Contents:
Wesley
Obvious exits:
West <W> leads to Fuchsia City: Lapras Ledge.

(look me)

Melissa(#2647Pc)

Carrying:
Melissa's Pokedex
Melissa's Pokeballs(#2641Ms)
>> Oo, Melissa looked at you. Why not write a book about her? <<

"I'm going to need to clean my hands after this."

Fuchsia City. While it's almost incomparable to the size of Saffron or the vibrance of Celadon, the rural town has its own quiet little charm - That, and the thrill of being able to enter the Safari Zone. Every trainer's dream. Melissa Barlette, teenage girl hailing from Pewter City, pushes open the door to the Pokemon Center, holding it open just long enough for a little white fuzzball trailing behind her to enter. In the girl's left hand, she holds a rather thick novel with a generally uninteresting leather cover. <I like this place!> CrystalFire, the pure white Growlithe, barks cheerfully, her eyes darting from one place to the other rapidly. <Lots of trees and places to run!> Melissa spares only a small glance and a smile at her traveling companion, before lifting her head and running her fingers through her brown hair. "Don't run off and... um, bother people, CrystalFire," the girl says softly to her puppy. She takes a step forward, entering the line leading up to the counter. The puppy, in the meanwhile, takes this opportunity to do exactly what her trainer warned her against - bother people. Spying the blue pokemon out of the corner of her eye (hey, they're not supposed to be blue, are they?), the dog cocks her head and slowly trots toward Skysnake and her owner. Melissa doesn't even notice.

<I had it first.> <No. /I/ did.> Brown eyes stare over at black ones, both narrowing. Breaking the rules of the impending face off almost before it's begun, Fistfight quickly brings her palm down upon the Drowzee's. <Ow!> the psychic snaps, more annoyed than actually hurt, but Fistfight's main goal is achieved. The piece of food is hers, and she quickly stuffs it into her half-muzzle, half-mouth. "There's enough to go around," replies Wesley irritably, not even glancing up as another person enters the PokeCenter. People come and go from these places all the time. Skysnake continues to eat some more food (big surprise), while Wesley continues to hand it to her, looking almost..anxious as he gazes at his pokemon. "You..like?" he mutters to her. <Indeed.> That bonding moment is interrupted by an exclamation from ThoughtThief: <...the kid?!> Someone noticed a white puppy heading his way; and as usual, the Drowzee doesn't look too happy.

While waiting in line, Melissa glances down at her pokeballs, frowning very slightly. She remembers that the pokemon inside are held in stasis... but does that mean her injured Scyther is in pain, or won't start feeling the hurt until she's released from her pokeball? Fearing for her possibly-suffering bug pokemon, Melissa silently urges for the line to move a little faster. It doesn't, of course. Meanwhile, her Growlithe is not quite so worried. Her curiousity has gotten the better of her, and, as she gets closer to Wesley's little troop of pokemon, her pace slows, to the point where she's almost tipclawing. Fistfight is ignored. ThoughtThief is ignored. Wesley is ignored. All of the little canine's attention is completely and utterly focused on Skysnake. That's the biggest difference between her and Apple - CrystalFire can concentrate. Apple has the attention span of a hyperactive Pikachu. If Skysnake doesn't notice her, CrystalFire will slink forward until she's only a foot away, before simply stopping and peering at her. If the blue Ekans happens to glance at her before the Growlithe is that close, the fuzzy one will just stop right then and there, not uttering a word.

A loyal Growlithe saves the database! (Saving)

Maybe there's a curse with Charmander. Leochardo can't concentrate worth beans either. Or rather, he can't do so during battle, which seems to be the only thing the flinty-hearted boy-trainer cares about. The cold-hearted boy who doesn't even notice his own pokemon coming up to him. "Stop joking around, ThoughtThief," Wesley replies, with the sigh of one who has to deal with jokes a lot. <I can't believe it - I try to be helpful and I'm joking around,> the Drowzee grumbles, shoveling some more food into his mouth. <Wanna see an impression of you? Boo hoo, whine whine, sniffle sniiiiiffle,> says Fistfight, making exaggerated hand motions; apparently someone's had their fill for the day. <He's telling the truth...> hisses Skysnake just as Wesley is handing another delectable meaty morsel to her. Ekans...do have eyes on the side of their heads, and Skysnake can quite easily see the Growlithe that she let get a foot away from her. Wesley blinks and looks outward..only to see CrystalFire. "..Huh?" Genius.

Melissa, busy muttering at the person in front of her who *insists* upon hitting on Nurse Joy, still doesn't notice CrystalFire - she's a little too busy worrying about Alida to worry about her still-young Growlithe. Speaking of the puppy, the dog just sorts of blinks when it becomes most obvious that Skysnake notices her. A moment of awkward silence follows Wesley's confused exclamation, and CrystalFire speaks up. <Why are you... um... different?> Leave it to a young one to be completely blunt, rude, and insulting. Still, her eyes sparkle, and it's rather easy to see that she meant no harm and didn't mean to offending. Then again, try telling that to the poor pokemon she just dissed! The puppy's tail wags very slowly after her inquisition is finished.

Fistfight and Wesley both take a moment to register the pokemon in front of them to remember that this was once their Growlithe. Wesley frowns, his Growlithese rusty but there. Unfortunately, as he tries to make sense of CrystalFire's words (does a long "grow" mean 'why' or 'what'...?) the bit of food he was holding drops onto the couch. Eeep. Hope Nurse Joy didn't see that! Skysnake can only assume what was meant by ThoughtThief's choice of words; there's only been three 'kids' on the team: Playright, Leochardo and CrystalFire, and only one of them was a white Growlithe. As for the question, the snake has a doozy of an answer ready - though it takes a little while for her to say it. This is the question she's been struggling with all her life, after all. And here it comes...

Finally! The kid in front of Melissa moves after Nurse Joy practically shoves her out of line. With a little blush, Melissa steps forward, and begins to speak with the kind, pink-haired woman across the counter. The talking eventually leads into Melissa plucking her Scyther's pokeball off her belt and handing it to the woman. So far, so good - it doesn't look like Joy noticed Wesley's little spill. Down to CrystalFire. The puppy blinks, not completely understanding the Ekans's statement. The white one cocks her head very slightly, puzzling over the enigma for a few moments... before finally getting Skysnake's point. <Oh.> Blink. <Okay!> The puppy's face is cheery and no longer quite so suspicious. With a little doggy grin, CrystalFire turns her head to Wesley, then to Fistfight, then to ThoughtThief. Hmm. Kind of rings a bell of memory... but the dog doesn't bother pondering over it. <Anybody want to play?> she woofs out to anybody who'll listen.

So the long "grow" meant 'why', and the "lithe" meant 'up'..no, wait, was that 'or'? Wesley's still trying to figure out what the dog said to his Ekans, but then CrystalFire starts talking again and ruins his concentration. Skysnake picks up the piece of food her trainer dropped and swallows it so that all it'll leave is a slight brown stain on the couch...a stain which Wesley puzzles over. How did that get there? Fistfight and ThoughtThief look between each other. <Don't see why we gotta jog her memory,> says ThoughtThief, complaining in advance. <Never said I was gonna,> shoots back Fistfight, who says to the dog <sure we'll play!> She hops out of the couch to hunt through Wesley's backpack, finding the blanket she keeps over herself during the winter months. <Tug of war!> Fistfight says spryly, holding one end out for the pup to grab. "Where's Melissa?" Wesley asks suddenly and scanning the room wildly. "..Wait, this is CrystalFire ri--" <Moron,> snaps ThoughtThief. Wesley comes back from his moment of doubt and stands up, trying to find his friend. He's been wanting to talk to her for a bit!

Melissa receives her Scyther from Nurse Joy, and a blush and a quiet but grateful "Thanks" escapes from the shy one's lips. She steps out of line, and glances down. "Well... Crysta...l?" The girl blinks. Where's her pokemon? It takes only a quick look around to see the little puppy. There's another Growlithe in the center, but he's not only reddish-orange, but he's also twice as big as CrystalFire and sleeping on the lap of an old man. Melissa spies CrystalFire, and, with a deep, deep blush, the girl begins to rush over to her puppy, already spewing apologies like water. "O... I'm so, um, I'm so sorry..." the girl squeaks, quite obviously embarrassed. "She's not bothering you, is she? She's just so curious, and, um, playful, and..." All the while, Melissa is glancing either down at CrystalFire or down at her shoes; she doesn't even realize who she's speaking to.

"I'll admit I didn't own her long, but I do remember she had those qualities." This, obviously, comes from one Wesley Brier - a happy, softly smiling Wesley Brier. For once he actually looks warm and snug in his turtleneck and courdoroy combo (if not a bit old-fashioned); if he went outside at all today it was earlier in the day. "Hello Melissa," the boy adds, almost needlessly. "What are you doing here?"

Melissa blinks at the ground, and her head slowly inclines while Wesley speaks. Wesley's face may be sunny and smiling, but Melissa's is completely confused and befuddled. "Wesley?" she asks, as though there's another boy out there who looks precisely like the pale kid with a Drowzee and Machop, and she needs to differentiate the between the two. After a moment of puzzlement, the girl's face slowly widens into a grin, and she nods slightly. "Oh... um... Just... traveling. What are you doing here?" The girl's voice is quiet, but not unfriendly.

A loyal Growlithe saves the database! (Saving)

Wesley simply tries to wait out Melissa's initial confusion, and though his smile falters slightly at her beffudlement, he forces it onto his face again. Not that it's that great a smile to begin with, but it's nice to have a reason to show it off. "I'm trying to breed my Ekans, Skysnake," the boy responds with a nod to the blue snake pokemon, who eyes Melissa briefly and then goes back to watching Fistfight and CrystalFire tug. Fistfight leans backward, one foot behind her to steady herself if the dog's strength should falter anytime soon. <That's great! Now yer gettin' it!> ThoughtThief keeps eating - you need to do so to build up a layer of winter fat. The boy gives another glance to the tin of meaty pokechow, the stain on the couch and his moist-with-meat-juice hands. "I'm feeding her more meat kind of stuff in hopes it makes her even more healthy. There's the Genesis Breeding Center not too far from here. I...might even go to the Safari Zone. Maybe." The boy doesn't sound too convinced.

Imagine that. Venturing in foreign, unknown lands... only to stumble upon Wesley! Melissa spares a quick glance down at her novel. It's got to be a lucky book or something. The girl turns back up to Wesley, and nods slowly. "I... see." The girl turns to glance at Skysnake, and gives the blue snake a little grin and a wave, regardless of whether or not the Ekans notices her. She turns back to Wesley. "Have you had any luck?" A quick pause. A little blush. "Um... Is, um, Skysnake, is she a boy or a girl?" Melissa spares only a quick glance at CrystalFire, but then turns back to Wesley. Then she double-takes back to CrystalFire. "Aie! CrystalFire!" The puppy only glances up at her, and tugs harder. Melissa almost faints. "She... She's not going to rip it, is she? Oh, gosh..." It doesn't strike Melissa to recall her Growlithe, however. The girl has a comment about the Safari Zone, but she's a little too horrified at her pokemon's behavior to reply quite yet.

Skysnake continues not to notice Melissa - not out of any sense of disliking the girl, it's just that she's...well, talking. Wesley, Fistfight and ThoughtThief are the talkers; not her. The boy frowns at the memory of his time with the breeder. Or possibly at his friend's question. "Skysnake's a she," he clarifies. "I talked to the breeder there, but I haven't recieved any replies." Wesley sighs and glances at his Ekans. Resolving to say something confidential and bear his cute little heart to his only friend, the pale kid takes a step towards Melissa. "It's a bit of a good thing, because--" And then Melissa yelps. Wesley freezes in his tracks, ice-cold chills running down his spine. It's not his fault! Waah! <Aw, no Melissa, I don't think she'll rip it,> Fistfight says, rather unconcerned. <We've had Nidorans and Charmanders chewin' at it before!> "..Sh-she...uh Fistfight says CrystalFire won't rip the blanket," Wesley says in a half-mumble. "It's..a winter blanket. Thick. ...Doesn't rip easily." Melissa's not going to shout at him, is she?

Melissa does love her pokemon, but sometimes, she can't help but feel like the mother of a bunch of mischevious children. Despite Wesley's comforting tone, Melissa still can't help but feel a little worried. Still, she lets the white pokemon tug all she likes, trusting in Wesley... and probably in Fistfight, though the girl can't be completely sure of what the Machop said. "Um... I, um, I had an Ekans once... but I think it was a girl." Pause. Does she still have it? Melissa doesn't even think so. The girl opens her mouth to speak, blinks twice, then changes her statement. "Er... Oh, a good thing? ... Why?" CrystalFire is, meanwhile, trying her fuzzy little heart out to tear that blanket out of the Machop's grasp. She's moving her paws into it now, trying to manipulate her whole body into tugging against the fighting type's power. "Grrrrr!" she growls constantly, squeezing her eyes shut as though it'll help.

Unlike Fistfight's blanket, Wesley's confidence rips easily. He takes a deep breath to steady himself. Melissa's not screaming. His explanation made sense. Everything's okay. "I've always found they're very neat pokemon myself. One time Skysnake /shed her skin/!" Hey, he's an eleven year old boy; of course his eyes would light up at something like this. His face falls as Melissa brings him back to a topic he himself started..but now he realizes he might not want to bring up again. "I...it's just that...she'd..." he mutters lowly. Taking another deep breath, he looks over at Fistfight, who is hanging on gamely and handing out compliments like <ooh, this is a tough one!> and <I'm not sure I can take much more of this!> "She'd have to be gone for a few months," Wesley says quickly, but in an undertone for Melissa's ears only, as if he doesn't want anyone else to hear. His gaze turns back to Melissa, hoping she'll understand what he means. With Melissa's greater length of years on this earth, greater popularity and greater understanding of human nature, she should easily be able to help him deal with this situation...or so Wesley believes. Because Melissa's just that cool a person.

Melissa? Cool? Ha ha! Funny. Melissa listens intently to Wesley's worries, an appropriately serious look on her face. She does nod slightly after the boy is finished. "I read a..." Realizing her voice is too loud, she brings her tone down a notch. She lifts a hand up to adjust her glasses, and continues. "I read a book on Ekans once... I... um, I think it doesn't take long..." Melissa's eyes stray away from Wesley's as she glances slowly to the ground, trying hard to think. It's been over a year. "Um... Maybe... um... a month?" She gets slightly louder here, though, what with all the commotion with the tug-of-war match, it's unlikely that the slight increase in noise makes much difference. Crossing her arm across her chest (the novel still in her left hand), Melissa speaks with as much maternal instinct as she can summon. "She'll need to stay with the eggs for a bit... To, um, to make sure they're okay," she explains as best she can, reddening as she does. "Most pokemon would, right?" Uncertainty. Not a good sign.

Well, when your only best friend is older than you, well-read, nice, and has an actual family (which is something you can never get)...yeah, they're pretty cool. If not in the 'generic' sense of the word. Wesley slowly nods. Once and twice, as Melissa speaks. With a light frown, he steps forward a bit to hear her pearls of wisdom better. "Of course..." Wesley mumbles. "It's just that I -- okay, I'm going to try to explain this well, but I'm..sorry if I don't." He scuffs a sneakered foot on the ground, collecting his thoughts before speaking. As he speaks, he looks from Melissa (or rather, a point above her head) to Skysnake who sits, unmoving but watchful on the couch. "I want Skysnake to be happy. But..I like her so much now. I..thought...I.." the boy swallows and shifts uneasily before continuing at a lower volume, "I thought I could only like Fistfight the way I like her. I," another deep breath is taken, as is another shift, "...I don't want her to..leave."

Melissa has to pause for a moment as Wesley finishes up, admitting that he simply doesn't want Skysnake to leave. Melissa's logic steps in before her reason. It would only be for a while; he'd get Skysnake back soon, and she'd come bringing children. Wouldn't that be good? Then, it sinks in a little more. Melissa glances at her Growlithe, tugging her heart out, her paws digging into the floor. She then thinks of Puff... and Lamia, and Apple, and realizes just how horrible it would be to part from them for even a week. Even half a week. Even when they're not out of their pokeballs, the fact that they're right there, right there on her belt, ready to be released at the push of a button, gives her comfort. Melissa sighs softly, and nods. She does not pat Wesley, or give him a hug - so low are her social skills. Still, her voice is sympathetic and feeling as she says, "I... understand." A pause. Her voice lightens very slightly. "But... you could visit her whenever you wanted... and... it would make her happy." Melissa grins softly. Wesley probably wouldn't understand it, but the girl does. As she how happy Skysnake would be, her voice gains a sort of 'Trust me' tone.

A loyal Growlithe saves the database! (Saving)

<Aha! Big mistake, kid, 'cuz now I'm back!> says Fistfight, as she feels the tugging on the other end lighten up. She grabs the blanket some more, giving a slightly more forceful tug to get CrystalFire back in the game. Fistfight's just loving this little exercise. As much as she likes supervising Wesley's pokemon, she also likes playing too. ThoughtThief is licking the crumbs off of his trunked snout; the greedy pokemon finished the whole carton of pokechow. Wesley nods slowly, a smile sneaking on to his face even as a nice warm feeling fills up his insides. A touch? A hug? Those would scare Wesley completely, as his social skills are as low if not lower than Melissa's. But an honest, understanding tone? Perfectly fine. "I'm...sure it would," the Brier boy says in a half-whisper, delight and understanding visible on his ghostly face. "Thank you..so, very much for understanding. I was afraid you wouldn't...or you'd laugh or...just..thanks." Yes, Fistfight told him the exact same thing in response to his worries about Skysnake...but Fistfight always lectures, always teaches. Coming from his only friend, coming from an actual human being, it seems so much more significant. And Melissa doesn't laugh like ThoughtThief does.

Melissa lingers a little longer, deep in thought about what it would be like to lose CrystalFire for even a few days. Why, the poor girl would be worried sick! What if CrystalFire got ill? What if she didn't take kindly to being watched? What if she feared for her trainer? Lamia and Puff would do fine... but Apple? Heck, Melissa'd worry... about the person watching her. As Wesley speaks, her thoughts are not broken, but are rather pushed aside for later pondering. "Oh, Wesley..." Melissa smiles softly, her eyes shining, her tone soothing. "I'd never laugh at anything you'd do." No stutter. No pause. No stumbling over ums and ers. It came out rather smoothly. Melissa hides her surprise. "I know you'll do... the right thing." And Melissa keeps her gaze on Wesley, not turning to CrystalFire even when the pup barks, <Hey!> In woofing, the dog accidentally lets go of the blanket, much to the dog's horror. Let's hope Fistfight's sure-footed, or she'll stumble back! No matter whether Fistfight trips back or not, the canine springs into action a moment later, pouncing from the ground and attempting to snatch the blanket in her mouth in midair. If successful, she'll proceed to fall to the ground, rolling over onto her back in a very poor for tugging but incredibly cute manner.

Wesley, meanwhile, isn't thinking too much about what ifs. He already knows what he has to do: sit tight, wait for a response from the breeder, and give Skysnake up willingly when the time comes, with no fuss from him. Wesley is a bit of a selfish boy, but when he puts his mind to it he can break a bad habit that stems from more isolation and a childish lack of concern for others than an actual character flaw. Skysnake wants children, so she'll get them, and no buts about it. "You...wouldn't?" Wesley asks. "Thank you very much, Melissa." The boy tilts his head up at her and smiles, quickly flashing his teeth in an even happier grin than before before his lips slip over his teeth again. Incidentally, he has all of his teeth, and not a gap-toothed smile he had earlier in the month. "...How did you like the book I got you for..Christmas?" he asks suddenly. I guess that must've been on his mind as well - or maybe Wesley feels guilty about manipulating the conversation his way so much.

Melissa's soft smile remains lit on her face, and she replies to poor boy with a comforting little, "I'd never." The girl hesitates for a moment longer, before blinking and turning back... well, into her old clumsy self, mainly. "Oh! Um, yes... Yes... Oh!" Melissa's smile returns, though this is more of a pleased smile for herself than a soothing smile for Wesley. It's also a little more shallow. "Oh, it was wonderful! I... um, I read it twice! My favorite part, um, it's the part with the flying... um... Wait, did you, er, did you read the book?" With a blink and a blush, Melissa's arm raises to the scratch the back of her neck nervously.

Wesley doesn't mind that Melissa's smile is more shallow - it's not like he's that great a judge of facial expressions anyway. When you hang around creatures without distinctly humanoid features all day, it's not that hard to understand. "You've read it twice? I've only read it once, but I remember most of it - it's /that/ good a book. I liked Alarum, the Pokemage who got trapped in his Growlithe form, but could still talk and think like a human. You've got to be a good writer to think up an idea like that; and to think up his dialogue. He was one of the funnier characters. Who was your favourite?" <How long is this gonna go on?> whines ThoughtThief. A battle of wills isn't that spectacular when you're a spectator who doesn't care what's going on. <Just as soon as I...oh no!> Fistfight yelps in 'dismay' as a 'violent' tug of CrystalFire's sends the blanket flying out of her hands!

Melissa's smile still shines as she talks about the book, especially as she adds her own opinions. "My favorite part was when... um, it was when Suzy's spell went all wrong..." Ms. Barlette giggles softly here, recalling that segment of the novel all too well. "And the Metapods began flying around t-the school." She chuckles once more, this time a little bit louder. It quickly dies off. "I loved the author's, um, w-wonderful description of her expressions and actions... Very, um, very flavorful. My favorite character was... um... I, um... I liked, um, Lora." Figures Melissa would pick the shyest character in the book! "She was... um..." The girl sweats slightly, and scratches the back of her neck once more. "I could... relate."

Wesley nods. It occurs to him that he should probably get ready for bed soon, and he should probably let Melissa get to do whatever she was doing. But...not quite yet. The lure of books beckons. Wesley begins to describe another part of the book he liked - when Lora, Suzie and Reggie meet up with the Outlaw Pokemage Thorstrike, who can transform himself into a Tigore, and his evil henchwoman Kira, who turns into a Hitmonlee. The group of three friends were all so certain that these Outlaw Pokemage was the worst of the worst...but it turned out (after a heated confrontation and a trip to the PokemageCenter) that they was working for someone even more powerful. Ooo. And Fistfight does proclaim CrystalFire the undisputed winner of the tug of war, while ThoughtThief claps...quite unenthusiastically. Skysnake curls up in her coils and sleeps, dreaming of a time when she can mother children who will bring her as much joy as Wesley brings Fistfight. And so, we draw a curtain on this happy scene on the lovely Fuchsia City.