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[attr="class","pwfbody"]a tired sigh slipped past eli's lips. the summer sun beat on them from above, while the smell of the ocean was overwhelming. living next to the water for 20+ years did little to change the fact he hated the smell. even if it did give him odd feelings of comfort. "i could really just crash all day," eli noted, head swiveling left and right for.. well, anything. he wasn't entirely sure what to expect, being his first time here and all. he contemplated continuing on when something flooded his nostrils.¹ it smelled sweet; like an meadow or field. behind him (on him, above him, however you want to think) the meowth opened one of her eyes curiously. [break][break]

"i hate to ask you to do this, alice, but.. can you find that for me?" when she didn't budge, he reached up and over his head, placing her on the ground before him. meowth seemed irritated by this and she verbally expressed so. "i'll make it up to you, okay?" she seemed unmoved by his sentiment (or bribery) but turned and began to walk anyways. he followed closely behind knowing full well if she turned a corner and he lost her, she'd probably just sleep where she lie.[break][break]

less than a few minutes later, three right turns, one u-turn and a bakery shop later - they arrived. it was no where in particular; or at least, nothing special. a dumpster behind an apparent fast-food restaurant. they came upon it as noises echoed from inside, trash spilling over the top. very clearly the sanitation department should be informed of this oversight. reaching for, he pulled out a notepad of some kind, jotted down the reminder before putting it back away. "not sure what's in there, but.. here goes nothing."[break][break]

elijah picked up an apple core, half eaten and rotting, and threw it at the side of the dumpster. the loud 'clang' resonating to whatever picked around inside. the commotion stopped and a head peeked up from the top. the crescent moon identifying what it was immediately. "holy arceus, that's a teddiursa!" eli slid his backpack off of one shoulder and placed it on the ground in front of him, taking a knee as he did so. fumbling around inside, he pulled out a large book with all sorts of sticky notes or book marks coming out of the side. "where is it.. where is it.. hah!" he stopped on a page.[break][break]

"it says here they can absorb honey into their paws for later..." his face lit up, no longer fatigued from the boat ride but rather completely consumed by the turn of events. "can you believe it alice? on our first day, too!" contraty to her trainer, she appeared completely bored of the situation. her reaction forced a laugh out of him. "oh cheer up, this is exciting! as he read further he looked up occasionally, comparing notes of the research books to the real-life encounter.[break][break]

that was when the bear pokemon, annoyed by it's visitors, began to climb it's way out. it was screaming; crying in fear? anger? eli expected a pokemon this close to civilization would be used to encountering humans, but, it seemed that wasn't the case. it made it's way -- quite loudly -- towards alice, bumbling forth like an inexperienced child. "errr.. it's okay! we don't want to hurt you, we ju-" eli was interrupted by the hissing of his partner. her hackles rose and stance changed. "c-c'mon alice, it's just scared." words fell on deaf ears. [break][break]

she reacted before the bear could get any closer. with the flexibility only a feline could have the cat leaped forwards, her paw outstretched and glowing with tendrils of shadow-like energy.² when the normal-type landed, the damage had knocked the bear on it's behind. it's wailing much louder than before. "ah jeez," he mumbled to himself, watching the commotion unfold. alice hated her space being broached like that. fearing the worst, he acted.[break][break]

"go on, get outta here! go, shoo!" eli raised his voice, yelling and throwing his arms around. the bear, obviously intimidated at this point, got up and promptly ran as fast she could. her cries were gone in seconds³ and guilt washed over the professor. "really alice?" a sigh rose from in his chest. "you're probably just tired." paying no mind, she followed him as he walked off, book tucked underneath his arm comfortably..[break][break]

"if her mom comes i'm throwing you at her and running, just so you know."

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[attr="class","pwfbody"]"man," he began, twisting his neck left and then right to work out the kinks, "i really didn't expect that." he'd spent the better part of the last ten minutes staring down at his book. his neck didn't appreciate it. he was reviewing the teddiursa's page from earlier. the border was filled with neat little tid bits from his research and previous encounter. the most recent one? 'easily spooked.' this one just might save his or another's life later. he sighed and turned his eyes to the backdrop of the town. one day he would have his own book.[break][break]

a bit calm downed from earlier, alice rested on the stone wall beside him. her coarse tongue dutifully cleaned the top of her paws. "you know, you don't always have to be so abrasive." eli said softly. the normal-type looked up for a moment before returning back to her duties. he wasn't good at this; it's why he never had a pokemon. with a sigh he returned back to flipping through the large volume. the page on meowths didn't reveal anything helpful. and elijah sucked in a breathe. he was terrible at this whole.. bonding thing. eli never wondered why didn't have a lot of people close to him... he knew. he wished there was a book on this. thats what he was good at.[break][break]

elijah looked up as a small creature made it's way with a hop and a skip past them. "hmm," curious fingers flipped through the book. of course, he knew the name of every species. eli prided himself on knowledge. to him it really was power. "shroomish.. hmm.. huh?" He re-read the passage twice just to make sure. "what are you doing so far from home little guy?" as if in response to the question posed, the grass type turned to face him. he did not see happy. perhaps eli had hit a soft spot? [break][break]

"uhm.. alice?" it bounced closer.. once.. twice.. "uhm, alice- hun, can you help here?" a stolen glance proved she was showing little effort in the 'save her trainer' mission currently underway. 'watch his head', eli thought to himself. 'so long as i steer clea-' the idea didn't finish, an orb of explosive light shooting from one of the pores¹ in it's head. he ducked, diving to the floor and clinging to the wall behind him. no doubt that wouldn't have been pleasant at all.[break][break]

from her perch, alice stirred. 'she still resents me from earlier, huh?' with feline grace she landed on her paws, staring down the foreign pokemon. 'no, she's resented me longer than that.' true to her species, she circled the shroomish. eli remained quiet this time; he would let her finish this her way. vertical slits narrowed even further as she stalked the grass-type, a knowing, raspy little laugh pulsing out.² he seemed relatively unconcerned with the new opponent, even as he turned to keep her in his sights. it was a near fatal mistake.[break][break]

trained eyes watched the muscles a-top the shroomish's head convulse and she recognized it as it was — a threat. little effort was expended in her preemptive strike. her trainer watched in complete awe as claws lashed out³, sharpened and deadly, in a downward arch towards the shroomish. even more impressive was why. not only had she caught the pokemon by surprise, she had aimed for the exact moment the seed bomb⁴ emerged. the resulting explosion consumed the grass-type and when the dust settled it was no where to be seen.⁵ it appeared the explosion knocked it far, far from the commotion.[break][break]

"that was.. amazing alice." her paws were scuffed and slightly damaged from the technique though, and she limped softly. he reached into his medicine pouch and pulled out a potion. "let me help," eli said softly, getting up to tend to her. she was hesitant, but realized resistance was futile. "we got a long way to go don't we?" the cat looked away as he spoke. 'yeah, she sure knew how to challenge me' he thought to himself. with a laugh he rubbed the spray into her wounds, content for now with their silence.[break][break]