Second time's the charm!~

Brilliant orange poured out of the sun and across the horizon. The sky was blood red.The furrowed clouds were every shade from palest pink to deep crimson. Dawn broke over the horizon, the brilliant orange egg yolk sun spilled across the clouds as far as the eye could see. Twilight melted away, majestic sunrise, red orange glow seeping over the horizon as if the light itself was being poured from a molten sun. Powerful rays flood over the landscape lighting every blade of grass, shining from each leaf.

The meadow was a glorious expanse of grass and meadow flowers, grass rustling gently in the breeze. There was a narrow brook flowing through it choked with weeds. Tall water-mint with pale lilac flowers, like dozens of tiny bells were growing at the edge of the brook.

Twilight walked slowly, admiring the magnificent scenario laid out before her. With a twinge of regret, she realized that soon this daybreak would disappear, like a firework. But its glory, etched in her mind, would live on like stars in the night. Her Eevee, Akina walked beside her, letting out occasional squeaks when Twilight walked too slowly.

Vermillion city was visible just over the horizon. Perhaps another few hours of walking. Twilight sat down on a mildewed stone, groaning as her aching feet screamed in protest, her muscles loosening up jarringly. Wondering if she would be able to get her rhythm back, she distractedly reached out a hand to rub Akina's head, who let out a purr and settled contentedly beside Twilight.

Vermilion's industrial-quality lighting shined brightly as the sun began to make its glistening rise into the horizon. Shortly after it seemed to reach its peak, the lights popped out one by one, preserving the energy of the city as not to be wasteful. Few people were on the street since it seemed that the sun was beginning to rise; in fact, most people were likely in their homes, sleeping the rise of morning away. This was not to say that some were awake in their homes though.

One stranger was headed on his way the opposing direction of where Twilight was headed. Finding interest in the trainer who seemed to travel at strange times, he approached the magnificent other. "I see someone like myself who likes travelling early," he spoke, his voice calming as he came to a halt feet away. "Admiring the sunlight as it penetrates the trees and grass? Perhaps the buildings?"

Twilight looked up, slightly startled by the sudden arrival of the man. "Oh, hello. Yes, definitely the sunlight." She said pleasantly. A breeze ruffled up her hair, blowing it into her face. She pushed it aside with a flick of her hand. She was used to it. "Where would you be heading to?" She asked, in an attempt to start conversation while she rested, even though she wasn't too good at socializing.

Akina, who was curled up in a small ball of fur, uncurled and looked up at the man, suspiciously. She wasn't the most trusting Eevee, which was strange because Eevee were usually docile species. Her ear twitched but she remained silent.

The stranger's attention first turned to Akina, seeing the pokemon uncurl and stare at him as though he were the devil. He didn't chuckle or show much of a response, seeing that the pokemon likely wasn't completely tame around strangers. It wasn't until a few moments further that he raised his head and stared back up at Twilight, holding his hand out to her in a kind gesture. "Well, I was just headed out of town for a few days," he told her. "I take a trip every few months; it lasts only for a day. I go out, searching for something special for my beloved... I love her so much that only one of the most elegant pokemon would match her beauty." His words spoke with a like passion for his beloved, the man obviously in love and wanting to make the one he cared for happy.

"Ah?" Twilight stretched out her legs. The dew on the grass was drying up. Time to get a move on. She gratefully took the hand offered to her and stood up, wincing as she did so as her muscles screamed in protest. Akina got to her feet as well and rubbed once against Twilight's leg, turning round in a circle in the process. "...You sound like you really love her, whoever she is." Twilight smiled. "And have you found this elegant pokemon for her?"

"No, I haven't," the stranger told Twilight. "Some guy earlier told me about a pokemon; he said it was around here... I figured I'd look into it as I head out." He smiled lightly at Twilight, setting his hands at his sides. After a few moments of silence, he gave out a deepened breath. "That guy earlier could've been lying... He looked strange, after all..."

Twilight tilted her head, curiosity getting the better of her. "Oh? Which pokemon?" If she happened to come across it, she could always tell this person it's whereabouts. Also, somebody told him about it and looked strange? While Twilight didn't miss too many facts, she could be alarmingly and infuriatingly innocent at times, and so found nothing of the suspicious nature there.

"I didn't really get a name of a species," the stranger told Twilight. "I, more or less, only got a description... The guy said it was a floating flower with a small creature attached to it, but he knew it was a pokemon not native to this region. That makes it all the more wonderful and intriguing." He stepped forward a few feet, turning his head to look at Twilight. "By the way... I'm not sure if it's curiosity in your eye, but that stranger was awfully cautious of his arm... Also, you can tell he's wearing contacts; one wasn't lined up correctly."

Yes, definitely curiosity. The man in front of her mentioned some queer pokemon that she hadn't really seen, or even heard of, which was unusual, considering her origins. But it was, after all, not native to the region. While she had raised pokemon which were not natives, they weren't exactly common either. Flipping back to the topic of the description of the other informant, while the definition intrigued her, she shrugged it off. While she jumped a lot from a thing to another, which can be infuriating if one was talking to her, she was not really concerned about a person's disposition. She knew better than to interfere.

Interfering and helping were two different things. And a little harmless curiosity never hurt anybody. Akina's tail lightly touched Twilight's leg, causing the girl to look down. While the Eevee often didn't understand what people were talking about, she had this unnerving sense of almost knowing and actually comprehending what people spoke of. But that was silly. Akina was yet young, and had quite some stuff of the world to know. In an way, while they were completely different individuals,they were linked by bonds of friendship forged in times of happiness and sorrow, bravery and cowardice. And insatiable curiosity.

The stranger smiled lightly at Twilight for a second time, the difference this instance being that he did not turn his head down to look at her pokemon like she had. "Well... I must be off," he began. "I have a pokemon to search for and battle... Perhaps we'll meet again at some point near. If we do and I've captured the pokemon by that point, perhaps you'd like to take a look at it?" He turned his head away from Twilight at that, looking straight forward as he rushed forward. he was in a slight blitz to locate the floating flower that had been described to him.

"I wonder, sometimes, if people always listen to what their told when it is of interest to their cause," Naga sighed to himself, headed directly towards Twilight. He had his pokemon, an absol named Angel, walking at his side. He was planning to simply pass by the trainer and continue on his way, but his absol was intrigued by the youngling pokemon Twilight owned. The pokemon stopped a few feet away, looking to the pokemon with a kind smile of sorts, Naga stopping beside his pokemon. He looked to Twilight after her pokemon a few moments. "Hello... That's an interesting pokemon you have," he told her, his absol gently learning her head towards Twilight's mini-companion. "I don't think I've seen one like it before."

"Sure~" She called after the man, wishing him success in his quest. Of course, if such a pokemon existed, she would love to see it. Her gaze was following the silhouette moving away, and therefore away from the approaching person. She jumped when she heard a second person speaking to her, something about her Eevee? She whiled around to face the person, male, apparently, by his voice. Turning around, hair flowing faster than she would have liked. "O-oh. Hello." She managed a smile, though surprise was writ large on her face.

She looked down at the Absol, curiously looking at Akina, who was leaning back on her hind legs, paws rooted to the ground, hackles raised but making no sound. She looked slightly terrified of the larger pokemon, but understood that she meant no harm. Nevertheless, her tail was still bushed out to twice it's size, which is very fluffy, considering it's normal size. "Ah, she's an Eevee. Have you never seen one before?" She asked, intrigued. Eevee weren't common, but they could be sighted. It wasn't like they were exceedingly rare.

Naga looked at Twilight when she seemed to jolt around in surprise. "My apologies... I didn't mean to scare you," he told her. He lifted his right arm, covered exactly as the first stranger had told Twilight. He tilted his head to the side a moment and scratched the back of his head, a bit of embarrassment showing on his face for frightening her. When he realized she had asked him a question, he leaned his head up straight again and let his arm fall to his side. "I haven't seen many pokemon," he told her. "You can say that Angel and I haven't really been travelling long. It's a little hard when people are constantly trying to ask you what your hiding."

Angel, meanwhile, realized that she was terrifying Akina, and the pokemon spoke gently to try soothing her. "Sol... Sol absol..." She was trying to communicate she was only interested in the pokemon, meaning no harm to her or her trainer.

Twilight's gaze shifted onto the arm, but after hearing out what he had to see, she had the sense to keep quiet. "No, that's okay. Angel? Is that your Absol?" She smiled down at the white quadruped. A beautifully made, nearly oval face, a deep, hypnotizing blue in color. The top part of the face, covered in white fur, in the shape of a comma, adorned a single blue-black oval and a curving scythe over one side of the head. Eyes the color of jewel red, crimson like rubies were set in the face. Lithe body covered in long, surprisingly soft fur. Angelic. She could see why he had named the Absol Angel.

Akina seemed to slightly relax, and flicked an ear.

Angel smiled lightly at Akina, looking at the pokemon flick her ear. Angel laid down cautiously, giving a second sign that she meant no harm to the pokemon. "Yeah... She's really protective and kind, so I figured the name suited her," Naga told Twilight. It made his thoughts move to his past a moment, his left hand moving as if by instinct over his right arm. "She's the second one who's been that kind to me. She's like a parent." Angel's head lifted a bit at that, staring at her trainer.

For some reason, while the person in front of her hadn't even introduced himself, he found some reason to instinctively protect his arm. Was this the person that first stranger had been talking about? The informant? So he hadn't seen too many pokemon, but he had seen a cute one that looked like a floating flower? Twilight looked closer, attempting to study his eyes. Yes, they did look like he had contacts on. She quickly broke eye contact. Staring was rude, and this person was a couple of years elder to her.

Twilight tilted her head, a smile spreading across her face. "Akina, my Eevee," She spoke, gesturing towards her, "has always been more of a sister to me. Ah, how rude of me. Where are my manners. I haven't introduced myself yet." She cleared her throat and held out her hand. "I'm Twilight." Late realization, after they'd had a nice long chat but better late than never.

Naga noticed that Twilight found an interest in his eyes, and he figured that she knew he was wearing contacts. "My name is Sui," he told her, taking her hand and shaking it formally. "I much prefer to go by my last name though, so call me Naga." After he had shaken Twilight's hand, he scratched his right arm a few moments. "I noticed you looked at my eyes; based on your expression you know that they aren't their natural color." Angel stood up after a few moments, snugging to her trainer's side much like a pet.

Twilight smiled as Sui shook her hand. "Nice to meet you~" As he spoke while scratching his arm, Twilight began to shuffle uneasily. "Um, yeah. A person passed by before who described, technically, your appearance, saying that you told him of a pokemon which looked like a floating flower? He wanted it...and said something about you looking strange..." She began muttering, before realizing what she just said. "Ahh! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to--"

Naga didn't seem offended. In fact, he smiled lightly. "I'd rather be strange than to be grey like most who don't travel or set goals," he told Twilight. "But strange is a good term for it... If you're curious, I could show you what I'm hiding. Perhaps you'd too understand then." Angel was staring at Twilight, having not taken offense by her words either. In fact, the pokemon stepped forward and sat down in front of Twilight, looking up as though asking to be petted on her head.

"Uhm...well, if you really don't mind..." Twilight went back to mumbling. She didn't really like forcing people to do anything, which was the impression she was getting right now. Her eyes flitted to the Absol, who sat in front of her and gazing up. She had grown up around pokemon, and were fairly used to their body language, but some were more vague than others. Doubting if Su-- Naga would mind is she petted his Absol, she tentatively reached out to stroke Angel's head. Akina still looked suspicious, and pressed her small side against Twilight's leg.

Naga didn't seem to show much of a response for Angel pressing at Twilight for a rub on her head; in fact, he had partially expected it. Even though his pokemon was protective, protective or not, some pokemon liked being petted if the surrounding strangers could be trusted. Even if you factored in her protectiveness, Angel had heard her trainer ask about unwrapping his arm, and that was an immediate indicator he was giving a bit of trust to the girl in front of him.

Naga gave Twilight a light nod as he lifted his jacket's sleeve, revealing his arm wrapped in a bandage. "It was a few years or so ago," he began to explain. "I had a really close friend..." He carefully pulled the bandage the cheap cloth accidentally tearing as he freed his arm from its suppressing grip. He was suspecting it would since it always did. "I should afford better wrapping," he thought to himself. After his arm was unwrapped, it was obvious the limb was covered in pale blue scales. The rising sunlight prior seemed to give it a light shine in some spots, Naga tossing the bandage into a nearby trash bin.

He then stepped back over to Twilight, putting his hand on his shoulder, where marks from an operation were apparent. "There was a fire in my home one day... She saved me and rushed me to the hospital. My eyes and arm had been broken and burned." He gently took his contacts out, revealing in addition to it all his tail when he wrapped it around his leg. "She cared so much that she ultimately paid everything for me to survive..."

Rather than flinching at the strange sight, Twilight's eyes widened. She recognized the scales. A Salamence. One of the most stubborn and difficult to control dragons. Dragons were in general a noble race which were difficult to tame. While she didn't catch on that Naga was referring to the Salamence as a friend, she grow rather excited at the limb. "Attaching pokemon limbs onto a human...I didn't think it was possible..." She breathed, hardly able to tear her eyes away from the sight. It was almost ethereal. Atleast, Twilight, as an individual, found it more than interesting or intriguing. She found it beautiful. Yeah, she's weird like that.

Akina, on the other hand, reacted poles apart. Immediately, alarmed by the sudden, queer appearance of Naga, bristled and bared her small but sharp fangs, fur fluffed out again. She let out a hiss and stood protectively beside Twilight, attempting to look intimidating. "Akina! Hush~" Twilight moaned in a complaining tone. The Eevee looked up defiantly but managed to stay quiet without nipping her on the leg. Twilight cocked her head again, keeping silent to let Naga go on. She obviously wanted a furthur explanation.

Naga noticed Akina's reaction and said nothing of it. He figured that the pokemon was caught by surprise, the adult lifting his eyes to show Twilight their dull red and blue colors. "She somehow urged the operators to give me one of her legs for an arm... After she passed, they gave me her eyes and tail..." He looked down towards the tail before back up moments later. "It's grown a lot since then... I could hardly move it, but now it's like second-nature to me. It's nearly four feet you know, and a hard thing to conceal... Which is why I just try to hide my arm and eyes alone."

"Your...she...your friend was a Salamence?" Twilight asked, much taken aback. She hadn't figured as much when he was speaking of being rescued from the fire. But she had to be put down apparently. Twilight lowered her eyes, but not before noticing the different coloured eyes. "Oh...I'm sorry..." She said softly. Suddenly, she began feeling a lot more uncomfortable around Naga. It wasn't because of his appearance or anything. She welcomed his appearance, and his disposition wasn't bad either. So what was it that made her fidget? She prodded the ground with the toe of her shoe, eyes still riveted on the ground, apparently at a loss for words.

Even the small brown figure seemed repentant for her flare. She slowly stepped towards Naga, then in one swift motion, she bounded forward, neatly ran past his leg, turning a sharp U-turn to brush softly past his leg and skid to a halt beside Twilight, then turning away from the company, back towards them, tail flicking. Twilight managed a smile. Akina didn't hand out brushes lightly.

"No need to apologize," Naga told Twilight, noticing her reaction to what he had told her. He placed his contacts back into his eyes before lowering his jacket's sleeve over his arm. His hand was still exposed, but it was minimal in comparison to the large limb. He sighed lightly before he looked down, noticing Akina brushing up against his leg a time or two before returning to her trainer. "No one could've changed it. So don't feel bad. I know my salamence is in a better place." He looked up to Twilight then. "I've always wondered about the tail though; it wasn't crucial to my survival, but still." He waved his tail up and into his hands. "What does a tail serve as? A weapon? An attraction?" Wanting to take Twilight's mind off of the tale, he had introduced the question before holding his arms out a bit with the tail in them. "If you want, you can feel the tail; perhaps it might give you an idea and an answer for me."

Twilight's eyes rounded again. She shuffled forward and poked the tail, not so much bothered by the tail itself than the proximity to Naga. She hadn't met too many people in her life, what with her house being tucked away in a remote part of a remote forest of a remote town. It was definitely a Salamence tail. Long and powerful, it was muscular, and Twilight had always imagined it as a flight stabilizer for Salamences. It could be used as a weapon, it would probably deal critical damage if done right under the right circumstances. "Mm. Weapon. It's a flight stabilizer for a Salamence, but seeing that you're not avian..." She muttered, still staring at the scaly tail. It could also give better balance if he would be jumping around agilely or something that could throw him off balance. Maybe extra limb?