Ladies and gentlemen, may you please direct your attention towards the pink fool to your right.
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Standing at over six feet and with hair that almost perfectly matched the colour of fresh and fluffy cotton candy, he wasn’t exactly easy to miss. Well, he was at the time, since there was a not-too-happy metal bird momma defending her nest from a poor woman’s husband – who, honestly, had probably just been trying to be a good samaritan and had ended up caught at the mercy of the Skarmory as a result. But, he wouldn’t be easy to miss for long, because someone clearly had to help this man, and the pink fool over here had a plan.
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Something small sailed through the air, making an audible ’CLANK!’ as it hit the Armor Bird Pokémon right on its shiny head and bounced off to the ground. A soft, harmless rubber ball; which for some reason looked suspiciously like a chewed up toy for canine pokémon.
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Obviously, momma bird over here wasn’t just going to take this disrespect silently, and without even bothering to let go of the man, she turned in the direction of the attack…
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”HEY! HEY YOU! OVER HERE!” The pink-haired fool yelled as loud as his lungs would allow, waving his arms frantically in the air in order to get the Skarmory’s attention.
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It worked. Momma bird had had enough. She opened her beak in order to let out a screech, and in doing so, she happened to let go of the man. He fell, but in a split second a pokémon appeared to break the fall – Dragapult carefully catching him in midair and putting him safely back on the ground. Yay! Success! Good job!
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The problem, however, was that the Skarmory was even angrier than what she had been before. She stared at the one who had thrown the ball with wild, amber eyes, and opening her blade-like wings wide, she prepared to swoop down for an attack.
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Admittedly... the pink fool hadn’t planned this far. He only had a few options here, right? He could duck, he could run, or he could… cry?
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Okay, so, it had been a plan, but maybe not a very good plan...
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Vic, how will you get out of this one?

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+ samuel carter (I told you he would get himself attacked LOL)

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

In dear Vic’s defense, his goal had been to get this done without causing the Skarmory any harm, hence the rubber ball. Of course, he also happened to forget about the very important part that was making sure not to do anything dangerous that could get HIM hurt, but at least he got 50% of the way there, no?
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Violet eyes widened when the large bird took off from the electric wires on which she had been perched, almost as if he were surprised by this outcome when it was literally the most obvious result for his silly stunt. And, he was actually surprised, but a lifetime of playing sports and being as athletic as they came had prepared him for this well enough, so he readied himself to dodge the incoming attack and run out of the way. But then, just as he was about to take the first step…
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FIRE?!
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Stumbling in surprise, he took a single step back instead, his gaze fixed on the little Chimchar as it bravely challenged Mrs Metallic Momma Bird. Who? What? How? Where? When? Where had the little Fire Type come from? Did it belong to someone?!
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The answer came in the form of a question, Vic turning in the voice’s direction.
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"That thing could have killed you."
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”Oh…” It was as if he had just realized this very obvious fact, and as he did, the man had the audacity to chuckle and sheepishly smile, almost as if saying: ”Whoops, my bad!”
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”I’m okay, yeah. Thanks for the help! Though… is the Skarmory okay?”


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+ samuel carter

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

”She’s alive.” Well, thankfully, or all those screams would have gotten really concerning, really quickly.
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Vic nodded along with the man’s words, his gaze wandering over to the electric pole where the Skarmory had been attempting to nest. ”Yeah, that’d be for the best, huh? I wonder if she had any eggs up there though… It’d be a shame if she were to abandon them…” He squinted, trying to get a better look, a hand placed over his brow in an attempt to block away the glare of the sun. He couldn’t see them. Not from where they were standing, at least.
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The solution was obvious to Vic.
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”Oh! Do you think I should climb up there to check it out?” There was a grin. He was asking, but honestly, it wasn’t as if the man’s input would change much, would it?
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Probably not, since Vic’s next actions were to give him a hearty pat on the back and then walk towards the electric pole as if he hadn’t just been almost attacked by a pokémon.
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His Dragapult, who had been preoccupied with helping the still-shocked good samaritan when his trainer got attacked, wandered over towards him. But, even though he had a very capable pokémon who could float right through the air right there, and he could have also summoned a flying type, the man chose not to rely on either of these, instead beginning to climb up the pole as if this were the most obvious choice in a situation like this...

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+ samuel carter (i'm sorry vic's dumb like this lol)

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The man had a point. Actually… he had about three good points.
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This wasn’t very wise. It was honestly a bit dumb, since Taffy was right there – looking at him with the sheer confusion of a pokémon who never had to do silly things like climb. And, it was also kind of unnecessary now that other rangers were already arriving at the scene...
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But, if we’re going to get technical over here: Vic himself was a ranger, and be it his day off or not, he was duty-bound to help if he saw a pokémon in danger! Though, of course, it could also be argued that Vic himself was the danger now in the eyes of the shrieking Skarmory, but the pink-haired man did no more than let this fact rest in the back of his mind. After all, regardless of how much the pokémon may have not liked it at the time, this was all for her sake and that of her nest, right?
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”Nah, don’t worry, it’s fine! I’m already almost there!” On the bright side, he was actually pretty good at this climbing thing, to the point that it would almost make one wonder if he had done it solely because he thought it would be more fun than going on his Dragapult’s back.
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On the not so bright side though; did he really think nothing bad would happen while he was upon on that pole, or did he just not consider stuff like that?
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”Oh! There’s two e–” Accidentally, a hand let go off the pole when it wasn’t supposed to, causing him to stumble and almost fall back… if it hadn’t been for the Dragapult suddenly resting against his back to provide support and balance… ”Nice save, Taff!”


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+ samuel carter

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The reckless pink-haired young man nearly falling had Sam flinching and moving back, as if trying to calculate where Sam would have to stand to catch him. Really, he had moved a hand to his belt ready to summon another pokémon into action.

But thankfully, it seemed the dragapult had it under control.

A sudden shrieking that wasn't the skarmory to their left had Sam flinching and looking toward the nest again. His eyes widened as he saw an incoming shadow.

"Watch out!!"

Right on cue, a wave of psychic energy crashed into the second metal bird that had been heading straight for the man and the nest. Absol's FUTURE SIGHT causing the bird to fly off course. She even went so far as to DETECT the move, landing at Sam's feet. Chimchar leapt from Sam's shoulder to the pole, climbing up the pole quickly and twisting her body with her ACROBATICS and landing a hit, though it wasn't very effective, it had caused enough of a fuss to get the skarmory a little rattled. Well that, and the absol's future sight.

Victor Wexler

Oh.
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It all happened really quickly. Way too quickly, in fact. So quickly that, had the man not been used to keeping track of the fast-paced action of pokémon battles, he would have been both confused and stunned. The pokémon shrieked, the stranger on the ground yelled, and the moment Vic thought he would have to order his Dragapult to attack in order to distract the Skarmory, the latter was already being dealt with by an Absol.
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”Ah, shit…” he swore under his breath, this time properly holding onto the pole so he could let go with one hand and reached for one of the pokéballs at his belt. A Dragonite was summoned, its wings immediately flapping in order to remain airborne. ”Listen, Pez… Paralyze the Skarmory, but don’t do anything else.” Out of all Vic’s pokémon, the Dragonite was by far the least agreeable and obedient, this being evident by the way it huffed in return – almost as if with contempt. But, it did make a swift turn, fixing its gaze on the metal bird and swooping down without a second spared to hesitate.
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A flash of lightning came in the form of a powerful THUNDER PUNCH, followed immediately by a right hook that delivered a FIRE PUNCH, for good measure. So much for not doing anything else, huh?
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The man could have sighed, but he was all too preoccupied with the delicate task at hand; taking advantage of these distractions in order to have his Dragapult help him down along with the nest.
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It was given to a couple of other rangers who had stood by, watching the scene unfold in case they needed to intervene, and once this was done, Vic turned to look at the tattooed stranger who had helped him so much.
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”Thanks again! By the way, I don’t think I caught your name,” he said, nonchalant, as if this were a casual conversation and not one happening beneath a pair of giant metal birds’ piercing cries.


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+ samuel carter

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The matter was all settled and finished. Sam had returned his absol and chimchar back into their capsules when more rangers appeared. It was his overprotective way of making sure they didn't get mixed up in anything or accidentally taken away.

He'd had a pokémon stolen from him before, he didn't want it to happen again.

"You didn't." Said tattooed stranger confirmed, much more relaxed than previously. "I'm Sam Carter. I'm the caretaker at Mt. Pyre."

Using the word 'sexton' which was his official title had confused many a person. So he just took to calling himself the caretaker instead.

"I didn't catch your name, and I would like to avoid referring to you in memory as, 'the reckless guy with pink hair.'"

So yeah anybody who Sam didn't introduce himself as were known more by 'tags' referencing their appearance than anything else, so sorry.

Victor Wexler

”Ha! Man, you’re funny!” There was another – unrequested and probably also quite unwelcome – hearty pat on the back, the pinkette grinning wide.
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If we’re being honest here, Vic was well aware that his actions had been reckless and that things could have easily gone horribly wrong if Mr Caretaker of Mount Pyre over here hadn’t stepped in to help. But, now that things were said and done, there wasn’t really a point in feeling all down that he hadn’t been more cautious or whatever, right? It had turned out just fine! He hadn’t been hurt, Sam hadn’t been hurt, nor had any of their pokémon, or the Skarmory and their eggs! It was what the ranger would call a success!
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”For real though, you helped me a lot back there! I’m Vic, nice to meet you.” Well, technically, his name was Victor, but Vic had never introduced himself as that in all of the twenty-seven years of his life, and he sure as heck wasn’t going to start now.
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Still smiling, he turned to look at his pokémon, giving them an enthusiastic ”Good job, you two!” that came accompanied by a thumbs up before returning them both to their respective pokéballs.


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+ samuel carter

"It was nice to meet you as well. Try not to get too carried away next time. You might not always have somebody, or your pokémon, there to catch you from falling off a ridiculously high pole."

Sam's words came as a warning, and as wisdom, but mostly because those were the sorts of things his mother always told him when he did something reckless. She used to scold him to think before he acted, work smarter not harder.

Because of that, he often only thought in a logical way and missed out on a lot of the social etiquette.

But hopefully, he'd learn. He still had a ways to go in life, after all.

Victor Wexler

”You might not always have somebody, or your pokémon, there to catch you from falling off a ridiculously high pole.”
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In a way, Vic knew that the other man was right. He had had a lifetime of reckless actions to teach him to be more careful, but had he actually learned his lesson? The answer should be obvious given everything that happened just now. Take the one time he ended up in the hospital unexpectedly as a kid, for example: it happened because he fractured his arm when falling off a tree. With most kids, that would have probably taught them to be more careful and kept them away from any hazardously tall foliage, heck, they may have even developed a fear of heights, but not Vic… Here he was, having just climbed an electric pole when he technically hadn’t even needed to do such a thing.
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But, even though his recklessness was something that seemed almost innate and that he couldn’t just switch off with a thought, he still smiled at Sam’s advice, even if he kind of sounded like a concerned parent. It was the kind of thing Vic’s mum would have said, so he responded like he would have replied to her: ”Hah… I’ll try, yeah, sorry...”
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”Hey, you wanna go grab a coffee or something? As a thank you for your help!” What was the reasoning for this part? Well, other than actually wanting to somehow repay Sam for all his efforts… The guy seemed cool, so why not become friends?!


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+ samuel carter