Justine felt a little nervous as they stood in front of the door of the ‘friend’ Cail had mentioned, a small doubt still in her mind about whether she should trust these people. Jasper by her side remained a tense as always and though she was no longer growling, her eyes remained set in a glare as she eyed Cail and Keiten with suspicion.
When the door opened to reveal an old woman, who promptly scolded Cail for calling her ‘Old Hag’, she couldn’t help but give a little giggle and felt her worry subside a little. As Fateen led them inside the house, she felt a strange feeling of comfort. The place seemed... welcoming, lived in.
She also noted that she wasn’t the only trainer who had stopped by for a safe place to stay. There was a woman with a Gabite who seemed just as aggressive, if not possibly more than Jasper was. Jasper herself noted the Dragon Pokemon and gave loud bark of “Gurrr!” in its direction. Justine wasn’t sure whether this was meant to be a greeting, a challenge or a threat, though given that Jasper had never met a Gabite before, she may simply been acknowledging him.
Justine also noticed a male trainer who seemed friendly enough and seemed to be talking to the female trainer.
She turned her attention back to Cail and the old woman, who were talking to one another. They mentioned an ‘Old Man’, though Justine had no idea who that was or what that meant, but she got the feeling it was important and that it was secret that they were keeping from Cipher. Hmm... maybe these lot were thinking of doing something about the Cipher problem as well. It would be pretty cool to have some allies, though she didn’t say anything.
It was at that point that Cail made his exit from the group quickly made a shout of “Erm, oh, thank you!” in his direction, though wasn’t sure if he heard her. Oh well. She took a seat on one of the chairs in the house. Jasper sat next to her, keeping a watchful eye on the many strangers surrounding her, particularly the Gabite, who she obviously was extra cautious of.
Then, the woman, who Justine gathered was called Fateen, asked an unusual question. What do Pokemon mean to you? “Huh? That’s a strange thing to ask,” she said. She then glanced down at Jasper by her side and placed a hand on the dog Pokemon’s head. “But, if you’re really asking, my Pokemon are my friends. Particularly Jasper here. I’ve known her for a long, long time. She practically a member of my family.” At this, Jasper relaxed slightly and nudged her head against her trainer’s hand affectionately.
Justine smiled down at Jasper. She meant what she said. Jasper had always seemed to be there and had always been a constant support throughout her life. She loved her dearly. She loved her other Pokemon, Coral the Meditite, as well but... well, that was different kind of friendship. Coral was very different from Jasper, who wore her emotions for all to see and could switch from happy to aggressive in almost an instant. Coral was controlled, calm, quiet, and very indifferent to those around him. While Jasper seemed tense a lot of the time, Coral was always so relaxed. Justine had no idea what the Meditite thought of her, though he still listened to and obeyed her the way a Pokemon should do to their trainer. He just didn’t seem as affectionate to her or as happy to be in her presence as Jasper did. It kind of made Justine sad, but she guessed that was just the way Coral was and did her best to treat him as a friend as much she could. The only real reason she had decided to keep him in his Pokeball today was that, while Jasper was a fairly often-seen species of Pokemon and less likely to attract attention, Coral may gain a little more unwanted interest. He didn’t seem to mind being in his Pokeball though. In fact, part of her wondered if he preferred it in there. It was probably a lot more quiet and peaceful in there then it was out there. She couldn’t help but smile at that thought, but said nothing more.
