The Most Wonderful time of the year

[Random]

Aurelia looked at the upcoming cluster of lights in the distance that was Nimbasa City from her seat on the subway. Her flute case was in her lap underneath her resting hands. There were many people on the train that day, most coming back from the trade fair in Anville but there were a few familiar faces from town she saw as well, though she didn't make any movements to speak to them.

The lights disappeared as the train descended into a tunnel, preparing to enter the station. The teen fiddled slightly with Lycoris' Pok? ball. She wished that it had been warm enough for the grass-type to walk with her, but with high chances of snow she didn't want to take the risk of her catching a fever. Small thoughts continued to go around in her head until the train cruised to a stop at the terminal. Lia waited until most people had exited the train before getting up from her seat and left herself and walked up the steps before eventually reaching the exit of the Battle Subway and into the heart of Nimbasa.

The city really did look decked out for the festivals, there were families walking around looking for games and through stores and she could see small battle tournaments going along as well. The girl walked around a bit until she found a nice area to set up. She undid the clasp on her case, gently taking out her flute and leaving the box open in case any passerby wished to spare a couple of Poke yen.

Lia readied her position and bent her head and begin to play.

[infinityphoenix]

Travis idly wandered through the streets of Nimbasa, very lost and very far from home.

Go to Unova, they said. It would be fun, they said. They probably just wanted me to go out and do something, even if it was an overseas vacation.

Travis was tired from the long trip from Johto and just wanted to find a warm room to sleep in. He took a look at his map and tried to figure out where he was when he heard a flute playing in the distance. This caused Travis to look up and notice how festive the city looked. It wasn't like anything he had ever seen back at Blackthorn, that was for sure.

Not caring whether or not he was getting himself even more lost, Travis took in the sights, unconsciously following the music until he arrived at its source. The music was very relaxing...

Since when have I ever needed a room and a bed to sleep in anyway? he thought as he threw some loose change into the case of the girl playing the flute. Sure, it was a little cold out, but he was dressed for the weather and didn't feel like trying to find a room anymore.

Travis walked over to a nearby bench and sat back, preparing to fall asleep.

[Random]

Lia didn't pay much attention to passerby, even ones that has given change. Once she finished her fifth song she looked down to see what money she had gotten so far. It was a fair hall of change, but not a whole lot of bills. She'd have to count them later to get an exact amount.

The teen moved her fingers to get some circulation back into her hand. She never wore gloves when she came into the city to perform, which was a thing she regretted at the moment. Deciding to go someplace to get warm for a little bit Aurelia put the money she gathered into a small change pruse before depositing it in her pocket and packing up her flute. As she was heading off she noticed something odd: a person asleep on a nearby bench.

Her usual way of dealing with things would be to walk away and forget about it, but it was rather chilly out, and she doubted the police would like to find a frozen body out tomorrow morning...

Aurelia sighed, walking over to the bench. "Hey, wake up."

[infinityphoenix]

"Hm?" Travis mumbled.

The teen turned his head slightly towards the source of the noise, opening an eye. He brought a hand to his mouth and yawned, before standing up and stretching. He looked around and checked his watch, wondering how long he had been sleeping. The music had stopped... and speaking of which, the musician herself stood before him.

"Oh, hey," Travis said in greeting. "You played really well. Uh... you wouldn't happen to know where I could stay the night, would you? I'm a tourist here, and completely lost. Probably not a shock to you, since that's an everyday occurrence in Nimbasa, but that's my story."

Travis wasn't sure why he was so chatty. He normally was fairly laconic, almost to the point where some considered him to be anti-social. He figured that it was because the girl had just caught him after a nap. Either way, he hoped he wasn't giving a misleading first impression.

[Random]

Aurelia's kept her face neutral, her golden eyes looking at Travis, before turning and pointing. "Head down that street then make a right by the subway: there should be a Pokémon center."

The teen looked at the the tourist with a raised eyebrow. "...Were you planning on sleeping here?"

She wondered how tired you'd have to be to decide to sleep outdoors in this kind of weather. Maybe this guy came from a warmer climate or something...? Wait why did she care?

The girl shook her head. "Forget it. Have a good day."

Lia started to walk away.

[infinityphoenix]

"Well I wasn't planning on sleeping there," Travis stated, following Lia since they were heading in the same direction for now. "I was just going to take a nap for a while. I'm dressed for the weather and it's a nice enough place to sleep. Besides, I come from a place that's usually cold, so I'm used to it. Not sleeping outside, I mean, but the cold. Actually, I'm used to sleeping outside as well, but I was talking about the cold. Uh, it's not like I'm homeless or anything, but I can pretty much sleep anywhere..."

It didn't immediately occur to Travis how stupid he sounded, but when it did, the teen decided it was time to change the subject.

"Anyway, thanks for the directions, Miss...?" he started, trailing off so that the Good Samaritan could fill in her name.

[Random]

Lia tuned out most of Travis' explination as to why he was on the bench in the first place as she continued to walk at a brisk pace. She was trying to heat her body up from standing out in the cold for a time. Maybe she should've brought mittens for afterwards? Either way her hands were pale while raw red at the fingertips. The girl hoped they wouldn't go numb.

"Okay..." Was the girl's response to the non-homeless guy's tangent. When the guy asked for her name she turned her head to look at him. "Kingma. My name's Aurelia Kingma."

After giving her name Lia continued to walk briskly, but knowing it would be rude to walk away without asking the boy for his name she turned her head slightly to speak but kept moving. "Yours?"

[infinityphoenix]

"My name's Travis Bay," Travis replied, increasing his pace to keep up with Aurelia. After a bit of walking the two were approaching his destination, so Travis turned to say goodbye to the musician once it was in sight.

"Thanks again for the directions," he said with a wave, before going towards the Pok?mon Center. He didn't get very far before he stopped dead in his tracks.

"That doesn't look like a good thing..." Travis said to himself. The Pok?mon Center was packed to the gills with tourists, some of whom were complaining rather loudly about all the rooms being occupied or reserved.

"Guess I should have seen this coming," Travis sighed, checking a hotel app that he had recently downloaded for the trip, but was too lazy to check ahead of time. "Great, the closest rooms available are those pricey ones all the way in Driftveil..."

[Random]

Lia had stopped when Travis did, noticing how packed the center was. She let out a small sigh as the girl had been planning to stay there as well until the train back to Anville was scheduled. It'd probably be better to just wait in the terminal, maybe even have a quick battle if Lycoris was up for it...

When she heard the boy mumbling to himself, the girl decided to speak up. "Why not check if there are any places available in Anville Town? It's not as far as Driftveil, but you'll have to take the train... I know there are a few bed and breakfast along with some rest houses for people who come in on trading days."

[infinityphoenix]

"Huh, that's a good idea," Travis nodded, narrowing his search to Anville Town. "Doesn't look like this app has Anville listed on it, though. Must only have Unova's major cities," he remarked.

Travis yawned as he put his PokeGear away and turned towards Gear Station. Even a tourist such as himself didn't have trouble finding the grand building in the center or the city, especially when they were so close to it already.

"Thanks again for the advice, you've been a real lifesaver so far," Travis told Lia. Truth be told, he probably would still be sleeping on the bench back on the sidewalk if it hadn't been for her. "You sound like you know a lot about Anville Town. You live over there?"

[Random]

"Yes, I do live there. In fact the train should be coming soon to take me back." Lia replied. Not a lot of people lived in Anville Town, from what she heard it was one of the smallest towns in Unova. And while other towns had Undella Bay and were crowded with tourists in the summer like Undella Town, or even a famous Pok?mon Professor residing within its limits like Nuvema, Anville Town... had the train depot she supposed. And the trade fairs. But that just added to it's charm in her eyes. Unova was overall a very populated region, and it was hard to find areas that weren't so densely populated around within it.

"I suppose you wouldn't mind waiting together?" She asked. "Acording to the schedule it should be here in a while."

[infinityphoenix]

"Sure, I could use the company," Travis replied as he started to walk towards Gear Station. "I could probably use some directions when we get there, too... Geez, now I just feel like I'm taking advantage of your helpfulness..."

Still, Travis appreciated the lucky break he got when Aurelia woke him up. Having nowhere to sleep for the night really would have put a damper on his vacation. He should probably do something about that, he didn't want to seem like he wasn't grateful for all the help he was getting.

"Hey, if there's anything I can do to repay you for this, just let me know, alright?" he said to Lia. "I really owe you for this."

[Random]

"You are." Aurelia replied bluntly, before giving a shrug. "But I don't have anything better to do, and you'd be in trouble otherwise. And don't worry about paying me back. I wouldn't be a very good samaritan if if I asked for something in return."

And that was pretty truthful, even if it sounded a bit harsh when she said it. As they entered into Gear Station Lia thankfully spotted a free bench by the Anville train terminal.

"Found a spot, follow me."

As the two walked over the girl easily moved through the crowds until she reached their intended destination. After so many times coming to the city on the train to play she'd had becme accustomed to the busy subway system. Once the two of them sat down, Lia looked down at the flute case resting in her lap. "I don't make it a habit to do this sort of thing... talking to people around here I mean."

[infinityphoenix]

"Fair enough," Travis replied, smiling slightly as he followed Aurelia through the crowd. He didn't mind that she didn't sugarcoat what was going on, since it was obvious enough anyway. He sorta even appreciated it.

"I'm not exactly much of a talker either," he said with a yawn as they sat down on the bench. "Truth be told, I just sleep a lot whenever I'm waiting for something, don't have anything to do and get bored, or I'm just tired in general, which is pretty much all the time when you put it all together. It's nice to have someone to keep me awake for once, though, so I'll have to thank you again for that."

Even as he said that, though, Travis slouched in his spot on the bench and propped his elbow on the bench's arm rest, letting his head rest in his hand and closing his eyes. He figured that he'd just relax a little until the train got there. He'd probably hear it, and if he didn't he doubted that Lia would leave him here after taking him this far.

[Random]

When Lia saw that Travis looked to be nodding off again the girl gave a small exasperated look. Is he falling asleep again? This guy needs to take more vitamins or something...

"Oi, don't go back to sleep. You can do that when we get on the train." The brunette said. Even if things got awkward with their talking she'd rather have that then having to wake Travis up again in order to catch their train. "Also, you have some money to pay the fare? The Battle Subway may be free but you usually have to have a pass or ticket to get to Anville."

(In the games I don't think you do but this'll be relavent later on.)

[infinityphoenix]

"I'm not sleeping, I'm just getting comfortable," Travis told Lia, though he sat back up when he heard the second part of what the girl had to say.

"I didn't know that you had to pay for Anville, I thought that it was all free. I have the money, so that's not exactly a problem, though. Do you have to buy the tickets here, or do they sell them on the train?"

Travis assumed that you would have to buy them at the station, since it was a subway after all, so he looked around to see where he would buy them and if the line there would be long. Knowing his luck, it would stretch all the way out of the station.

[Random]

"You can go to the ticket counter near it's stop, I doubt that many people will be going to Anville at this hour so you should be fine with getting a ticket from them." Lia replied to Travis. He didn't appear to be in distress with this knowledge, just a bit put out. From what she'd seen so far it wasn't in the boy's nature to overreact.

The girl got up from her own seat and pointed to the right and towards a stairway. "It should be down this tunnel, but you can wait a little longer until it's time. The lady who works there right now won't mind."

[infinityphoenix]

"As much as I love procrastinating, I might as well do that now," Travis remarked as he stood up from his seat on the bench and stretched. "I don't know how things work in Unova, but in my experience trains don't always stick to the schedules. Not that I doubt you or anything, but still," the teen said with a shrug. "I'll be right back."

With that said, Travis followed Aurelia's directions and went down the tunnel and to the ticket booth. After taking out his wallet and paying for his ticket, he went back towards his bench and guide and sat down.

"And now we wait," he said mostly to himself as he pocketed the tickets he had bought.

[Random]

Lia nodded as the boy next to her sat back down. She fiddled with her case a bit, hoping to find something to work on and keep her busy, but there was nothing. It would also be a bit rude for her to not speak when she was sitting next to someone. (That is to say if Travis didn't fall asleep again.)

The brunette looked up from her case over to Travis. "Since you know where I'm from, where's your home?"

Lia mentally cringed at how awkward she sounded to herself. Maybe all those days playing the flute instead of talking to people while she played hadn't help how she spoke with other people, specifically ones around her age.

[infinityphoenix]

"Blackthorn City, all the way back in Johto," Travis replied as he made himself comfortable. "Haven't been there for a while, though. Not since I left with my Pok?mon, as a matter of fact..."

Travis paused a moment and reflected on how long he had been traveling away from home. He hadn't really felt homesick or anything before, but he still figured that some time with the family would be nice. He still talked with his parents and brother from time to time, but that wasn't really the same as being together.

"Maybe I'll drop by there once my vacation here in Unova's finished," he mused aloud.

[Random]

"That's a long way to travel from home..." Aurelia commented, more to herself than to Travis. "I don't think I'd be ever able to do that."

The girl laid back on the bench as well to get more comfortable, it was warmer underground than it had been outside, but there were still drafts passing through. "And it's always good to go back and visit. At least as long as you're on good terms with your family, and I'm guessing you are."

[infinityphoenix]

"Not much of a traveler, huh?" Travis asked, giving Aurelia a glance. "I guess there's some appeal in staying home, though I don't think that either me or the rest of my family could handle it if I stayed there and did nothing," he said with a chuckle, thinking back.

"It's not that we don't get along or anything, it's just that they've always had high expectations for me and I've always been... easy-going to say the least," the teen explained. "I started my journey about a year or two late, and until I did it seemed like they were always nagging at me to get out, though in retrospect I was probably blowing what they were saying out of proportion... But yeah, any other time we loved each others company."

[Random]

Aurelia shook her head. "Farthest I've ever been from home is probably one time that I went to Castelia... I'd wanted to go on a journey when I was young but-" The girl caught herself before divulging too much information at once. "I guess at one point I didn't care anymore, or I was afraid that when I left everything would become too different. When you're in one place for a long time it's easier to get used to gradual changes, but if you leave and come back I think the place you used to know disappears."

Lia smiled at Travis's explination. "I think I can see that. My parents keep bugging me about going out on my journey. They're afraid I'll become some crazy Purrloin lady shut in I think."

[infinityphoenix]

"Well hey, props to you for sticking around so many years," Travis told Aurelia with a small laugh. "I only lasted until I was twelve. But yeah, you should do whatever makes you happy. And if that means collecting Meowths and Purrloins like they're shiny Legendaries, then by all means, go wild," he teased.

"Though you might not want to indulge in the 'crazy' part too much. A happy mind is a healthy mind, after all. Sure, there's the 'laughing mad' kind of insane, but I don't think that's really 'happy,' you know? Aaaand now I'm rambling."

[Random]

Lia let out a small laugh at Travis's reply. The other teen was nice and rather light hearted. She should make an effort to be likewise instead of acting so gloomy.

"It's fine. I don't usually get to talk with people like this- though I guess I would've had more chances if I gave more people a chance to." The girl said wryly. "You said that you're vacationing in Unova right now: is their something you want to see here especially?"

She knew that Unova could be considered a very bustling region; cities and trading centers abounded, not to mention things such as movie studios and amusement parks were present all around as well.