“That’s a weird way to say ‘no’, if you ask me,” she replied, shruggingly. It was her way of dealing with his somewhat ambiguous jokes at times. Either take them completely deadpan, or simply going with her own interpretation like this. Plus, she had not heard of any great deeds of his lately, so it was not exactly wrong.
[break][break]
Though, admittedly, he still had done more than she had, in general. Megan had helped out here and there, but when the going went truly tough, she just happened to not be in the area often. And honestly, her worry for Jo did often get the better of her. Especially given what had happened during the war so far.
[break][break]
Sighing, she watched the imagery shown. “Everything awaits us in the future. That is the point of it being the future, isn’t it?”

[break][break]

+ CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It was odd how this could have been fun in other circumstances, really. A good scrap was not necessarily something Meg was above. After all, that was why she had chosen to become a gym trainer. To fight was part of her life. But it was still a different kind of calling than his. That was something she could understand on a more instinctual level as they entered proper combat. His was an aggressive need to fight to pit one’s strength against another. Hers was a desire to test one’s skill against others.
[break][break]
That probably explained it more. They already differed in their definitions as to what strength actually was. They could never properly compete in that regard. All that was left was a clash of ideology, one where his Arcanine sought to take down hers right away. That was a common enough thing to happen, she did not even have to tell her oldest partner what to do. He instinctively reacted in the way they trained, seeking to utilize his Extreme Speed to bob and weave under that attack but instead hit the opponent on the crack-back right away.

[break][break]

+ try to extreme speed gaius marcellus

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Really? Did you protect anyone greatly, lately?” It was half in jest, but also a bit curious. In her experience, those that self-aggrandized themselves as great protectors or anything like that were anything but. The greatest protectors were those that did not consider themselves that. But maybe she was just being a tad bit naïve in that regard. It was just that those she admired for acting in such a way did not need to act so highly was all.
[break][break]
Plus, it was just kind of cringe to talk about yourself like that, but that was maybe just her. She had already accepted that her boss was cringe, after all. Still though, having no actual better idea, Megan just follows along, agreeing with the touching of the stone tacitly by not preventing it or anything. “If that causes the temple to collapse or some curse to trigger, I will blame you.”

[break][break]

+ CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“What a stupid question,” she replied as she rose up after tending to one such person in need, immediately turning to face the newcomer. She did not need to hear his life’s story or anything. He was already giving off that aura, that vibe – the kind that did not just imply, but rather implore a challenge.
[break][break]
She had met people like that before. They were drawn to bigger events like this, to moments in crisis. And they tended to only speak the language of violence. His words betrayed that notion, too. He seemingly did not understand at all, for good. “It is a natural thing. You should understand. You were helped before too, before you could save yourself.” After all, that man had been a child too, once. It was weird he would not understand helping others.
[break][break]
But, anyway, she knew that this was not something to reason her way out of. Instead, she brought out her own Arcanine, ready to face his. That was a language he would be sure to understand.

[break][break]

+ @gaisu

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Well, somehow, a Pokeball was missing. But Megan did not have any time to think. All other balls were occupied, but the Gengar seemed docile enough for the time being. So, she did not really give it much thought.
[break][break]
It was much more important to get going. Fortunately, they were in the middle of a city – one that she knew. What she did was not even truly a conscious thing, not really. The path she took just came to her, subconsciously, informed by past knowledge and her current worry, making her the fleetest of feet she’d ever really been recently. One eye on the girl slumped over Arcanine, the other on the darker streets around, they just ran.
[break][break]
There were not a lot of people outside at this hour, but in a city like this, there was always someone. Most of them were just too startled by the sight to do anything, others simply did not get involved. Either way, they soon enough arrived at a place she had visited before. Not a grand hospital, like the one she had brought Megan to after the fight on the mountain. That one was family owned and operated, but she knew they were both decent in care and not too busy at times like this. As long as they were the only emergency, they would have room and time. At least that, she hoped when they arrived and Arcanine, sensing its trainer’s distress, simply roared loud enough to get the attention of whoever was on duty inside.

[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Momentarily, she was just completely overwhelmed. But she heard that familiar name, spoken in a familiar voice, but not a familiar tone.

[break][break]
Well, not exactly, either. The word brought back memories that she did not like to think about often. Yet, at the same time, that also came with some clarity. They were not in a big crowd of injured people this time around. In fact, no one had noticed them before, the windy, overcast weather keeping others from coming to a small park like this.

[break][break]
Megan took another bewildered look at the injured woman, but then tried to push everything aside. Weak and injured. That was all she truly needed to know and deal with. Hence, she beckoned over Arcanine as she carefully tried to move Johanna onto the canine, making sure not to push whatever she had in her back further in. She looked for some seemingly empty Pokeballs and briefly tried to negotiate with the two Pokemon to return them.

[break][break]
Whether or not that succeeded, she would have Arcanine carefully but swiftly carry the other while she jogged beside towards the nearest ambulance, seeking to stick things out from there, trying not to think too hard about anything but the immediate present and blinking away any tears. That would not do any good. And Jo kind of needed her.

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

She had honestly surprised herself, really. Megan wouldn’t have thought herself to be the kind of person who would go out and look for someone just because they had not responded to calls within a few days. But they had planned to meet up in this city, so it was extra weird that Jo both had not responded and had not appeared yet.
[break][break]
Not like Slateport was a small city, of course. Her…well, Jo was a bit of a celebrity, having been a gym leader for a brief amount of time at least, but that did not mean she would just be easy to find. Meg still had come figuring that the only reason the other would just fall silent to be that she planned some kind of surprise.
[break][break]
Hence, she had come. And waited. And started searching. But she didn’t actually know how to do that, so she was mostly just fumbling around, looking for places as she walked around aimlessly.
[break][break]
And so, a somewhat confused and mostly bedazzled Megan was just resting in the local part when suddenly, the sky tore open and she barely had a few seconds to fumble with her bottle of water, get up and instinctively reach for Jo, only for the sudden appearance of a human-sized cargo throwing her off-balance and thus onto the grass, though she still somehow managed to keep Jo on top of her and not throwing the girl onto the ground. “What….Jo?” was all she could muster, utterly confused, as Arcanine dodged the Claydol coming down from the sky, very unwilling to do as his trainer had done.

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Hmm? Oh, of course not,” she replied, though obviously a little distracted by her own work on the matter. Not that it needed much. She was never the kind of person that tried for the perfect shot on these sorts of things, that redid them until she was satisfied. There was just something very satisfying about doing all of that naturally. Plus, it felt more genuine for her. Hence, she snapshotted that happiness and decided to keep it that way.
[break][break]
Of course, she did not mind if the other did it the other way. Just because she liked Jo did not mean that they had to conform on everything. Heck, some of the things she specifically liked about the other were very different from herself. That all just made it better, in her opinion. “Though being this close is nice as is anyway,” she found herself musing – or not, because she did not actually notice it much herself.

[break][break]

+Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Well, d’uh. Of course it was taxing for the ones throwing themselves bodily at the enemy or enduring literal flamethrowers or thundershocks. They suffered a lot more, had to exert themselves more. But they were also the ones that could best take it. Megan knew how long the healing of even minor injuries could take for a normal person. Yet, for a Pokemon, that same injury was just one visit to the PokeCenter away from being taken care of.

[break][break]
It was almost unfair. “I guess for me, my Pokemon are a lot more into it than I am, in a way. Which doesn’t mean that I hate it or anything of course. But they just want to let loose sometimes while I tend to need a reason to really agree to a fight.” And no, the whole ‘eyes met so a fight has to happen’ thing was just stupid to her. It wasn’t a big hurdle to clear, but she wanted to be convinced, at least. It was kind of like dating, really.

[break][break]
“That’s why I always thought gym work might suit me. I like fighting, but there has to be a good reason behind it. Less hard feelings there, too, rather than fully competitive battling.” She shrugged. At least that was her impression of it all.

[break][break]

+ CIAN MAHER

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

There was a bit of silence, but Megan did not mind that. Not at all. Just being like this, with the stars above – it was decent, at the very least. Possibly, it was even more. But she did not want to overdo it with the praise. For the time being, she was just content.

[break][break]
It was a weird feeling. Much unlike the rush after earning a new badge or finishing a tough fight. But on some level, it was even better, in a way. Certainly, she did not feel like the seconds were ticking by torturously slow as was so often the case. Right then, she just enjoyed waiting as the other came up with something proper.

[break][break]
“Well, rare Pokemon are always nice of course. But just having a nice place to explore like that, even if it is explored already, that doesn’t sound bad at all. Actually, I always wanted some-“ she stopped herself, her trail of thought clearly stopping briefly. Then, she was back into motion, rummaging through her pockets. Once she was content with it, she scooted closer, slightly making things a bit more uncomfortable but that was, she could bring her head next to Jo’s as she raised her arm, phone in hand. “I never quite got it when people showe all their holiday pictures around. But right now, I kind of feel like making a new wallpaper at least. Is that fine by you?”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Ah, I know what you mean.” Her family had never gone that far, but she knew the kinds of trips. Those had mostly been when she’d been much younger, too, so she had always just needed to go wherever she was told to. A far cry from just about anything she was doing now. Though she would not necessarily mind just kicking back with Jo at her side.
[break][break]
Usually, she always felt like she needed to do something, to not waste her time as she had been for so long. Yet with Jo, even being idle like this felt like….well, not like a waste. “Any places you regretted never getting to? Not just in general but also near those tourist traps. Your parents probably did not let you go wherever you pleased then.” She kind of just assumed that Jo was talking about family trips there. It kind of sounded like that, so she didn’t really think of other options then.

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Fortunately or not, Megan was not the most observant in the world. She certainly thought that Jo was looking at the sky as well, sharing with her reach in a way. But that was just who she was. She had only just started sharing her life with others, after all. It would take a bit to get there.

[break][break]
Though she did have a penchant for zeroing in on the most random parts sometimes. “Heh, guess I did snub you multiple times when it comes to seeing me in a swimsuit,” she hence noted with a bit of a chuckle. She honestly did not think too much about all that, but it sounded like a nice enough little comment to make, so she just did.

[break][break]
Thinking before talking was also not always her strength. “But we certainly could. I have not really visited other regions much. Even before Hoenn itself decided to keep us locked in for that bit there. Have you been to any yet?”

[break][break]

+ Johanna Joy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]