1x1 Contest Coordination RP (StOwl x Bunny Hop!)

Caelan nodded, a little distracted, as Kaori was speaking; a minute later, though, the words registered, and she blushed. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking about your chair. It might not be the best for navigating through here."

Kaori seemed to be doing good on the uneven turf, though, so Caelan followed behind, glancing obsessively behind her to make sure they weren't being followed by the Team Magma grunts. A sound distracted her from the woodland at her back, and Caelan looked ahead to see that Kaori had fallen out of her wheelchair. She hurried over to help Kaori get back up. "This was a bad idea, I'm sorry. We can turn back if you want. They're only interested in my Skitty, they might not pursue us." Internally, Caelan was cursing herself for being so paranoid.

 

"Okay." Caelan was unsure, but she trusted Kaori to know how her wheelchair operated, so it wasn't hard for the budding coordinator to keep moving, especially because Kaori now seemed more secure in her wheelchair. The forest was eerily silent; Caelan had been hoping for noise of her Skitty, maybe, or at least a battle. Had Skitty fainted? The Magma grunts couldn't have gotten it in a Pokéball, surely. That was impossible . . . wasn't it?

The trees began to thin, and Caelan could see through them and into Rustboro. She gasped a little; Caelan had only ever lived in suburban or rural areas, and wasn't used to a city as magnificent as this. "Wow! This is amazing! How are we going to find Officer Jenny in this huge place?"

 

Caelan hesitated - she didn't want to leave Kaori by herself, and she wanted to help Smokey with its paw. But there was no time to dawdle; she had to save her Skitty. So, instead of staying behind to help, Caelan just nodded. "Okay. I'll get there as fast as I can."

The Pokémon Center was so brightly colored that it was easy to distinguish it from the surrounding buildings. Caelan breathed a sigh of relief as she found the police station. "Officer Jenny? There are some Magma grunts on Route 1 and they've been attacking my Skitty."

 

Caelan returned a short while later with Officer Jenny at her heels. "Hi, Kaori. How's your Houndour doing? Did you get its thorn out? Officer Jenny, they were up the path a little ways. If you find my Skitty, could you bring it to me before it gets lost? It gets distracted easily."

Caelan glanced at Rustboro again. "Hey Kaori, do you know when the first contest is? I mean, I guess I should have looked that up before I came here - whoops - but I guess I didn't. I mean, I know there's one soon, but it would be nice if we still had a few days. To prepare."

Before Kaori had a chance to reply, Officer Jenny returned. "I couldn't find the grunts you were talking about, but I did find your Skitty. It doesn't look too bad, but if you're worried about it, you should bring it to Nurse Joy."

"Thanks, Officer Jenny." Caelan took her Skitty back and supported it in her arms. "Guess you've had a bit of a fright, haven't you? Why don't we make a trip to the Pokémon Center? That's where we were going to head anyway, right?" She glanced at Kaori.

 

"Catching new Pokémon! I never even thought of that. I guess it will happen eventually." Caelan tapped a Pokéball to Skitty's head and tucked it back in her belt. "To the Pokémon Center it is, then. We should see if they have rooms for us, too. It'll be a bit of a pain to find a place to stay otherwise."

Caelan started off across the bridge again. She could hardly wait to get settled somewhere; it had been a long day.

 

Caelan stuck her hands in her pockets awkwardly. She wasn't qualified as a "carer," and if anyone decided to check her more closely, she'd be toast. Not to mention that she didn't like this lying anyway. Still, it wasn't as if she could butt in and correct Kaori now that the transaction had already been made.

Caelan wandered up into their room, having already dropped her Pokémon off with Nurse Joy for a check. She'd said that once the Pokémon were looked over, she'd send someone to look after Caelan and Kaori. It was a nice room, large (like Kaori said), and perfect for an impatient Skitty. "I'm glad this whole mess is over," Caelan said with a grin. "Any other plans for today?"

((I convinced my brain I'd responded to this. I'll put up a post-it to remind myself to reply to this. Sorry; it's easier to remember when my events don't clear after less than a day.))

 

"Oh. I can do that," said Caelan with a grin. "Well, if I knew anything about your medication that is. Do you need training to technically be a carer?"

She placed her backpack on the other bed, beginning to unpack some of the small items in it: books, a hairbrush, Pokeblock. Then she sat down on the bed. "Sounds like a good plan. I may need to find a bigger bag. And I want to get started with training as soon as possible. ALl of my Pokémon still have something they really need to work on, even after being through the Academy." She sighed.

 

"Okay," replied Caelan, putting some money in her pocket. "See you later."

She wandered out of the Pokémon Center, leaving her Pokémon there to be treated, and started looking for storefronts. That wasn't hard; all she had to do was follow the crowds. It also wasn't hard to find an excellent hiking backpack, one with lots of pockets and slots for water bottles, spare Pokeblock, and even birdseed, for some reason. She swung the bag over her shoulder, sure that her Pokémon would be ready to start training once she got back to the Center. Then she saw them.

"The grunts followed us here?" Caelan muttered, suddenly picking up her pace.

 

Just as Caelan had moved out of sight of the Team Magma grunts, his phone buzzed, and he glanced at the screen to see a text from Kaori. "Hey, I'll be ready in a couple of moments, I'll meet you in front of the Berry Store." That was only a block away, but it also put Caelan back into the grunts' view. He sighed. At least he'd be able to figure out the best course of action.

Caelan moved back into the main street and texted Kaori. "I think the Team Magma grunts followed us here, they're about two blocks away from the Berry Store. Any ideas?"

 

Caelan's phone buzzed in his hand only a few minutes later, after he'd been frantically turning it on and off for what seemed like an eternity. We also got Team Aqua here. "Shit," he said aloud. Caelan wasn't sure which team he disliked more - the family rivalry with Team Magma and the family alliance with Team Aqua made it difficult to decide - but having the two of them together spelled out a very large veto. It was with some regret that Caelan followed through with Kaori's plan, releasing his Skitty to distract the Magma grunts from before.

"Done," Caelan texted. "Meet you in the alley."