[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery eyed the shuckle. Despite it being a few feet away, the Pokemon's eyes didn't seem to look up at him. Rather, they were fixated on his legs.

Weird.

"These things shouldn't even exist..." It was mostly a comment to himself, but Montgomery didn't mind if Clover overheard his true feelings on the matter.

"Montgomery. Nice to-"

Before he could finish his introduction, a rumble in the ground caught him off guard. In the distance, a large metallic body emerged, diving down again.

And it seemed to be coming at them.

"C'mon, move!"

[attr="class","montytag"]clover matamata | 02

[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery's eyes trailed across the sky, humming a tune that he'd strum on his guitar should he have it. Unfortunately, it was inside the house, so he pat his legs to create a beat as he sung.

"Hold on."

Squinting, he pointed to a cluster of stars.

"That looks like that one Pokemon those people talk about from the jail. Dokiogi, or somethin'."

[attr="class","montytag"]guessing ★RtnD

[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery rested on his back in the grass, the crickets chirping in the night air. He was alone that night in the petalburg outskirts, Pipsqueak curled next to him in the field. The stars were particularly bright tonight.

He wondered if ameena abadi could see them too.

Narrowing his eyes, he pointed up at a particular constellation.

"That thing there. Don't it look like one of those strange Pokemon in ultra space?" he asked.

Pipsqueak lifted her head, tilting it and giving him a small chirp in response. "Maybe. It's weird lookin'."

[attr="class","montytag"]guessing ★JnVr

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[attr="class","monty"]Oinking cut through the air. A shiny-looking lechonk appeared in front of him, snuffing through the grass in search of a berry or something else.

Montgomery wasn't quite sure.

He gave her the space she'd need to not charge at him, continuing down the trail for his next capture.

[attr="class","montytag"]warden's ticket | 2/4 balls

[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery half-hoped that he had just made it up. It wasn't like his hearing was perfect, spending day after day at the firing range and using his pistol in battles. He deflated a bit when Howard said he'd heard it too.

"Dammit."

He turned, the flashlight catching a glimpse of something. It was colorful and stick-like. The thing vanished as soon as the light touched it.

"Howard, I think we need to-"

Fork-like projections clawed at him, digging into his side. Montgomery let out a pained shout, his base instincts telling him to slap away whatever had drawn blood. However, hypnosis attacked his brain.

And he dropped his flashlight, being led by the sigilyph further into the darkness.

[attr="class","montytag"]howard slayte | my first partner pokmeon

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[attr="class","monty"]They still had a bit of time before nightfall hit. So, Montgomery decided to take a breather, listening to Locke as they explained what they'd heard.

"Montgomery, Dewford PD. Nice to meet ya."

Still, none of it added up. Livestock disappearing without a trace? Nothing to be seen from it?

"Do ya think it's really ghosts or somethin'?" He didn't mind picking at their brain a bit, while the sun finished setting.

[attr="class","montytag"]Locke Jamison | beheeyem at the barnyard

[attr="class","monty"]There was a bit of annoyance that crossed Montgomery's face, barely noticeable in the way his lips thinned and his jaw tightened. The deputy wanted to bite back that maybe he should listen to someone who'd been on this side of things before.

Instead, he bit his tongue and refused to indulge information that wasn't necessary to the gym leader.

Montgomery flattened his body to the ground, peering over the small incline to see if anyone had emerged. He was expecting a rocket grunt or two to be passing by.

But what he saw was nothing. It was as if the sound of twigs breaking was a figment of his imagination.

"The hell..."

He perched on his elbows, peering through his binoculars once more, as the call of Pipsqueak squealed through the air. She'd spotted something, and it alarmed the illumina skarmory.

Waving his hand to nothing — because he assumed that Josh was still around — Montgomery stood and took off in the direction of his bird.

When he found her, she was on the ground, clearly distressed. But he didn't see anything. "Ya spot anythin'?" he asked the gym leader.

[attr="class","montytag"]Josh Devlin | hgt g

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[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery tilted his head, glancing over as Vespa Baskerville appeared seemingly out of nowhere. He had to wonder...

Why was a girl as young as her here? Did teenagers get a thrill out of the unknown and hauntings? Though, to be fair, his teenage years were spent committing crime and murder.

He'd say he wasn't the best judge of character.

"It's not that. I don't believe there's a single ghost here."

He didn't hesitate to confess his beliefs. "Ghosts are justa figment of imagination. People wanna explain things usin' stories instead of reality."

Montgomery took several steps forward, beginning his trek to a real investigation.

[attr="class","montytag"]Vespa Baskerville | hgt a

[attr="class","monty"]The person spoke back. Montgomery had to heave a sigh of relief, since he was beginning to wonder if the desert's heat was beginning to affect his mind.

The stories of travelers, swearing they found a sparkling oasis, only to die of thirst in the middle of a waterless desert, echoed in his mind.

"Not quite." If he were looking for fantastic views, he'd probably have gone somewhere that wasn't so damn hot that he wanted to rip his shirt off.

Instead, he stepped through the sand and approached Clover. "I'm lookin' for somethin'. What're you doin' here alone?" he asked, sparing a small glance to the shuckle and their side.

[attr="class","montytag"]clover matamata

[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery's eyes flicked up briefly to meet Yuina Higashi's, sharing her shared expression of concern. If their party wasn't careful, ignorance could, and would, kill them. He merely cleared his throat, as if to move the conversation past the stalled awkwardness.

"Let's get a move on. More we stand here, more we're gonna end up in that pile'a filth," he grunted, his hand indicated to the disgusting collection of gunk that had collected on the walls and floor of the cave over time.

So, the deputy took the lead, having to hunch his head down in order to pass through the cavern. Unlike his female companions, he had a disadvantage of height. He did, however, have longer legs.

Those legs carried him forward, further ahead to spot a seemingly unstable wall. Where the cave fluttered as eternatus breathed, the spot he located appeared to vibrate. He had a guess that there was nothing holding the spot steady from the other side.

"There. We tear down that wall, we get an openin' further in."

Montgomery's lungs began to burn, and he coughed aggressively as the poison leaked fumes into the air. It was an unpleasant burn, far different from the kind he had while smoking his cigarettes. And, it was probable that it was affecting his lungs as badly due to their poor shape from countless years of nicotine use.

[attr="class","montytag"]Yuina Higashi Morrighan Cahill Lavinia Kubrick