Today was a day of paperwork, at least when the property in Sootopolis was concerned. It was time to get all the paperwork for his other ‘residence’ fixed, and it was so boring having to hunt down all the other papers that had been since abandoned and left undone.

Lars let out a long sigh, and was about to shove another pile of papers into another envelope when his phone began to buzz. Picking it up, he sees that it’s a message from Orion, albeit one with rather… ominous undertones. His eyebrows arch up slightly at first, until they reach the point that they almost vanish into his hairline. His mind suddenly flashed back to the incident that they had discussed previously in the Seafloor Cavern, and he wonders if the other Ranger has picked up on something—anything, really—that could help them get to the bottom of this.

He wondered why the text sounds… panicked, though. Or was that just him reading too much into things? Either way, it gave him something else to do. After he made sure that all the paperwork was gathered into one place and secured, he flew out to Fortree, wondering what the other had to say about the case.

To say the least, it was the first time that Lars had to break the bad news to the extreme athlete’s family about what they had found, and… it was something that weighed heavily on his mind.

Either way, he eventually arrived in Fortree, and after getting off his Metagross’s back, he recalled the hulking beast and makes quick tracks towards Orion’s residence, knocking a few times and hoping the other would answer quickly.

Just what did he have to say? He didn’t know, and hoped Orion would explain things to him.

But whatever it was he found out… he hoped it was something for the best.

Lars had no idea what was coming, though.

[attr="class","orion"]


Orion answers the door with far more composure than he had possessed upon his first confrontation with Lars concerning their mutual... problem.

His smile is fleeting but filled with relief, and he gestures for the other to come inside. The source of the aforementioned problem had taken a seat on the living room rug, still having some kind of silent staring contest with Orion's Absol.

Honestly, it creeps him out.

"You're the only one who knows." Orion breaks a long silence not with a greeting or an offer of something to drink, but with a burden. He sits down in an armchair and cards his fingers through Katas' thick white mane as the Absol seats itself next to him, still watching the strange Pokemon. "It's, uh, not about the case, if you hadn't gathered as much already."

Unfortunate as it was, there was nothing much that could be done about the athlete. They'd recovered the body, and Orion hoped that would provide the family with some closure, if nothing else.

This issue had found no closure.

"If the Council finds out about this, I'm fucked." He's not usually one to curse, but no other words could properly convey how deeply he'd sailed down shit creek with this. "We're both fucked, really. We need to — I don't know, do something about it."

He exhales, running a hand through his hair, and then realises how that might have sounded.

"I-I don't mean like, get rid of them." He's conscious of the fact that the helmeted Pokemon has turned its gaze onto him. It sends a shiver down his spine. "I'd never do that. Just... something."

---

notes:
orion's type: null really unnerves him man

“What do you suggest we can do, then?” Lars began once he’s settled inside and comfortable.

The same telltale stare followed him as he caught sight of Orion’s own ‘abomination’ eyeing him down. Truth be told he was worried about the implications as well. What if word got out about this? Lars knew the inner workings of the League much better than the other man did—that there were eyes and ears everywhere.

The Seafloor Cavern was no longer an option they could go to in case it had been compromised. They had to be careful. Even more so now because from the looks of things… Orion looked like he had a lot of things he wanted to say.

The question now was, what could they do about this?

“We can’t just leave the problem alone and hope it goes away. We… we have to erase any trace we were involved in this shit…” he suggested, clearly at a loss for words. He didn’t know what else to do at this point.

Even he was out of ideas!

“…I don’t want to get rid of mine, either,” he muttered quietly after a while. “If I did then that would be a clear beacon pointed back at me… same with you.”

Shit.