another tourist. not that nikkari's come to think of himself as such, but sometimes that's all you can feel like. opportunities, mysteries, people - all passing you by because you've only been the watcher.

if he'd taken the time there is a chance he could have pieced it together himself. if he takes the time now, he could probably learn more about this man than the other might be comfortable with. but this is amicable chatter and besides, he's not on the job. 

"i feel most people i've run into are new. it's always the spectacles that get people interested. this region's tragedy is no different than this art gallery," he muses. 

"i haven't, no, but i must be just like the rest. i'm to join a crew on an expedition team to the crater soon." his gaze lifts. "what brings you here?"

Frank Caffey

☉

"how illustrious," nikkari says dryly. that would explain mitch's obsession with what's under his jeans. now, while nikkari hadn't come here to make friends, he definitely wishes the organization could have sent him, well, literally anyone else in this neck of the woods. 

at least they're pleasant, for the most part. 

"but you're happy with that?" he asks, ever curious. "you find that fulfilling?" 

alecto watches with unabashed glee as the drapion picks up the struggling worm and crunches it to bits behind its mandibles. she hops from foot to foot and then falls completely over, writhing on the floor from the sheer force of her howling cackles. 

down the road, upon hearing it, nikkari grimaces. 

he pauses, looking past mitch to stunning blue shards sprouting from a nearby tree. he steps neatly off the path without another word and nears them, thinking they've stumbled upon tera crystals. and nearly loses his head for it. 

the petals convulse, spinning into a sharp point aimed right for him. he ducks down with a swear and calls sharply for his gremlin. more than witnessing violence, she loves to be the cause of it. a shadow sneak brings her up to the unsuspecting creature. purple claws dig into its side, dragging it halfway into the ground so nikkari can breathlessly throw a pokeball at it.

mitchel kane

catching glimmora!

☉

nikkari does not need to be told twice. crown winces under the psychic duress. her front leg buckles as the celesteela struggle against their invisible bonds. harrow similarly furrows her claws in nikkari's shoulder, drawing blood. he snatches up his vulpix and mounts the aerodactyl swiftly, hand poised over crown's pokeball. 

they explode upward and nikkari's stomach churns. alecto squeals with delight and harrow shudders into the crook of his neck, making herself small so she's not thrown back down into the pit. 

the effect of their broken concentration is apparent and swift. the celesteela surge upward with alien screeches. callan's toxtricity delivers a startlingly powerful blow into the earth. he says something to the prince, but nikkari doesn't hear it. he's too busy straining his eyes at the rapidly receding ground.

at the malformed bumps rising from the earth.

"harrow," he says, quickly exchanging his vulpix' ball for another. the eevee is a cross bundle of fur in his arms, but she stops struggling when she realizes they're several hundred feet in the air. harrowhark has taken flight beside them, small wings struggling to keep pace with the dinosaur they ride upon. 

still, with every flap of her wings, she exudes a billowing cloud. a haze trails behind them. the eevee realizes quickly why she'd been released and copies her avian partner, shaking her own curling mist from her adaptable fur. 

"these clouds will spread and give us some cover. can you get us down to the treeline?" 

alecto wrings her spindly fingers together and cackles. "she left a trail of power gems. get her close enough and they'll light the way."

Callan Young Remiel Calcifet

notes
under the guise of ansel goodwin
murkrow uses haze
eevee uses copycat
hiding their escape like a TRU MAN SKILLED W COVERT PASSAGE
also alecto placed funny rocks all the way back to the rift teehee

☉

it doesn't take long. his first step out maybe isn't as casual as he'd like, but he recovers quickly when she turns her head towards him. he smooths out his vest and watches the cherry glow of the cigarette light up her lips, cast a soft aura on the underside of her nose. and then smoke curls and he looks out into the parking lot. 

his hands find his pockets, thumbs tucked out. his lips twinge. 

"and you?"

Lulu Flint

☉

he gets his money, but there is an empty feeling to tucking the bills into the fold of his wallet. he keeps up smiles for posterity's sake, gaze flickering from rinc's departure and over to heather and co. someone else snorts and makes a comment, which gives nikkari an out to tilt his head and watch the going-ons at the bar. 

his teeth set together gently and that second of tension is released immediately after.

he watches fiona go. and then he sits there, gold eyes light with humour as he swaps stories with his companions. and after a bit, he stands, asking the others if they'd like a drink. he'd managed to polish off his beer and with a nod, saying he'll be back with another round, he slips away and out the door.

and searches tentatively for her.

Lulu Flint

☉

alecto joyously claps her hands and is rather appreciative of mitch's antics, with is nothing short of annoying for nikkari. you'd be hard-pressed to find him ever insisting on leashing his little gremlin, but seeing her attempting to curry the degenerate's favor makes him reconsider the sentiment. 

he stares with obvious distaste at the chain wallet and shakes his head. "i'd rather not jingle with every step. and besides, it's hideous."

with the act dropped, alecto meanders down the road and busies herself with terrorizing the local mushrooms.

"so what do you do, mitchel?"

mitchel kane

skipping!

☉

the cold grasp of realization grips his spine. the crowned prince's defection is treason, but that is not what perplexes nikkari the most. the ex-admin could just be saving face, of course, but it certainly sits wrong if he believes he's put himself on a path to atonement. 

he's spent time scouring news articles, hungrily consuming local gossip and the general well-being of hoenn's citizens. favor with the league has improved drastically following the events of the meteor; how could they not be pleased to be free of their prison? 

the ground vibrates beneath them and his musings bleed into critical thinking. his hand goes immediately for palamedes' ball as they're swallowed by the earth, but callan saves their party before things turn dire. alecto cackles humorously as they're gently lowered to the ground, and then she grins with her glinting teeth. 

her furred gremlin hands clap together joyously and nikkari grimaces. the sudden light makes him wince. callan doesn't need to explain the situation; nikkari already fears the worst by the sound of his little monster's glimmering cackles. 

the mother (queen?) celesteela's twiglike neck shines wetly against the purple glow. it raises a floating spire and a screeching shakes nikkari's bones as the rest of the infants follow suit. panicking won't do them any good. 

alecto knows what she's meant to do as soon as nikkari reaches for two more pokeballs.

"hold them," he orders as the murkrow perches on his shoulder and crown stands nervously in front of him. all three oblige by their trainer's call and a handful of the smaller celesteela freeze in waves, but it's abundantly clear this won't buy them much time. 

"do you see a way out?"

Callan Young Remiel Calcifet

notes
under the guise of ansel goodwin
sableye & murkrow use mean look
vulpix uses imprison

☉

there is satisfaction in waiting. there is satisfaction in doing nothing and biding your time and in waiting for the right moment to do everything perfectly. to watch the pieces fall where they may. he sits while heather and tomás exchange snickers at rinc's behest, his gold eyes unaffected. he rifles through his cards. 

in his periphery, he watches lulu's shadow go by him. 

and internally, he is thinking a dozen and one ways of how simple it would be to slit the man's jugular. he is marveling at the blood bubbling over his lips and of that hateful pleading in his eyes, a look he's seen before. but then, it's never been personal.

he gaze flickers and after it goes around the table, he lazily tosses the ace of spades onto the pile. he folds the rest of his cards; if his math is right, the game's been decided, no matter what else rinc can fork up onto the table.

he opens up a palm, brows raised, and goes to take his winnings. 

"bad luck, rinc. had a fairly stacked hand."

Lulu Flint

☉

his lips twinge, but again, he dare not lift his gaze from his cards. too much can be found in the eyes and there are things he'd rather keep to himself than allow fiona to see swimming in liquid gold. it's not abnormal for him to play like so either. he's a focused individual. 

and like she said. he has eyes in the back of his head. 

the trick goes around. heather tosses some points into it and rinc snaps it up greedily. it circles back around to him. while he's sorely tempted to snap it up with the lovely little spade under his thumb, he instead sighs and drops the ten of hearts. 

he'd like to squeeze out a few more points before taking what he can from the man. especially now.

"mm, there's more to it than that. one just has to pay attention." he taps his cards again and fishes another bill, smiling pleasantly while he places it on top of rinc's worn money.

Lulu Flint

☉

truth be told, he hadn't expected much from the crass man. he certainly hadn't expected him to pull out a rather well-behaved and deadly drapion from his back pocket. the ariados gives a squelch as the larger beast wraps its mandibles around its head and nikkari's almost surprised to see the body still alive to get sucked into a pokeball. 

alecto watches with fascination and then very suddenly melts into the shadows. she emerges a good distance further away, sharp claws outstretched and hooked around the neck of another pokemon. 

"what have you got there, lec?" her response is to bite thoughtfully on the leaves of the strangled shiftry, even as it beats at her with a shriek. her eyes flash when it goes in for a sucker punch. she renders it useless with a disable and tosses it aside just as quickly, leaving nikkari to nudge the fallen thing with his foot.

his wallet is in the shiftry's mouth. "you little pickpocket," he mumbles, amused. he picks his wallet back up, tucks it back in his pocket, and drops a ball of his own. 

"oh, trust me, mitchel - keep me around long enough and i'll find a hundred and one ways to prove you wrong there."

mitchel kane

catching shiftry.

☉

the what the FUCK is not kind to his ears. the softspoken man actually winces. alecto, however, just chitters joyfully and scuttles off of his back to peer up at him with her odd, gemstone eyes. her head tilts nearly ninety degrees and nikkari turns his head too. 

alecto starts cackling. nikkari's gaze flickers upward and at mitch's question, he smiles. 

"i think so," he says coolly and then points up above mitch's head, where an ariados descends with fangs poised. 

mitchel kane

catching shiftry next post ty.

☉

"contrary to popular belief, i don't," he says smoothly. heather and tomás toss garbage onto the hand, much like rinc's, but that doesn't mean there isn't more to come. it had been a bold move to start with the king, knowing full well his first trick would end up only making one pass. 

he draws the winning hand to his side of the table, raps the edges of the cards neatly together, and lays them in a short pile to his right. then he turns his head and pretends to deliberate; his eyes never once stray from his cards.

rather than fish for more spades, he smiles and tosses a nine of hearts, more for his own personal amusement than anything else.

Lulu Flint

☉