Ollie couldn't help the grin and small laugh. "He can be rough when the situation calls for it. But he's my best buddy, been with me since I nursed him back to health when he was a Dratini and I was a kid." His parents nearly had a Miltank when they found out he carried a Dratini to the Pokemon Center and helped nursed the fella back to health. While they certainly weren't against Pokemon, they didn't think he had the maturity to take care of one.

The blazing red head took the offered hand as he realized where he met the guy. Well, seen really. "Oh, I thought you looked vaguely familiar. You're a ranger too, right? I'm somewhat new to the region, and having more trouble than I expected attaching names with faces..." He felt sort of bad about it. Even with his bad experience with Greyson Connors , most of the others seemed pretty welcoming and nice. And competent.

After the re-delivery of the small package, the duo started back the way they came, with the Delibird squawking instructions as to where to go next, and Dragonite barking affirmations. Just from his big buddies body language, he could also tell that the birb was also thanking them profusely. Looking at the Delibird, he noticed it had twisted to look at both guys and gave a wave before twisting back ahead. Upon reaching the porch of a house, his dragon lifted the bird up and set it down. After more squawking and barking, Oliver's Dragonite turned to them and pointed the pouch. The birb quickly drew a picture of three packages on a spare page on its clipboard...incredibly well. And seemed to ask them to look through the bag a little.

"I guess the poor guy is too tired to even dig around for three packages..." Smiling at the bird, he reached in and started digging. He soon found a shoebox package that matched the description. Leaving it on the porch, he hoped Vic would assist as well.

Victor Wexler

The angry Delibird looked at Oliver, who simply nodded in agreement with the other man. With an exasperated sigh, it looked at its sacked tail. The red head took out Dragonite, who lifted the bird Pokemon easily, and made sure it was comfortable on his shoulders. After a few barks, the Delibird was much happier. Smiling, the two Pokemon led the way back to the store. Following them, Oliver looked at the other man. "I'm Oliver, by the way. You?" The guy looked pretty...actually kind of just his type, looks-wise. Maybe after helping this stressed out bird, they could get some drinks. But he needed a name and get to know the guy a little bit first. Although...why did he look vaguely familiar? Oliver felt like he'd seen the guy before from a distance, but he couldn't recall from where...

It didn't take long to get back to the store, nor get the manager/owner to come down to get the gift. Ollie didn't know about the other guy, but he'd let the Delibird/Dragonite lead the way to the next person that was on its list.

Victor Wexler

Buying Ability Capsule and redeeming 1 x Move Tutor (75 pd)
Sharpedo's ability changed to Speed Boost and learns Dive

Also Buying Type 3 Evolution, another Ability Capsule, and 4 TM/TR tutors (365 pd total.)
Drizzile evolves into Inteleon, Torrent changes to Sniper, and learns Air Slash, Light Screen, Reflect, and Ice Beam.

Total: 440 PD

The Snom used powder snow to freeze the sopping mess. After Shizue went over it, and said her piece, Oliver also moved over and tried it out. It did indeed hold. Nodding, he started to move the Pokemon again, but only one at a time. With Onix last, since it was easily the heaviest one of the bunch. Thankfully, it held even then, though it was cracked. Still, mission successful. Moving on forward, it seemed that they didn't have any more issues. And the trade off to the new, temporary habitat for the Pokemon went smoothly. Most others didn't have any issues, but there were a few that did, luckily fairly minor like theirs. The volunteers were given a hot meal as thanks for their work.

Shizue Murasaki

She didn't have any luck either. "Sure thing, go ahead." He would hand her his lantern if she didn't want to use her own. And Dragonite would lead the way. The big fella moved past where they came from and kept going. There was a slope downhill. Tapping it with his foot, the dragon cautiously continued. After a few barks from his dragon in warning, he did a short hop and slid down, disappearing into the darkness. A light at the far end from Dragonite's fire punch showed where he was, and showed it continuing down. It was his last area to check, might as well finish it up. "Use your other arm, so we can keep an eye on the edge." Ollie yelled at him. Dragonite did as told.

And hopefully the others would go next, with Dragonite as the safety. The path to the left further led down, but wasn't as steep or icy, and was also much wider too. After a slide down and continuing on with Ollie at the lead this time, they found another room. There were several other exits, but the room look like it had been used once upon a time. There was also some more cave drawings. Sighing heavily, he took more pictures. "Unfortunately, this is as far as I go. Good luck, and good hunting." She hadn't done anything suspicious or illegal, so he'll let her go. Once again, nothing of real value that he could see. So he started back up...

VXpoMpAr

@evelyn

The red headed ranger that was Oliver Shrakes got his accommodations settled. He got assigned here to get used to the more rural parts of Hoenn. Not that he needed the experience really. He'd been to just about every other part already, aside from Dewford Town. Now exploring, he came across an odd sight. A Delibird struggling to pull along its large sack of a tail...that seemed to be...full of something. Food? That was often what he found in Delibird's sacked tails when he had to deal with them in the Ice Cave back home. Though they were also popular during the holidays as Santa's helpers.

There was a pink haired man with a small gift, evidently trying to return it to the birb. The rogue-ish looking ranger walked right up to the Delibird and tapped its shoulder. The Pokemon stopped for a second to look at him. Ollie pointed at the pink haired man he was now vaguely remember seeing a photo of. The icy bird looked at the little gift and the man with annoyance. Taking out a clipboard (from somewhere? did it have a satchel?) It showed a list of people and gifts. Evidently, that gift was to the owner of the store just down the road. "Not to be that guy, Delibird, but if it was just laying on the ground, it probably would have been trampled. That might have been why this guy picked it up. That is a shop after all. People are going in and out all the time."

This only earned them more glaring, and a sharp point from its wings towards the shop. "I think it wants you to put it back...or at least deliver it to someone to take to the owner of the store..." As angry as the bird was being, maybe he should stick around and help it some. Spread some holiday cheer. After all, he was missing his family too...

Victor Wexler

Looking over the path, then back down...that was his worry. Letting it fall, then refreezing it with Snom wasn't bad...but long term was the issue. But he had a few ideas on how to fix it more permanently, if it was within their means later. "All right then. I just hate to cause more work for others..." He released his Bravairy. "Brave, try to follow the path if a mudslide might occur, then go down and warn anyone and anything of the impending potential danger. I'm sure they know by now, but it doesn't hurt to be safe. Then let us know when it's good to start melting." The big birb screeched in confirmation, and set about his task.

First, Bravairy flew over to where the mound of ice and snow was, then headed down, following it's likely course. It took about twenty minutes of just warning Pokemon that were in the area of the potential, and to leave for a bit. No one was around at the base of the mountain, thankfully. Coming up, Brave nodded at Dragonite. The dragon powered up his fire punch, and began again, keeping a close eye on his footing. And how deep he was melting at once. The ground was definitely getting squishy and soggy. Watching carefully, Ollie looked at the collection of Pokemon. Luckily, none of them had such high body temperatures that they would melt the ice naturally. Still, he would have to be on guard, as would Brave.

It took a while longer, but Dragonite melted a soggy mess. There was a couple of small boulders, but nothing else in there. Looking at Shizue, he nodded at her to do her part. Hopefully the final stretch would be smoother...

Shizue Murasaki

With the pleasantries gone, they moved on. The cold was really making him contemplate getting a fire Pokemon. He didn't have to do much in the Ice Cave back home, but this was making him reconsider. Nodding to Evelyn, that was where he moved towards, with Shieldon taking point. Dragonite would stay behind, and hopefully be the last to follow. the path was slightly too narrow for two people to be walking side by side. So the dragon had to be even more careful then he normally would be. He was also a powerful swimmer, so if anyone fell in the water, he could probably get them and get them out quickly enough.

Oliver followed along, keeping the light ahead, but it also glowed behind him too, keeping it a little to this left, so that his guest can also see properly. Sort of, he still kept it low so as to not disturb the cave too much. It was also to keep an eye on the edge, to make sure no one slipped and fell. While he did notice some frost on the wall, it didn't seem like it was quite cold enough to quell the raging river next to them. Upon reaching a dead end, he did see something of interest. Cave drawings. Carefully turning up the light on his lantern, he started to take pictures with his phone. These weren't part of the map or anything they'd seen in here.

Looking around, he didn't see anything else of note. "See anything else of interest?" He could always miss something. It wasn't that unusual, even as good as he was.

@evelyn

While Dragonite didn't detect anything, attention went to the cutie that was the Snom on Shizue's shoulder. When the noises stopped, and the little Pokemon seemingly gave their approval, they moved on. The two Torkoal on Onix's back were doing fine, as was the rock snake they were riding on. Turning a corner, on the far end of their path, was snow and who knows what blocking it. Maybe it was an avalanche. Dragonite went ahead and kept going. "There might be other debris in there, beyond just the snow. If we're going to remove it, we need to do so carefully. No carelessly applying heat or digging..."

Dragonite nodded, and with a raised fist, activated his Fire Punch. He experimentally moved it close to the snow, and just slowly melted it. He soon stopped though, and glared at the ground. Shaking his head, Dragonite looked back at the trainers. If they melted the snow, it would only make the path unstable, and create a mudslide that would also destroy the path. Looking at the Pokemon, Ollie thought for a moment. His dragon was hardly his only flyer...he also had a Bravairy. They could simply go around the blocked path. But that would then leave the Onix behind. Digging through the mountain was risky, too.

But it might be their only shot. "Any ideas, Shizue?"

Shizue Murasaki

She did as he thought. Smart then. Both her demeanor and comment was pretty neutral. And she didn't deny his company, even beckoning him to come closer. So he did. A Gengar and a Zoroark came into view. The latter was a pretty rare Pokemon from what he understood. Gengar not so much, but was notorious for being very powerful. And a bit mischievous. Azalea and Nighshade. And Eve was her name. "Oliver, or Ollie, I don't care which. Shieldon and Dragonite. Shall we?" The red head would let her lead the way if she wanted. Or he could have Shieldon do it too.

He didn't care either way. Moving forward, the cave did seem to get colder. Oliver did have a map on his phone that kept track of approximately where he was in the cave, just so he wouldn't get lost. His route was almost done, and he hadn't had any luck whatsoever.

Entering an opening, he could hear rushing water. Shining his lantern over it, he could see it. Luckily, there was a path to the right and left, but any wrong move, or slip, and you'd be whisked away. And of course, he lantern didn't shine far enough in either direction. "Which way you wanna go?" He'd advise against sending a Pokemon by themselves.

@evelyn

She did give a handshake, with less hesitation than he expected. And introduced herself after giving his buddy an appraising glance. Pretty name for a pretty lady. Even though he wasn't into them. Shizue patted her cute Snom riding on her shoulder while speaking to him. Nodding, he wasn't going to object. "To be fair, Dragonite doesn't either. But he's tough, and can handle it if need be. So long as it's the right Pokemon for the job, I don't mind. If you don't have any questions, let's get started." It seemed that she didn't have any. She even patted Dragonite, who gave her a cheesy grin.

After a little encouragement, he got the group to follow the blonde lady. Dragonite stayed on the ground for this one. With the high speed flying he tended to do, it would likely cause an avalanche. Reckless attacks did as well. The path was jagged, and glazed over with snow. Oliver did had to quickly jump in to catch a falling Machop after it slipped on some ice. "Watch out for ice!" Hopefully the other Pokemon, and Shizue, would keep an eye on where they were stepping. After saving the Machop from a forty foot drop, they moved on. Though odd noises could also be heard. Dragonite put up a fist for them to stop, and looked towards the mountain, to see if an avalanche or a mudslide was coming...

Shizue Murasaki

Oliver smiled kindly. "Sorry about that. Damn place is a maze, multiple tunnels lead to the same place and vice versa. I didn't expect anyone this far down either." The red head left out certain parts. Still, his armband should be visible...though in the low light, who knows. At the mention of an artifact, he grew suspicious. Still, he kept up a kind demeaner. "I am. I take it you haven't had any luck then?" He was under orders to seize it if someone else found it. Preferably peacefully, and he was given a budget should it be necessary. Brute force was an option, but certainly not the ideal one. And unfortunately, he wasn't give some sleeping gas or anything in case he needed it.

So for now, he'd have to bide his time. Giving a tiny look at his Dragonite, the big guy relaxed, and a small tap on Shieldon's back did the same. "Care for some company? I heard Rocket was in the area...might not be a bad idea to team up for now." It was a risk, but a calculated one. In addition, he could hear noises further ahead. He guessed it was her Pokemon. The distance didn't seem that far away. Just far enough to scout, but not so far as to leave her hanging. It took a lot of cave diving experience to get that kind of distance right. While he as happily gay, she didn't know that, so she might have her own reservations too. Still, he would wait for her response.

@evelyn

A young lady approached the group, also dressed for the unusual weather. His first impression was...was she really a volunteer? The stutter and nervousness was not a good sign. Still, he wasn't going to suspect her of anything yet. Her oddities notwithstanding, he returned the smile. "Good morning! I'm Oliver Shrakes." He put his hand out for a handshake before getting into business. And a plan that changed slightly, but hopefully won't be too bad. "Nice to meet you. So, we're to escort these guys to a shelter to weather out this odd weather. It's not terribly far, but the road there is treacherous, I've heard. I'll have you and my Dragonite take point, if you don't mind. He can act as a guide and bulldoze through most obstacles. Try to keep an eye on the mountain, I've heard there's been a fair amount of avalanches and mudslides lately. We'll take things slow, and just keep your eyes and ears about you. I'll pull up the rear and make sure everyone is keeping up. Don't worry too much, Dragonite is extremely reliable. With any luck, we'll get to the shelter well before dinner. Any questions or concerns?"

Normally, he'd rather be up front. But with that weird introduction, just to be safe, he'd let her take point. With his back turned, she could easily capture/snag a bunch of pokemon with his back turned. Leaving Dragonite with her also made sure that she was protected if it really was just her being nervous.

Shizue Murasaki