what approaches on the sunkissed horizon is a veritable whirlwind of insanity.

blythe herself is enough to handle. she talks too loudly, too much, too quickly, and does it all with that same dopey smile and that sense of childlike naivety that has buoyantly carried her through the lion's share of life safely thus far. pairing that with her pokemon, however, can often make her an unbearable plus one in any situation. so over the horizon, stepping through a flowered glade, comes the pink-haired officer, flanked on either side by a florges, an oricorio, and atop her head, blending into her already rosebud pink hair, a fomantis.

the florges, donmai, is inplacable. regal as ever, she steps alongside blythe as if she's always belonged there and always will. the oricorio (delphinus), however, seems quite keen on doing whatever he can to cause as many problems as possible in as short an amount of time as possible. he lunges up towards the fomantis (diantha) in a sing-song dance at any chance possible, wherein diantha quickly recoils back atop blythe's head, digging her sharp talons into whatever purchase available, which blythe cringes at whenever given the opportunity. what results is a slow walk towards where ashley lounges in the meadow, punctuated at every interval by sharp scolding, brief stumbling, and at least a few near falls. this would be so much easier if she would just recall delphinus!

...

...why hasn't she recalled him?

a few meters away from where ashley has fully set up the camera, blythe pauses and, with a vindictive frown, pulls out a Pokeball from her belt loop. "time-out, delphinus!" she huffs, and the oricorio vanishes in a flash of light.

finally free of distractions, the pink-haired officer transfers diantha to her arms and rushes towards ashley with a wide smile upon spotting him and his pokemon in the glade. she waves emphatically, enthusiastic down to every last atom on her person. "hello!" she calls, exuberant in her approach. she arrives soon thereafter, skidding to a stop and nearly stumbling to the ground. her voice comes again as she regains her balance, buoyant even despite her near-fall. "photography thing, right? i'm blythe! i've been assigned here!"

and then the woman stares deeply at ashley, curious. it's like she wants his name or something!

---

[break]

Ashley Shepard

a smile! she just got smiled at!

it excites her beyond belief. the past few months have all been stern frowns, hardasses, exclamations of 'be quiet, blythe!' or 'stop touching everything, blythe!', or even, 'blythe, this is against all social conventions!'. no smiles, no laughter, no sun. finally, finally, someone smiled at her!

it's exhilarating. electrifying, even! she laughs despite herself. the sound carries over right into her next sentence, forged forth even despite the hesitation the man—ash—seems to have with divulging his own name. "ash, ash, ash," she repeats to herself, if only to edify the name into the recesses of her ultimately flighty mind. she likes the way he says officer—somehow it makes her feel real, not an impostor wearing official clothes. "ash! i've got it. nice to meet you! i'm excited to work together!"

at least the job is simple. it gives her time to get to know this mysterious individual and his pokemon! he clicks something on the camera she knows next to nothing about, and though a light of curiosity rises in her eyes, she makes no mention of it. instead, she claps her hands together and grin widens impossibly further. "great!" she chirps. "no intervening. all-natural. got it! we could do this stuff in our sleep, ash!"

luckily for her, pokemon introductions come next. by the time it's all through, she's quite infatuated with bass, and spares a wave at juliette and bongo. so intrigued she is with the little bat, she cautiously reaches out a palm for the winged creature to sniff in the hope that she might make a new friend, stiller than ever before. "hello, little friend! it's so nice to meet you."

bongo makes her nervous, though. the eyes... what do they mean? what is planned? what will happen next?

oh. probably introducing her own pokemon! at this point, donmai has finally arrived, languidly strolling forward without a care for time or people, supremely focused on the appearance of being as regal and refined as possible. blythe takes the time to show off the florges and her beautiful purple flowers with a smile. "donmai's my florges," she says, then reveals the tiny fomantis curled up tightly in her arms, who curls her bladed forearms up to shield her face once shown. "and diantha's my fomantis!"

she pauses, then tacks on the next bit as if in a fit of forgetfulness. "oh, and my oricorio is in timeout. because he doesn't know how to play nice."

this is the first sign of her inimitable smile twitching into vague frustration. it seems delphinus is the only creature capable of spurring this effect on the eternally cheerful blythe.

---

Ashley Shepard

it seems she's found a thread of commonality between him and her! blythe smiles at the mention of a slowpoke clinging to a ceiling fan for dear life. the story conjures an image in her mind that she can't help but laugh at. she understands where he's coming from in that regard—perhaps it's old-fashioned of her, but she cringes at the thought of keeping her pokemon in their balls for too long. she much prefers allowing them free reign of her cheap slateport apartment, even if it does result in frequent landlord visits. she laughs as diantha peers from behind her forearm blades to observe bongo, slowly warming to the idea of interacting with unfamiliar pokemon.

"you too?" blythe chirps as she draws closer to ash and the surreptitious red checkered blanket on the ground. "i'm pretty sure my landlord is on the verge of kicking me out!"

luckily for her, there's no need to dwell on the looming threat of incoming homelessness. ash is quick to indicate the picnic basket and the wealth of good food he's prepared just for today, a sight that nearly draws tears into blythe's eyes. she's all smiles, excitement, and relief, emotions that burst forth from her chest and spill out through her eyes, the only outlet that seems right for such thoughts and feelings. she can't help herself as she plops down onto the indicated blanket, at which point she carefully unpeels her fomantis from her arms to set her down alongside her hips on the blanket.

"you're so kind!" she enthuses, blue eyes glassy with her overwhelming happiness. "it all smells so good! i've never tried alolan stuff before, but i promise i'm not allergic to anything!"

she nearly reaches into the basket with aplomb before recalling that such eagerness could, in many cases, be seen as rude. she draws her hand back as if she's been burned, recalling her manners under the duress of her childhood guardian's distant visage. "may i?" she murmurs and glances up at ash, pleading.

---

Ashley Shepard

she forgets what she's here for entirely when she sits down. it completely slips her mind through the sieve that separates exciting things from boring things in her overtly hyperactive mind. who cares about doing a job when her new friend has brought food, pokemon, and smiles in spades?

it's hard not to laugh and smile when the noibat lands on her shoulder. though blythe's entire being seems akin to one giant bouncy house, she's now careful to still all her movements entirely to keep bass right where he is. she's starstruck when she turns her head fraction by fraction to draw the tiny pokemon entirely into her captivated gaze, galaxies bursting wherever she lays her eyes atop him. it distracts her entirely from the tantalizing aromas that waft so easily from the picnic box. her hand draws away from the food in favor of gently, carefully attempting to rub her finger up against the side of bass' face. "i'd just take you home if i could!" she enthuses in a quiet, breathy voice.

that's rude too, isn't it? blythe shakes her head—how social conventions vex her! she carefully retracts her hand from bass to seek the food ash is so inclined to share with her, all while diantha very carefully offers her mantis arm for bongo to shake.

she unearths a big, fluffy confection dusted with powdered sugar from the basket. there were more substantial meals inside, of course, but blythe seems to naturally gravitate towards the sweeter tastes in life, given how she looks with such rapturous excitement at the malasada she holds. she takes only a moment to draw in the image and implant it in her mind before opening her mouth and taking a big bite!

it takes only a second of chewing before her eyes go alight with incredible excitement.

"itsh shoooo good!" she enthuses from around a mouthful of delightful, guava-filled dessert, then immediately takes another bite. "how'd juu make shish?? incredible!!! sho yummy!!"

she immediately inhales the rest of the dessert, chewing with such contentment that she could likely lie down right there and die happily. she's even licking her fingers!

---

Ashley Shepard