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Angelo's tone of voice was enthralling, like a master storyteller about to get to the climax of an exciting tale. Except, he didn't - he ended with a cliffhanger, instead. Eyes sparkling with mischief and mystery, Caleb didn't know whether he found the cryptic nature of Angelo's offer infuriating or captivating or both.[break][break]
I want to know what this man has seen, he realized, regardless. Damn it, but I'd follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked me. Angelo seemed to have that effect on people, and apparently, a burnt-out, overworked Ranger was particularly susceptible to the allure of an exciting getaway.[break][break]
As if making good on his promise to show Caleb something he'd never seen before, a Pokémon Caleb had, in fact, never seen before picked that exact moment to crawl out from under a bush and into their line of sight. The other man commented on it idly, throwing a nickname Caleb's way that made the Ranger grin despite himself. "Muscle", huh? Well, he better live up to the name, then.[break][break]
Zero readied himself for an attack, but Caleb waved him off, not wanting to startle the newcomer too prematurely. He took out a Pokeball, and waited until the bug-like creature had meandered closer. Its strange yellow eyes were like miniature, pixelated daisies. The Pokémon moved with jerky motions, as if it were confused about its surroundings. Was it lost?[break][break]
And just like that, it all came rushing back to Caleb - memories of a distortion in the very fabric of reality, Zero transforming into a ghost, scenes from Caleb's childhood flashing before his eyes. Was this Pokémon from another...time? Region? Dimension?[break][break]
"No idea, but it sure is weird," he declared. Then he threw the Pokeball, and attempted to catch it; whatever it happened to be, it was Ranger business now.

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD VESPIQUEN APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD ESCAVALIER APPEARED!

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As the small bug is sucked up into Caleb Harcourt's pokéball, Angelo unconsciously reaches over and knocks his knuckles against the man's shoulder. Effortlessly giving him a familiar congratulatory gesture. 

“Good catch,” he says as he rises to his feet, stepping out into the tall grass to retrieve his own newly filled capsule. 

He'd wanted the bug for himself, honestly. Only the subtle wrinkles of avarice are faint in comparison to the wonder that it had inspired. 

In all his journeys of Hoenn, the pilot had not encountered such a pokémon before; and he'd thrown himself into distortions aplenty. Ventured as far as the dome would allow, north to east to south to west. 

Wherever it had come from, Angelo thought, he'd like to see it for himself. 

Sprout ignores a drifting Vespiquen in favour of pouncing towards his bootlaces, teeth finding the ends in a playful ritual.

“Anyway. My hangar and the Nautica office are on the Lilycove docks.” He muses, leaning down to playfully swipe a hand at the Shaymin. “If you ever find yourself on another break and you're in the city, then swing by. We'll go for a drink of somethin'.”

In the distance the sound of baby pokémon, chattering and playing in the daycare pools out onto the flower decorated route. 

He should check up on how the delivery is progressing soon. 

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Caleb can't help but grin a little as Angelo congratulates him. He'd have to study the strange little bug Pokémon later, maybe ask Tam Fawley and Orion Lykos for their input. Thinking of them sobered Caleb a little, however, as he remembered that he was technically still on the clock. Angelo's tone as he stood, still friendly but with a measure of finality, was another reminder that their little hang-out session had always been a temporary respite in an otherwise busy work day.[break][break]
Caleb also stood, turning to face Angelo. "I will," he said in response to the other man's invitation, surprising himself with the sincerity backing his acquiescence. He wanted to see this man again, wanted to see what Nautica was all about. "I do get time off...you know, when the world isn't ending." His victorious grin turned wry.[break][break]
Zero growled, and Caleb looked momentarily in the Zorua's direction. A rather large Escavalier had rolled out from behind a tree and seemed to be pestering his companion; Zero could hold his own, but they needed to get ready to leave, not start up a new round of battles. Caleb threw a Pokeball, in hopes of catching the Escavalier before it could further rile up Zero.[break][break]
"Oi, Zero!" He called out to the little ghost. "Time to go."[break][break]
With that, he turned back to Angelo. "Listen, whatever's gonna happen with the meteor...stay safe." He had no idea what sort of role Angelo would play - if any - in the days to come, but he hoped, for the other man's sake, that it was a less dangerous task than the one Caleb himself would have to face.[break][break]
Hopefully they'd both come out unscathed.

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[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD BEEDRILL APPEARED!

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[attr="class","wildbgsaf"]

[attr="class","wildtitle"]A WILD WEAVILE APPEARED!

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Sensing that goodbye was in the air, one competitive Shaymin looks for one last chance to best its newest rival. Finding the opportunity in a Beedrill that descends towards the flowers, innocent enough. For a wasp. After all, it hadn't seen them yet.

Slinking forward, Sprout gets close enough as it dared go undetected, before energy begins to gather. It launches a SEED FLARE at the unsuspecting Beedrill minding its own business, bursting like a firework around it.

Angelo tosses a pokéball and an eyeroll at the unnecessary dramatic flare.

“C'mon show-off, we've got work to do. Say goodbye to your buddy.”

While Sprout bounds up to Zero with nose held high, he turns his attention towards Caleb Harcourt, finding wry smiles to have faded away like clouds shifted by the wind. 

“I'll do my best,” he smiles, the League spaceship stored in the hangar a secret that lurks satisfied on the edges.

Sombre well wishes are an unexpected gesture but not unwelcome. They all were heading into dark days, unable to see the end of the tunnel through the film of uncertainty. 

“Good luck. See you on the other side,” when Angelo offers in kind, finding himself meaning it, just as he had about the offer for a drink. There's something familiar to be found in those wishful eyes. “I'll buy the first round. As congratulations on your future break.”

He stretches out a hand towards Caleb for a final shake. 

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Caleb grasped Angelo's hand with a firm grip as Zero touched noses with Sprout, their competition seemingly coming to an amicable end.[break][break]
"On the other side, then," Caleb agreed, grinning. Then he let the adventurer go, watching him walk away with that confident swagger. There was a weighty air to their parting - not just because of the meteor. An odd sense of providence had settled over Caleb, as if a door had opened, just a crack, that he had not even known was there - but now desperately wanted to look inside. It was the feeling of suddenly finding himself at a crossroads, when his path had, for most of his life, been fairly linear. A new and unexpected option had presented itself to Caleb on a whim, as charming as the man who'd unknowingly offered it: a taste at real freedom, the promise of open seas and vast skies and all the time in the world to explore them.[break][break]
The magic of the moment wore off soon enough, however, and Caleb sighed, gathering his things. He tossed the empty coffee cup into a nearby trashcan and was met by the growl of a wild Weavile scavenging for scraps of food from inside. "You're going to make a mess," Caleb scolded, throwing a Pokeball at the hungry fellow. Rangers often had to relocate Pokemon from one location to another. And anyway, the last thing the daycare needed was a ransacked trashcan leading up to their premises on the eve of the apocalypse.[break][break]

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