“I would say you’re hospitable, too,” she replied warmly. “If what you say is true, then not many people would be willing to share a table with a stranger.” She grinned, proud of herself for having learned something of the world beyond Lavaridge Town. Every little tidbit of information seemed  She was glad, too, that she had found someone like herself, willing to be friendly and chat. “But, since you own a restaurant, you kind of have to be hospitable, no?” she teasingly pointed out.

While it hadn’t been apparent to her initially, she knew what he had meant by saying he could feel his Serperior’s glare rather than see it. Blindness was something she had much second hand experience with; many of the elders in her town had varying degrees of vision impairment, and she knew how many of them had felt about it. And she wasn’t going to treat the chef any different.

She tapped the table while she thought. “Hey, don’t you have any family or friends who could help you at your restaurant? Then you wouldn’t have to do it all by yourself.”

“Oh, and you definitely look like a Shinobu,” she blurted, clapping her hands together.

// wc: 201 // occ notes: so sorry!! I thought I had sent this ;( // shinobu fujimori

Honoré led Cinder out onto Mauville Hills. Despite having been scared almost to death the last time she ventured here, Honoré was forever the optimist; she wagered that there wouldn’t be any scary pokemon this time. She pounded the air as she shrilled, “Alright, Cinder, let’s toughen up!”

The ninetales rolled her eyes, but a grin on her maw betrayed her true feelings. She trotted into the tall grass, looking for an opponent to singe.


// wc: 75 // occ notes: normal/fairy/ghost - mauville hills //

Honoré followed the man into the office, blissfully happy to hang around in the meantime. It wasn't like they had anywhere to be. Cinder yawned as she brought up the rear.

When Honoré saw the photograph, her jaw fell open and she rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Forgetting that they were inside, she screeched, "Woah, is that you riding Raikou?!" She didn't understand why his photograph would be on the wall in the first place, but she didn't really consider it, either. All she knew is that this man must be a pretty big deal. Clasping her hand over her mouth, she mumbled an apology for screaming indoors, and obediently followed him outside.

The bright light caused her to squint. Once her eyes readjusted, a grin bloomed on Honoré's face as she observed his team; they all were magnificent, and each had their own riding gear. All together, it was an impressive sight. She could see two pokemon running on a track further afield, and it filled her with delight and awe.

"Oh! Uh, yes! I'm Honoré Nara," she pipped cheerfully with a bow. She took a deep breath, drawing her arms to her chest, before leaning into her quick-paced spew, "So who are you, exactly? What is this racing track? Why was that that lady’s Espeon so big? Why is Mauville so big? Do you know of a good place to stay around here? Does your Manectric have a nickname? Do you ride all of your pokemon? Who makes all of their riding gear? How did you meet Raikou? That was you in the photograph, right? -- oh, there I go again!" She fell back onto her heels with a giggle. “Sorry, that was a lot, wasn’t it? And I haven’t even asked for your name!”


// wc: 296 // occ notes: sorry she's such a spacecase lol // Josh Devlin

Honoré wearily headed back into the grass and stood opposite of Cloud. "O-okay Cloud, dazzle them with mist!"

Cloud used mist, but held back so it wasn't a true fog like in battle. Instead, the air was lightly misty, and the fine water droplets reflected the sunlight. The effect made the air look like it was full of tiny diamonds. It was enchanting, and Honoré forgot her recent wild pokemon-induced trauma. She clapped her hands and twirled with Cloud in the translucent mist. "Perfect, Cloud! Absolutely perfect!"

A wild Lillipup skittered from the grass and jumped playfully, swatting the mist. "Oh? Lillipup, do you like the mist?" The pokemon cried happily. "Then you should be our friend, and we can work on some super cute contest moves for you, too!"

Pulling a pokeball from her pouch, she dropped it onto the waiting Lillipup.


// wc: 143 // occ notes: x //

Arms folded neatly behind her back, Honoré rocked on her heels while she waited. She hummed something unrecognizable, but Cinder seemed to relax as she twitched her ears to the rising and falling tones. Neither were concerned with the private conversation between the two people, but Honoré jumped when the sylveon squeaked suddenly. Deciding instantly it was no cause for alarm, she went back to humming her song.

Her eyes flicked to the super cute sylveon once or twice more as the two spoke, but she stayed by her pokemon's side. She gently stroked Cinder's fur rhythmically to her humming, and her eyelids fluttered while she fought sleep.

She jolted upright when the man addressed her again. "Oh, huh? Sure! Let's!" she chirped, snapping back to wakefulness. She had no idea what he meant by "racing grounds," but she was sure excited to find out.


// wc: 145 // occ notes: n/a // Josh Devlin

Honoré shrieked when the Gardevoir popped up. She threw herself to the ground, her butt sticking up in the air while she pitifully covered her head and cowered. 

Through her torrent of snot and tears, she managed to shrill, "C-CINDER, C-C-CLOOOD!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAH!"

Cloud used dragon breath at the feral pokemon, and Cinder complimented it with a brilliant flamethrower. The Gardevoir was dispatched, and Cloud floated over to land on Honoré's back in a gesture of comfort. Through her sniffles, she rose to her knees before standing. She wiped her dirty face and smiled weakly at her pokemon. "T-thanks, g-guys," she blubbered. She looked a mess, and her chest was heaving from the frightening encounter. If she had thought Dusknoir was bad, Gardevoir, a humanoid pokemon, was much, much worse.

Cloud nuzzled her cheek, and she giggled. "O-okay, one more try..."


// wc: 140 // occ notes: x //

Just as Cloud used cotton guard, an ominous shadow fell over them. Blinking in confusion, Honoré took a minute before she turned around. When she did, she found herself face to face with a Dusknoir. Honoré screamed, snatched up Cloud, and ran toward Cinder.

"Cinder, do something!" she squeaked. The pink-haired teen hugged Cloud to her chest and fell to her knees before the fire-type pokemon. When Honoré found the courage to open an eye and peek, she noticed that her Ninetales hadn't moved. In fact, Cinder looked amused.

Honoré opened her eyes fully and let Cloud go. If Cinder was not concerned, then she shouldn't be, either. Now that the danger had seemingly passed, she found herself fighting for a breath; she must have been holding it after she screamed. Cloud perched on Cinder's back and waited for his trainer to regain her composure, and both pokemon knew it wouldn't take too long.

Honoré mustered up her bravery and turned around slowly. She found that the Dusknoir had left. "Well, thank goodness it's gone away, at least," she murmured to herself. Dusting her skirt off, she turned back to the grass. "C'mon, Cloud, let's try again!"


// wc: 197 // occ notes: such a baby // 

Cinder the Ninetales sat on the periphery, carefully chewing a berry, while she watched Honoré tromp into the grass. Cloud, her Swablu, was with her, so Cinder could relax just a bit. However, there was no such thing as being 'off duty' around Honoré.

Honoré's eyes sparkled as she spun to face Cloud. "Alright! Let's practice some moves, Cloud!" She did a cute pose, and Cloud mimicked her the best he could while still flapping his wings. She giggled, and he chirped happily. "Okay, now to really wow the judges and up the cuteness-- Cloud, use cotton guard!"


// wc: 106 // occ notes: x // 

Honoré blinked hard at the man as she tried to process what he said. Her brain was pingponging from sleep to the gym to Cinder to the mysterious-man-in-front-of-her, and she was having trouble keeping up. "Ah!" she exclaimed suddenly, "Cinder says thank you for the compliment!" Cinder stared at the newcomer, expressionless, while Honoré did enough emoting for the both of them.

Her eyes grew wide as she noticed, unfortunately for the first time, that he was riding a Manectric. "Oh wow, what a beautiful Manectric!" she beamed. She took a step back to get a better look. "It's too bad the specialization went away- Manectric could be the electric poster pokemon for the gym!" She gazed at the Manectric fondly, imagining it posing in a dramatic promotion photo for the gym, before continuing. "Oh, you work for the gym? That's great, because I have a million quest--"

She stopped abruptly when doors swung open. Honoré squeaked with joy when she saw the large Sylveon, and she turned to admire the pokemon. She wanted ever so much to run to it and smush her face into its chest fur, but the warning look from Cinder kept her rooted. Bowing slightly, she excused herself while he spoke to the woman. Following Cinder's lead, she wandered a bit of a distance back to give them a little privacy.

She cupped her hand and whispered to her companion, "Wait, Cinder, did she say leader?" Honoré tilted her head, and Cinder looked at her but didn't reply.


// wc: 253 // occ notes: n/a // Josh Devlin

Honoré had been wandering Mauville City for a few hours after getting into town. Cinder, her Ninetales, had easily kept pace with her, but now Honoré was tiring and leaning on Cinder for support. She knew that she was going to have to find a place to stay, or else she’d be camping out on Route 111 for awhile. Having left her hometown of Lavaridge Town just the same day, she hadn't planned too far ahead. In fact, she hadn't really planned anything at all. She was just winging it.

A bit drowsy, Honoré had been walking with her eyes closed, relying on Cinder to be her support and her guide. Cinder loved how Honoré trusted her, and Honoré loved how she trusted Cinder, and the two walked like this for some time.

Honoré's eyes snapped open when she had begun dozing off. Trying to rid them of their sleepy blurriness, she focused on the large building that was ahead of them. As its lines and signs came into clear view, Honoré realized what it was. Shoving off of Cinder, she rushed to the large building. Her pink ponytail bobbed as she jumped up and down excitedly. She screeched, “Oh, Cinder, look! This must be the Mauville City Gym!” She turned back to her Ninetales, her arms waving. It was as if she hadn't been asleep on her feet a moment before, and Cinder snorted in amusement. "I bet you there's so many cute pokemon in there! Mauville City Gym is electric-type, isn't it? Oh wow! I bet they're so strong, too!"

Honoré didn't notice the man or his Manectric standing in front of the gym, even though they were practically side-by-side.


// wc: 282 // occ notes: n/a // Josh Devlin

"Oh, no worries, it's no trouble at all," Honoré replied with a smile of her own. It was nice to have a little company in such an unfamiliar place, and being around people her own age wasn't something she had gotten to do often at home. 

Her smile dipped into a slight frown as she considered his words. From the look on his face, it seemed that his warning was out of concern and not to be mean, and Honoré decided to graciously take the advice. He definitely had a point- she didn't know him at all, and she probably should be a bit more careful in the future. But, of course, here they were having a nice chat without anything bad happening, so maybe she'd only adjust her habits a teensy bit?

"Oh! Uh, yeah, you're probably right," she mused. I guess I might have been a little too forward to invite you to sit; if my Ninetales Cinder was here, she probably would have nipped me," she admitted with a giggle. "Being hospitable is the right thing to be, even if it bites me in the butt later," she added with a shrug. "But! I saw how you were interacting with your Manectric, and I felt you'd be good company. I'm glad I asked you to sit." Her justification made sense to her, and she hoped he, too, would see it like she did. People who were kind to pokemon must be kind to people too, surely. She beamed at him from across the table, her smile genuine.

Not realizing he had been in work clothes until this point, her eyes widened. "Oh, you work here?! That explains why you look so tired! The food is soooooo good! I was going to offer you some of it, but if you work here, then I bet you can eat it all of the time," she giggled. She realized that she was still holding her fork in the air, and she set it down. As she bowed slightly in her seat, her bangs falling into her face, she said, "I'm Honoré Nara, and it is nice to meet you."


// wc: 359 // occ notes: n/a // shinobu fujimori

When Honoré arrived in Lilycove, she spent many minutes gawking at the size of the buildings and the amount of people bustling around. Cinder, her Ninetales, stayed close to her trainer's side. Neither had been in a city so large before, let alone beyond Lavaridge Town, and the sight was impressive.

As she pointed a finger in the air at a building to show Cinder, Honoré's stomach growled furiously. Cinder looked at her, and she giggled in embarrassment. "Oops, I guess I forgot to eat while we were travelling," she said. Cinder sniffed the air for a moment before she tugged at Honore's skirt. Obeying her pokemon, she followed her Ninetales to a restaurant.

Ninetales sat next to the door, her tails wrapped elegantly around her front legs. She didn't like to go into buildings that weren't familiar to her, and they were both unsure of the proper city etiquette. "I won't be long, Cinder, and I promise I'll bring you something," she assured her. She petted Cinder's sleek fur and went inside.

The restaurant seemed busy, but Honoré was sat immediately. Stowing her travelling bag under the table, she ordered her food promptly, picking things that seemed filling and that would stretch her dollars. She was fully enjoying the food's wonderful flavor. It was easily the best thing she had ever eaten; the Elders in Lavaridge Town weren't exactly good cooks, but this food was excellent.

When a red-haired young man Honoré's age sat at her table, she froze, the fork halfway to her mouth. When he spoke to his Manectric, she couldn't help but smile at their relationship. As he was moving to get up, she interrupted, "Oh! um, please, won't you sit for a little bit? You seem tired-- you and your Manectric both." It didn't occur to her that she was inviting this random man to sit with her, nevermind that she hadn't introduced herself. Instead, she smiled at him pleasantly while waiting to see what he did.


// wc: 332 // occ notes: this is gonna be great! // shinobu fujimori