"that sucks," he mentions as he thinks of a follow up. "but, hey! better that you find out now than later. can't have ya wastin' time on things that don't get ya anything."

it's a late realization upon leaving rocket, but it was an experience he doesn't regret. he's just glad that it ended on his terms before it got too late for him.

she quickly changes the topic, to which he doesn't really mind. he takes the jacket she picked out for him and tries it out in front of a mirror.

"steel-capped if possible," he adds to his criteria of boots. "anything i can use for both work and casual wear. they have those, right?"

he smirks as he mentions it. he already has someone to employ him, but given the reason how she got dumped, he'd rather not mention it, or at least not now.

"hell yeah. just connect some metal wiring to a current and wrap it around the area. it's that easy."

as the alternative is thrown out in the air, wolfgang starts to rethink his choice.

"it'll only be effective against smaller pokemon though. to get an ursaring off, you'd need a high enough voltage."

he scratches the back of his head as he comes to that conclusion.

"ya, let's just do yer thing."

it would be way cheaper than trying to set up a generator strong enough to produce electric currents strong enough to stun a big beast. not to mention it's going to take a lot of space given the current technology available to the market, and how little wolfgang has in the bank.

the outburst comes as he tries to make himself appear tougher than the softie his sibling tries to imply that he is.

"nah, nah, nah, nah. i ain't doin' it for ya. i'm doin' it for me!" he explains, trying to explain to abigail. "i ain't findin' anyone at this point! w-well, not like i'm tryin' to find anyone, but still!"

he heaves a sigh. his shoulders fall to their sides in a heavy slump.

the tone quickly changes when the sappy comment comes. he tilts his head to the side as he questions her, raising a brow as he tries to read her. he doesn't know much about her due to distancing himself from her for a long time, but the feeling of familiarity is still there.

"why? what happened?" he questions. "ya got in a fight or somethin'?"

his conclusion still came from childhood memories, referencing how she acted back then without considering how she might have matured in any way. after all, it was impossible in his point of view.

with how things are going, wolfgang believes he needs all the help he can take if he was to survive the next year.

the shrine was a trek and a half from his usual places of interest, and something tucked all the way in meteor falls didn't fit the ideal place for him to visit for the new year. still, it's something that he needs to visit to increase his luck.

if only he had some in the first place.

facing the shrine, he clasps his hands with his marowak. a prayer comes to wish him luck for the new year, and more importantly, the stability he needs to get his life back in track.

the sentiment is shared, but wolfgang has nonetheless cringed at the statement.

"stop talking like that. you sound like someone from a cartoon about to make a statement at the end of the episode!" one of the earliest memories he shared with her has subconsciously been used as a reference.

his mouth ends in a snarling position, but it mellows down to a smile. he ruffles her hair with an open palm as he turns and gets back to what he was working on earlier.

"i still need to finish this thing for a customer. y'er free to stay for as long as ya want."

the scowl worsens at her comment as he finds himself staring at a mirror on the wall. subtly self-conscious for a moment, he gets a hand to cover his mouth to hide the expression until he composes himself again.

by the time abigail inquires about his choices in clothes, his lips curve to an unnatural smile. it's forced and his brows are still somewhat furrowed, but it's a slight smile nonetheless.

"i guess we can go for leather jackets. those don't wear out fast and they're easy to wash. and we can go for boots for the same reason."

he didn't outright say he needed them, but preferences were given out anywyas.

it wasn't his kind of thing to be around dangerous places. maybe in the past he would've gone here without any other complaints, but not when he's trying to change his lifestyle to be a completely normal citizen devoid of heroism, or the opposite of that.

unfortunately, the need for cash is there.

employed under one of the fronts that one of hoenn's biggest companies lead, wolfgang finally has the reason to get out of his 'comfort zone' and brave the storms, like every other citizen of hoenn.

as he walks around, he finds a flygon flying imposingly in a distance. the first instinct would be to take out his typhlosion, regardless of type disadvantage, but realizing that there's a chance of him changing forms gets him to double take.

he assesses his other options? rotom? riolu? corviknight? none of them were actually used in battling. he bites his lip and releases the flying-type, hopping on its back to make a quick getaway.

wolfgang doesn't take the time to rest. as soon as they get inside, he quickly takes out his rotom from its pokeball. he whispers a command, and it starts to zoom, the plasma trail it leaves behind visible under the darkness of the blackout.

and soon enough, the office of the power station gets their lighting.

"figures this place just needs a power source." he looks up to the lighting fixtures overhead and clicks his tongue. the lights flicker in response. "my rotom just has enough for the lights though."

locks will still stay locked, unless they get better power.

he paces around the room, looking around at the thrashing the place has experienced. his heart is still racing from physically exerting himself with the sprint, but his interest in piqued with the smashed electronics and exposed wires.

"what's the plan now?" he asks as he shifts debris around with his foot to take an inventory of the scraps they have around. "y'all wanna explore this place? it's not like we can go out anytime soon."

he never really found the need to have an intricate wardrobe. a few almost identical shirts for casual wear and a set or two for more formal events was all he needed. he would've been set for life had littleroot not been the target of demolition of both rocket and league.

instead, he finds himself filling up the destruction of his wardrobe with his sister. he looks at the shirt she presses on him, shrugs since he's indifferent about it, and replies.

"i got you here literally to get me the good shit. i ain't gonna have any preference on what i look."

wolfgang only has two things to look out for with his clothes: the price and if it's tacky. as long as it's not gross, it's good to go. that doesn't mean it was the good though. at best, he just took cheap ones that looked plain.

"just tell me what looks good on me, and i'll get a few more of those in different colors or somethin'."

"you, duh."

he's the only other person that probably knows of the garden's location.

wolfgang dusts himself as he stands up, all while his riolu tries its best to assist the trainer. it gets a scratch on top of its head as a reward, though it didn't really do anything in that regard.

"i'll just ask ya to set up an electric fence or somethin' 'round the perimeter, and hook it up to a generator maybe. i got a spare one anyways. that's easy shit right there."

plans were already set up for the worst case scenario. he's already trying to simplify an instruction manual in his head as he talks.

"whaddya do to prevent this kinda thing to happen? ya deal with sweet smellin' plants all year 'round."

wolfgang grumbles.

it's not exactly her fault he opted to stay away from their immediate family. she was a collateral from the circumstances that ultimately did nothing but worsen the borders between them.

guilt kicks him in the shins as she offers him a chance.

"ugh, fine." he breaks, unable to keep the air of superiority from his teasing tone. "don't expect much though. you didn't miss much from your brother."

after all, his situation just regressed every time misfortune strikes on him. unlike her and her motivations, he supposed he just lacked the nudge to the right direction.

must be nice to be confident.

he can't share the same optimism CALLISTA MOON and Cade Atreides has, and despite his reaction to her, wolfgang finds his view closer to sunny clark's given that his skills as a trainer were probably lacking to comfortably defend himself. still, reassuring words from the two shift the mood to something more pleasant. a field trip to another dimension didn't warrant a friendly exchange, but here they are.

darkness swallows everything in an instant. an instruction sounds, and wolfgang feels someone clasp his hand. the shock from the event's development keeps him still long enough until a lone sableye appears and acts as their source of light.

as everyone gets their bearings back, wolfgang turns his head to do a quick scan of the surroundings.

"we're gonna be movin' alright..." he responds to Cade Atreides as he slowly backs away, pointing at a direction behind them. "run."

yellow eyes shine from the darkness, their dot of a pupil looking down at them. the ground shakes, giving a clear picture for the group that whatever was in the darkness was a force to be reckoned with.

he leads the charge sprinting, expecting the other three to follow. in any case, he should be the slowest runner anyways since he's the one without a job that gets physical.

out of everyone here, wolfgang treats himself as the least capable in this scenario.

Cade Atreides announces himself as the de facto protector of the group, which wolfgang just shrugs off. he's certain he's also just here for the same reason as everyone else. the same sentiment goes for CALLISTA MOON and sunny clark as well, even if both were public servants by profession.

they're just here for greed, whether by monetary value or the experience of it.

"wolfgang volkov. i'm jus' here to see stuff." it's not always that he gets to handle alien tech. when he found out a chance opened up, he was quick to take it. as always, he realizes too late that maybe he didn't want to be around people he doesn't know and trust his life with them.

the introduction that follows Cade Atreides's gets interrupted by sunny clark's worries. his expression contorts.

"huh? so soon? we haven't even-!" wolfgang bites his tongue and shakes his head. cutting his outburst short, he heaves a sigh and composes himself. "i s'pose a place to fall back to in case we get separated is also good..."

it wasn't necessarily her point, but it's another perspective that supports the same action.