"Yeah yeah! I decided to run and get some cause my air conditioner decided to die on me, and I figured I'd see if anyone else wanted to come along."

At the sight of Elise's Polteageist she had named Chamomile, he gave a polite wave to the butleresque pokemon. The ghost pokemon was so refined that Sven felt he wasn't exactly the proper company to bask in. But that was just the fact he'd never really been in the company of regal folks.

"Yo, Chamomile!" he greeted. "You know it's pretty coincidental cause I have a Sinistea I named Chamomile, too. Maybe they're siblings."

It was a joke to clear the air, but he did think it was pure coincidence they were like-minded in that situation. Sven took another bite of his cone and couldn't help but let out an almost over-exaggerated 'mmm!' It was just the treat he needed for this sweltering day, but the way it began to melt began to drip down his fingers, and Sven was quick to try and lap it up. After realizing just what he did, he grabbed himself a napkin and cleaned off his hand, then offered one to Elise. His words were preceded by a chipper grin.

"Hopefully you weren't up to anything important," he offered in a sort-of apology. "I just figured that it wouldn't hurt for me to help show you what us commonfolk indulge in during the summer."

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Elise Calcifet

He seemed so pitiful as he smacked his air conditioner and begged it to kick back on. Unfortunately it seemed the poor thing was at the end of its life. He tried a bit of everything. Unplugging it and plugging it back in. Pressing a variety of buttons. He even held the power button for a few seconds to see if it could do something. Nada. Zippo. Zilch. The thing was as good as gone now and the young man was stuck to live that sad realization. But at least he had a slight idea of what to do given it was too hot to stay indoors. Why not go for ice cream? He picked up his rotom phone and scrolled through until he found Elise's number. It seemed like a weird choice of people in his circle of acquaintances, but he figured the invite would help the ambassador blend in a bit more with the normal folks of Hoenn.

Hey! Meet me by the Castellia Cone stand! It's urgent!

Maybe he didn't have to make a mountain out of a mole hill like that, but he figured that ice cream did seem urgent. At least for him. Sweat trickled down his neck as he finally gave up on his air conditioner and went outside. It wasn't a far walk from his apartment to the stand he'd mentioned, and he made it there in about three minutes. Once he reached there, he ordered a Castellia cone for himself, and one for Elise when she finally arrived.

"It's way too hot today so I figured we could enjoy some ice cream together!" he attempted to reason with the ambassador.

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Elise Calcifet

After he could get his clothes as wrung out as possible, Sven climbed out of the pond and made a disgusted expression at the way the soles of his shoes squelched from being wet. At least when he was in the water, he couldn't feel the sensation too bad. With each step forward, it felt like the squelching of his feet against the cushion of his shoes grew louder. A look of discomfort and disgust painted itself upon his face as his socks felt like they grew even more wet. Maybe it was all of his griping and complaining, but it seemed he drew out a new friend.

"Oh! You look so cool!"

Eyes lit up at the Snivy, more than pleasantly surprised. It seemed almost as if he had completely forgotten about the misfortune with his shoes. Sven drew out his Fuecoco and ordered it forward. The croc charged as fire built up into its maw to be released and scorch the shiny pokemon with Incinerate. It hadn't been enough to knock the pokemon out, which was fortunate for Sven. With his last safari ball in hand, Sven chucked it forward at the Snivy and awaited the last satisfying click once the ball stopped shaking.

catching snivy!

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@safarizone

If the Chespin proved to be a hazard against his Rampardos, the Slowpoke was its knockout punch. The hippo-like pokemon hung down from the trees above and sprayed the unsuspecting Rampardos in the back with a harsh Water Pulse. The impact sent the dino-like creature flying forward, and once it hit the ground, it didn't seem all too ready to get back up. Sven seemed shocked that such a simple move had done such an impact on Zircon. He gave a sigh and withdrew his Rampardos before he gave the top of the pokeball a gentle kiss to let the pokemon know he wasn't upset in the slightest -- the creature had battled hard and that was all he could ask for.

"Rest up, we'll get you back in tip-top shape then."

Before he could draw out another pokemon, the Slowpoke lifted him into the air with the use of Psychic. And before Sven knew it, he was sent flying across the Safari Zone. Once he hit the pond, he sat there back to square one all over again. The researcher got up and attempted to wring water out of his clothes. Despite his work, they remained pretty damp. Oh well, maybe next time he'd be aware enough to bring a set he didn't mind getting dirty or wet.

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@safarizone

Once his Rampardos seemed decent enough to continue on, the two ventured further into the Safari Zone with their two new additions. It seemed pretty quiet at first, but as the two inched closer, a Clear Smog surrounded them and left the pair to cough from just how thick the mist was. It seemed the Koffing had been lying in wait to strike, and it seemed to catch the pair off guard. Without much of a choice, the two ran forward from the area, effectively fleeing from the Koffing's reach.

It took Sven a moment to stop the coughs that racked his body, but eventually he found himself able to breathe once more. The disgusting taste still lingered, but nothing a swig of water wouldn't fix. He unscrewed the cap of his hydroflask and took a gulp, and then stood up to pour some water into his Rampardos' mouth.

"You good to move on, buddy?"

The Rampardos gave a nod and the two continued their journey.

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@safarizone

While he wanted to speak, he immediately found himself sidetracked by the Corsola. The blue color to it was what caught his attention, and he felt a sense of excitement bubble in his chest. It was cute how clingy the creature seemed! Without thinking, he opted to let his Ditto out to play. While it seemed to want to stick by Sven's side, he encouraged the creature to slide on forward and socialize a bit. The only thing that caught his attention was the way Melody had questioned what he did. A sheepish smile found its way to his expression as he began to speak a bit freely about himself.

"Well see, I've travelled across the world, just trying to find a place that I could really call home," he began. "While I do have a love for music and do a couple self-released things, my main interest lies in research. I want to know just what is so special about Hoenn, what brings all these varied beasts of legend here of all places?"

As he spoke, it was obvious his excitement had bubbled to a boiling point. His eyes sparkled in pure delight as his hands gripped firm against the edge of the tabletop. A goofy grin found its way to his features to truly accentuate how thrilled he was to discuss the topic. And it didn't take him long to elaborate further on his own thoughts so his newfound acquaintance could get a better idea of what he wanted to learn from his experience here.

"More importantly, what makes for an appropriate avatar? I know these legendary creatures all have their own preferences, but just what draws them to certain people, and how does that symbiotic relationship work? I imagine it's very taxing on the human body, but I just want to know if there's a way people can bond with these legends without extinguishing their own humanity in the meantime."

As he spoke, he felt himself nearly push himself out of his seat into a standing position. It seemed more than obvious it was a topic he was passionate about. Once he realized that his excitement got the better of him, he let out a breath and took his seat once more. His excitement turned into a twinge of embarrassment as his smile tipped into a more awkward one.

"Sorry, I tend to ramble a bit, but well... I guess I got my point across? But I don't want it to be a completely one-sided conversation. I know a bit about your music endeavors, but what made you decide to take the route of a member of the elite four? It seems like such a heavy burden matched with being an idol."

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Melody Miro

A laugh escaped his throat as he gave a firm pat against Elise's back, right between the shoulder blades. Maybe it wasn't in his place to speak in such a cavalier fashion about the situation, but he figured in the sake of camaraderie, he could, at the very least, extend a helping hand to the ambassador. While he had no clue just what exactly fell into her realm of work, he was a quick learner. If it meant filing through papers and giving her a brief synopsis of them, he was more than happy to share the workload.

"Well the offer still stands, y'know. If you feel yourself drowning in the work, I can step in as your temp and help you sort things out."

Maybe his comment during their prior meeting had been a jest, but he didn't mind helping others despite their status. He wasn't the type to go blabbing confidential information to just anyone. But he could also understand if Elise couldn't bear the luxury of bringing on some help with her workload. His attention turned back to the game as he saw just how much farther she managed to venture. Little did he know one of his new recruits had slipped through the cracks.

It wasn't long until he heard the crackle of electricity as his Morpeko chewed on the wires of a nearby game. The commotion came when a child screamed about how the game had shut off on him. Sven turned to look, and saw Ziggy down on the ground behind the machine. The creature had saw the power cord and decided it looked like a tasty snack. He quickly scooped up the creature and chided it quietly. If it was hungry, it should've let him know!

"I'll let you ruminate on it, I gotta go get this guy a snack. Feel free to join us, my treat."

With that said, he headed towards the snack bar, Morpeko scooped up in his arms.

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Elise Calcifet

He could only nod at both of Memphis' statements. While he could understand the anxiety that came from letting his entire team out to roam, there came a sense of trust to allow exactly that. Sven patted the top of his Fuecoco's head and it seemed to calm down immediately, almost as if it craved that affection. The researcher picked up his burger and took a bite, pleased to see that the flavors he'd tested with combined into a savory taste. If it weren't for the fact he was with company, he might have shed a tear at how proud he was with the end product. After he chewed it thoroughly enough, Sven swallowed the bite and soon offered his own insight to Memphis.

"Could I suggest something to you? You ever think of seeing if you could tag along on a ranger mission? I'm sure they go all sorts of places that offer exciting finds."

saskia volosenkova had shared plenty of stories about her adventures with him, and from the sounds of it, there were worthwhile discoveries out there to make. Abandoned temples likely had plenty of documents on long forgotten civilizations, books on rituals conducted to please deities in the past... There was plenty of history out there to be discovered, but he could imagine in the sense of museums, the criteria for discovering something worthwhile to put in was a lot more critical.

"My friend Saskia frequents places a lot, maybe I could see if she'd be open to having a plus one?"

What was the worst that could happen? That she said no? That seemed the most likely option. As he let the suggestion out in the air, Sven bit into his burger once more. This time he seemed a lot more open to sharing small bites with his Fuecoco.

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memphis evren

"Oh neat!" he commented genuinely. "Just figured I'd ask cause I'm personally trying to figure out what's going on with this place."

A generalized statement because he wished to know just what catastrophes Hoenn had survived, and ones that had yet to come. As the pokemon made their way to train, Sven looked away briefly to make sure Zircon treated the fight fairly. Brows knit in concern until he saw that the creature seemed to be off on its own, battling a wild Geodude. It seemed quick to take the creature down. Make that one point for Zircon. He couldn't help but grin with a sense of pride.

It wasn't long until his attention turned back to Memphis. Part of him wondered just what classified as an archivist, it seemed like such a stuffy title, like he had to file a bunch of paperwork to make sure the museum didn't lose it. Maybe it felt odd because from a first impression standpoint, stuffy didn't suit Memphis. But then again, he did give off librarian vibes.

"Never been, guess I'm gonna have to check it out!"

It wasn't often he made his way over to Slateport given its high occupancy of Team Rocket members. So to have a museum of natural history sounded pretty dangerous. Likely the place risked several instances of robbery. Or even worse of a possible conclusion: the history museum helped mask the illusion of an everyday life for Rocket members. The latter didn't offer much enthusiasm for him -- criminals didn't deserve a normal life. His expression went flat for a moment before he spoke in a rather straightforward fashion.

"You guys are careful with the stuff right? The historical artifacts and all that, I mean. It'd be a shame to lose it to a bunch of criminals like Team Rocket."

The comment seemed so tactless and out of place, but it was a question that felt necessary to put out into the open.

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memphis evren