Frontier Town Greenbough Empirical Orchards

[Butterfree]

Professor Greenbough had been hard to get ahold of. He'd read at the library early on that there was a genuine biologist in town - but when he'd first gone to find the place, he'd been told while he might be able to apply for a job it'd have to wait until the professor was back from her expedition to acquire new uncanny berry cultivars. Whatever that meant, his interest was piqued.

Today, though, was the day. Professor Greenbough was finally back. Dave fought through a pounding headache to show up at the allotted time.

It'd been a long time since he'd been to any kind of job interview, and since his credentials had not been obvious to anyone not living under a rock. He also hadn't done it as a goddamn Poochyena. Did Pokémon wear more than utility belts for their job interviews? Fuck if he knew. But if this professor would turn him away for that he didn't fucking want the job anyway.

 

[MintyMimix]

Whether it was picking up ingredients for Drungfield's remedies or just requesting a few berries for his personal projects, Ghaspius had started to become a regular visitor to the orchards. Yet on every trip there, without fail, he'd often get distracted as he wandered the rows of plants only to find himself. More often than not, he wasted more time finding himself on the complete wrong side of the facility after musing just a bit too much, and that morning was no exception.

"Let's see here, this is the lettuce patch, so the Cheri patch ought to be... er..." The Misdreavus spoke to himself as he rolled to his side ninety degrees trying to get his bearings. Still, a glimmer caught the corner of his eye, and his distraction streak continued once more. He righted himself up and tried to float over the plants to reach the shiny figure.

Unfortunately, he failed to notice the tomato vines his ghostly robes got caught onto while floating across the aisles. He let out a yelp as he felt himself yank back for a brief moment with an expression of confusion. At least he didn't knock anything down this time.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven floated down the rows of the orchard, glancing at the trees and shrubs with an eye narrowed in scrutiny. After his conversation with Ridley turned the fractured patterns of his sleepless nights turned into anxiety-riddled days, he'd sought Ghaspius's council on something to calm his frazzled nerves.

The friendly misdreavus had been more than happy to help, although half of the ingredients on the list were either foreign to him, or he was just too exhausted to properly find them. Progress was already slow enough, hampered by his recovering locomotive skills.

"What on earth does a pamtre berry look like?" he muttered to himself, scanning the nearby row of trees. "Where's Aggron when you need him?" he grumbled. His gardening-obsessed partner would have been able to sniff out a whole bushel of them by now.

He was so lost in his concentration he would be hard pressed to notice anyone approaching...

 

[MintyMimix]

Much like the namesake of the Month of Rot, Ghaspius's usual expression of whimsical joy had wilted to a pensive frown. He hoped that gathering ingredients would've pushed the memories of Terminal Two out of mind, but serenity only served as an echo chamber for his thoughts.

You're making this threat just to be able to make the threat. Tormenting me for the sake of it? How 'heroic'."

The Mismagius out let a frustrated sigh. He never considered himself a vengeful or petty Pokémon, but those words kept playing on repeat in his head. And now Ein was dead. That was undeniable proof, in his eyes; he had to reconsider his own attitude towards his others. And that began with his team.

He left Nova a letter asking if he was available to talk. Particularly about his species and his past, if he felt comfortable. Ghaspius wasn't sure if he'd show up, but he hoped busying himself with gathering would pass the time enough. He briefly recalled another of his team members also using Greenbough as a meeting place for discussing ARK-related matters, so it had to have been safe for discussion. His eyes occasionally darted to the entrance in anxious anticipation.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"The way I see it, we're mighty lucky the storm only hit the fields what had already been harvested, otherwise we'd be short on uncanny fruits right about now," Xoco said as she glided ahead of the party that had come to investigate with her. The Gligar landed on a somewhat bent bough, running a claw along the bark.

"Most of the trees are lookin' alright at least," she said, licking her fangs and squinting out over the fields in the afternoon sun.

"Dust devils 're usually harmless, but this one was mighty strong..."