[attr="class","spiral"]When it came to the phrase, "relative silence", "relative" really was the operative word. Evangeline's companion had managed to for the most part keep her from having to actively participate in any insipid back and forth, but that didn't mean he was quiet. Quite the opposite, he proved to have an exceptional talent for conversing with himself. Thankfully that kind of behavior was easy to tune out.

Still, she couldn't completely ignore him. Their charge had decided to hover near him for most of their walk so far (perhaps sensing with its animal instincts the mood she could hide so easily from people) and she couldn't say she trusted him completely to keep the Castform safe. So she looked behind herself from time to time just to make sure things were proceeding smoothly. Every time he was up to some kind of antics.

It was odd for her, watching him be so chummy with the cargo. Even after years together she rarely felt the compulsion to hug and tug her own Pokemon around. Yet he slotted in so easily with this random thing they'd never see again after this trip. It was . . . well most people would call it endearing, right? At least until his misuse of classic literature tried her ability to keep a straight face.

She took that test of her endurance as a sign to start ignoring the man again, but found herself stopped short of turning around by his sudden approach. Against her better judgement she stopped where they were on the mountain trail to let him get close, and had to stifle a groan at the gift he offered. The whole point of claiming she'd lost her voice was to avoid having to take part in the usual, annoying fanservice that hounded her in public. But of course, fans always had a pen and paper cached on them somewhere.

For a moment she turned the smile up to eleven, crinkling her eyes a little as she flashed her teeth and dimples in feigned gratitude. A distraction. At her sides, hopefully unseen, her hands flexed and clenched in a desperate bid to quell the irritation at having her plan ruined.

After a few seconds she reached out and lifted the offered items from the Castform's little . . . appendages; and with newly steady hands went to work writing a reply in large, looping handwriting.

Thank you! That's so sweet ~ : )

She held the makeshift sign right in front of her face, giving herself a chance to scowl behind it.


[newclass=.spiral]text-align: justify;font-family:calibri;font-size:14px; margin: 0 auto; width: 300px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.spiral b]color: #85a37e[/newclass]

[attr="class","spiral"]It's possible that lowering herself into the grass and rustling through it is a less than effective way to get skittish bug types to show themselves, but as her frustration mounts Evangeline struggles to restrain herself. Over the next few minutes she crawls through the grass; at first slowly and carefully, then at a more moderate pace, and finally insistently. Her already unpleasant mood begins to sour as she works harder for fewer results.

Then there's a rustle in the grass to her left.

Her left hand shoots out and the moment she feels something solid she grabs it and holds on tight. She stands and pulls the object to her in one motion. The dirt from right hand is rubbed off on her swimsuit bottoms, leaving a dark stain across their fine blue fabric, and she can feel the dirt on her knees crumble and fall onto the tops of her feet. But it's fine, she's got a Pokemon! A. . .n Applin. It squirms in a panic in her grasp. Without thinking she tightens her grip and feels the apple shell its hiding inside of crack.

A frustrated scream precedes her throwing it in the direction of her Stunky. Its already compromised, fruit home outright breaks in several places as it meets the ground. Emoting is tiring most of the time, but that's only because most of the time she has to wear faces that aren't hers. It isn't tiring at all to scowl in this moment. The anger displayed is as true as the pain she feels when she bites down on her thumb to avoid another outburst. It won't do to have anyone come looking for her.

"Stunky, Night Slash," she releases her thumb, leaving deep angry grooves where her teeth sat, to practically whisper the command. Stunky's ears swivel for a moment, making sure she's heard her master right, before jumping into action. As the Applin struggles to get upright it's caught from the side by Stunky's claws and crashes to the dirt again.

It retreats before Stunky can be given another order, desperate enough to leave its apple behind and burrow into the ground alone.


[newclass=.spiral]text-align: justify;font-family:calibri;font-size:14px; margin: 0 auto; width: 300px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.spiral b]color: #85a37e[/newclass]

[attr="class","spiral"]Evangeline's superiors within Rocket weren't thrilled when she told them she wanted to work with the League on their Castform operation, even less so when she made it clear she had no intentions of pulling a fast one and stealing the Castform under her charge, but they got over it with a little bit of talking.

Apparently the gang used to be much more serious about disruption. Back then she doubts she would have lasted long; but now that their focus is on accumulating wealth and power she's able to fit right in without too much trouble. All she has to do is flash her existing money and influence and she can do what she wants. Within reason of course.

She reminded them she was making sizable donations to "the effort" regularly, and that doing work for the League publicly will allow her to keep making those donations, and suddenly it was okay. "Just this once". So after a commercial shoot in Mauville she tapped a nice Ranger on the way out of the city and asked about "that Castform thing", and he pointed her to Fallarbor, and there she met up with some nobody -- and now here she is! Trekking up a mountain in shoes she probably could have picked better, trying not to regret this decision she went through so much trouble to make.

The good press is important to keeping any suspicion off her. That wasn't a lie, but that doesn't make it any more fun to go hiking with some public servant. At least she doesn't have to make conversation. She plead laryngitis at the start of the whole thing and shot her partner for the day sad eyes and a mouthed "sorry", so they spent the first leg of their journey in relative silence. Hopefully it stays that way for the rest of the trip. Even just making interested faces at what they have to say is exhausting.


[newclass=.spiral]text-align: justify;font-family:calibri;font-size:14px; margin: 0 auto; width: 300px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.spiral b]color: #85a37e[/newclass]

[attr="class","spiral"]There's a familiar sickly groan from deeper into the forest that pulls Evangeline's attention. Her head pops up from its place hovering over the tall grass to gaze over a small rise in the ground. She's caught between excitement and frustration at the sight of a Weezing. It's so odd to see one in a forest, and the Weezing line was her first interaction with a poison type, but she's not interested in another. At least not right now. She's looking for a new experience.

"Stunky, keep an eye on it, make sure it steers clear. I don't want it scaring anything away," she settles on frustration by the time she speaks up. Stunky blinks at her a few times before cautiously creeping up on the Weezing. It's probably tougher than the Skunk Pokemon, but it's not like Weezing are a battle hungry bunch. Hopefully just the presence of a Pokemon unhappy to see it will keep it at bay.

With that sorted she decides to search more persistently through the grass. She lowers herself into it rather than scanning above it. Her knees and hands find the damp, fertile dirt and she ducks her head under the green waves. Instantly she sees a few little bugs scatter and curses her impatience before beginning to crawl forward slowly -- parting grass with her hands as she moves.


[newclass=.spiral]text-align: justify;font-family:calibri;font-size:14px; margin: 0 auto; width: 300px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.spiral b]color: #85a37e[/newclass]

[attr="class","spiral"]Her shoot out by the water finished early, and so with an hour before the ferry can be expected Evangeline makes a trip into the nearby woods. She's no actual Pokemon Researcher, hasn't spent a minute in a Pokemon Academy, but it's no leap of logic to assume you can find bug types in the woods, and no greater leap to assume some of them might have some kick to them.

"Keep an eye out," she speaks to the Stunky at her side in a hushed, dispassionate tone. She's had to emote for so long today. On the ferry ride from Dewford, with the cameraman and her agent, with the few passerby who recognized her. She never wants to keep the mask on in private but her stomach twists at the mere thought of it today. And not in the good way.

Thankfully, her Pokemon have spent ample time with her alone. Stunky doesn't even flinch at the ice in her voice and does as he's told.

"Come on little ones, I just want a few minutes," she whispers the words to a random melody as she wades into the grass. It tickles her bare legs and feet, and more than once snags on the rings that keep her swimsuit together. She doesn't giggle or fuss at the sensation. Barely registers it. She's got a real task right now, and if she can pull it off right all this bullshit she's been peddling might be worth it.


[newclass=.spiral]text-align: justify;font-family:calibri;font-size:14px; margin: 0 auto; width: 300px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.spiral b]color: #85a37e[/newclass]

[attr="class","spiral"]"So, I'm really familiar with Weezing toxin because, well, obviously," Evangeline speaks to her partner while they make their way through the moonlit Outskirts, gesturing to the floating Weezing beside her as she does so, "But just in case you're unaware it's pretty nasty stuff!"

Her cheery voice is muffled by the bandanna tied around her mouth and tucked into her turtleneck, but somehow still perfectly clear. Probably the years of diction classes and stage work. It's certainly the stage work that has her animatedly turning around and skipping backward while she talks. In her head it's a fun, cute way to shape this stranger's perception of her. In truth it's a way of moving no normal person jumps into at 10pm while traversing abandoned alleys. Not that she's a normal person either, but that's beside the point. She adjusts the hat stuffed with her hair and the sunglasses hanging from her nose before getting back to it.

"You see, they have this neat trick where they cycle their poison gas back and forth while idling about," she continues the lecture no asked for, holding her hands in front of her face and flicking her index fingers "back and forth" in double time to her words, "That mixes up the various chemicals they've broken down, and in the end ups the potency several times from what it would be naturally. If you're not used to it one whiff can put you down for a week!"

She would know, even now if her Weezing gets into a mood and starts blowing off steam she struggles to stay upright.

"Anyways what I'm saying is that once we're to the warehouse you might want to start choosing your breaths carefully!" she tacks some canned laughter to the end of her comment before turning around and walking normally again. They should be just outside the . . . Yep! The aforementioned warehouse looms in front of them and she can already see the smoke billowing out of the crumbling windows.


[newclass=.spiral]text-align: justify;font-family:calibri;font-size:14px; margin: 0 auto; width: 300px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.spiral b]color: #85a37e[/newclass]

[attr="class","spiral"]An interview outside, warmed by the sun and refreshed by the open air. What a unique idea that's been proposed hundreds of times; but Evangeline doesn't complain. She never complains. Just smiles her pretty smile and goes along with the journalist's whims. They're in the middle of the third asinine question about how she's settling into her new life in Hoenn when a light rumble and the sound of a few distinct cries pulls everyone's attention momentarily from their talk.

"Ah, would you look at that," the interviewer gasps and Evangeline lazily follows his sight line. Then she gasps too. She feels a flicker of genuine excitement in her chest and for her moment her smile is very real.

"Oh! Venusaur! And so many of them!" without a word she begins to walk away from her seat in the pretty little cafe to approach the stampede, "What a lucky day, oh if I could just . . ." She kicks of her shoes and breaks into a run towards them. Her head races with trivia. The species isn't well known for their poison, but like any Pokemon their toxins aren't anything to shrug at. If she could just get a touch, but the herd is so thick! It's too dangerous . . .

"Ah, silly me!" the thought strikes her when she's no more than a few feet away from the passing herd. Her left hand opens her purse and then begins to rifle through it. Once she feels the familiar smooth surface of a Pokeball she quickly plucks it up and throws it into the crowd. If she manages to snag one, sampling its poison won't be a problem at all.

"Come on . . ." she licks her lips as it flies through the air.





[newclass=.spiral]text-align: justify;font-family:calibri;font-size:14px; margin: 0 auto; width: 300px;[/newclass]
[newclass=.spiral b]color: #85a37e[/newclass]

STARTER POKEMON

[break][break]






[break][break]