[attr="class","charicon"]

ah, so that's why he's trying to keep this information from leaking. maisie rubs her chin, thinking out loud. "...yet there 'asn't been any information leaked about that particular mission, since you're still tryin' to keep it quiet," she concludes, reading between the lines. "so it's unlikely that this nikola catellus has said anythin' since. that does, unfortunately, point to one possible conclusion... an unpleasant one." it all comes back to the fact that missing persons cases usually resulted in the victim turning up dead, one way or another.[break][break]

"it seems likely that's where the case ends," she says frankly. "but it's not impossible that there's more to it. i can start with tryin' to dig into their past using the information you gave me. i can follow their steps from there." all the better if she can locate the place they used to live... when people vanish, they tend to leave things behind. if the landlord kept anything, she can get a scent from there. the state their apartment was in when they disappeared will help her to understand the situation better too.[break][break]

she closes the case containing her badge and slips it back over dante's head. the dreepy slinks back into her hair, hiding himself once more. "i'll get to th' bottom of this, one way or another," maisie promises. her eyes shine like a dog that's been given a particularly meaty bone. "i'll keep ya posted."

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Josh Devlin
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

she's grabbed with little warning and steered in a direction she does not want to go in. "o-oi!" maisie protests, before the situation sinks in. she feels something against her neck move, and then a light pressure against her back left pocket as dante the dreepy evacuates, taking her phone with it. the ghost disappears, small and unseen, carrying two precious artifacts that can't be discovered if maisie hopes to get out of this in one piece.[break][break]

"what th'hell? is it illegal to walk around at night now!?" she complains, looking between the workers. she has her hands up, hoping to indicate she's unarmed (which isn't strictly true, but it's not like they need to know that). "pretty cheeky, just grabbin' someone out for a walk! what, y'got somethin' to hide?" it's not hard to play dumb. she's constantly doing it, knowing she'll be underestimated so long as she acts like she's not paying attention.[break][break]

meanwhile, dante's gone to get reinforcements... and to make sure her phone with all the cameras on it isn't found in a body search, of course. all maisie carries on her right now is a wad of cash and a small knife hidden in the lining of her jacket sleeve, one that would be difficult to spot without first knowing it's there.

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Nikita Sokolov
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

maisie scrambles to her feet. "ah! thanks, kid!" she says, blithely ignoring the fact that vespa is now engaged in combat. she's dealing with her own issues, lunging for the cigarette lying on the ground... but before she can make contact, something reaches out and slaps her head hard enough to make her fall back to the ground. dazed, she looks up. there's a gothorita standing before her, glaring at her.[break][break]

annoyed, she grabs a pokeball and releases the beast within. a nickt appears, as she sits up and points. "vixen, night slash!" nobody keeps me from my unhealthy coping mechanisms! the little fox charges the gothorita, clawing at it, and the super effective hit is enough to finish the job in one. maisie throws a pokeball, and then snatches her cigarette back victoriously while the ball wiggles.[break][break]

"there!" she crows triumphantly, speaking around the cigarette in her mouth. she takes a puff. "now where was i..."

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Vespa Baskerville
[break]
[break]catching gothorita!

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

one photo is better than nothing, but it might not be enough. the fact that an official trainer's license exists means that at the very least, the identity of "nikola catellus" was created to look as official as possible. but maisie is willing to bet that the history of that identity is a very short one. she frowns, craning her neck around as if trying to make a hard decision.[break][break]

finally, after a moment of hesitation, she speaks. "...oi, dante. gimme that thing." her dreepy pokes its head out of her hair again, bug eyes staring at josh. maisie reaches a hand up and gently unties something from its neck; a locket, of some sort? maisie presses against the clasp, and it unfolds to reveal... "i don't have much with the hoenn league, but this might be even a step up from that." ...a shiny badge for an interpol special agent, with an ID number engraved. it's something she keeps close to her heart, something she doesn't like to use unless she has to. "i'm not official anymore, y'know, but if ya want, y'can look up my history... just keep it quiet, please. your friend isn't the only one tryin' to start anew." thankfully, her official history doesn't contain the gruesome details behind her discharge. it only states that she resigned officially about two years ago, under her original name, christina hunter.[break][break]

as far as agents go, she wasn't anything particularly special, but she did get results, one way or another. most of her existing history lies within kanto... battling rocket there, even as they took hold of the region, trying to hold back the tide despite how impossibly gargantuan the task was. that had been her life's mission, once upon a time. even now she regrets how little a difference she was able to make.

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Josh Devlin
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

maisie folds her arms. "i've done a few odd jobs here and there," she says. "nothin' too big. i've only been in the region for about a year and a half, maybe... two years?" this was to be her safe haven after everything that happened in kanto, but apparently she can never escape the violence wrought by rocket. if she were more optimistic, she'd see it as a chance to make up for her previous sins, but the cynical detective knows better than that.[break][break]

"not knowin' much about their past will make this a bit harder," she explains. "usually i can build up a profile with data based on their history, but that's not bloody likely if they have some form of amnesia. hell, the name you know 'em by not even be their real name." she's dealt with cases like this before. usually the person in question turns up dead in a ditch somewhere, a fact she's not going to burden josh with. "d'you have any pictures of 'em? or anything that might have their scent? what about where they lived? i could snoop around their home, see if i can find anythin' out." if they rented, which seems likely, she could get in contact with their former landlord. when people disappear unintentionally, they leave behind the things they own. if the place was cleared out, though... then they may have gone missing on purpose. it's not much, but it'd be a start.

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Josh Devlin
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

if maisie were privy to yotsukura's internal thoughts, she'd let out a barking laugh. goodness? me? she'd question. more than anyone else, she knows there isn't a drop of genuine 'goodness' in her body. she's always been a problem child, picking fights and pushing people around when it suited her. she's not fighting for justice, but to take her anger out on someone she can be at least somewhat sure deserves it. that rage is always there, making her blood sing and her heart pound, even when she tries to suffocate it with alcohol or various other vices. she's doing this for herself. she knows that now.[break][break]

the badly injured golurk topples over onto elvira. maisie winces, and calls the bird pokemon back. she needs to hit hard and fast to finish her opponent off, and so she tosses another ball out, throwing it like a pitcher might. it sails through the air and then releases her dragapult before returning to her hand. it shouldn't take much to tip the balance... "astonish!"[break][break]

kyra launches herself at the toppled golurk, slapping it with a super effective attack. it's not a particularly powerful one, but it should be enough with the extra boost given by the type advantage.

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Yotsukura Yotsugami
[break]50 mp pokemon knocked out, 50mp reflect on why she's fighting, 50mp describe pokeball throwing style
[break]
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

maisie doesn't personally know any of the pokemon buried here, and yet still she comes by now and then for a visit. she can't make it to the graves she should be visiting, after all, so she might as well pay her respects to those interred here. it's also nice just to have a quiet moment among the graves, enjoying a cigarette or two by herself before she leaves again. sometimes she gets attacked, sure, but it's never anything she can't handle easily enough.[break][break]

it's during one of her smoke breaks here that she stumbles across something new. literally stumbles, in that her foot gets caught on a plant and falls on her face, cigarette going flying. "ow..." she sits up, rubs her head, and starts rooting around, trying to find the cigarette. her hand finds something else-- a shoe. maisie looks up. there's someone sitting there.[break][break]

"...ahhh... hallo? have you seen a cig lyin' around anywhere...?"

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Vespa Baskerville
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

the confusion doesn't stop the golurk from launching itself at her mandibuzz. there's a squawk as elvira wheels around, trying to avoid the attack... and she does manage to dodge the worst of it, but the golurk clips her wing and causes her to fall, just barely managing to catch herself on her two legs. from the way she's moving her wing, maisie can tell she won't be getting back in the air any time soon.[break][break]

"...i won't waste my time on formalities with someone who isn't deservin' of them," comes maisie's response, her tone clipped like her mandibuzz's wings currently. her mouth curves up into a smile. "punishment."[break][break]

an attack that does extra damage depending on how many stages the opponent's stats have been raised. yotsukura's golurk was not only confused, but its special attack had gone up, meaning if this lands, it will do more damage than usual. elvira isn't defeated, and though she can't fly, she can certainly run surprisingly fast on those talons of hers. so, once the golurk has landed, she rushes at the ghost-type, intent on beating it down. revenge, maisie thinks, it always tastes pretty sweet... at least in the moment.

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Yotsukura Yotsugami
[break]50 mp, antagonistic exchange of dialogue, 50mp attempting or taking revenge in some form,
[break]
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

the large plush doesn't even seem to faze her. she just nods thoughtfully, thumb and forefinger to chin as she takes the information in. she's not exactly the most... detective-y looking person, but there's something sharp and unyielding about her amber eyes. "i see, i see... and now something's gone missin', yeah?" she lowers her hand, her expression changing. "no, i'm sure if it was something you'd be callin' on somebody else... it's someone, isn't it? this 'nikola' person?" there would be a reason he didn't just contact local law enforcers or pull his weight with the league to get this done. if someone disappeared, but there was no sign of foul play or kidnapping involved, then it'd be unlikely he could get the law to care... which would result in him contacting her, instead.[break][break]

maisie takes a seat, lounging with one leg crossed over the other. "what d'ya know about this person? d'you think rocket is involved somehow, or...?" were they taking revenge on someone who'd interfered with their plans? she takes out a notebook with a bunch of macabre-looking stickers on it, pulls a pen out of her coat pocket, and clicks it, starting to write. "you don't have to tell me about anythin' strictly confidential. let's start at the beginning."

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Josh Devlin
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

maisie grins. "sorry 'bout poppin' in at a time like this!" she says, cheerful as ever. "i came 'cuz your chews are some of my pokemons' favorites, and the ones i had stashed away all got washed up in the flood." she'd kept them in the cellar storage she mostly used for her bar, so while she'd been able to recover most of her bottles, those poor bones had gotten waterlogged enough that she knew better than to give them to her pokemon. floodwaters are dirty, nasty things, full of bacteria. anything not completely sealed up would have to be tossed.[break][break]

lycidas busies himself with sniffing ashes, but a new scent has started to fill the air. his ears perk up, and his eyes wander to where the scent is coming in strongest. while his trainer is preoccupied with explaining her situation, he starts to plod toward the back door, tail wagging. he glances over his shoulder at the zoroark, almost as if inviting her to come along, bushy tail swishing playfully. "if ya don't have anything new made, though, that's all hunky-dory-- i can see pacifidlog got hit real hard." maisie doesn't notice lycidas go scampering off, as small as he is.

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Tempest Quinn
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]

[attr="class","charicon"]

the woman who enters josh's office certainly has a loud sense of style, despite her small stature. it'd be hard to miss her. but this probably isn't that surprising, seeing as she is the owner of a bar known as "the mauseoleum", its decor just as ghoulish as her own appearance. at the very least there can be no doubt this is maisie maudlin, the person josh contacted recently in regards to something he wants investigated.[break][break]

for this reason, maisie opts not to introduce herself and cuts right to the chase, addressing him. "alright then," she says, her accent distinctly galarian in nature. she leans back against the wall, smiling. "who or what is it you'd like me to find?" a blue-green nose pokes out of her hair. a small dreepy eyes josh up and then retreats back into his hiding spot with the tiniest of 'meep's, apparently satisfied with his appraisal. "i don't often get th'chance to work with gym leaders, so i've been hopin' this will be... incherestin', yeah?" it's mostly been lost items and infidelity cases lately. boring.

[attr="class","bottom"]i'll gouge you out with my fangs.[break]
[break]Josh Devlin
[break][ outfit ref ]
[break]

[attr="class","credit"] [attr="class","fas fa-cloud-moon"]