Time had been generous to Oscar. After the battle of Lilycove, he faced success after success. It was as if his investment in woe was finally delivering returns. It was funny to think back to a week before the battle, when he had complained to his associate Priam that his progress was so slow. Little did past-Oscar know that he would be faced with a whirlwind of victories, an almost overwhelming fulfillment of his ambitions.

He had, firstly, been promoted to the position of Rocket Beast. It was a enormous undertaking for him, but reaching the top of this mountain made him feel so very satisfied. Thanks to his pay raise, Oscar was able to pay back his debt to his family with interest. Thus, his brother unlocked Oscar's inheritance. The man was now loaded. He had so much money that he wasn't sure what to do with it all. He had the outline of a plan though, and it started with a move to Sootopolis.

Being the shrewd figure he was, Oscar wanted to finance the move with his "rainy day fund". Basically various items he had stolen that were worth a lot. Not all of them though, some he wanted to keep on hand just in case he went broke again. One can never be too careful in this economy. To retrieve his items, he had traveled to Lilycove. He had rented out a warehouse there, mildly costly but worth the headache to keep his valuables safe. 

He approached the warehouse as he usually would, unlocking the door and entering as if he had owned it. As far as he knew, he did. However upon entering he would discover a shocking development. All of his stuff was gone, replaced with furnishings and--and--

"Billi." Oscar spoke the man's name without surprise, it no longer bewildered Oscar to happen upon this nuisance. Or at least he claimed him to be a nuisance, secretly Oscar's heart quickened upon seeing his blonde associate. Oscar sighed deeply, speaking in a tired tone, "What the fuck man?"

Billi Marsh

It took only a moment for that cold air to rush in and the white perky hair to bounce in for Billi’s blue eyes to widen. Oscar….had wandered into his home. How did he know he lived there? Did he just take it upon himself? No….probably not. It, like every other time, just seemed to work. And Billi didn’t mind the intrusion of his home, actually it was a very welcomed experience. The eyes that caught him turned from self loathing to a glow of hope, like the stress was magic erased away.

The light of hope brought back the spirit of Billi, the stars during a clear sky, the last poptart, the winning goal at the last second. He caught the red eyes staring at him as he stood up quickly from his seat. Majora stared at Billi confused, floating up and holding the hat on his head. “Pooooh?” it asked floating towards Oscar trying to search for an answer to it’s confusion. “”Oscar!” Billi exclaimed as the purest, while weak, smile exposed his vulnerability.

Someone must have blessed Billi with a supporting aura. Mom must have known from beyond the grave that he’d need this in his life. That he’d need someone to comfort him in the moments of his despair. At the end of the day Billi didn’t care why Oscar showed up, but he swiftly moved and hugged the man. No second thoughts about it. Just...he did what Oscar said they’d do. He helped take out the UB that nearly killed him, and showered him in allies blood, he helped protect the boats and lilycove, all while trying to protect his friends and family. “I did it Oscar!” somehow he was exposing his pride, “We….got rid of them,” he grinned but he could still see visions of people being crushed to death, others just melting from poisons, among other things, but...he did it.

“Oh. how rude of me, did you want something to drink?” he asked as the mice moved to climb around the fixtures near Oscar, and Yamper at Oscar’s feet, while Majora floated beside Billi trying to understand who the man was.

oscar clayton

Oscar was greeted by Billi's usual overflowing energy. The large man didn't answer Oscar, choosing instead to barrel toward him and deliver a tight embrace. Oscar had no time to object, being near instantaneously encased by Billi's bear hug. The squeeze took the wind out of him, and Oscar found himself nearly lifted off the ground as Billi's grip tightened. Yeah, this seemed pretty run of the mill for their encounters.

Oscar fought through his breathlessness to peer into Billi's eyes as he spoke of his triumph. While he was initially annoyed, it was hard not to feel a bit joyful at the oaf's excitement. Oscar even managed a genuine smile, "Fuck *gasp* yeah *gasp* we did." Oscar was eventually released, allowing him to breathe normally once more. As Billi offered him a drink, Oscar caught his breath while trying to decline. After failing to get the words out thrice, he just waved his hand. "Water please."

Oscar watched as various adorable critters cooed around him. It made him uncomfortable, which can be clearly seen by the grimace on his face. Despite Billi's warm reception, Oscar had shit to do so he decided to cut to the case and interrogate the man. He stepped forward toward the kitchen area, being careful not to step on any of the small pokemon scurrying about the warehouse. 

"Well um, Billi--I have to say it's a bit of a surprise to see you here. When you moved in, were there any items being stored here? I was uh--actually renting out this space for a bit, and I would hate to lose any of my possessions." Oscar folded his arms, casually observing Billi's apartment. "Love what you've done with the place though, it's clearly in good hands."

Billi Marsh

Billi quickly shifted to open his refrigerator, grabbing the filtered water and pouring Oscar a nice cool glass of water. Which was great because that’s all Billi had anyways. Well that and protein powder to throw in his smoothies that he didn’t have milk or cream to make it worth it. "Yeah I remodeled everything when I got my reporting job! Took a while but everything was actually really cheap hahaha! And the electric type pokemon help power everything in here so I get lucky!" Blue eyes scanned the albino clad man as he pursed his lips with a question. “Oh all that stuff is in my storage area underneath. Turns out it used to be a car shop, so there's a lower level I’m not using.” words escaped his lips as he stared at Oscar with admiration in his eyes.

The mice all huddled on the countertop beside the man, curious about why their master was so enthralled by him. Yamper on the other hand was very happy to see Oscar, and jumped at his knees for the biggest pets! After all Yamper was Billi style energy. Billi smiled at Oscar, keeping himself under control to the best he could, even if Majora was peeking around the man trying to find something to pull on. “now…..oh I got something for you!” Billi ran off to his bedroom returning with the clefable/gengar hat. “I got it for you! You got all red and liked it, remember,” Billi mused as his own cheeks turned a rosey red.

oscar clayton

Oscar listened to Billi intently, sucking in the sides of his mouth to hold in his frustration. From his perspective, Billi was dodging the question, though instead of blowing up about it he wanted to give him the chance to get around to answering. His patience paid off, as Billi revealed that Oscar's possessions were being held safe in the lower level of Billi's 'apartment'. Oscar let out a sigh of relief, his demeanor changing instantaneously. Now that he knew his stuff was safe, he began to feel a lot better.

He accepted the glass of water readily, taking a hardy swig with glee. He didn't even mind Billi's pokemon swarming him, except for that poipole. While Oscar's expression was at ease, he kept a wary eye on the ultra beast. Oscar had a naganadel of his own, but the poipole still freaked him out. All he could remember when looking at it was Oscar's beedrill skewering a poipole's head, only for it to rip away and nearly kill him. The memory still made Oscar shudder.

Before Oscar could say anything else, Billi would run off to retrieve something. When he came back, Oscar turned pale----er. Billi placed the familiar hat on his head, and Oscar couldn't help but shake. How dare he, how dare this punk do this to him!? A gift? Really? What kind of man just buys a meaningful gift for someone to make them feel special and shit? The fucking nerve.

Oscar's face grew red as these thoughts flew through his head, anger boiling within him. Yet after a moment, he couldn't really tell why he was angry. He was trying to avoid something, but what was it? Oscar relaxed, adjusting the hat so it wouldn't hold his hair over his eyes. The faintest of smiles formed on his lips, and he did his best to avoid Billi's gaze as his cheeks blushed. No one had ever done something this sweet for him before, it made him feel uncomfortably warm.

"Thanks Billi, that was really sweet of you." Oscar kept the hat on, sighing as his pent up feelings flowed away. It felt weirdly good to just accept the gesture, it was a nice change. Oscar finally looked Billi in the eyes, a sudden feeling of dread bubbling in his stomach. He felt something unfamiliar, and to rid himself of it he resolved to change the subject. 

"So uh, Lilycove. I'm glad you survived, it was a really rough time I'm sure." 'Rough Time' might have been an understatement, but as long as he could keep his mind off Billi's--everything--he could probably survive this encounter.

Billi Marsh

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Billi's story softened Oscar's expression further. The rocket had thought his experience was rough. He almost forgot that there were others put through so much more, and Billi was one of them. His mind drifted to that hour in the Megaloplan hideout, where he and Billi encountered all those bodies. Remembering the fear Billi displayed then made him shudder, he couldn't imagine how he got through all this.

Oscar put a hand on Billi's shoulder, a soft smile lingering on his face. "I can't imagine what you've seen Billi, and this might not mean much but I'm very proud of you. You've clearly come a long way since that time in Oldale." Billi had grown a lot, in Oscar's mind at least. No longer was he simply some buffoon, he very clearly had depths Oscar had not noticed before. Or perhaps he didn't want to notice.

Oscar chuckled, it was a light and hearty laugh that was rare for the harsh Rocket Beast. "And I had no doubts you'd make it, I mean you have a top notch team right here!" Oscar referred of course to the various critters frolicking around the room. Everyone except that Poipole, whom his gaze regarded with a certain direness that could be confused for fear. 

Oscar put his other hand on Billi's shoulder, "You know, we should celebrate or something! We both made it through a fucking war after all. Let me take you out for dinner, wherever you want!" Oscar's conscience was begging him to stop this buddy-buddy bullshit, but something had shifted in Oscar's brain. Seeing Billi sad gave Oscar such a bizarre feeling, it felt unnatural. He wanted to make him feel better, a sentiment his inner cynic did not appreciate.

Billi Marsh

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Oscar's heart sunk when Billi admitted how sad he was. That hit him hard, he knew all too well how difficult it was to overcome depression. Considering how bright and sunny Billi normally was, Oscar had to admire the man's fortitude. Luckily the subject quickly became lighter, and he was glad that Billi was open to a dinner. 

Oscar rubbed his chin, "Tell you what, I'll scout out some places and take you somewhere nice. and vegetarian. On me, I hope that sounds alright." Oscar chuckled before reflecting on Billi's next question. How was he doing--sheesh how does he answer that. He very well couldn't admit that the war was the best thing to have ever happen to him, and its aftermath lead to the most personal success that he had ever experienced. Surely there were some glum feelings he could tap into to not seem insensitive. 

"Well, I fucking hate the ocean now. And I keep seeing people as blue, it freaks me out. But I think even with the near death experience, I came out better than most." Oscar then realized that he has yet to speak about his near death experience, and his eyes tightly shut. Now he had to elaborate. "I uh--encountered a poipole. Y'know, like that one." He pointed to Billi's poipole, shuddering at its appearance. "Long story short, decapitate the thing. Fucker evolved and nearly skewered me anyway. It's left me a tad disgruntled, but that's about it." Oscar had no doubt he would get over it eventually, but until he got the image of a headless alien creature flying toward him out of his head he was gonna keep that poipole at an arms distance.

Oscar finished his water, placing the glass on the counter. "Okay Billi, I gotta hit the road. I'll come back around for my stuff in the basement, if that's alright." Oscar flinched, realizing that if Billi was going to tell him where he wanted to eat he would need a way to contact Oscar. Oscar pulled out his cellphone, pressed a few keys, and held it out to Billi. On the screen was his phone number, and Billi was the first person outside of Rocket to see it.

Billi Marsh