A Day in the Leafy City

[Evelyn Cherry-Holme]

(Tunnel system RP because sod it. Why not.)

The next stage of her journey had brought her to Sienna Town. Even though Evie was quite the material girl, there was something so earthen and natural about Sienna that made her feel as if she were one with the outdoors. It was only a small town, but it had everything everyone ever needed. Evie spied the Ranger Station in the middle of town and couldn't help but think of Seth, which brought a little smile to her face.

She was starting to slowly accept Aphrodite's behaviour, but it didn't mean that she had given up on the Ninetales, never. Her other pokemon were keeping her spirits up, Drake her Servine was keeping her company today and the grass type was loving the tree canopy and foresty style of the town. He felt very much at home, which pleased Evie to see she could do something right by her pokemon.

Evie had been practicing with her battling too and was slowly getting better, not as great as most trainers but getting there. Slowly but surely. "I wonder if there'd be anyone around here who'd be willing to train with us." Evie thought aloud, Drake shrugged with a small grunt.

[Soren Forberg]

((Gym leaders are usually the authority figures sooo why not I'll probably bring Lorna in later too))

Soren sat back in his chair, enjoying the peaceful scenery of Sienna town from the comfort of the outdoor cafe. Alexis was curled up at his fit, basking in the warmth of the sun on the dark cobbled stone. His pale eyes idly scanned the newspaper he held in his gloved hands, chuckling softly at another not so subtle jibe at him made by the media. It really was humorous sometimes. He set down his paper to take a drink of his tea when he spied a familiar figure walking down the road out of the corner of his eye. A smile tugged at the corner of the gentleman gym leader's lips and he gave his Absol a gentle nudge with the tip of his boot.

"Looks like we've run into a friend again - go say hello Alexis." he said quietly. Absol let out a half purr - half growl and stretched herself out before trotting over towards Evie, planting herself down in front of the young woman with a playful bark in greeting. Soren set down his paper and when she would look his way he'd give her a wave. He was eager to see how Evie's Ninetails was progressing, if any progress had been made at all. He hoped for her sake she had - the poor gil had been so distraught last time they'd met.

[Evelyn Cherry-Holme]

Alexis trotted over to them and barked, Evie giggled, she'd come to recognise this particular Absol. She crouched down and ran her hand through the pokemon's smooth white fur. "Hello Alexis. Where's Soren?" Evie looked up and saw him wave to them, she waved back with a grin. "Come on then." She told the two pokemon. Drake gave Alexis a smug serpentine grin, before skipping off behind his trainer.

Evie would stand by his table with a bright smile, "Afternoon Soren."

[Soren Forberg]

Soren scratched Alexis' near the base of her horn, eliciting a purring growl from the disaster pokemon as he smiled up at Evie. "Good day Miss Cherry-Holme, what brings you to Sienna Town hm?"

He eyed her and her pokemon carefully, looking for any sign of the wayward Ninetails, but she was nowhere in sight - he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Soren pulled out the chair next to him, a clear offer for her to sit down if she liked. He leaned back in his own chair and observed her with a smile. "Any luck with the training?"

[Evelyn Cherry-Holme]

Evie would sit, grateful for a bit of rest. She grinned at him, "Slight improvement, I think that battle helped, she doesn't try to stalk off all the time now. She's still aggressive and will sulk in the shadows, but she doesn't try to actively attack anyone. I can't go near her yet, I have to kinda push her food towards her and she'll just curl a tail around it to accept it."

She shrugged, knowing it was still not a good place, "I know it's still bad. But at least it's a bit of an improvement." Her hand drifted to stroke Drake's head, the lizard promptly crawled up onto her lap to make himself comfortable. "On a lighter note, I think Drake will evolve soon, we've been working really hard together. All of us have. I think we're ready to try for some gym badges... Well, probably need a little more work, but we're getting there."

Evie beamed at him, "How're you anyway? Anyone else managed to grab a badge?"

[Soren Forberg]

Soren nodded his head thoughtfully as he listened to Evie. "Well I didn't expect her to just warm up to you overnight - you're making wonderful progress as it is. Things will get better I'm sure of it, it'll just take some time it seems."

He chuckled at her question. "Not very many - there's been a slight shortage of wondering trainers it seems...that or perhaps they don't particularly feel like picking a fight with an old man," he replied with a wink. "As it is I'm feeling a bit out of practice - perhaps I can help you get Drake a little closer to evolving - only if you're up to it of course." he said with a grin. Absol reared onto her hind legs, bouncing up and down with an excited bark.

[Evelyn Cherry-Holme]

Evie was glad that Soren thought she was doing well, she had already faced such an awful time just trying to get the beast out of her pokeball and not trying to tear anyone to pieces! Milotic had been close on hand every time to douse the temper, perhaps she was learning that getting wet wasn't worth the trouble of bad behaviour.

She was quite surprised that no one had challenged Soren lately, "Truly? How strange..." Her thoughts drifted to Seth, had he not tried seeking Soren out for a battle yet? Or maybe he had his eyes on another gym leader for the time being. Drake chirped happily in his own reptilian way when Soren suggested to offer some help to his evolution. "You like that idea, Drake?" The lizard sat up and waved his little arms about, Evie chuckled, "I shall take that as a yes." She looked up to Soren, "If Drake's up for it, so am I!"

[Soren Forberg]

Soren chuckled and snapped his fingers, bring Alexis to a heel. He rose, tossing some money down onto the table before turning back to Evie. "Excellent, I've switched up my team a little bit since the last time we battled - they could use a little work out, they were getting rusty sitting in that PC," he chuckled. "This is a bit public for a battle, why don't we move a little further out into the forest hm?"

He gave her a courtly bow, extending his arm in the direction of the tree line, gesturing for her to go before him. Alexis mimicked the motion, dropping her front end low and extending a foreleg with a low 'vrraw'