he blinks.

there are many things about hoenn's native species that dominic isn't familiar with, but this isn't one of them. this is one of the few things he's actually pretty certain of. surely it's not that unusual for a pokemon to shed or gain typings on evolution. if that alone was the error he wouldn't be surprised — but a steel-type?

"huh," dominic manages eventually, his surprise giving way to a mischievous smirk, and he gives an exaggerated shrug. "weird creatures."

Bailey Cooper

dominic cocks his head sideways, watching with great interest as she makes quick work of the graveler. roused by the commotion, apparently, a rhydon lumbers down from one of the crags, but it never gets the opportunity to draw closer. the skarmory flutters awkwardly close and rakes its steel talons across the wild pokemon's hide, dipping slightly out of reach any time it tries to retaliate. he tosses a second empty pokeball out lazily.

maybe it's a personal short-coming; mastery of one specific type meant that his team is lacking when faced with foes with more diverse set-ups. dominic has always brushed it off because this is more than sufficient for what he wants or needs to accomplish. and he'll happily play dirty and call it pragmatism, typings matter little at that point.

"got into them to spite my parents," he says casually and flashes a grin, showing pointed canines.

dominic's eyes settle on an immobile, cocoon-like creature resting against one of the trees behind the woman. he juts his chin at it to draw her attention to it.

"won't you look at that? as if on queue." his eyes narrow at her, but it's not unkind — part challenge, part encouragement. "go on. you might grow to like them too."

Bailey Cooper + rhydon capture attempt

he watches her watch him; narrow-eyed, but otherwise remarkably relaxed. he takes a drag of his cigarette and lets the smoke coil from his lips, something languid and draconic about it. yes, it is the middle of nowhere, and yes, he doesn't belong here. doesn't belong anywhere in hoenn, really, the kanto dialect of his voice gives away as much.

dominic raises one shoulder in a half-shrug but makes no move to explain himself further because, in truth, there's absolutely nothing he can say that isn't overwhelmingly suspicious.

commotion a short distance up a craggy cliffside moves his attention from the bike to the gathering dust. yowls, rumbling of rock, he's reaching for a pokeball in spite of himself before the source can reach them. his hand forces him to hesitate and shoot a cautious glance to his present company.

the choice of released pokemon is selective only because if she is spooked at him, the blood-soaked maw of his houndoom will do little to assuage her any more. skarmory is the most neutral pokemon he has, and the bird swoops in quickly with an air slash that brings the two fighting pokemon apart. grabbing the smaller of the two in its talons, the pokemon tosses it to his feet.

weavile. cute. the species seemed so exotic when he was a small child in saffron. that figures, the world felt much smaller back then.

dominic glances briefly at the young woman and is almost self-conscious when he throws a pokeball to secure the capture.

Bailey Cooper

upon release, the pokemon sounds like he's crying. a grating, horrible noise that makes dominic's shoulders go tense. so the skarmory knew, then, that his trainer is dead even before he got to see the body.

dominic stands by, narrow-eyed and watching, as the pokemon folds its legs to lie alongside caspian ellery, long neck curled to rest its head on his chest. he wonders if his pokemon would grieve for him the same way, and returns the skarmory to its ball before he allows himself to find the answer.

he holds the capsule to his face to murmur something that can be construed as a reassurance.

""wild"" spawn + capture attempt

dominic freezes in his tracks and the surprise kills his scowl. he blinks once, twice, confused as if she had struck him.

"who does what?" he says slowly, raising the hand with the lit cigarette innocently while his eyes dart to follow the way she reached to her side, undoubtedly for pokemon capsules. honestly, he can't resent it, it's a rational response in these times.

"go for a smoke near the lake and enjoy the sunset?" it's not, strictly speaking, untrue.

dominic looks past her to the bike, inclining his head with sudden curiosity because it looks potentially kanto-made. he juts his chin at the bike.

"what's wrong with it?"

Bailey Cooper

in hindsight, dominic could hear was something wrong by the sound alone. something with one of the wheels, mostly probably.

his contact is meant to be a red-haired young woman — rosemary. from behind a tree, dominic watches the motorbike come to a stop, watches even more intently as the rider takes off her helmet and sighs into his cigarette when he sees brunette.

unsure whether to be exasperated or not, he sends a quick one word message to rosemary — "reschedule" — and approaches carefully. dominic has enough self-awareness to know that he cuts an imposing silhouette for the unsuspecting, and he has no interest in getting in unnecessary confrontations on a country roadside.

"lucky you're not far from town."

Bailey Cooper

dust and ash, fallarbor town reminds him of kanto. it's cast in all shades red and grey, long shadows cast by the dying sun.

the only difference is that the buildings are intact. there is no screaming. there is no smell of burning flesh.

dominic closes his eyes, lights a cigarette to smell the nicotine and to give his hands something to do, counts to ten.

somewhere there's the rev of a motor and he comes to his senses, peering against the road. his contact, presumably, with information about the rustboro mission. dominic sets his jaw and scowls as if by instinct.

Bailey Cooper + duo wild