Avery Miller
Central Park, Café

Avery sipped their coffee in silence as they stewed over the many thoughts running through their head at the moment. They had read the situation briefing from Cynthia in their room prior to coming down for a bite to eat at the café, but they still needed time to process what all had happened last night. A disaster is what had happened, really. Some operatives had managed to enter the room of the Diamond Ladies but now they were unaccounted for and several other operatives were laid waste to by the Diamond Ladies when they tried to return to their room. Avery sighed and shook their head. What a right mess this was.

"Min?" Avery glanced over at Gloria. She was the only member of their team that was small enough to have out in areas like this and Avery preferred the company. She tilted her head and held out a paw towards Avery, as if trying to offer comfort to them.

Avery chuckled and shook Gloria's paw. "Thank you, Gloria. Sorry, I'm just still processing." They sighed. "This all weighs heavily on the mind at the moment. Especially given I'll be facing off against one of them tonight in the semifinals." Avery still wasn't quite sure how they had made it this far in the tournament. They were known for their coordinator skills not battling. The downside to their fame was that anyone who did an ounce of research on them could find out their entire team and loads of information on their usual tactics, movesets, etc. And yet, for whatever reason, Avery's opponents seemed to continually underestimate them. Or perhaps Avery was just that skilled as a battler, though they doubted it. No matter the reason, they had made it this far and now they were facing one of the Diamond Ladies herself, Casandra.

They weren't sure really what kind of approach to take to this battle. Casandra was known for her affinity of fire and psychic types, neither of which Avery had a strong counter for. Then again, if even they did, they had seen how Casandra's last opponent fared even with three water types. Perhaps their unconventional approach to battle would give them an advantage that their other opponents did not have. But then again, this was one of the Diamond Ladies they were facing. They knew the risks and the rumors, and they'd be lying if they didn't admit that it made a pit form in their stomach. What sort of tricks were they planning to use to give Cassandra the advantage this time? No one had died yet on the cruise but Avery had heard of others not fairing so well. If they put up too much of a fight would they be next? Would it be better to give up then? Let Cassandra win? Was this really worth forfeiting their life, or worse, the lives on their Pokémon over?

"Min!!" Gloria slammed her front paws on the table, snapping Avery out of their thoughts. "Min min shaymin! Shay!" she shouted.

Avery stared at Gloria a moment before chuckling and petting her again. "Sorry Gloria. I may not be able to understand what you're saying, but I get the gist. Don't psyche myself out before we even get to the battlefield." Gloria nodded and pat Avery's hand with her paw. "That Casandra may have the deity of victory with her, but I've got my own deity with me. Perhaps that will allow us to triumph yet."

Avery finished their coffee and gazed around the Shaymin themed café. "You know for a goddess of gratitude, I can't help but point out the vanity in wanting to come here." Gloria puffed out her cheeks and glared at Avery. "I'm just saying," Avery responded with a laugh. "I can't say I dislike it. Perhaps we'll come here again tomorrow. Their pastries make for a good breakfast."

Avery collected their things, picked up Gloria, and began to walk through the Central Park concourse. They weren't sure where they would head next, since their time slot for training wasn't for a little while longer, but perhaps they could find something else to occupy their mind as they prepared for this battle tonight.