“Hey!” Todd echoes with a wave, giving a friendly smile to both Axew and its trainer. He’s seen enough people from his home world wandering the city by now that noticing the little Pokemon on the girl’s shoulder doesn’t come as a quite so much of a shock as it would have weeks ago, but it’s still wonderfully exciting to get to meet another pair from home.
And that Axew is adorable– is it interested in his camera?
Todd’s already brought his camera up to focus on the Pokemon by the time its trainer can comment.
“I’d love to, if that’s okay. You two look great together!” There’s a click as Todd gets a zoomed-in shot of Axew, the Pokemon filing the frame and pointing straight at the viewer. Zooming back out again, he snaps a few quick shots of both of them, admiring the color contrast between the pink of the girl’s collar and the green tint of her Pokemon.
“Thanks for that– I’m a Pokemon photographer back home, so it’s always nice to get a picture or two when I see them here. Are you a trainer?”
Not every person with a Pokemon partner is a trainer, of course, but he feels confident in his guess for a reason he can’t quite place. There’s something almost familiar about the kid, but Todd doesn’t keep up with competition news or trainer rankings enough to be sure.
“I’m Todd, by the way,” he says, finally lowering his camera again to offer his hand for a shake.
“It’s great to meet you and Axew!”
❝Oh, yeah, sure. You’re totally free to take pictures of us! You’re quite welcome, mister!❞ Iris was more than happy to oblige. Perhaps her dear Axew’s adorable smile can been seen by more people this way. The little girl wonders if Elesa gets this often. Her stardom is well-known in Unova, after all. Iris wasn’t excepting that Pokémon photographers would be interested in her. In some weird way, this whole encounter reminded the young Champ of the random paparazzi people! …Except those paparazzi people are kinda rude and demanding, right? Mr. Todd seemed so nice! And he was only one guy with a camera. Axew throughout whole process stayed perfectly still - looking at the camera, with a charming little smile. Iris herself mimicked her Axew’s expression. A young dragon and a young girl. Two peas in a pod, as they say.
When the young man had lowered his camera, Iris returned his handshake. It was the polite thing to do. It’s not like Iris was a afraid of conversation with strangers either. The girl was extroverted and pretty much always chipper.
❝Mr. Todd, yeah? Might I ask where’re you from? I haven’t seen you in Unova before! Unova’s where I’m from and... I’m the new Champ! I took over from Mr. Alder.❞ She feels still a bit bad for doing so, Alder didn’t seem to mind. Iris and her team had battled well, and Mr. Alder said her reward was well-earned. Still, that didn’t help her anxieties. When you’re in the same League as people like Mr. Steven and Ms. Cynthia, there’s certain standards to be met!
