They wanted... Spoink. For a moment, he had waited for a chuckle or a "just kidding". It never came, of course. They really wanted and expected him to steal pearls from swine. Not that he was against that at all. It sounded interesting, to sound the least. But also a little ridiculous. Levy didn't like being late for anything, but he'd found himself a little lost before managing to make his way to the assigned location. Centiskorch was crawling steadily after him, hissing in what he was certain was irritation.

"Oh relax," He grumbled back in turn before ignoring the insect from then on.

He was a little nervous, but he swallowed it down vehemently. There really was no place for uncertainty anymore, was there? He'd made up his mind. Wren might never understand his reasoning, but Levy needed this. More than he cared to admit, so he wasn't about to turn his back on it or second guess his actions. It was too late. 

"Are you... Oscar Clayton?" It took a moment to recall who he was meeting there. It was either him or this man was waiting around looking like a creep for no reason. 

Oscar looked over as a stranger addressed, a grin forming as he realized who he was looking at. "And you must be Levy. Welcome to the fuckin' party, hope you're ready to hike." Oscar turned toward the young man fully, folding his arms as he looked him up and down. Was he nervous? Nah, uncertain? Anxious! Hm, he could not place the emotion but something was clearly bothering the kid.

However Oscar was not familiar enough with him to play councilor just yet, for now there was work to be done. He chuckled as he turned back around to face the pass. "Spoinks are most populous about half way down. It's not as far as it sounds, just kinda rough. Let me know if you need help."

Without further instruction, Oscar began climbing down the path. The rocky terrain was cumbersome and steep, those who did not pay attention may very well find themselves tumbling downward. Luckily, the slender frame of these two poachers would make them nimble enough to avoid such a fall--in theory.

Oscar called upward, continuing to hike without seeing if Levy had gotten started on his own. "So how do you feel about today's mission!?"

Levy Alinsky

Hopefully you're up for a hike. He was not, but he also wasn't about to be that guy. It would prove a good distraction though and perhaps it was better to gripe about walking over considering that he was suddenly far more alone in the world than he was admittedly comfortable with. Oscar seemed... alright, at least.

"I don't need help." He muttered, maybe a touch snippy. The idea of assistance usually annoyed him. He'd done most things in his life by himself, regardless of difficulty, so asking for assistance was difficult for him. At least, he figured he wouldn't need to ask for help to walk down some hill to catch swine. Levy was a street kid though, not exactly a mountaineer. Surviving in a city was one thing, but he was not about to complain. No way.

"Valuable, I suppose." He said with a shrug, grunting as he dropped down. His boots slid on the loose soil but he caught himself. "The concept though is a little stupid though, but it sounds easy enough."

Oscar continued steadily climbing downward, keeping an eye on his companion despite his insistence on independence. Oscar remembered when he was a new recruit, eager to prove himself and all too willing to ignore his limits. However while no one had been there for him whenever he fell, Oscar would be sure to at least try to help Levy should he over exert himself. 

Oscar nodded at Levy's answer, "Nature's kinda stupid so it checks out. Don't let down your guard though, anything that can go wrong will the moment you get too comfortable." Speaking of, the climb down was getting rather easy--which meant it was time to throw the pair a curve ball. Oscar held up a hand to signal Levy to stop.

Silently he pointed ahead toward a small cluster of spoinks enjoying some playful bouncing. The only problem? They were playing in a gap between the main paths--about twenty feet down. Oscar took a pokeball off of his belt, "Do you have something to make it down safely? We're gonna need to be very quick or they'll get escape."

Levy Alinsky

"Understood." Levy nodded in response to that advice, not about to mouth off to the other Rocket. Experience had proven plenty of things were more than capable of becoming complicated in no time at all. Levy didn't even have that much experience in Rocket, but in general he was not exactly the pinnacle of good luck.

Almost without saying, there was hitch. Maybe not a horrible one, but still enough to force them to stop. It wasn't in the least bit comfortable, considering they were perched on the side of a ravine. Centiskorch would be a lot quicker then him on the climb. The centipede moved across the terrain without hitch, which was to be expected of a bug.

"No, but I have an idea. Centiskorch can head them off, contain them while we descend. If they know what's good for them, they'll head the way we want or risk getting roasted. What do you think?" That still didn't cover how he'd make it down, but he figured he'd make do. It would suck to break his neck on a mission to capture swine.

oscar clayton

Oscar nodded, "Smart thinking, if we play this right we might not need to go down there at all." Oscar enlarged his pokeball and opened it, releasing Vlad the Gliscor. Oscar pointed to the playing piglets. "Vlad, we are going to use a centiskorch to chorale those spoink.  Cut them off from the opposite side and swipe their pearls."

Vlad used a claw to salute his master before flying further down the path. Vlad was an intelligent soldier, he would be able to observe and fill in the gaps as he went. Oscar looked back to Levy, "Alright let's get this show on the road before their parents come to get them." Oscar leaned against the cliffside, folding his arms as he watched the spoink bounce.

How ignorant they were of their impending hardships.

Levy Alinsky

Levy was admittedly pleased easily, though he pretended otherwise. Even the slight compliment the other paid him was enough to work a pleased smirk out of him, something of a rarity. Maybe he was a little starved of such compliments that it was nice to hear from the rocket beast. He nodded to Centiskorch, which whipped down the side of the hill with impressive speed. The fiery bug took somewhat disconcerting pleasure at the idea of cooking things alive so it really wasn't all that surprising when it lit the space around the Spoinks with an impressive inferno.

Oscar's Gliscor followed up with the same quickness. It was somewhat impressive, to say the least. wren rourke would have hated this, for sure, hurting Spoink for their own favor. He definitely wasn't going to mention this job to the other, not that he talked about any of this to him. One day, maybe he would have to but not today.

It was almost to easy, this job. Not that he was going to complain though.

oscar clayton

As the terrified spoink were herded into submission, Oscar would keep a careful eye out for signs of any Grumpig caretakers. Yet as Vlad began swooping in to steal their pearls, no one would come to help the piglets. It occurred to Oscar that their caretakers might not know where they were, and this little pigs were learning a valuable lesson in staying close to mom and dad.

The idea was amusing, and Oscar would chuckle as the shivering pigs lost the last of their pearls. Vlad flew up to his master, pearls collected within his arms. Oscar picked up one of the pearls and examined it closely. "Don't pity the defenseless." He said as he turned the pearl in his hand. "We deserve easy jobs every once in a while, after all do we not struggle for everything?. If they did not want to lose what they had, they should have been more careful." 

Oscar put the pearl back into Vlad's arms and pointed upward, prompting Vlad to fly away. He would meet them at the top. Oscar turned to Levy, his expression neutral. "Ready to climb back up?"

Levy Alinsky

An easy job could easily turn sour, he realized that by this point. It certainly had in the past for him. Admittedly, he still felt out of practice in things. It wasn't always natural doing the things that Rocket required and he had pressure from both sides to do what was needed. It made it easier though to have someone obviously more schooled in it at his side.

Don't pity the defenseless, maybe Oscar had a point in that. After all, no one had pitied him. They forced him to be strong and he accepted the price of weakness, so why should he offer anything else? "Yeah suppose you're right. Though, admittedly, it doesn't feel like it's getting easier." Maybe he'd regret admitting to that in front of a beast. "Yeah, I'm ready."

oscar clayton