[Fin] Adventure at the Eastern Center!

[Gwennythe]

"Yeah! I've stayed here before! It's really cool cuz it's all other trainers staying! Ah! Rain is awesome! We like the rain! But yeah, it's totally not awesome to try and sleep in it cuz you get all wet!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"It's okay if you make a decent shelter but I haven't got an axe. Somehow I didn't think I'd get it through customs," Taavi replied with a laugh and a shrug. "Anyway it takes hours so it's not really worth it for one night. It sounds like a fun place to stay here anyway, I bet lots of interesting people come through." And all of them trainers, so presumably people who'd be prepared to talk a bit about the pokemon they encountered on this island and their experiences with the effects of the Egg.

"So can I ask where you got Gummy?" Taavi asked, remembering his earlier curiosity. "I've never seen a Totodile like him before."  

[Gwennythe]

"Valour doesn't know any moves that work like an axe?" Henrietta queried with a tilt of her head and then a grin "Another reason to get him some buddies! And, yeah! It's totally a fun place! Trainers and 'mon just everywhere! So totally cool!"

Gummy seemed to narrow one eye as Taavi asked about him, then flopped his tongue from one side of his mouth.

"Gummy's totally unique! He's super awesome and super strong and totally cool!" Henrietta boasted a little, apparently either totally unaware or choosing to ignore just how... odd... her little Totodile was.
"My family got 'im for my birthday a couple of years ago! He's my starter! Totally my best friend!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Afraid not," Taavi replied with a shake of his head. "I want to teach him Cut but I haven't been able to get hold of the HM. Maybe I'll meet somebody here who'll lend it to me, you never know right?" It might not be the most powerful battle move - not that Valour was really trained enough for things like that - but you really couldn't beat it for slicing through inanimate objects.

Oh and now... Gummy. Taavi watched his tongue flop out of his mouth and found himself temporarily lost for words. Unique was one way to put it but Hen clearly loved him so.... Yes, best just not think about the breeding behind him. "Wow, um, so you've been training a few years then?" Taavi said after a couple of moments.  

[Gwennythe]

"Hey yeah! People are awesomely generous here! I'd totally lend it to you if I had one!" Henrietta agreed, then reached up to pet Gummy while they were talking about him.
When Taavi asked about how long she'd been training, she brought her hand back down and tapped at her teeth before replying.

"... Yeah! Yeah, I guess I totally have! I came here right after my birthday a couple of years ago and brought Gummy with me! So really I kinda started my training here! Isn't that awesome?!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"It seems like a pretty amazing place to have begun training with you partners," Taavi agreed, looked around them at the general bustle of people and pokemon. "I wish I'd been able to come here sooner." If he'd really heard of the place he might have come here from Unova rather than going to Hoenn, then he would have been here when the Egg was discovered and been able to see it and help guard it. "It's uh, kind of chaotic around here though I've heard?" he ventured as he recalled that the KSO had been doing the guarding, and then the reason for their existence. "With Team Rocket and all I mean." Other regions had had their issues too in recent years of course but in Kodo it seemed to have sprung up from nowhere, the place hadn't had much of an emphasis on pokemon until Team Rocket popped up so far as he could tell from his research,  

[Gwennythe]

"It's totally awesome!" Henrietta grinned before frowning and blowing a raspberry and showing thumbs down gestures with both hands.

"Team Rocket are bozos! They ruined a trip I went on once and one of their pokémon totally ate my gear!" She grinned though "But their base totally got all blown up in the desert and now we have these super awesome centers! They're totally not tough like they think they are! If Gummy and I ever meet them again we'll totally take 'em on and make 'em sorry!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"It does seem like Kodo is a lot better equipped to deal with them now," Taavi agreed, frowning slightly to himself. "Use pokemon for profit indeed!" Given there had been isolated incidents with them since however it probably was a good idea to get himself some more partners, Hen might be confident but he didn't fancy going up against people like that with just Valour and himself.  

[Gwennythe]

"Yeah! It's really stupid! I mean, we totally get money when we battle, right? But that's /their/ money too and we totally gotta spend it on them cuz that's fair! But Team Rocket is just a bunch of stupidheads and just use them! So me and Gummy and everyone are super strong so we can totally beat them next time! I bet you and Valour could totally take 'em too! Hey! We should totally trade gear numbers or cells or whatever, right?! That way we can take 'em together!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh, sure, I'd like that!" Taavi replied, opening up one of the pouches he wore on his thighs to fetch out his pokegear. The model was a few years old and the case was somewhat scuffed but when he opened it up the screen was obviously well cared for. "Um, riiiight, here we go." Taavi pulled up his contact details and held the 'gear where Hen could see it. "You said everyone?" he continued curiously. "Are you involved with the KSO yourself?"  

[Gwennythe]

"I've offered to volunteer sometimes but mostly I meant my team! We're all super strong! I don't do a lot with the KSO but they are totally awesome and yeah! I volunteer if I can!"

Of course, she hardly sat still long enough to be much help, and could be anywhere on the island at any given time, with her wandering nature, but she seemed enthusiastic about the organization, at least.

The girl blundered about a bit as she tried to extract her own gear and get it set up for data sharing- she still hadn't mastered how to call up the manual input screen properly, and she had to back out of several menus twice before she'd gotten to the right set up.
"I think I got it but could you check?! I... don't always get this bit right..." She admitted with a sheepish shrug.
Technology wasn't really Henrietta's friend unless she was gaming.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ummm, yes I think so," Taavi nodded, "let's see if it works?" He tapped the screen of his gear a few times to give it the right commands and waited to see if it would go through or not, truthfully he wasn't all that great with tech himself. "I might star volunteering myself, once I'm set up here better," Taavi said in the meantime. "Um, unless, you don't really have Rangers around here do you?" He hadn't turned up any information about rangers on Kodo but that didn't mean they didn't exist.  

[Gwennythe]

Henrietta seemed to think something had worked when something chimed, and peered at her screen before pressing a button.

"I dunno!" Henrietta responded truthfully and cheerily "I've never met anyone who said they were a ranger but I dunno if that means there aren't any here! Rangers go way out in the bush, right? Man! That's so cool! I'd /totally/ be a ranger if I could!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Being a ranger is cool," Taavi agreed with a grin and a nod. "I was a ranger before I came here, I guess I'll have to ask around to see if there are any here. They'd know in the center, right?" The more senior rangers had probably known but he hadn't dared to ask them after how everything had gone.

"I think it worked?" Taavi continued, peering down at his gear with a furrowed brow. "Let me send you a test message, see if it goes through."

Pulling up a message thread with the new contact he typed; //Test? =) //  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh that's so awesome! Yeah, they'll totally know in the center! What did you do as a ranger?! Did you ever have to chase poachers?! Did you get to see lots of rare pokémon!? Oooh! Did you see any legendaries?!"

Henrietta's gear chimed and she checked the message, seeing one from Taavi.
"Worked!" She proclaimed and squinted, tongue tip poking out, as she tapped a few buttons...
What she sent back, unfortunately, was Taavi's own message... And somehow she'd sent it five times.