knock me down till we see eye to eye[marge&steven]

[Cassie]

[/i]. However, after her third casual lap of the base she decided today just wasn't going to be a day for deeds. Glancing at her watch, she decided she would give Archie exactly four minutes to get his beefy behind out and give her a command and if he didn't show, then she was gone. So she'd settled herself into a seat and had inspected her nails while the seconds ticked away.

"Admin Shelly, Ma'am."

She hadn't spared the offending grunt a glance.

"Go away."
"But-"

Shelly took her gaze away from her manicure for a moment to fix the teenager with A Look. It didn't need to be a glare, for Shelly could use A Look with such finesse, and skill a glare was simply unnecessary. She held her gaze and then uttered two simple, cutting words.

"Go. Away."

It had been 3 minutes and twenty seconds, but Shelly decided she had better things to do than wait around for another forty seconds. Actually, she had no plans but she didn't intend to bum around the base and make a point of this. It was better to be busy, and elusive. Archie had his window, and now it was closed. So she left, simple as that. Nobody got in her way, and nobody dared to challenge her as she sauntered out of the door. Instead, they all quietly pretended that they hadn't seen her leaving, and went back to work.

When Archie burst into the room twenty minutes later demanding to know where Shelly was, they denied all knowledge of seeing her.


----


"Beep-Beep"

It was getting annoying now. She might make a sexual harassment claim if he continued to clog up her phone lines like this. She ignored the stares of those around her, and instead pulled the phone from her pocket and scanned the text.

"where r u? txt back NOW."

She rolled her eyes, so over dramatic, then again Matt always had been. Besides, he hadn't even left a kiss. That was just plain rude. Her thumbs glided over the keypad, as she keyed a rather elegant response.

"piss off."

Then she turned her phone off and jammed it back into her pocket. She was about to take another step when there was a sensation on the back of her neck. She was being watched. Great, just great. Shelly turned, lips parted as she prepared to tell this individual to do something anatomically incorrect to themselves, only to find herself confronted with something that looked like it had been resurrected from a fossil. Shelly fought her own instincts, and managed not to flinch. Instead she blinked crimson eyes at the decrepit thing, -she assumed from the straggly hair it was female, but all the wrinkles made it hard to tell- and considered whether it was time for fight or flight. Shelly hated old people; they were feeble, weak and for the most party creepy. Her eyes flitted around the area, noting the other relics shuffling out of their houses. She tensed. It was Morning of the Living Dead here in Lavender Town.

She paused for a moment, not wanting to run away from a pack of golden oldies. However, she soon reasoned it wasn't really running; just utilizing her youthful speed and energy to regain her personal space. The redhead suddenly missed her Aqua uniform with a pang, the emblem would have made them keep some distance. But now, they were reaching out - Okay, that was enough.

Shelly hurriedly departed the town, her long strides carrying her rapidly away from the collection of the 80's and over club, and she didn't look back once. Instead, she kept walking until her heeled boots were on salt soaked wooden slats instead of grass. She breathed deeply, inhaling the soothing scent of the sea and letting it chase away the image of the elderly imprinted on her sense. The sea always cleansed. She strolled down the jetty, dimly aware that she was on Silence Bridge but she didn't focus too much on the where. She also considered letting out her Pokemon, but that could attract the attention of baby trainers. She got bored of destroying teenagers and their dreams of being Pokemon Master sometimes.

She leant against a railing, taking another deep breath. The air was salty, but fresh and clean which was definitely a nice change from the oxygen pumped through systems in the base. The wind blew in across the waves, catching the wild tumble of curls and making them dance around her face. Shelly realized why it was called Silence Bridge; there was no real sounds. Just the lapping of waves against the jetty, the rustling of leaves and... Footsteps?

Shelly heaved a sigh, the noise stolen away by the wind. So much for being alone.

ooc; Meh. I'll get into my Shelly-stride soon?[/ul]

[Mim]

”You look cold, dear – come rest for a while.”
”New in town, come get yourself oriented, sweetheart.”
”Join me for some tea, no harm done, honey, life's so long.”

She'd shaken all those Grunts off her tail, changed outfits three times, and succeeded in reverse-hacking her transmitter so that it didn't allow any incoming messages for a day off. So far, Marge thought it was too much effort on her part and none at all on the rest of the world's. This was mainly because of her assumption that, frankly, a town full of clingy old ladies was not a place to spend the one day of relaxation she had. If she could get the prominently-veined, trembling white hands latching onto her arms off, perhaps the Magma Admin would have considered leaving for a different town. As it was, she was finding out first-hand how adamantly strong these fossils could be.

”No, really. Haven't the time – have to go now. To...visit. Someone. Really.”

Pity she didn't have the courage to employ the set of colorful words she would have usually used to get someone to piss off. She supposed it wouldn't have gotten her much more than a slap on the wrist (the animated skeletons of Lavender Town were still clinging imposingly onto both arms) but it wasn't worth the risk to find out – she'd seen some ominous things tucked away in their purses as they'd all offered her sweets in various states of decomposition.

Maybe if she let Incendie out, she could scare them off? Then again, the way they were “complimenting” her...skin(?!)...made Marge think that a well-groomed Ninetales in the prime of life would have gotten her even worse off. Instead, she gave a final few rejections, yanked both hands firmly out of one of their grips and swiveled to flee walk purposefully toward the edge of town. She'd worn pants for once – the black material swished against itself as she moved and magnified the awkward feeling she associated with wearing anything other than her uniform. At least the outfit was still red and black; crimson tank top matched the arm braces she refused to take off and a small messenger bag hung across her torso in simple black.

Where was she going, anyways? Marge looked warily around for other people as she slowed down a bit, boots scuffing lightly in the grass. She passed a sign, read the word printed onto it and let a slight amount of distaste enter her expression; “Silence Bridge ahead”. Just what she needed, an expanse of rotted wood with nothing but deep, deep ocean beneath it. It wasn't like she preferred staying in town, though, so she proceeded from worn grass to dull wood without a word. She swept by a few fishermen, eyes fixed pointedly ahead of her, and sidestepped a kid who positively reeked of meddlesome qualities like the ambition of becoming Pokemon master or such with as much scornful dignity as her rattled self could muster. Like hell she was going to get mobbed by another group of useless, weak people.

There was a different kind of person ahead, though – Marge could sense that much even from a distance. She shrugged mentally and kept walking, hands curled into loose fists as the low thuds resulting from her steps shot into the air. The figure leaning against a rail was a nice distraction from the fact that there was nothing but a layer of wood between her and the water below, though the Magma's logic twisted like a Mobius Ring right after she thought that. Of all the people... She stopped a short distance away from the other and crossed her arms.

”Well, well. And what are you doing here, Shelly dearest?”

Ooc. So sorry for the delay. |D;

[Wrath]

Rock Tunnel really was an interesting place to search for stones. Even considering all the caves Steven Stone had explored in life, particularly those in Hoenn, there was always something new in every cave. Whether it be the more obvious things, like the layout or the indigenous Pokemon, or the more subtle things like the rock composition.

However, there was another difference between Rock Tunnel and the caves in Hoenn. All the caves in his home region, such as Granite Cave or Meteor Falls, were rather out of the way, and they did not lead anywhere. However, Rock Tunnel connected Cerulean City to Lavender Town, and there were a great many trainers traveling through it quite often.

And that meant it wasn't the best place to set up a makeshift camp. He wasn't cynical, of course, but it was common sense that any place that had a great deal of trainers traveling in the dark also had a certain amount of thieves looking to take advantage of it. And Steven did not want to get robbed of any of the stones he might locate.

So he would work during the day, and stay in town for the night. And that meant he needed to locate a place to stay.

Now once again, Steven was hardly a cynic, but when old ladies came out in droves, seeming intent on dragging him into their homes or drugging him with odd-smelling offerings, he tended to get suspicious.

"Daddyyyy, I don't like this. These women are creepy and their aura is just...messed up!" Muttered a rather whiny voice in Steven's head. In response, the man gave a slight grin, his angular blue eyes flicking to the Pokemon he had asked to accompany him as he walked through Lavender Town. Hutton the Lucario had a habit of referring to him as 'Daddy', and he hardly reacted to the petname of sorts nowadays. The rather childish Lucario was frowning, and his red eyes were soft and concerned. However, that didn't stop him from growling and baring his teeth protectively whenever one of the said old ladies got too close to his 'Daddy'.

"There's no need to be worried. We'll be clear of them soon, I'm sure. But...I know what you mean. They are rather creepy," [/b] Steven muttered quietly, running a ringed hand through his blue-silver hair, a vague grin still quirking his lips, but his eyes half-lidded and wary. The moment Hutton said there was something wrong with the aura of these women, Steven himself was on edge.

He was starting to wonder if it really was a good idea to stay in Lavender. Perhaps it was better to risk getting robbed of his belongings than stay in Lavender and potentially get robbed of his soul.

Steven was moving at a decidedly quicker pace than he would normally, but he was still walking straight and tall, carefully sidestepping the wrinkly, reaching hands of his group of elderly stalkers.

Despite the fact he was very much focused on his surroundings, somewhere in the back of his mind he was thinking, and feeling rather happy that he was here, being chased by creepy old women, rather than at his post in Hoenn, simply waiting around for challengers.

It was odd to be feeling happy considering his current situation, but this would never have happened back in Hoenn. This was something new, and interesting, and the thought of all the caves he had never explored and the treasures he was sure to discover... Well, it made it impossible not to feel glad at least to some degree.

Many of the women seemed to be giving in. There were less of them swarming around him, and Steven spotted a bridge ahead that he saw as an escape. He nodded to Hutton, who gave a grunt and a growl in the affirmative before they sped up and all but jogged onto the bridge. The elderly women were left behind, and Steven turned to look at Hutton again, giving an amused chuckle.

"Maybe it would be a better idea to stay in Cerulean instead,"[/b] He said, and his Pokemon nodded, concern for 'Daddy' still evident in his red eyes.

They walked along the bridge together, Hutton whining in protest every time it was suggested he return to his Pokeball since Steven was perfectly safe now.

However, when Hutton suddenly stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes and staring ahead, Steven blinked slowly, his face calm and content, but suddenly expressing mild curiosity. He followed the Lucario's gaze until he saw two women ahead.

"Their aura....It's strange. Kind of familiar but not. I don't like them, Daddy. I don't know why, though." Hutton's voice spoke in Steven's head once more, the Pokemon's expression hardening in distrust.

Steven's expression never changed at Hutton's words, and he didn't slow as he continued to approach the two females, a polite smile finally emerging on his face when he got close enough.

If Hutton was disconcerted, that made Steven curious. Perhaps there was something to investigate with these two. And the best way to do that was with a bit of conversation.

"Hi there. Did the creepy old ladies try to get you too?"[/b] He asked conversationally, giving a polite chuckle but otherwise keeping himself carefully controlled. His eyes were half-lidded and calm but focused as he eyed the two before him.

Beside him, Hutton merely crossed his arms, staring coldly at each of the two, the concern replaced with suspicion.

[Cassie]

[/i] doing here? I thought water made witches melt? If so, you're taking an awful big risk... "[/color]

Shelly's trademark smirk slipped onto her lips as she finished speaking, though her heart wasn't really in the sarcasm. Which was odd, normally baiting her rival admin was one of her favourite sports. Hm. Maybe those old ladies had rattled her - not that she'd ever admit that.
It wouldn't do to admit that she'd run made a dignified retreat from a hoard of the elderly. Such a scenario didn't fit in with her image.

Vivid eyes shifted from the womans form, skimming over the wooden slats as she scanned the otherwise empty bridge. Wait. It wasn't empty anymore. There was another figure on the jetty, heading in their direction. Shelly's gaze narrowed as she took in the silver hair, the fitted suit and the Pokemon trotting at his side. The man made quite the dashing figure, the only problem was she knew that figure. As they saying went Know thine enemy. For there was no way on earth she would ever call the Hoen Champion a friend. In fact being this close to him without making an attempt on his life was probably a breach of Aqua code. He was no ally of hers.

She glanced sideways.

Marge wasn't an ally either, but if she had to choose between the two...

Shelly hesitated, torn between the lesser of two evils. Either way she ended up with an undesirable. After debating the issue, Shelly made the tiniest movements, shifting herself a fraction of an inch towards Marge... And hated herself for it.

"Yo, Margey. Look what the Meowth dragged in."

She murmured the words softly, loud enough only for her companion for the woman standing next to her. She tilted her head ever so slightly in Steven's direction, watching his approach out of the corner of her eye. As he stood before them, Shelly forced back any sarcastic remarks about being far from home, reminding herself that they were strangers... Well, at least as far as Steven was concerned.

Biting back the retorts on the tip of her tongue, Shelly shrugged her slender shoulders with what she hoped was an air of nonchalance. Which of course it would be; Shelly had become quite skilled at acting over the years, today was no exception to that rule.

"Mhmm. It's like the Romans used to say;" she paused for a moment, looking towards the town and then back at Steven "They saw, they tried, they failed... Forsooth."

There was a lilt of sarcasm to her words, suggesting that Shelly was very aware of the fact this was not a common phrase in the roman era, but the glint in the ruby eyes suggested that to be quite frank, she did not care. [/ul]

[Mim]

Ooh, she'd never heard that one before. Melt, pah, it'd be a better way to go than whatever any ahoy-there Aqua would dream of – drowning or whatever else they could come up with. Marge might have hissed back at her rival if circumstances were better. On second thought, hissing was rather immature and reeked of one not having a proper retort. Additionally, provoking one's water-loving enemy while standing over deep ocean wasn't such a good idea either. The usual response to one of Shelly's oh-so-friendly comments was a lobbed Pokeball, and all talking went out the window after that.

Today, however, Marge was in no mood to spat over nothing at all with an Aqua on her day off. Her mind did flit quickly over the state of her Pokemon, though, in case of one of those impromptu fights that always seemed to pop up. Ibon was immune to the fire-water type disadvantage and scrapped rather well when it came down to it; the obvious exception was the lump of ice-spewing blubber hunkered down on Shelly's team. Marge didn't think the Walrein would be making an appearance today, though, considering the rickety bridge under their feet, but...She supposed a pirate wouldn't not think of it with some relish. Sure, dump the Magma Admin into the water, have a laugh. Point and laugh, even, because it's all you'll get from her other than a face full of Tamato juice.

This rapid thought process flickered back and forth behind Marge's eyes, continuing to zigzag towards a conclusion of sorts in the split seconds comprising the silence allowed to follow Shelly's response. Vuori would probably get a few Lava Plumes off before he tripped off the bridge or something likewise; hopefully when he evolved in the near(?) future he'd finally find the surefooted traits that were insisted on lying dormant inside him.

Incendie...Marge could almost see the Ninetales spitting the Pokespeak equivalent of “Oh, hell no” and setting the bridge on fire before retreating to her Pokeball in a rare hissy fit. Hey, it was her day off too.

There was, of course, no way Marge could have seen the man walking up behind her until Shelly indicated that there was such a person doing such a thing. A brief moment was spared for a flash of resentment – she could hear those footsteps, thank you, and they had not surprised her at all – before the currently-not-looking-like-a-Magma Magma raised an eyebrow at the minute, yet telltale, shift in weight her rival had decided to go through with. Who was enough of a threat or nuisance that a Subleader of the Sea Scheme (SSS, pfft, no matter how you abbreviated it it would still be pointlessly long and goddamn annoying.) would choose to ally herself with a FireHead? She turned, a smooth movement that left her able to see both Shelly and the newcomer –

Oh.

Him.

No wonder.

Of course there was no visible change in the Admin's countenance; she remained with her weight back on one foot and arms crossed. The trademark arm braces were in full view, unfortunately, but nothing would change that now. She let Shelly handle the Hoenn Champion's question and occupied herself with taking a cursory glance around, eyes lingering ever so slightly on the Lucario tagging along behind Stone. Aura...that was a nuisance. At least there were no glaringly obvious uniforms to tip the duo off...But –

”Forsooth?” She just had to question that choice of words. Hell, it didn't make too much of a difference; friends jested back and forth like that, right? Not that Marge would know. Looking at her fellow FireHeads, it was easy to guess how many chances at socializing she had. ”Roman or no, hun, that's not your era.” Her head tilted slightly toward Shelly as she spoke, though the corners of her eyes were reserved for Steven. Her gum made its presence known as usual, a sharp 'pop' ricocheting into the air.

[Wrath]

Blue eyes slowly blinked, the lips below them still curved politely upwards, all in all making Steven look calm and unsuspicious. It would have taken a very sharp eye to notice the way his eyes narrowed, focusing with interest on the female who responded to his question. Body language was carefully observed, moreso than the verbal reply that merited a polite chuckle and a nod of acknowledgment from Steven.

The red-haired woman gave a very natural shrug, and this, more than anything else was unusual to him. He was the ex-Champion. And his appearance was very distinctive in addition to that. Elite Four Vs. Champion battles were commonly broadcast on television, often in other regions. Even if she was from Kanto (He was making no assumptions; she could have been from anywhere) there was a good chance she had at least seen his face on the television for a moment. And she had watched as he had approached, had seen him closely enough for recognition. Yet, she was calm and nonchalant, disinterested in the newcomer.

Interesting. Of course, there were many possibilities. Perhaps she really hadn't recognized him. Maybe she wasn't a trainer, and those sort of programs held no interest to her. Maybe she was purposely remaining calm after having recognized him because she didn't want to appear like the cliche` fangirl. And these were only a handful of possibilities. However, one of these questions could be easily answered without much arousing suspicion.

This entire train of thought took mere moments, and Steven responded to the sarcastic female almost immediately, his expression never shifting.

"Haha, well it's good you got away. I had Hutton with me to help out. Are you two trainers yourselves?" His voice was conversational and confident, not put out by the red-eyed woman's sarcasm. Hutton nodded his head and gave a grunt in acknowledgment of his nickname being spoken, arms still crossed. However, as Steven spoke he noticed the other woman there was speaking in response to the first's odd choice of words, and his sharp, focused stare flicked to her face.

Steven quickly noted she was just as calm as her companion, before he moved on to analyzing other aspects of her. Looking over her he noticed her armbands, lingering on them before moving on, not spotting anything that caught his attention.

He stayed quiet and only turned his head to exchange a glance with Hutton, whose red eyes softened in concern almost immediately. Steven shook his head very slightly then turned back to the two females.

They could have been friends, teasingly poking fun at one another. But somehow the one with the gum didn't sound at all friendly with the other woman. However, maybe he was overanalyzing. And considering his only experience with friendships involving two females consisted of seeing how Glacia and Phoebe associated, he wasn't counting out lack of knowledge on the subject.

He suddenly blinked twice, his smile widening somewhat and becoming quite sheepish. Studying the two before him had apparently made him forget his manners. And asking this question really could give him some insight as well.

"I'm Steven Stone, by the way. And you two are...?" He trailed off there eyebrows raising a smidge expectantly.

A voice spoke up in his head, the tone conveying how impressed Hutton was. "Ooh, good idea, Daddy! I'll tell you if their Auras change 'cause they're lying!"

Because only those with something to hide lied about their names, right?

[Cassie]

Oh, interesting question Mr. Stone.

Shelly allowed a small smile to slip onto her lips as the question reached the air, there was a lot of fun to be had in verbal conflict, especially conflict smothered beneath else. Something nasty pretending to be something nice.

"I train Pokemon yeah. Don't bother with this badge business though, doesn't seem worth it to be honest. Shiny pieces of metal are all well and good, but I'm not going questing for them."

Her eyes lingered on, Hutton, was it? Lucario. Such a troublesome Pokemon, with everybody gushing on about AURA POWERZ FTW and try and tell her they knew what she was thinking or feeling because the thing had seen some fuzzy halo of colour around her and because It was yellow she was pensive. Though she doubted yellow was a pensive colour, it was too... Sunshine and Buttercups to be a pensive colour. She met the crimson eyes of the Pokemon for a moment, trying to appear interested in the rather rare creature rather that just irritated. This was going to make lying through her teeth impossible, and lying through her teeth was something Shelly did on a daily basis.

Shelly decided that to be honest, she didn't really like how this day was panning out. When she decided she wanted a day off, it didn't normally involve having to fake a friendship with a rival and avoid the truth like there was no tomorrow so the glorified jackal could jabber on about her aura and try and bite her ankles. No, it would be much better if Stone had just kept his ass in Hoen, then she could just shove Marge off the bridge and be done with it. Alas, Steven was smiling at her and she had to keep up pretenses, which meant no drownings... At the moment anyway.

"I'll have you know there is absolutely nothing wrong with the word Forsooth, and if I had my way it would be a staple of the English language."

Shelly said in response to Marge's dismissive comment about her choice of vocabulary, careful to keep her tones light and breezy. Nothing to suggest that she had been considering drowning her only moments before.

"Though I will accept, that maybe I was in the wrong era. Though if the Roman's understood the raw awesome that is the word Forsooth, maybe their empire wouldn't have crumbled quite as gloriously as it did."

She said with a shrug of her shoulders. Arcues, she was talking absolute nonsense but there was something oddly soothing about saying such rubbish, it helped calm her. Making death threats in every other sentence was bad for her stress levels after all. She turned at the sound of the POP, feeling oddly jealous that Marge had an efficient way to deal with stress levels and she didn't. Shelly didn't even like bubblegum, so being jealous was just ridiculous. Actually, this whole situation was ridiculous. Could it get any worse?

Oh.

Yes it could.

Clever boy Stevie.

Shelly's thoughts were begrudging but she had to admit that was a smooth move.

"Right! I thought I recognized you, you're the Champion dude, right? I've seen you on T.V once or twice..."

All perfectly true, she had seen him battling his co-workers for the entertainment of the general public and to let the new trainers realize they're dreams of becoming pokemon master were most likely going to be trapped in dream form for forever and day. However, Shelly's sudden burst of recognition was just a way of stalling for time as she tried to see her way around the obstacle. The conversation was turning into a ping pong match, and he'd just made an excellent shot. But of course she would counter it.

"People call me Katie. Short for Kaitlin."

She slammed the ball back over the net with a smile. That statement right there, was flawless truth. There were people who called her Katie, honestly believing her name was Kaitlin. Yes, she'd lied to them but that lie didn't lessen the honesty of her words right now. It took a lot for her not to smirk as she mentally cheered at her own victory.

He was good, she'd give him that....

She was better.

[Mim]

The FireHead supposed she should have concocted a response to the Hoenn Champion's arrival that didn't suggest that she was trying extremely hard to dismiss his reputation. She could have, actually, if the conversation hadn't jumped ahead in the few seconds it had taken for Shelly to exchange a few words with the enemy first. Now it was a rather sticky patch that had presented itself to them, and Marge held back an irritated scowl as she shifted her weight slightly into a stabler position. Was she a Trainer or not?

Eh, not much in hiding that. The woman nodded lightly, but otherwise made no attempt to butt into the conversation held mostly between Steven and Shelly. She noticed as a portion of her rival's attention went to the Lucario just as hers had. Marge's gaze slid away from the Pokemon in response; what good would it be for the bipedal jackal to notice that both of them were staring at him in a rather analyzing way? He – Hutton? – might have brushed it off as the usual stares he got for being his rare little self, but there was always the nastier side of the coin.

She arched an eyebrow as Shelly shot off a rapid spiel about her vocabulary, holding back the wry smirk that threatened to show itself on her lips. Instead another bubble was blown and popped, during which she had ample time to consider adding to the useless conversation. It couldn't hurt, she supposed, and further silence would have only amplified the observation that the two women did not usually talk like civilized beings. ”I doubt 'forsooth' would have stopped the Romans' economic failure, though it may have put up a decent fight against...oh, lead poisoning, I guess.” She shrugged dismissively and let her arms fall from their crossed position to her sides. Her left arm continued to move, lifting itself back up, bending at the elbow and allowing her palm room to rest on her hip. This talk was pointless, merely a time waster. They might as well have been discussing how Arbok did not evolve into Seviper and that was final, no matter what 4kids some of the stranger researchers in the world said.

Steven spoke up. Marge's eyes flitted to the empty space between the ex-Champion and his Lucario. Rather than glancing directly at it and risking having her line of sight traced – why would a regular pair of Trainers have anything to worry about? – she let her gaze bore into a bit of railing behind Steven for the split few seconds she wanted to consider Hutton's size. In the most specific of realities, a Pokemon's size wasn't very good testament to its age. It wasn't like the Magma could just sit down and ask him how old he was, though, so she was going to go by the creature's height and it's own little aura. She couldn't see what was described as a uniquely colored, pulsing light as Hutton probably could by now, but she could tell by the short few minutes they had all been standing there that the Lucario was uneasy with his Trainer's company. He seemed relatively young, or at least he wasn't a veteran aura-sensor yet. If he hadn't been saddled with the dignity of his species he'd have been clinging to Steven or something by now.

Shelly was using another name; that was fine with her. Marge had often done the same thing, mostly on missions and such, and the switch wasn't nearly enough to elicit any emotion on her part. The FireHead managed to smile politely as her 'friend' made a remark about the whole ex-Champion-shit-divert-his-attention-now thing and introduced herself. She shattered her own little line of thoughts by speaking again, allowing her smile to twist slightly into a teasing smirk. ”'Once or twice'? You almost glue yourself to the screen whenever you see him, don't you Katie?” She turned to fully face Steven and continued, ”I'm Courtney. It's nice to meet you – Hutton too.” She tilted her head slightly to the Lucario before settling back a step. Introductions were over. What would somebody – Shelly or Steven, seeing as they could both cause enough trouble for Marge – come up with to challenge the others next?