Arlo decided to take a trip to Slateport City for no real reason other than to explore the Hoenn region and the things it had to offer. It was a bustling area that he found himself getting lost in a number of times during the day. He wandered the city and spent most of the daylight towards the beach area. As night fell over the city the friction from his shirt and burnt skin made him a tad uncomfortable. He should have put sunscreen on.

As luck would have it, Arlo walked in front of a club a little before eleven. The odd ectro-funk and lights told him that this was a young and hip kind of drinking place. A headache inducing hormone pumping box. He avoided these when he was attached to the nip and preferred to go to more laid back pubs and bars. There wasn’t much going on outside of it besides people going in and out at a steady pace.

Arlo was lingering near; in any other person’s perspective it would seem as if he was waiting and preying on the drunk bimbos stumbling out. But in reality he couldn’t force his feet to move, not towards the door or away. He felt his throat being rubbed by sand and his mouth had becoming unimaginably dry. It was cool outside and yet there was a thin sheen of sweat forming on his brow line.

His mind gave him whiplash, like there were two men fighting inside for the controls to his limbs. One side told him a drink wouldn’t hurt him, that he didn’t even have enough money to really reach blacked out. It would be a single drink to satisfy the sand grinding itch which was moving to his stomach the longer he stared. But, there was the logical voice chiming in saying that he would have a drink and then would do anything to find another. So it was a stalemate.

After an hour of hovering there was a scream that brought him out of his daze. It was a young girl with near nothing on being grabbed by another young person. She clearly didn’t want to be around him but he wasn’t letting up. The blue haired girl’s face was in his view and the panic he saw flashing in her eyes made his stomach churn.

Nobody else seemed to be giving a damn about the situation so he took a breath and made his way over. Normally he’d ignore situations such as these as it never went well for the hero saving the damsel, but he felt wrong idly watching.

He straightened his back and squared his shoulders to make himself at full height. Arlo was about 6’2 and well muscled after years of physical labor in Kanto. Standing behind the small girl now he casted a shadow around her and stared at the boy trying to pull her along.

“The fuck are you doing?” Arlo asked in a low and threatening tone. He was already irritated and out of patience from resisting the urge to drink. He was craving a bit of a fight, to relieve himself of the impulsive thoughts ringing in his ears.

When this kid opened his mouth to speak and didn’t release his grip in the slightest, Arlo stepped in front of Johanna now so if she was pulled one way she’d just bump into his back. He hooked his left arm tightly around the arm that was grabbing this girl so that the boy could let go but couldn’t get away from him. Firmly he connected a right hook into the assailant's cheek.

The sound of contact sent chills down his spine and a sickly smile spread on his lips. The boy first let go of Johanna and then staggered a step but Arlo held him upright and close.

“Come on, kid!” He jeered. The punch connected with the cheek but slid to rub his nose the wrong way. There was a bit of blood, but nothing graphic. “Don’t make this boring for me, since you want to have a good time and all, y’know,” He loosened his grip on the arm he was holding and gave his chest a shove so he could take a step out of Arlo's range.

“What about your friend? Fuckin’ dad maybe?” He had certainly noticed the older man resembling Arlo’s own age trying to partake in the situation. “How old are you anyway?” He spat, literally, at this man's feet. “She’s barely old enough to drink,” His face had scrunched into a disgusted scowl.

Arlo took this brief moment of the two perverts thinking to soften his features and glance at the girl.

“Stay there behind me, m’kay hun?” He couldn’t imagine she was alone here, maybe just came out for air or to leave early. He didn’t want her to wander away. The bobbling of her head and how heavy the stench of booze wafted told him that she needed help with more than just these guys.

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Johanna Joy

Arlo took a slow and deep breath as he turned to face the young woman fumbling her way into a thank you. With the adrenaline gone he was too aware of the smell of alcohol that reached his nose. His hand which was now lightly painted red and purple fidgeted at his hip, tugging absently on the empty belt loop.

“Yeah…” Arlo said quietly, choosing to look up and down the street. “You're welcome,” Then there was a long awkward silence as Arlo tried to collect his thoughts properly before speaking. How he wished for a drink to burn his throat and numb his mind just a smidge.

“Er– why’d you come outside? Are you trying to get home?” He couldn’t think of a non-creepy way to address the situation. He was a complete stranger and a handful of years older than she was. The threat was gone but she was still alone and drunk. A part of him whispered to walk away, that she was probably drunk enough to forget he was there a moment before, but he quickly shook that thought away. He felt responsible for her now.

“It’s cold y’know,” Arlo had been doing his best not to eye her and the lack of coverage, like if he did then she’d combust on sight. He unzipped the grey hoodie he had on, slipped it off his shoulders and held it out to her. It was way too big for her frame, but that’d make her less appealing to an ogling man.

“My name is Arlo, by the way. I’m a ranger, still– pretty new, but a ranger nonetheless,” Perhaps that knowledge would help her. He was a pokemon user that often helped those who needed it. At least, that was his own perspective of rangers.

“Can I help you home, or perhaps to a friend?” There was no way he’d step inside, but he could watch her re-enter if that was her choice. “You seem pretty– partied out,” He said softly. Her skin was an icky pale-green wash from nausea. “It’s kind of better to let it out, the vomit.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he said this. He had spent many nights on a bathroom floor or the ground outside inverting his stomach after ten shots too many. His stomach ached at the memories.

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Johanna Joy

Arlo listened quietly, his face solemn and void of much emotion. His emotions were rattling his insides as he tried fighting off whatever urges were inside of him. His throat ached in a way that he thought vampires might if they hadn’t had anything for a millenia. But he was no monster, just a damned human. Her slurred words and speech made him bite his tongue. This wasn’t what he wanted to be doing, but he was thankful she didn’t want to go back inside the place.

“Yeah, Arlo’s fine,” He said to her. Some people opted to call him Red because of his striking red hair, but he preferred Arlo. His red hair was starting to get some greys here and there anyways, so maybe the dumb name would die off as he got older. Not much else needed to be done as he watched her fastly stumble to a trashcan. Better than he was; Arlo would have vomited on someone's shoes with no warning or doubled over the pavement. He averted his gaze and tuned his ears towards the dull bass of the music that leaked out the front door.

“Don’t apologize.” He raised a hand at her sorry. “Your body tends to tell you what you need… We just weirdly ignore it sometimes,” He pulled from his back pocket a handkerchief. The captain of the ship he boarded to get to hoenn gave it to him. It was white and soft with a bunch of wingals on it. He thought it was ridiculous and old fashioned to carry it around, but it was in constant use in Arlo’s life.

“Here take this and clean your face, i’ll just wash it tomorrow,” He added the last part as the girl seemed considerate of things. He didn’t want her needlessly worrying about dirtying something made to be dirty. Thankfully he hadn’t used it today. He then watched her explain that she didn’t live around slateport and didn’t know the hotel her ‘friends’ had booked.

‘Lovely’ he thought to himself, clicking his tongue absently as he thought of what he should do.

“Okay, what town are you from then?” Arlo asked. He pulled a pokeball from his belt, which held two. He let his fletchling out of the ball. The bird tweeted its song and hovered around the head of Arlo like an odd halo before nestling in his shagged hair. “Ow you little shit be careful,” He grumbled, feeling some talons scratch at his scalp as it got comfy.

“This is Bird. You like pokemon?” He thought maybe something equally as harmless and small as she would make the situation a little less– overwhelming. Bird was quite social and good at distressing situations. “He’s very friendly, as you can see,” The little bird was picking at random red strands it deemed to be out of place, but was actually making Arlo look more silly with strands standing up. It would be the first time Johanna would see a small but genuine smile warm up his face.

“Anyways, we’ll help you get home one way or another,”

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Johanna Joy