The Heights of Londo [IC 4: Turnabout Trainers]

[Hazuki]

Maggie lets out a long sigh and slips off of Alyssa's lap.

[Comissar]

Leah shuffles her chair back a little as Alyssa stands. "You can, uh, you can sit with me if you want, Maggie..? I, uh, I don't mind."

[Hazuki]

Maggie looks at Leah for a moment and thoughtfully tilts her head. She reaches out and squeezes Leah's thighs, gazes of thoughtfully, then hops up on her lap.

"Where'd you meet Maggie?" Nika asks as she stands.

[Comissar]

Leah shifts the egg in her arms so that it's held in just one arm, propped slightly against the table, in order to make space for Maggie. She jumps a bit as Maggie squeezes her thighs, having expected her to simply jump up, but she settles again once the Gothorita is seated. She looks over to Nika at her question, "Well, uh, we ran into her on, uh, on the way here, actually. It wasn't all that long after, uh, after we left Thundercrag. Umm, she, uh, she came into our cave to, uh, to try and steal food. We, uh, we ended up making friends with her and, well, she came with us."

[Hazuki]

Maggie spends a few seconds shifting about to get comfortable on Leah's lap, then leans back and yawns.

"How did you know she was trying to steal food?" Nika asks, as she scratches her head. "Did she just try to run out with it while you weren't looking?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa bows slightly to Maggie and Leah. "Thanks." She looks Leah in the eyes and smiles, then turns her attention to painting the design onto the sarashi.

In response to Nika's question, Alyssa nods. "She kinda kept us down with her psychic powers while she picked up our stew and tried to get away with it. So, um, pretty sure." She looks up at Maggie, giving her a meaningful but playful look. "I've been, um, watching over her since then, though."

[Hazuki]

Maggie looks innocently away when Alyssa slings her accusation.

"Oh, that's cool! You don't hear a lot of tales about people befriending wild Pokemon without a Pokeball," Nika says. "Well, I don't, but I'm in the Pokeball craft, so maybe there's a secret way or something."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa laughs at Maggie's reaction, looking over at Nika when she comments. "Yeah, um, I guess. I, um, I never thought of it that way I guess." Looking back at Maggie and Leah, she tilts her head a bit. "Do Pokeballs do anything special or, um, d'you think it's mostly what happens between a person and a Pokemon? Like, um, would my Pokemon and I be friends if I didn't put them in a Pokeball? I, um, made friends with one of them before I caught it but, um, there's one I caught that I still haven't talked to yet." Her face gets a bit shadowed as she puts her head back down, focused on painting.

[Comissar]

Leah returns Alyssa's smile, nodding along as she elaborates on how they came across Maggie. She gives a careful shrug when asked about how pokéballs influence friendships between trainer and pokémon, making sure the movement wasn't great enough to disturb Maggie too much. "I, uh, I don't know, to be honest. And, uh, and we'll find time for you to speak to them properly. It's ok."

[Hazuki]

"I think it's kind of a ceremony, you know? Like getting married? You can get everything it does either way, but it's a way of making it official!" Nika says. "And it convinces stubborn Pokemon who wouldn't believe you beat 'em that you did."

[Comissar]

Leah grins and nods, "Heh, that, uh, that sounds like a good way to put it. And, uh, and not all pokémon will need that, uh, that 'official' catching."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa looks up at Leah, nodding at Nika's thought. "Like, um, I know a lot about how to catch a Pokemon, and, um, I've made friends with a lot of Pokemon, but I guess I never thought about what catching a Pokemon meant, y'know?" She shrugs as she paints. "Maybe it'd be better if I didn't try to catch Maggie and, um, was just her friend." Looking over, she smiles at Maggie sitting in Leah's lap. "What do you think, Maggie?"

[Hazuki]

Maggie's head perks up at the mention of her name. She looks at Alyssa, then holds her arms out for a hug.

"Um, how much do you know about Pokemon catching?" Nika asks, her head tilted. "I thought you were just an artist!"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa giggles and holds out an arm to Maggie, as if to invite her over.

Looking over to Nika, she shrugs. "I, um, used to practice and, um, read a lot of books. And, um, I learned a bunch of special stuff? So I guess more than most?" She shrugs. "I, um, never really knew how much was weird to know?"

[Hazuki]

Maggie sees Alyssa's invite, then looks down at her seat, then grabs Leah's top in one hand, points at Alyssa with the other, and makes a little cry up at Leah.

"Huh... Weird! I know all about how Pokeballs help capturing, not a lot about actually... Doing it? The fighting part seems hard. That's why we have Knights anyway, right? To do the fighting for us," Nika says.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa shakes her head. "Oh, no, I, um, don't really know how to fight. But, um, I know some tricks to catch Pokemon a bit easier, I guess?" She shrugs again. "It's, um, harder to explain."

[Comissar]

Leah looks between the other two, "I guess, uh, I guess there's not as much of a trainer culture here, then..? If knights do most of the fighting, I mean..."

She glances down as Maggie pulls on her clothing, following her pointing to Alyssa. Shifting carefully in her seat to give Maggie space, she added "You can jump down if you want..?"

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Not sure if Maggie is wanting to be carried over, or if she wants to walk over on her own. If she's angling to be carried over, Leah will oblige.

[Hazuki]

"Well... Most of them do something useful eventually," Nika says. "Or they did, anyway. Trainers used to be good for, you know, the wars..."

Maggie nods as Leah carries her over, then gives Alyssa a hug once she's beside her.

[Comissar]

Leah's careful as she stands to bring Maggie over, holding the egg firmly in the crook of her right arm, and supporting Maggie with her left. Moving to stand close enough to allow Maggie to hug Alyssa, she finds herself wishing she had a spare hand to join in. Instead, she contents herself with simply being beside her.

Her eyes fall a bit at Nika's comment about the wars. After a moments quiet, she looks up at her with an uncertain expression, "... Does it, uh, does it worry people here..? That the, uh, that the companies are trying to encourage more trainers..?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa shrugs, then looks "I, um, I grew up with a brother who really wanted to be a knight, so, um, I was around people fighting. There's people doing fighting around but, um, not as many Pokemon battles I think? People fight because they need to, I guess." She hugs Maggie, smiling over her shoulder at Leah, pulling away after a reasonable amount of time.

When she pulls apart from Maggie, she tilts her head a bit at Leah's question. "Um, I dunno. I haven't really talked to anyone about what the League has done. Some people were really happy about it, but I think there might be some people who weren't so happy? Letting anyone become a Trainer might be, um, not something everyone wants."

[Hazuki]

"I dunno." Nika shrugs. "I don't think many people think of the trainers as soldiers like the old ones. Not after long, anyway. I mean, most of them are kids, right? ... Don't tell Sass I said that!"

[Comissar]

Leah nods at the pairs responses, "Yeah, I guess, uh, I guess the situation's pretty different, right..?" She backs away from Alyssa a little once Maggie's had her fill of hugs, bobbing slightly as she supports the Gothorita one handed and egg in the crook of her other arm. She can't help but grin at Nika, "Don't worry, your secret's safe." She glances to the door, then back to Nika, "Speaking of Sass, she must, uh, she must be taking her studying pretty seriously. I'm surprised she's, uh, she's not here yet. Think she's still at, uh, at the library..?"

[Hazuki]

Just as Leah asks the question, the door is shoved open and Sass comes shuffling in. Her head is hung, her limbs hang dramatically at her side, and she trudges all the way over to her bed. She faceplants on it and lets out a groan.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa looks as Sass comes in, giggling a bit as she falls down. She doesn't say anything to her, instead looking at Leah with a question in her eyes before turning back to her work on the sarashi.

[Comissar]

Leah can't help but giggle at Sass's over the top entrance to the room. "Hi Sass. How's the, uh, the studying going..?"

[Hazuki]

Sass groans as she's addressed and rolls over onto her back, just barely craning her neck enough to see the other occupants of the room.

"Oh... You guys are here..." she mumbles. "I'm dead..."

[Comissar]

Leah's grin broadens, "... Going well, then..?"

[Hazuki]

"I read a lot and thought a lot and wrote a lot and now I can't do a lot," Sass explains. "And I'm sore. From thinking."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa looks over at Sass. "Maybe you need a good break from studying, then? Seems good to rest some. Can't do it all at once." She shrugs and turns back to her painting.

[Comissar]

Leah nods her agreement with Alyssa, "And, uh, and if you want I can try and help you out with some of it..? Umm, we're, uh, we're going to be in town a while."