The outburst from Olivie's acquaintance almost made her skin crawl.  Leisy's surprise struck the brunette as so overdone as to be cheesy; what was so remarkable about seeing another trainer in a popular stopover after a few days?  Plus, the two girls weren't exactly friends.  Nobody Olivie knew of would have declared meeting her again 'nice' after a dismissal like the one she'd given last time the other trainer crossed her path.  Clearly, she hadn't been curt enough.  Right now, Leisy constituted nothing more than a competitor to Olivie, and not only did she intend on winning any competition she chose to partake in, but she also wanted to make sure this twit knew it.

[color=954535]”'We?'  Hope you're referring to the scene girl there.”[/color]  An irate look flew Ella's way.  A sleepless night had left bags under Olivie's eyes, making her glare nastier than usual.  [color=954535]”I don't waste time searching every nook and cranny, 'specially with sissy chicks.  Mess around all you want, but I'm gonna follow my gut to the finish line.  That reward's good as mine!  Later, losers.”[/color]  Without a second to waste, she dashed out of the shop, her crowd of Pokemon right beside.

A moment passed in silence, during which the shopkeeper remained silent.  Then, glancing at the remaining trainers, he gave a whistle of disbelief.  His wife, still seated, shook her head.  “Poor dear.  Wonder what happened t'make 'er so ornery.  That kind of attitude don't suit a pretty face at all.”

Her husband shrugged.  “Not our business, Em.”  His focus returned to Leisy and Ella.  “Yer best bet is the shoreline.  All kinds o' strange stuff happens in them grottos 'n ravines.  Whole place is worse 'n a maze with all its twists 'n turns 'n walls.  Don't know if it's worth it t'look 'round town, since there ain't many places t'hide, but could be there's clues the rest of us are missin'.  Good luck!”

Moving with practiced speed, the woman sped over to the main shelf.  It didn't take much to deduce that Ella had her eye on the Black Sludge.  The shopkeeper's wife picked up the heavy, squishy globule and held it out for the pink-haired trainer to take.  “Here, if ya like this ole thing, ya can borrow it for the mission.  If there's bad pokeymon out there, ya need all the help ya can get.”  She put her hands on her hips.  “Oh, an' one more thing.  If ya see that angry girl again, why doncha battle 'er?  Bet she'll respect someone who gives her a wallopin'.”

[center]-=-=-[/center]

Before Olivie lay the river, and she veered right toward the rest of the town.  A large, wooden ramp structure suspended like scaffolding traced the side of the bluff near the waterfall, and with a spring in her step the bruiser descended.  The instant she passed out of sight from the shop, she slowed down.  Despite her convincing blustering, she had no idea where to go to hunt down the critter responsible for the town's bad dreams.  Since poking around until she stumbled on something didn't seem like an option, the only choice that remained would be to find Bernard and see what he could figure out.  Her inability to tackle the problem right away irritated Olivie, but she rationalized that her part would come when the time to kick ass did.

With a plan in mind to loop through the town and back to the Poke Center, Olivie set off again.  This time, she swung Verrine up on her shoulder to give the bug a birds-eye view.  Stillwater town proper, situated at the seaside, had three distinct sections.  The middle of town, arranged in a crude circle, lay atop a cleared stretch of earth.  On one side lay a stretch of sand that separated society from sea, and buildings lined its outer edge in a crescent.  Finally, the outer circle of Stillwater stood on log pylons rising from the marsh, a multi-layered and somewhat clustered affair that gave the impression of a village built on docks.  An immense amount of walkways and bridges connected the various buildings, in some cases rising over larger canals of water to permit the passage of round, woven boats.  Olivie's worry that the walkways might be creaky and unreliable soon proved unfounded—everything was remarkably sturdy.  Then again, it wouldn't be much of a town if its foundations weren't.  Another notable feature of Stillwater was its Pokemon.  Simply put, the place was alive with them.  In particular, she found a surprising amount of big, fearsome-looking bug pokemon prowling the swamp, sometimes right beneath the bridges.  Her Pokedex identified them as Araquanid, dual bug and water types that the town was apparently famous for.  As nasty as they looked, their entry described them as caring.  [i]Heh,[/i] she thought, [i]don't judge a book by its cover.[/i]  After a few minutes, and receiving only a few curious, inquisitive, or admiring looks from the townsfolk, Olivie arrived at the other side of the waterfall's base.  

On this side, a ladder led up to the top of the bluff, and the Pokemon Center stood not far away.  Olivie put both hands on the ladder before realizing that not one of her Pokemon would be able to get up on its own.  [color=954535]”Hum.  Well, we'll find another way.  Why don't you lead, Buck?”[/color]  With a determined look, the Bidoof turned tail to patter across the planks.  Olivie, Verrine, Gespenst, and Bifrons followed his lead.

[hider=The Benevolent Beauty Turned Boisterous Bruiser]
[b]Current Location:[/b] Stillwater
[b]TP:[/b] 41 + 1 = 42
[b]CP:[/b] 20+ 1 = 21

[b]Interaction:[/b]
[@Dusksong]'s Leisy Takigawa (The Adventurous, Unassuming Go-getter)
[@LuckyBlackCat]'s Ellanor Beaufort (Pretty, Perky, Poison-Prone Punk)

[b]Pokemon:[/b]
Buck the Bidoof – lvl 3  –  healthy
Gespenst the Cacnea – lvl 4  –  healthy
Verrine the Karrablast – lvl 4 – healthy
Bifrons the Nidoran♂ - lvl 2 - healthy
[/hider]