Welcome to Gaia! ::

After a brief bit of discussion, Cera and Monique would find themselves back on Route 111, with some precaution to make sure the coast was clear once they were back at the start of the secret pathway that got them inside last night. Despite everything that happened the between SWIPE and Teams Aqua and Magma, the route was surprisingly quiet by this time. The Mew found herself looking at the southern part of the route, leading off towards Mauville. Even though it was too far to tell, she had a feeling going there was out even if they wanted to take that kind of risk.

The Sharpedo following her out would look around, seeing no sign of the Aqua grunt he called his trainer. She and that woman were right, he was going to be stuck with them for now. He'd look at Cera despite her turning away, looking towards the north and adjusting the backpack added to her transformation.

"Think we're good, I don't see anyone yet." Lamenting that she couldn't really sense how close any agents really were, she'd quickly motion Monique to join her outside.

As the two got out and started walking, Cera hadn't thought much about further throwing anyone off their trail. But if they were looking the part of a couple of hikers that might've picked a somewhat poor time to be doing anything of the sort, the conversation would be a good way to form an alibi... a brief falter aside, she'd find her footing in the conversation pretty quickly. If anyone was around to care about it, with a cursory glance revealing it wasn't too likely, she assumed it'd just come off as nervousness from a first-timer or something.

"From what you were saying about the ones just on Ula'ula..." She said, leaning a little into that perceived nervousness. "You said Mount Lanikila was especially rough, right?"

Getting to the main junction, her voice would be low as her gaze would turn westward towards the other path, into Mount Chimney. "So there's a couple of ways in... most go to the base of the mountain and just use the cable car there, and down the Jagged Pass. There's also the ledges around the outskirts, though they're pretty rough to climb up. We don't want the desert, that'll take us to Fallarbor Town instead. And get sand everywhere."

Throughout all of this, the Sharpedo was still following, generating water to keep himself propelled. He made a point to keep an eye on both of them, as if looking at a pair of witches practicing their craft. A piercing stare could be felt from him, his guard up with the pair. He'd hoped he'd see some sign of his trainer, that maybe he'd gotten away and laid low, but to no avail.

"That'd... probably be our best bet. Don't know how many'll be patrolling around the mountain itself, there's a lot of foot traffic there. We could try to climb the ledges ourselves, but..." Much as they looked the part, any sort of gear on them was about as real as their ability to hike and climb mountains. "We don't have the time to go falling about."

A shiver went across Cera too, thinking about how cold it'd be up that mountain in Alola rather than the process of attempting a climb.

Up to now, Cera realized she hadn't exactly remembered what a Wyrdeer properly was. Only that that they were the sort of Pokemon you'd see around Sinnoh's mountains, but that was the extent of her personal knowledge. Today would certainly be a surprise even as the Mew's second thoughts had her think about asking just what she'd agreed to, seeing the majestic, psychic deer come out and dwarf both her and Monique with their antlers alone. In the moment, she picked up some familiarity with their appearance too as she was pulled up onto their back. "Connected to.... Stantler, maybe?" She found herself asking only a second later.

She'd learn she wasn't immune to the illusions one bit, the energies at play scrambling her perception. She knew what she was in- on wasn't any sort of vehicle. She knew there was energy at play, though she couldn't sense it. Her eyes, saw the Wyrdeer's features melt into an ATV that was ready to reveal that ledges were , in fact, a potential terrain. Her mind felt fur become some sort of fake leather business, her ears heard a motor that she knew didn't actually exist but she was so certain that it did that she had to actively fight to keep her mind from trying to make sense of it.

Monique would see Cera go silent as she tried to get some semblance of composure back while Kia made their way up the ledges. The generally low morning traffic meant there weren't too many to witness the unusual feat, but there was a hiker on the other side- a real one- that found himself doing a double take as he watched two women on an ATV just... drive up the ledges. They'd be already going off towards Lavaridge almost as quickly, leaving him to blink a few times and rub the back of his head as if he'd imagined the whole thing.

"Should've grabbed that can of coffee after all..." He mumbled to himself, contemplating if jumping down the ledges were a good idea after all.

"I... don't think I was ready for the illusion," Cera remarked after a bit, seeing Lavaridge closing in. She didn't dare move for fear of accidentally falling, or in case she somehow broke the illusion by falling through or something.

The lights were still on, but Cera hadn't quite made it home yet. Please leave a message after the tone.

Wyrrrrr.

Alongside Monique's ushering her off, Kia's shift back to the Wyrdeer they actually were would snap her back to reality. Right, she was riding a Wyrdeer. Not an ATV. With it came a cursory look at the town, then at Monique as she put a hand to her head and shook it for a second. "I... right, thanks," she remarked, taking a breath before her composure fully returned. "I've..." She was trying to think on the last time she'd actually been to Lavaridge, but in hindsight, she didn't have to. In the name of convenience while maintaining a status quo of keeping Pokemon Centers and Marts separate, the Mart next door meant they had the bulk of their supplies handled. The part that involved finding them, that is, not so much acquiring them.

Though the two would only see the back of it, Cera did remember the town was also known for a shop specializing in herbs... "It's been a while since I've been myself, but... there's the mart right there," she spoke up, finding more of her voice as she motioned towards the blue-roofed building close to the Pokemon Center. "That'd handle most of the general supplies. Food, some medicines, enough for us to get by for a bit. And I forget if it's over there, but..." She'd look towards the other building. "This town's also got a family that specializes in herbs. They're a little cheaper and pretty effective, but they all have this bitter medicinal taste," she continued, making a face as she thought about the taste. "And we don't have any money anyway. So we're gonna have to get them another way, and if we can hit up both places, we'll have a better chance of making it out with something- er."

She sighed to herself, unsure if she should chastise herself for how fast the gears turned in her mind. "Sorry. Not exactly the first time I've been part of a plan like this. Gotta eat to live, right?" Nervous chuckle aside, she nodded to herself. "Anyways, I think I remember where the herb shop is. If you'll go the mart, we can both grab what we can. Act casual, until you're ready to bolt. Don't overdo it, we still need to travel light enough to escape. Ready?"

While Monique was going towards and perusing the Mart, Cera would mak her way a little deeper into the town. She'd be greeted with the dinging of a bell as she came in, the rustic atmosphere hitting all at once. Though the inside was small, the few shelves within had several bags of ground herbs and jars of herbal roots lining them, no doubt a product of the fenced-off garden she wrapped around on her way inside. She did her best to hide her disdain at them as she was greeted by a woman at the counter, the couple of people doing a morning trip taking a brief moment to look at the apparent customer before resuming their business.

Whether she wanted it or not, there were two bitter pills for her to swallow today, and neither of them were doses of Energy Powder. She felt bad about what she'd have to do, resorting to being little more than a street rat to a local family that certainly deserved better than some Mew transformed to deceive them and swipe their wares. With a Sharpedo that wasn't hers either, staying closer to the door after the wary looks given to him. She wasn't sure if she had a clean way of getting out either, what with the close quarters and the counter being in perfect view of the door. She'd be caught in an instant. But she had nothing to offer and no money to pay with, and there'd be no playing on emotions when she didn't know them in the first place. Maybe if they knew what she actually was...

No.

She couldn't afford that. Her hesitation would be picked up by the Sharpedo after a while, giving an aggravated grunt. This was the Pokemon that his trainer was so obsessed over slipping away? This... thing that was hemming and hawing over making a few people upset? His trainer did that all the time! Or maybe it was just who he was with that was upset so much...

Cera would lean in after a bit, trying to carefully wrap her arms around as many of the bags of various herbal powders as she could, and a couple of jars of roots and less crushed herbs. Enough to be of use for a while, and much as she could've tried grabbing a few more with some psychic help, she'd just blow her cover doing that. She looked around nervously, only raising more suspicion with the woman nearby.

"Miss, can I help you?"

"Er!" At that moment, Cera froze and didn't move a muscle. Her big game of knowing what needed to be done was faltering the whole time. She wanted to just put the stuff back and hope Monique at least managed something. "N-no, I'm-"

Fed up with this charade he was watching, Sharpedo gave a defiant huff as he rammed right into the shelf Cera was at, his Aqua Jet sending it tilting over before going towards the shelf behind it. And then the next one, as an overly expensive, herbal domino that made anyone else nearby run for safety lest they end up underneath them. "What are you doing!?" She asked, arms full of herbs and the owner panicking at what she just witnessed. "I'm so sorry, I..."

Before she could apologize and grovel further, Sharpedo would just nudge her. There was a distraction. The people were worried about their safety. GO and finish committing the crime already. "R...right."

Quickly turning around to try and conceal what she could, Cera would quickly, awkwardly walk back outside with Sharpedo already doing the same. "Miss, what are- MISS!"

This only made Cera's walk turn into a run, rushing back to the town's outskirts and hoping she'd meet with Monique sooner rather than later.
Thankfully, she would. And apparently, she'd been waiting a bit too. "Right, sorry, I got the stuff, we need to go!" She said in a hurried tone. She didn't seem to be chased quite yet, but it would've been hard not to hear the commotion just a moment earlier.