Marnie wasn't really a fan of the bigger cities in Galar. Really, Marnie wasn't a fan of many of Galar's cities at all. She sat at a booth in a cafe in Motostoke, sipping from a Sitrus Berry smoothie as she fumbled with Morpeko's Dusk Ball, said Pokemon standing on the table eating from a bowl of treats Marnie bought for him. She was absolutely bored out of her mind as she gazed out the window, not noticing the sudden change as her Morpeko went into Hangry Mode. It wasn't until she looked forward that she nearly swallowed her straw whole, her face blanching at the occupant of the other side of the booth.
"This seat taken?" Ellie quipped with a soft smile as she sat across from Marnie, her back leaning against the side of the booth, her boots kicked up onto the seat. Eevee curled up in her lap as Ellie munched on a grilled Moo-Moo Cheese sandwich.
Gazing over at Marnie's beloved Pokemon, Ellie's eyes lit up. Her free hand fishing a bag of Poffins from her bag, taking one out and handing it to Morpeko, causing the adorable hamster-like Pokemon to revert to Full Belly Mode, immediately squeaking as she ate the treat.
"You're part of the gym challenge, right?" Ellie asked the punk, the free spirited teen combing her fingers through her short silver hair, Marnie finally snapping out of her trance.
"W-What?" The raven-haired teen stammered, blinking repeatedly as she watched her Morpeko gobble down a Poffin, finally making the correlation when she saw a bag of Poffins hanging from Ellie's hand.
"Y-You fed my Pokemon?" She muttered with a furrowed brow, Ellie simply smiling softly.
"She looked hungry...even after she finished her food." Marnie did a double take, looking at the empty bowl.
"I-...how...how did you-?"
"I uh...I read your gym challenge profile. Then I used my Pokedex to figure more out about Morpeko, there. She's really cool. I, uh...also saw you really like dark types." Ellie mumbled, nervously scratching the back of her neck, something Marnie found absolutely...adorable?
'Snap out of it, Marnie.' she told herself, simply nodding her head, trying to keep it cool and act as if she wasn't smitten with a total stranger.
"Yeah, dark types are my favorite." She mumbled, watching as Ellie nonchalantly leaned back against the wall.
"Well...I wish I had a dark type Pokemon to show you. Eevee here can evolve into a dark type, though. Say, Eevee...why don't you say hi to our new pals?" Ellie grinned, Marnie watching as Eevee's head poked up over the table in confusion, his eyes darting from Marnie to Morpeko and then back to Ellie, as if to ask for her approval.
"Of course, buddy." The silver-haired free spirit laughed, something that caused Marnie's heart to flutter before Eevee leaped up onto the table, slowly trotting over to Marnie and gently nuzzling against her hand.
"Ee-voy!" The normal type beamed, a happy grin on his face as Marnie tentatively reached her hand up, rubbing Eevee's back.
"You know...normally, Eevee doesn't warm up to people very fast." Ellie murmured, unable to help the smile on her lips. "He and I are a lot alike that way."
This caused Marnie's ears to perk up. She wondered if this girl wasn't what she thought she was. If Ellie was just buttering her up with some story that would catch her interest.
"Yeah...I don't like many people either." The punk mumbled in an attempt to look like she'd rather be anywhere but here, a cold glare sent in Ellie's direction that would probably send anyone else on their way. The thing was, Ellie just simply smirked as she leaned back against the wall, kicking her boots up on the table as she drank from a bottle of water.
'You want to get to know her better, Ellie. Maybe if you let your walls down, Marnie will let her walls down too. It's worth a shot.' She pondered to herself before looking up at the punk.
"You wanna know why I don't like people, Marnie?"
That very nearly caught Marnie off-guard and broke her uncaring facade. But then again, Ellie had read her gym challenge profile. She gathered Ellie was a smart gal, she figured that the silver enigma had done her homework. Marnie didn't respond, half of her thinking that she should give Ellie the benefit of the doubt, but regardless, Ellie simply let out a long sigh and continued anyway.
"I don't like people because people lie to you. They lie to your face, they lie behind your back, they lie about you on the Internet, they lie about you on the news. But you know what? Pokemon don't lie. Even if you don't speak their language, Pokemon will always tell you the truth." As she spoke, Eevee slowly returned to Ellie's lap, Ellie gently snuggling with her beloved pal.
"And now that you know that I don't like people, you should know that I don't like people enough to lie to try and be friends with them."
Now that fully caught Marnie off-guard. She thought back to that conversation she had in passing yesterday with the kid with the Grookey...the champ's little brother. It almost scared her that he was absolutely right. It almost scared her how alike she and Ellie truly were. It did scare her that Ellie was able to read her like an open book. It was no wonder she felt a connection to her that day in Wedgehurst. Her brow furrowed as she sat further upright, gently scooping Morpeko up and placing him on her shoulder.
"You should know that Psychic nonsense doesn't work on a dark type trainer." The punk muttered coolly. She didn't mean to be rude to the girl, but whereas anyone else would give up, Ellie didn't leave. She stayed in the same spot, chuckling softly.
"Heh'...you'd know if I was really trying to pick your brain, Marnie. But if you want me to go, I can head out and not bother you again until the ceremony."
Marnie couldn't stop herself as her brain shut off and her heart did the thinking. "N-No! No...uh...s-stay…" The punk stammered, the cold facade melting faster than an ice sculpture in a Flamethrower, cursing herself.
'Why do I have to crush on girls...scratch that. Why do I have to crush on this girl in particular?' She thought to herself, Ellie not pressing about the slip as she sat up, a small smile on her face. She found herself grabbing Eevee and slipping into Marnie's side of the booth, grinning as Marnie simply blushed, allowing Ellie room to sit next to her...just in time for the silver trainer's phone to ring with Hop's ringtone.
'Your timing is impeccable, Hop. Impeccably bad.' Ellie thought before grabbing her phone.
"You're...really freaking cool, Marnie. We should hang out a lot more often. I'd love to get to know you better." She whispered with a soft smile, gently running a thumb over the back of Marnie's hand.
'Oh, Arceus, this gal's gonna' kill ya', Marnie!' She whimpered within her own head, her eyelashes fluttering softly as she looked Ellie in the eyes.
"I'd like that...I'd uh...I'd like that a lot, actually…" Marnie mumbled softly, her cheeks flushing as pink as her dress.
"I'll uh...I gotta take this. you're staying in the Budew Drop Inn, right? You uh...wanna meet up in the lobby later?" Ellie offered. Marnie simply nodded...perhaps far too vigorously than she wanted. With that, the silver-haired Pokemon trainer slipped out of the booth with Eevee in her arm, her phone pressed to her ear.
"Hop, do you know how great your timing is?" She muttered with a soft chuckle as she exited the cafe, leaving Marnie in the booth gazing at Morpeko, the small Pokemon squeaking affectionately as she stood on her trainer's shoulder.
"Is all this goin' way too fast, Morpeko? Is all this too good to be true? What if she's just using me to win the gym challenge? What if I'm just being played? I don't know what to do..." She mumbled, sighing as she leaned the back of her head against the back of the booth, deep in thought as Morpeko looked concerned for her trainer.