Washed Away (SG/Mod)

[Maid Melody]

Elayne sat on the beach with her legs folded up against her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs, watching the fog on the water with a far off expression on her face. It had been a while since Ez had broken up with her but to Elayne it felt like just yesterday...well...at least the cove was quiet, it wasn't like there was going to be very many people here, something that Elayne was counting on. The tide was going out which meant that soon there would be more Pokemon appearing, but Elayne didn't have the motivation to pull out her drawing pad right now.

A tear slid down her cheek and Elayne found herself pulling her legs in closer, trying to make herself stop crying...hadn't she cried enough already? When Ez had first told her, she had simply agreed and watched him walk away even though it felt like her whole world was falling apart. To her it felt as if he had betrayed her by leaving...she had trusted him and now...he was gone...and Elayne would never see him again. Gripping the sleeves of her jacket, she clenched her eyes shut and rested her forehead on her knees. Elayne stayed this way for a few minutes before relaxing again and looking back up at the water, listening to the sound of the waves crash against the beach...it was soothing...just like Elly's warmth...it calmed her, made her forget...at least for a time.

Elly was laying in the sand next to Elayne, trying to comfort her as best as she could by just being there but right now not even Elly's words could reach Elayne. Even still, the Espeon waited patiently by her trainer's side, hoping that someday Elayne would be able to forget about Ez...but right now that seemed like a future too far off for Elly's liking.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Yes.. Everything was quiet.. peaceful... serene... The wind was a calm caress.. The waves whispered gently.. The sky was soft and subtle, sun obscured, entire scene neither too bright nor dark, but just a relaxing, comforting air, perfect to be-

"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!"

A harsh screech shattered the atmosphere, and a few moments later two moderately-sized blurs crashed into the sand a little ways off from Elayne. The first to come back up- the one doing the screeching- appeared to be a Gligar, who was rabidly beating upon the other object. "Gar- gar- gar- gar- GAR!" he screamed, one cry to each wail of his claws. The sound to come up after was faint, and difficult to make out, but possibly.... laughing??

A human-shaped blur broke through the fog, then, a deep voice accompanying it with a "Glydre, get OFF him!" The man tackled the Pokemon heap, rising up and forcefully pulling the Gligar off the other Pokemon, who floated up into the air a few moments later.

"Duo~" chimed the Duosion, apparently unphased. In fact, he still seemed to be laughing at the Gligar, who was shaking within his trainer's grasp with rage. Nothing really got to him. Nothing. He either liked it, stalked it, or hated it, but whatever it was, it just was. THIS. DAMN. DUOSION, though. He pressed Glydre's buttons like nothing else. In fact, Glydre very rarely made a sound except in rage at Cyto. The scorpibat swore he was going to kill him someday, if their trainer would just stop standing up for that little slut!

Alaric sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry, Gly, but you knew the rules.." Waitwhat? D"8> NO! He- he didn't mean it! It wasn't his fault! Cyto PUSHED him to this and, but, he-.. For all he wanted to protest, Glydre was in enough woe at simply having disappointed his beloved, hanging his head in defeat and awaiting his fate. A few moments later, he was recalled into his ball, where he would probably sulk the rest of the evening. Looking back up to the Duosion, the trainer sighed, "Sorry about him, Cy.. I swear, he doesn't act like that with anyone else... I'm sure he'll warm up to you eventually." Glydre was a little jealous of one of his other newer Pokemon, but not to this level... Eh. Hopefully it would work itself out..

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[Maid Melody]

Elayne had jumped when she heard the screeching and looked up in alarm as two Pokemon, a Gligar and...something else fought with each other. Pulling her legs closer to her, she sat there, not wanting to bring attention to herself lest there be-...oh crud...there was another man here too? Just...sit still...he won't notice me, he hasn't noticed me yet...maybe I'll get lucky. This was not turning out to be what Elayne had hoped for...all she wanted was a few hours alone...and now this. Honestly ever since Ez had...well Elayne's days hadn't been very good for the past few weeks to say the least.

Elly jumped up when she heard the screeching cry and immediately caught sight of the two fighting Pokemon and sweat dropped, relaxing slightly until she saw the man chasing after the two Pokemon. Hissing softly, Elly crouched, hackles raised, ready to attack should anyone come near Elayne. For now it seemed that the man had tamed his Pokemon and was now talking to the Duosion about the Gligar...well the man seemed harmless at any rate, but Elly wasn't going to take her guard down just yet.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

As Alaric and Cyto continued to walk along, a small bit of movement caught the man's eye, and he turned to see what looked to be a young woman (probably; he wasn't going to make any assumptions in the fog after.... Alaric shuddered at the mere thought.) sitting not far off with a small Pokemon- Espeon or Glaceon from what he could tell, and he was leaning toward the prior. Moving in a little closer, he confirmed the Pokemon's species and- unless she as a very good trap- the trainer's gender.

Which begged the question: "Er, hello there, m'lady.. What's a princess like you doing so far out alone in this weather?" Why was he in it? Well, Alaric was headed back north, having traveled out this way a few days before just to explore. So he was just passing through, and didn't see how a bit of fog would hinder it. To be just sitting in the middle of it alone, though- well that was more interesting.

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[Maid Melody]

Elayne had decided to just ignore the man for the time being and was gazing back out at the ocean, or what little she could still see of it, when she heard footsteps approaching followed by Elly's soft hiss. Elayne's heart by this time was pounding so loudly and so fast that it sounded like thunder in her ears. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm down...perhaps he was just passing through after all...but then the footsteps stopped and the man spoke. Hearing his voice did nothing to ease her fears, or the memories that being called a princess brought with it, but it did help her relax...if only very slight. Elayne's hands were shaking ever so slightly, but due to the position she was in this was hardly noticeable due to the fact that she had drawn her legs in just a bit more when Alaric had spoken.

At first, Elayne was silent, having not registered that the man had asked her a question in the first place,"Oh...I'm...was...just thinking..."Elayne replied in a rather quiet, timid voice after a few moments of gathering her thoughts,"I wanted to be alone..."

Elly sat down beside Elayne and studied the man, leering at him when he had called Elayne a princess. Of all the things to say why that...the Espeon was clearly not pleased with the intrusion, but neither would she retaliate. For now, Elly was content just to wait, still on guard in case anything should happen.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

"...Ah." For a moment, Alaric wasn't really sure what to do. He didn't want to just barge in when she said she wanted to be left alone, but she certainly looked like she needed cheering up. After standing there a few moments to think on it, he moved over and sat down about two or three yards away. "Would you mind if I sit here a few minutes, then? Cyto here needs to rest a bit after that scuffle.." Despite the words, his tone was almost coaxing.

Cyto, the Duosion, blinked a moment but played the part, moving down to land in the sand just a little ways from Elayne, looking up with big eyes and letting out a small squeak/mewl-like sound that almost said 'pet me'. Meanwhile, speaking of petting, Alaric had not missed the Espeon's guarding eyes, keeping careful watch on it as he'd sat. He now softly smiled directly at the Pokemon, extending a hand slightly in offering for a sniff/test/examination/whatever-the-Espeon-needed. "Hey pretty kitty," he cooed, voice atypically high for him, though it was still a mid-low tenor. "Don't worry. I won't hurt your girl."

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[Maid Melody]

Elayne looked at Alaric for a moment and nodded before Cyto was mentioned and the Duosion landed in front of her. Smiling ever so slightly at the sound from Cyto, Elayne relaxed a little and reached out a hand to him and did indeed pet him gently just in case the Duosion really was hurt.
"He doesn't seem hurt..."Elayne said quietly, more to herself than anyone else,"But then I've never seen a psychic type quite like him..."

Well, at least the Duosion proved a good distraction from what her thoughts had been, really Elayne didn't want to think about Ez anymore...he just...kept coming to mind. Continuing to pet Cyto, Elayne smiled sadly, appearing close to tears for at least the twelfth time that week but she was tired of crying. It served no purpose other than to make her upset and caused Elly to worry about her. Pushing the thoughts of Ez away, Elayne focused on the Pokemon in front of her instead, hoping that the moment would pass if she just distracted herself.

Elly simply stared at Alaric for a moment, not moving an inch when he had put out a hand for her to sniff presumably; what was she...a dog...? Nevertheless, the Espeon sniffed the hand he held, albeit grudgingly, feeling more reassured by the actual admission that he wouldn't hurt Elayne then by the hand itself. Nodding, she turned to look at Cyto as Elayne pet him and wondered exactly what the fight had been about.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric smiled then, withdrawing his hand and setting it with the other in his lap upon seeing the Espeon's general disinterest. He didn't imagine she'd respond well to petting just yet. To Elayne, he replied, voice back to its general deep range, "He's a Duosion. ..And more tired and sore than really hurt, I think." Mentally sighing as he thought of Glydre's recent behavior, he explained, "I only got him pretty recently, and for some reason my Gligar can't stand when he gets close to me. I've been trying to get them used to each other, but...." He nodded back toward where he'd separated them, grimaced, and shrugged lightly. "Eh. It'll come in time. Doesn't help that Cyto's been trying so hard to be nice to him, but it only seems to annoy Glydre more." If only the poor trainer knew the truth of what was going on among his Pokemon, his brain was likely to shatter to pieces. Fortunately, he would likely remain oblivious for a long time to come. Smiling gently again, he eventually added, "Alaric, by the way."

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[Maid Melody]

Elayne nodded at what Alaric said before withdrawing her hand after petting Cyto some more and wrapping her arm around her legs again. So Cyto and the Gligar didn't get along heh...well her Pokemon's relationships weren't the best at times either, especially when she had first gotten Arlyn.
"Reminds me of Arlyn...my Golduck. Elly was protecting me...and told me to run...I lost sight of her and found help. When we came back 4 Golduck ambushed us, Arlyn was one of those Golduck. I captured him and found out he was very stubborn and didn't want to listen to a word I said; always picked fights too. That part hasn't really changed, but Arlyn has gotten better; sometimes it just takes time...turned out Arlyn just likes competition. He and Skye, my Dragonair, spar a lot, they can be really rough on each other at times but it's good training for both of them," Elayne replied quietly before reaching out and rubbing Elly's ears, smiling slightly as she listened to the Espeon purr before realizing that Alaric had mentioned his name,"Elayne,"came the quiet response before she fell silent once again.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric did everything in his power to keep a straight, kind face as she went off on a small rant. He realized when he thought about it he must have gone on just as long, but she was just so quiet and shy about it, yet she had barely taken a breath. It was hard enough not to giggle spasticly at this, but to fight back the amused smirk, too? Somehow, he managed though. Ah man.. This girl- Elayne? Yeah. She was going to be fun. "A beautiful name for a beautiful girl," he commented lightly, but quickly moved on. He'd drop little bits through conversation here and there for now rather than all-out flirt. As long as he had another subject he was comfortable enough with to stick to and it was just the two of them, he could manage going slowly.

"Sounds like you had a rough time, though. You must be a wonderful trainer to have dealt with an ambush like that." Not that an Espeon didn't already say she was likely pretty good, at least at certain aspects. "I don't train too heavily myself.. Not sure if I could've handled that." Actually, considering they were Water-types in question, Honey could have Discharged them all to death eventually, but with four Pokemon that strong and fast it still would have been a tough match. At any rate, he wasn't sure if he could take an ambush without a type advantage, which was her case, so that was true.

"As to Glydre, he loves to battle, but he doesn't act like this with my other Pokemon.. I think he's a bit jealous of the Kingdra I caught, but nothing like this." Looking down at the little Duosion nuzzling at Elayne, he went on, "I'd say maybe it's because Cyto's so affectionate, but if that were the case he should be a lot more jealous of Honey- my Luxray- and he's fine with her." The cat in question was napping right now, hence being in her Luxury Ball instead of out right now. Alaric shrugged. "Can't imagine what it might be, but I guess it happens, eh?" If he realized Honey's gender was why Glydre wasn't jealous of her attention, he wouldn't be smiling, but as it was his appearance remained light and gentle. He didn't seem too bothered by the Pokemon, just... curious, more than anything. Of course he was a little frustrated, but he wouldn't dwell on it much.

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[Maid Melody]

Elayne froze when Alaric had complemented her, an almost pained look coming across her features and focused her attention on petting Elayne, forcing the remark out of her mind rather then dwell on it. For now though it seemed the man had changed the subject, something for which Elayne was grateful for, it gave her less time to dwell on the past and...why she had come here in the first place. Heart still hammering, Elayne gave a shy smile and nodded,"Yeah...that was the first time I really battled though...Lily, my Chikorita learned Solar Beam that day, that helped a lot. Skye and Lily made a good team, I didn't do much really..."Elayne replied quietly, moving her hand from Elly to Cyto once again and petting the Duosion,"Yeah...just like there are certain people that can't stand each other, I guess it's the same with Pokemon."

Elly looked over at Elayne when she froze and laid down beside her trainer, mentally twitching at the thought of the sand that was getting stuck in her fur. It would take a while to get out later but...Elayne needed her right now, what was sand getting stuck in fur to that?

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

The blond smirked and slightly-bellowed a laugh at her modesty. "Well, princess, almost no trainers actually do any work." His smiled became more gentle, his tone praising if not slightly affectionate, and high for him, something in mid-high baritone. "But it says you're a wonderful trainer that they try so hard for you~ Can't imagine a Dragonair would put out such effort for any random child or some jerk, mm?" He was teasing just a little, but the point still stood.

[/blockquote][/td][/tr][/table]

[Maid Melody]

Elayne's face flushed, turning beet red from embarrassment when Alaric laughed, and even moreso when he called her a princess, if that was even possible. Hugging her legs closer to her, Elayne stopped petting Cyto and focused on the ocean rather than Alaric. After a while, Elayne mumbled a soft,"Thanks..." and continued to stare blindly at the ocean, not focusing on anything at the moment but rather just trying to relax. That had been what Elayne had come here to do in the first place anyway...relax and try to forget....him. Pain flashed across Elayne's features briefly only to be replaced by a small, almost sad smile of sorts,"I'm no princess though..."[/size]she said rather quietly,or he wouldn't have left me...

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Oh? Well now... It seemed she was rather down, or at least down on herself. Couldn't have that now, could they? After the initial look of surprise, Alaric raised an eyebrow a bit and half-smirked. "That's odd... You don't look like a man.." he teased, feigning looking over her carefully. "If you're secretly crude and cruel you do a wonderful job hiding it." He gave a deep chuckle then, and smiled rather more softly.

More sincerely now he half-purred, "With little exception, every girl is a princess, silly." He knew that rather decreased the value of the compliment, but then it did so by making it less personal, which was quite the point. He really had no explicit interest in this particular girl. She was alone, and looked like she could use someone to talk to, and fairly pretty, and a woman, while he was alone today with nothing else he was necessarily planning. Why not try to make her day?

But that was the full extent of it. While he wasn't nearly about to blurt it out in such tactless terms, he certainly didn't want to put her under any illusion that he was more interested than was actually the case. That always ended poorly one way or another. ...Not that Alaric's typical mannerisms and habits wouldn't accomplish that all on their own, but no sense avoiding further support to make things even worse.

[/blockquote][/td][/tr][/table]

[Maid Melody]

Elayne blushed when Alaric made the teasing comment and was about to say something about it when he said that every girl was a princess which only made Elayne blush all the more. Looking down at the sand in front of her feet, Elayne remained silent for a moment before looking back up at Alaric, smiling slightly.
"That's nice of you to say..."Elayne replied quietly,"I just....haven't felt much like a princess....I guess...."
In fact Elayne couldn't remember the last time she felt like a princess, it had been weeks since Ez had left but...it still hurt. Tears welled up in Elayne's eyes before she turned away to look at the ocean once again, hoping that Alaric hadn't seen them.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric just gave an easy smile, settling now into his comfort zone. Now this was a conversation he'd done a thousand ways before- or hundreds anyway, if probably lower hundreds. "Awww. Why not?" he asked, mostly sincere but somehow just slightly playful. If he could just get her talking, he knew he could make everything better. Maybe not fix it- though that wasn't out of the question either- but at least make it better. It was essentially a hobby of his, often as he did it. Rarely did he meet a girl he couldn't get through to at least a little, and settling their fears and nurturing their self-esteem was quite literally what he lived for.

[/blockquote][/td][/tr][/table]

[Maid Melody]

[atrb=background,http://i682.photobucket.com/albums/vv181/SojiRem/elaynenow.png][atrb=width, 407][atrb=height, 300][atrb=style,border:0 chocolate none,b,Table][scrolly:h(225),w(218),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-right:110px;margin-left:10px;margin-top:38px;)]Elayne hesitated when Alaric asked her why and for a moment she was struck with the sudden urge to tell all....but...he was a complete stranger....they had just met...it wouldn't make sense to explain the entire reason. Biting her lower lip, Elayne fought back the tears that threatened to come and closed her eyes, pulling her legs in closer to her and resting her chin on her knees. Her hands were shaking now, but this was just barely noticeable,"It's complicated..."Elayne said quietly after a while, opening her eyes again to gaze at the ocean,"I've been....travelling for years and....then he came and....I did feel...happy....but-"Elayne's voice caught in her throat, cutting off what she was going to say next. After a few deep breaths, she had regained at least some resemblance of control,"...but...he left...."[/scrolly]

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

All at once, Alaric tensed, suddenly utterly raging. From the way the poor girl had said it and how broken she seemed, fucked her and left was more the thought in his mind, and for a fraction of a second his mouth opened to spew a curse to the bastard, but he bit his tongue. No need to jump to conclusions and make things worse. (Thus far, he wasn't sure whether the impression was stronger that she 'wasn't that type of girl' or the type who didn't want to be but was easy to take advantage of. It could go either way easily, or he could even only be seeing such a shy and reserved girl right now because this asshole broke her.) Either way, whatever the guy had or hadn't done, it clearly hit her hard, and that was enough to fume about on his own.

Forcing himself to calm, he attempted to shrug off, "Ah. Don't sweat it." A bit of tension remained clear in her voice, but the intent was apparent enough he hoped. He did become more sincere as he went on, though, shifting to face her more. "Obviously anyone stupid enough to leave such a princess didn't deserve you in the first place."

[/blockquote][/td][/tr][/table]

[Maid Melody]

[atrb=background,http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo48/elronia/elayneLposttable-1.png][atrb=width, 430][atrb=height, 300][atrb=style,border:0 chocolate none,b,Table][scrolly:h(225),w(218),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-right:120px;margin-left:8px;margin-top:43px;)]Elayne remained quiet for a time after Alaric had spoken the first time and sat up a little more, turning to look at him as he continued. She hadn't noticed the tension in his voice the first time, but Elayne caught the meaning behind the words well enough. ""Thanks ... ,"she said quietly,"That's ... nice of you to say. It's just ... I didn't think anything was wrong ... and then he just ... left. No real explanation ... it makes me think ... is there something wrong with me ... ?" Elayne finished before looking down at the sand, trying to make sense of it all. Things had been going great after all and then recently he had just left her standing there with no explanation ... it didn't make sense, sure it had seemed like he'd had a lot on his mind but ... he'd looked more worried about her than anything. He'd even said as much and to just leave her like that ... Elayne couldn't make sense of it ... part of her wanted Ez to come back while another part just wanted to curl up into a hole and stay there. The only thing that Elayne was sure about at this point was that she never wanted to be left this vulnerable again ... even if that meant being alone.[/scrolly]

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

And again he was fighting back his urge to fume, but Alaric only scoffed a laugh instead. "Princess, there are plenty of guys who would give their right arm for someone so sweet and beautiful both." So he assumed, anyway. At any rate, she seemed like the type of girl he used to dream of saving as a kid. As he'd grown up, his tastes somewhat.. shifted.. But he still found her hopelessly adorable, and would have been quite content to snuggle her like a plush toy for the rest of the day if she wanted. "Then he couldn't see fit to even give such a girl a reason and you wonder if you were the problem?" he teased. Grinning wryly, his tone suddenly shifted a bit. For just a moment, his gaze fell on the Espeon, trying to somehow assure her he wasn't going to harm her trainer, but if she hadn't realized that he was willing to take the punishment as always.

"You're right. There is something wrong with you." He held this for just about two seconds before giving a near-giggle, then leaning/reaching over and flicking a finger off his thumb to thunk her forehead lightly. "Being too hard-headed and hard on yourself to realize he was a jerk. So lighten up~"

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