World Tree MUSH

     Suiren has planned to surprise her new partner with a special treat. She's been to the malasada shop and has a bag of the tasty pastries as well as a few bottles of Moomoo milk. Taking a walk past the outskirts of Hau'oli City, she makes her way over to find a quiet spot on the beach where Professor Kukui's lab is. 

     She pulls a towel out of her backpack to sit on and sets her stuff down, then lets Popplio out of her Pokeball, and smiles broadly, giving the little pinniped Pokemon a gentle hug before reaching into the paper bag and pulling out a malasada for herself and another for Popplio, who happily starts nibbling at it before soon taking bigger bites, giving a happy cry as she clearly likes it, though who wouldn't?

     Out on the beach today is a young woman in her 20s, wearing an orange and black one-piece swimsuit. Her chocolate hair and macchiato skin look well suited to soaking up some rays, and her eyes are protected by a stylish pair of shades. She seems to just be on a walk at the moment, enjoying the sights and sounds as she strolls through the sand.

Soon enough though, she stops next to Suiren and Popplio, lifting her sunglasses to get a better look. "Aww, isn't that just precious? You guys make a great couple of pals." she says with a friendly smile, crouching down to give the seal-like Pokemon a gentle pat on the head.

     Suiren's Popplio is still a little shy around new people after the bullying from Team Skull, and quickly backs away as Celesta approaches, moving next to Suiren. Suiren herself frowns slightly but speaks in a calm, soothing voice while reaching over to gently pat her Popplio. "It's ok Iona, you don't have to be scared, she's friendly." Iona looks up at Celesta, tilts her head a little, and moves a little closer to Celesta. 

    Suiren tears off a piece of malasada and hands it to Celesta, to use as an offering to earn Iona's trust. "Sorry, she's still a little shy around new people. Some really awful people from a group called Team Skull were kicking sand at her when I found her." She admits with a deeper frown. "Maybe if you feed her she'll warm up to you."

     Celesta looks mildly disappointed as the Popplio pulls away, but nods at the explanation and takes Suiren's advice, offering the malasada to Iona with a cheerful grin. "Hey there, it's alright. I just wanna be friends, see? Only good vibes on this beach today." She even gives a little reassuring wink.

"Team Skull, huh? Given that name and the petty bullying, I'd go out on a limb and assume they're just some dumb kids. Their parents are probably too busy working to keep an eye on them." she guesses, while waiting for Iona's response.

     Suiren nods with a sigh. "Many of them were once budding trainers like me, going on the traditional grand trial here in Alola, but at some point, they gave that up and decided causing trouble was much more fun." Iona looks from the piece of malasada, up to Celesta, and back. Suiren gives her another gentle pat on the back, then a soft nudge forward. Iona finally moves closer still and begins to eat from Celesta's hand, giving a happy cry after a moment. 

     Suiren finishes eating the rest of her malasada and takes a sip from one off the bottles of Moomoo milk, offering another to Celesta while also nudging the bag of malasada in her direction if she was hungry. "We've only been together for a couple of days now since I rescued her from those goons. I named her Iona."

     Celesta watches as the Popplio finally chooses to accept her offering, softly rubbing the small creature's round head. "Yeah, any number of things could cause that kind of switch. Could even be as simple as this place being too peaceful. Kids get bored of routine a lot. They want to shake things up, and sometimes that means petty crime." she suggests, taking a malasada and washing it down with some milk.

A moment of appreciation for the tasty treats, and then she continues. "I'm a police officer in my day job. I've dealt with all kinds. I'm glad you guys managed to turn a bad situation into a beautiful new friendship, though." she says with a beaming grin. "My name's Celesta, by the way. Officer Jones when I'm on the job, but I got today off. Nice to meet you, Iona and... I don't think I got your name yet?"

     Suiren blushes a little and laughs. "Here I am introducing my Pokemon before myself, how silly. I'm Suiren, nice to meet you Celesta, that's a pretty name." She comments with a smile. "We have good police officers here, but as I'm sure you know, they can't be everywhere at once, and there are a lot of kids. Sometimes it comes to us other trainers to deal with them, to at least get them to scatter and stop causing trouble." Iona continues to eat the piece of malasada held out by Celesta, and moves a bit closer as the woman rubs her head. Suiren smiles at this, glad to see the ice being broken between them.

     The Popplio soon upgrades from head rubs to ear scritches as Celesta lets out a small giggle. "Oh, don't I know it. We're always short staffed and underequipped back home, but we manage somehow. Seems like some things stay the same between worlds though. Kids picking up the slack when the adults can't cut it." She strokes her hand across Iona's head and down her back in a slow rhythm, smiling warmly. "Though things seem safer here at least. I've heard these little guys- and the not so little ones- are capable of some pretty amazing stuff."

     Iona leans into the ear scritches and Suiren giggles a little. "Ohh, she loves those." She says with a grin, then gives a thoughtful nod at the talk of how similar things were between crime and police between their two worlds, she had to admit it was generally pretty peaceful here. At the mention of Pokemon abilities, she nods. "Yeah, some really can. Iona and I haven't been able to do much training yet, and she's still kindof a baby, as a full size Popplio would be a little bigger. But she could still give you a good pounding with her flippers or a Water Gun attack that could knock you off your feet if you weren't ready for it. Though, she of course wouldn't do so without a good reason."

     "So ear scritches are your weakness, huh? Guess I know how to fight back in a wild Popplio attack~" Celesta says with a small laugh, giving the young Pokemon a long, appraising look. "Hmm... Maybe I should see about getting one of these. I don't know how easily I can get it past the red tape back home, but it sure would level the playing field with some of the crooks we deal with."

A moment later, a very insistent beeping comes from behind her. Reaching back, she pulls out a smartphone from a previously unmentioned fanny pack, swiping the screen and taking a look at whatever message is demanding her attention. Heaving a sigh and standing up, she gives Iona one more pat on the head and says, "Hey, sorry. Looks like my day off suddenly isn't, anymore. I did say we were understaffed, didn't I?" The smile quickly returns though, and she shoots Suiren another wink as she starts to walk away. "Have fun, you guys. I'll catch you on the flip side~"

     Suiren smiles, scooping Iona up into her arms and letting the Popplio drink the rest of her bottle of milk. "Yeah, many of the officers here have Growlith, a fire type canine, though if you are serious, I could try to help you find a Pokemon that is to your liking, there are tons of options, I have a soft spot for water types. Anyway, I'll see you around I guess!" She says with a smile and offers a wave.