reese stares at the pokeball in his hand like any moment it might start biting him. at least the zigzagoon are gone... and it's not like he has to keep the vicious linoone. hopefully somebody will come to claim it, since it's apparent it had a trainer before all of this.

they stare at the berry trees swaying in the chilly breeze. they came out here to relax and enjoy the outdoors, and maybe help tend to the trees, but... now they want to get this linoone back to its proper owner as soon as possible. who knows if and when it might come bursting out of its ball? it's fairly rare, but it still happens.

they sigh. "just take me to wherever i can get this linoone checked to see if it's a lost pokemon," he says. "er... and thank you for the help." she did most of the work here, and he mostly stood back and cowered. rangers sure are something else, huh? he'd never be able to manage the job, he knows that for sure now.

[ Shalin Nariya ]

damian asks a question that's like asking a bird how it finds the time to fly. reese shakes his head, scowling. "dunno what you mean, i grew up playing stuff like this." he wasn't quite an ipad baby, but he'd definitely spent a good chunk of his childhood playing games inside rather than going out to play with friends. which is fine, because it made his first taste of real contest magic stick out even more to him.

they select a cabinet that doesn't have anyone already playing. "here, watch, it's not that hard," they yell to damian. it's a simpl;e rhythm game featuring bongos, a control scheme so simple they think even damian can manage. "you just hit the drums to the beat! super easy." they slide a coin in, and the game starts. reese gestures to damian to step up as they scroll through the various choices. "let's see... oh, this is a good one!" selecting a song, they take a step back. what could possibly go wrong?

[ Damian Belle ]

they already used their favorite floral recipe, so it's time to get a little mroe creative. for this, reese thought back to the time they had a delicate lavender and mint-flavored ice cream, one that wasn't too sweet or too bitter. they combine their milk with the honey and lavender they've brought, stirring frequently. on the side they boil water for the minty black tea that will be added to it. once the milk is ready, they use a tea strainer to pull out the remaining leaves. they add a couple drops of vanilla extract and a bit of sugar to help sweeten the concoction as well.

once the water for their tea has reached just under a boil, they pour it over their mint tea leaves and let it steep for a few minutes. then they combine it with their lavender milk over top of some tapioca pearls and a few ice cubes, swirling it around to combine everything. when they're done, the boba sits at the bottom of the drink. a little bit of cold foam is added to the top, with a couple sprinkles of crushed mint.

he presents it to the judge nervously, worried the combination won't work all that well with boba...

Apif_fMq

reese's plan works enough to leave an opening for shalin's raticate to attack. he breathes a sigh of relief, but doesn't have much time to relax before shalin is giving him a command. reese stiffens up, his face turning red. "m-me!?" he protests. why me!? he fumbles with his bag, pulling it off his back and dumping it on the ground due to the lack of time he has to sort through it. a number of things fall to the ground; some snacks, a first aid kit, painkillers, his wallet, his keys... and some pokeballs roll out too.

they grab ahold of one and fling it at the linoone. it's a bad angle, and they can't help but wince as they almost miss their completely immobile target. but thankfully, the ball hits its mark and captures it, enclosing the paralyzed beast inside. the ball wiggles a few times, reese watching nervously in case the linoone escapes... but then it settles in, and reese finally can relax for real.

the remaining zigzagoon, the few who haven't been chased off, watch this happening from behind the cover of the trees. once they realize their leader has been defeated, they scamper away, not wanting to be captured as well.

[ Shalin Nariya ]

reese stares at damian, mouth open, brows furrowed. oh, the woes of having a himbo roommate... "how old are you...?" he mutters sullenly. some sort of grandpa...? the music thrums around them as they nurse their drink. i guess not everyone can be as eternally online as you are, reese. it's not his fault that the internet is one of the only places he can mask his identity and, therefore, be himself. it's been that way since he was little, though he abandoned all his accounts not long ago in favor of starting over.

they try to gather up their courage, but fail. time for plan b! reese chugs the rest of their drink and orders another. if you can't make your own courage, storebought is okay too, right?

once they've finished their second glass, they look a little more determined. "how about we go over to the arcade section!?" reese shouts above the music. they've got the mildest buzz going; thank god they're a lightweight. "that's kind of like a playground, right!?" maybe after this they can find an actual adult playground...

[ Damian Belle ]

oh, thank arceus shalin's pokemon came to his rescue. her explanation doesn't make him feel much better, though. "seriously?" reese squeaks out, backpedaling furiously to remain by shalin's side. he'll be safer there than anywhere else, he figures. "i-i guess that explains why their behavior is so... out of the ordinary, then?" wild pokemon had territory disputes, of course, but they typically left places with lots of human traffic alone. this linoone must have usurped the zigzagoon gang's original leader, and because it was born to and raised by a trainer, it didn't know the consequences of messing with human-run areas.

still, the way it moves is giving them an idea... it's so fast it can't stop as neatly as most linoone do. instead its paws dig into the ground and it skids to a stop. there's a pattern to it, and observing it from more of a distance lets reese read the pattern much easier.

it's going to come for them any second. its eyes gleam as it sets the two trainers and their pokemon as its target. it's about ready to attack...

reese points. "use stun spore!" he commands. as the linoone darts forward, reese's roserade lets out a puff of paralyzing spores. unwittingly, the linoone blunders directly into it, unable to stop its approach in time due to its speed. the spores take effect, and just before it reaches its targets, its limbs lock up and it faceplants into the ground.

[ Shalin Nariya ]

oh lord why did he agree to this.

reese has never been to a club before. he's been to a few bars here and there, but typically on quieter nights. here he can feel the thrum of the beat throughout his entire body, lights flashing and people dancing, sweaty and noisy, all around them. he's been clutching his glass of amaretto sour like a life preserver since he got it, nervously nursing at it. in the distance he can see an area of the club set aside for a small arcade, and while he wants to go there, he'd have to cross the dance floor in order to do so.

instead they just shrink and hide behind their roommate. "i-i don't belong here!" they shout frantically, hoping damian can hear them. "i'm cottagecore, not... not EDM!" they tug at their sweater. "see!? why couldn't we have gone to a farmer's market or something!?" they don't even know how to dance with other people! they've only ever done it in contests.

[ Damian Belle ]

outfit ref

this would be a million times easier if he had an alcremie or an appletun... reese sighs to himself, lost in thought, barely realizing that the next round has started. his roserade tugs on his pant leg, bringing him back to reality. "o-oh! uh, right." he shakes his head and returns to his station to begin work once more.

this time, he's cutting up apple slices and placing them in the pot to reduce them to a gentle-flavored syrup. he's careful not to burn the slices, as he brews the tea needed for the rest of the drink. into the syrup goes a stick of cinnamon that breaks apart in the heat and gets absorbed into the apple syrup. from there, reese takes a vanilla bean and chops it up into fine particles, then sprinkles it over the syrup.

on the side, as the syrup simmers, he takes the pre-prepared brown sugar pearls and pours them into the bottom of the glass. he makes some sweet milk cold foam, whipping it up until it's frothy and creamy.

once the tea is done steeping, he pours it into the glass over the brown sugar pearls. next he cools down the syrup by pouring it into a container with ice cubes, and once it's cooled down enough he pours it over top the tea, mixing it with a spoon. on top goes the cold foam, with a sprinkle of cinnamon powder to finish it off.

"...this is my apple cinnamon tea with brown sugar pearls," they explain when they present it. "i hope you like it."

7HrWCdO9

reese releases his roserade as shalin begins the operation. the two stay nearby, agitated and nervous, watching as the ranger deals with the territorial zigzagoon. she does seem to have it handled... he feels rather useless, just standing here shifting from foot to foot awkwardly as he watches. the zigzagoon all seem focused on shalin, having judged her the larger threat. as one darts toward her and her raticate, reese steps forward, about to call out a command to his own pokemon. but then her type: null (a pokemon he's never seen before) deals with it swiftly.

suddenly, reese hears.... growling. they slowly turn, and notice a large, scarred linoone advancing on them. this one pays no mind to shalin, and instead is coming straight for reese. maybe it hopes to divide the focus a bit?

reese backs up. come on, you can handle this... it's just one pokemon. one incredibly menacing pokemon. "u-use stun spore!" their voice cracks as they issue the order. petal flings a yellow powder out of the roses that serve as his hands, but the linoone dodges the attack effortlessly. their reaction was simply too slow.

it suddenly darts at petal. reese flinches, not used to battle, frozen in indecision.

[ Shalin Nariya ]

reese's smoliv has been added as a GARDEN POKEMON. with its HARVEST ability, it halves the amount of time it takes for berries to grow.

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X ability capsule (75 PD) (to be used on the smoliv reese is catching)

TOTAL

do come again!

75 PD

they've still got a bit of time until the next air taxi arrives, but they're going to head back to littleroot now. better safe than sorry, they figure. they don't want to miss the taxi and have to wait another half hour or so until the next one.

along the way, they realize they're being followed. a tiny smoliv has been stumbling after them for some time, and reese finally notices because the pokemon trips and lets out a cry as it falls. he turns and sees that it looks about ready to cry... but that's just its usual face, isn't it? reese's brow furrows, but he walks back to it and crouches down. "are you alright?" he asks it. the smoliv gives a little nod, though it's shaking like a leaf. "don't you have any family to go back to?" he asks next. the lurantis at his side gestures as if translating for him, and the smoliv shakes its head.

reese sighs. "do you want to come with me?" they ask, figuring that it must have been watching them for some time. maybe it saw how they interacted with the other wild pokemon?

whatever its reasonings, the smoliv nods. reese takes an empty pokeball out of his bag and taps the smoliv with it, and the grass type gets sucked up and doesn't even put up a fight before the ball stops wobbling and settles in. picking up the ball, reese and carnation start to hurry toward littleroot as reese contemplates a name for the little thing.

in the distance, now, reese hears barking. he follows the sound against his better judgment and discovers three poochyena have cornered a slurpuff, harassing it until it's backed itself into a corner. he doesn't like the looks of this one bit, but he hesitates for a second. is it a good idea to get involved in the territorial disputes of wild pokemon? well, maybe if this were more of a fair fight...

they tell carnation to x-scissor. they can't use leaf blizzard, because that'll hit the slurpuff as well, so they'll have to do this one by one. the bug type attack is super effective, knocking out one poochyena immediately. emboldened, the slurpuff launches itself at a second poochyena, knocking it unconscious with play nice. the third poochyena looks at the situation and scampers away with its tail between it legs.

the slurpuff sniffs the air, taking in reese's scent. apparently deciding he's not a threat just from this alone, the fairy type waves at him in thanks and waddles away.