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((OOC: Did you just decide against spoilers, or did you run into the same problem as me? And it may just be me, but Anthony's dialogue sounds kinda stilted. Though I suppose that he's just being formal. ~Your description of Bastion was awesome, though. ))

- Riiinnnggg. . . Click. Beep. 'Please leave a message.' Folding up the Pokedex, Romulus sighed. well, so much for technology. Not that it mattered much - he was nearing the Bastion gates. In just a few minutes, he'd once again be surrounded by the architecture of the city, and for some reason he felt . . . okay with it. Which was unusual for Romulus.

Good, Romulus thought sarcastically. It only took me thirty days of living in the city to get used to being around other humans. But it was true - he had always been nervous around large groups of people, after all. This was a sign of improvement. Quickly cutting of that train of thought, however, Romulus turned to another problem. The Berry peddler.

~

It had started innocently enough. Romulus had taken a rare walk around the City, eventually coming across a Berry merchant. They were everywhere in the City, and Romulus didn't think the man selling the food had seemed dangerous. So he had bought some Berries. He had asked what they did for his pokemon, of course, but foolishly only after he'd bought them, meaning he couldn't return a supposedly imported pink-colored berry that apparently had no helpful effect. And, the merchant told him gleefully, no refunds wer possible. And that thing had been expensive.

Out of anger - and, he would think later, stupidity - Romulus ate the foreign Berry whole, then spat the pit out at the peddler. And only then did the peddler tell him, straight on, what he'd ingested. A Pinkan Berry. Which turns the eater pink. Pink! Luckily for Romulus, he hadn't ingested the pit (which was edible), and avoided most of the coloring side effects. Leaving only a streak of his hair the obscene color, it nonetheless continued to draw curious eyes and snickering attention at every turn, and it was only now starting to fade. And he still hadn't gotten a refund.

~

Okay, new topic, Romulus decided blearily. Something uplifting, maybe? What a novel idea. But a nonetheless unlikely one, as one of Bastion's gatekeepers had just seen his hair and had thrown him a giggle. How professional. His anger subsided somewhat, however, when he saw Anthony waiting for him at the gate. "How come you didn't answer your Pokedex?" he asked goodheartedly, ignoring the continuing laughter of the guard.

Although Romulus's right eye twitched - a peculiar habit he'd picked up on lately - at the mention of his hair, he decided not to comment on it. Smiling faintly instead, his abnormally pointed teeth flashed quickly before he answered his friend's odd - and somehow personal - question.

"Well, a little. . . ." Romulus looked at his friend questioningly. "But you know how it is. I nearly tortured the thing before, and it no longer has any lackies under it, and I'm not used to pokemon of it's level anyway. Even Lupup," he added pointedly, "is at least a half a dozen behind it." Then, unconsciously stroking his pink-streaked hair, he asked the obvious. "Why do you ask?"

~

The guard, back at the gate, had stopped laughing. It wasn't his thing, anyway, but the boy's appearance had caught him by surprise. "That's my target?" he murmured incredulously. "I was shipped to Bombur for an idiot with neon hair?"

Buzz. "As you very well know," his earpiece replied, "you were sent here, not for him, but for Cain. And even he isn't the real reason, since no one thinks you'll actually come anywhere close to Songsun. You're here to cool off. From . . . recent events."

The 'guard', paling visibly, couldn't help but flashing back to the horrors of recent experience, always ending with the same screaming little girl. This boy was a test. The agency wanted to know he was still able to do his job, and he'd prove it to them, alright. Perro would be in his custody soon, he'd be back on the job, and he might - just might - get info on Songsun here, despite someone's disbelief.

As if reading his thoughts, his earpiece buzzed once more. "As if, Sherlock. You'll find a way to fail, somehow. It's your talent."

Romulus - who wasn't stupid - had, despite Anthony's last minute change of mind, easily caught on to what must have happened. And he could fully understand why Anthony had pulled back at the last second - what he had asked for was completely rude.

"Look, man," he said brightly. "There are a few ways to work this out." Accidentally bumping into a little girl - man, was Bastion overflowing with people - Romulus was cut off for a moment as he apologized, then continued: "You could catch a Murkrow and evolve yourself, y'know; besides, with the ways things have been going between Murraven and me, I may just give it to you anyway." Brushing his hand unconsciously on his face, now, Romulus couldn't help but think of how many scars he already had from his fights the creature in his attempts to train it.

"However," he said seriously, changing topic in a flash of carelessness very much unlike him. "I'll take you up on that Gym challenge. I think it's long overdo."

~

Still watching from afar, the 'guard' watched Romulus closely, now beginning to stalk the Trainer pair as he left his fake gate station.

((OOC: HECK YEAH.))

Romulus nearly stuck his toungue out at his partner. Type advantages, of course, were important, but he didn't think he'd need them, himself. Which didn't stop him from nonchalantly putting his Agunni in his first party slot as he calmly entered the floral gym.

((OOC: Will edit later today. Also, if you're staff, does that mean you can fight yourself as GL? Weird.))

The inside of the Gym was mindblowing.

Everywhere Romulus looked, colorful flowers and plants seemed to burst from their containers. His stomache rumbled unhappily, looking around at all the Berries, but fro once he was able to stop his Theif-like instincts (helped, admittedly, by his new aversion to strange foods). He was almost afraid to touch anything; it all seemed so perfect, serene, andd, above all, natural. Between the patches of earth and their respective plants were paths, some metallic and boring but others covered in a dirt of their own and set apart by the rocks on top, like forest trails. The building itself was old but well-maintained, and its lushous plantlife gave it the look of a greenhouse. It probably is a greenhouse, actually, Romulus thought. He wouldn't be surprised to know he was right.

The only thing that Romulus found at all wrong with the picture was its slightly annoying humidity factor, and it was an uncomfortable thought that he'd be stuck with it for both his and Anthony's Gym Battles. The last time he'd felt humidity this bad was in Vermillion, with his uncle, and he wasn't a particular fan of those memories. Derailing that train of thought was more diffeicult than he thought - memories of those days kept flashing before his eyes - but he eventually succeeded. Stay in the present, he admonished himself. Now, where's the Gym Leader?

"Calleo?" he called out, waiting patiently for a reply, all the while thinking: These people never seem to meet you at the door, do they? Never here when you first enter their place, either. And: That humidity is really going to distract me.

~

The 'guard' had to admit that Romulus appeared to be doing nothing wrong. Now how was he supposed to arrest him, darn it all?

Buzz: "'Darn it all' indeed. Is it to early to set up the perimeter?"

The 'guard' was going to say something along the lines of How do you keep reading my friggin' head, but instead decided on: "Never too early, I guess, but I hate letting these monsters free."

Buzz again. "Not every pokemon is a monster, Joshua. I know that's hard to believe, given . . . recent curcumstances, but still. They're Diglett, for pity's sake!"

The 'guard' - Joshua - muttered, "Fine," and released three of his five pokeballs. Out came three Diglett, and they almost instantly began their work.

Arena Trap, Joshau's superior had told him, is the best way to catch these thugs. They can't run, not after the fact, and most are too weak to fight you. Hopefully, you see him do something with this set up, and you've got the case in the bag. This is step one. Step two, on the other hand, is -

But Josh cut the thought off. Don't jump the gun, don't count yer chickens. For now, the Diglett's traps would be enough. He'd be ready.

He quickly found a tree to hide in - the Gym was surrounded by them, a square sea of green in an ocean of steel, and it was easy to find one with enough leaves to cover him in shadow, early spring or not. I'll watch from here, then, he thought. Sentry.

"Attractions?" Romulus asked with a sarcastic smile. "No. Not into that kind of thing, personally. So," he added, carefully picking up Agunni's pokeball, "Gym Battle it is."

And then, suddenly, he looked at Anthony, as if just realizing he was there. "Oh, wait, do you want to go first, or should I?"

Romulus's look was priceless as the memory of the deal flashed back to him. He was embarrassed, but he shrugged it off and simply smiled. Anthony was right, after all - he was excited. His adrenaline was flaring as he sent out his Agunni in a flash of red plasma, and he couldn't help but grin widely. It seemed like he had been waiting for this moment for years, not just a month.

((OOC: *checks original topic* Actually more like a year, yeah. To be honest, this is true - fighting the 2nd gym has always been one of my PF goals, since it was as far as anyone had gotten when I'd started the RPG. Oh, this wonderful sense of fulfillment. :') ))

"Dodge!" Romulus cried out instantly. So much for type advantage.

Agunni obeyed immediately, and evaded the aquatic blast in near-perfect form. The month of training was already paying off - but Perro knew he couldn't dodge forever.

Press the offensive, then, he decided. Whatever I've got. "Ember!" he called out. It wouldn't be super effectiv,e but it was the only long-range move Agunni knew. And he needed to stay outside Kapacorn's range.