[Elizabeth Waters]

word count: 428

The late afternoon was a time for relaxing after a long day. The group had been up early that morning training, followed by working a couple odd jobs around town and now they intended to just relax a little. Things had thawed out a little but there was still a chill breeze blowing through the resort town.

Elizabeth and co however decided to take an early evening stroll along the shoreline before supper. The ranger still wore her long dark jacket, along with black leather gloves, a dark green hoodie along with her navy gray cargo pants and combat boots. The girl had her light brown hair down and it rested loosely at the top of her shoulders. She still wore her black military cap that sported a skarmory pin.

All her various pokemon were out alongside her, save for Loki who was still undergoing training at the dojo. Despite the chill Ayla was glad to be out. The tropius never did enjoy being cooped up in her pokeball when Liz had business in town. She half trotted a little ways ahead of the group, staying on the ground for the time being. Damara however was lazily soaring through the skies above them. The onset of evening was an energizing hour for the owl though she was still pretty laid back.

Pavel was draped around Liz's neck, the tiny feline not wanting to walk in the sand. Cecylia had opted to walk actually enjoying the feel of the cool sand and found the sound of the half frozen bay calming. Raya kept pace with Liz and kept a watchful eye out for any signs of trouble, the lucario often finding it difficult to relax completely.

Liz smirked a little at the steel jackal's overprotectiveness. "I doubt anyone'll bother us out here Raya, and be careful you don't scare off any potential friends. We want to be approachable for those who need help, not scare folks off." The ranger reminded the lucario with a wink. The rather tall lucario could come across as a tad intimidating but probably no more so than pretty much any pokemon her size or larger, such as Ayla.

Raya sighed a little as she tried to relax a little and listen to the waves. Her feet sunk into the moist sand, still damp from the previous day's rain and cool from the icy temperatures. Liz gave a small chuckle glad the lucario was at least trying. The girl closed her light gray eyes as let out a small sigh as they continued their stroll.

tag

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[Freya Callum]

Freya was at the beach that day to try and play around with her pokemon. She wanted them to try and bond with each other, because she realized that she hadn't been doing enough of that. So, she watched as her Eevee, Bounsweet, and Clamperl danced around in the water, splashing it at each other and all around having fun. The water was a fun and natural way for Bounsweet to absorb the water she needed. For plants, salt was something that actually hurt them more so than helped them. However, when it came to grass type pokemon, they didn't really care as much. Freya couldn't really tell if it was because of the fact that they filtered out the salt when absorbing it, or if they honestly just didn't care, but either way, it was nice.

This was the first time the baby Eevee had really been out since Freya played her violin along the streets, and she was happy to see how well it was actually connecting with the other pokemon. It seemed to be extremely happy as it splashed the others with water. She was starting to see a mischievous side to the pokemon, but it was more of a playful side than an evil side. Clamperl seemed to be having fun with the group as well. Though, it didn't really partake in the splashing each other with water. Instead, it tried to just talk with them, while closing it's shell whenever a splash of water came her way. She wasn't as rambunctious as the other two pokemon, but that's what made her unique. She was the balance between the two pokemon that Freya needed. If she only had pokemon that ran around all the time, she wouldn't know how she could keep up, so this was good for her. 

While her pokemon were playing around in the water, she saw as an older woman was walking towards the group with her pokemon out of their pokeballs. It didn't seem like the woman noticed them too much. She was mostly focusing on her pokemon as of now, and Freya didn't want to bother her, but she decided that if her pokemon were going to bond with each other, she might as well find someone else to bond with as well. So, as she stood up, she directed herself towards the woman she had seen from earlier and said to her, "Hi! My name's Freya, what's yours?"

[Elizabeth Waters]

word count: 425

Ahead Liz had noted the presence of a younger trainer with her pokemon and had instinctively begun diverting to go around them. As the lead of their little group Ayla was the closest though the tropius now decided to push off the ground and into the air joining the rowlet above. 

Absently Liz's gray gaze followed the living fruit tree's progress into the sky. It really was something watching one with Ayla's bulk move so effortlessly through the air. Her focus was on the grass flier when the coordinator approached them. 

"Hi! My name's Freya, what's yours?"

Liz came to an abrupt halt then flicked her eyes toward the white haired girl and she gave a small tilt of the head. "Oh hello..." She paused then frowned realizing she'd just attempted to project her thoughts to an unreceptive stranger. It was becoming such a habit for her to speak psychically first that she sometimes forgot that not everyone's minds would be open to her telepathy. Raya raised a brow and Liz shot the lucario a small scowl. "Shush you." She cleared her throat and remembered to actually use her voice this time.

"Oh, um, hello there." The ranger greeted with a bit of confusion. She blinked and looked the girl up and down, she didn't seem like any threat. A small smile spread over the girl's lips as she dipped her head. "Freya was it? Hi Freya, I'm Elizabeth, though most folks just call me Liz."

The girl paused a moment then gestured to the lucario at her side, "Oh and this here is Raya." The larger lucario stood just passed Liz's shoulder and nodded briefly in greeting. Liz then motioned to the tiny litten draped across her shoulders who opened one eye and eyed Freya with disinterest. "And here is Pavel."

She glanced around then noticed Cecylia's back to them, flicking an ear as she listened to them over the sound of the waves. The pikachu turned and headed in their direction once she'd managed to pinpoint their location. There wasn't much physical indication of the pikachu's blindness other than her eyes not focusing on anything or anyone. Her movements were slow and deliberate but she moved without hesitation.

"This is Cecylia. And up there are Damara and Ayla." She finished indicating the rowlet and tropius flying overhead while the pikachu gave a soft chuu in greeting. The ranger glanced around, making sure she'd remembered everyone, then looked back to Freya still wearing a small smile. "Enjoying an evening stroll with your pokemon too?"

Freya Callum

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[Freya Callum]

The woman that Freya had greeted introduced herself as well as her pokemon. Each of them had a nickname that the trainer used. Although Freya knew that a lot of people did that, Freya never really thought there was a purpose to it. She didn't think it was because she loved her pokemon any less, she just felt like naming a pokemon would be like naming a plant, not too purposeful unless your trying to tell them apart from one another. Either way, the names that they all had were cute.

So, Freya thought she would introduce her own pokemon as well. As she reached out her hand towards her pokemon, she said, "These are three of my pokemon, Eevee, Clamperl, and Bounsweet. Eevee had hatched yesterday, so I decided to take them out on a bonding trip. After all, you can't have teamwork without friendship. I'm a coordinator, and although I haven't actually participated in any contests, I'm planning on doing one soon. I just wanted to make sure that my pokemon were completely ready for it. What about you? Are you a trainer, coordinator, or something else?" Once Freya finished, she let out a quiet exhale, trying to get out the nerves she had from talking to someone else. Usually, she would be stuttering and tumbling over her words, but it seemed as though having her pokemon helped her become a bit more social. 

Elizabeth Waters

[Elizabeth Waters]

word count: 385

Elizabeth held her head at a slight tilt as she listened to the sudden rush of information that flowed from the younger girl. The budding psychic could sense a lot of nervousness coming off Freya and she understood that sudden sense of urgency to spit everything out at once just to get it over with. Liz tried to give the coordinator an encouraging smile though she found it slightly difficult not to feel a tad nervous herself now. Pokemon emotions were much easier to regulate than other humans.

Her gray eyes flicked over the girl's pokemon as she introduced them. Eevee, check, Liz was quite familiar with eevees. Clamperl, check, not one she'd ever raised herself but familiar. Bounsweet, wait a moment, she'd never heard of a bounsweet before. The girl raised a brow and glanced over at the alolan grass type, cute little thing though. Her attention was diverted back to the girl when she posed her questions.

"What about you? Are you a trainer, coordinator, or something else?"

Liz smiled and reached into her pocket retrieving her ranger badge. "I used to just be a trainer yea, but since I moved to Arciel I've enlisted with the League rangers. It seemed like the thing to do." She held up her badge a moment before stowing it away once more. "So coordinator huh? I've always been better at straight battles myself, I don't quite have the flair for contests. Seems like you've got a good team to start with, though I don't think I've ever met a bounsweet before."

She inquired gesturing to the little grass berry. Raya too seemed curious as to the unfamiliar pokemon. Pavel of course wasn't at all surprised by his fellow alolan species though Cecylia casually approached the group and gave a small wave in their direction and greeted them all with a small pika.

Ayla and Damara now showed interest in the goings on down below. The tropius circled around then landed heavily beside Raya causing sand to spray up against the lucario. Damara drifted down and settled on Ayla's head, shyly peering at the stranger and her pokemon. Liz was secretly relieved Loki wasn't with them this evening as the mismagius would be having a field day with the poor girl. Skittish, nervous types were his favorite.

Freya Callum

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[Freya Callum]

As Elizabeth finished up her sentence, Freya got a bit intrigued. Due to her living in seclusion for most of her life, she hadn't really meant much of anyone, let alone a ranger. So, Freya would talk about Bounsweet first, then go into talking about Elizabeth's life as a ranger. Freya didn't no much about what they did, but she was sure that it'd be an interesting topic to talk about. With that in mind, she said to Elizabeth, "Yeah, I love my pokemon. They can be really amazing and fun. They're a bit rowdy at times, but that's just what makes them amazing. Bounsweet was my starter, and from the get go, she was really rash with her decisions. She likes to jump around, make new friends, and just do a lot of things. It's tiring, but worth it. Well anyways, I've actually never met a ranger before. What do you guys do? I've lived in seclusion for most of my life. Since my parents were biologists, they wanted to be surrounded by nature. So, I mostly lived in a shack while they traveled across the world." 

Freya had begun to feel a tad bit more comfortable with the new person as she spoke more and more about her life. Just talking about what she had gone through as a child was nice. She never had any resentment for her parents, but she did wish that she was able to talk to more people as a child. After all, you can't really make friends when the only things that are around you are pokemon and plants. 

Elizabeth Waters

[Elizabeth Waters]

word count: 528

The ranger leaned against Ayla and with her arms loosely crossed over her torso as she listened to the young coordinator pretty much spill her life story to a stranger. Liz couldn't help a small grin at the girl's slight rambling, though the girl looked rather concerned about the shack bit. Her parents just ditched her to live on her own while they traveled? At least that's what it sounded like the girl meant.

Most people tended to be more guarded about such things but the ranger didn't mind Freya opening up if that's what she wanted. The brunette also knew how nerves could often cause one to just start spitting out anything that came to mind. Pavel curled himself around so his back was toward the strange girl and he buried his head in Liz's jacket. Cecylia wandered back to Liz's side and hopped up onto the tropius' back, helped a little by Raya.

"Well anyways, I've actually never met a ranger before. What do you guys do?"

Ah that was the question wasn't it? What did they do? The girl pursed her lips and exchanged looks with Raya who shrugged. Liz chuckled a moment before responding. "Huh, well it depends. Rangers protect pokemon and people from those who'd try to harm them. We look out for the citizens of Arciel and try to help keep law and order. I'm registered with the League so I've the capacity to arrest criminals and take down members of the elusive Project Chimera. But for the most part we patrol the wilds of Arciel, helping out where we can. I rely heavily on the backup provided by my pokemon companions and require them to be in top shape at all times. We train very hard and try to account for all possible situations we might need to take on. It's a bit of a solitary lifestyle but with pokemon you're never really alone."

The girl explained though as for herself she hadn't really done much rangering, mostly just working odd jobs to get by and focusing on training up her team as best she could. Of course she was always on her guard and ready to step in if trouble happened to arise. The ranger pursed her lips, well Freya had spilled a bit about her past she supposed she could share a little more beyond her duties as a ranger.

"So I'm not from Arciel originally. I'm guessing you though didn't get out to explore it much huh?" Liz furrowed her brow then frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but did your parents really ditch you in some shack to raise yourself so they could go galavanting across the ocean?"

A bit of indignation could be heard in her tone though she tried not to sound too harsh. It was possible the girl had failed to mention she'd been left with a caretaker or relative that'd raised her while her folks traveled for work, which was common but a little sad. That was drastically different then abandoning their child in a shack in the middle of nowhere to fend for themselves, which was how it sounded at first.

Freya Callum

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[Freya Callum]

As Freya listened to the Ranger's telling of her job, Freya was intrigued by it. She started to smile of the thought that there were people like her helping out the world to make it a better place. Freya was positive that the world had too many beauties in it to let it descend into chaos. So, as Elizabeth finished up her part of the conversation, Freya said, "Wow. Thanks for doing all you do. You may not be there yet, but that doesn't mean you won't." That final line was one that was very important to her as a botanist. A flower, fruit, or whatever else may not be absolutely there yet, but in due time, it will bloom to be something amazing. Something that feeds people, allows people to admire it, or even something that people build their homes with. That line was something that she said with the most genuine tone, because she knew that everyone had a point where they will shine, they just need to work towards it. 

Freya could hear the amount of disdain in her acquaintances voice, but she went down to settle it by saying, "Oh...well sort of it. Though, I still love my parents. They had to do what they did. Having me move from place to place across the globe wasn't something they wanted of me. They wanted me to stay home and explore things that I loved to do rather than what they did. Of course, they didn't exactly know I would become an aspiring botanist, but its still the same." With that, she lightly giggled as she continued on again, saying, "My parents love me a lot, and I love them a lot too. They were the reasons why I picked up the violin, and went into botany. I can't thank them enough for that, and even though my younger self felt a bit lonely, she learned to find love in the nature around her." She then softly blushed, as she looked down at the ground. Everything she said was true and genuine. She really did believe these things, and whether its because she had to as a child, or if it was just her thought process but thats what she really thought. There was no room for hate in Freya's heart, and she knew that. Not for her parents, not for criminals, or for anyone really. People do what they have to, and whether or not its a dumb decision doesn't mean there isn't still good in them. It might take going to jail, or being away from their child to understand that, it didn't make them any less good.  

Looking back over towards her pokemon, she had confirmed her thoughts. The innocence that was in each and every one of them was what kept Freya going. Knowing that there were pokemon and people out there like them was assuring to her. She knew that no one was born evil. Like a flower, they just weren't taken care of enough. It just takes a bit of nourishing, and maybe then they'll be able to go back to who they were when they were the tiny buds waiting to blossom. With that thought in mind, she smiled and said to Elizabeth, "Well, I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear, but hey, that's just life I guess. Either way, it was nice letting that off my chest. I guess my heart has always wondered what to believe, and talking to you about it helped me understand a bit more. I know we just met and everything, but you helped. So, thanks." With that, Freya smiled her biggest smile at her. She wasn't sure if she had ruined everything by unloading this stuff onto her, but she would understand if she had. After all, it was pretty weird to do that with someone you barely knew.

wc: 650

Elizabeth Waters

[Elizabeth Waters]

word count: 403

Liz listened closely and smiled a little at her reassurance. She was a sweet kid that was obvious. Liz just hoped nothing happened to her traveling out all alone. People were darker than most realized but even Liz was more inclined to give folks the benefit of the doubt at first. The ranger's gaze softened at the girl's explanation. It was a foreign concept to her, having parents that weren't there with you as a child to be your guide and your support, but she supposed everyone was different. The brunette gave a small then inclined her head to Freya.

"I'm sorry if I sounded rude, it's really not my place to judge your parents. It's just hard to imagine not growing up with your mother and father by your side. I suppose the thought is a little harder to swallow for me right now as..." The ranger heisated, it seemed the girl's desire to open up was catching but perhaps that was due to her own empathic sense getting a little too mingled with Freya's own feelings. "Well my mother died sometime last year, and my father, well, he's off exploring Acriel trying to get over her passing I guess. I suppose the thought of someone missing out on being with their parents when they could be, should be, hit a bit of a nerve."

Liz gave the girl a gentle smile of apology blinking her eyes a bit to keep them from tearing up. Absently she began playing with a small, silver leaf locket that hung around her neck, rather hidden by her layers of clothing. Raya placed a hand on her bicep as a gentle reassurance that her pokemon sensed her twinge of pain. The girl cleared her throat then shook her head.

"Oh I did? Well you're welcome I suppose." She chuckled then glanced at the girl's pokemon. "And hey you at least learned something most people don't even think about. Remembering to appreciate nature and pokemon for what they are. I may not be a botanist, but I was raised on a ranch and have done my fair share of gardening." The girl added with a wink.

"So I take it you're traveling alone then with just your pokemon? Should certainly meet a lot of different pokemon and trainers along the way." Liz added with a grin now looking to change the subject to a bit lighter topic.

Freya Callum

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