Chapter 1: The Tower on the Cliff

"I am not known for making intelligent choices." Jean-Marie sighs, hugging and silently chiding herself for not grabbing warmer clothing. She sits down on a rock a few feet away and follows Vess's gaze out to the roiling surf.

"We do not have to talk about what happened back there, but I wanted to make sure you were okay," she sniffs, speaking plainly but softly. "We are supposed to look out for each other now, I think, so there is no need to face anything alone."

She takes the hoodie gratefully, wrapping it around her like a cloak instead of putting her arms through the sleeves.

"Not friends, no," she frowns, twiddling one of the strings of the hoodie. The soft roar the surf fills the silence between them.

"I will look out for you regardless, though. We can be allies, if not yet friends. Until then, I am content to simply be a pair of idiots watching the waves together."

The girl Orianne approaches looks up from her search, seeming a bit hesitant at first as Ori asks her questions, but relaxes visibly at her inviting smile. "Oh, they're mostly looking for stuff that washed up after the storm last night. From ships you know? Things always end up getting knocked off, and if you're lucky you can find some really neat stuff. I'm mostly looking for shells myself, cause... well, you said it. I can make some pretty nice jewellery with it." She gets up, gently place the bag she had been holding down, and takes out a necklace from under her jacket. It's an interesting piece, with some form of carved rock with gleaming gold-like specks in the center, flanked by an array of shells on both sides, each shell a different colour, together forming an iridescent rainbow on each side of the stone. "See? Took me ages to find all the right colours, but it was totally worth it." She grins, obviously proud of her work.

She cocks her head sideways. "Hey, can I ask something? I spotted you earlier walking around with this weird... stick... thingy. Kinda looked like a metal detector, but... not... What're you looking for?"

Vess closes her eyes, just listening to the waves. "Fine. Allies. I can accept that. Although... I am not an idiot." That last bit is said mock threateningly, but with Vess... it is hard to tell.

Vess stays silent for a time, sitting there for probably... 20 minutes or so before standing and heading back to the pokemon center, assuming they are not attacked by a swarm of wild wingull. Or just approached by one. Wingull are cool. Could always catch one.

Vess and Jean-Marie make their way back to the center without any interference, bothered by neither man nor mon. The young man currently manning the reception at the center gives a quick wave in greeting as the pair enter, but doesn't otherwise interact with them much, leaving you unhindered to return to the cafeteria and dorms.

The boys can be found in the cafeteria, Robin once more busying himself in the kitchen while Benji is simply lounging at one of the tables.

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The smiles at Orianne's comment. "The mines, actually. No gold left, but enough material to work with given some time and elbow grease."

The girl looks suitably impressed as Ori shows her one of the crystal shards she had found. "Oooh, that's cool. I bet you can make some real pretty jewelry with that. I might have to see if I can't find some of those myself at some point." She grins impishly, before carefully picking her bag up again. "I'd love to talk some more shop, but I've got some stuff that need doing. Nice meeting ya!" She moves to leave.

Benji is studying another pamphlet about the nearby area, trying to foresee what's waiting for them on the road. The area seems surprisingly tame and devoid of big dangers, but one should always prepare and the center had a plethora of information about it. He has to wait for Robin to finish their preparation anyway, so he might as well contribute with something. He is sitting by a table, re-reading the information when the girls return.

"Heey!" he says joyfully "You're back! Good, good... So, is everything ok?" he asks unsurely, looking at Jean-Marie more than Vess.

"Thanks! That's a big help." Orianne went over and searched through the pamphlets until she found the one she was looking for. With it in hand, she headed back to where she had left the other trainers in the kitchen.

"I hope everyone had a productive morning. Are we planning on leaving straight away? I just found out that they have old mines here... it'd be a great place to search for new team members."

Benji smiles widely as Jean-Marie answers. "Oh, great! I'm really happy to hear that!" he says, standing up and putting his things back into his backpack. "Robin is making some food for the road, so we should be ready to leave soon, I guess."

He then turns to Orianne as he grabs Yash and places him around his neck as usual. "I don't mind going there. I've never seen a mine!" he confides joyfully. "I mean, if nobody else opposes. I do have a brochure for the mines here," he says, waving one of the many pamphlets he collected in the center. "But the roads also have a bunch of pokémon, so we can possibly capture some new ones anyway. Oooh, this sounds really fun, guys! We can get more pokémon!" he exclaims as if he just now visualize the possibility.

"Where should we go?" he finally asks, looking from Orianne, to Jean-Marie and Vess, and finally Robin behind him.