He’d done a little training with the equipment Rocket had given him, just to make sure hi mand his pokemon could accomplish this covertly and quietly. Even after learning under supervision though, using this climbing gear out in the wild, by himself, this high up, was still pretty nerve racking. The mission for the most part was easy. Rocket had given him a list of locations to hit, and he and his team were tasked with disrupting league operations or double-checking Team Rocket’s own were still fully functional after a bad storm had rolled through the area, and more were to follow. If he spotted them, he was to capture stray Castform as well. [break][break]

Agretti stood watch, milling around nearby, watching him should he fall or slip. The dual type was new, but already particularly fond of how Mint tended to baby all the pokemon on his team. He’d warmed to the ice specialist pretty quickly which was good considering it was practically Mint’s only flying type. “Just…about…done-” he murmured shimmying further up the tree. The miniature weather station just a few feet above him. He reached up, momentarily forgetting to keep three points of contact. Stepping onto a branch that didn’t quite support his weight, it snapped and with it Mint slipped down, his other hand unable to grasp onto another branch. “SHIT-!” he screamed as he felt himself arc backwards and smash through another branch before continuing his descent. Agretti’s giant leaves flapped loudly crouching as he prepared to take flight to catch his owner.

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+ @alexandre [break][break]


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The Tropius let out a cry watching in panic as something swooped in to catch his trainer. Though he soon felt relief realizing it was just a Skarmory with its trainer, and not an actual giant bird of prey that had snatched up the guy. Mint, for his part was screaming before landing roughly in someone’s arms. The wind is partially knocked out of him, but the fall stopped, and despite the shaking he felt like he was secure. [break][break]

The grunt automatically curled tighter, turning inward towards unfamiliar but very much needed warmth. He shoved his face as far as it could go taking a moment to rescramble his brain and calm down. He was breathing a little hard, but he managed to look up just a bit to the man’s face even though he wanted to continue burrowing into the guy’s chest. “Y-Yeah. I-I’m ok…Thanks!” he spoke, his words were clipped and awkward. Had he even made it to the weather station? Green eyes darted around for a moment before locking on Alexandre again. “It’s my. First time. uh- c-climbing.” He continued struggling to speak smoothly.


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+ @alexandre [break][break]


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To his relief, the stranger didn’t try to drop him or forcefully remove him from the perfect pillow goodness that were these pecs. He let him recover, even patting him on the head which made him a little embarrassed. He would blame his rosy skin on the weather, it was a little chilly but the exercise had been keeping him warm. [break][break]

“W-Well, it’s not really climbing if I just use m-my pokemon, is it?” he said as his feet landed on solid ground. Agretti moved in behind him, giving the ranger and their Skarmory a solemn nod before calmly bumping his trainer to make sure he was alright. “Besides, what i-if I don’t have my pokemon? For w-whatever reason?” he said as he stood up straight and took a deep breath to calm the last of his nervous shaking. “Uhh…I’m Mint by the way.” He added after a few more deep, DEEP breaths.

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+ @alexandre [break][break]


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“New to Hoenn? Or your job?” Mint asked as terra firma soothed his momentarily frayed nerves. He thought he’d made sure to check the ranger patrols so he wouldn’t come into to contact with them while messing with League equipment. Agretti is quick to give a nod of thanks to the Skamory while his trainer spoke before resting his head carefully on the short grunt’s shoulder, eyes on the ranger. “O-Oh? You will?!” he asked. While this was inconvenient for his mission, he wouldn’t decline the opportunity for another lesson is the stars aligned for it. Especially when he was half eager to experience being saved by his new instructor once more. Yes, he was absolutely filing away that memory for later. [break][break]

“I thought it’d be real hard because of how tall the trees are here, so I brought a little bit of equipment.” He began as he watched Alexandre get to work. “I’ll take any help I can get! Though, not sure how far I’ll get on my own like you.” He said as he moved towards the ranger and watched him try to start.

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+ @alexandre [break][break]


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Mint was already sort of tired from the previous climb, so his heart sank a little when he watched Alexandre take him flying leap. Agretti took a seat next too the Skarmory, giving a small greeting before joining them in watching their idiot trainers. This could’ve been over sooner if Mint had just ridden him to the weather bulb. “Yeah…I’m trying to build a bit more muscle and work out…but it’s going pretty poorly.” Mint said with a small laugh. Also, he hated running, and all cardio which made it worse. [break][break]

He'd been a recluse for about 18 years. It was hard to change that kind of lifestyle. “Ok, ok…let’s see.” He said watching Alexandre move. No, not his butt specifically, although maybe he glanced at it. Especially since the rest of the man’s legs were pretty solid looking. Mint shook his head before picking a tree next to the ranger and taking a deep breath. Then, he too took a running leap at the tree, smacking it roughly but managing to hang on. “H-How do you find the handholds so easily?” he shouted, his wrists already straining as he tried to find something stable.


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+ @alexandre [break][break]


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Its uncomfortable, and his wrists and fingertips start to ache as he tried to force his way up the tree bark. He WAS clearly struggling but he hoped that Alexandre wasn’t paying too close attention on his legs and his shaking arms. As he’s doing this, Agretti carefully took flight, ambling to hover near his trainer before moving upwards and hovering a few feet above Mint. He let out a small cry as if encouraging the trainer to keep moving up. Mint looked at his partner, glancing past him to see the still intact weather station. [break][break]

He hauled himself up a couple of inches, feet scraping and sliding across tree bark. “C-Coming buddy!” he called back before giving a tentative glance at Alexandre. “Like this?” and with that I claws his way up another couple of inches, hugging the tree fiercely as he awaited judgement while trying to get Agretti to destroy ne weather station without prompting. He was starting to think it might be easier to grow a magnificent beard than climb this tree.


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+ @alexandre advent #16 | reference a beard Mission prompt: forecast castform [break][break]


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