The other person didn't look like they were out on a hike- or seeking shelter, for that matter. They were wearing a suit for one- and it was completely dry, suggesting he had been standing there for a while now.

He also had a straw hat. Kinda familiar.

Casually, the person turned to look at them, revealing a familiar, grinning face. They gave Angelo a once over before speaking.

"No money, no bugs, not even letters... honestly, Angelo, mate, if I didn't know any better, I would think you weren't serious about this whole membership thing." Doug said as he tipped his hat at the older man. "How've you been? Swimming didn't go as you expected, I reckon'?"

Besides him, a boulder seemed to come to life, rising a couple of feet high and revealing a bug with large pincers underneath.

"Oh. This is Kameba, by the way. She's here to help me out." He said, laying a hand onto her rocky shell. "I'mere on official business, ya see. Making sure no funny business goes on, keeping rookie spelunkers safe, digging them out if they screw up. Not me of course; not Kameba either."

He reached up, grasping and lifting up his hat... and revealing another little bug in place!

"But this little fella here. He's Kyodai. Say hi, Kyo." He said, and the little Grubbin snapped its mandibles cheerfully in response. "Anyway. You going in? Then sure, I'll tag along. It's my job and all. You are the only person that's come'ere today anyway."

---

TAG: angelo vestri

Although the person before him was a stranger to Hercules, it turned out that Angelo was quite aware of who this guy was and he had the fake membership to prove it.

“Please, no, bugs are my life.” He drawls out sarcastically, pushing his wet hair out of his face and not at all speaking in mean spirits, considering the small curl of his mouth. “And if you must know, Dougie. I do have a bug pokemon and he would be very upset to know that you don’t consider him one of the crew. And you call yourself a dedicated member, for shame.” A tsk clicks off his tongue, arms folded and head shaking, putting on the picture of disapproval aside from the grin.

“I’ll have you know I’m an excellent swimmer, thanks.”

To be honest, Angelo was a little surprised to find the teenager in a random cave with smart attire, let alone completely dry while he stood there looking like he’d just come from drowning in a lake. Considering how Doug had stumbled into his life last time though, perhaps finding him in random locations across the region in bizarre circumstances was just destined to be ‘their thing’. Not like he’d complain. It certainly brought a little spontaneity to life.

“Hi, guys,” Angelo greets the bug companions as he strolls over to Doug, flopping an arm over the teenager’s shoulders before waving a hand towards the tunnel, indicating for them to start walking into the depths and see what kind of rocky treasures they might be able to find.

“So, sorry if this sounds like something I should already understand,” he hums as they walk into the darkness of a tunnel, squeezing at the bottom of his t-shirt to ring out some water. “Why are you wearing a suit to go spelunking?”

John Sullivan

"Ew, don't call me that, you sound like a grandma." Doug said, interrupting the other youth at Dougie with a smug smirk. He sniffed as the other lad kept going on, holding his chest dramatically. "Angelo, buddy, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you. I can't believe I totally ignored what'shiface the whoknowswhatmon."

He whipped a nonexistent tear off his cheek.

"Maybe if you showed him once in a while I wouldn't have missed him, though. I think we can all agree this one's on ya." He said dryly, grinning at the man.

At his next words he once again gave him a once over, before giving a conceding nod. "Few people are ballsy enough to go for a swim on full rock-climbing gear, I'll give ya that."

The sass exchange left behind them, the youth gestured towards his perfectly fitted suit confidently, huffing.

"A man should look nothing less than his best when seeking treasure." Was his sensitive reply. "That aside, I was just leaving Lavaridge's Memorial when I got called in to work."

Kumon could help him clean up once he was done anyway, so whatever. Wasn't his money going into the suit.

"What about ya? Going Spelunking Rock climbing, swimming, spelunking too? Training for the triathlon or something? The third discipline is cycling, ya know?"

---

TAG: angelo vestri

Angelo flicks droplets off his fingers as Doug explains that treasure hunting should always be conducted in one’s best. “I’ve got a friend who’d probably disagree with you on that one,” he comments, thoughts flickering towards a wild woman with golden curls stomping through the jungle, smeared in dirt but eyes aglow. “Don’t think the gold and artifacts are going to leap into your arms just because you’re dressed snappy.”

Then Doug explained the truth of why he was all dressed up, save for the signature straw hat and Angelo grimaced a little, feeling a twist of guilt in his gut and his smile disappearing. Lavaridge memorial, huh? His thoughts instantly drift back to the war that the region had been subjected to not long ago and, in extension, back to when Doug had mentioned his Kantonian ties. “Sorry to hear that, Doug. You good?”

Hercules slipped off his shoulder when Angelo went to his backpack to fish out his flashlight, the Larvitar padding over to Crustle, sniffing at the large rock on her back curiously. Pointing the beam, they soon find themselves in a cavern where some wooden stairs had been built around the outside of the pit, looking rather old and cracked with their frayed rope bannister as it leads down into the gloom. “Just out for a hike which then somehow evolved into almost drowning. So, you know, the usual.” He turns to Doug when he mentions a triathlon and his bike, light of his torch shining accidently into the teenager's face, his eyes genuinely shining with interest. “Now that’s a thought. Think Hoenn is hosting a triathlon in the next year or so?” That’s kind of all he had, after all.

He turns the light of the torch down the steps that lead into the deep of the cavern then back towards their path, pointing it down a branching tunnel. “You’re the cave expert, Bug Catcher. Wanna go down or carry on?”

John Sullivan

"You and your friend are both entitled to your wrong opinion." He said as he began making his way into the caverns. "I'll have you know a cute girl gave me her number thanks to this suit."

He was only slightly exaggerating the story. Cait DID give him phone number while he was wearing this suit.

He probably shouldn't have mentioned the memorial; he much preferred keeping things light and jokey to any semblance of serious, sobering dialogue.

"Yeah, don't worry about me." He said, shrugging as casually as he could manage. "I've been making the rounds now that I can, just visiting the monuments whenever I get dispatched near the cities. Just paying respects, don't worry about me."

He had finished mourning his parents months ago; he was fine.

The subject died out after that, and they were soon going deeper into the caverns, flashlight in hand. Kameba had smiled at the smaller pokemon as he approached, letting him sniff about at her home while she followed behind her trainer.

Meanwhile, Doug continued practicing his jokes with Angelo.

"Don't you just hate it when mountain climbing turns into deep sea diving? You take every precaution possible, what with staying on land and stuff, and it still hits ya outta nowhere. Honestly, Hoenn! Am I right or am I right lads?"

He glanced over his shoulder at Kameba for confirmation, and she did her best impression of a tilted brow in response.

"You are the worst kind of lad, Kameba." He said while pouting, drawing a snort out of the bug.

He turned his attention back to the other lad.

"I dunno, probably? The authorities are pretty tone deaf. Wouldn't be surprised if they tried to swing it as some sort of charity event." He said while ducking under a particularly low hanging rock. "That aside, 'fraid my spelunkin' abilities might be a tad overestimated here. I'm more of a recreational Cave aficionado."

He did read a few pamphlets and small books on the subject, however. Mandatory readings, really.

"That said, if I 'member right, there's an evolutionary stone deposit further ahead. Dunno if there's anything comparable worth while on the way down." He said, shrugging. "So... yeah, let's keep going."

---

TAG: angelo vestri

Angelo didn’t press on about Doug’s visit to the memorial, he knew from experience not to push on matters like that, especially when dismissed that he didn’t need to worry. It may as well be translated to ‘I don’t want to talk about it’. But he respected that; he wouldn’t want to talk about those sensitive topics either. So instead Angelo simply nodded in response, gave the teenager’s shoulder a pat and carried on like before.

“You’re right,” he laughs at Doug’s joke. “But that’s what you get when you sign up to the Hoenn Experience, buddy. A lot of sun, some rain and a whole lot of unpredictability.” It was a guaranteed adventure.

He raises an eyebrow as the Bug Catcher proclaims that he, in fact, was not a cave expert; Angelo’s lips curve up in a dry smile. “So how did you get into this line of work?” He asks, genuinely curious as Doug suggests that they do not venture down into the pit of darkness, gesturing down the path where a supposing evolutionary stone deposit lay instead. Their path thins and Angelo lets the suited teenager go first, noting it wasn’t wide enough for them both to continue side-by-side pointing his torch beam down the space between the cavern walls so they can see. “I’d have though that if you were doing anything it would be opening up your own hat shop or something. That or you'd have started a Hoenn branch of the Bug Club. I bet you could afford it with that steep membership fee, all the monthly payments don't go towards nets, do they?”

There’s a faint growl rumbling far away but he can’t pick up whether it is coming from behind or within the stone labyrinth beyond.

John Sullivan

"Officially, I'm just an Officer." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Used to think it meant being a soldier; now I think it's some kind of jack of all trades deal. I don't get the way the league works at all, to be honest."

He laughed as he recalled a relevant mission, glancing at Angelo.

"Just the other day, I was sent deep sea diving to escort a school of Corsola into a reservation." He said, smiling at the memory. "Pretty fun, right? Wrong. Well, right, but it was scary as all hell! I had no idea what they were thinking! Though I guess they were thinking somehow, since it worked out in the end."

Though that probably had more to do with his companion than himself.

As the path they took narrowed down until they could no longer walk side by side, the youth took point, groaning under his breath as he felt the stone drag against the suit.

"Man, this thing is new!" He said with a huff, his whining cut short by Angelo's hat quip, turning his complaints into amused snorts.

"I tried to open a hat shop, but I got a cease and desist letter from Silph Corp." He gave it a moment. "I was allegedly infringing upon their 'Everything' trademark."

He thought he might have heard some sort of growling... but he couldn't quite make out if they were a pokemon's or just the naturally generated sounds within a cave.

So he kept joking.

"I would be able to afford it, if the members," He gave Angelo a look. "Actually paid. But until I've busted their kneecaps, the Kantonian Bugcatcher gang- er, association will have to limit its operations to Kanto."

---

TAG: angelo vestri

“Huh, well you know what they say, something something eat the rich.” Angelo hums nonchalantly as Doug brings up the Silph company. It didn’t matter whether the Bug Cather was joking or not about being dealt with a cease and desist, there was a complicated bitterness on his tongue regardless.

As Doug starts to squish through the passage, Angelo follows along after, keeping his torch shining ahead so that the teenager wouldn’t stumble out into the dark on the other side. Not minding as his wet clothes scraped against the rockface and picked up dust, clearly more kitted out for the exploration than the suited cavern guide. Hercules has decided to position himself on top of the Crustle like he was receiving a piggyback, looking pleased with himself as he watched the world go by from his perch.

“Oh, Dougie…” He sighed as he caught sight of the boy giving him an eyeful. “There’s no need to be ashamed. You can tell me. I’m your only member, aren’t I?”

When they both get to the other side of the path, they end up in a larger room with darkness that clings to every corner. What was once a distant, indistinct sound suddenly becoming a little clearer, a cackling and scratching kind of noise scraping from up ahead. “Whatever it is… I think it’s close.” Angelo beckons Hercules to his side as he mumbles to Doug, giving the teenager a look before nodding, as if to ask if he was ready for whatever lay ahead. When he is, the courier points the beam of the torch straight down the middle of the room…

Nothing.

Then something drops from the celing from above them, eyes glittering and teeth sharp as it screeches through an armful of sparkling evolutionary stones; the Sableye leaping to try and latch onto Doug’s back.

“Holy sh- Watch out!”

John Sullivan

"Man, have ya seen the Silph's CEO? Man looks stiffer than a two-peckered billy Gogoat. Ain't a single muscle in his body worth munchin'." He said as he finally managed to squeeze his way through the passage, making a face as he tried to pat off the dust marring his new suit. "Ah, screw it. We gotta go back the way we came anyway."

More importantly...

"ExcuSE you? I'll have ya know the International Bugcatchers Federation™️ has members all over the globe." He said, surely reassuring Angelo of the greatness of the organization which he had totally joined on his own volition.

Turning his attention back to their surroundings, he squinted hard at the darkness, unable to see anything through the inky black that surrounded them. He could hear something clear as day, however, and so could Kameba, who moved stand in front of him as the sounds of that something became louder and louder, her claws ready split whatever lurked in the dark.

Angelo came to stand besides him, readying his flash light. And then...

Nothing.

"Ah Bugger." He said. And then something dropped soundly behind them, and Angelo was shouting.

Doug dropped to the floor in an instant, almost crying as he felt all the dirt already gathering into his suit.

Kameba, for her part turned while swinging her claw down, an earthy, orange energy slamming down upon the shadow that had sailed over Doug, hammering the airborne Sableye into the floor.

"Ha! Smackdown. Nice." Said the still almost crying youth from the floor, giving her a thumbs up.

---

TAG: angelo vestri

Waving the torch about a bit, trying to keep the Sableye within the beam, Angelo risked a look down at Doug to see that the teenager had fallen onto the floor. For a brief moment a flash of worry shoots through him, wondering whether he had been hurt, itching to shout and swear at their attacker as a hot claw of annoyance scraped at his skin. Then he pulled himself together, yanking the frayed edges of himself close, the teenager’s scrunched up form on the ground reminding him of his younger age.

“It’s fine, you’re all good. I bet this ain't nothing compared to an angry Beedrill nest,” his voice comes out level as he drops down to a knee beside him, Hercules releasing a barrage of stone edge to knock back the Sableye as Kameba shoots the smackdown. Angelo’s hand finds the back of Doug’s now scuffed up suit jacket, attempting to yank the kid up to his feet. Leaving the bug catcher on the floor wasn’t a great idea and Angelo did his best to encourage him to stand. He ignores the itch of the fight. “Come on, Bug Boss. Let’s get out of its way, don't think we were invited to the party.”

Nudging Doug back the way they had come from, not telling him that the flashlight had caught numerous pairs of eyes glowing in the dark, he let Hercules keep the attacker at bay with Rock Slide while they made their way back towards the path they had just come from.

There’s something glittering near their feet and Angelo, unable to chase away the taste of curiosity on his tongue, sticks a few shards of evolutionary stone into his pocket before they make a run for it. The multiple scratching noises suddenly increased in volume and clear agitation… Whoops. “Maybe we should pick up the pace a bit…”

At least before the horde descended.

John Sullivan

"Beedrill's stings hurt awright, but nothing will ever hurt me as much as this..." Doug said, trying to wave away Angelo. "My bloody new suit is ruined!"

He could only hope the people at the laundry could fix this, because last he had heard, this was the only freebie the League would give him. And he liked it.

"Yeah, yeah... I hear ya. Never been much of party guy anyway." He said with a grumble as he stood up, returning Kameba to her pokeball and readjusting his straw hat before wedging himself back into the tiny gap. His suit was already dirtied beyond recognition, so he didn't bother being gentle this time, struggling his way through the tiny gap quickly.

Not quick enough for Angelo, clearly.

But then, if his pocketing made the sound of death louder, he probably would be feeling pretty stressed out too.

"You can always just drop the rocks, m'dude." He said, looking over at Angelo. And then he yelped as he stumbled out of the wedge, having reached the end. "Never mind then! Hold tight onto that treasure, mate!"

He reached into the wedged and took ahold of Angelo's wet clothing, yanking firmly onto it to try and pull out the other man faster.

"Come... ooon!"

---

TAG: angelo vestri

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that,” Angelo says as Doug suggests that he leave the treasures behind, his pilfered rocks pressing into his skin through his pockets but not proving to be much of a hindrance, far too invested in keeping the pair of them out of a mass of ghostly claws to pay it too much mind.

Then Doug is relenting and grabbing hold of his jacket all in one, yanking him faster through the gap in the tunnel. He didn’t need to be encouraged any further. Angelo has just enough time to twist back and return Hercules in a beam of light before the Sableye swarm could descend on top of him.

Bursting out of the enclosed path with a stumble, Angelo shoves at the back of Doug's shoulder to encourage him to run faster as he remains a step behind. Keeping the torch shining ahead to light their way as they ran back towards the entrance, his breath escapes him in heavy breaths, choppy laughter mixing in with the exhales; adrenaline pulsing through his blood like a high. He could hear some screeches behind him and barely manages to miss a shadow claw as one of the Sableye launches itself at them, jumping to the side as the ghostly creature attempts to lunge for his pockets. “Ah, fuck off!” He shouts as he almost bumps straight into Doug’s shoulder in the process. “Sorry, they’re getting handsy back here!”

Up ahead the light at the end of the tunnel was beginning to shine into view.

John Sullivan

They ran and ran until the light at the end of the tunnel rendered the flashlight pointless. This would have been the point at which they could finally stop running, take deep breaths and feel relief that they were now safe.

Except that the noise coming from behind them was only growing louder and rougher the closer they got to the light, and one of the little shadows had nearly tackled Angelo and made off with their loot.

"That's one for the swear jar!" He said over his shoulder as he was pushed to go faster and faster.

They made it to the light at the end of the tunnel- and kept going, mob of shadows in tow and all too eager to follow, rabid and unwilling to let the preciouses be stolen.

"OKAY, so I know we are pretending I didn't say the thing earlier!" He said to Angelo as they ran. "But what if."

He clapped his hands as he said this, looking pensively at the gems on Angelo's pocket.

Damn it.

"... We just threw every pokemon we had at 'em?"

Not particularly ethical given the law on pokemon battles, but whatever worked.

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TAG: angelo vestri