"He's weird." Noelle agreed without missing a heartbeat. Why her fiance- er, Mateo loved to hang out on isolated places like these was beyond her. She supposed she could, to some degree, understood where he was coming from due to her own love of pure, unaltered wilderness but, still. "That'd be an interesting job request though, you think? And we'd be getting paid for it too." She gave a 'devilish' grin followed by a small, ominous, 'hehe'. Of course, she truly didn't wish any harm to befall the man. Even if he irritated her deeply at times.

mateo aside though, seeing kyle and his dogs in action surely was...something. already, they'd covered so much ground, far more than most would with the aid of his specially trained canine unit. could she train her own dragons to do such a thing? most would likely be too proud to do so...but, a highly predatory species like a garchomp seemed like it'd make a fantastic tracker.

as they traversed higher in the mountain, she found it both harder to breath as well as a bit colder and harder to see. and so, she released odessa from her pokeball. not only to provide a beckoning light with the strong, blue glow of the orb on her beck, but, to provide a perfect and quick save with her 'rope-like', aka serpentine and long, body should one of them trip and fall. his question, however, caught noelle off guard.

"huh? well, it's not so much the investigation as it is you. i didn't think you did...much." wait, that came out wrong. "n-not like you were a bum or anything, just i wasn't...sure what you..." she trailed off, clearing her throat once more. "anyway, i'm impressed with what i've seen! your mightyena are something fierce! playing hide and seek with you would be impossible as long as they're around!" she clasped her hands together, giggling slightly.

"hey, hey - do you...think this person's alive? i know i promised i wouldn't slow you down or anything but...dead bodies are kinda..." gross? scary? horrifying? gross?

hearing her loss of words got kyle rubbing the back of his neck. her reaction wasn't exactly new. he was a bum at one point, however, and he had gotten similar reactions from other acquaintances when they found out that he did these kind of things for money at one point. transitioning from some trainer of a gym to something else that required actual skills limited his choices after all.

excessive compliments get him uneasy. "t-this kind of thing is the kind of thing fits someone who trains dogs. that's all." he responds with a shrug. he had honestly just got into it for thematic purposes.

he calms down when noelle asks something actually related to the mission however.

"probably not," he answers bluntly. "that's usually how these kinds of job end anyways."

a howl sounds from a distance. one of his mightyena had found a lead. he hopes it's a personal belonging, if not the person itself, that his mightyena found. anything that makes following a scent trail easier for his pokemon was appreciated.

he motions to noelle to follow the sound with a cock of his head. alpha starts running ahead of them, though kyle wasn't sure if it was initiative to scout for wild pokemon that may endanger his trainer or that he was just excited. a whistle from kyle gets him to act properly, slowing down so he can lead them through the mists.

"did you think that that person's still alive?"

"Really? But they're so well trained too. If I get a dog pokemon, you've got to give me some tips." Oblivious to his unease, the pinkette continued. She did mean what she said though. Just like she and the rest of her clan were dragon tamers, Kyle might've well been the leader of his own clan of dog tamers; he was among some of the best she'd seen!

his bluntness towards her question was met with a soft, 'oh'. death wasn't something she was unused to or anything, communing with their spectral ancestors was one of the roles of a priestess after all. still, it was always a grim reminder that life could so easily be snatched away from someone, even if it was as simple as a bike trip up the mountain. it was a bit...scary, in all honesty.

"i hope so." noelle answered honestly. "they probably have someone who really wants for them to come home. i want to make that person happy. what better surprise then having a lost loved one returned to you, right?" she idly chatted with him, following after him as his mightyena began to move a bit faster, minding not to trip over the rougher terrain.

"so...you've seen a lot of dead bodies before then? did you ever feel sad? or grossed out? or scared?"

he wishes he shares her optimism. he missed the days when he still wasn't as cynical and sarcastic as he was now.

"that's something we can only hope for. it's already been a day or two. you'd think they'd call--" he takes his phone out. "oh. no reception." he stuffs the device back to his pocket.

the only way he could see him survive is if he had food and water with him the entire time. realistically speaking, a person can survive three to four days without water, but if he had been out biking, it wasn't unrealistic to think that he would have depleted his energy and dehydrated himself already from the physical activities.

she then asks his opinion on the dead.

"not a lot, but i've seen some. it depends, to be honest. i don't deal with gore really well, but i'm usually fine as long as there's, like, no pool of blood or anything."

alpha stops and barks. down on a cliff appears the head of another mightyena, peeking out and barking at the sight of his trainer. he steps back and disappears. alpha steers his head to his side, where bravo shows up, revealing a safe path down that was otherwise unnoticeable with the fog.

kyle follows the mightyena down before asking a question abruptly.

"do you really see ghosts? you're a priestess, right?"

he doesn't believe in the supernatural, though he still follows certain traditions due to habit, having been forced to him by his elders by exploiting his naivety during his youth.

Listening to him speak about his job, the idea of Kyle of all people being squeamish with blood hadn't arose to her. Probably because of his usually cynical attitude, but, also because of who he hung around, Mateo, who had always been incredibly 'tough' to her. And so, by default, she of course thought Kyle was pretty tough. "Well, hopefully, we won't have to worry about that today! Let's stay positive, k? And, if need be, we can cover each other's eyes!" She gave him an optimistic smile and thumbs up, even if things looked a little bit grim for whomever their target was.

The urge to praise the canines for their work or give them a head pat or two was immense. However, it was just common knowledge not to disturb a pokemon whilst they work, least she ended up messing with their concentration. The reveal of a safer path was a blessing - it was a miracle she hadn't tripped and caused them both to fall to their demise by now. Holding onto her dragonair to steady herself as they made their way down the path, his question caught her slightly off guard.

"huh?" noelle blinked slightly before letting out a hum "see them? no - but, apparently my mother did. she was a fantastic priestess - or, so i've heard." she hummed, "i hear them though - and feel them. it's a bit hard to explain. it's like having a dream without dreaming or...something like that. oh! you should come visit johto and i can show you the dragon den. maybe one of our ancestors will want to say hi since you're an 'honorary clan member'." the idea of bringing kyle back home excited her. whether or not her family would actually allow him into the den though...ah...that'd remain to be seen.

"eh?" she suddenly perked up - "are we nearly there? the air feels different."

he wonders if noelle hasn't really seen him around during his time at johto. then again, she was always focused on mateo whenever she visited the gym so he wasn't too surprised with it.

"dragon den sounds nice," he chimes in. "lots of baby dragons. good ambiance. the entrance usually smells weird, but other than that, it's a pretty nice place."

he hasn't ventured all the way inside during his years of stay at blackthorn however, mostly because it did not interest him back then. he could though, but he chose not to. there wasn't anything to do inside beside play with the dragon residents, he thinks.

"maybe," he repeats. "i dunno if they'll say anything to an outsider though."

the canine follows the tracks until it leads them to a broken bicycle. just a few steps away was a battered body. the mightyena that led them to him inspects it with a sniff, while alpha stays by kyle's heels.

"is this exciting or what?" the tone was as flat, if not sarcastic, as ever.

"Wait, wait, you've been- why didn't I see-" Before Noelle could batter him with a mouthful of questions, the sight of the broken bicycle and battered body forced her to stop. For a moment, her eyes widened, a sickened feeling swirling in her stomach and a slightly horrified look in her eyes. She'd...seen dead bodies before, but, this was just...sad. A few darker stains of scarlet covered over the area, painting the rocks and grass in a slightly reddish hue.

"Are...they already dead? I have a chansey - I can...can we do anything?" She didn't want to consider herself weak-willed. She wasn't a child; she understood death happened, it was very real. Yet, the thought of this poor man dying out here alone and to his injuries was far more gruesome than she was willing to admit. Staring at the limp, mangled body, she began to feel almost a bit nauseous, and couldn't help but turn away.

"Sorry - I know, I said I wouldn't be a burden or slow you down but..." This was a bit more than she expected to see.

"i don't really care to be honest," he blurts out bluntly. "i'm fine with just your company. i rarely get to show off anyways."

noelle's reaction was expected. it was the normal reaction upon seeing a dead body for the first time. he knew he wasn't like her when he has his first experience, however. perhaps he was weird in his own way, but at least he can chalk it up to experience instead at this point.

he takes a handkerchief out and covers the corpse's face with it. he takes out his phone and starts swiping at a digital map of mt. pyre on the screen. "we just need to mark this place and let the others transport the body back to his family. i'm sure they want it back even if..." kyle doesn't dare to finish his statement.

the rest of his pokemon start to congregate in the area, most of them arriving late as expected by their trainer. one by one, kyle recalls them back to their balls. "our job here is done, to be honest. you wanna go home now or do you wanna look at him more?"

noelle's unease is noted. he usually is asked to accompany the retrieval party, but he supposed he can ditch them to escort the shaken noelle back.

She didn't want to stare at the body - it made her feel sicker each time she did - but, she couldn't help but want to stare at it. Perhaps it was in pity of the unfortunate soul, or maybe it was cruel curiosity in wanting to look over the way his arms and legs bent and twisted; it was gross. Sickening, even. She missed what Kyle had said at first, his words nothing but background noise. It was the gentle touch of her dragonair's head resting on her shoulder that brought her back. With a jolt, she stared back at the man, giving a shaky smile. "Huh? Oh...uh..let's go home." she said, a bit softer than usual. she was glad that there were people like kyle who could handle jobs like this; personally, she was disgusted, a bit frightened.

unconsciously, she reached out, abruptly holding onto kyle's hand for god knows what reason. she hadn't even noticed she'd done it. maybe she was afraid that, with her own clumsiness, she'd slip and fall to her death, or vice versa, but, her hand held on rather tightly to his own. "yea, let's go home." she repeated again, a bit more firmly, leading their way in the descent down the mountain.