[attr="class","spiral"]"Ah, don't go bitchin' now! Ya changed the rules first," Plank replies to the man's jest with a wry grin and a look out the corner of her eye.

She kneels down at the water's edge to grab the pokeball with her new Swanna out from Baby's maw. After pocketing it she runs a hand down the length of the Carvanha's head fins. As she does she looks her partner over . . . she's looking a little rough. With a sigh she runs a couple fingers over a growing bruise on Baby's side.

The top layer of skin on the fingertips are easily shredded by her ROUGH SKIN. Plank doesn't even flinch.

"You good t' keep goin', girl?" she asks gently and is met with a chuff and a huff from Baby. Like she's insulted Plank even asked.

"Alright alright, then get back out there! I can see your next target now," Plank cheers before pointing out to the distance, "Watch this drowned man, this is how we overtake ya!"

Baby hurtles back out into the water, her AGILITY from earlier making clearing the distance a breeze. Her destination? A Bibarel, hard at work on a little chunk of dam. It does its works modestly, dutifully, and most importantly: with complete ignorance to its surroundings. It doesn't know it's being attacked until it already has fangs CRUNCHING into its shoulder.

The teeth have already turned toxic by the time it can whip its head around to see its opponent. Baby's POISON FANGS drip venom that then seeps into the pokemon's bloodstream through the wounds she's already carved into its flesh. The wild pokemon cries out, swinging its body around fitfully before using AQUA JET to dive into the water.

The effort shakes Baby a little up on entry, but doesn't do much else. Her teeth are in too deep to be easily shaken off. She rides the Bibarel into the depths, digging her teeth deeper and deeper by the second.

"Haul 'em t' shore!" Plank yells, still smirking at the competitive stranger. She mouths "3-2" as she sees the splashing that marks Baby and her Bibarel's thrashing.

Like with the Golisopod, Baby throws herself into the air with Bibarel in her grasp (now notably more limp -- exhausted, hurting, and poisoned). A pokeball arcs through the air and away it goes inside.

[attr="class","spiral"]The last time Plank was on the sea (the true sea, not the sliver held within Hoenn's borders but the vast expanses of blue that split region from region) she was too young to take it in. Barely more than a toddler. Now, though, she's able to stare out across the surface and lose herself to the sight of it.

Still, she wishes she was in The Vagabond. Even if the little boat would never survive on these more hectic open waters. It would be a bit like drifting through these foreign waters in a slice of home.

As it stands it's impossible for her to escape the discomfort of her situation. Riding in a less modest ship much more like the one her father used to have, on a mission for Team Rocket with a man of import -- a mission a good deal more complex and important than ferrying a couple Porygon around the coast of Slateport.

She can't help feeling out of her depth as she peers over the edge of the deck into the turbulent waters. But . . . no, she was asked to do this. She has to be capable. She has to.

[attr="class","spiral"]This poor drowned man has made a big mistake, no one challenges Plank and comes out of it feeling anything but sore in the end!

"Ha, get ready t' be swept away for the second time today!" Plank says after a bark of laughter, "Baby, let's outdo 'em, yeah?"

Her Carvanha responds with a full body wag more akin to an excited Growlithe than the rough-looking fish she is. With a rumble of her chest she speeds back out to the water, eyes scanning for a target to pull back for her trainer. It doesn't take long. A delicate Swanna sits atop the water, wings tucked in to its side and beak to the water as she takes sips from the river.

AGILITY sends Baby rocketing towards the unsuspecting wild pokemon. Her headfins silently split the water as she approaches, and then she's suddenly flying through the air. CRUNCHING fangs latch around one of the Swanna's folded wings. The bird pokemon lets out a startled cry before setting up a reflexive AQUA RING.

Baby's assault doesn't let up though, and the move struggles to keep up with the CRUNCH damage that stacks as the Carvahna viciously swings her head side to side. In desperation the Swanna attempts to take off, but can't do much more than splash about with one of its wings being savaged.

Realizing this, it swings its free wing letting off frantic AIR SLASHES. Most miss, but a couple hit their mark on the side of Baby's face.

Unfortunately, it's not enough to weaken the Carvanha to the point of releasing her prey. She bears down and pushes through the pain to CRUNCH harder and begin to drag the Swanna towards the shore.

"Hang in there, Baby!" Plank shouts, pulling out another pokeball. The moment her prey is in range she throws it out over the water. The Swanna vanishes into the pokeball.

"Two t' one, try t' keep up now!" Plank taunts as Carvanha brings her her latest catch -- pokeball still shaking in her maw.

[attr="class","spiral"]"I am relaxed," Plank replies with a sneer. Bubbles rise from her mouth to the distant water's surface as she puts her mouthpiece back in place. This guy is such a pain!

She wraps her hands around Baby's head fins as Hendrix does the same with his Sharpedo. They follow the pair reluctantly. What can she do but follow when he's the one with eyes on the charges?

Watching the mass of Corsola move takes some of the heat out of her frustration. They're really beautiful, especially moving through the natural, multi-colored coral reef around them. It's a breathtaking sight that would be all the better were she here alone.

Hendrix's attempt at small talk initially earns only a side-eye, but eventually she sucks in air through her mouthpiece and temporarily removes it from between her teeth.

"I needed money, so I took this job," regulator goes back in place for another breath, "and I don't stay in Pacifidlog often either way."


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[attr="class","spiral"]"First it's 'fish', then it's 'fetch'," Plank scoffs playfully. She alternates between watching her lure and watching the stranger's "Carvanha" at work. It's not bad for an imitation, all things considered.

Still . . .

"It's hardly fishin' if ya don't catch a fish, now is it?" she replies, looking at the man out of the corner of her eye. His cough isn't subtle or clever, and neither is his smug scorekeeping. What for? He hasn't fished anything up.

Meanwhile Baby finally notices something interesting at the bottom of the river. Unfortunately, it's found her first. The FIRST IMPRESSION the Golisopod leaves is strong and sure to last. Baby's chest burns where the attack hit, but her opponent doesn't get to hit her for free. The carapace on the shell it used to strike her is torn open and left to bleed in the water by Baby's ROUGH SKIN.

Angry, Baby charges in to retaliate. Her jaws open to CRUNCH at the Golisopod's armor but she's caught in that very jaw by a SUCKER PUNCH. The attack doesn't sting nearly as much as the last, but again her ROUGH SKIN takes a chunk out of the Golisopod's fist -- which is then further torn at by the CRUNCH that finally connects.

She SCREECHES at the Golisopod from around the mouthful of fist. It flinches in the water, momentarily dropping its guard in the face of the auditory assault. In that moment she releases the Golisopod to AQUA JET straight at its chest. The momentary stun from the SCREECH allows for a clean hit; and while it floats momentarily dazed Baby latches to its shoulder with another CRUNCH and drags it towards the surface.

She breaches the water at the same time Plank is finishing her complaint about the definition of "fishin'".

"Huh, but if that's how ya want t' play it!" she shouts, standing up and pulling a pokeball from her hoodie pocket, "Then let's call it one t' one!"

She chucks the pokeball. It arcs through the air before meeting the Golisopod where Baby holds its body aloft. It vanishes into the pokeball in a flash of red light, and then Baby is swimming to shore. A bit beaten up but bearing Plank's prize with a grin.

[attr="class","spiral"]"Ah, yeah, sure," Plank says. Each word comes out stilted and awkward, the pause between them existing in the absence of more substantial words and filled only out of obligation by the next word (which then necessitates its own pause).

She does assume that this is her dismissal. If he wants her to bring him the records she'll have to leave for that; and never does her mind consider that the recruiter might want to come with her. She throws her hood over her head and turns towards the door.

About halfway through moving to face the door Plank sees him stand up out of the corner of her eye. She stops turning to look at him.

"Uh . . ." She stands open-mouthed and confused as he straightens his clothing. She fidgets, uncertain what to do until he speaks again.

"Oh, uh . . . yeah, I don't have 'em on me," she replies, hands anxiously at the drawstrings of her hood, "No expenses. I uh, I got myself here."


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[attr="class","spiral"]Plank watches the man with thinly veiled interest as he gets sat down. Her smirk widens as he removes his boots with a schlurp and pours out the river water filling them. She wiggles her own, bare feet in the water in silent acknowledgement of how much better they must feel.

"Baby's a looker, only natural you'd wanna copy her style," she says, still grinning. Turning her attention to her fishing pole for a moment she, with a flick of her wrist, sends her hook and lure flying into the air before whipping her line back out into the water. It's a pointless bit of fidgeting done only to give her something to do.

"Hah, good fuckin' luck!" Plank replies to the man's words without looking at him, not caring that they were pretty obviously aimed at his now very cute Ditto.

Baby circles the waters diligently, but is momentarily distracted at the arrival of her doppelganger. For a moment her chest rumbles as she bares her fangs -- a silent warning to the Ditto to keep its distance. In her anger, she misses the Finneon that quickly swims past her.

[attr="class","spiral"]Baby is a much harder worker than Bilge. When she dips down into the water it's not with the sole intent of bullying anything that swims by, she's got results on the mind! That's why when she sees a big something hurtling through the water she's quick on its tail.

At least she would be if it had a tail. She's about ready to latch onto it and try to drag it to the surface when it reveals itself to be a human. A drowning human. She swims away from it without a second thought once it's clearly not what she's looking for.

Plank, for her part, is much more intrigued in the strange event that the person brings with them. When he comes spluttering to the surface he's all Plank can look at. Kind of like watching a car crash, she's entranced by the miserable state the man is in as he comes swimming to the shore.

As he pulls himself out of the water she's not sure which is more entertaining -- the cartoonish squishing and squelching of his drenched clothes or the hacking and heaving from his no doubt water-logged lungs.

"Wasn't gonna ask," Plank replies with a smirk at his free explanation, "Ya can stay, but try t' keep your dyin' a li'l quieter if you're gonna. I'm havin' a hard enough time catchin' anythin' without you scarin' the fish."

[attr="class","spiral"]Morning has turned to afternoon, and even after a catch earlier in the day Plank still can't say she gets the allure of this fishing spot. Still, it wouldn't do any good to quit halfway through the day! The sun is still up! Sure, it's starting to dip a little but it's still there!

It would be sad to go home with only one fish after spending all day out here.

"Baby, you find anythin'?" Plank whines out to the water, one hand cupped around her mouth while the other keeps a hold on her (depressingly still) fishing rod.

Her Carvanha surfaces a second later, having replaced Bilge on underwater duty hours ago, looking happy to have been summoned but notably lacking anything in her clutches. That's a no then.

"Well that's okay, Baby. Go on back t' searchin'." She says gently.

[attr="class","spiral"]Plank goes a whole thirty seconds before she starts kicking her feet again. She can't help it!

So, naturally, her fishing turns up nada. The ripples she's sending out every second, the loud splashing, it's enough to keep any pokemon with a concern for their well being far away. But it does work out in a strange way.

Bilge is swimming out deeper in the water. A few feet away from shore. So, as pokemon flee Plank's position they naturally pass Bilge. And Bilge is one hell of a gatekeeper.

Every pokemon passing the bulky gator is met by some kind of aggression. Buffeted by his THRASHING limbs, smacked across the side by an AQUA TAIL, or if they're not quite in reach -- spooked further by his frustrated, SCARY FACE.

Most of his victims take their lumps and move on, but one decides it's had enough. An Arrokuda, upon being slapped, rounds and rushes at Bilge. It throws its dartlike body at the Croconaw at high speeds. Every time it passes it chances a PECK. It aims for a death by a thousand cuts. Little does it know its punching above its weight class.

The PECKS are frustrating, stinging blows, but Bilge can take it. He tanks them and watches the Arrokuda's passes with a predatory gaze. All he needs is one good hit to win the fight, but he wants two for good measure. After a few more passes and a few new bruises the chance shows itself.

Arrokuda comes in for a PECK but is intercepted. AQUA TAIL cancels out its attack and then some, sending the fish spinning back. In that moment Bilge takes his turn to charge. And when his shadow stretches over Arrokuda he does more than PECK his vulnerable victim.

An onslaught of blows, SUPERPOWER, pummels the Arrokuda. When the attack is done its target is limp in the water. Not dead, but unconscious and floating towards the surface. Bilge hastens the process by locking his jaws around the wild pokemon and swimming towards shore.

"Ya got somethin' for me?" Plank shouts, seeing his shadow approach. When he surfaces with his catch between his teeth she whistles. Impressed.

"Well damn, ya sure do. Drop it on shore," she demands, giving Bilge a short pat on the head as he does just that. Plank pulls out a pokeball with a grin before dropping it onto the Arrokuda.