Vic had always liked Corviknight. When he lived in Hammerlock, he had taken many a flying taxis, and he had always thought that if he hadn’t had Taffy to fly him around, he would have loved to catch one of those giant Raven Pokémon.
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They were really cool! But, alas, so were Ledyba and Ledian, and this particular Corviknight was trying to feast on them when they were at their most vulnerable. Not so cool! Better luck next time though, because the rookie team had this in the bag!
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An audible sigh of relief left him when the birds flew off, and when Tallulah approached and slapped his back, he also couldn’t help but chuckle at her words “Ha! You did great though, could have fooled me,” he grinned.
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Calling over his Dragapult with quiet whistling, he then offered the pokémon some scratching under his chin in acknowledgement for also doing a good job, and as he did this, Vic looked up, his gaze falling on a dark sky filled with sparkling dust and swarming bug types. It was beautiful. ”I was worried they would scatter… Might be a long night, huh?”
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They were supposed to guard the swarm all night, after all. But, if any more bird pokémon were hiding in the trees, they would probably be cautious to approach after seeing what happened to Corviknight and Co.
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+ @tallulah

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Today on ’What stupid thing will Vic do this time?’ he happened to have a week off, so of course he decided to spend it doing something relaxing, not at all stressful, and definitely not dangerous – like any normal person would!
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Ha. As if.
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The moment he saw the tourism company’s advertisement was the moment he decided the deserted island challenge was how he was going to spend the week, and nothing the contract said could have stopped him. Not like he read it anyways, because reading was for people who weren’t as impatient as Vic!
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So it is that with nothing but the clothes on his back and his two pokéballs, dear Vic stands on an empty beach. Well, empty aside from that one guy, apparently. “Oh, hey! Yeah, I’m Vic. Guess we’re doing this together, huh?” He beams, ever-friendly and eager to meet someone new.
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Awesome news though! Since, as much as Vic did enjoy camping and had spent his fair share of time outdoors, it sure as heck would be much easier to do this with someone else than with just his pokémon, especially considering that… well, he did have just two of his pokémon. Why didn’t he bring a water type when moving to Hoenn, or even his Chansey?! The egg supply would have been helpful! But, of course, Vic doesn’t think about things like those.
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Instead, what he does is reach for his pokéballs, calling out a large Arcanine that wags its tail excitedly upon release and a Dragapult that does nothing more than open its large mouth in a yawn (mimicked by the Dreepy resting inside its horns). After all, he would need them for the whole week, so there is no point in having them stay in their pokéballs.
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He looks at the stranger once more, his smile just as bright as before. ”Are you any good with outdoorsy stuff? We should probably figure out what we’re working with here, huh?”
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Honestly speaking here, this man isn’t nearly as well-prepared and equipped to be as calm and excited as he is.

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+ aaron faust

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Good question! How was this his first assignment?! Vic would have asked himself the same, but sadly, he had no time to be thinking about those things when so much was going on around him.
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He had followed along, jumping from tree to tree, and in the darkness, he had also noticed the all-too-familiar sight of the Corviknight and Rookidee. It was just like being in Galar again, except it definitely wasn’t.
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At least, he didn’t have a hard time figuring out what to do. He didn’t bother with jumping down, and instead, he called up.
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”Taffy! Dragon Darts at the Rookidee, you know what to do after that.”
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The Dragapult, having been trained for years to take part in difficult battles back when Vic was still challenging gyms, knew what to do indeed. The second the instructions were given was the second Dreepy came dashing down from above at high speed, heading directly in collision course towards two extremely unfortunate Rookidee. Just as these hit, the ghostly dragon type vanished, completely disappearing from sight in preparation to strike the other Rookidee with Phantom Force.
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As this happened, Vic jumped down. ”Hey! Do you need help taking care of the Corviknight?” Divide and conquer was probably their best strategy in this, but as Vic saw it, it was also important to be on the same page about those things.
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+ tag @tallulah (I left Phantom Force open-ended bc I didn't want to use two in one post xD Feel free to say it hits if you want)

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

East.
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Oh, thank Arceus she pointed, because Vic sure as hell didn’t know where East was. Usually, when he travelled, he had his trusty Rotom phone’s map with him, but he had feeling something like that really wouldn’t do much good in a situation like this. A shame, really.
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Good thing that apparently he didn’t have to worry about that with Tallulah there though, and instead he could go on to worrying about other things!
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For example...
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”Hah.. Honestly, yeah, I only moved to Hoenn recently. What about y–… Was that a Spearow?”
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The sudden appearance of the Tiny Bird Pokémon had almost spooked him and made him lose balance as he jumped from one branch to the next. Thankfully, he reacted fast enough to hold onto the tree trunk and stay on his feet, but the situation made him furrow his brow ever-so-slightly. What was it doing there? And, why?
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”Weird… Maybe the swarm moved somewhere else? Do you think we should follow it?”
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Well, at least moving from the treetops had been a good call, workout as it was, because they probably wouldn’t have noticed the Spearow had they been down below.
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+ @tallulah

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

As anyone who knows anything about university would tell you, one of the best ways to make friends is over drinks! Especially beer. Especially beer pong. Or, well, at least that’s what Vic’s university experience had been like, but not everyone is a full embodiment of being a ‘jock’ while being completely unaware that they are as much. But, alas, he was no university student anymore, so it wasn’t like he was just going to go play beer pong…
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Unless someone invited him to do so!
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Beer though, beer he could do. And, when entering the nice-looking bar he had stumbled upon when wandering the streets of Lilycove late at night, this was exactly what he ordered with a bright and ever-cheerful smile.
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In what one could call ’a proper Vic move’, he had spontaneously decided to spend the weekend at the city on his way back to Slateport. After all, half the fun of moving to a new region was visiting cool new places, and Lilycove City happened to be a popular vacation destination. So, there he was, sitting at the bar and making casual conversation, because leave it to Vic to go to a place like that and care more about meeting people than the drink placed right in front of him. He had no plans for the night. Truly, he just wanted to have a good time...
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+ claude anderson (hope this is okay!)

’Did people really say things like those?’ Vic almost asked, but in a way he supposed it was true; his time away from Mistralton had taught him a lot of things that he was sure he would have never learned if he had stayed in his family home. A lot of things that came with being on his own and not being able to rely on his parents as he did when he was a teenager. But, that still was a completely different situation, was it not?
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He was about to say something else about the Ivanovs and how it was nice to hear that he and his sisters were still in touch, but then Alex brought out his phone and showed him a picture of Adelaide sporting pink hair only a few shades away from Vic’s own, and it inevitably made him chuckle. “Ha! With hair like that she almost looks more like my sister than yours!”
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Then, another even more surprising fact came in the form of a calling card, Vic taking it and staring at it, amazed. See, he himself had done some time rescuing and helping injured pokémon, it was the whole point of the year he has spent in Alola, and truth be told, it was also a big part of what made him decide to try to become a Ranger. ”Oh, Arceus… The Fortree Rescue and Treatment Sanctuary? I’ve heard of this place. Do you really own it?! Alex, that’s amazing!” He grinned, looking at him, his hands spontaneously placed on the other man’s upper arms and giving a gentle squeeze in place of a hug (which he would have given him, had Alexei not looked almost like he had just crawled out of the hospital).
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Vic was happy for him, and he was excited, because this was all just amazing news!
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”Wait… Isn’t that place also the Fortree gym?”
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Yeah, he had heard of that too.
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+ tag Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

As Alexei explained how he had ended up in Hoenn, Vic nodded along in acknowledgement, beginning to put together the pieces of this story. ”Yeah, I bet that wasn’t easy! Weren’t you like… sixteen back then?” They were no more than kids when he had left, Vic finding himself thinking about this fact when the question came.
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Who had been pissed? His parents? Had he really not talked to them since back then?
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It was a hard thing to imagine for the family-oriented young man. After all, he himself talked to his parents almost everyday – were it via text or in long video calls with his mum over the weekends. He always annoyed his sister with his constant need to check up on her, and he talked to his little brother even more than what he talked to his parents. He adored his family, and while he adored travelling and thought being at Hoenn was the right move to make, he truly missed them.
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Did Alex also miss his family? Is that why he was asking about them this long after he had left them?
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”Ah… Honestly, I didn’t see your parents back then, my parents must have talked to them though. Everyone in town was going on about it, since your sister and Flynn left, and then you just disappeared without a word, you know? It was all they would talk about! Especially after Adelaide left too… I was worried about you, I’m glad to see you’re doing alright.” Vic looked at him, his words as honest as the small smile in his lips.
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It was true. He had been worried, and in a way, he still was. Alex didn’t look completely alright. Had he been in an accident? How had he hurt himself like that? Vic wanted to ask, but there were also so many other questions he wanted to ask. Definitely not a good situation for his easily-distracted mind.
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“What do you do here? Do you also live in Slateport?!”
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+ tag Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

‘How’d you get here, all the way in Hoenn?!’
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Man, now wasn’t the time for that sort of question! The real question here was how Alex got here! The last Vic had heard of him, everyone in Miltraton was going on about how he had disappeared and about Flynn and Thea eloping because she was pregnant. It was a mess, and he was definitely the last person Vic would have ever expected to run into in this place.
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Yet, ever-so-passingly and faintly, he laughed, because he couldn’t help but laugh. There was this sudden, strange, and almost overwhelming feeling of joy that came when seeing Alex again, especially with how worried about him he had been back then. He was alright. He was in Hoenn.
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”Me? Oh… I just moved here. What are you doing here though? It’s been forever!” Beaming, he had on the bench despite not being invited to do so, because clearly now that he had ran into an old friend, he wasn’t just going to go on with his jog. They had catching up to do! There was so much he wanted to say!
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And, in case you’re wondering: yes, the pink hair was natural, his whole family had pink hair too.
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+ tag Alexei Ivanov

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

There were probably some people out there who would have been a bit taken aback or confused by Tallulah’s sudden decision to head into the forest from the treetops. Vic though… Vic just thought it made things more fun, and while it definitely wasn’t what he had meant, he sure as hell could work with that!

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”Oh wow, don’t leave me behind!”

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It was almost like being a kid again, and with the dexterity of a kid indeed, he began climbing one of the trees nearby – holding onto a low-hanging branch to pull himself up. In the air, his Dragapult followed closely behind, watching him with the casual curiosity of a creature who had never needed to do things like those to get around.

[break][break]

”Taffy, keep an eye on things from above, yeah? But be careful not to scare the Ledybas and Ledians.” The Stealth Pokémon silently did as asked, and in the darkness, Vic looked at his mission partner right after jumping to the next branch. “You know which direction we’re headed?”

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Ah, directions, those weren’t exactly his forte and he really didn't want to end up getting lost in the forest.





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+ ooc notes @tallulah

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

When Vic had been no more than a kid, his mum had told him that the powder left behind by the flight of a Ledian brought good luck. Now, as he walked towards the agreed upon meeting place at the edge of the forest, he couldn’t help but think about her words, as even there he could see a couple of shimmering specks floating lonely through the night sky.
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If his mum’s words were to be believed, didn’t that mean that their mission would go amazingly and without a single issue!? Vic may have been an optimist, but he wasn’t that naive.
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Or, was he?
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He noticed the Arcanine before noticing his mission partner, his fondness for the species making him smile just as he did when seeing his own pokémon. But, his own Arcanine remained in its pokéball this time around, left to rest in favour of the Dragapult that calmly slithered through the air right behind the pink-haired young man – the ethereal tip of its long tail disappearing in the dark.
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“Hey! Tallulah, right? It’s nice to meet you,” he beamed, ever-friendly and cheerful. “We should probably head in, huh? The trees are probably going to be an issue since predators can attack from there… Hmm… How do you feel about climbing?” Vantage points and all that, right!? It made sense to him, at least!

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+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

To be completely honest, Vic didn’t even hear what the increasingly-familiar-stranger had said about the cup in his hands. The answer to the question he himself had asked fell as if background noise – static sound in the ears of the tall, pink-haired young man. The more the stranger on the bench talked, the more he looked at him, the more that unsettling feeling grew within. Like a deja vu. Like there was something there he was supposed to know, but didn’t.
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A pause.
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And, in a manner that was all too rare for him, Vic furrowed his brow, his smile gradually fading as he desperately tried to figure all this out. When? Where?Who? He had been to so many places in the past nine years, he had met so may people. There had to be an answer, it was like on the tip of his tongue...
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This person said he knew him too.
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”...No, don’t worry, I get it, I–” Another pause. This time because the answer came to him as if someone had suddenly flipped a switch and lit up a lightbulb in his mind. Except that instead of a lightbulb it was the image of Alexei Ivanov, as he had known him when they were no more than teenagers.
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“Wait… Alexei!?”
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He could have been dead wrong, but Vic Wexler had never been the kind of person who worried about embarrassing himself by not being cautious with his words. He had to be right. A decade may have passed, they both looked different from back then, but still, it had to be him, right!?
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+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]