Why would you travel to the zoo? Why would Spyro, of anyone bother with it? It's not like hes been all over the world, seen amazing zoos and other exhibits. Maybe it was just for a change of pace? Or to find hidden talent that remained buried in Hoenn. "Hmmm" or maybe it was that he felt like he should bring his little psyduck out and about. "Come on, lets go in, it's okay," he laughed at the anxious duck who waddled in, holding Spyro's hand like a little child. "dducck" Spyro then moved forward with a bright smile, only to stop and pay his toll, however...he wore far to fancy and expensive cloths for a day at the zoo.

Rally Jackson

Rally tied some of his hair back into a small ponytail. It wasn't really his style, but it would help clean up his look. And not a moment too soon, because a customer was...

built like a house. He was an older man, and pretty handsome. He was well-dressed, which added another layer of appeal. And the cherry on top, he was walking with a Pokemon of his own - Psyduck, a Pokemon found in his home region of Unova.

Rally let out an internal sigh. He wasn't going to make a habit out of this. But since this was his first guest and he seemed pretty interesting...

"Welcome to Paradise Park," he told the man. "You're our first guest. How about I waive the entry fee as, like, a celebration. _{Or something}."

Oh how nice, it was free, but what a shame. A new business shouldn't be doing that, not only that he liked to support local business as well. He wasn't going to be that monster. "Oh no I'll pay full price," in truth he could most likely afford to sponsor the zoo, but even still. Sticking out his money so he could pay the clerk. "I'd rather support a business than take advantage of it. Besides I hardly need the free entry. Save that for a family. " Children were what mattered these days and there were less fortunate people that may not be able to afford it, or could make a Childs day. "After all a zoo is meant to inspire children to love pokemon isnt it?" he asked curiously.

The man was surprisingly generous. Rally was taken aback by it. But before he could respond, a Gastly materialized before him. His starter Pokemon would extend its tongue out and collect any money the man had to offer.

Well, guess that's as good a time as any to start the tour. "And this is my Gastly, Nova. He's one of two Pokemon in the Park. He also helps me run the cafe."

With that said, Rally would begin to lead the man and his duck through the gate and into the park. Immediately, they would be greeted by a sea of trees, rising up from the ground and reaching the walkway. Should one look below, they would see green grass and luscious meadows - perhaps too luscious for a tropical region like Hoenn, likely due to temperature controls.

Right near the entrance was a small, green stall with several shelves. Clay dolls in the shape of Baltoy and Gastly would await them. 

"These are some dolls, made by my Baltoy," Rally would explain. "It costs no money to make them, and they're easy to make. Children and young Pokemon can get a doll of their choice for free. Would your Psyduck like one?"

"Oh how charming!" the older man gave a laugh as the gastly licked up the coins as if it was a poffin. Psyduck however started to panic because it was a ghost type and ghost pokemon are SCARY! "Psyduck calm down, it's friendly and the day time, they aren't that creepy." he mused patting the ducks three tuffs of hair to calm it down. As he walked with the man, who was giving him a tour, it was rather peaceful, and fun. Tranquil even. The lay out of the enviroments made him think of places outside of Hoenn. "This enviroment isn't native to Hoenn is it? It reminds me of places I've been before." words were soft and subtle like a still pond.

Then they got to the entrance of the cafe. There were small dolls lining the area, and Psyduck was very invested in the dolls, and was even more shocked when he was offered on. "Go ahead, he's letting you have one," the charming man nudged the duck closer to the doll, which was just doll that looked like him in color and shape. "your pokemon are very talented. A baltoy that makes dolls. How does it do it,"

The man was right to notice the habitats. "Galar stadium tech. It keeps even the temperature from hitting the guests."

It was pretty expensive, too. In fact, it cost more to set it up, than to buy the property itself. A lot of the infrastructure already existed, rumored to be from someone's previous attempt at making their own Safari Zone. Flopped hard, flopped horribly. But lightning doesn't strike twice, right?

Back to the dolls, though. Just as the man spoke the word 'Baltoy,' a small figure would appear at the top of the shelf. While much cruder than the other dolls, it was distinctly human-shaped. It actually looked a bit like Spyro, himself.

Rally nodded at this. "I can't give the full details just yet. But Clay uses mud it created itself, and shapes it with its powers."

He neglected to mention that he was saving the details for a Contest performance. He had no intentions of letting the man, or anyone, knew about his interest in performances; they just seemed too... feminine, for his tastes. And flamboyant. Should anyone find out about them, it'd be hard for people to take him and his zoo seriously.

"Alright," Rally went on. "You have a couple choices on where to go. You can battle against either of the zoo Pokemon, or you can get something to eat at the cafe, or you can let your Psyduck run around and play in the exhibits. Up to you, man."

Spyro figured he was correct in assuming the area was repurposed for something. Well considering he had seen the construction a while ago, then it go abandoned. Luckily it wasn't his investment to be burned to the ground; but not everyone is a good businessman like he was. "I knew it had to be from Galar," he huffed the air briefly as memories flooded his mind of concerts from the region in the past. "I had some fun concerts there before. They really love their big stadiums there. Ever been Orre? Orre has some monstrous colosseums. Truely a venue to see if you ever have the opportunity to travel down that way," releasing a soft huff from his lungs/


"Well they seem like a brilliant pokemon with an artistic vision," Spyro was even more impressed when he saw the crude doll of himself. "Oh my! He could be on Hoenn's Got Talent," he exclaimed because well those type of shows fell under his brand, and well needless to say, he signed these people through one of his other firms. "You're pokemon are quite talented," there was a time when he'd go sit and relax, but his life was half over, and he had no time to just sit around and do nothing. Exploring at his own pace made him happy, so that was what he'd do.

Letting his hands pull out his sunglasses to protect his eyes from the beaming spring sun, "I would much prefer to see the exhibits. Surely there is more pokemon to bring this place to life?" the comment may have been taken poorly, but you'd think for a zoo, or rather, what he'd call, an amusement park- but not in the tradional sense- maybe more a buskers of pokemon- could have been taking the wrong way. "See I don't think battling with me would work, as I have a lot of water pokemon, and my pokemon are quite old and have seen enough battling in their prime and just want to live their life peaceful."

White hair shifted through a gentle breeze, "Like Psyduck here, he is just an adopted Psyduck I found hiding in my boat scare, so I just feed him some. So a nice...peaceful walk; maybe some knowledge about the exhibits would indulge him. See, he's much like a child."

Rally didn't respond to the mention of Orre. But when he walked with the man, he let himself slip a small, quick smile for no one else to see. He has memories of Orre, as a matter of fact. He even planned on moving there, since a zoo would have been way more attractive in a barren region. Sadly though, the deal fell through for... varying reasons.

As they walked toward the edge of the walkway, Rally listened to the man's words. Yes, he did take the man's comments poorly. But he tried his best not to let it show in his expressions or voice. "I've only caught two Pokemon so far. I've only been in Hoenn for about a week, so I haven't had a lot of time to catch more. Give it a little time, and I should have a lot more by next week."

Rally pulled out a white card from his pocket, then pressed it up against a small panel on the failings. A section of the railings would disappear, and a platform would slide out from a slot on the exhibit side of the walkway. An elevator they could take down to the grass.

Waiting at the bottom was Nova, the Gastly. It was eager to play with the new Pokemon. Perhaps it was unaware of how frightful it was do the young Psyduck. Or, just as likely, it was aware of how scared it was. Either way, this ghastly ghoul knew it was going to have a lot of fun with its new friend.

All the while, Rally listened to the man's story. It was a cute story, how he met his Psyduck. "That's pretty sweet. So you're like a daddy - a dad, to it?"

Damn Froakian slips. Though now that they were vaguely on the subject of appearances, there was something familiar about the man's voice. Was it the cadence, or the confidence?

"You a retired trainer, or something, mister...?" He didn't get the man's name yet. Whoops. "Maybe I've seen you battle before."

Spyro walked along the path with the man and was shocked that the man had only been here a week and didn't have other pokemon. "Oh really? Only a week?" his voice went up an octative as if he was completely baffled. "Well you must have worked quite hard to get where you are today. " The large man pressed forward, wandering how he had achieved it at such a young age. Then again how is it so unbelievable. Spyro himself was a success story, young with talent, then got luck and made a ton of money. Now one of the richest men in the world. Maybe it was just his luck, and he shouldn't be judging these youngins so hard.

" How were you able to afford all this? It isn't something a bank just gives you money to do. I respect a hustle so I applaud you, I'm just curious about your story." Psyduck waddled beside him and gave a loud quack when his flippers touched the grass, almost as if he was laughing. Truly this pokemon was an abused child in a pokemon, but it was still the most pure thing one could ever see. Being called daddy made him laugh out loud. Damn! He was that old! Everyone calls him dad or daddy! Some people probably thought he was a creep. "I get called daddy and dad a lot!" the laugh was hearty from his chest and it was even better because he laughed every time.

"If you're gonna call me anything Dad is okay in public. Daddy in private" see the old man had a sense of human, or maybe it was the gay. Definately the gay inside of him popping out. Eyes were wide in shock when he was recognized by someone young. "Oh..hahah! I used to be famous in a boyband back in like your moms days. I travelled the world. The hot one. See, I could sing and had talent, I'm also the only one who still hold status. Not to break but I made a good, peaceful quiet life for myself. And now I'm just travelling around enjoying my life leisurely." pausing, "I'm so beyond who I was back then. Now I help people out with their fame," he shrugged. "You know Lazy River energy."

Pretty rude to ask someone about their finances. But the man had a point; no one would expect a regular person to afford this place and its technology, even if the area wasn't good. Much less someone who was still in their twenties. Rally had sunk pretty much all of his inheritance into buying and renovating this place. He could afford it, but just barely, and only because of an unplanned windfall of money.

Luckily, Psyduck interrupted them. The Pokemon was happy to play in the grass. But maybe it would be even happier to play with toys? Nova opened its mouth, and a small, air-filled rubber ball rolled off of its tongue. It landed on the ground with a gentle thunk. It also had a bit of ghostly saliva on it, but surely a Water type wouldn't mind?

The daddy comments made Rally blush a bit. Luckily for him, he had the perfect cover: turning his head slightly to look at a nearby tree. But the distraction did give him some time to listen in on the man's words and really take in what he was saying. And now, with a clearer picture of the man, he had an idea of who he was.

"... Spyro?" the man guessed.

While Rally's mother hadn't heard of Spyro, but he certainly had. In fact, he had planned one of his possible Contest performances around one of his later songs. Spyro really looked like that? He was so used to seeing old pictures of him online, when he was younger. A lot younger. This was... this was... It was pretty surprising, actually. Good for this guy, not blowing out with age.

"I might have heard your songs, a couple times. Didn't know you lived in Hoenn, though. But why the hell would someone like you want to come here? It's a dump."

"Oh you do know me!" he laughed harder thinking about the images of him on the internet. Not high resolution, just terrible filters. Young slim, kinda hunky, beach bro vibes. Yeah. Those were the days. "Well I look very different these days haha. My hair is white cuz I'm old." he shrugged, "Well I dyed it. I was going gray and decided to just be unique. Then my hair went white. So lucky me I guess. Got a cute blue strip though. Man the ravages of time. " looking down at his hands, "But these babies, these babies get touched up every year," he held up his hands, tattooed with a vibrant aquatic dragon scale.

Spyro couldn't tell if the man was talking about the zoo or well, the region. Hopefully not the region, but still, he could understand why people may think of it as run down. "Well Hoenn is beautiful, and I'm from pacifidolg town." he mused as the psyduck warily kicked the slobbery ball, only to pick it up with it's psychic powers and clap. "See I could ask the same question from a youngster but it's assumed young people like to explore the world."

Rally did notice the hair streaks. This whole time, he had assumed they were natural. He'd seen a Gym Leader with all-blue hair, and he'd heard of another who's hair was black and blue. 

The tattoos, he already figured they weren't actual scales. Still, the vibrant blue had caught his eye before. He wasn't going to make a comment, but he'd been interested in the design. He almost wanted to get close and study each individual scale. But that would require getting up close to someone, and socializing wasn't Rally's thing. Ew.

"Looks good," Rally replied. "Might get some ink, myself."

Meanwhile, Gastly grabbed the ball from midair, taking it away from the Psyduck's grasp. It let out another giggle, then slammed the ball downward. This time, it was hoping to bop the poor duck on its noggin. You know, as a prank.

Rally didn't notice, otherwise he'd say something to dissuade his Pokemon's mischief. Instead, he responded to Spyro. "I don't travel. I'm just here because it's cheap. Otherwise, I'd be running a zoo in Humilau and surfing on a Mantine... Actually, does Hoenn have Mantine surfing?"

Spyro stared at the man beside him, looking at his arm, "Oh god. don't get a flower, or a butterfree. Everyone has those. At least get creative. Make it worth your time and money," he laughed more. His advice to youth with tattoos was making sure you love it, but don't be so tacty. "Just don't be a taccy gay," he didn't mean to label it, but it was more so an overall concencus that some gays are super TACCY And that wasn't gonna be Spyro, oh hell no. White hair, blue strips, and badass hand/forearm tats, this man knew how to make himself look expensive.

Little psyduck hated the prank being played on him. The air filled rubber ball bonked his head and made his migraine worse, his psychic attacked damaged some scenery. "Really psyduck. it's just a rubber ball" he pet the pokemon. "You should travel it's really worth it. " he commented and laughed a bit more, "Cheap is only perspective. But you are right, Hoenn makes it easy to live here,"