nikola scratches the back of their neck. "ah..." so it's not completely down for the count, then. that means they really should move a little faster, so nikola hoists flammula up and picks up the pace. "a cyndaquil almost always walks on its toes, though. it's one of their many charm points!" they say, blithely oblivious to camellia's true meaning. "the other big one is, of course, the very pointed snout."

as they hurry along, though, nikola feels as if the space around them is being... constricted. they're heading in the right direction, they're sure of it, but something feels off. the feeling isn't explained until they realize they're looking at something that doesn't belong. it's a portal, much like the one they came through.

"huh... well, there's the way out, i guess. this is roughly where i heard the noise... but nothing's here." nothing except the potential for a fast-approaching metagross at their back, anyway.

[ Camellia Lemaitre ]

huh? something's going on in kanto? yeah, nikola is completely oblivious to things like that. somehow it feels like it's something they should have remembered, but whenever they try to capture the thought, it slips away. a rocket takeover, huh...? guess it's not so different from what they're trying here./ even that is something they hadn't taken much notice of until they'd infiltrated an underground rocket lab in order to free the pokemon being experimented on.

at least they have the sense to stay silent about their confusion. "sorry to hear that," they say. "at least things haven't gotten as bad here yet." that 'yet' hangs ominously in the air as they contain fluffy within her ball again so they can enter the shop. there's only a short line, so nikola peruses the menu in the meantime. "not for lack of effort, though."

[ Yamaguchi Himiko ]

"...oh, right!" the poor thing would have trouble even squeezing through the door, so nikola pulls her back into her pokeball. once they're outside, they release her again, as well as their furret and mabosstiff. the latter two are still clearly looking forward to playing, and they drag fluffy into their hijinks immediately, the massive canine letting out a big "BOOF!" in greeting before dropping down on her front legs to signify she's ready to rock.

nikola puts a hand up. "hang on, fluffy," they say. the arcanine looks at them quizzically. "wait until we get to the race track, then i wanna show josh how fast you are, alright?" she wags her tail, following her trainer obediently.

as they walk, nikola asks a far more serious question. "do you know what happened to all those people we caught in that lab?" it's somethingf that's been bothering them for a while. "i mean, after everything they did..." their pokemon continue along, oblivious to the sudden shift in mood.

they follow after him after they return their pokemon temporarily to their balls. "good to hear that there's some positives even though you're not able to race like you'd like!" they chirp. "what would you do with an expansion, though?" they unknowingly echo josh's thoughts, wondering to themself as well what an expansion might do for the racing grounds. more grounds to race on seems obvious enough, if a little bit predictable.

once they've made their way to the pc, nikola is quick to call their arcanine's ball back. holding it in their hand, they release the pokemon, where she proceeds to take up quite a bit of space. sitting down, her tail and entire behind wagging with her excitement, she licks nikola's face. then she sees josh there, and... licks his face as well. at least she's friendly! "this is fluffy," nikola says, introducing her while they wipe their face with a sleeve. "she is very... energetic."

[ Josh Devlin ]

they watch, in awe of how easily camellia defeats the metagross. the more analytical side of their mind, buried as it is, takes careful note of how she handles the fight. there's a massive thud when the metagross hits the ground below, and nikola can't help but sneak a peek over the side to see where it landed. it's dazed, out cold, but could wake up soon enough and come after them again. so they spin around and start marching again.

not much time? nikola doesn't know why she'd say that. "have you experienced something like this before?" they ask, as flammula follows close at their heel. "is there a time limit?" they pick up the pace a little, now concerned that they need to hurry.

[ Camellia Lemaitre ]

oh, right! introductions. good idea. "nikola," they say, hand in their pocket to hold onto their arcanine's pokeball. just in case she decided to go charging off after something... "and this is fluffy!" the dog pokemon hears her name and lets out a hearty "WOOF!" that startles the passerbys. once they see it's just a friendly greeting, they continue on, not bothered by the pokemon's presence since such a thing is so normalized here.

conversation, conversation... small talk is ok, right? "are you from around here, himiko?" nikola asks politely. they're approaching the coffee shop now, which means they'll have to pull fluffy back into her ball. they don't really trust her to remain outside on her own without getting distracted and running off. maybe someday they'll be able to leave her without having to constantly worry that she's behaving...

[ Yamaguchi Himiko ]

nikola blinks. they pause a moment, standing there awkwardly. "ah... i just realized i forgot to bring her." they'd been taking dentim and kleptus for a walk in the area to get some exercise in, and the thought had occurred to them... but just as quickly as it had come, it was then gone, leaving nikola in this situation. "do you have a pc near here? i can just grab her that way." at least there wasn't any shortage of personal computers around.

as this is happening, nikola's furret has decided she's bored now that she's out, and she turns to blinky. playful as ever, she wiggles her body at the jolteon and mabosstiff. the dog pokemon realizes he's being invited to play and drops down, legs splayed out in the universal dog symbol of "let's go!" he lets out a small 'ruff!' as well, not seeming to care that the quarters have become rather tight with the introduction of two new pokemon.

[ Josh Devlin ]

HARVESTING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

1X tamato berry (to STERLING WARDEN)
2X grepa berry (to MAKI YUKIMURA)
(garden link)

TOTAL

do come again!

00 PD

they blink owlishly behind the rim of their glasses. "it's been that long?" they'd completely lost track of time. somehow it feels like it's been forever, and yet the idea of it being several months since the incident is rather shocking. life goes on no matter what, huh? nikola thinks sadly. "--i mean," they correct themself, "it's been that long, and you're still not able to ride like you used to? do you know when you'll be good to go again?"

rubbing blinky's nose, careful to avoid her spikes, nikola uses their other hand to reach into their pocket for a bag of treats. and without warning, two of their pokeballs explode open, revealing a pink furret and a mabosstiff who clearly heard the rustling of the bag and invited themselves into the conversation. nikola sighs, and opens the bag, offering all 3 pokemon a snack. "i actually caught an arcanine that's super fast recently... i was wondering if you might have some tips for training her, but..." underneath their words, it's possible to hear the crunching of biscuits as their furret and mabosstiff enjoy themselves.

[ Josh Devlin ]

they walk along with her to a nearby coffee shop, fluffy following after them. "hmmm? oh, you're from kanto? what brings you here?" nikola asks, before realizing she asked them a question first. they shake their head. "er-- i mean, it's not really a super exciting story! she was tearing apart a public garden around here, so i caught her to mitigate the damage. turns out she wasn't doing it on purpose, but she just had the zoomies." it's difficult for a more indoorsy-type like nikola to keep up with the fiery canine, but they've been doing their best. she's just so gosh darn cute, after all.

and domesticated... "she seems pretty used to having a trainer, so i wonder if she was abandoned," they say. maybe by someone who wasn't prepared for her level of energy? that seems to be the case with a lot of dog type pokemon, a species nikola has found a particular fondness for during their time in hoenn. maybe because they were so similar...?

[ Yamaguchi Himiko ]

nikola remains still, watching the battle commence with wide eyes. the massive steel type is intimidating enough to make even nikola hesitate, given that they have little to no experience in battle and their only pokemon is currently cowering behind their leg. camellia at least seems confident in her ability to fight off the mechanical beast, so nikola just... leaves her to it, assuming they'd just get in her way.

flammula seems to be watching aptly too, peeking out from around his trainer. he's both interested in and afraid of the much larger opponent, having never seen anything like it before. "...whoo! go camellia!" nikola cheers quietly.

[ Camellia Lemaitre ]

oh, jeez, that looked like it hurt... nikola winces. "are you sure you're alright?" they ask her anxiously. fluffy, meanwhile, is enjoying the pets, her tongue lolling out of her massive head as she pants happily. she's already forgotten it's partially her fault that the stranger took a tumble. as far as she's concerned, she's being praised right now.

nikola sighs. "i can at least buy you a new coffee." at least her coffee splashed to the side and not on her. that could've been way worse-- she could've been burned. "whatever you want, wherever you want." they offer her a smile, though they're noticeably fidgety. some tiny voice at the back of their head is wondering why they should bother, when it's unlikely the woman would do the same for them... right? they try to silence it, whenever it pops up, but it's always lying in wait for a chance to strike.

[ Yamaguchi Himiko ]

he certainly looks alive! it'll take more than a few bullet seeds to keep josh down for long, it seems.

nikola leans against the doorway, crossing their arms. it's an unconscious gesture, one that would indicate disinterest, and once they realize they're doing it they straighten up again. "checking up on you, of course!" they plaster a smile across their face. their body language is... uncertain, as they keep shifting between gestures. "last time i saw you, you weren't doing so hot." their concern, at least, is truthful enough. they don't have to summon any effort to retrieve it, as it bubbles up naturally. going through something so harrowing together tends to strengthen bonds.

they come further in so they can offer a hand to blinky, and then some head scratches if permitted. "you seem alright now, though."

[ Josh Devlin ]