The breakfast buffet was just as bland as Naomi had expected, but that was acceptable. At least the scrambled eggs were the right texture and not too runny or too firm. The self-serve waffle iron also got a decent workout, syrup included.<br/><br/>She'd fed her 'Tai some bananas and strawberries; she'd long ago learned he much preferred fruit over the generic mush that was usually fed to Pokemon. That stuff had its place in travelling, but not so much when they were in cities. Fortunately for her, 'Tai was well-behaved and the staff didn't force her to keep him in his ball.<br/><br/>She felt good enough she actually skipped out the front doors, briefly skating through the air, before settling back to a normal walk.<br/>While it wasn't exactly crowded, there were a lot of people on the street. A few people in business suits hurrying to work, town residents chatting with each other or sweeping off balconies or moving from shop to shop, and trainers. A lot of trainers.<br/><br/>Really, it looked more like one of Devon Corp's Expos than it did a normal city right now.<br/><br/>Naomi paused and picked a direction. "The training grounds are that way, but I could use a new outfit." She mused to herself. 'Tai butting up against her hand brought her out of it. She looked at him.<br/><br/>"Dra." The uncomfortable expression on his face and the way he was starting to curl up around her legs told the story.<br/><br/>"You want to rest in your ball?"<br/><br/>"Dra!" 'Tai looked up at her, putting on his best 'big puppy eyes' impression. She laughed softly, and took out the luxury ball. "Here you go, then." She hit the button and recalled him, shrinking the ball back down and tucking it securely away. He'd never really done well with crowds.<br/><br/>Oh well. She could go shopping later. For now, she walked out towards the training grounds.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>There were many fights going on, and a lot of chatter about which pokemon is better than which other, with different people extolling the virtues of their favorites. Naomi strolled through the crowds, turning down fight requests. That wasn't really what she was here for, after all.<br/>The corporate pin on her lapel seemed to gather her a bit of respect. Not as much as a fruit salad of gym badges might, but enough to keep people from pressing her for fights.<br/><br/>She stopped at the edge of the crowd and a pending dual battle. The woman looked vaguely familiar, and after a moment Naomi placed her as the energetic surfer girl with the Pachirisu who'd been staying at the inn. She and a much more raggedly dressed man were facing off against two of the bullies she'd observed. A duo with an Aerodactyl and an Onix, who'd been carefully selecting battles that they knew they'd win due to type advantages. The fight still looked like an uneven match up, against a Pachirisu and a Gastly. But if the two worked together, they had a chance. If the Gastly were leveled up enough, it had status attacks that would be effective against the Onix, and it was resistant to most things the Aerodactyl could throw at it.<br/><br/>Still.. it was just another trainer vs. trainer battle. She considered moving on through the crowd. So far, no one else had gotten her attention. And the Tyrogue jumping up and down on his trainer's shoulders next to her was a bit too energetic for comfort. She edged away a  couple of steps in case the Pokemon slipped.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>