“You know, I could easily fly up and catch him but… there’s a big problem. The temperature.”

He was already so tempted to strip the fuck down and go topless (and reveal even more tattoos than last time) but fuck, the heat was terrible.

‘I hate it here. It’s so hot.’

‘I can tell.’

The heat was getting to him…

“Alternatively I could have Ro fly up and catch him… what do you think? Unless you want to go at it the old-fashioned way and have me use a rope instead?”

There were several options, so now it was up to Callan to pick which one was the fastest (and safest).

Callan didn't really have too much of an issue with either of those options, though if he did say the heat was getting to him, perhaps it might be better with his Metagross. The mountain was deceptively tiring, with its temperature taxing the body far more than most people expected, even experienced mountain hikers having trekked harder paths. "Yeah I think it might be better if Ro fetched him." Up above, the man dangled precariously as the hem of the chute began to rip. "I take it that being the avatar of Articuno isn't exactly easy on your body being close to fire?"

“I never was a fan of the heat, even before this,” he gestured at himself as he plucked out the scuffed Heavy Ball and popped it to full size.

The moment the ground shook beneath them (due to Ro’s massive displacement the moment he settled on the ground), he pointed.

“Can you go fly up there and catch him? I would, but… it’s so hot…” he grumbled, pulling at the collar of his uniform a little. Ugh. He absolutely did not want to be near anything that reminded him of Fire-types right now, even as the weather was cooling down.

With a slight grating noise, the Metagross folded up his legs and boosted himself into the air via Magnet Rise, off to save the poor shmuck stuck in the parachute.

As the Metagross landed on the ground, Callan grabbed hold of the side for the mental safety it provided. The silver giant was a terrifying, and awe inspiring sight every time he looked at it. Metagross were such majestically powerful creatures. "I'm with you there." Callan replied, trying to make small talk as his eyes fixated on the civilian above.

The sports athlete's cord began to rip just as Ro's Magnet Rise lifted it into the air. "Listen to me!" Callan called out, towards the dangling athlete. "You need to hold still! Dangling will naturally make you panic to shake out your balance, fight against the urge!" Callan yelled out. Panic attacks were deceptively common, especially during life or death situations. Thankfully, composure was held this time around, as the athlete's feet touched solid metal, ihe huffed a heavy sight of relief as he crpuuched, using all of his body to hold against the Metagross' metallic frame. "Do you have a knife?" Callan called out. "Yeah!" "Cut the cord, slowly! Don't make sudden movements that make you fall!"

As the athlete began to pull out what seemed to be a swiss army knife, Callan sent out his Gardevoir. "Just in case he slips, keep watch Eurea." He asked, before turning to Lars. "I kinda missed this." He replied, not the dread of rescuing someone, of course, but the simplicity of everything involved. "Nothing complex. We just help someone out, get paid, and then go back home." Sadly, a reality becoming more distant, the higher they seemed to rise.

Lars himself was… pretty immune to the general feeling of panic at this point.

(Well, if your title was the Composed, then obviously.)

If the poor guy had fallen somewhere else, he’d have flown up himself and rescued the poor individual however the terrible heat of the location made this all but impossible.

The heat also reminded him of the time that Groudon had supposedly been sighted around this area—kind of like in a grand twist of irony, the mirror to the Sootopolis Takeover that had happened sometime ago.

The Metagross angled his body slightly closer, relieving some of the pressure on the athlete’s legs (which were most likely trembling at this point) so that the other could at least throw some weight and not struggle so much.

“Panicking won’t do you a lot of good, calm down!” he added after Callan had hollered up at the other to hold still.

Turning to the other, he could only grin.

“Definitely. No complicated paperwork after a search and rescue, don’t you think?” he nodded in agreement.

"Definitely." Callan replied, "Also no need of consideration of what is right or wrong, no grey decisions weighing on your mind." Callan had to admit that the more higher he had to work with, the more it felt like bugs crawling on his skin whenever he had to handle something not so pleasant. But such was work.

The man slowly gathered its legs as he descended from the ledge. Callan offered an arm as he grabbed the athlete down to solid ground. "You alright?" Callan asked. "Yes, oh thank you both so much." Hyperventilation caught up to the athlete as adrenaline coursed through his body. "Slow your breathing, deep breaths." He turned towards his Gardevoir. "Eurea, can you teleport him to the nearest Pokemon Center?" The Gardevoir nodded, then turned towards the man and warped him and itself over to the Pokemon Center at Fallarbor Town, where he'd be able to get some assistance from nearby authorities and immediate treatment. Eurea was well versed, she'd know how to handle this.

"How do you think things are with preparation for the Primal Points? It's almost time isn't it?"

Sometimes, he wished the world was just that damned-ass simple.

But then again, the moment the Ultra Beasts had made their presence known in the region, Hoenn… hadn’t really known peace since then, had it?

Thankfully the rest of the operation was straightforward, Callan’s Gardevoir taking to the stage and warping their rescuee to the nearest Pokémon Center for first-aid.

He then sighed, at the mention of preparations.

“Kind of calling it too close for comfort, but… yeah,” he replied quietly, rubbing the sides of his head. Ugh, he didn’t want to think about shit too much, or what could possibly go wrong—

Because knowing the track record of the League as a whole? Shit was definitely bound to happen. Nothing ever seemed to go their way, not even once!

"We'll see how it goes, I guess." Callan replied, as he walked with Lars back to their scheduled patrol. Though likely nothing else significant was going to happen in this part of the mountain, most likely. "Well... here's hoping. I know the rangers have been hauling ass putting people in bunkers andsetting up the points." Callan replied, as he smoked casually.

"Personally, I can't wait until it's over." Callan replied, trying to sound as if the entire thing was a foregone conclusion. "I'm gonna go on tour to Unova, with Adrian, I'll see my daughter for the first time in months, I'll fly around the world and make history." Callan smiled, turning towards Lars. "You? Any plans?" He paused, momentarily, "Come to think of it man, you told me before you were looking for someone but they left and haven't come back." A part of him did consider stoping from asking, but perhaps nothing was being done because no one had asked, "You ever think about moving on, maybe seeing another?"

“Some of the residents in other places are being extremely stubborn. However in other places they’re very cooperative—too much so. Why can’t there be an in-between for all of this shit…”

Much as he wanted to fucking strip and go topless for the rest of the patrol, he couldn’t, so after recalling his Metagross he pulled out his vape and shook it a little.

“Shit, almost out of fluid,” he grumbled as he sighed, before opening it and taking a drag anyway.

At the mention of plans after the entire thing was over, he couldn’t’ help but grin, even for a little bit.

“I actually… have to find time to fly out to Alto Mare. I have to settle some paperwork there regarding my nonna and something substantial she left for me.”

And then the touchy topic was brought up.

“Well… I do honor the lost one… why do you think I suddenly started getting tattoos?”

Because yes, once upon a time Lars here didn’t have a single trace of ink on his body.

“As for looking… well, I’m too busy to stop and consider that!”

(He was just hiding his loneliness behind that answer.)