Gavin's Aerodactyl perches like a gargoyle on the rocks, it's broad gray wings providing shade for the trainer standing at its side. The Rocket looks up as someone calls out in alarm, but it turns out to be directed at a Rockruff and not the lounging duo.

"I'd be careful past this point," Gavin advises, though his attention has returned to the phone in his hand. Always lose signal around here, damn it. "War's really done a number on the Falls and they're not all done with reconstruction."

None of his business if people want to get themselves killed, but a warning was fair nevertheless.

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon aerodactyl"]

[break]

angelo vestri // WILD

Turns out Orion had cut in front of him out of interest towards a man leaning against the rocks, looking somewhat out of place up on the hillside absorbed in his phone. Angelo doesn't notice the Aerodactyl lurking nearby until the sun hits it just right, casting an impressive shadow over him as he rolls his bike to a stop, his Rockruff craning her neck towards the stranger, although remaining a few paces away, and sniffing at the air.

“Ah, thanks,” he says to the man as he warns him about the condition of the Falls. Angelo is aware but doesn’t bring it up, figuring it would serve no point to dismiss the man with an ‘I know’ when he was simply offering some sound advice. “I’ll take the lower route, then. Doesn’t lead to quite a good view but the track is pretty cool. If you’re into that sort of thing.” Something told him, considering the lack of mountain bike, cycle trails and jumps weren’t on his agenda for being up on the cliff side.

“Not trying to get signal up here are you? Bit optimistic.” Angelo quirks a brow with an easy-going smile.

skip // Cillian Quinn

As Angelo's Rockruff pads closer to sniff at the air, Gavin's Aerodactyl flares her wings in a silent protective gesture. The Rocket chuckles, amused at the thought of his prehistoric Pokemon protecting him from a mere puppy. He inclines his head toward the Rockruff with a warm smile. He'd trained up one of his own, not too long ago — though it felt like forever, with the war in between.

"I've taken it many times," he says in agreement, though he'd been on foot where the other favored the bike. When asked about his phone, he pockets it. "Force of habit. I'm always working, even when I'm not."

Though his attire and good-natured air might suggest an overworked League official or something to that effect, it's Rocket Gavin worries for. He can't help but to check his phone at regular intervals, ever-awaiting a summons back to the submarine or some other emergency.

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon aerodactyl"]

[break]

angelo vestri // SKIP

At least the blonde didn’t seem to mind Orion. Catching sight of the smile directed at the puppy, Angelo figured there was no harm in letting the curious Rockruff sniff the air until she grew satisfied, her bushy cream tail waving from side to side before letting out a yip strong enough to lift her front paws off the dirt, greeting the stranger. She didn’t seem phased by the larger rock type looming ahead, as menacing as a gargoyle.

“That’s a mood,” Angelo responds with a tired laugh, his fingers curling around the handlebars and leaning back a little, releasing a sigh into the autumn afternoon air, lips bitterly curled upwards at the recent memories. There’s a sudden sombre spike in his heart contrary to the wistful smile on his face. “Especially these days.” Even for a delivery boy in the aftermath of war, work didn’t stop. In fact it got busier with the relief efforts, especially when he sought the extra jobs out purposefully to keep himself busy. This man in his suit and standing amongst the hillside, even though Angelo was not one to jump to conclusions so readily, would not surprise him if the sentiment was shared somewhat.

“I'd say that it's important to put your phone away to switch off and all that stuff,” he pats a handlebar as if emphasising his method of downtime, his chance to breathe and feel the wind in his hair without weight. “But I doubt you need to be lectured by some random kid about that.” His voice takes on a light air again, as if knowing that this argument was an age as old as time. Advice people, himself included, often did not follow. 

skip // Cillian Quinn

At mention of these days, Gavin grimaces in silent understanding. The war had everyone stretched thin, no matter what their occupation.

"Ah, I wish I could." It would be freeing, he thinks, to take a vacation from Rocket... but it wasn't an option, especially not now. He could distance himself from the submarine for a few days at a time, but never the organization. Lighter, jesting, he adds, "At least nature has the decency to force it on me at times. Can't be blamed for that."

He barely stirs as his Aerodactyl suddenly takes flight with a ferocious shriek, powerful wings carrying it into the air before it dives toward a Jangmo-o that had just poked its head from a crack in the cliffside. It starts to carry the poor thing off, but Gavin's whistle summons the prehistoric flier to his side.

"I want this one," he insists, tapping it with a ball.

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon aerodactyl"]

[break]

angelo vestri // CATCH JANGMO-O

Angelo smiles a little at the comment about nature, how sometimes you just have to relent to it, let it take you away from the responsibilities and frustrations of the real world for even just a short amount of time. He wonders if he could get away with being lost in the middle of the woods or on a boat out on the ocean for time indefinite. But he knows better than to let the thought linger.

“I’m sure the bosses can survive an hour without a call. Unless there's some kind of attachment issues going on.” Angelo muses as he slips off the saddle of his bike, holding onto the handlebar still as he crouches beside his blue bike. “So what do you do? Must be something important if you’re trying to take calls up here in a dead signal zone.” He presses his thumb into the rubber of his tire to check the pressure, ignoring the sounds of wild pokemon as he does a quick sweep of his bicycle.

skip // Cillian Quinn

There was the dreaded question: what do you do? Thankfully, Gavin was prepared for it.

"I'm a scientist," he says, well aware that his attire suggested otherwise. "We've been overloaded ever since the war trying to learn more about the Ultra Beasts, especially the Poipole."

His attention is diverted by a Snubbull watching them from behind a rock; it bares its teeth in a vain attempt to be intimidating when it sees him watching. He scoffs in amusement and chucks a couple snacks he kept on-hand for his Lycanroc toward it.

When it's distracted by the food, Gavin tosses a pokeball.

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon aerodactyl"]

[break]

angelo vestri // CATCH SNUBBULL

“Ah, yeah… That’ll do it,” he hums as the man explains that he’s a scientist, pressing his thumb into the front tire of his bike before standing. After everything that’s been going on, it made sense for the scientific community to be worked into overdrive – someone needed to figure out what the hell was going on. “Can’t say that it’s a good thing, after everything that happened… But those Ultra Beasts, I don't know, it must be damn interesting being able to research into them. Once in a lifetime kind of thing.” He'd have liked to have seen a Poipole, being from another dimension and all.

At the sight of the Snubbull, Orion strolls over in its direction, clearly unperturbed by it attempting to intimidate with her wagging tail and excited yip. She looks even more excited when the fairy dog gets caught by the scientist, pouncing on the remaining treats on the ground and wolfing them down. Angelo internally cringes. He feeds her, honestly. Probably better than himself.

Still, his distracted line of sight means that he catches sight of a Goomy as it shrinks away from where the food had been thrown, clearly intimidated by how two lots of canine pokemon had beaten it to the punch. Angelo throws a pokeball.

catching goomy // Cillian Quinn

Gavin's lips twitch into a dry smile. Angelo seemed to understand the draw of untapped knowledge, even if he wasn't a scientist himself.

"It's one of the only good things to come out of this mess. So maybe I'm not exactly complaining that they want me on-call in case something comes up." His teeth flash in a brief grin. "They evolve, did you know? You ever seen a Naganadel?"

Without waiting for an answer, Gavin gives his Aerodactyl a chance to rest inside its pokeball as he brings out the Ultra Beast. The droning buzz that had been terrifying during the war was now almost familiar. It lunges for a nearby Nosepass with alarming speed, its stinger embedded into the Pokemon's rocky form. As they struggle, Gavin muses aloud, "I don't think any of the other Beasts evolve. We've not found any record of them doing so."

Aside from letting him indulge his passion for science, this was helping to sell his cover.

Eventually, the Nosepass succumbs to the Beast's assault, and Gavin throws a pokeball at it. He also tosses a couple more treats for the excitable Rockruff, reminded fondly of his own canine.

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon naganadel"]

[break]

angelo vestri // CATCH NOSEPASS