[X] My Assistant

[Rairai]

A cool, summer sea breeze and a slowly setting sun over the sea against a clear sky. Rai couldn't ask for a better way to end her last day in Barley, mainly because this was how every day in Barley had ended ever since her sixteenth birthday almost two weeks ago, when she had started telling herself that 'Today's the day I leave Barley and travel Furoh in search of Flare!' and yet here she sat, on the soft white sand of Barley Beach, much like she had for the previous fortnight.

She was content where she sat, looking out across the wide blue ocean at the fiery sky that hung there. With the sunset came nostalgia - memories of herself and her brother sitting together on the sand until she fell asleep and he carried her home flooding her mind - and the urge to reach and tug the blue from the heavens; to steal the sunset of Barley and keep it in her pocket so she would always have a little bit of home with her while she traveled.

But she knew she would always have a little bit of home with her when she finally left. Her companions were that piece of home, and a little reminder of her brother. The raccoon-Pokemon curled up in her lap was on of those pieces of home - a gift from her parents whom she had lovingly called Stripes from the day he was born - and the birds settled on her shoulders continued that reminder - the Pidgey named after her traveling brother who had helped her take of the once-injured bird, and Stars, a Starly of a gift that had been delivered with a promise and an example of Rai's creativity at its best.

Breathing out contentedly through her nose, the girl let her eyes fall closed as she reached out a hand towards the distant sky that seem oh, so very close, and, as she attempted to grab hold of the peaceful fire, fantasized images of a promise fulfilled flashed on the back of her eyelids like an old-style home movie.

[Anko]

Haruko, a newcomer to Furoh, had only just arrived from the long and arduous trip from Kanto and, of course, the first thing on her list of things to do was a good long jog along the beach after leaving the port for some exercise and leg stretching and that's exactly what she was still doing. She wouldn't get this exercise without allowing her pokemon the same though and so along with her jogged her Machop and Tyrogue with Onix trailing somewhat in the back, thundering along noisily as it moved over the ground. Well... it was technically trailing somewhat in the back. With the size of an Onix, that generally meant that its head was keeping up right along with its companions.

Sometime along the way, Haruko's approach would become quite clear to the daydreaming Rai as she idly sat at the beach. Haruko and company weren't exactly trying to be quiet and peaceful being the rowdy bunch they were, instead laughing and playing along as they tended to do during leisurely jogs. Haruko was all for hardcore training, but one needed fun in their lives as well to really feel alive!

Soon Haruko came within sight of the other girl that had formerly been sitting in serene peace, laughing and waving happily as she rushed up to her while still jogging in place. Her pokemon were right behind her as always, just as noisy as her.

"Hi!" Haruko chirped with a cheerful grin. She obviously had no idea how to leave people alone. She just loved making friends!

[Rairai]

If the loud laughing of the traveler's pokemon and the startled squawks of the pair of birds on her shoulder weren't enough to completely destroy the peace of the setting, Rai didn't know what would. Except maybe that all too cheerful greeting aimed her way.

Her initial reaction was a light glare in the other girl's direction - only half-hearted because she was so tired from working on the farm all day with her mum - followed by a short, curt, "Can I help you?" She didn't take well to having her peace disturbed, especially not by loud, obnoxious and rude travelers from other regions, or even just from other parts of Furoh. Rai had known instantly that this was a traveler, based purely on the fact that she had grown up in Barley, and knew all the residents by name and their pokemon companions and none of them were even close to being this rowdy, especially not during a sunset on a beach.

However, despite Rai's apparent dislike for the newcomer, Stars didn't seem to have a problem with them. In fact, the small Starly was flitting around the angled, rugged head of the Onix - one of a few pokemon that Rai had once believed were merely myth because of their genetic make up; 'A creature that is nothing more than a string of boulders tied together. Impossible.' - before it attempted to land on the head of the closer-to-the-ground Machop, chirping happily.

Rai couldn't say she was surprised, though. It was always like this. Whenever they came across someone not from the farm, Stars would be flitting around, greeting them happily, while Stripes pulled himself even closer into his closest companion and Flare just glared at them with contempt. 'It's in their nature, I suppose.'

[Anko]

Haruko glanced back momentarily, watching the cheery bird greet her companion pokemon in what could've truly been considered a heartwarming display as they seemed to get along perfectly. It was partially due to looking away and partially the Starly's happy reaction that Haruko didn't actually realize her new acquaintance's displeased glare in her direction.

"I just figured I'd say hello," Haruko replied just as happily as ever, walking over and actually flopping down to sit beside the other girl to look over the distant horizon. The fighting vixen had the habit of assuming she was welcomed in places she really wasn't, but it helped that she was usually able to win over whoever she was with to at least tolerate her presence. "My name's Haruko," she introduced herself casually. "...Hey, you wouldn't happen to know of a decent place to stay overnight around here wouldja?" she blurted, obviously having that business to attend to as a side note on stopping for her random greeting out of left field. At least she was lively!

[Rairai]

'Sorry, but I really don't care.' Rai was kind and tactful enough that she wouldn't straight out tell someone she wasn't happy with their presence, unless, of course, they were annoying enough that she found the need to. This one, though - despite her rowdy arrival, rude disturbance, and blatant lack of observance for other people's feelings - wasn't that bad and Rai figured she could handle her presence a little longer. She was never one to leave a traveler with unanswered questions and no roof over their head.

"There's... an inn, back near the port somewhere," Rai said slowly, glancing at the seemingly older girl out of the corner of her eye, her tone even and set and filled only with an obligatory kindness she had picked up out of habit from her mother for when they had guests or she had to put up with someone she didn't particularly want to be talking - like now, for example. "But, assuming the ferry you came on was full and you didn't book in advance, then there's probably no vacancy."

With a light, uncaring shrug, she looked down in her lap, petting the wiry, bristly fur of the Zigzagoon still sleeping calmly in her lap. He calmed down, at least, from the initial disruption, and had managed to fall asleep again. Flare looked rather put out, annoyed that his peace had been disturbed, annoyed that there was no attention on him, annoyed that the annoying grey ball of feathers was flitting around the stranger's pokemon as if they had been hatched in the same nest. Stars was just too busy enjoying himself and flitting around his new friend's heads.

[Anko]

"Oh no!" came Haruko's worried reply, slumping over in partial defeat almost instantly. This was a disaster! She seemed to calm down, if only a little with the bad news, bringing her knees up to her chest and rocking worriedly to and fro on her bottom like a makeshift rocking chair. "It'll be terrible if that inn is all filled up! Do you know anywhere else I might be able to stay?!"

She wasn't purposefully trying to drop any form of hints even if it came across that way. She really was worried about where she might stay for the night, but she'd never force her way into someone else's door. There would have to be some form of invitation to... wherever. She actually hadn't even considered intruding.

Finally she went still and just stared off into the horizon. "...At least its a nice place to stay I suppose. Maybe I'll just try to stay up all night and train and look for a nice bed tomorrow... Come to think of it, you wouldn't happen to know where the nearest pokemon gym around these parts is would you?" she asked, glancing over at her newest 'friend'.

This post has been edited by Problematic: May 9 2009, 10:15 AM

[Rairai]

Rai just watched the girl for a moment, running a hand through her short hair as she returned her attention the darkening sky. "I wouldn't recommend staying out here over night," She warned quietly, burying her hand into the fur of the Zigzagoon in her lap. "The temperature will drop to almost freezing if you get a breeze coming off the sea."

Heaving a small sigh, the girl pulled herself to her feet, lifting Stripes as she did so. Flare took off from her shoulder as his rest was disturbed, squawking loudly in annoyance at the chirpish sound that the raccoon gave as his sleep was broken. Rai glanced down at the still seated girl then across at the large pokemon that had accompanied her, giving another sigh.

"We don't know if the inn is full, you know," She said, failing in keeping a hopeful and caring tone - not hard, considering she really didn't care - glancing back down at Haruko. Dad would chew me up and spit me out if he found out a left a traveler on their own. I do not want to have to do Flare's old duties again. She mentally shuddered at the thought of delousing and clipping the fur of each and every Zigzagoon on her family farm again, and all the scratches and bite marks she had gotten. No wonder Flare had such sensitive arms. "I'll take you over to the inn, if you want. And, if there's no vacancy..." Rai trailed off, forcing herself to continue. "There's room in the barn that you and these guys," She indicated to the girl's pokemon. "Can stay in. Though Dad'll probably insist you stay inside. He's funny like that, taking in travelers with no place to go and making them tell him all their stories." She desperately hoped it wouldn't come to that. She really didn't want to be made to stay in the kitchen and listen to other people's stories while she was trying to work up the courage to go out and make her own.

[Anko]

Haruko sighed dejectedly as even her plan to remain out training was torn down by the other girl's logic. Well this was just not going well at all! She certainly didn't wanna freeze to death!

And then yet more logic came through, Haruko's depressive expression breaking slightly with the realization that she was right, they hadn't even checked the inn yet to see if it WAS full!

"All right!" she cheered excitedly, hopping up from her sitting position on the ground. "Sounds great!" Haruko really could've been more than grateful anywhere so long as she had a roof over her friends' and her heads. "Thanks a lo-!... Uhhh... Did you ever tell me your name?..." she paused abruptly to ponder that question in the middle of her repeat of excitement. Talking to Haruko could be like a rollercoaster ride even in casual conversation. She had a habit of changing gears on the fly with no warnings at all. Still, she couldn't recall ever receiving her newest friend's name! "But still, thank you!" she began again with a semi-polite bow of gratitude. Thats really very nice of you!"

[Rairai]

"Rai," She gave her name calmly once she had gotten over the bipolar seeming attitude that was the girl's speech. "Stripes," A nod of her head towards the Zigzagoon in her arms. "Flare." A glance at the Pidgey flying overhead. "And Stars." She gestured with her hand towards the Starly. She had been a very imaginative child when she was nicknaming her pokemon - though, to be fair, Stars was already named Stars when her brother had given him to her, so that technically wasn't her lacking imagination.

Without waiting for the other girl to give her name, Rai spun on her heel and headed along the beach, clutching Stripes to her chest. "I'll take you down to the inn," She said calmly, not bothering to slow down or check that Haruko was actually following her. She didn't particularly care, only because her father wouldn't be happy when he found she didn't - 'when' because there was no doubting her father would find out some way or other and then scold and punish his daughter for leaving a traveler from another continent lost and stranded.

When Rai finally did stop, it was only a minutes or so later, looking back over her shoulder to whistle loudly to her Pidgey who seemed to have found an interesting snack and was circling over it. "Come, Flare," She called quietly, so as not to disturb any nearby occupants in their beach-side houses. "I'll feed you when we get home."

[Anko]

Haruko had been only just about to reply to Rai's brief introduction of herself and her pokemon to find that she was already being left behind. She was quick to recall her pokemon, slapping the pokeballs back on her belt before rushing off after the other girl. Out in the wilderness her pokemon were generally out quite a lot, but cities and towns weren't necessarily created for huge Onix to be rumbling about along the walks.

The quick stop of her new friend was plenty of time for her to catch up at a light jog, slowing down to walk beside as the two made their way to the inn. Haruko had no real interest in shutting up, chattering on about this and that in a cheeful manner as they went along, finally leading back to, "Hey... I don't remember if I asked where the nearest pokemon gym was... Do you know? I wanna get all the badges before I have to go home!"

[Rairai]

Rai was rather surprised that Haruko had recalled her pokemon, but she figured that it was because she had grown up in a town where everyone just carried their pokemon around with them - or, in the case larger pokemon, would let them walk alongside. 'I get it with the Onix and all, but why the others?' Her brother would keep many of his inside their pokeballs but his Linoone would just walk alongside him or, if they traveled at night, wrapped around his neck to sleep.

"The... nearest gym?" Rai sounded confused for a moment as she considered the question. There was no gym in Barley - such a small port town would never have a gym - but that didn't necessarily mean she knew where any others were. As she walked, her pace slowing slightly as she concentrated on thinking, she tried to remember back to her brother's stories he had told her when he had come home for a break from traveling. 'There's... four. Arasam, Petropolis, Gigarte and... Dammit, where's the fourth?' She ran over all the towns in Furoh in her head before it clicked. "Fidona. That's it. It means another ferry ride, but it's the most convenient gym to start at, since that only ferry there and back makes berth at the Barely Port."

A small smile crept onto her lips as she remembered one particular story her brother had once told her in a letter, mostly full of complaints that he regretted not visiting Fidona first because he had to come all the way back to Barley from Gigarte. The smile wasn't quite from how annoyed with himself Flare had been, but more with the fact that she would be able to see her brother again. 'If I still haven't worked up the courage to actually leave Barley on my own journey.'

[Anko]

Haruko had no idea that what she'd done had been confusing in the slightest to Rai, continuing on obliviously with their conversation.

She waited patiently as the other girl did her best to recall where the various gyms were on this continent, beaming happily with the knowledge that one was really only a ferry ride and some travel time away.

"Awesome, thanks!" she cheered with a great deal of enthusiasm to match the smile still plastered on her face. She'd set right off for Fidona in the morning! "That'll be my first stop then!" Then a thought struck her... "So just what do you do anyways?"

[Rairai]

Rai glanced at her, blinking. "What do you mean?" She asked, staring at the other girl slightly. "What do you do with gym battles?" Her tone was clear to give away her absolute confusion. 'Or does she mean what I do?' was the other confused thought running through her head. The unspoken response would have been easy to answer, but the one concerning gyms would have been lost on her. She had no idea how the gym system worked past what she had heard from her brother.

As she thought about it more, Rai began to realize that this girl reminded her of her brother. The enthusiasm and smile, mostly, but there were other underlying similarities that made her think of Flare. It made it easier to deal with this stranger, indefinitely.

[Anko]

It wasn't until Rai gave her a confused look that Haruko realized the mistake she'd made, giving an embarrassed smile and scratching an itch on her nose as she tried to explain herself.

"Hah... I already know how gyms work. I'm kinda the heir to one... sorta... I just wondered what you do around here. I dunno what I'd do all couped up in a small town like this. Where's the action and adventure?!" she said excitedly with a laugh as she thought about what lay ahead for her in the future. "Whatdya do for fun? How do ya live? I'm just curious," the fiery fighter inquired. She'd always wondered how those in smaller towns that weren't a bustling metropolis like Saffron lived. Her newest friend seemed like the perfect person to ask on her new journey!

[Rairai]

Rai gave a small laugh, nodding in understanding. That made more sense. "I guess I'm just used to Barley. It doesn't see that small," She said calmly. "I've never been to any of the larger cities either, so I can't really compare." She looked down at Stripes, still fast asleep in her hold, and smiled slightly. "I work on a local farm with Mother and Father. We breed Zigzagoon like this one for their fur." Rai smiled as she slowly pet the raccoon. "It's not as high quality as wool from the Mareep, but it's warmer."

She decided to leave it at that, mostly because she was surprised with herself at how open she was being with a complete stranger. She put it down to the fact that Haruko reminded her of her own brother, with a little side note that this girl seemed to just make people want to open up to her. It was strange feeling and Rai had no idea what to do except give into that feeling and share more about herself.

[Anko]

Haruko gave a cheery smile as Rai spoke about her life a bit more openly than she's seemed before. That was certainly a relief!

"I could always bring ya to my place in Saffron for a visit when Pop decides its time to drag me home. It could be fun!" she offered the invitation happily. She could really come to like this girl! "Is that really enough, though?..." she pondered Rai's job. "What about being a pokemon trainer? Can they fight?" she motioned with her hand to include all three of Rai's animals. "They seem to really like you."

By now they'd made their way into town. The hotel couldn't be so far away, likely near the docks, right? With that thought, Haruko began to glance about for anything that remotely looked like a hotel sign.

[Rairai]

Rai chose to ignore the offer - she had no plans of having anything to do with Haruko once she had gotten the older girl to the inn. 'If I get stuck with her spending the night at the farm, then she'll be gone in the morning while I'm out working.' Instead, she directed her attention to the girl's other question, the one concerning her pokemon.

"Stars can," Rai said casually, briefly lifting a hand to indicate to the Starly flying overhead. "But he was trained by my brother so I don't know how well he fights." She ended with a shrug, clearly finding no need to expand on her other two companions because they didn't fight at all. Not to her knowledge, at least.

[Anko]

Haruko's brow rose in surprise as she glanced over at the other girl. Haruko honestly couldn't think of any reason to have pokemon other than to battle, but obviously her views didn't carry over to everyone in the world. Still, she still found it odd whenever she found someone around her age, especially younger ones like Rai, that had no aspirations to be a pokemon trainer and explore the world. The passionate fighter was obviously shocked.

"So you've never battled before... ever?!" she both exclaimed and asked at the same time. "That's no fun at all!" Her voice had suddenly become much louder than it really needed to be, but the rambunctious teen didn't seem to notice at all. "Where's the action and excitement in that?!"

[Rairai]

Rai stared at the other girl for a moment, surprised her outburst hadn't been received with angry shouts from nearby households and just shrugged. "My brother enjoys battleing," She said, almost uncaringly. "I don't really see how you can do it. I prefer to just keep them as friends, considering they're all I've had as company since my brother left." She gave a small nod, mostly to herself as she ran her hand through Stripes' fur slowly.

"Besides," Rai continued without skipping a beat. "Growing up on a farm, I'm more likely to fall into being a breeder, actually." She glanced up at Flare who was flying overhead and commented off-handedly, "I don't even own a pokeball apart from Stars' one."

[Anko]

Wow... this girl was really a lost cause when it came to combat...

"Soooo... a traveling pokemon breeder then? You can't just stay here your entire life can you? Ya gotta get out and see the world! Gotta have at least a little fun. ...And whats wrong with friends that have fun fighting?" Haruko asked much quieter with an off-the-side glance. She didn't make it obvious, but Rai's apparent thought that Haruko didn't consider her pokemon to be anything more than a tool for fighting felt like a bit of a jab at her heart. "Why no pokeballs though? That seems odd for a tr-... ... ...Nevermind..." she finished up by correcting herself. As already said, she assumed everyone near her age was itching to get out and see the world with action, adventure and lots of training. Rai was an enigma to her.

It wasn't long after that they did finally make it to the hotel only to find that it had indeed run out of vacancy long ago, sent off once again with an apology, now towards Rai's place for the night. Haruko really couldn't thank her enough and did so the entire way there...