She couldn't help but smile at the budding friendship before her eyes as she gazed down at the umbreon bitterly sharing half of its poffin with Korra. The Eevee looked up at Genesis, making sure it was safe to snag back her half of the treat and when the OK was given she straightened up, releasing an excited, shrill cry. Gobbling up the treat she quickly snuck up to the black pokemon and nuzzled his neck in thanks before running back over to Skye, clambering up her shoulders.

"Well," she said. "We should get going. It'll take us almost all day to get into Saffron. Nova, try not to wander off and scare any spearow flocks like last time, kay?" The arcanine barked with a blissful tone as it took off across the open fields of the landscape, weaving in and out of the treeline and enjoying his freedom.

"So what kid of a trainer are you Ren?" She wanted to get to know him a little better and she figured she might as well start now. "I don't see a type preference from your two current members." The gentle breeze across the lush route was refreshing and Skye couldn't resist the urge to stretch out and tussle her hair. She glanced across the treetops, looking for a sign of Pig but to no avail. Surely it's trainer would keep track of it, Ren didn't seem like the negligent kind.

Genesis shot an annoyed look at the eevee when she brushed against him. Ren knew that he was most likely disgruntled that he had to share in the first place. The umbreon gave a look in Ren’s direction that clearly said, Seriously? I have to put up with this? The trainer couldn’t help but let loose a small snicker, responding with a slight nod. Overhead, Pig swooped by with a piercing squawk before disappearing into the woods again. It was unlike the pidgeotto to stray too far from the blonde, and Ren knew that he could always call the bird back with his trademark whistle.

Ren nodded in agreement, “Yeah I agree. I’m definitely ready to get closer to Pewter city.” The trainer was ready to receive his first badge. “I need to be on the search for either a grass or water type. Currently I have no type advantages over Brock.” As Nova Blitz disappeared into the woodwork, Ren felt the tension in his stomach release. He did not much like the arcanine, and definitely preferred the blissful Korra.

At her inquiry of what type of pokémon he preferred, he shook his head before answering. “I don’t have a preferred type. I would rather have a type advantage as opposed to a matching set of pokémon any day.” The blonde trainer replied with a slight smirk. “What are you going to evolve your eevee into?” He fired back, content to continue this until they reached Saffron.

So he did this to win, his journey wasn't about collecting or about breeding or even exploration. To each their own. She thought, keeping up a steady pace. They had made their way along the route far enough already that Vermillion was fading out of view over the horizon behind them. It was a beautiful day out and wild pokemon could be heard throughout the area as they went about their days. Taking note of his need of a water or grass-type, she was reminded of Professor Oak, the region's pokemon professor.

"Well I know professor Oak has starters. And since this is your first journey in the region, he'd allow you to choose either a bulbasaur, squirtle, or charmander. As for catching one along the way...well, there are plenty of grass type in this area. Skiploom and hoppip can be found in these woods around this time of the year. Bellsprout are like weeds, there are sure to be a bounty of water-type in the springs. We've adopted a number of exotic pokemon into Kanto that seem to have flourished. Even I don't know all the species we have here any more. Just what's around Vermillion." She paused, biting her lip as she thought. "You know, now that I think of it, I swear I saw some lotad and lombre in the spring just a ways up. We could take a look, see what there is."

At her side, Korra pranced about happily back and forth across the path. She would find lost coins, flowers, shiny pebbles and bring them to Genesis. Each time she hoped he would accept them as gifts and each time he rejected her, however he failed to lower her spirits and continued on her search. "As for Korra, well, I don't plan on evolving her, so to say. I want her to evolve when she wants to into what she wants to. I want to see what decision she makes and what it's based off of. Eevee are amazing creatures and their drive to evolve is always unique to each. She's more of a morning pokemon than a night so I'm sure it won't be an umbreon... althought looking at Genesis I'm a little saddened that the possibility is ruled out. She just doesn't have the connection with the night most eevee's have before evolving into umbreon. I could imagine her choosing a leafeon or vaporeon, both so playful by nature. It's really hard to tell though; pokemon have a way of surprising people."

Skye couldn't believe how easily the words were flowing from her mouth; this man came out of nowhere and already she felt so at home with him. As if she would actually miss his insults and offences should he depart. That's just silly, I hardly even know him... yet her thoughts persisted. She pushed the concept from her mind and decided to enjoy her time and conversation with the fierce stranger.

His frown deepened the more she talked about his available options. Ren did not like the way that this sounded. He racked his brain, thinking about the pokémon at his disposal in the PC. He wasn’t sure that he had ever caught a decent grass type pokémon. Perhaps a tropius, but he had left them behind for a reason. It wouldn’t be much of a challenge if he won his battles with overpowered pokémon. That wasn’t the point of going on a new journey. At least in his eyes. He pulled out his pokegear, checking a list of all the grass move oriented pokémon he had ever encountered. None of the few that she had mentioned sounded appealing in the slightest. Not to say that the ones she listed off weren’t able, just not his taste. However, after scanning the list for a few moments he had decided.

Another common type around the area (and just about any grassy area for that matter) was oddish. While it wasn’t his favorite, he supposed it would do. Kanto was lacking in the grass types. He hoped it didn’t disappoint in the other departments. “Sure, we can check out the spring. I think I may go after an oddish. I think that it would fit my battle style the best. I’m sure I can find one along the way, they’re quite common.” Meanwhile Genesis seemed to be in a battle of his own. Korra was persistently approaching him with presents, and Ren could tell that the dark pokémon was getting increasingly irritated. “Umbre.” The umbreon would growl every time the eevee would attempt to bring him gifts, before looking in the opposite direction.

It was apparent that the two trainers had very different views on how to train their respective pokémon. It had been made very clear early on that Genesis would be an umbreon or espeon, and the eevee seemed to agree completely that they were the best choices. The fact that she was going to allow hers to choose didn’t say much about her battle tactics, but maybe that was the point. Each person trained their pokémon differently, and who was he to say what was right and wrong. Leafeon would come in handy right about now.. Pushing the thought from his mind, Ren ruffled his hair lazily as Pig swooped by once more. There was something clamped in the bird’s beak this time. For some reason the pidgeotto always wanted to prove that he was an able hunter.

In the distance, Ren could hear the sound of running water. Good, hopefully I can find one of those purple buggers.. Another compliment. Skye really was flattering Genesis (and himself by extension). He felt his cheeks heat up again, and hastily thought of something to say. “Too bad, I guess they all can’t be as awesome as my pokémon.” He commented with a quick wink in her direction. Ren really needed to get a hold on his emotions. This needless flirting wouldn’t be helpful in any form or fashion. It would only leave the door open for more painful goodbyes.

The pair made their way through the lightly wooden trail that had veered off Route 6, Nova Blitz had only shown his fiery self once or twice but Skye had no concern. She had grown up playing on this route with her parents' pokemon and often took her own team out here to train. The pokemon in this area were generally weak and suitable for training younger team members. As the stream neared, she noticed Genesis growing ever more irritated with Korra. "Come here, you." She beckoned for the eevee to take its place at her shoulder. Hesitantly, reluctantly, the pokemon obeyed, though it clearly wasn't happy about being taken away from the apple of it's eye.

:"If you keep on bothering Genesis like that you're going to get into trouble, and as much as I've enjoyed getting on Ren's nerves there's no reason his pokemon have to put up with the same treatment." She smiled, ruffling the brown hair on Korra's head. It was true, she had already, after so little time with him, developed a fondness for his cold attitude and short nerves. One would think such a temperament would be undesirable, but in reality he was a perfect complement to her own upbeat, laid back self. She wouldn't dare admit it, but she liked Ren. Ever since the platinum haired man first showed his face after his pokemon had stopped her back in town she had carried with her a constant urge to know more, to understand him. He was shrouded in veils of defences and had more walls up than she had ever seen in a person, but something about him lured her in. Perhaps it was that glint behind his cold gaze, or the warmth of his body next to hers when he had offered his kindness in doing her the favor of getting rid of Jimmy.

Almost every time she glanced at him since they left the pokemart she had found herself struggling to not let her imagination run wild. She didn't have any experience with men in an intimate sense so she didn't have much to go off, but being so close to him, feeling his body against hers, smelling the faint, masculine aroma of his last applied cologne. His sharp wits and his smooth demeanour was enticing and as they walked through the trails of her memories she felt an odd wave of mixed emotions. For a second she felt like she had known him all her life. But as he spoke, his words snapped her out of her thoughts and back to what presented itself before her.

"Oh, yeah, oddish. Right. No you'll definitely find those around here. In fact they're everywhere, there was a population bloom a few years back. Let's see if we can't find you a strong new friend-" Just then, Nova leapt out of the woods with incredible speed and stopped right in front of his trainer.

"Canine!" It said happily, breathing deeply from its run. Skye caught her breath after the surprise and started laughing at the pokemon's enthusiasm. Ever since he was a growlith Nova had found such joy in weaving in and out of the trees. It was from years of self-initiated training that the arcanine's speed and agility was so astounding. Skye had been blessed when she came across Nova as a growlith. He was easy to raise and he had mountains of initiative. "Why don't you go and have a drink and a rest hmm? We;re looking for wild pokemon and I don't want you scaring them off big guy." The large hound nodded and turned to make his way to the spring's bank, but not without meeting Ren's gaze with an unblinking stare for a moment.

Skye just shook her head, that was Nova alright. Turning her attention to Ren, she smiled and opened her arms to the woods around them. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go catch some pokemon!" She found herself lowering her gaze from his piercing eyes, allowing her own eyes to observe him discretely, but as she did, she noticed a small bit of earth had collected on his jacket near the collar, probably from brushing up against a tree or from Pig's visits to his shoulder and arm.. She stepped forward without even thinking, "You've got something... Here." She casually went about wiping the bit of filth off, dabbing at a small bit that refused to come off, all the while ensuring she didn't dirty his white jacket. When she was satisfied, she smoothed out the area of his jacket and looked up at him, her hand still pressed against his chest.

A moment later she realized how close to him she was, completely invading his personal space. She withdrew her hand and quickly stepped back, looking down at the ground and trying her hardest not to blush. "S-sorry. I uh, well it's gone now." Clearing her throat she rubbed the back of her neck, shyly looking up at him. "Uh, so, oddish. They uhm, they should be... this way. Or.. somewhere. Let's go." She set off in a fast walk towards an area nearby filled with bushes and taller grass.

Genesis gave a thankful glance in Skye’s direction. The umbreon was visibly relieved that he was free of being terrorized. At least for the moment. It wouldn’t last long so he seized the chance while it was available. The pokémon took the chance to gaze at the eevee. Ren grinned a little at his partner. Playing hard to get perhaps?

The blonde shot a playful look at Skye. “Just as I enjoy annoying the hell out of you.” He chimed in with a smirk. Since they had left Vermillion city, he had found himself loosening up around her. Ren wasn’t used to this, but he had to admit it felt awful good to be able to relax around another person. It was amazing how alone he had felt, and then she had popped up and filled a void that he hadn’t even known existed. The void that his father had created by leaving him. The trainer had to catch himself to prevent his eyes from welling up. “Thank you.” He muttered, barely loud enough for his traveling companion to hear.

“I know I can be hard to deal with.” He continued after pausing to think for a minute. “There’s a reason, but I would prefer to not talk about it.” As soon as he had felt the heartfelt moment, it was gone just as quickly. Ren gave a sigh of relief as he felt his passive shields slide back into place. This girl was some kind of magician; she knew just the right buttons to press to force his guard down. “I guess not all weaklings are bad.” He said with forced coldness. I have got to be more careful. Anymore slip ups like this, and she’ll think I’m a sissy. Not that he cared what she though, did he?

Uncertainty was alien to the platinum haired trainer. Usually he could look at something and know exactly how he felt about it. With her it was a constant struggle of keeping himself safe, while trying to not force her away. It didn’t help matters when she had complained about a bit of dirt clinging to his shirt. Ren felt his brain go a little fuzzy when her palm touched his chest. A warm feeling crept up into his cheeks and he pointedly stared at a place on the ground. For a moment, he had contemplated touching her hand with his. He had been on the verge of touching her hand with his, when just as suddenly she had retracted it. She sputtered something about finding the oddish.

Finally. Something that he knew for sure. “You’re right.” He agreed with a nod. Ren was amazed that his mind had strayed, but was quite glad that she had jogged his memory. As they approached the spring, he noticed a few of the target pokémon appear in around them. They were currently oblivious that the new arrivals were even there. Not just any oddish would do. He was looking for the strongest of the bunch. It would have to be to join his team. After a while of studying them, he realized that one seemed to be in charge. It was bigger than the rest, clearly the alpha of the horde.

“There.” He mentioned to Skye quietly, pointing at it with a look of decision. “That’s the one that I want. What do you think?” Ren inquired. Since she was so into breeding perhaps she could provide him with a second opinion. "Since you're the genius and all." He added with his trademark smirk.

At the mention of a secret within her new travelling companion's mind, she couldn't help but feel the heat of curiosity well up inside her. However, Skye was raised well enough to know that a person can't be forced or coaxed into opening up, rather they must learn to trust the receiver or their secrets on their own. She would respect his privacy, despite the wonder that coursed through her mind.

"No, not as bad as one might assume. And think about it, without the weak there would be no strong, so you should be grateful," again she smiled, but this was a sly grin accompanied by a wink. "And again, you really have no clue at to whether I'm the weak and you're the strong or the other way around." She herself didn't know, to be honest. She knew she was a worthy opponent to any that dare challenge her, for she knew her pokemon well and put more into it than battle technique. She played off the individual characteristics of each pokemon to her advantage. As with Nova's natural tendency to speed train, she combined it with powerful move that could be used while in run. Pairing his speed and brutality with a energy restoring Morning Sun and a counter-type Solar Beam, she had found herself with a well rounded, well raised pokemon. Several of her old team members were near equal in comparison but her arcanine had been a special kind of companion from the day she caught him as a growlith.

Korra had never been out on a journey with Skye before. She had received an egg from a kind woman who's pokemon were under her parents' care at the daycare and had raised it to a stronger level with the help of her original team. She had proved to be a dear friend and had long since become Skye's constant companion. After pulling herself away from the vicinity of Ren and relaxing her breathing, the two quickly made their way along the river side, as if to clear the air of an awkward moment. Eventually they reached their destination, confirmed by a horde of oddish skipping around and enjoying the warmth of the season as they went about their day. She stopped at Ren's side to take in each individual before them.

"Hmm," she said, deep in thought and observation at his proposal of catching the biggest of the group. Surely it was larger than the rest and burly, but that wasn't always the most important factor. "The big one would be a good pokemon no doubt, of course judging from its appearance, not its personality. But I don't know... Size isn't always the most important factor for pokemon who use status altering and special attacks more than physical. A oddish of such size may be strong physically but it'd be slower by nature. A quick, nimble, small pokemon would suit its type and its potential moveset." She paused again, scanning the oddish scattered about the clearing.

"That one, over by the bushes." She pointed out a smaller oddish with long leaves growing up and out of its head. It was well shaped, well defined, and the brilliance of its leaves led her to believe it had a strong suit in its typing. "That's the one I'd go for." All the time she spoke she kept a humble, kind tone; she would never assume it was her place to disagree with others' judgements but she was always willing to speak her mind when asked.

...without the weak, there would be no strong..

Ren chuckled. “I suppose you’re right. I guess I should be thankful you’re around then.” He replied with a half smile. The trainer was glad that Skye didn’t push the subject of his secrets. At least she knew when he didn’t want her to pry into his personal life. Perhaps she wasn’t as tactless as he had originally thought. In all honesty, Ren was sure that Skye wasn’t near as feeble as he tried to play her off to be. With her knowledge of pokémon, it was obvious that she may be on par with his own skill level.

At his inquiry of what her opinion about the oddish consisted of, she proved his theory further. Her reasoning was that the biggest was not always the best. After further pondering his choices, Ren decided to go with her judgment. If the pokémon wasn’t satisfactory he could always release it back into the wild or catch another one. “I’ll take your word for it. Let’s hope you’re not wrong.” Ren commented light heartedly.

“Genesis, you know what to do.” Normally he would choose Pig for such a fight, but the type advantage would probably damage the oddish far too much. The whistle he used to call the pidgeotto would alert the grass/poison type to their presence anyways. The umbreon knew how to pull his punches enough to keep from knocking the target out.

In response Genesis took a step forward awaiting further commands from his trainer. Ren pondered for a moment. “Target the one with the largest leaves. Hit it with assurance. Try not to hit the oddish with full force, we don’t want to damage it too much.” Ren was sure that Genesis’ level was far above the wild pokémon’s. With a nod, the umbreon initiated the battle. In the blink of an eye he had covered half the distance between him and the foe. With a leap, the dark type pokémon glanced the side of the grass type. That was the weakest attack in his arsenal and toxic would be ineffective considering the typing of the oddish.

The wild pokémon gave a cry of pain, losing its balance and releasing a large amount of stun spores into the air. Genesis sneezed, clearly affected by the defenses that the oddish had put into the area. The umbreon stumbled about, fighting against the paralyzing effects of the spores. Surprisingly, the wild pokémon was struggling against the ailment. The trainer knew that this was due to the synchronize ability of the umbreon inflicted the same status ailment to his foe. Afraid to attack again for fear of knocking it completely unconscious, Ren riffled through his pack for a moment. He produced an empty pokeball.

With a grunt he tossed it in the direction of the enemy. Upon contact, it opened up absorbing the leafy pokémon. The pokeball shook once as the oddish struggled to get out. It shook twice, the movements of the capsule becoming feebler. On the third shake it became still, indicating that he had successfully captured the oddish. Ren turned his attention back to Skye. “I was a bit worried I would kill it.” He voiced truthfully. “Excuse me, I have to attend to Genesis.” The umbreon was struggling against the paralyzation. Ren walked towards his partner, simultaneously removing one of the paralyze heals from his bag. “I’m sorry. I was being brash.” He told the umbreon, spraying the medicine on the trembling body of his pokémon. After a moment the ailment seemed to fade and Genesis shook his body from head to tail. “You feel better buddy?” Ren commented and the umbreon nodded in confirmation.

The blonde retrieved the new addition to his party with a large smile. “I’ll let him rest a bit, and then I’ll tend to him as well.”

Seeing the ease at which Ren tackled the capture of the wild pokemon Skye realised she had found quite the travel partner indeed. He was a mystery, there was no doubt about that. He was like a book who's pages would only be revealed with time and with the right mind to read what words are presented. She smiled, appreciating the man before her; most of her life she struggled with connecting with her peers as she found them to be so... simple, so two-dimensional. But Ren, well, he was multidimensional, and his skill with pokemon was something to be desired. She watched as he excused himself and then tended to his partner. There was a different light about him as he spoke to Genesis, she saw a level of calm and comfort she knew would only become apparent around the few in his life he truly trusted: perhaps only Genesis.

As he finished up with his umbreon, he retrieved his new team member, the glossy pokeball reflecting the rays of light that broke through the canopy of the forest. If one looked closely, a faint image of an exhausted oddish would be seen lulling about within, drifting in and our of slumber. The grass type did deserve some rest, more than and before anything else. She appreciated his respect for the pokemon; most trainers are quick to summon a newly captured team member before they've had the chance to recover from their decimated state. They would let excitement consume logic and in the end the pokemon suffers further.

"Gee," she said, biting her lip. "I really hope that oddish turns out to be what I think it will. Otherwise I'll look pretty dumb for recommending it over your choice... heh." She trailed off into an uncomfortable laugh before clearing her throat. "I'm surprised you were so quick to trust my opinion, I expected some smart-ass remark and a refusal. You're full of surprises aren't you? So unpredictable." This, of course, was true. Ren was indeed extremely unpredictable, continuously going from hot to cold, rude to sweet; she assumed a part of the unpredictability could be blamed on the fact that she hardly knew him. Perhaps with time she would begin to understand what made him tick, perhaps she would unravel the mysteries and the secrets hiding behind his cold eyes.

Her thoughts were deep, but soon enough she snapped back to reality as a shrill and all too familiar cry came from a little ways away. Moments later, Korra and Nova came bolting out of the trees, Korra was soaking wet and Nova had a guilty look about him. She was surprised to see the pair in such a questionable state, but further surprised as she didn't even notice Korra wander off in the first place. She stared at the two for a moment before letting out a full laugh that filled the air of the clearing. Her eevee looked like a drowned rattata with all of her fur soaked down and flattened, revealing how small she actually way. The look on Nova's face told her that she had probably fallen in the shallow stream and his dislike of water prevented him from helping her out. The two were always getting into trouble together; best of friends and partners in crime since Nova was a small growlith pup.

When Korra noticed Genesis at Ren's side, she let out a terrified cry and hid within the thick mane of the Arcanine on which she rode. This only made Skye laugh harder, seeing the lovestruck pokemon hide out of embarrassment in front of her crush. When she caught her breath she walked over toward the pair. "Oh Korra, come here love." The eevee nodded from within the fiery fur, refusing to come out looking like she did. "Oh all right then. Hmm, Nova would you mind bringing about a very mild Morning Sun? The heat should dry little Korra off." The hound nodded with a chuff and closed his eyes in concentration. Through the breaks in the canopy of the woods the gentle rays of sunlight that surrounded Nova began to intensify and form a warm pillar of light above him. The pillar was faint, but beautiful as the pokemon kept the intensity at a minimum. A few moments passed and Korra eventually began to creep out of the pokemon's mane, much drier than she had been before.

"See? You're just fine. Now fix up your fur and that's that." She tussled the fur on Korra's head and turned back to Ren and Genesis. A grin pulled at her lips as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, these two can be a little ridiculous. I think we should get going now that you've got yourself a grass type. Saffron isn't far now and I'm sure you're getting annoyed with this weakling slowing you down." She winked and readjusted the strap of her bag before leading the way back towards the path.