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A stray. She wasn’t sure that she liked the sound of that, and her further narrowed gaze told as much. A stray was something that moved without aim, or perhaps something unwanted by others. The latter she couldn’t deny – she hadn’t lived in an orphanage for nothing – but she had a meaning. A purpose.
She just hadn’t found it yet.

Still, if he hadn’t seen the problem of his vacancy sign in himself, he’d find it on the girl’s face. An offer of a free room, in exchange for some light work and nothing more? Deals like those were the kind the streets had taught her to steer clear of, for they were rarely as simple as that. At best, there were string attached. At worst, it was the last anybody heard of you, if you had anybody to ask questions in the first place. Even with his explanation, the scepticism held on her face… But slowly, surely, it began to soften. He seemed genuine. Or very good at his sales pitch. Hopefully more of the former than the latter. And really, what other options did she have? A sleepover in the cave was a bust. Fortuna had barely been out two minutes and she was already panting from the heat, and Bolt-

She looked down. Bolt was gone, or rather, slowly returning to them. To the Chansey’s horror, he was dragging a bird larger than himself back to the group. Even Annie seemed conflicted about her little beast’s catch – and not just because of Evan’s speech. The nurse seemed eager to tend to the wild’s injuries, but- “Fortuna, Bolt, stay put for now unless I say so. Please.” There was an edge of sternness rarely heard in the girl’s voice, and it was enough to make the Shinx plant his bottom back beside her. The look of guilt in his eyes was enough to distract her from Evan’s difficult choice; her heart softened, and she quickly regretted showing him anything but love.

“I didn’t mean it like that. Just…” She sighed. Frustration hadn’t been on the agenda for the day, and yet, there she was. Trusting the demon-eyed, piercing-laden stranger to help her battle was one thing, but to take her to his home was…
Annie took a deep breath in. “I’ll… try it. But if I don’t like what I see, I’m out right away.” She almost seemed to be begrudgingly accepting the offer, even if it was the best anybody had given her in… Well, years. “And I’ll be keeping an eye on you the whole time, so you better not try anything funny.” She seemed hesitant to trust him, or just anybody that offered her a hand outside of battles. Perhaps he could sympathise.

She crouched down to the Fletchinder, but instead of retrieving a potion, it was introduced to her Pokeball. It was the only reason she’d allowed it to stay injured for that long.

❤ wizz

It was a risk, and him showing that he understood that helped. Pretending that there was nothing suspicious about his offer would have been the biggest red flag he could offer. Instead, his words managed to ease the doubt in her eyes, and with it, the frustration went too. Soon enough, she’d been talked down to a cautious, but curious child once again. A child that really didn’t want to be in the cave any longer, she realised, as yet another wave of humid air embraced her.

“Let’s get going, then. You said that you were heading back, right?” Or at least implied it. Her Pokemon perked their heads up at the idea of leaving. They’d handled the heat far better than her, but that didn’t mean they were in a rush to stay. “We can go there. Check the place out. I can help, if there’s anything left to help with.” And more importantly, she’d be able to see right away if him and his tavern were truly worth her trust. Thanks and gratitude would come later.

❤ wizz