Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Fair enough," Cody nodded. He started thinking about decorating his own room, but he didn't know exactly how long everyone was even going to be there. It's not like they were given any kind of job security. If at any point one member wasn't able to keep up, it would be the axe, so he decided not to get too comfortable until he knew what he was up against. "If you'd like some company, I'd be glad to get out and stretch my legs a little." He looked down to see Poochy rearranging his position in Cody's lap. "Napping, huh? Is he gonna sleep tonight?" the boy responded in regards to Abi's comment about Squirtle.

"I don't think anyone would mind if we stepped out for a minute," Cody replied, pulling a pokeball for Poochy from his belt. Manuvering around the sleeping pokemon on his lap proved to be more difficult than he had originally anticipated, as his Poochyena slept like a rock. He looked down at the pokemon and laughed, commenting on his sleeping habits. "This guy will sleep the minute he gets comfortable, especially if he's on my lap. The funniest part is that you can practically drop him on his head and he won't wake up. Don't ask how I know that."

"In my defense, it was an accident," he joked, not sure if he was coming off the right way. "What's important is that he's all better now!" Cody ran his fingers through the fur on top of Poochy's head, forcing it to stick up momentarily before succumbing to the force of gravity and slowly returning to its natural state. "Anyway," he started, returning his Dark type to the pokeball he held in his hand. "Ready to go?" The boy stood up and headed for the door, expecting Abigail to follow. "They should still be open, right?"

The night air was brisk against Cody's face and forearms as he forced open the heavy steel door that separated the outside world from the secret base. He held the door open as he waited for Abigail to follow, and allowed it to slam behind them as she stepped through the threshold into the night. "So, tell me about yourself," he started, just trying to break the ice. He never was very good at it, but starting with a question certainly beat the polar bear joke. He used that one a little too often. The boy looked up at the night sky and got lost in the beauty of the stars as the duo strolled through the sand. He let his pokemon out one by one and watched them frolic happily along the beach. Axew especially loved playing in the shallow water, and Cody laughed as the baby dragon sprinted toward the dunes as the tiny waves broke along the shore. Sparks and Poochy walked toe in toe next to their trainer, occasionally at one another, up at him, back to one another, and over to Axew. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, which was certainly a change of pace from the stressful environment Archie had created over the past couple days.

"Green, huh?" Cody chuckled, looking over at Abigail in disbelief. "And yet you join a team who dresses in white, black, and blue? Maybe you really aren't in the right place," he teased, giving her a playful nudge with his elbow. "Since we're going one at a time, I'm from Fortree and one of my best friends is Winona. Well, she's more like family, but you get what I mean, right?" He thought back to his makeshift mother - the person who pretty much raised him from a toddler. She had taught him how to survive in their bug-infested treetop city and how to raise a pokemon. He had her picture in his wallet, and he would never forget the day he left home.

Cody noticed her frown as he joked with her. "Buck up, camper," he smiled. "You'll do fine. I'm sure." He was surprised to hear that she had been a coordinator, but hearing that she was from Hearthome, it surprised him a little less. Cody had heard a lot about the city and, being a lover of flashy performances, had always wanted to take a visit. Maybe one day. "So, riddle me this," he started. "You say you were a coordinator 'back in the day', however you admit to needing a little bit of work with Squirtle in obedience. How did that work out?"

Cody chuckled at her response. "I can certainly see that," he said, playfully sticking his tongue out at the turtle pokemon. Upon hearing her question, though, he had to look away. Painful memories of the Team Rocket raid on his hometown flooded his mind. All of his pokemon and the majority of his belongings were swept away right before his eyes. "I started learning a little about battling when I was younger, but mainly borrowed others' pokemon to practice with," he lied. "Being young and using pokemon who didn't respect me as a trainer at all; you can probably guess how well that went, but I powered through and ended up here. All in all, though, I'm pretty decent. What about you?"