[attr="class","danny"]he watches how his question makes her flush. she flusters over her responses, stammering, and it's honestly adorable. by the end of it, his smile is as bright as it had been the night they first met.

"oh i'll be trying my best, don't you worry. i'm pretty confident i can win them over." he chuckles, then gestures to robbie for another drink. he orders the same as hers, now warmed up after his beer.

her jest is met with another smile, genuine.

"it'll be fine as long as you're there with me."

his second drink arrives and he sips a fourth of it away.

"what crazy ideas are they going to make me do? sounds daunting. but also fun."

[attr="class","noodles"]Serena Malcolm

[attr="class","danny"]he laughs because he is definitely not a businessman. he might have gotten his degree but he's done virutally nothing with it. it just sits on a shelf in his parent's living room, collecting dust.

she questions further.

"good question." he takes another sip, searching for answers. "i'm not too sure. i got more into battling recently and that's going pretty good. might challenge some of the gyms."

"but i guess now the plan's changed a little. for the better, of course." his eyes drift down to the folder, then back at her. his voice drops into a tease. "so, when i sign this, it basically means i'll be your boyfriend, won't it?"

[attr="class","noodles"]Serena Malcolm

[attr="class","danny"]well. there's little else to do but to take the DYNAMIC PUNCH. it'll bring exeggutor close to fainting but at least it'll leave the poliwrath susceptible to close range attacks.

"take it and shit your bombs!"

the REFLECT lessens the severity of the DYNAMIC PUNCH. the ground cracks under the pressure, giving in, but exeggutor holds on as only one perfect sized EGG BOMB slips out, exploding right underneath the poliwrath. the other egg is likely still stuck somewhere, lost to the CONFUSION.

[attr="class","noodles"]Greyson Connors

[attr="class","danny"]"drop to the ground!"

surprisingly, exeggutor's legs give out in time and it falls to the ground. the DYNAMIC PUNCH grazes by, smacking past the ends of its leaves.

"sleep it!"

all six eyes pulse once again, this time in a confusing yellow and red and purple as it attempts to lock eyes with the poliwrath for a HYPNOSIS.

[attr="class","noodles"]Greyson Connors

[attr="class","danny"]his mind flicks through the many recordings of pokemon battles he's watched growing up. he remembers one in particular mainly due to the similarities it shares to their current battle: a striker versus a tank.

he opens his mouth to bark orders right as a large piece of land smacks against exeggutor, damaging. it lets out a soft grunt before shaking it off.

"move back! keep your distance!"

exeggutor's not fast, not by any means, but its two legs pedal backwards, creating some distance between it and the poliwrath.

"now force them back!"

two more EXTRASENSORY fire off. one looks to tie poliwrath's ankles up, tripping it, and the other looks to further push them into the ground.

"also that's my line, what the fuck?"

[attr="class","noodles"]Greyson Connors

[attr="class","danny"]the inside of the dancing furret looks homey and comfortable. it's decorated mostly with wooden furniture apart from the pristine marble counter. it's already empty this late at night — the people of oldale don't get up to much past ten. he holds the door open for her as they enter.

a pair of familiar eyes dart over to them: robbie, the owner, bellows a laugh but otherwise keeps to himself. his wife, melinda, pokes her head from behind the counter. they share a soft giggle before returning to their business, and much to danny's surprise, keeps mostly to themselves.

moments later, they're sat in a comfortable corner booth with drinks promptly served. he decides on a dark beer.

"right. where were we?" ah. his life. "to be honest with you...nothing exciting really happens here, which was why i left to do my degree in galar. i studied marketing."

he raises his glass towards hers, toasting, before sipping.

"galar's nice. i picked up a bit of the accent and also some of their habits, i suppose. like day drinking."

[attr="class","noodles"]Serena Malcolm

[attr="class","danny"]"hold it back and bomb the shit out of them!"

three heads nod in unison and all six eyes start to glow in a murky purple, pulsating an EXTRASENSORY potent enough to hold back even the mightiest of pokemon. actually, it does more than that: the psychic-move looks to slam the poliwrath into the ground.

at the same time, another egg pops out, and just like before it's kicked towards the poliwrath, delivering a not-so-subtle EGG BOMB.

"i only have so many pokemon, grey boy! it's just the luck of the draw."

[attr="class","noodles"]Greyson Connors

[attr="class","danny"]"right." he laughs, nodding. he should probably take the time to read through it properly. he'll do it later. "of course."

one of his hand finds his pocket as they walk, the other still holding on to the folder. his eyes drift along the trail, appreciating peace that only comes from living in such a small town. it's vastly different than wyndon, and though he misses it on occasion, this feels more like home.

"it is. i got homesick quite often when i was in galar. i wanted to come home but never really found the time to." he smiles, warm. "i'm glad i'm back now, though."

they walk for a bit more before he notices a familiar building off to the side.

"would you like a drink? there's a bar over there that's quite nice. owners are really nosy, but then again everyone is here."

[attr="class","noodles"]Serena Malcolm

[attr="class","danny"]melody and the other one — he laughs but nods all the same, agreeing with the sentiment shared near the end. his eyes drift towards the door, then back at casey.

"let's! i'm starving."

they walk down the short flight of stairs that lead into the brick and mortar store. there, he feels a couple of glances shoot in their direction; he assumes they're staring at casey or the other models. anyone but him, really.

"there's a decent breakfast place near here. i know it's not morning anymore but still..."

[attr="class","noodles"]Casey Fincher

[attr="class","danny"]"really? that's hard to imagine. you seem so...natural. in a good way, of course."

not that he could ever see being natural as a bad thing. but then again, what if you were a natural at doing something bad...like crime? oh, he's overcomplicating things now. shut up, danny.

"oh, is your cousin famous? i'm sorry if you are, too, i'm quite bad at following pop culture and celebrities and whatnot. just too much sometimes, you know?"

[attr="class","noodles"]Casey Fincher

[attr="class","danny"]"i'm sure."

his gaze follows hers to the ground. the idea of resenting someone or something is so foreign to danny that it hadn't even occured to him that she felt that concern. he pauses a bit after to

"i don't think i could ever resent you, serena." let alone anyone; but this, he keeps to himself.

he closes the folder, bringing it up to his chest.

"i'd sign this right now to prove my point but...i don't have a pen."

[attr="class","noodles"]Serena Malcolm

[attr="class","danny"]"i'll take mine medium rare. we can't forget about the drinks either. i might have like ten drinks that night to celebrate."

he releases the creature from its capsule and prepares.

"right, eggheads! i know we've only battled together a few times but i'm gonna need your help here. see that man over there? he's a GOON. a MENACE. we need to stop him."

all three exeggutor heads nod in unison, though he's unsure if all of them truly understand the gravity of the situation.

this is the first battle between childhood friends — between rivals.

"right. set up your defense and then toss an egg at them!"

exeggutor shimmies, shaking its thick trunk to conjure up a wall of REFLECT. it then squats down low, plops something onto the ground, then turns and kicks an EGG BOMB towards the poliwrath.

[attr="class","noodles"]Greyson Connors

purchasing
level tutor x2 -80 poke
> teaching EXTRASENSORY to exeggutor
> teaching REFLECT to exeggutor