Oh, finally, today was finally the day Tesoro could slink into the display room of Mesagoza's Rowlex and get his hands on the watch he'd been eyeing for months. A while back he'd had to settle for a model that wasn't quite to his standards, but one often had to establish "loyalty" to a brand before being offered the best of their catalogue, and so the mind-you still incredibly expensive purchase was made so the salesmen knew who to keep on call when a new shipment came in.

	To be a lover of luxuries was to suffer a number of stupidities to get your hands on them. Honestly he could just steal the damned thing but too many high profile thefts were liable to amp up security among all places hosting valuables and it just wasn't worth the trouble. However, opening his eyes after a sneeze has him realize he isn't quite where he thinks he is. Not a display case in sight but what awaits him is a youth in an office chair, who seems to brighten up somewhat upon taking a glance at the silver haired man.

	"Oh! Hello there! My name's Damien. I’m just here to ask you a few questions. You’ll return to wherever you came soon enough."

	He picks up on the effect he seems to have on the mysterious stranger, but really he's more surprised when people are nonplussed. In all honesty, Tesoro *wants* to throw a bit of a fit right now, but he can tell from the fine make of "Damien's" suit that he was a man with money, if not status. Though some would call all the orange a bit gaudy, he figures it best to make a good impression. Not like he minded, in a way it was almost reminded him of his days at Naranja. He let the pleasant sense of nostalgia guide his practiced smile and fixed his coat nice and neat as he sat in front of the younger man, eager to make friends in high places. It's at this point he takes notice of the Glimmora positioned directly above them, now that wasn't something one saw every day, couldn't say he ever fought one of those since he had opted out of taking on the league and La Primera for the sake of keeping a low profile. Tesoro makes the conscious efforts to relieve any tension in his posture when Damien takes it upon himself to tell him not to worry about the Pokemon wordlessly gazing down at them.

	“Okay, I see you’re not too thrilled about this, so-“, he said as he moved his chair back and reached into the bottom right drawer of his desk, with both of his arms pulling out two stacks of cash, “-if you complete this, I’ll give you fifteen thousand Pokedollars. Should be enough, right?”

	Tesoro bites back a laugh. At this point that was chump change to him. But he knew it was a fairly generous offer all things considering, and he'd already committed to playing nice about the whole thing so he opted to show more decorum.

	"Oh no need, if all you need is a few questions answered I'm more than happy to oblige, you caught me when I wasn't busy." He lied. "Do forgive the lack of introduction, my name is Tesoro, but friends call me Tes."

	He hmm-'d affirmatively before moving on to what Tes assumed were the routine questions.

	“Anyways. What’s that thing you got there”, he said as he pointing the beaded necklace that adorned Tesoro's neck.

	It brought Tesoro no small amount of joy to think about his progress towards unsealing the treasures of ruin, aided by a particularly sweet-natured fool. Slim fingers gently toyed with the beads as he elaborated on the necklace's origin.

	"Mmm, you see I do believe it's worthwhile to acknowledge one's past and heritage. These beads are a tribute to Paldean history, particularly, they represent the beads of a legendary Pokemon that once belonged to one of our kings. The jade and quartz they're made of is said to be a host to protective energy and while I'm not one for superstition they're nonetheless a piece of culture I enjoy carrying around with me. Interesting no?"

	“How much is is it worth to you?”

	"Well I do enjoy wearing it regularly but I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world if it went missing." The answer he would've given to anyone he wasn't attempting to make an impression on would have been exactly P$237,294 but he digresses.

	“I have a little thing of my own”, the boy said as he used his left hand to reach under his shirt and pulled out an Amulet Coin. “It’s interesting to see, what people carry with them, that’s not useful." He took a pause. "So now tell me, what do you carry around that actually is useful?"

	Tesoro's mind drifts to his tera orb, mega keystone, and his handy dandy pocket knife. Option B was a fun little secret he tried not to let people know he had access to, and option C was certainly nothing to brandish in polite company.

	"I'm sure you know many a trainer where I hail from carry around one of these" he says, pulling the tera orb from his pocket, its sleek black surface gleaming in the light.

	"Nice. Has it ever come in handy?"

	"If you have to ask I take it you haven't ventured around Paldea yet. You ought to fix that sometime you know? I can introduce you to some of Mesagoza's high-end restaurants or perhaps recommend some wineries. Ah, but to answer your question, terastallization is a tool any trainer would value having, it can expand a Pokemon's defensive and offensive profiles by a wide margin." Oh vomit, he sounded just like Bibi.

	The boy furrowed his brow, trying to think. "Okay, we're about at the halfway point. Tell me what kind of music you like."

	Hm, a surprisingly frivolous thing to ask, but then again kids these days did love tying their identity to the arts. Frankly, this was one of the few questions he felt hesitant to answer, he was a bit of an outlier, preferring the classics rather than whatever one would listen to on the radio or streaming services. Wouldn't be the first time someone joked about grandpa music. He decides to let a honey toned voice do the legwork in convincing his conversational partner.

	"Oh well I'm not all that well versed in music but I've always loved classical, no need for vocals or lyrics to carry the weight of the emotions and I appreciate the talent of the composers to make so many instruments work in harmony."

	Intrigued, he gave out a "Hm", and then quipped back, "A bit strange. I don't listen to that stuff a lot. Not bad, though."

	"Alright, well, would you be willing to listen to this song and tell me what you think about it? Can I see your phone?"

	Tesoro's rotom phone gently floats over to "Damien" who proceeds to bring up All That May Bleed by Watain.

	Tesoro doesn't flinch as the song builds up, but much like most other modern genres of music the sounds bounce off of him, is this what qualified as singing these days? Perhaps he was more out of touch than he thought...... It was clear from "Damien's" satisfied expression that he was enjoying the rapid beat of the drums and swell of the guitar and so he tried to give a thoughtful response.

	"I can't say I've ventured much into the realm of metal but I suppose that was obvious to you Damien. I quite liked the interlude towards the end, and the intensity is matched by little else."

	The other man laughs the inoffensive response off. "Yeah, I didn't think you would like it, anyways. Few people are accustomed to such sounds. Anyways...Pokemon. Let's talk about Pokemon. What is your WORST Pokemon?"

	Tesoro's eyes widen before he pulls his expression back into something pleasant.

	"Oho, you'll find all of them are quite capable." Tesoro didn't quite like others mocking his team, if only because he wouldn't take a spit at his efforts lying down.

	"Don't lie to me. I know someone one of your six comes in last place. For me, it's Dragalge. It's gotten me through a lot, but it's also got one of the lowest BSTs out of any fully evolved Pokemon I have, even getting edged out by Revavroom and Corviknight by a few points. The second spot of my team, has frankly always been a bit weaker. But that's okay, as long as the role I use it in checks out, right?"

	Tesoro was a believer in making use of Pokemon with strength and who bore an air of dignity, but ugh, Arceus, he planned his outing today to get away from battlers who wanted to talk strategy.

	"Well I can't exactly argue with your logic on that front. If I had to pick it would be Sharpedo, its defenses make it a difficult Pokemon to bring onto the field and requires a sense of timing to things, moreover, it's a Pokemon whose movements gain more precision as the fight drags along. Anyone who tries to bide their time against it or relies too much on their own speed often find the tables turned on them."

	A half truth of an answer, the fact that he could mega evolve his Sharpedo was his ace in the hole, but outside of that its performance did lag somewhat behind its teammates.

	"What's your favorite Pokemon-", the boy said in a slightly odd tone.

	Now it's Tesoro's turn to light up a bit, his face breaking into an adoring smile at the thought of his ace.

	"Oh would you believe the trouble it took to get my hands on a Gholdengo? They're an exceedingly rare species but their stellar defensive typing and gleaming body make them well worth the treasure hunt-"

	"-That you haven't caught." Damien continued.

	Ah. Whoops. Well, he really couldn't be faulted for extolling his favorite's endless virtues. Damien should value the input.

	"In that regards, while there isn't much data recorded on it there was said to be an ancient dragon Pokemon akin to Salamence. If a living specimen were found I'd like to measure it's capabilities compared to my own."

	The boy gave back a slightly condescending "Nice" followed by "What's your favorite Type?"

	Tesoro didn't quite care for that tone but patience was key.

	"Ghost, I've always been drawn to them even if they aren't necessarily the type I use most."

	"Excellent choice. A fine addition to any team, well, provided that you know how to use them correctly."

	That was a bit more like it. He couldn't stand being talked down to, especially not by someone younger than him.

	“What was the worst battle you’ve ever had?”

	Tesoro's mind flashes back to his most recent loss, handed to him by a certain bespectacled girl. Certainly he had his losses in the past as a younger trainer, had to narrowly escape the occasional low level thug by hiding out in an alleyway, but he had gotten accustomed to victory as he made his way through the gym challenge in his older teens. Perhaps he'd gotten lax, overly content after having traveled abroad to get his hands on a keystone, while this loss posed no physical danger to him, it proved he wasn't as dominant as he'd liked to think. Oh well, it would change in due time.

	"Haha, I'm generally quite content with my team's performance, but our last fight came down to whoever's attack landed first, I was expecting Kingambit's sucker punch to finish the job but I hadn't accounted for the odd chance she would run vacuum wave on her Toxicroak."

	"Fascinating. I think you could have won by reserving your terastallization."

	No shit.

	"You're *so* right Damien, I'll be thinking about the merits of specific types later tonight."

	"A lot of times, we think about the Pokemon that we like. We sometimes go as far as to walk tens of miles just to catch them, and sometimes we go even further. But you know what's something we don't think about a lot? The Pokemon we HATE. Tell me about the Pokemon that you hate."

	"Anything too common I suppose, Pokemon are great ways of adding beauty and variety in our lives, so nothing bores me more than seeing yet another lechonk littering the fields. Exceptions to the rule exist, but in general that's how I feel."

	"A reasonable response, but I would wager what constitutes as common varies from person to person region to region, your standards of exotic aren't universal......Okay, we're almost at the end of this, so I'd like to introduce you to a view. An idea. I won't say that this is necessarily my view, but it's something. Something that I've been meaning to share with people. You see, people usually think of Pokemon as their friends. But not everyone does. Some view them as tools. Possessions. To be used. I think these people are unfairly judged, because of how pervasive this 'friends' mentality is. But what say you?""

	Tesoro hmms contemplatively. Certainly the way he viewed his own Pokemon vastly differed from the majority of people's, but really, he had every right to treat others, people or Pokemon, any way he wanted. After all, he was exceptional.

	The mask of serenity slips for the briefest second.

	"Unfairly you say? It's logical to see why humans form bonds with Pokemon, for the most part, we're pack forming creatures who have always relied on ties to survive, but I say there are indeed scant few of us who are capable of pushing past that need, those with the strength necessary to imprint their will on the world."

	What need had he for anything so transient as bonds or friendship? Was it something he could hold, see, sell? Love was something he reaped from those who were below him. What separated he, a man, from mongrel, was that his eyes could discern worthiness at a glance, a treasure was his to do as he pleased with whether that be lord it over others or dispose of it when it no longer struck his fancy.

	"Great. It's good to know that there's more people like me out there."

	The black plastic door suddenly unlocked. "You can go now, You'll end up back where you were."

	Tesoro made to leave, trying to hide his eagerness to get back to his prior plans.

	Wait! Before you go-", Damien called out, "I have something to give you." It was a slip of torn paper with a phone number on it. "Call me if you want to, uh, do things."


    	"Te veo pronto~" He calls back, wondering how many free dinners he can get out of this guy.