“you’re telling me you’re a greater trickster than i am?” alecis was playful in her own right, attempting to seem unbothered and unamused with the way her eyebrows sat lazily atop her gaze, her expression flat. “i don’t think i’d be able to fall for you unless you pulled the rug from under me, making me quite literally tumble and trip on the way down.” [break]

this was a lie.[break]

as part of rocket, it was her nature to lie - but she could never make substantial ones in jesse’s face. this was a white lie, or really more of a tease in which she pulled on his cheeks with her diction but patted his shoulder familiarly with one of her hands. “just shut up,” the lavender-haired woman said, smelling of liquor and spirits unlike her usual floral scents.[break]

within a moment, she silenced them both.[break]

jesse’s collar was held tightly in alecis’s right fist, pulled taut so his lips were against her own. the cerulean ditto rippled with shock, dropping its little orange slice and gaping with awe. alecis was none the more perturbed, instead seemingly content with herself. it was cliche, but being sober was overrated when it came to being bold enough to move romance plots along. her age wasn’t getting to her, but deep in her mind she knew she had to allow herself some liberty - some kind of release from the shackles of her previous marriage.[break]

– even if she would likely take things slow given how quickly she had advanced.[break]

maybe it would be out of guilt for doing this to jesse unprompted, but those worries were for future alecis. present alecis was happy with herself and raised her new glass for a toast: “to us this year, then? you need to find a new resolution, i think.”
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@jesse

the troupe of dittos was out and about, knocking along small pebbles and other debris as they examined them curiously - morphing it into their bodies. [break]
"come on," alecis coaxed the 'youngest' of the three dittos into her arms. the sparkling blue puddle oozed out of her hold, at ease as the large wailord paraded around the small shrine with a gleeful and large smile. "let's wish a good new year to everyone," she said quietly, not meaning to disturb others around them. with a bow and a nod of respect, she rang the bell and uttered a small prayer for her wailord to become even more strong and powerful than ever before.
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WAILORD LEARNED [DRAGON HAMMER]

there was her new year present, alecis supposed. the claydol was interestingly just hovering about, preparing itself for a bath though it looked down at a puddle of water questionably. was it really made out of clay, as its name entailed? that would make it a bit awkward for it to be exposed to water, wouldn't it? with a skip and a step, alecis ordered her ditto to transform into a copy of the claydol and shoot a rapid spin before alecis threw up a following pokeball.[break]

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@ catching!

"boo, that's boring."[break]
obviously joking, alecis winked at jesse - appreciating his treatment of her 'baby' who seemed to be happy just sitting in alecis's lap and sucking on a small slice of orange she had ordered to distract her pokemon. "i was hoping for something saucy like you intend to find a partner already." truthfully, neither of them were getting any younger and the magician's tricks up her sleeve weren't getting any fresher or more astounding. with the advancement of technology, all her charm and flair was growing dated and she, too, probably needed to settle down - if she intended to at all, that is. while she could joke about such a thing, she didn't give it much thought, herself, so a return of the question would prove fatal for her since her wires were already coming to cross as she continued drinking (CON ROLL: 4, FAIL). "i think it's about time, we're getting old." it was solid advice, she supposed. things were starting to get a bit fuzzy and her body was feeling a bit warm - a good thing, given the colder weather.[break]
"i'll check back later though, as you said. no need to rush things. the new year is still upon us and there's always things to do and things to plan - things to ..." she trailed off, tilting her cup to her lips as she attempted to recover her train of thought. this only made matters worse, obviously (CON ROLL, 8). "y'know, i'm just glad you're here. it makes the whole 'growing old alone' thing a lot less painful."
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@jesse

the new year had left alecis wanting to break free from the usual areas she had explored. meteor falls seemed to be ripe for the picking, bearing wild pokemon just waiting to be captured. of course, this was for trainers who had much skill beneath their belt. with two hands curled into loose fists, alecis looked at her baby ditto and nodded as if to say 'we can do this!'.
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@ sw

"i didn't expect to be worked to the core all festival long," alecis sighed as she sprawled over wood before her. the bartender swept by, serving sazeracs to the various customers that had already included herself and jesse. the festival workers had taken rotating breaks and it just so happened to land on jesse and alecis's group this time around, having taken it upon themselves to promote jesse's business by working in formal dress-up stalls. jesse had been the stylist to get people's hair and makeup ready while alecis had the great honor of helping put men and women in kimonos, yukatas, and more. the facepaint alecis had on was still as vibrant as the start of the festival, having decided to get in the spirit by letting some small children do as they pleased in terms of design. unfortunately for alecis, this left her with a variety of vibrant colors and weird swirly patterns on her cheeks and forehead.[break]
"my new year resolution is to never let my love for kids get in the way of my better judgement," she said much to the dismay of her little baby ditto who seemed to push against the wall of its pokeball - urging to get out and argue against this. "how about you, jess?"
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@jesse

it seemed a bunch of baby pokemon were out and about. this made alecis only faintly alarmed, though her body was already acting on its own - going to use her larger pokemon as a wall of bodies to block the way the snow would fall upon the little pawniard. yes, this would do. with her new houndour using a quick flamethrower, she threw out a pokeball to secure the new addition to her team with a hopeful smile for it to come home.
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"kind of cute," alecis remarked - smiling happily at the vanillite. the honedge seemed to disagree, however, not interested in adding another inanimate object-type pokemon to the gang. maybe it would change its mind later, but for now alecis found herself chasing after the honedge as they passed by, looking for anything else that might join their adventures.
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@ sw

I ACCIDENTALLY EDITED THE POST INSTEAD OF POSTING THE NEW POST I'M SO SORRY
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@ sw

alecis was straying further and further from her original ideas of what her team would be like, but she didn't quite mind one bit. the delibird was waddling around happily, throwing boxes of presents around like a small pokemon santa, and alecis's heart was beating for it. what a darling little bird.[break]
and what a poor little bird it would be as she tenderized it with a command for a pursuit to chase the poor christmas pokemon down, followed by a pokeball thrown at it.
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@ catching!