The Bad Guys {RP}

Teri and Alan Romer
Shady Mansion, Po Town
Affected RPers: @Death’s Spook

He had almost successfully drifted off to sleep when Teri suddenly felt the slap and jerk he associated with Lucina grabbing one of his arms. Within a span of seconds, he went from being almost asleep to almost in a blind panic. “Luci--”

“Solomon says we have visitors. They came in through the entrance, but they’ve been cloaked in shadows--” Lucina had begun to explain, however Teri felt another presence brush his mind before...almost stepping inside.

“Ah, there we go, awake!” a cheerful but oddly deep voice chimed--Solomon the Slowking had finally jumped into the discussion. “What Lucina was saying is correct--I am detecting four active minds, one woman, three Pokemon, and one of the Pokemon is of a much higher intelligence, the sheer size suggests a Metagross, possibly? They aren't giving off a negative aura, but I’d take precautions...it seems they expected some measure of warning, however, as they’re standing in front of the door now, but none of them has moved to ring the doorbell--I’ve already warned the night guards to observe, but not to attack without provocation. At the very least, have Beetle accompany yo--”

“We shall go as well, milord,” the piece of cloth around Teri’s forearm tightened possessively as Lucina demanded to go with him to greet their odd night guests.

“Lucina,” the young man grumbled, sitting up and carefully attempting to wiggle out of bed. His Salazzle, Morrigan, had a habit of sleeping curled up beside him, and Herman the Passimian had claimed the foot of the bed as his sleeping area long ago. “Luci, why don't you go warn Alan’s guards? Beetle will take good care of me, and so will the night guards, but someone’s got to watch over Allie. Can you do that for me?” The cloth snapped off his arm in a gesture that suggested displeasure, but he knew she wouldn't argue. Not when she knew that Teri loved his little brother more than his own life. Without further conversation, the Doublade floated out of the bedroom to post herself in front of a door just down the hallway. Now he just had to get his mostly gentle giant awake.

By the time the young man answered the door, several minutes had passed. He stood in the doorway wearing a fluffy black bathrobe over pinstriped cotton pajama bottoms, his house slippers remained ignored some feet away. His hair had had just enough time to make an absolute mess of itself, poking out every which way, and he rubbed at his eyes tiredly, looking particularly carefree and sleepy, despite the hulking form of his Golisopod standing behind him. “Thank you for paying a visit to--” he paused to stifle a yawn before continuing, “to the Po Town Pokemon Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, my name is Teri. What can I help you with tonight?” Even as he spoke, Teri’s eyes flashed over his potential opponents--a woman whose height rivaled his own, the Whimsicott perched on her head, a Metagross, and a Chandelure. “I assume a Pokemon surrender?” he finally added on. Pokemon like Metagross and Chandelure were rumored to be difficult to train, and normal people didn't drop in at absurd times of the night to chat. Either this was a surrender, or something fishy was going on, and he wasn't sure which it was.

Beatrice Bennett
Carpark, Hau’oli
Affected RPers: @Desolate Divine

By the time they reached the parking structure, it had emptied out. They’d heard the unmistakeable rev of engines earlier, but for it to be empty? Beatrice hadn't planned for that.

“Bust,” Lance observed, a sour expression tugging at his mouth. As much as he had opposed the trip, he didn't like the idea of going home empty-handed. Apparently neither did his trainer, as Beatrice walked around the perimeter of the structure’s top floor before picking a wall and leaning against it.

“Not yet. They’re known to do races--or that’s what everyone said. Let’s wait a bit before leaving, it’d speak badly of me to give up so soon,” the woman replied, to which the Gallade gave an annoyed shake of the head.

“It speaks badly of you to be out looking for someone to hire in the middle of the night, in an otherwise deserted parking garage,” he shot back, but Beatrice only smiled in reply as the sound of an approaching vehicle met her ears. Lance tensed immediately, and moved towards her, watching as the woman’s face lit up with a smile that the Gallade hadn’t seen in at least two years--it was like someone had flipped a switch.

She approached the car with caution that was so well veiled that Lance only knew about it because he was maintaining a presence in her mind, that sunny smile still gracing her lips. “Finally, a person! I was starting to wonder if maybe I’d missed everyone,” she greeted the driver as soon as he was in earshot. Her eyes scanned the car quickly--it looked sleek and fast, something that might actually be worthy of racing, instead of something meant for more practical transport. In actuality, Beatrice knew little to nothing about cars, but that was why she was looking to hire someone else.

She just hoped this group knew someone she could hire, and that she wouldn't need to pull out her heavy hitting team members in order to get out of the garage safely.

OOC: FINALLY! Okay it won't take me as long to reply to this again, I swear.

Morgan “Camelot” Fey
Melemele Sea -> Hau'oli City
Affected RP’ers: @Pokemon Trainer Sarah

Morgan closed her eyes and angled her face upwards. She was leaning against the railing on a small boat currently crossing the Melemele Sea from Akala Island. She had only just arrived in Alola about a week prior when she had heard of everything that was going on. Now, with the Natural Order rally just around the corner, it was time to act.

Merlin ruffled his feathers as he kept a tight grip with his talons on the railing of the boat. Morgan looked over at him before turning her gaze back to the setting sun over the sea. It was a beautiful sight. The colors reflecting of the sea were truly inspiring. Morgan made a mental note to include such a scene in her next book at some point. Maybe it would inspire someone too.

“We’re nearing port!” a voice called over the wind. Morgan looked back towards the helm of the ship and smiled at the person inside. While they had only been friends briefly, the two had quickly bonded. Kiosia Marinosa truly perplexed Morgan, but the woman was remarkably likable, and went out of her way to bring Morgan to Melemele Island despite the fact that she needed to head out with her crew early the next day. If this wasn’t true friendship, Morgan did not know what was.

The small boat drew closer to the docks. Kiosia quickly worked through the process of docking the boat before turning off the engine and helping Morgan off. With just her pokemon and her backpack, Morgan hadn’t brought much. Kiosia looked Morgan over one last time before grinning.

“Best of luck to you! I’ll be watching for you on the television if we get back to civilization in time. Don’t do anything too reckless now, okay?” Morgan rolled her eyes at Kiosia’s commentary, though she could hear the small tone of worry in Kiosia’s voice.

“Just don’t get caught by the police this time. I won’t be able to get to Akala Island in time to bail you if you get caught again.” Kiosia’s smile grew a bit wider at that. “I promise I’ll be careful,” Morgan added, “Hopefully we’ll meet again soon. I’ve got your pokegear number so if I need anything I’ll call, okay?” Kiosia saluted then hugged Morgan. The two girls embraced for a few moments before Kiosia released Morgan. Morgan stood on the docks and watched as Kiosia undocked the ship then departed, the small boat disappearing into the ocean towards Akala Island. Sighing a little, Morgan started into Hau'oli City.

Quite candidly speaking, Morgan was slightly nervous, as she usually was when visiting a new place. She would have felt much more comfortable if Kiosia had stayed, but that was not meant to be, it seemed. Oh well, that just meant Morgan had to make some new friends. As Morgan left the docks and began to look around for a place to spend the night, a familiar sweet scent curled around Morgan’s nose and made her mouth water. If there was one thing that Morgan thought Alola was superior to all in, it was their desserts. Upon arriving in Alola, Morgan had quickly discovered that her kryptonite was malasadas. Morgan quickly located the shop and purchased a few to go.

Morgan resumed her search as she ate one of the malasadas, Merlin perched on her shoulder, turning his head back and forth. He hooted in caution when he realized Morgan was not paying attention to where she was going, but it was too late. In her distraction of the out of this world taste of the Melemele Malasadas, Morgan walked right into someone else. Out of surprise, Morgan dropped her bag of Malasadas and stumbled back.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, bending down to collect her things as well as anything the woman she bumped into may have dropped. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. It happens sometimes, you know? I tend to lose focus and just operate on autopilot.” Morgan knew that probably wasn’t enough. She paused in putting all her malasadas back in her take out bag and held one of the unopened ones out to Alice. “Maybe this will make up for my carelessness?” she offered.

Sable Hawthorn
Hau’oli City

The streets of Hau’oli city were bright and lively even after the sun went down. It was one of the things that Sable actually found familiar about the island region; while there were a number of cities in Unova that seemed to shut down as night fell, Castelia City was as bright and alive at night as it ever was during the day, and that was where her journey stalled for the longest period of time during her journey through her home region.

Not that she ever really got stuck during her journey, but Castelia was so large that there always seemed to be something new to see that stalled any plans Sable had to leave. She would have missed out on so much if she had just done what she needed to while there.

Perhaps that was why she was taking the time to wander around Hau’oli City now, a day before anything really happened there, just to be sure she saw everything there was to see. She had no idea how the next day was going to transpire, and she had no intentions to have regrets should she not be welcome back into the city in the future. Not that she really thought things would ever escalate to the point where she would be kicked out of an entire city.

She honestly had no idea what it would take for that to even happen.

“You really gotta stop worrying,” Robin said from his perch on her shoulder. “I know you never really worry about yourself, so that means you’re worried about us, but we can take care of ourselves! And we all want to do this. I mean, if you decided not to go, some of us would probably go ourselves!”

Sable smiled despite herself. “Then I’d really have something to worry about.”

“Absolutely!”

“Huh." Sable shook her head, smile not leaving her face. "You know, that almost sounds like blackmail, with how eagerly you're agreeing.”

“It totally is,” the Swoobat confirmed.

“Good to know.”

Robin tapped her on the side of the head with a wing. “Now I know something’s the matter. You’d usually be teasing me about being so upfront or something, not just stop at that.”

“Nothing's the matter,” Sable insisted. “I’m just a bit worried about tomorrow; you were right about that.”

“You’re not the type to be that worried about yourself, though?”

Sable put a hand in the pocket of her jacket and grabbed the Hourglass necklace within. “Oh, it’s just nerves. It’ll be gone before we need to be there.”

“Really? Just nerves?” Robin hummed for a moment. “Alright, fine, whatever you say, but you’re not getting out of this talk if you’re still like this tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, yeah...”

Sable took a moment to glance at her surroundings once again. Everything seemed a bit duller; be it because it had gotten late enough that things were really starting to shut down, she was too tired to take in just how bright everything was, or just some weird indicator of her mood. One way or another, she wasn’t very interested in going anywhere anymore.

“Let’s go back to the hotel,” she decided. “We should probably have a good night’s sleep for tomorrow, anyway.”

“Sounds good to me!”

It took barely a change in direction for Sable to be walking in the direction of Route 2, and the two began their trek in silence.

Garret Marshall
Hau'oli City

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

Garret Marshall
Hau'Oli City Carpark

"No, you haven't missed us just yet." Garret replied to the unusual woman who approached him. He had to admit, she was easy on the eyes, "The others will be here as soon as they make sure the a**hole I just beat comes back here and keeps his end of the deal."

"So are you here to admire the cars?" Garret asked. Before the woman could answer, the sound of a badly maintained V8 engine echoed from the street below. Garret looked over the edge to see the VL driving down, with a few of the regulars driving behind and either side of it. They weren't letting him get away.

"When the others get her, stay behind the car. Things may get ugly." Garret said, "It should be fine, but just to be safe, trust me."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winter

Beatrice could only quirk an eyebrow at the driver's initial reply--so he was a racer! That, however, was overshadowed by the fact that apparently she had arrived at a bad time. Confident in her Pokemon's skills, she opened her mouth to object to staying behind the car, but Lance already had her by the arm, and was tugging her away. "He may talk like a potential thug, but I do agree that you should stay behind the car," the Gallade told her, as though to try to keep her from complaining.

Instead, Beatrice let herself be tugged, though a slight pout tugged at ther lips--she clearly wasn't pleased with this sudden turn of events. Not one to be discouraged, she slipped a pokeball from the belt at her waist, and gripped it tightly. Sid the Inkay wasn't exactly the strongest member of her team, but he was good for disorienting potential problems, which the driver looked to have on his hands.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

Garret Marshall
Hau'oli City Carpark
The woman seemed as if she wanted to object, but with her Gallade, made her way behind the car. Less than a minute later, a large group of cars made their way up the ramp to the rooftop where they stood, one of them being the VL.

The newcomer got out of his car, with a look of fury, and made his way towards Garret.

"You motherf-." He began, stopping in his tracks, when he realized he was looking down the barrel of a gun in Garret's hands.

"We had a deal. $5000 to the first across the finish line. Get back here first for Double or Nothing." Garret said, "I crossed the finish line first, and got here first, all without going past fourth gear. So you owe me 10K."

"I'm not giving you anything! There was no way that was a fair race!" the newcomer shouted, "You said your car didn't even have four cylinders, and that's a load of bulls**t! It must be at least a V8."

There was a roar of laughter from the others watching this, with Garret himself having a chuckle. The newcomer looked around confused. Garret walked to his car, opened the door and pulled the latch to open the bonnet. He stuck his hand underneath and pulled the lever to lift it.

"Come here." Garret said to the newcomer. When he didn't move, Garret spoke again, "That wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. Just remember who has the gun."

The newcomer made his way over cautiously, as Garret gestured to the engine in the FD.

"Does that look like any V8 you've ever seen before?" Garret asked. The newcomer muttered to himself quietly.

"I didn't quite hear that."

"No..."

"That's a rotary engine. It has a displacement of roughly 1900cc, and puts out nearly 300hp, as opposed to the 160 or so that would come from that 30 year old V8 you have running that pile of s**t." Garret said menacingly, "It has no cylinders or pistons. It uses three rotors instead. So I kept my end of the deal. Now you have to pay up. $10,000."

The newcomer was silent, trying to find some excuse to have none.

"We have all exits to this place blocked." Garret explained, "Unless you feel like jumping, we aren't letting you leave here without paying, and I will get my money one way or another."

Upon another round of silence, Garret sighed.

"F**k this." he muttered to himself, before pointing the gun at the windscreen of the VL and shooting. A bullet went through it, as well as the drivers headrest, probably lodging itself in the back seat. Everyone remained silent. They had seen Garret pull a gun when people didn't agree to their end of the deal but throught it was just for show. The watched the scene nervously.

"For f**s sake, fine, a**hole." the newcomer muttered to himself, before pulling two wads of cash out, and handing them to Garret.

Garret began counting the money as the newcomer spoke.

"I don't know why I don't go to the police. Tell them I was held at gunpoint and had 10K taken from me..."

"Do it. Tell them you staked it on an illegal drag race." Garret said, not looking away from counting the money, "They'd have a field day, defecting your car. I heard that straight pipe from a mile away, and the tires are balder than my father. The brakes sound like they were the ones that came with the car, and there is no way those headlights are legal. You know it's only running on seven cylinders right? It is way too weak to be running on all eight, and it shouldn't be shaking like that, so it probably needs new spark-plugs as well."

The others laughed to themselves, whilst Garret counted the money.

"Sweet, it's all here." Garret said before looking the newcomer in the eye, "Now as for you. You came to OUR meet, talked s**t on all OUR cars, then lost to US, and tried to get out of your end of the deal. You can now politely f**k off, and never return here, if you know what's good for you."

The newcomer left, red in the face both from a bruised ego, and pure rage, as Zach made his way over.

"I radioed ahead to the finish line and told them to not let him get away." Zach explained.

Garret pulled out $2000 from the wads of cash, and handed it to Zach.

"Split this with the guys that helped you." Garret said, "Thanks for your help. I wouldn't be $8000 richer without you."

As Zach went to split their earnings for the night, Garret remembered the other newcomer. The strange woman and her Gallade that stood behind his car. The other guys didn't seem to have noticed her with the scene that had just occurred.

"Sorry about that." Garret said as he made his way over, "I have dealt with his type before. Cocky, and too stupid to realize that they've f**ked up."

Most of the others had returned to their cars, and were starting to head off.

"Everyone is starting to split. Someone has probably reported the gunshot, so the police will be here soon." He said to the unusual woman, "Sorry that's all you got to see. But can I give you a lift somewhere?"

Notes

Spoiler:

Rotary Engine is another variety of engine that uses rotors instead of pistons. Basically different design doing the same thing.
http://hypescience.com/wp-content/up...2013/05/10.gif
Standard Piston Engine
http://www.netanimations.net/Wankel_Rotary_engine.gif
Rotary Engine.

Straight pipe is an exhaust modification that basically cuts out the muffler from the exhaust making the car stupidly loud. Illegal in some places.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winter

Beatrice Bennett
Hau'oli Carpark

As soon as the gun came out, Lance had Beatrice behind him, mind ready to fire off a Protect, though he wasn't sure how well it would work one something that wasn't a Pokemon move. For his trainer, though, he would try. "Put Sid back, release Sage, have him use Teleport. I am not about to let you--" the sentence went unfinished as the sound of the gun firing filled the air. Realizing it hadn't been fired in their direction, Lance yanked Beatrice down, closer to the ground, making them both even less noticeable than they had been. "I swear Jonah is going to get an earful about this when we get back. Someone elee needs to do fieldwork--"

"I'm the one who went to where the car people were instead of hitting up all the garages in town, stop complaining about Jonah. It's not like anyone else would hire me," Beatrice countered mentally, too shaken up herself to speak.

"Before this gets any more out of hand, Sage. Teleport. Now. Before he comes back for yo--" Of course, it was at that precise moment that the driver stepped around the car and began apologizing and offering up a brief explanation. Lance shot to his feet, putting himself between the armed man and his trainer, clearly not trusting him with the woman one bit.

"He knows cars, Lance, what if this night wasn't a bust after all?" Beatrice slowly stood, a look of shaken apology on her face. "Er, sorry, Lance is very protective of me," she told the man, reaching out to place her empty hand on the Gallade's back, the other still clutched her Inkay's pokeball. "Stand down."

"Beatrice, I--"

"Stand down, Lance. If anything goes sour, I'll use Sid, then Paul, then Sage. Disorient, wipe his memories, then hop out like I was never here." As the Gallade eased, she looked the driver dead in the eye, and said quietly, "I do have a question, though, if I refuse that ride, what happens?
Do I get a gun in my face, too?"

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

Garret chuckled at the question.

"As long as you don't ever end up owing me money, you won't have to worry about this." Garret replied gesturing to the gun, before putting it away, "You're fine to say no. I just know that wherever you're going will be a fair walk, seeing as I drove past you walking down Main Street on my way here."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winter

Beatrice tilted her head slightly, "So you're the genius who was flying down the street, I thought I recognized that car," she replied, seeing to ease up, but Lance noted that the tension didn't quite leave her body, and she still hadn't loosened her grip on Sid's Pokeball. Lance moved back, closer to her, though he was painfully aware that at standing height, Beatrice was several inches taller than he was, and that he couldn't shield all of her. "Speaking of cars, I gather from that conversation that you know them pretty well? If you don't mind answering a few questions, I'll take you up on that offer." Lance glanced back at the woman in alarm--she couldn't possibly be entertaining the idea of asking this man for help.

Of course, all he could feel from her was determination and curiosity now. She was wary of the man in front of them, but not much more wary of him than she would have been of anyone else, and that worried the Gallade just the tiniest bit.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

"Sure. But let's get going before the cops show up." Garret said, going to the passenger side and opening the door, "Though I only have two seats..."

The woman put her Gallade back in it's Pokeball, before climbing into the passenger seat of the car. The interior was mostly black, with leather racing seats and most of the plastic replaced with carbon fiber to reduce weight. The foot-wells were illuminated by a bright white LED from above. The standard stereo had been pulled out, and been replaced with an iPad Mini. The gauges with the speed and revs had been replaced with digital instruments, with the only part that looked standard being the steering wheel.

Garret climbed in, and started the car, causing the engine to roar to life. Before he took off however he opened an app on the iPad, and placed his thumb over the thumb print scanning home button. There was a click as the cover that concealed the passenger airbag clicked open. When Garret bought the gun, he built traps into all of his cars that only he could open, in the event of being pulled over and searched. He rarely had passengers, so the airbag wasn't being used. He just had to hope he didn't crash tonight.

Once they were out of the carpark, Garret made his way down main street, sitting at about 75mph.

"So you said you have some questions?" Garret asked, "I own a garage around here, probably the best on the island. I may be able to help."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winter

Beatrice refrained from giving a low whistle as her eyes traveled across the inside of the car, though a triumphant grin slid onto her face as the man offered up that he owned a garage. "We will, we will," she murmured, before speaking up at a more normal volume. "I'll admit I don't know much about cars myself, but if I did, I wouldn't be looking to hire someone. That being said, it certainly looks like there's been a fair bit of work doen on your car--did you do it yourself?" she asked, scientist's curiosity starting to kick in.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

"Mostly yes." Garret replied, "When I bought this, it was without an engine or gearbox. This is an RX7, but the engine is 20B from a Mazda Cosmo, and the gearbox is a 6 speed from a Mazda RX8, that I've modified to handle the extra power."

Garret dumped the clutch and shifted up a gear, cruising at about 90mph.

"I hand picked the parts and designed the custom stuff myself. The tedious s**t that anyone can do, I paid other people to do. The specialty stuff that I don't trust anyone else to do, I did myself." Garret replied, "I have this and an S15, but also did up an RX3 and an AE86 Sprinter. Then there is my current project which I am keeping on the down-low."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winter

"That's...really impressive. At least, to someone like me... Though can you really say you're keeping it on the down-low if you're telling the stranger that just hopped in the car with you?" Beatrice asked, though in her head, the guy''s resume was starting to rack up. Somehow, she'd managed to luck out in spite of the gun incident and the guy's thing for excessive speeding. "What kind of work do you do at your garage, though? I know some people only do basic work, or only specialized work...so what do you do?"

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

"I get broken into a lot, so if I have something particularly rare or expensive in the garage, my policy tends to be to be discreet." Garret replied, "It took me months to track down the part I needed, and cost me an arm and leg. Not taking any chances. I mean, I'm giving you a lift but he'll, I don't even know your name."

"As for what I do, how long is a bit of string?" Garret asked with a chuckle, "I can do basic services and tune-ups. But so can every mobile mechanic in Alola. Half the reason I decided to set up shop here was because there were very few actual garages here. It's too expensive to set up something like I have out here for most people. And because of that when someone does, they rule the market."

"Most of my work is specialty stuff. Stuff that most mechanics here either don't have the equipment, know how, or nerve to try. My cars are an example of that." Garret said, "People in the car scene who know my work will come to me for basic stuff, but your average Joe doesn't come to me unless I am the only one who can do what he wants."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winter

"I don't know your name either, but that's part of my point--I'm not sure why you're telling me of all people, not that I plan to do anything," Beatrice replied, before nodding to the man with a slight smile. "But I'm Bea. Nice to meet you." She'd put her Inkay's pokeball back in its place on her belt, but now she produced another plain pokeball, rolling it between her hands. She listened as he explained what kind of work he took on, and she actively had to fight to hide the sly smile she knew she'd be wearing otherwise. Jackpot. Jackpot, jackpot, jackpot. "Is there anything you don't do? Clearly you've got some friends with some interests that aren't exactly legal, so now you've got me a tad curious..."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

"Garret." Garret replied, "And as for what I don't do, are you a cop?"

"I kid. But really, you can make anyone do nearly anything if you wave enough cash in their face. As long as there aren't any ties to me with the end product, then I don't mind doing stuff that has questionable legality." Garret said, "There is a reason I got the engine for this car so cheap. Hell, the license plate is on a motorized pivot. I can press a button and swap the plates. I paid someone in the DMV to let me make another registration of the car under a fake name. I have the fake ID to go with it. Basically, I won't get caught in this. Not for a while at least."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winter

Beatrice gave a barking laugh as Garret asked her if she was a cop. "I'm so far from a cop it'd make your head spin. You think I'd have gotten in a car built for illegal drag racing with an armed man if I were? I'm stubborn, Mr. Garret, but not stupid." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts before continuing. This man seemed to be perfect for the jobs she needed done--a godsend if there ever had been one. "Let's just say I'm asking for a client who'd like some work done, and they'd like to be very careful about who knows about said work. They'd prefer the final product have no clear ties to anyone in particular--hard to trace, hard to catch, easy to deny ownership of if the first two measures fail. They'd provide the vehicles--I believe they're wanting two, if not three, and I'd need an estimate, but payment should be far from an issue."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

"Bea, have you ever heard of the good, quick and cheap mentality?" Garret asked, "You can only pick two. If you want it good and cheap, it won't be quick. If you want it good and quick, it won't be cheap. If you want it cheap and quick, it won't be good. Where does your client stand on this spectrum?"

"As for what you want done, how long is a bit of string? I can go all out and make these things the perfect getaway vehicles. But it will be a lot of work and far from cheap. If you want a ballpark price for the complete works, it'll probably be around $200,000. Each. And that will go up if you want it sooner as I will have to outsource some work to save time. Nobody will see anything suspicious. But that means that whatever it is you do with these cars, as long as the driver knows what his doing, and doesn't do anything stupid, they can escape from nearly anything. I already have some ideas for it." Garret replied, "Has your client got cars in mind? Because they sound like some higher up who really doesn't know much about cars, and chances are they will pick the wrong ones."

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winter

"I never said anything about fast or cheap, Mr. Garrett. While sooner is definitely better, they understand things take time--especially perfection. As for price, my client was unsure what this kind of thing would cost, and didn't give me a maximum price range, but that's easily discussed. I don't believe they had any cars pre-selected, but the less conspicuous the better." Despite her unsure wording, Beatrice was confident that Jonah would be more than willing to pay up. In her experience, the man had more charm and money than actual brains, and tended to either try to smile his way out of things, or throw money at his problems until they went away--she knew he'd been a big business owner at some point. But...that was really all she knew. That, and that he was willing to hire anyone to achieve his goals, including a girl that clearly qualified as mentally ill, and someone who was on the run from the law.

"Would you be willing to give me sometime to speak with them, and get back to you? I know tomorrow is that rally--are you attending, or will your garage be open?"

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

"It's the spiel I give everyone. I have a poster of it on my garage wall." Garret replied, "You would not believe how many idiots have come to me wanting me to turbocharge their piece of s**t car in a day for the bare minimum."

"If he hasn't chosen cars yet, for the way I'd set these things up, I'd say get a Subaru Forester. Don't worry about what's under the bonnet, as I am not going to leave it stock. Just make sure that the body has no damage." Garret explained.

Bea mentioned the rally, to which Garret rolled his eyes.

"I won't be at the rally." he replied, "I'll be doing personal projects in my garage seeing as this rally is closing off main street, which is a pain in the a** for the businesses there. Mine included. Bring him by."

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Winter

"I know the feeling--I do a few other things for my client, and unfortunately it's taken more time than I'd like to get him to understand that I'm not a magician...but he knows now." She had deliberately avoided telling the man what line of work she was actually in, but what she spoke was the truth. It had taken her several months to get Jonah to understand she couldn't finish a project yesterday the moment he snapped his fingers. Science wasn't like big business. She listened to Garret's suggestion on cars, nodding, though one thing bothered her...

"Do you have any suggestions on where to acquire one or two for a good price? I'm sure your connections in that aspect are better than ours. I can do footwork, but I don't like doing it without knowing where I'm going. That's how I end up in the middle of conflicts between angry drag racers." She paused for a moment to chuckle before responding to his last suggestion.

"...My client will be busy tomorrow, and would like to remain as anonymous as possible for reasons similar to your own. If you don't mind, I was appointed to be the middleman in this particular set of dealings, and as such, you will likely only see me during our dealings. It is possible that another one of my client's associates may be sent with me, but for the most part, that is unlikely." she said, praying this did not suddenly explode in her face.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Desolate Divine

"Just go to the dingiest, crappiest second hand car dealership around. Those places know that most people who buy from them know nothing about the engine, so put all of their budget into making it look nice, and fixing up the body. Find the cheapest one there that has a fairly clean and rust free body. Even if the paint is faded and the clearcoat is coming off. Just make sure the body is free of any damage or rust." Garret replied, "That's fine. As long as you and your client are 110% on the same page. Last thing I want is to have to pull half of the car apart again because there was a slight miscommunication."

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Winter

"I'll have a look into some dealership websites before I visit tomorrow to give you my client's final verdict," Beatrice said, nodding to Garret thoughtfully. "I'll make sure we're on the same page, there won't be any worries there." After all, in the end, all Jonah was doing was footing the bill, really. The cars were needed as a secondary part to a project that he had her working on--one that had already proven successful several times over, now she just needed the transport vehicles to properly make the project a success.

"I believe that's all the questions I needed answered for now, Mr. Garret, so if rhat's all the questions and advising you have for me, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could drop me off by the Seabreeze Hotel by the port, please?" She hadn't exactly intended to stay the night, but it made more sense to do so now. All she had to do was have Sage briefly teleport her back to the Aether Paradise so that she could report in and grab a few things for her stay. She'd likely need to go car shopping in the morning, an idea that filled her with dread.

Great, just great. I get to hang out in Hau'oli while at it's most packed, her mind hissed.

---

"Sure." Garret replied, making his way to the freeway. After a few minutes, they were at the port, by Bea's hotel.

"Here." Garret said, handing her a business card, "Come by the garage when you're ready. Just, if you're doing dodgy s**t with the cars, don't leave that in them."

Garret was half kidding, but at the same time, had idiots whom he had done less-than-legal work for get caught with them, and had the police knocking on his door.

Once Bea had made her way inside, Garret drove back to the garage. The night was still young (to a degree) so he spent a few hours working on his personal project before getting some sleep.

Alice Fern
Hau'oli City
Affected RPers: @Noblejanobii

Alice felt something hit her in the side, followed by the sound of something hitting the pavement. Her bag slipped off her shoulder, which was followed by a surprised squawk from Plume, who had been woken up and began flapping her wings agitatedly, hitting Alice in the face.

"Plume!" Alice said commandingly, and the bird stopped flapping and settled back down on her perch. Alice pushed her messed-up hair out of her face and turned to see a young woman in summery clothes, with brown hair and green eyes. She had a Noctowl with her. It looked like a well cared for Pokemon, which put Alice at ease a bit.

“Oh I’m so sorry!” the woman exclaimed as she scrambled to retrieve the bag of goods she had dropped, along with Alice's bag. She handed the bag over. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. It happens sometimes, you know? I tend to lose focus and just operate on autopilot.”

Alice smiled. "No harm done," she said, "At least I wasn't carrying any eggs!" Alice took the bag and swung it over her shoulder, which caused Plume to squawk, annoyed, and jump from Alice's shoulder to the ground. Plume looked up at the Noctowl curiously. <You should learn to drive your human better!> she laughed cheekily, before climbing up Alice's leg and back onto her perch.

“Maybe this will make up for my carelessness?” the young woman offered, holding out a parcel.

"Oh! A Malasada?" Alice asked. She had just eaten, but she was curious about the well-known Alolan food. "Thank you! I just ate, but I can't say no to trying Alola's famous dessert while I'm here!" She grinned, taking the offered parcel. "Thank you! By the way, I'm Alice, and this is my Archen, Plume. Are you from around here?" she asked. The young woman certainly fit right in with her summery clothes. Alice felt a little self-conscious. She was supposed to lie low and not attract attention but she already stood out among the tourists in their colourful Alolan shirts. "I just arrived from Kanto, I bet you can tell," she laughed, looking down at her long pants and white coat.

Morgan “Camelot” Fey
Hau'oli City
Affected RP’ers: @Pokemon Trainer Sarah

"No harm done! At least I wasn't carrying any eggs!" Morgan looked up at Alice curiously. The girl was dressed in heavier clothing. Was she not hot? Then again, the sun was not at its peak anymore, so the temperature had dropped considerably. Maybe it was not as hot here on Melemele as it was on Akala. Morgan would find out shortly, she supposed. Still, the carrying eggs comment gave Morgan the impression either Alice was one of those IV trainers who took battling way too seriously, or she was a breeder! Morgan dearly hoped it was the later. It was no fun to battle against an IV trainer after all.

Merlin ruffled his feathers at Plume and swung his wings at Plume at the comment. "Towl!" he hooted. <As if I could command the lady if I wanted. Lady Morgan does not listen to my recommendations very often.> Morgan's expression brightened a little as Alice took the Malasada. She smiled and allowed Merlin to return to her shoulder, not bothered by his talons in the slightest. He had always disliked perches anyway and the two had learned how to make sure Morgan's shoulder was not accidentally sliced open in the process. Though whenever it did happen, the nurses used to give them very impatient looks since Morgan was not really following the recommended techniques.

"I was actually going to guess Johto but they are very close to one another," Morgan admitted as she stood up. "The malasadas here are great though. I got a ton as soon as I could when I arrived." Morgan shook her head a little. "I am not a native, but I have been staying on Akala Island for a little while now. It's why I have the summery clothes. I am actually originally from Sinnoh! I've been traveling quite a bit recently though, so I have a lot of outfits for any type of climate." Morgan looked up towards the sky. "We should probably see if the clothing stores are open. They may not be this late, but if you do not have any lighter clothing then you're in for a very sweltering afternoon tomorrow. It's nowhere near as miserable as Hoenn's heat, but Akala Island was always pretty hot during the day. You'll be burning up in those clothes." Morgan frowned a little and scanned the streets. "I just got here as well though so I'm afraid I don't know where the nearest clothing store would be."

Ruqayyah Abdur-Rahman
Shady House, Po Town
ARPers: @Winter

<Lots of stirring indicates we've been noticed. Ideal strategic points of attack are in these locations.> Ruqayyah communicated potential threat assessments to her teammates as she waited for her host to introduce himself.

<They’re psychically scanning us. Nothing invasive: it’s subtle enough that if I didn’t know to look for it, I wouldn’t know it was there.>

While Mika’il’s voice was gentle, Lumen still displayed clear discomfort, <I don’t like this, Ruqayyah. They’re reading us: what if they try something worse? If they try a psychic attack—>

Ruqayyah held up a hand: their host was approaching and she needed to calm Lumen quickly. <If they try a psychic attack, that’s felonious psychic invasion and therefore a life sentence without parole being even theoretically possible until after thirty years. Moreover, we’d be able to cause enough damage to bail quickly with Mika’il giving us warning.>[/I] Ruqayyah unconsciously fiddled with the Z Ring on her wrist: a recent addition to her wardrobe, but definitely a destructive one.

Behind her, Lumen still rubbed his arms together, a clear sign of his continued anxiety. Ruqayyah gently put a hand on him, <It’s going to be OK, Lumen.> Lumen calmed, albeit only just enough to keep from overtly displaying any nervousness.

A young man who was almost as short as Ruqayyah opened the door in a fluffy bathrobe and a hulking brute of a Golisopod behind him and blearily said, “Thank you for paying a visit to--” A brief yawn, “to the Po Town Pokemon Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, my name is Teri. What can I help you with tonight? I assume a Pokémon surrender?”

Ruqayyah bristled for a second: how dare this little slip of an ignoramus accuse her of being unable to train her Pokémon? She indulged her annoyance for a second before realizing this was a Pokémon shelter and it would be a logical thing to assume if he didn’t have context. Outwardly, she gave a small smirk, “Surrender? Lumen, are you aware of any Mamoswine that happen to fly just yet?” At the Chandelure’s head shake, Ruqayyah continued, “Then, nope, not here for a surrender. I’m here for something else altogether. See, I’ve heard you intend to get into some trouble. I would like to help you get in that much deeper.”


Sukainah Abdur-Rahman
Hano Grand Resort, Heahea City
ARPers: n/a

“And while I usually have very disparaging things to say about you and your sister’s sleep schedules, you really do want to take on the trail at Wela Volcano Park at night, Sukainah. It bakes enough there without adding the sun to boot.”

Sukainah listened intently to the advice of the golfer sitting next to her on the beach, “Wow, Miss Kahili! How do you know so much about battling and the trials? You must be almost as good as my sister!”

Kahili smiled slightly, and Sukainah got the impression there was a joke she didn’t know in the older woman’s reply, “Oh, you know. I just picked up a couple of things here and there. Plus, this is something I figure I should tell you, because if I let you die of heatstroke your sister would probably do mean things to me that I’m not going to tell you about.”

Sukainah gave a little giggle, and the Mimikyu in her arms made a happy sound. A few moments later, however, she quieted.

Kahili noticed the shift in mood, “Is something the matter, Sukainah?”

The girl shrugged, “I’m worried about my sister. This is the first time she’s left since we came to Alola and all she said is that she has some business on Ula’ula. I love her a lot, but because I love her, I also know she’s stubborn and reckless.” Sukainah sighed, “It’s part of the reason I want to grow stronger with my Pokémon: maybe if I’m a good enough trainer, I can stand beside her instead of behind her.”

Kahili gently drew Sukainah into a hug, “Yes, your sister is stubborn and she can get in a bit in over her head. She’s also brash, antagonistic, and generally grating. But when the chips are down, when it really counts, she always tries to do the right thing. If she’s not telling you what she’s doing, she’s probably doing it to protect you. But your goal is also worthy, though I do think Ruqayyah is going to have a heart attack the first time or two you try to do something risky on your own. You might have to talk to her about it.”

Sukainah clutched Rafiqi a little bit tighter, “Thanks, Kahili. For everything.”

Kahili gave a small laugh, “Thank me by not telling your sister that I encouraged you to take risks! She’d probably-”

“-do mean things that you aren’t going to tell me about.” Sukainah finished, laughing with her sister’s friend.

OOC: Due to the potential length of the following post, some of the content has been move to a Google Docs file. Please excuse the wordiness of the following interaction.

Teri Romer and Ruqayyah Abdur-Rahman (Joint Post)
Shady House, Po Town
ARPers: @Winter @Death's Spook

(OOC: For the sake of not overloading the page again, this entire conversation can be found right here, may be edited in later.)

Teri Romer
Natural Order Rally, Hau’oli City
ARPers: None

Thanks to his late night visitor, the morning dawned far too bright and way too early for Teri’s liking, though Morrigan had managed to sleep through the night without any more bad dreams, and Beetle and Lucina calmed down as soon as their little master was back in bed. Though he was displeased about not being allowed to go as well, Alan (with the help of his Bewear) all but shoved Teri out of the house after he’d dressed and had breakfast, telling his older brother not to worry about chores today and suggesting he page for a Charizard early--the sky’d be full of riders soon enough.

He had been right--for a bunch of liars, the Natural Order certainly knew how to draw a crowd. The streets were filling already, though not with the usual easygoing locals and excitable young trainers. Instead, these people were tense and quiet, talking among themselves in hushed tones that contrasted with the city’s usual loudness. Occasionally they glanced over to the simple wooden platform that had been set up with a pair of microphones and speakers, as though impatient to see the head himself up there, though thing weren’t scheduled to start for another half hour or so.

He still wore his hourglass pin snapped into his beanie, and that alone had gotten him several nasty looks from the quiet people, as though they couldn’t believe he had the nerve to show up at all, let alone wearing it. It had been happening more and more lately, but Teri had learned that it was just better to smile and wave--to present himself as friendly and peaceful would only help further prove that not all pro-Pokemon supporters were bad...at least, that was what he hoped. Of course, it helped when people laughed, too, as a few locals who knew him tended to do when they witnessed these encounters, to which he smiled and waved to them as well. Eyes scanning the crowd that had amassed so far, Teri kept his eye out for more people wearing hourglasses--there should have been at least a few here, if anyone had followed his and Alan’s trail of breadcrumbs. He really did hope to get some people together today, maybe then they’d be taken seriously, maybe then Natural Order would slip up.

After all, every time they gained a follower, the Pokemon of the region lost just a little more time.

Natural Order Upper Admistration
Admin Quarters, Aether Paradise->Natural Order Rally, Hau’oli City
ARPers: None

Corinne had only gotten worse, and that worried both Hershel and Jonah more than the men would admit. While Beatrice had avoided the worst of it, having poked in that night only long enough to speak with Jonah and collect a few things before popping out again with the help of her Alakazam, both the head of Natural Order and his second in command had had to deal with her.

She’d quickly gone from restless and staring out the window to getting antsy and screaming. Thankfully, they kept the area where administration was holed up quite far away from the rest of the full time volunteers and workers. Both of them had known that as soon as either one suggested that the girl place Kiri back in his Pokeball for the rally, things were going to go horribly south.

It had been worse than they expected. There had been an onslaught of screaming and throwing things on Corinne’s end--a coffee cup had been smashed beyond recognition, a small table overturned, paperwork scattered everywhere. The problem was that if she didn’t go, they knew there’d be no stopping the next fit, and both had lacked the foresight to ensure that it would be possible to lock the girl in her room during her fits to limit the area of damage...not that that was safe to do, either.

It had taken a full hour to calm her down, which had eaten into their departure time not only because it had taken that long to calm Corinne down, but because she then needed to be made presentable...again. At this point, however, she’d gone quiet and agreeable. She tolerated the Espurr being returned to his Pokeball, and sat still and silent long enough to let Hershel run a brush through her hair.

“...You’re humming, Hearse,” she’d pointed out as he finished, and the man paused for a moment before shaking his head. “You do it every time Jonah makes you brush my hair. Why is that?” The gaunt man was silent for a moment before standing and setting the brush aside. He plucked the black bow she’d snatched out of her hair in her earlier fit off of the table he’d set the brush on, and moved to tie it in her hair.

“Nunya,” he replied quietly, his voice impassive, even as he delivered softspoken revenge for the girl’s words to him the night before. Straightening the bow out and then dropping his hands to his side, he nodded to the door. “You’ve made us late. We should get going.” She didn’t try to talk to him again after that.

By the time they made it into Hau’oli’s port, they were ten minutes late, and it took them another five to get to the rally setup, made even slower by the packed streets. Once, Hershel had thought he’d seen Beatrice’s signature platinum blonde bob fighting the crowd to get down the street rather than up it, but the woman had her orders, and the rest of admin had theirs. In fact, he and Jonah now had more work to do, as they’d both agreed it was a poor idea to let Corinne anywhere near a microphone until they were certain her foul mood had passed.

Drew Abbes
Natural Order Rally, Hau’oli City
Affected RP’ers: Possibly @Winter, Fellow rally attendees

It had been a while since Drew had been back to Hau’oli. They didn’t avoid the city despite having grown up there; they avoided it because they’d grown up there. It wasn’t exactly the worst place in Alola to be, but there were a lot of bad memories attached. Drew knew it was improbable, but every time they came here they worried that their parents would catch sight of them.

They ran a hand through their hair, where they knew that a purple streak cut through the black. They probably wouldn’t even recognize me, Drew thought. It wasn’t the nicest thought, but it was reassuring.

Besides, no one would be able to pick them out in the massive crowd that this rally had drawn. They’d had a hard enough time flagging down a flier with their ride pager, and squeezing through the crowd now wasn’t much fun either. Having Ikika with them complicated things, too - they held hands, and getting separated wasn’t too much of a risk given Ikika’s telepathy, but she was effectively another person that had to fit through the press of bodies.

Drew just hoped that no one would give them any trouble where Ikika was concerned. If anyone gave them trouble for having her out, they weren’t above claiming she was a service Pokemon - Psychic-types were known to be good for seizures, which was Drew’s usual claim - but they didn’t have the documentation to back it up.

The boy was so subtle they almost missed him, but unlike with Drew, the purple beneath his hat seemed to be in all of his hair, which was a little less than inconspicuous. More interesting, though, was the hourglass pin stuck in the hat. He looked like he was looking for something - there was purpose in his gaze.

<Ikika,> Drew thought, <You see the boy I’m looking at?>

The Hypno turned minutely even as Drew looked away, turning their gaze back to the mass of people. It was rude, and suspicious, to stare. <I see him. Hourglass pin, right? You want me to make sure that he’s legitimate?>

<Please.>

There was a brief pause, no more than a few seconds. Unless she had a very, very good reason, Ikika was never terribly thorough with her mind-reading. She and Drew both agreed that it was an invasion of privacy that should only be reserved for emergencies. Then she spoke. <I think he is okay,> said Ikika. <Searching, suspicious, a little disgusted. Here for a purpose, a reason. He has distaste for the Natural Order and he is looking for others like him. Approaching him would not be dangerous.>

Drew shook their head on instinct, then realized what they were doing and hoped no one had seen them shake their head at nothing like a doofus. <Not yet,> they said. <I want to hear the Natural Order make their case first. Just because he disagrees with them doesn’t make him right. And if he’s looking for people, he’s not going anywhere. We can talk with him afterward if need be.> Drew looked around at the NO uniforms scattered through the crowd, trying their best to keep thing organized. <When the speech starts, can you tell me if they’re lying?>

<It’s not always that simple,> said Ikika, <but I’ll do my best.>

<That’s all I can ask.> Drew stood, making sure to keep the hourglass boy visible in the corner of their eye. <Let’s hope this doesn’t all blow up in our faces.>