Taking This Next Step (Tag Aphrodite)

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It'd been a decent walk to here from Cherrygrove, most of it done during the night to avoid running the risk of coming across her parents and brother. They had to be looking for her, though she'd seen no posters asking after her- police should know, for sure, but she had no intention of letting herself go back to being what she had been while on the farm. She was more now, so much more, and she was free to continue being, and doing, what she wanted.

It was mid-afternoon, and while she wanted to run straight to the Gym to take the challenge, she made herself pause for a moment. Veering off the path, she settled on the grass and stretched out her legs before releasing each of her team to let them unwind in their own way. She set out bowls of food for those who might be hungry and water, and took out a snack for herself to nibble on.

The sun was hot overhead, and after a moment Vitra had to shift back into the shade of a tree, taking the bowls with her, and she watched as her pokemon played among themselves in the grass or lay close to her, basking in the warmth of the day; a flash of movement drew Vitra's gaze to another person and she instantly smiled and waved in greeting. "Hi!"
❤ Aphrodite ❤

[❤ Aphrodite ❤]

After undergoing a tedious amount of training in Azalea Town, Aphrodite had decided to travel back to Violet City to participate in a little bit of calmness and relaxation. To be honest, it just felt great not to have to fight against the raging dust storms taking place in Azalea Town right now. The golden sun shining over Violet City felt extremely warm against her fair skin, but at least she did not have to worry about an annoying dust storm damaging her designer clothes for once and that within itself was a major reward.

Aphrodite traveled along the path that would lead her towards the outskirts of Violet City. She had made a quick stop to the Pokemon Center to grab a few of her Pokemon that she had not have been able to spend too much time with due to training her main team for upcoming gym battle against the next gym leader. A cute, but timid Cutiefly fluttered around her, an adorable Skitty with a lovely silk scarf wrapped around her collar walked alongside her and a precious Flabebe sat peacefully onto of her soft, golden hair. "I do not mind a little tanning, but I am afraid that this sun is starting to become a little too much. We should probably find a little bit of shade to relax under for a little bit. What do you all think?" The golden-haired beauty asked, turning her attention towards her Pokemon. The three Pokemon sounded off in unison and nodded their heads in agreement. "Very well. Once we find the perfect shade then we will go ahead and set up for our picnic, too." She replied with soft smile curving against her lips.

While traveling further down the path, Aphrodite and her Pokemon would soon stumble up on another trainer and her Pokemon enjoying the beautiful day. A friendly smile touched the corners of Aphrodite's pink lips as she waved back at the younger girl. A cheerful mew soon escaped from Marie's mouth as the jolly Skitty rushed over into the direction of the other girl and her Pokemon. "Marie! Wait up!" She called out to the kitten Pokemon as she chased behind it. "Ah, hi! I'm sorry! I hope that my Skitty didn't disturb you or your Pokemon, too much. She often becomes quite hyper when it comes to meeting her new people and Pokemon." She giggled, blushing a bit as she pushed the picnic basket further up her arm a bit.

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Vitra hadn't expected the other Skitty to scamper forward, but she couldn't help grin as Kisu perked up and ran to meet her, pausing a step away and sniffing at her, tail flicking back and forth. "Skitty?" he mewed, ears tipping to the sides in curiosity. ("Who are you?")

The rest of Vitra's team glanced over too, but where Midori and Shiro held their place by Vitra's side, the other three moved to greet Aphrodite and her pokemon. "Don't worry about it! Your Skitty isn't bothering any of us. My name's Vitra- what's yours?" She smiled at the Flabebe and Cutiefly hovering close to their trainer and then gestured to the shade around them. "Unless you had somewhere else you were going to go, you can sit here? There's plenty of room!"

At the new trainer's feet, Kai sniffed, circling her, and Raju stared rather menacingly at the little Cutiefly hovering close at Aphrodite's side. Denki squeaked a greeting, but he seemed a bit more interested in the food set out for the team; he barely looked up as Vitra recalled the Taillow in an effort to prevent any fights breaking out. "Sorry about him- he's always been a bit aggressive. The rest of us won't bother you or your pokemon, I promise!"

[❤ Aphrodite ❤]

Marie stared back at the other Skitty, her cute and fluffy tail swaying back and forth a few times as she gave herself time to observe the other kitten Pokemon. A soft mewed escaped from her mouth as she moved a little closer towards the male Skitty, gently nuzzling her head against his head for a few seconds before allowing the rest of her body to rub up against his coat as a form of a friendly greeting. ("My name is Marie. What is your name?") She asked, slowly stepping away from the other feline. A soft, yet cunning smile tugging against her lips as she took a seat in front of him and waited for his reply back to her previous question.

A soft sigh of relief escaped from Aphrodite's lips, after hearing the younger female state that Marie did not bother her or her Pokemon. "That is a relief." She stated, giggling a bit. Her warm, amber eyes would slowly shift away from Vitra as she focused in on the other Pokemon surrounding her. "Aww, your Pokemon are the cutest!" She squealed with excitement. Meanwhile, Meli, the Cutiefly noticed the avian Pokemon focusing its attention on her and she began to shy away from it, moving slightly closer towards her trainer. Aphrodite turned her attention away from Vitra's Pokemon and turned them back towards her. "Nice to meet you Vitra. My name is Aphrodite." She introduced herself. "Oh, no! We're just enjoying the warm weather. I figured that I should take advantage of this beautiful day and have a picnic with my Pokemon. This spot has the perfect shade, so we would love to join you and your Pokemon. It just so happens that I packed some extra food, too! So, you're more than welcome to picnic with us." She stated with a warm and friendly smile.

"No worries. Meli is a little shy, so that probably doesn't help too much." She admitted, looking over at her small fairy friend. She would placed the picnic basket down onto the soft ground and extended her right index finger out towards Meli. The Cutiefly carefully fluttered over and landed onto her trainer's index finger. "But thanks for taking care of it before things started to get a little out of hand." She added in a sincere tone.

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Interested as Kisu was, he didn't jump instantly to make friends with the other Skitty. He didn't stop her from rubbing her head against his, but he didn't return the gesture. "Skitty," he meowed back, his reply simple as he sat, wrapping his tail around to the front, the tip waving lazily at his side. ("Kisu.") He glanced back over his shoulder at his trainer and her team, as well as the other Skitty's trainer and her team.

They seemed to be distracted, and Kisu decided to ignore them while the two humans and their teams interacted. He scooted closer to Marie, his tail sweeping out to gesture the open lawn around them. "Ty, skitty skii!" ("Come, explore with me!")

Vitra brightened at the offer to share the picnic. "Wow, thanks! I mean, if you're sure. I don't want to take anything- I was going to get something later, but if you're okay with sharing?" Maybe a meal before her battle would help? Her team were eating to bolster their strength, so she might as well do the same. "Don't mention it! He's new to the team and he's still getting used to things being different, you know? From being wild to being one of us."

Kai, more or less satisfied with her examination of Aphrodite, wandered back to her own food, grabbing a piece and nibbling on it while keeping half an eye on the Cutiefly and the Flabebe. More curious than she, Denki toddled over, climbing up on Aphrodite's knee and waving a paw at the two fairy-types with a squeak of greeting, and held up a bite of food from his bowl in offering.

"So, where do you come from, Aphrodite- if you don't mind me asking? I just got here from Cherrygrove, and I'm going to challenge Falkner. My first gym battle!"

[❤ Aphrodite ❤]

Marie was a little surprised that the other Skitty, did not bother to return any display of affection towards her. Perhaps, the male kitten is a bit more timid. Either way, Marie felt a little bit more at ease when Kisu offered her a chance to go exploring with him. ("Oh, exploring? I do love a good adventure!") She replied, her voice ringing with excited as she followed after Kisu. Hopefully, the two of them would not get into too much trouble.

"I am positive! We would love to have you and your Pokemon join us." She assured Vitra and her Pokemon. She carefully took a seat beside Vitra then started to unpack the snacks from her picnic basket. She took out a few delicious handmade sandwiches that she had cut into halves and placed them inside of individual bags. She also took out a few individual bags of fresh fruit and a few bottles of fresh water. "Ah, yes. It is always fun to watch how new Pokemon will interact with other Pokemon, who have been around their trainer for a while." She stated with a smile as she passed Vitra a bag with a sandwich in it, along with a bag of fruit and a bottled water.

A soft giggle soon escaped from Aphrodite's mouth as she felt the Pichu climb up her knee to greet her Pokemon. Raisa let out a cheerful cry as she danced around the small mouse Pokemon, the sweet scent of her flower flowing around Kai. Meanwhile, Meli would keep her distance, but offfer Kai a coy smile. "Cute and sweet, huh? You do not have to share your food Kai, I also packed some Pokemon food of my own that I made from scratch for my Pokemon. You're more than welcome to try some of it." Aphrodite smiled, carefully reaching over to obtain a few bowls from her basket and pouring some of her Pokemon food into the bowls. She made sure to pour enough for her Pokemon and Vitra's Pokemon as well. Meli and Raisa did not waste any time with making their way over towards the bowl of food.

"So, you're a naive, huh?" Aphrodite stated, picking up a bit of her fruit to nibble on as she listened to Vitra. "And you're a Pokemon trainer, too. That's pretty cool. I remember challenging Falkner and obtaining my first badge." She spoke before taking another bite from off her fruit. "I am from Lilycove City. It's located in the Hoenn Region. I am a trainer, but I also have dreams of becoming a Top Coordinator some day like my mother. Also, as you can probably tell I love fairy-type Pokemon and Pokemon that are considered to be a part of the fairy egg group like Skitty and Pikachu" She replied with a larger smile curving against her lips.



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[Taxx]

Aphrodite’s wholehearted agreement brought another smile to Vitra’s face, and she settled comfortably with her pokemon resting around her. Raju would have to eat later; she didn’t like the way he’d been eyeing the other trainer’s Cutiefly, and there was just a glimpse of her Skitty trotting off with Aphrodite’s. For a moment she thought about trying to call them back, but she didn’t in the end.

Taking the sandwich, fruit and water with a nod of thanks, Vitra tucked in. It was good, and she was hungry; this would be just what she needed before her fight. She couldn’t help the grin at Denki’s greeting and offer of food, and when assured that Aphrodite had her own, he simply plopped himself down on her knee and began to devour his food. When he finished with that, he climbed down to see what food the newcomer had set out, giving one piece a curious nibble before deciding he liked the taste and diving in.

“That’s right,” Vitra affirmed. “I grew up in Cherrygrove, actually.” She started to add more- addressing the situation with her family- before cutting herself off. Maybe it was best not to share that with every person she came across; some might not understand. And anyway it wasn’t really right for her to unload her problems on them.

The idea of traveling outside of the ? region had never occurred to her before. She knew of the different regions, of course, but this one was so big, she hadn’t even explored half of it yet. Maybe one day she’d get the chance to visit one of those other regions, though.

“I can tell,” she replied, glancing between the Cutiefly and the Flabebe and then off again to the two Skitty, just visible where they were sniffing at a tree. “Do you have a Pikachu yet? Denki’s as close as I am, but I hope he’ll evolve soon, if we keep training. He’s already come so far from the egg, and I’m hoping he’ll be a big help in taking on Falkner. How was it, when you battled him?”

[❤ Aphrodite ❤]

Aphrodite watched as the Pichu hopped down from knee and eased over towards the dish of Pokemon food that she had prepared for the Pokemon. As expected, the young Pokemon appeared to be slightly hesitate at first before reaching out to grab a piece of the food and take a small nibble from it then diving into it. A soft and sweet giggle escaped from Aphrodite's mouth as she watched the Pichu indulge himself in the food. "I'm glad that you like it, Denki!" She stated with a bright smile.

"I see. I remember traveling through Cherrygrove City a couple of times. I'll probably head back that way pretty soon as a matter of fact. It has been a while since I've visited Professor Elm in New Bark Town. I believe that it would be a good idea for me to just stop by and let him see how well my Pokemon are doing now before heading back to the next town ahead." She stated before taking a couple of bites from out of her food. "Unfortunately, I have not captured a Pikachu of my own yet. I am hoping to do so in the future, but it seems that both Pichu and Pikachu are pretty rare around her." She admitted, glancing away from Vitra then over towards Denki. "I'm sure that Denki will grow into a powerful Pikachu some day. Just keep training and building a stronger bond with him. Pichu evolves into Pikachu by friendship after all." She added with a soft smile.

Aphrodite paused for a bit before answering Vitra's next questoin. "Well, to be quite honest with you. I think I prepared myself a little too much for Falkner's gym. I have a Dedenne. It is an Electric/Fairy-type Pokemon. I trained a lot with her and even taught her the move Thunderbolt. When it come time to face off against Falkner, she was able to knock out each of his Pokemon with a single hit." She added, chuckling a bit. She still felt a little bad for beating up Falkner's Pokemon with such ease. "Anyway, if you'd like I could help you and Denki train a little bit if you'd like that." She suggested with a kind smile.





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