Gwendolyn had always found it weird that she had to be walked back to Ameena at this point, considering the adventures both had been through. She wasn't going to try and sneak away and find some classified documents, risking her entire ranger career in the process. Maybe it was just some company standard or something? Regardless, she didn't mind being escorted in.

On top of her head was her one and only Goomy, the little guy wobbling about as he was busy jiggling around as his trainer turned a sharp corner to enter the office of Ms. Abadi. The owner of the company greeted Gwen in her usual manner, but behind them, Gwen could spot a Rotom hovering. She had captured one several weeks back and been struggling to keep him out of her tech, lest he break something.

”It's nice to see you again, Ms. Abadi.” Gwen offered a small salute with two fingers tapping against the side of her head before rocketing off at the halfway mark. ”It was scary, but it's not every day you get to catch a glimpse of something like that. I haven't been able to really sit still ever since. This must be what Shalin Nariya feels like all the time.”

One post joke later, Gwen plucked the Goomy from her head and held him inside of her hands. The Pokémon looked over at Ameena and offered wobbly chitters from his perch inside of the hands of his trainer.

”Nice catch. I have one back at base myself. He gets into everything, which is borderline insanity if you're a tech geek like me. Is yours any better behaved? Oh, and this is Slushie.”

She motioned to the Goomy in her hands with a wide grin.

”She's the first Pokémon I ever caught. Back in my NEET phase, I was kind of a slob and left takeout everywhere in my room. Slushie got stuck in a soda cup and she's been with me ever since.”

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Oh, whoops. Sometimes Gwen did just forget that not everybody knew all the internet slang and lingo that most of the younger generation was a part of. She tried to think of a way to explain this to Ameena without sounding like a complete slob. It was a difficult job into itself, all things considered. So maybe she should gloss over a couple of things...

"Heh, sorry. When I graduated high school, I was kind of at a dead end with my life. I really didn't know what to do, and I usually only played games in my room all day. My parents were pretty busy with their business and rarely stopped by home. So I usually ordered food and just lived inside."

"But then one day, my friend said they were joining the Rangers. She was one of the few people I knew, but I also...She means a lot to me. So I left home with her to come here and be a Ranger. I promised myself that if I couldn't be something more for me, I could do it for her."

The Goomy jiggled alongside Gwen's movements. He looked over at Ameena and let out a pleased series of slime-filled noises and slithered down his trainer's arms. A trail of goo followed his path as Gwen watched him with such glee. At Ameena's question, she thought for a bit.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. He's just always been this cute little Goomy. I've never really tried battling with him so I'm sure's a bit rusty. What about you? What was your first Pokemon?"

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Gwen really did enjoy her time spent with Ameena. The scientist and CEO of the company was quite the interesting person. She had learned a lot thanks to their little expeditions out, and she had felt more comfortable in her abilities for the time being. Those smiles and emotion she gave the other woman were so sincere, leaving her so vulnerable. Had the woman the desire to manipulate her, she would have a bright young mind to mold until given a reason otherwise.

The ginger haired Ranger listened to Ameena's tale with great intent. A Flittle was quite the cute first Pokemon for a person to have, and Gwen almost found herself growing envious of such an adorable bird. Maybe that was why her adoration turned into horror at what had really happened to that first Pokemon of hers.

"Oh, Arceus..."

But what had really cemented that concern in her was what ended up happening to the other Espartha. Her mind wandered over into trying to see what she could recall about psychics and something that Robin might have known about. But Gwen really was out of her element here. She did have to try and offer some way of trying to alleviate that look in Ameena's eyes.

"I'm sorry that happened. I don't really know much about psychic types, but I can try and find something that could help her. I'm sure one of us knows what they could do to bring her some peace of mind."

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It was painful for anybody to experience loss or even trauma, even Pokémon weren't spared from it. During the discussion, Gwen gave Ameena total attention, even furrowing her troubled brows while hearing about the poor Espartha that had suffered so much. But still, she couldn't just not allow the thing to suffer.

”I see…” She puffed her cheek out in a frustrated manner, but understood that it wasn't her place to be making calls on the behalf of Ameena. ”I wish I could help a little more, at least. But I'll leave it to…”

She froze at the tanned hand coming to her face. Her eyes followed it as Ameena tucked a loose strand of hair away. While the gesture was likely just making sure she looked presentable, it was anything but plain to Gwen.

The poor girl felt her cheeks flush haphazardly. It was the very same movement she had seen time and time again in her manga and online serials. But she felt her insides just…what was the right word? Squeeze out? Explode?

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It was a few seconds after Ameena had stopped talking that Gwen managed to snap back into reality again. Somewhere in the hazy maelstrom of thoughts going through her head was a response to her first statement.

”R-Really? I, ah, mean, I try to be friendly. I guess it's just kind of natural. I just like getting to know other people.”

Ameena did have a point about what would more than likely be in store for her at the Draciary. It wasn't always going to be full of happiness and Tauros steaks for everybody. Something was going to happen eventually that would affect her as it had when the ranger had learned about her Espartha. While she had normally been so happy to volunteer, it wasn't until now that the thought entered her mind.

Hesitation caught her words, only letting go after the younger of the two looked towards the Goomy on her arm.

”It's hard out there, like you said back in Ultra Space. Everything we've seen is fucked up, and I doubt with the war coming, it will get better.”

The Goomy let out a malleable “squee!” noise as Gwen dug into her bag and pulled out a water bottle. She uncorked the top and dunked her fingertips in, then held them above the Goomy. The slime producing dragon was pleased with the result, as Gwen smiled a little. She had learned so much under freya morningstar 's wings and put her utmost faith in the Councilwoman.

To some, it was blind loyalty, and Gwen couldn't blame them for it. But she wanted to be somebody anyone could rely on in this world, and Freya had given her a chance.

”But somebody has to be there for the Pokémon who we can help. I'm not the most experienced compared to every other Ranger or worker at the Draciary, but I want to leave the world a better place than it was when I was here. I think I owe it to the Pokémon anyway.”

Gwen looked up at Ameena again, all heroic like and as if she had finished giving an awesome little power up moment before snickering to herself.

”Or maybe I just don't know what else I would be good at. Professor Conway sounds nice, but I haven't even been to college yet…”

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Gwen came back in time just for the Rotom to zip closer to her and investigate likely why she had frozen up for like half a second. The redness in her cheeks was still present though she did her best to shield herself from these accusations. Her eyes traveled all around Ameena's face while her body reeled in the aftermath of whatever had just happened to her.

Has her hair always looked so beautiful? I bet it feels so soft and...Well cared for! Yeah! Sh-She's a wealthy woman, so she probably has a lot of time to devote to it!

She did have a point though. Maybe she was railroading herself a little bit with her dreams to become a Professor? It seemed like a nice thing to have, position wise. A well educated, respected member of the community. Somebody who was super smart and knew how to help out a bunch! Why wouldn't anybody want to try and aspire to be something so great?

Well, y'know, because it was what she had read so, anyway.

"Thanks for the offer, I just, ah..."

Gwen shuffled in place, with her Goomy currently sliming his way up towards her head. It was hard admitting a weakness to anybody, even friends. Not like "intimidating" hard, but she wanted to feel like she was useful around Hoenn instead of just as some random civvie dishing out ice cream.

"I don't know anything about me when it comes to life stuff. What I wanna do, focus on, or really...anything. Everybody says to do what you enjoy and the rest will come, but I can't not stress about the future."

Her eyes went to Ameena's, vulnerable and malleable.

"What about you? Did you ever feel like you're just lost while figuring out what to do with your life?"

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"They do, and rightfully so! The Draciary and Ranger work are nice, b-but I enjoy our adventures into Ultra Space too! Especially with you!"

The stray brash thoughts and more that were still possessing Gwendolyn from before had subsided somewhat, she couldn't help but feel some residual feelings for the woman in front of her to cloud her judgement. She enjoyed the trill of venturing into Ultra Space, or anywhere, and the thrill of being anywhere but behind a computer screen. The taste of adrenaline and wanderlust had prevented her from ever returning to how she was.

"You've shown me so much, and I don't even have anyway of repaying you, Ms. Abadi. But I don't know what I'm doing or if I even want to do this. It's been with me ever since I joined the Rangers. I just...I don't know where I'm wanted."

Ameena was patient and offered her an abundance of support. A job at the company, advice for what she should be looking for, it was enough for now. Gwen had already been put down by numerous choices about her future here. But opportunities were always welcome with her. She nodded quietly and then looked down at her Goomy again.

The sluggish dragon sqee'd back down onto her hand again while her fingers drummed on top of its head. The soft impacts of her fingers had caused the Goomy to jiggle at each soft thud of her fingers on its head. While troubled over her life thus far, Gwen still smiled at the antics and shook her head to clear her mind.

"Thank you, Ms. Abadi, for everything, but I think I need to reflect. That's not a no, but I would love to work here as a lab aid. I just need to think some things through first."