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female - compound eyes
poison fang / zen headbutt / leech life / disable / confusion

elijah gardner

PURCHASING 1 OCCA BERRY
with persephone amavi's account / money - 175pd

REDEEMING 1 MICLE BERRY
regular gacha for dominic sinclair (here's his gacha thread?)

she follows noah to the ring, pausing to glance back at her two pokemon as they follow. at least the sirfetch'd looks excited - if the flashing eyes and the speed of his waddle is anything to judge by. the duo shortly join noah's pokemon.

"hmm... maybe i'm out of practice. unlike kyle, i don't get many challengers. i'm better at hiding," persephone says lightly and her mouth piques at the corners as though smiling at a private joke.

"close quarters? i'm glad - too many televised matches devolve into dragapults throwing their progeny at each other." she turns her attention back to her own pokemon to issue directions.

"hey fetch, why don't we give the big guy a good FIRST IMPRESSION? and bre, keep up, ok?" persephone calls out, and takes a moment to watch the pair spring into action before replying to noah's question. taking a moment to strike an impressive pose, the sirfetch'd hurtles at the hariyama at a surprising speed, attempting to strike down with his weaponised leek to leave a FIRST IMPRESSION. the breloom is at his heels, leaping over the smaller pokemon like a kangaskhan, two fists ready in a MACH PUNCH.

"i was in one once. i lost."

noah faber

persephone might not have noticed the intruder had her serperior not alerted her to the presence - she supposed this is why she had it guard the garden plot in the first place.

not even unfolding the two short arms the pokemon kept folded behind his back, the serperior slid forward to WRING OUT the venonat, smothering it so it could barely move. persephone could sort of make out signs of the wild pokemon's struggle - pin-prick sized punctures of the serperior's scales in a tell-tale POISON FANG.

persephone sighed and took out an empty pokeball capsule, readying to throw it at the venonat.

"hey let go of that, will you?" she called out to the serperior. the pokemon seemed to hesitate - as though pride wouldn't allow it - but then did as instructed. the venonat dropped the ground, feet pawing at the air as it tried to regain its balance.

it didn't even see the pokeball being thrown before it made contact, sealing it inside.

"i don't know why you're so needlessly hostile," persephone said to the serperior when she picked up the pokeball and wiped the soil off it.

the serperior regarded her for a long moment, raised its chin in a characteristically cocky manner, and silently slid back to coil among the freshly planted berries.

capturing!

the sirfetch'd becomes ostensbily self-conscious as he watches the obstagoon wielding human tools. he snaps his beak together and shuffles on his two little legs to hop onto a little stool placed down especially for him so that he could reach the counter. the pokemon puffs out his chest feathers to indicate that he's ready to work.

a chef's assistant places a knife in front of him, and the sirfetch'd surveys it for a long moment and then rather roughly shoves it aside. he had dropped his shield on the floor but kept the sharpened leek under his wing, which he now pulled out.

the pokemon levied the weapon at the human to show it to him, but the assistant must have interpreted it as a threat because he backed away very quickly.

the sirfetch'd turned to watch his obstagoon companion for a moment longer, and then began to slice the vegetables with his own vegetable - cautious at first and then picking up speed as he enjoyed the sensation of hacking away at something.

kyle lopez @ken FERNANDO SILPH Selena Desmarais Alexei Ivanov illeana reyes Katherine Fairburne

that far down in the depths of the ocean, events settle around them and feel as though they're happening to them but not quite them - persephone felt like she was disconnected and watching herself act in slow motion.

when the lucario stumbled against her, persephone is quick to steady it in the same display of support that he's extended to her for years. a guilt in forcing him to over-exert himself that settles somewhere between the back of her throat and ribcage, heavy and leaden. they both know the usage of foreign power pains him, and they both know she needs it, and that he ultimately has to provide it because that's what friendship between a trainer and pokemon ultimately is. everything else is empty conjecture.

persephone wonders when she became so jaded, and the realisation stung as much as seeing her friend pained because of her. but he's done enough and the least she can do is get them both out or find something to make it all worth it, ideally both.

"i'm sorry," she said, hesitant and gentle, when she assisted the lucario to the floor in hopes that it will recover. she should say more but worded apologies never sound like quite enough.

"thank you so much, prydian."

persephone turns away before more words become caught in though spurs lining her throat and spends a moment sketching out a rough diagram of the paths they had witnessed. she chewed the inside of her cheek, wincing when she noticed how the fuel supply had suffered.

all the paths available seemed, on the balance of things, equally tumultuous with no real projected outcome. persephone realised she had to make a decision and had to fight to steel her nerves when she veered the submarine to the rightmost path.

picking the rightmost path w/ the seaweed poggers

persephone tries to let the corners of her lips curl upward but she knows it probably looks humourless. something about beast's the murderous rampage through slateport had sapped her ability for this sort of thing.

noah's read on her is accurate because the visit served two functions; this is part training exercise because she fears further erosion to any aptitude for structured battle, and secondly, it was curiosity in kyle's... protégé? specific details elude her, but she knows he spends enough time at the gym that surely noah has something to show for it.

"i tend to be," she admits, though this time when she smiles it does look significantly more genuine. she turns to gesture to the two pokemon behind her prompting the sirfetch'd to halt mid-swing, looking like a deerling caught in the headlights at the sudden attention.

"i'm sure she appreciates that. two versus two, doubles, with this pair." persephone pauses for a moment and then, because she wasn't raised in a barn, adds, "be sure to go easy on us. please, thank you."

noah faber

a year ago, persephone participated in the region's last contest and seeing bailey and chubs in the audience provided provided more encouragement than the rest of the auditorium combined. so with this contest, she hoped she could provide a sliver of the same comfort to chubs as he took the stage.

persephone had been sure to arrive hours early to secure a spot in the front rows, shamelessly taking up the place next to her with her walrein. the pokemon had been clear in that she wanted to be present to support her smaller brethren, and was now jammed into a seat, though its THICK FAT protruded in either direction, slightly squishing persephone and the pokemon's other unfortunate neighbour.

when kyle lopez arrives on stage with a mightyena, she recognises this one to be alpha and is quick to rise to her feet and cheer for the duo. alpha was always one of her favourites... something about how bitey he was was endearing. she remains on her feet applauding politely for Lucas Lane and armstrong. as the coordinators and pokemon take their turns, persephone politely applauds the dazzling performances until it was time for chubs to make his entrance.

as the announcer finished speaking and the stage remained briefly empty, persephone's brow furrowed, glancing side to side trying to find the little spheal. she heard it before she saw it - the sphere dropping from the sky before exploding in crystalline fragments to reveal chubs himself.

persephone leapt to her feet again with uproarious applause, clapping until her palms felt numb. at her side, the walrein began to slap its belly rapidly in an imitation, continuing on even after chubs left the stage for a moment too long until persephone shushed her because people were looking at them.

tldr; she's just here to support chubs

purchasing 1 micle berry ( 12pd ) & 2 salac berries ( 100pd )
total 112pd

somewhere between leaving her hotel and arriving at the gym lobby, it occurred to persephone that there is essentially no common ground between her and noah faber - definitely in the context of battling and perhaps otherwise.

gazing at her paltry selection of fighting types (expressly ignoring the lucario, because she can't imagine the pokemon would forgive her for bringing it to a gym challenge at this point), persephone collects two capsules at the pokemon center before continuing to the gym.

she releases the duo while they wait for the gym leader, and as she watches the sirfetch'd halfheartedly smack the breloom with a leek, persephone begins to wonder if this is a bad idea. her pokemon will be fine, and her ego won't be damaged by a loss, but having become more withdrawn over the months has the side-effect of turning all social interaction into a trial.

when she hears footsteps behind her, persephone turns and speaks quickly to mask the strain.

"hi noah! we only... sort of met briefly, i think? i'm persephone."

every two words are interrupted by the sound of the sirfetch'd striking the breloom with his leek. persephone ignores it and tacks a smile to her face.

noah faber

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