Drake's adventures around rural Hoenn had been interesting so far, but sadly he would need to move on eventually. Today had found him in Dewford, mostly overseeing that the solar panels and generators could handle the sudden influx of refugees from Slateport. Most may have went north to Mauville but there were plenty more aquatic who made route by the sea to the small island town. The pokemon center had been sadly full of displaced families when he visited but after some routine checks he deemed it safe and gave the mayor his number in case anything happened.

The whole incident in Slateport was upsetting for multiple reasons. One, Drake was just finishing up his paperwork to officially take his new position around the time the attack was happening. He was all but useless to help at the time. Two, even if he had been there, he wouldn't have been able to do anything. Drake had never fancied himself the battling sort so his pokemon were mostly for lab work or just companionship. This was going to be war if it wasn't already and he didn't want a target on his back as a weak link. He would never be as skilled as some of the others, yes, but that didn't mean he should laze about and be content as he was now.

So he put a call in, a request, by using what little power he had now to tug on the few strings he had available for now. The Sootopolis City Gym leader was a man that Drake had not met yet he had heard plenty about by whispers through the grapevine. He was strong and used Steel Types, which was what Drake preferred as well. So, he had placed a request for him to meet him here in Dewford, after his work was over.

He had a few reasons for this. While Drake could walk into Granite Cave on his own and most likely be fine, it would be nice to have some sort of backup just in case. An expert on Steel types might also be able to help check the condition of his own pokemon. Plus, there were some things he wanted to investigate deeper in the cave. Rare stones were supposed to be in abundance the deeper you went with the trade off of being guarded by powerful pokemon. Drake was not powerful but he was a deep thinker; perhaps something of use against the Rockets could be found inside.

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NIKOLAI PETROV

i hope this is okay as a starter! we can do however many posts you like before anything is spawned, too!