[attr="class","rosepost"]His Heracross did a great job rounding up the Dragalge. Togekiss offered a fairy wind to keep toxic spit from the pokemon from hitting anyone. The breeze pushed their poison attacks back into the water or onto themselves, mitigating any damage.[break][break]

"Part-time," she echoed thoughtfully. Could she manage it? Their preservation efforts interested her, though when it came to preservation, she preferred the kind that kept history in time capsules for appreciation and for learning. She loved document preservation like her parents, though she had yet to make her way through Hoenn museums.[break][break]

She considered the name he offered. "I was told June was the one I dived with to recover supplies from the sunk infrastructure." Kind of a mean older sister type, that June, but Keiko had liked her presence all the same. "Do part-time Rangers get the cool armband, too?"
[break][break]ollie morales [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]He spoke very authoritatively. She was glad the Rangers in Hoenn were so seasoned that this didn't throw them off their rhythm even a little. The Rangers in Sinnoh never saw much action, so there was a bit more panic in their operations than she was seeing here.[break][break]

"Right, let's clean this up." His Blastoise was efficient in clearing the oil. "Follow his lead," she told Togekiss, who used life dew to finish the lurking, seeping oil. [break][break]

She brightened as their efforts visibly made a difference. "I would've never thought to use life dew on the oil. You Hoennites are such a creative lot." She rested her hands on her hips. "It's a shame I can't juggle being a Ranger with my current work as a courier." Getting to assist with federal mail inspection on top of it was plenty of work for one woman.[break][break]ollie morales [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]"Braze. You sound like my grandfather." It was endearing, but in this particular instance, more annoying than anything else.[break][break]

The fight he put up was surprising. She felt incredulous at the notion he'd go this far to defend Gogoat, but that also made it all the more personal, choosing him over her. "Stop... fighting... me!" He ended up on top, but his threat was uninspiring. [break][break]

She furled her hands in the collar of his shirt. "We're on the same team, you can't just defend the enemy!" It wasn't about the cards but the principle of the betrayal. She tugged him down sharply, bringing them eye to eye. "I need to know I can trust you. Can I trust you?"

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Her reign of terror paused only due to disbelief. "Et tu, Althus?" The government name to relay the absolute betrayal of the moment.[break][break]

"You're taking his side? There's so much grass on the island he could've eaten and he took your cards! The deck's imbalanced!" She gestured to the cards behind her. She couldn't scrounge up a real game now that the currency cards were halved. [break][break]

She pointed accusatorily at the Gogoat behind him. "You're a menace." The Gogoat stopped its chewing to meet her gaze, then coughed up chunks of card that he clearly was not digesting well. He had the gall to throw up the delicacy of Yun-gi-oh cards?[break][break]

She lunged.

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]She held her cards high enough to cover her mouth as she was smiling and nearly laughing at him all throughout his turns. The anticipation of what he would do was an excitement she hadn't felt in a while, even as he continued to make strategic missteps. He was getting closer, but even she could only hold back so much. [break][break]

"You're doing good," she said with as much sincerity as she could muster. "It takes practice. There are only so many approaches, so it gets easy to predict. Kind of like chess." She didn't want to crush his spirits so badly he refused to play again. She was running out of playing partners because she had a reputation for win streaks. [break][break]

In her focus on her own turn, she didn't realize how close Gogoat had gotten until the fiend was chewing on multiple cards from Rex's hands. Her face was frozen as she gaped at the Gogoat, too stunned to speak for several moments. The missing cards would unbalance the deck and reduce the amount of energy playable in each game... making it hard to play at all. [break][break]

"I'm going to kill this Gogoat," she whispered as she dropped her cards and rose to her feet. Serenity gave way to murderous intent in an instant.

[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]His confidence was contagious.[break][break]

And calling for back-up made her feel better, too. "Okay, the fire's going out, but what are-" Her question was interrupted with the Dragalge that hopped out of the lapping waves to strike with a fell stinger. She lurched to the side to land in the sand, but the Dragalge was undeterred. She could imagine she'd be angry if her home was surrounded by oil and fire, too.[break][break]

Togekiss used air slash to launch it far into the sea. "We need to work quickly before the entire ocean comes out swinging," she said breathlessly as she stood back up.
[break][break]ollie morales [break]06. Use non-lethal methods to calm or capture rogue pokemon.

[attr="class","rosepost"]She hopped on the balls of her feet at his agreement. "Um, yes, I will teach you everything."[break][break]

They spread out by the extinguished campfire. Keiko did her best to make a flat-ish playing field and went through the entire deck to explain each card's purpose and ability. After lots of hand gestures, explanations, and personal testimonies to the efficacy of various cards, she set them up for a game. She narrated each of her moves and offered rationale.[break][break]

To advise him, she left her side of the game to sit behind him, curling around his arms to comb through his deck and weigh his options for which to play.[break][break]

"There's two strategies here, but it looks like your deck is better set for tributes so you can use more powerful monsters, since mine can take a lot of hits and you're not going to be able to take more actions than me." She leaned her chin on his shoulder as she picked a card, coaching him to use it instead. "If you can predict my moves, you could win in just two turns with this deck."[break][break]

She put the cards back in his hands and gave a light squeeze. "I'll take it easy on you, just play slow."[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]"Oh, you are just the cutest." Pelipper cawed with exasperation as Keiko rushed to her newest cutie. She claimed a victim every time she came to this beach. It was inevitable, like the sunrise. She scooped up the Sylveon and nuzzled it.[break][break]

"You're coming home with me." He seemed a little resistant at first, but he must've seen that the fight was futile. He leaned against her instead, accepting his position in her arms.[break][break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]"No harm in him trying, right?" She was amused by his outburst, but at least he caved quickly. His Togepi was oddly capable. She held her breath as it faced the sea and wagged its finger.[break][break]

It dropped litter on the beach.[break][break]

"Litter." On the beach. She needed to scream.[break][break]

She walked over with the intention of throwing Togepi into the ocean to fend for itself when she noticed one of the objects it'd summoned was a boxset for a card game she recognized.[break][break]

She pulled it from the sand immediately, brushing off the cover to reveal it was a recent expansion. She hadn't played lately because she had been busy since moving to Hoenn. Still, her eyes lit up at the prospect of revisiting it. "Wanna play?"[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Hoenn's beaches were filled with pokemon. Natural, wild ones.[break][break]

In Sinnoh, this is the kind of attention she expected when wearing incense. Or out in sea. But there was something about Hoenn that was filled with displaced pokemon. Sometimes, they were swarms.[break][break]

She kept pokeballs handy, now.[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Incredulity fills as he looks at him, wondering, You respect me less than a gogoat?[break][break]

He offers no solutions or tasks, just soothing words, but any relief is temporary. She's going to lose her mind without a plan. "Stranded doesn't mean we have to be helpless. We have to do something!" She gestures erratically with her hands, out at the abyssal word beyond their shore. "I can't just wait around for help."[break][break]

She's really, really trying not to throw a tantrum, even though the restlessness at her core makes her want to scream and shout. She brings her knees to her chest and rests her chin. "Can Togepi, like, split the seas? We could walk to civilization." Not that they knew what direction that was...[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]