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Alina wonders if this is the universe’s sign for her to turn around and get the hell out of Hoenn before she was in too deep. [break]
It’s been an exhausting week, and it was just her luck to encounter ferry closures when her final destination was right at her fingertips. Honestly, she didn’t even feel like she had the right to feel frustrated - not exactly smart of her to uproot her life right after it was nearly swallowed up by a legendary. [break]
The thing is, she is usually a woman with a plan. And then a back-up plan, and another plan, and - you guessed it - a backup-plan for all of those back-up plans. Alina is nothing short of prepared, and without these meticulously crafted plans, she was basically a boat without a captain, a lighthouse without a keeper [break]
Needless to say, this spontaneous decision to sail off to the unknown was completely unlike her. If Alina had it her way, she would’ve spent another month doing her due research, musing over logistics and planning her next couple hundred steps. But cutting off one’s anchors was no easy task, and more often than not it required a sudden burst of impulse that she was a stranger to. She feared that if she ruminated on this for any longer, this rare flicker of bravery would dim away before she could even attempt to nurture it. [break]
So that’s how she found herself - stranded in the middle of no where, with nothing but big dreams in her back pocket. [break]
Alina fiddles with her phone as she heads further into town, the faintest frown creasing across her eyebrows as she frantically tries to figure out her next step. The ferry seemed to be the only mode of public transportation to Slateport, leaving her with the mere option of finding accommodations for the rest of the week. She bites her lip, glancing up as she crunches the numbers in her head. Thank Arceus she was never the spendthrift type. At least she some cushioning to fall back on. [break]
The young woman turns to her Ampharos, ready to share her thoughts when a second voice cuts into the air. Alina glances at him, taking him and his Pokemon slowly. Huh. Well, this pair wasn’t something you saw everyday. She wasn’t sure why he was speaking to her at all, but he didn’t seem to be a threat so far. And if she were to be honest, they’ve piqued her curiosity with their matching singular eyes. She supposed she could humor him with a little small talk. [break]
She drops her phone. “I heard,” she responds softly, raising her hands again to smoothen her shirt. “Although I’m hoping that luck would be on my side. Maybe the water levels would take mercy on us and the ferry could reopen earlier than expected.” Luck. Ha, that’s funny of her, casually bringing up luck as if it was something she believed in and relied on. [break]
“Yeah, not the smartest timing on my part.” She said, shuffling her feet as she glanced back at her Pokemon. The yellow mammal seemed to be intrigued by the Aerodactyl, although it had no intentions on making the first move to approach it. What was that saying - like trainer, like Pokemon? Alina glances back up. “I assume you’re a resident of this town, then?” [break]

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by the time he speaks again, alina had a good idea what his response was going to be. once she shifted her attention from her phone to her surroundings, the casual and free-flowing attire did not escape her. she assumes they were tourists dressing their part at first - she's seen a handful of them herself every summer. the longer she waits for the scattered crowd to pass, however, the more she realizes that they were not the outliers here. [break][break]

despite this, his next words still manage to catch her off-guard. "oh. i'm so sorry for your loss." alina says, her posture visibly softening. the last funeral she had been to was over a decade ago, yet the grief that engulfed her then still quietly haunts her to this day. she could only imagine how the stranger was feeling after such a fresh loss, and wished she had something more meaningful to say even though they've only talked for a few minutes. [break][break]

upon being called a tourist, she says nothing. the young woman was actually moving permanently to hoenn, and while there was a stronger sense of camaraderie after the stranger revealed his own purposes here, she wasn't going to start spilling unnecessary details about herself. not yet, at least.[break][break]

"good guess - i'm from johto. olivine city, to be exact." alina says instead as she watches the two pokemon. nova was sniffing the prehistoric pokemon back in reciprocation and her tail began to wag slowly, red orb blurring against the azure blue backdrop. the ampharos was lonely, alina knew, and she hoped that there would be more opportunities in this new region to meet other pokemon. "we're mostly known for our port and lighthouse. have you heard of it?"

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