Kee was short on spending money. His allowance was enough to cover food and lodging, and most other expenses, with a little spending money on the side, but that was it. He wasn't the greatest at being a ranch hand...but maybe his hand-eye coordination would be good enough for him to be of some use. Along with his trusty newly evolved Houndoom. Unfortunately...Kee didn't really have any appropriate clothes for ranch work. So the five foot eight blonde wore blue skinny jeans, a plain white T-shirt, and his oldest pair of tennis shoes. Keenan had charmed the owners, and gave him a to do list of things that the older man just couldn't do anymore, and didn't need doing often enough to hire a full timer to do it.

His partner was a sixteen year old kid. After being told where to go, the boy and his dog was heading over to the barn. Their first order of business was move some haystacks from the top floor to the bottom, and don't be afraid to just drop them down, just be safe about it. Sure enough, there was a cute orange haired guy in a striped shirt and wrinkled jeans waiting for him. Yep, he was very cute. The amber eyed trainer gave his best, charming smile, and held out his hand to shake. "Hello, cutie, I'm Keenan. Kee for short. We'll be working together for the day." Hopefully he got a positive response, even if the guy wasn't interested at all.

Finley Black

Brows furrowed, the teen scrunched his nose in response to the compliment. Who the hell was this guy? "Yeah, no thanks." Finn scoffed, averting his gaze back towards the farm house in the distance. If this guy ended up being some weirdo, he expected at least a little bit of compensation from the rancher. Maybe a spare tractor to fiddle with or take apart? That wouldn't be too bad, he thought, a smile nearly curling in-between his cheeks.

"So..." His eyes returned to Kee, "What's the plan? I'm not really much of a farmer, but I have played Farmville before, so I'm not a COMPLETE dumbass." A soft chuckle followed his joke. As if he's even lame enough to still be on FaceBall.

Keenan Toral

Keenan's smile faltered, and his hand slowly dropped. Even if he wasn't interested, there were better ways to reject it instead of being a total asshole. Guy didn't even introduce himself. His Houndoom snorted and narrowed his gaze on the lad. "My list says to get four haystacks down from the second floor of the barn to the first. Said not to worry about getting them down in one piece, and that we can just drop them, just be safe about it. There's more, of course, but let's just get through it one by one. What do I call you anyways?" He stuffed the list in his back pocket and walked on into the barn.

The loft was accessed by either a set of stairs on the far side or a ladder in the center of the place. Going up the ladder, he spotted a good three dozen bails of hay up there. But according the instructions, they only wanted four of them down, just toss them through the holes in the floor, and to be careful. Going over to one, he tried to lift it. While it was heavy, to the point that he did struggle, he could still lift it on his own. Slowly going over to the nearest hole, he tossed it down. Turning around, he spotted five Ratatta looking straight at him...pissed off. Uh oh. He fingered one of his pokeballs, ready to spring someone on the rodents...probably Spheal...waiting for the next move of the rat Pokemon.

Finley Black

The tips of his lips drooped down into a frown. Finn had expected AT LEAST some pity laughter, maybe even a hearty chuckle. Anything but pure, unfiltered silence. There was no helping the humorless. Nodding, the teen took in the information without any comments: it seemed simple enough for the two of them. "You can call me Finn." He gave his name away with a half-smile.

Following close behind, Finley climbed up the ladder of the loft, a look of disgust smeared across his face. The barn was absolutely shit scented from the inside out and his nostrils were on the verge of tears. "So gross, dude..." He grumbled. No wonder this guy hired them to do his job for him-- he probably had enough of this shit-smelling place.

He finished climbing the ladder and got to the top of the loft. With a little more ease than Kee, he lifted another one of the haystacks and tossed it over. The thud that followed brought an amusing smile to his face. "So, why did you take thi-" The sharp squeaking of a gang of Ratattatas sliced through his sentence like a dagger. "Huh?" He twisted his neck towards the sound and saw the trio squeaking away. Not good. Especially since he left Zap back at the farm house. Eyes flipping from left to right, he searched for an immediate answer to this dilemma and found it in a long stick laying near the edge of the loft. He grabbed it without a second thought. "Don't worry, I'll back you up." Those strong words acted as his shield and the stick as his blade.

Keenan Toral

Well, at least he got a name. Though he did chuckle at the comment about how gross it smelled. "My brother's barns are worse, and he saturates them with bleach." His brother was a Pokemon breeder, and also does basic rehab for Pokemon and a litany of other services. Including providing a place for his extra Pokemon to chill at, and maybe even help around the place. Finn handled the bail much easier than he did, so the teenager clearly had some muscle...a good thing since Kee didn't have much.

It seemed Finn was going to ask something before the group of pissed off Ratattas attracted his own attention. The blonde blubbered incoherently when Finn took a long stick, saying that he'll back him up. Did he really need backing up? Kee took out a pokeball and tossed it, releasing a Tyrunt. Okay, not his intended, but probably better off anyways. The first Rat' used quick attack at the dinosaur, who caught it in her jaws and tossed it, and another that tried to coordinate with the first one, through the window. Then she let out a mighty Roar to scare the others away. As they scurried off, Kee let out a sigh of relief. "Ty, you might wanna stay, just in case we run into anymore wild Pokemon problems."

The princess of a dinosaur turned around and gave a tiny two fingered salute. Kee moved to move his second one. "I'm guessing you were going to ask why I took this job? Because I needed spending money. My parents send me an allowance for food and lodging, with only a little bit of spending money left over. I wanted a little bit more to indulge in. You?" He dropped the bail down, hearing a loud thunk.

Finley Black

"Ah.." A sheepish grin replaced his ready-to-brawl attitude as the realization of his ridiculousness sunk in. "Well, that's one way to handle them, I guess."

His grip on his stick sword loosened, allowing it to return to it's place on the ground, and his eyes lifted back up towards the blonde. In reality, he would've done the same as Kee if he hadn't left Zap frolicking in the fields with the other farm animals. Fighting Rattatas with a stick would've only been a last resort.


Finn nodded to the other's explanation. "I feel that." He said, lifting another bail over his shoulder. "I'm just trying to save up for some new parts. I'm fixing up one of those shitter cars and it needs...a lot." The Alternator is destroyed, the timing belt is nonexistent, the battery is dead... there was a lot to do. And that scrooge of a parts dealer wasn't giving out any discounts. But that didn't matter right now-- what mattered was getting this Bail off of his shoulder.

Thunk.

The yellow bail rolled next to the others.

"So what's next after this?"

The guy seemed to have a sense of humor at least, making Kee smile. At least he seemed pleasant enough now. Finn seemed to relate, having taken the job to fix up a junker car. He listened intently as he got out a list. "You're lucky to be able to do that. I don't have the brains to fix up old stuff...I got steady hands, and that's about it." And dance moves and a good voice for becoming an idol. That was it. "Says feeding the MagiKarp, Whiscash, and Ducklett. Food by the pond, in the shed." The teenager put the list away, and headed on down. He was also given instructions as to where said pond and shed was. What he didn't expect was the Rattatas using his Houndoom as a ride. Which he seemed perfectly content in doing for them.

Shrugging, he would lead the way. "Aside from fixing junkers, is there anything else you'd like to do? I'm trying to do the gym leader challenge." And that's been...a time. He still hadn't got a single badge to show for it. Not even a challenge really. He just couldn't get in an application before the queue was filled up again. Who knew gym leaders would be so busy. Especially with everything going on with Hoenn right now. He would have thought they'd be trying to toughen up new trainers or something as to be able to handle themselves. But what did he know.

Finley Black

Finley offered a shrug to the other. "I wouldn't call myself lucky. Anyone can do it with some effort."

Lucky, unlucky - it didn't matter. Putting labels onto earned skills only led to envy and a lack of motivation for self-improvement. Or, at least, that's what he learned last year.

The orange-haired teen followed the other down the ladder and towards their next task. Along the way over, his eyes would steal the occasional glimpse of a tractor or harvester, curious of its capabilities and inner structure. Only kee's voice interrupted any further inquires.

"Huh? Oh, that's pretty cool. I'm more into just messing with shit. There's this old crone I help out sometimes - a toy designer - but I'm definitely gonna do more than that. Not really sure yet, though." He smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, how many badges do you got so far?"

Unknowingly, the comment did sting a little bit. Even with his personal mantra, Kee was still a little insecure. Even his little brother chastise him for not giving his all. That youth was definitely a better trainer than him. They reached the shed, and opening it, was several five gallon buckets of food for the Pokemon. Finn went on saying that helps a toy designer on occasion, but wants to do more than that. then came the worse question of all. Chuckling pathetically as he heaved a bucket out towards the water's edge, he told the embarrassing truth. "Unfortunately, everyone is so busy. As soon as I see an open spot, it's taken before I can apply. Not going to lie, but I'm feeling a little discouraged."

Using the scoop to toss out food into the water, it soon became a flurry of motion. Water Pokemon and Ducklett gathered and started feasting. "Last thing on the list is moving the Mareep and Wooloo wool to the house storage." Again leading the way, the duo soon found themselves in front of several bundles of wool. Trying to heave one, it wasn't doing much. Great. "I think we need to do these together..."

Finley Black

The blonde's demotivated sighs were met with a solid slap on his back. "Nah dude, don't let that stop you. You'll get in eventually." His words were meant to be encouraging, though, it wouldn't be surprising if he'd taken it poorly. Dealing with people was definitely not Finn's forte and he has received a ton of flack for that already. Life was too black and white in his eyes, so the nuance of emotions was often forgotten in the dust. "And if you don't? I dunno, maybe take up farming? You're a natural."

He flashed Kei a grin before shoveling some food into the pond. The water types were quick to flock to them and feast on the pellets.

With that mission now completed, the two set off towards the final task on the list: moving bundles of tied wool to the storage. The blonde tried to immediately heave one bundle by himself, but was quickly reminded of his own limitations and suggested them to work as a pair. "Sounds good," Finn agreed and positioned himself to the other side of the bundle. He wrapped his arms around it, weaving his beneath kei's, and gave it a strong tug upward.

"Just lead the way, cause I can't see shit from back here."

The slap on the back did take him slightly by surprise. Still, he gave a shy smile. "I don't know about that. I don't have the physical strength for it. I don't give up very easily." After all, what the hell would his kid brother say? He wanted to be a reliable big brother. Although, he's gotten lost four times, barely tamed a couple of brats, barely held out against a robber, and can barely do farm work. Luckily, Finn was in much better shape, and the both of them were able to get the first one in. Still, with Kee going backwards it was hard to keep track on where they were going, and the pace was slow. It definitely took a while to get all of them in where they were supposed to be. By the time they were done, sweat soaked through Kee's shirt as he panted heavily while sitting on the ground. At least it was the very last thing they had to do...

Finley Black