leah.

“…Right,” he mumbles slowly as a brow slowly rises to his hairline. She certainly didn’t seem to be ‘okay’ as she put it, but he doesn’t continue his prying, only sticking his hands deep into this still-damp pockets.

He glances back at Charizard, who seems to be at complete ease resting on top of the toasty sand. He notices the tiny grains rhythmically moving towards and away from his pokemon and he chuckles to himself.

Already asleep, huh?

At Leah’s words, he lets go of the tension holding his shoulders — he’d rather not wake Charizard up at this moment. Not when he looks at complete ease. He nods and trails closely behind her pokemon — Plue…right? — silently mimicking the way the little pokémon trots (an easy accomplishment as both Red’s shoes and socks are still quite wet) behind her trainer. This makes him let out another, soft laugh.

Meanwhile, Pikachu runs up to Leah, rigorously chatting away even though he’s aware of that she may not completely understand his chirps.

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; It was the wet, squishy sounds that came from behind Leah that made her come to an abrupt stop, turning to pinpoint its source. Which to her dismay, indeed was the result of Red donning his yet to have dried shoes all the while almost...trotting behind her much like his own Pikachu was. A curious sight to say the least, but not what she ought to be focusing on at the moment! Rather than putting a halt to their approach to the refuge from the heat, it seemed wiser to get to the cafe before attending to what she felt was a definite inconvenience for Red. There was a chance that Red noticed her unusual pause to stare at his shoes, before continuing to lead them to the Pokemon Center, but it hardly crossed her mind throughout their way there. 

[🌟] - he only nods at leah’s confirmation, though she wouldn’t have been able to see it, with a muttered ‘yosh!’ as he picked himself up from the ground. the carpet held no hidden trapdoors much to his displeasure. by now he had inspected every nook and cranny this beautifully decorated room had to offer and found nothing. now he paced the room, his head bowed and hand under his chin in rushed thought- what was he missing?

he glared at the fireplace. annoying merry looking thing! the fire seemed to dance upon the logs and his shadow flickered in time with the fire. his wild thoughts ignited and so did his crazed speculations- what if they fell victim to the ghosts. would they be stuck here forever? will anyone notice their disappearance? with a slap to his face, he shivered and brought his sanity together. being in this chateu was doing strange things to his th-

shivered?

the room was cold. eyebrows scrunched in deep confusion, barry brought his arms down in slow realization and approached the fireplace. his brain struggled to understand why he didn’t feel any warmer.

without hesitation, he plunged his hand into the fiery embers and yelped when he felt, not burning flesh, but cold, empty space. as if the fire was merely a projection and there was something beyond not visible to the naked eye. that’s it!

☆ ・‥…   “Leah!” ・‥…━━━☆  he whirled around at the same time the loud bang shook the entire interior. it only further proved his suspicion- the chandelier, china plates, and other movable decorations did not budge, not even shudder with the impact.   ☆ ・‥…   “whoa-ah! Aercus-!” ・‥…━━━☆

the fire behind him blazed up, growing and spreading across the walls as if it was a live entity- and it was pissed. the amount of flare there was now would have seared anyone in the room. if it was real HA!

☆ ・‥…   “It’s fake! Quickly, through here!” ・‥…━━━☆ barry waved a hurried arm towards the fireplace, the image warping but could be distinguishable as a rusted metal, old dumbwaiter! in one smooth, quick motion barry released infernape, Chaos!, and Heracross! though their trainer issued no order, they both sprung into action, as if they knew what was happening and acted on instinct. Choas scooped up Leah and Leo and, with a quick nod to barry, jumped in the dumbwaiter.

in the same instance, barry and heracross rushed in and slammed the door shut once more. he wasn’t sure how long they could withhold whatever was outside, but the other’s safety was first priority. his lungs heaved as barry hope chaos or leah would give the signal that they were in the clear.

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; Relief flooded her senses upon hearing Barry call her name, which soon turned to concern upon hearing his exclamation-- yet within the short amount of time it took for her to turn to Barry, all was already engulfed in flames. Natural instinct SCREAMED at her to escape at the very sight, much effort required for her to will herself not to move, still pushing against the door amidst the imaginary flames. Said flames, imaginary or not did however provide light to their current whereabouts, allowing her to cast away her fears even if it were but a moment’s respite. All the better perhaps, since it meant she could put her all in helping Leo keep the doors shut and provide Barry all the time he needed to find an exit. And with the banging against the door increasing in intensity, there was only so much time left for them to make their escape...

His next words indicated that he found an exit, yet Leah found herself before a dilemma of sorts. Moving meant passing the reins of keeping the doors close entirely to Leo, and the aggressive banging could only be held for so long by the Psychic type. Prolonged use was always advised against to those that had psychic abilities, may they be human or Pokemon and she was beginning to worry that he was straining himself. But the need for a decision was whisked away as she and Leo were both scooped into Barry’s Infernape’s arms and brought away, the suddenness of it all causing Leah to yelp in surprise and Leo to lose control of the doors for a brief moment. The Espeon’s position was quickly taken by Barry and his Heracross, though the pass-over still causing a light slam of the door-- and suddenly, all was silent.

All of the banging stopped. Flames still danced across the room, but they were eerily silent-- the lack of the natural crackling of fire or any semblance of sound whatsoever was deafeningly quiet, the beating of her heart beginning to be all that she could hear instead. Leo was quick to get off the arms of the Infernape and scan the room, readying his psychic abilities if need be and the composer did what she did best. Observe. Or at least, what little that she could observe from where she was. What she did notice, was the sudden twitch in the Psychic type’s ears, alluding to the fact that he had sense something that could shed light to the weird situation that they were in. Something that she would not be able to find out any time soon it seemed, when the tearing sound of rope could be heard, and rusted parts screeched as the dumbwaiter plunged down.

This was not how she was planning to spend her day. 

Adrenaline helped her react to the sudden movement quickly, an attempt made to escape their falling doom with an outreached hand-- only for it to have been far too late and said hand to earn a long scratch that drew blood, a hiss of pain escaping her lips. The pain was soon taken over by panic, realizing that they were trapped due to there no being any openings as it went down, down, down. And then, a loud crash, accompanied with a soft yelp from the now mildly injured composer. At least there was some light now, seeing that there was now an opening before them. “ W-We’re fine! ” The shakiness in her voice returned, both due to her newly earned injury and the unexpected ride down, but she still made an effort to reassure Barry who was now a floor above them.  “ I.. I think we’re in some sort of kitchen on the ground f-floor, so we’ll meet up at the eventually! ”

[🌟] - He barely has time to jump back as the door slams shut, the room shaking from the force of the psychic move. For a hot second he wants to protest at Leah for almost squishing his hand, but that temper is quickly replaced with pride and giddiness; he felt a gleam coming from her, her fighting spirit flickering within as she took charge, even if she stammered in fear right after. also she and leo weren’t a team to be taken lightly- he made sure to request a battle after this ordeal.

“Rotoms don’t got leggs.” He shook his head, thinking it was best not to leave when the ghosts pokemon obviously wanted them here. As much as it bruised his pride to submit to the will of these trickster pokemon. “If we go outside, they might try to stop us or, you know, spook you again.”

He takes a second to thoroughly look around.

Quick reaction time and being able to take in information when he’s high on adrenaline was a perk of his, and he’s already taken in what was most striking about the room when they entered. Instead, he focused on looking for another way out. While he checked the fireplace for any hidden switch- like in the movies!! ahaha- Barry tossed some words over his shoulder. Partly to fill in the silence.

“Good job back there, by the way! Though, psychic powers are useless against ghost pokemon. Hope Leo is packing some ghost or dark type moves? But don’t worry about battling, ‘cause I’ll be there if the going gets tough!”

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; Barry’s comment echoed in her mind as he mentioned Rotom not being capable of making footsteps due to their lack of legs-- their ability to possessed certain appliances would mean an alteration to that assumption, no? Footsteps that belonged to ovens or washing machines may seem strange, but from how they had been further away would have made it hard to properly identify the potential culprit. She was about to mention as such, that the footsteps could have come from a Rotom-possessed washing machine or oven but now was hardly the time for it. Instead, she nodded in response to Barry’s words, her hands still curled into fists as she willed herself to think. 

Seeing that he seemed to be already putting action to some sort of a plan, she in turn checked their surroundings with much care. The question posed was answered without much hesitation, her response purely directed at said question alone. “ Yes, he does. ” Her voice seemed to have steadied within the short amount of time they had been in this room, though her heart was pounding in her ears as she continued her search. Her gaze wandered over the crackling fireplace momentarily, thoughts whirling as several theories were hypothesized by the composer... Wait. 

She returned her gaze to the fireplace, carefully collecting her thoughts as the fire in its heath danced in a lively manner. It didn’t make sense. Such a place would not have remained so carefully furnished and laid out when the other parts of the house were in such a dilapidated state. Which only meant...

[🌟] - His eyes wandered every space of the enclosed hallway, taking note of creepy painting of creepy old people, and strange, cold statues lined up every couple of feet. There were no windows to bring life into the still, dead corridor and Barry couldn’t suppress a shiver at the realization. Even the broken lamps hanging on the walls added to the chilly ambiance. If it wasn’t for the eerily quiet mansion, Barry would’ve easily not heard Leah’s soft questioning. He brought a hand to his chin and nodded.

“Hate to break it to you so soon, but you got that right. I don’t remember which one it was…but I guess we’ll find out together! Either way, I’m catching it no matter what form it’s in.”

“Well, I’m sure a few great trainers came here and attempted to catch one. If they did or not, they didn’t think to bring one to Professor Rowan since he said he doesn’t have one to research with- and that’s where I come in!”

The first door that came up was also the end of the absurdly long hallway- Barry was sure the mansion didn’t look long on the outside but that hallways just now… better not to dwell on that. He looked to Leah with a steady, ‘Let’s go!’, and opened the door. Cold, dusty air greeted him immediately and Barry shoved the heavy door all the way. What showed before him, baffled him.

The parlour before him was brightly lit with every lighting possible and the air was welcoming, warm even from the crackling fireplace ahead. Furnished with the finest furniture, the parlour dared the group to enter and play along. Barry noted a grand piano on the right, the seat looking lonely. He gulped and looked at Leah.

“I dunno about thi-”

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps and glass shattering came from behind them and Barry jumped, his bones cracking by the sudden movement.

“Argh! Choose your poison, Leah!” And he jolted inside the room, his hand ready to close the door.

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; Ghost types. Leah’s relationship with them was a complicated one-- while she was afraid of the ethereal mischief that they liked to performed, she was not afraid of the Pokemon themselves. Perhaps it was the fact that she did not know of the cause of such strange happenings that frightened her, whereas actions that had a clear culprit did not evoke such emotions from her. Additionally, the fact that they could disappear at will and render themselves invisible to the eye made it hard for her to identify them as the culprit, which lead to her being scared all over again. The few times that she ran those very thoughts through in her mind always lead to the conclusion that the entire notion was nonsensical, but fear of the supernatural was already in no way logical itself.

She nodded in response to Barry’s words in regards of being the very first trainer to ever capture a Rotom-- perhaps there were those that had caught the Pokemon only to keep it to themselves. Whatever the case, the fact remained that he had specifically made this trip to bring a Rotom to this ‘Professor Rowan’, who was presumably the professor of this region. That being the case, she was rather grateful to have been able to meet Barry during his expedition-- who knew what she would be doing now if it were not for him? Most likely, still petrified and trembling in the dark, albeit her nerves calming ever so slowly. Much slower than what amount of time she had taken with his help.

Again, she nodded and waited patiently for Barry to push open the doors that they had come to, she too exposed to the cold draft that came with the opening of those very doors. Her gaze immediately settled upon the grand piano in the room, not at all noticing the lit fireplace that seemed rather out of place. All she could think of was that grand pianos were rather expensive, and she would love to be able to play on it-- But her thoughts were soon interrupted by both the sudden crashes and footsteps along with Barry’s exclamation. Fear was the immediate reaction but it was soon replaced by the logic of footsteps that belonged to the potential culprit, so she called out a command to Leo, voice steady and firm. 

he gladly takes the towel and hangs it on the door. then, he twists the knob — he makes sure he turns on the cold water — and lets the water erase the grains stick on his skin. He bends down to scrub the dirt away from his socks, but he ultimately gives up with a frustrated sigh.

Red, now fully free from the feeling of sand attacking his feet, wipes the remaining moisture away from the towel generously given to him by Leah. He opens the door and, instead of exiting, he sits down in front of the entryway — his legs folded carefully in his body to avoid more sand. He beckons Pikachu, who was previously stuck to Leah’s side, over with his finger. He places his shoes in Pikachu’s paw and throws the pokeball into the sand.

All this time Pikachu follows his trainer’s hands and nods, figuring out what Red wanted him to do.

A feet or two away from the stall stands (lays) Charizard, growling sleepily. Pikachu trots over to the giant lizard, pats the fire-type’s tail (which makes Charizard wake up from his grogginess and perk his head up), and place Red’s wet shoes beside Charizard’s flame.

The fire-type rolls his eyes and proceeds to look around his surrounding — bright and warm unlike his usual residence. Then, he sees an unfamiliar girl with a strange pikachu. He cocks his head and stares at her. Frustrated by the girl, who didn’t seem to be captivated by his indescribable greatness, he rests his head back down his arms with a loud huff.

Red shakes his head at the sight, huffing at his pokemon’s disappointment. Then, he glances over at Leah and he gasps quietly seeing her completely blank face. He steps down into the sand – still shoe and sock-less. He jolts lightly when he senses the individual grains of sand tickling his skin – and strides towards her leisurely.

He leans down and waves his hand in front of her eyes. “…You okay?”

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; There was only so much that she could think about in regard of ideas for their trip, only so many options that she could go through. Additionally, even if she were to settle with an activity or two to do, Leah would rather mention it to Red before setting things in stone. Satisfied with the several activities that were readily available for her to do along with Red, she brought up her Pokenav’s map and lined out the directions of said available activities-- before her finger landed nearby a certain town that put all thoughts to an abrupt stop. All movement came to a stop as well, her free hand having been squishing at Plue’s paws now simply laid on her lap, causing the Plusle to look up at her with a tilted head.

But there was nothing that her senses could process before her, her thoughts now hurling into what she had wanted to avoid while bringing Red here. Verdanturf Town. Slateport City was rather familiar to her for good reason, her hometown being rather nearby meant several visits to Slateport every now and then. Slateport was not quite the center of her thoughts at the moment however, her hometown being the very epicenter of all these thoughts and emotions. Conflicting emotions had arose: Verdanturf was her home, her prison--  it was where her family was. And even with everything that had happened, she still dearly loved her parents, but it was uncertain of those feelings were mutual. 

Her expression soon turned into one of realization, blinking as she was pulled away from her reverie by the wave of Red’s hand before her eyes.. And it was a rather welcomed distraction, seeing that she ought to pay attention to her now rather than reminiscing ( though with troubled thoughts ) about the past. Hopefully he had not noticed the ever so slight change in her expression, her initial contemplative expression having changed into one that seemed rather somber. Even she had yet to notice-- only when the sight of questioning concern from the Plusle on her lap did she realize that her facial features had changed along with her thoughts. Alright, let’s snap out of it!

“ Ah-- Yes, I’m okay. Thank you for asking, Red..! ” A smile pulled at her lips along with her words, in hopes that it would provide some sort of reassurance to what she had said. It was not her intention to have allowed her mind to wander to such a degree after all, and definitely not her intention to have this trip ruined with such things. Her attention now returned to their current situation, Leah looked over Red briefly and noted his lack of shoes along with hints that he had opted out of a shower. Entering the Pokemon Center would be.. rather strange to say the least, significantly less strange if they were to remain on the sand. 

[🌟] - watching this girl struggle with her strongest, most heart gripping fear, Barry tried his best to understand what she was going through. he knew someone just like her, someone very close to him and watching this girl he had meet only a few moments ago, struggling to freaking breathe properly because of this stupid fear- he felt his passion flare up, his heart went out to her.

he wanted to help. but he could only do so much, right? he couldn’t except that- feeling powerless to help someone who had reached out to him, barry could not give up on her.

Azelf’s gift granted him the power to sense others’ strength, feel their willpower, and sync their determination- and from the ‘looks’ of it, Leah was starting to lose it all. Barry gritted his teeth and was about to suggest the dreaded ‘throwing in the towel option’, when the flashlight was gently accepted from his hand. he perked up, mentally did a victory fist pump as he felt the wonderful light of resolve trickle out from within her. it was small. but it was something; it was aneffort and that was all he needed to know she wanted to continue.

“Now that’s more like it!” Barry stood back up and ran his fingers through his wild hair before pointing at her. “I like what you’re strutting, Leah! You better walk the walk and not just talk the talk, I’m rootin’ for you! Now! Enough pep talk! Time is a wastin’!”

did Barry mention he was lost? he couldn’t and would never admit it, ever, so Barry started walking down the hall without even knowing where he was leading them.

“Rotom is a pokemon, you see and a holy, gosh darn, rare one at that and for some reason these little guys like hanging around creepy, dark places like the Old Chateau!” barry pulled out a small piece of paper handed it to leah. the picture had a poorly drawn picture of the rotom, colored in with crayon.

“They’re electric types in their regular forms, and can posses motors of certain appliances, like, you know…washing machines, an oven- stuff like that! and, when they do they develop a second type depending on what kind of machine they take over!” he stuck a proud thumb on his chest and lifted his head up high. “and I’m gonna be the first one to catch one and show it to Old man Rowan! good thing you decided to tag along, you might witness greatness today, hahaha!”

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; Slowly, she was starting to get used to Barry. His brash yet endearing way of talking, action-packed words and excitement-- all of it was slowly being accepted by her, though it was a slow process it was something. It would allow her to once more see him as a person of comfort in this darkness, rather than an additional fear. Something that she would dearly appreciate, which was why she was going to keep trying her very best. Fingertips gently brushed the surface of the flashlight, as though she was trying to remember the position of the switch while she listened to Barry speak, before he began walking. 

Leah was quick to follow him, Leo trotting by her feet as they walked past the dreary hall with only the light from the flashlight to guide them. Careful to always provide light for the both of them, it was a distraction of sorts that helped her ignore her surroundings, in addition to Barry’s talking of course. Like a carefully crafted symphony meant to help those that were paralyzed by fear to move onward. A small smile pulled at her lips at the thought, but she soon turned her attention to the piece of paper that had been given to her by Barry: presumably being a drawing of a Rotom made by himself. Hopefully it would help to let her recognize one if they did happen upon one.. ( Hint: it would not. )

The mention of it being an electric type made her think of her own Plusle, who had opted out on this journey that she and Leo had set out upon and was safely sleeping in her Pokeball. Possessing machines and changing into a dual type... the former concerned her much more upon it being mentioned by Barry. Did that not mean that there was a chance a Rotom was possessing some sort of machine which could potentially hurt someone? Granted, no one would get hurt as long as they were a trainer that had not accidentally stumbled upon this place, but what if? How dangerous might this be?

[🌟] - “Hoenn!” He brought a finger to scratched under his nose. “Ha, that half and half regi-?”

The flashlight abruptly returned to his free hand, interrupting him. Barry cocked his head in confusion as he waved the light around, a bit at lost. Why did she do that? The question floated around his mind, unaware that he murmured it out loud. Barry sighed, his eyebrows scrunched in thought as he used the flashlight to scratch at his head.

“Bumped? What are you talk- oh, oh ohhh! That’s right, gosh that felt so long ago I don’t even know why you brought that up, Leah!”

He came in close, a hand gripped her shaking shoulders as he hoped the girl’s determination was strong enough to ground her back. Even if it was just a little bit of courage.

“Listen, between you n’ me I never not dish out fines for such a crime like not getting outta my way, but since I admire your sense of spirit- haha, get it?- I’ll give you somethin’ instead.”

Once again, he offered the flashlight and flashed a dashing smile.

“This is yours! Come on now, we’ve got some fear-overcoming to do and I’d hate you leave this place without seeing your defiant smile, Leo not heaping on stress age, and no Rotom for me! We’re here. I’m here and I’ll protect you from them pesky ghosts, what da’ ya say fellow ghost hunter?”

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; Quiet. Not a word was spoken by her as Barry spoke, seeming as though a single spoken word would shatter her entire being. Words jumbled together into an indecipherable mess, muffled by the racing thoughts that overwhelmed her entirely-- eyes unfocused, her mind elsewhere. Was he speaking? It seemed like he was, but a steady ringing had now began in her ears, making the already muffled words all the more inaudible. She was already scared. Barry’s mention of being a Runner-up Champion had somehow invoked fear as well-- fear that she had not been as respectful as she ought to be towards someone with such a prestigious title. 

The sensation of his hand gripping onto her shoulder did not do much to change her state, rather causing Leah to flinch ever so slightly from the contact. Was he yelling at her? She could not really hear him, but maybe just in case, it would be good for her to apologize once more, and leave--

She too, was surprised when the flashlight had appeared before her once more, her gaze slowly moving up to meet his own before moving back down to the offered flashlight. Brightly, still ever shining-- it cut through her daze as it did the darkness, allowing her to actually hear what was being said by Barry. There was no mention of her lack of respect, not a single word about anything negative regarding her; only gentle, encouraging words, a hint of faith in his words. Fingers slowly curled around the offered flashlight and with shaking hands, did she take it back along with soft intakes of breath in an effort to calm herself. 

Let’s try again.

[🌟] - If the flashlight itself wasn’t enough to brighten the room, his beaming smile would have done the job. He successfully calmed her down and fanned out the haunting atmosphere. She still looked tense and her voice wavered but it was an improvement from before. Looks like the flashlight was her saving grace.

However, he was confused. He was mildly surprised she even voiced her desire to stay. He paused. Even when facing her fear, and from the looks of it, probably one of her stop fives, she kept going. If he knew some of the girls he had met, they would usually give up when caught in their most vulnerable, too embarrassed and assured with the thought ‘there is another chance’. He liked her perseverance and hidden strength and just knew they were going to get along.

“Don’t you worry about a thing! I was thinking of staying here longer myself.” He huffed as he remembered his recent, sort of painful, breakout, brow scrunched up together. “I still need to get my hands on a Rotom anyways."

"Besides, there’s a strength in numbers! And it also means you lil’ bud." He made finger-guns and added a quiet 'ayyyy’ at the Pokemon.

"Say that reminds me! I’m Barry! Runner-up Champion of Sinnoh and the best trainer you could possibly run into, and now currently your ghostfighting partner. Nice to bump into you!”

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; Tightly gripping the flashlight, there was a brief moment where she considered returning said flashlight to its rightful owner-- that being the boy before her. Perhaps.. at a later time, when she was no longer holding onto it as her only source of hope. Cue yet another attempt of her trying to relax, but it really was relatively hard when she was still in the dark. Dim illumination was much appreciated regardless, plus the additional distraction of another person being around did help! His mention of a ‘Rotom’ piqued her interest, but she does not speak until quite some time. 

Appreciation was a shared sentiment between both trainer and Pokemon, as Leo gave a thankful look to the other, before returning to his role of comfort for Leah. The boy-- rather, Barry’s introduction caused her to smile, the mention of ‘Champion’ momentarily unheard as she readied herself for her own introduction. “ It’s nice to meet you, Barry. I-I’m Leah, and this is my partner, Leo.. ” Said Espeon mews in tandem, “ Hoenn is where I’m from, so Sinnoh is a bit unfamiliar-- ”

Wait. Barry had mentioned his name, and that he was from Sinnoh... No, he was the... Runner.. up... Champion? Champion?! If it were not for their current whereabouts, she would have caught on much sooner!! Oh, curse her ridiculous nyctophobia! And now that she realized that, the sense that she ought to return the Runner-up Champion of Sinnoh’s flashlight grew stronger, causing her to stare up at Barry in dismay. 

 “ I-I.. ” Her nerves were returning, albeit this time for a different reason. The darkness was not at all forgotten however, instead causing her voice to shake all the more. Leo’s concern had returned tenfold, to which he attempted to calm her with yet another nuzzle, but to no avail. “ S-sorry for having bumped i-into you, I should’ve l-looked at where I was going.. and..! ” Thrusting back the flashlight into his hands, her shaking hands could definitely be felt by the other momentarily before she brings them back to her chest. “ T-Thank you, but I-- ”

the intensity of his steps decreases significantly when he hears ‘cold’ and ‘treats.’ He pats his stomach (though he tries to play it off to look like he’s smoothing out his shirt) and hums to himself. His walking becomes light, almost as if he’s skipping — he is craving ice cream now.

Sadly, the anticipation of cooling off and getting a refreshing bite of cold custard made the way to the Pokemon Center much too long for Red. He tries to pick up speed once more but soon stops when he feels that Leah’s presence is no longer around him. He looks back and a brow raises when he sees the girl’s focus isn’t on their original destination but somewhere else entirely.

He walks back to her, tiny squeaks and sounds splashes echoing in his steps.

(He looks at the washrooms in awe — are there things like this in Kanto?)

He gently nudges Leah’s elbow with his own, as if to say, ‘I don’t need this. Let’s go to the Pokemon Center quickly. I want ice cream.’ Then, he notices his shoes—

“Ah…”

—covered with wet sand and tiny pieces of seaweed. (It’s also punctured on the sides, but he now notices that those have been there for a while.) He’s sure that everyone in the Pokemon Center will throw a fit if he steps into such a wonderful, comfortable space with this mess.

Sheepishly, he rubs the back of his neck. “It’ll only take a few minutes,” he says after a long pause.

Red takes off his shoes and peels off his socks with great effort, grimacing at how much the soaked fabric is sticking to his skin. His shoes land in a corner with a loud thump, but he can’t help feeling the holes in his shoes getting bigger and bigger to him.

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; A nudge. It almost startled her when Red gently did as such, her gaze flitting over to his features to find a sign as to what it was that he wished to convey to her. What she found was a familiar expression of eagerness or perhaps.. anticipation? One that she could recognize and conclude that it was regarding her mention of cold treats. Her response to that was left unsaid, as she watched him take notice of the dismal state of his shoes-- she was curious as to how the discomfort caused was not noticed sooner. That was due to the ( hopefully, not to the extent of being unbearable ) heat, if she had to guess. 

Red relenting to, at the very least, tending to the state of his shoes earned a pleased nod from Leah, her train of thought returning back to how she could help. Providing towels would be one way, maybe even ordering something in advance so that he would not need to wait much longer once he was done... Oh! It would probably be wise if she were t o get him the towels right now, and with that thought in mind, she called out to Red: “ Ah, wait! Sorry, I’ll be right back! ” Quickly, she headed over to the stack of towels neatly placed for any beach-goers from a nearby shack, before returning and giving him a towel. 

“ We can return that later when you’re done with it. I’ll be right here in the mean time. ” With that, Leah sat herself down by one of the many benches around, Plue having jumped off before her towel search now jumping onto the bench and sitting on the composer’s lap. Not wanting to give Red any sense that he needed to rush, she-- for the first time today, brought her attention away from him, her hands holding Plue’s paws as she seemed to absentmindedly squish them. 

He looks down at Plusle and Pikachu, who blissfully chirps at the sight of the treat, nibbling it once, twice, and stuffs the thing in his cheeks; Pikachu then pats Plue’s head. Red finds that both his brow and the right corner of his mouth have been raised and he lets out a quiet chuckle. “Cute,” he says, before shifting his focus back at Leah.

His shirt is now draped over his shoulder, droplets of the sea water dripping down his arm (but he doesn’t mind too much). He waves his hand from side-to-side. “Don’t apologize, I…” Red trails off – much like his hand’s wave of reassurance – and he hums quietly. He, too, knows the feeling as well.

The only times he’s actually been invited over to a friend’s was when he was a wee five year-old – he’s never been invited over to a different region by a friend (even though Red is sort of reluctant about it). “…I feel the same,” he finally says in a very hushed volume. He exhales loudly through his nose and lowers gaze back to the two almost-identical pokemon to conceal the fresh, flushed tone of his cheeks.

His eyes connect with Pikachu’s and he swears he sees a feint smirk across his companion’s chubby cheeks. Red huffs and points to his shoulder, signalling that Pikachu should quit mocking his trainer and also get on his shoulder; Pikachu complies with a teasing squeak. He then stomps towards Leah, loud spoolshes of his shoes meeting wet sand trailing after him, and a whimper slips past his lips when he feels tiny grains of sand creeping into his sneakers.

“It’s fine. I can handle this,” Red says, more to himself than to Leah, as his lips stretch out just slightly to create a small pout.

x ♫ - AL NIENTE; Careful to not repeat her initial mistake, the composer now took to attentively watching over the other while now steadily walking towards the nearby Pokemon Centre. Plue, seemingly having not noticed the pat Red’s Pikachu had given her, now gave inclination of such by mischievously eyeing the other before running after Leah. Said trainer, on the other hand was in the process of watching the small interaction occuring between Red and Pikachu, a soft smile pulling at her lips. 

Her attentiveness was rewarded as Red spoke once more, the slight pout noticed by her but not mentioned, a knowing nod given to Pikachu instead. Comfortably nestled in her arms was Plue, looking up at the shoulder Pikachu had made into a perch momentarily before giving a tiny smirk to Leah. Which yet again, failed to gain her attention as she carefully paced herself, ensuring that she was properly leading him. 

“ The Pokemon Center here is used to visitors from other regions-- especially those that aren’t used to the heat her. So they cater to that by offering a variety of cold treats. ” Perhaps her words would allow Red to tide by before reaching the eventual reward, was what she thought as she continued: “ Oh! Both for trainer and Pokemon, that is. But getting you dry is a priority, since the Pokemon Center is air-conditioned... ” 

starter for @melodeah

Jayden had spent more and more time running around Hoenn, and over all, he was getting used to the heat. But since the region got so hot, he had to change up his attire. Running around in black t-shirts and jeans was a one way ticket to disaster. So he wore a white t-shirt instead. It was cooler, and it was comfortable. Not really sure where he was going to end up next, he wandered into Sootopolis. The place was beautiful, and it made Jayden appreciate water a little more.

He was finding some relief from the blistering heat he had come to recognize around noon. The city was decently cool, at least cooler than just running around outside. At least in here, he could get something to eat and play for a crowd that happened to be in a park nearby. He honestly had no idea where he was going, but he’d get there eventually. Wandering around enough would either get to where he was going, or a new destination. Either way, he guessed it was a win.

Stretching his arms up, he wandered the streets for a couple more hours, a pair of guitars on his back. The musician was pretty sure that he was lost, and after getting nowhere, he decided that maybe asking for directions wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Looking around him, he tried to decide who to walk up to. People looked busy, but he saw a girl across the way. She looked like she was from here, or at least around. He always did have a terrible sense of direction. Making his way over, he tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, uh, sorry about this but can you point me in the direction of a square or something? I’m lookin’ for a good spot to play for a couple hours, and I got lost trying to find one myself. Would ya mind helping me out?”

🎼 Shock, expressed by a light jump paired with an airy gasp was but a momentary response to the unexpected, followed by the turn of her head to meet the stranger that had tapped her on her shoulder to catch her attention. While her instinctive reaction to such an act would usually be to shy away from said stranger, the sight of the instruments he carried on his back brought a natural response from her to smile, and the immediate sense of comfort that follower soon after. Which made her more relaxed around this stranger in comparison to any other that might have approached her. His inquiry on the other hand, was responded with a question of her own: “ That would depend on if you want to play for people, or on your own? Sootopolis doesn’t really have a square of sorts, but there’s several areas where you could play if you wish to play for people to hear. But if you want to practice.. hm.. ” 

“ I do know of a place with a soundproofed room that can be used for music purposes. That is, like I mentioned before: if you’re intending to practice on your own rather than performing to people. If that’s the case, you would definitely be able to put it to good use. ” Momentarily did she pause to think it over, wondering if he even wished to practice on his own at all-- though, she certainly has seen guitarists practicing in said soundproofed rooms so it certainly would not be improbable. With that in mind, her pondering was continued aloud, though remaining around the topic of the aforementioned soundproofed room.