June rolled her eyes into the back of her head. "Whatever you say, Howard. Whatever you say."

The quality of the Brycen-Man films was not the hill she would die on. Figured that an archeologist would be the one to do it, though. Maybe even ironic. She didn't have the time nor passion to figure out how, but it stood as a tempting thing to figure out for the next time the inevitably met each other. 

"The library might be good for a thesis, but it sure as shit isn't good for whatever I'm trying to... wait, you didn't pay your plumbing bill for a month? Is that even a thing you can do?" She asked, eyebrow raised. Numerous common situations and the logistics behind them played out in the front of her mind for all but ten seconds before the delivery girl shook her head. No, how the hell he could manage to get away with that with nothing but a library was not a task she stood ready to tackle.

Next time June ran into a second archeologist, she'd have to figure out if this was a 'Howard' situation or an 'archeologist' situation. 

However, the home situation was something the two of them shared regardless of background. "I'd be lying if I said I minded it most of the time. It's nice to be active and hands on. Job just means I get to make money doing it. Also don't blow it on afformentioned stupid shit. Too busy."

Sure, this might've classified her as a 'workaholic' or some other fancy word dreamed up by licensed professionals. Yet the alternative was to sit at home, stare at the ceiling and let her mind race as fast as a Talonflame and wreck havoc on her emotions. At least this way, the most damage it could do is get her lost somewhere in the region.

"Except on coffee. Those cafes might charge an arm and a leg for an espresso, but..." June tapered off. Maybe if she closed her eyes and thought hard really hard, this latte would magically become something better. She tried it out with another sip. 

Nope. 

---

howard slayte

June raised an eyebrow, but decided to not push the situation further than necessary. It sure sounded like Howard had severe money issues, but it also wasn't a her problem. No matter how much she worried or thought about it, she would simply have to trust him to his word. "Guess I'll have to trust your word on that."

She did not.

Much how she decided not to press further into his slight pause upon her question of what his other 'activities' were. There was very clearly something more to it, yet the archeologist did the complete opposite of what the job entailed: he covered it up. Played it off as nothing super serious. Would she follow suit, or stick to what she did on a daily basis?

"Your secret is safe with me," she affirmed as she leaned backward into the chair. No reason to pry on this as well. "But... Brycen-Man? Seriously? That show blows chunks. Awful. Coffee isn't the only thing your taste is shot in, apparently."

The smile that slowly crept on her lips soon disappeared as the question turned back onto her. Replaced by the frown she sported for the last few minutes. "It says that on the ad so that when people beg me to deliver on Sunday, I get to double the fees. Whenever I'm not 'motorcycling' or flying on my Talonflame, I'm either at home or the library. Save money that way."

If Howard got to keep his secrets, then she could keep hers. Besides, how did one explain that they were saving up to by the mechanic shop previously owned by their now dead father that now sat abandoned and desolate in Mauville because he had been killed before he could put such a thing in his will and Team Rocket got some legal power to kick her while she was down, anyway?

Or that she had a childish urge to chase down a mythical pokemon only rumored to exist and recently confirmed to exist and the only thing she had to go off of was fourth hand accounts and whatever scraps of information she scrounged up from library books that she could probably read backwards from memory at this point?

You do not.

"In all honesty, your apartment is probably bigger and nicer than mine. It's just a place I can shower, sleep, and keep some snacks in whenever I'm in the area. Oh, and I get a small garage to keep my bike. Lot of nights spent there, rather than in bed..."

Howard could know about the Excadrill thing. If he found out the 'dead dad's shop' or 'childhood, silly dream', then she'd be able to move on eventually. However, he could not know how many nights she had fallen asleep on her bike in her garage, in some bus stop, or underneath a tree as she waited for another order to come through on her phone. That was the line. If he found that out, she'd either have to kill him or herself, and she wasn't about to die just yet.

---

howard slayte

"Don't mention it," June muttered behind her coffee cup. Hopefully the plastic wasn't clear enough to show how her frown did not disappear in the slightest after Howard showed one more time his uncertainty. She said she wasn't mad at him, yet that seemed to mean nothing. Her shoulders slumped while she took another sip of her drink.

The worst part? She couldn't even blame the man. Not like she didn't have the same apprehension or anxiety about this sort of thing. Like a popcorn kernel that got stuck in your teeth: no matter how much you worked on it, the sucker wouldn't come loose or pop out. An exhausting activity, but some strange mechanism in the brain said it could not cease until it was fully worked out.

So, she set her cup back down and tried her best to forget about the kernel. "So, you know all these history facts, stories, cultures, whatever-- but you don't know how to work a coffee machine? Put in filter, put in grounds, put water into a different part of machine, close it all up, turn it on and hit the 'brew' button."

"Or you just never owned one," she hunched slightly over the table and rested her head in a hand, "Sorry. Keep forgetting your financial situation. Here I am making the assumptions now."

June ignored the severity of the assumptions made. This conversation already felt needlessly complicated as is. No reason to throw yet another wrench in the cogs by comparing how one thought a parent had died and another forgot how not everyone could afford something as simple as a coffee machine.

Ugh. There was the second kernel. If she didn't change topics now, this would stay with her for the rest of the day. "So, you collect artifacts like you collect facts. Sounds tiring. Do you got a side thing to do, something completely unrelated whenever you start to get burnt out?"

What would that even be for a person like Howard? She couldn't even imagine him doing anything other than sit in his sad, stuffed apartment and stare at all his shit while he nursed a enriching cup of lukewarm tap water. Or be out in the field, hands covered in dirt as he sifted for the bajillionth fossilized tooth.

---

howard slayte

Man, Howard sucked at guessing. "I didn't lose anyone--thankfully. Very terrifying to wake up, as a child, in the middle of the night to very violent shaking and have your father carry you outside moments before the building collapses, is all. Twice." 

The Excadrill thing was a childhood, irrational fear, nothing more. No sob story, no thriller. Just a thing that June really wished she didn't have but also came up so infrequently that it felt pointless to try and 'fix' or 'help' it. Did mean this little excursion to Slateport might be the last one in a long while. 

"And don't apologize for anything. I'm not mad at you."

Yet.

Did the delivery girl really look that pissed off? She tried to imagine her own facial expression, but failed miserably. Very hard to translate what you felt in your stress lines into an actual, mental picture. One that made any sense, anyway. Sounded like she looked extremely pissed off, if how Howard acted was anything to go by.

It happened often enough: she got mad and calmed down mentally but not physically. People read her tense body language falsely and felt the need to be extra nice to her. That pissed her off again. Howard might've guessed right about one thing she 'probably hated'. Right enough to get her frown to deepen and her eyebrows to slant harder. 

And that was not a state of mind she wished to return to at the moment. Instead, she took a large swig from the cup and listened to the ice jostle around inside it. "So... I guess I'll pay next time then. And I'll choose the place. Speaking of, why here? Home away from home? Worked here while at school? Or is it really just because of the price? Cause you can just... make this at home for cheaper. I think so, anyway."

June whispered the latter end of her sentence as her eyes darted between Howard and the baristas that mulled behind the counter. 

---

howard slayte

"Sorry about earlier."

Did June mean the back and forth insults, how deep she had dug her short nails into his skin, or how she had cursed and half-domed a pokemon right in front of him? Whichever one Howard decided on, it left a lot to be desired in terms of an explanation. In her defense, it was Howard's idea to bring them to this specific coffee shop. The awful walk had done wonders to cool her head and calm her down, as they sat across from each other. Each one nursed a small plastic cup of a brown concotion in their hands

Which, in June's opinion, had nothing going for it. The low price lessened the pain, but it did little to soothe her now upset stomach as she pushed the plastic cup a few inches away. Could the place really not afford something better than the shitty cheap stuff you find at the store for pennies a portion? Whatever. At least it was a latte, and it was cold. 

"Just... I had a few bad experiences with Excadrill when I was younger," she finally explained. "I'll let you guess what happened. Never got it out of my head, or whatever."

The delivery girl reached back over and took the cool cup back in her hands. Even with the A/C on full blast, the unbearable heat still managed to sneak in and remind everyone inside that they couldn't escape it for long. "You were right, about not throwing it into a lake or something like that. Probably smarter to keep it so it can't cause anymore problems."

Looked like the apology had been for none of the above. Wonderful. "And, uh, thanks for helping me find a pokemon. I guess I'll just have to settle for what I got. Again."

"And the coffee."

Better not have been a flirting 'I'll pay for it' move. 

---

howard slayte

• player/ooc name: rysa
• character tags:june sleigh, Grigori Sokolov
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): None
• ic posts for characters: June Post Grigori Post
• are characters in directories?: Ye Y/N
• any notes/comments: I'm literally just just gaming

June kept herself firmly behind Howard while the man commanded his Aerodactyl against the miniature excavator. Despite her best efforts, her eyes stayed unwillingly locked onto the wild pokemon until it finally vanished inside his poke ball. Very much not the action she would've done in his boots, but the thing was gone from sight and hopefully not a menace to society again.

"Should throw that thing into a river," she said. In the panic, she must've latched her arms around the archeologist's shoulders. Paper white knuckles relaxed and she both released the man and took a few steps back. "Or tell the city, so they can make sure there aren't more of them around here."

The delivery girl made no move herself to explain or elaborate on what the hell that look of fear and panic was about. However, now did not seem like the time to pry. June didn't even have her eyes on Howard, instead focused on the hole in the ground left by the Excadrill. Her body shuddered for a moment before she shook her head. "Those things can level a building in a minute flat if you get unlucky enough."

Before either of them could react, a loud snickering filled the quiet alleyway. June turned around to see another pair of pokemon, a Helioptile and Raichu. Both with wide, shit-eating-grins and attention firmly on her. Her blood boiled and nostrils flared as she quickly reached behind into her bag. A poke ball came out, stretched out behind her head, and then flew at the pair of wild pokemon.

"Fuck off, ya pricks!"

The ball arced and hit the Helioptile square on the noggin. It bounced off and then sucked the creature right in. Before she could ready another ball, the Raichu scurried back down the corridor from whence it came. After that, the only sounds were the distant horns, the residual city ambience, and June's deep and heavy breaths. A tense aura surrounded the girl, and a very awkward one for everyone else.

JUNE SLEIGH -1 Poke ball, capture attempt on the Helioptile

---

howard slayte

"Ugh. No. I'd rather release this stupid thing back into the wild than ride it," June bemoaned as she bent down to pick up her new pokemon. She had to resist the urge to chuck the ball as far as possible, and instead holstered it alongside the other newcomer on her belt. Unlike the Joltik, she could feel the weight of this one as it hung there. Desperate times...

No! She couldn't give up yet! She would find a pokemon better and more suitable for riding than this cretin! "Let's get some more practice in by finding more pokemon. If I run out of poke balls before we find something better then it'll have to do, and I still got plenty of them in my satchel!"

With her declaration that their expedition would continue (much to Howard's chagrin), she turned around and trekked further into the alleyway. Who cared if her partner desperately needed a trip to a local clinic, or if he thought this whole entire trip was a waste of time but necessary to avoid her 'wrath'? June needed more chances, and by Arceus she would make it happen. Even if it required one of them to be dragged across the finish line, little more than a sack of broken bones and lost wills.

And she refused to be the one dragged. Drug? Draggen? Whatever!

Her brief, spontaneous motivation, however, died rather fast as the earth rattled beneath the two. Not even ten steps into it and she stopped in sudden apprehension. Bricks shuttered in their mold and rubbish vibrated like jell-o as the weird motion continued. "Woah... what the hell?"

Before them, the concrete cracked. Around five feet ahead of June, right beneath another wild Joltik. A piece of pollen before the ensuing storm of rubble and debris. Crumbles of grey and brown popped out from the ground like firecrackers, dislodged by some unknown force. That tiny yellow spec followed suit, clung on tight to one of the small chunks that flew backwards and away.

Whatever was behind the sudden appearance, it did not stay hidden for long. A metal cone sprouted from the newly created crevice. The cone slowly grew in size as the wielder continued their excavation, more and more of them revealed. It took no time at all for the brown, dirt covered main body to appear from the soil. Streaks of read adorned its chest and neck, as if it has been attacked. 

Unfortunately, she knew exactly what this creature was. "EXCADRILL!"

"Howard! HOWARD! You're an archeolo-ma-person, deal with that thing!" She skipped back a few steps, with only a few spare glances to guide her. June skipped right past Howard and right behind the Aerodactyl. While they had only known each other for little more than a week, this behavior seemed out of left field for the woman, who 'blackmailed' and 'threatened' without a second thought. Bad experiences with Excadrill in the past, perhaps?

---

howard slayte

"Sounds like a 'no'. Well, you got the catch at least!" June said brightly. As soon as she finished her sentence, another familiar click! rang out right next to her foot. She looked at the poke ball that stopped its movement and now lay dormant. Cathode slowly crept out from its hiding spot to investigate the ball, as if it had never seen it before. "And I did too! Score!"

This was certainly anything but a score. Hadn't they come out here in the hopes of getting her a rideable pokemon? Sure, she had gained a friend for her Joltik, but unless those grew to monumental size and also didn't mind her as extra weight then it was not the thing they came here for. She frowned and bent down to grab the now-occupied poke ball. Cathode had clambered onto the top and rode it all the way up to her side belt. From there, she secured the ball and forcibly retreated Cathode back to its own home.

"Oh, ha ha funny guy. Try not to find the pokemon the hard way next time, eh?" She stuck out her tongue at the archeologist. Yea, so the Joltik wasn't what she needed. There were plenty of poke balls to catch another pokemon. Like the one that nipped her ankle! Wait, what?

"Ow, fuck!" June quickly whipped her left foot away from the pain and investigated the area. Once again, her inability to pay much attention had come back to bite her literally. This green creature with the yellow highlights must've snuck up on her while she harassed Howard again. It looked innocent and friendly enough, if still a wild pokemon. It jumped back as soon as June had moved and pressed itself against the wall in defense. 

An almost irresistable urge to send Matchstick out and chase it all the way out the city emerged from her head, but rational spoke up soon after: these things evolved into Manectrics! That one Josh guy had one at his own gym with a saddle and everything, right? If they didn't find a proper pokemon to ride this thing would do the trick if she put in some elbow grease! And restraint to throw it back into the wild in a fit of rage.

"Hope we find something better than you," She pulled another poke ball from behind her back and tossed it at the Electrike. Once more, it disappeared into the ball and shook violently. "And at least I didn't nearly get brained on my side. Hope you're taking notes!"

JUNE SLEIGH Capture Attempt, -1 Pokeball on Electrike

---

howard slayte  

"Why would I care if you got experien--"

A rustle and Howard's sudden motion to shut the hell up cut her off. She nodded seriously back, and slowly approached the pile of garbage alongside the archeologist. Not nearly as close as the man, but still close enough to help if the situation called for it. He wasted no time and revealed the culprit of the sudden commotion: a small, yellow creature with four legs. For Howard, it stood for absolutely nothing of interest. Just a creature usually found in the trash or other small places that foraged for leftover scraps or even other potential insects. 

However, a poke ball by June's side rattled on her belt. She spared a glance to see which one it was, but the answer should've been obvious. Too excited, another Pokemon joined the fray. A near identical silhouette materialized a foot away from the small bug type, then copied its own fuzzy body and yellow fur. If Howard had been disappointed with the first one (and wasn't busy getting bodied by a Forretress), he was about to be let down a second time in mere moments.

Another Joltik, from June herself.

"Look Cathode! A friend!"

It buzzed in agreeance and excitement as it skittered towards its own kind. The wild one did not move away but gave its newcomer a curious, deep stare whilst it approached. Soon after the distance was closed, Cathode circled the wild pokemon in order to better understand it. It followed along rather well, it's own curiosity piqued. A double swirl of small yellow crumbs that desperately tried to get a good look at the either. After a few seconds they both slowed down and stopped suddenly, too dizzy to keep going.

After that, the two closed their eyes and let out joyous yet dazed chitters. "Well, not what I was looking for, but... oh, how can I say no?"

June held out the empty pokeball and let gravity do the rest. It fell unceremoniously to the floor and bounced a few times. While this spooked the wild Joltik back into the depths of the trash it had been scavenging in, it could not escape the beam that seized it and dematerialized it. After a few moments, the ball began to shake.

A loud noise distracted June. Howard's slurred speech and angry lob of his own poke ball made itself known, something that she had absolutely no idea was going on. This must've happened while she was enamored with the wild Joltik! "What the hell, you alright Howard? Need some help?"

Notably, she made absolutely no effort to step in and help the man. Forretress weren't known for their physical might or special prowess. If the archeologist struggled with such a unproblematic pokemon, then there was no hope for him to continue on further. Or hope for June to get whatever she needed. That Aerodactyl could help its trainer out more than she could anyway. 

Meanwhile, Cathode skittered back to the safety of the black smelly bags of garbage. One set of eyes on the poke ball-slash-friend, the other on the terrifying fossil pokemon. 

JUNE SLEIGH -1 Pokeball, Catch Attempt on Joltik.

---

howard slayte

Since Howard made no attempt to stop June, she continued on entered the maw of the alley. It looked exactly as one would expect: clumps of litter and debris clung to the walls like barnacles, which in turn reeked. There was a surprising amount of room, though. Enough for the both of them to comfortably start their journey without fear of their Pokemon being too close for comfort. For when they found some wild Pokemon. 

"Depends on the person," she said in a deadpan tone while she stepped over a musky, damp cardboard box. "Idiots ask me to hide it somewhere super secret. Usually stop hearing from them real early on. Turns out, cops have plenty of Pokemon like yours: smell that shit from a mile away when it's just out in the 'open'. That or they never find it because they couldn't navigate their way out of a lunch box."

She nudged a plump garbage bag with her foot, which did little more than produce an awful slosh sound. "Big risk on my end too. All it takes is someone with a overblown sense of justice and I get thrown in the slammer. Lot easier and simpler to hand it to them in a discreet location. Long as you have a reason to be there, people don't even know what's going on."

This, of course, didn't cover a lot of risks and possibilities. The act itself had inherent risks that could not be avoided. People grimaced and complained about the relative monumental upcharge for those deliveries, but they paid it all the same. Those who didn't and went cheaper, she sometimes saw their names listed in the weekly police report. Dumbasses.

"And I'll shoot a question your way," June turned around and walked backwards, eyes locked onto Howard. "Did people way back when do drugs? Is that something you can even figure out from all those artifacts you got stuffed inside your place?"

---

howard slayte

june sleigh approves of the gift.

June whipped around at the sound of Howard and his best attempt to cover every common greeting used by people. She sighed a breath of relief and waved, "Hello hello! Glad you made it in one piece! And heat stroke is the least of my concerns personally."

"Hunting for a Pokemon I can ride and that goes decently fast. Online sources tell me Electric Types and Steel Types are common in the area," she reminded the archeologist. She swung her sling backpack around and undid a zipper to reveal a dozen and some change poke balls. The Red and white balls rattled in her sack as she dug out the first one and trapped them back in. "As you can see, don't got a bajillion of these things, but it should be enough to get at least two or three wild Pokemon. Of course, if you see anything else that you want, more than welcome to do... whatever you think is best."

If their last encounter had been anything to go by, Howard could be trusted to make some reasonable decisions. Not in terms of money. Any financial roadblocks would need to be solved by June. The prospect seemed dreadful to the delivery girl, but they both had their part to play. One could handle the people and necessary shops, the other would manage everything pokemon related.

She reached over to the side hidden from Howard of her backpack and produced a water bottle from another pocket. "And no ice pack yet! We've got a city to explore! Well, I do anyway. Not too many need a person like me here. Besides, you sounded like you knew the area like the back of your hand!"

Hopefully, Howard didn't mind her lack of knowledge of Slateport. June resolved to not be a total sack of dead weight when it came to navigation, but she simply didn't know the area well. Hence her decision to ask the man for help in the first place. At least he was overwhelmingly able and willing to help her out in a time like this.

Too enthusiastic even. 

"So let's go!" June declared. She swiveled her head around one last time before a direction was picked. Straight ahead of where she stood seemed the best course of action, right towards the start of an alleyway. Absolutely no basis in logic or reasoning. "Pokemon would hide out where there are less people, right?"

No great reasoning, anyway.

---

howard slayte