route_1065 | As we scatter like flower petals

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As we scatter like flower petals

Who: Chloe and Clover
Where: Goldenrod Mall
When: Sometime in the past couple days
Summary: A couple of people who get along finally meeting face to face
Rating: Probably PG. I'll edit if it gets higher

After being around few people other than his team and their close friends since his arrival, it felt nice to have both a day to himself and a chance to spend time with someone as lively as Clover. He'd only spoken to her a few times, but he enjoyed their conversations and wanted to know more about her if possible.

Christine stayed close to him as they left camp and headed into town. Even if he didn't have the money to get much, he'd at least enjoy walking around and grabbing food along with maybe a few items for his team. As he came closer to the mall, he kept his eyes open for Clover.

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Clover was actually just beside the mall entrance, with Light the Roserade, Scoville the Eevee, and Ham the Jigglypuff. She was going through her purse, wondering if she had enough for another Shiny Stone. Her savings had recently been depleted by the Moon Stone she had bought for Clover the Skitty, who was now Clover the Delcatty...but maybe if she was lucky, she could put together enough.

If she couldn't, she could always buy Chloe something else in return for the flowers. Maybe one of his Pokémon needed a stone to evolve. Hopefully a cheaper one...

Wait, wasn't that Chloe? And Christine? Clover waved vigorously, and her Jigglypuff bounced up and down. The girl's excitement to meet Chloe in person seemed to be contagious.

Trabant the Hoothoot and Sir Richard the Dratini were back at camp, but he had an egg in his bag in case this attention gave it what it needed to hatch. He had a bit of money, but was hoping he could find a job with the florist here to supplement what he got from a bit of fighting and his team sharing once in a while.

He smiled warmly when he noticed her Pokemon being as excited as her and took the last few steps to get close enough to offer his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you in person."

Clover took his hand and shook it. She beamed and answered, "Yeah, it is! Thanks again for the flowers. Did you get a job here too?"

The Eevee was grinning, and the Jigglypuff had stopped bouncing but settled for a whole lot of waving. And the Roserade took a cautious step forward, no longer looking down at his feet.

"I haven't been here long enough to find a job, but I heard there's a florist here, so I'll speak with them in a day or so, once I get more settled in."

Christine stepped forward towards her more-evolved version and gave an excited look at all of them. She'd never seen those other Pokemon before and they looked cute.

Clover nodded in agreement. "You should. Not only does it give you money, but also gives you something to do when you're not training or talking to people. I got a job with the Center, and I've been working there for a while now."

Light raised his right hand; it was no longer a single red rose, but a bouquet of roses. The Jigglypuff and the Eevee were just as excited to see Christine, and the former in particular took hold of one of Christine's hands - either Ham was eager to take her into the mall, or was just giving a handshake.

"I'm not training as hard as some of the others in my group," he admitted. Chloe was mostly using Johto as a way to rest and enjoy not having to do anything dangerous like the job he'd been in the middle of before he woke up here in the first place. "I spend most of my time right now trying to see how different the flowers and animals are from what I'm used to in England. And right now, waiting for this egg I bought to hatch."

Christine let the pink fluffball grab her hand and stepped forward, eager to explore and enjoy herself.

"I bet they'd be way different," Clover pointed out. "Even though I've seen some Pokémon that are pretty close to the animals and plants we see back home." She pauses thoughtfully. "I've never been to England before...but I'd like to see it."

The Jigglypuff was now tugging onto Christine's hand as the Eevee led the way into the mall. Light decided to just follow, although this time he wasn't trailing behind, but walking beside Christine.

"By the way, I think we've stood out here long enough. You won't believe the stuff you find inside the mall."

"Where are you from, then?" He'd been around a large part of Europe along with New York City, but nowhere other than that. Chloe nodded at the remark about them being different -- even when he wanted to send flowers, some of them weren't exactly the same, but they were close enough.

"It'll be nice to look around. I've been in small towns here for so long that I miss the city." He stepped inside and reached for her hand, if she wanted to take it.

"I'm from Japan. I heard there was a Japanese-inspired town here, but I haven't been there yet. Goldenrod's the farthest I've gone." She hurried to join him, reaching out to take his hand as they entered the mall.

"A couple of my coworkers and one of my bosses were from Japan before they moved to England. Because of them, I've learned a reasonable amount of the language." He knew six languages, technically, but this wasn't the time to brag about something like that.

Chloe gave her hand a small squeeze and started to look around at the stores. Some things and places were the same no matter what world you were in, it seemed. Clothes, jewelry, toys, and other goods would always be for sale.

"Wow, really? Have you been to Japan yourself, though?"

Though Clover had been to the mall quite a few times already, it never failed to impress her. After all, it was pretty amazing in itself - and Goldenrod in general was a nice change from the small towns that tended to be a little too quiet for her taste.

Of course, she did remember to keep an eye on Light, Ham and Scoville, who were all leading Christine along.

"Not yet. Maybe they'll take me one day so I can see where they used to live before they ended up on the other side of the world."

Once inside, he wandered towards a small shop apparently advertising Pokémon massages. Christine saw the sign and perked up, curious enough to want to try it.

"Can we leave her here and head off to get some things for ourselves?"

Clover glanced at her own Pokémon. Light's eyes were narrowed in thought, and Scoville made a noise of dissent with a shake of his head, but Ham was nodding and bouncing again, obviously pretty excited.

"I thought you already had a massage. Or maybe that was Arietis. Never mind. What about you, Light?" The Roserade finally nodded, moving closer to Christine to look at the sign as well.

Turning to Chloe, Clover shrugged. "Yeah, she, Ham and Light should be fine for a while. Scoville will still be tagging along with us, though."

He paid for Christine and patted her head lightly. Chloe kept his money out, but if Clover was fine paying for her own team, he wouldn't force it.

"That's fine. I'm used to being around Eevees. Someone I'm with has a lot of them." Aya's collection was...pretty impressive.

Actually, Clover will indeed pay for Ham and Light on her own. She had enough from working at the Center, at least...and she could afford to splurge for them.

"Is he trying to snag all the evolutions? Or rather, the Eeveelutions?" She laughs at her little pun. So original. "I know I'd try that one day."

"Perhaps. He has others, but they take up most of his collection. How many different things can an Eevee evolve into?" Chloe'd seen three this far, and knew of the Fire option. They didn't seem like the only possibilities though.

Once they paid and stepped away, Chloe tried to decide where to go next.

"Seven, actually, if I'm not mistaken. I did some research when I first learned about the Eevee. That's why I find it kinda hard to just...pick one. So I'm narrowing down my choices." She picked up her Eevee as they left. "But some evolutions can be more expensive than others, 'cause of the stones and all."

Clover looked at him. "Where to next?"

"That makes sense. I only have about half the money I'd need to get Christine a Shiny Stony, but she doesn't seem to be in a hurry to evolve. She's as patient as her namesake." The real Christine was everything Chloe idolized and he'd never not love her, but he found himself interested in other women to a lesser degree once in a while.

He thought for a moment before he headed towards the shop selling general supplies. Getting a few potions wouldn't be too expensive.

Clover and Scoville followed, keeping up just fine, although the Eevee's eyes wandered all over the mall; he tried to take in everything.

"Light's patient too. I didn't make him evolve until after I won the Plain Badge...I kinda wanted to do it sooner, but I didn't have the money then, and I didn't want to rush things. I also asked him when he wanted to evolve, so I wouldn't feel like forcing him or anything. He was okay with his evolution...I should probably ask Scoville too what he wants to evolve into."

She couldn't help but be a little talkative, but she had been learning a lot lately, and Pokémon were very interesting in general and a good conversation topic.

"I haven't won any badges and I'm not sure if I'll try for them. There are other things to focus on and parts of my group are earning them as well." Chloe wasn't here to fight at all, even if he knew his team would protect him if they needed to.

"If he wants to evolve at all. I've heard of a few people with Pokémon who want to stay just as they are." He didn't mind Clover being talkative one bit.

"Yeah, true. You think there's nothin' much to do here, and then suddenly you find your hands full." Clover shrugged. "Besides, who knows? The badges might be helpful someday."

She stroked her Eevee behind the ears; he squeezed his eyes shut and grinned.

"I don't mind if he wants to stay this way. It's just that it'd be pretty interesting to see one of the Eevee's many evolutions for myself."

"If they're useful later, I'll start gathering them. For now, I'm trying to relax in Johto. Things at home were pretty stressful before I arrived here." Really, that was an understatement, but Clover didn't need to know the truth about his life.

She seemed like the sort of person who'd be better not knowing that he was a killer.

"Well, whatever he does, I'm sure he'll get strong." After he got a few supplies, he looked to her for where to go next.

"Oh...did something happen to you?" Clover asked curiously, more softly. To say that she had been under a lot of stress before coming to Johto would be an understatement as well; although much of that stress had been lifted from her shoulders. Of course, though she liked Chloe and thought he'd make a good friend, she was most probably going to hold back on telling him about the Nonary Game and everything in between.

In any case, she didn't mean to pry.

"It's too ugly a story to get into on a nice day like this." Chloe planned on never telling her the specifics, though he might be vague on a couple of points if absolutely necessary. She was a nice girl who didn't need her impression of him ruined.

Chloe pushed some hair out of his face and started walked again in no particular direction just to see what there was around here.

"...oh."

This other "oh" was a little disappointed, but more sad than disappointed. To some extent, she understood that maybe he really didn't want to talk about it. Maybe he was just secretive about some things. Hopefully she didn't offend him or anything.

"Sorry I asked...i-it's okay..."

"It's okay. You didn't know that things were bad." Chloe reached over to give her hand a squeeze and he flashed a reassuring smile as well. "They could have been a lot worse, though."

The next shop he stopped at happened to be the one with evolutionary items. Christine jumped up to try and get a better look at the Shiny Stone.

Clover could only nod, and take his word for it; she didn't want to pry at this point. Although she didn't draw her hand away when Chloe squeezed it, she remained silent until they arrived at the next store, and she nodded at the Shiny Stone displayed before them.

Her mood improved slightly, of course, and she couldn't help but point out the stone. "That's it. That's what turns Roselias into Roserades."

"It's a pretty stone." He smiled at it, but looked over the price and sighed. Chloe didn't think he could afford that right now, sadly.

"And seeing her stronger would be nice, when I can spare the money."

"It is, isn't it? Some stones are more expensive than others, apparently. But as long as you have a job and you save up for it, I'm sure you can buy it after a while! Or..."

Clover would buy it for him, if she could. She reached into her pocket for her purse and started counting the money she had. Her wages at the Center were okay, but of course, there was the chance that she wouldn't have enough today.

He watched her count her money and smiled a little. Getting a gift would be nice, but Chloe wouldn't want her to completely drain her wallet for his sake.

"I have a bit less than half of what I need. We could split the cost," he offered after a moment.

Clover nodded; she could easily make half the cost - five thousand, was it? "If you're okay with it, then so am I. That's a good idea."

Scoville, who had chosen to stay with her, wagged his tail as if to agree. She giggled...and was very thankful Chloe had made that suggestion. Her money, after all, had not been enough for even one Shiny Stone. The rest of her earnings were guarded well in her hotel room, saved for necessities and emergencies.

"I'm fine with doing this."

He dug out his own half of the money and smiled down at Scoville for a moment. Maybe he'd have to buy an Eevee of his own at some point.

"Then let's surprise Christine when she comes out from that massage." She tucked the money back into her pocket for the moment, and reached out for the Shiny Stone.

Meanwhile, Scoville wagged his tail again, grinning up at Chloe and letting out a bark - or at least, a sound that sounded like a bark.

"That sounds like a good plan to me." Chloe took the Shiny Stone after they paid and slipped it into his bag. He'd save it for when Christine seemed interested in evolving.

After that, he leaned down to pet Scoville for a moment.

Scoville liked the patting; his tail wagged even more quickly, thumping against the floor. He even nudged Chloe's hand, enjoying every moment of the petting. Clover glanced down at the Eevee and smiled; they were getting along. Scoville seemed to be getting along just fine with almost anyone...and that was good.

"She doesn't have to take it right away, anyway."

He nodded. "I'll hold onto it until she's ready."

"Should we see if they're done with their massages?"

"We probably should. It's not like they'll be kept in there for the entire day, right?" Clover agreed. "Unless you've got other things to buy or anything."

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As we scatter like flower petals

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Apologies for being slower than usual -- sorta ended up in the ER with a migraine -_-

It's okay, are you all right now? D=

Yeah, just needed better drugs than I keep at home

AS LONG AS YOU'RE FINE.

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...did we leave many of the pokeymans at the massage place? JUST MAKING SURE

/facepalm. just ignore that part. sorry!

THAT'S OKAY.

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