"This is unnaceptable." Cpt. Douglas said sternly as he stared at the mess, arms folded behind his back. Mauville was his jurisdiction; he wouldn't let its most famous, recently rebuilt landmark look like a bloody junkyard.

The underpass of the cycling road was filthy with scrap metal and litter; one of the few things the Captain didn't approve of regarding Infinity Industries' handling of the construction efforts. It seemed a stern talk regarding proper handling of wastes would need to be had with the project manager... No, best to try and speak directly with CEO oscar clayton, since he was so directly involved in the project. He would hopefully see things fixed as soon as possible.

Enough of that; it was a secondary problem in the face of the witness reports that had been handed to them. A rare species of pokemon had been sighted in mass quantities underneath the Cycling Road; it was just begging for Rockets to come in looking.

Given that the quartz the league was searching for had been sighted as well... Needless to say, they couldn't delay any further.

The league made an effort to be discreet in its operations, sending teams of extremely few, hopefully capable operatives to handle things without disrupting the public or alerting Rockets much; a meaningless effort, given how all encounters to date had gone.

At the very least, his companions were trustworthy.

"At least." The youth said with a small smile, before glancing at his Orbeetle and nodding sharply. The pokemon met his gaze and nodded right back, eyes beginning to light up with a blue glow.

That sorted out, the young soldier glanced over his shoulder, turning his gaze to his companions.

"Ready?"

---

TAG: Thomas Benoit Josh Dragomir glitch maverick Hideo Kino Yuan Wright @hades Eris Halla

Ah, what a wonderful day to walk around, have fun, and ditch your mediocre mentor to investigate a rumor about a rare Pokemon congregating under the bike pass. Even if Hideo never learned how to ride a bike (his attempts in the past left him frustrated, bruised, and/or bleeding), it still had his interest.

He wandered into the area, guided by his ever-reliable shiny Aggron. And by “guide”, it meant the Aggron walked ahead of him and cleared a path by just pushing everything out of the way or into the ground, while Hideo held on to his tail. Most Pokemon knew not to mess with an Aggron, nor whatever one was protecting.

The few that didn’t, quickly learned why.

Once he heard the sound of a 360-kilogram over-2-meter-tall steel Pokemon stomping on metal, he knew he was getting close. Still, Hideo had his cane out, tapping away to make sure he didn't step on anything too hard.

“I’m not liking this place, Hideo.” Who spoke? His yellow Rotomdex, of course; courtesy of the Rotom he had possessing it. It floated by his side, nervously observing the area around them. “They say Meltans live around here. The internet says they eat metal. All metal. Like our big friend here - and me!”

“Nobody’s eating Aaron,” Hideo flatly stated, “And if that were true, they’d only eat the Pokedex you’re in.  You'll be fine.” He thought having a Rotomdex would be a life-changer; he saved up a lot of money for it. But this one seemed like kind of a weenie. It felt like he had to help it more than it was helping him. “Now come on Nosey, let’s find some Meltan. All I need is one.”

The Rotom moaned, but followed along.


Summary
- Hideo enters the scene, away from everyone else. Currently unaware of anyone else here.
- He's following behind his Aggron
- His Rotom(dex) is flying by his side and whinging

Thomas Benoit Josh Dragomir glitch maverick John Sullivan Yuan Wright @hades Eris Halla

"Cute? Wouldn't know, I've never seen one. Meltans have begun gathering enmasse in this location, due to the accumulation of New Mauville's metal wastes." He said to glitch maverick, frowning as he turned his eyes at the amassed scrap. "Unfortunately, we are not here to ensure Infinity Industries cleans up this mess asap; we are simply here to assist Mr. Benoit on his mission."

Information pertaining the Quartz was only for the ears of those within AQUA.

Thomas Benoit had a special assignment, Cpt. Douglas knew that much, but as to what exactly it was... well, he could only put his faith on the man and listen to his orders. They were there as members of the League's bureau, not whatever other things they had going on- on that front, he outranked them all.

He would have asked the man for their instructions then, but something else caught his eye. Someones, rather.

His gaze almost narrowed at the unknowns; all reports on excursions such as this one had mentions of Rocket Interference.

But of course, such thoughts fled his mind when his gaze fully registered the tiny silhouette leading the pack.

"Eris?" He said, his serious expression softening into a curious look. He glanced over to his own group. "Give me a second, please."

Walking ahead to meet the other group, the youth eyed kept his gaze on Eris, grinning as he reached her. He knelt down in front of her, holding out his fist as he had before.

"'Ello, Eris! Me? I'm on the job! But what about you? This place ain't safe, you know?" He said, gently reaching over to ruffle her hair. "Dangerous pokemon are all over the place due to the metal wastes. It's best if ya go back home, eh? I promise ya I'll have this all cleaned up soon!"

His gaze shifted above her to the two men with her... and he noticed the Infinity Industry uniforms. At that point, the youth's gaze solidified sharply into a frown.

"Just who I wanted to see." He said, slowly standing up to his full height. He glared imperiously at the two men. He gestured to the mass of scrap amassed on the underpass of the Cycling Road. "Is this mess how Infinity Industries handles wastes? Mauville's most famous landmark looks like a junkyard!"

He didn't quite know why Eris was wandering around with Infinity Industry workers, but he could get to that later.

If he could focus on it anyway.

"Hideo?" He said after a moment, glancing over at Eris with an incredulous expression- before looking over in the direction she was looking at.

That was, indeed, Hideo Kino.

He felt like he would have an aneurysm.

He flicked his shitty flip phone open, before calling the youth, blank faced.

As soon as he picked it up...

"Ey, short stuff. What'cha doing in my work place?" He asked dryly. "I can see ya, by the way."

---

TAG: Thomas Benoit Josh Dragomir glitch maverick Hideo Kino Yuan Wright @hades Eris Halla

*pipipipi!* The little group stopped at that beeping noise. Hideo knew what it was immediately, but his two Pokemon were less familiar, the Aggron immediately looking back while the Rotom(dex) hid behind its trainer. “Oh Arceus what is that?!” the Rotom asked.

“Doug.”

Huh. Weird. “Calm down. It’s just my phone.” Why would John Sullivan be calling him now? As far as Hideo knew, wasn’t Doug busy with work today?

Well, no reason to keep him waiting. Hideo let go of Aaron’s tail, taking out his phone and tapping on the screen, accepting the call and moving his phone up to his ear - his Rotom flew right next to his phone to eavesdrop. And the moment he did that, Doug was talking...and he knew he was there. Hideo was quick to come up with an excuse; “Oh, didn’t know you were here too! My mentor brought me-”

“I can see ya, by the way.”

Dammit. Doug could probably see there was no mentor nearby.

Hideo sighed; he was already caught in a lie. Trying another was too risky. “...I’m looking for a Meltan to catch. I heard they were here, and my mentor just happened to bring me to the area, so I came here.”

“Oh, I think I see him!” his Rotom said, having spotted Doug in the distance - and the Rotom waved towards him. “I see someone on an old phone looking over here! And there’s a lot of people with him!...why do they need so many people?”

Hideo covered the receiver real quickly. “I dunno!” Back to his call. “I’ll...I’ll head back right after I get a Meltan! I’m sure it won’t take long; I hear there’s a lot of them here.”

Oh how true that was; right after he said that, he could hear Aaron move in front of him. Though Hideo wasn’t aware of it yet, a curious Meltan had approached them. It paused the moment Aaron was right in front of it, staring it down, though the little Meltan was more curious than terrified, looking over the steel behemoth.

And while the three of them were distracted?

There was another Meltan, this one slowly approaching Hideo from behind. It was also curious, but its attention was towards the boy instead.

Summary
- Hideo answers John Sullivan's phone call
- A Meltan approaches Hideo, but is blocked off by his Aggron...
- But there's a 2nd Meltan approaching Hideo from behind.  It doesn't seem hostile/aggressive yet

Thomas Benoit Josh Dragomir glitch maverick John Sullivan Yuan Wright @hades Eris Halla