“Hey, sorry for the wait!” the grunt called out, jogging out of the warehouse, a trio of Slowpoke in different states of sleep huddled in his arms. A fourth was trailing behind a bit of a distance away, but still moving along towards the pick-up truck. Mint gestured at the driver with his elbow before carefully placing the Slowpoke in the bed of the truck with their brethren and then immediately turning around to scoop up the last one. “I didn’t see anymore in there.” He added once he made the trip back and gently set down the last of their pink cargo.

He seemed overly excited, patting the sleepy psychic types on the head before turning to Siobhan. “I’m Mint, I’ll be working with you today.” He greeted before unceremoniously hoping into the bed with the rest of the Slowpoke. A couple of them seemed to move towards him curiously, one even attempting to climb his thigh. “Chill, chill I’m getting it.” He said before pulling out a few treats from his pocket and handing them out. “There’s probably gonna be loads more at that reserve ya’ll are heading to.” He assured half considering catching one of the Slowpoke and keeping them for himself.


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+ siobhan burke + Victor Wexler hope this is ok!!!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Vic had done his fair share of work for pokémon reservations. In Galar, in Alola, and even now that he lived in Hoenn. It was something he enjoyed doing, so of course he was more than willing to help when help was needed, even if he himself didn’t work for or was at all involved with the organization in question.
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Of course, there was also the fact that Mint had been the one who asked him to help, and it was known that the pink-haired man was generally always willing to help his friends.
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Making sure the Slowpoke got to the reservation safely, that’s what they were doing today.
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By the time he showed up, all of the adorable Dopey Pokémon had been loaded onto the back of a pick-up truck, Vic greeting both his friend and the stranger with a smile: ”Hey! Are we ready to go?... Oh! I'm Vic, by the way, Mint said you could use the help. Nice to meet you!” And, did this situation raise any red flags at all? Honestly, no. After all, in the man’s experience with pokémon rescue and conservation, sometimes things couldn’t be done all professionally and fancily. Sometimes, there weren’t the resources. Sometimes, all one had to work with was a pick-up truck and a handful of people with good intentions…
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”Aw, you’re all so cute!” Petting one of the Slowpoke, he jumped onto the back of the truck as well. ”What’s the name of the reservation they’re going to, again?”




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+ siobhan burke & mint frost

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Oh, nice to meet you, Siobhan!” Mint said easily. Slateport isn’t too far a drive, would it really be that dangerous. Team Rocket didn’t use hyperbole all that often, so he supposed it was enough of a risk to warn them about it. He wondered why the Slowpoke were such a hot commodity right now. Was it the tails again? Tails that could easily be harvested once they’d fallen off? Did Galarian Slowpokes taste different?? “Right, right, The Poachyenas lot, right?” Mint said, recalling the name from his brief. “They sound too cute to be a threat.” Then again, he viewed most pokemon that way so he couldn’t really judge, could he? [break][break]

He looked over at the passenger seat before reaching to his belt and letting out his Luxio. “Sit in the bed with Vic, ok?” he ordered the big cat who was already curiously poking at the Slowpoke and sniffing at the cargo. He looked over at the pinkette before nodding lazily and settling on the bed of the truck. “I can go shotgun!” he added already hoping out of the truck and moving quickly to take his seat besides Siobhan. He didn’t want to make her awkward having a non-rocket up in front. Though the whole mission was probably awkward. A weirdly out of place, mission of good will for them but Mint wouldn’t question it. “Don’t have too much fun without us, Vic!” he warned, poking his head out the window before turning back to Siobhan. “Any special routes we’re taking to avoid Poachers or…?”



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+ siobhan burke + Victor Wexler hope this is ok!!!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

”Oh, Second Hope? No way! I know a couple of people who work with them. I hear they have a great program for retired racing pokémon.” The pinkette was as chatty as always, especially when it came to topics that were of particular interest to him – such as pokémon reservations.
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He listened as the other two talked about a supposed gang of pokémon poachers who apparently happened to have a bunch of Poachyenas (fitting, but not exactly subtle, was it?), and he nodded in agreement when being told to stay behind with the Luxio and the Slowpokes. Then, tentatively, a hand was outstretched in order to let the familiar Spark Pokémon sniff his hand so he could pet him, ever aware that not every pokémon liked to suddenly be touched. ”Guess it’s just you and me now, Cacio.” Vic smiled, although that wasn’t exactly true: it was him, the Luxio, and a whole bunch of Slowpokes.
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It made it a bit hard to find a comfortable position to sit in, specially being as told as Vic was and having so many Slowpoke demanding his attention, but he eventually made do – always keeping his eyes on the road in case they needed to suddenly jump to action.

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+ siobhan burke & mint frost

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

He nodded along to the explanation. “Sounds reasonable enough.” The grunt replied casually as he watched traffic pass. He wasn’t exactly sure how they’d really see poachers coming. He half expected a Poochyena themed pair of cars but that would’ve been too obvious right. ‘Maybe some vans?’ he thought as he watched a black moving van more or less pass them on the other lane. He eyed the dark window noting it was pretty dark compared to their own. Did it help with the Hoenn sun? He turned back to Siobhan as she spoke up again. “Oh, yeah, you could say so. Though we haven’t known each other for super long.” the bluehead explained. At the very least, he could sort of gage how Vic would react to certain things, and what was best to omit from him. He’s about to reciprocate the question before he realized that she didn’t know either of them very well so instead there’s a silence that hangs in the air. [break][break]

Which he breaks, almost immediately. “Hey after the drop off, we’re going to grab some burgers if you want to get lunch.” He didn’t notice the moving van from before was keeping pace with them. Or a different colored moving van sidling up on the other side of the pickup. Cacio, however, seemed very aware of the cars that were beginning to box them in. The Luxio who has deigned Vic worthy of a hand sniff and a lick, before resting his head low to allow him a pet, suddenly sat up straight, eyes noting the vehicles that felt too close to comfort. Though, more so it was when a third car tapped the back bumped, jolting the pickup truck. The Luxio growled, scrambling to his feet and more or less urging Vic to do the same while his trainer shouted in the passenger seat. “Did you run over a Zigzagoon?!”




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+ siobhan burke + Victor Wexler hope this is ok!!!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It wasn’t a Zigzagoon.
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Vic had noticed the vans just like the Luxio had, and he had been keeping an eye on them as well. Of course, there was always the possibility that those vans had nothing to do with them, that all this was just a weird coincidence, and that they were also just there on their way to Slateport (especially since this was the main road we’re talking about here). But… even an optimist like Vic knew that all that sounded too good to be true.
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A third vehicule appeared behind them, tapping the back of the pick-up truck, and Vic had to hold on in order not to fall. The Slowpoke stirred, confusion although not all that distressed just yet, the pink-haired man turning his attention to the growling Luxio by his side. ”...Fuck,” he whispered under his breath, carefully standing – a hand on the edge of the roof for support and the other knocking on the back window in order to alert both Siobham and his friend. The vans were getting closer and closer, they were being trapped.
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He looked at the car, meeting the gaze of the person at the wheel, and he reached for his belt in order to retrieve one of the pokéballs that never left his side…
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It was then when a question was raised in his mind: How do you stop three moving cars without hurting anyone?
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The answer came in the form of a Dragapult that was summoned out of its pokéball with a flash, Vic turning to it as it flew by the side of the truck. ”Taffy! Dragon Darts, but aim just to pop the car’s tires!”
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Thankfully, the Dragapult was great at following commands, and his aim also wasn’t half bad.
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In a split second, a pair of intrepid Dreepy shot out of its horns, aimed directly for the front wheels of the vehicle. One of them missed, but the other hit its target with a loud POP! The car swerved, but eventually came to a stop without much damage.
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One down, two to go. Or, well, so Vic hoped...

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+ siobhan burke & mint frost
[break]no Dreepy were harmed in the making of this post

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The maneuver almost works except maybe the rear truck was too quick to start. Before the front truck can take its spot and completely box the pickup in, Vic’s already setting to work. Cacio sparks dangerously, pacing closer to the window of the passenger seat trying to do something useful. “Uhh-! You got this guys!!” Mint said as he quickly tapped through his phone to pull up a list of moves of his team. As he does, his Luxio is already moving again, darting on top of the front of the truck and jumping towards the van on the right, glowing with electricity. The electric type smacked onto the top of the van, releasing a powerful surge of electricity again whoever was there before using the momentum to bounce back onto the pickup truck, landing somewhere in the Slowpoke pile. Unfortunately, he jostled a few of the pink pokemon, but at least the second van was taken care of. [break][break]

Mint ignored the screaming but yelped as the swerving van smacked into their car. “You got this Siobhan!!” he shouted, rolling down his window to scream at Vic and Cacio. “Good job so far, lads!!” he added praising his teammates but still clearly panicked. He wanted off this ride. Meanwhile, what would've been the lead car isn't too happy to see their cargo zoom past them and audibly kicks it into gear. The windows roll down and let out a flash of white light revealing a couple of Golbat that immediately zoom forward ready to snipe some Slowpoke. They'd take what they could get at this point.


[break][break]

+ siobhan burke + Victor Wexler hope this is ok!!!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It was hard to hold on. He almost fell more than once, and he found himself having to widen his stance in order to maintain balance. There wasn’t much else Vic could do. The scene was chaos, and all that filled his mind was making sure the Slowpoke were safe and sound – that Mint was safe and sound, and also Siobhan. Were the pokémon really so valuable that these people were willing to go so far?! To cause so much harm...
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”Protect the Slowpoke!” He told the Dragapult, who in turn was more than ready to meet the pair of Golbat with a HEX the moment they flew towards the back of the pick-up truck, which apparently really pissed off the person in the car.
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“YOU ROCKETS CAN’T ALWAYS GET EVERYTHING!! HAND OVER THE SLOWPOKE!”
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Wait… What?
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Rocket… Like… Team Rocket?!
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Without a second of hesitation, he reached for a second pokéball. This time, an Arcanine. ”STOP THE CAR!”
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And so, the pokémon did, using a combination of AGILITY and FLARE BLITZ in order to rush towards the moving vehicle, catching up to it and bumping its side. He almost flipped it upon impact, but not quite.
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”WE NEED TO STOP AND CALL THE COPS!” He yelled for both Mint and Siobhan to hear, and let’s be honest here: this would have been the reaction anyone would have had in this sort of situation. Especially someone like a Ranger. They needed to report this and get those guys arrested!
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And, also… what the hell had they actually meant by ’Rockets’?! Needless to say, Vic wanted answers and he was going to get them.

[break][break]

+ siobhan burke & mint frost

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The window is still down so he can relay commands to Vic and Cacio. OR well, yell at them to see if they were ok as Siobhan took defensive driving precautions. The screeching of their tires was driving him crazy and he didn’t even look to see what had become of the vehicles they’d already taken care of. “What the hell is he talking about??” Mint screeched as another car almost flipped. Cacio snarled aggressively at the incoming Golbat, waiting for them to get close enough for him to bite, but they never made it. As the pickup truck came to a halt Mint fumbled with his seatbelt and threw himself out of the passenger seat, rushing over to the bed to check on all the Slowpoke as well as his friends. “Are you ok?! Anyone hurt???” he asked, unbuckling the back of the bed to better get up on it. Cacio moved to his side to comfort him, laying down dutifully to allow himself to be pet and kissed. [BREAK][BREAK]

“Can you believe those poachers were tracking Rocket movements? Maybe they were on their way to the Warehouse we were at before they saw leaving it with them in tow!!” Mint added, sitting himself down and using his other hand to pet a couple of Slowpoke that were trying to get their bearing after the wild car chase. “I got the licenses on a couple of the cars that were chasing us if you want to put that with the Cops, Vic, but if Siobhan says we can get them to safety now I’m ok with going there first instead of the cops.” He added. To add to his point he picked up a Slowpoke and set it on his lap before fishing out a half crushed treat from his pocket and feeding it to him. [BREAK][BREAK]

“Plus, like them, I’m hankering for burgers now. Especially after…ALL of that you know?” he added hoping he was being helpful.

[break][break]

+ siobhan burke + Victor Wexler hope this is ok!!!

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