Ah, another day at Lilycove City. Soyeon had been taking a bit of a day for herself as the sun shined down on her. She wore civilian clothes sans the lab coat now, wanting to work on getting less pale and pasty. In her hands was an infant Bulbasaur, enjoying its position as she cradled it in her arms. Small vines reached to drift behind her as its owner walked along and looked out to see two figures in the distance. The first was a woman in the water, but the second was a smaller Pokémon. One that she couldn't make out from a distance. But what she could see what the steel type sputtering around, trying to remain upright in the water. Soyeon stopped and watching out of feeliung anxious about the situation. The woman did pull him up but then placed him right back into the water.

"HEY!" Soyeon came running from afar. the worried Rocket scientist barreled over anything in her sprint towards the shore. Her feet tripped over the pavement and would have careened forward to faceplant with the street had it not been for Vacoule's vines pushing her back up before the impact. Now fully back on two feet, the woman stormed over to the other woman in a flurry.

"What're you doing?! Can't you see that he can't swim?" she asked, looking at the poor wet Perrserker. "Are you seriously trying to drown your Pokémon like that?"

skyler dross

Sure, Soyeon had intervened in what she thought was some type of cruel and inhumane attempt and taking a Pokemon's life, but could she be blamed for what she had been witnessing? A woman just dunking a Meowth into the water below and nobody being around to stop them? She had to at least try and stop her. The blonde woman did hold the poor beast in her hands while trying to defuse the situation. The scientist wasn't too thrilled at her trying to brush this off, carrying an annoyed expression on her face as her eyes went to the Meowth who was fiercely attempting at getting away! Why else would he be trying to flail his arms around? It did have floaties around its arms to help it keep afloat. But then the woman would dunk the cat back into the water.

"H-Hey!" Soyeon went to then dive towards the shore as the poor thing was no doubt going to go back under the water, but to her surprise, it actually was starting to swim! Her eyes looked towards the cat approaching her in a fury before a timely intervention by the Meowth's owner had saved her from a flurry of cuts and scratches. Soyeon took a moment to ponder things in her head before then wincing at her haste minded decision.

"Sorry, I just saw you dunking him into the water and I got worried." she said, rubbing her upper arm while looking back at the fierce looking Meowth on the woman's shoulders. "But why are you teaching him how to swim? I could understand a Pokémon suitable for water, but a Meowth?"

skyler dross

Soyeon would purse her lips together at Skylar's advice. She'd remain a bit hesitant about the story, even if it did seem quite legitimate, and would have to reserve her thoughts until after this little interaction. But for now, she'd cast her gaze down to the Galarian Meowth currently dead set on trying to remain upright in the water. His splashes were adorable and Soyeon almost found herself fawning over the little guy. A laugh left her lips against her will, as she'd flash her eyes back towards the Meowth's owner.

"A sea captain, hm?" Soyeon repeated. "Do you go out often? I'd love to go out there one day. I'm not much of a swimmer, but I've always enjoyed feeling the sea breeze. It does make sense the more I think about it now." How could she be so daft at times? No wonder the poor Meowth was struggling to learn how to swim so fiercely. They were a species that resided in an environment that facilitated long stretches of journey on top of it. "Sorry again for the mixup."

She extended her hand and shook with Skylar's, her meek smile growing ever so slightly wider. "Nice to meet you, Captain Dross. I'm Soyeon, an Ultra Space scientist and aspiring Pokémon Professor. This is Vacoule, my lab assistant." The baby Bulbasaur would let out a soft cry towards Skylar, appearing content in between Soyeon's arms as he'd look down at Dorado with a clear interest in trying to float.

"Is there anything I can do to help you two?"

skyler dross

This poor Steel type was giving it his all, laughing in the face of adversity. He continued his defiance against the water and splashed about something fierce. Soyeon watched with a mild interest, though she was silently rooting for the little guy. "I can respect working out on the sea. It seems quite peaceful at certain points, but with little bouts of stress in between." She did envy the life, though had to wonder how people seemed to really live out there for weeks on end. She'd go crazy not being able to go on those nature walks.

Her choice of profession must have had some kind of effect on Skyler, as her expression faltered for a moment. Soyeon could see the draw of practicality for people. Her brain was just different, in a way. Not that it provided any advantage over anybody else's. "It's an interesting job. Every day is walking into a problem with no clear solution. But it's part of the fun I guess. Besides a crippling addiction to dark chocolate anyway." She laughed, albeit a tad nervously. "Before this, I actually wanted to be a Pokémon Professor. It's a funny story actually, but-"

Soyeon stopped as she watched Dorado paddle more and more, Vancouver receiving affection from Skyler. His vines playfully coiled around her hand and would enjoy the head pat. But then, against all odds, he would start doing it. Dorado was swimming! Well, paddling more like. But he wasn't drowning like he had been since they had met. "Oh my, he's actually doing it. He truly is a sea faring feline now." Soyeon mused to herself, cheering on the little guy.

"How long have you two been working on this?"

skyler dross

Much to her surprise, the poor feline was actually swimming beyond all odds. Soyeon watched with an impressed smirk, holding Vacoule with both arms as she laughed softly. "Congratulations. I think you have the world's first aquatic Meowth." To her laughter, she'd allow Skyler to absorb the discovery of her Pokemon that was swimming all on its own with a support expression. She cheered, happy to finally have achieved their goal after such long work. "3 years, all built up to this. I know it might not mean much considering we've only just met, but I'm proud of all that work that's gone into this."

Skyler reacted with such elation, throwing the furball into the air in a humorous display. Soyeon chuckled again, although a part of her did grow worried that this poor Meowth was going to get all frizzled if he kept being tossed into the air. Still, the scientist would at least be there for the show. Wait, she wanted to bring a Pokemon to drink beer? "That...probably isn't incredibly healthy, b-but I'm sure Dorado will be happy to get such a "reward" for his hard work. You wouldn't have room for another, would you? I'd be interested to hearing about any stories or anything you have on the seas."

skyler dross