[FIN] Sunbathing

[BlackFireKitsune]

Inigo leaned back against the tree trunk with a contented sigh, watching his pokemon through half-lidded green eyes. It was a beautiful day in the park; barely a cloud in the sky, the sun was high and bright and spread its warmth over the whole of the park, and his pokemon were certainly enjoying it in full. Sonata, his newly-evolved shiny Rapidash, was grazing near the treeline - the grass was longer in that area, he figured, since lawnmowers could only get so close to the trees - while Leilani and Fantasia - also newly evolved - were laying further out to soak up the bright sun overhead. His Chimecho was resting on his shoulder, while Bonnie and Clyde were arguing nearby.

All Clyde wanted to do was lay down and sunbathe like Fantasia and Leilani, but Bonnie had other ideas - namely, she had ideas about some berries in a bush nearby. The branches were thick and densely packed, meaning her fluff would get caught almost instantly if she ventured too far... So she pushed her cousin towards it, with encouraging (but mostly demanding) shouts of "whims!"  

[Tori Honoo]

Meanwhile, Dove walked along one of the many smooth paths throughout the park, paying little attention to where she was going. The sun was shining down on her exposed back, the breeze blew gently through her long dark hair, and the very sound of the world around her made her heart leap for joy! She laughed brightly, bending down carefully to scoop up the small eevee skipping around her feet, just to spin her around once before releasing her back into the grass.
"Isn't this weather awesome, Lovey?" she beamed, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Lovey yipped happily in response and flopped onto her back, rolling lazily in the warmth of the grass. Dove looked around a moment, searching for someplace to rest; they had walked the entire park multiple times, and she was sure that Lovey would be thirsty. "See anywhere you want to relax for a while?

The eevee righted itself and glanced around, immediately sighting Inigo and his pokemon. Without a second thought, the small ball of fur yipped brightly and bolted for the group, ignoring her trainer's calls and expecting her to follow along.

"Lovey?! Again?! Really!?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The brown-skinned grunt shifted slightly, ignoring the slight twinge in his back as he did so. While it was fully healed externally (besides a small, twisted scar), the bullet wound was still a little tender. He couldn't help but wonder how long it'd be before he couldn't feel it anymore, but really, he'd only been shot, what - five months ago? He'd probably need to give it more time.

He was content to stare off into space in Leilani's general direction, thinking idly about such morbid thoughts, but the sound of a voice not too far floated in his direction, and his green eyes shifted to the small Eevee that was bounding closer, and the girl that was chasing after it. A lop-sided smile slowly formed on his face as he raised one knee to rest his elbow on it, but otherwise didn't move. "Hola," he called out to both as the Eevee drew close to his own pokemon. "My name's Inigo. Yours?"

The Meganium craned her long neck around at the voices, and when she saw the darling little Eevee she crooned as long and as happily as she could. Her head twisted around and down to the small normal-type's level, and she studied it with wide, golden eyes. "Niuuuum?" Fantasia, the Sawsbuck laying near Leilani the Meganium, simply watched impassively. She didn't seem nearly as enthralled with the new arrivals as Leilani did.  

[Tori Honoo]

When the Maganium crooned at the evolution pokemon, Lovey skidded to a stop, tipping her head adorably then moving to pounce playfully toward its new acquaintance.

"Hiiiii...!" Dove sing-songed awkwardly, embarrassed at her companion's energetic way of making friends. The Eevee in question had always been prone to taking to new people easily, and was giving her trainer means to meet new people--most often, competitors in her Pokemon Contest world. "I'm Dove, trainer counterpart to this crazy little one." she laughed, bending to scoop the eevee up into her arms.

"Lovey's...pretty social," she admitted fondly, scruffing the fluff around its neck. She scrunched her nose down at the little pokemon cradled in her arms, adressing it with her next words. "And we haven't quite mastered being polite to those around us, have we?"

She offered an apologetic smile to the young man sitting at her feet, noting all the pokemon that seemed to be his team scattered around the small area. "I'm sorry if she disturbed you, Inigo. You and your pokemon seemed so relaxed before she bounded over here...."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Leilani crooned happily again, extending her neck down to sniff at the little Eevee with her rather large nose. Her new friend - everyone was a friend! - was just as quickly scooped up out of her reach, however, which caused her antennae to droop just a bit. It wasn't long before she was excited again, although she remained laying down near the Sawsbuck, who still seemed perfectly indifferent. Sonata, on the other hand, ceased grazing for the time being to walk a few steps closer to this new girl. The shiny Rapidash halted a few feet away - she wouldn't walk too close - extended her neck as far as she could and whuffed at the girl briefly to study her scent.

The lop-sided grin remained on Inigo's tanned face. "Nah, no worries. I know all about pokemon not being too polite," he said with a pointed glance towards the still-bickering pair of Whimsicotts. They hadn't even noticed the new trainer or her Eevee yet, but their trainer turned his gaze back to the girl regardless. He remained sitting quite contentedly against the tree and offered a tip of one hand as a small, quasi-wave. "And nah, still relaxed. A little Eevee's not gonna bother anyone, yeah? She's pretty cute too. And nice to meet you, Dove." Interesting name, that, but he'd met some pretty interesting people. A mentally unstable clown came to mind, whose actual name he still didn't know.  

[Tori Honoo]

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well." she smiled brightly, petting Lovey's head. "And thank you, but don't say that too loud..." she grinned, kneeling to set the eevee on the ground when she started wiggling in her trainer's arms. "She already thinks too highly of herself!"

Lovey--who had started to leap for the Maganium again-- tilted her head to give Dove an offended look and disgruntled yip, as if to say 'so-do-you!'.

The young model grinned and shook her head, giggling softly. "See what I mean?" She stuck out the tip of her tongue at the small ball of fur. "I'm just kidding, you."

She watched fondly, completely amused at her little friend's enthusiasm as it once again started for the grass-type. "Is it alright if she plays with your Maganium?" she asked the trainer, hoping to get the 'okay'. Being newcomers to the region had left them without many connections as the duo was used to having, and it was obvious the Eevee missed her playing companions.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Inigo just chuckled at that. "Aww, I guess somebody has a bit of an ego, si?" He said with a lop-sided grin, his tone indicating it as little more than a tease. "And sure, go right ahead," the grunt said with a chuckle and a wave of one hand. "Leilani loves meeting new people and new pokemon, she's always up for playing."

As if to agree with this statement, the Meganium crooned again and lowered her head, sticking her oversized nose in front of Lovey to sniff at her, her long antennae twitching as she did so. "Niuuuum?" She was so small and adorable! Where was she from? What was her name? What games did she like to play? Oooh, this was so exciting!

"So where're you from?" Inigo asked conversationally as he shifted slightly against the tree trunk, careful of the old wound on his back. Sonata, having had her fill of the new girl and her Eevee, turned and resumed her grazing, the harmless gray flames danced sideways as she flicked her fiery tail idly.  

[Tori Honoo]

Lovey stopped short when the larger pokemon snuffled down to her, tipping her head to the side. With a wag of her tail and a flip of an ear, the tiny eevee tapped her paw to the Meganium's forehead, then leapt back, readying herself. "Eeev!" Her ears twitched excitedly, ready to play. The grass-type's size seemed not to intimidate her at all.

Dove sat carefully in front of Inigo, giggling softly at the interaction. "Leilani, huh? She seems to have a really sweet temperament... she smiled, watching Lovey paw at the ground excitedly, waiting for her new friend to do something.

When he asked where she was from, she looked back to him, hesitating a moment before answering. "I'm from Hearthome City. Sinnoh," she explained, tucking her long bangs behind her ear. "And yourself?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Leilani's antennae twitched again, her mouth forming an 'o' as the tiny Eevee - well, tiny in comparison to the rather large grass-type - put a paw to her forehead and leapt back. The Meganium crooned happily at this, gold eyes closed as she did so. They reopened after the sound and she easily extended her neck out to tap at the Eevee with her nose.

"She does," Inigo said affectionately as he watched his starter play with the small normal-type. "Absolutely adores meeting new people and pokemon, no matter what." He wasn't so dissimilar himself, really, although the thought didn't cross his mind at the moment. Like trainer like pokemon?

If Inigo noticed the hesitation in Dove's response, he gave absolutely no indication whatsoever. In all actuality, he probably didn't notice it. "Cool," he replied, focusing on her again with a lop-sided smile. "I'm from somewhere originally," the Spaniard answered vaguely with a similarly vague gesture of one hand, "but I've lived in Kodo since I was 5, so I don't remember where I was born. Sandalwood, to be exact, but I moved away from there a year or so ago." He didn't need to be specific about that last part.  

[Tori Honoo]

Lovey yipped excitedly and rolled onto her back, wiggling around happiness before she righted herself and attempted to stand on her hind legs, paws padding at the air as she balanced. It was clear that the eevee missed Dove's team, her pokemon companions.

Dove smiled fondly, watching her travel buddy 'dance'. "I really wish I had had more time to train her for contests..." she admitted absently, before turning her attention back to listen to Inigo's response.

She nodded politely, not at all knowing where Sandalwood might be. She had only truly studied a map of the region once, when she had first arrived, and even then the model had no idea where she was going.

"How'd your pokemon like the move?" she asked, glancing around at his team again. "Lovey was a bit upset with me when we moved out on our own."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Por que?" He asked, looking at her curiously. "If you don't have time for something, just make time for it." It was an incredibly simple concept in theory, but not quite so easy to accomplish. Still, a lot of people just made up excuses for why they couldn't and didn't even try.

Leilani crooned again, determined to try this for herself! With a soft grunt, she heaved herself up onto all fours before she pushed herself off the ground to balance on her hind legs, waving her rather large forefeet in the air a few seconds before landing again with a loud thud. "Niuuum!" That was fun!

Inigo chuckled at her behavior before waving a hand at Dove. "Nah, I didn't have any pokemon then. Leilani was my first, and I didn't get her til I was 10, from Makko Town. I was all by myself when I moved to Sandalwood. I can understand how a pokemon would be upset by such a sudden change though, it can confuse them really bad."  

[Tori Honoo]

"Ah, well...we're kind of taking a break from that at the moment," she sighed, tucking her long hair back over her shoulder. "It just got to be a little bit too much with everything else going on, you know?"

Lovey, blinking hugely at the larger pokemon's attempt to copy her trick, quickly stepped back, wary of the large feet above her. Though for a quick instant she thought the maganium might fall on Lovey, Dove laughed softly and shook her head as the grass-type landed and crooned, amused at the interaction between the two. The small eevee simply yipped and ran in circles near her new friend.

"Wow... I guess that might make things easier, in some ways. This is actually the first I've been off completely on my own, but at least I've got company," she smiled, setting her hand at her hip. She couldn't even imagine going off by herself at such a young age, especially without a Pokemon to protect her. "I think she's getting accustomed to it, though. She doesn't seem to mind it so much."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, okay," Inigo replied, leaving it at that. He didn't know everything else she had going on, and he wasn't about to be impolite enough to ask her personal questions.

Leilani crooned happily again, her long antennae twitching before she snaked her head around in the opposite direction Lovey was running, hoping to surprise her as she rounded the Meganium's hind legs. "Nium!"

The grunt blinked. "Your first time off on your own?" He couldn't help but look at her again - she didn't look too old, but she definitely wasn't as young as a few trainers he knew. "Well," he said with a shrug and a dismissive wave, "some people just can't get away from their families until they're older. Protective parents usually. Or ones that have ideas for your life for you," he added with another shrug. "Mine was the latter. Wouldn't let me go out on a journey when I was ten," Inigo said with a chuckle. "But, being with pokemon definitely makes it much better."

Leilani crooned in agreement.  

[Tori Honoo]

Lovey rounded the larger pokemon, skidding and falling onto her back as she nearly ran into the Meganium's face. After rolling on her back for a moment, laughing the tiny eevee hopped back to her feet and sat, ears twitching happily.

"Ah, well. I traveled with my boyfriend the first time I went off on a journey. I guess we were kind of on our own then," she shrugged, fluffing out her hair. When he mentioned that his parent's had held him back, she nodded. "Yeah, I know a thing or two about over protective parents..."

Lovey yipped and bounded back for Dove as Leilani crooned. She agreed too!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Leilani crooned as Lovey fell over, laughing herself as the little Eevee did as well before sitting back up. Ohh, this was so much fun! None of Inigo's other pokemon liked to play like this.

"Ahh, te comprendo perfectamente," he said with a nod and an easy smile as he stood up to stretch. "Mm.. I used to go camping a lot with mi mamá when I was a little kid, and then I went all the time by myself when I was growing up. Especially after I got Leilani," he added with a grin as he reached out to pat her head. "Never too far from home though, otherwise my parents would worry." He raised both hands and wove his wingers together behind his head, elbows sticking out. He'd been sitting too long. "Yeahh.. Over-protective parents can be a drag. They mean well though, of course."