Elizabeth Fay

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                    The scent of the wind to the route east of Fallarbor Town never failed to remind Celio of home. There was a certain quality to the winds found in the areas immediately within the vicinity of a volcano that simply couldn’t be replicated; he took in a great gulp of ash-riddled air, the powdery grey flecks dancing in the gusts around him and settling on the fabric of his clothes and mingling with his green strands of hair like a fine dusting of powdered sugar on some piece of confectionary. There was no temptation for him to stick out his tongue to try catching any of it in his mouth; he’d lived a lifetime surrounded by the stuff, and he knew what to expect from it straight away.

                    He was more used to seeing Slugma slithering among the ashes than being met by the sight of a Skarmory taking a dust bath. He was also not quite used to the sight of a sudden succession of clicking and clackering going off amidst all the deafening silence ( apart from the incessant mewling of his Hoppip as she played around rolling herself in heaps and mounds of Mt. Pyre’s fallen ashes, of course ) — it was cause for investigation.

                    "What is that?? Almost sounds like a photograph going off — do you think Spinda can learn Chatter, Hopps??”

Click click clack click 

The sounds of a camera shutter rapidly clicking seemed to echo through the still air until, alerted to the presence of a human nearby, the Skarmory flew off with a harsh cry. A few moments later the grass nearby shook, and Elizabeth emerged, dust coming off of her clothing in little clouds. Following close behind was a rather unamused looking Mightyena, thick black fur colored gray by the dust that clung to it. 

“I was sure she would’ve stuck around a little longer. Oh well, we still got some pretty good shots, right Erebus?” The canine merely huffed in response before looking over at the Hoppip rolling around nearby. That was an unusual sight in Hoenn.

Following his gaze, Liz gasped aloud when she spotted the pink grass type. She wasted no time, shouldering her camera bag and heading over while Erebus shook the dust from his coat.

With Erebus still in his Pokeball after the ride here by sea, Cheeks had chosen to come out and was happily perched on Liz’s backpack, taking in the new sights and smells of the city. Soon enough, the buildings started to thin out, and the pair found themselves staring up at the Gym. And that was when Cheeks bolted. Leaping down from her perch the oddly colored Pikachu made a beeline for the doors, running inside as they glided open. 

“Shit shit shit Cheeks wait!” Liz exclaimed as she took off after the little mouse. Following in after her the redhead paid no mind to her surroundings, focused on keeping her sights on the Electric-type lest she lose her. Just as she rounded what seemed to be the fifth corner, Liz came to a screeching halt as she nearly ran into the blonde-haired man whose leg Cheeks had smacked right into, leaving her on the ground rubbing her nose with her paws.

"Sorry about that," Liz started, rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess she got excited and ran in here."

“What!?” She seems less than pleased. 

    “Mimi, huh? That’s a really cute name.” She observed as she knelt down, waiting for Cheeks to leap down onto the grass before removing her bag and pulling out her camera. She’d never actually seen a Mimkyu in person before. It was cuter than she’d thought it’d be.

    The young Pikachu sat by her trainer, bouncing impatiently as she waited for her to set up. She wanted to talk to this strange-looking ‘chu, but she knew not to try just yet, lest she ruin the shot for Liz. 

     A moment later the camera was held up, focused on the little ghost type in the other’s lap before the shutter clicked about six times. After checking the resulting pictures she seemed satisfied and stored the camera away, smiling up at the other trainer. 

     “Sorry about that. My name is Liz, and this is Cheeks.” She introduced herself and made to motion to the Pikachu, only to find that she’d already rushed up to the girl and was standing on her toes, waving up at Mimi.