[FIN] That's a Lott of Cars

[Grike]

A clear night reflected off the cars in the parking lot, creating a sea of starlight. Only the occasional street lamp stood guard; lonely sentinels hovering over their steel flock. Pockets like this were scattered all throughout the city. Camphoreon was known for it’s stores; not it’s spacious parking. Like most cities, tourists would be forced to abandon their cars in out of the way lots like this before trekking to nearby shopping districts on foot.

Occasionally the rare police car would sail by; but they were just lone sharks in a great big sea of opportunity - opportunity Tesla fully intended to take advantage of.

Abandoning her hoodie for something a bit less conspicuous; Tesla stood in the cold night air in nothing but a red tank top and some jeans. Not exactly her warmest outfit but it played better to the hapless tourist motif she was going for in case anyone stumbled upon her...training.

Crouching in front of the nose of a jeep; Tesla adjusted her fake glasses to better peer into the grate.

“You alright in there ‘Lit’?” Charlotte or ‘Lit’ for short; sparked a small affirmative. The light flashed through the car's grate; reflecting off the false lenses.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The shortest distance between two points was, as people often said, a straight line, so Abel intended to make one. Or, well, as straight a line as he could manage, cutting through a parking lot with full rows of cars to maneuver around. Passingly he wondered if he was breaking some sort of rule or law by cutting through what could be a private parking lot, but after working another long shift for what seemed like the umpteenth day in a row, he couldn't even begin to care. He was tired, so tired, and sore everywhere from working so long for so many days in a row - but he'd asked for the shifts, had assured his boss he could handle them, so really it was his own fault. Walking home was his own fault too, but given his situation he needed to save as much as he could. Tired as he was, he couldn't afford to not care about that.

...that, and helping people.

A girl kneeling - was she kneeling? It was hard to tell with the sparse lighting in the parking lot - in front of a car caught his attention, and he shifted the backpack slung over one shoulder as he paused to regard her a few moments. Was she having car trouble or something? A lot of use he'd be if she were though, given his car was all the way back at his apartment complex. She was probably cold though, given the chill in the air; he was rather glad for his jacket. Was there even any way he could help her? Did she even need any help? He was already standing there, though, and continuing to walk was quickly becoming the absolute last thing he wanted to do at the moment, after being on his feet all day. Standing around for a bit would be nice - plus maybe there was something he could help with after all. "You alright there?" He asked in a tired voice after a silence that probably lasted a bit too long to be comfortable, but he was too exhausted to notice or care about that much. "Something wrong with your car?"  

[Grike]

Jumping at the voice, Tesla nearly tumbles out of her crouch. She manages to spare herself that particular headache by bracing a hand against the jeep. Catching her glasses before they could slip of her nose; she turns to blink up at the stranger.

Amber eyes widened. "Oh! No,nono. Not car trouble more uh..." A brief pause as her tongue worked to pluck a story from startled thoughts. "Actually, it's more pokemon trouble. My Joltik decided to squeeze herself into the grate there." There, technically not a lie.

She softly wraps her knuckles against the bumper; continuing. "I'm just trying to fish her out before the car's owner happens by and oh Ho-ho pleaassee tell me that isn't you.."  

[Randerin]

In the distance, not so far off, and in the same parking lot was a girl sitting in a teal parked car. The only sound that could be heard from within the car was the fizzing of carbonated sodas and the popping of green grapes. Her dark pony tailed hair sat on her shoulder in a frizzy heaping mess.

"Mmm-mmmm.", she would moan through her disgusting eating habits. Even the Froakie next to her seemed astonished at how vulgar the situation was. He stared at her with spiteful eyes as he sat there with his arms folded. She passed him a nervous smile and wiped her mouth off, "I-I'm sorry..". He bubbled his cheeks before looking out of the window again.

Both of them seemed to be watching the girl kneeling in front of a vehicle, and now a boy helping her. It wasn't very entertaining, but at least it was something to watch.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Well now he felt bad; he hadn't meant to startle her. "Sorry," he heard himself say before he could even think of it, and then paused a moment to think about just when apologizing had become a reflex. Pokemon trouble - in a parking lot? He didn't bother to think about it too much, but he did step forward so he could crouch down next to her. Not that there was a lot he could do to help, anyway, since at the moment he couldn't even recall what a Joltik was. "Huh? Oh, nah, don't worry," he assured her with a quick wave of a hand to dismiss the thought. "S'not my car. Even if it was, I don't think I could care too much at the moment. But," the blond raised his hand to rub wearily at the lower half of his face - and ignored the fact he needed to shave quite badly - then dropped both hands to rest his wrists atop his knees, "she doesn't want to come out, huh? Why'd she go in there in the first place?"  

[Grike]

"She's an electric pokemon." Tesla explained with a helpless shrug. Settling back onto the balls of her feet, she peers into the grate; nose wrinkling against spitting sparks. "Joltik eat static electricity. So if I had to take a guess? She's probably making a meal of this car's battery."

The constant flickers popped out odd shadows. Tesla blinked rapidly, the dance between light and dark causing havoc on her night vision. Suddenly feeling crowded by the night, she edges closer to the flashing grate.

"I mean seriously, it's not like she can drain the thing right?" More flashes. "Er...right?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Well, that made sense enough, he supposed; an electric pokemon was attracted to electrical things. "Makes sense," he said with a slight shrug as he, too, watched the brief flashes emanating from the interior of the car's grate, though he didn't seem to notice or react to the slight effect it had on his vision. It was beginning to bother his eyes a bit, though, so he shifted his gaze to the girl next to him instead. Geez, just a tank top... Once more he couldn't help but feel a little bad for her being without a jacket or something.

"Hell if I know," he responded unhelpfully as he passed a hand through his hair with a sigh. "Ask me anything about Mareep, Miltank, Growlithe - anything you'd find on a ranch - and I could tell you no problem, but that's about as far as my experience goes, to be honest. That and creation mythology," the blond added as an afterthought, "but that's different."  

[Grike]

Musing her loose hair, Tesla huffed a few bangs from her face. "Weeelll...after catching the little bugger I did a bit of research.” That was an understatement. Tesla hadn’t read so many books in her life. It was amazing how scientists could ramble on and on about what basically summed up to: electric parasite. “Joltik don't generate their own electricity you see. Too small apparently. That's why they like clinging to bigger pokemon and the like...or in this case a car."

Rocking back on her bum, Tesla sat with elbows draped over her knees. She shivered, the cool asphalt breathing goosebumps along her skin. Still, the woman remained upbeat. Honestly she welcomed the break. Their little training montage had just passed it's four hour mark. Not exactly how she liked her Friday nights but eh, what could you do?

“Don’t suppose you have anything better to tempt her out with?” She took a moment to scrub sore eyes. “You said you know mareep right? Got one on you?”

Training a pokemon, especially one fresh from the wild, turned out to be a lot more work than she expected. She’d spent the better part of their first week together just familiarizing Lit with cars. Suffice to say the little woodland critter hadn’t exactly been taken with them. She still hesitated sometimes; especially if the engine was running. At least she was learning to navigate the car’s internal wiring well enough. The real trick was getting her to recognize the right fuse to divert electricity from.

For the first week, Tesla had used a few cars stowed away on the ship’s cargo for Lit’s training. After reading up on several training manuals and car schematics, she eventually figured out how to help Lit associate the alarm fuse with food.

The method was far from perfect. For one, every model was different and while the alarm fuse to most cars followed a traditional white and red wiring that was far from universal. The location might also change, depending on the model. However Kodo wasn’t exactly the largest island out there so with luck there won’t pay homage to more than a few car manufactures. She’d simply have to familiarize Lit with the most common model and work from there. Ugh, she hated rush jobs.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"What? Really?" Abel asked, eyebrows raising as he turned his head to look at her a moment or two. An electric-type that couldn't create its own electricity... That was both interesting and kind of a little sad for the Joltik, having to rely on leeching electricity from other pokemon or electrical things. "Huh. That's pretty interesting, actually."

While her shiver might've been too quick or small a movement to notice, the goosebumps along her arms were a little more obvious, given both their relatively close proximity and the fact she was only wearing a tank top. He heaved a quiet sigh and rubbed his hand over his chin, trying to ignore the stubble there as he did so, then finally offered, "It's pretty chilly out, d'you want to borrow my jacket for a bit or something?"

A Mareep? "Ah, no, I don't have one, sorry," the blond apologized and frowned a little at himself. Electric-type... That was probably something he should get at some point. "I have a couple other pokemon, but no electric-types unfortunately. Though, actually..." An idea struck him and he fished something out of his pocket, "What about a cell phone?"  

[Grike]

"Hmm?" Tesla looked up. "Oh, no. It's okay. You'd just get cold too." Shaking her head at the cell phone suggestion; Tesla continues. "Probably not inticing enough. I mean, think about it. She's got a whole car battery in there. That's like trying to convince someone to trade a steak for a happy meal. I'd like to think my Joltik has better taste than that.

Without warning, the girl would suddenly pop to her feet and turn to Abel.

"Hey, you're not a cop are you?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The blond laughed softly, the sound merely a breathy 'hah' because he was too tired to actually laugh. "Nah, not really. I'm not the one out here in just a tank top," he countered, but shrugged. If she didn't want it, she didn't want it, and he wasn't about to push it on her. Maybe if she were more than a stranger, he would, but she wasn't. The flippant dismissal of his suggestion earned a snort in response though. "Well excuse me for suggesting it," he said as he replaced his phone into his pocket. "If we're being honest though, I doubt it'd leave a nice car battery for a Mareep either. Not unless the car battery's about dead, anyway."

Her sudden movement made him tense as if he expected some sort of violence upon his person, and normally he would've risen as quickly in case he needed to defend himself, but his body refused to move now that it was essentially resting, so he remained stooped - and vaguely disquieted by it - near the ground. "Me? A cop?" Now he laughed a real laugh, one of amusement with hints of bitterness and weariness in it. "Nah, I'm no cop. I work at a gun shop and firing range not too far from here," he offered instead, and pointed at the direction he'd come from. "I was actually walking home. Why d'you ask?"  

[Grike]

Hands tucked behind her back, Tesla leans down a bit so Abel doesn't have to crane his neck so far. "Cause I'm about to break into this car. Mind playing look out?"

Perhaps it was a bit reckless, involving a stranger like this. If she were being honest with herself though...Tes had to admit she was getting a bit lonely. Pokemon weren't exactly the most talkative sort and this stranger was a nice respite from the quiet.

"Oh, I'm Tes by the way."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Break into the car?" Now he was suspicious. ...well, a little, at least. "What, to get your Joltik out?" He moved to stand up again but his legs still refused to work, so all he accomplished was a small wobble on his heels. With an annoyed frown, he heaved a sigh and tiredly rubbed his hand over his face. "I will if you'll help me up," he replied, lifting his other hand in hopes of receiving at least a little aid. "Oh - name's Abel. Nice to meet you, Tes."  

[Grike]

A blink. "Wait really? Wow, I was expecting...I dunno some moral debate or something." After offering a friendly pat on the shoulder, Tesla turns on her heel. "I can take care of it. You just chill there, relax, and get ready to scoop up Lit. Hopefully the sound of the engine will be enough to spook her out." She smiles over a bare shoulder. "Besides, this way, if the cops come you can play the innocent bystander and bail me out of jail later, yeah?"

Since this clearly wasn't a democracy, Tesla abandoned Abel to his post in order to get a better look around the parking lot. Mumbling something about a wedge, she kneels down to pick up a broken bit of asphalt from the ground.

"So Abel huh? You're a country boy then? That's hot. No offence but it looks like city life has been putting you through the ringer."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His hand dropped and he frowned as she simply went about getting started, so he shrugged instead and leaned an arm on the car to heave himself to his feet, his joints and muscled protesting the entire way. "Yeah, well," he started with a sigh as he leaned back, trying to stretch himself out a bit after crouching for so long, "lucky for you I am way too tired for that. If the cops come, I'll play the innocent bystander but you're on your own for bail. I've been strapped for cash lately and I don't have any to spare to bail some girl I just met out of jail - hope you understand," he finished as he straightened and hooked his thumbs into his pockets.

"Born and raised," he replied, though aimed a wary glance at her. "How old are you? And nah, it's the twelve hour shifts I've been working. I've lived in cities for years. Even when I still lived at home, our ranch wasn't far outside town."