"A-already?"

He'd sat bolt upright, casting a curious gaze towards the vigorous splashing. Had Monty caught the big one? He couldn't help but grin fiercely, rising to his feet and briskly walking up to the shoreline where he awaited Monty's catch.

As they twisted the reel and jerked at the line, it became clearer what was on the other side of the line, and it only made Adrian that much more excited. "Quickly, quickly now!" Monty didn't deserve the pressure, but Adrian was practically drooling for a chance at catching one of these pokemon, wanting nothing more than to see it grow in his care.

As the magikarp was landed, its stereotypical response was to flop about in a frenzy, aimlessly trying to return to the water. As it thrashed about Adrian had little choice but to place a boot against it, pinning it against the dirt before brandishing one of his pokeballs. "Calm down you nutter," he barked before turning to Monty.

"Do I really need to weaken it? Poor thing's distraught enough as it is." He shrugged.

He supposed he could call out a pokemon, but it would be more practical (and quicker) to just stomp on it a few times, but that hardly seemed humane. Although with how bony this damn thing was, Adrian doubted whether it'd even cause the magikarp any discomfort. Might end up spraining his ankle just to try it, even. "I'll just give it a tick," he decided, figuring that suffocating it instead wouldn't hurt.

@monty

Adrian laughed.

"Okay, Feebas," he scoffed at them while dropping the pokeball onto the restrained fish pokemon beneath his boot. In a flash of white it was siphoned into the pokeball, only to wiggle with the same intensity it had when splashing. It was almost comical to watch, but it didn't last long before the ball nearly rolled into the water. He'd caught it with his foot, holding it in place.

"Whatever. You're just mad it wasn't a feebas." Which he could forgive them as much, considering they'd taken the day to try and find one. Considering he meant to sup with them later, he supposed it was only right to keep them company here if they wanted to keep going. "Are you gonna cast your line?" His tone was indifferent, the trainer committed to no single course of action just yet.

tl;dr capture attempt

@monty

He wanted to roll his eyes at Monty, but he made some fair points about what they'd go through trying to evolve their favorite pokemon. "Yeah. But nothing that comes easy is ever good." After the pokeball settled down he fished it off the ground, stowing it away before relaxing back against the grassy bank.

Patiently waiting to see what Monty's next line would catch, he watched as a sealeo dipped beneath the water in pursuit of a whooper. Hopefully they were just playing. "Have you ever considered trying the routes near Sootopolis?" He supposed it must be difficult without a pokemon to ferry you around, but Monty seemed the resourceful sort. Surely they could charter a small boat.

"I'm thinking some pokemon only like open ocean." Not that he could be sure someone hadn't decided to dump a feebas in a lake the same way they had the magikarp, but it was something he'd considered when coming out here. Too bad he didn't know enough about Hoenn to say anything with certainty.

tl;dr pass

@monty

He became distracted with a sleek dorsal fin protruding out of the water, following it around with interesting before recognizing it as a sharpedo. Instantly he was determined to catch it, for it was another pocket pick of his; that he happened to find it so quickly after a magikarp was surely a sign.

"I'd go with a boat, but it's your plan." Adrian would've loved being able to tag along just to see what it was like in Sootopolis, seeing as he'd never been, but he'd never been one to impose. Usually, anyway. Pulling out Rover's pokeball, he tossed it out over the water, spawning his vileplume in the shallows and allowing the pokeball to drop on its large petals safely.

"Rover, use Giga Drain on that sharpedo over there!" Vileplume might not have recognized what a sharpedo was, but the shark fin running it down in the water was enough to give it a target for its aggression. It was able to land a hit due to the pokemon's linear attack, Adrian tossing a pokeball in tandem, hoping to catch it unawares.

"Since you're packing up, you wanna head to Rustboro now?" He'd take yes as an answer for granted, assuming they didn't have other business to attend to. They could grab a bite and talk about other things, maybe even about his upcoming gig. Yet his stomach knotted up at the thought, proving his own anxiousness. Even still he obviously wanted them to come, though perhaps he'd have to get crafty with his invitation.

"Let me wrap this up, and I can head out. I got something I want to show you," he sounded smug and eager, though it wasn't anything so grandiose as one might suspect. Just something he'd picked up near Foretree that he was proud of nabbing for himself.

tl;dr attempting sharpedo capture

@monty

"I was going to show you now," he barked back before calling his vileplume over, returning it and the sharpedo to his belt. That's when he plucked a particular pokeball containing something he'd never seen before between Hoenn or Sinnoh. It was something of a monster though, so he was careful to give a generous breadth.

"I found this thing back in Foretree—it was menacing the wild pokemon there," he held out the pokeball like it was some sort of trophy to be marveled at. When that got boring, he poised to throw it and unleash the subdued beast inside, hoping to impress them with his catch. "It's a bit of a monster," he warned before lobbing the pokeball lightly, as to not send it far.

And then, in a flash of light, it was out.

Taking up a pose, throwing up his hands as if to say "Ta—daah!", Adrian unveiled the grizzled corviknight he'd wrangled that night in near Foretree. Its wings fluttered wildly with a sound like grating iron as it stretched its wings, having been cramped in there since it was captured. It took one look around and saw Adrian, eyeing him fiercely but making no other movements.

"Whaddaya think? I have no idea what it is, but it is beastly." He was beginning to build up a lethal amount of smug, but he couldn't help it. This was probably one of his most accomplished moments in Hoenn to date, and he wanted to share it with someone who might care.

@monty