GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

With freya morningstar

He chuckled along then, though his smile grew rather sober real quick. "Just hopin' we don't get surprised again before we get the chance."

It would be the height of both arrogance and foolishness to believe that Rocket wasn't planning its own operations as they spoke. The league and rocket coincided on dates rather often.

Moving further ahead— he lightly cocked his head at her reaction, pursing his lips.

Huh. Maybe Isaac Merlo had mentioned the trick to her already? Wait, did they talk a lot? They must've at least met, given his role in the amnesty program...

Wait, what was that?

"Without what?" He asked blankly, blinking slowly at the woman before glancing back at his hand. "Oh."

He shook off the scales like a burn, hand flapping casually.

"Sure can. I'm a professional." He was not licensed though. "In another life, anyway."

He turned to Lyunne as the dragon stretched out his mangled wing, and smiled.

"May I approach?" He asked politely, waiting for permission from the dragon before taking a step forward and crouching to be level with the brutalized limb.

His eyes roved over it for but a moment as he cupped his chin.

"It's a very old wound." He noted, lightly tilting his head. "But my procedure takes that into account."

If it hadn't, it would be useless in helping Eris Halla with her sight. Rising back to his feet, the youth tugged onto his white gloves, nodding.

"I'm certain I can heal this." He informed the councilwoman and her dragon.

---

TL;DR:

OV_OzprI

CULL THE HERD

With Eris Halla.

"Probably." He says, brow furrowed deeply as his hand nonetheless reached under his arm for a net ball. "I'm in my work hours, though."

He had to deal with all of it before it had the chance to catch someone else by surprise. If there was one thing that hadn't changed about him even in Galar, it was a strong sense of duty.

Two pops came after, his Accelgor and Orbeetle were soon flanking him as the two net balls closed in his hand, the other squeezing Eris' own gently as he glanced back at her, considering.

He could try instructing her to run.

He would have to be pretty dumb to think it would work, but he could try.

Or.

He sighed, scratching at his mass of long hair before offering a tired grin at the girl.

"Could ya help me out?"

Eris was a strong, talented battler, and hey— at least she was within eyesight if she was helping him.

TL;DR:

6elmlJGR

RESEARCH STATION

With ollie morales

"Subtle." He answered with a laugh, eyes wandering back to the knife in his hand.

Not unjustified, he supposed. He probably should answer truthfully to avoid any misunderstandings...

Or.

"Kill them all, of course." He said, stone faced as he proceeded to stab every single purple dot on the map like he was playing five finger fillet.

He couldn't maintain the straight face for long, though— a snort rocked his shoulders after a brief moment, his laughter ringing out.

He shook his head, pocketing the knife into his sleeve. Somehow.

"It's fine. Don't really care one way or another, really." He said simply— before remembering. "Oh, ya know their frontman, Isaac Merlo? I made that man as hot as he is today. I did that shit. You're welcome.".

May as well find some humor in this deeply unfunny subject matter, he thought as he rose from his crouch, folding the map.

"Anyway, don't worry your handsome lil' head, Head Ranger." He said, shrugging his shoulders as he began sauntering his way towards their target. "It's been almost a full 2 years since I last called for death to all rockets. I'm a changed man~."

---

TL;DR:
-Doug gives a very unreadable response.

Rt_26_mA

GC EXCURSION B

With Yuina Higashi

He found himself face to face with one tomato faced time traveler.

Truly, Hoenn was a land of wonders and unique experiences.

There was a great, great temptation to just... lean closer. Would he be overstepping boundaries if he did...? He supposed he would know as soon as he tried it.

"Well now." He mumbled lowly, his lead tilting ever so slightly as his warm breath blew over the other's lips. "Ain'cha a hell of a go-getter."

His nose slid over hers as his hand rose, cupping her cheek briefly—

Before he pecked her on the forehead.

"It really ain't the time tho, Cadet." He informed her cheerfully, a bright, shit-eating smile on his lips. "We're on a mission, 'member?"

He paused, pursing his lips thoughtfully before smiling coyly and lightly tilting his head at her, winking.

"We can keep going after we're done'ere, tho— if you're still interested by then."

---

TL;DR:
Doug continues to swing far above his league.

Current total = 427
L9fZwbPi

Recovery

The vibes are off, my dear friends. Ft. Yuina Higashi, DESIREE BLOOMS, Thomas Benoit

"Next!" Boomed across the hosptial's lobby as one medic darted from one patient to the next.

The mess with Kyurem and rocket had produced no small amount of injured, civilian and leaguer alike. On the field 1st aid could only put away the doctor's visit for so long.

"NEXT!"

Amongst medical professionals, a special few could fleet from one patient to the next as if grading papers instead of injuries, dragging people on the edge back within minutes of getting their hands on them, setting broken limbs with a touch, sealing open wounds without once touching needle or stitches...

These were a very specific kind of avatar, usually. On one hand, very quick.

On the other, it would make them a very busy bee in a hospital packed full with war injuries.

By the time news of a patient resembling one Yuina Higashi had reached them... a number of hours had already passed. The lobby had more or less been emptied of injured cots by then, but her injuries as well as those of her companion had been left for other medics to deal with.

...

---

Thud. Thud. ThudThudThud!!!

The stomping sounds accompanying a terminator's gait thundered outside of one Yuina Higashi's and Desiree Blooms' room. The screeching of... tires? could be heard, growing louder alongside the stomping, until—

The door to the room swung open, slamming onto the wall.

"Doctor's visit." Came next as the wheelchair carrying Thomas Benoit barreled in, a young, tense looking man pushing behind it. Given the coat and stethoscope— the aforementioned doctor.

Rounding around the wheelchair, the 'doctor' in question, one unlicensed John D. Sullivan, tugged on some disposable gloves as he looked over the two women present, his eyes zeroing into their injuries critically, narrowing to slits.

His lip curled at the sight, jaw clenching.

"I'll. be. right. back." He said, tensely as he rounded on his heel and stomped out, grabbing an unfortunate, passing by Doctor by the collar as he slammed the door closed behind him.

---

TL;DR:
-Doug works.
-Doug hears yuina was injured.
-Doug goes checks up on yuina and friend des.
-yuina and friend des are not looking good.
_{-"get me their bloody files before I shove that stethoscope up your—"}

MONSTER HUNTER

With Laurence Anderson

"Juuust one." Doug said, pulling out the reports given to them during the briefing. "I think."

The report only mentioned The one, and the trails so far only pointed towards it being one... so far.

"Come on— it ain't gonna wait for us. I don't think anyway." He said, beginning to trudge forward through the rough terrain awaiting them.

"How's life after stepping down?" He asked casually as they moved through rock and foliage. "Lot less stressful, ain't it?"

Had been for him when he stepped down from Gym Leader at least. For a little while— before his superiors found new things to fill out his schedule.

---

TL;DR:
Hi Lars!

Fnf15UBo

Monster Hunter

With Lucia Aldrete

"These... are not pokemon tracks." The doctor muttered to himself as he crouched before a rough path.

One that had clearly been carved into the jungle by a passing, sentient storm of a living being. Its tracks were rather obvious, so Doug wasn't really paying them much mind.

No, he was much more interested into the tiny, almost imperceptible tracks hidden within them. The tracks of what he was guessing was likely a fellow hunter.

A very diminutive, likely not allowed to be there hunter.

... Eris Halla?

"No, these prints are tiny, even for her." He mumbled. "Shit."

Better accelerate before whoever this diminutive hunter was got themselves in trouble...!

He sprinted down the carved path.

---

TL;DR:Hunting the hunter!

muiDG1Kb

DAGM20

With Cadet Yuina Higashi

These were... genuinely shocking news.

Several folk had been caught up inside distortions in the past— he had to hear of anyone living inside one. Usually, one would experience accelerated aging at worse.

This... This meant Yuina was...!

"You're a time traveler?" He said, with perhaps a little more awe than was perfectly appropriate, given the tone of the discussion...

His hands fell over her shoulders... before he began to shake her vigorously.

"Um. HOLY CRAP?" He said firmly, eyes wide. "Isn't this huge for you? That's a big ass detail to remember 'bout yerself, ya know!?"

To others, Yuina might've had sounded a bit crazy or deranged, fanatical or strange perhaps— But Doug had been day 1 ride or die for chryssa glasgow.

The man was nothing if not willing to support the most unhinged sounding takes with 100% faith.

And so far, history had proven him right to do so.

"Did ya recall anything else?" He asked. "Hmm... So Yuina was a name given to ya in... uh... Hisui, was it? Yuina Higashi..."

Higashi meant 'east' in old Kantonian— Yuina could mean several things, depending on how it was written— but then, that was assuming the people of hisui and the ancient people of kanto used the same language and dialects....

"Have you been lookin' into distortions?" He asked excitedly.

GC EXCURSION B

With Yuina Higashi

There was a far too pleased smile on the young man's lips as he hummed in response to her words, his grasp on her waist growing a little more firm.

"Hm? Oh, it's nearby!" Doug said cheerfully, chill as a vanilluxe as his hands slowly slid off Yuina's waist to point at something unseen in the far distance, seemingly freeing her from torment...

Before fully coming around her once again a moment later, stretching out a map before her as he proceeded to prop his chin atop her shoulder, cheek to cheek with the ranger, to look over the map.

"See that purple dot?" He asked, his forearm and bicep briefly gliding against her sides as he pointed at a specific dot on the map. "That's our target. We're here."

He dragged his digit over to a relatively nearby hill, and hummed.

"I'll try and keep an eye out. Ya got a rotomphone?" He asked casually, propping his head on her shoulder more lazily while lightly cocking his head, looking her in the eye. "They're pretty good at keeping track of stuff like this. I've got a poryphone, if not."

---

TL;DR:
She gonna have to do better than that

Current total = 330
pa82jYQe

ER: HOENN EDITION

FT. Andrea Vaneau

He listened silently, face kept blank as he took in the details given to him.

A sudden attack in the midst of a swarm... Not during open conflict with rocket, as previous victims and himself had?

He frowned, elbows digging into his thighs as he leaned closer.

"Had ya... perhaps met this... creature before? Seen it, maybe? Or anything that resembles it?"

Maybe they had fought before and the avatar was trying to finish the job...?

---

TL;DR:

CULL THE HERD

With Eris Halla.

"I'm fine." He mutters, lip curling as an unfamiliar, near nothing weight settles on his shoulder and tiny paws bap at his cheek, brushing away at his volatile emotions.

There is an old irritation in being treated like a child, but it's too silly to hold such a thing against Eris.

"I'm beginning to hate this place..." He mutters, squeezing Eris' hand gently while looking around the caverns wearily.

His pride was gonna be bruised after all this...

And unfortunately, it didn't seem like the way out would be an easy one either.

He saw it from the corner of his eye first. A wispy smog he had long grown familiar with. The familiar visage of Dream Mist.

He brought them to a stop, stepping closer to Eris as goosebumps spread over his skin.

A booming roar came thundering down the cavernous walls, sending loose formations to the ground as pebbles quaked.

"..." His hand slid over to his belt, eyes narrowing as numerous dark silhouettes slowly appeared within the mist, taking form...

---

TL;DR:

aefb18JG

RESEARCH STATION

With ollie morales

There was something roaring in the distance...eh, he chose to ignore it. If it wasn't in front of him and trying to kill him, caring was too much trouble.

"Well, you're gonna learn something new today, my friend." He said, dropping to his knees onto the ground and reaching into his case.

He slapped a very rough map onto the surface.

"We're early, so..." He shrugged. It couldn't be helped. "The quality of our intel ain't great yet."

Hopefully the scouts and satellites would pick up the pace... Speaking of which!

"Luckily for us—" Doug popped open a marker, casually scratching an x on the map, before slowly dragging a line towards a purple dot. "Just this morning, a rocket station was sighted and reported by our scouts."

He reached into his bag once again, pulling out a combat knife.

And ramming it straight onto the purple dot.

He looked at Ollie, grinning brightly.

"Shall we?" He asked, bending over to grab something. That shape... it looked like a gallon of— "I brought the gasoline, we should be good!"

That station was going to make a lovely bonfire, if Doug was left to his own devices.

---

TL;DR:

ZksEQ4li

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

With freya morningstar

It took him a full second to realize his words.

"Snrk. Hey, they're always stealing from us." He snorted, lips curling into a smirk. "Be a nice change of pace if we took that initiative for once."

He was still supremely curious about that Bug-like automaton a few of them carried around. Bugs not in his team... Truly, what was the world coming to?

He was brought out of his less than pure hearted thoughts by the sudden change in tone— the abrupt subject change. My, didn't she sound eager and willing.

Nonetheless, he grinned, winking.

"Sure did! Why? Wanna do it now?" He asked, hand slowly inching for his doctor bag.

When Lele was brought up however, he could only pause.

"I mean. No. But, like, technically?" He raised a digit, letting glowing pink dandruff fly and hover around it. She was the source of his powers.

"She could, if you wanted her to, I guess— her scales are stronger. I can regenerate a limb fine on my own, though." He said. "Need a demonstration?"

It had been a while since he had chopped off one of his fingers. He wondered what Isaac Merlo was up to...

A roar boomed in the distance, but this wasn't Doug's first rodeo in the chasm. He just ignored it.

---

TL;DR:

k437Y5Dj