boredom is the sincerest form of flattery

[[lyrasen]]

The waves lapped at the shore, lazily wetting the sand, eroding it back in then driving it back out again. Shells would come and go, replaced by bigger and smaller ones that had been out at sea longer than they'd been sitting there. The waves impressed a city girl like Lyra, but she no longer cared. She sat in the sand, idly piling up wet sand.

Her feet were bare, but other than that she was in her usual clothing. Brown hair was flung carelessly over her shoulder, bangs brushed out of her eyes, though it was all in vain. Brown eyes watched the sea as lazily as the sea lapped at her feet. She scanned the area, watching for her eevee. A heap of wet brown fur dragged itself out of the water, grinning immensely.

"Looks like you had fun." The girl commented quietly. The eevee nodded with difficulty, because its soaking fur had made its head weigh more than usual. Then the eevee dragged herself away from Lyra, remembering the last time she'd gotten the girl wet. She shook herself thoroughly, until she looked like a big brown furball.

Not too far off, a strange pokemon dozed. It was somewhat feline, with a mane of gold sticking up from its neck. Its ears were long and spiked, as most of it was. The rest off the fur, except for the paws, was entirely black. It long tail twitched occasionally, stirring up the sand. Then it would lay still again. It was a new species of pokemon, and Lyra had nicknamed it Thirteen for now.

Lyra lay back, her head on the sand. Her eyes watched the sky, straining to see if any of them looked like a pokemon. None of them did, though one looked suspiciously like a pony. The girl sighed, turning over onto her side. She propped her head up onto her elbow, observing the two pokemon she had with her. The eevee gave herself one final lick, then raced off into the water again.

The girl sat up again, shaking her head. The eevee splashed away merrily, narrowly missing her trainer. Solar was a very rash individual, who never thought things through. She'd gone through this process twice already.

[Affodell]

Lucy's feet were burning from the sand. Honestly, she should be used to it by now, but the initial shock of heat always stung her. The late thirty years young woman was cavorting about in the sand, singing made up words off-key. Her green eyes squinted in the sun as she spun about and about, content. The beach was her love.

A casual observer would either guess she was drugged up or mentally stunted; a claim that was half true most of the time. Her bare legs, covered only by excessively short cut jeans glowed a healthy white, as did the rest of her skin. She was not about to give herself skin cancer. Praise be the lord of sunscreen! Her top was a halter top bikini, a rainbow of colors. Danging from her body at every key point were a mish-mash of jewelery articles. She wasn't in too terrible of shape, though she did have names for her so-called thunder thighs.

Little bells rang on her ankles with every movement. These tinkling sounds and her singing were suddenly panicked when the sand dune she just came from erupted. A large and inherently majestic beast emerged through the sand and began to chase her. The orangey monster easily caught up and began to circle her, growling playfully. Lucy squealed and jumped on the arcanine, swinging her legs over him and holding on tight. Her blonde hair obscured her vision and she was too busy being tossed around to notice the fact that a girl and her own critters were on the beach as well. The arcanine bucked like a show horse, knowing full well that his rider might be dislodged.

[[lyrasen]]

The eevee waded deeper into the water, oblivious to the 'struggles' going on behind her. Lyra, however, had sand sprayed in her eyes. She spat the sand out, brushing it off. Thirteen slowly rose, also, spitting sand out. The pokemon was much calmer than her eevee counterpart, so she merely paddded over to Lyra and took a seat beside the girl. Lyra watched the pair, covering her eyes so sand wouldn't be kicked into them again.

Finally, Solar seemed to realize something was happening. She waded out of the water, shaking her fur. Sand clouds rose, but none seemed to pass her way. Her brow furrowed, and she also watched them, slowly inching towards her trainer. Even she wasn't dumb enough to get near a bucking arcanine.

Lyra said nothing. Solar figured it was probably because she had no idea what to say. Lyra always told her not to stare at things, and it was strange how the girl never met anyone's gaze. Thirteen watched the eevee, trying to pick up what she was thinking. But Solar's face was blank.

The girl lay back, watching the sky again. She waited for the rampage to finish. Meanwhile, she watched the clouds drifting laziily across the blue sky. Her eyes watched the one shaped vaguely like a pony.

<Don't you think that one looks like a pony?> Solar said, also following her trainers gaze. Lyra met her eyes, and since she'd practically raised Solar she could interpret her pretty well.

"Shut up." She said under her breath. Solar shrugged. Lyra had something against ponies.

[Affodell]

The four legged monster was leaving his supper plate sized paw prints all over the pristine beach, claws leaving frighteningly deep gouges in the white. After a few twirls and flails, the two were splashing about in the water. Her squeals and squeaks stopped when she finally spied the girl and the other Pokemon. Her body shifted from the laying across the wild bronco to sitting up like it was a rocking chair and she was an overfed and under-stimulated child. Her back straightened and as she relaxed, the arcanine instantly obeyed. Standing so the water lapped halfway up his legs, the stoic dog of legends stood proudly.

"Hey down there?" Lucy hailed, her voice arcing up into question format. Nudging her heels slightly, the monster obeyed like a trained horse. He halted just so the water washed his paws, shifting his weight as the water sucked away the sand out from under him. Just as they stopped there, Lucy grinned down, her features softening to exude warmth. Wavy blonde hair was tossed about by the oceanic breeze. The figure those two struck, emerging from that vast pond, was something truly picturesque.

Her eyes flickered about. Their footprints were a wild dance. Sand was terribly displaced. Her arcanine, famed for beauty and brawn and brains, was eying the sand, too, albeit for reasons she didn't bother to fathom. The sand, she also saw, seemed to have been inflicted upon the ones she was addressing. Her arcanine, famed for beauty and brawn and brains, was eying the sand, too, albeit for reasons she didn't bother to fathom.

Whoops.

[[lyrasen]]

"Hey down there?"

It was a question, so Lyra felt it deserved the shortest answer possible, as did all questions. The girl sat up, her arms going back to her sides. "Yo!" She called up. It wasn't the most brilliant thing to say, but hey, it was an answer.

One other strange thing about Lyra was that her speech randomly switched between city slang and near-perfect grammar. She had no control over how she felt like saying something, although typically when she was angry she'd suddenly start speaking like she was more than intelligent enough. When she was relaxed, she often just let go.

The eevee sprang to her paws. <That was cool!> She exclaimed in the language only pokemon and a few pokemorphs could understand. <Lyra's no fun, when she rides Fiera, she actually tries to stay on her back.> The eevee, being very excitable, stopped shortly to admire the arcanine. Then she began jumping around, running in circles and drying off her soaking fur.

<That's because Lyra doesn't want to get a broken bone.> Thirteen replied in her cautious, quiet voice. Though Solar was never scolded outright by the older female, she often came close. Everything Solar did made an intelligent person grit their teeth in frustration. Lyra definitely scolded her a lot on how she shouldn't rush off, shouldn't jump into things without thinking, how could she simply run across the street when even the girl could hear that six-wheeled truck about to go barreling past...

Lyra knew they were speaking, but ignored them. She had an idea of what Solar was saying, and it was pretty obvious that Thirteen was trying to get her settled down. She usually had Lunar to interpret for her, but this was not one of those cases. Besides, after being with Solar for a while, the young eevee was very predictable.

[Affodell]

Lucy was tugging at her arcanine's neck fluff, scratching his skin. The thing grumbled contentedly, a low vibration more than a sound. The dog watched the small little pippin of a creature bound about. His chest was puffed out, looking ever the proud lion. Next to the little mongrel, he looked like a giant lion, at that.

"Sooo..." Lucy chirped, ceasing her neck rubbing, "How goes it with you, miss...?" Her voice once more made the inevitable arc to a question. At this, she shifted her weight into his shoulders. The arcanine responded without thought. His right paw was brought back in a kneeling pose, his head tucked into his neck and nearly in the sand. Lucy gracefully slid down his neck, landing lightly in the burning white. The arcanine then stepped up to her, head over her shoulder, chest resuming its puffed out nature.

The little girl was just that, little. She looked to be what, 5? 6? Of course, she exaggerates, but still. What kind of parents would let their little urchins roam around at the age of 10? Bad parents... Her mind cut off this thread of thought; her heart was beginning to turn leaden with this topic. The thirty seven year old began to lean back and the arcanine quickly stepped behind her, allowing her to use his neck-mane as a pillow for her back, her pale hand caressing his muzzle. Lucy was all eyes and ears now, ready to judge this infant.

[[lyrasen]]

[well actually lyra's thirteen, and she looks fourteen, but whatever XD she probably would look a bit young to somebody older]

"How goes it with you, miss...?"

A simple question to answer. Lyra usually just gave a shrug and a 'meh', a habit she was trying to rid herself of. She'd tugged on a brown lock of hair, then let it fall over her shoulders once more. And then she shrugged. "Nothin' much, really. Just relaxin', tryin' to decode my map." Her words were loose, but they were the truth. They'd stopped at the beach to let Solar enjoy new experiences, and for Lyra to try to figure out where they were and how they'd get to the next gym.

Since Lyra had the directional sense of a mole above ground, she usually left the directions to wise old Lunar. Tharaze was hopeless when it came to finding the way around, but Lunar was a little cartographer. He always seemed to be able to find the way. She'd been wondering what she'd do without him once she set off without him, and she was paying the price for not thinking ahead. But at least the 'kids' got to relax a bit.

The girl stood up, brushing sand off of her white pants. She wasn't one to speak much, so most of what she said was important. She rarely introduced herself to somebody whose name she didn't know yet. But, she felt as if it needed to be said. "That's Solar, and this is Thirteen. I'm Lyra." Her full name was Lyrasen, but she had always been called Lyra anyway. There were probably at least a few dozen Lyra's in the world, making it harder for her parents to track her down.

Yeah, she'd ran away from home. They'd refused to let her go, so she'd gone anyway. She hadn't been home in two years, but it had been 'so totally worth it.' That was true, very true. She was somebody she'd never have become if she'd just stayed at home meekly obeying her parents orders. Dreams never came true if you didn't pursue them.

Still, she did feel a little homesick, never settling down in one spot for more than a few days.

[Affodell]

Lucy nodded along, her blonde mane swirling in the oceanic wind. Due to this swirling, she became suddenly very cross if her hair touched her face and grabbed at it, holding it in a makeshift ponytail until the strange feelings passed.

"Lyra, eh?" She took a hand and began to rub her chin, "I'm Lucy, resident Breloom expert and not a shabby battler, neither." Her green eyes lit up as she grinned at the arcanine, "This here is my darling little baby boy." She didn't bother to tell her his name, maybe some other time.

"Where you from, girl? Certainly your parents ought to be right worried 'bout ye, pretty little thing as ya'r." She bit her lip and released her hair. The blonde whipped about again, a shroud of gold in the sun. Her bells she had tied into her hair jingle-jangled a little bit, a sweet sound.

[[lyrasen]]

"Where you from, girl? Certainly your parents ought to be right worried 'bout ye, pretty little thing as ya'r."

"Parents?" Lyra couldn't help but scoff. They might be worried, but it was their fault for not letting her go on her journey in the first place. Let them worry. Parents were bothersome things, calling you the mkost intelligent child in the world, but then when the time came to prove it, suddenly they weren't so sure. Why did they have to lie all the time? "I'm from Violet City, Johto."

She bit her tongue to keep from saying anything more. She didn't need to go bragging about her title, not here, not now. She never had, anyway. Fools bragged, the smart people waited for others to figure it out for themselves. Lyra liked to think of herself as at least fairly intelligent. She held her tongue.

<Lyra has parents?> Solar asked in wonder. It had never occurred to her before.

<Of course.> Thirteen was slightly amused. <Everyone has parents.> Solar definitely did, although she hadn't seen Lunar in a while. Thirteen herself had never met the umbreon, but she heard a lot about him from Solar. He sounded like an amazing character, from what Solar bragged about. The eevee had no sense of modesty.

[Affodell]

"Violet City, eh?" Lucy began to squint off across the vast expanse of white. Behind her, the dog shifted his weight, the water lapping at his sodden paws. Scratching her chin, Lucy hummed a bit, trying to picture the place, "I certainly been there afore, though I cannae pitchur it fer the life of me." Looking to her arcanine, he tilted his head at her, dark eyes full of canid intelligence, "You know?" The dog kept staring at her, not a change in demeanor. He understood bits and pieces of her language, though the majority of it flew in one fluffed up ear and out the other.

"Ya still seem a mite too young to be a-wanderin' 'round the world, butter bean." She grinned at the girl's physical reactions to the conversation, beaming down at her. "To be fair an' equal, I'm from the Orange Islands. Darn pretty place to be from, I'll say." She ruffled her own blonde mane, giggling as it flew about wildly. Behind her golden halo, behind those acidic green eyes, she was thinking. This little pippin did seem vaguely familiar. Fractured memories came through the cracks, seeing a little thing like her at challenges and tournaments. She did remember Clair from Blackthorn talking about some squeak named.. Lyra? It might have been Lyra, could have been anyone.

Lyra's reaction to a suggestion of parents made her mind giggle with glee, though perhaps it wasn't all her own. First off, she loved pathetically angsty children, complaining of parents cramping their style. Or whatnot. It could be abuse she ran from, but the manner in which the 'dreaded' P word was spat showed a bit more of the former. Silly little infants, her mind cooed. Secondly, she never was really alone in her head; her little ghost companion could read her thoughts like a book, given she was close enough. However, Lucy couldn't read a lick of the ghost's unless she mentally spoke to her. Unfair? Yes, Lucy would have to agree wholeheartedly. She did, however, trust the misdreavus and the ghost did give her space when she asked.

A little sound in the back of her mind, a squealing giggle reminded her of this presence. Lucy had not a clue where the menace was, but no doubt she'd show herself at the most impossible time, yanking away at someone's hair and shrieking. She was more tame, however, and generally obliged to being told not to do something. The arcanine's ears twitched in annoyance and he shook his head slightly. Bingo. That dirty (ghost) rat was all invisible and nesting in the elegant thing's mane.

[[lyrasen]]

"I certainly been there afore, though I cannae pitchur it fer the life of me."

"It's not a very scenic place." Lyra tended to be very blunt. Her home city wasn't impressive at cities went, and was nothing compared to Goldenrod. They had the gym, and the Sprout Tower, but that was it. Who wanted to go see Bellsprout fight? There were some who thought it was interesting, but for the most part she had grown bored of it.

"Ya still seem a mite too young to be a-wanderin' 'round the world, butter bean."

"I have my friends." Lyra shrugged. "I'm not alone." I have Lunar and Tharaze. She didn't mention them. But they're not with me. In her mind, she sighed. She missed Lunar's sassy remarks and Tharaze's silent sympathy. They'd been through everything together, and this was just one more challenge they had to face; Separation.

"To be fair an' equal, I'm from the Orange Islands. Darn pretty place to be from, I'll say."

"I've never been there." The girl admitted. "Just Johto, Kanto, and now... Here." A long time ago, traveling had been unbearable to the girl. It was especially unbearable if you traveled with your family, whom you soon grew tired of after a little while. Despite growing up with her father, that one trip to Goldenrod as a child had been one of the worst days of her life, just because he didn't know how to cheer her up. But if you traveled with friends... That was a different story. Her team always seemed to lighten up the mood.

Oh, she missed her former team so much. She missed Jolter almost as much as Lunar and Thar, just because the young pikachu had always been able to make her laugh. Lyra couldn't imagine the trouble the little electric rodent got into at Oak's lab.

[Affodell]

"Ey, Kanto and Johto ya say?" Lucy began to smile, "Some lovely places to have been awanderin' about in, no?" She shuffled her feet, digging into the sand. A vague thought popped in her brain; where was Adella? The ghost and arcanine were here but the fish could be anywhere. I wonder if she's watching.

She's just offshore, sweety-pie.

The mischievous voice of the hair-pulling monster whispered in her mind, making Lucy glare at the back of the dog's neck. Cracking her knuckles, Lucy rounded on the child.

"Have ya fought for the badges yet? I's thinkin' that ya have, seein' how ya been all 'round the place." Her voice was soothing, inquisitive. She already was painting a picture of this girl. Pulling up old information, she remembered something from when she spoke with Falkner about; a family in shambles for some reason or another. It was a long time ago, however. She'd have to glean some information from the leader when she returns to her apartment.

[[lyrasen]]

"Some lovely places to have been awanderin' about in, no?"

"Oh, of course." Slowly, the girl's face began to adopt a grin. The young eevee at her side stopped bouncing, looking confused. <Ain't she ever gonna say anything?> Solar looked over at Thirteen. The older pokemon shrugged nonchalantly, not bothering with an answer.

"Have ya fought for the badges yet? I's thinkin' that ya have, seein' how ya been all 'round the place."

"Oh yeah, of course I have!" The grin continued to blossom. "Sixteen badges, eight from both Johto and Kanto." She was warming up to the conversation. It was a trainer-to-trainer talk, something she could usually get into. "This isn't my original team, ya know." Solar stopped in her tracks, then turned around.

<If it was me, I wouldn't be beating around the bush like this!> The eevee gritted her teeth, frustrated. She had never understood being humble, and was incredibly blunt when it came to things like this. She just couldn't understand why people didn't want others to know how good you were. She also didn't understand how people didn't want others to know how good you weren't. One of Lyra's favorite sayings was from when she was ten, and the teacher had offered wisdom to the class. 'It's better to not raise your hand and have poeple think you're stupid, then raise your hand and give the wrong answer and let them know you're stupid.'

<Calm down. She doesn't think it's necessary for everybody to know how apparently 'awesome' she is.> Solar hmphed at the other pokemon's obvious disdain, and sat down.

[Affodell]

"Sixteen, eh? Quite the nummer ya got there, sweetie." Lucy was truly pleased; she liked seeing successful trainers, whoever they were. She was a bit put off, not remembering ever battling the girl, but honestly, the chances of them being in the same place at once is slight, especially with how grossly huge the world was. For the past few years before coming to the islands she had been spending time studying new pokemon found in the most recently discovered lands. Her data now was here on the islands so she could sum up her research in warmth, comfort, and beach-island style. In all her study time, she hadn't much time for such intense training as before, but her old records are still legal and official. Old records, badges, ribbons, trophies, awards, paintings she's all proud of. She's not the best, she knows that.

"What's yer original team like, then?" She grinned, eyes of acid wide and shining. She did enjoy hearing others' stats and styles, enjoying every word. She was an information junkie, analyzing everyone and everything for weaknesses and threats. Her eyes flitted about to the pokemon of the girl's, mind gleaning as much as she could from their body language. It was useless to try to converse with her misdreavus, she could never truly express what she was asking without spoken word with the ghost. But the ghost did understand this want of knowledge and busied herself with scrutinizing the strangers for any scrap of info.

[[lyrasen]]

"What's yer original team like, then?"

Lyra waved her hand nonchalantly. "Oh, y'know... Just an umbreon and a typhlosion. Well, that was a year ago. I have umm... A charizard, a rapidash, and a pikachu now." It was true, she had a lot of fire pokemon. She hadn't had much luck finding her favorite Dark Types. "I'm-a lookin' for some others, though." She shrugged. "Maybe I'll have more luck here."

The eevee pranced around. <Lunar, Tharaze, Burn, Jolter, Fiera~> She sang. <Me and Thirteen!> The dark-electric pokemon beside her resisted the urge to reach out a paw and cuff her. The eevee had a young, sweet voice, but she tended to raise it to impossible levels. If she evolved into another umbreon, that could turn into a Screech attack; but she didn't want to be exactly like her father. She didn't know what she wanted to evolve into. A jolteon was awesome, but a vaporeon had Acid Armor... An espeon had great specials...

<Please quit it.> Thirteen hissed under her breath. <Your fat head is more annoying than usual today.> The eevee looked at the other pokemon, startled that she'd insult her so directly. Then she tackled the older female playfully, and they rolled around on the ground. Thirteen had more power, but Solar was slippery as a snake. The dark-type cuffed the eevee around the ear, and Solar jumped away.

"Solar..." Lyra sighed, watching them. "You're never gonna grow up, are you?"