Annie followed suit, carrying everything to her name on her person. Thanks to their efforts, the fire hadn’t reached her gear, and it’d been far enough away to avoid the rain entirely. She’d mentioned a few times how happy she was not to have to drag a waterlogged sleeping bag around, among other things. Many, many other things. It’d been a while since she’d had a captive human audience, and that meant that he got to hear a lot of happy hot air.

“Fortuna did great! She’s not much of a fighter, but man, we would’ve been lost without her…”
“How did you get a whole house to yourself? Do you have to climb a tree to get to it?”
“Hey, how much is a phone these days anyways?”
“What do rangers do, anyway? Are you guys like the super-police?”
“Why were you awake that early, anyway? If it was up to me I’d sleep until twelve!”
“How do water Pokemon float like that, anyway? Do the Pokeballs do that?”

Whether or not he answered didn’t matter, and he’d likely quickly realise as much. She’d keep talking for most of their journey (occasionally interrupted by her rumbling stomach) until they stepped into his quarters. It was tidy. Uniform. “Feels like a house you’d see on TV,” she mused. Annie barely looked like she belonged, with her baggy clothes that were likely the wrong size and half a bedhead from her rude awakening.

Before he could even introduce his Litwick, the girl was off, rushing over to stand beside him. “Ooooo, he’s so cute! Hello there, little guy! Don’t worry, Annie’s going to find you some friends. We can have him play with one of my guys, right? Then he won’t be so lonely.” Her trembling fists struggled with the need to respect a Pokemon’s personal space, and her need to pet anything adorable. “Anyway, later, later! Oh, is that a poster? So you’re, like, a spooky-type trainer, right? Huh?” She turned back to him, having successfully forgotten that she was hungry, and that they were there for food. Her eyes transitioned from overjoyed to mildly confused. “Er… I usually don’t get to choose.” Beyond what to steal, anyway. “Can we make pancakes? Oh man, I haven’t had pancakes in months! Can Pokemon eat pancakes? I’d have to save a bit for the guys. Just a little treat for working so hard, and to break up the usual meals, you know?”

❤ wizz

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

“Ah, right… So you’re like an orphanage for Pokemon.” Annie paused. Frowned. One of the downsides of running one’s mouth was that words tended to spill out without much thought. Words that said a lot about the way she saw the world. Things that near-strangers didn’t really need to know. “…Not that that’s a bad thing! Everybody deserves a chance, and it sucks that some people or Pokemon get written off just because something’s a little wonky with them.” I don’t see anything wrong with you, by the way.” Her eyes shifted back to Phantom, and her voice shifted into a tone otherwise reserved for babies. “You’re just a perfect little melty boy.” If he didn’t shy away, the girl would dare to give him a little pat atop his head as they left the room.

Into the kitchen – a room Annie realised she hadn’t seen in weeks. Hostels, shacks, restaurants and clearings in the forest weren’t known for their stellar food rooms. With that in mind, it wasn’t too surprising that the girl seemed fascinated by the treated wood, or the shiny stove, or the microwave or the pantry. “…You keep this place clean! I’m impressed.” Bold words, considering the state that she was in, but she wouldn’t leave him much time to comment on it. “Oh, can we? Please? If you have enough, I mean. They deserve something nice too and all… And so do yours! Team Oreo was like a well-oiled machine! The way your Katas knew who could help before you did, and your, er… two-tailed purple dude brought the rain out! My everything was wet for a while there, but it was super helpful for putting out the fire!”

❤ wizz

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

“Then you must be doing a good job, right?” She looked to the Absol for agreement. “I don’t know, I’m pretty new to this… But if your guys are clever, and they want to help you, and they’re like your friends, then you must be doing something right! That’s what they say on the TV, anyway.” Which was where the majority of her trainer knowledge came from, for better or worse. “And if not… Well, at least they like you!”

Eggs. Finally, her time to shine. She marches up to the stove. “Of course! Fortunately for you, I’m a master at cracking eggs!” It was, perhaps, the only ingredient she knew how to use well, if only by painful trial and error. “My Fortuna, she lays the best eggs, and we end up eating them with something most nights.” Not out of choice. “Don’t tell her that I said it, because don’t get me wrong, they’re great, but anything starts to taste a bit dull when you’ve had it five days in a row.”

True to her claims (this time), two taps opened two eggs into the bowl he’d provided. “Just let me know when we’re good!” And if her general demeanour was a warning, she’d empty out the whole carton without guidance.

❤ wizz

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Annie, on the other hand was only partially successful at playing it cool. Her eyes barely left the stack once it was off the pain, but who could blame her? The smell and the sight were an attack of multiple fronts, and when she’d gone weeks without a hot breakfast… She was vulnerable. And vibrating? Just a little.

They even had toppings! She’d completely forgotten about those, and would have eaten them dry without a second thought, but this was the icing on the cake. “Thank you, thank you!” She’d walking up and down the kitchen, if only to do something with the energy. Even then, the spring in her step made it hard to miss her joy. “You know, this almost makes up for almost getting burned to death! It might even balance it out! Getting to meet a whole Ranger, and his treehouse in Treehouse Town and there’s syrup and hon-“

She paused. Gift, he’d said. As in it was special. She quickly shook her head, and her smile fled the scene. “Wait, no. That’s a gift. I can’t take that, that’s for you.” Her brow furrowed. When she stopped to think about it, the whole situation was weird. Almost as weird as her sudden shift. Her gaze flickered between the food and the Ranger. “Why are you doing this, anyway? You didn’t have to offer anything, but… you did.” People didn’t just do that – not in her world. Half the time, kindness came with strings attached.

❤ wizz

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Careful eyes wait for an answer, and to see what his might show. Not much hesitation – at least, not much more than the man had shown thus far. He wasn’t fumbling with his words, or stalling while he thought of some. He’d given her no reason to think that he was being dishonest, and yet…

The girl closed her eyes. Nodded. Put on a small smile. “It was nothing,” she said, but quieter than before. She found her voice soon enough, meeting his gaze soon enough. “Sorry, Oreo. That sounded pretty bad. It’s just… not every day that a guy that you just met invites you home, just to eat their food. But it’s nice! Really nice, don’t get me wrong. Just different.” Her smile grew, back into a toothy grin. “That just means that you’re special! Oreo, the first man to invite me into his home!” She giggled, taking a half-step towards the pancakes. She knew it was polite to at least wait for her host, but as her growling stomach was eager to remind her, it’d been a while since she’d eaten.

“A fire’s terrible when it’s out of control. You say I didn’t have to do that, but what else could I have done? Leave? Would you have left?” She wasn’t looking at them, but her hand was hovering over the stack. “Not when people could’ve gotten hurt. Heck, if you hadn’t said your friends were coming to help, me and Fortuna could’ve stayed to see if everybody was okay. She’s not the best fighter, but she’s one of the best healers I’ve ever met! Not that I’ve met a lot of healers, but still, she’s great!” Just like that, she was back in her swing. A brief look of surprise, and she reached to relieve herself of her backpack. Better late than never. “But enough about my guys! Tell me about your Ranger business! I’ve never had a chance to sit down with a real officer guy.” She’d run from a few, but those were stories he didn’t need to hear.

❤ wizz

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

For a moment, he was the odd one, and she started to worry that she’d offended him - a surprisingly common consequence of speaking one’s mind. Fortunately, her fears were put to rest, for he recovered as quickly as she had. He even called her special! “Aw shucks, I said it was nothing!” She pauses for half a second. Her smile grows, more on one side than the other. “But I can live with being special. Just means that I’m doing something right. Nobody remembers normal people.”

With that, she’d finally been cleared to dine! She carries a stack of pancakes with them to the table, plopping himself in one of his chairs shortly after. Her first priority is getting some food in her mouth. If there was cutlery within arm’s reach, she’d use it, but she wasn’t above eating like a savage if it stopped her stomach grumbling. She started replying with a mouth half-full of glorious, hot breakfast before she remembers her manners and gives herself a few more seconds. “I wouldn’t know. Where I came from, we didn’t see much of Hoenn’s unless there was big trouble, and even then… I’m not much of a news person, you know?” They cut into valuable cartoon time, when she could even get to a TV. “Besides, a place like Kanto kinda has its own problems to report on.” Hers was a bittersweet tone, but she wouldn’t let it keep her down for long. She continues as she reaches for the syrup, dotting a pancake with small globs of sugary goodness.

“Sounds stressful, though. And tiring. Even if it’s not so flashy, it’s still a job, right? And not an easy one from the sounds of it. So you know what I have to ask, right?” By the time she remembered that it was rude to point a utensil at her host, she’d already committed to the act! “Why do you do it? Like you said, most people don’t bother but you didn’t just step up. You made it your day job. You must’ve had a good reason for that, right?"

❤ wizz

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Annie caught sympathy in the man’s eyes, and returned it with a small smile – a bittersweet one. Most people knew what a young, lone traveller from Kanto meant, but she wouldn’t let its effects show. She’d gotten very good at not letting it show. “It’s fine. I’m fine.” Only a half truth, but one that she hoped would put the man’s mind to rest.

It hadn’t been enough, from the looks of it. He was lost in his thoughts, if only for a second. Then he spoke, and she realised that it hadn’t been because of her tragic backstory. Phew. She busied herself by stopping short of scarfing down breakfast. She wanted to be polite, but being polite meant sacrificing precious seconds of hot pancake. When he mentions his dream, her eyes light up again. “You make it sound so simple! ‘Oh, you know, I just had a thing in mind and I went for it’. You don’t sound like you’re giving yourself enough credit for that!” You had a goal for your whole life, and you just went out and made it happen! That’s not normal, right? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know many adults-” or children- “but people say ‘dream job’ because it’s hard and far off, right?” She raised an eyebrow, but only for a second. Her eyes fell to the pancakes as she continued.

“How do you know, anyway? What your dream job is. It’s weird to me, trying to imagine sitting around, doing the same thing for the rest of my life… Maybe I’ve just been out and about for too long. Or maybe I need to get an actual job first. Gonna be honest, I don’t know how this stuff usually works.”

❤ wizz