Xiomara

"Orion, C'mon." The trainor called. Her voice, slightly echoing through the alleyway, was immediately followed by heavy footsteps. Ones almost louder than the voice calling. The footsteps in question belonged to rather healthy looking garchomp. One that was stoic and almost silent outside of the small call he gave, responding to his mastor.

Despite Orion's presence, he had approached her softly. Lowering his head as soon as he reached her, seemingly asking for head pats or scratches. Xiomara chuckled at her companion, knowing full well he wanted. And she wasnt above giving it to him either.

"Qué fue, mi nene chulo? (What happened, my handsome boy?)" She asks. Initially, she had placed her hand on top of his head for said scratches. It didnt take long for hand to move to the side of his head, however. Orion adjusted his head to better enjoy "Would you like a treat?"

Orion immediately perked up, positioning his head to look her in the eye, almost tilting it slightly. Xiomara let out a small giggle, already knowing the answer. She looks in her bag, taking a second but eventually finding it. She takes the treat, a Lumiose Galette, and places it in the palm of her hand. He straightened himself out, staring at it. The only thing on him moving was his tail with a slight, yet noticeable wag.

She looked up him with a smile, admiring how cute he was, shifting the treat from her palm to her fingers.

[Story]

'I genuinely cant believe I have to put up with this shit. What in Arceus' name did Urbain get us into.'

Xiomara was silent from the moment her foot stepped through the front door. She tried keeping herself as collected as possible, an almost neutral look resting on her face. Her movements told another story, however, being noticeably different than normal. Slight stiffness in her posture, longer strides in her walk. It made her feelings all too clear as she followed behind Philippe, staying in front of Lida.

The ride up the elevator was tense. She kept her arms tightly wrapped around each other. Her eyes were fixated on the elevator buttons, avoiding looking at the back of man in front of her. Lida had placed herself close to Xiomara as a precaution, despite only knowing her for so long. The older trainer was well aware, feeling her presence close the gap. But she remained quiet as she couldn't bring herself to react at the moment.

What probably only took thirty seconds, felt like half an hour as the elevator door finally opened, revealing a fairly large office. A surprisingly large one . . . for that matter. Two groups of sofas were on either side, a battle court in the back of the room, and finally a singular desk at the very center. There was even a walkway leading up to it. The room in question had an interesting set up to say the least.

"They're the kids here to discuss our business involving Hotel Z." Philippe's low, husky voice broke trhough.

Xiomara's head whipped back into focus. The room held her attention long enough, she didnt even realize she was being introduced. Looking over at Philippe, she raised an eyebrow, before turning to whoever he was speaking to. A man sitting at the desk, dressed in a dark suit with purple accents, circle glasses, and purple hair slicked to the side. It wasnt hard to put two and two together. It was the boss himself. But to her, it was just another person to add to her elongating list of irritants.

". . .And where are my manners. I've kept our guests standing this whole time! Have a seat on those sofas, why don't you? They're real comfy. ." Corbeau spoke.

Lida and Xiomara had sat themselves in sofas next to each other. Corbeau and Philippe sat across from them respectively. He wasn’t wrong, these sofas were comfortable. Though, Xiomara wouldnt let herself find that comfort. She sat with her right ankle resting on her knee. Her arms were stretched out in front of her, partially laying on her thighs, hands clapsed together. She had somehow managed to remain silent through out this whole interaction. Watching diligently, yet fustrated, as Philippe explained the situation.

"He mentioned that the hotel he was helping out at was struggling to get customers. And I thought it was the perfect opportunity to offer our assistance." His voice filling the surrounding space.

'Perfect opportunity my ass' her cherry red eyes squinting as the thought crossed her mind. She turned her head slightly, looking to Lida, just to see her response. Clearly, she was getting just as fustrated as herself. Good to know that the feeling was mutual.

"Urbain was rather enthusiastic abou the idea. He mentioned needing funds. . ." Philippe continued.

Xiomara had looked back to him to, at the very least, let him speak. But she couldn't help notice Corbeau from her peripheral. She didnt want to make it obvious, especially with him sitting diagonally from her. But it seemed as though he kept sneaking glances at her? It was hard to tell. She might've just been making it up if anything.

"Excuse me?!" Lida interjected, "You said on the phone the interest is already up to $1,000,000 now! You call that 'helping'?!"

"She's got a point. It's definitely less than useful." Xiomara finally spoke for once. Her voice was low and surprisingly calm despite her emotions up until this point.

"She speaks?" Corbeau asks in response, not having expecting her to say anything at all. He shakes his head as if to brush it off, "I made sure to indicate the terms and conditions when finalizing the loan. Your friend claimed that if he made a video and posted it ASAP, guests would flock to your hotel, . ."

Xiomara looked at him directly after that comment. '"She speaks?" Did he think I was here for decoration?' It took everything in her not to get up and confront him. Or even make some snarky remark back at him. The only thing she actually did in response was straighten herself out. Fix her posture, have both her feet touch the floor. She placed both hands on her knees, trying to calm down a bit. Her previous emotions, unfortunately, were on a continuous simmer.

"Now, if you choose to reject my kind offer, then we'll just show up at the hotel and have a big old pokemon showdown. Every single one of us." Corbeau stated, immediately looking to Xiomara for a response, "So what do you say? I'll assume you'll accept?"

For a moment, her knuckles almost turned white. She firmly grabbed her jeans at the knee, inhaling before letting out a sigh and releasing the fabric.

"We accept." She said plainly.

"Now that's what I like to hear! Pleasure doing business with you."

It didn't take long before both members of Team Mz had been asked to make their way out. And so they did. Once outside the wall surrounding the Rust Syndicate, Xiomara shook her head. She had an Idea, one she didnt want to go through with, but one felt she had to.

"Look Lida, um, I think I'll be the one to handle whatever jobs Corbeau." She offers, lightly concerned, but willing to care of it.

"Are you sure? I feel like you do a lot alr-"

"It's fine. Besides I know less about them then the rest of the team. They don't scare me." She states assuringly.