maverick noah ryder

Soup found himself in Slateport, once again at the League's call. He had just been passing through when he had received the notice that help was needed to deal with a nest of bird Pokemon in an inconvenient spot. It had seemed like a mission that was well suited for the kinds of Pokemon he had, and Soup figured that he might as well do it, especially since he was getting compensated for the work.

He was accompanied by the Pokemon that he hoped would be able to make this mission easier. Achlys flew beside him, the Crobat's four wings cutting through the air rapidly. Adonis was there, as well, but the Flapple preferred to be carried by Soup, tucked into a ball and making him look like an enormous apple. Soup didn't mind, knowing that he'd come out when he was needed.

Soup found someone waiting in the area, looking at his watch with a couple of spectacularly colored bird Pokemon at his side. Soup guessed it must have been his partner for the mission, so he cleared his throat.

"Hey, are you here for the birds?" he asked. His gaze went to the Talonflame and the Honchkrow. "Speaking of birds, your birds look... very unique. Are they shiny?"

maverick noah ryder

Soup nodded as he shook his mission partner's hand. He tried to commit the name to memory, and was surprised when Maverick introduced his Pokemon by name as well. That wasn't common.

"You can call me Soup," he replied in turn. "The Crobat is Achlys, and the Flapple is Adonis," he explained, indicating the apple curled up in his arms. At the sound of his name, Adonis stuck his head out of the apple curiously. "I have other Pokemon who could help, but I'm thinking we can manage."

Maverick asked about the kind of bird that they were here to evacuate, and Soup shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know much more than you, except that it's a bird and that I think it's some Alolan species." He shrugged again. "Even that might not be right. Sorry for not being a big help, but I guess we can find out soon enough."

Though, well, he did know where to look. "I do know that the nest was made in a power line, though. It should be pretty close to here, I think." He looked up, scanning the area, until he saw a power line nearby with... Yep, that definitely looked like a nest. "Yeah, I think I spotted it," he said, pointing at it.

maverick noah ryder

Soup nodded. It made sense that the city would cut the power to a power line that they knew was being occupied by a nest of birds, but it was best to err on the side of caution.

As they approached, however, they were greeted rudely by a tongue of flame. The Revelation Dance narrowly missed Soup, who swore as he jumped out of the way, dropping Adonis. The Flapple poked his head out of the apple again and hissed, taking flight.

"Alolan is right," confirmed Soup. "That's an Oricorio. This form is a fire type, but you probably know that."

Achlys had already taken wing, flapping up to the level of the nest and screeching at the Oricorio. She began to flap threateningly in the direction of the nest, but they were here to safely relocate the nest and its occupants, not destroy the power line with a battle.

The Oricorio had no such inhibitions, flinging repeated ribbons of flame at Achlys with its graceful dancing. The Crobat dodged swiftly, but she didn't respond with attacks of her own, and she couldn't dodge forever...

maverick noah ryder

Soup winced. "Let's hope there aren't eggs," he muttered. Not only would that make the mission infinitely harder, it would also mean that they were stealing away the Oricorio's children, which would leave a mark on his conscience. At least they could probably find a safe place to relocate them too, if they succeeded.

He thought over Maverick's offer quickly, because there wasn't time to contemplate. "The Oricorio's already distracted with Achlys," he pointed out. "It'll probably be easier if she leads it away, and you get the nest while it's distracted."

Adonis had joined the fray as well, winging up from the ground where he'd landed to confront the fire-type. The dragon was small, but his ferocity in battle was undiminished, as he spat an Acid Spray at the Oricorio. Soup flinched, thinking that the attack might accidentally hit an egg or the power line itself, but Adonis was precise, only stinging the Oricorio with his attack.

The Oricorio cawed angrily, wings fluttering as it dropped from midair, trying to regain altitude. Achlys was quick to capitalize on the opening, though, striking the Oricorio with a Venoshock.

"Now would be good," Soup called to Maverick. He was fairly confident that his two Pokemon would likely be able to keep down the single Oricorio until the nest was removed.

maverick noah ryder 

As the aerial battle between the oricorio and Soup's own fliers continued, Maverick brought out a Salamence, of all things, using it to boost himself up and retrieve the nest. Soup was impressed at the surprising stealth the dragon displayed. 

Achlys and Adonis worked together effectively, wearing down the Oricorio with venom and acid until it fled, a pained cry emitting from its beak. Soup felt a pang of sadness. It was safer for the Oricorio in the long run to know that nesting in power lines was unsafe, but he still felt bad for making it leave its home behind.

Maverick's question shook him out of his trance, though, and he smiled. "That would be nice, wouldn't it? I'd certainly feel better about it if I knew I was raising the baby bird." He nodded to the man. "And you, too. It was good working with you."