Lex had gotten use to the outskirts of Slateport. The thief was settling in nicely to the underground and she strangely found the subtle filth of the area charming. It was a city, and in this city, she was well-hidden among the normal rabble. It gave her a sense of comfort. Although she didn’t have any formal jobs quite yet, she found it easy to get by preying on the wealthier ones that found themselves in the darker parts of town. With the more high-class bars of the city only taking reservations and jacking up prices, the rowdy dive bars in this part town attracted everyone this time of year. New Year new you and all that jazz.

To be honest, this was one of her favorite times of the year. People were loose with their wallets and lips from the safety of an alcohol buzz. It didn’t take much time the night before for the redhead to befriend a few belligerent strangers and swipe the cash they had on hand before disappearing back into the crowds and dull light of the dive bars. Was it really stealing if they didn’t notice it was gone, though? Her three victims were quite drunk by the time she met them; they probably wouldn’t even remember their short, sweet time together.

But today was a new day, a new year, and a new Lex. She certainly had a lot to sweep under the rug from her previous life in Johto. Though she anxiety of a hitman always weighed heavy on her shoulders, she found herself a little less paranoid now that she as becoming more comfortable with the city. In fact, she was comfortable enough today to venture out in daylight. There was barely anyone on the streets. She assumed most were nursing hangovers or still sleeping.

Lex sipped the strong cold brew coffee she got from the deli beside the shady hotel she was shacked up at. It was . . . ok. Definitely mediocre. The lack of people left Lex distracted by her phone. She was scrolling through new from Johto when she turned a corner and ran right into Kaida Adachi. Lex gasped, dropping the phone and trying to save the full coffee in her hand from spilling all over the poor girl. It was too late though, half the cup of the dark liquid sloshed out of the vessel, landing on the white v-neck she wore beneath a black leather jacket, “Oh shit! I’m am so sorry!” she exclaimed, taking a step back and finally looking up at the woman and the troupe of large, intimidating pokemon she had with her. Lex’s eyes flashed between the intimidating Feraligatr, Toxicitry, and other pokemon. The woman’s eyes reflected the cautious stance she took, ready to flee if the pokemon decided to make her a snack for running into their trainer.

Kaida Adachi
TL;DR: Lex basically runs into Kaida Adachi, spilling her cold brew coffee on herself and possibly Kaida. She is intimidated and ready to bolt after seeing all the intimidating pokemon following her. RIP Lex

It all happened so fast and this trainer’s pokemon were on it. The Ekans draped over the woman moved quickly to block the cold brew from staining the stranger’s clothing by sacrificing his own comfort. Arceus, they must be well-trained. His hiss of discomfort surprised Lex and her stomach dropped. Fuck. Not only did she run into the trainer, she has now harmed her pokemon.

As suspected, Kaida’s reaction was first for her pokemon’s well-being then directed towards Lex. Even with what happened to her Ekans, she didn’t seem too angry. Annoyed probably, but not angry. The redhead stood a little straighter once Kaida asked the next question. Was she serious?! Lex gave her a quizzical look for a moment, glancing from Kaida to her pokemon, “I guess I’m just not use to so many uh – big pokemon in one place,” Lex relaxed, “And… you know,” she made a vague gesture towards their surroundings, ”Outskirts,” she said matter-of-factly. It seemed clear none of them meant any harm, though. In fact, the Toxtricity reached towards her with her cell phone in hand. Lex took it from the pokemon, “Thanks, you’re real quick,” speed and agility were qualities she admired in a pokemon.

Lex gave the phone a once over before sticking it safely into her back pocket, “I’ll keep that there from now on,” she jested, flicking the corner of her lips into a smile

Kaida Adachi

Well, that didn’t go over well. The woman seemed even more irritated by Lex’s honesty as to why she was nervous. I guess it was understandable to be upset about someone just assuming you and your pokemon meant them harm. Being the non-confrontational person Lex was (especially in the shadow of four large pokemon) she just went along and agreed with Kaida, “Yea, that was just silly,” she laughed, motioning to her cold brew, “Obviously haven’t finished my coffee yet this morning,” she laughed lightly, too soon?

“Cleaning?” Lex repeated curiously, cleaning what? The streets? The Outskirts needed some serious love so Kaida had a huge task in front of her. Lex hesitate for a moment before calling after the girl as she began to walk away, “I think that’s great, very . . . selfless of you. I'll help, what's first?” Lex wasn’t necessarily looking for something to do but she had nothing to do so offering her assistance was both a way to keep her busy and perhaps make up from her blunder with the cold brew coffee.

Kaida Adachi

It made more sense why Kaida was cleaning up the area after she explained it. Lex nodded along, “I see,” she said in understanding. Lex didn’t really have much love for the Outskirts. Sure, it was her “first home” here in Hoenn but she was eager to move on and get the hell outta here.

Lex walked along with the strange group, keeping pace with Kaida and watching the large Feraligatr literally blast the streets clean. She looked over at Kaida when the young woman mentioned “bad people”. Lex didn’t consider herself a bad person, but she certainly partook in some . . . questionable activities. It didn’t occur to her, though, that Kaida was referring to criminals like her.

Reaching to her belt, Lex plucked a pokeball off of it. The top of the sphere was painted with a blue, swirling helix, “Perhaps Helix could help Jotun,” she released the pokemon in front of them. The much smaller water-type glanced back at his trainer, still fairly new to the team he seemed unsure, especially surrounded by all these pokemon. He wasn’t expected to battle all of these, was he?

“Help his clean the streets, Helix,” she motioned to the other pokemon, hoping the Omastar was smart enough to follow the other’s lead.

The Spiral pokemon crawled forward to follow the other. He watched carefully before mimicking Jotun, using Brine to help blast dirt and scum off the streets.

“Nice to meet you, Kaida. I’m Lex,” she smiled back, taking a sip of the Cold Brew that started all of this, “Have you lived here long?” she asked, assuming Kaida lived in Hoenn since she had family around here.

Kaida Adachi

Helix crawled along the rocky asphalt, blasting away with his Brine. It was nice to get out of his pokeball and stretch his water-blasting muscles. It was good practice, and much preferred to sitting inside his pokeball for long periods of time.

Lex was quite amused at the large alligator’s delight on his new “friend” Helix joining him in his street cleaning. The large pokemon thumped its tail like a happy Growlithe. It was just too cute for Lex to stand! The Omastar, on the other hand, had really no interest in the other water-type. He was a shy pokemon who tended to focus on his task at hand rather than get distracted. Plus, it took a lot of concentration for fossil pokemon to pull his way along the dry land.

The redhead sipped her cold brew and nodded along as Kaida Adachi spoke of her past. The way she described it, made it sound like she didn’t remember much of it, especially the earlier days. Lex found this curious, it left an aire of mystery surrounding the woman, “Oh?” she reacted when Kaida spoke of her work, “What is it you do?”

Lex shrugged her shoulders before responding to Kaida, “I actually just moved here from Johto. Only been in the city a few days. I at a local, cheap hotel until I find a more permanent place,” she vaguely motioned towards the direction of her hotel with her free hand, “I use to be an executive assistant but got sick of always catering to someone else so I quit on a whim on moved. Not quite sure what I want to do now,” it was all a half-truth, which made it easy to sound natural as she told her story . . . not that Kaida asked.

Kaida Adachi

“Rangers?” Lex echoed, curiously glancing towards Kaida. Being new to the region, she really wasn’t too familiar with that role in the League. Considering it was the job Kaida had always wanted, it must be quite appealing. Or Kaida just had a sense of virtue and selflessness that Lex lacked.

Kaida posed the question back to Lex. The thief hesitated, pinching her brows in thought. Lex knew exactly what she was good at but she wasn’t about to go announcing it to strangers that worked for the League and held a job with the Rangers. Instead she shrugged her shoulders, “Organizing and planning stuff I guess,” it wasn’t a lie. Her job required meticulous planning and organization for it to run smoothly or else she would be in some deep shit.

Kaida Adachi

Lex smiled at the compliment. It was always nice to hear someone believed in you even though Kaida didn’t know exactly what kind of shenanigans Lex got herself in to. But one thing was certain, Lex was ready to get back into the game. She was sick of the petty pick-pocketing she was forced to reduce herself to to get by at the moment.

“Right,” she smiled, agreed with Kaida. She’d be fine . . . hopefully, “Almost done, it looks like!” Lex commented, trotting after Kaida to catch up with their pokemon who continued to blast the grim away from the streets. Lex spared a glance backwards from where they had come from. A much cleaner street stretched out behind them. Although it was unlikely she would have done something like this if not for running into Kaida (literally) she couldn’t help a small sense of pride swell inside her.

Tomorrow she would leave for Mauville to meet with a man about a job. And, hopefully, she’d be back in the game.

Kaida Adachi