One last threat reared its devil-horned head; drawn by the sounds of battle, a Houndoom emerged from the shadows, Leering at the duo with its menacing, red eyes. "Another one! Addie, give him a Hypnosis!" Rico ordered, but the fiery hellhound was too agitated to fall asleep.

With electricity crackling from its fangs, Houndoom bit into Rico's Persian. Thanks to his Limber physique, the Classy Cat avoided paralysis, but that didn't make the brutal assault hurt less. "How dare you hurt one of my babies! Addie, Hyper Voice!" The white-clad grunt yelled. With a booming, explosive roar courtesy of his Persian, Houndoom was blown away.

Rico warily approached the passed out dog, wanting to confirm that it was indeed unconscious. It suddenly woke up and lunged at him, causing the cowardly Rocket grunt to throw a Pokéball at it out of desperation, even though he wasn't supposed to catch those Pokémon for himself. But hey, if he got lucky with his capture attempt, the only witnesses were Addie and himself. The black market folk wouldn't need to know that one of their stock got stolen.

//attempting to catch houndoom

☉

Soon, a grotesque lobster emerges from the shadows of the alleyway, extending its nasty pincers towards the duo. "There's another one! Let's rough him up, Addie!" The Rocket grunt exclaimed.

The Persian growled and sprinted towards the runaway Crawdaunt, dodging his extremely dangerous Guillotine attack thanks to his nimbleness and agility, before emitting a Hyper Voice at close range that blasted the star-crested crustacean into oblivion.

Stepping over the defeated Crawdaunt whose eyes had turned into swirls, Rico remained vigilant. If his intel was correct, there should be one last Pokémon out of those that had escaped, and it could be lurking just around the corner.

//skipping

☉

A huge, utterly elated smile was plastered on the man's countenance, as he basked in the radiant sunlight summoned by Cherrim's Sunny Day. The diminutive Grass type even transformed into its more recognizable form, its petals spreading open to reveal its perpetually happy visage. "Wonderful! Stupendous! Fabulous!" Rico exclaimed.

POG's self-appointed photographer nodded at Luka's comment regarding the Combee. "Right, I love nature!" Her compassion and kindness knew no bounds. Perhaps he should swear off his dark life of wrongdoing and aspire to be more like her... Naaah!

Maddie was jumping high in the air, trying to catch the swarming Combee, though she treated this like a game and meant no harm. Rico was about to snap the first pic when he heard Luka's cryptic comment. "Huh? What do you mean? Is something wrong?" He asked.

luka chêne

☉

Rico chortled at NIKO MANNER's witty remark. "Ohohoho! Do we look that alike?" He responded, before shooting a playful wink at nina larson. "It just so happens that I'm from Unova too, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember it if I had a beautiful, yet estranged, younger sister!" He jested.

The cerulean-haired youth waved back at Nina's friends once introductions were done, flashing his best possible smile at @jessica. "Nice to meet y'all. I'm Rico, and this adorable young lady is Maddie." He gestured towards his Meowth, who greeted the new arrivals by raising her paw next to her face.

//rocket gang

☉

BREEDING REQUEST

LET US TAKE CARE OF YOUR POKEMON

[break]

Rico Bassanello [break]
UCFhSmLj

"Being Bass? In a place like this, with so many eyewitnesses around? That would be suicide!" Rico retorted. He may have been a bit foolish at times, but he wasn't an idiot. Then again, he had earlier suspected nina larson of being on a mission in a busy, bustling event like this. "Besides, I don't have to be Bass to snap some lovely pictures of the Tree of Life."

Before he could elaborate further, Nina was greeted by a very excited, very loud @jessica. Maddie shirked back, wary of this newcomer, while Rico raised a puzzled eyebrow. "Is she your friend?" He wasn't sure if he had met that woman back at the Rocket HQ. Her look wasn't as recognizable as Nina's. It was best to exercise caution in case she was a civilian.

//rocket gang

☉

Rico's cheeks flushed a faint shade of pink when Luka addressed him as 'Monsieur'. That Kalosian dialect of hers added so many cuteness points! She really was POG's most charming model! Those who didn't like her simply had bad taste.

"Oui, Madame! A Cherrim and a cherry-haired beauty sitting under the cherry blossoms. What could be more fitting?" The flamboyant photographer mused, all the while adjusting his camera. Maddie the Meowth mewled jovially, seemingly agreeing with his assertion.

Rico hummed at Luka's question. "A pose? Hmmm... Try leaning against the tree. Embrace nature, feel its texture. Be one with the tree." He replied. After all, why restrict oneself to touching grass when one could touch trees? "Ugh! Go away, stupid bee!" Rico grunted, swatting away a harmless Combee that buzzed noisily.

luka chêne

☉

A gargantuan mass of greasy hair lumbered towards the white-clad grunt; a Grimmsnarl that had turned vicious and hostile towards humans after years of captivity by them. "Ugh, how unsightly! Deal with it swiftly." Rico ordered his Persian, trying to sound cool and badass.

Grimmsnarl attempted to surprise Addie with a Sucker Punch, but it failed to connect. After hypnotizing the hairy troll with his soul-piercing eyes, the Classy Cat Pokémon fired a sparkling beam from the gem on his forehead that sent his sleepy opponent stumbling backwards, falling into a dumpster where all ugly things belonged.

"Hmph. Don't grow your hair out if you can't maintain it." Rico sassily flipped his glossy, azure hair, before walking away. The black market people could pick Grimmsnarl back in that state. He had more runaway Pokémon to search for.

//skipping

☉

BREEDING REQUEST

LET US TAKE CARE OF YOUR POKEMON

[break]

Rico Bassanello [break]
dJMr1gMZ

Having an entire city of their own meant that, while Rocket's scientists and engineers still frequented the poor old sub, those who had the option of having a social life elected to spend most of their time outside.

That neglect of theirs had allowed a spooky visitor to haunt the narrow, metallic hallways that had once been teeming with life. So the rumor went anyway by the people who claimed to hearing weird noises at night.

Being a lowly grunt, Rico 'Bass' Bassanello was tasked with finding out whether those ghostly rumors were true, much to his dismay. Not only did he dread spending time in the Rocket sub since it made him seasick, he feared Ghosts even more! Alas, calling a sick day wasn't an option.

"H-hello? A-anybody here?" The blue-haired youth asked in a shaky voice, pointing his flashlight at the end of the hallway, where he saw a glimpse of an unidentifiable shape moving between the shadows, followed by a bone-chilling, echoing cry.

"Kyuuuuuuuu!"

"EYAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!" The terrified grunt dropped his flashlight and started running in the opposite direction while screaming at the top of his lungs.

//open

☉

The black market had recently experienced a leak. Not a gas leak, but the kind of leak that happens whenever powerful creatures that can breathe fire and cause natural disasters decide that they don't take kindly to being confined in small cages, and they escape, usually inflicting bodily harm on their captors in the process.

Team Rocket strives to keep a good relationship with the hard-working members of Hoenn's underworld, so it was up to Rico to find those runaway Pokémon and subdue them so that the black market traffickers could recapture them. And hey, if he ended up catching one of those Pokémon for himself, that was fair game too. Finders keepers, right?

Clad in his white uniform and with his loyal Persian by his side, the Rocket grunt kept his green eyes peeled for any sign of life in Slateport's dark, murky alleyways.

//incense in use (dark)

☉