[FIN] High and Low

[Suudonym]

It was difficult, sometimes, to deal with the pokemon Luke referred to as Lorelei. The fact that he hadn't caught the Mew in a pokeball, and indeed didn't intend to catch it at all unless the day came that he recovered his lost Flareon, often made it a challenge to keep up with it, though he didn't legally own the pokemon, he still considered its safety his responsibility. So it was always a little worrying when the Mew up and took off somewhere, especially since such behavior dredged up memories of Asch pursuing and attempting to capture the creature for Team Rocket. The last thing Luke wanted was to lose another pokemon to the organization.

Thus, when the Mew, disguised for the public with a form borrowed from Emil's Espeon, disappeared in the middle of Camphoreon and did not promptly return, it was more than a little nerve-wracking. A casual search for the missing pokemon gradually became more and more serious, and passerby parted in the wake of the redheaded young man who ducked around corners to peer into every odd space and intermittently called out a name. It was obvious to any observer that he was searching for someone, but none had the time or sociability to offer assistance. Luke didn't mind their indifference, though; he was more concerned with finding the runaway Lorelei than evaluating the average city pedestrian.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

One of the aforementioned passers-by who made way for the vaguely distressed-looking young man was unlike the others, in that she had both a concern for his distress and a desire to help - and she had the time to do so. That, and his attire also piqued her curiosity. It had the looks of at least partially being from Grand Ile, although he also looked to have taken to the Kodo style of dress as well, to form some combination of the two.

She didn't have time, obviously, to stand around and contemplate such matters as fashions and style of dress while the man was so clearly intent on finding whoever he'd lost, and indeed was still heading off in the opposite direction. Abigail turned and quickened her pace to catch up to him after a very few moments and reached out to tap his shoulder to get his attention, in case he didn't think she was speaking to him - or in case he was too distracted with his eager search to register the fact he was being spoken to. Abigail did like to make sure of things. "Excuse me," she said not quite breathlessly, but obviously not spoken as someone who hadn't just run a little ways, "do you need any help?" She didn't bother to ask who he was looking for - someone, a person or possibly a pokemon, with the name of Lorelai - such a pretty name, too - so she skipped right to the point.  

[Suudonym]

The touch on his shoulder achieved his attention, and Luke turned to the strange with an expression of vague surprise. The feeling of gratitude that spread throughout him was an instinctive reaction, but it was quickly replaced with a growing suspicion. A kind faces wasn't always indicative of a similar nature, he reminded himself, and anyone could be a Rocket. But challenging someone in front of him for his pokemon would be easier than getting back a pokemon that had been stolen somewhere he couldn't witness it. He would have to take his chances.

"I wouldn't say I don't," he said with some hesitation. "Have you seen a pokemon-- an Espeon, yellow and white, around anywhere?" He hoped Lorelei had had the sense to remain an Espeon, at least. He had no hopes of finding the legendary if it had changed its form.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His initial response and the way he'd said it made her raise an eyebrow in mild bewilderment, but his question removed the strange initial response from her thoughts. Clearly he was just agitated by his missing pokemon, which could very well explain his odd statement. In response to his question, she furrowed her brow and stared thoughtfully off to one side - she didn't want to stare directly at him while thinking, as that would be awkward and, honestly, rude - but despite wracking her brains she could come up with not even a single instance in which she glimpsed such a creature, and her countenance went from thoughtful to apologetic in a span of just a few seconds. "No, I haven't. I'm sorry," she added, and sounded rather upset herself for not being immediately helpful in such a distressing circumstance, "but I can help you look, if you'd like." And she would very much like to help this poor young man - although he didn't really look poor financially, she couldn't help but note from his clothes. No, clothes still weren't important. What was important was helping him find this Espeon of his - and it sounded to be a unique one, at that, which made it that much easier to distinguish in a crowd. It wasn't every day you saw a yellow and white Espeon, anyway.

Without waiting for him to respond to her offer, she quickly began scanning the immediate area for any signs of the described psychic-type, and continued to do so as she asked, "Where was the last place you saw it? Her," she corrected herself, as she recalled the obviously feminine name.  

[Suudonym]

Her admission was disheartening, and he deflated slightly. Well, it was a bit much to hope that the first passing stranger he encountered would be able to resolve his worries. He shook away his disappointment, though; there were more important things than being discouraged for him to do now.

The offer for assistance was received with a faint shake of his head, "It's all right. I appreciate it, but I don't mean to inconvenience you." It seemed like she was already looking though, and he couldn't exactly tell her to stop. It wasn't like he couldn't use the assistance, after all, and she was already asking for details. A silent sigh of submission, then, "About fifteen minutes ago, just outside the residential area near the park." The 'her' was interesting, but he supposed Lorelei was indeed usually a girl's named. Mew didn't seem to have specific genders so he had been referring to it with male pronouns habitually, but that would be sort of difficult to explain - especially since Lorelei was supposedly an Espeon for now.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail didn't see his head shake, but she heard his unconvincing refusal and waved it away with a patient air. "I don't at all mind being inconvenienced, dear," she said honestly before giving up her scan for the time being, and focused on him again. Residential area near the park. "The park," she repeated as she furrowed her brows again. "That's..." She squinted off in one direction. "...over that way, isn't it? I think so..." She vaguely recalled it being off in that general, vague direction though. Suddenly she turned an acutely apologetic look on him. "I'm sorry, I'm still new here. I arrived only a few weeks ago." All the same, knowing the layout of the city wouldn't really help or hinder her in a search for a yellow and white pokemon that could be anywhere.

"I can help you look as much as I can though," she said as she began heading in the direction he'd been going before, in order to resume the search. Which she did, bright blue eyes darting about as she walked, and tried to think of various things that could help. "Was there anything she really liked that could get her attention and cause her to wander off? If she smelled something particular, perhaps, or heard a song she liked, or anything of that kind?"  

[Suudonym]

She had a disarmingly open demeanor, Luke found, that made it hard to stay suspicious of her, but he tried to maintain the memory of how pervasive the Rockets were if only so he could keep himself prepared for the worst. If she didn't know the city very well, though, that made her a bit more trustworthy - unless she was lying. He nodded at the direction of her gaze, "Yeah, that's right. The biggest park is at the middle of the city, so if you can keep a general sense of where that is, it's pretty easy to find your way around." That was what he had discovered, anyway.

Her assertion that she would help was met with a slightly downturned gaze and a murmured "I would appreciate it." Even if he completely discounted the probability of whether she was a thief or not, Luke simply disliked imposing on others. She seemed to have made her decision on the matter, though.

"It's got a kind of short attention span," he said with a frustrated shrug. "Anything could have done it." The proposition of a song, however, brought to mind various memories of the Grande Ile lullaby that had drawn the Mew to him multiple times in the past. He raised his hands defensively, his face taking heat at the suggestion, "That's out of the question!" Breaking out into song in the middle of a busy sidewalk? Never.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh, is it?" She asked, eyebrows raised, and paused in her searching to glance at him in mild surprise. "That is certainly very useful," Abigail said as she looked in the direction of the park again, though mostly trying to memorize its exact location in regards to nearby landmarks and street names. She was getting better at navigating Sandalwood, but she still got lost in Camphoreon quite often - not that it bothered her - but having such a nice tidbit of information as that would hopefully help her from getting lost quite as frequently. "I get lost here whenever I come, it seems; I'm staying in Sandalwood, so I know that quite a bit better than I do Camphoreon." Oh yes, knowing that the largest park was pretty much the center point of the city was a great deal of help.

"What's out of the question?" She asked at his outburst, brows raised and looking rather surprised and vaguely taken aback. What had she said to garner such a reaction as that? Not food... A song? Her first thought was that it must be an inappropriate song to not play it in public, but she quickly attempted to rethink that. Surely a pokemon wouldn't have a favorite inappropriate song, but instead something.... something else. A favorite instrument maybe? Something like that. Maybe, but she couldn't be at all sure. "Alright," she ceded, continuing her search and making sure to peek into every alley and behind every mailbox and trash can. "That just makes finding her a little more difficult, is all. If she liked a certain food or something, it might give a hint as to where she'd head towards, but if we have nothing to go on then we have nothing to narrow the search down with." Which just meant it'd take longer. Abigail didn't seem to have any doubts or misgivings about the search - to her, they would find the Espeon eventually and everything would be perfectly alright. The thought of not finding it didn't even register to her just yet.  

[Suudonym]

He gave a slight, sympathetic smile, "I get pretty lost in Sandalwood, myself. All the shadows from the trees throw me off." He usually just gave up and coasted above the city aloft his Pidgeot until he found some sign of the place he was trying to go. After living in Kodo for a year and a half, though, he didn't have as much of an excuse for getting lost as someone who had only arrived in the area weeks earlier.

"Ah..." The fingers on his raised hands curled slightly inward. Had he jumped to a conclusion? He lowered his hands in uncomfortable embarrassment. "Singing... in a place like this... Sorry, I think I must have gotten the wrong idea." Talk about great first impressions. "For food or something, there's nothing that comes to mind, so I'm not sure what..." He trailed off thoughtfully, slowing to a stop after having resumed his search. An idea came to mind. "Maybe somewhere with less people around..." Where would that be? He started moving again, searching now for a place where the crowds thinned and dispersed completely. If Lorelei had discarded his Espeon disguise, he wouldn't appear amidst groups of strangers. Mew seemed to be secretive that way, a likely source of their reputation as mirages.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abigail smiled at his admission, offering an understanding nod. "Yes, it threw me off quite a lot during my first couple of weeks, but I think it's a gorgeous city." She'd almost said town, but really, Sandalwood was bigger than Camphoreon - it was just hard to think so because you didn't see a lot at once because of all the trees.

His mention of singing in public made her open her eyes. "Oh! No, I didn't mean to start singing --" Of course, she wouldn't want to start singing in the middle of a crowded street either, so she completely understood his desire not to do so, "-- I just meant that if she'd heard a song while she was with you, and wandered away because of it." Although, the opposite could've been true as well; if she had a favorite song - which she apparently did - singing it, or playing it on some sort of music player, might bring her back.

She glanced at him briefly as he paused in his words, then listened curiously as he continued. "Oh, alright. Is she shy, or does she dislike lots of people?" That would help to narrow the search down quite a bit as well. "Where do you think she'd head to, then, with less people?"  

[Suudonym]

Okay, a misunderstanding after all. That was somewhat of a relief - not that he would have sung if she had insisted anyway. He did, however, shake his head, "There's a foreign lullaby it likes a lot, but I don't think it's very likely that that's what drew it away." It wasn't a common song outside of household nurseries even in its country of origin, as far as Luke understood.

Someplace without a lot of people, hmm... Certainly there were a lot of places in the city, but simply determining the closest one was a challenge. Maybe it would be better to just head in the direction of some area he knew to always be less traveled. "It's not really shyness or disliking crowds," he said, his tone indicating an uncertainty of how to describe it more accurately. "I guess it's more like... habit, maybe? Instinct?" Where to go, where to go. "The forest by the edge of the city... One of the smaller parks... I guess the residential district is closest." This time of day, residents would be either in their homes or out amidst the city. With a decisive nod, he started moving in the proposed direction.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The mention of a foreign lullaby, coupled with the name of the pokemon, struck a chord with Abigail, and she looked at the young man with interest. "I know which one you mean, I think. You are from Grand Ile, yes?" Oh yes, she was fairly sure she knew it. She didn't know the words anymore, but she could still remember bits of the melody.

The mention of habit and instinct made her nod in agreement. A lot of things pokemon did weren't due to likes or dislikes or various differences in personality or thought processes, they were due to instincts. Some species of pokemon were much more prone to fleeing a battle than staying to fight - because it was an instinctive reaction. Almost all of her Buneary had seemed that way, but that didn't surprise her at all. "That makes sense. And alright," she agreed as he turned towards the named area, and she turned to follow and to keep up her search for anything yellow and white that could turn out to be his Espeon.

Something suddenly struck her though, and she put one hand to her cheek in her surprise at herself. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think of it sooner - my name is Abigail. Abigail Desmond. Yours?"  

[Suudonym]

He returned her look with his own, maintaining an alert demeanor. It wasn't much of a jump to conclude that this woman was also a Grande Ile native; her dress and features were indication enough that he probably could have guessed if he had been pressed to do so. A nod, "Yeah, I am. I take it you are too, then." That was usually what spurred such comments, after all.

There was no sign of the Espeon in question as they moved, it was less disheartening than it had been before now that Luke had more of an idea of where to search. He moved in decisive silence towards his goal until the woman's introduction drew his attention, at which point he slowed and half turned to face her. "Oh, sorry. Slipped my mind too. Luke. Fon Fabre." He'd fallen out of the habit of giving his last name in his introductions, but hearing hers spurred a similar response. Well, it wasn't like he was hiding from his parents anymore anyway. There was no harm to come from someone knowing who he was - not that any stranger had ever recognized the name.

The residential district of Camphoreon indeed thinned the crowds until there were no passerby to speak of, but there was still no indication of the Espeon. Luke had his suspicions, though. "Lorelei? Come out, already. You know I'm not into these disappearing stunts."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I was originally, yes, but I haven't lived there for a good twenty years or so," she informed him, but wouldn't elaborate or go into any more detail unless he asked. They had much more important things to do than stand around and talk about her history. She was curious about his history, however, because she vaguely recalled reading the name of fon Fabre in a list of noble houses in Grand Ile, and she couldn't help but wonder what the son - and therefore heir, with the island's politics - was doing in Kodo. It sounded like he'd been here for some time, too. Curious. She didn't ask or comment on it though, and he didn't seem too inclined to really speak of his home, so she declined from pressing the matter. Instead, she offered him a polite nod and a smile, as well as a, "it's a pleasure to meet you, Luke, although I wish the circumstances could have been a little better." Not knowing where one of your pokemon was could be all kinds of distressing, as she knew only too well.

At his words to his pokemon, she remained silent while she continued to search, even going so far as to pause under one of the trees that lined the district in the hopes she'd spot something white and yellow in the midst of the orange and red leaves, although she really rather doubted it. Did Espeon like to be in trees? They did seem sort of feline-ish to her, although she'd never bothered with breeding Eevee or their evolutions and consequently knew little about them.  

[Suudonym]

He gave a single laugh was almost - but not quite - bitter. "Yeah, I wouldn't argue against different circumstances, but we take what we get I guess." Actually, that had been something of a personal theme of his lately. That didn't mean he would be satisfied with situations that he could improve through his own power just because they were what had been dealt to him, though. Optimism and willfulness were important traits to have, after all.

Silence followed his call for a time, but eventually there was a movement at his side. Were one watching, it would appear as though a pokemon materialized out of thin air - a yellow and white Mew rather than an Espeon. The creature was regarded at first with surprise and then a chiding degree of irritation, "Would it be such a hassle to stay where I can see you if you leave home with me? Mieu stayed in a pokeball right on my side and he was still stolen."

Lorelei deflated slightly in acknowledgment that he could have made better choices. He would have liked to tell his trainer that he had been right nearby for a while and was merely keeping out of sight from strangers, but not only could he not vocalize the excuse, he suspected it would be immediately rejected. These thoughts were distracted when the Mew's honey brown eyes found one such stranger standing right alongside them, and he looped around behind Luke to peer at her from over the boy's shoulder.

"Ah... Sorry," he said, frowning slightly. "I was pretty sure we were looking for an Espeon." He stood tensely, waiting for Abigail's actions so he could gauge them and react. He had no pokeball to which he could return the Mew if it appeared it would be in danger, but he was willing enough to take whatever actions would be necessary.