You know, sometimes it's nice to put the big jobs aside and just do some petty theft. It's a simple pleasure, you know? Like a racecar driver doing gokarts. As a beast and CEO Oscar had no shortage of monumental tasks to overcome, and to relieve some stress he decided to steal something nice for himself. He's always wanted a horse pokemon, a majestic stallion to call his own. And so he made his way to a common grazing spot of a equestrian ranch to pull off a mini-heist.

Sneaking into the grazing field was no problem. No one was patrolling the gate, possibly due to sunset rapidly approaching. He simply hopped the fence, staying low to the ground as he approached the herd. There was a wide variety of pokemon to choose from, mostly Kantonian Rapidash with the occasional galarian variant. A few zebstrika trotted around here and there, nothing unusual. And then his eyes lay upon a girafarig, this ranch was really stretching the definition of what a horse was. He was ready to dismiss it when he noticed something hanging from its mouth. Was that--a flask?

"You freakin' thief!"

Oscar froze, nearly shitting himself with fear. Was he caught so quickly? So easily? I mean sure it was hard to sneak in a field but he felt like he was doing a pretty good job, how had he been caught? Suddenly a familiar face came trotting after the girafarig, and as they struggled to retrieve their flask Oscar let out a sigh of relief.

However, with the appearance of a friend Oscar would soon forget about his objective. Captain Skyler was enjoying the company of the horses it seems, and Oscar was not about to give up the opportunity to spend some time with the only League member he can stand. Oscar slowly got up while Skyler was distracted, before huffing and puff to make it seem like he ran over. "Skyler! Hey Skyler holy shit!" Oscar ran up to the captain, a large smile plastered onto his pale face. Hopefully she was tipsy enough to not notice he had appeared out of nowhere.

skyler dross

Captain Skyler was, in fact, too distracted by the sudden theft of her precious flask of tequila to notice, well, anything else really. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Oscar's sudden call had the captain stopping in her tracks, surprise flaring in her eyes as she turned to face the newcomer.

The sight of Oscar walking up to her immediately brightened up her features in an almost comical manner, a wide smile curling her lips - equal parts enthusiasm and mischief as she moved to greet the young man with a friendly pat to the shoulder. The captain might've inadvertently employed more strength in the gesture than what was strictly necessary. 

"Oscar! Shit, I didn't know you were around these parts! Should've called or something." Her smile curled further as she leaned as if to tell a secret, silver eyes flashing. "I see Unova didn't catch you yet. Hah, twats."

As if suddenly remembering her initial reason for being inside the fence, Skyler's head whipped around to catch a Girafarig in the act of pouring tequila down its gullet. 

"I gave it tequila," was Skyler's only explanation to Oscar, as if that hadn't been made obvious already. The captain wasn't sure if she should burst out laughing or start to pull her hair out. "In my defense I've been waiting for hours. There's supposed to be a shipment." Except that she'd been left to wait, and she'd gotten bored and now there was a drunk Girafarig running wild with her flask of tequila.

Silver eyes narrowed as they focused on the tequila stealing equine. "I want my flask back." The grin on her face spelled trouble as she turned it towards Oscar. "Wanna help?"

oscar clayton
mission: free reign

Oscar shook a bit as Skyler smacked his shoulder, his fragile frame rippling against the force. Despite the jolt, Oscar's smile did not waver. He was just happy to see his only friend within the League. Oscar puffed his chest out at Skyler's words, perhaps wanting to seem tougher after buckling under her shoulder pat. "Well you know, Unova can't get us here. They're tangled in bureaucratic tape, it'll take them months to even start an investigation."

Oscar's attention was pulled to the Girafarig, which was wobbling around like it was just learning how to walk. Skyler quickly explained the situation, which prompted a look of disbelief from Oscar. " You gave a pokemon tequila?" His words lacked any semblance of judgement, he more seemed amazed that a pokemon could even process liquor. Did pokemon have livers? Huh, he suddenly realized how little he knew about pokemon anatomy.

Oscar shook off his wayward thoughts and nodded at Skyler's request. "Fuck yeah, I got just the guy for it too." Oscar pulled out a pokeball and opened it, releasing what must be the world's most metal Bisharp--and that's saying something. Covered in black crystal armor, wielding a black crystal lance, and donning a black crystal crown, King the bisharp looked nothing short of majestic. He was a weapon like no other, easily capable of taking on hundreds on his own--and he was about to be used to retrieve a flask.

Oscar pointed to the girafarig, "Would you kindly obtain that flask for me?" King, shining with a thousand prismatic colors, looked to his master with squinted stained glass eyes. Was he fucking serious? He brought him out for an errand? King raised his lance, looking to Oscar with longing. Oscar shook his head, "No, you can't kill it." King let out a metallic groan, slumping like a disappointed teenager being told to take out the trash. He glared at the girafarig before disappearing into thin air. He would reappear within an instant, holding the flask with disdain. Oscar pointed to King with pride, "Mother fucker has Extreme Speed. Cool right? Anyway there's your flask, does it have anything left?"

skyler dross

The brilliant grin that pulled at the corners of Skyler's lips when Oscar agreed to help soon melted away into a look of awe as the strange Bisharp made its appearance. A breathless exhale left the captain's mouth as she leaned in to take a better look at the black crystals that ran through the entirety of its body, prysms reflecting over its dark surface as the dying light hit them. "Wha-... Where d'you get this one?" Greed overtook the look in her eyes for a brief moment.

And then the Bisharp was gone. Just like that. The captain forced herself to blink a few times, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything - wouldn't be the first time, really, though she'd been a little less sober in those past times. She wasn't left to wonder for long before the dark metallic knight made its reappearance, holding a familiar flask in its grasp with the look of utmost repugnance painted upon its menacing face. It almost made her want to poke some fun at the pokemon, regardless of the razor-sharp blade at its disposal.

"Fuck, that was awesome." Skyler did grin wickedly then, leaning in to fearlessly snag the flask from the pokemon's grip and giving it a shake. Its contents sloshed inside, prompting a loud and unrestrained bark of laughter to escape her throat.

A flash of silver caught the sunset colors as Skyler turned her gaze to her buddy Oscar. "Wanna share, Oscar? Plenty here still. Hope you don't mind Girafarig drool." And there was quite a bit of it, though Skyler did her best to wipe it on the sleeve of her jacket before taking the flask to her lips with no hesitation whatsoever.

Not long after, Skyler was perched on the wooden fence again. The Girafarig hovered nearby, clearly not having given up on the alcohol, yet too intimidated by the Bisharp to do anything about it. Hah, loser.

"What do you think-" Mischief curled her mouth as she spoke, an eager light promising nothing less than trouble as she peered at Oscar from the corners of her eyes. "- of having a little horse race? I'll take the Girafarig, of course." 

oscar clayton
mission: free reign

Oscar smiled as Skyler took the flask, his disgruntled Bisharp glaring onward. Paying the bisharp no mind, Oscar returned King to his ball. "I got him when something attacked Slateport. It was--a traumatizing experience. But he's badass right!?" Briefly the faces of every pokemon that died on that horrid day flashed through his mind, forcing Oscar to focus as he buried them deep within his subconscious.

Finished with his emotional repression, Oscar gladly took a swig of Skyler's flask when offered. He didn't even think about the flask just coming out of a girafarig's mouth, mostly due to the aforementioned emotional trauma. Oscar handed the flask back to Skyler, allowing the brown feeling to ripple down his body.  Oscar leaned against the fence next to her, welcoming the subtle buzz as it appeared. 

Oscar was pulled from his peace when Skyler offered a bizarre proposition. "Race? Ummm maybe." Oscar pushed off the fence and placed his hands on his hips, "I don't have any equestrian pokemon, so if we're gonna race I'm gonna need to borrow one."

skyler dross

She should probably feel bad that they were about to invade a private property and make use of thoroughly bred race equines (probably worth a small fortune each) for their own amusement. She probably should've considered that the owner might come back soon, but in truth she'd been waiting for hours and she was beginning to think that he'd completely forgotten about her. Honestly, if he hadn't made her wait and waste half an afternoon away from the sea, Skyler wouldn't have had to drink from her flask to stave off boredom. And wouldn't have gotten a certain Girafarig addicted to alcohol.

Really, it was all the guy's fault.

So when Skyler's arm went around Oscar's shoulders and a wicked grin curled her lips, there was nothing even remotely apologetic about it. A giddy sort of excitement flashed over silver bright eyes. "We got lots of options here, just need to be able to catch 'em." If she noticed the trauma that surfaced for a sliver of time on Oscar's face, she didn't say anything about it. Most likely, the oblivious captain was too busy scheming their horse heist.

It was an easy thing to jump over the wooden fence, sunset colors reflecting off of the metallic flask as Skyler waved it at the Girafarig. It was already drooling as it approached the sea captain, the biggest threat to its safety having disappeared when Oscar called his prismatic Bisharp back to its pokeball. "We'll hop on Girafarig and then we'll find another mount for you. It'll be fun." And potentially life threatening, but who cared about that?

"C'mere, honey, we just need a short ride and then you'll get what's inside this flask." Doe-like eyes followed the motion of the flask, more intelligent than they let on - Girafarig was a psychic type after all.

In no time Skyler was sitting on the Girafarig, hissing loudly when the tail head moved just enough to nearly bite her finger. A hand patted the space behind her in invitation. "Careful with the tail, it might try to bite your ass." 

Teeth glinted as she bared them in a mischievous smile.

"So, Oscar. Which one are we going after? A Rapidash? A Zebstrika?"

oscar clayton
mission: free reign

Well this was convenient. It was a lovely change of pace to have his stealing be encouraged by a witness. As the girafarig wobbled over to them, Oscar was more than happy to catch a ride. He slid onto the steed's back no problem, although he had suddenly become very cautious at the mention of its second head. Luckily it seemed that the back half was just as drunk as its front half, it shouldn't be a problem. 

What was he looking for? Hm, he hadn't thought about that too hard. He had come here to simply find a horse, he never considered which one to take. Oscar tapped his chin, attempting to wade through his unorganized buzzed brain. Eventually he answered with a shrug, "I feel like I'll know the right one when I see it, y'know?" 

Their steed trotted forward--about five feet before wobbling in a circle. Oscar scratched his head, "Does it know what it's doing?" Eventually a curious pokemon stepped forward, and when Oscar lay his eyes upon it he nearly screamed with delight. It was a rapidash, but its flames were a ghostly grey instead of a normal lustrous orange. To find such a rare specimen made Oscar giddy; this thing probably cost a fortune, and here he was about to take it for free.

Ah but he couldn't just catch it like any other pokemon. Steeds were always different, to wield them Oscar felt it only right to tame them properly. As the rapidash lost interest, it turned and began to trot away. Oscar slid off the girafarig, making a motion to Skyler to remain quiet. He strode up behind the rapidash, and when it stopped to graze Oscar seized the opportunity. 

He leapt onto its back, prompting the majestic mare to neigh in defiance. Oscar hung onto its neck, clenching for dear life as it bucked. He could feel the heat of its fiery mane overhead, yet he did not waver. He was gonna break this stallion the right way--even if it was the last thing he did!

skyler dross 

"I believe you owe me at least a couple of drinks." Relief was mixed with Skyler's brilliant grin, an arm coming to rest around Oscar's shoulders and bringing him into something resembling a side hug. Perhaps the captain had been more concerned than she'd let on, if the protective squeeze she gave Oscar was any indication.

She didn't react when Oscar turned around to capture the Rapidash. By now she was pretty sure the owner had forgotten about her, making her waste a perfectly good afternoon in which she could've been doing something else more profitable. She'd refused a contract with one of her contacts to come here and talk about shipments with the man. As far as she cared, one Rapidash was a fair prize for wasting her time, even if it wouldn't go to her.

Speaking of...

The Girafarig rested its head on Skyler's shoulder, making the captain take a surprised step to the side when it started nibbling on her ear. Narrowed eyes pierced into the Girafarig's slightly drunk ones, followed by a mischievous grin. "Yeah, yeah. I like you too." With a small flick of her wrist, she captured the Girafarig for herself. Now she'd just have to be careful with her tequila cabinet...

"You know," Captain Dross turned to Oscar, the teasing curl of her lips promising trouble. "You look cute when you blush." The curve of her mouth evolved into a full blown shit-eating grin, though her eyes were awash with harmless amusement.

Her voice drifted up as she jumped over the fence, stumbling for a moment but managing to right herself in the nick of time. "There's this striptease bar downtown, has really cheap cocktails and - I kid you not! - the best tacos in town..."

oscar clayton
mission: free reign

Oscar was captivated by the high of an old fashioned bareback ride. You know, the ones that really pump those juices and get your heart beating. It brought him back to his youth, getting some mounting up any chance he got. Yep, he sure did miss riding horses.

Oscar took a deep breathe, relishing the air that whipped against him as every muscle in his body tried to keep him on. So lost was he in the joy of horseback riding, he would neglect to see his steed galloping straight toward that cliff. He wouldn't notice at all until he suddenly found himself floating into the air. 

Oscar gasped, observing the rapidash as it frantically kicked and bellowed. Oscar smiled widely, "Holy shit this thing can fly!" He looked around to get Skyler's reaction, only to find her galloping up to him on her own drunken steed. Then it clicked within Oscar's buzzed mind, her psychic type had stopped him. He looked ahead, only now gazing upon the cliff. The fact that he was so close to tumbling over to his death unnerved him.

Oscar slid off the rapidash, landing roughly on his bottom. He sighed heavily as he lifted himself up, looking to Skyler with blushing cheeks. He felt rather embarrassed, but he rather be embarrassed than dead. Oscar smiled and broke into a chuckle, "Captain Dross, I believe I owe you a drink." Oscar heard the neighing of the rapidash and quickly turned to it. "Oh wait one last thing."

He took out a pokeball and threw it at his target, aiming to make it his permanently. 

skyler dross

"I believe you owe me at least a couple of drinks." Relief was mixed with Skyler's brilliant grin, an arm coming to rest around Oscar's shoulders and bringing him into something resembling a side hug. Perhaps the captain had been more concerned than she'd let on, if the protective squeeze she gave Oscar was any indication.

She didn't react when Oscar turned around to capture the Rapidash. By now she was pretty sure the owner had forgotten about her, making her waste a perfectly good afternoon in which she could've been doing something else more profitable. She'd refused a contract with one of her contacts to come here and talk about shipments with the man. As far as she cared, one Rapidash was a fair prize for wasting her time, even if it wouldn't go to her.

Speaking of...

The Girafarig rested its head on Skyler's shoulder, making the captain take a surprised step to the side when it started nibbling on her ear. Narrowed eyes pierced into the Girafarig's slightly drunk ones, followed by a mischievous grin. "Yeah, yeah. I like you too." With a small flick of her wrist, she captured the Girafarig for herself. Now she'd just have to be careful with her tequila cabinet...

"You know," Captain Dross turned to Oscar, the teasing curl of her lips promising trouble. "You look cute when you blush." The curve of her mouth evolved into a full blown shit-eating grin, though her eyes were awash with harmless amusement.

Her voice drifted up as she jumped over the fence, stumbling for a moment but managing to right herself in the nick of time. "There's this striptease bar downtown, has really cheap cocktails and - I kid you not! - the best tacos in town..."

oscar clayton
mission: free reign