Welcome to Gaia! ::

Before leaving for the Kodo region Koi had sent a brief and cryptically vague message to Mau requesting they meet at the pier in Camphoreon City. Ok, it was more of a challenge than polite request. Koi was hopeful it was enough to lure his colleague to the docks. He had recently been ordered to relocate to the region and this scientist was one of the few rockets he knew personally in this unfamiliar region. There were countless backup plans if this didn't work. However he was confident in this current ploy.

The nondescript cargo ship Koi had tagged along on to Camphoreon docked mid morning. When the choice was possible Koi preferred travel by boat. The tourists and travelers on the major transportation focused boats were too troublesome. They were filled with loud annoying people everywhere and it was a hassle to keep up the nice guy act for that long. Despite being in street clothes Koi was not good at staying incognito. Subtlety and blending into a crowd were not any of Koi's strong points. The less interacting with the general public the better. Bribing a commercial vessel to allow him to travel as a stand in crew member was preferable. It provided him with safe passage to his destination and an excuse to be a lout (like lacking an excuse would stop him). It helped that he had experience on the sea and could pull his own weight.

It was almost noon by the time the crew was done unloading cargo. Now that his end of the deal was complete Koi wandered off to get a feel for the place. The downtown area in the distance looked to be a decent size. If Mau wussed out Koi planned to spend some time in Camphoreon before seeking out the base. It had been raining steadily all morning. The dark earthen colored duster Koi had been wearing was an adequate source of protection from the adverse weather. He effortlessly ignored it. A little water wasn't going to phase him. He walked along the pier observing the activity. There were a lot of people around busy with their tasks. On a less busy stretch he stopped to lean against one of the railings watching the Wingull flit about aimlessly. He was starting to regret not including a specific time in the message... An unknown amount of time passed as Koi intently watched the waves and birds.

Either too much time had passed or Koi was enjoying watching the birds far too much. Whatever the case was this left him oblivious to the man walking up to him. The force of the strike was the only thing that had made it painfully clear that he was no longer alone (can one really be considered alone if surrounded by Wingull?). He was grateful that this little greeting had not knocked his glasses into the water.

"What the-" Koi protested as he momentarily clutched at the back of his head. As he turned to get a better look at his attacker Koi stopped mid sentence. He regained his composure after seeing who this thug was. "Mau?" Koi listened to his scolding waiting his turn to speak. He felt it was more-so his place to be scolding his peer since when was it ok to physically attack an ally? However the point of this outing was to get help from the guy. This meant he had to try his best to make nice.

"The message did its job." Koi took the corndog but did not start eating it yet. "Ah, y'know thought it would be a good time for a vacation. Get some shopping done and see the sights..." There were a lot of people working down a ways on the dock. It was not a safe place to be having an honest conversation about his intent. "A challenge was a good cover for why the message was sent if someone other than you was to somehow get it."

Koi ate the offered food while listening to Mau. Good. Everything was going according to his plan. Koi was pleased that Mau had called his bluff. Battles were never his forte and his inexperienced little Aron would not have lasted more than a few minutes. And the other pokeball he happened to have could not be safely opened while still so close to where he had found it. "The voyage went well. The seas were fairly calm." The way he answered about the trip rang with mild disappointment. Koi casually took off his glasses for a moment shaking some of the water off of them. The rogue droplets were an irritant now that he had someone he had to be able to focus on. "Lately they have been fighting with each other... Constantly." He returns the glasses to their perch and carefully adjusts them until satisfied with their placement. "It is honestly nice to be away from the house for a change."

When Koi noticed Mau tossing his corndog stick he tossed his into the trash can as the Raticate ran by. "It would be nice to have a tour from a local. Now I won't have to worry about getting lost."

Koi glanced out at the Wingull again as he picked up his bag. It hadn't been that long of a voyage and he was almost sad to travel inland already. "Being out at sea again is nice but the food and company tend to be lousy. It is nice to be on dry land again." He paused thinking about how long ago he had eaten and how much corndogs could be considered food. "Hey, we should look into getting some real food."

As Mau gestured with his good arm Koi could not help but visually inspect the arm in the sling. How had that happened? Despite being curious about it he held his tongue. "How about I pay you once the tour is over." He was not entirely sure what Mau would want as a payment. Enough time had passed that Koi didn't know if he could trust Mau not to abandon him somewhere in the middle of nowhere. There was no way he would pay a toll to be ditched. Koi watched Mau wondering if he actually was going to play tour guide or not. "Shall we get going?"

"If I'm buying then let's make it something cheap." He didn't mention it but Koi also intended to find a place with seating indoors where they could have some privacy compared to going to a dinky little street side food vendor where he assumed the corndogs came from. As the one paying he carried some degree of veto power on their decision.

"Do you know of any good places in the area?" Koi was not concerned that Mau would take them somewhere horrible. If he remembered correctly his old comrade was pickier than he was. His own standards for food were fairly low. Food was food and it was better to have some than none.