[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

guns were not michail's weapon of choice.

[break][break] however, he still knew how to handle them — at least relatively speaking. his fingers brush against the barrel of the firearm, head inclined to the side as he watches his opponent shoot one of the targets in the range.

[break][break] "i have no problems," he agreed.

[break][break] their fourth competitor was a young woman, with fiery red hair and a wild grin. "hell no! you guys are gonna be wishing you did though."

[break][break] 'alright contestants, ready - set - go!'

[break][break] eyes narrowing, the galarian raises his arm and aims a bullet at once of the targets.

[break][break] his chandelure releases a SMOG to distract some of their competitors, or hide the targets behind a veil of smoke.

[break][break] v4SFEVKn

[attr="class","ooc"] John Sullivan

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

John Sullivan is not the only one who doubles over, coughing. their fourth contestant does as well. tears in her eyes, she wipes them away before scowling and giving a vicious glare at the chandelure who caused her to hack up a second lung. "foul play!"

[break][break] the chandelure doesn't seem to pay her any attention, simply floating forward. it has a particular interest in the middle-aged man who roared in defiance and loaded another bullet into the gun.

[break][break] michail, meanwhile, glanced at the younger man next to him. he blinks.

[break][break] "thanks."

[break][break] he pauses, aiming his shot too and cocks the gun. the targets fly by. he jerks at the knockback, watching as his chandelure's SHADOW BALL engulfs the bullet as it soars through the air.

[break][break] F1rOn6WZ

[attr="class","ooc"] John Sullivan

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

michail's bullet ends up shattering through a collection of discs. it's only after that he looks at his competitor, to see a tiny dog yapping at his feet.

[break][break] "i think —" he offers helpfully. "there's something on your leg."

[break][break] the man is getting too cocky. or at least, that's what the chandelure thinks. it was comical at first, which was why she was interested at first, but now it's just getting boring.

[break][break] body glowing with light, the pokemon uses IMPRISON the next time the man shoots. it causes a ring of invisible light in front of the man's aim, causing bullets to die long before they get to their target.

[break][break] it allows the woman on the side of him to aim and shoot. ping, ping, ping! success! she cheers in victory.

[break][break]

[break][break] h6JmegpY

[attr="class","ooc"] John Sullivan

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

was he allowed to?

[break][break] his eyes shift towards the middle-aged man shouting in outrage at his shots being deflected.

[break][break] then again, it wasn't the first time that michail would have known someone to result to less than holier means to get what they wanted. stealing was never out of the question.

[break][break] "do you want to?" he asks instead, head tilted.

[break][break] meanwhile, the woman lets out a cry of despair as one of bullets misses the targets by a hair. the archen on her shoulder gives a cry of shock and departs from her side, flapping it's wings. flustered, it makes a beeline for the orbeetle, body glowing with quick attack.

[break][break] it's michail's turn next. he aims down the line, and shoots. a few more discs shatter.

[break][break] he turns his head just in time to see John Sullivan shoot down a row of discs. impressed, michail says, "good shot." a pause, his head tilts. "you shoot a lot?"

[break][break]
[break][break] 4L2BNfsq

[attr="class","ooc"] John Sullivan

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]

michail nods. that made sense.

[break][break] he probably would have thought the same. though the pokemon was cute, michail had never had an interest in cute things — at least not the same way he was enamored by ghosts. michail watched as the other made three more shots, all shattering the targets which they were aimed at.

[break][break] impressive. michail made a note to try to learn a two or thing from the other. there was never anything wrong with getting more information.

[break][break] a soldier?

[break][break] a pause, and this time michail can't help himself. "a soldier?" he inquiries, head tilted to the side. he aims his own firearm as well, making his shots.

[break][break] his chandelure uses CONFUSE RAY against the man, likely only aiding in his confused state.

[break][break] lampe sometimes had a bit of a mischievous streak.

[break][break] michail turns to the other. "huh? oh. no, not really." a pause, before he adds, "my father taught me how."

[break][break] it wasn't entirely a lie.

[break][break] itxF3oca

[attr="class","ooc"] John Sullivan

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]
"ah - not really."

[break][break] technically speaking, he'd been on hoenn for a while -- more than a year at least. however, there were still many aspects in which he did not feel at home, when he much preferred the mysterious nature of areas in galar such as the tangled wood. "ever heard of balloonea before?"

[break][break] he blinks as the other misses their shot. it seemed kind of uncanny. probably a fluke.

[break][break] a wry smile breaks across his face. "probably just a fluke," he says.

[break][break] a cry sounds from behind them where the middle-aged man was CONFUSED by his chandelure's attack, and michail's gaze shifts to him, a low whistle. sulking, the chanedlure floats back to his trainer.

[break][break] a pause as the black-haired boy raises his arm to make his own shots.

[break][break] then, he turns to John Sullivan. something akin to curiosity lights his violet gaze. "what kind of things?" it was no secret that michail was invested in the supernatural at times.

[break][break] ufYmUVEy

[attr="class","ooc"] John Sullivan

☉

[attr="class","jaytop"]

[attr="class","littlejay"]
the knockback throws him back — but only slightly. michail was getting used to this, after a couple of rounds of shooting, though he doubted that he would be quite at the level of the military captain.

[break][break] then again, one might be able to argue that michail's own training had been equally severe.

[break][break] regardless, his bullet splits a few more shattered plates. the woman next to them frowns in disappointment as one of hers sails past open air. the middle-aged man was able to hit a few more scores, but he too was behind both michail and the kanto native.

[break][break] "galar." michail blinks. to be honest, he hasn't been to galar for the better part of a year, considering everything that was going on in hoenn. however, he considered ballonea more of a home than he did kanto some days.

[break][break] the dark-haired boy nods in agreement to the other. it made sense, what he said. though michail himself had never use guns as a mean of shooing away wild pokemon... he could understand the reasoning.

[break][break] a silence passes between them as the gym leader continued to speak, telling him tales of suspicious creatures mingling in between the peppercorn. it reminded him of his adventures with siobhan burke not that long ago, when they'd discovered the darkrai scroll in an abandoned cabin. at the end of the day, it had turned to be nothing — though, the memories remained.

[break][break] michail tilts his head. "ghost pokemon can surprise you, sometimes." after all, wasn't that the point — that they didn't act at all like people might imagine them.

[break][break] speaking of, his chandelure decides to take her luck in shooting the targets by aiming tiny balls of INFERNO.

[break][break] hopefully she doesn't singe anyone's hair in the meantime.

[break][break] s1vDLon9

[attr="class","ooc"] John Sullivan

☉