There was no way in hell Moana would ever be rich enough to buy more than one thing in this market. No, the real reason he was here was to people-watch.

It was a hobby he hadn't realized he enjoyed until recently, similarly to so many other things in Hoenn. He'd never really had the time to back home in Alola. The other stuff that he'd had to do meant that he'd be too busy watching where the person was putting their wallet, and when they were least likely to notice if he took it. Now that he was making an effort not to watch for those things, he was beginning to enjoy the other things that people did, such as walking to the beat of a song played on their earphones, or whispering to themselves when they thought nobody else was watching, or jaywalking. It was always funny to catch someone jaywalking.

Wali, his Sigilyph, had accompanied him, as he often did. Wali seemed to enjoy people-watching as much as Moana did, and Moana had discovered a slightly sadistic side to the Sigilyph when he would use his psychic abilities to prank passersby.

It seemed like Wali had found something again, as a pink glow surrounded a hat that blew past them as Wali levitated it over to Moana, placing the hat on his trainer's head.

"It's a nice hat," commented Moana. "Now, whose is it?"

Wali gestured towards a guy about Moana's age who was watching them, and Moana nodded as he walked back towards him.

"Hey, man, sorry I got your hat--"

Wali grabbed the hat right off Moana's head and shoved it right in the poor guy's face.

"Wali, no! Shit. Sorry about that."

Doug watched his hat fly across the air hopelessly, not even capable of summoning the effort to chase after it.

It was his fortune that he wouldn't need to, noting quickly the unnatural way the strawhat moved about through the air... before it landed upon the head of a dark skinned youth a dozen so or so meters away.

When the youth finally looked his way, Doug almost managed to smile, holding up an arm in salute.

The straw hat flew off into his face in response, causing him to jolt away with a yelp on reflex, his arms pinwheeling madly as he stumbled back and fell into the fountain with a loud splash in front of everyone.

Figures.

---

NEW YEAR, NEW ME (BB) MISSION
TAG: Moana Reyes

"Fuck!"

Fucking Wali had shoved this poor guy straight into the fountain. God damn it. This was all going so wrong.

Thankfully, Wali seemed to be apologetic, in his own alien way. He immediately grabbed John Sullivan with his psychic energy and attempted to pull him out of the fountain.

"Fuck," repeated Moana with feeling. He felt like he didn't know any other words for a moment. "Look, man, I'm sorry, and I'm pretty sure Wali didn't mean to do that to you." He glared at the Sigilyph, who continued to flap, unperturbed. "Wali, you can't just fucking do that to some random person we don't even know!

"Anyways, I've got... uh," Moana fumbled for a Pokeball, eventually finding it and releasing his Pignite, who looked around at the situation, confused.

"Mura's good for drying out wet stuff," he explained. He tossed Mura a treat, and the fire-type ate it gladly, the heat radiating almost tangibly off her in the chilly night. Arceus knew it was probably worse for this poor stranger, who was drenched now.

"You can, um, cuddle with her or something? She's super friendly. Pretty sure she was trained to be a service Pokemon by a previous owner, or something."

God, he felt so bad.

Starting off the new year the proper way. If this was setting a trend for the rest of the year then perhaps he should consider hermitage.

As he was levitated out of the water, the youth lazily reached up to shove the hat off his face and back atop his head, before craning it forward to get a good look at his assailants and saviors.

"Language." He said dryly after a while of the other youth's apologetic rambling. So many curses... Not that he really cared. "Don'cha worry 'bout it. I don'mind none."

Now back in solid ground, he took off his hat and batted it against his knee, droplets of water falling to the floor.

The offer for a cuddle was appreciated. But.

"No. Thanks. She looks like a lovely lil' lady, but..." Said Doug, placing the hat back atop his head, his arm shifting to grab at his neck before he rolled it, grunting. "It's fine, really. I needed somethin' like that anyway."

The chilly wind combined with his wet clothes had dashed away his worthless, depressing thoughts for now.

He chuckled and snorted, shaking his head before turning away from the other youth, holding up a hand.

"I'll be on my way. Sorry 'bout takin' yer time. Happy New Year."

---

TAG: Moana Reyes

Moana rolled his eyes, his guilt forgotten for a second. What did he mean, language? "Oh, come on, man. I can't have said fuck more than once. No... twice... er... Look, three isn't even that much either. Come on, you've gotta be like, at least fifteen. You can't tell me you haven't heard worse."

And then he said that he didn't really need something like that, which... what?

"Look, man," said Moana, his eyebrows creasing. "I'm no doctor. I can't name the problem that happens when you're soaked to the bone and it's cold and windy outside. But I know for sure that it exists, and that you aren't immune to it." He shook his head. "I swear, Mura isn't gonna bite you. I feel bad enough that Wali shoved you, I don't want you to freeze to death and haunt me as a Froslass." He frowned here. Whoops. All Froslass were female, huh?

"Er, not that I'm implying you're... uh. You know what, never mind. You know what I meant." He shook his head. "If you have a fire type you'd prefer yourself, that's fine too. Just... don't fucking catch the worst cold on the planet."

Ugh, what was it called again? Hyper-something. This was when he regretted not going to school.

John Sullivan

Honestly, what a kind fella. Had a sailor's mouth, but...

Doug sighed.

"Hypothermia. And yer probably right." Said Doug, scratching at the back of his head, feeling his hat drip water onto his hair as another chilly breeze whipped past.

He didn't even find the energy to tremble.

"Ya know what? Sure. Bring'er here. I don't even know what I'm thinking anymore." He said, turning around to face the other youth and his pig.

"Who are ya anyway? I don't go around hugging just any randos' pokemon... often." He said with a grin, approaching the two before dropping into a squat in front of the Pignite, holding out a fist towards her.

"Me? Name's Doug. Pleasure to cuddle with ya, love."

---

TAG: @moana

Hypothermia. That was what it was called. Fair enough. Moana tried to remember that one. Who knew when it might be important again?

And then he nearly sighed in sheer relief as the guy finally agreed to cuddle with Mura. God knew it was an awkward request, but... it was hard to be more awkward than they already were, at this point. People were staring, hardly bothering to hide their surprise, at the strange duo, one boy drenched from head to toe and one boy with a Sigilyph and a Pignite at his side in the midst of an open market.

"The name's Moana," he said. "Moana Reyes. And you're Doug, huh? Nice to meet you."

Mura was still enthusiastic about the whole affair, returning Doug's fist bump with a snort. Moana tossed her another Pokeblock, which she readily devoured, and the heat began to pulse off her body once more, as if in time with her breathing.

"Well, happy New Year, Doug," said Moana, because shit. Now that he'd gotten the poor guy in this situation, he had to come up with some kind of small talk, or he'd look like some weirdo.

"You make any resolutions?"

John Sullivan

If Doug noticed people were staring, he did not even notice, casually dropping on his butt in the middle of the open market before throwing his arms around the Pignite, goosebumps spreading over his skin as her body warmth spread over him and drew a relieved sigh out of his lips.

"Pleasure's all mine." He said, seemingly forgetting the entire reason he was drenched. "Hooo-ey, she's a pro awright. This is pretty nice."

People were forced to walk around the duo now that they were pretty much rooted to the middle of the road, but they continued to be ignored all the same.

"The only happy thing about it's that it's ending." He said with a laugh, shaking his head with a grin. "Can't say I got any, no. Maybe get a real house?"

As if he could afford such a thing. He snorted.

"Maybe a tiny, dingy apartment instead." Yeah, that seemed closer to his bank account level.

---

TAG: Moana Reyes

The two of them were like a boulder tossed into the middle of running water, parting the stream but going otherwise unnoticed by everyone else.

"Yeah, that's fair, man," said Moana. "This year was a ride, and not the kind you find at a carnival. Good riddance."

And then Doug discussed his grand ambitions... that quickly became less grand, and Moana snorted. "Yeah, man, that's fair enough. Realism is important, and you can work your way up to the good stuff." Here he shrugged. "Well, who am I to talk? I'm as homeless as anyone. But I gotta say, being a squatter is treating me well enough."

It really was. Nobody seemed to care about the surprisingly large population of Hoenn that just lived in tents. Moana supposed it came with the territory, when you were a shithole of a region making the international news for something terrible three times a year.