Notes: Rachel makes a little trip to tour along Route 31 while with Wendla and Tony when she runs into her newest companion.
It was quite the bland day, in Rachel's own eyes, as she had done a grand total of nothing. It really was quite the relaxing day although she knew that soon, she had to be getting back to training. While she wasn't going to be as intense concerning contests as she was in Ecruteak and was going to get some sleep at least, Rachel was not the type to be a 'slacker' or anything of the sort. After mulling a few things over, she decided to venture out of Violet City with both Wendla and Tony, her Abra perching himself on top of her shoulder while Wendla lay, nuzzled in her arms as Rachel rocked the Torchic back and forth. The last few days for her had been spent with a slightly bigger group consisting of Ryder, Sam, Kurt, Quinn, Caitlin and Jamie. Although she hadn't quite seen anyone as often as she had Quinn, the girl was quite content to be in such a large group of people who were all somewhat calm and had positive outlooks on life. It seemed as though Quinn had busied herself by spending the day with Ryder, so Rachel took that opportunity to go searching for a new member of her team if she came across any of the Pokémon that she aspired to catch someday - As Tugs had won his normal-rank contest and had advanced to the super-rank beauty contests, Rachel believed that what she would have to do was eventually leave Liza, Tony and Galinda in storage temporarily and perhaps try to train a few more Pokémon to get to her original three mons' levels of experience.
The girl was practically hopping along the path as she popped a sliced strawberry into Tony's mouth and then one into Wendla's, following the actions by tossing a whole strawberry into Rachel's own mouth. When she reached the green grass that made up Route 31, Rachel sighed as she stepped into the large patch of grass, cringing as she felt it up against her leg. She never did like that feeling of grass grazing against her bare legs, as it just felt odd. As she continued searching through the grass, she continued humming, thinking about the past few weeks and how they had gone for her. She realized that she was soon due to write her response to Cesario but didn't want to be too obvious with her location - She'd thought if she waited for a week, then 'Cesario' would simply assume that she was far off and got someone to deliver a letter to her. As Rachel continued mulling things over, she yet again got lost in her own world, failing to notice the sound of footsteps behind her. A chill ran up Rachel's spine the very second that she felt something nudging her back. The brunette flinched, yelping as she whirled around with wide eyes to face whatever it was that had demanded her attention.
A shocked smile formed on her lips as she took in what had been disturbing her. Her eyes flickered with excitement as soon as a sparkle seemed to ignite inside the soft, warm hazel eyes of the Pokémon in front of her. The yellow planes of the Girafarig's face shone in the light as the parallels between the Girafarig's coat of fur and Cesario's outfit from the night of the Masquerade were brought to Rachel's attention.
"Well, hi there..." She cooed, reaching out to pet her warily as Wendla eyed the female Girafarig skeptically. Rachel was nothing short of surprised when Tony jumped off of her shoulder and onto his fellow psychic-type Pokémon's back. Tony rarely showed affection to anyone other than Rachel so to say that the girl was taken aback was an understatement. Before the girl knew it, the Girafarig seemed to let out a light snicker, poking her head down to unhook Rachel's satchel, starting to go through the bag before Rachel realized what was happening and leapt backwards, clutching her back to her as she giggled at the Pokémon's trouble-making antics. Rachel fumbled to reach for her bag, pulling a Poffin out clumsily before thrusting it towards the Girafarig. She beamed as the Pokémon gobbled it up and nibbled on her lower lip. Rachel always had wanted a Girafarig to call her own... After stroking the Girafarig's nose with her hand for a few moments, Rachel arched an eyebrow, trying to convey what she was thinking to the Girafarig. Her tale wagged excitedly as she nodded. "You sure, Ces?" The name easily slipped out of Rachel's lips - perhaps it was because she missed her Masquerade mistress after a few weeks of not seeing her. Rachel couldn't deny feeling lonely romantically, at times, but she genuinely did enjoy the other girl's company, feeling a swelling in her heart as she thought about it. This was just the way to help remind her of Cesario in another way. She decided just as she popped her empty Pokéball open and held it out to the Girafarig that naming her after her inspiration was only right. "Come along, Cesario!" Rachel called in a quiet tone of voice, doing her very best to not frighten the three Pokémon around her, Wendla crawling onto the top of Rachel's head as Tony clung to Rachel's legs from where he had teleported to the ground. A clicking sounded, followed by a few purple sparks appearing - That was much easier than she'd thought it would be.
The girl couldn't help but grin as she tucked the ball into her satchel, a curious-looking Tony and a nearly asleep Wendla now the only ones other than Rachel present in the area. After shifting a bit to get more comfortable and making sure that she'd secured her newly-filled Pokéball where she had placed it, Rachel set out to make her journey back to Violet City, noting that she should definitely visit a Pokécenter first to see her impish new Girafarig's health status and to mix hera few Poffins to suit her nature accordingly.
Notes: Rachel and Quinn decide to go on a little adventure outside of Ecruteak City and end up having a picnic. As they're eating, they hear a few alarming noises they spot a Mandibuzz attacking an orphaned and newly hatched Torchic.
Rachel: hopped down the cobbled pathway leading into Route 42 with a blinding smile on her face. "Quinn, hurry up!" The girl giggled as she skipped ahead of Quinn, spinning around as Galinda danced around next to her and various other members of her team stayed with Quinn's own group of Pokemon. Only Tugs was ahead of her, sprinkling water out to try and deflect the hot weather from the group and Alfred was flying as though he had been given liters and liters of sugar all at once. "Stop being such a Slowpoke!"
Quinn watched with amusement as Rachel skipped passed her, only rolling her eyes at the fact that she was being called a Slowpoke. Like there was anything slow about her? She scoffed silently, following on with Scout in her arms and Coro to the left of her. Quinn was almost 100% sure that her Scyther had no idea what was going on, and truth be told Quinn wasn't entirely sure herself. What she did know was that she'd agreed to go on a picnic with Rachel sometime in the last 24 hours and now she was left to trail behind Rachel as the two of them attempted to find the "perfect spot". She did her part to complain and moan where she could, but secretly she was enjoying this. Rachel looked so care free and Quinn was just happy to be away from her paperwork for once. "Where exactly are we going, anyway?"
Rachel threw her hands into the air and simply continued skipping, laughing as he did so. Sunshine always did have an effect on her that resembled that of one spurring on hyperactivity. She spun around as Tony teleported to her shoulder, his hands covering her eyes so that she would slow down, "Route 42, of course!" The girl chirped, her eyes draping downwards to rest on Quinn's newest Vulpix, "She's adorable," Rachel couldn't help but comment before slowing down a bit, adjusting her light pink and white cap, clad in a white tank top and her trademark red shorts, a huge grin forming on her face, "I've been cooped in Ecruteak for far too long, so we can just go wherever this little journey takes us!"
Quinn let out a small chuckle at the sight of Rachel's own Pokemon reeling from her actions. Poor little Tony. Flicking her eyes down at Scout, she couldn't help but smile and nod in agreement. It had been a week since she'd caught her Vulpix, but Scout was already settling down nicely. Like Oscar she seemed to have taken on the role of resident baby of the group, but somehow she'd also managed to have all of Quinn's Pokemon, wrapped around her little finger...or well...paw. Another similarity she shared with Rachel. Seeing the outskirts of the town ahead of her, she nodded again, not really caring where Rachel took her. Just like Rachel, Quinn had been cooped up in the old and rather stuffy city for too long. She needed to do something nice for a change. "Mmkay then. I leave myself in your hands. You're in charge of where we go today." She called out, knowing she'd probably regret her actions later but right now she couldn't bring herself to care
Rachel "Do you doubt my powers of navigating Johto, Ms. Fabray?" She waited for Quinn to catch up to her as Fred flew above the two of them, circling the girls. Rachel grinned as soon as she spotted Liza hovering aside Quinn, her starter already having taken a shine to the girl, "Do you think we should take a break? I'm getting a tad hungry and I did make you bacon," she sung the last part out, knowing that the girl would probably be lured in by the pork as Rachel had cooked it for this event in particular.
Quinn shrugged, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Not at all. Just impossibly curious." She answered, looking rather pleased with herself as she continued with her pace until she caught up with Rachel. Gizmo was not far behind her and Pyro had dashed off earlier but Quinn had faith that he'd be back later. Ever since he'd been released, he seemed to have taken to just exploring as much of the land as possible, hating the times when Quinn was made to put him back into his Pokeball. Smiling at Liza, Quinn made sure to eye Coro and shake her head each time the Scyther would flinch when one of Rachel's Pokemon got close to her. It was the con of having an overly protective Pokemon but Quinn wouldn't change her for the world. "You made me bacon?" She questioned, eyes full of hope and heart aching just a little bit that Rachel had actually gone through with her promise, despite her own dietary preferences.
Rachel let her gaze flit over to the other girl, "Impossibly curious, hmm? And how does one become impossibly curious?" The girl quipped playfully as her Staryu happily sprouted out water ahead of the two. She had allowed her Pokémon to run amok and be free, as this was one of their first breaks from working other than the nighttime; she had been training Alfred and Tugs as well as Tony and Galinda and Liza had been retrieving berries for Rachel to make some more poffins with. Rachel adjusted her backpack as she stopped, shielding her eyes from the sun as the two continued conversing, "I made you bacon." She repeated, a shy smile playing on her lips. Despite her crush on Brittany, the girl whom she was to go out with at some point, and her odd relationship with Sebastian, the girl couldn't help but feel a tug of some sort towards Quinn. She was of course not going to pursue anything romantic between the two of them, as the blonde girl had a boyfriend, but that did not mean that she didn't want to see Quinn as happy as she could possibly be. A grin was flashed towards the girl in front of her and spoke to her friend of a few weeks, "Should we go somewhere to sit, Bee?"
Quinn tilted her head to the side, playfully tugging her lower lip between her teeth, as she pretended to um and ah over the question. After a moment of silence she pursed her lips and shook her head. "A wild imagination, a thirst for knowledge and a certain degree of stubbornness. I don't know if you really qualify for the club." She quipped, turning on her heel and strolling off ahead of Rachel, a smile playing at her lips as she did her best to look serious. Gizmo bounded up to her, chuckling as well, and Quinn let out a giggle at how carefree this all felt. She was laughing and joking with someone that wasn't Sam. Someone that actually seemed to care about her thoughts and wanted to spend time with her, without having some ulterior romantic motive. It was nice to finally just have a friend. "I'd like that, Stack. I'm getting hungry and all this talk of bacon is making it worse. Not to mention Scout's tummy has been rumbling for the best part of the last half hour. I think she eats more than Pyro and that's saying something."
Rachel let an embarrassingly girly giggle out at Quinn's dramatized method of thinking her question through, momentarily distracted by Quinn biting her lower lip. That distraction proved to have Rachel a bit dazed, the girl snapping out of her reverie as the girl strode past her with a smile on her face. Rachel swallowed the lump in her throat as a breathless laugh escaped her lips, running a hand through her hair before she jogged forward, ignoring the fact that Liza very obviously rolled her eyes at Rachel, mentally telling her psychic-type Pokémon to hush. As she caught up with the blonde, she heard Liza giggling from behind her but started walking backwards in front of the blonde girl so that they could speak face-to-face, grinning over at Gizmo who was next to Quinn, "Aww, in that case, we really must get some food inside those two. more than Pyro? Someone's a little hungry, isn't she?" Rachel cooed to the little fire-type Pokémon, a huge grin spreading over her face as the cute Pokémon mewed up at her. She delightedly laughed over at her friend, "You have to promise to try my vegan sandwich, though. Any friend of Rachel Berry's must eat the food I cook," the girl stated, cocking her eyebrow upwards, "I admit that my fathers were a bit addicted to bacon. But they hardly ate any other meat so so long as you keep this between us, I must confess that bacon is the only meat that I can cook."
Quinn felt an odd sense of pride when Rachel didn't immediately start to follow her, probably too caught up in what Quinn had said. Liza giggling in the background made it clear that that was the case too. Sending a quick wink to Gizmo, Quinn looked up again to see herself face to face with Rachel. Oh what she wouldn't give for the girl to trip over now. "Just a little. And Pyro's a bottomless pit. I once watched him eat an entire turkey in 10 minutes. It wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the fact it wasn't mine and was being served in the hotel restaurant in Blackthorn. I was so embarrassed. He at least knows to wait for me to feed him now." Quinn watched Rachel fuss over her Vulpix, loving that Scout seemed to be able to charm just about everyone she met with those little innocent eyes of hers. Hopefully she wouldn't get too chummy with Rachel though, as then plots would happen and Quinn knew that could only end badly for her. "I promise." She said, placing her hand over her heart in a mock oath, but her words were sincere. "But only if I can cook for you next time. I've gotten pretty good at it and I make an amazing vegan red velvet cake, if I do say so myself." She was proud of her skills considering how four short years ago she couldn't do anything other than bake cookies. Fiore had been good for her though. She'd grown up a lot. "Your fathers sound like wise men that I could get along with very easily."
Rachel perked up and continued tracking in front of Quinn before her facial expression morphed into one akin to horrification, "He ate an... an entire turkey? In Blackthorn's hotel's restaurant?" Rachel couldn't prevent the laughter that bubbled out of her, not suppressed in the slightest bit whatsoever, "I have a feeling I'll like Pyro quite well," the girl's hair flooded past her shoulder as she blinked up at Quinn, fluttering her eyelashes just a bit at the contact that her eyes had with the sun as she started up at her from underneath those aforementioned eyelashes. She placed a hand over her own heart, "I can agree to that. Vegan red velvet cake? You already do know the way to my heart, Ms. Fabray." Rachel grinned and rolled her eyes, "Simply because they like bacon and convinced me to watch Star Wars? Arceus, I have a feeling that they'd take a shine to you, as well." Hands brushed against one another as Rachel slowed to a stop and stared at a part that was most likely buried deep inside Route 42 but looked more beautiful than any place she had seen yet in Johto, "Can we go there?" Rachel turned to Quinn, a hopeful smile playing on her face as she gazed up at the other girl.
Quinn nodded assuredly, a wide grin spreading across her face as the memory played over and over in her mind. "He did, and I had to pay for it and let me tell you, turkeys in this region are apparently rare because that was the most I've ever had to pay for food...ever. I'm not going to pretend like I didn't laugh though. Once I got him back to the room, I burst into laughter. I couldn't really blame either...it was only a little after..." She paused, not really sure she could go ahead and tell Rachel the story of what had happened with Pyro. The wound was still fresh and just his behaviour today was enough to show her that he wasn't over it either. He still couldn't handle confined spaces. It was almost bitterly funny that they both had that in common. "I'm told that by a lot of people. Wait till you actually try it." She countered, nudging Rachel with her shoulder gently. "Parents did always like me, so I never doubted that for a second." Rather than reply to Rachel's question, Quinn simply took her by the hand and led her towards the spot. It was perfect.
Rachel giggled at the other girl's story, her jaw dropping dramatically as she continued, "Well, I would assume that turkey was rather expensive, as it is so rare but I do hope that Pyro enjoyed his meal, at least." Rachel grinned before cocking her head to the side and smiling expectantly at the other girl, "What happened a little after?" She wondered before laughing at Quinn's confidence, laughing at the antics of her newest friends, "It would be very cruel of you to get me so excited for this vegan red velvet cake if it's not as good as you're making it out to be," she rocked on her heels, exchanging what would be considered to be a flirty glance with the girl once their shoulders brushed. "Oh? And you say you aren't egotistical!" Rachel chuckled and shook her head, letting Quinn pull them along to the spot that they had moved to. She promptly dropped her bag to the ground, not letting go of Quinn's hand until the very last moment. She unzipped it before pulling a little picnic basket out of it along with a rolled up blanket. She laid the checkered blanket out on the ground in front of them as their Pokémon gathered behind them expectantly, sitting down as soon as she'd started unpacking the food.
Quinn frowned and shook her head quickly, not wanting to ruin their day with talk of what had happened with Pyro. "Doesn't matter." She muttered, quickly side stepping the story and instead continuing their conversation about food. "I wouldn't be so confident if it wasn't good. One of the people we lived with in Fiore was a vegan and she taught me how to cook. Dairy is hard to come by sometimes, so it was a useful thing to learn. And looks like I'll get lots of opportunities to use my skills, now that we're friends." She said, ducking her head, almost shyly. "It's not egotistical if its true. Sam's parents love me...Santana's did too." Quinn stated, remembering all the time she'd spent at the Lopez's house. Maribel still even rang her from time to time. They walked for a little while, before Rachel finally seemed to be satisfied with a spot and Quinn reluctantly let go of Rachel's hand and started to help her set up. Once everything was out, she started to release the rest of the Pokemon and let out a loud whistle that she hoped Pyro would hear, to signal that it was time for him to come back so they could start eating. "I still can't believe you actually cooked my bacon. You are one of a kind, Rachel Berry." She laughed, shaking her head as she started on feeding her Pokemon first.
Rachel felt both of her eyebrows shoot upwards at Quinn's dismissive response but let it be, instead smiling once more as her friend continued speaking. "She was? That is incredible, Quinn. While I am vegan, I do make the occasional exception for dairy products to maintain my health, if I have not mentioned it before but you're certainly right; it's very, very difficult to come across that food in particular." Rachel beamed at the other girl as she lowered her head, nudging Quinn with her own shoulder in retaliation to the nudge that Quinn had initiated just a few moments before, "I'm glad that you're well-liked among parents - although I couldn't imagine any parents disliking you - and am confident that if you are ever to meet Papa or if you come across Father again, they'll love you." She purposefully left Shelby out, as she assumed that as another Gym Leader's daughter, Quinn would be somewhat well-acquainted with the Gym Leader of Lavender Town. Rachel sighed contently as they settled down, grinning as Galinda hopped across Rachel's lap to give Quinn a huge kiss on the cheek before shyly giggling and skipping back to hang off of Rachel. "I suppose it was worth it," Rachel peeked back up at the blonde girl with a light laugh, "One of a kind? You flatter me, Ms. Fabray." The brunette held out a few pieces of bacon, a laugh escaping her lips as soon as Alfred scooped it all up in his beak and curled up in between the two girls, Liza nibbling on some of her own pieces as the Pokémon lay down next to Tugs and observed the clouds while the group of Tony and Galinda cuddled up to Rachel, each waiting for her to feed them.
Quinn just nodded shyly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Parents always did seem to like her. Even as Lucy, the sweet and naive little girl, she'd been adored by Maribel. It was just everyone else that couldn't care less. As Quinn, things were different. She had a way of getting along with everyone. She wondered if that was down to her or whether Judy and Frannie teaching her to just smile and look pretty had finally rubbed off on her. She wasn't really left to dwell on her thoughts as before she knew it, a Smoochum was kissing her cheek and Quinn could only let out a laugh as Rachel's adorable Pokemon skipped back to her equally adorable trainer. "And how was it worth it?" Quinn teased, already knowing the answer but never passing up an opportunity to tease the little brunette. "You know it's true." She quipped, laying down on her side so she could hand feed Oscar. The rest of her Pokemon were far more self sufficient but Oscar wouldn't eat anything unless it came out of her hand. Pyro appeared a few minutes later and snuggled into her, as he ate the food she'd prepared for him. It was no turkey, but he wolfed it down all the same. "Slow down, or you'll end up choking." She scolded, rubbing his head in an attempt to assure him that his food wouldn't get stolen by anyone if he ate at a normal pace.
Rachel stroked Galinda's hair as the tiny Pokémon continued scarfing up the bacon that Rachel presented her with. After her Abra stopped eating, Rachel glanced over at him, grinning as soon as she'd realized that he had dozed off to sleep. The brunette gingerly took a bit off her own cheese, tomato and tofu sandwich and placed it into her mouth, chewing as Quinn spoke. Eventually she spoke once more, "Perhaps because both you and your Pokémon look extremely content with your bacon. I can assuredly state that mine are very happy to be consuming human food," She playfully rubbed Alfred's head with her hand when the Pokémon came back for more helpings. Rachel watched on with a fond grin as Quinn fed Oscar, "Shh, I will neither confirm nor will I deny that fact." Rachel couldn't help but scoff a bit as Oscar swiftly swallowed the food that the ranger presented him with.
Quinn rolled onto her stomach once she was finished feeding Oscar and watched as he went off to play with Gizmo and Dylan. "Don't you dare let him fall in the lake again." She yelled at the two of them, only rolling her eyes when their only response was for Dylan to shoot a jet of water at her that Coro blocked with one of her scythes. "See what I have to put up with?" She pouted at her two Pokemon. All Gizmo did was pout back, before lifting Oscar up gently with his vines and carry him around the lake, as Dylan splashed around some more. Coro nuzzled her hand, and Quinn smiled up at her gratefully. "You on the other hand, make my job so much easier. More bacon for you I think." She said, holding up some strips of bacon for Coro to eat. As they lay their and relaxed, Quinn could swear she could hear whimpering that wasn't coming from any of their Pokemon. She rolled over to look at Rachel, eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Rach...do you hear that?"
Rachel watched on in amusement as Quinn's excited Pokémon begun chasing each other, Fred moving in to join them along with Galinda, who scuffled over there at a slightly slower pace. "Mm, I do - And half off my little buggers are just sleeping," Rachel poked her sleeping Staryu with a grin before gesturing to the lake. Upon spotting water, the star-shaped Pokémon dashed into the water, a pleased noise escaping her lips as she splashed around. Now, only a sleeping Abra and a relaxed Gardevoir were resting near Rachel, Coro just a little distance away from her near Quinn. Rachel sat up, brows furrowed as she concentrated. Aside from Tugs and Fred, for seven years Rachel had trained exclusively psychic-type Pokémon and due to her mother also specializing in psychic-types, she had picked up a few things from Liza and Tony in particular. Both mons could detect any danger nearby and what caught Rachel's attention was the hostile growl that left Tony as Quinn asked Rachel that question, a few moments prior to Rachel's silence . She felt distressed and for that reason, promptly stood up. Her sleeping Abra was startled awake and teleported onto Rachel's shoulder immediately, Liza materializing in front of her in a protective stance. Her Smoochum, Pidgey and Staryu continued playing, completely unaware of the sad sounds that were coming out of the bushes nearby. "I do..." She trailed off, focusing more to try and make out what was happening before her eyes snapped open with alarm, "We have to go - I- danger- Pokémon- Come!" Rachel unintelligibly called out, grabbing the other girl's hand and running over into the bushes. The sight that she was faced with was one that she had not expected to come across when she and Quinn had set out to go on a walk.
Quinn was up on her feet before Rachel had even started speaking, Coro staying close to her when it was clear that something bad was going on. She looked over to Gizmo and shook her head when the Bulbasaur seemed to be coming over. "Stay there, we'll be fine. Just look after Oscar and Dylan." Oscar was still a mess when it came to battles and if this was anything bad she didn't want him caught up in it. Dylan also had the disadvantage of not being able to move around that quickly when on land. Between Coro, Pyro and Scout she was confident they'd be okay. Scout jumped up into her arms, a move they'd practiced a number of times in the last few days and Pyro edged out ahead to sniff out the danger. Quinn was already moving towards Rachel and before she knew it, the other girl had grabbed her hand and they were running towards the sound. As they got closer to the bushes, the whimpering got louder and was accompanied by a squawking and the occasional sound of snapping. None of them being particularly good sounds. Finally seeing the source, Quinn let out a little gasp at the sight of what was clearly a newly hatched Torchic, egg shell all over the ground around it, and a Mandibuzz approaching it menacingly. Pyro immediately darted out in front of the Torchic, growling and snapping at it to get away. " Go and pick on someone your own size." Quinn shouted, trying to scare it away rather than entering a battle. This was the way of things in the wild, but that still didn't mean she wasn't going to interfere and save the baby Torchic.
Rachel drew in a sharp breath as soon as she spotted what had been the reason for the odd sounds. She heard Quinn yelling at the Mandibuzz as the newborn Torchic continued being harassed by it. Instinctively, Rachel dashed over to the small fire-type Pokémon, crouching at its side with a worried look on her face, cooing to the little Pokémon as Liza rushed to Quinn's Quilava's side to block the Torchic from the Mandibuzz's view. Rachel nodded at Tony, the action followed by the Abra teleporting elsewhere to try and retrieve Rachel's first aid kit from the hotel at Ecruteak just in case. She glanced up at Quinn, her own eyes wide and frightened as she silently asked the girl to come to her to help calm down the baby Torchic.
Quinn didn't hesitate for a moment, when Rachel looked up at her wide eyed and scared by the scene in front of them. She rushed forwards, slipping her hand into Rachel's to try and comfort her friend. Glancing towards Coro, Quinn nodded her head towards the Mandibuzz, making it clear she wanted it gone. Coro moved forwards silently, sliding in between Liza and Pyro, and the Mandibuzz and used double team, resulting in 6 copies of her appearing around them. The Mandibuzz clearly spooked by the move and rethinking its idea of a lunctime snack, stepped back a couple of paces, turned around and flew off. Seeing that the Torchic was safe, Quinn relaxed a little and turned her attention to the little thing, picking the Pokemon up gently to see if she was injured. "I think she's got a broken wing, but I'm not exactly a medic so it could be more. We need to take her to a Pokemon Centre."
Rachel squeezed Quinn's hand, her heartbeat rapid with fright for the small Pokémon. The girl didn't look up as Coro chased the menacing Mandibuzz away, instead whispering terms of endearment and motivational words to the baby Torchic, gazing at her worriedly. As Quinn spoke, Rachel turned her head to the side to face her and nodded while chewing at her lower lip, "A b-broken wing? Yeah, we need to take her to a Pokémon Center." She responded shakily, her sad stare resting on the hurt little Torchic, "How should we take her?" She asked, right as Tony popped back over to them, holding out a first aid kit to the girls as though it were timed.
Quinn returned the gesture, not failing to notice how shaken up Rachel looked. It was strange how this all reminded her of how she'd first met Gizmo. "We could uhm...we could carry her back? Or..." Quinn glanced at the Torchic, clearly in a lot of pain as it whimpered and squirmed around in her hands. She'd carried Gizmo back but at the time he was barely alive and Quinn didn't have any spare pokeballs on her. She knew that between the two of them they had plenty. "Or you could catch her...which might be the best because it would stop her from hurting herself more." She whispered, scared that any loud sounds would spook both the Torchic and Rachel.
Rachel stroked the little tufts of orange feathers scattered along the battered Torchic's body, swiveling her gaze to meet Quinn's at the suggestion. Leaving the Torchic now would be out of question. Her eyes widened as she reached down to fumble through the satchel that she carried everywhere, pulling out a Pokéball as gingerly as possible while she was shaking. The brunette gulped and made eye contact with Quinn, nodding as she whispered, "It'll be alright, honey," to the small Pokémon as she shakily opened the Pokéball. A flash of light blinded her momentarily as a clicking sound made its way out of the Pokéball, signalling that she had successfully caught the Torchic. A silent sob escaped her lips as she pulled the girl to her and buried her nose into Quinn's neck, hugging her tightly. What the Pokémon was and must have been feeling caused Rachel to feel absolutely overwhelmed with a tornado of feelings which led to the embrace that Rachel initiated while gently clutching the Pokéball to her chest.
Quinn nodded slowly in as Rachel looked her way, almost as if the other girl was looking for reassurance that she was doing the right thing, which she was. Even if the Torchic wasn't injured, it was still too small to survive on her own, and there didn't seem to be any other's around to care for her. Rachel was her best bet. Quinn knew that between the two of them, that Torchic would be loved and taken care of. Watching Rachel catch her, made her smile sadly, glad that they were doing what was best, but also sad that it had come to this in the first place. She hated seeing Pokemon when they were injured. Feeling Rachel pull her in for a hug, Quinn wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Rubbing her back softly, Quinn's grip tightened and she soon found herself whispering comforting words to the brunette in her arms. "It's okay. It'll all be fine now. I promise."
Rachel drew in a ragged breath, repeating to herself in her mind that she was just being melodramatic. That didn't calm her down at all. She melted into the embrace as Quinn pressed a kiss to her head, the comforting smell of the other girl soothing Rachel immensely, leaning into the hug. "Thank you, Bee," she murmured, allowing the blonde girl to keep her in her arms for a few moments longer, simply letting herself float into the clouds with her friend holding her in such a consolatory manner. She eventually stood up, bringing Quinn up with her. Rachel drew the girl into a hug once more as soon as they were standing before parting from her, taking her hand as she glanced back at their two teams of Pokémon, who had stopped goofing about at some point and were watching them with solemn expressions. The girl tightened her grip on Quinn's hand, leaning over to peck her on the cheek in gratitude as she moved to pull Quinn with her. As the twp girls headed back to town with their hands linked, Rachel realized that they were only going to change one another for the better. And the baby Torchic? She was going to be just fine.
