“Eh,” CJ huffed, noncommittal, shrugging underneath their jacket. It was a dual response: no, CJ didn’t stand for anything great, though they were flattered Aleana Talbot may think so; and also, yes, she was right, it did sound complicated. “It’s not the best idea. Maybe not even a good one. But it is one, and that counts for something, right?” They smiled.

Aleana poses a thoughtful question and CJ screws their face up in thought. “I… suppose,” they allowed, trying to wrap their mind around where she was going and get there first. It had been an unseasonably cold winter in Hoenn-- which, given the presence of space time distortions and city-eating trees, was probably the mildest of current happenings.

Aleana goes on to explain that cold weather makes people-- and Pokemon, it seems-- act differently. “You’ve got a point,” they said, scratching idly at their neck in thought. “Thinking about what I know about bears… and kind of the idea of reproduction in general, in nature… there’s a season, right?” And it’s usually during the late summer-early fall, when the weather is hottest and the Pokemon are most active.

“I suppose we could try it!” CJ finally said. It was a step in the right direction-- having an idea at all.

And, they had to admit, it sure beat making the Pangoros so angry they did the frickle-frackle. Maybe they’d been reading too much steamy literature.

“How do you propose we heat it up out here?” CJ asked. “Maybe… make a fire?”

---

mission : pwoduce pangowos pwease!

Aleana Talbot

☉

It might have been a bad sign, or said something about the innermost workings of CJ’s brain, that they already had an idea as to what to do with the whole situation. Executing it, at least without any casualties or lots of dollars in collateral damage, may take some doing, but the seeds of a plan were there, just waiting for some nourishment to sprout.

There’s the sound of a sliding door and the custodian returns with another individual, and from the gist of their discussion, it sounds like the woman is meant to help CJ with the whole ‘not making babies’ thing. CJ blinks at the newcomer, fighting really, really hard to not be a judgemental asshole. It’s just… well. CJ is a medical professional. They have a license! They worked hard for that damn license!

It was like getting into arguments with people in social media comment strings: utterly pointless, but still aggravating.

She seems excitable enough, at least. And nice. CJ tries to push aside any lingering doubts they might have. “Yep, that’s me,” they say, hands in pockets. “I’m CJ. It’s nice to meet you.”

The two of them turned to look out over the field of female Pangoros. One of which was lounging against a tree, arms crossed behind its head. “Nah, I just got here. I have a few ideas, though.” They coughed, a little awkward. “I’m-- okay, usually in a situation like this, you just… you collect the male, and do the whole thing artificially. But I feeeeeeel like we might get our arms ripped off.” The last sentence came out quickly, pushed forward by nerves. “So I’m wondering if we can somehow get them to… hatemate each other.”

---

mission : pwoduce pangowos pwease!

Aleana Talbot

☉

CJ was not expecting the complement to come back in their face and oh, no, they were going to spend the entirety of this five minutes with a face blushed red as a tomato. They fought the urge to hide in the crook of their arm like a Litten at the vet-- i can’t see you you can’t see me-- [break][break]

They managed to fight down their nerves, sitting up a little straighter in their chair. When Rhys mentioned Celestic town, their eyes lit up. “Really? No shit. I’m from Snowpoint!” What a small world. “I’ve never been to Celestic though.” [break][break]

Oh, so Rhys was a researcher. Nice. “Yeah, Hoenn is probably a good place for that. Lotta weird stuff happens here.” At least, in the short amount of time CJ’d been here, a lotta weird shit had happened.[break][break]

[break]
[break][break]

[break]
+ @rhysand
[break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It was a chilly, blustery day, even for Verdanturf. There was a smattering of snow on the ground, through which peeked the purple heads of crocus and tulips in all their pastel and sunset shades. The first signs of spring had mounted a comeback effort after what had been an unusually wintery… winter. It hadn’t been enough, of course, to make CJ stop missing the frigid, bonechilling knives of a Snowpoint winter, but it had been more comfortable than most.

“We’re so very happy you’ve come,” the daycare custodian said, and the relief was palpable in his voice. “It cost us a lot of money to get started in this project, and so far we’ve had little to no success.”

“Uh-huh,” CJ said, a bit skeptical and uncaring. “How much research did you do into Pangoros before you bought all into this venture?” they locked the caretaker in a chilly, blue-eyed stare, reminiscent of the weather.

“Well,” the custodian said, clearing his throat. “We--. Well. Pancham are extremely popular right now, and it’s-- private collectors--,”

“Will pay lots of money for rare species?” CJ helped the man find his words.

“Exactly! See, you get it.”

“Uh-huh,” CJ said again, lacking enthusiasm. “So have you looked at all the details? Your husbandry?”

“It’s not our husbandry,” the man snapped, sounding offended. “It’s the Pokemon.”

“Have any of these Pangoros been seen by a vet?” CJ finally asked, on the verge of exasperation.

The custodian blinked. “It’s-- they’re Pokemon,” he said, after a beat. “They don’t… why would we take them to the vet?”

CJ had followed the man through the first building and out to the back-- a large, fenced in area with a scattering of trees here and there. The massive black and white back of a Pangoro sitting on the ground munching lazily on a stack was visible over a small hill. A wall had been erected between this area and the next-- a wall peppered with deep scratches and dents.

“We keep the females on this side, and the males on the other,” the caretaker explained, making a hasty retreat. “Good luck!”

He left CJ alone with their thoughts and the three female Pangoros.

CJ crossed their arms over their chest and sighed. The Pangoros didn’t pay any attention to them-- but they didn’t appear overly friendly, either. That made getting close for an exam tricky. Already frustrated with the caretaker’s lack of responsibility, CJ released his three Pokemon, if only for some company. Agate clambered up Kinnick’s back and settled in comfortably.

“Well, guys,” CJ said, hands on their hips. “We gotta make these bears… make bears. Any ideas?”

Kinnick narrowed her eyes. Yazmin tugged her ears down to cover them.

---

mission : pwoduce pangowos pwease!

open

☉

CJ ran a hand through their gelled back hair, making sure it was properly, purposefully mussed, and spiked to perfection. Their white linen collar was artfully popped, unbuttoned down to their mid chest to display their lovely collarbones. After spending more time than they’d care to admit staring in the mirror, they finally felt like they looked good. Beyond their normal of ‘just acceptable’. [break]
[break] [break]
Signing up for speed dating had been a drunken impulse that, as the day loomed, they were slowly regretting. But there was a nonrefundable covercharge, and also the promise of alcohol, so they’d glued their courage to the sticking place and made an appearance. Their emotional support Jolteon, Kinnick, walked placidly alongside them, pretty much used to all the bullshit her trainer could throw at her and perpetually unfazed.
[break] [break]
They were totally fine when they got their table assignment, totally fine walking up to take their seat, totally fine until they looked up and made eye contact with their first date and-- oh, no?
[break] [break]
CJ had never planned on actually planned on being attracted to their date. Oh, criminy. Oh, Arceus. Oh, fuck.
[break] [break]
“Hi!” They beamed back, too loud, face flushing, oh god someone take them out not on a date but with a loaded weapon. They pulled their chair back with an obnoxious screech and sat down, sweating. “That was loud. Ah, hey. You’re my date. I mean, you look good. I mean-- no, I do mean that. Agh.” They wanted to crawl into a hole and die. “I’m CJ,” they finally summarized, lifting a hand in greeting.
[break] [break]
Kinnick was making little hissing noises of laughter from her place under the table.
[break]
[break][break]

[break]
+ @rhysand
[break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]