Nails raked gently against his jawline to offer some relief from growing stubble. The night prior had been a rough one, survivor's guilt enough to rattle him into a restless night. But hey, that's what happened when it came to Ranger duties. But at least his next job fell pretty clean cut. Despite the bags under his eyes, his expression lit up all too pleasantly as he met the new trainer and raised his arm in a wave. As he approached, the young woman soon offered an ice pop out to him, and he wasn't one to spit on hospitality.

"Hey, thanks!" he beamed as he unwrapped the popsicle. "Yup, name's Colin. I suppose we'll both benefit from this. You get to catch some pokemon and I'll get opportunity to survey the area."

Tensions were a little high since the Silent Icelands had come to life once again. Readings indicated activity from Kyurem, and such didn't settle well with the Ranger Headquarters. Had it broken free from its imprisonment? Colin figured it better to focus on the here and now, that they needed to prepare instead of panic. And preparation meant buffing up their teams. With an underhanded toss, Colin let out his Mightyena. Meanwhile he finally took a bite out of the popsicle and let out a sound of approval.

The wrapper was soon tucked away in his pocket to throw away later. A bit of an environmentalist? That happened when your job was focused on preservation.

"So you new to the area? I've been here for a little over a year, but there's still plenty I haven't had the chance to explore."

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@tina

"a pleasure," tina said almost out of reflex, her eyes slowly moving towards something rustling in the nearby bushes. it seemed that there was a fight brewing just out of their original earshot. with a few paces towards the scene, the curious woman smiled from ear to ear now - parting the bushes that gave way to a scene of a pangoro and a mabostiff going at each other in what seemed to be a friendly brawl with how little blood was shed between the two though there were obvious scrape marks on the two.[break]
the pangoro in specific caught her eye -- the cheeky smile it gave almost mirroring her usual goofy rendition of such. instead of answering the question shot at her, she of course focused on the hunt at hand first - sending out her smoliv who started to dance in place, her little stubs pitter pattering on the ground as if it was anxious though it had a little wry smile on its face.[break]
"help out the pangoro!" tina commanded and a large transparent set of hands appeared on the back of the pangoro who seemed to be able to end the scrap between the two pokemon with its next punch. the mabostiff seemed to grunt and turn away with a smirk while the pangoro did the same, though it seemed to stare right at the smoliv with curious intentions.[break]
in this moment, tina plucked out a pokeball as it seemed to be prodding towards her. it wouldn't be the first time she'd personally fight a large pokemon mano a mano, but she just prayed it would click to a close and it wouldn't have to come to that.[break]
when she remembered colin was there, she looked to the mabostiff and gave it a small whistle - waving her arm to catch its attention. "been here a fair enough time," she answered vaguely while turning her head to the leaguer and offered a friendly grin. "you like mabostiff?"[break]

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Colin Roche

As the Smoliv seemed to take on the wild Pangoro, he had to admit there was quite a bit of a size difference in the pokemon. (Was Tina really sure she wanted to take on the colossal Pangoro with a small Smoliv?) In the end, it seemed to work, and it left him to take on the Mabosstiff. His Mightyena did the dirty work, an ICE FANG sunk into the other dog's neck. In the midst of the scuffle, Colin took a pokeball out and attempted to snag the Mabosstiff for his own collection. While he waited for the sound of the pokeball to click, he turned back with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, I have a soft spot for dog pokemon!" he admitted. "The majority of them are so darn loyal, and quick to take orders!"

There were times he missed his parents' Lycanrocs. They were both good dogs. Once his Mightyena returned, he gave the dog like pokemon a firm pat on the head. At least he had the company of this big guy whom he'd raised from a Poochyena. With another bite of his popsicle, the blue syrup began to stain his mouth a bit, primarily his tongue. After he finished the popsicle, he checked the stick to see if there was any sort of joke printed on it. With a grin on his face, he decided to read the joke aloud.

"What time is it when you run out of ice cream?"

As he read the answer to the joke, his amusement seemed to be snuffed out like a flame.

"Time to die-- oh."

Well, that was a bit of a bummer of a joke.

Without so much as another thought, he snapped the popsicle stick in half and pocketed it as well. If the Mabosstiff managed to be captured, he made quick work to pick up the pokeball so they could move on with their journey. His Mightyena continued its travel at his side as he chose to strike up conversation again.

"So where ya' from? I'm from Kalos personally."

Though if Tina used her powers of perception, she could likely note that he didn't have the typical Kalosian accent. In fact, his tone seemed more slanted towards a Unovan one.

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@tina

two clicks and two new additions to their collective team. tina did a little pose she had seen - running two fingers along an invisible hat on her head and then flashing a peace sign to the sky, not caring who saw, before picking up her respective pokeball. the smoliv stared curiously and anxiously at the pokeball as if it would open at any moment while her trainer just placed it upon her belt.[break]
"that's kind of a wild one, ain't it?" referring to the 'joke', she approached colin rapidly - already encroaching on his bubble of personal space to show that she wanted to see the stick for herself even if it was snapped in half now. "does that mean we die now that there's no more icecream?" there is a small tinge of worry in her tone, the corners of her eyes drooping as if she were actually worried. even the smoliv on the ground was picked up again in her arms as if defensively. "i've seen movies like this! there's some kind of weird fortune cookie and then it becomes real! i'm too young to die, man!" despite her dire worry, she seems to flip a switch and immediately go back to metaphorically wagging her tail idly - unbothered with a smile at the question that distracted her attention.[break]
"born in nimbasa, primarily raised in paldea!" fortunately for the liar, tina was specced primarily in dexterity and strength. her wisdom and intelligence scores were at an all time low and so she didn't quite catch on to his lie, nor did she have much experience with unovans to know their accent -- or anyone, really. she was someone who focused on herself and her own so things like regional differences were lost on her unless she was tasked to keep an eye out on someone and actually give a damn.[break]
this leisurely encounter? she didn't have any alarms go off. tina happily placed smolivia back down on the ground as she pitter pattered after them, one of the rocket's hands going to clasp around colin's own with a wide, content, but still goofy smile. her intention was to have them walk forward hand-in-hand but then there were two more rapscallions that were disturbing the scene.[break]
"that ain't cool," tina grumbled at the altaria pecking out some of the liepard's whiskers for some unknown purpose. it seemed to be a rather strange bullying scene so tina appropriately let out a more hefty member of her team. the larvitar that was released looked down its nose at the altaria and promptly used smack down as its trainer threw a pokeball out - holding a hand out for her smoliv to stay at a fair distance away which had her releasing colin from her gentle grip to go about checking the pokeball for possible retrieval.

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Colin Roche

Seemed the stranger didn't quite get the social cues of personal space. Luckily Colin didn't seem to mind. In fact, he took her invasion with a carefree sense of welcoming. Seemed the two were just two peas in a pod and he could vibe with it. It was more than enough to brush off the morbid joke the popsicle stick had offered, completely sending him on a different track. Teeth flashed in a grin at the topic of Nimbasa. Crazy he'd never been to the vast city, but then again, he didn't get out often with the strict physical training his parents forced upon him. Veterans had a sense of pride about their respective regiments, and that pride certainly did not skip his parents.

"Never been. Heard it's on the up and up with being a big tourist attraction. Maybe if I ever get some vacation time, I can check the place out."

The way she took his hand was soon met with a friendly squeeze to show the gesture hadn't bothered him. But the moment that the wild pokemon reared their heads, it hadn't been long til Tina decided to snag the Altaria. He couldn't help but notice the way she threw the pokeball seemed none too dissimilar to a baseball pitcher. (Nimbasa was known for its sport scene, so her hometown tracked.) It wasn't long before his Mightyena bared its teeth at the poor Liepard that had just been inadvertently rescued, and soon the panthress scurried off. Without a thought, Colin blurted his next words out.

"You into sports? That's a wicked throwing arm you've got," he complimented. "You sure this is the first time you've been out like this?"

Soon enough, Colin knelt down and offered a hand out to the admittedly daring Smoliv. The thing was cute enough, and it had been the first time he'd come across such a charming little creature. A mirthful laugh left his lips as he attempted to fix the leaves on Smolivia's head that encompassed the olive-like piece of its anatomy. Once the Smoliv was fixed accordingly, Colin gave it a gentle pat before he stood back up.

"Would've loved to try sports out when I was younger, but my parents thought extracurriculars were a waste of time," he offered, brows furrowed with a sense of disappointment. "But I did always like the style of soccer."

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@tina