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It was an early morning in the extended stay inn at the outskirts of Erie Pennsylvania. The sun had not yet risen, but the room’s occupant had. Gwendolyn Hawthorne was shadow boxing in the corner of the cramped room, bouncing back and forth on her toes. Just a light workout to get her blood pumping before she started her day. After a few minutes fighting enemies that weren’t there, Gwen removed her weighted gloves and moved on to a set of push-ups, squats, and upside down crunches hanging from a pull-up bar she had wedged in the bathroom doorway. 250 jumping jacks later, she stripped out of her workout clothes and plunger herself into the cramped hotel bathroom tub that she had filled with ice water. The cold nearly sent her into shock, but she stifled a shiver as she felt her blood vessels contract and her heart rate slow down. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was familiar, which was comfortable. Gwen sat in the water perfectly still, meditating for the day ahead of her. Her meditation only lasted ten minutes, before the alarm on her phone went off, signaling to her that she had spent long enough freezing her ass off. Tying up her hair in a bun so that she wouldn't have to worry about it drying, Gwen quickly toweled herself down, slipping into a comfortable but form-fitting t-shirt, cargo pants, and tightly-laced outdoor boots. Slipping on a cheap hoodie, she grabbed her duffle bag and was out the door. |→ - ←—→ - ←—→ - ←| The car Gwen had parked was an old beat-up Subaru Outback, model year 1997. Or was it ‘95? The important part was that this tin can was a survivor, and as the Ontario license plate showed, it had lasted Gwen for quite a distance. Gwen tossed her bag into the fashionably spacious trunk, and after only a few tries, she managed to get the engine started. She adjusted the overhead mirror to look herself in the eye, admittedly a bit dramatically. “You got this. Regular Tuesday morning for a high-caliber sorcerer like yourself.” |→ - ←—→ - ←—→ - ←| Some distance outside of Erie, a lone girl walked down a Pennsylvania backroad. She’d done a lot of that since taking off on her own quest, the more she thought about it. Walking. Down backroads, across sprawling urban landscapes, into the middle of the woods, through mud and snow - sometimes both at the same time - in sun, wind, rain, or otherwise. If there was one constant, it was walking. Which was fine by her. It was good for her, and this kind of walking - down the highway with no distractions of civilization, yet a literal paved path to her objective - was her favorite. Still, the trek up here had been nothing if not long and arduous, and Kiara was at this specific time getting a bit tired of walking. It wasn’t long before the beat-up station wagon pulled up beside the girl. Leaning over, Gwen laboriously cranked down the passenger window, poking her head out, “Need a lift into town? I’ve got somewhere to be but I could spare a bit of time.” “If you’re offering.” Kiara opened the back door of the beat-up station wagon for just a moment to toss the large backpack slung over her back into the car, before getting in at the front and situating herself in the passenger seat. Gesturing down the road, she simply left it at “Thanks for the lift. I've got something to do out of town, so I'll just tell you where to drop me off.” “Looks like we're headed the same direction. Just let me know when to pull over.” After a few tries, Gwen managed to get the engine going again, and after peeling out a bit in the roadside gravel, the two were off. “So where ya goin’? Visiting friends?” “Job interview. Got a bit of an NDA though, so I can't say more than that.” “Mysterious! Funny thing though, I've got an interview later as well. Nothing interesting though, 007.” “Well, fancy that. Here's hoping we're both employed by tonight.” Gwen scoffed, driving with a knee for a second as she brushed a few stray bangs away from her eyes, “What's the matter? Not a fan of bumming rides off of interesting strangers?” “I just need the money.” Kiara cast a quick glance into the rearview mirror, and at the road ahead. “Didn't think they had this much nothing up north, to be honest.” “Trust me, the further north you go the more nothing you find.” The car slowed down, as Gwen read a road sign. She sped back up, clearly not having found what she was hoping for. “You know, they say hitchhiking is pretty dangerous. I could be one of those murderer cannibals you see on YouTube.” “They say picking up hitchhikers is also pretty dangerous. For all you know, I'm an escaped convict with a rap sheet a mile long.” “That's more what I’m expecting from the rest of my day.” Gwen pulled over indicating with her hand toward an off-road, “that’s my turn, hopefully you can find another person so cheerful for your next stretch. Good luck on that interview.” Kiara stared down the off-road. No doubt about it, that was the right way. “...that’s my turn, too.” Her gaze then moved over to the driver who so generously picked her up off the road. “One of us may have some explaining to do.” “No foolin’?” With a little smirk, Gwen pulled back onto the road, immediately taking the turn, “So are you a strong one, or a weak one?” Reciprocating the smirk, Kiara leaned back some in her seat. “I was taught not to brag about that sort of thing, but strong, definitely. You?” “Oh no no, I’m super weak. Lucky to have lived this long, really.” “Hopefully they don't throw you out on your ass, then.” “Wouldn’t be too bad, with this beauty,” Gwen gave her dashboard a few slaps, “she's pretty cozy, all things considered…” The two girls went for the remaining 20 or so minutes of the drive without exchanging words, but Gwen stole every glance she could at her passenger, trying her best to gauge what the girl might be really capable of. A strong one, huh? When Gwen arrived at their destination, she pulled up in front of the entrance, like a parent on the first day of school. “Shit, I never got your name, 007.” As Kiara got out of her seat, and grabbed her bag out of the back of the car, she responded, “Kiara. And I never got yours, either.” “Gwen. Good luck Kiara, not that it seems you need it.” “Same to you.” With a sigh, Gwen drove away from the supposedly strong hitchhiker, finding a parking spot well out of the way so her prized auto wouldn’t get scratched by anyone trying to park too close. Grabbing the duffle bag from the trunk, she slung it over her back and jogged up to the building. Bursting through the doors with a fierce grin, she spoke loudly enough to deliberately draw attention to herself, “So, do we just line up at one of those Test Your Strength carnival games to see who’s special grade and who’s getting neuralyzed, or what?”

With Cherry taking yet another victory against a wild pokemon, the smile remained on Jacklyn's face as she cheered, "way to go Cherry! I doubt there's any wild pokemon that could match up to you now." The Buneary hopped up in joy at the praise. "Oh my god, it's so cute." Jacklyn and Cherry turned their attention to the source of the voice; a trendy looking girl in a skirt with a lollipop in her mouth who seemed to be smiling at the Buneary. She marched on forward, paying no heed to Jacklyn as she crouched down and grabbed the, now confused, buneary's ears. "And they're so fluffy too, and like seriously where do you get one in this color?" The girl continued to fluff the confused Buneary's ears as she marveled over the pokemon. The Buneary remained confused at this invasion of its personal space, though didn't really do much against it, as Jacklyn smiled proudly. "That's right! I'm glad you understand how great my team member is, isn't that right Cherry? After all when it comes to being cute there's no one better on my team then her." Cherry, still unsure of what was going on, knew it was being praised and thus smiled and cried out excitedly. "For real, for real. But you know there's no one more 'dorbs out there then my Minchi." A crack could be heard as the girl chomped down on her candy, looking up at Jacklyn. "What'd you say?" The girl looked down, locking eyes with the Lass as it was clear what was about to happen. Standing up, the Lass walked back before reaching into her backpack and pulling out a premier ball. With a flick of her wrist the ball went to the ground, opening and releasing the Mincino that was inside of it. Jacklyn, furrowing her brow, said, "I see. So that's "Minchi." Hmmm...not bad." "Right? Like I knew you'd get it." "But don't think that means you've won just yet. Go on Cherry, show her just how cute you are!" "Bu!" "Bet." Lass Sadie challenged Jacklyn to a battle. The two pokemon battled each other, though the both of them only knew one attacking move and it was the same move. As such their strategies were entirely one dimensional, in the repeated use of pound, dodge, pound, get hit, pound again. The two pokemon also had a bit of confusion as the two trainers kept shouting about being cute while doing their attacks, or even to "cutely" take the hit and shrug it off. To make matters even more confusing to a bystander, "alright Cherry go for it! Show off what you got!" "Minchi, dazzle them with your cuteness!" The Buneary then began bouncing around, as if splashing, to no effect. The Mincino, meanwhile, clapped along, offering a Helping Hand to Cherry's display. The two trainers nodded before the battle resumed in earnest. Though the two were evenly matched, in the end it was Cherry who had come out on top by a hair. The Lass called back her pokemon, looking disappointed saying, "losing isn't very cute at all. But your Cherry's pretty cute too, so," the girl tossed Jacklyn a lollipop as part of her winnings, before giving a wave saying, "laters." Popping the piece of candy in her mouth Jacklyn said, "that's what I thought." Then proudly looking to her Buneary she shouted, "way to go Cherry! I knew you could do it." The Buneary gave a thumbs(?) up to the girl, though looked wobbly on her feet. "Alright you can take a rest for now." The girl returned her pokemon before looking around saying, "now where did everyone else get off to?" As Jacklyn wandered off back onto the beaten path, starting to go up the road again she saw someone coming the opposite side. Jacklyn attempted to lock eyes with the man, but it proved impossible as she couldn't clearly see his eyes under the mask he was wearing. As he passed by the girl just called out, "cool mask," before making her way up to regroup with Anima.

A long road, a bunch of trees, and one girl walking down the road. The black hoodie and tracksuit pants were functional yet cozy, and the large backpack slung over her shoulder carried everything she had to her name, save for her phone, her wallet, and the latter's own contents. That wasn't to say she was destitute or anything, just that Kiara was the type to travel light and live an extremely minimalistic lifestyle. Maybe one day she'd settle down in one place and let herself buy extra bells and whistles, but she had more important things on the mind at present. Today most of all. She'd woken up at the crack of dawn in a cheap motel room at the edge of Erie, grabbed her bag, went to the nearest restaurant to get some food for the road, then started walking. After all, she didn't want to be late for tryouts at some fancy government job did she? The potential value of working for the JJA aside, Kiara just valued punctuality. If she could make it early to something, she preferred to do so, which was easier said than done when your only mode of transportation was your own two feet. She took a sense of pride in that, though. Not because it somehow made her better than people who made it early on a bike or a car, but because the amount of people who'd been all the places she'd been, and got there mostly by foot, must have been incredibly small. It was also good casual exercise. That said, she'd been going for some time, with very little in the way of actual breaks. She'd been in Tennessee when Kiara got the call about potentially working for the JJA, and while Memphis to Erie was very doable within a couple days by car, going on foot meant she basically had to get going as soon as the call ended, even employing her cursed technique to speed things along when possible, and hitchhiking every so often. Which brought her back to today's scene, as she absentmindedly grabbed a strip of bacon from inside the to-go box and idly munched on it, taking in the scenery around her. Some distance outside of Erie, a lone girl walked down a Pennsylvania backroad. She’d done a lot of that since taking off on her own quest, the more she thought about it. Walking. Down backroads, across sprawling urban landscapes, into the middle of the woods, through mud and snow - sometimes both at the same time - in sun, wind, rain, or otherwise. If there was one constant, it was walking. Which was fine by her. It was good for her, and this kind of walking - down the highway with no distractions of civilization, yet a literal paved path to her objective - was her favorite. Still, the trek up here had been nothing if not long and arduous, and Kiara was at this specific time getting a bit tired of walking. Eventually, a beat-up station wagon pulled up beside the girl. Leaning over, the driver laboriously cranked down the passenger window, poking her head out, “Need a lift into town? I’ve got somewhere to be but I could spare a bit of time.” “Gwen. Good luck Kiara, not that it seems you need it.” “Same to you.” While Gwen drove off, presumably to find some parking, Kiara eyed up the building before her. Pretty fancy-looking for something out in the middle of the woods, to be sure. Not one to stand around considering what the inside might be like instead of just going in and finding out, Kiara went inside. It was very much in line with what she expected. Following the sign into the next room, Kiara took a seat at the back row and occupied one of the seats next to her with her bag, simply so she didn't have to walk as far before sitting and finally giving her legs a well-earned rest after the trek across nearly half the damn country. Some other sorcerers were already assembled here, though she did have to wonder just how many people the JJA could have possibly hired in one go. They clearly cast their net wide and didn't leave much in the way of unturned stones, if she of all people was attending this meetup. She had to admit, this place wasn't half-bad. After a bit, Gwen from earlier even made a rather loud entrance. “So, do we just line up at one of those Test Your Strength carnival games to see who’s special grade and who’s getting neuralyzed, or what?” "If a good punch is all it takes, I must be the strongest sorcerer in the room," Kiara laughed. "Long as they don't say some crap like "tell us your name and a fun fact about yourself," I'll play along."