"Yo, long time no see!"

The wound up scientist practically launched himself at the pinkette and tightened his arms around her in a bear hug. He was always thrilled to meet up with old friends and see where life had brought them so far. It seemed Desiree was in good spirits, but the grip she had on her Cleffa carried something of fear. Like she held the small pokemon close as if she was protecting it (or perhaps it was meant to protect her.) Maybe she was afraid to drop the creature? Sven often gave the benefit of the doubt with things of that nature, not eager to assume in certain instances.

Slow and steady, his Rampardos followed behind. It seemed to be the pokemon he chose for this particular job at the moment, but he had a plethora of others he could swap out to. Sven backed up and gave the large dinosaur-like creature a pat on its tough head and wrapped an arm around its neck, standing on his tiptoes to reach the Rampardos.

"This is my buddy Zircon, he's helped me out of a few tough situations before so this time, I figure I'll return the favor and let him play around with these rocks! How about your little friends there?"

Sven nodded towards the Cleffa and Doublade that Desiree had out. While he knew Des more along the music scene, he didn't know her much as a trainer. So while the reunion was nice, he felt as though it was a reintroduction. The two pokemon she had with her differed greatly, but both seemed to suit. Maybe it was the pink in the Doublade's sash and the entirety of pink that made up the Cleffa.

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Oh no, the Cleffa was enough to melt his heart. Starlight had a certain charisma to her that left the scientist 'aww'ing and wanting more of the animated fairy-type. While the Cleffa had cuteness to its persona, his Rampardos had plenty of tough factor to itself. He reached up and gave the dinosaur's maw a playful pat. Though the offer of rock candy certainly didn't go overlooked as his expression lit up and perused the box. They were all the same when it came down to it -- nothing but sugar -- but he liked to think the colors signified a differing one. Blue was his favorite and always would be. Once he took it and nibbled at the candy, the familiar taste of cotton candy coated his tongue. He hadn't had rock candy in forever but it still offered that touch of nostalgia.

"Thanks!" he complimented. "As far as excavating goes, let's start towards the opening and slowly work our way in. We don't want to risk a cave-in. I don't think your rock candy supply will hold on for long if that's the case."

A morbid joke, but a joke nonetheless. Sven lead the party forward and grabbed a hardhat from one of the nearby stations before he fastened it on. While he hated the helmet hair he'd no doubt end up with, he knew safety always came first. Rampardos' head was strong enough to withstand whatever came its way, but he didn't hesitate one bit to find something small for the Cleffa and one for Desiree. Once he returned, he offered the helmets out to the pair and flashed a thumbs up at the Doublade. Given the creature didn't exactly have a head, it seemed pointless to find it a helmet too.

Tools were located within the caves, and Sven was quick to snatch up a pickaxe and a chisel and hammer set. He figured the first would be better for Desiree to swing about and would save her fingers the trouble of being smacked with a hammer. He knelt down and carefully began to chip at some of the rock a bit further in from the entrance. While he was sure that plenty of folks had dug through before, he decided it best to let no stone, proverbial or otherwise, left unturned.

"Think we can find something Starlight might like? She seems pretty pumped!" he beamed. "Any particular crystals we're searching for? Or will any do?"

It was only natural he asked for specifics. He figured gem hunt meant something broad, but he knew Cleffa had a preference for certain types.

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With the gems in mind, Sven gave a nod. He'd try to find something more along the Cleffa's preference, but with Desiree's assurance that the fairy would be happy with anything, he gave a chuckle and nodded to show he understood. Seemed the pokemon just wanted to be involved was all. As Desiree put her all into the swing of the pickaxe, Sven watched and furrowed his brows a bit. She was going to tire herself up if she kept it up in the way that she swung the tool so freely. The brunette hopped to full height and gave the pickaxe a firm pat where he thought was best to place her hand.

"Try to keep a grip up towards the head of the pickaxe and use that to control the strength of the tool. Keep your other hand low to control the swing a bit to start and maintain balance the rest of the way."

To reassure her, Sven flashed the pinkette a thumbs up and went back to his own attempt to chip something out. No surprise that it seemed the veins had run dry. Perhaps it would do the pair better to venture deeper in. For now, he gave the Cleffa a smooth stone he'd managed to dig out with the hammer and chisel. Sven dusted himself off and then fell silent. How had Hoenn been thus far?

"Not bad honestly!" he shrugged. "We did have a moment in time where the region was shielded off from the outside. I never did get any answers whether or not it was to keep something from leaving or entering, but I'll be honest, I haven't had any contact with my family since."

Despite the happy-go-lucky disposition that Sven radiated, there was a faint sense of sadness in his tone. Though he was quick to change the subject before that detail could be pointed out. With a huff of his chest, he continued forward and jerked his head a bit to instruct Desiree to follow him.

"How far in did you want to go? I'm down to be a risktaker if you are, but let's try to be sensible yeah?"

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As the two made their way further into the cave, Sven couldn't help but flash Desiree a reassuring smile. He certainly had a habit of putting on a brave face for other people. A dismissive wave of his hand allowed him to show the pinkette that the discussion wasn't enough to perturb him any. (That much was a lie, but he wasn't here to sulk, he was here to reconnect with a friend.) Once they found themselves deep enough in the cave, Sven knelt down before a more enriched fissure and began to slam the chisel and hammer against the opening.

"I don't think their disappearance is any sort of conspiracy theory, but I do think a lot of things going on here might have a deeper meaning," he insisted. "And that's why I want to look into them, to understand what's so special about Hoenn."

After a handful of pounds of the hammer against the chisel, he managed to break out a fine piece of stalactite and soon offered it to Desiree's Cleffa to hold onto. It was simply in the way of the true vein that he wanted to break into. But it was enough to keep the fairy type occupied for now, he hoped. Though as the two began to hammer and pick away at the rock, it had been enough to disturb the deeper parts of the cave. Some loose formations of stalactite that hung above on the ceiling of the cave began to crumble and come down.

Before it could even dare to hit the trainers below, Sven's Rampardos made a mad rush and slammed its rock hard head into the dangerous, pointed shards that attempted to rain down. The impact had been enough to send the stalactite flying as it soon embedded itself into the walls to the other side of the pair. Sven stopped to reach up and give his Rampardos an appreciative pat on its face.

"Thanks buddy, that was a close call."

Sven took it as a warning to be a bit more careful. His taps were a bit more light as he began to break into crystalline in an attempt to find something worthwhile. When he finally broke through, Sven made the bold choice to reach into the fissure and dig out what he'd managed to find. It was hard to make out, but he figured the stone served some kind of purpose. If Desiree could chip away at it, maybe she could see what lay within the larger chunk of crystal.

"Hey, I think this might be one of those stones that's said to help make pokemon evolve. Do you want to try and break it open?"

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