Carnivals, local festivals, sometimes just any kind of concert – for years, they had been the bane of her existence. Well, one of those. There had been quite a few. But, working in a Pokemart, she had dreaded those times in particular. For one, because they were always loud and others had fun while she had to work. But the customers, oh the customers had been the worst part of it. Those kinds of scenarios always got the loud and the inebriated to go shopping in the dead of night or something. Getting hit on by some dude with bad breath had been the highlight of those days, not the low point.[break][break]

Hence, during her journeys, she had for the most part dodged these kinds of occasions. Maybe watch fireworks from afar or something like that was enough for her. Only this time, that was not an option. Not when a certain someone close to her did the only thing worse – to organize and work hard to make a festival, only to completely miss it themselves.
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That just would not do. Heck, when she had found the other, that one had been working herself. In a better position than Megan ever had had, comparatively, but working still, obviously tired, obviously hungry knowing her – which was vindicated now judging by how quickly Johanna had made a beeline to the pop-corn – it just would not do. And besides, forcing someone else to go out and play was a lot easier, ironically, when you were already forcing yourself.[break][break]
Hence, once the food was taken care of, Megan simply grabbed her, um, let’s go with complicated and started moving along, the other in tow. “Now. I have a few things on my agenda, but I guess you got to catch a bit of a break first. So I figured first we go to one of those Pokemon games, so you can eat that in peace and we can have our little friends stretch their legs. After that I am going to go after you yourself mh-m. That sound just about alright to you?” Not that she would take anything short of a truly insistent no as a deterrent.

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Well, she said it herself. That meant Megan was immediately vindicated and right. Simple as that. Not that it was hard to tell. Jo was always so…. High strung about things. Yes, Megan was aware that it would be hypocritical for her to complain about things like that, too. She had more than enough experience in that regard, certainly. But that was why she could relate. To that feeling of having to prove something, of having to do something because you could do it and it is worthwhile to do. It was one of the reasons why she had aspired to become a gym leader.
[break][break]
Had. Possibly. For now, she simply decided that being right was good enough, so she gave a bit of a cat-like grin. “Always, always,” she replied and snagged a handful of popcorn to snack on it. Then, she released her Poochyena and shared a bit of it with the little one. She had planned to bring that one out later one way or another – and she just knew he would smell it on her and complain otherwise. “Anyway, I myself am feeling that I have been taking too long a break. Granted, the last possibly world-ending skirmish isn’t that long ago – kind of feels way longer each time I think about it though – but I mean, like, I probably should get some stable working again, too. Kind of feel like a vagabond right now since everyone else has found something, you know. And yes, yes, I know. Sudden shift extraordinaire. Don’t worry though, that’s the only serious thing on my mind right now!”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy nomming carnival treat

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Now, this was the awkward part. Megan had knew that this would happen. Johanna was…not a simple person. Far from that for sure. But complicated did not mean unpredictable. Sure, Johanna was someone capable of surprising her – from suddenly turning out to be the one behind a masked Rocket to turning that around and becoming a gym leader in what felt to be record time – but at her core, this was one who always wanted to help. Not just Megan but also others, of course. It was as admirable as it sometimes was irritating when it got her embroiled in the lasted Hoenn weirdness.
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But then again, that only mattered because she was always there, too, didn’t it? Megan, too, as she took her time to properly reply, noticed the proceedings at the Magikarp game. Certainly, these sorts of affairs were fun. Yet, more than most people, Megan was aware that she was only seeing that from the outside, from the perspective of someone who only once in a while visited a place like this for fun. And how different that was from having to man that booth all evening. It might be nice to watch kids’ eyes light up, but it would be frustrating when the drunk dudes came about.
[break][break]
No thanks. “No offense, of course, but that kind of feels too much like retail for me. And no way I am ever going back to that world.” She laughed once more, but this time it was probably more apparent she was brushing off some at least annoying memories. “Still though,” she started more soberly, “I would not mind, like, well…..ugh. Let me rewind that.” She harrumphed, briefly but strongly. “I was kind of wondering if you would need some help with your gym, you know?”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Yeah, I figured that out when I was challenging them myself,” she replied with a laugh. There was a surprising amount of paperwork involved with those, incidentally, but she knew about that ahead of time now, so it was mostly fine in her opinion. And in this case, that would be fine as well. Just as long as she got to fight those annoying customers at least it would be much, much more cathartic than her old job.
[break][break]
Though something did feel weird. Usually, she would have not joined another’s gym without at least fighting them to see who was the stronger to begin with. And they had never actually faced off against one another. Yet, somehow she felt as if she knew that they were at least evenly matched and did not have to worry about that. [break][break]
Odd, all that. “But yeah, it would all be fine. I mean, I am the one who always told everyone I wanted to be a gym leader, so I can’t exactly balk at the work they do, now can I? Sounds like a win-win situation to me one way or the other.”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Phew. To say that this went better than expected would be a lie. Really, this was what she should have expected. Honestly, she had not been able to think of a good reason for Jo to object. Yet, that fear had still been there, no matter how unsubstantiated it might have been. These kinds of things were not really logical anyway.
[break][break]

But that did not mean one could just lay them to rest without going through with the whole thing. Which now, she had. And Meg was glad for it. In part because it got the other to all but beam at her in response. “Right, right. No work tonight indeed,” she responded, feigning some kind of admonishment in the process. Then, she simply took the other’s free hand in her own and started pulling towards….she did not know. But she felt that simply moving forward was best. Something would inevitably catch her eye, after all. It was bound to happen. But as long as they were moving forward, that was fine.
[break][break]

Actually, that thought made her chuckle. “Ah, I think I get it now. Before I set out on my journey, when I was really down, that one lady asked me about what the most important step was. I thought it was obvious, when I set out. The first one, of course. But she shook her head, even as she saw me off. But I do get it now, I think.”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]