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Alezae couldn't keep the smile of satisfaction off her face from the moment she met eyes with the green haired gym leader. Even from their brief initial meeting it was already becoming clear that she was a sweet young lady, perhaps even someone that she would enjoy working with. It was a shame that this entire thing was a sham that would inevitably end with a knife in the poor girl's back. It wouldn't be the first time she took advantage of such a person, but this was still bound to be an interesting relationship going forward. Posture remained straight and poised as she followed the young lady to the outer edge of the city, his chest expanding as she took a deep breath of the fresh air as they stepped out into the open. Refreshing.[break][break]

"Actually-" Her reply would stop short as Cait let out an admittedly impressive whistle to summon her pair of dragons. Alle would remain silent as the beasts descended, her brows raising slightly as they touched ground. She took a moment to examine the muscular dragonite, her golden eyes locking with his. There was a certain indomitabidlity to the creature's gaze, his stare serving as a warning that he was not to be trifled with. Lips curled into an amused smile as Alezae bobbed her head in agreement, expressing her understanding of this before turning to address the trainer once more.[break][break]

"I've never flown before, but I imagine the pokemon will be the one doing most of the work. So long as I can hold my lunch I think I'll be fine." She would step forward to take a moment to run her hands along the dragon's harness, giving a quick examination to make sure there were no obvious failings or loose bits to be concerned about. She had no idea what she was doing, but it was worth a shot. With a slight hup she would pull herself up onto the dragon, the pokemon remaining firm and unmoving as he watched the human from the corner of his eye. "Lead the way, Ms. Alfric."

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She would watch carefully as Cait issued her commands in her unconventional manner, a brow quirking with interest as she attempted to discern any sort of pattern to the gym leader's speech. If one could call it that. Training your pokemon with cryptic commands to mask your intentions was an idea that Alezae had toyed with in the past, but the way the green haired girl did it sounded almost like she was speaking a second language. At least now she knew why such an innocent looking girl was given such an important position by the league. Even if she proved to be as naive as Alle had hoped it was becoming more and more clear she was a skilled trainer.[break][break]

What came next through Alezae off completely, the unfamiliar feeling of being lifted from the ground and soaring through the air immediately stirring up unease and nausea. The height wasn't a problem, as she had sat on the edges of towering buildings and stared down at the ants down below countless times before. It was the popping of the ears, the thinning of the air and the wind in her face that had all caught her off guard. Yet she would maintain a strong front, her smiling fading as she did her best to maintain her bearings through squinting eyes. Luckily it won't be too long before they reached their destination.[break][break]

Even more lucky was that the pokemon were capable of smooth landings, the pair landing side by side with their feet falling upon the grass as gentle as feathers. Alezae wasted little time dismounting the scaled creature, though that may have been a mistake as he legs would be just a tad wobbly as she tried to get her feet under her. This was something she was going to have to get used to. She took a deep breath, hands tugging on her fur lined jacket as she regained her confident smile despite her less than flawless display moments before.[break][break]

"Of course. What self respecting trainer leaves home without their team?" As she spoke she would reach into her jacket and pull out three shrunken pokeballs. Each one was placed between her fingers, displaying the trio to her perspective employer. Her team wasn't the strongest yet, but wasn't that the point of all this to begin with? "I'm guessing this means you weren't just looking for a change of scenery." With a flick of the wrist the balls would shift into her palm, golden eyes moving away from the green haired woman to take in the rolling hills. It was a beautiful sight to see, but she was more curious to see how this area would serve as a battlefield. "So what did you have in mind? Will I be battling you or the native wild pokemon?"

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Bare tactics, she says. Alezae would nod in understanding while maintaining her smile and confident posture. It was clear that she was 100% sure that she would be able to handle whatever pests the wilds threw their way. In the back of her mind she knew that it would probably be best for her cover to stay modest. If any pokemon appeared she should just rely on the two heavy hitters and defeat her opponents with straightforward tactics. But no matter how much she tried to convince herself she couldn't resist the desire to really show her stuff. Allie may not have been the most experienced trainer around, but since this whole war started she had done a painful amount of research on pokemon battling and tactics. And holy hell was it a whole lot different from the random poke-brawls and scuffles she was used to back home.[break][break]

"I'll take care of whatever comes our way, ma'am." She would roll the triplet spheres in her hand as she surveyed the surroundings, searching for any movement that could indicate approaching pokemon. It was difficult to tell with the way the wind rolled across the hills and caused the tall grass to sway, but she could swear she saw some shifting in the grass. As she watched more carefully the pattern began to reveal itself, as a pair of long pink ears could be seen sticking up from the grass.[break][break]

"Looks like we have company at ten o'clock." It wouldn't be much longer till the pokemon would step out into the clearing, the pink pair revealing themselves to the trainers. Alezae was familiar with the pair, though hadn't done much research on them specifically. What she did remember was that pretty much every pink squishy pokemon could be classified as fairy or normal types, which meant she should be able to make relatively short work of them if she played her cards right.[break][break]

Her first instincts were to release all three of her pokemon at once to gain the immediate advantage, but that wasn't something her new league friend was likely to appreciate. So instead she would release two of the pokemon with a flick of the wrist, releasing Bisharp in the front with Baltoy appearing behind them. "Sandstorm. Iron Defense." The orders were given in a very direct manner, the woman's tone sharpening considerably as she focused on the battle at hand. This was a most important test, something that she couldn't risk screwing up with lax behavior.[break][break]

The pokemon would comply quickly, catching the two investigators off guard. While Bisharp's blades seemed to glow as it prepared it's Iron Defense Baltoy would start to spin rapidly with his arms extended, stirring up an unnatural amount of sand and dust as he did. The sand would be psychically controlled to whip around the area, though would be contained to ensure only the battling pokemon would be caught up in it. Not that it stopped the winds from whipping around the battlefield, suddenly making the peaceful environment much more noisy.[break][break]

The wild pokemon would feel the countless grains scrape against their body and cloud their visions, but they weren't about to let that slow them down. The two would charge forward, the bisharp moving to face against the two head on. Alezae could barely make out the movements amid the chaos of the storm, but she had run this strategy through her mind so many times that she already knew what was happening. The two pink pokemon would strike out against Bisharp, one swinging it's tongue out to Power Whip the bladed pokemon while the other would attempt to Play Rough with her.[break][break]

Bisharp made no attempt to dodge the attacks, instead relying on her hardened body to endure the blows while pushing forward to land an attack of her own. "Iron Head!" Alezae would raise her voice to ensure it would be heard inside the storm, her pokemon quickly complying by reeling it's head back and bashing it blade first into the wigglytuff. The Iron Head was super effective against the fairy, causing it to topple back and land face first on the ground.[break][break]

"Baltoy, use Earth Power!" The top-like pokemon would continue it's spinning as the sandstorm raged, seeming to enjoy himself as he did. Upon receiving his order he would push his pointed foot deeper into the ground, sending a surge of Earth Power that would burst underneath the lickitung's feet. There would be a stillness in the storm, Alezae watching carefully for a moment for signs of life. After the pause the sandstorm would subside, making it much more clear that the pair had succumb to storm and their opponents. [break][break]

Allie would suddenly exhale as if she had been holding her breath the whole time, offering a pleased smile to her pokemon as she beckoned the duo back over to her. "Good performance you two." Her eager expression would calm itself considerably as she turned toward Cait. "I know that strategy can make it difficult to command my team, but I have enough faith in them that the risk is well worth the reward." It would've been pretty pathetic for any decent trainer to fall prey to a simple pair of wild pokemon like that. Alezae had to assume that victory wasn't the only thing the gym leader was looking for.

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Alezae couldn't keep the pleased grin from her face as Cait praised her and her pokemon's performance. She shot a glance over to the stoic steel type who stood in silence with crossed arms, the hints of a stifled laugh slipping through her teeth as she moved to rest an arm on her shoulder. If she was able to impress a gym leader then maybe she was actually pretty cut out for this whole pokemon trainer bit. Even if she had been in countless pokemon fights they always felt more like back alley brawls than properly structured battles. The tactics and atmosphere were completely different when you were trying to simply defeat a pokemon rather than incapacitate their trainer.[break][break]

Smile would fade slightly as the questions were raised, head tilting slightly to one side as she shifted her weight to lean more heavily on the steel pokemon. She should have followed her more rational thinking and held back. Now she was asking questions that were going to be difficult to answer truthfully. Luckily Alezae was well versed in the art of the lie. "We try to train at least a little every day. But we tend to go really hard at it at every couple days."[break][break]

Her grin would turn back toward Bisharp, a fond sparkle shining in the woman's eyes as she looked at her hardened companion. "This guy's my first pokemon I ever got, actually. Found him in a back alley with a chipped blade as a pawniard. I figure the bisharp who led his crew kicked him out for some reason. So I took care of him until I could eventually afford a pokeball to make it official." Her hand would curl into a fist before reaching over to give a rough nudge to Bisharp's face, the pokemon only letting out a soft grunt as she turned her head with the push.[break][break]

Attention then turned to Baltoy, who was still gleefully spinning behind them with it's arms outstretched. She was lucky enough to have a truthful story to share about the big guy, but she was gonna have to come up with something for her rocket issued teammate. "The little one was a gift given to me when I decided to leave home." It was true enough. She always found that being as truthful as possible made it easier to keep track of the web of lies she was constantly weaving. "But I'm always looking to expand my team, of course. It will be hardly to be proper gym trainer with only two or three pokemon." Her smile finally fade into one of pleasant warmth as she turned her yellow gaze back toward the dark skinned woman. "Assuming you'll have us, that is."

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Should've known that she wouldn't be taken in after just one battle against a pair of flabby wild pokemon. Part of her was hoping that these League reps would be the foolishly optimistic types that didn't bother asking questions and operated on pure faith. It was possible that the views of herself and the people surrounding her during her youth had skewed her view toward the organization, but it was hard to imagine them as anything else. Regardless of her disappointment Alezae would nod in agreement and return Baltoy to it's ball while Bisharp would be allowed to follow alongside the group. While the little guy was likely to get left behind with it's mindless spinning addiction one could be certain that Bisharp wasn't about to cause any problems.[break][break]

The walk was a pleasant one, though Allie was still a bit tense as they went along. Largely because she was doing everything her her power to keep her hands out of her pockets. She had to be a professional, dammit. Taking such relaxed posture would send the wrong signal, which was the last thing anyone would want during an interview. Luckily she would be distracted from her minor internal struggle as Cait posed an interesting question. "A strange question, considering I'm sure there's plenty of people who applied to the position. It's a prestigious position, isn't it? What more reason would one need?"[break][break]

Her confident smile would return as the Alfric hinted at some of the job's aspects, a few key words tickling her fancy unexpectedly. "I wouldn't be here if it was easy, ma'am." Perhaps in another life she could have taken this job in earnest. There were times she toyed with the idea of rising from her pitiful lifestyle to become a pokemon trainer, but every time she started to entertain the idea it would immediately be crushed by the grim realities of her world. "I would be lying if I said the pay wasn't attractive, but it's not my primary motivation."[break][break]

Alezae resorted to crossing her arms to keep her hands from her pockets as she continued. "I'm here to learn. From you, from the other gym leaders and the trainers who seek to challenge you. I may not be one of those people who have been free to train with pokemon while they grew up, but that doesn't mean I can't be a trainer. I've learned a lot on my own, but if I want to catch up to the rest of the world I'm going to need help." Fingers would drum on her arms as she spoke, her smile growing slightly despite the intensity that started to seep into her tone. "This isn't an opportunity I'm willing to let slip past me. I'll do whatever task you put in front of me without complaint or hesitation."

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