Cap nodded along as Elisabeth explained the difference in the flowers, though whether or not he retained the given information was another matter entirely. He wasn't a botanist, after all, and replacing the myriad of of cocktail recipes in his head with flower descriptions seemed like a poor business decision.[break][break]

"Stranger than any place I've ever lived," he said, squatting down next to the flower. "But it does tend to be good for business. A handful of people—mostly the ones that think they're better than everyone else—get all busy trying to save the world. Most everyone else can't do anything except twiddle their thumbs and pour themselves a nice tall glass of escapism. Well... I guess I tend to be the one pouring." He looked up at Elisabeth and grinned despite the rather dark subject matter. Stealing precious moments away from the dark was what escapism was about, after all[break][break]

"I like to add a little grapefruit juice to spice up a gin and tonic," he said absently, eyeing the crystabloom again. "Or use sloe gin if you prefer something sweeter. Do you think these are valuable? I haven't seen anyone trying to pick them or anything."

[break][break]

+ Elisabeth Fiorelli[break]mission: crystals in bloom

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

They were quite the pair, the two blondes: standing in a clearing in the woods staring down a tree that seemed unnaturally covered in honey. Cap frowned. He'd heard of some people trying to attract Pokemon with this sort of stunt, but they never seemed to catch anything worth it. Just more random Bug-types. But this couldn't be a natural phenomenon, surely. Cap sighed, lacing his fingers behind his head and relaxing onto one foot. In all fairness, he didn't know enough about trees or Pokemon biology to know either way. What he did know about was the way the seedy underbelly of this region worked, and boy did this seem to be a really conspicuous way to accomplish anything.[break][break]

He tilted his head when the other spoke. Cap grinned. "Must be. Otherwise, this is a hell of a coincidence." Ra sat just to the side of Cap's foot, his little body pressed up against his trainer's ankle, staring at the tree. There was something akin to a mix of temptation and fear in his little Pikachu eyes. The honey smelled delightful, but what other things would that smell entice? Cap stuck out a hand to his companion in greeting. "Name's Cap."

[break][break]

+ Cade Atreides [break]mission: honey trap

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Cap couldn't help but laugh. "What, this whole place and there wasn't enough food for you?" How Alexei put it away Cap was sure he'd never understand. But then, almost as the thought materialized in his mind, the gates to Taiyaki Heaven opened up before him.[break][break]

Would that be a heaven for taiyaki? It'd be a little rude to eat them there if that was the case. But Taiyaki Hell just didn't have the same ring, even if it might be more technically true. Maybe the taiyaki were in heaven because they were going to get eaten by a pair of absolute bombshells.[break][break]

"I'll take a, uh... red bean one," Cap said, eyes practically glazing over as he looked at the delicious fried treats. "A peanut butter one, and.. You said you were getting caramel? Yeah, let me get caramel, too." In no time his hands were full of sweets-stuffed, fried, fish-shaped deliciousness.[break][break]

Just as it was meant to be.

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov[break]mission: festival fantasies

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

"Nice to meet you, Elisabeth." He passed her a placid smile and nodded. "Work keeps me busy, and I do like it. If you're ever in Slateport, drop by the bar Ritual. I'll make you the best damn cocktail you've ever had." Hey, couldn't miss an opportunity to do a little advertising for the bar, right? virgil roach would be so proud.[break][break]

He nodded along with her as they walked, the soft glow of the crystablooms already visible in spots around the town. "A flower shop, huh?" He reached up to scratch his chin. He stepped closer as she inspected one of the glowing flowers. "No, this is my first time. Guess I came a long way for it, huh?" He leaned down to look over the flower itself, surprised by how bright the light actually was. Somehow it didn't hurt his eyes to look at, even in the growing darkness. "So if you sell flowers for a living, you must know something about these, right? I'm not really a flower person usually. Couldn't tell you the difference between a tulip and a daisy," he said with a laugh.

[break][break]

+ Elisabeth Fiorelli[break]mission: crystals in bloom

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Cap wasn't always a huge fan of... bugs. Least of all when they were doing icky things like swarming and being generally aggressive. However, the chaos of a swarm was the perfect time to perform a B & E or two. After all, if a Vespiquen was attacking your house, you wouldn't really be worried about the guy sneaking out the back with a pocketful of jewelry. And so he was drawn to the swarm like a moth to flame. Or... a bee to honey.[break][break]

It hadn't been quite as simple as he'd expected, though, and Cap found himself backed up against the brick facade of some screaming person's bungalow with more than a few bugs staring him down. Typhon and Sekhmet stood between him and the swarm, blasting Flamethrowers at intervals to take out what Combee they could, but things weren't looking great for the grunt. Suddenly, he saw an opening. He just needed to get one particularly stubborn bug out of the way and he was home free. There was only one way to do that while his Pokemon were otherwise occupied: catch the damn thing. He wound up and hucked a Pokeball with all his might.

[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Cap had been so focused on his fool-proof plan that he hadn't even realized he was awkwardly following a blonde woman down the street. Way to not look like a criminal, Caprice. He noticed his proximity to her just as she glanced over her shoulder at him. He winced. Now if he hung back or took a different route it would look like he was only going that way because she saw him. But if he kept walking behind her, he definitely would look like he followed her. There was a half-step of hesitation before the woman took matters into her own hands.[break][break]

He pulled up short when she turned and addressed him. An easy grin flashed across his face, hiding the pang of annoyance he felt. This had been a solo mission, but it was quickly turning into something more covert. His mind flashed back to the department store heist. Only this time he didn't have the elegant stylings of BARNABY FINCH to distract would-be interlopers.[break][break]

"I am, actually," he said, offering out a hand in greeting. "Caprice, but most people call me Cap." Seems he would continue the tradition of completely forgetting he could use a fake name. "I'm from Slateport. We don't get a whole lot of nature out there, y'know. I think you can find these flowers out there, too, but it's just swarming with people." He gave an exasperated sigh as if he simply couldn't bear the hustle and bustle of city life.

[break][break]

+ Elisabeth Fiorelli[break]mission: crystals in bloom

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

There wasn't much that could drag Cap out into the sticks. The chance to make some money had been the only thing important enough to lure him out of his cozy hole in Slateport. Word of these strange glowing flowers had been spreading and where there were weird anomalies there was the potential to make some money. Certainly, people would pay top dollar if he could pull up a couple of live blooms. Or he could pass them along to Rocket scientists so they could do their mumbo jumbo on it. Either way, he planned to get paid for making the trip all the way out here.[break][break]

People were flocking to the routes outside busier cities to catch a glimpse of Crystablooms, so Cap figured the rural towns would have far fewer visitors. Unlucky for him, he supposed, as he wandered through what passed for "downtown" in this place. The sun was already nearly set and he could see the faint blue glow begin to appear beyond the confines of the town. Time to get to work.

[break][break]

+ @open[break]mission: crystals in bloom

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

BREEDING REQUEST

LET US TAKE CARE OF YOUR POKEMON

[break]

Caprice Isaac x calvin brenner [break]
0P9SHxR1

[break]
1.lights[break]
2.silvertongue[break]
3.lifespan[break]

Cap couldn't help but scoff, glancing back to the chatting Rangers and offering them a disarming smile and a wave. Through gritted teeth, he muttered to Mint, "I didn't want to say it, but of the two of us, clearly"—he mimicked Mint's tone in a sing-song voice on that word in particular—"I'm the hot one. The hot one is always the distraction."[break][break]

"Ugh, no." If he couldn't trust his partner to know what his role in the grift was, there was no way Cap could trust him to do something like start an avalanche that wouldn't kill them. "Look," he hissed as the Rangers argued about something—which direction was the safest to take the Bergamite, maybe?—"When he comes back over here, come up with a good reason I had to leave. And for fuck's sake keep him distracted."[break][break]

Hiding the flash of light with his body, Cap released Fei Lian. Even floating right in front of them, the Frosmoth nearly disappeared in the blindingly white snow around them. "Give 'em a good gust," Cap whispered as he ducked behind the Pokemon. With him out of the way, Fei Lian fluttered his wings, whipping up a Powder Snow that was intended to both distract and cover Cap's escape. He slipped behind a corner in the path and began his ascent of the opposite side of a steep hill, with Fei Lian fluttering lazily after him. He'd have to be in just the right spot to pull this off.

[break][break]

+ mint frost[break]mission: cold caravan

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Cap nodded along to Alexei's explanation. "Same reason I ended up in Slateport. Well, that and the bars there are great." Not to mention the big cities always had the seediest underbellies and the best gossip. Getting stuck in a little out-of-the-way town no one visited sounded like an absolute nightmare to Cap.[break][break]

He eyed Alexei as the other downed the last two dango. "Ok, I'm not one to keep a man from his food," he said as they scooted ever closer to the front of the line. "But I've seen how many of those you ate already. And I can see you." He gestured vaguely to the entirety of his companion. "How in the world are you still hungry?"[break][break]

They scooted ever closer, a Sisyphean task that Cap was almost sure would drive him insane. He could see the end now, though. There was only a pair of people ahead of them in line. Just one more order and he'd have his sweet, sweet taiyaki. And then, of course, they'd be gone in a heartbeat. But it was enough. For now.

[break][break]

+ Alexei Ivanov[break]mission: festival fantasies

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky