A youth's voice cut through such thoughts.

"That's just tempting fate, girlie." He said bluntly, his steps crunching on the grass as he came closer until he stood above her. His straw hat kept the sun from illuminating his face, but his lazy grin was easy to see.

It was also easy to see it quickly turn into a playful sneer at the sight of her books.

"Yuck. Ya really are trying to go to sleep, huh?" He said with an self-amused snort, reaching up to readjust his straw hat. 

As a firm believer in the value of school truancy, he really didn't care for such clearly non-fantastical bodies of literature.

"Name's Doug, missy. Just got recruited into this business." He said, gesturing widely at their surroundings, before slumping right down onto his ass besides her. "Mr. Farmer looked real nervous 'bout his flock, so I reckon' the usual suspects are pretty clever 'round these parts." 

He didn't look the part of a farmer, sans the strawhat, but he certainly sounded like one.

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TAG: felicity farkas

"Pleasure, Felicity." He said, before laughing. "And nah, I ain't no farmer's son- what gave the impression?"

He didn't seem facetious while saying this. Even as he reached up to tip his straw hat at her once again, shaking his head at her apology.

"Nothin' to apologize fo'. An hour of nothing but breeze, books and these fluffy fellas will put an insomniac to sleep." He said while pulling a tiny pokeball out of his pocket, it growing to fullsize as he continued speaking. "It can't be avoided, but no need to be careless! Let's get some guards out, just in case! Namegon, yer up!"

He threw the pokeball into the air, and it released out a bug type pokemon covered in scarf like membrane, the longer strands fluttering dramatically in the wind as the ninja like bug half turned with his arms crossed over his chest to look at Doug and Felicity.

"Your mission is clear, Shadow of Slateport." Doug said, suddenly speaking in a lower pitch and a heavy, made up accent, eyes narrowing underneath his hat. "Protect the farmer's flock. Not a single one must disappear."

The Accelgor nodded dramatically, before seemingly vanishing before their eyes in a blur of motion.

Doug responded by unceremoniously dropping onto his butt then and there, stretching his arms above his head with a lazy grunt before lying down on the grass, his hand shifting his straw hat over his face.

"Why r'ya takin' jobs from farmers anyway, dudette?" He said, wondering what a girl like her was doing here. It wasn't nice to judge someone on appearances... but it was easier to make conversation that way. "Me, the last invasion at Slateport left me homeless. Just making any cash I can."

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TAG: felicity farkas

"Cute mon's you've got." He said from where he laid, hat tilted at an angle to let him see her pokemon of choice.

He chuckled at the words preceding her problems, grinning.

"Everyone's got their problems, girlie. Don't worry about mine; they sound worse than they actually are." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

Losing one's home and becoming homeless might sound awful- and it usually would have been. But.

"I'm a trainer." He said, winking at her from under the hat. "I can set camp anywhere on this mudball and be just dandy."

He sounded mighty confident, and hey, why shouldn't he be? Trainers' camping gear these days was nothing to sniff at. If he could keep finding odd jobs and winning pokemon battles... He would be fine.

But enough about him. Her problems were not as easily solved.

"Them's the books for, eh?" He said. "Didn't think I would meet an egghead at a farm! Show's what I know."

He was trying to lighten the mood, remembering a little too late that not everyone made light of their own problems as he did. Reaching up to scratch at his chin, he nibbled on his own tongue behind his sealed lips, considering his next words.

"No one willing to buy those back in these times, huh?" He said, sighing. "I ain't much for an education, but sorry about yours. This nonsense would never have happened if it weren't for those good for nothing rockets."

He frowned underneath his hat at the memory of the word alone, clicking his tongue in almost instinctive distaste.

He stopped once he realized these were not particularly uplifting words.

"... At least they are gone now." He said with a sigh. Mostly because he wasn't too sure if they were himself. It was just what the league claimed. He hoped they were right. "Hoenn will be back on its feet in no time; before you know it, you'll be going to college to become a..."

He paused.

"What'cha studying, anyway?"

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TAG:felicity felicity farkas

"Wedding plannin'?" He said, echoing her with curiosity.

It was somewhat strange to see someone interested studying something so completely unrelated to pokemon.

Scratching at his chin, he pursed his lips, deep in thought.

"Interior design... Oh, then you've got a sketchpad with ya!" He said, grinning. He was only mildly acquainted with the discipline... But it had design in its name, so he assumed she probably drew. "Mind if I look through it?"

He had made a few (ugly) sketches in the past, but they had all been bug type pokemon. Pokemon were so important to daily life most people (himself included) had little attention for anything else.

He snorted.

"I reckon' that's why I ain't any good at it." He said without offering much context, mostly to himself.

"I'm a terrible student, but maybe ya could do some self-teachin' while ya wait?" He said, glancing at the bag where she had stuffed her book earlier. "Ya got the books, and sounds like ya got the want for it."

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TAG:felicity felicity farkas