With a mild hum and a finger held to her chin, Gracie Mae thought over Shalin's question, or rather, choices. Was there an option for 'all of the above?'[break][break]

She looked over the pair of mighty pokemon when they approached. Perhaps they wanted to demonstrate for her? Now smiling, Gracie Mae said to Shalin, "How about strength?" Her eyes landed on the kommo-o, automatically assuming that would be the pokemon to display the utmost power.[break][break]

"I think most people tend to think of speed when it comes to riding a pokemon," the breeder continued. "But since you clearly have a knack for the more unique and versatile... show me a powerhouse!" She began to play her own imagination of guesses in her head on how Shalin would ride the draconic beast. Surely, it was more than simple!

One shuckle, two shuckle. Red shuckle, blue shuckle.[break][break]


The whimsical Gracie Mae counted them off as they slugged their way through the route. Several onlookers approached eagerly with hopes of stealing one of the berry hoarders for themselves.[break][break]

And Gracie Mae was no different.[break][break]

The thought of drinking fresh berry juice poured straight from a shuckle's shell raised the breeder's adrenaline. "You can do so much with a berry," she spoke to her faithful companion, Annie Mae. "Boil'em, mash'em, stick'em in a stew..." Her mind wandered.[break][break]

"Anyways," Gracie snapped back. Her fingers curled around an empty pokeball. "Let's find the juiciest looking one of'em, Annie Mae! Not just any shuckle will do!"[break][break]

Annie Mae had no idea what a quality shuckle looked like, but she gave an affirmative cheer in support of her trainer's wishes. Besides, there were so many of them. How hard could it be to find at least one decent, "juicy" shuckle?[break][break]

"Just Gracie is fine," the breeder spoke first. "I don't think I can qualify myself as a rider... well, at least not to your level." She gave a small giggle and motioned to the pokemon surrounding them.[break][break]

Her rapidash stepped up to her side and neighed, perhaps in agreement with his trainer's comment. She stroked his long neck as she continued to say, "Cal here is very helpful for when I have to travel across the region for work or transport packages. I don't ride him much for leisure though." She paused in thought. "I probably should. I'm sure he would love to spread his legs more." Another neigh came from Calcifer.[break][break]

Gracie Mae let her fingers run through the beautiful flames across his neck, the heat nothing more than a pleasant warmth against her skin.[break][break]

"So!" She focused her attention back on Shalin, though not before eyeing the seismitoad's rhythmic beats with interest. "You clearly have loooads of different pokemon here. Very, very unique choice for riding. Which one is your favorite?" She then shook her head when another question immediately came to mind. "Actually, which one is the hardest for you to 'ride?'"[break][break]

[attr="class","lostinparadisetag"]
Mitsuru Kagami

The redheaded breeder nodded along to Shalin's words in complete agreement. Though she could never imagine herself living in the woods as Shalin did, she would always prefer the peace that nature provided over the hustle and bustle of the cities.[break][break]

Gracie Mae allowed some silence between them as she took in the grounds more, eyes wandering from left to right to up to down. There were an assortment of pokemon, many of which one would not normally find living in the middle of a forest. It reminded her of her own ranch, except the pokemon here were large in size, and there was one unique characteristic they all seemed to share...[break][break]

"Do all of your pokemon have... saddles?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

[attr="class","lostinparadisetag"]
Mitsuru Kagami

Gracie Mae's eyes sparkled at the prospect of networking. Though she cared little for the money, she knew running a business, even one out of love and care, still required money to keep it going. And of course, she was always interested in snatching another client and meeting new pokemon.[break][break]

And now, like a child at an amusement park, Gracie Mae lit up at the sight of Shalin's performance. "Amazing! You're like, totally amazing!" the redhead exclaimed. The title of Captain, the perfectly color-coordinated sygna suit, the abundance of pokemon tucked away in this hidden pocket of Petalburg Woods... Gracie Mae was sure Shalin was some sort of superhero.[break][break]

"Cal, can you do that?" she suddenly asked, looking down at the rapidash with intense eyes. Calcifer blinked and neighed in protest. "Hmm, bummer."[break][break]

She lifted herself off of Calcifer and touched ground. Winnie fluttered to rest on Gracie Mae's shoulder.[break][break]

"So you live here, huh?"

For whatever reason, Gracie Mae found herself swallowing a small gulp. Was she nervous? Maybe, but not in the sweaty kind of way. "Uh, yes, hi!" she greeted again. She signaled for Calcifer to take them closer to the girl. Now that she wasn't literally vibrating like some sort of wind-up toy, Gracie Mae could get a better view of who this mysterious person was.[break][break]

Shalin Nariya, she had said, and a captain at that! "Gracie Mae, newly established breeder of Hoenn!" the redhead replied with a cheery smile. She kind of wished she had a fancy title to attach to her name, too. Could she call herself a doctor?[break][break]

"I was just in the area," she began, all the while unable to take her eyes off of the bizarre way Shalin straddled the angular wing of her flygon. "Making a delivery. Part of the job, y'know. And I heard this buzzing... that must have been you!"

"I know I'm not crazy! You hear it, too, right, guys?" Gracie Mae spoke out loud. She looked to her ribombee who gave a positive nod. In front of her, Calcifer snorted in agreement. "Then that settles that. We just have to go deeper...!"[break][break]

Gracie Mae urged Calcifer to continue down the path with a gentle nudge of her feet. The rapidash kept a steady pace, slow but with purpose. Atop Calcifer's head sat Winnie who had decided to give her little wings a break.[break][break]

Earlier, Gracie Mae was sure she had heard an intense vibration, almost like the sounds of a machine whirring. It had stopped moments ago and started back up again. They followed the source of the noise with mounds of curiosity. As they grew closer, naturally, so did the vibrations.[break][break]

"Oh?" the breeder then exclaimed when it came into view. A ranch of some sorts? And, of course, pokemon.[break][break]

She spotted a young girl of green hair and immediately assumed a smile on her face. "Hello!" she greeted with enthusiasm.

[attr="class","lostinparadisetag"]
Mitsuru Kagami

"no way!" gracie mae screamed at the sight of the sand castles. at first, she was perplexed by the trails of sand covering the ground and paths. curiosity had gotten the best of her. naturally, she followed in tow with annie mae. it soon became evident by the sounds of voices, humans and pokemon alike, that trouble was amok.[break][break]

there simply was sand everywhere. in the midst of the palossand and their chaos, gracie mae could not help but find herself a quieter spot on the outskirts of the mayhem and battles. those who saw her must have thought her crazy for taking the time to build a sand castle out of the leftover sand. annie mae nervously kept guard.[break][break]

"there," the breeder announced when she had finished her structure. it was limp, barely holding up with its two towers and dome-like castle. a small leaf poked up at the top in place of a flag. "anyways," she said, heaving onto her feet with sand particles at her knees and hands. she wiped the grains away. "let's help these good folks out, annie mae!"[break][break]

finally, the miltank probably thought.[break][break]

gracie mae procured herself a pokeball and happily sent it out. "push them back with a POWDER SNOW, manny!" she instructed.[break][break]

her swinub made its appearance from the ball and gave an energetic snort. after inhaling deeply, he purged a frost-covered wind from the depths of his nostrils. a seemingly unending draft of cold covered the palossand in its reach, causing them to shiver and retreat.[break][break]

"keep it up!" both gracie and annie cheered manny on.[break][break]