The Heights of Londo [IC 4: Turnabout Trainers]

[Hazuki]

When the girts get back to Sass and Nika's place, they find that the rough-housing has apparently paused. Sass sits at the head of the bed, resting her back against a throne of pillows as she idly pets the Sylveon that has made its way to her lap. Nika sits at the table, components all over it, apparently organizing them into several spaces with a clear place for her to work in front of her. Scroungy sits on her shoulder and notices the girls' arrival with a little cry.

[Comissar]

Leah gives Scroungy a wave, then announces her return with "I hope you're both hungry, we, uh, we've got a lot of different things!"

She sets her bag down on the table opposite Nika, careful to not disturb her assorted tools. She then starts fishing out the various food packages, double checking labels as she does so. Pausing mid-way through, she hesitates and glances up, "Oh, umm, I'm assuming you're both ready to, uh, to eat..?"

[Hazuki]

"Bring it to me," Sass invites, beckoning Leah with a hand.

"Sass, you are not eating in bed again!" Nika turns over her shoulder to look at the girl.

Sass glances between Nika and Leah, then huffs and oozes off of the bed to a standing position. "Is it good food?" she asks, as she plops onto one of the seats.

[Comissar]

Leah raises an eyebrow and grins at Sass' demand to have food in bed, her grin broadening as Nika all but confirms that it wouldn't be the first time she'd tried to do so. She nods at Sass' question, "Yeah. Or, uh, or at least I think it is. It's traditional Kantoan food. I picked Tantanmen for you and Alyssa. It's, uh, it's a ramen dish that's a bit spicier than normal," She gives Sass a questioning look, "I figured that, uh, that might be something you'd enjoy..?" She shrugs, turning to help Alyssa and Maggie decant the other dishes, "If you don't like it, I don't mind swapping. I've, uh, I've got Okonomiyaki. It's a savoury pancake. Umm, one of my favourites when it's made right..." She finds herself smiling a bit in anticipation, looking up to Nika as she continues, "And, uh, and I got you some Sesame Ramen. It's a little sweeter than normal ramen but, uh, but I also got some Daifuku for us all to share as a dessert so, uh, so if it's not sweet enough for you then there'll be that for after."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa busies herself with unloading the bags as she enters the room, grateful for Leah's help when she comes over to read the labels. She gives Maggie a small "thanks" when she takes the psychically-floating bag out of the air to unload.

As Leah starts to explain the food, Alyssa tries to follow, noting each thing as she mentions it. "How many things did you get, um, exactly?" She smiles at Leah, happy at her enthusiasm.

[Comissar]

Leah gives Alyssa a slightly worried look, "Umm, one thing each. With, uh, with a dessert we can all share. I, uh, I didn't think that'd be too much..?"

[Hazuki]

Maggie pats Alyssa's shoulder at the thanks, as she slips out of her arms and strolls over to the bed where Yrael the Sylveon sits.

Sass' eyes seem to glaze over as Leah explains everything that's been brought, but nods nonetheless. "I'll eat whatever you put in front of me."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles and laughs, putting a hand on Leah's arm. "I think it'll be just enough. Should we, um, share some of these things?" She points at the various food items set out on the table, leaning into Leah a little bit.

[Hazuki]

Sass' eyes slowly shift as Alyssa leans into Leah.

"Hey, what's with all the touchy-feely stuff?"

[Comissar]

Leah gives a relieved grin as she's reassured that the food she's picked up will be fine. She nods at Alyssa's question, leaning back into her a little, "Yeah, umm, I'm fine letting mine be shared. It'll, uh, it'll give you guys a chance to try more different things."

She's just happily finishing the plating up when Sass speaks up. She looks around to the young trainer, a little surprised, then to Alyssa, and finally back to Sass again. "Oh, umm, right. I guess, uh, I guess you wouldn't know..." Her cheeks colour a bit as she speaks, "Umm, Alyssa and, uh, and I are, uh, are together."

[Hazuki]

Sass' brow furrows.

"Why?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa, who is mid-plating her own food, trying a larger portion of what Leah suggested but taking a little bit of everything, shrugs at Sass's question, her smile fading into a more neutral expression. "Because she makes me happy."

[Hazuki]

Sass' nose wrinkles. "Gross."

Nika shoots her a look, then smiles at the girls. "I think you look cute together," she says sweetly.

"Wh- Yo-" Sass' head swivels to face Nika. "Traitor! Why didn't you tell me you're a romance person?"

"Because it's normal?" Nika suggests.

Sass lets her tongue hang out of her mouth, showing just what she thinks of that statement.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles at Nika and Sass, giving a nod of thanks to Nika. She goes about collecting her food and sits down at the table, taking her time to savor the flavors of the new dish as she eats.

[Comissar]

Leah looks confused for a moment at Sass' question, having not expected to need to defend her relationship choices. She feels her cheeks heat at Alyssa's explanation, a smile forming on her face, then heat further at both Nika's and Sass' reactions. She rubs behind her neck, looking embarrassed at the discussion topic, "It's, umm, it's tricky to describe the, uh, the feeling, Sass... Umm... I guess, uh, I guess I just, uh, just feel really happy and, uh, and comfortable around Alyssa."

As she speaks, she plates some food and passes it over to the young trainer, before plating some for Nika as well.

[Hazuki]

Sass takes her plate with a noncommittal grumble.

"Thanks!" Nika says as she accepts her food. "It's a good thing we've got plenty of seats here, huh?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa nods between bites, swallowing before she speaks. "Yeah. Um, sorry if we're taking up a lot of space in your room." She looks between Sass and Nika and smiles.

[Comissar]

Leah starts eating her meal with no small amount of enthusiasm, finding herself in good spirits at getting to eat Kantoan cooking again. As she eats, she finds her focus shifting over to Sass. "So, umm, Sass. What, uh, what kind of stuff were you looking up in the library..? 'Cause, uh, 'cause I can try and help you with it if you wanted..?"

[Hazuki]

"You know... Stuff?" Sass answers, as she nibbles away at her meal. "I wanted to look at what Lady Diwyneb is like, but there's not a lot in there from before she was the Lady, so I can't know what she likes from that. I found stuff about her battles, but it wasn't that helpful, because they're, like, stories and not tactics? Not the ones I found, I mean. So I was looking for tactics for my Pokemon and sy...synerrr..synergies!" She slams her fist on the table. "Synergies! Especially for Mosrael, since she's so slow and she's not gonna evolve for a long time!"

[Comissar]

Leah nods along with Sass' thought processes, then tilts her head with a faint frown, "I'm, uh, I'm not sure I've gotten to meet Mosrael yet. What, uh, what kind of pokémon is she..?"

[Hazuki]

"You haven... Oh, right!" Sass reaches for her belt and retrieves a blue and white Londo-style Pokeball with yellow trim. She tosses it into the air and a Pokemon emerges from the puff of smoke. Namely, a thigh-height crustacean with black ringed around its long blue shell, a pair of yellow antennae, and one massive claw. "Hey, Mosreal. It's Leah! And her girlfriend!" she tells the Pokemon.

Mosreael's eye slowly rolls up to look at Leah and it gives two quick snaps of its claw.

Spoiler: Who's that Pokemon?

Show

It's... Clauncher!

[Comissar]

Leah leans down to Mosrael as she's released, finding herself reddening a bit as Sass describes Alyssa. "Hi Mosrael, I'm told you're going to, uh, to help Sass beat Lady Diwyneb?"

On getting a reply, she straightens up just a little, folding her arms to rest her elbows on her knees. Glancing up to Sass, she asks, "Do, uh, do you know what kind of pokémon Lady Diwyneb uses? And, uh, and is there anywhere you could watch her battle in person..?"

[Hazuki]

Mosrael somehow manages to shrug with one claw.

"I hear that she uses a few types, but she uses Poison for her League battles," Sass says as Mosreael glances about, unsure what to do with herself. "Which sucks, because Yrael is Fairy! Astarael is fine, Mosreael too, but I can't fight that how my team is now! And I need to get a Pokemon who hits hard, like, bam." She slams a fist on the table.

"Sass, stop that!" Nika complains.

"I'm showing what I mean!" Sass huffs. "And I don't think there are many Psychic Pokemon who do that kind of thing, so Ground would be good, but she's expecting that!"

[tgva8889]

When Mosrael is brought out, Alyssa smiles and waves, turning a bit red at Sass's description. "Hi! I'm Alyssa." She looks at Leah and lightheartedly laughs a bit at their predicament.

Alyssa, who is mostly out of her depth in this conversation, sticks to listening and eating for the moment, glad to have a chance to listen to Sass talk about battling for a bit. After a bit her mind wanders and she looks down, closing her eyes, then looks back up at the conversation. Coming back about when Sass is talking about catching something else, Alyssa nods. "I, um, can help you catch something if there's something, um, nearby? I'm, um, not an expert on finding Pokemon, but I can help catch them!"

[Hazuki]

After Alyssa has greeted her, Mosrael looks around, sees that there's nothing for her to do, then reaches up and taps Sass' Pokeball with her claw. She's sucked in via a cloud of smoke.

"That's great," Sass says, as she points her fork at Alssa, "But I need to know what to catch before I can catch it. There are some golem things that guard the Dusk, but you can only get one of those if Lady Diwyneb really likes you, so I can't get one. It sucks!"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa shrugs. "Maybe something in the library can tell you what Pokemon are around here? Or you can go look and see if there's any ground-types outside?" She takes a bite of her food, taking the time to chew and swallow.

[Hazuki]

"Why do I have to do it? Can't you two help?" Sass asks.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles. "Don't you want to be the better trainer here? I think finding Pokemon to help you win is part of that." She looks at Leah, and then smiles. "Besides, I have no idea what I'm looking for, so I probably wouldn't be much help. All I can say is I can probably help you catch it when you find it."

[Comissar]

Leah shrugs, "I'm, uh, I'm happy to help. It might be useful to, uh, to not just think about what's strong against Poison, but, uh, but also what Poison struggles against..? So, umm, maybe look at, uh, at types that are resistant..? Like, uh, like Rock or Ghost types..?"

[Hazuki]

"Or Steel!" Sass snaps her fingers.

"Aren't they kinda rare, Sass?" Nika asks.

Sass scowls in her direction. "They're immune! It would totally mess up her strategy!"