"It's partly the novelty of it..." He frowned.

Of course, at this point Adrian couldn't be too superstitious. Ingratiating himself to the land spirits of Hoenn may yet offer tangible rewards, though he may never realize it. But perhaps that made him less than deserving; doing something only under the promise of reward wasn't virtuous. Just opportunism.

"But also... most of my pokemon were born here. Some remain atop Mt. Pyre... so honoring the land's customs is comforting, in some way."

The preceding spirits laid to rest here would hear their prayers, if none else were able and willing. Or at least, that is what he'd choose to believe.

"But what about you?" As the two diverted their attention, they wouldn't notice the kids fast at work with their mischief with some fireworks...

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bryan delarosa

"...That's one reason, I guess." Adrian himself could understand their perspective of ceremony; it was a karmic tribute. Though Adrian preferred to see it as ingratiating oneself to a benevolent spirit, rather than as cowing to an angrier, alien one...

Perhaps he was simply misunderstanding Bryan, but it was of no consequence. Both were able to offer a small gesture of prayer in relative quiet before things got chaotic, the sizzling fizzle of a firecracker's fuse igniting elsewhere within the shrine's enclosure. "The fuck's that noise?"

Maybe it's one of those angrier spirits...

Abruptly a firework burst into a shower of sparks as a roman candle went off within the building, preceded by a gang of kids scrambling out of the back of the shrine after torching the place.

Adrian flinched at the sight, though it paled in comparison to Blacephalon's attack. After taking a moment to steel himself, he was able to find the nerve to withdraw a pokeball, heaving it towards the problem: "Poliwrath, help us."

Its emergence on the field left everything damp after it flexed its muscles in a dominance display, before moving towards the source of the sparks, holding its hands up defensively as it approached the room housing the ignited fireworks.

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bryan delarosa

Adrian followed after them all, peeking a head into any doorway they passed, trying to find out where the initial firework had gone off. What kind of kid does this crap anyways? It was a rhetorical question as he simply cursed their luck.

Eventually he comes across a room with black powder markings across the floor, with the linens of the drapes in tatters, releasing cinders into the air that glowed a resplendent orange. Here.

"Poliwrath, over here; Hy-" Adrian would've loved nothing more than to douse the fires with ubiquitous amounts of water, but glancing around the room, he realized how much of it was treasured antiques. "Rain Dance, now!"

If nothing else he hoped to avoid being blamed for the defiling of any relics, and let the embers take the fault along with those kids... That's when he calls out to Bryan:

"Didja see who did it?"

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bryan delarosa

Adrian doesn't find much else, and simply escorts Poliwrath around the temple, helping to ease the fire to a halt. The shrine wasn't too packed to begin with, and many hadn't been so far in, so Adrian felt they had it under handle rather quickly. Bryan could handle it.

Some people's children... Far be it from Adrian to give the rapscallions responsible a lecture; that was somebody else's problem. But that wouldn't stop them from informing the caretakers, to make sure the kids were more carefully supervised from then on. By the sound of their cries, Adrian supposed this lesson had already been self-taught.

You just don't play with fire.

After quelling the fires Adrian made his hasty retreat, not wanting to implicate himself any further by sticking around. Hopefully Bryan's not too mad I ditched him without saying goodbye... Eh, he'll get over it.

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bryan delarosa