There was something in the air alright. The muffled sound of waves faded into the new background. Replaced with a quiet whine, which slowly grew in intensity. Any nearby Pokémon scurried to the safety of the brush in fear of the unknown as whatever it was grew closer.

What the heck was up with the racket? Maoja turned towards the approaching newcomer with a face that suggested she wasn’t amused by the sudden disturbance. This was her quiet time, darn it! Her chance to unwind! Hadn’t she dealt with enough at her job?!

Deep breaths, Maoja, she reminded herself. In… out. In… out. No need to get upset! Everyone else was just as welcome to enjoy the trails as much as her. Even if it scared off all the probably cute Pokémon she would’ve fed a berry or two from her pocket. With any luck, they’d just go around her and be on their merry way!

But it didn’t. Instead, it stopped a few meters away. That constant drone of flip-flaps made it impossible to even think. It looked… vaguely green? Hard to tell. And it had a couple of things that jutted out from it. No matter how hard she squinted, or how close she pressed her sunglasses to her face, she couldn’t make out specifics.

“...Hey, your… uh, Escavalier? It's making some really weird sounds!” She yelled out. “Might want to get that checked out by a doctor or something!”

Wait a second. Did a trainer accompany this Pokémon? Or was it wild? Please let the trainer be nearby.

She held her hands in a comfortable yet visible position. As long as the creature knew she meant no harm and had no way to do harm, maybe it'd leave her alone? “Whoever is there, can you turn your bug down? I can’t hear anything!”

---

Shalin Nariya

I’m sure the sight must be beautiful, Maoja considered. How couldn’t it have been? The September breeze nipped at her forearms, which created gentle pinpricks all along her skin. Warm sunlight tried to drive away the worst of the chill, but the sea made the task daunting.

That was the one gripe she had with her usual hiking route: the smell. It wasn’t bad, but she wished the smell of flowers on the verge of hibernation. Dew that clung to each blade of grass. Trees that caught the wind with their massive, overgrown branches. Taste the fresh air.

Instead, she was treated to the waves that crashed against the beach and the salty air. It invaded every crevice in her body and caused her lips to shrivel up like raisins. Gross. She reapplied her on-hand chapstick, a wise investment all those years back. Mm, Iapapa.

But today seemed to be special. Something in the air, maybe? Pokémon moved with an energy and enthusiasm quite different from usual. As if pulled from a stupor. Perhaps not quite what she desired, but it was there at all and that was a plus! Maybe some of them would approach her and pester her for berries or seeds or what not. That’d be pretty cute.

All Maoja needed now was some proper human company and a fizzy drink! Oh, but maybe not the fizzy drink. She had already had one today, and after the first she could feel the sugar in her blood like a dozen ping-pong balls in a gas tank. Also, her odds of ever getting a date would crater into the ground.

---

Shalin Nariya

For the both of them, Maoja ignored his other comment. Almost done with this guy. Just needed a good picture, the ability to find the print function, and shove the temporary copy of the trainer license in his stupid mitts--

Happy thoughts, Maoja. Happy thoughts! Imagine you're at home, glass of wine in your hands and the warm sun on your face... The clerk filled her mind with calm, relaxed scenery. As the camera flashed and Frank examined the photo, it tapped on her arm. A signal. 'Picture is good enough, print it out'. 

"Frank here says it's good, and I trust his judgement," she beamed at Aaron. "So as soon as we get that printed out, you should be all set!"

Now, where the heck was that print? Should be... top right, go over a second, then down a second, right? 

Nope. Hmm, over two seconds? Not that either. Jimmeny crickets. "Frank, can I get a little help here, since you're already out anyway? Want to hit the print button for me?"

Frank grunted. A faint pink aura surrounded the mouse, which moved to the correct spot and clicked. Almost immediately, the printer roared to life and began it's loud, awful process. Slowly, a thick piece of paper was given ink and shape. Almost there...

The form slid out of the machine's grasp, down onto the tray. The Alakzam then hovered it right to Aaron, on top of his folder of legal documents. Returned, the grueling process complete. "Form should say it, but you'll get the laminated one in the mail in a couple weeks. Got any further questions, Betty down the hall can help you out."

Unfortunately for Aaron, the Pokémon might not have mentioned his less than perfect openness of his eyes to Maoja...

---

aaron faust

Maoja flinched. That chipper, go-getter attitude cracked, if only for a split second. The one that showed up on the inside whenever 'this' situation popped up. 'No shit Sherlock,' it seemed to say through a tired face. A weariness of the soul.

But just as it appears, it gets replaced by the previous, chipper attitude. A shy smile breaks out on her face as she sets the folder. "Legally, yea! Real big accident few years back, not much else to say."

Just move past it, Maoja. He didn't know any better. You're almost done with his information, so you can get his picture, a paper copy, and get him on his way.

After another grueling minute or two of information input, she slammed her finger down on the enter key. Wait, no, that was the shift one. She pressed the enter key, "Alright, that should do it! Now, there's a camera right on the side here," she smacked the side of the never-moving object, "that'll take your picture in a flash! You've gotten a trainer license before, and the process is still the same as always! Just gotta be in front of it when I hit the button."

At least there was a sign that told Aaron what to do exactly. Stare at the camera, don't blink. Simple stuff. Maoja dropped a poke ball off her belt as she finished up the computer side of it. After a flash of white light, an Alakazam emerged. It looked tired. Bored. Un-eager.

"Frank, you want to make sure Aaron here gets a good photo? Don't want him to look silly on his license," she explained to the Pokémon. 'Frank' sighed deeply, but stepped to the side. He looked at Aaron, then the camera, then stuck out its hand. Each second marked another finger that sunk into its palm and signature spoons. Three, two, one...

FLASH!

---

aaron faust

Each and everyone one of Aaron's hints of unconformability and general displeasure go completely unnoticed to Maoja as she gets closer and closer to the relevant link. Gotta be around here somewhere, think! Ok, bring mouse all the way to the bottom right. Go up for a second, then to the right--

The screen shifts. It shifted, right? She shoves her face into the monitor for confirmation. Yep, on the trainer license renewal page! She quickly shifts to the keyboard with one hand and pulls the folder closer to her face. As with the computer, she buries her face into the documents and squnits.

"Well, you'd be surprised! Need a license for any heavy machinery, to teach classes about said machinery, pokemon training... ok, that might be it. Just making small talk, you know?"

She hopes the person heard her, even with her voice muffled by the documents she tries to read. A flick of her head brings her sunglasses down in front of her eyes. Alright, now this show was on the road! Fingers crept across the keyboard, anchored by the nudges on the F and J key. Slowly but surely, his information got filled in without any major problems.

Ah, that's what you look like, She examines the close up of the nearly expired license. This guy didn't look too bad. If this wasn't a work situation (and against her contract as an employee) then Maoja would've started flirting with him.

Instead, she reigned herself in. "Alright Mr. Aaron, your stuff looks to be in order. I think. Only gotten through these first couple, but I'll be finished double-checking and putting it all in here in a minute or two. After that, I'll get your photo, get you a paper copy, and get you on your way!"

With her face either hugging the papers or the computer, his information got filed in. "So, have a good day so far? Got any plans for tonight?

She could ask about peoples days and their plans. And if she happened to 'run' into them, then that'd be a funky little coincidence!

---

aaron faust

"Hello there!"

Even though Aaron sets the folder down and slides it to Maoja, she has no idea until she reached over and grabs his fore arm. Ah shucks, he slid the documents forward, didn't he?!

"Whoops, sorry about that! Clumsy me," she loosens her grip on his arm, but doesn't break skin contact. Instead, she follows the appendage up to his hands and down onto the folder. Trainer license, eh? 

Damn it, I hate renewing trainer licenses! Maybe if I pretend I don't know what those are, this guy will go to one of the other people, She thought to herself. However, she also knew that this was what she was supposed to do! Her entire purpose in life! Her job!

So for now, she grabbed the folder and popped it open. It was nothing more than a vague blob in her eyes, filled to the brim with supposed legal documents. For all she knew, it could've been The Hungry Hungry Caterpie photo copied into a manila folder. It'd be a lot more interesting. 

As Maoja attempted to find the relevant form on her computer, she looked right towards Aaron. "So, you're a trainer then! That sounds super fun! What kind of training do you do then?"

Meanwhile, on her end, the situation was dire. The cursor moved all over the web page, clicking on every square inch of blank space. Even worse, the prompt for 'Trainer License Renewal' stared at her like a sore spot. Even as she slowly inched closer to the prompt, the clocked ticked in the background. A moment became a minute rather fast...

---

aaron faust

"This... still isn't what I need."

Maoja groaned, "Oh my goodness! Super sorry about that! What can I say, time for new glasses!"

She blindly reaches back for the form and takes it back. What did she even give the guy? She held it up to her face, pulled her shades-slash-glasses back down, and squinted really hard. Even with all of this, it took a moment for the letters to properly make sense.

"Ah, license to operate construction machinery. Again! Unless, of course, you want to become forklift certi--"

"No. Just. Please, all I need is the registration for my car. You looked it up and printed some stuff out. It's on the top of the paper. I'm literally looking at it."

"Oh, the top one," Maoja approached the big white blob in the corner of her area and grabbed the top piece of paper, "That's where I went wrong. I printed out like, five different things 'cause I figured 'printing one, might as well print out everything I need for a while', but I forgot which one I printed first."

"Anyway, here you--" As soon as she slid the document to the person, the sounds of furious grabbing and the stomp stomp stomp of their footsteps said it all. Was it something she said? Wait, she didn't even do the most important thing!

"Have a good day," She called out to the figure. Another person helped! Man, she'd get employee of the month in no time! "Next, please! Got a lot of people to get through, and we close at four-thirty sharp!"