Elaine's head snapped back. Sports bars were generally not the kind of place someone would normally see her frequenting. Nevertheless, there she had ended up being, smack dab in the center of Mauville.

Cases tended to take her to this region of Hoenn quite a bit, but that didn't mean she had known all of the best places to grab a bite.

For once, she had ended up in an unfamiliar area with her stomach growling and a fragrant scent wafting into her nostrils. The pangs of hunger knew no quarter as they took Elaine victim and pulled her into a sports bar.

Supposedly, it was a top choice from the local Gym Leader, but she had met the man a few enough times to know that there was little chance that their tastes would mesh.

On the other hand, just because it was not something she expected to be a 'favorite' didn't mean that it wasn't something she couldn't at least expect to be delectable in such trying times.

As she found herself taking a seat, she could hear one of the adjacent patrons singing praises for the food. She had ordered a sandwich on her own and was waiting for it to be prepared, but the loud man's praises were not ceasing.

In fact, the voice sounded very familiar.

She had recently heard it at a masquerade.

And she had recently heard it at a cooking competition. In fact, she could swear that the voice belonged to the one who beat her to first place in that competition.

She could feel one of her eyes twitching as she turned back.

"I don't know what type of bread this is, but it's insanely good."

And those words were enough. They were the final nail in the coffin. The one man she had completely associated with one specific food item.

"I swear, every time I run into you, it's always with bread. I hope you don't have any plans to throw it at something this time."

---

Tag: howard slayte

As Elaine suffered a mental breakdown over the umpteenth mention of bread, Howard looked up from his sandwich. His eye was wide and innocent, even as his cowboy hat was slightly askew on his head. He took another bite, chewed deliberately, before swallowing.

"It's good bread." He said simply. This was the person who had won Aurelie Lefevre's little cooking contest? It was almost too much to bear. It was a Herculean effort to not feel shame at losing to a man whose attire bordered on costume who also got extremely excited over bread of all things. "You'll see when your sandwich comes in. Trust me."

He went back to utterly demolishing his sandwich. If the authorities learned that this man was one of the region's most wanted criminals, it was likely that much of Hoenn's law enforcement would retire overnight out of shame.

More work for Elaine, in that case.

"Wait." He swallowed again. "The only person I've thrown bread at recently..."

His expression quickly turned pale.

"Were you at a masquerade a few months ago, by any chance?"

---

Elaine Highland

The man at her side truly had a one-track mind. Granted, good food was still good food and while the man was one of Hoenn's most wanted (not that she was aware), he was still just as valid as anyone else when it came to the taste of food.

She took a short sigh. She had already poked fun at the man's hyperfocus on bread. So there was no need to keep doing so.

Instead, she could take the time to enjoy the moment when the man had grown pale. She was not the type of person who would outwardly focus on the moment where everything was all revealed and revel in it. After all, revelations tended to be a bit more of a somber affair.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, 'Arslan.'"

But she could revel in it here. Just a tad bit.

"Or should I say Howard Slayte. You can just call me Elaine."

She brought a hand up to her mouth in almost demure motion as she took the chance to give a quick chuckle.

---

Tag: howard slayte

"Aslan." He immediately said, before silently kicking himself at the correction. The name meant nothing, unless one was an avid fan of Josh's Pyroar. If he had been trying to hide his identity, he would've just spilled the beans in front of Elaine. It would've been embarrassing if it was a secret worth keeping.

Howard had to tighten his lips in the future. In spite of his position within Team Rocket, he had a tendency to blab. All it did was sow misery. He loved digging himself into deeper trouble with a shovel. It was a tool any archaeologist had in spades.

"Of course. Call me what you like. Aslan does have a layer of mystery to it, wouldn't you say? I don't hate the name, even if I strung it together at the last minute." Elaine's brilliance had gotten Maki through her eleventh hour with the Megalopolan, though the alien had timed his attack poorly.

Two detectives in one room? He had been doomed from the start.

"I'm surprised Mauville's Gym Leader didn't call me out on it." The admin took another bite of his sandwich as he peered at Elaine. "Is that a secret? Josh has always had a flair for theatrics."

His attire had been... remarkably obvious.

---

Elaine Highland
BINGO: BRILLIANCE