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Running into his master had been an unexpected pleasure, and the sudden encounter had become an invaluable opportunity when the skilled swordsman and trainer had offered to coach Luke in his own training. Van's regimen had been tough, but it left the younger swordsman with a much clearer idea of how to become stronger - an especially important piece of knowledge now that his team had doubled in size. The addition of the aloof, almost mischievous Umbreon Tenebrae and the gentle-spirited Pidgeot Leste had increased Luke's firepower, but it also increased his responsibilities, and the red-haired noble spent much of his spare time following up on Van's lessons and working to better coordinate them. If they intended to stand against Team Rocket, they couldn't afford to slack off. Besides, Luke had become quite accustomed to life in Camphoreon, and the city failed to offer the same entertainment and wonder if had before.

A thicker coat replaced the boy's usual jacket in lieu of the frigid weather, and he oversaw Mieu and Tartarus as the former dowsed the latter in an Ember, the latter withstanding it with a well-timed Iron Defense. Tenebrae watched pensively from Luke's side, not exactly impressed but not so bored as to wander off - and not exactly looking forward to his turn against the extravagantly-colored Pidgeot. The dark type turned his nose to the sky where Leste wheeled in broad circles and gave a slight snort. Such a lazy and carefree bird. But Lord Luke didn't seem to care, and Tenebrae couldn't call the young man's attention to it if he wanted to. Inconvenient.

It wasn't as though watching Mieu and Tartarus was boring or anything, but Leste simply didn't have the same patience as her Umbreon companion. Sitting in one place and watching the other two practice the same routines over and over and over was simply not within the Pidgeot's abilities. Instead, she surveyed the horizon as it panned before her. She observed the bordering streets and sidewalks and the individuals that traveled along them. One caught her attention, even amidst pedestrian traffic that appeared to her almost uniform. For this one, this single one, looked to be quite underdressed. She had noted when her human started wearing much heavier layers than normal - it had been around the same time the wind started biting just a bit more noticeably.

Gradually Leste drifted in the direction of the blonde boy and whatever that was in his arms until she was sailing overhead of him. She could almost hear the words he was saying if she listened closely enough. Aaaaalmooost... Without realizing it herself, Leste decreased her altitude steadily until she was trailing almost directly behind the boy. She was curious now. Who was this child, and where was he headed, especially dressed like that in weather like this?

A ways away, Tenebrae watched the bird with a weary sigh. There went Leste, doing things on her own again. He'd keep an eye on her for now, he decided, but wouldn't inform their mutual trainer. The Pidgeot deserved to get into a little trouble once again.

What a rude man! Leste considered giving that stingy shopkeeper a good old Whirlwind. Let him try and as much as give away one of his precious hot dogs once they'd all been scattered on the ground!

Fortunately Leste was not anywhere near as spiteful in action as she was in thought, and she simply glared at the man as her shadow fell over him, following the interesting boy as he went on his way. He didn't look very happy, the poor thing. She wheeled around a little longer, watching to see what he would do next. He took a seat. It didn't seem like he planned to go anywhere else any time soon... and it didn't seem that he was in the best of moods. Leste continued to watch until she noticed she had been spotted, oh no!-- Well, she wasn't really trying to remain hidden or anything. And she wasn't terribly stealthy to begin with. Oh well.

The Pidgeot dropped out of the sky and landed in front of the bench and its occupant, tilting her head with a quiet "dgeo." What's wrong, boy? Aren't you cold? Did you want one of those good-smelling things? Has something hurt you somehow?

Tenebrae had noted as Leste moved further and further away, and he had also noted that Lord Luke had completely failed to note it. What a troublesome pair, those two. The Umbreon let out a short bark to attract his trainer's attention, succeeding in drawing it and directing it to the departing form of the Pidgeot.

"Wha-- Hey, Leste!" Mieu and Tartarus ceased at their human's words, watching as the scene unfolded. The redheaded boy began to move after his Pidgeot, "Where do you think you're going? Come on!"

Leste blinked in surprise and raised her wings slightly, unsure of how to deal with the sudden change in disposition. Hmm. Maybe he'd been frightened by something; he sort of had that look on his face, if only mildly and only briefly. The Pidgeot could only marvel at how incredibly different this human was from her own even though they were the same gender, looked close in age, and even had similarly colored eyes. Another coo as she tucked her wings back down more comfortably: Are you all right, boy? Perhaps he wouldn't understand her speech, but she could at least convey intent.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Less gentle and concerned was the voice of one Luke fon Fabre as he approached the strange scene, his head filling with memories of the suspicious man who'd tried to buy Mieu and the kid with the same face as his that had stolen Vahy'n. Was this another thief, targeting his Pidgeot? He wouldn't let him get away with that; he'd been training for just this sort of situation!

Tenebrae, with a rough idea of what was going through his trainer's head and of what was actually happening with Leste and the stranger, trotted along beside the boy with an expression of subdued amusement. How interesting. Just how would they resolve this little misunderstanding?

Leste recognized her trainer's voice, but she was more interested in the other boy's reaction as he reeled away. So jumpy, boy. What's the matter? Master hasn't even got his sword with him today. Or has he...? She looked toward the redhead to check. Ah yes, so he has. Another thing he had was a particularly displeased expression on his face. And Tenebrae's own features didn't make it look as though the dark-type planned the help the situation at all.

"'Sorry'?" Luke repeated as Mieu and Tartarus finally caught up after having been unceremoniously left behind. "So, what? You were trying to steal her?" The young noble didn't seem to as much as notice the squishy-looking ball of Igglybuff that tried to come between the two boys. "I'm onto you! You're not getting away with anyone's pokemon!" Perhaps he was a bit too eager to challenge Team Rocket, for his eyes glinted dangerously at the challenge he perceived.

[My, my,] the Umbreon murmured with a slight laugh. [What sort of thief would confess under such a weak accusation? Not a very good one, I dare say.] He leveled a mischievous smirk at the blonde boy, [In such activities, one had ought to wait for the cover of darkness to come to one's aid, don't you agree?] Mieu rolled his eyes as he appeared alongside his fellow eeveelution. Hopefully the little normal-type wouldn't indulge Tenebrae's bravado or else they'd be stuck there all day listening to him lecture.

"Hell if I know! Why would anyone?!" Luke shouted, as if he'd been trying to figure out the answer to that question for a long time. He recalled a conversation with a Rocket girl - way too proud for someone who was involved in what she was involved in - about how she didn't have the money to buy pokemon herself or even for the pokeballs to catch them, so she stole them. That always sounded amazingly stupid to him. Who had the money to feed a pokemon but not the money to get a pokeball to catch their own? If it was a question of the strength of the pokemon in question, wasn't it easier to train them oneself? Maybe not easy, per se, but at least they'd listen to orders properly.

[Oh?] Tenebrae replied coolly, [When did I say that he was?] His smirk remained in place, disturbed only when Mieu chose to intervene. Such a wet blanket, that Flareon. Odd, given his elemental type.

[I'm sorry, I'm sorry!] the teal-furred fire-type interrupted, cutting off the Umberon before he could continue. [Strangers have been a little dangerous lately, so Master is just worried about Leste! He doesn't mean any harm.]

"If you're not stealing her," Luke said, "then what are you apologizing for?!" This from the boy who rarely apologized seriously even when he recognized that he was at fault for something. He had never dealt with this sort of personality before, and the idea that someone would apologize for nothing was far from his thoughts. "Were you planning to steal her? Did you hurt her or something? What?"

Leste raised a wing protectively in front of the troubled boy, but her action was met with admonition, "You can't just trust people for no reason, Leste! Rosie just trusted someone, and look what happened!" The redhead's anger subsided to a smoldering scorn, sobered by the memory of the contest fiasco. It was just too easy for Team Rocket to get ahold of pokemon that weren't theirs, even without them happily jumping into their arms.

It wasn't as though Luke exactly believed this kid was a thief anymore, but his timid, fearful responses were somehow offensive to the red-haired boy. "Then don't be all jumpy and terrified!" his tone was less of a shout now, but it was still undeniably firm. "If you didn't do anything wrong then what have you got to be afraid of anyway? Don't go apologizing for stuff you didn't go or you'll get involved in all kinds of misunderstandings." Leste's slightly agitated feathers relaxed into a smoother state on seeing that her master seemed to be turning his volume down.

[I know, I know, sorry!] Mieu replied to the puffball thing, ignoring Tenebrae as well in spite of the Umbreon's indignation of being ignored and muttered 'how rude.' [Master's kind of high strung because he's been getting ready to fight the bad guys! Your master doesn't seem like a bad guy, though...] Luke cast a brief glance at the Flareon's quiet "fieuuu" before returning his attention to the other human. He couldn't understand Mieu if he wanted to anyway.

The boy's confession drew a raised eyebrow. That was a weird hobby, going around and hugging random pokemon. But, combined with the rest of his demeanor, Luke had a surprisingly easy time believing it. Leste seemed insistent on vouching for him as well, despite knowing the danger that prowled Camphoreon. He was silent for a while, staring with a gaze that fell short of a glare, and then, "Well, whatever." He suddenly stumbled aside from a sharp shove to his legs.

[Now, now, Lord Luke. Don't you owe a little more than that?] Tenebrae stared up with a bemused expression, eliciting a grumble from his trainer. Perhaps the human couldn't understand his words, but the withering stare was a little hard to ignore.

"Ugh... Sorry for startling you, or yelling or something, I guess..." It was a bit overtly reluctant for an apology, but it was more than he usually offered.

"Are you apologizing for apologizing?" That was just weird. Luke tried to think of what else the kid could be apologizing for, but he came up with nothing. If anything, Luke should have been the one apologizing - not that he would admit nor act on that fact. "If you just throw that word around like that, people aren't gonna take you seriously when you mean it," he said, his tone only lightly scolding. It wasn't really his business how often the kid apologized or what for, but he was going to get annoyed if he kept having to listen to it.

Mieu nodded, [Yes... One of Master's friends lost her special pokemon to the bad guys, so Master takes the matter very seriously.] Possibly too seriously, his coos implied. And it certainly wasn't too much of a stretch to believe that implication, looking at the way Luke responded to someone simply hugging Leste.

The noble didn't catch his company's gaze as it wandered to the pokemon at his side, but the reaction to the winter breeze did not go similarly unnoticed. "Why are you standing out here in the cold anyway?" he said roughly, his expression aloof in feigned uncaring. "At least wear a jacket or something. I'm getting cold just looking at you."

Tenebrae smiled slightly and wryly. There was that interesting quality: his ability to care without caring. Or that's what the human thought, at least. Even a pokemon - though the Umbreon would have to admit that he was a tier above the average pokemon in terms of perception and intellect - could see through that thin visage.