[indent] [/indent][h3][hr][color=palevioletred]Eryn Montero[/color][/h3][hr][sup][i]Pureplain City || Day 2: Evening[/i][/sup][indent] [/indent] Laurinda’s words were at the front of Eryn’s mind as she headed towards Kalmia’s lab. Her double was a ‘her’ and had existed before Eryn arrived in the Infested Woods, but she’d existed without a shape? To Eryn, that sounded like some sort of Pokemon, but she could only think of Ditto, the resident purple shapeshifter that ruled itself out by virtue of its dot-shaped eyes. Of course, there were stories of Ditto becoming so accustomed to transforming that they were able to change their eyes as well, but they largely seemed just to be stories. Laurinda’s point that her double “wanted to be human,” too, stood out to Eryn, mainly because it was unsettling. She should be flattered that the Pokemon had chosen her as a role model of sorts, but the way the Pokemon was going about it seemed like the Pokemon was intent on replacing her, not just admiring her. It made Eryn feel just a tad resentful since, in a way, the Pokemon had done it because she’d seemed an easy, convenient target. She could assume that the Pokemon was admiring her, yes, but that was an assumption she had little proof to back without confronting the Pokemon so, in order to avoid jumping to any more conclusions, Eryn figured she’d reserve most of the judgement calls for when she confronted her double again, and hopefully for the last time. If her double was a Pokemon, and if she really did want to be a trainer, though, Eryn couldn’t see a good way to help her. Pokemon couldn’t be trainers, and frankly she wasn’t selfless enough to give up her new career for the sake of a Pokemon’s interest. Becoming a Pokemon trainer had been her dream ever since she was small, and she had to wait seventeen years too many to make her own journey, education be damned. She wasn’t letting anything get in the way of that, not the innate creepiness of the Infested Woods, and definitely not some wannabe Pokemon from those woods. That said, Eryn could sympathize with the Pokemon. Being a Pokemon trainer was pretty much all Eryn could ever hope for. She had Dei, her trusty starter who she couldn’t imagine going without at this point. His grumpiness, in addition to bringing a smile to her face, kept her grounded and focused on the real possibilities, and she doubted she could have gotten a better starter Pokemon. She also had Kylie, her sweet Mawile who seemed to show a depth Eryn couldn’t quite put a finger on except to know that she’d trust her to make good judgement calls in the heat of battle. One day Eryn would crack into that indecipherably cheery front Kylie put up, but until then she was content with slowly earning Kylie’s trust. Finally but never least importantly, she had Tula, her blank-gazed Tutu who used her single move as valiantly as any Pokemon, bringing a whole battalion of Struggles to every match she was put in. Eryn was almost sad that Tula would one day evolve into a Gyarados and lose her trademark stare, but she was equally excited for Tula to finally gain some teeth, fins, and joints usable in both battle and daily life. Sure Eryn might not be able to carry Tula around in her evolved form, but Tula would be able to carry her and express herself while doing it. For these three Pokemon—and the others to come, because there would be others—Eryn wouldn’t trade the world, and for this she mourned her double’s plight. Her double was in an impossible situation, barred from becoming a trainer by the nature of her existence, if Eryn had guessed the nature of hers correctly. Eryn couldn’t imagine how she’d fare against such odds herself, let alone as a Pokemon, and she wanted nothing more than to help. The question, then, was of how she could help. Since she wasn’t willing to give up her own trainership—an unthinkable option, and Eryn wasn’t even going to apologize for not really considering it—she couldn’t offer her double a career as a trainer. What she could do, instead, was offer to bring the Pokemon along and let her watch and learn. The thought was a bit unsettling, and in a way Eryn would be leading her on, but maybe she would be able to break the news more gently over time. More than that, maybe she’d be able to convince the Pokemon of a different goal. The glory of battle was a cheap aspiration in some ways, but in others it was the most basic aspiration for a trainer to have, and Eryn saw nothing wrong with it. So she wanted to prove her strength, her intellect, and her bond with her Pokemon. What better way did she have to do that? Tula in her arms and Dei and Kylie at her side, the former trudging along more sullenly than the latter, Eryn let herself into Kalmia’s lab. Inside, the researcher sat, looking quizzically at none other than Eryn’s double. [color=palevioletred]“Hey, Professor!”[/color] Eryn said, waving as the color drained out of her double’s face. For some reason, her double had chosen to take up a white face mask, as if she were sick. The more reasonable explanation would be that she was trying to hide her telling traits—the traits that would obviously differentiate her from Eryn herself. A forked tongue? A lack of teeth? The possibilities were endless, but Eryn was sure she would find out in due time. As Kalmia spoke, Eryn’s double was slowly backing towards the other door in the room, prompting Eryn to back up slightly as well. She hadn’t come to make threats, only settle what she probably should have the day before. [color=palevioletred]“Hey, long time no see. Erepi—can I call you that? Eri for short,”[/color] Eryn said, winking. [color=palevioletred]“I totally get where you're coming from, wanting to be a trainer and all. Becoming a trainer was my dream for so long that I pretty much can’t imagine doing anything else. That’s why I can’t agree to you stealing my spotlight. You understand, right?”[/color] Eryn grinned, indicating her Pokemon. [color=palevioletred]“They’re counting on me. [i]I’m[/i] counting on me, and I want to make a name for myself with my own blood, sweat, and tears. That’s why I can’t accept you going around with my face, unfortunately. I’m my own person, and you going around as me kinda undermines everything I’m working for. However,”[/color] she said, pausing to look back at her double, [color=palevioletred]“while I can't give you my trainer card or identity, I can offer to bring you with me. Where I’m going, I’m sure I’ll meet trainers and Pokemon of all types. You’ll be able to learn about trainership alongside me and come back a better trainer for your own Pokemon. With your go-getter-ness, and we could help each other out—though maybe you’d be helping me a bit more than me, you, in this case, since I’m basically asking your team to wait for you.”[/color] Eryn laughed, adjusting her cap as she looked over at her double’s own Pokemon, admiring the bond they’d already formed. While her offer would separate them, but she wasn’t too keen on the ways to resolve that dilemma. Her team was large enough as it was, and taking on more than one Pokemon just wasn’t what she was looking to do. Offering to capture and box them, too, didn’t sit right with her, so Eryn didn't have any bright ideas for her double. [color=palevioletred]“If you’re not willing to leave your team behind, though, I completely understand. They’re your Pokemon—your friends. Finding a new team… well, that’s pretty unthinkable.”[/color] She shrugged. [color=palevioletred]“So, I guess it’s a one-sided offer of sorts. You’d be able to come with me, if you’re interested, and I can teach you the basics of training from my perspective. I can’t offer much else to help because, believe it or not, I’m busy being a trainer myself.”[/color] Falling silent, Eryn waited. She was being a bit unfair, she supposed, in not sympathizing more with her double, but this was her moment. Having just begun her Pokemon journey the day before, she wasn’t about to slow down, not yet and maybe not ever. This was her final offer, and if her double didn’t take it, well, Eryn supposed she’d just have to wish her the best of luck. [center] [/center][hr][hider=Actions][u][b][color=palevioletred] Actions: [/color][/b][/u] Eryn gives a bunch of reasoning to try and recruit her double, sans Pokemon. Take it or leave it. [/hider] [hider=Pokemon][u][b][color=palevioletred] Pokemon Party: [/color][/b][/u] [hider=Dei — Charmander][h3][color=palevioletred]Dei[/color][/h3][hr][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/charmander.gif[/img] [hr][sup][color=silver]Charmander [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Level 12 [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] ♂ [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Blaze [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] 100%[/color][/sup] [list][*]Physical — Scratch [*]Status — Growl, Smokescreen [*]Special — Ember [/list][h3] [/h3][/hider] [hider=Kyllene — Mawile][h3][color=palevioletred]Kyllene / “Kylie”[/color][/h3][hr][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/mawile.gif[/img] [hr][sup][color=silver]Mawile [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Level 12 [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] ♀ [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Hyper Cutter [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] 100%[/color][/sup] Holding: [b]Occa Berry[/b] [list][*]Physical — Astonish, Bite [*]Status — Taunt, Growl, Fake Tears [*]Special — Fairy Wind [/list][h3] [/h3][/hider] [hider=Tula — Magikarp][h3][color=palevioletred]Tula / “Tutu”[/color][/h3][hr][img]https://www.smogon.com/dex/media/sprites/xy/magikarp.gif[/img] [hr][sup][color=silver]Magikarp [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Level 9 [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] ♀ [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] Rattled [color=palevioletred]◼[/color] 100%[/color][/sup] [list][*]Physical — (Struggle) [*]Status — Splash [*]Special — N/A [/list][h3] [/h3][/hider][/hider] [hider=Inventory][u][b][color=palevioletred] Inventory: [/color][/b][/u] Pokédollars — 4240 [list][*]Potion — 1 [*]Pokeballs — 4 [*]Old Rod [*]Silk Scarf [/list][h3] [/h3][/hider] [@PlatinumSkink]