[PRP] Rainy Day

[Tori Honoo]

Just as some of her 'classmates' had offered their teasing disbelief in response to her presence and enrollment at Special Operations, so had she found herself unable to really believe she had led such a different life before. No longer living a deceptively glamorous life, Dove currently sat in a much-less than-comfortable chair, listening as their instructor finally wound down his talk for the day. Her legs crossed nearly in front of her, she sat poised, her jacket across the back of her chair, her attention more or less wandering as she toyed with a luxury ball in her hands, eager to get outside and train before the storms moved in. A simple recap-- that's all this lesson was for now, and she had already tucked the information away.

When the man finally dismissed them, she rose quietly, grinning as one of the other trainees caught her eye, winked, then moved toward another of the class, throwing his arm around the younger man and insisting they battle. The group, she had found, had become a sort of haven for her, and she watched quietly as they slowly filtered out of the room. Sliding her arms into her jacket, then her bag over her shoulder, she listened to them as they paired off, or politely declined offers to train in lieu of a quick lunch first, then looked about again to see if there was anyone left without a partner or task.

Three remained in the conference room, two of which seemed to be discussing something in greater detail, one of which she knew better than to approach. With a sigh, she released two pokemon, one of which immediately floated to her and clung to her neck, the other greeting her with a bright "veee!" before rubbing against her leg. "Maybe we can catch a second round, hm?" she asked them, lifting her arm so the mew's tail could wrap around her torso.  

[Suudonym]

Though Luke had located and studied the handbook he had been given before the loss of his memory, it was still a relief to hear the concepts covered directly by the instructor; he didn't know how much faith he should invest in the little guide, but from the lecture it seemed that it at least covered the important points. At the dismissal, he exhaled quietly, pushing away from the table and standing. The norm, it seemed, was to use the break periods to battle - it was a pokemon centric organization, after all, so he supposed it was to be expected - but he wasn't terribly confident about battling, given that he had only barely memorized which pokemon was in which ball. Allegedly, though, he was a good trainer, and the other recruits seemed kind so far, so...

In his dithering, the majority of the room's occupants had dissipated, two of the remaining three apparently otherwise engaged and one... well, she had pokemon out, so maybe there was still a chance? With a small shake of his head to dismiss his lingering hesitations, he made his somewhat cautious approach, "Hey, are you looking for a battle...?"  

[Tori Honoo]

As he approached, she turned to him, feeling another's presence, and nearly jumped, startled that it was he who had sought her out. Her expression became a cross between confusion and nervousness as she turned to face him properly, her body on guard, a complete 180 of the relaxed state she had been in just moments ago. Any bravado she had displayed when faced with memories of their last encounter had melted away.

She remained clearly hesitant and almost tense until she realized his own timidity, at which point her head tilted in concern. Something was clearly wrong, and the situation immediately took on a sensitive air. He was either very serious-- perhaps wanting to make amends between them? She would be okay attempting that-- or teasing her-- though that seemed far too cruel for the Luke she had met, and she dismissed it quickly.

"Are you sure, Luke?" she asked carefully, reaching back to pet Trill's head as the mew peeked over her shoulder, recognized the young man, and immediately hid once more. "I-I mean, I would love to, if... that's okay with you." she added, a bit more confidently, opting to believe in the first and more hopeful of her conclusions. While another chance would be incredible, she was used to disappointment, and if he were to walk away, it would be no change for the worse, surely. At least he had spoken to her.  

[Suudonym]

Ah, this was someone who knew him. Maybe that was to be expected, to a degree, considering most of the recruits had seemed at least somewhat familiar with him, though her initial reaction to him was kind of strange. "Sure," he replied, nodding once and lightening his expression. "I don't mind if you don't mind."  

[Tori Honoo]

Though stilled baffled and somewhat nervous, she lightened as he did and shook her head. "No, no! I really would love to," she assured him, pushing her hair back from her face. "Let's, um... see if there's any room left in the fields..."

With that, she stepped toward the door, bending to scoop up an incredibly confused Lovey on the way. "How have you been?" she asked carefully as she led him, hoping he wouldn't mind her more casual approach. She wouldn't bring it up unless he did, for now. The last time she had recounted her transgressions in attempt to apologize had ended catastrophically. There was no need to relive it if it could be avoided, though she wouldn't just pretend it hadn't happened.  

[Suudonym]

Well, that was an incredibly basic question that he had no idea how to answer. "Oh, um... normal, I guess?" he hazarded, "You know, nothing special." He wasn't yet sure what qualified as an everyday kind of life, but he guessed that eventually this would probably become his normal, once it all stopped feeling so unfamiliar. "What about you?"  

[Tori Honoo]

She gave him a tilt of her head and a cautiously amused look. "Just normal...?" A slight smile, though something deep inside her tightened. "I thought surely you'd be swamped with planning..." Oh. Actually, that was awkward. She knew there would be a wedding, but when it would take place she had no idea. It could be months or even years from now. Shoot.

His returned question was met with a slight shrug and a pause full of hesitation. "I've been... okay. A lot of ups and downs, but... I'm okay. I figured I'd be used to change by now," she added half heartedly with a small laugh. She switched her hold on Lovey to pull open a door that would lead them out into the fields. "How, um... How's Rosie?" Not exactly a topic she really wanted to discuss, but she couldn't deny genuine curiosity, and it was only polite to ask, as she was talking with the girl's fiance.  

[Suudonym]

A small shake of his head, "Not lately." He didn't have any idea what kind of planning she was talking about, but he knew that he hadn't been involved in any kind of planning since waking up in Sandalwood. He suspected he very likely wouldn't be involved in any kind of planning until he had a better idea of what kinds of things he had been involved in before.

He nodded his understanding, not sure of the implications behind the reference to change but grateful for the otherwise fairly standard response. As she mentioned Rosie, however, he mentally increased his guard. If she was bringing up Rosie as a mutual acquaintance and Rosie didn't seem to be involved in things to do with Special Operations, then it was likely that he knew this person from more than just training. "Oh, she's all right," he replied with a mild shrug. "You know, nothing new..."  

[Tori Honoo]

"Ah... well, I guess you're the lucky one, hm?" she smiled, pulling her shoulders in a bit once she was through the door. It would have to be terrible to be the male while planning a wedding, though of course, she wouldn't know much about plans. Hers had all be done for her. While he didn't really seem to be answering her begrudgingly-- in fact, he didn't seem angry at all, which struck her as incredibly odd-- he didn't necessarily seem to want to go into any greater detail either. Something was strange... very strange, and slowly, she was growing more concerned and fearful of whatever it was she was missing.

The pit was only deepened with his vague report on Rosie. "Oh... that's good, I guess..." Instead of pursuing more about the blonde, however-- she really wasn't even sure how to approach the subject further, considering...-- she slowed her walking and looked around the fields, motioning toward an empty area where a few people milled absently about, watching the others battle. She was sure they would clear the area to make room for them... especially as the clouds continued to roll in. "So how do you want to battle? Just one pokemon each, or did you want to train your whole team?" she asked, turning to face him again.  

[Suudonym]

He tilted his head slightly to a side, overshadowing his lack of understanding with a dismissive shrug. He supposed that was probably supposed to make some kind of sense, so he let it pass without questioning.

Presuming the indicated area to be the place where they would battle, he moved to take to one end of the impromptu arena, pausing as she asked after the battle style. "Um, maybe just one-on-one for now?" he suggested as he extricated his pokedex from his pocket. Given that he would be learning his pokemon's moves on the fry, it seemed safer to stick to a smaller number of participants for the time being.  

[Tori Honoo]

She waited for him to make his decision, then nodded across to him, pulling a ball from her belt. "Okay! Let's do it," she confirmed with a smile. His team was strong, and she knew it; all the more reason to battle with him. The pokedex earned a silently questioning look, but she shook it off, more focused now on the battle at hand, anticipating which of his team he would choose.

After checking to make sure Trill and Lovey were safely behind her and well out of the 'ring', she released the pokemon from its ball. The arcanine stretched and stood tall, peering over her shoulder to give her trainer a pleased smile before turning to face her opponent, giving him a bright roar of greeting.  

[Suudonym]

He unhooked a great ball from his waist, pressing the release and hoping he had selected accurately. To his quiet relief, a Jolteon appeared - the lovely purple and blue electric-type that shimmered like seafoam. She had a somewhat standoffish personality, but she seemed to like battling. "Okay, Rem," he said, recalling the eeveelution's name and receiving a sharp glance in return, "um..."

Before he could confirm that he was indeed looking at the Jolteon's moves, she was off and into the fray, perfectly willing to determine her own actions. She certainly hadn't spent the last two years training to stand around and wait for a command, and she wouldn't tolerate her trainer being a slowpoke now!  

[Tori Honoo]

As Rem darted into action, Dove grinned, watching the eeveelution and Aurora's reaction to it's sudden movement. The arcanine grinned as well, and gave a quick bow of her head to the electric type. This would be fun, and she appreciated the smaller one's energy.

"Alright, Aurora, start out fast," Dove called, pleased to see the fire type jump into the battle just as eagerly as Rem had. With no hesitation, the massive dog leapt forward in ExtremeSpeed.

Somewhere in the distance, thunder rolled.  

[Suudonym]

Rem's features were expressionless, her body still and quiet. Her ears flicked lightly at Dove's command; normally she wasn't one to be outdone in speed, but a proper Extreme Speed was difficult to compete with. She remained motionless yet gave way easily when the Arcanine's attack made contact, taking command of the kinetic force that tumbled her body against the ground and using it to transition into a sprint. Rather than give a counter, she moved to circle her opponent at a wild pace, her fur gleaming a sudden and intense white Flash.

Her trainer reflexively flinched and raised a hand to shield his eyes from the dizzying burst of light, unsure of how he should react. As far as he knew, it was a trainer's place in battle to command the pokemon, but the Jolteon certainly didn't seem as though she expected or even wanted any direction...  

[Tori Honoo]

Her attack successful, Aurora slowed a little and paced, her eyes locked on the jolteon as it sped up and suddenly burst with light, forcing her to reel a little and shut her eyes tightly. Dove immediately brought up an arm to shield her eyes, blinking a moment or two before resuming her watch over the battle.

Sight rendered useless for now, the arcanine focused on trying to catch the other pokemon's scent and sounds instead of relying on her vision, shaking her head slowly as she waited for the flash to subside, if it would. With a low growl of frustration-- she was rather fond of being able to see, afterall-- she released a Fire Blast in what she determined to be the direction the jolteon was headed.

Dove nodded her approval, hoping that even with the jolteon's speed and now blind advantage that the spray of fire would at least heat things up a little. When a few water droplets tapped at her face, however, she blinked, turning her eyes skyward for a moment, her shoulders sagging, a cross between a sigh and a laugh escaping her as thunder rolled again, the clouds heavy and sagging as if they might burst at any moment. Whatever-- Just another challenge, and so long as the lightning sprang only from Rem... they'd be okay.