Asher gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about? They've been in one since before I joined. It's just not a traditional war. Besides, if they're sending me to the frontlines as a fighter then Rocket's done. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to think I'm not bad in a fight, but I'm not the best either. But I'll give as good as I get. But I'm definitely no game changer." He was fiesty enough to handle even adults. Granted, probably only one before he would be too tired to put up much of a fight. He would have to quickly find a way to run away. He was a thief...he could fight if he had to, but otherwise, he had to be sneaky.

Besides, battling wasn't his main focus. He was only here because it was his best option. Sage admitted that he didn't have as many as he should. "Luckily Hoenn is a big place. But if you want someone to join you, feel free to let me know! I know some good places to try to get some!" Depending on types. Or potentially finding certain Pokemon.

Sage paused cleaning to explain. Basiclly getting caught up in someone else's mess, getting hurt, and ended up with Rocket to get help. So for whatever reason, didn't trust the League. There was a story there, but he didn't pry. But the question was thrown back at him. Well that was a story. "Strap yourself in, this is gonna be a doozy. I used to live in Alola, Hau'oli City specifically. I was one half of a set of twins. My parents favored the other twin. Naturally, I resented them for it. And tried to fight back. Among other things. My piece of crap parents treated me like dirt, as did my brother. After failing to get him into trouble, I just decided to leave. Stowing away on a ship, I ended up in Slateport. Where I did odd jobs and stealing to survive, living on the streets. During a festival, I ended up stealing a Rocket's wallet. Who consequently followed me and caught me. After a test, well...here I am. Guy's now one of the underbosses. Anyways, I'm just a grunt that helps keep things running and maybe steal for them. Or help out with scams." Did he mention he was mostly a thief?


sage morgan

The guy evidently did not expect that, and slowly pulled the card away. "Considering strangers offering things to random people are always super wierd and sus, I'm surprised someoen didn't outright clock you yet." Seriously, the guy needed a reality check! "Especially since I'm a minor. And I'd burn Santa to a crisp, so I'm treating you slightly better." Santa was even creepier. Seriously, why would anyone let the guy in their house! Best sick your meanest, baddest Pokemon on him and let the law take its course. Or claim self-defense and be done with it. Bones at the hand, just stood with his bone in front, like some sort of samurai using his sword as a cane or something in front of him. Not even flinching at the Comfey that came by. Although...there was that wierd little device around the flower being's neck.

After the wierdo composed himself, he got super serious. Supposedly not there to scam anyone. Yeah right. Motioning the Comfey, he looked back at the dude. "Okay buddy, I think you need to go home and get sob-" Before he could finish, the Confey spoke! That immediately drew his attention back to it. Sputtering, the red head was looking between the two. "Okay, that is super cool. Still gotta sweeten the deal, but I'm totally interested in this translater thing for Pokemon. How's it work? What do I need to do to test it?" Ash looked at the device around the Comfey's neck a lot more closely. He...wasn't going anywhere near the guy's belt.


Ozni Adebayo

A Liepard was also on his wishlist. Granted, Ash was worried that Snickers and it may not get along that well. Anyways, the red head nodded. But the other question made him furrow his eyebrows. "What? I think you misunderstood. Baby Pokemon. Sorry, maybe I should have elaborated. I got plenty of reliable Pokemon. Snickers, Bones, Fletcher, Noodles, Bitty, Chompers, Chinny, Kraken, Goops, Habenaro, Lucho, Slushie, and Frou-Frou are all pretty reliable. The last one more recently. The others that I have either need more training or are literal babies. Silky is the only baby that I feel comfortable enough to a mission due to her String Shot." Thirteen reliable Pokemon was more than enough. But it would be nice to spend some time training up Croaky, Silky, Dazzle, Bowy, Spitfire, Simba, Teddy, and Rainbow. Both for Pokemon Contests and for missions.

At the name, Ash just nodded and led them in. Starting to work, a question did pop up into his head. "How'd you find yourself working for Team Rocket?" Sage was one of only two kids he knew that was with them, but Eris he never met personally. And he only just learned of Sage today. So he was pretty curious to say the least. Maybe could make for a good friend?


sage morgan

Stealth and subterfuge huh? That's interesting. "I can think of some obvious contenders, but you probably already have them then. I lean more torwards fire types myself, but I do have a few oddballs." Thievul, Arbok, Magikarp, Chinchou...he might have more than a few oddballs, but he was still mostly a fire type trainer. Everyone had their preferences.

Seemed the boy was well aware of it, and was already in the process of breaking it. The red head simply nodded. Of course, Asher didn't know how long the guy had been trying, so he couldn't judge as to his effectiveness in breaking that habit. And doing a job for their organization, that could be especially bad, but seemed to have a handle on that. "My babies aren't reliable enough to go on missions with. Aside from Silky...her String Shot is just too useful..."

The masked kid agreed to help out, heading towards the cleaning supplies. "The name's Asher by the way. What's your's?" Turning around to continue, both he and Bones went back to the spot they were working. For a single person, there was about another twenty minutes of work left, so two people should be done in ten.


sage morgan

"Ouch...sounds like you need to go do some hunting..." Ash gave him a sympathetic look. Granted it may take some time, and maybe a little bit of training, but it was worth it. He could go do things without the worry. "That can be both good and bad. Definitely have to be careful around headquarters. Other places it might not be too bad." And not just umpleasant higher ups. Just any unpleasent people at the base. Which he was sure there was a lot of. Ash wasn't one of them. But it would explain why the Pokemon was here.

Then came the question as to why he was cleaning the baths. "Naw, I get it. Well, after some recent big events, people and Pokemon have been extremely filthy. So they asked for some help in exchange for some extra pocket money. They're good enough to keep it maintained, but any progress is being done by us night crew. This one was next, and I'm almost done. So if you're patient, you might be able to use it in a bit. Though it might be faster with a little additional help. If you're willing..." The red head pointed at some cleaning supplies. "This one's the last one for the night. Two more over the next three or so days, and all of them will be caught up on." And it will be glorious to have clean baths once again!


sage morgan

When the red head burst open the door ready to rip into whoever was about to use the baths, he had to stop and stare at the guy on the ground. And a Pokemon. The guy had a mask on, so he couldn't tell who it was. Even though he couldn't see their expression, he could easily surmise that the lad was glaring at the the Beeheeyam or whatever it was...such a strange Pokemon. It was still pretty clear that when he spoke, it was to the Pokemon and not the red head. The teenager got up and apologized, explaining the Pokemon's actions. "It's cool. I got a few babies that are a bit more adventurous than I'd like when I'm not around. Luckily I have more babysitters than just Bones here." The shiny Alolan Marowak nodded at the two of them.

But moving on, why was it curious? "So why was it curious about us? Has it never seen a clean bath before?" He kind of chuckled at the thought. The kid's mask was curious, but not enough for him to ask or pry about it. Rocket was full of odd people. Some of which you may not actually want to get to know.


sage morgan

Asher was quite often seen in the Upper District. Though not always for...good reasons. He was a petty thief by trade. He hadn't done so in a while, due to helping out around headquarters, but a little extra pocket money never hurt either. Still, he hadn't gotten a good haul yet. Hardly anyone was using cash anymore. When walking around, he heard someone address him. Or someone near him. Looking around, there was no other person the fancy and obnoxiously loud guy could be talking to. So the red head just pointed at himself, and walked over, his shiny Alolan Marowak on his heels.

The guy pulled out a little piece of plastic. An...iTunes gift card? Giving him a side eye, the teenager was suspicious as all heck. "First of all, I doubt this is all for the kindness of your heart. What's the catch? Secondly, you'd have to do better than that to get be to do anything. Even a lowly custodian job." And if anything sketchy was going to happen, Bones was out already, but he also had Frou-Frou the Rapidash, Chompers the Gabite, Kraken the Magikarp, Lucho the Hawlucha, and Noodles the Arbok. So he was well prepared if he had to fight his way out of some scammer trying to take advantage of him because he's a kid. Ash knew his value!


Ozni Adebayo

The baths were filthy! The people and Pokemon that normally kept them clean got overwhelmed. And so to earn a little bit of pocket money, Asher stepped up and got to work with his shiny Alolan Marowak. The day crew basically had to work harder than ever just to keep it servicable. The night crew and Asher had to take turns on sections just to make any kind of progress. All in between people wanting to use them. Still, they'd made a lot of progress. The red head was almost done with this one. He had a closed sign on the door, just to make sure he had time to clean it. But an odd noise had also attracted his attention. It was outside. Oh, somebody better not be getting ready to use this one. Stomping to the locker room, he swung it open, ready to yell at someone that this bath was closed for cleaning. Like seriously, be patient, he was almost done...


sage morgan

Asher was confused. He was sitting there, looking at a TV channel that recaped various Pokemon contests. He knew there was a lot of aspects about them...but he didn't expect this! What was the point of contests based on the trainer's skills in other areas? It made no sense to him. Sure, the Bubble Tea Contest had a Pokemon assistant, but otherwise had nothing to with making a Pokemon look good in any fashion. Just delicious drinks. Looking into some other contests, the red head noticed that there had been similar contests. Including one that was age restricted because they were...trying to knock each other off a platform via their butt? That was...super wierd. Both because of the age restriction and the contest itself. What in the world did it have to do with showing off a Pokemon?

This was so confusing. Just...what was the point of these contests? Did Melody Miro get involve in these too? This was such a conundrum. Asher didn't have many talents. Somehow putting together an outfit or accessories, training pokemon, potentially fighting someone slight larger than him, and petty thievery were much of it. Well, maybe riding a Pokemon too and solving some problems. He just looked over some other wierd contests and looking over the rules and regulations. They were...surprisingly lax. Huh...what did making bubble tea had to do with Pokemon again?

Claiming Hawlucha

Redeeming 1 x Gacha Ticket (from Bubble Tea Contest participation)

Total: 0 pd.

Link for conveniance

It was a lukewarm reception at best. An awful lot of politeness in the responses, despite the horrors that he and others have made. But this next challenge...amazing! With a fire in his eyes, Bones mirrored his passion and immediately went to the peppermints. Ash went after the chocolate pudding. Instead of milk, he opted for the eggnog. Then, as the base, he used black tea. Ash used his Marowak's flames to melt the chocolate and peppermints to a small degree. Then put in some regular of each. A small sprinkle of cinnamon rounded out his concoction. The red head was actually kind of proud of this one. Granted, it could be diabetes in a tea, but it tasted very good when he checked it. Both him and Bones puffed up their chests when they displayed their diabetes in a cup. But will the judges like it?


188 + ?

5tSdYWoZ

She seemed excited, both about the activity that they were doing and the potential of meeting him on the contest floor. She was also very optimistic. Such a nice and pure soul. He couldn't help but match her enthusiasim with a toothy grin. Having a friendly rival would also be cool too. Alas, it had gotten so very late, and he really should get back. "Right. Thanks again. Let's get things cleaned up." He was almost sad. Alas, they cleaned everything up, and it was time to say goodbyes. At least for now. "Thanks again for this. I'll see you later? If not on the contest floor, maybe...just to hang out some time?" Hopefully...it would be nice to have some friends.


Momo Sakai