In the Deep and Peaceful Brush [Rin]

[Van Akiyama]

It was a peaceful morning when Van left his dorm on the beach to explore Luscious Forest. The trainer had set out in hopes of finding some early rising trainers to battle and train against before the rest of the school was awake and doing the same. He had roamed the forest for nearly an hour, unable to find any other trainers within the large cluster of trees. Once he had realized that no other students were within the forest, Van decided to turn his attention to finding wild Pokemon to battle and possibly capture. The silver student spent another hour searching with no luck for any wild Pokemon that had risen from their nests early. Realizing that he had started his search too early, Van eventually found himself resting in a small clearing with Aska and Squall.

A few hours later, the sun had risen high enough to pierce the trees with its warm light and the morning dew was just beginning to fade. Van sat in front of a small fire that had a small pan resting above it. A few slices of oran and pecha berries could be seen simmering in the pan. The berries gave off a sweet aroma as they cooked which was carried off deeper into the forest by the morning winds. To the trainer's left was a large and flat stone covered with a thick cloth and several paper plates filled with sandwiches, a salad and even a few steaks made from berries.

Van was busy making sandwiches with some of the pecha and oran berries he had already cooked. Squall and Verius were settled opposite of their trainer. The two were having a quiet discussion as they ate and occasionally glanced towards Van's other Pokemon. Ignis and Aska were also having a conversation near the end of the makeshift table. The two Pokemon smiled and laughed as they spoke to each other. Finally, Belias and Solum at at the very end of the natural table. Solum was listening to one of Belias' stories as it gnawed quietly on one of the steaks that Van had made earlier. Both Pokemon would occasionally chuckle at the story or joke.

Van remained mostly silent as he continued to cook their breakfast, only speaking to call one or more of his Pokemon for a second helping of their preferred dish. The trainer was still hoping for the arrival or a wild Pokemon or another trainer, though flashes of certain people kept flashing through his mind. His mind often returned to Rin in particular. He had been wanting to take her out and spend some time with her and show her a bit of his cooking skills like this before he had left, but he had not seen her since he had returned. Shaking the thoughts from his mind yet again, Van returned his focus to making breakfast.

[Rin Miyazaki]

Rin had woken up bleary eyed that morning, she was really rather out of it and perhaps still even half asleep as she walked down the vine ladder leading out of the yellow dorms. She barely recalled leaving Nyonyo with Laz and changing to start the day. As her feet hit earth, Rin swayed on the spot before letting out a wide yawn followed by a rub of her eyes. She had received a note from her brother the previous day telling her to meet him in his office that morning. This kind of task was usually very simple for Rin, however, last night she had stayed up really late practicing on her bass on talking to Laz so the two room mates ended up heading to bed at almost 6 in the morning. Realizing she had been spacing out the entire time, Rin shook her head before turning on her heel and heading towards the large looming academy overhead. She stifled another yawn as she walked.

Midway through her trek, Rin head an endearing high pitched squeal that sounded a lot like 'Emol~' Blinking, the trainer looked over her head to see an all too familiar Emolga flying towards her. The flying squirrel Pokemon let out a wide happy smile as it landed on her shoulder. Rin smiled over at the little Pokemon, scratching behind his ears with her finger. Risu, was Kai's Emolga and in his grasp was a letter it looked like. Risu smiled at Rin once again before delivering his message and taking flight again. Of course the letter itself was from Kai as Rin unfolded the neatly folded paper. The contents read:

Hey Rin

Sorry. Can't meet with you today. Tao is being a asshole typical boss and giving me a lot of paperwork. I'll send Risu with a message of when we can meet again.

Take care little sister

Kai

Rin's eye caught the crossed out word as she let out a sigh as she folded the letter and placed it in the pocket of her skirt. It seemed as though her brother and Tao were always bickering about something. A look of concern crossed her face, she hoped that Kai was doing alright. Looking ahead of her, she bit her lip wondering if she should continue on to the academy or not. Though now that Rin was rather far from the dorms, she decided that it would be best to simply continue on to the academy, perhaps she could run into someone she knew to kill time or something.

Observing the weather above, Rin realized that the day was going to have fabulous weather indeed. The clouds were fluffy white and drifted lazily across the sky. It made the young trainer smile and have the idea to let her Pokemon out of their Poke Balls when she arrived. Humming a tune to herself, Rin noticed that she had already reached the courtyard. Perhaps spacing out every now and then wasn't typically a bad thing. Drowsiness still lingered over her, however, so the female trainer walked towards one of the ponds and splashed her face with water. The cool water was exactly what Rin needed to wake her up. The light cool breeze also helped as a smile formed on her lips and she got up from her position to stretch.

A sudden delicious scent wafted through the air which resulted in Rin's stomach to grumble. It came to her attention that she had not eaten any breakfast that morning. She was sure that her Pokemon were feeling that way as well. She thought that when she arrived at her brother's office he would feed her and her Pokemon, though plans did change after all. Feeling suddenly hungry, Rin began to absentmindedly follow the smell, leading to her a familiar silver haired male. A deep blush crossed Rin's cheeks at the sudden appearance of Van. She hadn't seen him for ages that was for sure and felt her heart skip a beat at the mere sight of him. It seemed as though the smell was coming from Van and Rin saw that the male trainer was cooking something delicious.

Deciding to speak, Rin took a deep breath before approaching Van in a timid manner. "Van...Long time no see..." she said with a meek smile as she placed her hands behind her back. Despite the many things that had happened between the two, Rin couldn't help but feel rather happy to see Van. He was, after all, her first friend she made upon arriving at PA. Tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear, Rin then asked the everyday common question, "How are you...?"

[Van Akiyama]

As he continued to cook the remainder of the berries he had picked earlier that morning, Van wondered where he would go after he and his Pokemon had finished their meal. It looked as though it would be a beautiful day with blue skies, white fluffy clouds and, if he decided to go to the beach to relax, crystal blue waters as well. There were very few sounds of scuffles, battles or brawls echoing through the forest, allowing the air around them to remain peaceful and calm. For a moment, Van pondered spending the rest of the day relaxing with his Pokemon in the deep and peaceful brush of the forest. The trainer had to remind himself of why he had gotten up so early to search the forest in the first place.

It would be nice to relax here after we finish our training, though... thought the trainer. As Van finished another batch of berries and set the final few on the fire, a familiar voice greeted him from behind. Van's heart leapt and skipped a beat as he turned around to see Rin standing a short distance from he and his Pokemon, causing a blush to cross Van's face. For a moment, the silver haired student was silent at the arrival of the other student and mixed feelings ran through his mind. He had not been expecting to run into Rin so soon, if at all, after returning to the academy. Even though it felt like it had only been a few weeks since he had seen her, it had felt like much longer to him now that they were face to face.

"Yes, it's been a while..." Van responded tot he greeting. Although he had mixed feelings about meeting Rin so early after arriving and after everything that had happened, he couldn't deny that it was good to see her again. She had been one of the first people he had truly met at the academy and he still felt a bond with the female student. They had each saved the other's life at least once since their meeting, he saving her from drowning and and her timely arrival when he was about to succumb to Bane's poison. Van had since gotten the remainder of the poison's effects cleansed from his body at his parents' request, returning his once violet eye back to its natural cyan color and his already red eye seemed brighter.

As he pulled the last of the berries off of the fire and began to add them to the waiting sandwiched on the table, Van watched and listened as Rin asked how he was doing. His first instinct was to tell her the truth. While he had mostly moved on in the past few weeks, he was still saddened by the passing of his uncle. The man had played a major part in his childhood by teaching him how to cook and giving him advice on his career path as a trainer. However, he didn't want to burden any of his friends with his own grievances and had kept quiet about the entire ordeal to everyone. The only thing he had to keep his mind off of his late relative was his training and schoolwork.

"...I'm alright. My family set up an appointment at Lilycove's hospital to remove the last of the effects that Bane's poison left." Van said, pointing at his eyes to indicate their return to their original color. "What about you? How have you been lately?" Van asked as he finished making the sandwiches that he would be having for breakfast. Once he was finished, the trainer motioned to a spot next to where he was sitting. "Are you hungry? If you'd like, you're welcome to join us for breakfast." offered Van. It was fairly obvious that he had made much more than he would be able to eat alone. He had been planning to eat the leftovers for lunch and dinner while he was out for the day so that he wouldn't have to lose time running to the cafeteria or his dorm for his meals. Yet, the silver haired student didn't want to be rude and offer nothing to his friend, especially when he had feelings for her.

As he offered Rin a place to sit, Van's Pokemon shuffled around a bit to make more room at the makeshift table for the possible inclusion of the female's Pokemon. Belias, Squall and Ignis all greeted Rin in a friendly matter, having met her before while their trainer spent time with her. Solum simply ignored the Rin, having already decided that she did not like the female trainer for various reasons. Even though Van had been successful in taming the Lairon, she was still fairly abrasive and rude. Verius eyed Rin for a moment before bowing its head in a respectful greeting. The Sawsbuck knew that Van had given Rin one of his children as a gift, with his permission. Aska, however, broke away from her food and conversation to walk up and gently poke Rin with one of its tiny arms. The young Togepi greeted the other trainer with a friendly and curious coo of its species name, hoping to get a greeting and some attention from Rin.