[IC] Our Beloved Dreams of Sinnoh | Pokemon

[Marlowe]

MENTIONS: None at the moment.

Jubilife blazed with light. Music throbbed through the night as people bustled up and down the streets, huddling on street corners and store fonts as they chattered and bickered in excitement. Different scents-- cooked meats, cotton candies, desserts, and miniature firecrackers that children split on the curb, among other things-- mingled together in the air. And in the middle of it all loomed the Jubilife City Stadium illuminated in the brightest lights in all the city. The festivities drew in people from all corners of Sinnoh, and with them came their Pokemon. Jubilife City was at its fullest in a year. Why shouldn't it be? It was the eve of the Gym Challenge. Most, if not all, of the elite trainers of the regions were here, even the champion himself. Just about everyone wanted to get a good look at the twenty fresh heads that were to present themselves as challengers to the elite themselves.

Arthur could hear the music and cheering, even from inside the stadium's lobby. There were some people about, probably other trainers, but he didn't pay them any mind. He rested on one of the plush couches, his eyes focused on the television screens hanging from the ceiling. A woman was on the screen, going on and on about the celebrations in Jubilife and how the ceremony was going to begin soon. Her eyes were bright with excitement, her features carefully painted with bright-colored make-up.

"Everyone is eagerly awaiting the presentation of this year's Gym Challengers! Rumor has it that it's the largest group we've had in half a decade and there are quite a few which might threaten Shiro's title. Then again, we had some pretty strong competitors last year and none of them even made it to the Champion's Cup! There's no telling what's going to happen this time!"

Huh. No telling what would happen this time? There were twenty trainers. As far as he could tell, they were all roughly the same age. And if nineteen couldn't make it to the Champion's Cup, then he would be the only one there to take Shiro's place. There was no other way. Arthur was going to win the Champion's Cup and return home as a Champion.

Chittering from somewhere above him caught his attention. Nero fluttered a few feet above his head, having taken a short lap around the lobby. His eyes were bright with excitement, his fur a little ruffled from the excursion. Had he found other Pokemon to play with for a bit? Arthur honestly didn't notice. His mind had been wandering ever since he set foot in Jubilife. There was just so much going on, it was overwhelming. Much different than how it was back at home. Nero let out a little purr of happiness as he settled on Arthur's lap and tucked his small wings into his body. Arthur reached out a hand, stroking the small creature's head with a delicate pair of fingers. "Did you have fun, Nero?" he asked him, to which the Noibat chirped in response. "Good. Soon, you'll be a big, strong Noivern and you'll be able to fly for much longer," and then, he added in a lower voice than usual, "hopefully before we get to Snowpoint."

Snowpoint. That's all he had to fear. That was going to be his most difficult challenge. Not only would Nero struggle, but he would be fighting his own mother. The person that taught him most of everything that he currently knew. One might even claim the way their Pokemon fought were almost exact copies of one another. Arthur found himself staring into space, his brow furrowed darkly. No, he wasn't going to doubt himself. It was too early to do that. "You want a berry? Here," Arthur asked Nero as he pulled a Pecha Berry from his bag. He handed it to the small Dragon-type as the creature's tiny claws latched onto it and brought it close to his mouth. Arthur just hoped that he could bring himself to have some peace before the ceremony started.

[KiwiHalcyon]

Ah, this is so refreshing and exciting! Roxxane swayed a bit to the beat of the music that was blaring outside, a large smile across her face as she drew in the cheering from outside the stadium’s lobby. She was used to the cheers of a crowd, but something about this environment got her blood pumping as she leaned against one of the chairs, her partner Pele contently sitting and observing the people around them.

Roxxane reached back and gently petted Pele, scratching behind her ears like she recently learned Pele liked. It hadn’t been long since she’s owned the Houndour, but she was already growing a bit attached to her mentor’s final gift. When the woman on the screen began to give a small speech, Roxxane eagerly listened, holding in a small giggle when the lady said nobody made it to the Champion’s Cup last year. Talk about amateurs, really. Even if Roxxane wasn’t expecting to win and face the champion, she still planned on giving every competitor a run for their money and give Sinnoh a show they’d never forget at the Champion’s Cup.

Speaking of competitors, was this really it? She said it was the largest group, but it felt like the stadium’s lobby was barely filled! How many people actually get endorsements for this thing? Obviously not a lot, because this was hardly any competition at all, even contests seemed to get more competitors than this gym challenge! With Roxxane somewhat lost in her own thoughts, Pele noticed the Noibat flying above, her growling barely audible in the room, but just loud enough to snap Roxxane out of her downward spiral of thoughts. Thinking Pele to be hungry, Roxxane pulled out a homemade poffin from the batch her mother had made her, offering it to Pele to appease the Houndour. When she noticed the smell of a spicy poffin, Pele eagerly ate it and forgot about the Noibat. Roxxane, however, dwelled for a bit before closing up the poffin case.

”You know Pele, I’ll have to have mom make some more when we get back to Hearthhome. Because I know you’ll get sick of mine once these run out!” Pele simply let out a small whimper at the realization that Roxxane’s poffins wouldn’t be as good as the one she just ate, causing Roxxane to laugh as she reached for her Pokeball.

”Okay okay, back into the Pokeball you go now. I’ll bring you back out after the ceremony.” With a gentle tap, Pele was put back into her ball, letting Roxxane focus more on the others in the room.

[Psyker Landshark]

Alisa Sokol

Really, she would have preferred to still be out in the streets, dancing and partying the night away. Still, Alisa bobbed her head to the beat that could be heard from within the stadium as she reclined on a couch next to Lanza.

"Sheesh. Kind of sucks we have to be in here instead of out there, huh?" She remarked offhandedly to the Honedge, who only hovered up and down for the moment before giving a "BOOP" sound. "Oh, well." Alisa continued on, her mouth lifting up in a slight grin. "It's what's after tonight that matters, anyways. This's what we've been training for!"

Alisa's attention turned towards the same display a certain Dragon trainer was watching, tilting her head in thought. She did remember following last year's Gym Challenge closely, as she had every year since she was a kid. Sure, that bunch had been spirited, but the last few gyms just filtered them out too well. Ah, well. She, Lanza, and whatever Pokemon they teamed up with along the way would just have to train hard enough that they didn't meet the same fate.

"You hungry, boy? I know there's not much negative emotion around tonight for a Ghost like you to feed off of, but maybe some of the other competitors're nervous enough to count." She glanced back over towards the Honedge, who quietly shook back and forth horizontally, mimeing a 'no' motion. Really, that was the convenient thing about Ghost types. Most fed off some kind of emotion, not needing much in the way of solid food. A good battle would generate enough for Lanza to feed off of, but she supposed they had to behave themselves tonight. Alisa sighed at the thought.

"Man, this sucks that we have to wait around in here..." She whined out loud.

[King Cosmos]

Tobias White

The televisions around the waiting room droned on and on, the voice of the reporter or presenter loud enough to be audible but not loud enough to completely drown out the noise of music and cheering coming through the walls. If they could hear it even here, inside the arena, then it must be deafening out there in front of the crowds; in fact, he knew it was, having been a part of that crowd enough times at the Sunyshore Gym.

What would that be like to be at the centre of that? How would it feel to battle in front of thousands, with a wall of noise pressing in around you and bright lights making you the centre of attention as cameras recorded your every move? How many challengers over the years had buckled to the pressure, failing due to stage fright rather than a lack of skill?

It was something to consider. Something you didn’t think about as a spectator.

Tobias stared at the screen, eyes focused behind his glasses, but he only half listened to the commentary as he concentrated on his own thoughts. Normally he would pay the opening ceremony of the Gym Challenge more attention, he liked to try and guess which challengers would make it the furthest, but it was hard to be excited about it this year when he was going to be a part of it rather than just a spectator. He felt restless, foot not quite tapping as it bounced up and down; not quite anxiousness but not excitement either. If he had to describe it, he felt impatient; the opening ceremony was just the preamble to the real challenge, it was unnecessary, it was a distraction. Frankly it was for the audience, not for them.

That being said, his sponsor would be out there. His parents would be watching at home. Both of these facts gave him the patience to endure the delay. It was only one more night after all.

Beside him a Magnemite hovered, its small form twisting this way and that as it spun around to see as much of the room as possible. Every person and Pokémon in sight caught his interest at one time or another, it’s singular eye swivelling in their direction only for it to be immediately distracted by someone or something else as the eye swung away again. “Don’t wander too far.” The Electric-type, which had been drifting away from its trainer, stopped moving for a second before it started drifting slowly towards something else.

Turning back to the television Tobias left the magnet Pokémon to its own devices for now; he’d only had it for a few weeks now but it has quickly proven itself to be the curious type. Everything, no matter how mundane or even if he had already seen it before, was subject to intense scrutiny’ with so many new people and Pokémon around he wouldn’t be able to stop it from wandering with anything short of returning it to its Pokeball. As long as it didn’t cause any trouble it was fine to let it look around.

[Sunbather]

Roux.

She had given up trying to make it through even just a single additional page after the third time someone had bumped into her, forcefully closing her book shut within her hands, and the contiously-filling streets seemed like an open invitation for further alteration if she didn't keep her eyes on the here and now. With slouched shoulders, Rachel sighed, her soles clacking loudly against the stone. Anri seemed to have sensed her trainer's displeased disposition, quietly growling, as if to fend of anyone entering their personal space.

"You could just evolve if you wanted to scare anyone off," the trainer sighed, heavy-lidded eyes flickering from face to face; this was way too much for her taste. The music, the chatter, the overwhelming amount of just... people. Rachel felt tired, thoroughly ready to crawl into bed already, and the whole spectactle hadn't even begun yet. At the edge of her periphery vision, she spied a shop that sold cards, books, and old trinkets. A sham, no doubt, but the little monitor that blared the speech broadcasted on almost every channel in the region caught her attention. Her shoulders rise, and the harsh clacking of her heels became firmer, as she hastened, people swirling by in a cascade of blurry shapes.

Finally, she entered the building, the mechanical whir of the doors inviting her into a cozy lobby, where a plethora of muted conversations lingered in the air. Pokemon rumbled about everywhere, some playing with their trainers, others cautiously approaching future rivals, and maybe future friends. Rachel's lips stretched across her face, thinned by her stubborn scowl, as she retrieved her Pokeball from within her coat. "Enough for now... she murmured, her Eevee disappearing into a red mist with a reluctance little cry. Roux acknowledge her partner's mewl with an involuntary squint, her knuckles quivering as she clutched her Pokeball.

So this is it, she thought, the thudding of her steps swallowed by a lush carpet.

"They could hurry a little... she murmured, and leaned into a corner, her boots skidding along the flair against her weight, hands buried in her pockets. Against the sterile lightness of the facility, Roux's posture and attire seemed like a smudge on the wall, ill-fitting, and so she felt - out of her depth, coyishly eyeing the other trainers who she would soon have to overcome somehow.

[Sunbather]

[spacepirate]

So, this was the eve of the Pokemon Gym Challenge, in the flesh. Er… in the brick? Glass? Concrete, lead pipes, asphalt- aw, heck with it. There were enough people- sorry, Pokemon fans- surrounding him, that the city might as well be made of skin and blood and muscle. Having spent the vast majority of his time out in the field, Oreo hadn’t seen this many people clustered into such a small space in- in maybe ever!

Not that Jubilife City was a “small space”, by any means! He’d visited before, usually with family, but never under the pretense of being a trainer. At the very least, he’d never been invited to attend a major event like this! Especially when Oreo was lucky to even be invited to birthday parties. Well, at least when he used to get invited to birthday parties.

But entering the Jubilife Stadium- navigating through the throngs of sweaty bodies until he was allowed into the bowels of the building- that, that was an experience. Blinding camera flashes and scrutinous gazes gave way to more and more roped-off walkways and queues, until he found himself in the stadium’s gates. It seemed like only the more hardcore fans had made it in.

Absently following the arrows and signs to the lobby, where he supposed most of the other trainers were headed, Oreo suddenly bumped into a strange, celery-scented individual with a top hat, and none too gently. The young man’s top hat flew from his head as he fell, and Oreo was quick to pick it up, offering it back to its owner. From the sheen and feel, it looked to be made of cascoon silk, a rather covetous material. “Hey! You’re not supposed to be in here,” the blonde trainer scowled, and it was then that Oreo noticed the blitzle imitating its master’s annoyance.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to shove you,” the researcher began, before the other abruptly snatched his hat back, preening over how it looked. Seeing the other trainer’s vintage three-piece suit, likely spun from the same material, Oreo noticed how underdressed he must appear in his usual cottonee sweater. “I was just looking for the lobby, you see.”

“The lobby?” the other trainer sneered back, clearly amused. “That’s only for the challengers. I think you’re confused, the staff elevator is back the way you came. After all, you don’t even have a pokemon with you.” The insult took a few moments to sink in, since he was still in a mostly good mood from the ambiance of the festival.

“What? Sure I do,” Oreo bristled, digging through his messenger bag for the familiar ball, before tossing it in the air, releasing his snubbull. “This is Floppy,” he nodded to the small canine, who was already beginning to make a puddle of slobber on the ground, much to the other’s chagrin. It was clear what he thought about such the uncouth and salivating fairy type.

“Right, well- Oh, good Arceus, what is it doing??” the hatted trainer demanded, tugging back the tails of his coat, already tattered by the snarling, growling, snubbull. He was making quite the ruckus, flailing and gnashing about like a thing possessed- and Floppy wasn’t all too gentle, either. Oreo cringed, before quickly recalling his partner pokemon in a beam of red light.

“I guess I should have warned you that Floppy’s sort of aggressive,” he admitted nonchalantly, hiding his smirk whilst shrugging at the not-quite-stranger’s furious expression. Even the blitzle looked like it was ready to fry him like a magikarp on a stick.

“Watch your back out there,” the fancy trainer warned, storming off, the small blitzle spitting a spark of electricity in the researcher’s general direction.

“Should’ve live-streamed that,” Oreo lamented, rolling Floppy’s pokeball in his hand before perking up to the sound of an announcement. Truthfully, he had no idea what to expect from the other trainers, or even just the spectators. This was hardly his area of expertise- he could dispatch large groups of rightfully dangerous wild pokemon, but people? Their ways eluded him more than slightly. But he could worry about that once the competition was underway- for now, he just had to follow the sound of the speakers, and they would take him to where he needed to go.

[ShepherdOfHope]

^{Location: Jubilife City - Stadium
Mentions: None}

Jubilife City was a far, far cry from little old Celestic Town. In fact, Rosie was pretty certain she'd never seen so many people before in her life. The crowd, the voices, the music...it was all a little jarring for a girl from such a small hometown. And yet, it all made her heart race in a way that was new to her; this was the kind of excitement she'd longed to feel.

So, it was kind of a shame that everyone was stuck in this building. Still, she planned to make the most of it.

The hum from the music outside filled her head as she walked through the crowd. Were they other trainers? Enthusiastic spectators? Challenge staff? She couldn't really tell, but many of them seemed to be about her age. Lucina trailed close behind, watching everyone rather cautiously. Rosie pulled the Riolu a bit closer, fearing the crowd might be causing her a bit of anxiety. She hadn't had Lucina for very long, but in her mind, that just made looking after her even more important. Of course, she could just put Lucina back in her pokeball, but that always seemed to make her uncomfortable. Besides, Riolu are extremely sensitive to emotions; keeping her calm was the best possible thing.

"Come on, Luce," Rosie sighed, making her way into the lobby. Her eyes widened a bit at the sight of all the other Pokemon flitting about; she was used to the wild Pokemon near Celestic Town, but this was her first time seeing many of them in person. Of course, she'd studied them all before, but this was a different experience entirely. She took a moment to rock back and forth on her heels, surveying the trainers before her."Everyone looks so strong, huh?" She made a mental note of all the Pokemon she could see; she might need to take that into consideration when she gets new teammates, after all.

Just then, a woman appeared on the screen in front of them, gushing about the new batch of challengers for this year. Rosie tilted her head, a little surprised to learn that this was a particularly big group. Like it or not, they were going to get whittled down pretty quickly; she could only do her best to make it far enough. Her future depended on it, right? Battling wild Pokemon was one thing, but people were a completely different ordeal. She had some catching up to do with the more experienced of the bunch; luckily, she's a fast learner.

[King Cosmos]

Tobi Magnemite

As Tobias turned his attention back to the television the Magnemite took the opportunity to look around the lobby unhindered, drifting further and further away from its trainer as it let its curiosity carry it around the room. Its singular, cycloptic eye swivelled endlessly from one intriguing sight to the next, occasionally focusing in on something particularly interesting, before moving on; a bored looking trainer accompanied by a sword-like Pokémon it had never seen before, another trainer watching the television with a small blue canine next to her, a colourful girl with red hair and yellow eyes…

The Electric-type continued on in this way, hovering above the heads of trainers and Pokémon alike, until it reached a young man with a small Pokémon held in his lap; the scene caught the magnet Pokémon’s attention and it began to drift in that direction for a closer look. The man was wearing a yellow jacket and had sandy blonde hair while the Pokémon resting on his legs was shades of purple and black and had large ears; like the sword-Pokémon from before, it too was something Magnemite has never seen before.

The bat-like creature was eating something, a berry by the looks of it, and Magnemite flew even closer to get a better look and see what kind of berry it was. By now it was hovering direct behind the pair, staring over Arthur’s shoulder unblinkingly and its body close enough that the trainer might be able to feel the presence behind him. Even if he didn’t, he certain could feel it when the hard metal body bumped into the back of his head.

@Ambra

[Marlowe]

MENTIONS: @King Cosmos [Tobi's Magnemite]

There sure were a lot of other trainers. Arthur swore he saw a Riolu and Houndoom somewhere in the mix. He only watched them, quiet as he thought about how to battle them. They would be easy opponents; Nero would able to take down the Riolu quickly with a Flying-type move. Nero didn't seem to mind his surroundings, ravenously digging into the berry as he filled his belly. There he went again, thinking with his stomach... Arthur honestly couldn't blame him. Nero hadn't seen a serious battle in ages, no wonder why he was so lax with the trainers around.

Something bumped into the back of his head. It actually kind of hurt, and Arthur thought that someone had thrown something at him. Scowling and rubbing the back of his head, he turned around to see a Magnemite hovering literally centimeters away from him. "What the hell? Go on, get! Shoo!" Arthur barked out. He wanted that Magnemite gone; he was pretty sure it almost shocked him! Nero had other plans, however. The small bat-like Pokemon, seemingly having filled himself with the berry, fluttered up into the air and flapped towards the Magnemite. He hovered about the electric-type Pokemon before attempting to perch himself on it, chattering mischievously. "Whose Magnemite is this?" Arthur called out, finding himself slightly miffed. This thing was agitating his Pokemon! Where was its owner?

[Sunbather]

Roux.
Mentions: @spacepirate

Rachel's eyes wandered through the lobby, finding more and more trainers accompanied by their Pokemon. She wondered if she had missed a trend in carrying one's partner outside their Pokeball, scoffing at the notion. Her upper-lip rose and her brows furrowed; why would anyone induldge that risk for extended periods of time? Her gaze wandered down her body, knowing that underneath her coat laid a small Pokeball containing Anri. The sole reason she let the Eevee walk outside even for five minutes outside of battles was because her partner Pokemon became grumpy when she wouldn't call her out, truthfully.

The hands in her pockets turned into fists, a scowl embedded in her face. With a small backwards kick against the wall, Roux pushed herself up, ready to wander. Crowds always had her on edge, and the fact that everything was so overwhelmingly cheerful didn't help the matter; it almost made her feel inadequate, though she quickly erased the choice of words in her head with "out of place". Pacing through the lobby, she watched a Magnemite pester a young trainer, and an urge arose in her to grab it, just to unsettle its Trainer, to really hammer the recklessness over his or her head, but the refrained from doing, striding past the duo with a jerky flick of her hair.

"Dumb trainers," she mumbled, kicking an emptoy, crumpled up potion bottle someone had thrown away wihout much care for the bins, when she suddenly bumped into another body, her head thudding against a firm but humanly-forgiving chest. "Hey! Can you NOT just stay in the middle of the... she barked, combing slender digits through her tousled hair, but fell silent when she saw the trainer she had run into. Her head tilted to the side in curious bewilderment, which dampened her angry expression considerably. "Hey, do... Do I know you?

[KiwiHalcyon]

Interacting with: Arthur @Ambra

---

Roxanne caught eye of a pesky little Magnemite floating around, it’s careful eye seemingly scanning the crowd for anything and everything. It was a bit amusing, watching it soar across the small crowd of competitors with an almost eery focus. She made eye contact with the Magnemite for a split second while it did this, causing her to sort of play with her hair and twirl a small portion of it around with her finger. What would happen next, however, was something the coordinator couldn’t predict.

Watching it carefully, it somehow managed to fly too low and observe the wrong thing at the wrong time, smacking into another competitor’s head which in turn caused Roxanne to chuckle a bit, forcing her to attempt to cover up her laughter by placing a hand over her mouth. That definitely is going to leave a bump! Wonder how shorty is gonna take getting hit like that. She thought to herself, snickering even harder in hushed tones at what happened next. Turns out, he did not like getting hit one bit, though he was overreacting a bit. Just a small tad, just a minor overreaction really. He called out for the owner of the Magnemite to make themselves known, but Roxanne doubted they’d want to deal with an upset kid, so she figured she’d try to calm him down a bit before he went off on someone.

Adjusting her hair a bit, she sauntered over to where the young man was, sneaking up from behind before booping his shoulder.

” You seem awfully tense, lighten up! Don’t let some random Magnemite ruin the excitement you should be feeling.” She told the kid, giggling to herself a bit before walking in front of him and letting him see her face to face instead of just from the side. She wiggled a finger in the air in front of her at him as soon as she was in front of him, a smirk across her face as she did so.

”Before you ask, which I know you probably were going to, it’s not mine. But seriously, you need to loosen up a bit, if you can’t handle a Magnemite accidentally hitting your head, how will you handle the pressure of this competition. Anyway, I'm Roxanne, but you probably know me as Carmen, right? You know, that awesome Coordinator from Hearthhome?”

[Psyker Landshark]

Alisa Sokol

Mentions: @Ambra, @KiwiHalcyon

Well, that was a bit of a commotion. Something screaming about a Magnemite, apparently. Sheesh, whoever it was sounded high-strung too. After a moment of deliberation, Alisa rose from her seat. Whatever that was about, it would probably be more entertaining than just sitting around here.

"Cmon, boy." She waved Lanza over to her side, the Honedge floating next to her with a "BOOP" sound. "Whatever that is, beats sitting here waiting for something to happen."

Alisa watched and waited while someone else approached the commotion first, taking note of the Noibat perched atop the Magnemite as well as the other girl spoke up first. Carmen...? The name sounded familiar, and now that she thought about it, so did the look. Wait...

"Wait, I know you!" Alisa piped up, pointing a finger at the girl from behind. "Yeah, that's right! I've seen a few of your battles on the internet. Not bad, actually!" She grinned, giving both Roxanne and Arthur a wave. "Name's Alisa, by the way. She ain't wrong, either. Nothing to get worked up over yet. What's your name anyway, buddy?" She inquired towards Arthur in particular. "The Noibat yours? Rare choice for a starter, but I guess I can't talk, considering Lanza here." Alisa chuckled, jerking a finger at the Honedge, who simply bobbed up and down in midair in response.

[ShepherdOfHope]

^{Location: Jubilife City - Stadium
Mentions: @spacepirate @Sunbather}

Rosie's eyes drifted from the screen to the crowd of trainers surrounding her. Maybe crowds should make her nervous, but the energy was utterly contagious. Addictive, even. Everyone here seemed so...happy. She'd never been around this kind of excitement before; most of her forays into the bigger cities had been brief, and she'd never been on her own before. But this was the start of something new, and everyone around her could feel it. As Rosie scanned the crowd, she wondered if perhaps she should find someone to talk to. Maybe someone to travel with? It'd be safer than going it alone, for sure.

"What do you think, Luce? Who looks friendly to you?" The Riolu doesn't answer, simply charging forward into the crowd without hesitation. "Luce! Hey! Wait-"

With a quick, almost panicked gait, Rosie chased after her Pokemon. With a few abrupt apologies to those around her, she stumbled forward, until she watched a girl run head-first into another trainer. She would have been content to turn around and avoid that whole mess, but that trainer-the boy-seemed...bizarrely familiar. Something about his face, his hair-

Oh. Oh, she knows him. That's-

Before Rosie can even stop herself, she pipes up from behind Rachel. "You do know him! That's Oreo Aquilo! He's the host of Weird Sinnoh! I-I'm a huge fan." She approaches, an eager bounce in her step as she extends a hand. "M-My name is Rosie."

[King Cosmos]

Tobias White

The commotion on the far side of the lobby was enough to catch Tobias’ attention, especially when someone called out asking about a Magnemite. With a sigh the trainer turned his head to see where his own Pokémon was, even though he already knew that he wouldn’t find it anywhere nearby; of course his inquisitive Pokémon would wander off and cause a scene, agitating another trainer and getting him into trouble. It was the kind of behaviour he had come to expect from the Electric-type.

Standing from his seat Tobias began to move towards the source of the voice, already preparing an apology for whoever it was. There was no point trying to deny it, it was his own fault for letting the Magnemite out in a crowded room and the not keeping an eye on it; he knew what kind of incidents it could cause but he had foolishly thought that it wouldn’t be able to cause too much trouble without him noticing. Clearly he still had a lot of improvements to make as a trainer of he couldn’t even keep a handle on the one Pokémon he had. Battles at least were something he could figure out, but it would seem that he had underestimated the difficulty of everything that lay in between; raising Pokémon, managing troublesome behaviours and balancing interpersonal relationships once he started to build a full team would all prove challenging. He was beginning to truly respect those trainers who did this for a living.

He found his Magnemite at the centre of a growing crowd of people with a bat-like Pokémon perched on its head; beside the strange sight was an irritated looking young man around the same age as himself. Tobias stopped in front of the other trainer, looking down at the shorter teen due to the significant height difference between the two, and spent a second or two taking in his features and his expression before speaking. “Sorry, it’s mine. It has a habit of wandering off.” He turned to regard his Pokémon and its new friend, the Electric-type seemingly unconcerned with the Noibat perched on its head and instead trying to orient itself so that it could look straight up without dislodging his passenger. “I’ll return it to its Pokeball as soon your Pokémon moves.”

@Ambra@KiwiHalcyon@Psyker Landshark

[spacepirate]

Mentions: @ShepherdofHope @Sunbather
So as it turns out, echolocation worked great for zubats, but not nearly as well for human beings. At least, that was the tentative conclusion Oreo was reaching after turning what seemed to be the sixth corner into yet another unfamiliar hallway. Arceus, it was crowded in here! Forays through the great southern marshes? Not a problem. Trekking across the steep trails of Mount Coronet? Difficult, but far from impossible. Finding his bearings underneath the labyrinth of hallways underneath Jubilife's pokemon stadium? Perhaps he had met his maker.

The researcher needed to stop for a few moments, take in his surroundings. All this running around didn't appear to be getting him any closer to the action- following the sound system sounded like a decent idea, until he realized that the entire stadium was stocked full of speakers. By trying to track them down, he was literally running in circles. Maybe if he just turned left at the information desk instead of- "Oof!"

Granted, he was the one who stopped and stood in a crowded walkway, but whatever had hit him in the chest did so none too gently. Oreo waved his arms out precariously to regain his balance before turning to view the girl with whom he shared a collision. Eyes widened and eyebrows raised as he just couldn't shake the feeling that he *knew* her from somewhere. He'd seen exactly that shade of hair before, the curve of her bottom lip.

He closed his eyes for a moment and urged himself to remember. Travel was a major part of his life, but field research didn't exactly involve a lot of human contact. Was she a barista at Slurrbucks? Maybe they'd both been out in the wilds and traded supplies- such an occurence was hardly uncommon among the region's campers. No, no... of that seemed quite right. These were all just ideas, but what about his memories?

Entire evenings of research illuminated by charmingly antiquated sconces. The scent of mahogany and aging parchment. Faces lit up shades of blue in front of public computers. Filling out forms to request specific sources from the archives under the building, having to check in your coats and belongings at the lobby before entering the reading fooms. The absolute silence of Canalave library, interrupted only by the sounds of rickety pipes and heating systems in the walls. A solitary girl, dwarfed by the large reading table she sat at, surrounded by piles and piles of books on a variety of subjects.

And then he was back in the hallway under the stadium. "Canalave. Do you... I'm from Canalave city. I think... I think I've seen you before," he began, pleased with himself that he at least had some idea of where he could know her from. "But I don't think we've ever really met." It would be more embarrassing if they had, and he was just drawing a blank. Well, they were both here now, so now he tried to think if he'd ever seen her battle. There were obviously a lot of pokemon fans who visited during the Gym Challenge, especially since Gabriel was one of the later leaders that challengers faced. He'd seen videos of the stadium, actually, but he'd never been inside- so he couldn't possible know her from the local battling community.

Ah well. Much as he relied on it, his memory wasn't perfect in the slightest. Better just introduce himself. "Anyways," he began, putting out a hand, "I'm-" and then he was interrupted. For the second time in at least as few minutes. He arched a single eyebrow inquisitively at the second girl, approaching from behind this somewhat familiar one. Now he was nearly certain he'd never seen her before- but that didn't stop his mouth gaping a bit in surprise as she revealed she knew him.

"I... yeah. I'm Oreo," he laughed a bit by means of introduction smiling despite himself, taking Rosie's hand in his own and giving it a friendly shake. He was sure that he was only endorsed to bring a different type of fan into the fold, but it was still rather unusual for him to be recognized in public. Unusual, and sort of- flattering? "But I don't know if I'd call myself a host, exactly- well, I guess I do have guests. But only for good reason, or if they want to battle. Which, at least recently, has been real often. You know, everybody wants to test their mettle against a Gym Challenge hopeful." And he was rambling.

"So- uh, are you two Gym Challengers as well?" It was hard to tell. But there were only meant to be twenty of them, so the odds he'd bump into- what, ten percent of them? Seemed to be unlikely. "Honestly, I think I'm a bit lost. Do you two know where we're supposed to meet up?"