everything seems okay, at least for now, but as a HAZE slowly starts to seep through the cracks of the door and into the bank, things will soon not be okay.

outside, theo stands waiting, disguised if only because rocket's turning over a new leaf in the public eye. they're meant to be saviors — the right to the league's wrong. robbing a bank doesn't quite fit that perception.

so, for now, he waits.

Andrea Vaneau Oliver Shrakes

☉

Luckily for Andrea, the real League representative soon arrived, sparing her the awkwardness of having to explain to the bank's staff that she wasn't the one they'd been waiting for. That Dragonite looked like a force to be reckoned with, waltzing into the building like it was the most natural thing to do.

Mr. Banks blinked, trying to act like he hadn't just misread the situation. "Ah, a Ranger. That makes way more sense! We're glad to have you here, my lad!" He shook Oliver's hand, before turning back to Andrea. "In that case, you must be a customer. Do you have an account here? Would you like to open one? May I interest you in some investments?" He asked her.

"Investments...?" The dragon-hooded girl tilted her head slightly to the side, bewildered by his boomer jargon. Her attention soon shifted to Oliver's Pokémon. "Whoa, your Dragonite looks so cool! I wanna huuuuug it~" She shrieked like an easily excitable fangirl.

A sinister Haze started filling the room, prompting Chomper to tense up and growl angrily towards the door. "Uh oh... That doesn't look like a good sign." The young woman observed worriedly.
"It's the robbers, they're here for our money! We're doomed! DOOMED I tell you!" Mr. Banks cried out, already losing his cool.

Oliver Shrakes THEO BECKETT

☉

the blistering hurricane whips through the room, dispersing the heavy HAZE that once looked to fill it, and through the clearing white HAZE comes a looming figure — not theo, but a roaring nidoking.

the poison-type charges MEGAHORN first into the dragonite.

Andrea Vaneau Oliver Shrakes

☉

The situation had gone from bad to worse. Andrea could really go for another one of Dragonite's comfy hugs, but things escalated too fast. Before she could celebrate about the Haze being dispersed, said Dragonite was nearly run over by a ferocious Nidoking that appeared out of the blue!

"Fear not, I've got this!" The young security guard declared, firing his taser at the Poison-type behemoth. Unfortunately, he'd been holding the gun backwards yet again and wound up electrocuting himself, screaming like a little girl, before passing out on the floor.

"Junior!" Mr. Banks urgently cried out, but something even more urgent distracted him from the guard's unconscious body. "The vault! We can't let them have our money! Follow me, this way!" He yelled, leading Shieldon and Weepinbell into the end of the hallway, where a large reinforced door was located.

"We can't just stand here! We have to do something, Chomper!" Andrea said, furrowing her brow resolutely. Thinking on one's feet was critical in a dire situation like this, thus she quickly formulated an ironically fitting plan. "Aim for the feet! Dragon Rush!" The little Deino charged at Nidoking with all of its might, attempting to knock the larger Pokémon off balance.

Oliver Shrakes THEO BECKETT

☉

while nidoking remains occupied with dragonite and deino, it paves an easier path for theo straight to the vault. he might be able to TELEPORT inside it, but he does appear seemingly out of thin air beside his alakazam.

disguised, he commands:

"stand down."

Andrea Vaneau Oliver Shrakes

☉

Dragonite's Aqua Tail probably had done more damage than Chomper's Dragon Rush, but the smaller dragon wasn't about to let up just because an adult told them to stay out of this fight. Andrea was an adult too! "Chomper and I have battled before! Just because Deino take a super long time to evolve doesn't mean we don't train!" The pajama-clad girl retorted, though even she understood that a fully-evolved Pokémon was a formidable opponent.

Meanwhile, the Nidoking's owner had done the smart move of targeting the weakest link, namely Mr. Banks himself. "Y-you'll never have our money! NEVER!!" The middle-aged bank owner fearfully yelled, mortified by the sight of the Alakazam, a fearsome creature said to be far smarter than a human. Certainly smarter than this human in particular. Should it try to peer into the man's mind with its Psychic powers, it could find the secret combination in no time.

Mr. Banks' terrified cries caught Andrea's attention. "Oh no, they're already at the vault! Go, Barron!" A gargantuan, walking suit of armor emerged out of her thrown Pokéball. Wasting no time, her Aggron would try to lock arms with Nidoking, being more than a match for its fellow Rhydon lookalike.

"Chomper, forget Nidoking! Go help that nice old man!" The draconic cosplayer exclaimed, to which the Deino nodded and rushed towards the end of the hallway, where Mr. Banks was being held at gunpoint... or rather spoon-point!

Oliver Shrakes THEO BECKETT

☉

a TELEPORT later, and they're away again. but not before a pokeball is dropped, revealing large drednaw that unfortunately falls asleep from the SLEEP POWDER.

fortunately for theo, however, it seems to threaten to squish the weepinbell.

nidoking does what it's meant to do — distract. it'll persist for as long as it needs to or until it's no longer able to; either or.

out of sight, theo watches from afar.

Andrea Vaneau Oliver Shrakes

☉

"We're supposed to pay taxes?" Andrea cluelessly asked, proving that she was pretty based. She didn't seem to grasp why the ranger was so miffed by her interference. Was she not supposed to play hero in real life? Things only got worse when he threatened to arrest her. "W-w-wait, why arrest ME?! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Meanwhile, Chomper was ready to gnaw on Alakazam with his signature Crunch attack, but the Psi Pokémon swiftly Teleported out of his way. Frustrated, he directed his anger at the Dreadnaw that had just come out, ramming into the large turtle with a Dragon Rush, in the process moving it just enough so that it didn't crush Weepinbell under its massive weight. A nice save that was 100% unintentional.

Andrea tried running towards them, only to be tackled to the ground by Oliver and then handcuffed. "Okay, I'll admit everything! We stole an old lady's umbrella, but we didn't do it on purpose, and we're gonna give it back to her, I swear! Please don't put us in jail, pleeeeeease!" The dragon-hooded girl cried. Sadly, it seemed no-one had told her that she had the right to remain silent.

Alarmed by his trainer's distressed cries, Barron turned his attention away from Nidoking for a moment. Seeing the young woman handcuffed with an older male looming over her while she was prone on the floor, the Aggron egregiously misunderstood the situation and angrily charged towards Oliver with the intent of pushing him off... with the full force of a monster truck!

Oliver Shrakes THEO BECKETT

☉