Just My Kind of Strategy [open]

"Hey, hey, did you hear? There's a huuuuuge Pokemon roaming the woods right now. They say it's a legendary!" A pink-haired girl piped up, a shaking head of disagreement following the pitter-patter of footsteps.

"Pssh, no way. The only Pokemon around are the ones sent out by the reservation, and it's not like they could've kept one in there without it destroying the place."

Her face contorted into a pout in protest. "I betcha it's a legendary! I betcha my life savings!"
"You don't have any life savings."
"You know what I mean!"
"Suuuure, sure I do."
"Whatever. You know I'd check it out if I had my own Pokemon, and I'd be right!"

The noise of the crowd would have drowned the pair out if he hadn't been standing so close by. As the two of them walked away, disinterested white-jade eyes left the display of aromatic pastries and pies they had been staring at. Plusle and Minun had been winding around the legs of local clients and the store employees, shamelessly ordering the humans to bestow them with offerings worthy of their majesty, squeaking imperiously or batting at a boot. Their usual focus of pursuits still lingered nearby, but it was more than clear that they had been looking for some food to stave off their growing starvation.

And the number of friends the electric rabbits had brought with them hadn't inconvenienced anyone in the slightest.

Bakers and cashiers closed their hung-open jaws one by one as the 'mere child' tossed his arms behind his head with an amused smile. Pokemon were only becoming a focal point in the Oasis life once more, but if there was any method of getting them more used to it, it was to have Cheering Pokemon who only knew how to attract friends barge in on others' lives. He skipped away without a care in the world, and the two eager bunnies followed suit, abandoning their post as captains of the bakery parade.

...
. . .
. . .

Moistened soil giving each step a spring of a bounce, sunlight dappling through as bird songs ebbed and flowed away through the canvas of the trees, a figure autopiloted around. Virescent riots illuminated the entire zone with flowers in full bloom, berries just ripe for the picking, and the taste of metal lingered in the air. Electric signals passed from cheek pouch to cheek pouch of electric rodents and mammals, sniffing the floor and high in alert. A nearby cave stood out like black on a white canvas, but even more were the crevasses of engraved tree trunks.

Those two weren't too far off, conversing with a pair of Arons, brave souls they were, for having wandered out of their comfortable place in the grotto. With a soft, inaudible yawn, he picked up the pace, a dashing sprint and jumped upward to grab a branch his height was just shy of and swung his leg up and over.

Warmer and quieter, of light cascading in a far more palpable and tangible grasp, and a gentle crisp breeze. Just right for the kind of nap he needed.

Leaning against the trunk, Callum pulled the ends of his long scarf off his neck, retying it so that he blindfolded his own eyes and kept his neck just as cozy as before. The perks of having an absurdly big scarf, really.

Legendary Pokemon, huh?

Curiosity wouldn't kill this Meowth twice.

Zoey had been wandering with a notebook in hand for some time before finally tucking it back into her bag. Today, it seemed, was not a day she would finish any of her current works-in-progress. Slowly, she began to pack what little things she carried, finally slinging her guitar over her back.

The candlelike creature at her side brought to her attention a dilemma she hadn't stopped to consider before heading out. Where would they be sleeping tonight? She had barely planned far enough ahead to bring a couple wrapped sandwiches. Not having to plan, being able to eat and sleep and live on her own schedule, it was something she found she really liked. Even in moments like this, when it came back to bite her.

However, before she could consider the plausibility of camping out in the forest, her Litwick began moving at a steady pace. "What is it, Lighter? Can it wait a while?" However, since the normally-shy Litwick kept going, she resigned herself to her fate. "Fine, we'll go, but I'm still having lunch," she declared, reaching into her bag and biting into one of the sandwiches.

Her first thought was that this sandwich tasted a lot like plastic. Her second was that she probably should have removed the plastic from the sandwich before trying to eat it. Either she was slightly more tired than she thought, or she was really good at wrapping sandwiches.

Finally, Lighter stopped, and Zoey took in their surroundings. Someone she recognized from the Reservation - that girl who dressed in way-too-fancy clothes - was looking up into a tree. Zoey followed her gaze and saw another person in said tree. Finally, she looked back to Lighter, hoping her unimpressed look conveyed her exact emotions right now. "Why couldn't you let me eat first?" she sighed, gesturing with the half-finished sandwich still in her hand.

Lighter didn't respond, just giving her a face she assumed meant he was incredibly proud of himself. It wasn't like she could tell, his face wasn't very expressive. But he had better be proud of himself for leading her all the way to two people she barely knew.

Perhaps taking a nap in the forest when there was that sort of gossip flying around and the number of trainers and sightseers would flock about to confirm their suspicions wasn't the brightest choice he had made in the past hour, but it was worth a shot to see just how well his wallflower presence could latch right onto the trees and plants and get away unnoticed, wispy and phantasmal in a near-invisible mark. Not so much as a shift in position with the crunching of leaves underneath the weight of another's feet - two feet and a two more pairs of feet, not too heavy, but not quite light - as the puppet propped up by marionette strings played its part, feigning ignorance as a lifeless being.

Of course, there was another, and at that point, being a ghost was an invalid option, as pallid as his skin was. Their gazes had attracted the attention of the red and blue cream rabbits, and their surprised squeaks echoed throughout the forest. With a wave to the Aron who joined their kind of Lairon and Bronzor in the caverns, they hopped right over to the base of the tree, pushing past Zooey and her Litwick. Plusle reached his stubby paws up, and Minun, seeing the chance, used her buddy's head as a platform to leap upward. Minun stuck her tongue out to the Plusle below, who gave a squeak of protest when his blue counterpart meshed into the fabric of the billowing scarf and nuzzled into Callum's chest.

Lambent gaze exposed for all to see, eyes that saw through everything but focused on nothing lingered on the albino girl below as a playful smirk danced across thin lips. "Welllll, I'd definitely be more comfortable if there wasn't a ghost freezing the area over." One look at the Litwick, its trainer, and back before resting on the bag he had below, containing a strangely large bucket and some fishing rods and other peculiar knickknacks.

Voice so soft and drowned out by the wind, yet juxtaposed by the eerily jabbing words sounded out that didn't seem to match his figure, he waved over at Zooey. "How scary~ You brought your two ghosts to claim my soul and send me to an early grave, huh?" Callum jumped to the ground, scarf flowing like wings as he gave a mute landing, Minun desperately clinging to his shoulder for dear life. "As wonderful as that sounds, I just wanted to take a nap, so save being my reaper for another day, 'kay?."

Zoey, finally having finished her sandwich, blinked at the figure in the tree - apparently a child. Two of her ghosts...? But she only had the one Pokemon. She spun around for a moment, as though trying to spot something that wasn't there, and found herself mildly concerned at the lack of spirits. However, she realized moments later that the overdressed girl could perhaps be mistaken for a ghost.

"That's not a ghost," she gestured to Angel. "That's just someone without any sense of either fashion or practicality."

The hand that touched the pale cream fur of the nuzzling Minun was even paler, a Plusle clinging to slender legs as the two grasped in a competition of adoration and attention fit for royalty. Mouse-quiet, he picked up his belongings, slung it over one coated shoulder and gave a huff of indignation to the girl of alabaster paper with an equally as paper-thin voice, "Come now, it's not polite to judge someone based on appearances, Ms. Ghost." An index finger placed expertly on his lips, he tilted his head a little to the side, silky feathers for locks bobbing to the side and caressing the edges of his delicate face. "Same goes for you, Absol~ I'm as innocent as can be." Teasing words of sarcasm and sharpness synchronized with the child-like smile only further emphasized the innocent angel appearance.

Callum shot a look over his shoulder, to the gathering of Klinks and Klangs, of Beldums and Klefkis, and the indescribable taste of tangy metal sinking further and further into the soil. Floppy ears of rabbits twitched and electric signals passed from rod to rod to the others around, he paced back and forth, swinging as a pendulum on the balls of his foot. "But sure, Ms. Ghost isn't a ghost, but as long as she looks like one, nobody's gonna want to be with her because, really, who wants to be friends with death?" A pause for dramatic effect, his fingers signaled a peace sign.

"Oh, but that's a lie. I'm sure loads of people would love to know what the tax economy is like in the afterlife."

"Hello to you, too," Zoey greeted, idly reaching up to push a few stray strands of hair out of her face and off of her sunglasses, before considering the words of the mysterious child. "I don't even know what the tax economy is in this life. Actually, I barely understand what taxes are. But I can see plenty of benefits to befriending Death that don't involve math." At that, Lighter let out a cry that Zoey chose to take as his agreement as the only 'Ghost' present.

Ghost.

A spark of inspiration hit in that moment, the very spark she had been looking for, but she pushed it aside. It could wait until later, no sense dropping a conversation to write something down when she could just keep it in her thoughts until later.

Lights reflected off his mirrored gems for eyes, never reaching them. In the rays of the sun, each shower of warmth only put him out, shadows blanketing over verdure plumules for hair, stroking his forehead, so animated and lifelike, as much as a puppeteer could maneuver each lazy rock of the heels in hollow, fanciful reaches, feet never quite steady. Callum permitted a hum of musing to pass through his lips, scarf frisking towards the leaves with the light tremors of the forest floor. The red little rabbit jumped and clung onto his leg, much like a Komoala would to the log it cuddled as a pillow, a frightful squeak pitched higher than before.

"Ehh~? You two are just sticking your noses where you shouldn't... it's super dangerous!" He clicked his tongue deliberately at Sunglasses and a clueless albino poltergeist. A face contorting with an indescribable flash of a light bulb flickered on. "But you must be thinking of something real important to have the idea of dropping the conversation right here~"

Carefully twisting his features into a pout, little beads shone by his lashes, a sniffle. "How cruel! First, you try and kill me and now you wanna ignore me after ruining my beauty sleep." Callum feverishly shook his head in disapproval, Minun taking the opportunity to hop on top for a mini attraction. He plopped onto the ground, pulling his legs up, to which Plusle quickly swung onto one. Both little bodies were quivering, sniffing the air and the ground without so much as a moment of rest.