<b><span style="font-size: 15px">Round Primary</span></b><br/><br/><br/><br/>Eleyna coughed a little and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her wide eyed appraisal of her now empty sake cup lingered for a moment. Brollem was suppressing a smile as he took another drink. Lydia asserted that drinking was not unlike Pokemon training - in that it too required training to master.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Well, I'm a trainer now! No obstacle I can't overcome!</span>Eleyna gave a determined nod, and shoved the cup into Brollem's hand.<span style="color: blue">Gimme another.</span><br/><br/>She watched Jake and Aisha dance, Lydia beside her telling Brollem of her plans. Eleyna was only half listening. She watched her two traveling companions having fun - Aisha bouncing all about in her kimono, Jake half sure what to even do about it. Having fun, both of them. Enjoying each other. Her mind trailed briefly to the thought of dancing with Jake, not a care in the world, being close to a man, the heat of it, the -<br/><br/>"Though company is quite nice as well. I made the first part of my journey alone, but I was wondering perhaps if Eleyna and her friends would not mind a little extra company." Her name brought her back to reality, her gaze breaking from the dance. Brollem handed her another cup. She drank, wary this time, measured and ready.<br/><br/>Eleyna gave a bit of a blink toward Lydia as she in such a casual request at joining them. The idea was pleasant enough. Another trainer meant less danger, certainly. And so far, there was nothing offensive or irritating about Lydia. Quite the contrary, she had so far been very calm and level. Of course, there was the small point of where exactly they were going at all, to which Eleyna hadn't the foggiest.<br/><br/><span style="color: blue">Oh, I mean, sure. You could come along. Ehm, well I mean as far as I'm concerned. I don't know about the others - but I can't imagine they'd say no! We've already had a few other trainers join us and go along the way... Uhm. Hm. </span>She took another drink.<span style="color: blue">Thing is... we actually have no idea where we're actually going. We sort of got here in a rush and... I mean, no ones really talked about it. I don't even know if we're all going to stick together.</span><br/><br/>Eleyna gave a casual glance around, noting that she didn't spot Naomi or Steven. She felt a flutter in her stomach as her mind briefly explored what they may have gotten off to doing.<span style="color: blue">We had thought about going into the mountains on our way here... I think we were expecting more of a supply stop. Not so much this. I don't think we're probably equipped for a real adventure.</span>She found herself admitting.<span style="color: blue">But I don't know... maybe that's the fun of it, you know?</span><br/><br/>She took another drink, swallowing hard. She smiled pleasantly, a faint blush on her cheeks forming.<span style="color: blue">Oh! Let's just ask them!</span>She chirped, standing and shouting at the dancing pair.<span style="color: blue">Hey! You two! What're we doing later?!</span><br/><br/><br/>***<br/><br/><br/>Growlithe had found himself a spot beyond the each of the festival, near the treeline. He was sore, bruised, and cut. Three fights in a one day - one of them against a formidable Primeape had done its damage. It had been a long time since he'd battled anything, really - apart from the scuffle with the swarm of pidgeys. He didn't dare admit it, but he was out of practice. He settled down in the short grass, looking off at the lights and people of the festival. He watched, nose perking at the scents being wafted his direction by the breeze.<br/><br/>Here he was, a part of a human world... so very far from where he had always imagined himself being. His thoughts drifted back in time, to the pack, to his home. The memory of his lost hopes settled over him like a melancholy blanket. His mind lingered on his siblings, his rivals... on that burning will to be the greatest of them, to take his place as the leader of the pack one day. To stand with pride, to stand as a leader, a champion; To be something great.<br/><br/>Now there was nothing.<br/><br/>But he couldn't begrudge them it any more. Being angry a humans had become exhausting, fighting them, fighting himself, fighting the world. Things had changed against his will, and his fate, so clear before was like a foggy morning, the road before him now unknown. She had spoken truly, the girl that had carried him for so long. They were on their own, both of them, in a strange place with nothing now but one another to stand beside. She was like he had been, burning with desire to be something great. But was it good enough?<br/><br/>Was it good enough to be part of someone else's dream?<br/><br/>He let out a long sigh... he was tired, and such thoughts would wait for the coming days. As he lay his head down, his ear perked, instinct rousing him. He turned, looking toward the trees, the gnarled trunks of the dark forest. There was something there, beyond the dark, something within... and it was watching. His eyes rose to the tree tops, and he realized the breeze that drifted across the grass was not moving the leaves. They stood motionless, the whole forest motionless.<br/><br/>His eyes fell and met something looking back at him from the foot of a great trunk, sitting upon a root.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>