Heh. She had not expected that kind of entrance. But she didn’t mind it. Teleportation did seem quite convenient, really. But Megan liked having more control over every movement, flying about the place and such. Plus, it let you look out for other points of interest. Teleportation was awfully single-minded in a way.
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Either way though, Meg bounced off of her stone slab, hopping a foot ahead as she slithered to a stand. “And a hearty ‘Hi’ to you too, hon,” she replied with a smile and a quick nod of her own. Then, she crossed her arms. “Long time no see. Well, not that long, but still. Last we checked in, we weren’t living under a dome and stuff. But before we have any talks about that, let me ask you one question: are you ready to show some rocks who’s boss, mine some ore and find some mineral with extreme prejudice? Because if so, I can promise you a pretty nifty reward after!”
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Megan did hold that staunch-seeming intro for a bit, though she would burst laughing a bit once the other replied, one way or another, making it clear that she was joking here.

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+ Johanna Joy

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Heh. Seemed like Jo was cheering up already. Operation joke introduction was a success. Operation find a good name for the operation, however, was not. Ushering the other forth into the entrance to the old mine, Megan gave Jo a brief but hearty pat on the back. “Well, I’d wager the Pokemon will do the actual mining. They are kind of better at that than us. Don’t even need tools. Of which I didn’t really bring any.” Instead, her backpack which she now grabbed on the way in was empty, just in case they needed it to carry more.
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Then, she grabbed one of the buckets left there as well, motioning for her partner to get the other one. Sure, Pokemon could carry that, too, but she liked to feel as if she was doing something useful at least. “It’s really not that difficult. Folks around here haven’t really taken to strip-mining the place. Only take what they need, at least so far. Which means we got a shopping list, though the guy back at base told me to just eye-ball how much we need. Mostly Iron, some copper and then some tin. You’ve ever seen that kind of still pre-processin?”

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+ Johanna Joy

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“Well, it ain’t exactly the most common thing in the world these days. We get all our products fully made and pre-packaged anyway. Metal least of all, come to think of it.” In fact, she briefly pondered when she had last sold or bought anything that she could at least tell was made of metal. From a normal store, that was. She did have some more specialized places to go to, after all.
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Briefly, she eyed her Pokeball as they walked, but she heard that those were made from apricorn, not metal. Didn’t really make much sense to her, but she did not mind things being more sustainable at all. Either way, she briefly fished into her pocket and retrieved three nuggets. “They gave me this for reference. Copper’s the orange-ish one, tin the darker of the greys. Just look out for that sort of stuff.” She shrugged, again. They probably could just try to Pokedex it and find some result. There had to be a copper Pokemon a tin and an iron one, after all.
“Anyway, did you ever challenge a gym in the meantime, like we talked about?”

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+ ooc notes

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Claydol went ahead. And not wanting to be outdone, Lucario followed, intent on getting to the task at hand immediately as to not waste more time underground than necessary. This was not supposed to be another extended training trip like the one they had taken in the Rustboro tunnel, after all.
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In the meantime though, Meg briefly slung an arm around the other’s shoulder. “Now that is something alright! Congratulations, Jojo. I knew you had it in you after all.” She did remember their conversation, after all. The other had seemed a bit apprehensive to the idea at first. But, apparently, she had managed to make it work right away. Which was pretty amazing in its own right. “I know what you mean though. Scheduling a gym battle is soooo difficult. It takes a lot to just prepare yourself and when you are done, wam you have to wait ages to even try. One day, I will open my own gym and I will make sure to keep those queues as short as possible!”
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Admittedly, while she said that with conviction with regards to the queues, she was still hesitant to even try for the gym leader part in general, definitely not feeling ready yet. Or maybe she just did not want to put her roots down anywhere for the time being.

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+ ooc notes

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“Well, sure, why not? But don’t think I will go easy on you,” she replied after giving it a brief thought, then she laughed once more. It was just so easy being around Jo, she could not help but be herself. With others she tended to be a bit more guarded. Not a lot, of course. But at least a bit. Granted, they each probably still had some kinds of secrets from another – everyone had, after all. But she felt like she knew enough about the other to see a kindred spirit, one that she could be caught in a feedback loop like this with.
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Which was pretty neat, really. Megan briefly rubbed her nose as if this was a bit embarrassing, but did not stray from her course. However, the follow-up question made her shoulders sag a little. “See, that’s the stickling point of sorts. I am pretty sure I got battling down and all the jazz. But every gym needs to have a gimmick. And that gimmick is what makes or breaks it, really. I can’t really think of anything really unique at the moment, that’s why I am trying to challenge as many as possible before applying for a gym myself. If that makes any sense? Does that make sense?”

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+ ooc notes

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“Of course I will give you my best,” she replied, once more laughing. Granted, she had not really gotten into many friendly squabbles so far. Either actual, serious fights or those with strangers. Fighting a friend would actually be a new one. But she could see it work with this one at least. They had an understanding. There still was an undercurrent of worry though that was not easy to get rid of. That she might overdo it and hurt Jo or her Pokemon needlessly, much like back then.
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Just meant she would have to get good enough to measure her strength. That, too, was something she would have to learn before she could even think about becoming a gym leader. That and a gimmick. “Everything worth doing has probably been done before? I guess there is some truth to that. For sure. These gimmicks aren’t just there for fun anyway, but to teach others.” She rubbed the back of her neck, briefly. “Guess it’s pretty simple then, right? My gimmick should be something that teaches others the thing that was most difficult to learn for me. That seems most worthwhile, doesn’t it?”

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+ Johanna Joy

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