Epsilon's a bunch of books and dust, and Meowth's been sneezing for hours. The cat Pokemon picks his way through the debris, muttering about paper cuts and bugs and hay fever, fur fluffed out against the cold.

"Stickin' a proud Pokemon like me down here in th' dumps...! Ain't dese scientists got any sort o' sense at all?"

His grumbling is cut off as he accidentally runs nose-first into someone's leg. He scrambles back a few steps, ready to spout an indignant comment, when he realizes the lady is--

Actually rather pretty. Meowth regards her for a second, considers his situation, and changes tact.

Franziska Von Karma does not engage in such foolish activities as snacking. Then again, why else would she be browsing the aisles of this convenience store? Crackers, crisps, sweets - little bags and boxes of an astounding assortment line the shelves, taunting her with their promise of preservative-filled deliciousness. Her eyes land upon a familiar sight: a bag of Snackoos. The only one in the store. Slender fingers tentatively reach for their prize, only to be blockaded by another hand. Franziska hastily withdraws and folds her arms across her chest in defiance of the evidence that moments before she had been unusually interested in that particular packet of snacks.