avalar | visual;

[The face that comes into focus on the orb is that of a teenage girl with brown eyes, matching hair, and a really big hat. You probably haven't seen her before, but she doesn't seem like a new arrival — she is quite dry, for one thing, and in the place an expression of panic or confusion is a casual grin. She waves cheerfully in greeting.]

Hey, everyone! Lovely weather today, huh? [She asks, as if there's ever not lovely weather in the Summer Forest.] I've been exploring a bit, and I've gotta say, this doesn't seem like a bad place at all! I could definitely get used to it. [It's not like she had a whole lot left to aspire to back home anyway.] Before I talk all your ears off, though, that brings me to my question! I've been wondering...

[She leans back, holding her arms behind her head, still smiling as if she hasn't a care in the world.]

What do you guys do for fun around here?

[Yeah, that's it. Really, she's used to just training with her Pokémon whenever she's got time to spare. ~~That or throwing away her hard-earned money at the Game Corner, but we don't talk about that.~~]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah. As Lyra probably told you, she's been up to challenge me about twenty times now. [He chuckles.] She's persistent.

Sinnoh, huh? Could be the case. That's a pretty long way to travel... did they come specifically to challenge you or...?

Hmm, were they one of those? [He taps a finger against the side of his cheek.] I had people like that, some just came to test out the mountain. You get the odd person who gets lost trying to climb it; I got used to looking out for those kinds of people.

[His eyes lowered during that, but he looks again to Red, smiling.] I liked their Pokémon. You ever get any trainers that from way? It's exciting whenever seeing a new Pokémon you don't know, you can't just go off what you know. [His arm begins making motions at that point.] It's great.

Yeah, that's happened to me, too. Some of them hang out for a while before leaving, which is nice.

[He grins.] I don't think I've had any from Sinnoh yet, but I've had a couple pop in from Hoenn--they spent a lot of time complaining about the cold. [He snorts.]

[He snorts right back.] What do they expect on a snow mountain, right?

Some of them who make it to me don't even get to battling. I tell them to rest up with me for the night, but then they change their minds about challenging me the next day. I like the company though, you hear a lot of good stories.

[He pauses though, eyes gazing off with a smile on his face that's a... little tender.] Actually, I hoped to see a familiar face once or twice.

[You know who.]

Well, I guess it's because Hoenn's so hot, apparently.

That so? Then again, that's happened a couple times to me. Although visitors tend to be few and far between, so...

[He nods.] Yeah.

You ever thought about travelling? I sometimes did when I got the company, but... [He looks away dismissively, clearly his heart not completely into the thought. A guy not yet ready to leave that snowy mountain.

Not voluntarily, anyway.]

They are. They have it set up there that you need permission to climb it too? I mean, it's good they do. You don't want any hot-headed types to get hurt.

[He's a little hesitant, but curiosity gets the best of him.] ...Did he?

I've considered it. Never really acted much on it though.

Yeah, they made it that way on my end, too.

[... at the question, Red shakes his head sadly.]

[There's a silent moment, Red leaning back. He decides this mood isn't really worth it though, and inhales loudly after shaking his head.]

His loss. Some people don't know how good the training is up there. [A curt nod; he smiles, though it's not as straightforward as usual.] Just means he better have been doing good with his time when he gets around to challenging us again.