Derek Chase
Slateport Beach
ARPers: Desperado (Quinn)

A smug, self satisfied voice told him, "We aren't alone here. Excellent.".

Derek Chase did something relatively rare for him, and looked down to talk to someone. Athena the Azumarill's ears were twitching, and her grin was becoming wider by the second. On most Pokemon of her species, the sight would have been quite cute. But when Derek saw Athena casually playing with the intestines of a Mightyena pack once, 'cute' went out the window for him in terms of adjectives he'd use to describe her.

Athena rocked back and forth on her heels, the grin on her face getting more viciously anticipatory by the instant. Derek shook his head and chided,"Athena, we aren't going to fight people just because we can. It's wasteful and wrong, especially because making allies to watch our backs could in no way hurt."

Athena gave him a pleading look with big, soft brown eyes. The effect was ruined by the fact that she was using them to beg for the green light to commit a homicide.

"Stay in the water. If–if–these guys show hostility, take them out as quickly as possible. All right?"

Athena sighed, but she slipped silently into the water, no one the wiser. Derek smiled, the expression much kinder and more natural on his face than on the Azumarill's.

As he walked across the beach, Derek saw a trainer walking toward the city. Although Derek's last few experiences with trainers ended with a rather nauseating front seat to Athena's idea of "art", his face still brightened upon seeing another human being. Back before Blackout, Derek had been quite drawn to people, making friends easily and without effort. Now, he had to overcome natural suspicions while simultaneously being cautious of any potential assaults on his person. It was a rather good thing, in his opinion, that Athena was such a fighter. Sometimes, Derek could circumvent fatalities completely when someone saw just how screwed up in the head his friend was.

As Derek walked, he spread his arms out, palms face up. His voice was kind with an undercurrent of excitement as he said to the trainer,"Hi! I'm Derek. Are you looking for something? Maybe I can help."