the solrock simply stared back at the vulpix, unable to create any sort of countering look on its mostly stone face.

noelani had a lot to say. lulu gradually became discomforted at the speech, cringing. “a chip on my shoulder?” she scoffed indignantly. it was true that he’d reached that threshold. “for strange boys in dark alleyways?”

it wasn’t the only thing that rang offensive. she felt at home in it, he’d said. on top of everything else, he believed he’d successfully psycho-analyzed her. she snorted at the idea and her eyes narrowed some at him. as though she bared it all, in the thick of the dark.

his words were ultimately met with vexed facetiousness. “that was riveting, truly.” she shifted her weight, crossing her arms. “you realize you’re suspicious as all fuck? what makes you so confident, following mysterious characters in the dark? ya look like a teenager.”

she considered it a moment, and reached into her boot to discreetly brandish a small revolver. she wouldn’t point it at him, and it was mostly hidden under her sleeve as she pulled it up, but she was sure that the metal glinted in the moonlight. “with all of that said, what makes you so sure i’m not dangerous?”

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD CUFANT APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD EXCADRILL APPEARED!

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he was a sharer. her tongue pressed against the inside of her teeth impatiently.

the cold steel in her hand caused her heartrate to increase just so. she wasn’t much of a gunner anymore. it wasn’t in her heart. it was simply a tool for intimidation where it would work, these days. she was in a dark alley. this was common self-defense, and seemed like the most effective way to cut off the interaction without further scaring away any pokemon.

his back straightened keenly, but he didn’t seem entirely fazed apart from that. years ago, she would have made a bet on it. breathing out of her nose, she shoved the gun in the front pouch of her hoodie and turned to continue walking again. “i’d really appreciate it if you didn’t do that.”

she then released the blaziken again, and it was unclear whether it was due to some insecurity she might have finally been feeling, or in preparation of another pokemon ahead. the blaziken kept pace, but continued to glance over its shoulder. she’d only taken a few steps before making it clear she’d abandoned the idea that she was going to get away from him while still being able to continue her search. in a way, she begrudgingly welcomed him to her party by giving him what he'd asked for. well... sort of.

“my name’s sarah.” she told him, falsely. she wasn’t often made uncomfortable enough to use a different name, outside of league-organized events and battles. she hadn’t felt it to be particularly necessary. lulu was a creature of privacy, however. in a pinch where there was someone attempting to psycho-analyze her and pick her apart in such detail, she would attempt to shroud herself in lies and defenses.

an excadrill then appeared to her right, causing minor destruction on the side of an unfortunate office building. that was useful. she looked at her blaziken and nodded her chin towards the wild pokemon, and it went in for the attack with a LOW KICK.

swept up off its feet, the excadrill was flipped onto its back with an unpleasant sounding cry. righting itself, it attempted to use HORN DRILL, but failed terribly as the blaziken’s trained speed allowed it to deliver it another kick across the alley. the pokemon slid to bump its head against the wall, looking thoroughly disoriented. lulu tossed a pokeball at it.

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD FLAAFFY APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD LUXIO APPEARED!

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lulu shook her head at him, deciding not to respond. it was the principle. don’t ask a woman for something she doesn’t want to give you in a dark alleyway. doesn’t matter what it is. she could have thrown something at him, but refrained, as the only thing she had was steel.

she picked up the pokeball containing the excadrill and stowed it away in her bag, a small smirk appearing on her face as she did so. it would be an extremely helpful pokemon to have on hand.

looking back in the direction that noel had directed her, she caught sight of a luxray and flaaffy. the luxray seemed spirited, having cornered the sheep. she felt a moment of interest before waving it off and continuing in the other direction. “i’ll leave them to it.” she stated.

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD ELECTABUZZ APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD EMOLGA APPEARED!

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Lulu didn’t notice the pokemon as she walked by. She thought back to being eighteen, nineteen, twenty. She’d spent those years with the Dragons, in city slums. She knew creeping through alleys. Perhaps it was the reason she’d been suspicious. Maybe she did have a chip on her shoulder. A sigh escaped her.

“Why are you wandering around here, anyways? Looking for pokemon, or… just like walking around in the dark?” Oddly, she could relate to both. Her amber eyes briefly looked up at the moon above, the light of it reflecting off of them as her hood fell back some, also revealing some of her blonde hair.

Her gait no longer attempted to carry her ahead of him.

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD MAGNETON APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD ELECTRIKE APPEARED!

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Settling into her decision, the slightest smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Heh. That’s a bad sign. Don’t listen to that urge.” Words from the wise, but she didn’t realize he’d already been through it. She’d written him off as a kid, though not terribly younger than her.

Then, he said something that was sort of poetic and thoughtful, and her face twisted at him a little. She’d grown up filthy rich. It wasn’t until she’d left the fortune of her own accord that she’d seen this ‘true beauty’ he spoke of—only she’d never really seen it as such. The streets and the dark alleys had been full of pain, death and heartache, and had swallowed her up whole before she’d even hit the pavement. There was no going back. The journey she’d taken was not one of romantic self-discovery with a worthwhile ending. As she felt she was moving up in the world, she had already lost. Lulu Flint was dead—she just didn’t know it yet. “There’s nothing beautiful about this city.”

It was then that a Magneton floated by ahead at the end of the alley, disappearing around the corner. Lulu immediately picked up into a run after it. “That’s what I’m looking for!” she called back to him, not really sure why as she did it. Shrugging it off, she cut around the corner. It seemed to want to put up a fight. She was met with a ZAP CANNON which nearly hit her, but she rolled out behind the corner again, looking back at Noelani for a moment as the electricity soared past her head. Her Blaziken was already on it with COUNTER, and sent it back with a clatter. Remarkably fast with its SPEED BOOST ability, it delivered a BLAZE KICK immediately after. The Magneton fell to the ground, and Lulu came around the corner again to toss a pokeball at it.