So they were both rather new to Hoenn, then? That made things a bit easier. Riley wasn't really the type to ask for help or anything like that, but there was something reassuring about the idea that he wasn't the only one learning to adjust to a new environment.

[break]Riley explained that he was just seeing the sights and grabbing some pictures, which seemed to catch Momo's interest. She noted that he must have seen some pretty cool sights, and Riley nodded in agreement, pointing just beyond the route they were on. "I've just come from Meteor Falls. It was pretty awesome, actually—I'm not much of a landscape photographer, but I had to get a few of the falls. They were magnificent." Though Riley still spoke in a somewhat disaffected tone, it was clear that he was quite passionate about his work.

[break]Riley followed Momo, clicking through some of his photos as they walked. They soon found themselves near a small fruit grove, just overlooking the waters. Route 115 was very pretty, all things considered—unlike the ash-covered Fallabor Town, it was basically nothing but green and blue for miles and miles. Momo's attention was quickly caught by an appletun—Riley had never seen one in real life. Nodding, he watched her approach, sending Silque after it. Within moments, the pokémon was caught!

[break]"Nice catch," said Riley, giving her a nod of approval. "You're pretty good at that. Are you a professional trainer?" Despite his cranidos capture earlier, Riley wasn't much of a battler. Espeon and Umbreon had basically trained themselves, honestly—he only really battled when he was in danger of some kind. Still, he couldn't deny that this was pretty fun so far.

[break]Speaking of which, Espeon and Umbreon both approached Silque. Espeon gave the sylveon a calm nod of approval, while Umbreon hopped up and down, eager for his chance to battle.

[break][break]

+ duo wild: rock, fairy, dragon

[break]

Momo Sakai

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

A professional, dismissive response. Perfectly crafted to avoid giving away any information. Riley scoffed. "Sure," he replied, shaking his head. "So the answer is yes, then?" People only withheld information like that when there was something to hide. Of course, there was a... sizeable chance that the man was just a massive stick-in-the-mud, but Riley had his hunch, and he was sticking to it.

[break]The man pointed him to one of the security guards if he was looking to complain, before suggesting he clear out with the others, as the bank was likely going to be closed for the rest of the day. With that, the man turned and headed away from the front doors, clearly seeking a back exit of some kind. "Well," Riley muttered to himself. "Obviously, I'm not going to do that." He tugged his jacket on tighter, before following the man and his dragons.

[break]"Look," Riley said, catching up to the man and falling in step behind them. Umbreon flanked him, while Espeon had returned to his pokéball to rest. "I'm not looking to complain. I'm mostly just curious as to what your whole deal is." Riley prodded, though he tried to be a bit casual about it, his hands jammed into his jacket. "I mean, you're obviously not a security guard, so... what are you?"

[break]"And furthermore... aren't you at all curious why the bank was still hit, even with the extra security?" Riley was partially fishing for information—how much did the man know about the hit? "I mean, any smart crew would have seen you plus all the other security and abandoned the plan immediately, but they still went through with it."

[break][break]

+ MISSION: Bank On It

[break]

Gunner Graves

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The dragon-types leapt upon upon the serperior and its trainer, their attacks finely honed and dangerous. The serperior attempted to fight off the Salamence with a LEAF STORM, but it was ineffective against the dragon-type's hide. The salamence bore down upon it with practiced lethality, and the serperior crumpled with a shriek that pierced even the screams of civilians. Its trainer did not face much better, as the hydreigon intercepted him and tossed him back into a wall, knocking him out cold.

[break]Riley, meanwhile, had managed to bring his own opponent to his back with a swift uppercut, followed by a hard shove. Espeon, meanwhile, had focused in on the Salazzle, his psychic energy quickly knocking the poison-type out cold. Still in a state of adrenaline, Riley sent out Umbreon to follow the crowd and keep them safe, but this turned out to be a false alarm—the sounds from outside were simply the security team attempting to subdue the crowd.

[break]As one of the security guards approached Riley's opponent in an attempt to cuff him, he gave Riley a rather dirty look. In response, Riley stepped away from the man with a simple shrug, and allowed the guard to do his job. He knew that he had kinda escalated that situation, and it could have gone very very badly if it weren't for that guy with the dragons. But he wasn't going to sit by and let people get hurt just because some idiots didn't know how to do their job properly.

[break]Speaking of the devil, that serious-looking man approached him, a frown on his face. He reprimanded Riley for acting so rashly, but also commended him for his bravery. "Thanks," said Riley, giving the man a nod. Crouching down, he pet Espeon as the psychic-type wandered up to him, scratching him behind his ears for a job well done.

[break]Riley then looked up at the stranger, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Did you know this was going to happen? Did the bank know?" Riley had noted just how much security the bank had been running, but figured it might just be the way they did things in Hoenn. But seeing this guy... no. He was way too competent to be a simple bank security guard. His dragon-types alone basically tore that serperior to shreds.

[break][break]

+ MISSION: Bank On It

[break]

Gunner Graves

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"Sierra," Riley hissed, as she grabbed onto his arm, basically shaking him around in her excitement. "You're ruining the shot."

[break]Riley had been pretty much joking when he'd suggested that maybe they try to take shots of this random guy getting beaten to death by a pangoro. But apparently, Sierra was well on-board for the idea, demanding that Riley not waste the opportunity to get some good shots. Riley raised an eyebrow, before shrugging his shoulders and bringing his camera back up to his face. He didn't really see the appeal, but if it would satisfied his boss and get him his credit, then he couldn't really complain, could he?

[break]As Riley snapped a few pictures, watching as the young man valiantly took on the massive pangoro, Sierra hummed to herself for a moment, before exclaiming that she definitely recognized the guy fighting the pokémon. Riley lowered his camera, affixing her with a confused look. "Really?" He asked. They basically seemed to be from two different worlds. And that wasn't even getting into her cryptic comment about showers.

[break]Riley sighed, looking to the guy. "Hey, um... do you need help?" he asked. Watching the dude get his ass beat was like, kinda funny, but also a bit awkward.

[break][break]

+ ooc notes

[break]

Sierra Benoit Moss

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"Alright, Blue. One move at a time."

[break]The little oshawott gave him a little nod and a salute, before turning back to face the fallen tree. He wiggled his tail, drawing his shell off of his chest, before bringing it down in the clean arc of a RAZOR SHELL. The tree, damaged a bit by local fire types, crumpled quickly under the effects of the water-type move. Blue let out a small trill of delight, turning back to face Riley with a proud grin on his face. "Nice work, bud," Riley replied, preventing himself from rolling his eyes.

[break]Blue, a particularly small oshawott, was a recent addition to his "team". Recently, Riley had met up with Sierra for some more freelance work, and she'd introduced him to her rowdy little oshawott. Inexplicably, the little guy had attached to him almost immediately, and so a trade was proposed between them. Riley handed over the cranidos he'd caught on a whim, and received Blue in return.

[break]The little guy was, as it turned out, quite a fan of battling. While battling wasn't exactly Riley's main hobby, he couldn't help but indulge the little guy. Together, they'd gone to Route 112, just east of Lavaridge Town and Mt. Chimney. Riley didn't know much about training pokémon—Espeon and Umbreon had basically trained themselves—but he figured the area would be good for training a water type. If they ran into any aggressive wilds, there was a high likelihood they'd be fire-type, meaning Blue might even get a chance to try taking one down.

[break]"Alright," Riley said, crossing his arms. "Let's try that one more time."

[break][break]

+ solo wild: fire / fighting

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

As Espeon leapt bravely into battle, the entire standoff exploded into chaos. 

[break]Several of the citizens in line were screaming their heads off, with the lady behind him in particular letting out several high-pitched screams as she scrambled away. Meanwhile, the serious-looking security guide with the dragon types had also dove headfirst into the fighting. The dragons bore down on the pokémon and their trainers, while the guard went straight for the gunman who was currently harassing the teller. Riley's heart skipped a beat as the gunman aimed straight towards the guard, but in a blink, the guard managed to point the gun upward. As the gun went off, the entire crowd reached a fever pitch of panic, several people racing towards the doors.

[break]The salazzle recoiled from Espeon's attack, letting out a hiss and a puff of smoke as it turned to face the two of them. "Espeon!" Riley shouted, and the eeveelution reacted in turn. Both he and Espeon dodged low, narrowly avoiding the pillar of fire that came their way. Espeon retaliated, getting in close and using a PSYCHIC blast to knock the Salazzle off its feet. 

[break]Riley, meanwhile, raced towards the salazzle's trainer. Though not the largest or strongest person, Riley was toned with lean muscle, and a clean uppercut to the guard's chin was enough to stagger him backwards. Riley followed this up with a hard shove, and the grunt was knocked clean off his feet and onto his back.

[break]In the distance, Riley could hear shouting from outside the bank—shouting that did not sound very pleasant. Reinforcements? That couldn't be good. Grabbing his second pokéball, he called Umbreon into action. The black dog landed in a huff, immediately falling into a fighting position. "Umbreon!" Riley called, pointing to the fleeing crowd. "Protect the civilians! They might be running into a trap!" With a nod, Umbreon took off after the crowd, quickly catching up just as they streamed into the street.

[break][break]

+ MISSION: Bank On It

[break]

Gunner Graves

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

A sudden shout in the night caused Riley to freeze.

[break]Umbreon stopped too, looking up to his trainer with narrowed eyes. The voice sounded intense, but not outright hostile. "Hello?" Riley called out, his voice calm but wary. Moving a little quicker, he rounded the corner and found himself staring down another man, accompanied by a galarian rapidash. The man looked to be about his age, well-built and standing a bit taller than him. Riley gave him a quick nod, raising a hand to show that he was both unarmed and meant no harm. Beside him, Umbreon affixed him with narrowed eyes, but did not seem outright hostile.

[break]"Sorry," Riley said, his voice gruff. He wasn't outright posturing, but he still didn't know the intentions of this guy, and he didn't want to appear weak in case he saw him as some kind of mark. "I'm looking for an Espeon. Have you seen him?" It was a long shot, but Riley was getting a bit desperate at this point. At the mention of his partner, Umbreon's eyes softened. "He disappeared sometime this morning. I think it has something to do with the recent disappearances."

[break]As they talked, Umbreon's ears twitched, and he stared off into the distance. Was he hearing something? Umbreon stood up and took off, causing Riley to stare down at him in shock. "Wait! Umbreon!" He shouted, taking off after his pokémon. Had Umbreon somehow picked up on Espeon's trail? He couldn't afford to neglect the possibility.

[break][break]

+ MISSION: Pied Pipers [DD]

[break][break]ever blackwell

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Well. At least he wasn't bored anymore.

[break]To be completely honest, Riley had been almost anticipating something like this. Maybe it was hyper-vigilance, but Orre was such a crime-ridden shithole, you couldn't go a single day without getting mugged or some shit. So it would be just his luck to be at the bank during the middle of a robbery. Riley sighed, quietly taking his headphones out of his ears and jamming them back into his pocket as he tried to hear what the robbers were saying. Blah blah blah, generic robbery nonsense. Cool.

[break]Riley took a moment to observe the situation. Three bogeys—one harassing the bank teller with a gun, while two others kept the crowd at bay with pokémon. A serperior and a salazzle. The salazzle was acting particularly menacing, blowing fire to intimidate the crowd. There was a few security staff around, including that one intimidating dude with the dragon types, but who knew if they'd be able to defuse the situation without hurting the crowd. Ahead of him, an older woman let out a quiet sob, shaky hands gripping tight to her purse.

[break]"Don't worry, ma'am," Riley muttered, his voice low and hoarse. He was... really bad at this comforting thing. "We'll be okay. As long as we don't get in their way, they have no reason to hurt us."

[break]One of the goons seemed particularly eager to prove him wrong, however, as the salazzle's flames drew far too close to the crowd. The lady ahead of him stumbled back, letting out a scream as she fell down and scrambled away. Riley affixed the grunt with a glare, stepping in front of the woman. "Hey, asshole!" He shouted, pointing at the salazzle. "We were complying! Get your pokémon under control before it kills one of us!"

[break]Reaching down to his belt, he grabbed a pokéball, releasing Espeon in a flash of light. The cat-like pokémon took a moment to assess the situation, then affixed the salazzle with a pointed glare, his pink fur standing on end. Riley hesitated—was it worth escalating this situation? Then he looked back at the woman, who was shivering in fear on the ground. Fuck it.

[break]"Do it, Espeon!" he snarled, and Espeon let out a wave of Psychic energy towards the Salazzle.

[break][break]

+ MISSION: Bank On It

[break]

Gunner Graves

[attr="class","pokeclass"]