Now this seemed familiar. Not just to her, but also to Arcanine, who had been walking beside her. After all, they had experienced something similar before. Not that they’d understood it or anything like that, but they had experienced it nonetheless, one of them even coming out of this experience a changed Pokemon. Granted, Meg still had no idea what exactly had happened there, but according to that one scientist, Arcanine had taken on some attributes of a form long deemed extinct, which was why it felt a lot more rocky than before now. Yet, as far as she was concerned, he was still the same good old boy.
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He did draw odd looks when walking the streets though. Something she kind of liked. But he also had developed a bit of a sixth sense as to these weird kinds of occurrences. That had given him like a second of forewarning, but that was still enough to get into this a bit more safely, for he quickly got in position to shield her from an incoming gust of wind, one that apparently toppled over another pedestrian. That alone was already not good. The thunder and odd lighting in the sky didn’t make it much better. “Yeah. And that’s not a good thing. I’d take hallucinations over another one of these.” Though granted, the last one she’d experienced had not been as violent, weather wise. This could be a lot worse than anticipated, which was not exactly great already. “If you got any fighters, bringing them out might be wise. Who knows what will come through today.”
Megan did continue to converse with the fallen girl that was getting up, but her eyes were scanning up and down the street instead, wary of potential pokemon appearing.



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[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Every gym had a gimmick, she had learned that much by now. However, this one apparently had a special one. Usually, she always just picked the traditional challenge herself, being a somewhat boring person in that regard. But this gym apparently did not offer this. Odd, but okay. She was going to face whatever came her way anyhow. That was how she had decided to tackle life after that night, and she would not stop now, even as she made her way towards the Fallarbor arena. It certainly looked neat from the outside, but she knew better than to judge it from first impressions like that.
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All she knew that even the eccentric seeming gym leaders did not gain their position from sheer luck. Whoever she was going to face here, they certainly would prove a challenge. So, she straightened her pleated skirt and white shirt, then headed through the door, looking for the place to register or at least check in. There usually was something like that. She’d just have to find it.



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This smell, she knew it well. And that wasn’t good. It did rouse her from the glass that she had been half resting her head on in a bit of a daze. Megan knew that she shouldn’t drink too much, so she hadn’t. But that didn’t mean that she would leave this bar early. Or timely, for that matter. No, she had simply drawn out finishing her mug for as long as possible, before slumping over the table. Today was a bad day. She had those. Where she felt no motivation to do anything, not even train. Bars helped with those days, but they could get expensive and dangerous, so usually, she lt those be.
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Or, well, she cheapskated them, like she did today. It probably annoyed the bartender, but she was not going to come back here anyway. So, why bother? As long as he didn’t kick her out, that would be a non-issue. Plus, this place wasn’t full in the slightest anyway, so who cared? She certainly didn’t.
But that smell, she could not help but care. “Someone else smell burning?” She asked, no one in particular, but somewhat loud nonetheless. Who cared about how it looked anyway. But she didn’t like fires one bit, so she wanted to know, already looking around hazily, slowly sobering up.



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+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Well, he didn’t pry…much. Though his question seemed more utilitarian in nature, which was good. This wasn’t exactly the kind of environment where she could go on talking and chatting and bonding with strangers. Heck no. She was here to…. Right, she needed stuff. “Uh, I need some toiletries, shampoo, toothpaste, that sort of stuff for someone that travels a lot. They have to have it somewhere here, it’s trainer supplying 101. But where did they put the damn things?”
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Obviously, she spent her time looking to and from, but she was searching way too frantically still to find just about anything, drawing a blank. “you’ve seen any of those?”



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[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Well, you don’t get to where I am by being stupid.” Which technically meant being in your mid-twenties and already going through a sort of midlife crisis to avert complete burnout while also being technically unemployed and living a life mostly on the move. Yes, that was the inspirational story of her life. Most people couldn’t get there. Or could manage to continue existing with it, at least.
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But none of that mattered here on the ice anyway. Only he had to ask, obviously, bringing the spectre of real life, or rather, every day life straight back here in an attempt to sour her mood. She didn’t let it get to her, though. “I am a professional trainer,” she all but lied. Though her training journey was what sustained her life and occupied most of her time, so she considered a profession nonetheless. “Travelling the region, collecting all the badges, those sorts of things. One day, I will become a gym leader myself.”



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[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Ohhh, it was the Pokecenter Pokemon, wasn’t it? Only like, the kid version. But she did see a group of Happiny playing around in a clearing, so she figured those were them. Frankly, she had not looked much into the species, but she did know that they were really useful. In fact, they supposedly could heal people, too. So, if she could get one, train it and evolve it, she could forego seeing the doctor, right? After all, quite a few times she’d just gotten Healing Wished instead of getting treatment anyway. That was…an opportunity too grand to pass up.
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So, she quickly plucked one of her Safari balls, aimed carefully and then flung it at the biggest Happiny she could find, causing the others to scatter and flee. But that was fine. She only needed one of those. And she had only one shot, one opportunity, anyway. So best make it count like this, decisively!



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+ catching Happiny

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“It seems so,” she replied, slightly grinning. Maybe it was stupid to be somewhat happy about this but, well, why not? After all, at the very least this was something they had in common which wasn’t all that bad at all. A shared failure was always better than one you had to shoulder all by yourself. Plus, that way they could potentially work something out together, as equals. Which was probably was good as it got in that particular regard.
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At the very least, her berry idea seemed to gain some traction. The other apparently even had a Pokemon that could help with that. Which was good. Because Megan most certainly did not. Somehow, her massive dragon of darkness would probably not be all that useful in procuring berries or getting Pangoros to mate. A Pokemon like Skovet was one that she would not hate, nor crumple her nose at, but it certainly wasn’t one she would have at her person at all times.
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Though she did wonder if that said something about the other. Depended on how much of a choice there was in all that, really. The bargaining she watched indicated that it wasn’t exactly the first best one at that. Still, it was kind of cute, and she nodded when she was given some of the berries. “I would say so. But keep in mind that I don’t really know all that much about these berries or these Pokemon. But I figure, well, they might get in the mood if they smell or eat them. Like when people get drunk or so.” She scratched the back of her head once more. “Not that I know too much about that sort of stuff, either.”



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[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Ooookay. Luvdisc. Not her style at all. The Stufful was cute and stuff, sure, but mostly because it was cuddly. That thing though was just swimming through the pond, watching her just as she was watching it. And otherwise it was doing, well, not much at all. She wasn’t even sure whether or not it was doing anything at all. That was not exactly endearing herself to a Pokemon that she had no idea how to use.
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Megan sighed, giving the Pokemon a somewhat apologetic nod. She was doing that again. And it wasn’t all that good that she did. That Pokemon was perfectly fine, really. She just sometimes got quite…enthusiastic about not being enthusiastic about some of them for reasons she sometimes did not even understand herself. This one wasn’t for her, but she threw it a berry regardless before moving on, just to make sure that she didn’t appear too rude or something. Kind of weird to worry about how a Pokemon might perceive her to be quite honest, but especially because no one else was there to see she didn’t care too much. This was fine.



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+passing

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Well, maybe the bird on your head understands it at least,” she replied, still smirking. That was still weird. Though also kind of impressive, given that despite his skating, that bird seemed to have no trouble at all staying on. She certainly didn’t have a Pokemon that could do that. Did that mean she would praise him for that? Obviously not. But at least she acknowledged it. In her head.
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He really couldn’t ask for more. After all, she did give him what he wanted, following him casually skating, not even trying any tricks. She just went slow and steady, skating about. “Because this is how it’s done,” she chimed, both to herself and to him.



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[attr="class","pokeclass"]