A nod of understanding was Thorton’s only response, acknowledging the Gym Leader’s apology- since she seemed the type to insist, and the quicker they exchanged apologies, the sooner he could return to the depth of his comfortable laboratory- and his expression almost cracked to reveal his true annoyance of Elmo, only for Erika to silence him in the most calm and graceful way he’d ever seen.
He observed Elmo’s face with an amused smirk, the fascinating red that radiated a n g e r and embarrassment was too tempting not to stare at, before turning his focus back to Erika with a face that gave nothing away.
“Fascinated, you say. For you to come all this way, it makes me very h- guh!” The familiar flash of brilliant light startled Thorton enough for him to choke on his spit. Instinctively, he whipped out his analyzer and signaled Roomba to battle if necessary, his arm covering his mouth as he struggled to be able to breathe properly. He glanced at Erika and took a step forward to cover her in case of an oncoming attack.
“Ah, a Lotad and- *hack* that is the special needs category tray! Elmo, what’s the meaning of this?” He faced Elmo, only to find the scientist sputtering his nonsensical excuse and Thorton simply shook his head.
“If you’re so BRILLIANT then you should have known the storage’s system, right? Everyone knows it! How ignorant can you be?” His lack of sleep and rest was starting affect his temper and shaken his usual calm demeanor. Annoyance won over when he saw the pokemon revealed to be a simple Lotad so all his lecturing was for a little leaf pokemon. “There will be consequences, for now, return the pokemon back while I escort Erika to the main battle hall.”
A burst of water gun, barely grazing Thorton’s nose, demanded silence, cutting the rest of Thorton’s words and damping his growing temper to a steam. Right now, it was Lotad’s term and she wanted- no, demanded respect and full attention as the little pokemon took a, somehow, menacing step forward, a head jerk towards Elmo, and sharp ‘-tad’. Thorton glanced at the pokemon then at the tray, his eyes narrowing at the absurdity of the situation.
“Hmm, so this is the rouge pokemon in the files. Change of plans. Elmo, you take Erika to safety and I will handle this. Carefully hand me the tray as well, it seems this little one wants it- more specifically wants her friends.” He slowly extends a hand out, ready to grab the tray only for the scientist to fumble and drop the tray with a clash-!
Simultaneously, Thorton cursed; a well-aimed Lotad’s vine whip rendered Elmo unconscious, as well as press two pokeballs free; Thorton tried to return Lotad in her respective pokeball, only to trip over Elmo’s body and crash into Erika- what mayhem! The sound of the lab door swishing open and giggles of newly freed pokemon overtook the sound of people shouting and panicked words. Thorton propped himself up, whining in mild pain and froze when he realized he was on top of Erika. Quickly scrambling up and ears red hot, Thorton offered his hand and a stuttering apology.
“I am sorry, the uh, my direction of travel and the force of impact may have…, you see? Are you injured? Please do not mistake that for anything other than an accident. And please don’t smack me.”
He glanced down at Elmo and scratched his cheek before regarding Erika with a contemplative stare. “I suppose it’s dangerous to go out there now. I suggest you stay here where it is safe while I see to this conundrum and prince charming here would be overjoyed to see his idol smile down upon him upon awakening. However,” His hand covered a part of his mouth, embarrassed to ask for help, especially since it had to do with cleaning after his own colleague’s mistake. “I understand you are a skilled trainer who specializes in grass-type pokemon, which is the very type I will be dealing with. Your knowledgeable help and expertise would help me greatly.”
[ エリカ ] ❀ ;
Light. An all too familiar light, one that immediately put the Gym Leader on guard, her hand instinctively reaching for one of the pokeballs on her person, her watchful gaze flitting over to the light’s source to see what it was that would soon appear. Only for her view to be blocked by Thorton, who had stepped in front of her to shield her from any potential danger, or so it appeared to be. Said blocked view soon no longer matter as he spoke, revealing the identity of the pokemon that had been released from its pokeball. A Lotad? If her memory served her well, it was a Grass and Water type native to the Hoenn region... wait, a special needs--
Words fueled by growing irritation came to an abrupt halt following a warning so much more aggressive than she was comfortable with, the mention of the tray this particular pokeball had been on all the more accentuated by said warning. She too, had her fair share of troublemakers and hard to handle pokemon to deal with, but such a display of aggression was a whole different thing altogether. They had to be tended to with much caution, lest they were to be provoked or feel threatened and potentially cause harm to not only others, but to themselves.
Yet it appeared caution alone was not enough. Though instructions had been given with a calm yet cautious tone, it was the smallest movement of Thorton’s hand that had triggered yet another reaction from the already agitated pokemon, a lashing whip soon to follow. Her hand that had been hovering over her pokeball had returned to her side to avoid being seen as a threat by Lotad, but it mattered little when the dual type’s undivided attention was on even the slightest twitch that came from Thorton... Pokeballs clattered against the flooring along with the now dropped tray, the intended recipient of the attack now slumped on the ground, effectively knocked out by that very attack.
It all happened before her eyes in mere seconds: the reappearance of the light, though this time brighter than before, that came with the release of a pokemon from its pokeball, Thorton scrambling in his attempt to defuse said situation, only to trip over the unconscious body of Elmo, Thorton’s body falling towards her far too quickly for her to react--
It was safe to say that all had been effectively and singularly disrupted by the Lotad, which only highlighted the delicate nature of what had occurred. Unfortunately, all that was on Erika’s mind at the very moment, was the fact that their collision had lead to herself and the Factory Head being uncomfortably close to each other, putting a complete halt to all other logical thought. She froze. And remained frozen as his weight was lifted from her body, her expression entirely unreadable as Thorton reacted to their current... predicament. It was only when words of apology were offered along with a hand to help her out that Erika snapped out of her state, a shaky smile tugging at her lips as she took his hand.
Even the usually calm and graceful Gym Leader found herself at a loss for words after being in such close proximity with another person, only the smile and shake of her head acknowledging his words at all. It was strange, not being aware of what sort of expression she was wearing in response to what had just occurred as well as his words-- she could only hope that it proved to not betray her emotions as it always did.
Speech only returned to Erika as her gaze settled on the scientist laid on the floor, as she shifted herself over to check on his state: “ I’m... No. I’m quite alright, but this poor fellow here... ” There was no physical harm as far as she could see, so perhaps it was simply shock that had caused him to faint. A sigh of relief escaped her lips just as Thorton began to speak once more, though disagreement initially being of her response towards his words, the very opposite being the case as he finished speaking. Her own intent had been to avoid unnecessarily involving herself in the Battle Factory’s matters in the beginning, but with all that had happened, she would have denied his request if it were to simply remain where it was safe.
" While I’d be more than happy to provide whatever help I can offer, I will need to learn more about that Lotad first. Such knowledge can only help so much, after all. ” She spoke as she busied herself with picking up the scattered pokeballs, her gaze lingering on the aforementioned Lotad’s pokeball for a brief moment before she continued. “ ...You mentioned that this tray is the special needs tray? I’d like you to elaborate on that, if possible. ”
Rushing into a dangerous situation without prior knowledge of the... ‘culprits’ of sorts would be reckless, but inaction regarding the safety of potential visitors was no better, which was something she needed to address. “ Would it be possible to make sure that they’re confined to this section of the facility? There’s the risk of them becoming more irritated by doing so, but jeopardizing the safety of those within the facility would be far worse. ” Once again, her hand had instinctively shifted over to where her pokeballs were, only for her to recall a particular Pokemon that had initially been amidst them. “ Your... Ledian. It can make sure that there is no one else that is caught up in this situation before locking down this section... Ah, of course, these are only suggestions. This is your facility after all, I’m certain you would be wise to a better course of action. ”
