borderline tears aside, alecis tried her best to hold herself together. the youngest ditto was still an amorphous puddle on the ground, but she pulled herself to start taking chunks out of the cave floor that held up the sickly creature - effectively raising it out of the dirt with it. hands dirty and nails filled with chunks of who-knows-what, she didn't quite care about her messy appearance as she obeyed the suggestion given to her and rushed to the pokemon center. she hadn't been thinking properly before, really, and was ready to just mad dash and ask for help to come to the cave but luckily jesse was a man with a plan ... at least at that given moment.[break][break]
when she arrived to the pokemon center, the pokemon and nurses already looked at alecis with pity in their eyes. the rocket member hated it and it set her skin on fire, though it was quickly dampened by the gravity of the situation. every few steps, her ditto would let out a weak whine, yet another telltale sign that he had been poisoned by some despicable creature. "i'm so sorry to bother," alecis started only to be cut off by the medical staff who just ushered her forward understandingly and rushed the ditto to a stretcher that looked more like a petri dish. when the pink mess was out of sight, alecis felt herself about to break into tears but jesse startled her - two other dittos in his arms, blissfully dumb as fuck. perhaps jesse was too, at all times, really.[break][break]
"it'll take just a few minutes," alecis said, reaching out to grab her dittos from the stylist. she was sure this wasn't part of his itinerary of the day and she relented. "sorry to drag you all the way here just for this to happen." it was an honest attempt to train together - ensure each other's pokemon and themselves could get out safely. luckily, she was right to do so and had the support she needed at that moment. "are you ok? are your pokemon doing fine?" jesse had his own troupe to take care of and alecis understood that. instead of hogging all attention on herself, she extended her concern with a small frown. "i think there was some kind of poison user in the cave so i would recheck everyone just to make sure."

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@jesse

there was something about being around jesse that made alecis want to joke around and lighten the mood as opposed to stay down and stressed.[break][break]
while some may think this was a curse that left others not able to be serious and put the right mental energy into serious situations, it was quite the opposite. when the lemonade can was offered to her, alecis couldn't help but crack a small smile. "yeah, thanks." the brevity in her words was annoying her. she wished to be better company, but she was obviously stressed. although poison was quite common, she hadn't really had many times in which she had experienced it with the youngest of the troupe. although many people would argue that all her dittos were similar, they each had their distinct personality and having the youngest of the three suffer in any way had her with her other two dittos rubbing her sides and back with their stubby arms in worried manners - feeling the energy from their trainer. in an attempt to calm down the room, alecis tried to focus on the fact that the medical staff were more than capable of dealing with it. there was low to no chance of any fatalities, it was just the process of getting to the pokecenter and checked in that was startling.[break][break]
"i'll treat you to something after this," the rocket member offered, also patting the spot on the bench next to her for jesse to take. "so i suggest you think about what you'd want to eat now." a lighter topic indeed, alecis focused on it now as she eyed the entrance/exit to the back of the pokecenter for her ditto to come out of any second. "you seem to be in a sweets mood, but i think you need to eat something proper so how about some noodles after this? maybe seafood?" a pause. her gaze shifted to jesse now, tentative. "if you'd still want to hang out after this, that is."

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@jesse

looking upon the crestfallen gengar, alecis felt pity. this pity quickly turned to appreciation and amusement, though. they did say that misery loved company and oh boy did seeing the gengar a bit sad make alecis spring into a supportive role almost immediately.[break][break]

“hey there little buddy,” she chirped at the ghost pokemon, going to take its stubby arms into her own hands. truthfully, the gengar was quite large - always a fearsome creature even when next to a trainer due to their kind being responsible for quite a few unfortunate events in the world. “you two can certainly have a playdate soon. sooner than later, really. i know the visit’s just going to take a few more moments then we can all go get something to eat and you all can hang out together.” this meant that alecis didn’t mind having her dittos hang out with jesse’s own group. hell, she had even caught a honedge recently that seemed to need socializing much like a new puppy did. the new ghost type might get along with the gengar, she figured, seeing as they were similar types. of course, she didn’t quite know how a pokemon without a mouth would really communicate but that was something to consider later.[break][break]

for now, all focus was placed on the nurse that approached quietly, pokeball in hand. [break][break]

ditto was returned, healthy and happy.[break][break]

“oh, i’m so sorry,” alecis immediately dropped next to the ditto that seeped out of the pokeball and returned to her side, hugging her frame as it expanded over her with a gurgled purr-like sound. “i’ll have to carry antidotes around, huh?” the woman asked with a finger wag in her tone, the ditto forming a cartoony sweat droplet on its face as if to show it was sorry as well for causing trouble. allowing the ditto to sit near the gengar to wave its arms excitedly at the ghost pokemon as if to say ‘i’m fine!’, alecis stood back up and grabbed one of jesse’s hands without thinking - simply overjoyed at the fast recovery.[break][break]

“so, how about that date?” alecis playfully asked.

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@jesse

it was nerve-wracking how little impact her playful jabs at being charming made. alecis was kept on her toes by jesse despite rolling with his punches and even throwing some back, obviously the more flustered of the two time and time again. really, she needed to get it together and stop being such an easily flustered high schooler ... but god, she couldn't help it. jesse was someone she genuinely cared about - perhaps the last of his kind, really. having made and burned too many bridges to count, it was hard to find something or someone that lasted in her life - let alone comfortably so. with a faint blush on both of her cheeks, alecis sighed and nodded in defeat though there was no opposing force.[break]
"i'll buy some antidotes and potions real quick," she confirmed as she did so - coughing up the money from her wallet while her baby ditto hung off her arm as if to stop her, feeling guilty for the money being used. alecis smiled as she pocketed the medicine and scooped up the amorphous blob with both hands - nuzzling it happily. "keeping you safe is worth my entire life," she cooed to it before letting it join the troupe of her dittos who started roughhousing with the little one, obviously showing their concern with some tough loving and nudging which the little one responded with warbled laughs.[break]
"you know, i don't know if dinner will cover the expenses of what happened today," alecis started as she bounded back towards jesse. her posse was still a few steps behind while she leaned forward and gripped jesse by his hair, pulling him towards her lips by force in a heavily appreciative kiss. having paid for favors with her body in the past, she knew what this was like - to take initiative and return joyous moments with such trifling actions. even so, it wasn't like that. alecis wanted this genuinely and she was happy to kiss jesse with the remainder of the air in her lungs, making a scene in the middle of the pokecenter before she pulled away with a goofy, toothy smile and a coy: "let's go."

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@jesse