[Elise Bell]

“Ah—” Elise’s lips parted and then sealed as Elliot spoke. A small smile twitched at the corners of her mouth and then fell into something neutral instead. Her journey was hardly a journey in any conventional sense. Sure, she’d received Pokemon, and sure she was technically registered as a coordinator now… but she really hadn’t seen much of the world outside of Bass City. She wasn’t on the road and had no reason to be, not until PNG really started show road traveling. She had… gone a little bit further than she usually did, but not by much. Not yet. “Mm!”

Luckily, she didn’t have to think about that very long. The focus on Elliot was helpful, and Elise would keep it that way. “Oh yeah? It’s probably good to see what you’re good at before deciding then!” she answered. “I kind of always knew I wanted to do coordinating, but being in PNG kind of helped me realize that!” She grinned a little warmly thereafter. “Oh! Yeah, Pixie Nightmare Girls. I’m one of the band. Elise!” Never mind that she had already said her name ehehehe.

And then Elliot narrowed it down a little. Uh. How long… had she been at it for, exactly? Why had she decided to.. “Well…. I got Shimmer years ago now,” she said looking sideways at the Ribombee. The cute bug Pokemon fluttered around and waved her hands again. “But it was really… my friends who helped me!” she went on with a smile. “I’ve known them since we were little, and it just sorta fell into place, ya know?”

Spotlight stared at the giggling Ralts and frowned all the more. Any and all emotion was annoying, but this particular brand of it was even more annoying. The Hattrem glared and suddenly formed a Brutal Swing, swinging violently at the Ralts.

[Elliot Sunderland]

Well, the secret was out. Elise had just mentioned her membership of PNG. The good news was that now Elliot didn't have to keep dancing around that. The bad news was that this left one step remaining in the dance. What would he do? Pretend he didn't know? The more Elliot thought about it, the more that just felt creepy, even if he meant well doing so. No, it'd be a lot better to admit it head on. Yet at least by now, Elliot knew going all-in on admitting it would also have a bad effect. Now he knew what to do.

Elliot's smile was soft and understanding as he turned to Elise. "I kinda figured," he admitted. "But I didn't really want to make a big deal of it, you know? You guys probably have to deal with that kind of thing enough." There was no need to overexplain and end up digging himself into a hole when he didn't need to. Just a quiet, understanding affirmation that people deserved space, peace, and quiet, instead of every person who saw them falling over themselves and screaming.

He could only hope it came off the right way.

Nevertheless, Elliot listened to her describe the steps of her journey so far with interest. He smiled a little as she mentioned knowing what she wanted to do for so long. "It's funny. If you asked me when I was younger? Trainer, easily," Elliot admitted. After all, he'd looked up to his dad for so long, and the amazing battles that his Torterra and Flygon put on had always wowed him. Yet, here now, with these young, vulnerable Pokemon dependent on him, and the intense anxiety that actually went into a fight always looming over him? It was a lot harder to be so sure in his response.

It didn't help that his father was so much harder to idolize now.

Rather than bare all those thoughts, he just sidestepped around them. "But now that I've started this whole journey, battling just doesn't feel like my kind of thing. And I'm kinda flying solo on this one, so if I'm finding a place it's pretty much up to me and my team to make that choice. But I'm sure the longer we travel, and the more Pokemon we meet along the way, we'll start figuring out all those little details." He went quiet for a second, looking off towards the stage wistfully, before turning back to Elise. "What's it like? Being a coordinator?" So much for keeping the focus of the conversation on Elliot!

Thankfully, an out was about to come sailing in from stage left. As Spotlight reared her hair back for a Brutal Swing, Echo's eyes sparked in contemplation. Of course! Her cool new friend wanted a high five! She pulled her hand back as well, ready, willing, and able to make the connection. This was going to be great!

The high five echoed through the air. But then Spotlight kept pushing through with her attack, and Echo? Well, she didn't even realize until she was flying through the air, dazed and confused. Fortunately, she had an angel in the outfield. Murex, who was still just awkwardly sitting center stage, saw her flying and immediately pried her shell open as widely as she could. She hopped and wobbled back and forth, trying to get underneath Echo's shadow. Fortunately she was in just the right spot. Echo landed right on the poor Shellder's face, eyes swirling from dizziness behind her blunt bangs. Murex herself cringed in discomfort, but was glad that she had at least rescued her friend.

Immediately Elliot turned, shuffling awkwardly onto the stage. "I'll be right back!" he called as he tried to pull himself up, his bad leg making it somewhat of an awkward motion. He ran up to Murex and Echo, checking up on them worriedly. "What happened?" he asked. Murex's only response was to loll her tongue to one side, rolling it in an imitation of a shrug.

[Elise Bell]

Purple eyes blinked in rapid succession, and then a small smile warmed into a bigger one. Oh! So he knew but didn’t wanna be all crazy about it! That was kind of nice, actually! (It was also nice to just be heard about in general, but she digressed.) “A little bit,” was the soft answer back. She got it when on stage and directly off the stage. When living her day to day life, it was easy to fall into the background, or at least it felt like. She was just another one of the Bell daughters to so many people… and like! That was ok! But! Yeah!

A softer smile pulled onto Elise’s features thereafter as Elliot went on. So many of her classmates had wanted to be trainers growing up, so it just made sense to want to do that. Still, that wasn’t everyone, and that was like! ok! At the question, though, she folded her arms behind her back and leaned one way and then the next. “It’s a lot of fun! I love performing and getting to see people’s eyes light up when I show off pretty moves,” she started. “Working with my Pokemon is kind of like working with the girls— EEEEEEEEEK!”

Elise’s eyes grew in staunch horror as the Ralts came sailing outwards. Thankfully the Shellder caught (caught? Was squished by? Same difference). As Elliot turned to move, she did as well following after him. “Guys???” she asked looking to her own Pokemon for an explanation. Sans and Shimmer were looking at her with this mix of confusion and understanding. Only Serenity had actually seen what had happened and was too busy covering her eyes with her ribbons to give an adequate response. She was embarrassed… for Spotlight no less. Spotlight, meanwhile, was content with the peace in her general area now and snuggled in to wait out a chill moment.

[Elliot Sunderland]

Elliot picked Echo up with the utmost gingerness, looking the poor Ralts over for signs of injury. She didn't see anything too bad. She was a bit scuffed up, but Murex made for a nice, soft landing. There weren't any cuts or bruises, but there was a rather large red mark on her face. "It's almost like she was . . . " Elliot started, giving Echo another curious look to see if there was any other explanation. But no, just a stinging-looking redness. "Slapped?" But that didn't even make sense! What around here could even slap a Ralts to send it flying like that?

Nevertheless, Elliot settled for sitting down and keeping the Ralts close. "I'm just glad you're okay," he said, voice soft. He stroked the little Pokemon's hair, as if trying to soothe it in its current state of unconsciousness. Murex hopped over to the two, resting against Elliot's leg and peering up at Echo in concern. Right now, the two seemed more concerned with comfort and monitoring Elliot's status rather than going snooping around.

Joule, still keeping with Elise, looked up at her and nodded. It seemed like the Dedenne was ready to do some investigating! She fully prepared to follow Elise wherever she'd go next.

[Elise Bell]

Elise shifted over to Elliot but tried not to look over his shoulder too much. Ouch, poor Ralts. She didn’t even have any revives on her: a couple of potions and a berry or two but nothing like this. What could she do? Maybe Spotlight could use Heal Pulse? Would that help a fainted Pokemon at all? She wasn’t sure but wasn’t ready to discredit her own thoughts.

Getting up again and looking around, Elise walked over to Sans and Shimmer. “Do you know where Spot is?” Sans shook his head. Shimmer looked at Serenity and gave a small point. The Sylveon was still blocking her vision and growing progressively pinker by the moment. “Serene?” Slowly the Sylveon lowered her ribbons— just enough to make a small point to where the Hattrem had holed up. Elise turned and then walked over that way to find the nested Psychic.

“Spotlight, can you come help Elliot’s Ralts?” Spotlight glared at Elise the minute she spoke up. “W-what? She’s really not looking good, and I don’t know if a berry or spray will he—“ The Hattrem huffed, turned away, and sat again. Elise frowned softly. What was…. wrong? Now?

[Elliot Sunderland]

Joule looked up at the Sylveon, realization dawning in her beady little eyes as she saw the Eeeveelution flush with embarrassment. A small, amused smile spread across her face, but she held up a finger over her mouth. It was the universal symbol of silence; if the Sylveon was embarrassed, it seemed like Joule was going to try and spare her that embarrassment. She then scrambled to continue following after Elise, making her way to Spotlight's secret corner.

As the huffed Pokemon turned away from her own trainer, Joule scampered around to the other side of the corner. The Hattrem couldn't huff away from both of them at once, right? Nevertheless, she may have been one of the better choices for this endeavor. As opposed to the childish energy that rippled off of Echo at all times, half of Joule's role on Elliot's team was to be the quiet, calm center. Spotlight wouldn't be getting many vibes coming off of Joule at all, besides a single, quiet emotion;

Not being mad, just disappointed.

She folded her tiny arms, expression and eyes neutral as she looked up at the Hattrem. Would she respond to this in similar fashion to how she treated Echo? Or would her less irritating vibe at least give her a chance of helping Elise get through to the Hattrem?

[Elise Bell]

Spotlight’s tiny cheeks puffed as a Dedenne she didn’t recognize hopped around to face her. Turning a bit awkwardly now to face a direction neither Elise nor Joule was in, she huffed again. Still, Joule’s calm emotions were a sort of welcomed change to make. Elise waxed and waned between highs and lows, and in many ways, her general team followed suit. At least some of the older Pokemon were aware of her senses and general nature regarding it and had the decency to leave her alone but none were exactly as fluid as Joule was for the moment.

Elise bit her lower lip and looked from Joule to Spotlight. Spotlight had always been sort of strange, but she’d only gotten weirder since evolving. It was so hard to get a gauge of her unless she was shutting down or blowing up. Almost like there was no in between. “Just… if you change your mind, please help, ok???” she asked before taking a step back and going to check on Elliot and Echo again. “I have a potion if that would help— I know fainted Pokemon are a little different than non-fainted ones but….” But it was something.

[Elliot Sunderland]

Joule nodded as Elise scampered away, watching as her trainer shot the idol a grateful smile. She then turned back to the Hattrem, letting out a soft, weary sigh.

(The young ones can be such handfuls, can't they?) she squeaked, in an alternative to me spending my entire post typing out charades. If the anime can get away with subtitled Pokemon speech when humans weren't present, then gosh darnit, so could I! (And by that I mean the humans as well as the Pokemon. They can all be so loud sometimes. So much energy to keep up with. It's hard to blame you for needing space from it all.

Are you feeling more rested? A bit more calm, perhaps?)

She folded her hands on her lap, waiting patiently for the Hattrem's response. Afterwards, she continued to squeak, taking on a bit more serious of a tone. (That said, you can't simply attack the things that stress you out. Not only could it hurt people who didn't mean to cause you harm, but if you pick the wrong target it could get you seriously hurt. Temper may be an asset in the battle, but it can be a double edged sword.

It's okay if you don't want to come out right now. I understand. But maybe when you've had a chance to breathe, you could heal the Ralts up? She and her human have more hearts than brains. I'm sure they'll hold no ill will for your frustration.) The smile on her face was soft, gentle, and more importantly restrained, but her eyes were stern. It was clear her suggestion was more of a "suggestion."

[Elise Bell]

Spotlight was thankful Elise was leaving her radius. Any more of that sad-kicked-puppy emotion was going to make her bash something inwards. Still, as the Dedenne started speaking to her, she could only squint sideways. Why she talking to her? What did she hope to gain by this? Did she too want a Brutal Swing to the face? Spotlight’s cheeks puffed up a little in response….

Yet… it was weirdly hard to keep these feelings up for long. The calm of the Dedenne was too much like a glass sea with a cool sun gracing down. So instead, Spotlight pursed her lips and looked away. <Maybe> she answered, if unwillingly.

The critique had her cheeks puffing again. She didn’t care who she hurt. They hurt her first being so emotional. Her tiny arms folded a bit tighter. <Hmph….> was the only response that would be given. It was clear she wasn't going to talk further on this even if maybe, just maybe, she'd listened a little. 

[Elliot Sunderland]

Joule nodded, reaching calmly towards the Hattrem's shoulder. If she indicated even the slightest bit of distress or tension from the gesture, she would pull it back, letting out an apologetic chitter. If not, she would give the Pokemon a gentle pat. She let out a quiet, understanding squeak, as if indicating that it was okay whatever choice she made. She then turned to scamper away, giving one last look over her shoulder to check on the standoffish Pokemon before scampering back to the group.

As she came back to the group Elliot looked down at her, smiling softly. "Find anything, Joule?" he asked, only for the Dedenne to shake her head in response. If she was going to give the Hattrem some hard talk, the least she could do was respect its space and privacy. "Huh. Weird. Maybe she wandered too close to a wild Pokemon and it had a bad reaction. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if we were the only ones who got curious about the contest routine, you know?"

Elliot looked up at Elise. While his eyes still shone a little bit with worry, he didn't seem to be letting it get to him too badly. "Thanks again with your help for this. Echo seems fine, for the most part. Honestly she seems more tired than actually hurt," he remarked. "I think she'll be able to rest this one off herself. But she is gonna be out for a good bit. I don't think the potion's going to ease her fatigue, but the thought counts for a lot." He took out Echo's Poke Ball, returning her to it so she could rest up peacefully.

As he did so, a little bit of thought sparked in his eyes. "I saw some contest in Sinnoh once where they had these stickers on their Pokeballs that made them do all kinds of cool effects," he said, pondering the surface of the ball curiously. "Do you know if they have those here? I bet Echo'd love the chance to give her Pokeball its own personal touch."

[Elise Bell]

Spotlight fidgeted and quickly shrugged off Joule’s gentle attempt. Cheeks puffed. Eyes narrowed. She may have semi-listened to those words, but that didn’t mean she considered you a friend. Hmph. The understanding squeak after had her shaking her head and flicking hat tassel.

Elise frowned softly down at Echo. Poor thing…. “Maybe?” she ask-stated back at him as he posed a possibility. It sounded a little farfetched, but it wasn’t like they were in town. Wild Pokemon came and went as they pleased out there. She smiled a little softly at the thanks and assurance. Pokemon were resilient creatures. They could take what have you. She repeated the thought a couple times over for self-assurance. “Ok….” she nodded back once even as the Ralts was returned.

The question that followed had Elise blinking a couple of times. “Stickers?” she repeated before glancing upwards in thought. She … didn’t remember anything like that, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there somewhere. “I don’t know, maybe in a specialty shop somewhere?” she asked looking down at Elliot again and smiling. “Bass has a lot of different imports from time to time, but with Plum being the capital, I’d go there first!” She giggled a little after. “Oh! And if you go to the island, maybe stop in Bellwood farms in Cherry Town if you get the chance! It’s my family’s farm!” She folded her arms behind herself again and smiled. “It’s gonna look beautiful once spring is in full swing.”

[Elliot Sunderland]

Look for a Sinnoh import store and hope for the best, huh? That made sense. And it seemed like if looking for imports form the East, the best place to head was West. Again, made sense. Going to Eastern Arciel would probably be better for Galarian and Kalosian imports, and contest culture never really caught on there as much as it did in Hoenn and Sinnoh. Which was really weird, when Elliot thought about it. Didn't Kalos prime itself on being the home of opulence and wealth? At least, Elliot was pretty sure his old babysitter used to tell him that. Contests seemed like they'd be a natural fit for a region like that, and yet all the contests he saw were from Hoenn and Sinnoh. Was that weird or what?

Elliot promptly realized that even in his own head, he wasn't safe from rambling.

What was he trying to think about? Right! His next steps on his journey. After he was done up north, it sounded like west to Plum City would be his next direction. And while he was there, why not check out Cherry Town and Elise's farm? Honestly, he didn't even expect her to come from a small-town farm family! Maybe it's because unlike some fans, he didn't spend every minute dissecting her tweets and geo-triangulating her pictures. "Really? That's so cool!" Elliot said. "Must be some whiplash, huh? Going from life on the farm like that to becoming a big star." Briefly, Elliot wondered what he'd be like as his journey really got going. It wasn't like they had any places of renown like that, but would he go back to roost at home? Or would he still be afraid to face his family upon the return?

He sighed slightly, trying to shake the thought from his head. Time to throw out the first topic he could think of as a diversion! "What kind of food does your family grow?" he asked, keeping his grip on his walking stick close as he tried to ground himself.

[Elise Bell]

A giggle escaped from Elise as Elliot spoke. “A little bit,” she answered reaching to curl a few stray locks of hair behind her ear. “But it’s nice to get away sometimes. Dad has people who take care of the farm most of the time, so I’m not always over there but yeah!” It was like she’d grown up with the best of both worlds: a busy, industrious school during the school seasons, and a nice retreat during the summer and winter months. Of course, now that she was out of school, she could go whenever she liked, but that was besides the point.

The follow up question had her pausing a moment in thought. “Mostly wheat in the fields, and I think coffee? We have a couple of traditional berry trees and bushes though,” she explained. “Oh! My dad has a café in Bass, if you didn’t know! All the bakery items and whatnot are either taken from our farm or the local area.” It gave a unique Bass and Plum island taste, or so Dan Bell proclaimed. “Litten-Caboodle is on main street! Feel free to drop in!”

[Elliot Sunderland]

"At least that means you get to come back whenever you'd like, too," Elliot said. "That's really gotta be the best of both worlds." He wasn't intentionally echoing Elise's thoughts, but it was hard not to have the same one. Famous in the daytime, relaxing on a cozy ranch with people who loved and supported her in the nighttime? That sounded amazing! "It was a lot more small-time for me growing up. We just came from a little place in Lavaridge. Dad mostly focused on training, and mom was stay at home, so they were both there for me a lot." Come to think of it, that lifestyle should've been the first clue that there was something up with his childhood.

Man, how things had changed.

"Course, nowadays mom's working. Move to a whole region means we've really gotta bring everything together as a family," he said. "She's over in Ash City. Just a regular office job, but I think lately she's been picking up some glassblowing on the side? She always had a knack for it at home, so I'm glad she had the chance to." There was a touch of bittersweetness to Elliot's reminiscing. Yet, with what he did and where he came from, how could there not be?

This was promptly contrasted by some sweet-sweetness, Elliot giggling a little at the painfully adorable name Elise's father's cafe had. "That explains all the pictures of it," Elliot added. Even as a more casual (read as: less stalkerish) fan, PNG's social media feeds sometimes crossed his path. "But I didn't expect everything there to be so locally sourced! That's really cool. Echo's got a major sweet tooth, so once she wakes up I'll take her there as a treat." And maybe he could take Lord Beerus, too! He was a cat!

Actually, on second thought, maybe that'd wait until Elliot knew he could play well with others.

"Got any recommended items on the menu?"

[Elise Bell]

Elise blinked a couple of times as Elliot spoke. “Yeah!” That was nice he got that appeal pretty quickly. As he described what his homelife was like, she paused to consider if she knew where Lavaridge was at all. It sounded vaguely familiar, but— Wait. “In Hoenn???” she asked. “That’s the town with the hot springs isn’t it?” She knew she’d heard that somewhere before. This thought would be cut short, however, as Elliot went on. Elise felt her lips press together some as she listened. Was it her, or was there a tinge of sadness in his voice? She wanted to ask but also didn’t want to pry too much, so she let it be for now.

So she went with something else. And it seemed to work. A small nod would be given at the mention of the pictures. “Yep! We’ve got our seasonal photos and the new cat outfits on…” she giggled. At the question of recommendations, Elise giggled. “My favorite is the Midnight Meowth Mint Mocha and the Purrfect Purrloin Paw Print Muffins!” she answered exuberantly. Shimmer fluttered over and started assuring them that the muffins were to die for! They were so tasty and wonderful and good and— A giggle escaped from Elise. “We get it, Shimmer!” she assured.

After a moment more, Sans walked over and made a gesture to his wrist. Elise paused and glanced down at her own where a digital watch showed it was probably best to start heading back to Bass now, actually. “Oh shoot…”

[Elliot Sunderland]

"You got that right!" Elliot said, a slight nostalgic smile on his face as he thought about home. "And the biggest town in Hoenn. I'm kinda glad it was never big enough to be a city, though. There's a nice kind of peace to it that'd feel kinda lost if it got too big, you know?" Moving to the surprisingly populated Arciel Region may've been a bit of a surprise coming from such a small town up bringing, but at least Elliot seemed to be weathering it all well. Even if there was still the slightest tinge of nostalgic longing to his words.

Elise's words, meanwhile, were almost disgustingly sweet. Elliot's grin visibly perked up at the adorable alliteration each food item had. How? How did she chain words so effortlessly like that? The marketing committee of the Litten-Caboodle was ruthlessly effective. "I'll try 'em out for sure," Elliot said, grinning at both Elise and her happily-chittering starter. He couldn't understand its words, but its body language and tone of voice made it abundantly clear how the little bee felt about this.

And then Sans indicated that Elise was out of time. Well, better than a bad time, in Elliot's books. Yet he couldn't help but blush a little in embarrassment at the realization that he totally stole all of Elise's training time. "Heh . . . oops," he said, bashfully rubbing the back of his neck. "Guess we lost track of the time a little, huh? Sorry if I cut your practice kinda really short there." The tone of voice he had was genuine, even if he was still smiling a little from such an unexpectedly pleasant encounter. "But, hey. It was really nice meeting you, you know?"

[Elise Bell]

A small giggle escaped from Elise. “Ah well, we can practice tomorrow, right guys?” she asked glancing back at her Pokemon of choice. A small nod was given at that. Elise smiled and looked back. “It was really nice meeting you too! Do you wanna exchange numbers? Maybe I can make an effort to be in the café or at the farm whenever you swing in that way?” She smiled shifting to grab her phone again. “If you give me yours, I can message you really quick.”

“Oh hang on!” Punching something into her phone, she then turned it around and stood closer to Elliot to catch a selfie. “There! Perfect picture for an identifier.” Stepping back, she grinned again.

[Elliot Sunderland]

Elliot's smile definitely widened at that. Even with his assurance to himself that he'd be playing all of this cool, casually just exchanging numbers and hanging out with someone from one of his favorite music groups felt unbelievable. Frankly, Elliot was really glad he had gotten all of the fan nerves out of his system with Levy! "I'd really like that," he said, easing his excitement down to a soft smile but giving his phone back over to Elise with zero hesitation.

Of course, even steeling himself like this didn't leave him too prepared for a selfie out of nowhere! Elliot perked up a little, a surprise blush spreading across his face as he realized what was happening, but he nevertheless managed to keep his smile steady. Even then, Elliot knew he was totally going to melt into a puddle of bashfulness when he got home tonight.

"Thank you," he said, voice soft with the slightest undercurrent of nervousness to it. "You know, I was going to be catching the ferry to Ivy tomorrow night, but I don't think I'd mind sticking around a little bit longer. Especially because there's no way Echo's letting me leave without checking out that cafe first. Would you be up to hang over there before I head out?"

[Elise Bell]

Elise smiled. “Sure! I’m working a short shift tomorrow, actually, so if you want to drop by briefly in the morning that’d be cool!” She actually had practice in the afternoon, so there wasn’t exactly time to doddle around, but showing off the café was technically bringing in customers so— Ehehehe.

Sans prodded Elise again, and she looked sideways at him. “Oh… guess we should be headed back,” she reiterated and mumbled. “Guys! Come on!” Guys meaning Spotlight who was still holed up. Slowly but surely the Hattrem appeared looking a little more tired than before. Elise smiled a bit and returned her for now instead.

[Elliot Sunderland]

"Sounds great to me," Elliot chirped, Joule letting out a cheerful chirp in response. With Elise starting to call her team to her, Joule figured it was high time she returned to her own trainer. She scaled her human with her usual nimbleness, before letting out a big yawn and flopping onto his jawline. "Course, with how sleepy my team's getting, I should probably head back and get some rest," he said, laughing a little as he stroked Joule's fur. The Dedenne basically pancaked against him, purring like a motor all the while.

Murex, seeing the attention Joule was getting, hopped back and forth before lunging right for Elliot to get some snuggles of her own. Unfortunately Elliot was a bit slow on the draw there, doubling over as the Shellder smashed right into his gut. He wheezed a little, but laughed and gave her some snuggles of her own. "Yeah, if I don't head back to Bass now, I think I'm going to be trapped under a cuddle pile in the middle of the route," Elliot joked. He held Murex in one arm and his walking stick in the other, the color coming back to his face after the impromptu tackle. "Night, Elise! Catch you later!" And with that he began his limp back to the city, new possibilities for both where, how, and why he'd travel alike dancing through his head.

. . . Eh, what the heck. Maybe he'd hum a PNG song on his walk back to town, just for the heck of it.

(Thread End?)