[ORP] Midsummer Fair

[Tori Honoo]

(Henrietta)

Dove's attention was quickly diverted to her phone again as it buzzed, though her reaction to the text was that of amusement. Henrietta and her texting...

[So you're here and getting popcorn? : ) ] would be her response, as if to double check that she had interpreted the girl's words correctly.

------------

Jace grinned brightly, then moved forward to grab some popcorn for himself, offering a toothy smile to the man as he handed it over, then returning to Henrietta. "Yeah!!! I did see them! Chester's hungry though, so we came over to get popcorn and to see you!" he told her, though the last half might have been added on quickly. He looked over his shoulder, his eyes going wide at the sight of the chingling, before Hen turned to Chester instead to greet him too. "Nah, not yet. We did battle a ratatta the other day though! It was awesome, but I think Chester could do even more!" Her compliment caused the boy to radiate pride, stand a little taller and hold his head high.

The Charmander seemed slightly embarrassed by the boy's declaration, but offered Henrietta a wave in greeting as well.  

[Gwennythe]

Dove/Jace

"Well popcorn's awesome!" Henrietta put her thumb up to the two of them, apparently unconcerned that the 'to see' her had been added quickly. "It's awesome to see you too! Oh man, that must have been awesome?! I never manage to catch one of those but they're totally fun to battle with aren't they? So awesome!" She couldn't think, or didn't know, of the word 'scrappy' to describe the little purple rodents.
"Way to go Chester! Hey, maybe, but y'know, he's still pretty new, right? I bet he'll totally give it his all next time!"

He 'gear buzzed and sounded with a ringtone- one that might be recognised as the League anthem- and she looked surprised, then scrambled to shut the tone off and answer the text.
"Oh man! I gotta answer this real quick!"

Gummy sat, in greeting, silently watching a space somewhere between Jace and Chester, his mouth slightly open.

{Yams!} read the the text sent back to Dove, followed by another one immediately afterward. {are young hares?}  

[BlackFireKitsune]

[Lin, wandering from snack vendors]

A warm, soft pretzel was clasped carefully in Nicolette's hands - held between a wax paper sheet with which they had handed it to her - as she turned and stepped away from the small pretzel stand with Pascal in tow. The Buneary bounced along a little higher than normal, excited at the prospect of getting a piece of the salty treat his trainer had in her hands. She gave him a soft word to wait while she carefully pried a piece off, then knelt down so she could hand it to him. He immediately grabbed it and attempted to shove the whole thing in his mouth, which caused the girl to fret over him a little about whether he would choke on it or not, and forget the fact she had knelt down in the middle of an area where people were walking around.  

[Tori Honoo]

(Henrietta)

"Yeah, it was kind of too easy, but it was fun! Plus Chester's ember is awesome!" the boy declared proudly, before he offered the Charmander the bag of popcorn. The fire lizard eagerly accepted it, with a please "chaaaaar!"

Then Henrietta's gear went off, and he immediately recognized the tune that played, grinning from ear to ear for a moment before he blinked and pulled his own from his pocket, holding it up to his chest as he waited for her to finish up with her reply to whoever it was.

Chester, as he munched a clawful of popcorn, looked to Gummy, then extended the bag towards him, as if to see if the Totodile wanted any himself.

---------
(Henrietta and anyone who got the text and is there)

Dove laughed at the reply, then shook her head, before looking out at the crowd around her. No one spotted, she glanced back to her phone and tapped out a quick reply, hoping--again-- that she had interpreted correctly. [Excellent! I'm here! Over near the DJ's platform for now. Do you want to meet up later? Like before the speech?]

That done, she slid the gear into the hip band of her shorts, and began to sway as the music changed again, laughing as a few of the others around her moved to 'dance' playfully as well, though a good number of them had already been moving to the beats.  

[Gwennythe]

Nicolette

While Lin was looking up, of course, he wasn't looking down, and that set him on a collision course with the girl kneeling to feed her Buneary.
Luckily for the pair of them, Jeeves wasn't looking up- some understanding of what his 'charge' was like had led the pokémon to keep an eye on where the boy was going, and upon seeing the girl in their path, the Snivy had let out a quick little bark of 'Sni!" and promptly reached around to grab both of Lin's ears, as though they were reigns for halting the boy.
"HEY! OW! Jeeves, what are you doing?!" Lin started, before seeing Nicolette on the ground before him; he'd nearly walked right into her!
"Oh, my goodness! Such a tragedy nearly occurring from my own clumsy feet! Forgive me, my lady, for I cannot express enough apologies for not seeing you there! No, no, there is absolutely no excuse," He passed his snacks to the Snivy, who indignantly stood there, on his shoulder, struggling to keep a hold on everything as Lin then bent and offered out a hand to help Nicolette up from the ground, as though he had actually knocked her over "for not noticing such a beauty! How could I be looking up when such a lovely being was dwelling right before my clumsy self here on the earth?!"  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Ray

"So you are a trainer?" she asked, smiling at the pair. "I'm impressed. I don't know too many adults who choose to pursue pokemon training, what with having to work and all. How do you find the time?"

Tilting her head at the lady's explaination, she repeated curiously, "Understanding...?" Upon being asked about her own pokemon, however, she blushed deeply and tugged on her bangs, her gaze shifting down to her slippers.

"W-well, I've had him since I was little," she explained, sounding embarrassed, "but he was mostly given to me for protection, not for companionship. I never really got the chance to try to train him properly." Reaching into her spring green purse, she pulled out a Luxury Ball, holding it out to Ray.

"Since he's spent most of his life in his ball, he doesn't like to come out much. He tries to attack me when I bring him out to train so that I'll call him back right away," she confessed in a small voice.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Young Lady

Again she arched her eyebrows at the decoration of her being a trainer, "Ah well, that's mostly right, But you know I always say, if you're passionate about something you find a way. Trainers make money in battles you know, most adults just give it up becasue they reach a point where it becomes more work then play, just don't improve anymore, or they lose that child like passion for the sport." She shrugged
"Pokemon are my passion, what can I say."

"Protection." She repeated an let out an audible snort. "Ah I can tell now, though you do seem like the fancy type."
She put her hands on her hips, and turned to face him "I don't even need to meet him and I can probably tell you what you're problem is. You've probably got a exceptional pokemon, who wants to be more then it is, the only problem is, is that pokemon adapt to how a human treats them. If you're treating this amazing pokemon like nothing more then a tool to guard you, then I don't blame it for being frustrated with you."

She reached out to accept the ball, grinning a little at the sight of the Luxery ball, ah yes, she was right, rich person.
"You're lucky at least, most of the time when people get pokemon who's soul purpose is for protection they get nothing more then dumb single minded animals." she glanced over at Double Stripe who grimaced and shook his head.
"Yeah, pretty sad. but yours at least seems to have a sense of self identity, or trying to."

Straightening up she rolled the ball in her hand. "Mind if I let him out to say Hi?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

[Lin]

The sudden shout startled her, but not nearly as much as the person about to walk into her. "Oh!" It startled her so much, actually, that she almost dropped her pretzel. Almost. A blush immediately formed in her cheeks as she straightened up (without his help, her hands were kind of full of pretzel), Pascal forgotten for the time being - and stuffing the entire piece of pretzel into his mouth like Nicolette had been trying to prevent - before she dipped into a low curtsy. "Oh, no no - it was my fault," she admitted hastily once she'd straightened up for the second time, though she aimed her gaze down at an appropriately apologetic angle, "I was kneeling and completely disregarded the fact that people are free to walk all around this area; I should have moved off to one side so no one would trip on me. I was much too careless and thoughtless," the girl continued, "and I apologize." His words confused her a little; they were like a mix of what she was (sort of) used to at home, but also what she was used to here in Kodo. Where was he from?  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Ray

"Oh," the brunette acknowledged, sounding surprised. "My mother always seemed to think training was more play than work. That's why she preferred I focused on my studies instead. I was given this pokemon more as a precaution, but he was already fully evolved when I received him, so I didn't have a hand in raising him." She blinked. "I've never really considered what makes people so passionate about the whole thing..." Maybe it really could be fun.

Blushing again at being labeled 'the fancy type', she bowed slightly in apology. "I'm sorry, I know I must seem rather sheltered and ignorant to an experienced trainer like you. With all that's been happening lately, though, I've had more of a reason to try my hand at pokemon training. At this point, Supercilious isn't even willing to obey me, let alone protect or fight for me. I'd really like to try to understand him better. Find out what I'm doing wrong," she said.

"Well...I haven't been using him at all," the girl claimed. "Not as a tool or anything. I haven't needed his protection because I hadn't spent much time outside since before I came to Kodo, so he's just stayed in his ball. I can't help but wonder if he's been too used to remaining in there." Her shoulders drooped sadly. "Maybe he resents me for not having called him out more before or maybe he just senses how inexperienced I am, but I would never use him as a tool. That's just why my parents gave him to me."

Regarding this silver-haired woman, the shorter girl liked her immediately. What she'd heard about her had been true - she didn't mince words and she certainly seemed to know what she was talking about. Maybe, just maybe, she could actually help with her problem pokemon.

"Self-identity? Is that what it is?" Funny, I was certain he was just being a lazy, pampered p***k. "Oh, please, go ahead," she encouraged. "Just, um...you might want to stand back," she warned, taking a large step back herself.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Young Lady

The eye that was not covered with a long curtain of gray hair lidded slightly, the dark eyeshadow around her eye giving her a dull but still attentive look.
"Whats not to love! I mean really? Sure its easy to call it play, but if you actually take on the challenge of being on a team with a pokemon you'll find out very quickly that it becomes hard work, in a very short amount of time. and if you want to be anything worth while-" she let out a laugh to accentuate her point.
"Its pokemon! whats not to love about them, there is so much to learn that we;re even still discovering things about them, you hear about the discovery of the Fairy type right? Absolutely amazing."

"AHA" Ray said pointing a finger "Problem number one! never ever ever expect a Pokemon to "obey" you. Hence where the dumb animal comes in. odviously this is not- no surprise considering its species-" She rolled the ball between her palms excitedly "hey its never to late to start, I'm not judging you, and I'm glad to hear you want to pick up training, trust me, you learn a few things about yourself on this journey, but I'll lend you a tip. This is a partner, not a servant, or a pet," She held the ball in the palm of her hand toward the young women, the fingers of her other hand splayed behind it with a wide smile.
"-Also, Supercilious, awesome name."

Snapping her long fingers closed around the ball again. Shrugging at the last question "If I had to guess."
"Alright then, lets see how accurate my assumptions were shall we!"
Locating a clear enough aria Ray triggered the release mechanism to let the pokemon out of its ball, stepping up beside the young lady as she did so.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Ray

"I suppose you're right," the girl conceded with a small smile, catching a little of the taller female's enthusiasm. "Anything worth while takes hard work." She shook her head no at the question regarding the fairy-types, however. Sometimes it was frustrating knowing the rate at which new pokemon were being discovered.

Just when you thought you learned the names and appearances of the last batch, a new reigon was discovered with a whole new batch. Keeping up with such information must have been exhausting, but it must have been necessary for pokemon trainers.

Her eyes widened at the woman's exclamation. Never expect them to obey you...? What were you supposed to have them do, then? Give into their whims like spoiled little children? Some how that didn't seem to fit the formula for mastering pokemon. Still, this lady knew more than she did. Might as well trust her.

"A partner," she repeated, committing it to memory. "Understood." The redness about her cheeks was back, though, when her pokemon's name was complimented. She shrugged and looked away sheepishly. "Glad you think so. I didn't consider how many times I'd have to call it out, so then I started shortening it to 'Silly'. I didn't think he could detest me any more than he already did, but calling him by that nickname proved me wrong." Why did pokemon of this species have to be so prideful?

And yet Double Stripe seemed perfectly pleased with its own trainer. "I really like Double Stripe's name, though."

When the woman snapped her fingers, the girl watched as attentively as if she herself were a pokemon and the woman her own trainer. The usual beam of red light shot forth, manifesting itself into a green version of the serpentine grass-type already out. It blinked its red eyes, perplexed, as it looked from Double Stripe to the silver-haired woman to the brown-haired one.

There it paused, eyes narrowing, and it was about to turn its head away, nose in the air, when it caught sight of its Luxury Ball. It wasn't in its usual trainer's possession. What could this possibly have meant? Had he been traded to someone else? Gifted, even?

Ignoring the others for the time being, it appraised the new individual, slithering over to her with a hard look. It circled her once before glancing back at the brown-haired girl and hissing distastefully at her. The girl's wide eyes glared back in response and she crossed her arms over her chest. At the very least, Silly wasn't threatening to constrict her to asphyxiation this time.

Instead of retaliating, Supercilious turned his head away from the girl, as if she couldn't possibly have ever meant anything to him, and lay down at Ray's feet, closing his eyes as if for a nap.

"I've...never seen him do that," she admitted, surprised by his response. "Though I guess sometimes he'll try to go somewhere I can't get him, like a fountain, before he decides to lounge. I guess he feels safer with you. Or respects you more." Her thin lips were pursed as if she was trying to decide how she felt about the Serperior's behavior.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Andre was on the hunt.

They would be here...he knew for a fact that they would be. He remembered the sweet smell...the warmth that radiated from it. A shiver raced up his spine as he weaved effortlessly through the crowd of people enjoying the Midsummer Fair, his attention swiveling from booth to booth, face to face. He would find them...and when he did....he would devour them. So caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice the smell wafting from a little nondescript booth until he'd nearly past it. There!

The purple haired man spun sharply on his heel and all but dashed over towards the source of the smell. "Hello and welcome, Sir!" The vendor said with a bright smile. "Yes, hello." He all but purred as he took in the booth and its vendor. "What can I help you with today?" Andre smiled charmingly and slowly stuck his hand into his back pocket. "I would like..." The vendor cocked his head slightly in confusion of the man's eagerness. "Three of all of your baked goods, please." He finished, drawing his wallet from his pocket and giving the man an excited smile. "I simply adore your crepes." The vendor laughed heartily and eyed the him in surprise. "Thank you, just a moment and I'll have your food ready." Andre was practically bouncing on his toes, mouth watering, "No rush, I came specifically for this."  

[Gwennythe]

Dove

{Oklahoma! See you thanks! Gammon says high!}

Jace

Text sent, Henrietta looked back up, still grinning.
"Awesome! Oh I bet it totally is! Are you gonna battle today?! Man, I can't wait to see Chester in action!"
Her eyes found the 'gear he was now holding.
"Oh right! Yeah, of course; you've totally got one of those now too! And a 'dex right?!"

Gummy, at first, didn't seem to have noticed Chester, but as food was offered out, the Totodile snapped his mouth open and closed, and then left it open, as though he expected the Charmander to throw popcorn into it.  

[Gwennythe]

Nicolette

Oh! She was getting up on her own, without his help; that might be awkward... Lin quickly turned his offer of help into a bow, matching her curtsy.

He raised his hand in a gesture of trying to still the protests that it was her fault.

"No no, beauty had its prerogative! People walking around here, such as myself, have an obligation to look out for, and not be endangering kneeling pretty girls! Besides, I am sure you were simply being kind and generous to that adorable," Wait, what was that thing? Oh, a Buneary... "little pokémon! Beauteous and kind! I could never forgive myself had I walked into you, my lady!"
He did sound, and look, very apologetic, but also seemed to be insistent on peppering his words with flattery.
"Lin Salter," He introduced himself "Apologetic and, very pleased to be, at your service!"

The Snivy on his shoulder regarded the Buneary on the ground coolly; still occupied with hold all Lin's snacks, however.  

[Tori Honoo]

(Henrietta)

"Oh, yeah, for sure!" he said excitedly, still clutching his gear. "Just thought we would look around and stuff first, though, since there's lots of stuff and we didnt get to see all of it last time..."

Holding the gear up, he dug into his other poker and drew forth the pokedex, standard issue and all. "Yep! Here, what's your number?" he asked, tucking away the pokedex once more to open his gear to put her number in.

Chester seemed a bit perplexed at the totodile's actions, but grinned, and decided to make a game of it by tossing a few kernels at a time toward his open mouth.