oh god. sweet absent arceus this sucks.

bobby thought the last time she was on the beach was the worst this place could get but she was wrong. at least then the closest thing to a uniform she'd had was a dumb little orange safety vest, now she's in her full ranger dress and it's suffocating.

who cares that she's in shorts when they're made of such thick material? what does it matter that her undershirt is sleeveless when her jacket goes all the way to her wrists and she's wearing both at the same time?

she's been outside for no more than half an hour and already she can feel a nigh constant stream of sweat surging from under hairline (unabated by the way her ponytail leaves her neck some room to breathe) to further stick her undershirt to her back.

and she doesn't want to even think about the state her feet are in in these fucking boots.

it is a crime worse than any bobby ever committed that not only is she being asked to be outside in this weather, dressed like this, but that she's being asked to work.

"what, the promise of snake bites not enough to keep people away?" she asks bitterly of the man responsible for her current predicament. nonetheless she takes the tape from captain fawley -- the one face she's memorized on account of the fact he runs slateport's ranger operations.

"how the fuck do i even put this up? do i steal some beach umbrellas? do i have to move beach umbrellas?"

she's not even a little ashamed to be whining.

howl mccoy
mission

☉

it takes more effort than bobby cares to admit to keep from stomping about like a toddler at her captain's order. she's already sweating her ass off and all she's doing is standing around, she doesn't want to move a bunch of beach umbrellas to put up this stupid fucking tape.

but she manages to avoid throwing a tantrum and shirking her duties -- settling on grumbling petulantly while she walks to a few unattended umbrellas and uproots them.

at least they're not that heavy. bobby was already an active kid before prison, and once you're inside it's not like there's much to do outside of maintenance. now she's out and doing ranger training. you do the math.

she doesn't even pay attention to what captain fawley is doing while she works. she doesn't see the point. instead she focuses on doing as she was told.

"hey, fuck off!" she yells at a couple rubberneckers while she plants the third of three umbrellas she commandeered, "go play on the four fifths of the beach not occupied by dangerous pokemon you bunch of idiots!"

morons. she wouldn't be having to do all this extra work if they didn't exist.

howl mccoy
mission

☉

the air goes thick and muggy right before the rain starts. it's like a blanket settling over bobby, and then just as quick as its over her it vanishes -- torn to ribbons by the drops of rain the storm summons. it's cool and refreshing. it also immediately makes bobby feel twice as gross.

sweat soaked inner wear does its best to stick up against rain soaked outer wear.

"disgusting!" she hisses under her breath, "would it have killed you to tell me to get under one of these fucking umbrellas before you did that!?"

she shouts at captain fawley at the same time as she pulls a pokeball from her belt. already she can see a wiggling under the sand. the wet surface congeals and then begins to crack in places as the clumped up sand is disturbed from below.

the sandaconda surfaces like a diver desperate for air. bobby can only imagine how uncomfortable it must have been feeling all those previously free-flowing grains fuse into a suffocating mass of sludge. unfortunately for the pokemon she doesn't have it in her to be sympathetic right now. she has some stuff to vent.

"dilly, get out here! let's get this shit over with!"

her raticate appears in a burst of white light. immediately he reacts much like bobby. he hunches in on himself and narrows his eyes into angry slits as rain soaks through his fur. his muscles tense as he turns FOCUSED ENERGY on the foe before him.

dilly will get them both out of the rain in no time.

howl mccoy
mission

☉

the mud dirties dilly's coat, but neither he nor his trainer seem much bothered by it. they've both trudged through muck a million times worse than this.

"i was going to faint it either way!" bobby shouts petulantly before gesturing at dilly, "put that focus to use! get on it, and quick!"

the raticate surges forward, feet light even on the wet and inconstant sand. his QUICK ATTACK carries him fast and surely to the sandaconda -- trapped in the winds of a vicious HURRICANE. the winds die down just in time for him to shoot across and make contact with the wild pokemon's battered body.

but it's quick, just as soon as it's hit it lashes out. the sandaconda WRAPS itself around dilly and sends them both crashing into the sludge.

howl mccoy
mission

☉