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There was more than dinner at stake. Her dignity was on the cusp of total annihilation as was the respect of her Pokémon, who watched and cheered with fervor, knowing full well that they were sleeping with empty bellies tonight. It was a sad sight to behold, but the blonde was desperate.
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Aurora’s body was fully wrapped around the large, old tree trunk. With careful grips and a quick search for indents in the bark, her nails dug in and she inched her way up little by little. She’d reached about 3 feet off the ground when she took a heavy breath and called out, “Almost there, guys!” She couldn’t look down, but from her point of view, the long branch that held a dozen fruit was barely within reach.
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Espeon, Riolu and Torchic all stared at each other and shook their heads. She wasn’t almost there; not even close.
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Over her left shoulder Aurora could see the golden wash of the sunset blanketing the land. She was uncertain for how long she was climbing, but her hands started to hurt with the burning of splinters in her fingers. At this point, it’d be nightfall when she finally reached the fruit… or fell twenty feet to the ground. Aurora looked up at the protruding branch to her left and with one movement, jumped from the trunk to it. Her hands kept re-gripping the branch, moving slightly left to right in hopes of finding a better hold.
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"Uh, hey, need any help? 'Cause you could hurt yourself doing that. We got swingsets in rustboro, y'know?"
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Aurora’s eyes darted downward at the young, blue-haired man as she hung from the tree like a swaying banana. She didn’t know what to say, so she smiled awkwardly at him before re-aligning her grip. Her wavering focus of the task almost caused her to fall, but she was too determined to give up.
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"Hi, I, uhh… I think… I got… it.." With a large huff, she attempted to do a chin up and wrap her right arm fully around the branch. [break][break]

"And I know of the swingsets you’re talking about… they’re definitely…" Her left arm now wrapped over the branch as her chest now rested on top. "… not as fun as this.” Aurora heaved another heavy breath as she gave a thumbs up.
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She hung from the branch like a Skitty in one of those “Hang in there, baby!” posters you pin on your boring office wall.
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With all of the grace she could muster (which was none), Aurora started to swing her leg over the branch and pull herself up. But her leg barely reached within four feet of the branch. Several failed attempts after, she sighed. Staring down at the young man, a look of desperation flickering in her pupils, she asked, "…does your offer to help still stand?”
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[attr="class","ooc-area"]Kitten poster for reference[break]noah faber

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"Thanks…” Aurora’s voice trailed off while her mouth remained agape. She observed in disbelief at his leap and enthusiasm to climb up to her, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Aurora’s blue eyes intently stared at the very muscular and strong looking guy as he climbed with little to no effort up the tree, taking moments what it took her… well, we won’t say how long it took her.
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If she wasn’t embarrassed before, she was now.
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"Noah." The man named Noah extended out his hand and Aurora gazed between his expression and his hand for several seconds until, finally, her survival instinct caused her to grasp it, lest she fall to her doom.
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"Um.. I’m Aurora…” Using what little upper body strength she could muster and with most of the assistance coming from his arm, she was lifted up to where she could carefully sit on the tree.
"Are you trying to impress your Pokemon or what? 'Cause I don't think it's working, man."
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Aurora’s eyebrow raised amused while a chuckle escaped her lips. She shook her head at him before looking upwards at the dangling fruit that was now within arm’s reach.
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”Trust me, if that was my goal, I would probably have no Pokémon at all. They’d have left my sorry butt behind a long time ago.”
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One by one, Aurora carefully clutched the fruit and set them in her arm. ”So are you from around here? You know about my secret swingset locations, so I’m assuming you must be…” Aurora asked, eyeing Noah suspiciously but with a hint of humor in her voice. Aurora stared down at her Pokémon and gave them a thumbs up again, tossing a couple fruit down to them immediately. Riolu caught one in his paws, while Espeon jumped to bite one from midair. Torchic’s bounced off his head and Aurora winced as he sniffled from the pain.
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”I’ll be down shortly!” she called out to them, as the other two gathered around Torchic. Aurora glanced around at her situation, realizing swiftly that the climb down would not be as simple as the climb up. ”…as soon as I figure out how to get down there…”
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[attr="class","ooc-area"]noah faber