Pit Stop [Maria]

[Airi Shigeta]

[Active Party: Lotad, Aron]
[Music: Viridian Forest remix]

"Feel free to look around, pick some berries, buy some food, even try and challenge the gym if you think you can do it quickly enough. We'll meet back here in...say, an hour?"

As the people on today's tour went their separate ways to explore Mala Town, Airi closed up the van and took a moment to stretch. Ahh, not bad for the first major stop of the day. They'd made good time up to this point, so she didn't feel too bad about giving them an hour. It wasn't like most of her tours usually took as long at this stop as she gave them anyway. But every now and then, someone wanted to try and take on Taman or go swimming in one of the nearby streams, so she'd learned to allow them the time for that.

In the meantime, she had a chance to relax, get some of the area's delicious banana bread, then maybe head to Mala Wayside and either relax for a bit or catch some Pokemon. For the moment, though, she was obligated to stay by the van in case any of her guests needed help finding their way around. So she bought a small loaf of banana bread, then found a bench near the parked van and sat back on it, waiting to see if anyone approached her.

[Maria Harper]

Maria Harper had finished up in the Berry Groves just before a horde of people had entered, prowling about making all sorts of remarks. She didn't really listen to them, but the reason for the sudden rush of business for the Groves hadn't exactly been obvious. It was only after she had departed that it did become obvious, however. It was hard not to notice the large tour bus parked around town. Now that she actually looked about, the swarm of new arrivals were obviously of a tourist sort. Maria sighed at the realization. She never really cared that much for tourists, but whatever. At least none of them were doing something really stupid.

The pink-haired trainer went over her mental checklist as she began to think over what to do next. Eventually she concluded on buying a nice snack and then heading to the Mala Wayside to see if she could hunt down a Swablu. After buying a small loaf of banana bread, Maria went off towards the Wayside, passing by the tour bus as well. She took notice of a dark haired woman sitting on a bench as she passed. And if Maria was one for honesty, then she would admit that the woman was absolutely ridiculously smoking hot. So hot that she didn't realize that she'd been staring for a decent while.

[Egg: 2/10]

[Airi Shigeta]

Airi didn't feel a particularly great need to keep tabs on her guests. Most people that went on her tours were well-behaved anyway, and even then, it was made clear from the start that anyone causing trouble would either be sent back on another van or be prevented from leaving the van at future stops. The one time she had had to actually do that, she'd delegated her Aron, Kaiju, to the task. Solid wall of metal dinosaur as he was, he had been perfect for it. For now, however, there wasn't any trouble, so he was taking a nap in the back of the van. And it left Airi with plenty of opportunity to relax.

It wasn't long after she started in on her banana bread though, that she looked up and caught sight of an unfamiliar girl watching her. She smiled at her for a moment before turning her attention away again. A little later, however, she noticed that the girl was still watching her. Staring, even. Airi would be quick to admit that she did have plenty to stare at, but it still seemed rather unusual. "Excuse me, is there something I can help you with?" she asked, addressing the girl.

[Maria Harper]

Maria jumped slightly as the black haired beauty actually addressed her. Crap, how long had she been staring? Regardless, now she was very self-conscious and even somewhat embarrassed, a slight blush tinting her cheeks. "Ah, um..." Yes, perfect. Now make actual words, her mind berated the trainer. "S-Sorry... You're um, really pretty." A hand rubbed the back of her head. By Arceus, this was so embarrassing. She looked at the bus, anything to get her mind off of the embarrassing subject matter. "So, are you uh, one of the tourists or...?"

Her voice just couldn't get rid of that nervous tint though.

[Egg: 4/10]

[Airi Shigeta]

A slight jump as Airi responded. Had the girl not noticed that she was staring? Or that she'd been doing so for so long? Evidently not, as she was now stammering and having trouble forming a response. But she did after a moment, saying that Airi was pretty. "Really? Why thank you," Airi responded gently. As obvious as such a statement probably was, she did still appreciate hearing it. And truth be told, the girl was quite pretty herself, although...how old was she?

As though trying to distract herself from what she'd just said, the girl immediately asked if she was one of the tourists. So, best behavior or not, Airi's guests were still pretty apparent for what they were, then. "Nope. I'm the guide," Airi answered. "I'm actually born and raised in Hapuu Town."

[Maria Harper]

"Oh."

She looked at the woman once more, trying to not stare again as well. Actually, she did have the look of a native to Aina rather than a tourist. But no one could blame Maria for getting distracted by the other woman's beauty. ...Right? Totally right. "I'm from Lani myself. Never really got a chance to go out of the city until recently though." Maria was liking the opportunity though, that much she could admit. "Ah, my name's Maria, by the way. What's your's?" It would be nice to put a name to the pretty face of the other woman.

[Egg: 5/10]

[Airi Shigeta]

A simple 'oh' was the response. Airi wondered what was going through the girl's head. Was she telling herself that that should have been obvious? Or was it disappointment? Or something else entirely? Airi couldn't tell. She wasn't that good at reading people.

The girl mentioned being from Lani City, but that she hadn't been out much before recently, and introduced herself as Maria. If not for the fact that she was still technically native, that almost would have made the girl a tourist herself. She was careful not to badmouth the city as she formulated her response, reflecting back on her encounter with the Team Silversword guy. Although she had no reason to suspect that the girl in front of her was similarly extremist, she had long since learned that she couldn't be too careful. "I'm Airi. It's nice to meet you, Maria," Airi said. "Are you enjoying yourself out here, at least? Lani City still has the tropical atmosphere and oceanfront, but you can't really experience the region's beauty until you leave it."

[Maria Harper]

"Yeah well, dad was always too busy with work."

There was a certain bitterness in her words as she spoke and a depressed sigh followed as she lowered her head slightly. But when Maria looked up once more, there was a grin on her face. To someone like Airi, it no doubt looked as fake as it really was. But to the girl herself, there was no difference. It was how she always smiled. Always with that same pushed down bitterness and depression that her mind railed at her with.

"But yeah, it really has been nice finally getting a chance to really look around my home region proper. I've been able to catch some neat Pokemon too. I was actually just on my way to the wayside to hunt down a Swablu."

[Egg: 6/10]