hard cider? on a tuesday night? the rangers sure have it nice.[break][break]

the door opens to james simply standing in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips as he stares up at the ceiling and walls that are just littered with bugs.[break][break]

he doesn't even look back at ollie.[break][break]

"uh, yes and no."[break][break]

what a sticky situation.[break][break]

"any ideas, ranger friend?"

[attr="class","ooc"]ollie morales[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-manectric"]

[attr="class","oliver2"]

ew. gross. james clearly hadn't grown up with sisters & mdash; what kind of person would let their living quarters (because, let's be honest, that's what labs were to scientists) get this bad?! obviously his boss didn't care either.

[break][break] ugh. bugs. good thing that ollie had grown up squishing bugs for Eva Morales.

[break][break] "yeah, don't worry. i got this. do you have a bucket?"

[break][break] from his belt, he releases two pokemon: his aipom and zangoose. "guys, let's help clean this place up!" with an aimed SCREECH, the aipom launches forward and climbs the nearest wall, slapping down some bugs with DOUBLE HIT. his zangoose uses DETECT to go and look for more, perhaps the ones that are hiding.

[break][break] as ollie scoops up the fallen bugs into a bucket, he glances at the research assistant. "how the fuck did you let it get this bad, dude?"

[break][break] what, JAMES BAKER, your mom never teach how to clean between your ears?

[attr="class","ooc"] JAMES BAKER [break]
for the swarm
[break]

☉

there's already a bucket there so james doesn't need to walk off scene, thankfully. he simply stares as his ranger friend gets to work.[break][break]

"i lich rally left for lunch and come back to this, i swear."[break][break]

he sighs. maybe a weird space time distortion happened here?[break][break]

"wow! you're so good at this, ollie. no wonder you're an elite ranger."

[attr="class","ooc"]ollie morales[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-manectric"]

[attr="class","oliver2"]

"really?"

[break][break] he sounds skeptical.

[break][break] "how long of a lunch did you take, bro? ... also, was it good?"

[break][break] maybe if it was a really good lunch, it would've been worth it.

[break][break] he scoops some more bugs into a bucket, until it's full and then puts a cover on the bucket to make sure that the pokemon don't get out. he then grabs another one, and begins doing the same thing, catching the bugs from where his aipom knocks them down from the ceiling.

[break][break] "your boss is still gonna kill you though."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] JAMES BAKER [break]
for the swarm
[break]

☉

"like twenty minutes at best. and yeah it was just some onigiri my parents made."[break][break]

wrapped up all nice and cute for their perfect angel of a son.[break][break]

james shrugs.[break][break]

"nah, dr. morales is actually really kind. i'm sure she'll understand."[break][break]

he hopes...

[attr="class","ooc"]ollie morales[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-manectric"]

[attr="class","oliver2"]

"ooh that sounds tasty."

[break][break] it reminds him of the meals that his mom would make for him and Eva Morales when they were kids. after they passed, things weren't quite the same in the morales household — especially around dinnertime. or lunch time for that matter.

[break][break] he blinks.

[break][break] "dr. morales?"

[break][break] then he bursts into laughter.

[break][break] "that's funny! i guess my last name's not as common as i thought."

[break][break] one more bucket to go.

[attr="class","ooc"] JAMES BAKER [break]
for the swarm
[break]

☉

"yes, dr. Eva Morales, one of the smartest and kindest person i know."[break][break]

he's being genuine, clearly, as eva isn't here for him to suck up to. not that he would, anyways, because james believes in earning his place through hard work and dedication.[break][break]

it never occurs to him that the two may be related.[break][break]

"guess not. maybe she's your missing sister."

[attr="class","ooc"]ollie morales[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-manectric"]

[attr="class","oliver2"]

what.

[break][break] the bucket that he had been holding falls from his grip, spilling millions of bugs directly onto JAMES BAKER feet. they scatter about, only half of which his zangoose is able to CRUSH beneath his claws.

[break][break] he grabs the other's shoulders, perhaps a little too aggressively.

[break][break] "did you say eva?"

[break][break] ever since the impromptu run-in they'd had a few days ago, he'd been looking for her in evergrande city but it seems that she was a busy woman for one reason or another. they haven't had time to properly meet-up yet, and every time he tries to interrogate Eva Morales ends in failure. somehow.

[break][break] "where is she? right now?"

[attr="class","ooc"] JAMES BAKER [break]
for the swarm
[break]

☉

the bucket falls, and his shoulders are grabbed.[break][break]

"ayo?"[break][break]

confused, the answer is literally shaken out of james as he spits out:[break][break]

"she's on her lunch break!"

[attr="class","ooc"]ollie morales[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-manectric"]

[attr="class","oliver2"]

"of course she is."

[break][break] he sighs, irritated and then lets go of the other's grip. his hand runs over his face in agitation — a rare look on him.

[break][break] decades apart, and somehow he still couldn't find the time to speak with Eva Morales. she was obviously alive and she had been — for how long? how long had she avoided him, pa, their family?

[break][break] why?

[break][break] before he can turn to ask the other more questions, there is a beep on his ranger communicator that he looks down to. fuck — there was another infestation in the south quarter.

[break][break] "hey man, do me a favor. tell her i'm looking for her, alright?" looking around, his pokemon has already done much of the work, pocketing the bug pokemon away into buckets. they just need someone to pick them up and take them away into the forest, or whatever habitat they came from.

[attr="class","ooc"] JAMES BAKER [break]
for the swarm
[break]

☉