2024-02-14: Stubborn as Hell
- Log: Stubborn as Hell
- Cast: Loren Voss, Lan Lilac, Gwen Whitlock
- Where: Pewter City - Rock Road
- Date: February 14, 2024
- Summary: Occurs a few days before Loren locates Azoth. Loren, in Pewter City, ends up crossing paths with Lan and Gwen and things are still awkward. Dunsparce used Sass! It was super effective!
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"No one's seen him around here, either," Loren says, flopped against the back of a park bench. "I'm starting to wonder if he even ended up here in the first place..."
"Duns," says his Dunsparce, settled in like a cat on the bench next to him. Clearly, she understands.
Loren takes that moment to drag his hand down across his face, sending his glasses askew in the process. But of course Azoth definitely ended up here. Leah wouldn't have sent him off on a wild goose chase... well, not like this, anyway. She probably had some information to which he wasn't (and isn't) privy, which told her Azoth's approximate whereabouts just before he vanished off the face of Filgaia. Simple.
This is driving him straight up the proverbial wall. He closes his eyes as if pained and bites back the urge to groan. Everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong: he's already gotten sidetracked once. He doesn't have so much as a rumor to go on. If he doesn't come back with Azoth soon--
"Dunspa," his Dunsparce says, without so much as turning her head. As if to say, 'it'll be alright'. Loren cracks open one eye as if to look in her direction (not that he can see the Pokemon chilling on the bench alongside him even if he tries).
"I hope so."
Or everything's really going to go to hell. Mostly for him, of course.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
They don't travel together anymore.
Which makes for a dull time, even if Lan knows that it's for the best. She can't not be disappointed in him. She doesn't want to spend all her time angry. She doesn't want to stew in her feelings.
it's not unfamiliar to be traveling alone now, anyway. And she has Lunatone with her for now! It's rarely in its Pokeball (occasionally it will go in there on its own, which Lan has to admit makes her less unsettled about the whole idea). Blue had challenged her to get stronger along with the Lunatone, and to battle him when she was ready. So Lan has been training, and so has Lunatone, while they journey back to the cave full of crimson crystals.
(It's a moot point, because if the Lunatone goes home Lan will be lonely again, but she'd said she would try to open her heart to the Pokemon, but that would just make it hurt worse, but anything worth doing's worth being hurt for, but...)
It's enough to give anybody a headache on top of their heartache!!
So she carries the Lunatone as far as she's able, and then it floats beside her, and then she carries it again, then it floats beside her... rinse, repeat. Her muscles burn and her stamina is almost at its limit, but Lan is certain this will make her stronger! It weighs more than Gwen does!
Which is why, panting and red-faced, she trudges along a few dozen yards from Loren without even spotting him.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Well, look who's here! It's a Gwen. Voltie is happily relaxing on top of her head, his mandibles sorting their her curls, looking akin to a strange little arachnid hat. Gwen had been abroad on Lunar, helping the Fiends with the next stage of combating the corruption in Althena's religion, as well as combatting Zophar's eventual return. Which is a big thing to handle on top of the other dangers that dare threaten these three(!) connected worlds.
Can't these dangers just consolidate themselves into one big danger that they can all throw all their abilities and teamwork and technology and powers and whatever at in a one big show of heroism, and then everyone can move on?
Gwen'd like that.
Now, Gwen is here, making her way to where Azoth lives, in order to check up on him, as well as peruse the sights to ensure no visible presence of Solaris. Everything seems to be fine, when--
"Oh hey, Lan." Gwen starts walking alongside the training Lan, peering down at her. "What'ca doi...inG--" She cuts off when she looks up, seeing Loren's familiar mop of blonde hair. "I.... didn't realize you had Loren with you, haha!"
Lan didn't, but Gwen doesn't know that.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Lan didn't ask him to travel with her. He didn't ask to travel with Lan.
It's not that he doesn't want to. If anything -- especially now, alone again in a strange new world -- he feels her absence all the more. But as he'd realized the when they'd last spoken to one another, he can't ask that of her, not when his whole reason for being in Energy Nede in the first place is to find a Solarian asset and take it back.
Did he ever think about that before? What it would have been like for her to watch him turn around and do that to another person? To see someone else taken away to be used by Solaris? ...Did he ever think about what he was doing in the first place in such bleak terms?
It's all a mess. It's all gone wrong. He lifts his head at last, if only to do the needful thing of readjusting his glasses, and it's into this moment that a familiar voice intrudes--
'Oh hey, Lan.'
'...didn't realize you had Loren with you, haha!'
It takes all of Loren's self control in the moment to not leap to his feet. As it stands, he sits bolt upright, the picture of perfect posture as he confirms that... yes.
Gwen is definitely here. And so is Lan. What are the odds! No, really. He'd love to know.
"..." Loren says, staring at the both of them like they just sprouted horns.
"Duns," says his Dunsparce, still as perfectly relazed as a dozy cat.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Why can't these world-threatening dangers do one better and turn on each other? Let them do some of the heavy lifting for once! ...Lan may be a bit stuck on 'lifting' right now.
Ohhh, it's weird to look up at Gwen! Lan groans as she straightens up, back complaining about the shift in position. "Hi Gwen~" she greets the other girl, hands going to her own hips to lean back one side at a time and pop her back. "Oof. I mean, I did for a little bit, a few days ago. How'd you know?" Especially because Gwen just said that she didn't know, which doesn't make any sense at all!
Give her a minute. Her brain is tired, too.
The Lunatone spins in place once before floating over to settle next to Loren's Dunsparce, perhaps some kind of strange stone communication passing between them. It makes a noise like pebbles scattering underfoot.
Lan turns to follow it with her eyes. It takes her a moment to react, but all she says at first is, "Oh." Because Gwen was right after all. "You're still here, Loren." On Energy Nede.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen, briefly, shares the same look back at Loren, looking almost like she's been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She recovers quickly, adopting her trademark smile.
"Joltik, Joltik." Really, one could say Gwen has horns right now, but that's just the half-hearted actions of Voltie, lifting his stubby manibles up in a nonconvincing show of dominance. Then, he returns half-heartedly to his task of keeping Gwen's hair completely sorted and organized, somehow seeing Loren as not a threat due to Gwen's own mannerisms. He's learning!
"Iii knew 'cause here he is," Gwen then drawls, gesturing to the miserable man and his dozy Dunsprace. "You were travelin' together for... a few... days...?" Gwen stares at Lan as she straightens to her full height. "You should've dropped a note or somethin'." Gwen sighs, and adds, "There's some neat cafes here, with stuff you wouldn't see anywhere else." There, covered.
She relaxes for a moment, realizing that, if Loren is here, that means he's *not* where Azoth is. Gwen can't account for every Solaris agent out there, but she can account for the one she cares about, even if that means being unable to warn Azoth.
Fog blue eyes note the Lunatone, and the Dunsparce. "Hehe, looks like you got some Pokemon too! Does your friend have a name? What 'bout yours, Lan?" Gwen reaches up and uses her index finger to gently pet Voltie's head. "This is Voltie! Lan was with me when we had... the Incident."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Loren's gaze tracks slightly upwards at the... ...Pokemon (he assumes) on Gwen's head. "Huh," he remarks, his expression grown more pinched than usual. He's seen some large local insects (and steered clear) but...
Something about Lan's reaction (or lack thereof?) sends a jolt of irritation down his spine. Loren somehow manages to sit even more upright than before.
The intended direction of her remark goes slightly awry. "I got here the other day," he all-but-snaps at Lan, visibly disgruntled in the moment. But he turns his gaze away from her and Gwen alike, almost as if it were difficult to look at the both of them.
"We're not traveling together," is what he says to Gwen as she suggests to (both of them? just to Lan?) a few of the local cafes. He knows what she's proposing they should go and do, but honestly, especially right now--
...Name...?
Loren slowly turns his head to look at Dunsparce.
Dunsparce, ever so slightly, turns her head to look up at him.
"...No?" he says to Gwen's question.
"Dunsparce," says Dunsparce, settling back.
Loren looks like his world has tilted a little bit (again). He has to name these guys, too? It took him forever to name Runeberry!
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Oh - it's Voltie," Lan smiles. There's none of that strange distance in her voice or manner towards him or Gwen, even if a Joltik did in fact once jump right onto her face and cling there. "But we didn't," she frowns. Usually, they would have. Usually, Lan would have really liked to. She looks from Gwen to Loren and back. "We saw each other a few days ago. We did hang out for a little while, but not past that evening."
Lan would have probably found a way to get a message to Gwen if she'd known Gwen was looking out for Loren or something!
Lan, notably, does not know that Azoth is here.
"Hi, Loren," is all the greeting he gets. It seems even though they'd tried to talk it out, her feelings are still hurt. She's still unsure of where they stand with each other now. She's afraid of finding out, because the answer might be even worse than what she already knows about him.
So Lan stands at a remove even as the Lunatone makes another of its strange noises, this time at Loren.
"It doesn't have a name yet, but maybe I'll think of something soon." It's only a little white lie. Loren snaps at them both and Lan doesn't flinch. "Eleanor said he started training Pokemon to save me when they thought I got kidnapped by Team Rocket." She'd been so weirdly proud of him. Had made him introduce her to all of them.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"I mean, what do you call him? Or her?" Kneeling down in front of the Dunsparce and the Lunatone, Gwen lets Voltie take a few tentative steps closer; his movements are eeriely quick, but cautious, like a curious bird. Or, well, a jumping spider.
For the most part, Voltie seems to remember Lan. His opinion of her might even have improved, as he does his own wiggle butt dance on Gwen's head in greeting.
"Ahh." Gwen keeps her grin in a way that could be seen as defiant, but in reality, she's keeping her attention on amending that tenseness. She's pretty sure she knows why Loren is here, after all. The seed of discord between Land and Loren, however...
Gwen folds her arms, her smile turning halfway into a smirk. "I take it you two had an argum--"
Pause. Gwen turns her head up towards Lan. Grey blue eyes widen and nlink. ".... You were kidnapped by Team Rocket, Lan? What the hell happened?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Loren sure notices. Voltie gets more affection in her voice than he -- or Gwen? -- gets. Is it weird to be jealous of a bug?
'Hi Loren', Lan says.
He doesn't say hello back.
It's complicated, is what it is. Logically, even he'd get why she's treating him like this. But in the moment, it stings. There's nothing he wants more than to talk to someone -- her especially -- about what's going on. He keeps feeling like he can't get his head on straight, like everything is spinning out of control again the moment he thinks he's got his feet firmly planted.
And it keeps on happening. It'll keep on happening, in fact. This much he's certain of: so long as his heart remains in flux, so long as he can't decide what he wants or knows what he should do, he's going to continue to feel like this.
It's precisely why he can't ask her -- or anyone -- for help, at that: Lan has her own agenda. So does Leah. So does Gwen, and so does Commander Ramses, and so does everyone else. Is it the case that what anyone else wants is what's good for him?
Is there anything out there that's actually good for him? Or is he just, prima facie, screwed?
And then Lan mentions how he got his Pokemon and a flush of embarrassment burns anew across his face. "H-hey," he protests, shaking his head, well-distracted from his ruminating, "It wasn't to-- she wasn't even kidnapped," he insists, turning towards Gwen.
"Dun?" says Dunsparce, as if to say 'is that so?', since she remembers quite differently.
"Sparce," she concludes, almost smugly from where she sits on the bench.
"Don't you start..." Loren mutters, turning an evil eye towards his Pokemon.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Awwww he's so cuuuuuuuute, lookit his little dance! Lan feels cheered just from watching it. Are there Joltik dance teams? Can someone enter a Contest with a team of dedicated dancing spiders?? Could Gwen?
Gwen doesn't necessarily have the wrong of it. They had argued. It had just... it was bigger than 'an argument'. "...Sorta," Lan eventually offers. "Um. It was just that..." She's grasping for a way to say it in front of Loren that won't leave either or both of them irate or crying.
"I guess-- oh! No no, there was a mistake. I was in their hot air balloon when it got blasted off." That makes even less sense than just getting kidnapped. Lan knows that, right?? "But it's okay. I kind of threatened to beat them half to death if they came after Runeberry again. It was a big kerfuffle at the Dunsparce Spa, didn't you see the flyers for it? The spa I mean. The kerfuffle was a surprise."
Lan wants what's best for Loren. It's just that... that looks a lot different to her than it probably does to him. Or the remains of his family.
And definitely different to Leah Sadalbari.
And despite how strained they are to each other, Lan still smiles when Dunsparce calls him out.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Gwen hadn't understood Lan's wording earlier-- she hadn't realized that 'he' actually referred to Loren himself. "Loren, you..." Gwen looks on him with an element of respect. He didn't just go in to rescue her, he was *training Pokemon* to help him. "Sure, Team Rocket seems pretty tame in comparison to the kinds of groups y'see in Filgaia, but, like, I could see that changin' quickly as they get exposed to the Badlands."
To Lan, Gwen nods. "I've been busy with getting courier stuff started back up in Ignas, so I ain't been that big on visitin' Nede that much. It feels kinda scary, y'know? That exit puts a bottleneck on who gets in n' out, but there's a lotta groups that could really mess this place up."
To Loren's credit, Gwen does give him a small nod. "I mean in general, of course. Not people as individuals."
Sitting now with her legs crossed, Gwen hms. "Sounds like I've been a real bad influence on ya, Lan. That sounds like some kinda stuff I'd do, hehe! I'm glad it all resolved neat-like."
Gwen can definitely feel the awkward energy in the air between them; this wasn't just a simple fight. If Loren is here, it's just a matter of time before he, or someone else, finds Azoth.
That's not the only thing, either.
Maybe, this might be the only chance he might get to hear the words she needs to say, right now. "Thanks, Loren. I would've been concerned 'bout Lan, too. You even went 'bout it a better way than I would've! Team Rocket wouldn't do well with some lady comin' in n' punchin' people. Maybe y'have a knack for trainin'?"
She had said the same to Azoth-- in a similar vein, anyway. ... Two people, trapped by their circumstances. It'd be a conversation to have, in another place and time.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
An 'argument', sure. A 'disagreement', maybe. But both feel to him to not really cover the depths of the split -- or how off-kilter and even betrayed he's been left feeling.
He looks at Lan, almost as if to dare her to say something more. But what could he say or do to actually stop her in a way that mattered? Eventually, she and Gwen are going to be alone, and eventually, they're going to talk about this. He won't be present but it doesn't mean that the thought of it doesn't nag at him all the same.
"That's-- look, it's not... it's not that big a deal," Loren continues to protest, well and truly on the spot for being a big old carer that cared. "And it wasn't as if she was actually in trouble," he adds, especially since she'd apparently somehow managed to threaten them sufficiently afterwards to not dare come after Runeberry again.
Which, speaking of: "They tried to steal Runeberry," he adds, to clarify.
He'd thought it the better thing in the long run to go after them with Pokemon, is the thing, than get a lungful of smoke. Again. Especially if he'd ended up fighting more of them than just those two...
But does he have a knack for it, as Gwen puts it?
"...I don't know," says Loren, doubtfully, who had jumped in feet first to try it. And even trained!
"Dunspa," says Dunsparce dubiously, who continues to subtweet Loren's every word of late.
Loren's shoulders slouch. He knows what that tone conveys. "You're a pain," he tells the Dunsparce, who continues to look beatific... and smug.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Hey, you're not the only person that can pull off really cool moves! Loren and I have been using that double tech for years!" Look, anybody capable of running up a stone spire as it's being formed is going to do it. It's just a fact. Especially if the purpose for the running is to perform a sick finisher against a powerful opponent... or two idiots (and a cat) in a hot air balloon.
They've argued before. But this... it hurt. Lan has cried before when they argued, but not like this. Not like her heart was breaking. It's still tender. She doesn't want a repeat of it. And she wonders if Loren doesn't really want and need space, to keep from hurting them both again.
Unfortunately, it just looks like Lan being distant and hurtful on purpose, even if that's about the least Lan thing she could do.
"..." Loren gives her some kind of look. Well it's not like she wants to drag Gwen into the middle of things, even if Gwen belongs there too! In Lan's mind they're all the same; it isn't Lan and Loren, but Lan and Gwen and Loren. They'll have to talk about it eventually. Gwen needs to know that Loren is giving up. Why Lan is stepping back. "Yeah," she says instead, looping the tail end of her hair around her wrist. Loop, unloop, loop, unloop. "It was a pretty bad one. I think... we're still cooling down." She wants it to be a question, one that he'll know to respond to. It isn't.
And so, the girls are going to gossip about him later. It'll be like Jugend all over again!!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"Then I gotta be grateful t'you for savin' Runeberry!" Gwen grins. "You never know, Loren. Let seems t'be a lotta skills that carry over into this field." 'It could be because he had to control Azoth', says a part of Gwen, but she hushes it, setting it aside to examine later.
That is not the sum of Loren. It'd be easier if it was, but it isn't."
'You're a pain,' Loren tells the Dunsparce. "They're a cutie, though! So sleek, and cute too. Like a sleepy snake on top of a rock, just takin' a snooze." Considering Gwen's acceptance of Voltie, the courier seems to not have much of any feelings against spiders and snakes. Then again, Badlands introduces you to a lot of creepy crawlies.
"I ain't sure everyone'd agree with you, Lan, but I'll gladly take that compliment, hehe." Letting the topic move on, the courier nods as Lan briefly touches on the subject of her argument with Loren, her eyelids lowering halfway. "Maybe that's for the best." Gwen straightens, and stretches. "Maybe it was somethin' you guys had t'talk about, sooner or later. Keepin' things cooped up for the sake of being positive ain't always the best logic. I should know." She grins, placing her hands on her hips. "The three of us have our differences, but we also have our similarities too. We're all stubborn as hell when we get set in our decisions."
This may misfire, Gwen realizes, since she has no clue what the two of them quarreled about. So, to save face, she adds, "That's me shootin' from the hip, tho, hehe. No wonder you were trainin', Lan." Pause. "... That was trainin', right?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Dunsparce~" chirps Dunsparce, lifting her 'chin' (???) as if pleased by Gwen's praise. Her tiny wings spread out! "Great," Loren sighs. "She's going let it go to her head."
They've fought before -- with weapons as well as with words. But it's true: it had been different that time around. Maybe it's because he'd let her down, and then let her know that he was only going to continue to let her down. Maybe it's because she refuses to let him off the hook regarding what he'd done and what he's willing to be party to.
Maybe it's because in spite of any of that, she doesn't intend to let him fall, even if that's what he wants.
And now Gwen is going to know all about this, too. He glowers at the both of them as Lan tries to explain, knowing that even the most evil look he can give them won't be enough to forestall the conversation he knows is going to happen. Worse, he knows whose side Gwen will end up on--
"Stop talking about me where I can hear you," Loren complains, folding his arms over his chest as he leans back against the bench.
"Anyway," he continues, closing his eyes as if irritated (even if Gwen only means the best by her commentary on their disagreement), "I don't want to talk about it. I don't even think it's any of your business." He doesn't say the 'but'. Its absence still hangs heavy in the air, though. He knows that no matter what, they're going to talk about it.
"Dun," says Dunsparce disapprovingly, before she rears up (...more or less) and headbutts Loren in the thigh. He lurches to his feet in response. "--What's gotten into you?" he asks, incredulous, of his judgemental Pokemon.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
It is a relaxing Pokemon to be around. The Dunsparce Spa had been very mellow until Team Rocket attacked, too...
"...Maybe," she allows, to the idea that it was something that needed to be talked about. That keeping things unspoken can turn thoughts into poison. It's hard to talk about. It's hard.
And part of Lan still wants, stubbornly, to argue with him! To tell him he's wrong, and there's hope, and what makes his family more important than hers, and what kind of hypocrite does that make her, because if Solaris had thought to hurt her village like they can hurt Loren's parents she would do whatever they asked of her.
She hasn't been home in so long. Just in case they're still watching 'Asset Spicule'.
Gwen wants to make sure that was actually training. "Of course it was training!" She's still sweaty and everything! Though Lan can probably call it quits for the afternoon, can't she. For several reasons. "Lunatone's really heavy. It's a great workout partner!" The partner in question revolves in place, the heavy stone of its body spinning around its one visible eye, before settling. "Though I'm still trying to understand how to help it get stronger. I guess... just go out and find other Pokemon to fight?" But that's different than Lan fighting. She wilts a bit. "It's hard to understand, period."
Stop talking about him, Loren demands. "It's not like you can't speak up for yourself," Lan counters, because he could totally explain himself to Gwen if he wanted to! But he's in one of those moods of his where the world is against him, and he's going to sulk and complain and refuse to talk about it because he knows he's wrong (or so she tells herself, anyway). Lan takes a breath and reminds herself just why she's trying to stay distant, to give him space. To give herself space too. It's just... frustrating.
"See, even Dunsparce disagrees with you."
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"C'mon, Loren. Tough love can't be your only method! You gotta let 'em know when they're doin' good! Or just connect with 'em." If Dunsparce seems okay with it, Gwen tries to pet her head. grinning widely as Voltie peeks curiously from her head. "All of it ain't that much different than buildin' a relationship with a horse, in some ways. You don't own them; they're your partner."
Did Gwen let some emphasis slip on those last few words? She's not going to stop long enough to let that slip-up get noticed.
'Stop talking about me where I can hear you.' "Ain't it usually the other way 'round?" Gwen circles an index finger in the air as she says this, curls bobbing as she shifts to another foot. "But if you insist~" Not that Gwen would, right now. She still has no clue if they're being watched. "But yeah, fair 'nough." Lan may not be the only one that seems to honor the idea of them being a sort of trio of... friends...? A sort of chosen family? .... Not that Loren has had any say in it.
One of these days, Gwen'll find out that Solaris's name for her is 'Filament', and she'll be unable to really be angry about it because it *is* a pretty apt codename.
Turning her attention back to Lan, Gwen continues petting Dunsparce. "Fighting another Pokemon? I guess that works." Gwen frowns. "It just feels weird t'me, y'know? But they do seem to want to, n' not because of misplaced aggression or anythin'. Still, I'm just happy to let Voltie be Voltie, hehe."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Maybe some of Dunsparce's calmer nature might rub off on Loren, somehow.
Maybe. One can hope.
As much as one might hope that what had happened between him and Lan was something that needed to happen. Loren himself would have rather run away from the confrontation in the first place, but one could easily argue that Loren has been running away from confrontations for his entire adult life. He doesn't want conflict: he just wants something stable. Something he can depend on.
Something he won't find, as long as he keeps trying to avoid what's actually hard or pretend it doesn't exist.
"You're still carrying it around?" Loren sighs, looking as if he's partially wilted upon catching wind of what Lan's been up to. "All you have to do with Pokemon is..."
Maybe Gwen has a point. Maybe he does have some sort of knack for this -- be it from wrangling Runeberry or... other members of his team.
"It's not tough love," he insists, speaking of that very topic. "She's just got an attitude," 'Duns~' "See what I mean?" Loren says, gesturing towards his Dunsparce with both hands. Dunsparce just looks smug. Loren, once again, wilts slightly.
Only to wilt further when Gwen emphasizes that Dunsparce is his partner.
Because he doesn't own her.
Loren looks away.
Sure. He could explain himself if he wanted to. But what he wants more than to speak up on his own behalf is to wash his hands of it: he wants to pretend it didn't happen, or forget about it. Except, it's not that easy. Not only will Lan not let him forget about it, but try as he might... his heart won't let him forget it, either. He's making a mistake. But he doesn't see any way ahead except to make a mistake.
He fixes Gwen with a blank look as she wonders whether it's the other way around... before then going to all but promise that she and Lan are definitely going to talk about him when he's not here. Somehow, Loren thinks, his shoulders slouching, this is anything but a win.
Closing his eyes as even Lan agrees with Dunsparce (or is Dunsparce agreeing with Lan??) Loren screws up his face in a way that's doing him absolutely no favors. He sighs as if he's been put upon. "...Fine. I'll leave you to it," he tells them both and not kindly before he turns to start to walk away.
Dunsparce lingers for a little bit longer (aw yiss head skritches) before she sighs, "Dunsparce..." and half jumps, half floats down off the bench, her tiny wings pumping away to see her to the ground. Then, bouncing along, she hurries after her chosen trainer.
...Dunsparce tails can wheel about like a propeller when they're trying to make haste, apparently.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"That's how everybody says it's done. Even the books I read and the school I visited. It seems like the kind of thing you'd see in Guara Bobelo, you know? But if they really do like it, and nobody gets hurt so badly that a Pokemon Center can't fix them up..." she trails off. It's a different world, with different creatures and different rules. They should try to fit into it, not make it fit themselves. Lan is wearing Nedian clothes and eating Nedian food, and she'll try to learn to fight the Nedian way too - even if it feels weird to do so by proxy.
On the positive side, they have something here called Battle Girls? Lan's really excited about that?
Lan's pale eyes flicker towards Loren. "Of course I'm still carrying it. I just said it's a good workout partner. I bet I'm stronger already." She's supposed to be training Lunatone, not herself...!
It's kind of reassuring, though. That Loren isn't alone. He already had Runeberry, but now Dunsparce and Clefairy and Graveler and Zubat will be there for him too. (Maybe especially because of Dunsparce. He needs someone to challenge him, for enrichment.) She watches them leave, and doesn't call after them or wave.
(Come back. They can work it out...)
"...It wasn't really an argument," she admits to Gwen, still watching Loren and Dunsparce until they've vanished around the curve. "It was... two people disagreeing a bunch." About everything. The Lunatone floats back over to Lan, now that its new friend has left, and settles back into her arms. It's still using its psychic powers to support its own weight, so Lan gets the benefit of someone to hold without the burden of actually supporting a three hundred pound rock with her fragile human spine. "C'mon. Let's find one of those cafes and I'll tell you about it..."