Cactuses mixed with faces isn't exactly going to get you Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

[and_after_thrall]

WHO: Elaine Mallory, OPEN
WHAT: A botched attempt at bonding with Pokemon resulted in an unwanted tussle with a Cacturne. Elaine has to stay behind in Caldera to recuperate and hope they've got some medicine for her face.
WHEN: July 1st, 2016
WHERE: Caldera


When Elaine said she meant to lay low a little while longer, this wasn't exactly what she had in mind.

The cheap hotel room was hot beyond belief, as the air conditioning unit had given up the ghost (maybe literally) a long time ago. She had to change the bandages that covered her deeper wounds frequently; not because of the blood, but because she was sweating profusely. But hey, as long as they didn't charge her extra for the two to three cold showers she took each day, it wasn't all that bad. Painful, but it could have been worse.

She hesitated to cal Harry. For one thing, if she was backing out of their agreed meeting now, he might suspect there was some other reason behind it. Maybe she had cold feet. Maybe she was just being flat out suspicious. She had no idea how he was going to react, honestly. For another, she was supposed to be the one who played it cautious and skirted danger. But even the wary weren't completely safe from a chance encounter with an annoyed Cacturne who was decidedly not impressed with the volume of Betty the Pancham's earth-shaking belches. So, either Harry was going to eye her with suspicion, or double over laughing at her dumb pathetic face. To be fair, he would have been justified either way.

But it would have been worse to just leave him hanging, so she decided to send a voice message. It took her a few moments to remember how to use the Warp Band they'd picked out, and then configure it to not send a video feed, but eventually, she managed.

"Harry, it's Elaine. Can I get a raincheck on that reunion? Something came up here in Caldera, so I won't be able to make it out to Union for at least another week. I'm not backing out, it's just going to take more time than we planned." She paused for a moment. Then she added, "Sorry. I'll see you soon." And sent the message.

She pushed her hand through her sweat-dampened hair and blew out her breath. Kind of lame, and not the impression she wanted to make, but there wasn't really any other way around it. She reached for the tube of antiseptic ointment, then cursed under her breath as her hands closed around the flat and crinkled container. Empty, right. She swung her legs off of the sofa's footrest, pushing her feet into the pair of travel-worn sneakers to lace them up tight.

"I'm going out," she told her Pokemon, slinging her purse onto her shoulder.

"Cleffa!"
"Plech!"
Snore.

All were fine, then. She manipulated the knob as best she could with the very top tips of her fingers, since she'd got slashed pretty bad in both of her palms and just about every joint she had from shoulder to knuckle. She ignored the burn of her injuries and kept her pace brisk...slightly less brisk than her usual energetic stride, but she wasn't about to start toddling around the Calderan streets like an old lady now. So a stop at the pharmacy, then the mini mart for some pre-packaged low-quality snacks and meals. Maybe she'd find some fresh fruit and vegetables too, but she wasn't about to hold her breath.

Comments

[rainsrespite]

It didn't take someone as observant as Yuuna to notice that the woman walking down the street was injured. It helped, though, that she was. And was a trained field medic at that. Long, brisk strides easily caught her up to the stranger, and plodding along beside her was an enormous Swampert. Tobi made a trumpeting sound to announce her presence, and the Ranger Captain fell into step beside the woman.

Yuuna was tall, easily 6'7", and wearing a brown Ranger's jacket with several patches on the arms. The rest of her was all in an off-white sundress, offsetting the image of some hardened warrior with something soft and very...Union.

"Looks like you're out when you're supposed to be in bed, Miss."

[and_after_thrall]

Elaine blinked. While she might have been accustomed to craning her head back to look up at Harry the Great and Gangly, it was rare to see the face of someone else at that height, particularly women. She didn't stare, for that was rude, but she wasn't quite skilled enough to hide her bemused surprise.

"Believe me," she chuffed with a grin, "there's no place else I'd rather be right now." She plucked the empty container of ointment she'd brought along out of her purse, giving it a light wiggle in her fingertips before dropping it back in. "Ran out of antiseptic sooner than I thought."

She definitely didn't want to entrust the task to her Pokemon. Not everyone reacted well to Trubbishes, especially those that made wet hacking noises. Her Cleffa was too young and didn't know the city, and the Pancham? The Pancham was hungover. That left the duty up to Elaine, who was used to doing things on her own anyway.

Elaine's head craned back so she could get another look at that Swampert. It was enormous, a handsome beast of a Pokemon, and she got the feeling that it was healthy and well-cared for. "Elaine," she introduced herself. "Just visiting for a week or so. And you are?"

[rainsrespite]

Well that was generally the reaction Yuuna garnered when she did meet people from outside the city. A good portion of the residents were aware of her, at least as a photographer if not a Ranger, so they were generally less than surprised to see her. The woman's accent was marked her as 'other' as well, and that prompted some curiosity on her end.

She extended her hand in greeting, already liking the way this woman spoke. Something in the way she smiled was appealing, and put her a little more at ease.

"Yuuna. Nice to meet you," she answered in a casual tone, and then gestured to the lunk of a Swampert. "And this is Tobi. We're local, if it wasn't obvious."

Her eyes flickered up and down Elaine and she clicked her tongue in amusement. It didn't seem bad, but it was noticeable. Something in the way Elaine moved didn't feel quite natural.

"Haven't seen you around the medical center. Are you trying to self-treat that?"

[and_after_thrall]

"Likewise," Elaine grinned, shaking Yuuna's hand once it was offered. And look at that, she even managed not to wince when she did it!

Her gaze drifted back to Tobi out of curiosity. "Locals, huh? I'm still adjusting to the different cultures. Give me time, I'll be able to pinpoint a Calderan in a crowd eventually." Despite her discomfort, she kept pace with Yuuna. She was used to keeping pace with Harry anyway, and she already had a long stride of her own.

To the ranger's question, Elaine nodded. "I stopped by initially for treatment. Left when the drunken Panchams rolled in." She raised her eyebrows and gave Yuuna a meaningful look. Need she say more? It seemed like the whole city was well aware of the most adorable infestation it had ever seen. Adorable, but troublesome nonetheless. "One of them even followed me back to my hotel room. They're too cute to kick out."

[rainsrespite]

Good, because Yuuna had a strong grip, though she didn’t crush down too hard. Her head shook though, and she figured it was best to clear up the misunderstanding. “I’m from Union. But I have an office here in Caldera. And you are…Sanctuary? I can tell by your accent.”

It was a half question, half statement, really. She could tell, she had an ear for that kind of thing. The commentary about the Panchams got a well deserved laugh though, and she dropped the seriousness out of her voice entirely. “They’re cute, yeah. Trouble, but cute. I train Fighting types myself, mostly, since I am one…but Pancham are something else.”

[and_after_thrall]

Elaine rolled her shoulders, hesitating to confirm the city of her childhood. Harry told her it was fine, that DuMorne was dead, but still. That prickling sense of dread always seemed to run up the back of her neck. "Sort of. I grew up there. Didn't really stick around too long, though." She hoped her answer wasn't so vague that it aroused questions, but not so specific that it might come back to bite her in the ass later. She still wasn't sure what was up with those assassin Pokemon that had gone after Harry, and poking around the city hadn't turned up any information on them.

"You do have the look of a decent Fighter," Elaine grinned with a complimentary nod. Best to turn the conversation back to Yuuna, she decided. "So you've just got the one office out here, or have you been putting one in each of the big cities?" she asked, tracing her finger over an imaginary map in front of her to illustrate the invisible grid.

[rainsrespite]

Yuuna had a lot of thoughts about Sanctuary, but the only negative ones she had were aimed towards the Mage's Council. They had lied to her face, directly, and forced her to battle against what effectively were mind-dominated zombies and abominations. The ordinary folk though? That was different. She'd practically adopted Waver, after all, and he was about as much fun as a sack of wet Meowth.

"We've got an office here, and Refuge. Citadel keeps their own watches, and Sanctuary's a bit far off. We tend to stick to patrolling the area immediately around Union, honestly. The Rangers don't have the manpower to spread that far out." Truthfully, she's not even sure they have the manpower for Caldera right now, but why bring up staffing problems with someone who's injured.

"What happened to you?"

[and_after_thrall]

That was the million dollar question right there. What had happened? Elaine had always prided herself on her ability to get along with Pokemon. They had honest souls, and as a whole, she'd had much better experiences with them than people. It wasn't as if she had a trail of Pokemon fans trailing in her footsteps, but most were content to let her move around and do her own thing. This was the first time one had ever reacted to her with open hostility, and it had taken her by surprise.

"I left the city with my group to do a little Bonding," Elaine hedged, somewhat embarrassed. "One of the Panchams followed me and got a little...'crude.' The Cacturne sunning itself nearby, um..." She brought her hands together, fingers slightly spread as if they were supposed to interlace, but just couldn't quite manage it.

"Well, the two didn't exactly get along. And I wasn't about to let a little Pancham get skewered by an ill-tempered Cacturne. So, here I am. Flaking out on meeting up with my friend in Union." It was a stupid story, and she knew it. But Yuuna didn't seem like the type who would rub it in or cast disparaging looks, so what was the harm in telling it?

[rainsrespite]

Ah. So that was it. Trouble with Cacturne. Those things were jerkoffs. Complete and total dicks by and large.

"Honestly Cacturne are about as mean as an actual cactus. I'm not really surprised that it got territorial. They can be as mean as a Tyranitar when the mood takes them."

She paused at the comment about needing to get to Union, and an impish smile spread over her features.

"You need to get to Union? I can get you there in under an hour, if you can get your things together."

[and_after_thrall]

"That soon?" Elaine stopped in her tracks, surprised. Was that possible?

"How?"

She was reluctant to agree to anything that would aggravate her injuries any further, but she doubted Yuuna would have made such a suggestion in the first place if that were the case. She turned partly to look back over her shoulder in the direction of her hotel room. She'd traveled pretty light, as most of her personal effects were still in Borealis, so packing wouldn't be difficult. All three of her Pokemon were fairly small as well.

"...You don't have a problem transporting Trubbishes too?" Not many people seemed to like that Pokemon, but Elaine wasn't going anywhere without hers.

[rainsrespite]

"I don't. If you don't have a Warp Band yet, we can stop by the station and I'll give you one. If you do? Then just send it on ahead."

Yuuna taps her Warp Band and calls up Susume. Her Dragonite. A species noted for being able to travel near the speed of sound.

"And Susume can get you there in no time."

[and_after_thrall]

Elaine pushed up her sleeve to show that she had a warp band. It was brand new too, purchase only a couple of days ago once Harry convinced her to pick one up. This effectively eradicated any excuses she might have had not to keep in touch. "As long as it doesn't hurt them. I haven't used it for anything like that before."

But she got a demonstration right then and there, and her eyes widened at the sight of the big friendly orange dragon landing in front of them.

"It's gorgeous," she breathed. She hadn't ever seen a Dragonite up close before, and lifted her hand to touch its side in quiet awe.

Elaine blinked, then shook her head as she stepped back. "Thank you. I'll go back and grab my things."

Think I'm letting the thread go here!

[rainsrespite]

"No problem, take your time," Yuuna replied, patting Susume. Better to get this woman where she needed to be. Friends would hopefully be able to keep her tied down to a bed, since it didn't look like the injury was life threatening.