Mini-Mini visibly pouted as she returned to her trainer, demanding uppies at least if she wasn't going to be recognized for her own efforts. Her trainer obliged, though moreso to hide the light flush in their cheeks behind the bundle of green fur.

They were thankful, then, that the groups attention was swiftly pulled back into momentum, and Locke reached one-handed for another Pokemon to assist.

"Rio-Rio, smash through!" he commanded before the red light had even faded, and the Riolu that was summoned leaped forward to strike the weakened cable with an outstretched palm.

---

Rio-Rio the Riolu used Rock Smash to lower the cable's defenses

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

"Eh? R-Right!"

Locke scrambled to follow, having forgotten the purpose of their being here at all over the course of the conversation. The alien had the cow well-trapped in its psychic grasp, but they weren't short on means of capture either.

"Indi-Indi, surround it!"

The Minior immediately flew below the Miltank and its captor, ripping large sharpened stones from the ground and launching them upwards to encircle the alien. It halted mid-air just shy of slamming into the Stealth Rocks, turning its bug-eyed stare down at the offending creature as the multi-colored lights on its palms flashed in indecipherable patterns.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

"Huh…"

Locke inspected the photograph with renewed interest. It was such a simple set of shapes, and yet…

"I'm not sure where, but I'm sure I've seen this before…"

He racked his brain for a more concrete source, but the symbol was simply too vague to conjure anything specific to mind, and he was left humming and hawing over it until night finally consumed the area.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

"Yes sir!" he answers with a beaming smile and a salute. "Locke Jamison, Delibird Deliveries! Through rain, sleet, or wormhole, we'll deliver anywhere the post office won't!"

De-De, too, puffs her feathers out with pride, distractedly dropping a Pokeball from the cluster in her arms as she does so. It rolls off and bumps into the base of Pom-Pom's tail, and the Aipom cuts her celebration short to retrieve it, bounding over to climb onto her trainer's shoulder and hand it to him before giving Nick's Braviary a cheeky grin.

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

The courier leaned against the wall of this new space, relishing the fading vibrations signaling the boulder's departure as they caught their breath.

"If I only knew…Faafy-Faffy?"

Their question was answered by the sound of fluttering, and Locke squinted at the dark outline of their Noibat landing on of some large, table-like structure, rounded at the corners with a-

Locke's heart leapt nearly out of their chest at the site of the body, but a few scratches of claw against stone revealed it to be a mere carving. The body, of course, was secured neatly inside the sarcophagus before them.

"Somewhere we're not supposed to be, I think."

He wiped his palms free of dust and retrieved his Rotomphone, flicking the flashlight on to inspect their new surroundings, starting with his companion, to whom he offered a hand to help her stand.

"Ah, Locke. Locke Jamison," he answered as he turned the light to the set of doors, trying not to jump as it ghosted over the weathered features of the sarcophagus' sculpting.

"I, uh, don't suppose you have a coin to flip?"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke flinched away as lightning coursed through the group ahead of them, quickly returning Mar-Mar to the safety of his Pokeball. And not a moment too soon, judging by the state of everyone else.

One of those don't ask questions, just follow kind of jobs, huh?

He sighed and tapped another Pokeball from his belt, releasing a green hedgehog into his arms. Mini-Mini gave her trainer an offended look as she was lowered to the filthy ground, but Locke simply nudged the Shaymin towards the afflicted party members until she huffed and toddled over to investigate.

A quick sniff at Devlin's paralyzed form produced a sneeze, followed by a cloud of pink pollen from her flowers providing healing Aromatherapy to him and the group's Pokemon.

---

Mini-Min the Shaymin used Aromatherapy to heal the group's Paralysis

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke looked away from that set of constellations-something about them was making them uneasy-and turned their attention towards a new section of the night.

He rubbed his eyes and looked again at the scattered specks of light above. This part of the sky was looking oddly familiar...



Maybe he was working too much...

---

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

"Technically," Locke answered De-De's disapproving stare as he stepped past the town gate, "This area is still part of Oldale, not Route 102."

The Delibird rolled her eyes and turned to the newest addition to the delivery team with a look that said 'don't be like this guy.'

She was right to be cautious, of course. He'd banned carriers without badges from delivering to the area around Petalburg for very good reasons, and that ban naturally (especially, many who knew him would argue) extended to himself.

But zoning laws were on his side today, so long as his target wasn't too much far-aha!

"Delivery for Major-Professor Morales!"

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There was a brief question in Locke's expression at the mention of a Dewford officer investigating aliens in Littleroot, one he politely refrained from asking. The small town was always short on law enforcement, and with Oldale having increasingly less to spare…

Well.

"I suppose it's not impossible?" they answer uncertainly. "Believe me, stranger things have happened here, and I'd trust the folks around to know if the Mightyena were getting bold…"

They absentmindedly tapped at their cheek, deep in thought, before suggesting, "Do you know if there were any signs of struggle? Blood, kicked up dirt, sounds of distress…?"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Pom-Pom dances on three limbs in sheer jubilation while her trainer melts away with the adrenaline. Shit like this didn't happen in Alola…

"Th-Thank you!" the courier exclaims as the ranger approaches, more in response to having their life saved than any compliment to themselves. "I'm alright now, but my-ah!"

De-De returns at that moment, pulling her trainer's scattered items from her tail as she pushes through the stalks towards him. She passes the various pokeballs and letters to Locke with a triumphant chirp, and he inspects each item before replacing them in his bag until he's finally relieved, turning back to his savior with an apologetic smile.

"Thank you again," he repeats for what must have been the millionth time. "Normally I can outrun stuff like that, but it was just too fast…

"I really owe you one Mister…?"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

"Well, I know I'm trapped at least," he gloomily responded. "I'm not sure where this is, but you should be care-"

Ah.

Years of living in Hoenn had raised Locke into a man that didn't need to be told twice, already dashing blindly down the pitch-black before the snappish teen even had her foot off the trigger. He only hoped the girl had the sense to do the same.

They were going to trip on some loose tile or overturned pottery and get flattened into the stonework. Or the boulder's destructive path would crash through a loadbearing piece of architecture and bring the whole desert down on their heads. Or they'd escape into some room, but be blocked inside and entombed forever until the next poor soul came across their skeletons like some shitty environmental storytelling set piece in a poorly written video game. Or-

A sudden sense of urgency overcame Locke's adrenaline-fueled spiral, and the quick beat of Faffy-Faffy's wings lead them in a turn so sharp they hardly had time to alert their new companion.

"Th-This way!"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

Locke tugged his hat back over Kachi-Kachi and ducked as a stray wire lashed just where the little bird and his head had been. Zee-Zee snorted and stomped a few paces away from the thrashing coils until his trainer returned the Zebstrika to the safety of his Pokeball, summoning one of his many Delibird in his place.

"Pierce through it Mar-Mar!"

The POG-inherited penguin obeyed with a series of knife-sharp Ice Shards that ripped through the cables with ease, while Locke took a cue from Zee-Zee and backed further away from the assault on the unnatural environment.

"Er-Is there something particular we're looking for?" the courier asked, hoping the group's destructive approach wouldn't damage whatever resources they'd been hired to transport.

---

Mar-Mar the Delibird used Ice Shard (160/160)

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz