@Salenea

Lorie scanned the crowd, chewing her lip impatiently. It wasn't like Sneasel to just... disappear like that, he knew Lorie feared of being abandoned above all things. That little devil, when he comes back I'll--

Lorie's thoughts were interrupted by someone walking to her with a polite apology. Looking at the woman with a pointed frown, Lorie just stared. Umbreon? That was... why would this woman think that?
"I... no? What is it with you people and this 'Umbreon'?!" Lorie almost snapped, her confusion coming off as anger even though she didn't mean it to. Feeling a little twinge of guilt for being so rude, Lorie awkwardly licked her lips and tried to muster up a less curt tone of voice as she continued: "...Is that some sort of pokémon?" She certainly felt like an idiot for having to even ask, but Lorie had never gone to an academy. Nor did she have one of those fancy... pokedex thingies or whatever.
"Ssneaseel!" came a nasal cry from behind Lorie and the strange woman talking to her. There you are, Lorie thought, relieved, as her Sneasel hurried through the crowd. Something was in his mouth... a wallet? Of course Sneasel had been picking some pockets again, Lorie thought.
Taking the wallet from Sneasel's mouth and giving it a little harsh pat on the head as if to both thank him and let him know she had been worried, Lorie turned her attention back to the woman with a steel sharp gaze, waiting for an answer. If this Umbreon was a pokémon, or a rare pokémon no less, Lorie was interested.

Regan managed to see a flash of the Pokemon her bird must have been following. It was an Umbreon, and she had to guess that the Pokemon probably lived around here. The darling thing probably shouldn't be running around in such crowded places, but... Oh well.

More importantly, that boy she thought she was going to be traveling with for now seemed to have disappeared from her side. Must not be the sociable type...

Well, whatever. The Ranger let out a whistle, calling her bird off his search. The Staraptor went to find a new roost while Regan went to find the police station. Needed to contact her Ranger contact.

@KiwiHalcyon @Cio

Sarah's polite smile swiftly disappeared as she got spoken to so curtly. Sarah felt the urge to snap back but she bit her tongue. Sarah wondered in disbelief how someone could not know what an Umbreon was before she realised that it wasn't because that she had studied at the acedemy and devour books about pokemon that everyone else on the world had too.
Unintimidated by the steel sharp gaze she stood as straight as possible to make the most of her short stature with her chin slightly lifted.
"An Umbreon is one of the possbible evolutions of an Eevee." Sarah said as she reached in her pocket and took a dex out to show a picture of it. "I saw it disembarking but it not native here so I wondered if it belonged to someone who was on the ferry and you were the only one who was looking around for something or someone at the time. So I thought that maybe it was yours before going to check the street it has gone into."

Sarah looked at the Sneasel and had seen the wallet. She concluded that the Sneasel's trainer must have lost her wallet and he had found it and returned it. Sarah then looked over her shoulder to see if the other woman she was talking to briefly before was still there or already followed the Umbreon in down that street. Sarah realised that another option besides being a a wild pokemon and belonging to a trainer that was disembarking was that the Umbreon might belong to someone native but still, why would it be on the ferry all alone? Sarah had to admit she was intrigued and the chance to see the Umbreon better to observe made her want to start looking for it although she realised it could be a wild goose chase as it had a lot of possibilities to go to.

@Salenea

Listening to the woman's explanation and steeling herself under the returning sharp gaze, Lorie felt even dumber.
"O-oh," the purple haired girl replied as she saw the pokemon from the picture. She had seen that pokemon before, probably, but that wasn't what had made Lorie's mouth run dry. This woman had a pokedex. A real, actual pokedex. Lorie bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying something stupid.
There it was again - that feeling of unfairness. Not all people had the same starting point, and for some reason Lorie had been one of those unlucky people. It made the young trainer bitter and a little more than just envious, making her view those with better lives than her with distain.
"Right, well," Lorie deadpanned, her demeanor clearly kind of awkward. Trying to hide the worst dirty patches on her jacket, Lorie straightened her posture and took Sneasel's clawed hand in her own calloused one. "If you need help locating it, or something, Sneasel's pretty good at, uh, finding things," Lorie fumbled with her words, nodding at the small pokemon by her side. Wow, being nice really wasn't her strong suit. Meanwhile Sneasel gave a nasal cry of its name, its sharp gaze confident.
Maybe she just wanted to find the Umbreon herself, but for now it seemed like a good idea to tag along with this woman to find it. If Umbreon was an evolution of Eevee, it was a rare pokemon. And if it was wild... Well, all the more interesting.

At the public square in front of the harbour was a newspaper kiosk. On one of the sides was a poster with the text:



At the public square, close to the newspaper kiosk, was a pole with several direction signs, pointing to the four streets that left the place. It showed the gym and contest hall were to the right when standing with your back to the ocean, to the left weas a Pokémon center, and a police center in the center-left direction. While there was no arrow pointing to the center-right direction, there seemed to be lots of shops located there. That was also the road the Umbreon had followed until it had gone around a corner and went into the residential area.

In the police station officer Jenny was doing some paperwork.

The Umbreon lay on the grass of someone's front yard.

Rapier perched on top of a house, near... An Umbreon. That's not something you see everyday. She could only assume that the Umbreon lived there, or nearby. It could be someone's pet, so she shouldn't try anything with it unless it approached her or needed something.

At the station, she found Jenny at her desk. She looked busy, but supposed that was normal. Idle hands would be wasted time in the pursuit of justice, right? "Excuse me, Officer Jenny. I'm a new Ranger transfer into the area, I was hoping you could direct me to the liason?"

Hey, maybe this Jenny would know, "one other thing. Do you know if anyone around here keeps an Umbreon as a pet? Maybe someone in that neighborhood there?"

Out from the distance, you could hear a young man nearly having a mental breakdown.

"Umbreon!! Where are you!!" He was yelling. Next to him was a Gardevoir, who looked equally as scared as him. The thought of him just getting here and already losing his beloved partner is crushing for Lucian Tucker. "Come on Gardevoir, is there anything you can do?" Gardevoir just shook her head at him.

Officer Jenny looked at the young woman in front of her. "The Ranger HQ is on Evoru," she told her. "There are a few rangers patrolling on the island, but I'm not sure where they are exactly right now. Jolin Kaldara is the head of the Rorie Rangers, so maybe you will want to talk with her." She checked the clock. "It will be an hour before the ferry to Evoru arrives. I'm not sure about the Umbreon, I do know there are some Eevee's in Mesperit, and one may have evolved into an Umbreon, so it is possible."

She smiled at the new ranger in front of her. "The police department in Kanto requested we keep an eye out for the thief who is probably still on the run. He or she could have gone anywhere, but they informed the train station and us to keep an eye out. The Bullet Train and the Ferry are the fastest ways out of the region, especially if you time it right. Some of my men did keep an eye on those exiting the ferry but they hadn't seen anything suspicious. Have you?"

Sarah looked at the purple haired female with slightly narrowed eyes, she noticed some shifts in her behaviour but couldn't quite put her finger on it what was going on. She thought bringing out the pokedex had something to do with but she wasn't sure. Interal she sighed, if only she was half as good around people than she was around pokemon. But then again she was studying as Pokemon Researcher not something that involed knowing much about humans in general.
When Lorie tried to hide the worst dirty patches the movement made it catch Sarah's eyes "That jacket has seen bette times, she must be a seasoned traveller" Sarah thought, feeling the urge to pick up travelling too but she had the Academy to finish first.

When the other woman offered to help Sarah contemplated briefly. She could use the help but she wasn't really used work together with others outside of the Academy.
Sarah then nodded. "Yes, that would be great, thank you." She said with a small smile and as friendly as she could.
Sarah's Bulbasaur had silently obsereved the scene and stepped a bit closer. He extended his vine to the Sneasel as if to shake hands. "Hello there, my trainer calls me Saur, pleasure to meet you." he said jovial. Sarah looked at her pokemon surprised.

"Jolin Kaldara. Got it. And she's not in the building, huh? That's fine." And no known Umbreon. Just as well. Some lucky trainer might have a shot at it.

"I figured that would be the case, I saw it in the news on the ferry. The only thing that really jumps out is a jittery boy that disappeared in me, but I don't think that's anything to go on. He also heard the news, and he's far from home on his own for the first time." She shrugged. "Well, I'll go try to find my lead ranger. Have a good day, Officer."

With that, she was out of the HQ and onto the streets... And straight into someone crying about a lost Umbreon. "Umbreon, you say? I saw one not too long ago. It's in the neighborhood that way, I can show you."

Lucian’s head instantly perked up. Looking up at the woman who just spoke. He scrambled to his feet, asking her “is it a shiny umbreon?” He was starting to get his hopes up. Lucian would not know what to do if he lost one of his Pokémon

@Salenea

Lorie felt incredibly awkward, walking beside this random woman she had just snapped at. As the two walked, their pokemon following closely, Lorie was trying to word her coming request as nicely as she could.
"Tell me about pokemon." Okay, maybe that left something to be desired there, but at least it didn't come off snarky, just a bit... Rough around the edges.
Avoiding eye contact, Lorie kept glancing at the pokedex, trying to hide her curiosity.
Sneasel was walking right next to Lorie as the Bulbasaur emerged closer, extending its vine in what seemed like friendly manner. Sneasel eyed the grass type pokemon warily at first before extending a clawed hand and shaking the vine.
"Sneeeasel. Snee," it replied with a nod; 'I'm Sneasel. Don't mind my human, she isn't fully trained yet. I look out for her, though.'

As they walked around a building, Lorie thought she caught a sight of the Umbreon in the distance, sitting on someone's yard.

"Shiny?" Regan thought about it for a second and shook her head. "I don't remember. I didn't look that closely. C'mom, it was this way."

The woman wearing ranger apparel lead the way back to the neighborhood she remembered seeing the Pokemon. "It was somewhere around here... I saw it in that yard there, last. Rapier!" She called, watching for her bird to ascend to the sky at her call. She looked around obviously, showing her bird she was searching.

Rapier, her Staraptor, looked down from its flight, spying his companion searching for something. If she's looking around here... It must be for that Umbreon. I'll find him.
@JrVader

Lucian starts to calm down. "Thank you so much, and Arceus forbid, I don't even know your name." He brushed himself off and offered out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Lucian, and this is Gardevoir."

"She's a ranger, she probably already knows that I hear Gardevoir say to me

Sarah looked surprised at the other woman as she asked the question. A small but genuine smile appeared on her face. "There is a lot to tell about that subject, libraries full, and still so much we don't know. A favourite subject of mine" she said. Sarah noticed that her pokedex seemed to be a point of interest for the purple haired woman. "I think you might want to narrow that question down unless you want me to ramble about it for hours." Sarah said with a slight chuckle in her voice.
Bulbasaur nodded understanding to the Sneasel. "I hear you, you think any of them considered the possibillity the Umbreon might be hostile or protective of something or someone? We better watch it moves hen we come across it."

When they went around the corner Sarah looked around. Once again she wished she had more height to look further down the street and have better view of the front yards. "Do you see the Umbreon?" she asked. Sarah thought about using her pokedex which brought her back to the glances from the woman that came along with her. "Do you have a pokedex? You could register the Umbreon on it to learn something about that pokemon." Sarah asked as a way to try and understand why she kept eyeing hers.

@Cio

@Salenea

Lorie chuckled along as the woman explained that her question had been way too broad to answer. In reality the chuckle came out dry, almost getting stuck in Lorie's throat. She knew the question had been a bit broad, but had hoped it would've been enough. Kicking dirt, Lorie eyed Sneasel. The little devil was seemingly getting along with the trainer's Bulbasaur swimmingly. Lorie bit her tongue, remaining silent until the trainer asked her if she saw the Umbreon.
"Uh.. Yeah, it's over there, I think," Lorie replied, pointing ahead of them. Sneasel gave a cry as if to agree with his purple haired travelling companion.
When the woman asked if Lorie had a pokedex, she nearly froze. Recovering quickly, the orphan answered nonchalantly: "P-pfft, obviously. I just forgot it at... Home," Lorie lied quickly, trying to hide her patheticness. Because that's what she was. Pathetic. A homeless girl who wasn't really even a trainer, not officially. She didn't have access to fancy tools such as pokedex or pokenav, and that did hurt her more than she would've liked to admit.
But what would this random woman think if she knew Lorie was just a nobody? Yeah, no chance. It wasn't like Lorie's lie would ever catch up to her. Hopefully. It wasn't even such a big deal.
"What's that one called?" Lorie then asked, nudging towards a trainer walking down the street with his pokemon: a pale unicorn with a flaming mane (Rapidash).

Sarah nodded when the other woman said where she thought she saw the umbreon. It was a pleasant street to walk and Sarah was glad the person walking besides her wasn't a chatterbox and Sarah was glad the woman asked questions. She liked that.
While walking on through the street Sarah glanced sideways when she heard the explantion about not having a pokedex on her. Sarah nodded again, that was plausible although there were enough ways to get someone to send it somewhere for her to pick it up in Sarahs opinion but she didn't push. The next question distracted Sarah completely of the pokedex and she looked at the pokemon Lorie meant.
"That is a Rapidash, fire type, evolved pokemon from a Ponyta." Sarah said. "One of the fastest pokemon."
They were close to the yard here the Umbreon was now. "Careful, lets not startle it, I want to take a good look at it. The colours are different I belief." Sarah said while trying to get a glimpse of it.

Sarah looked around when she heard someone call out 'Rapier', Sarah looked up and saw a Staraptor. She nudges the other woman and pointed in the sky. "And that is a Staraptor, last evolution or a Starly. Not a native pokemon to the islands though so probably someone's pokemon."

@Cio @CitrusArms

Rapier gave a whistle as he found his mark and began circling overhead. He'd lower his altitude and get ready to intercept the Pokemon, should it try to flee.

"Lucian? I'm Regan." She motioned him along, glancing at her bird occasionally. "I'm a Ranger, though I'm not exactly in uniform right now. Ah- and there he is. Is that your Umbreon?" She looked back at Lucian. How'd he lose his Pokemon, anyway? Isn't that what pokeballs were supposed to be for...?

@Salenea

Lorie listened to the woman as she explained about Rapidash, the evolution of a pokemon called Ponyta. Even though her expression remained unchanged, a spark of interest could be detected in her eyes. Hearing about pokemon was interesting, and Lorie appreciated the woman for not asking probing questions. It felt... Safe, almost. As safe as one could feel with a stranger.
As the two approached the Umbreon, the woman added that this was an unusual coloration for an Umbreon. Lorie frowned, unsure what that meant, but taking the woman's word for it. Unusual, huh? Like, special? Lorie held her breath in anticipation, watching as Sneasel snuck closer like a shadow without a noise.

The woman startled Lorie as she nudged her, making Lorie flinch by the contact. However, Lorie was quick to look up to see what the woman wanted her to see. A big, gray bird. It was majestic.
"Huh..." Lorie hummed as she stared the bird, eyes full of wonder and child-like curiosity.

"U-Umbreon!" Lucian yelled as he saw his beloved Pokemon. He started jogging to it. As the Umbreon came closer to Lucian, it became quite clear that the usual yellow bands were blue. The Umbreon tackled Lucian, knocking him to the floor. As Lucian was lying on the floor, he was laughing. He was genuinely scared for losing his Umbreon.

"Why did you run off?" Lucian asked. The Pokemon responded "I saw something shiny, I went to investigate, and I lost you guys. I'm so sorry!" Lucian hugged the Umbreon, "its fine, buddy. Lets head out." He stood up and looked at Regan. "Thank you so much, I don't know what I would have done if I lost Umbreon."