A duo mission? Huh, Oscar was taken aback. It had been a while since he was assigned a mission with another Rocket member, most of his new Beast missions were solo work. It wasn't an unwelcome development; Oscar was starting to miss working with his compatriots, and since his partner was someone he didn't recognize he looked forward to making a new connection. Rather oddly the mission had very little to its description, it just said he was robbing a casino with someone named Chu-e Choi. No info on the casino itself, just that it was to be robbed. Oscar didn't sweat it so much, burglary was his bread and butter so how hard could it be? Besides, it's not like he could say no.

He dressed casually, believing that the less attention drawn to him the better. He really wished the mission briefing at least had a picture of his partner, the only thing it said about him was: 'You'll know him when you see him.' That was distressingly unhelpful. Yet as Oscar approached the casino, without a plan or really any idea of what he was getting into, he did not lose any confidence. Surely with his partner's help this would be a cake walk. Oscar strode in, retching at the heavy smell of smoke and the density of the evening crowd. He never liked casinos, they always seemed so sinister. He respected their corrupt owners, but not the industry itself.

And so his search began; Oscar casually walked through the game room, acting as if he were looking for a game to play. He paid close attention to the people around him, trying to find someone that looked---Rocket-ie? No one really stood out, all of these people looked kinda basic. Oscar sighed, why couldn't they just at least tell him where they were supposed to meet. Eventually he decided he needed a drink and made his way to the bar. As he approached, one of the men near it looked...well let's just say he looked unique. Oscar's eyes narrowed, yeah that had to be him. He couldn't be sure though, though he struggled to see that ridiculous getup as anything other than a disguise. 

He approached the strange man cautiously, pulling out a cigarette tin that snapped open to reveal a variety of lollipops. He kept his eyes locked on the stranger, hoping he would introduce himself first. That desire did not stop Oscar from making the first move however, "Lollipop? It'll hide the smoke smell."

Chu-e's eyes glanced over at the other, glittering with the onset of drunkenness. Or so they appeared. He grinned wide at oscar clayton, glancing down at the offerings of the lollipops before taking one. "Well, thank ya' kindly, stranger!" His Sinnohan accent was thick- maybe a bit too thick for practiced ears. But, well, all the same.

He grabbed Oscar's hand to give an enthusiastic shake. "Ji-hoon! Ya' gotta' name, partner?" Patting the seat next to him, he offered Oscar the chance to sit down next to him. His eyes were already turned back tot he game at hand, which Chu-e wasn't playing, just observing. He sipped his drink as he did.

A small scrap of paper had been left in Oscar's hand. Nothing major, it could be passed off as trash, just a scribble of a rocket ship taking off into space. It even had a few poorly drawn stars around it. Oscar had found the right guy, it seemed. If he flipped it over, a large check-mark would be on the back. The pokemon were in place for them to rob this place blind. All while making it seem like they were playing fair.

Oscar sat next to "Ji-hoon", quickly opening the paper placed into his hand. The surprisingly impressively detailed drawings got the picture across, and Oscar resolved then and there to just roll with it. He looked over the game before them and tried not to frown too hard. It looked a lot like that bullshit Voltorb minesweeper game that replaced all of the slot machines at the Mauville game corner. Oscar had lost so many tokens at this damn thing, was Chu-e going to rig it?

Eh, whatever his plan was Oscar was on board. He leaned over the bright screen and scoffed, "Haven't played this in forever. You mind refreshing the rules for me?" Oscar pulled a pen out of his pocket, and pretended to take notes on the paper Ji-hoon had given him. Whenever he was done, he would slide the paper back to the brightly colored tourist. "Well that sounds easy enough, let's get started!"

On the paper, near the checkmark, was a drawing of a spider and a camera. Perhaps it wouldn't be clear, but Oscar was trying to show that he had a few tricks of his own in play. Indeed, looking upon the two was Emma the Shadow-Ariodos, who had used a mix of her Camouflage and Sleep inducing venom to sneak into the camera surveillance room. With its normal occupants knocked out and tied up in a corner, her human compatriots were free to fulfill their scheme free of prying eyes. 

That is, until someone else enters the surveillance room.

Chu-e Choi

"Well, sa' far as I can tell, ya' got all these numbers... and then you pick a tile, and it flips! If'n ya' get a number, ya' coins get multiplied. If'n ya' hit a Voltorb, ya' lose! And ya' can't stop halfsies, ya' gotta clear all the numbers 'fore ya' can cash out...." Leaning over, Chu-e squinted like he was examining the examining the game. He turned sharply, suddenly, and knocked his drink on the ground. "Oops!" Hopping from his seat, he squatted down to pick up the novelty coconut and any ice that his spilled. While doing so, two Dedenne slipped from his shirt and down his arm, quick, and squeezed under and into the machine.

When Chu-e settled himself back down, he slammed his hand down loudly on the table. It earned a look from the attendant, who looked maybe like she was going to scold them- until Chu-e spoke again, loudly.

"I've gotta' good feelin' about this ya'! I'll play!" Pulling out his wallet, Chu-e dropped a crisp 10k in cash on the table. The attendent's eye's lit up, clearly having thought she spotted a sucker tourist about to lose his money. She quickly took it all, converting it to tokens. Chu-e, like any good idiot would, pumped every coin into one game. "Kay so... how 'bout you help me out? If'n I get stuck, you tell me which tiles to choose! Real loud like, now, my hearin' ain't what it used to be." He smiled almost sheepishly- and made the first move.

oscar clayton

Oscar feigned a gasp and bent toward Ji-hoon when the he planted his trap. Oscar figured if he displayed concern, the game attendant would be less inclined to do so themselves. His assumption was correct, for as Ji-hoon readjusted himself the attendant could not look any less interested.

Oscar played along with Ji-hoon's request, pretending to think carefully to give the dedenne some time to get adjusted with their new surroundings. Finally he made his choice, speaking loud and clear. "I say the very top right corner! I have a good feeling about that one!"

The attendant looked annoyed, the last thing they probably wanted to deal with was a overly enthusiastic tourist and his loudly talking acquaintance. Their detached apathy would hopefully contribute to the duo's success. Oscar waited for Ji-hoon to pretend to make his choice, watching eagerly to see how the board reacted.

Meanwhile Emma continued to observe from the camera room. Her pile of unconscious guards had gotten bigger, as a few wandered in to check on their compatriots. The only issue was that the room was starting to get a bit crowded, and Emma was worried she'd accidentally trap herself. She tried not to worry though, after all in the worst case scenario she could just chew her way out. Ugh, the thought nauseated her. Humans were so high in calories, it'd ruin her figure.

Chu-e Choi

Nodding along, as if what oscar clayton had just given him was sage advice, Chu-e tapped the requested square. There was a pause, just on the hair's side of too long, before it changed over to a '1'. Not too long of a pause unless you were really looking for it.

"Hey, that did it! Okay, what next?!" Chu-e seemed eager, practically bouncing in his seat. He would wait for Oscar's answers- would do this a few times, in fact, as he pressed space after space. All flipping up to be a 1, a 2 a 3- and so on. The attendant, while at first looking ambivalent, now had a hint of nervous energy. A small crowd had been drawn. They were currently as a x64 multiplier and only one number was left, which promised to be a 3.

"Oh, gosh, I think I'm sure stumped... you've been such a good help? Where is this last number, ya' think?"

Oscar watched with increased bemusement as the duo dominated the game. The direness of the attendant's expression was priceless, Oscar would have probably laughed out loud if he didn't need to maintain his façade. As the spaces trickled down, Oscar would join Ji-hoon in his excitement.

It came down to the wire, and it was up to Oscar to pick the final square. He knew exactly where it had to be, he just had to follow the game board. But there was no fun in such an anticlimactic victory, he had to give the gathering crowd a show to remember. So he really studied the board, feigning nerves as he shakily passed his hands across the remaining spaces. "Um um um-I-Oh geez um."

Finally he cut the tension all at once, closing his eyes as he pointed to the only square it could possibly be. Oscar groaned, "I can't look, the suspense is killing me!" He turned away, waiting with still breath for Ji-hoon to turn the final square.

Chu-e Choi

"Alright, so this one riiiiiight here...." There was a moment of baited breath before Chu-e pushed the square. There another small pause, then.... x3 showed on the screen. It bumped the multiplier up to x192, which was the maximum you could get from this game. Which meant, with what Chu-e had laid on the table to play, he had just 'legally' made 1,920,000 back in cash. A buzzer sounded showing they could collect their winnings and Chu-e jumped to his feet.

"Whoooooo doggie, ya' dun make me a rich man!" Leaning over, he stuck his hand out excited to the attendant, who looked horrified and dumbstruck as she handed over a card for him to use to get his winnings from the main table. "Let me treat you to something real nice, friend! Come on! Oh, whoops!" Chu-e made to grab for oscar clayton, knocking his plastic cup over again by 'accident'. When he leaned down to pick it up, the two Dedenne skittered up his sleeve.

With that done, he did properly grab for Oscar this time, to pull him away from the booth. Time for them to make their escape.

7mHgrjBb

Oscar cheered with Chu-e when they won. He watched the winning numbers flash, amazed that they managed to get away with so much. Well, perhaps not get away yet. They needed to get out of the casino after all. Chu-e began another distraction by dropping his cup once more. Oscar feigned amusement as Chu-e retrieved his dedenne, "Gosh you sure are clumsy, no wonder you needed my luck!" 

Once upright, Chu-e grabbed Oscar and lead him away from the table. Oscar made sure they weren't being watched before whispering to Chu-e, "We should do this again sometime." Oscar could barely hold in his laughter as they cashed out and fled the casino.

Emma was not far behind, once the humans had left the booth she turned invisible (Camouflage) and escaped the surveillance room. In a few hours the next shift of security would arrive to find most of the last shift still unconscious in that surveillance room. The casino is currently investigating what could have occurred while they were out, but so far no one suspects the weirdos whose luck won them the jackpot.


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