momo was so lovely and sweet and bright, even if alia didn’t have a duty to accompany her she would’ve volunteered to do so anyway. she couldn’t fight off the smile taking over her features as momo talked excitedly, already growing fond of the younger girl. “if my memory isn’t failing me, i think we’d see some normal and grass types around here,” she answers, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she quickly wracked her brain in concentration. “oh, and fairy types like your tinkaton here, too!” she glances over at the hammer pokemon, taking note of its visible pent-up energy.[break][break]

“it seems ready to demolish the next pokemon it sees. maybe you didn’t need me, after all,” the ranger says with a laugh. alia’s pick of the day was her shinx, a duo-colored feline. he wasn’t her strongest pokemon, being a newer addition to the team, but she was confident in his capabilities. he was long overdue for a training session, anyway, so it was wins all around today. she watches the young cat pad ahead, his tail flickering back and forth as he sniffs the air in anticipation.[break][break]

“so, are you from these parts?” alia turns to momo, ready to keep the conversation going as they hunt for wild pokemon. “i just moved to hoenn a couple of months ago, so I don’t know that many people around here.” the ranger reveals, settling a palm against her belt absentmindedly as they continue to wander on the path.

[break][break]

+ Momo Sakai

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"i've been meaning to add a grass type to my team," is the easy answer. but truthfully, alia has no idea what she wants or who she is or the kind of ranger she is trying to be. she can only take it one day, one hour, one minute at a time, because the more she tries to shape that future the more it seems to crumble out of her grasp. so really, she didn't know what she was looking for, both in pokemon and life in general. well, for the previous...she does enjoy a pokemon capable of flight. maybe a rowlet? togetic? alia was just going to have to see what the skies send her way today and go with whatever her heart desires at the moment, as she no longer knew how else to do it. [break][break]
what she does know, however, is that she is enjoying momo's company. it's not often she can say this so early in the game, but there is a vibrant innocence and warmth to the girl that simply melts alia to her core. she wonders briefly if her younger sister would be as cheerful as momo if she wasn't riddled by the curses of her own body, then shakes that thought away. [break][break]

"i'd love to be friends and meet up more often," alia says instead with a smile, gaze bright. "i'm considering being based out of lilycove once i'm no longer a rookie, but i don't know if i want to be stuck in a specific city. i still want to travel too much for that. so who knows? maybe i'll see you around there if i do, but even if i don't, i'm sure we'll find ways to bump into each other." the ranger isn't as sure as she sounds, actually. she's never really made the effort to keep anyone in her life, letting people stay and leave as they pleased. it's been easier this way, having no expectations for anyone to remain in her life. but it's also been lonelier than she expected now that she's lost her only roots, and momo seemed like she was genuine when she said she wanted to be friends. andddd she totally, definitely, does not kind of remind alia of her sister. so even though alia has never tried particularly hard to keep in touch with people, maybe she'll try with momo. no promises she'll be good at it, though.
[break][break]
the ranger watches the pink-haired coordinator catch an unsuspecting ribombee, the gentle-natured insect too busy with its task to notice the pokeball flying its way. the capsule shakes a few times before clicking with ease. "good job!! what a win, it's been only a few minutes and you already got your fairy-type pokemon," alia cheers, happy that things were going so smoothly. she ignores the slakoth hiding around the same tree, who was frozen in fear by the commotion they caused. poor little guy, but hopefully it recovers as soon as they leave. she waits for momo before she picks up the pace again. "you mentioned you're a coordinator, right? do you specialize in a specific theme?" to be honest, alia can kind of guess, but she'd like to hear it from momo herself, anyway.
[break][break]

+ Momo Sakai  skipping slakoth!

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alia smiles at momo's enthusiastic response, endeared by her positivity. "you're right, we'll make it work." she says, and this time she believes it. momo's hopefulness was incredibly infectious, and alia was by no means immune to it."we should exchange numbers later, before we part ways!" she adds a moment after, determined to solidify this newly-found friendship into her life. [break][break]

the ranger was about to then affirm momo's comment when the younger girl runs off, distracted by a clefable that wandered into their vicinity. momo was right about a lot of things, it seems - she was incredibly lucky in the pokemon-catching department. it certainly wasn't everyday that alia witnessed someone encountering their dream pokemon one after another. momo was living proof of how good people attract good things into their lives, it seems. [break][break]

while the coordinator was busy with the clefable, alia is surprised with a lucky guest of her own: a cottonee. the fluffy cloud pokemon floats nearby, oblivious to alia and her shinx as it sweetly inhales the gentle aroma of wildflowers. not detecting any signs of hostility from the grass-type pokemon, alia decides to take a less-intense approach into this capture. she sends her shinx to play with the cottonee, and by the time momo comes back with her new catch the two pokemon were acting like old chums. [break][break]
"looks like some of your luck is rubbing off on me," alia smiles brightly, gesturing at the two pokemon tumbling in the grassy terrain nearby. a quick whistle and pokeball later, the ranger made her first catch of the day. with a satisfied smile, she slips the lukewarm pokeball into her bag as she listens to momo share about her specialization. "oh, i bet you'd ace those cute contests! you'll be my pick, for sure." alia haven't watched many pokemon contests personally, but she can't imagine anyone that would be cuter than momo and her team. "i've never seen anyone i know on television, but who knows - maybe you'll be my first! i'll be sure to snap a picture if i do." 

+ Momo Sakai catching cottonee!

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alia's own rotomphone flies out of her bag, humming softly as contacts were exchanged. the ranger smiles briefly at the addition of her new contact when the conversation moves on swiftly, like it seems to with momo. [break][break]
"yeah, of course! i may not know what your competition is like, but i feel like i have a good eye for auras...whatever that means." alia laughs by her own choice of words. "anyway, my instinct says that you'll ace those cute contests, for sure! i'll be rooting for ya. maybe you can show me some of your routines sometime, a little sneak peek." [break][break]

another easy smile escapes alia as momo attempts to capture the delcatty through a peaceful approach of her own. the ribbon was such an adorable touch, acting as the sweetest promise to the dainty feline. personally, alia would have never thought of catching a pokemon like this, but it was very momo-coded. she takes mental note of this approach - while she didn't carry ribbons with her, she did have bits and bops of food that she could use with this technique. [break][break]
"aw, you don't have to! i'll be happy by the fact that you won." alia says, touched by momo's kind offer. her heart swells even more when the coordinator takes her hands out of genuine excitement and she reaches to clasp her hand over momo's in return. her palm barely skims the back of the girl's hands when the latter drops them from her grasp along with an apology. "no, you're okay! i don't mind." alia says gently. thankfully, she wasn't too sensitive about her personal space, and this was especially true when she knew momo didn't have any ill intentions. [break][break]

alia gaps a bit as she also realizes that the delcatty simply wandered into the pokeball, lured by ribbon alone. momo really was onto something with this trick of hers! she claps lightly, in awe by the sight in front of her. "this really was such a terrific day! we literally caught four pokemon between us - can you believe it?" the ranger shakes her head in wonder. she was going to share this impressive feat with her coworkers soon, that's for certain. [break][break]

"do you want to look for some more pokemon, push your luck a little further? or did you want to call it a day?" she asks, tilting her head. the sun was starting to end its shift, whispers of a goodnight hidden in its deepening pink and orange hues, but alia was happy to spend some more time out here with momo if she wanted to. 

+ Momo Sakai skipping linoone!

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