the almost bitter laugh but put it down as him being worried for his pokemon, which was something she could relate to quite well, and offered a short nod in response. "That's true." There wasn't a whole lot more to say, however, and so she stayed silent. He seemed to have halted though, so she did as well, albeit rather curiously. Maybe his Espeon would come to him now or something?

Suddenly her blue eyes focused on the yellow and white thing that quite unexpectedly appeared to materialize out of thin air. Espeon, even with her limited knowledge of them, could not do that. A split second was all the time she had for that thought before the creature that fully appeared was a - what was it? A Mew? Yes, that was it, although she was quite sure they weren't normally that color - and her recognition of the legendary came with a gasp as her eyebrows shot up and both hands flew up to cover her mouth. She remained in shocked silence while he chided the legend as casually as if it were any other common pokemon, not at all as if it were such an incredibly rare pokemon - which it was.

She noted everything that was said despite her shocked expression and stance, which didn't change until he turned to regard her and spoke to her instead of the Mew. His Mew. Lorelei. That was why he kept regarding the pokemon as an 'it' and not as a she. Or he. Slowly her hands lowered, though her eyebrows did not, though she couldn't pull her bright eyes away from the yellow and white creature. "It.. Oh, a Mew," she said, unable to resist putting her hands to her face again. "I've never even dreamed of seeing any such pokemon before." The reality of the situation was almost too much for her to grasp, but she made a great effort to stop looking like such a Deerling in headlights. Her hands lowered again and her eyes flitted to Luke instead. "No, don't apologize - it's perfectly understandable. A legendary out in public could be dangerous. You never know --" Oh, but he did - he'd mentioned having a pokemon stolen already. Her expression immediately softened into a sympathetic and understanding one. "And I'm so sorry about.. Mieu, was it?" He didn't outwardly seem overly upset about it, but those of the male persuasion hardly ever outwardly expressed those emotions, she'd found. No wonder he was so intent on finding out where the Espeon - the Mew - had gone. He was afraid it could be stolen too, and it almost frightened her to think of such a creature being stolen in the first place. It was almost too horrible to think about.  

[Suudonym]

Apparently Abigail knew more about pokemon than he did; Luke hadn't reacted nearly as strongly when the Mew had presented itself to him for pure lack of understanding of its rarity. He felt kind of guilty for catching her off-guard like that. Lorelei, however, seemed flattered by her reaction, and he moved away from Luke to loop around Abigail, inspecting her curiously.

Hearing the Flareon's name was a little more upsetting than saying it himself, but he contained his reaction to a mere wistfulness. "Don't be. It was my own fault."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As the Mew floated over to her, Abigail remained absolutely, perfectly still. She didn't want to move in case she'd frighten it away, so she instead opted to just study it closely. While she hadn't ever seen one before, she vaguely recalled seeing a picture of one years ago, and she was almost certain they were normally... some other color. Pink? She was sure it was pink. But did they normally have tufts of fur on the tips of their ears? That she wasn't at all sure about. It could be normal, or it could be a variation. It happened sometimes, she knew, in some breedings, there was always the potential for variations in genetics. It made things interesting. Either way, the end result was the gorgeous little thing hovering in front of her. "Hello there," she said softly to it, getting over her initial shock enough to offer it a warm smile. "You're very pretty, you know that?" She half-raised one hand but paused for a few seconds, then tentatively reached it towards the Mew. Rather than actually touch it though, she waited with her hand a ways from it to see if it would want to be touched, or if it would react negatively to it. She wasn't about to force petting on it if it would prefer not to be touched.

"Would you mind if I asked what happened?" Abigail asked of Luke this time, though she still watched the Mew closely.  

[Suudonym]

Lorelei's long tail twitched curiously as he watched the strange lady who somehow seemed almost afraid to move. He tilted his head at her words, watching with large eyes as the hand raised and reached but did not make contact. What a peculiar lady. The Mew suddenly headbutted the extended hand, moving his tail to curl loosely around her wrist and staring with wide eyes that invited her next action. People could be so odd.

Luke was momentarily silent, absently watching Lorelei's exploratory actions. "At the edge of the city, some woman walked up to me and my friend. He'd been hurt somehow," he never got the full story behind Yuri's injuries, did he?, "and she kept insisting she was a nurse. We were kind of suspicious - understandably, I think - and I guess she got tired of it and just... attacked us, I guess." He breathed a sigh, narrowing his green eyes slightly at the memory of that day. "A lot of my friends have had pokemon stolen by Team Rocket. She kept talking about justice and how she was a good person, though, so I thought that if I just talked to her I could convince her to leave us alone." A shrug. "I thought talking would be better than fighting. So I didn't fight. So she stole Mieu."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Lorelai's reaction was what she was waiting for - an invitation of sorts, really - but the heabutt still surprised her enough to cause her eyebrows to raise a bit again. Regardless, she offered the legend a smile as she began to rub its head around the ears. It really was adorable.

She listened quietly to Luke's story, and her brows furrowed a bit though she kept petting the yellow and white Mew. Even after he finished, she remained silent for some moments, and then, slowly, "I didn't know Team Rocket was here, too." If she had known that, she might not have gotten that apartment in Sandalwood. She might have gone back to Grand Ile and looked harder for a place there, in other areas maybe. She could have...

But she didn't know, so she didn't, and now she was stuck with a two year lease on apartment she was still in the process of furnishing, one she couldn't afford to cancel prematurely. No; as it was she'd need to find a job eventually, but she was alright for now. She was living here now, though, whether Team Rocket was also here or not, and she intended to make the most of it. "They used to be in Goldenrod, where I used to live. That was an awful time - I was there when they occupied the city. I thought they broke up after that though," she ended uncertainly, her brow furrowed still. Had they gotten back together? She supposed it wouldn't be unheard of, but still... She didn't like it, not at all.  

[Suudonym]

Yes good yes. The Mew wasn't particularly used to pettings, but he certainly wasn't adverse to them. He closed his eyes in a pleasant feline expression, enjoying the contact.

It was Luke's turn to listen to Abigail now as she explained her own perspective on Team Rocket, but the information she divulged disheartened him to what he inevitably had to say next, "It's a pretty big problem here. Or maybe I just keep getting mixed up in it somehow." There were probably people in Camphoreon who lived their daily lives without hardly ever thinking about the Rocket threat to the city. To many, it was probably just another sad word in the daily news. "When I first came here the spring before last, I met a girl in the park. She looked really depressed, and we talked for a while. Eventually she," started crying, and it was painful to watch even in his memories, "told me that Team Rocket had stolen a pokemon from her. That was the first time I ever heard of it." A frown, and he lowered his gaze.

"Not long after that I met someone who had just stolen a pokemon, but couldn't manage to stop her. A while layer there was a coordinator contest in Sandalwood, and Team Rocket showed up and stole a bunch of pokemon - two of them from people I know, one of them being the same person I met in the park. I can think of at least two other times when friends of mine have had pokemon stolen or threatened. It can be really dangerous. Rockets can get close to you without you ever knowing. It's their job, and they're good at it."

He drew a breath and raised his eyes, "But it's not like we're totally helpless. My friends and I have fought back before. We even went off to Hoenn for training. And nowadays the Pokemon League is starting activities here, and ever since they announced that things have been pretty quiet so I feel things are kind of starting to calm down."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Seeing that the Mew was enjoying the attention, Abigail raised her other hand to scratch in circles behind the legend's large tufted ears for double the pettings, all the while listening to Luke with a growing gravity in her expression. When he finished, she was looking again at Lorelai, frowning slightly. "That's terrible," she said softly before she sighed. "I'm sorry for you and for your friends; I know how hard it is to have a pokemon stolen." The memory of the event, and indeed the repercussions of the event itself, were still painful to her, despite being several years old. She wouldn't elaborate of her own volition unless he asked her to.

"Fighting back is good, but don't do anything too dangerous," she warned, focusing her gaze back at Luke. Danger was bad, and was never a thing to go looking for, in her opinion. Never ever ever. However, the thought that things were calming down was good. "I hope it continues to die down, then."  

[Suudonym]

He was able to produce a small smile in shared sympathy, "It's not always hopeless, at least. Rosie - the girl that had two of her pokemon stolen - got her Vaporeon back. Not everyone in Team Rocket is a psychopath, at least." He did have his doubts about his brother sometimes, though.

At mention of danger, Luke instinctively raised a hand toward his chest, an odd expression recognition and uneasiness in his features. "Yeah... It's been a problem as long as I've been in Kodo. It'd be nice if no one had to worry anymore." His memory of receiving a mass text message from Dith, who had gone to the fair on the plains, indicating that he had spotted Rockets in the crowd, however, led him to suspect that it would still be a while longer.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

She offered a similarly small smile in return. "No, I suppose it isn't always hopeless," she ceded, although her tones indicated she at least thought it was in some cases. It might have even hinted that her own case was hopeless, and indeed she thought it was. It had been - what? Four years now? Four years at least, and she'd not even a single clue where her beloved Lopunny could have been spirited off to. A soft, wistful sigh escaped her as her hands dropped away from the Mew at last. "I'm glad your friend got her Vaporeon back," she said earnestly, though she looked at Luke with interest now. "How did she get it back?" It sounded almost as if they'd just.. given it back. But why would they?

That his hand went to his chest at the mention of danger made her curious, though she didn't question it. She did similar when overtaken by other emotions, after all. "I guess.. They've always been a problem, albeit at times they were hardly a problem at all, back after they disbanded. At least you and your friends can defend yourselves. That's why you trained, wasn't it?" Or so she assumed, anyway.  

[Suudonym]

She didn't agree - not universally, at least. Luke could understand the sentiment. Even though Vahy'n had been returned to her proper trainer, even though he encouraged others to keep faith when their pokemon were lost, he could still find no merit in his own words.

The question of how Rosie retrieved her Vaporeon was one with a simple answer, if not for the exposition it necessitated. Luke frowned slightly in consideration for how to keep things as concise as possible. Best to just leave out unnecessary details, then. "The person who stole her gave it back on his own decision. He didn't explain why, but I think it's just... they're not evil people. The chick that stole my Flareon kept on about how she wasn't a bad person and didn't want to hurt anyone. I followed someone I saw steal a pokemon once, and she said she stole it from someone who had made a bet on how long it could perform before it passed out." A more definite frown. "I guess thinking like this is how I wound up losing Mieu."

The idea that Team Rocket had at one time disbanded was a highly attractive one. What had pushed them to that end in the past, and how could they invite the event again - preferably more permanently this time? Maybe it was impossibly, like trying to bail water out of a leaking boat: you could empty it now and again, but it would just fill up again. But they would continue bailing nonetheless. He offered a short nod, "Yeah. And why we're still training, and why we'll keep training." Every pokemon they lost was just another reason to work harder.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail waited patiently while Luke gathered his thoughts, she didn't want to rush him or anything, and listened intently when he finally explained. When he finished, her brow was furrowed a bit while she thought on what he'd said. "Well," she began slowly, "I've always thought that bad things happened to good people. I guess it could also mean good people get themselves into bad situations somehow." It made sense though, or at least to her it did. "But, I do agree on that. Better to defend yourself first and then theorize later, when you're safe again." Because you didn't have time to think about the deeper meaning of things when someone was assaulting you or stealing your pokemon.

Something clearly occurred to her, and she waited briefly, almost hesitating, before she asked, "these people who you met, who you're sure are in Team Rocket.. Who were they?" 'What do they look like' probably would have been a better way to phrase it in retrospect, but she was too caught up in her thoughts to amend her question. He did say those in Team Rocket could get very close to people without them even realizing, until it was too late... It would at least be a great weight off her mind, if nothing else, if she could at least vaguely identify which people might be in Team Rocket, so that she could avoid them if at all possible.  

[Suudonym]

"I would believe that," he said sullenly, wondering about the circumstances his brother refused to explain to him. Defend first and question later was certainly a better philosophy that he intended to make full use of, but he remembered with an internal start that he had also intended to be less open with perfect strangers. This Abigail lady didn't seem like a bad person, but just as they were discussing, that didn't necessarily mean anything...

"Mm..." The frown persisted. "Well... my brother, for one. Twin, if you would believe it." He breathed a passing sigh. He hadn't had any trouble from it yet, but it seemed like it was really inconvenient to look exactly like a member of a criminal organization. "So if you ever see this guy who looks just like me except that his face is frozen into some disapproving scowl, that's one. I don't remember the one girl very well, but the the one who stole Mieu," he flexed his hands into and out of fists; she was painfully unforgettable, "was a woman... older than me, I think, but shorter than me. Blonde hair, but half dyed. Had this smile like she was our best friend even though she was standing there telling us to hand over a pokemon." It was kind of creepy, retrospectively: that bright sunshine smile lighting up her face even as she went on her insane ramblings. "She spoke some French so I thought maybe she was someone from Grande Ile, but she sure didn't dress like it. Not even an accessory or anything."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Your brother?" Twin brother, no less. Abigail could hardly believe it, and her face plainly showed this. But, he certainly did sound par for the course if he had a perpetual scowl on his face. Somebody like that usually wasn't ever up to anything good. Regardless of how she felt on the matter of this poor boy's brother being part of Team Rocket, she nodded to show her understanding. If ever she came across this twin of his, she would steer quite clear of him. Even if he wasn't in Team Rocket, he sounded rather unpleasant anyway.

The next description, however, sent a slow chill creeping down her spine, and a wave of nausea seep into her stomach. A worried expression soon etched itself onto her face. "This girl," she started slowly, and licked her lips to wet them because suddenly they were very dry -- it didn't work though, because her mouth felt dry all of a sudden as well, "what.. What color was the other half of her hair dyed?" Surely, surely he wasn't describing Arcadie? She did smile a lot - her rainbow princess costume quickly came to mind - and she just seemed so nice and sweet and helpful. Surely, certainly he didn't mean Arcadie - it must be some other girl. Some very similar girl, similar in age and looks and manner - but not Arcadie. Certainly not. It was almost unthinkable.

...so why did she suddenly feel so very nervous and vaguely ill with a slowly growing dread?  

[Suudonym]

He nodded with an expression that silently offered the words "yeah, seriously" and shrugged lightly. "He's not the worst of them all, I guess. He's never outright tried to hurt any of us, at least. Not physically." He didn't count times when Asch had attacked only him since those seemed to be related more to personal issues than to the fact that he was an enemy opposing the trainers.

He frowned slightly at her request for more information, and Lorelei too detected an unpleasant shift in her demeanor and alighted gently at her shoulder. Questions like this were usually because the initial description sounded familiar, and the answers were often every bit as unsettling as the asker would expect. "I'm dunno if I'm remembering right - I wasn't really paying all that much attention to her hair," he admitted carefully, "but I know it was a darker color. Maybe some kind of reddish brown or purple?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

If Abigail weren't in a mild shock, she would have responded to or at least acknowledged his statements and observations about his brother. As it was, however, she was still too surprised. Surprised and worried. Anxious, even. But why? She had only run into Arcadie twice now, she very well could be part of Team Rocket. But the fact of the matter was that she just seemed so nice and sweet and helpful and just.. Just nice! How could such a person be in Team Rocket? It really was unthinkable, and something she just couldn't wrap her head around.

Lorelai's sudden presence so close startled her a bit, but she reached a hand up to touch the Mew's head gently, though she frowned at the pavement somewhere off to one side of Luke's feet. "Purple.. And she spoke French." And seemed like she could be from Grand Ile but didn't dress like it. That description fitted Arcadie hauntingly well, and she didn't like it at all. "That... That describes a girl I met pretty accurately," she said with a confused, vaguely upset frown. "But I just don't understand it. She was so sweet, and so helpful. Very helpful. I don't really see how they could be the same person - it must be someone else.. Someone very similar," she suggested as her blue eyes raised to meet Luke's, although her suggestion sounded quite half-hearted, as though she didn't know if she even believed it herself or not.