Shopping led me here?

[kataya]

Con had kind of spaced out as he looked at the various ingredients in the small Gustella market. He had separated from Yuki for the day to pick out some proper foods for cooking, and thankfully his travel partner wasn’t too picky on what he ate. Picking out a couple of leeks and throwing them into the bag, he had to wonder what his three birds were doing. He had sent them off for a while to go have some fun, but the more and more he thought about it, the more he thought that had been a terrible choice.

“Now..what should I get next… Leeks...Potatoes…Rice..and..oh that’s right, I need broth mix!” He concluded. Once he had picked that up, he gave small sigh and went off to pay for the items of his choice. When he noted the stare he was getting from the shopkeeper, he cleared his throat, blushed, and walked out as fast as he could without tripping over himself.

“I wonder why people always stare at me when I shop for food... it’s like they think I’m someone’s housewife or something. At least that’s why most of them stare at me.” He muttered to himself, starting down one of the city’s many paths. And of course it struck again, Con had bumped into someone, and was knocked backwards into the dirt, hitting a decent sized rock with his back as he came to a stop. He gave a small ouch before getting himself up.

“How did I know that was going to happen?” The breeder muttered to himself, pushing the tuft of hair out of his face and attempting to dust himself off. The person he bumped into hadn’t come to see if he was okay, but he hadn’t minded, since this was a ritual thing for him, almost.

[Basile]

Lesa hummed softly as she moved through the streets of Gustella, most of her attention on the paper that she held. It was a short list that she'd made while sitting in the pokemon center's cafeteria of all the supplies she needed. Of course, when she'd first packed, she'd packed only enough to last one person. Now that she was traveling with a group, and a group who thought Twinkies made a good breakfast no less!, well. Her supplies had run out quickly when split in three. So when Celeste and Sawyer had heard of an unusual batch of grass pokemon back near Gustella Town and had wanted to check it out, Lesa hadn't objected. Since she couldn't catch any pokemon herself, she had opted to spend the day in town, and use the time to herself to get some things done.

First she had visited the pokemon center, checking on the progress of the wall that the entei had destroyed and getting her own pokemon a routine checkup with Nurse Joy. While they were treated, she treated herself to lunch and made her list. Then she'd gone back to the breeding center that had given her the first cherish ball and returned the dome that had protected the egg. To say that Trevor had been surprised to see her was an understatement, but he seemed grateful enough to have the case back. They had chatted for a few minutes, Lesa showing the breeder the pidgey that had hatched from her egg, and then explaining how she had come to possess the Fury of Ice and Paradisia marked balls. The bird breeder was taken aback when he saw the obviously legendary blue egg, and the shaymin. For a moment he simply stared at Lesa and shook his head, muttering about how some people were marked for more than others. Of course, then a new breeder had come into the center, and she had been shooed away, Screecher flapping after her.

And so we came upon the current scene, with Lesa in front staring at her list, a silver eevee peering over her shoulder. Behind her, a slightly smaller than average suicune was bickering with the fearow over who got to be closer to the girl. "Would you two cut it out?" the girl finally snapped, her irritation finally getting the better of her. The two pokemon fell quiet, but still glared daggers at each other as the little party rounded a corner. Lesa stopped short at a curious site. A boy in the middle of the walk, sitting on his bum for no visible reason. Curious. She walked closer to him and looked down at the boy, using her shopping list to shield her eyes from the sun. "You there. You okay?"

[kataya]

Con heard the girl speak, and quickly, his face flushed red. This was wonderful. Normally this wouldn’t be bad if a guy had found him in this situation, but...it was a girl. Con stood up and began to dust his shirt in the other direction as a courtesy to the girl, and then turned back to her when she was done. It was nice of her to stop and ask at least.

“I’m alright thank you...” he said kindly,giving her a gentle smile. He had always had trouble speaking to girl’s and the worst part? She was pretty. That made it ten times harder to try and talk to her without saying something stupid. Spotting his groceries on the floor, he picked them up quickly before clearing his throat.

“I’m Conneko Waters, but if my full name is too long you can just call me Con.” He introduced, dusting off a final leek and placing it in the bag. It didn’t take him long to notice the small Suicune behind her, along with that looked like the same Spearow who had led him to the breeding center for his test.

“Ah, that Suicune looks wonderful Miss! His fur is very shiny and well cared for.” He mentioned, also a bit shocked to see she had one of the legendary creatures. He then glanced at the Fearow. He knew it was the one he was thinking of because it looked the same, with its feathers as shiny and wel preened as the Fearow’s back then had been.

“It’s nice to see you again Fearow, I haven’t since my Breeder’s test.” He turned back to the girl and chuckled.

“I’m a breeder too, if I forgot to mention it before. Even if I’m just starting out,I know a lot more than I look like I do.” Man, he really had to stop talking, it wasn’t making him look good.

[Basile]

Lesa just couldn't help it. She giggled. He was just too cute for her not to, and considerate, too. She watched as he brushed his clothes off away from her, a small smile touched the corners of her lips. And then he was introducing himself, and she brought her hand down from blocking the sun to tap a single finger against her mouth. "Conneko Waters did you say? But you want to be called Con?" She clucked her tongue and shook her head in a slightly disapproving manner. "But Conneko is a lovely name! Why would you want to shorten it?"

When the young man noticed him, Comet began to preen under the attention, turning this way and that. "Show off," Lesa muttered under her breath, shoving her shopping list into her pocket. "The little show king over there is Comet. I haven't gotten to Torrentia yet to get him certified, so unfortunately he doesn't have a pokeball I can recall him into." A hint of irritation flashed through her, but it returned swiftly to a smile. "Screecher you know it seems. By the way, cutie, I think you have a lost little breeder over there," she added, pointing to a boy off in the distance who looked totally lost. The fearow fluffed up his feathers for a moment, but he knew his job and flew off towards the boy with one final squawk.

That taken care of, Lesa turned back to Conneko with a bright grin. "It's wonderful to meet a fellow breeder! My name is Lesa Stone." She nodded approvingly as he said that he knew more than it looked. She was not one to judge people on looks, usually. But maybe she'd make an exception for Conneko. He was cute with a capitol 'c'. "I have three symbols so far, but just starting out or being almost done with the test, it doesn't say who is good and who isn't. It's a matter of experience. So you must have quite a bit of experience under your belt."

[kataya]

Con heard her question about his name, and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He didn’t think all that much of his full name, mainly because his sister Hanase calling him by his full name witht hat strange French accent of hers always came to mind when he thought about it.

“Well, most people just call me Con, I guess it’s because most people can’t remember my full name right away.” He did want to remind her she was free to call him whatever she wanted too.

“Though if you’d like to call me Conneko, by all means go ahead.” He added quickly. He didn’t want her to feel like she had to call him Con or anything. He smiled at Comet before thinking of his own Pokemon.

“I have three Pokemon as of right now…come to think of it, they should be-“ he was interrupted by a sudden screech as the familiar body of a Rufflet flung itself into his arms, nearly knocking him over. He blanced on one foot and was careful not to bump into Lesa as he finally regained control over himself. Crescendo looked up at Con, who was a little annoyed, but wouldn’t show it in his face, with a sweet look. Falsetto and Staccato followed behind, the pink Murkrow perched on the Vullaby’s head.

“And here they are.” Con finished, turning his lucid gaze back on Lesa. He listened to her as she talked about symbols and gave a nod.

“Yes, that’s a good way to put it, though three symbols are very impressive.” He mentioned, making sure not to make such a feat look like nothing. He felt comfortable now, knowing there was another breeder so close around in town, and though he liked hanging out with Yuki, he preferred talking about gym battles and things Con couldn’t quite understand. Though a bit sudden, Con looked away from Lesa timidly.

“You know, if you’re hungry, I can take you to the Café close by...I-it isn’t too much but I kind of wanted to thank you for actually stopping and asking if I was alright, cause most people know how clumsy I am and don’t do that.” Con sighed as he realized what he had just said. Crescendo looked up at him and blinked.

“Rufflett…” Smooth.

“Murkrow Murrkk…” Real smooth.. Con didn’t know what his Pokemon were saying, and he probably didn’t want to know, but now he had asked the question and it was better to wait for Lesa’s answer.

[Basile]

Lesa couldn't hide her pleasure at being given permission to call the boy by his full name. She down right giggled, clapping her hands together once. "Brilliant! It would be a shame to hide such a nice name." Another giggle escaped her as his pokemon flocked to him. Who said the girl wasn't a flirt? She had no problems with doing so in the face of a boy she found cute. Too bad that she hadn't had much of an opportunity to be around many boys since her breeder's challenge had started. Because really ... What boy wasn't cute?

"Your pokemon look happy and well cared for," Lesa complimented him, watching him interact with the three birds. Her hand automatically reached out to rest against his shoulder as he struggled with the impact of the birds, helping him balance though he did a very good job on his own of not bumping her. "I'm really just lucky to have them," the breeder admitted quietly. "Honestly, I've only taken one test. I haven't been on my journey very long at all. But I ran into the Blizzara breeder's head on my way to Torrentia and helped her out, so she gave me an egg." She nodded towards her backpack, where the Fury of Ice dome was resting. "And then there was some ... excitement ... in Torrentia that my friends and I helped out with. So I ended up getting the Wave Badge from there, instead of the breeder's symbol!"

She stopped there, not explaining about the third symbol she had. How did one say that they got a Paradisia symbol because you were traveling with the niece of Professor Conifer, who in turn had somehow gotten word of her travels to the most influential breeder head in the region? So instead, she grinned and nodded at Conneko happily. "I'd be happy to join you! I love cafes. Usually I have to do all the cooking." She couldn't help but laugh. Even though she'd just eaten lunch not too long ago, there was no way she was going to pass up a date with such a cute boy. "Anyone who would just pass up someone on the ground isn't worth the time it takes to bother caring anyway. Why don't you lead the way? I'm not too familiar with Gustella."

Lesa grinned at Conneko and winked, subtly slipping an arm through his as a certain pokeball on her belt that contained a certain eevee shook from the comments of the birds.

[kataya]

Con blushed as he realized that Lesa was now holding onto his arm. He looked away from her to hide it, using his free arm to rub the back of his head. He really hoped that Yuki was still out, and that his sister would be nowhere near Gustella town, after all, he had heard she was in the region, and if he saw him this close to Lesa, well… that would not be fun. Con, once most of his blush had disappeared, turned back to Lesa and smiled gently.

“Yes, I know how you feel. I do all the cooking for my traveling partner and myself as well, so it is nice to be able to eat without being the one to prepare it every once in a while” he explained, glad she could relate to him. He looked around carefully, making sure that he was going to get through this without tripping over something, because if he did, she’d trip too, and he didn’t know how pleasant that would be for either of them, mainly because of the pain.

Finally, they managed to reach the café without too much incident, and Falsetto, Con had noticed, was looking pretty envious of Lesa right now, which made him blush. What exactly did Falsetto think was going on, and moreover, why was she jealous? Con cleared his throat and gently slipped his arm free from Lesa’s, pulling one of the chairs out for her to sit down.

“You can order what you’d like Lesa.” He mentioned, kind of glancing down at Falsetto every once in a while to make sure she wasn’t glaring at Lesa. He was sure he and the girl would be able to find something to talk about. Travels maybe.