Of shiny things [open/mod]

[Puppet]

Walking into the store reminded Finn of his younger years, and walking into an icecream shop with his parents. This was before the general downfall of society though, and he had to wonder if there was even producers left of meaningless foods like minty-chip custard. He turned and returned his two dog pokemon, leaving Surru out to marvel in wonder at the shelves of food. Half of the store consisted of various poke-products, the other for human consumption. He wondered along through the aisles, wondering how he was going to pay off anything and hoping that he had more than just lint weighing down his pockets. Taking up an armful of assorted biscuits and goods, he scrounged up enough to pay after digging into his pouch as well. He fed Surru a few of the foods by the door, not wanting to go back out into the heat until the other trainer was done as well.

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[Jay]

Nero stared almost blankly at the shelf in front of her that appeared to have a varied assortment of things one could choose to buy for poke-food. Why do they spend so much time making so many different kids only to waste time by making people choose when all the products are pretty much the same.... Nero sighed outwards before finally picking up a few bags of poke-food and then a bag of cookies for herself. Never one to have eaten healthy food, Nero wasn't about to start any time soon. Then there came the trouble of paying for it all which, in truth it was not that much, yet the price was enough to make Nero sigh. Taking out what was needed to pay, she payed for the items and then started towards the door.

[Puppet]

Watching her approach, he flowed out the door into the heat and crowds. He could immediately tell he wasn't going to like the desert or the city very much, and even the energized Surru seemed to be wearing down in this blistering heat. The tall, sandstone buildings provided shade, but even that was little comfort. He turned towards the woman, realizing he didn't even know her name. He leaned against the food shop and decided they might as well get to know eachother a little better. It wouldn't work too much to his favor to wind up alone, in the middle of a scorching desert, just to get mugged or strangled by someone he had brought along. "So, I'm Finn. Who're you?"

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[Jay]

Nero blinked a moment realizing that they hadn't even said a word on naming. "Nero," she answered back with a half smile that blanketed her usual expression. After a moment, she took out the bag of cookies and opened it before taking one and promptly shoving the entire thing in her mouth. After another moment, she held out the bag to Finn if he wanted one.

[Puppet]

Finn stared at the cookie a bit abashedly, then took it and ate slowly. Surru lay and panted at his feet, ears and eyes flicking all over as she watched the crowds move by. Finn didn't quite know what he would do with the little Eevee, though he imagined her best as becoming a Vaporeon. He could feel the cold water stone in his pocket, the only thing seemingly unaffected by the boiling weather.

His gaze switched back over to Nero. She was such a monotone person...in voice, appearance, and name. Nothing gave away whatever lay underneath the surface. It was much like looking at a sheet of ice on a river, and wondering if there were waters roaring beneath.

"Would you mind helping me with something else?" the words seemed to burst out of him before he really thought about what he was saying. "I've got a pokemon who can only evolve by trade, but I don't know anyone who would with me. I'm not asking for any pokemon of yours, I just need you to take him, then give him back to me. Would you mind?" He fished out a pokeball and a strange shaped rock from his pouch, a Poliwhirl and a Kings Rock.

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[Jay]

Nero blinked a moment and looked down at the items in the man's hand. "Either Politoed or Slowking," she said after a moment looking up again understanding the context of the evolution. "Alright," she finished with a cool voice and a nod. "There is an extremely small pokemon center down the street a bit...." the dark haired woman made a directional look down the street before looking back at Finn. "But they have trading machines...."

[Puppet]

Finn's features broke into a small smile. "That'd be perfect." He clutched the two objects in his hand, and beckoned for Surru to follow. "He'll be a Politoed" he mentioned as he walked down the street towards the pokecenter. He hadn't noticed it on his quick glance on the street, but it seemed like it would be extremely easy to miss. Battling the crowds, he opened the squeaking door, and his eevee ran between his feet and rushed in. Even if it was a hole in the wall, it was better than nothing.

[Jay]

The cool feel that gushed around her as Nero found herself standing in small pokemon center twisted its way outwards until the door finally closed and prevented it from leaving. The pokemon center was small... very small... probably birthed from a residential home originally or so it looked to Nero. What caught the dark haired woman's eye was the trading machine on the far wall. The nurse Joy seemed to be out, but her Chansey called a greeting. Nero merely made a half bow before starting to walk towards the machine. The dark haired girl had already decided which pokemon she was going to trade. Never Meteor. She would never do such a thing to her first pokemon... nor Solaris nor Luna either... Taking out Celestia, one of Meteor's children and the small Beldum that she had out previously,'s ball, the dark haired woman set it in the proper place for trading without another word.

[Puppet]

Finn waved to the Chansey and followed Nero towards the old looking trading machine. Surrur bounded over to the nurse's pokemon, pleasantly yipping a barrage of greetings and childish babbling that there was no point in even trying to find meaning in.

He placed the pokeball on the other end of the machine, placing the Kings Rock beside it. Nodding to Nero, he pushed a button on his side to confirm the trade. Up the chute the pokemon went, reappearing on the woman's side.

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[Jay]

Nero watched rather stoically as her own pokemon seemed to follow the same pattern that Finn was watching with his own part of the trade after she had confirmed her end of the trade. As the pokemon appeared on her side, Nero stared a moment before looking to where Celestia had more or less gone.

[Puppet]

Pushing the button again, the two pokeballs swapped yet again. As Earl returned to Finn's side, he picked up the pokeball, pressed the button, and watched as the Politoed appeared. It's blue body had turned green, gloved fingers turned into rounded yellow hands. Yellow toes and rosy pink cheeks, complete with a black swirl of hair upon his head. A smirk appeared on the trainers face as he looked down at the pokemon, perplexed by it's new form. "I guess we better change your name. Paulo sounds good, don't you think?" The Politoed nodded it's head with a smile. Surru padded over, tilting her head as she sniffed curiously at the pokemon.

Finn looked up to Nero, still smiling. "Thank you, you've helped us a lot today. Is there anything you need or would like to do?" He hated feeling like he was in someone else's debt, and was eager to return the favor.

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[Jay]

Nero blinked surprised by the gratitude, and for a moment, she looked down at the newly reformed pokemon and then back up at Finn. Turning her head and then taking back her own pokeball before returning it to her pocket, she looked back again. "It's fine. There's no need for a payment," she answered with a rather lighter face than usual. It still wasn't a smile but it was something a bit more..."Although now I want to see the Politoed in a battle," Nero continued.

[Puppet]

Finn's appreciative smile broke out into a grin. His icy gaze turned back on Paulo, who returned he look. It was a mix of eagerness, and that sense of exhilaration when rising to a challenge. Surru's tail wagged feverishly, and all eyes seemed to be on their trainer and his response. "So do I." he spoke, then turned back to Nero. "What do you say? Wanna go outside and see?" Finn hadn't seen much of her pokemon, but knew that the Metagross would be a powerful opponent. Pulling out a pokeball, he returned the shiny eevee and just kept his Politoed at his side.

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[Jay]

A rare smile came on Nero's face that did not leave the second it appeared. "Indeed," she answered back stepping towards the door and opening it again before looking back at the Chansey that was still there and nodding to it as she went. "A one on one sound good?" Nero asked as she walked out the door.

[Puppet]

"Of course." He made his way to the outskirts of the city, exiting through the archway and into the desert that would be their arena. Finn stood to the right of the entrance, Paulo hopping along in front of him. He seemed to have adjusted well to his new form, he could feel the difference in his body. His speed was heightened, and there restred a lot more strength in his lower legs. No longer was he a punching machine, bulky in his upper while waddling on weak limbs. Now, he could spring high into the air, high as the wall that surrounded the city. It was exhilarating for the frog, like suddenly gaining the ability to fly. He readied himself into battle position, waiting for the fight to start.

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[Jay]

Nero walked not far from Finn but a good distance to make for the battle area. Taking out a pokebll, the dark haired woman looked at it for a solid second before throwing it up in the air and releasing her Gochimu, Asa. He was a young one (well...aside from Meteor's children) on her team and needed training in order to grow, anyways. "This is Asa," Nero said aloud. The male Gochimu nodded as though she had said something more than just his name. "You can have the first move."

[Puppet]

Finn nodded, looking at the little pokemon with interest. He didn't know much about the newer pokemon to Era, but at least knew that the pokemon was Psychic type. This meant that neither of them had any advantage when it came to types. This seemed to suit Finn more than well, meaning it would be a battle of strategy and determination rather than one conquering the other. A real challenge!

He waited until Paulo nodded his own readiness. Since Finn was unfamiliar with his pokemon's new form, he thought it unwise of him to start guessing at moves that Paulo may or may not know. He would just have to let the pokemon show his new abilities in his own time. "Start off with a Bubblebeam." the trainer whispered. The frog nodded, bounding forward on his strengthed legs. His mouth opened wide, spewing a steady stream of bubbles at the little Gochimu.

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[Jay]

"Light Screen," Nero answered back as the bubbles came at the Gochimu. The small psychic pokemon raised up his arms and formed a white screen in front of himself. The bubbles passed through it but weakened considerably in attack power before hitting Asa who shook his wet head after said attack had finished. "Fake Tears," Nero finished, and Asa bust into crying as though the attack had done him a lot of damage.

[Puppet]

Paulo couldn't help but succumb to the fake tears, immediately feeling bad for the little baby pokemon. All decorated with white bows and now tears spilling down it's face, the frog hopped forward tentatively, tilting his head to see if it was alright.

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[Jay]

"Tickle," Nero said allowed. In another moment, the Gochimu slowly stopped crying and jumped forwards trying to tickle the Politoed in order to lower attack and defense. Nero watched this with a rather plain and emotionless face.