Watching Decorations Go Up [open]

[haspokemon]

Characters: Red and anyone else
Date/Time: December 15, late morning
Location: Celadon City fountain plaza
Warnings: None
Summary/Notes: Red is monitoring the decorations outside of Celadon Department Store.

Comments

[flowerangela]

Erika had also been getting her gym decorated for the Holidays. After all, having her gym in one of the busiest cities of the region meant many people would see her gym, and the grass type trainer wanted to leave a lasting impression on the visitors.

While decorating the outside of the gym with flowery decorations, Erika realized she would need to make another trip to the department store (one of the advantages of living in such a huge city. The gym leader made her way for the crowded town square, bringing Bellossom out with her; unlike the rest of her team, who were all wary of the cold, Bellossom's spirits seemed to heighten as the Holiday season approached.

The two made their way through the crowd, Bellossom mesmerized by the decorations they were putting up. The pokemon's eyes sparkled, paying closer attention to the lights than where she was going when- bam! Bellossom bumped in to Red's leg, falling backwards.

[haspokemon]

Red wobbled and flailed his arms to keep balance; his clipboard fell out from his hand yet again. Something had impacted his calf, he looked down to see a Bellossom laying on its back.

"H-hey..." He leaned over the tiny flowering Pokémon. "Are you okay?" Fearing that it could get stepped on from all the foot traffic, he knelt on the ground beside it and put his hand behind its back to lift it up. "Huh? You're Erika's Bellossom, right?"

[flowerangela]

"Bell!" The fall didn't seem to have much an impact on the pokemon, who quickly recovered and nodded cheerfully. Bellossom squirmed out of Red's hold, walking a few steps to pick up the clipboard not much smaller than her, and hand it back to Red, looking chipper.

At that moment, Erika had come back, searching for a her pokemon. "Bellossom! I see you have ran in to a friend. I hope you weren't bothering him" She smiled, bowing politely to the trainer, as Bellossom walked over to the gym leader's side. "What brings you to Celadon City, Red?"

[haspokemon]

Red looked up to see the Celadon City gym leader. He figured they would run into each other, though perhaps not quite literally in the case of her Pokémon. "Hey, Erika." He held up his hand in a quick wave, then used the same arm to take the clipboard back from Bellossom. Red smiled at the little flower Pokémon. "Thanks."

He stood back up to face the lady. "I'm on monitor duty for the set up." He motioned a thumb towards the display. "Looks like they added more stuff this year." Red turned back to look at the work, then back to Erika. "How about you? Shopping?"

[flowerangela]

She turned to watch the workers for a quite moment; they were busy getting the lights set up. "Due to the department store, the city only gets busier during this time of the year. It's nice to see the people in such high spirits."

The gym leader nodded, smiling, "Ah, yes. We are also decorating the gym, and I have come out to buy a few more supplies that we seemed to lack." She crouched down to pick up Bellossom, so that the pokemon would no longer have to fight against the crowd.

[haspokemon]

Red's shoulders relaxed now that Bellossom was safer. (Pikachu was not on his shoulder today because the crowd made both of them nervous.) He tucked his hands back into his pockets. "Yeah. Everyone's caught up in the holidays." He smiled back. "It's nice though."

He wasn't surprised at Erika's answer. He heard that Celadon City gym was second to none in decorating for any holiday using flowers. If the department store had not set up a display, there was plenty to see at the gym. He blinked in realization. "Oh... about your gym. I know someone who really likes flowers. Have you met a girl named Marley?"

/Is late;;; > <

[flowerangela]

Now that Bellossom was back in her trainer's arms, she had all the freedom in the world to stare at the lights and decorations. After staring at the trainer in front of her (because he seemed kind of familiar... maybe it's because of all the visits to the gym), she focused all her attention on the lights being set up.

Erika perhaps put in the most effort when it came to decorating her gym for the holidays. It was nice to spread the holiday cheer around, give a quick cheer-up to the busy shoppers for the holidays. "Marley?" She wondered for a moment, "No, I'm sorry to say I haven't. However, she would always be welcome to visit, if she would like to"

's okee~ (sorry for short response)

[haspokemon]

Red felt a little ashamed to disrupt her observation with his question, but it would be kind of odd to just stand and stare at her quietly in return. He was glad she was open to Marley visiting; it was probably far more interesting and warmer inside Erika's gym. "I'll let her know," he touched the tip of his cap in appreciation as he spoke. "When are you guys done? With decorations, I mean."

[flowerangela]

"Ah, we're trying to get it done by the end of today, however..." she trailed off, chuckling quietly before continuing "I may have a feeling this is unlikely; there is still much to do." In the end however, it was worth the long hours and the hard work. "Oh! How are your holidays?"

[haspokemon]

Red looked in the direction of Erika's gym. He felt the urge to offer his help, but it would be best to get his work done first. The display in the plaza may be going on schedule, but there was a lot of work left for wiring and testing. "Oh. Good luck," he responded as best as he could. "They were good. Mom had a lot going on." Red wasn't sure what face to make; on one hand, he enjoyed helping his mom, on the other, he was exhausted taking care of dinner guests' kids, so he kept his bland look. "Yours going okay? What are you doing for New Years Eve?"

[flowerangela]

Following his gaze, the gym leader also looked in the direction of her gym, making a mental list of all the things she needed to do. "Thank you", she replied, once her attention came back to the conversation, "I hope she is doing well? Christmas is quite a busy time" She would know herself; Erika's past was filled with guests that came and went, and her having to smile and politely respond to everyone. Not that she... resented it, but sometimes, it was good to be away from the crowd, she thought.

"I'm not exactly certain, but I'll perhaps come out to the city square for the celebration... Provided my pokemon are willing" She smiled at her pokemon, who cheerfully chirped back. "And plans for you, Red?"

[haspokemon]

"Oh," he looked around, "I guess they use this square for everything. That sounds good." He had heard from some tougher biker trainers once that they celebrated New Years by 'blowing up the Christmas tree' where they pour gasoline over the leftover tree, attach fireworks, and light it up. He glanced nervously at the large tree in the center of the square and hoped that's not what Erika had planned on doing. Given her love for plants and grass Pokémon, it was very unlikely, but the image was still morbidly interesting.

Changing his thoughts, Red shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "Mom's great. She works herself up for a Christmas dinner then doesn't do much until the new year." He smiled at the familiar routine his mother had. "Uh, for me, the League's gonna set off fireworks at Indigo Plateau, so I'll be there to help. You can see them from Pewter City."

FINALLY. ;; Sorry ;A;

[flowerangela]

"It's where most of the main events are held" she explained, nodding. Having grown up in Celadon, Erika had rarely missed a celebration in the city. It wasn't necessarily a tradition, but more of a habit. After a few years, it almost felt weird to not attend them.

The gym leader chuckled softly, nodding, "It must be quite the dinner." It was then the small pokemon in her arms finally snapped out of the beautiful lights, tugging at the gym leader's sleeves, reminding her of the reason she had set out in the first place. "Oh! Pardon me. It seems that I should be going now" She bowed politely to the trainer in front of her, "Happy holidays, Red!"