though there was sure a lot that ollie loved about ranger work, dealing with rookies was one of his favorites. it reminded him of his own days as a rookie, hanging out with lars. well, now he was head ranger Laurence Anderson , but he would always be "lars" to ollie.

[break][break] the new recruit was right there, in the middle of the lobby, and ollie spotted him immediately.

[break][break] the evergrande greeted him with a wide grin and a wave. "hey! welcome! you're wren rourke , our new recruit?"

[break][break] his aipom hangs on his shoulder, peering at the young boy with curious eyes. his tail swings behind him curiously as he takes in the young recruit.

[break][break] "this here is pickles. pickles, say hi!" the aipom lets out a telltale "pom pom!" in greeting, waving his tail. ollie offers his hand out to shake. "and my name's ollie morales, captain of evergrande. you can call me just ollie though. i don't care about formalities."

[break][break] he flashes a grin. "so, you made it here alright? hopefully the travel wasn't too bad."

[attr="class","ooc"] wren rourke[break]
commitment: act i

Wren snaps to attention when he hears his name called, and he meets the greeting with a wide, beaming grin pasted across his face. Eyes bright with enthusiasm (and mild relief that he does not have to ask everyone and their mother in the building where ollie morales is.)[break][break]

“Yep! That’s me–Wren!” There’s a nudge at his ankle and suddenly he remembers that his eevee was trailing his heels this whole time. How silly of him. “Oh, and this is Juno.” His eyes catch on the aipom seated comfortably on the other man’s shoulder, grin somehow getting even wider as he offers his hand out for it to high five.[break][break]

“Nice to meetcha, Pickles!” His hand then drops to shake Ollie’s own–enthusiastically so (maybe too eagerly?) as his cheek’s redden. “And you too, obviously! I mean, why else would I be here?” A laugh bubbles up, and though he might sound anxious, he’s not. Not fully, even if it’s a little daunting. [break][break]

It’s more that Wren talks as soon as the words enter his head more often than not–excitedly going on when given the opportunity, and sometimes it just gets ahead of him. That’s all.[break][break]

“Oh, that’s a relief though. I’m not really very formal either,” he says with a puffed out sigh, shoulders slumping casually. “Yeah! It wasn’t so bad. Bit of a hike from Slateport, but easy enough.”

[break][break]

+ ollie morales         | m: commitment: act i

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

when wren rourke shakes his hand, he would find ollie's to grip to be firm and warm, like the handshake-equivelent of a bear hug.

[break][break] "heya lil' guy," he says to the eevee, before putting his attention back onto the cadet.

[break][break] "glad to hear! we got all your paperwork squared away, so we can head to the site."

[break][break] with a wave, he starts walking towards the entrance.

[break][break] "so, kid, what made you wanna sign up for the rangers?"

[attr="class","ooc"] wren rourke [break]
commitment: act i

For all of the strength in ollie morales’s grasp, Wren echoes back to the best of his ability. He’s definitely nowhere near as strong as Ollie, but he makes up for it in enthusiasm.[break][break]

Juno twitches her ears at the captain, and Wren smiles a bit at the exchange, though is eager to get right to the task at hand. “Oh! Awesome, I’m glad it all came through alright.”[break][break]

In all honesty, he had been a bit uncertain as to whether or not he’d filled everything out correctly in the first place.[break][break]

Nearly tripping over his feet, Wren scrambles to keep up, pushing through the doors just behind Ollie. “Well,” he starts with a sheepish laugh, “I was at a job fair at school, and it sort of just seemed..right? Does that make sense? It’s probably kinda weird to go on a gut feeling, but I guess I wanted to see if it wasn’t just in my head.”

[break][break]

+ ollie morales         | m: commitment: act i

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

ollie nods.

[break][break] "i get that — it was the same for me too. well." he pauses, then rubs his neck sheepishly. "i think i took a little bit longer to get my life together, so you're already better than me."

[break][break] "so!" he says, clasping his hands together at they get to the end of the path, which leads to a wide clearing. "have you worked with pokemon a lot? what do you know about rangers?"

[attr="class","ooc"] wren rourke [break]
commitment: act i

Wren perks up further (if that’s even possible.) “Really??” His eyes are wide with amazement that there’s actually a similarity to be drawn between the two of them, when Wren feels so…small and different in comparison to the more experienced ranger. “I don’t know about that, though. You seem like you’ve got a handle on things.”[break][break]

Wren, meanwhile, would probably lose his head if it wasn’t attached to his body.[break][break]

He grows a bit sheepish at the questions posed to him, and Wren kicks at the dirt with the toe of his shoe. “Welllll, not as much as I would like to, I think. Enough to have worked with some for botany projects, but…yeah.” His head tilts, frowning a bit as he ponders. “Rangers…work to keep the environment and pokemon safe and preserved, right?” Or at least, he thinks that's what he’s been told. Though there’s obviously more to it. Surely.

[break][break]

+ ollie morales         | m: commitment: act i

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

he puts his hands on his hips, posing dramatically.

[break][break] "it's all in how you carry yourself." he presses a thumb into his own chest. "if you act the part and act confident, people are likely to believe anything." or at least that was what pa always told him as a kid - when he'd been scared or nervous. act the part, dress the part, and you practically had people be putty in your hands.

[break][break] ollie relaxes a bit as he leads them further into the wild terrain, stopping only when they get to a wide clearing. he listens to wren rourke's words earnestly, and then smiles.

[break][break] "be more confident! that's a great start. lots of our rangers start from all walks of life - and you've got botany experience that lots don't have." after all, it wasn't like ollie himself was particularly a green-thumb. "but yes, you're right. we work to protect the environment and pokemon, but we also protect the civilians too."

[break][break] "so natural disasters, fires, that sorta thing! but with hoenn being the way it is, we definitely get our fair share of crazy stuff to react to. there's definitely never a shortage of work."

[break][break] his eyes brighten.

[break][break] "so, wren, who's your partner?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] wren rourke [break]
commitment: act i

Wren can’t help the grin that stretches across his face at the gesture.[break][break]

It’s enough to make him puff up a bit more–straighten his posture and tip his chin up a bit higher. “Right! I..can do that.I’m pretty sure.” Not a very confident response, but he’s a work in progress, right? He’s only just starting, after all. The whole idea of being someone that people came to for assistance, or even donning a ranger’s uniform, is totally new to him.[break][break]

But that doesn’t mean he’s not willing to try.[break][break]

The whole area is pretty–Wren decides as much quickly as they wander further into a wilder area. He’s never been this far east–before now, the furthest he’d been was Slateport. He’s been missing out, that’s for sure.[break][break]

He nods when he’s told to be more confident, and then practically beams when his answer is confirmed as correct with the caveat that there was more to the job itself. “Nothing wrong with work–think I’d get stir crazy if there was too much downtime between tasks, honestly.” Which is one of the appeals of ranger work to him. Wren’s always been antsy, never able to sit still for long. So having something to do is better for him.[break][break]

“Oh! Juno is! She’s been with me for ages.” The eevee, who had been trailing along behind him, perks to attention at the sound of her name.


[break][break]

+ ollie morales         | m: commitment: act i

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"oh juno! hi juno!"

[break][break] the evergrande captain - who is 6'5" in height - immediately drops to his feet, turning from a large intimidating man to a small boy cooing at the young eevee. it's obvious from the way that he treats the pokemon that ollie adores pokemon.

[break][break] from his pocket, he pours some poffins into his hands for the pokemon to take.

[break][break] "rangers have all sorts of pokemon — " he says. "small, large, fliers, swimmers." still crouching, he flashes a grin at wren rourke. "i hear that there are some rangers out there with legendary pokemon or ultrabeasts. though - i've only read the reports, not seen any myself."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] wren rourke [break]
commitment: act i

“Who’s yours?” he can’t help but ask, grinning at the way Ollie treats Juno, who is always receptive to having all attention on her at all times. She’s quick to flop over and roll on her back, asking for a belly rub.[break][break]

And as soon as the poffins come out, it’s game over. Ollie could kidnap her, and Juno would go willingly.[break][break]

“Yeah! I’m really hoping to find more to work with! Though, I’ve mostly got water-types.” He nods eagerly, then his head tilts in thought. “Which…seems pretty good for working on an island, I think!” Wren’s eyes widen, “What do you think you’d do with a legendary on your team?” It seemed kind of bigger than Wren could fully imagine or start to comprehend.

[break][break]

+ ollie morales         | m: commitment: act i

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"tofu. he's my first."

[break][break] the pikachu on his shoulder gives a loud 'chaa', arms out-stretched in greeting, at the young cadet.

[break][break] "though i've got a few pokemon on my team i'd probably consider my partners. you'll meet them all one day." he flashes a grin. "i think it's a good idea to have a lot of guys on your team, just so you're prepared for any situation."

[break][break] he thinks, a bit guiltily, of that time with aster rousseau .

[break][break] ollie blinks, and then laughs.

[break][break] "oh god. i'd have no idea. i've never even met one." as much as he'd traveled, he'd had yet to meet one. still, one couldn't help but wonder...

[break][break] "i think meeting 'em would be enough. i hear zapdos and raikou are pretty cool." though just a rumor, really. "what about you?"

[attr="class","ooc"] wren rourke [break]
commitment: act i

Wren waves both hands at the pikachu, smile bright on his face. “Hiya, Tofu!”[break][break]

He nods along as Ollie clarifies further, brows furrowing seriously as he takes in everything his new mentor has to say. Then a belated thought comes to him.[break][b

“Oh! Right!” Wren fumbles in his jacket pocket for another pokeball. “I do have some others, and need to definitely build my whole team too, like you, said but—“ a clumsy Psyduck totters forward when released.[break][break]

“Juno was a gift, but Winston’s my first catch, so I guess I’d call him my partner too!” The Psyduck looked up at Ollie with a clueless stare as its head tipped to the side.[break][break]

“Hmm…I think I agree,” he muses as talk turns toward bigger fish. “Though I really like Jirachi…and shaymin! Celebi is pretty cool too.” He laughs, a bit nervously. “They're all cute but I think I’d still be a little intimidated.”


[break][break]

+ ollie morales         | m: commitment: act i

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"oh! hey there, little guy."

[break][break] ollie waves at the psyduck as he appears, then seems to mull over the thought as their talk turns to legendary pokemon.

[break][break] "i agree! i don't know what i'd do with one," he says, chuckling at the thought. "guess we'd have a lot of time since i don't think one is gonna say hi to either of us anytime soon! well. so, should we get started?"

[break][break] he placed his hands on his hips. corporate was gonna give him an earful if he was just chatting away with one of their new recruits and not actually doing anything.

[break][break] "since it's kinda slow, what about if we do a pokemon battle? brush up on our skills? rangers don't really get into pokemon battles that often, but it's always important to sharpen our skills just in case an emergency comes up."

[break][break] he snaps his fingers. "tofu!"

[break][break] the pikachu leaps forward onto the grass, electricity crackling around his cheek pouches.

[break][break] "we can do 1v1, or 2v1. up to you! you get the first move."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] wren rourke [break]
commitment: act i