Hm, it was Torino (again). Not that she was unpleasant company, but Arthur found her to be a mysterious person, or someone with a mysterious past (how could he not, after the whole fall out of Mama's house?) From there it seemed that they would be online at the same time quite often, so...that was that. There was not much more to be said, in reality.

He wasn't specifically beside the fountain, so when he saw the message, he had to half-jog, half brisk walk to that spot, especially since she got there so quickly (according to the mini map). With neither of them not in danger, Arthur could take a moment to look at Torino's avatar, and he quickly concluded that she was a very pretty lady. She could step on him and he would not complain. Not that she would, because from their interactions so far, she seemed too nice for it.

He was surprised to see that she had something in hand, though. Black roses? An elegant flower, but he had to hide his confusion if there was any hidden meaning that he was not catching on. And then she explained that it was a present because the rose bed was overgrown, though he felt a moment after that it still didn't answer any of his questions. ❝Do you own a house here? But thank you for the roses.❞ he had no idea what to do with them, other than maybe feed them to Mugan.

Oh, he supposed that since English was not her first language, the "dogsitting" request was confusing. He appreciated that she nonetheless tried to understand it though and sent out a Pokemon for a potential trade. If he were less green, the Onix's appearance wouldn't have surprised him. Well, in reality, it was not the appearance that made him flinch, but the size. He was not used to Pokemon actually being scaled properly, especially for species much larger than a person. ❝Woah.❞

He then cleared his throat. ❝Well, you can think of it as a...an exchange program? A trade? But only for a while. I guess I'm borrowing your Onix? And you're borrowing my dog.❞ he let out the Growlithe from the Poke Ball and it immediately started running and barking and slobbering, first circling around Arthur (the person closest in proximity) before circling around Torino (the next closest person in proximity). Maybe Torino smelled better or more interesting, so the Growlithe was asking for pets from her. This would be Arthur's first time meeting the dog as well, anyway.

❝So uh, is that okay?❞

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Torino

Arthur could not wrap his head around fixing someone's garden randomly, but then again, this was a game, so nobody would've really minded, he felt. The NPCs might've not even noticed it. Maybe the garden even became overgrown again the moment Torino stepped away because it was a gathering spot. It could be anything, really, but at least it was a benefit to her, and he supposed that was what mattered. She must be some kind of gardener in real life though, the trainer thought, because he was pretty sure no one was just going to snip snip roses without some kind of experience doing so. Hopefully.

❝That sounds great, though I'll only have them for a short while. Best I can do is one adventure, maybe.❞ he let out a small awkward laugh, but did find Torino's relationship with her Onix soothing to witness. ❝I don't have a name yet for them, actually. Noooot sure about their gender either, haven't checked...you could give them a name, if you like? I don't mind. But they seem to respond to anything, especially 'good dog'.❞

Growlithe's ears perked up and then ran back to Arthur for a moment, expecting pets. The trainer had no choice but to oblige, giving them a cheek rub before letting them run back to the more interesting smelling Torino. Arthur thought in passing that maybe she smelled of the garden she took the roses from.

❝Anyway, I think that I just need to press this...❞ he opened the UI and after some finagling, found the trade system. It worked so long as he was standing nearby a player, and the game seemed to automatically pick up that they were trading specific Pokemon. He supposed if AI was already present in every NPC and Pokemon, this shouldn't be that big of a jump.

❝Thanks for this. You, uh...❞ he wondered if it was too out of the blue to ask how she was doing. But he supposed there was no harm in asking. ❝How are things, by the way? With you and your Pokemon.❞ he didn't want to ask about Mama directly; on more details about what he saw in the now buried snow.

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Torino

Bello seemed to love the name, and Arthur did not mind a break in his name theme-ing. It was kind of like proof that the trade happened, and he liked that. He actually didn't know that she also had a Growlithe, but then he did remember seeing Torino in passing in the Dog Tower, so it made sense that she would also receive the same rewards. It almost seemed like maybe she was supposed to have two Growlithes, but Arthur didn't make any comments towards that. She might be more attached to her Onix, after all, compared to the little dog.

With the trade set, he returned the Onix into his Poke Ball for the time being, but the rock snake seemed like a decent sort. Behaved? Obedient? He wasn't planning on using him for battle, but for something else. Nothing sinister, mind. Just embarrassing.

Are you happy?

The question caught him off guard. He reoriented himself by convincing that she meant that if he was good, which meant the same, but was not as direct. ❝It's warm back home, so I'm fine.❞ it was far from winter, after all, but he chalked it up to something that people from her place asked often. When it got to the question about her Pokemon, though, he didn't expect such a negative response. Some are missing? ❝Missing, as in...❞ the gears in his head were turning. Fainted? No, the wording did not match. ❝They can be found, right? We can find them.❞ his voice was softer here, but he only realized he said 'we' a second too late, when the word had jumped off his tongue. It wasn't as if he didn't want to involve himself, but...okay maybe he didn't? He didn't know what kind of quest Torino was on, after all, and what kind of consequences waited.

But there was something else they needed to do that required the both of them. Arthur didn't know what she meant by her saying she was stronger. Stronger than him? Stronger than before? By how much? Was it enough?

❝Not strong enough.❞ he said this with certainty, because it was better to be over-prepared than overconfident. ❝But I can change that.❞ he was here, after all, to be one of the strong ones. He didn't want to be weak, but then the game quickly revealed itself not to be as linear as he thought it would be. Strength did not seem to solely correlate to his Pokemon. ❝I guess just let me know if you find anything about Mama. Or if you need help with something.❞

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Torino