With lips quivering (O)

Honestly if he didn't already have some plans on making it back to their base, he would have simply enjoyed this. It was in the middle of some backwater town with a beautiful day to boot. His head fell back against the trunk of the tree. He contemplated taking off his helmet - there was no one around so they wouldn't be able to see his face and keep the connection if they ever saw him on the news and it was a humid region. The rest of his felt fine with how the fitted clothing worked at keeping his body regulated, but then he heard something off into the distance.

"Hmmm?" He asked to no one in particular and while it had dashed his hopes of relieving himself of the helmet he was able to take note of a couple things. There was another trainer around - he wasn't sure if they were friend or foe, but with no visible signs of his affiliation with Magma nor the rank to boast a reputation he was sure they wouldn't know who he was. He lifted his head against as their voice, and the sound of a pokemon started to get louder. They weren't simply around - they were seeking him out. He readied his houndours pokeball - he didn't need any unwanted attention so returning Zetsumei back to his ball would make escape that much easier.

Though it seemed "Yo" That wouldn't be necessary. The woman rounded the corner and Jeremy took her in. A small girl in size; She couldn't be any older than twenty. Black hair with red highlights. At least she had a good sense of color coordination. It had only been a few moments but Jeremy release his hold on the pokeball, raising his hand that held it to the air while responding. "Yo..." Was that formal enough? She had greeted him the same way, so he only assumed it would work - At least for now.Though honestly, where to go from there?

He let out a soft, almost inaudible chuckle before lowering his hand back down to the Houndour who had been mostly unfazed by the entire ordeal. Houndour didn't mind what Jeremy did, he was well taken care of and he was able to battle whenever he wanted but his attention was piqued when he caught a whiff of the Poochyena just a few paces away. "Names...Red" Of course he would go by his Alias, Original? No really, but it did get the job done. "You seem familiar with the area...You're a trainer then?" Normal stuff, right? Anything to keep the attention away from what he could have been doing.

446 ● andrea warren ● Notes

The girl seemed kind enough but Jeremy knew better than to simply take things as they seemed. He nodded slightly, his head turning toward the small dark type in front of him. Houndour looked at it, and then back up to his trainer before Jeremy lifted his arm. There wouldn't be any harm in letting hi play - he wasn't doing anything and this girl was clearly no Aqua member so he had no grudge against her. With that Houndour jumped from his trainers lap, circling the Poocheyena and sniffing before letting his own bark out. He knew the girl couldn't tell, but he narrowed his eyes at the pokemon laughing to himself.

"Hmm...?" He asked instinctively before listening to the rest of her question. The question actually made the man laugh, quite loudly in fact. "A hero?" He repeated. "No, I don't think that's the word you would use. Though, I suppose we're all heroes and villains to different people with similar or different ideals." His head cocked to the side, his lips also curling into a grin - though like the norm when it came to the man this wasn't to be seen. "What do you think?" He asked, almost rhetorically but if the woman wanted to answer she was more than welcome.

With the remnants of her last question fading with his soft chuckles his attention was brought back to his Houndour once again. "Yeah, he's a good boy. I honestly didn't expect to receive him but I suppose some things are just meant to be." Was that Vague enough without potentially stirring up more question? Was it odd that he didn't say his name - the one Jeremy uses for him? He didn't think so, The collective noise from the two canine pokemon and the pokedex in the girls hand cemented to the Magma member that she was indeed no criminal. "Yeah, they seem to like one another. He's always been more friendly than I."

Was that all? He figured and as much as he liked speaking with people, he wasn't one to stick around too long but he had to be careful about this. He couldn't simply leave without so much as saying goodbye nor did he really want to. He paused, mentally bringing a finger to his lips as he thought. Taking in a deep breath the man stood. His pokemon notice it and ran to his side that was closest still to the little poocheyena. "We were in the middle of traveling - you know, journey and all that. You're more than welcome to join us until the next town if you want." Simple, and hopefully enough to stave off any suspicion.

449 ● andrea warren ● Notes

He paused for a moment with his head turned toward the girl. Have you ever felt silence? Have you ever felt the sensation that something - nothing you could touch or truly explain - was wrong? It was a fleeting moment, something that an amateur would act upon. Questions flying, covers blown. Red let the moment pass if it had even been there from the start and instead chuckled and nodded. "Very true. It's all a formality. I'm sure we'll meet again when I'm not wearing it." Was that too much? He didn't think so - he was trying to plant the seed of trust, even if it was a little bit. He needed her to know that he did take it off, that there was a person under there. Would they ever meet on that other side? He didn't know but he was sure that this small little bit would help.

As they both readied to make their move, she mentioned about getting some training done for what he assumed would be her first contest. A coordinator didn't necessarily battle, but instead did spectacular shows for an audience. "Fair enough. I should also do some training, the little one here and I haven't been doing enough training ourselves." That wasn't entirely true, but just like before - he needed to sew some seeds of trust. The girl whistled and then promptly explained that they would be traveling together - perhaps the feeling he had earlier was for not. He nodded and turned to face the way forward. "You heard the woman, Bud." Zetsumei wagged his little stubby tail as best as he could before he started walking forward.

Following suit with the rest of the group, the girl posed a question. Was he a trainer? Well, he trained pokemon so the literal answer was yes; he knew though that that wasn't what she was asking. She was more curious about what he did for a living. Did he battle gyms, was he your typical run of the mill trainer that simply wanted to play with his pokemon until they all kicked the bucket. Of course not, he was part of Magma - What did that even mean? He didn't boast his affiliation with the group. "Yeah, I'm a trainer." It wasn't a lie. "I'll be taking the gym challenges when I get some more pokemon with me, and when we get some training done." Also not a lie. The best way to test your strength was to battle, and he needed strength if he was going to rip Aqua apart from the inside out.

His teeth were bare and his eyebrows narrowed below the mask. Just the thought of them angered him, but he kept his composure as best he could. "Hmmmm...." Zetsumei turned to look at his trainer, and then back to the Poocheyena. "What about you, why a coordinator and not just a trainer?" He asked, though one would assume they liked the attention. That may not have been the same deal as with the woman before him but he was sure most coordinators were as fickle as that.

522 ● andrea warren ● Notes

The two of them seemed to be having a fine enough conversation; the girl was determined, something that Jeremy had in common with her but perhaps that's where it all ended and the differences started to really shine. She started talking about Magma, and Aqua - the two criminal groups of Hoenn that have been waging war on one another for what could be described as forever. Jeremy was once ore lucky that he had kept his helmet on - he was baring his teeth at the mention of Aqua. He hated them  and not like you're average grunt just trying to move up within the group but legitimately hated them. Their entire existence bothered the magma member. "Yeah, I have known Aqua to be quite the nuisance...." You could hear the venom in his voice when speaking of the opposite group.

He rotated his head around trying to loosen up the muscles, relax the nerves before he ended up spilling everything about him before the girl. It was at this point though that Jeremy was curious, perhaps more than he should have been about how the girl planned on dealing with them. She obviously had some ill-will toward both groups, and she seemed determined to do something about it. his eyes shifted with his head ever so slightly to take in the girls frame. "How do you think they'll be dealt with?" A simple enough question, Though he did take note how long he had been staring, his head drifted down to the two pokemon. Zetsumei had been, for the most part, ignoring the conversation at hand, mostly focused on walking with the Poocheyena.

Perhaps letting the silence sit on such a sour topic wasn't for the the best. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly, he regained most of his composure. "Let's not worry about their dealings." He said simply. He wasn't make so much a suggestions as much as he was making a demand. "Nothing can be done right now, but one day, perhaps..." Of course this was all part of the act and he was talking about Aqua. "Regardless...I can appreciate your determination - it's rare to see among some trainers. They want it all, without any of the work to go with it."

379 ● andrea warren ● Notes

Jeremy just listened. His head facing forward, taking in everything the woman was saying. It was strange - the two of them had just met, and he felt like he was learning everything about her. She definitely seemed eager to share and that was both good and bad. His head turned toward her once more when she once again mentioned taking out both Magma and Aqua. "Dealing with criminal organizations isn't really a joking matter though..." He said bluntly, his eyes veering down toward the two pokemon. "Regardless of how strong you might be, sheer numbers beat out skill." Jeremy wasn't afraid of telling the truth if it meant turning the conversation to his favor. "Patience is a virtue they say."

He was sure that isn't what she wanted to hear. She was very high strung, or at least very quick to anger - that's how it seemed anyway. "It's how big criminal organizations work though...You instill fear in the many, and while you may not affect one or two trainers with noble attitudes, as long as you keep the many down you will have an easier time." Simply put, you can't rush in blindly. He didn't feel like he was betraying Magma by saying this not that he held an unyielding loyalty to the group to begin with. They were, by necessity, the only thing capable or willing to take out Aqua.

"You're right though, it's best to change subjects." Agreeing with the woman, he chuckled softly. "You could say that - for me anyway." Zetsumei paused, and barked at his trainer before trotting quickly to catch up. "He's still new to this world. I haven't had the time to train him, but that should be coming up shortly. We both agreed to get to the next town - get a feel for the area before training started." His head turned toward Andrea once more, the video feed from inside the helmet flickering ever so slightly. He grunted, taking note to work on that later. "And yourself? Your little one there definitely seems confident of herself."

He asked with an almost rhetorical tone. Of course he could have been wrong, but both of them carried themselves a certain way and Jeremy could read that like a book. Zetsumei yipped to get his trainers attention and almost instinctively Red looked. "ah, I see the town in the distance. That was much closer than I thought it would of been..." He noted, though he wasn't worried about leaving just yet, regardless.

420 ● andrea warren ● Notes

The houndour appreciated the attention he was getting, reciprocating it all back to the Poocheyena before he heard the other woman talking. His eyes opened, and his eyes turned toward his own trainer - he was intensely curious as to what Jeremy would say to her proposition. Jeremy rubbed the mask where his chin would have been. His head shift to look at his houndour, and then back up to the girl. "Sure. They're both dark types so it should be fairly even." He said, spinning on the heel of his foot and walking away from the girl. Waving his hand, and motioning for the houndour to come with the small dog happily obliged.  The two of them really did fit hand in hand. The red and dark colors seemed to flow together effortlessly.

"Whenever you're ready Andrea..." He said as he started running through possible strategies. Which move to go with depending on the Sandiles ability. The sheer power behind fire fang was a good choice, and ground types didn't resist fire despite popular belief. Houndour though has always been more of a special attacking pokemon. He cleared his mind, deciding it would be best to just wait for the trainer to send out their pokemon. "You might have turned out to be pretty cool, but don't expect an easy time against us. Houndour might be new to battling, but he's got me with him." And there it was. It had taken much longer to come around but Jeremy was always full of himself.

Short ● andrea warren ● Bit shorter this time, sorry.