painted skies.

“Noah.”

Of course, there was no way Noah was going to give away her real name, given what she went through with her past. If she was being honest with herself, she’s already fond of the name ‘Noah’.

She was more than willing to cooperate with him, depending on the questions, course. Noah followed him to the cafe and to a table with empty chair seat.

“All right.” He swallowed and couldn’t help but look down. “Let’s see…”

He took a moment to take out his pen and paper. He’d written all the questions out, but they really could be asked in any order. Questions that could make a person wince, a person like his mother with a black-and-white view of the world: Do you enjoy it there? Were you happy before? Is Guzma kind to you, or cruel? Have you seen your friends arrested or hurt, and how did you feel about it? Even if you went to jail for what you did, would you be happy? You know I don’t have to put your name in the interview, if you’re afraid any of this will get you hurt… 

But he hadn’t decided in what order to ask them, which gave him another few moments’ pause. Ah well, might as well begin with the most cliché one, as painful as it felt to do so.

“What made you want to join Team Skull?”

And then, out of the blue, a question he’d only just considered--

Try as she might, Athena couldn’t replicate the feeling of being home for Christmas. Boreas’ chilly fur against her exposed skin was nothing like the cold that cradled her when she walked down the streets of Lumiose, there weren’t nearly as many decorative lights gracing frosted windows, and Tapu Cocoa was more of a savory chocolate than the sweet temptation she normally indulged in this time of year. But, more than anything…

…it was lonely.

The trainer loved her Alolan friends dearly, but (save for Ian) she didn’t have as deep-rooted a connection to them as she did people like Lys, Dawn, and Daniél. Blue’s arrival was possibly the saving grace of the season.

“Oh…there’s no…place…like home for the holidays…For no…matter how far…away…you…” And then a sigh.

“Homesick, huh?”

Ian didn’t even need to see her face to know. Her body posture said it all. He sat down next to her at the Pokémon center café and put a hand on her shoulder, knowing it was small comfort when he couldn’t give her what she missed the most, but it was better than nothing.

“Maybe this will cheer you up,” he said, giving her the gift he’d prepared. “Go on, open it.”

Noah heard of these two grunts taking on Ilima and…a reporter they said? She rubbed her fingers at the thought, wondering what in the world they were doing to do something like that. And why? Well, whatever the case may be, Team Skull’s big sister, Plumeria is currently at the base with the two, trying to talk some sense to them.

It just so happened that Noah is being sent out to apologize for what those two grunts did. Noah didn’t have a problem with that…but she is bothered at the fact that those two grunts didn’t give her a description of what this reporter looked like!

(Ugh! How the heck am I suppose to find this reporter anyway?!)

Noah could ask questions…if Team Skull didn’t get such a bad reputation, thanks to the Aether Foundation.

Before Noah would have the chance to walk to her next destination, she was stopped by a young man. She noticed that this person wasn’t really good with eye contact…yet. She just meet this guy and just wanted an interview!

….wait a minute!

“Uh, an interview?” For all Noah knew, this could have been a different reporter.

(Getting Team Skull a better reputation wouldn’t be such a bad thing.)

“S-Sure.” There was hesitation when Noah answered him.

“After this, I want to ask you a couple of questions. If you don’t mind that is.”

He paused before responding when he noticed that her voice shook. He’d been expecting something like whaddaya want or the fuck is your problem, especially given Team Skull’s bad press over the past few years. But his dad’s words came back to mind: these people deserved sympathy. Somebody who would listen. Maybe that’s why this one so easily agreed to being interviewed: because she wanted someone who could listen.

“All right, then. Let’s get started.” He gave her a smile. “Let’s find us some place to sit, and after I’m done with my questions, you can certainly ask yours. What’s your name, by the way?”

………sweatdrops nervously at mun’s host blog and lillie blog.

I use the headcanon that Gym Leaders have different sets of teams, which they use depending on the challenger's skills. I'm assuming that trials would be done in a similar way, depending on the challenger's ages and stuff

“Congratulations! And.. Ah, yes, right. Tapu Koko, the island’s guardian… No disrespect intended, I completely blanked out on everything I had read about the island.” Juliette returned the smile, “I have already received my starter! A Popplio, I just don’t have him out and about..”

She trailed off as she watched him interact with the Litten, letting out a soft laugh, “That’s adorable… I’m just a bit concerned about my starter getting into too much trouble, since we’ve just met and all, not sure I could keep him out of trouble. I am very new to this whole trainer thing, wouldn’t want to start on the wrong foot…” 

“But before I continue talking your ear off,” she extended her hand out at him with a grin, “Nice to meet you fellow trial goer, I’m Juliette from Kalos.”