Ah, her favorite cowboy. [break][break]

His detective work is instant, bringing a smile to her hidden face. She doesn't need a disguise anymore. She pulls the helmet off, looking at him with open amusement. "Doctor," she identifies herself. [break][break]

Delphox stops her inferno on the steel and comes closer, though Ameena does not give her any instruction to attack. She would much prefer a conversation to a battle, though Delphox doesn't hide her use of future sight to determine when he will attack. [break][break]

Rehash their dance, hm? "Only if you are a glutton for punishment." She takes a step closer, sensing the opportunity for diplomacy. But all business and no play made for a dull scientist. It is her responsibility, really, to the entire monolith of science, to do her due diligence and experiment with Deputy James. So, with a suggestive tone, she presses him. "Are you?"

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – stealing steel[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Was she a glutton for punishment? She kept finding herself with too many interesting subjects of study, inevitably spreading herself too thin between them: dreams, alternate realities, eternatus, genesect, and now him. Instead of answering the first question, she responds to the second. "I am merely recycling. I love the environment."[break][break]

She makes no effort to veil the facetiousness of the answer. Gardevoir puts another beam by the melted-down cubes, but Delphox is still paused from her task, watching the officer with interest. [break][break]

But Ameena is a scientist first, Rocket second. Her curiosity cannot be tampered by a sense of self-preservation for long. She has to know how far his indulgence in her antics will go. If his lack of immediate force is a desire for information, playing with his food, or something else entirely. She extends a hand to him, smile like a Sharpedo, and offers, "Ameena Abadi. A pleasure."

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – stealing steel[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Ameena's no stranger to manhandling, though her transition from military life to researching and even to Rocket membership involved little violence. She doesn't lean away from his touch, making it even easier for him to tug her close. His Claydol is dangerous close to Delphox, who saw the maneuver coming with her earlier use of future sight, but as she readies an attack, Gardevoir reacts based on what Ameena communicates via telepathy, imprisoning the snarling Delphox and prohibiting the fire witch from attacking Montgomery's partner. [break][break]

Slightly, she turns her head closer to him and his tempting offer in her ear. "I cannot say I mind the circumstances." She was no socialite, so they would have had few opportunities to meet outside of her Rocket activities. It was interesting that the only times she had been noticed by law enforcement so far had been at his hands. [break][break]

"How enjoyable can things really be, if that precious law of yours is always third-wheeling?" If she could entice him to relax the grip the law held on him, they could have a fruitful partnership. She could get him any number of wins, but as a Deputy, he was clearly doing fine for himself career-wise. If he could let go of the law entirely, well, she could afford a kept man.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – stealing steel[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

His motivation demonstrated conviction, but his concluding philosophy was flawed. "What a waste of talent," she lamented. The things they could accomplish if he'd only loosen his newfound moral bondage.[break][break]

Restrictive laws and ethical codes had only ever hindered scientific developments. The greater sin, though, was that she knew too well that the law could prohibit justice. The memory of being told no one would be charged in relation to her mum's death left her with the beginnings of a snarl. "You would serve Hoenn greater as a vigilante. Those laws keep you with one hand tied behind your back when it comes to helping those that need it."[break][break]

She needed more information on him to better persuade him to her side. One could never have enough allies, and someone who might have League knowledge was valuable and worth Rocket protection. She could help him play hero in exchange for his loyalty. But that wouldn't happen tonight. [break][break]

"You will see what I see, sooner or later. Enforcing the law will inevitably require you to choose between goodness and lawfulness. I needed to see that the hard way. You do not have to." She gave the mental command to Gardevoir as she hooked a foot behind Montgomery's and pushed herself backwards to throw them both to the ground. Gardevoir released her imprison on Delphox, using psychic instead to push the Claydol away.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – stealing steel[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Cute. His commentary was still playful, offering just a slim chance that she could get him to switch sides, and perhaps a little more. [break][break]

He flipped them so she was pressed to the ground, though she wasn't overly concerned. With her chest against the ground, it pressed at the megastone accessory necklace. "Get on with it, Gardevoir," she grunted. The Gardevoir mega evolved, though the overwhelming psychic energy fully triggered the alarms on the ceiling and the doorways throughout the warehouse. Now, the rest of Dewford's law enforcement knew there was some sort of break-in. [break][break]

The warehouse's anti-psychic security tech would block out the use of moves like teleport, the idea being that thieves could teleport inside but could not leave the same way. Delphox ate the extrasensory and flew backwards, though she followed it up with a sunny day, generating a bright and hot atmosphere within the warehouse. Gardevoir launched a mystical fire at the Claydol. [break][break]

"You are looking a little outnumbered," Ameena taunted. "I have a reputation to protect, James. If your boys come in here without that anti-psychic security disabled..." She would take them out, permanently. She wasn't ready just yet to sacrifice her civilian identity and company, though they were both tools, and ones she would discard in a heartbeat if it served her. She hoped he would make a mistake in trying to restrain her, or distract himself pulling out a pokemon partner for Claydol, so she could end their intimate skirmish and flee.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – stealing steel[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

She had held his breath as his radio pinged. What was he going to do? He called his colleagues off, giving them an opportunity for a longer conversation and for Ameena to better entice him, but then - [break][break]

Fire. Smoke. The loud, numbing silence that comes after a sound that can burst ear drums. [break][break]

Then, she saw him, not yet getting to his feet as she was - years of training telling her to never stop moving after the launch of an incendiary device, as the sapped adrenaline will make immobility too enticing. She rushed to his side with a stagger, reaching to roll him onto his back. "James!" She couldn't hear her own voice. [break][break]

Through their telepathic connection, she urged Gardevoir to act. Both of her psychic pokemon sensed her distress: Delphox grabbed the KO'd Claydol while Gardevoir and Ameena dragged the Deputy to the parking lot outside. "Set off the alarm again," she instructed Delphox, who generated light screens inside the building and triggered lockdown and a police alarm again. [break][break]

"Do it," she said to Gardevoir, who had hesitated even after Ameena's mental command. The psychic was unhappy to assist a Leaguer, but she had little choice against Ameena's steel will. Gardevoir used healing pulse on the Deputy to aid with any concussion or smoke inhalation. Gardevoir looked to Ameena pointedly, and finally, she conceded. "Okay, fine. We can take our leave." She looked back to the warehouse, which they should have plundered, but... oh, well. [break][break]

She could live without the steel, but a recurring pattern of losing against the Deputy on her Rocket missions would spell trouble later. "Burn it." Delphox and Gardevoir both launched mystical fire until the warehouse was a conflagration. Then, the trio teleported from the location, leaving James and his Claydol to be discovered by arriving forces.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – stealing steel[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]