Life's Requiem, Death's Caterwaul (Champion Leon X OC [Slight x Raihan])

Evolution

Kalos,

Shalour City

The city wasn't as large as expected, although it spanned a long way along the coastline, the calm, swaying waves lumbering onto the shoreline in a rhythmic motion. A cobbled path ran from the exit of the Reflection Cave, stretching east and west, and then north towards a massive construct that resembled a castle, but with a tower rising high above that looked as though it were missing its top half on one side. The gray stones resembled that of buildings nearby, but the roof and tower tiles were a burnt orange in color, making it stand out even further from the rest. It was far off, extending into the water with only a sandbar to connect it, but even from the Cave exit it was massive. Truly, it was the epicenter of the city, although homes stretched all along the limits and plenty of denizens walked about their day.

The two were glad for those denizens, too; as it made their search for the Evolution Guru that much easier. A helpful couple were all too happy to point out the tall tower they'd seen right away. The Tower of Mastery, it was called, and the man they sought resided there according to their words. It made sense in a way--what, with the building looking rather important and so unique. Whatever the case, Cassandra and Leon made their way to the Pokécenter to refresh their teams and then made their way along the cobbled path towards the sandbar, descending down to the sandy beach. Even through her shoes the redhead could feel the warmth while trudging through the softer sand to the firmer walking path in the middle. It had traces of man-made help and was decidedly worn--no doubt by the various tourists that were loitering about and taking pictures.

Her boyfriend being one such person.

"Cas, c'mon! We gotta show it off to everyone!" he laughed, gesturing for her to hurry over. She sighed, rolling her eyes a bit playfully. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to indulge him--it was a photogenic location, so she strolled over and slipped under his arm, which he wrapped around her shoulders. She let her head lean on him while he held his Rotom phone up high to catch their faces and the Tower of Mastery in it. Leon laughed with delight, "It looks so good! Time to make the others jealous!"

"You're so bad--but send it to me! I wanna show Mom and Dad, too," she replied, looking at it with him.

"Duh! Wait--not Silver? You don't wanna make your brother jealous?"

"Pffft. He never gets jealous about this kind of thing. Yes, yes, it's infuriating. But then all I have to do is beat him in a battle and he get riled up," she snickered, a playful smirk on her face.

Leon laughed again, "And you think I'm bad?"

"Look he set the standard when we were kids and I will never let him live it down," she winked, and, the picture now sent, she made sure to share it with her folks. She flipped over to Dittor to check the messages and snickered, "Nessa's jealous of the beaches! Aww, Hop and Gloria wish they could be there, too! I bet she'd love to take on the Challenge if she could."

"Oh, for sure--pfft, they're trying to plan a vacation now," Leon snickered. "Oh, Arceus, Raihan's at it again."

"Hmm? Oh. Oh!" Cassandra replied and then cackled. "Of course he'd post a picture of himself in his--oh Arceus is that a speedo?! He's so bad!"

"Why do you think he's my best friend? We're a trouble duo in the end!"

"Oh, I knew from the moment we stayed at his place for the first time. Let's see what he did he say again--oh, right, and I quote: 'Right from when I met his stupid smug face at the Opening Ceremony we were trouble together'."

The purple-haired man paused, nose scrunching, "You remember that oddly well."

"It was funny at the time."