Change of Pace [OPEN]

[Dionysus Godlin]

He needed something different, something other than being stuck in HQ tracking down owners of lost Pokemon. Sure, he loved his job, loved seeing the smiles on people's faces, but sometimes he just needed a change. That's why he was in the streets of the City, Spector flying around his head. "What do you think we should do today, Spector?"

[/color] The orange haired boy looked up to the Litwick, which was just flying around silently. Dion had realized early on in his friendship with the Pokemon that Litwick made no noise. He had no idea why, but he knew it was not normal. He had tried to get the little Pokemon checked out, but no one seemed to know the cause. Dion did not question it, though, it's what made Spector unique.

As the two strolled along the city streets, Dion stopped at a large poster on the side of a building. A famous Coordinator and his Pokemon were on it, advertising for competitions in the area. Dion shook his head, giving his eye a roll. A deep sigh left his lips as he continued on.

As he walked, he could not help but think about his life. Sure, he loved working under N, but he somehow thought he could do more. He wanted to work more with the Pokemon, the disabled Pokemon, to be exact. He'd always had a fascination and soft spot for them. There was a Growlithe they had found a year back that was missing a tail, which somehow prevented it from being able to run. Dion wanted to do more with that, to show people that these disabled Pokemon could function as well. But as long as he was with Plasma, he couldn't do that. At least...He didn't think he could...[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Hazel Moore]

hazel mae moore !!

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x x x x x[/center]

Hazel had been enjoying the day dashing through the Unova region with her trusty Arcanine by her side. Although he merely trotted next to her to keep pace it was obvious the large fire pokemon could easily outrun his trainer without so much as a second thought. That was what Hazel loved about her pokemon, his willingness to keep pace with her small form despite how slow she was in comparison to the beast.

The cold tendrils of winter whipped through her hair, making Hazel thank the fleece lined jacket she wore snug to her body. Stopping quickly Hazel made a clicking noise with her tongue, Archie's clue to stop. The vibrating in her pocket was only one thing, her Ranger PDA going off, alerting her to a new mission. Fishing it out, Hazel read the message. Some woman had lost her pokemon on the outskirts of Driftveil City.

Hazel rolled her eyes at the message. If she could, she would decline. It wasn't that Hazel hated cities, hell she'd grown up in the largest one in the Unova Region. It was just the mining district of Driftveil. It was so unnatural, like a big ugly scar on the land. "Hey Arch, think you could get me to Driftveil? 'Nother lost pokemon." Hazel asked, running her hands through the thick warm fur of her pokemon.

Archie barked playfully, lowering the front of his body to allow easy access for Hazel to climb up. With one graceful jump the pink haired woman was on her Arcanine and the pair raced through the chilly winter air.

It was only twenty minutes before they arrived at the outskirts of the city. Unlike the message had stated, the woman wasn't waiting by the signpost to give her specifics. They never did, Hazel thought to herself. Sighing, the woman jumped off the back of her pokemon and strode into the city. Archie walked confidently by her side, his large and fierce form a massive contrast to the pink haired lithe being that was Hazel.

Realizing she wasn't going to find the woman, she stopped mid-step and turned to the closest passerby. "Hey you." She said, pulling out her Ranger ID badge and flashing it at the orange haired man. "Any chance you've seen a rather plump woman about ye high?" Hazel asked, raising her arm in the air. "Supposedly frantic about a missing pokemon, but I can't find her to go looking for it. So much for frantic, huh?"

[Dionysus Godlin]

Dion was finally enjoying himself. Just walking along the streets with Spector was bringing a smile to his face. He couldn't remember feeling this happy, ever, well, except for when he was with his sisters. Spector floated around his head before the Litwick finally perched on his shoulder, tired of floating. "Don't worry, Spec. We'll find a place to rest, soon." He gave the Pokemon's side a little pat before his phone started to buzz. He answered it quickly. "Dionysus. Yes? Ugh. Why would I fight her? They do the same thing we do!" You know what. No. Shove it." And with that, he closed his phone, put it on silent, and slid it back into his pocket. What in the world were the higher ups thinking? Fight a Pokemon Ranger? That's not what they did. Rangers helped Trainers, just like N's Plasma did. It was a stupid thought. Sure, he would get into a lot of trouble for that call, but he didn't care that much.

As he walked, he found a building with a for sale sign. Dion could not help and stop, images flowing through his head about all the good he could do. A smile crossed his lips before his daydream was rudly interupted by...Oh look. The Pokemon Ranger. He turned his head to her and plastered a smile onto his face. Someone had lost a Pokemon? "No, ma'am. I haven't." He looked to his Litwick, which was now floating beside him again. "Spector, getting anything?" The tiny Pokemon looked around, then took a deep breath and held it. The flame on his head bent at an odd angle, leading them down the way they had just came. "Your best bet is to follow us. Spector's usually never wrong." The little Pokemon was off, then, floating quickly down the alley, Dion hot on his tail.

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[Hazel Moore]

hazel mae moore !!

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x x x x x[/center]

Not even thinking twice at how completely and totally helpful the man was, Hazel shrugged her shoulders and followed as him and the pokemon took off. Before Hazel was able to take her first step after them Archie growled low, keeping a firm hold of her jacket with his teeth. "Nah, it's okay Arch." Hazel said, wiggling herself out of the jacket, leaving behind her jacket and a rather haughty looking fire pokemon.

As Hazel caught up to the man, Archie close on her heels with the jacket still in his mouth, she flashed a smile. "So um, I'm Hazel Moore." Hazel said cheerfully, waving at the man she now walked stride-for-stride with. "You are...?" She questioned, hoping her new walking companion was as talkative as he was helpful. Still, it never crossed her mind to find it odd a stranger was so eager to help.

Archie growled low again, depositing Hazel's jacket onto her shoulder. Slipping it over her shoulders Hazel took a moment to look at floating ghost pokemon that was leading the small group. "Cute little guy, don't you think?" Hazel said cheerfully, the sincere smile never leaving her face.

"So, where's this woman exactly?" Hazel questioned after a few more blocks, hoping they'd bump into her soon.

[Dionysus Godlin]

Dion kept pace with the little Litwick as the Pokemon went down alleys and streets, turning every once and a while. Dion was well aware of the Ranger following right next to him, that intimidating Arcanine close behind. When she began to talk, Dion tensed. This girl was way to happy. Dion wasn't used to happy. When she introduced herself, Dion couldn't help but smile. Of course, he couldn't shake her hand or anything since he was almost running to catch up with Spector. "Dion. Nice to meet ya." He said quickly. Of course, he wasn't going to give her his full name, in case she made the connection between him and Plasma.

When she started speaking about Spector, Dion had to smile. "I'm not sure, exactly. Spector can sense pain in people through his flame." As soon as that would said, Spector stopped in front of a large building, his flame burning towards it. "Well...I think she's in there." Dion opened the doors first, but stopped cold when he saw two of his fellow N's Plasma members handing a sobbing woman a Skitty. She was thanking them like it was her job, and Dion backed out of the door before the Plasma members could identify him. "I..Um. Think it's taken care of." He moved further away from the building, then, Spector floating over to him. "You did a good job, Spec." The little Litwick opened its mouth, but nothing came out, and Dion sighed. "One day I'm going to find out what's wrong with you..." That statement go the thoughts running again. He could do so much good...

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[Hazel Moore]

hazel mae moore !!

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x x x x x[/center]

As the team twisted around back streets and alleys, Hazel began to wonder ever so slightly where they were going. Still, the naivety in the young pink haired woman kept her thinking that this strange man was only out to help. Besides, why would a pokemon want to hurt or betray her? Hazel was a good enough person, she reasoned, exactly why no one would lead her astray. Still, Archie remained tense by her side.

As they rounded a corner, the small fire pokemon stopped, his little flame pointing at the entrance. Hazel allowed Dion to go first, letting him open the doors for her. Inside where two men handing back a Skitty to a woman who matched the description of what Hazel was looking for. If Dion hadn't closed the doors so quickly, Hazel might have realized what their outfits represented.

Smiling happily, she pulled the PDA from her pocket and sent a message back to the Ranger HQ. "Well, I'm glad to see someone besides me is helping out around here. If I had more time, I'd ask them if they'd be interested in joining the Rangers. They pretty much are. Speaking of which, you seem like such a helpful person. Would you be interested in joining up with the Rangers?" Hazel asked innocently, still stupidly unaware of what and who Dion really was.

"Haha, it's fine to say no if you want!" Hazel said, waving her hands to try and remove the sort of awkward feeling her question brought up. "It's just that we don't have a lot of Rangers right now, and they have me running around asking everyone." Hazel finished, rolling her eyes in her head.

Turning her body towards Spector, Hazel found herself smiling wider than usual. "You did a great job little guy." She raised her hand gently to stroke the small floating pokemon. "Since it doesn't seem like I have anything to do for the rest of the day, how's about I treat you two to lunch? Least I can do for helping me."

Archie meanwhile was giving Dion a rather mean glare, as if he knew what the man was all about. Hazel blatantly ignored her own pokemon, assuming he was just being over protective because it was a man she was with.

[Dionysus Godlin]

Dion relaxed a little bit when Hazel's innocence and naivety kicked in. He would be done for if she realized who he truly was, at least for the time being. When she thanked him, he couldn't help but smile at her. She was so bubbly and cute it was hard not to. Of course, when she mentioned him joining the Rangers, he tensed a bit and shook her head. "I-Thank you for the offer, but no. I don't think the Ranger's are right for me. I have my sights somewhere else." He gave a sigh at the thought. He knew he couldn't stay with Plasma any longer. Things were changing. People were getting more selfish and arrogant, almost like they were before N took over and started helping. Dion had better things to do with his life.

"Oh?" Her idea of lunch was not a bad one, and there was a nice place right next to the building for rent, so he could stop there afterwards. He had some money saved up from the job, so he knew there was no way he couldn't get it. "That sounds great actually. There was a pizza place back a few blocks, how does that sound?" He gave her a bright smile before he caught a glance of her large fire Pokemon. The Arcanine didn't seem to like him very much. It was almost as if he could see through Dion, which the boy did not like in the slightest.

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[Hazel Moore]

hazel mae moore !!

[/size][/color]

x x x x x[/center]

When Dion turned down her invitation to join the Rangers she was neither surprised or upset. It was the typical reply, and hazel was silently thankful he gave a reason instead of just trying to avoid the subject. It had her wonder about what he meant by sights somewhere else, but knew better than to be pushy and ask. Now, she had the issue of Archie to deal with. Turning her back towards Dion, she took both of her hands and firmly rooted them deep within her large pokemon's mane. Pulling his head forward until their foreheads were touching, Hazel whispered rather loudly and somewhat angrily, "Now listen here Arch, Dion is going to be going to lunch with us. If you keep growling and acting up, I'll put you back into your ball." Hazel threatened, though both of them knew it was empty. Last time he'd been in his ball was when she captured him, almost a decade ago. "But if you're really worried, I'll let you eat him if he acts out of line, okay?" Hazel said, planting a loud kiss on Archie's nose before freeing him.

The Arcanine shook himself, fluffing out his neck fur and wag his tail. He bumped his large muzzle up against Dion's shoulder in a sort of apologetic way. "There we go Arch, making friends like usual. You gotta ignore him sometimes, he's a massive pain in the butt sometimes." Hazel said, patting her pokemon on the rump. "Let's get going, shall we? Pizza sounds wonderful."

...

When the group finally arrived at the aforementioned pizza shop, Hazel was almost salivating from the aromatic smells wafting from the door. "This is it, right Dion?" Hazel asked without giving the man a chance to answer. By the time she opened the door, Archie had already rushed in and was looking eagerly at the counter. Hazel made eye contact with the man at the register and shrugged. "It's on me Dion, so get whatever you want okay? The Rangers are paying for this meal." Hazel said, somewhat proudly.

As she skimmed over the menu she found herself ordering two large pizzas for her Arcanine and a two extra cheese deep dish slices for herself. Turning to Dion, Hazel handed him the official looking Ranger Credit Card and winked. "Get what you want and meet me at the table?"

[Dionysus Godlin]

Dion couldn't help but stare as she threatened her Arcanine. It was a bit funny, but she didn't like the fact that he was going to get eaten if he acted out of line. He shook the thoughts from his head and turned up to Spector. "Well, Spec. Let's get going." He gave a large smile as he followed the Ranger to the shop.

When they arrived, his eyes widened at Hazel's order. Just thinking about all of that food made his stomach growl, and he had to laugh. "Thanks for this, Hazel." He gave her a soft smile as she walked away, not able to help watching her do so. He caught himself, though, and a blush crossed his face as he turned to the man waiting on his order. He thought for only a moment before he ordered himself a large Antipasto Pizza, while he got a personal pan veggie pizza for Spector. When the order was finished, he found Hazel and sat right down, the Litwick landing on the table next to him.

"Thanks again for this. I really appreciate it. It's nice to just be able to go out and talk to someone once and a while." He mused slightly. He caught himself staring again, though, and blushed and turned to Spector, observing the small Pokemon as he played with his flame.

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[Hazel Moore]

hazel mae moore !!

[/size][/color]

x x x x x[/center]

As per usual, Arcanine was way to large to fit into the little booth. He made due with sitting down on the free end of the table, taking up half the isle as he did so. Hazel was happy no body had said anything to her yet. How could they really? In a world full of pokemon, she didn't think it was fair to ask trainers or anyone for that matter, to keep their pokemon inside their balls.

She carefully placed the two large pizzas at the very end of the table. At least they had made the booths rather large, allowing room for many different sized plates and other such things. Archie went right to make a horrific mess of himself, devouring the first pizza before Dion had so much of a chance to sit down. Already on his second one, Hazel kept having to move the plate closer inwards, hoping it wouldn't fall to the floor when she wasn't looking. "You're a mess boy, ya know that?" Hazel said, patting her pokemon's head gently.

As Dion sat down she smiled, raising her (previously unmentioned but totally bought) cup slightly and giving a smile, as if welcoming him to sit down. "I've never eaten here before, but it seems delicious. Hazel said, laughing and pointing a finger at the tomato and cheese covered face of her Arcanine.

Taking a sip of the lemonade she had gotten Hazel looked at Dion and noticed he had been staring and quickly looking away, more than once. Trying to ignore it she picked up one of her slices and began to nibble, slurping the layers of extra cheese down like a true lady would. Looking up, she noticed it again, was there something on her face? Something stuck between her teeth? "Dion, what's on my face?" Hazel suddenly burst out, half pleading to know why he kept doing what he's doing. "Oh my god, have I been walking around with a booger hanging out?" This time, Hazel's face turned bright red. Taking a napkin from the little holder on the table she quickly began wiping at her nose and face.

Once satisfied she had completely removed anything from her face, she threw the crumbled napkin to the side. Better now, right?" She asked quickly, turning her face towards Spector in hopes that Dion wouldn't notice the still massive redness in her cheeks. "So why doesn't this little cutie talk?" Hazel asked, again reaching out to gently stroke the side of his body.

[Dionysus Godlin]

Dion had to squeeze past the rapidly eating Arcanine in order to get to the booth. His eyes were wide as he grabbed for the soda(that he totes bought >_>) and took a sip. The entire time waiting for his food was awkward. He tried to occupy himself by playing with Spector's flame. Of course, it didn't work all that well, and Hazel seemed to notice the staring. His face heated up and all he could do was stutter as she went on about something being on her face. His eyes went wide and he tried to take a sip of his soda, only to fail by choking on it as she continued to wipe at her face.

Finally, he was able to distract his self with his pizza as it finally came to the table. He set Spector's in front of him as he tried to calm himself down. Finally, Hazel changed the topic, and he could not help but be grateful. Of course, it was a touchy subject. He took a bite of his pizza to calm himself, sighing at the black olive and artichoke hearts on his pallet now. When he swallowed, he avoided looking at Hazel, choosing to look at his Litwick instead. "I'm not sure, really. I've been trying to figure it out for years. He tries to talk. He just..Can't." Dion gave a loud sigh as he took another bit of his pizza. While he chewed, he couldn't help himself. He peeked up at Hazel, and smirked to himself when he saw her blush. It was cute.

He shook the thoughts out of his head. He couldn't afford to be thinking like that, especially about a Ranger. If she ever found out who he really was, she'd never talk to him again.

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[Hazel Moore]

hazel mae moore !!

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x x x x x[/center]

Hazel wasn't exactly a messy person, but oh my god this pizza. At least she wasn't as bad as Archie, who was now laying on the floor with a fallen pizza pie pan and cheese all over his face. As he lazily tried to pick the molten yellow goo from his chest and shoulders it seemed as if the fire pokemon was almost purring with contentment. Meanwhile, all Hazel had was a nice greasy face with a tomato sauce smile extended a wee bit eerily at the corners of her mouth.

Once again, being the told lady she was, Hazel burped loudly. Covering her mouth and giggling Hazel blurted out some sort of excuse me, only to be interrupted by another loud and very much unfeminine burp. "You'll have to excuse me Dion, almost a year living on the road going from town to town... You forget your manners." Hazel motioned down at her own pokemon. A growling laughing sort of sound came from the giant hound pokemon as he rolled onto his back, shimmying his body underneath the table. Knocking all feet aside, only his back legs and tail stuck out.

As per usual, Hazel slipped off her shoes and buried her socks into the warm belly fur, uncaring if she got sauce on her feet or not. Now, Hazel turned her attention back towards Spector and Dion. "There's nothing wrong with him." Hazel said, her eye sincere as she said it. "I've met a few mute pokemon in my travels, and there's not a thing wrong with that. In fact, you wanna trade?" Hazel said, gently poking her Arcanine in the ribs with her feet. A playful little yelp emerged from somewhere underneath the table.

Finishing up the last of her two slices, Hazel wondered if it would look bad for her to get something else. She didn't want to appear to be a fatty in front of the cute boy in front of her. It's not like she'd been on a date in a long time, anyway. Considering this the closest thing to a date, Hazel figured she'd restrain herself and try and salvage a bit of her lady-like appearance. "So what do you do Dion? You mentioned something about having your sights somewhere else? Would it be rude if I asked where?"

[Dionysus Godlin]

Dion did not notice Hazel's eating, because he was right there with her. He was stuffing bite after bite into his mouth. Bits of ham, artichoke heart, and black olive plastering his lips in a crazed smile. Spector ate his pizza slowly, like the dainty creature he was. But when Hazel burped, Dion had to laugh, waving off her explination. "Don't worry about it." But it sounded more like "jhsdygrawekjasdfk" since his mouth was full.

Of course, his eyes went soft and he gave Hazel a gentle smile when she started talking about mute Pokemon. "At least someone else thinks he's perfectly normal." The smile grew as he reached out and touched her hand lightly. "Thank you." He said lightly before he finally realized what he was doing. His eyes went wide, his face grew hot, and he withdrew, distracting himself by shoving his entire last piece of pizza into his mouth.

Of course she would bring up his profession. "Well. I'm trying to get out of a bad situation right now. But after this, I'm hoping to go buy that building next door. You see...Spector fascinates me. But..Most people just put him down and pick on him. I want to learn more about disabled Pokemon. So I'm hoping to set up a research center..." He kept it short and sweet. Not wanting to give too much away.

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