aha! that actually made sense. she was going too perpendicular instead of, well, scraping at it more. nancy was such a genius.

"you're so right," anasatasia said, not even turning to look at the man behind her (or really even processing his existence). "i hate how this thing keeps getting, stuck, though, you know -- i should've probably just gotten a smaller shovel, i can barely even--"

she spun around, mortified. she caught the man's eye and yelped out in surprise, running a quick circle so she was behind her rotom and a safe distance away from the man. nancy, ever the diplomat, had not bothered to alert ana of matias's presence and seemed to care very little that anastasia was using it for protection.

"i am an officer of the law! and whatever i'm doing here is fully sanctioned by the law," anastasia said, shouting out whatever she could at the top of her head. to her credit, the confidence in her voice was incredibly convincing...if only she wasn't hiding behind a pokemon with wide eyes and a guilty conscience. (if only she wasn't saying it at all, really.)

it was then that she noticed the man's outstretched hand, ready to grab the shovel.

"wait, you want to help?" she asked, after a second of contemplation. because sure it made sense that she was doing this totally nonsensical thing, but what on earth was another person doing here? and worse, why was he willing to help someone dig out a grave? she was suspicious of him at once and didn't quite grasp the irony of her suspicion. at least, not yet.

MATIAS SILPH

the guy jumped back as soon as she did, but her eyes narrowed when he mocked her. she turned to nancy, but the rotom had a shitty grin plastered over its teardrop face, and ana shot it a glare. traitor, she thought, but she turned back to look at the man.

when he said he wanted to help, however, it was anastasia's turn to grin.

"lovely!" she said, clasping her hands together and almost forgetting about the shovel. she had to quickly reach out before it fell onto the man, but she tried to make the jerky movement look smooth and for the most part, maintained her composure. she kept the shovel outstretched, hoping he would take its handle from her.

"okay, so we're digging up this there which is supposedly an axew grave," she said, stressing the supposedly and arching her eyebrow at the stranger, wondering how he'd react. "but don't worry! if i'm right, and i usually always am, there won't be anything there."

she smiled confidently, ready to answer whatever question the man was no doubtedly going to throw her way. he had to be a little bit curious right. why a pokemon grave? why was it actually going to be empty?

heh. she loved being a detective.

MATIAS SILPH