[ORP] Dog Days

[Grike]

The growlithe flashed through park like fire, a long cape of fallen leaves and dried grass billowing in his wake. The trees were shedding their summer gowns, leaving Fall to paint the ground in rubies and gold.

Caelum teased the whistle between his teeth. An hour past and the metal had chilled, it's chain filching the warmth from his neck with the skill of a Hearthhome pickpocket. Not for the first time since arriving to Kodo, Caelum shivered and weighed the prows and cons of growing a beard.

He breathed a whistle into the air, the growlithe banking left in response. A new note sent him tumbling right and Caelum couldn't help but grin, pleased with the pup's progress.

They'd needed this. Caelum wasn't exactly sure what 'this' was but...There was just something tiring about cities. Too much gray maybe. Even in a bustling hub like Camphoreon, Caelum couldn't help but feel small; the skyscrapers serving as elaborate grave markers for some fallen giant. And the noise! Creaking, groaning, screaming, cracking - as if the giant wasn't quiet dead and was still clawing beneath the cement.

A week in and Caelum had been about ready to hike out to the mountains and pitch a tent. Even Flash was starting to loose his spunk and was taking his frustrations out on his hotel room. Luckily for him (And his trainer's wallet) Caellum had stumbled upon this patch of paradise.

It wasn't the biggest park but the grass beneath their feet was the best damned welcoming mat he'd seen so far. Flash seemed to be in agreement, tongue lolling as he raced his shadow across the flat grass. There was no stopping him now and before Caelum could think to whistle the 'heel' command a stray root stepped in the pokemon's way. Flash went flying, carving a shallow rut into the earth as he stumbled into whatever was unfortunate enough to be in his way.

(Oh my god I am terribly out of practice lol. Please excuse the grammar mistakes!)  

[Blood_Goddess]

The smell of the leaves... drying, slowly, slowly decaying, giving air a warm murky smell that blew away with the wind, bringing for those moments the smell of sea water, and the hard city. though the sounds from withing the park where drowning out most of the cars and shop.
People laughing and playing, He heard a pidgey... a flock of pidgey, a whistle... some children playing tag, a couple talking about moving in to an apartment together, Ray's laughter by the pond, and a growlithe flitting through the leaves.

Sitting silently by his side, a small green Treecko watched the park goers as as his boy sat cross legged on a tree branch, his eyes closed, his head dipped.
Being aware of his surroundings, every part of it. He was already familiar with the concept, one that he found Ray was pleased about, through continued to insist he hone it.
They weren't training now, or they weren't supposed to be, but Gon found that this was too perfect of an opportunity while they were in the city. A rarity!

The gallivanting puppy drew closer to the tree that Gon had tucked himself away in, Gon listened as it drew closer, closer... closer, and then suddenly a light -thud- met the boy's ears, followed by Ray's sudden laugh

Gon opened his large brown eyes, blinking as he glanced across to where Ray was still standing close by.
leaning himself backwards, The boy allowed himself to fall backwards from the branch, his legs catching him so that the spiky haired boy was now handing upside down from the tree, looking out to Ray and the Growlithe now in clear sight.
His Treecko clambered down the boy's back to look out as well.
"What happened?"

____________________________________________________

Face dipped low into the face of her jacket, the long side of ash gray hair still draped over a good half of her face, allowing a single mossy eye hidden deep behind black makeup and eye-shadow to peer down at the pokemon who had just collided into the back of her leg, causing the women to have to catch herself in a step before she was knocked over completely.
A laugh followed when she realized it was a Pokemon, the movement of a massive white and red striped snake shifted along side the lanky human.

"No one knows quite how to crash and burn like a Growlithe." She added in her laugh, hearing the motion from the tree just to the right of her and noticing the appearance of her young student's tall spiky head.

Tanned hands pulled out of her pockets as the women lowered into a crouch, reaching her hands up to help pull the pokemon back to his feet.
"Aw nothing the little guy can't shake off." she said, in part to Gon and in part to the Growlithe himself.  

[Grike]

Caelum slowed to a trot, stopping just short of Flash's crash site. He kneels down, grasping the pup by the scruff of the neck in a friendly, if firm shake.

"Why you need to pay attention, brat." Only just hitting two and already Flash was loosing any baby fat to grip on. He was already the size of your average adult growlithe, but the darkness of his coat and the size of his paws said he still had some growing to do.

Corded muscle sparking with the primal breath of fire soften at his trainer's approach. Tail giving a friendly wag, the pokemon turns, balancing a paw atop his trainer's knee so that he can give him a lick.

"Ack, heel!" Obediently, the growlithe falls on his rump, panting. Caelum pats his head, turning to the woman as he does. "Sorry bout that. Been a while since we've had green beneath our feet."

His accent rolls thick with the growling twang of Northern Sinnoh. Giving Flash a final pat, Caelum rises to an impressive height of 6"3, offering his hand. "Caelum Yozhin. Y'all alright?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Ray looked up at the sound of someone approaching, no doubt it was the pokemon's trainer, her usually half lidded eye widened slightly when she caught glimpse of the man. "Well that's rare." She chuckled once her expression slipped back down to the calm look of mild amusement "Its not every day I'm caught off guard, but I can't say I expected the trainer to come running after his pokemon to be a properly aged man."

She could tell the pokemon was young, it wasn't uncommon for young trainers to have young pokemon, Its what she would have put her money on, but this man, this man couldn't have been younger then Ray herself.
"I'm usually pretty quick and not to mention correct on profiling pokemon and trainers."
With a light shrug Ray reached out to grip the man's hand with her own firm strong hands "Rayan Kenney, Just Ray works though." She greeted back, eyeing him as he stood and just kept going, even past her own height... damn.
A notched eyebrow arched slightly as she had to incline her head slightly up to keep eye contact.
"I wouldn't be much of a trainer myself if I couldn't take being run over a pokemon of two. Not to worry."

A shifting behind them along with the crunching of Leaves, and Gon allowed himself to drop from the tree, the tiny boy with long thing limbs, standing in a green jacket and... shorts with a scarf wrapped around his shoulders stood up, blinking at the two adults.  

[Grike]

Caelum quirks a brow, amusement flashing in green eyes.

"Think I just got called old, pup." The growlithe huffs in response. It was a twitchy thing. Folded ears lifted and fell while a black nose tasted the air. A fire burned in this one and all of it was held back by an invisible leash of discipline.

Caelum lets him stew a moment, knowing Flash would have to get used to sitting still. "Pleasure ma'am, son." A nod towards Gong. You'd think he'd tip his hat if he had one. "New to the area. Saw the park and thought I'd give Flash a good run. Glad he chose to run into someone who could handle themselves.

He gently bumps Flash with his knee, signalling the pup to be at ease in reward for his patience. It was pulling the trigger to a gun. Almost instantly Flash was on his feet, sniffing and wuffing around Gon and Ray.

"You're a trainer then?" He couldn't help but grin a bit at that. Most folk just kept pokemon as pets this deep in the city. Growlithe were tough things and while some were bread to be domesticated, Flash was a whole other monster. Dark furred with more muscle than fat, it'd take have to be quite a trainer to take a hit from him and stay standing.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Ah come on." Ray said with a wave of her hand "You know more things when you're old." She pointed out with a light smirk from behind her jacket neck.
"You're new here huh? The accent sounds familiar, where are you visiting from?" She inquired, glancing over the Growlithe once more. She took a few moments to silently study the pokemon, taking in whatever details she so needed before shifting her posture from one boot to the other and turning back to Caelum "And of all places, why Kodo." she added with a tone of great amusement, it was no secret how much of a bad reputation Kodo had becasue of Team Rocket.

"A trainer, so to speak." She added, reaching a hand up to pat it on Double Stripe's neck, the pokemon flicked out his long tongue, bright green eyes gliding over the man before them. "That one there though." She said with a pointed finger to the boy "He's a trainer, Ganna be a good one too if he keeps it up."

Gon had completely missed Ray's comment, crouching down with one hand on the ground, the other reaching out to try and pet the Growlithe as he ran by.
"That's Gon by the way. And this is Double Stripe, who is you're little man?"
The Pokemon side Ray bowed his head lightly.  

[Grike]

It took a moment for Caelum to even recognize the pokemon at Ray's shoulder.

"Well ain't you festive." He notes, studying the candy cane patterned pokemon. Grass type, Surperior, likely male given the size, his mind supplies. He doesn't move to pet it, knowing better. Surperiors were predators by nature, not to mention proud as all get out. Ray might have won its respect but he sure as hell didn't have it yet. So instead, Caelum settles for returning the nod with one of his own.

"From Sinnoh ma'am. Bit west of Solaceon if you've ever heard of it." He ignores the old comment. Until he had too many gray hairs to pluck, Caelum refused to consider himself even capable of aging. "An' it's a pleasure Gon, Double Stripes. This here's Flash."

Caelum grinned a bit as his pokemon slowed enough for Gon to pet him. Leaves crackling in protest, Flash soon rolls on his back in hopes of tummy rubs.

"Careful," He warned. "Spoil 'im too much an' he'll never leave ya alone. Worse than a rattata with a cookie." Two shades of green, one dark one light, met as Caelum turned his attention on Ray once again. "An' I'm a Pokemon Ranger ma'am. Sent here to offer what help I can to the KSO."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Ray was so used to be calling old that the thought didn't even phase her, her hair having grayed naturally at an early age didn't help her case, not that she ever bothered trying to make one.
She shared an amused look with Double Stripe at the man's comment. "Like a candy cane, I always told him, he keeps eating those sweets he'll become one, and well, I guess I was right." She teased, causing the pokemon to snort and roll his eyes in amusement.

Ray hummed and nodded her head "Yeah I know Sinnoh, did my share of traveling there, loved every second of it."

'Flash' was introduced, the young pokemon playing with Gon who readily offered the pokemon two hands to rub at his fluffy belly.
Only glancing up at the man's warning, but not seeing to take it too seriously as he just grinned wide and continued to scratch Flash's belly...

Ray's calm amusement shifted to that of a more serious interest as Caelum mentioned why he was here. "The KSO huh? Here to fight the good fight against Team Rocket then? That's brave of you." She tilted her head slightly  

[Grike]

He rubs the back of his neck at that. "Just my job. I go where they tell me and they told me to go here. Rocket that bad then?"

Once the satisfactory number of tummy rubs had been given, Flash jumps to his feet to assault Gon's face with as many kisses as possible. The scene was so cute, Caelum had to look away or risk a cavity.

He lets his hands fall into his pockets of his jacket as he waits for Ray's answer. It was a thick thing with water proof lining and a hundred other pockets folded in. It was also old and worn and definitely not proper city ware, but that didn't stop it from being his jacket. Caelum was slow to change and it would take more that a few odd looks to pull him from his comfort zone.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Slowly her eye blinked, considering his words with another silent expression of interest.
Taking a few seconds to glance him over, as she had the Growlithe, learning what she needed from it. Ranger, outdoors, he's seen a lot, done a lot. sentimental, skilled, usually outdoors, and apparently has no idea what he's getting himself into. Just the kind of person she liked.
"To put it lightly." She replied in confirmation to his question about Team Rocket. "I guess you'll be seeing soon enough though will you" The women pulled her face out of her jacket to give the man a grin spread across her wide jawline. "Welcome to Kodo"

Gon, Who had just spend the duration of the conversation being loved on by a Growlithe, had managed to pull himself up, catching parts of the conversation, one subject in particular gathering most information.
with his hands still rubbing over the pokemon's face, and his face cakes in a healthy layer of Growlithe drool, Gon's wide brown eyes lit up "You're a KSO Officer? Really?"  

[Grike]

More was said in those few words than any official debriefing so far. 'See for yourself' meant either it was so bad he'd have a hard time believing it or Ray was too paranoid to give her honest opinion of the group. He doubted the later but either way he got the reader's digest of it: Bad.

Gon's bright eyes and bushy tail turned him away from dark thoughts. "If they'll have me. Was about to make my way north to the compound. Just wanted the lay of the land first. Maps, gear, gossip - you know the drill." If he was Ray's pupil, Caelum had no doubt about that.  

[Blood_Goddess]

No doubt He would learn from his co-workers, or from the other trainers at the centers just what Team Rocket was like here. People who had more involvement with them. Ray however dealt with a bit more different issues away from League eyes.

When the man invited them to go to the Northern Center Ray glanced to her young student, who in return perked up before recalling something and looking quickly over to Ray.
"We were going to do some training..." The young boy continued with a pause but was answered with a wave of Ray's hands

"Might as well, Once Rosie gets here she can train you once you get to the center. I'll find something to do." The older women turned to the man that was standing with them. "If you don't mind waiting a little for our companion to meet us here."  

[Grike]

"Not at all." Caelum grinned, more than happy for the opportunity to have some company on his trip. He kneels down, giving Flash a scratch behind the ears as the pup approaches.

"So you're battle trainers then?" Personally, Caelum didn't have much taste for the sport. Pokemon could be naturally aggressive sure, and he knew a few types who love to throw their weight around. It was just so...simple minded. Here they had access to incredible creatures with near unlimited potential and the first though was: lets make them fight! Stupid, but that didn't mean Caelum didn't have his favorite teams. Tradition and all that.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Battle trainers... We do do battling, but-" Gon glanced from Ray, back over to Caelum.

"Survival training" Ray clarified, "I do survival training, with heavy focus on team and partnership growth."  

[Grike]

Caelum grinned. "So not far off from Rangers then. Can understand why you're not schoolin' for that though. From what I gather, Kodo's Rangers are...sparse." In some ways, Caelum understood. Regions were either heavily Ranger influenced or League influenced. Only the bigger places catered to both. Not to mention the problem here seemed to be man made, which was more the League's expertise.