To say that Orion had accepted this job begrudgingly would be an understatement: he was no breeder, how the heck was he supposed to know how to get Pokemon to like each other? But the ranch owners had seemed desperate, so... here he was, wrinkling his nose at the scent of manure as he lets himself in through the gate.

There's a girl already there, and he sticks out a hand.

"You must be Kaida. Orion Lykos."

He hesitates on saying anything more. Did she know who he was already? He had gained some renown with the rangers, but would it be presumptuous to assume that his name was a familiar one? Probably. His throat constricts at the thought.

"I'm a ranger, too," he says, after a beat. "Looks like we're partnered up for this one. You know anything about Pangoro mating habits? I did some research before coming out, but, uh, to be honest almost any experience beats Dr. Google."

Shrugging, he releases two Pokemon from their capsules to act as guardians: his own mated pair of a Nidoking and Nidoqueen. He certainly hadn't needed to do anything special for them to decide they liked one another, but he could tell just by looking at the ornery pandas that he and Kaida wouldn't be so lucky today.

eI2oKg2k

---

hope this works! rolled right off so i don't forget
Kaida Adachi

He's not sure whether to be flattered or terrified by the implication of her words. He plays it off with laughter, sweat beading on the back of his neck.

"Good things, I hope."

The Ekans catches his attention, its beady yellow eyes fixed upon him. It might have unsettled anyone else, but Orion merely smiles at the coiled creature.

Kaida, it seemed, had about as much information on their targets as he did. He'd braced himself for such an outcome, and disappointment is minimal. This wasn't exactly a priority job for the Rangers, after all: the couple had been more than happy to take what they could get, lest they lose their business to inaction.

Her (likely rhetorical) question startles a laugh out of the councilman.

"Not a clue. Your idea doesn't sound half bad, though; I'll get my Pokemon to spar, see if it spurs them on a little."

A sharp whistle draws the attention of the power couple; Nidoking is more responsive, having been with Orion longer, while his Nidoqueen spares him a lazy glance as if loosely considering obedience.

"Time to show off, you two. 'king, Poison Jab. 'Queen, Body Slam!"

Their clash shakes the earth, Nidoqueen's powerful slam managing to unbalance her mate before he regains his footing and jabs his horn at her chest. They make a dramatic show of it, growling and stomping, and Orion looks over at Kaida with a shrug. Maybe...?

---

rip, less than 100, no goodies for us (feel free to decide how the pangoro respond!)
Kaida Adachi

Orion chuckles at her words, shakes his head.

"Now I don't know who told you that, but they're full of it," he says, smiling at his own self-deprecating comment. "I know about as much as you do on this job, maybe less. I've just been around long enough to get attention."

His new role as councilman certainly helped. People started to recognize him even outside of the rangers, and that made him feel all kinds of uncertain. He was socially awkward at the best of times.

His sparring Pokemon seem to draw the attention of the Pangoro couple, and Orion's elated... until he notices that their anger seems a little... targeted. He steps back instinctively as the lumbering creature leans forward and bares its teeth at him, a clear warning. He's not sure what he'd done to offend — until Kaida speaks up. Shit. He had read something to that effect, hadn't he?

"O-Oh," he laughs, nervously, nose wrinkling at the smell of the Pangoro's breath. "No need to worry, you two, they're just having a friendly spat. Right?"

Leia barely seems to hear him, still trying to bowl her partner over, but Leus' ears flick at the sound of Orion's voice, and he carefully disengages from the overeager Nidoqueen. She seems confused, perhaps a little offended, until Leus grunts and speaks to her in their language that Orion can't understand. Whatever had been said, the Nidoqueen reluctantly shakes herself off and calms down.

"See? Just friends. They're just having fun. That's all."

Being savaged by an angry Pangoro was not on his agenda today.

---

these poor rangers
Kaida Adachi

Orion hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath in anticipation until the Pangoro turns back to its companion with a huff and the ranger sighs in relief, sweat beading on his brow. That had been more intense than he'd signed up for.

Kaida's ready to throw in the towel, but in spite of their failures thus far, Orion doesn't share the sentiment.

"Nah, c'mon," he encourages, offering her a brief smile. "We're rangers, we can't give up just like that! If things get too rough, my Nidos'll protect us, don't worry."

Basileus, the male, snorts and stamps his foot in agreement on the matter when Orion glances at him for moral support. As ever, the Nidoqueen looks less interested, but Orion figures she'll go along with her mate.

He pulls out his phone, the Rotom inside it greeting him enthusiastically as it blinks awake.

"Hey, pal," he returns. "Can you find me some more suggestions for Pangoro mating conditions?"

Thankfully, his Pokemon doesn't sass him on the request like it had earlier. That's a weirdly specific thing to be searching for, but OK! This time, he buzzes in affirmation and begins to pull up various articles and studies. Some of them were things Orion had already read, but he's drawn to a series of forum posts between Pokemon breeders discussing the particularly ornery natures of the bears.

"Apparently the environment has a lot to do with it... gotta really set the scene? They're from a pretty lush region in Kalos, so replicating that in Hoenn might not be too difficult... got any grass Pokemon? I've got a few... my Trevenant's good with plants, if all else fails."

---

these poor rangers
Kaida Adachi

Orion silently agrees with Kaida; perhaps the ranch wouldn't be in financial danger if they performed basic habitat construction and actually looked after the environment their pairs were living under!

"Ah, what a beautiful creature," he says fondly as the Servine is released, smiling at it. "Your Ekans, too. You've got good taste."

Orion's reputation as a collector of all Pokemon strange and unsettling often precedes him: he specializes in ghosts, dark-types, Pokemon with psychic links to their trainers. Spiders, snakes, anything venomous... he caters to Pokemon that many other trainers leave behind as a result of misunderstandings. As for the psychic-types, they understand him.

He pulls out his Trevenant, releases her into the freedom of fresh air. She seems perturbed to be away from their home in Fortree, with its lush foliage, but relaxes upon sighting her trainer.

"You're a natural with the environment," he says, and does his best to show the spectral tree the images from his phone. He's not sure whether she comprehends, though the Rotom appears to communicate something with her. "Do you think you two could make this," he gestures to the Servine, then to the pitiful excuse for a breeding ground, "look more like this?"

He indicates the pictures, hopeful.

Wood groans and creaks as the specter inhabiting the tree moves its bark-clad limbs. The Pangoro watch with evident curiosity as she lumbers into the center of the field and plants her roots. An unnatural growth begins to overtake her immediate surroundings: grass becomes thick and lush, the leaves on the nearby trees take on a vibrant green, and the Pangoro... seem intrigued? At least, that's what Orion's hoping their less-aggressive expressions can be taken to mean!

---

these poor rangers
Kaida Adachi

"I think the Rangers would kick me out if I wasn't." The lighthearted jest is accompanied by the brief flash of a smile. The compliment stokes the low-burning fires of his ego, and so he offers something a little more genuine, next: "Thank you, though. I do my best."

Pokemon were not simply tools, or a means to an end. He'd met plenty who viewed them as such, but to Orion, they were partners. Their health, safety, and happiness were as important to him as his own.

His thoughts flicker to the Type: Null, that unknown chimera whose presence still haunted him. He pushes such unpleasantness away.

"They seem to be enjoying the greenery, at least." He watches as one of the Pangoro — the female, he thinks — butts her shoulder against the bark of a tree and scores her claws deep into the wood. The male rolls lazily in the grass, as if further testing its authenticity. "It's a shame I don't have any equipment with me to test the water quality; usually I borrow that kind of thing when the job requires it. It's clean, at least, no obvious signs of contaminants."

He glances back toward the ranch, ensuring the owners were nowhere near.

"We'll need to include the conditions in our report. Maybe get someone out here to do a welfare check in a few weeks, make sure everything's still running smooth. I want to believe they've got the Pokemon's best interests in mind, but you never know."

---

these poor rangers
Kaida Adachi

A pang of empathy resonates with Kaida's words. Hadn't he been much of the same, once? He knows what reports used to say about him: icy, closed-off, pessimistic. It had taken years of working with the rangers for Orion to grow into his position. Slowly but surely, he was gaining in confidence.

So rather than being critical, as another superior might've been under the circumstances, he is understanding.

"Hey, I know how it feels. But you've gotta have faith in yourself — or if not yourself, then your partners." He gestures over to where the Servine had worked her magic alongside his Trevenant. The Pangoro wrestled in the grass, growling playfully. "Even if they don't end up mating, we've made them happier. We've done what we can for the Pokemon."

After all, that's why he'd accepted the job: not for the reward, nor for the ranch, but for the Pangoro.

"If they don't, I'll just have to track Laurence Anderson down myself," he laughs, speaking of the Head Ranger. "But don't worry, I'm sure they will."

---

these poor rangers
Kaida Adachi