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The faint sound of a bell sounded from the far corner of the room. One of the cabinets, to be exact. Inside, a young Chingling had found a box of saltine crackers, and was triumphantly eating her prize after tearing off the top and ripping the side of a package.

Elsewhere, Alba wasn't in much better of a mood than Claire. Spook had wandered off for the umpteenth time, and every time he thought he was gaining on the bell sounds, there was yet another turn and another Chingling-free room or hall to travel through. It wasn't the first time he'd considered getting some sort of leash for her, either.

At long last, Alba recognized the area he had entered. He was nearing the kitchen, meaning the chase was probably drawing to a close. Thank Arceus! The bottomless pit of a Pokemon wouldn't be able to resist the temptation!

All sounds from within the high cabinet ceased, and a half minute later the door opened a crack. A quiet, "Chiiing?" floated out as Zeus was observed, before the door snapped shut again. There was some more rustling from within, the occasional "ling ling~," and finally, at long last, the door reopened. This time, it was easier to see the cracker sticking halfway out of Spook's mouth, and she extended one tassel toward her yellow visitor. In its grasp was an offering of one perfectly square, perfectly salted, cracker.

Hearing the noises coming from ahead, Alba quickened his pace to just short of a run. Oh no! What trouble had his Chingling gotten herself into this time?! "Spook!" he shouted as he barged through the kitchen door, and instantly skidded to a stop at the sight of another human. Darn it! "Ah- er- um- Sorry, miss," he stammered, embarrassed by his definitely rude and abrupt entrance. It was said that if a person acted like he knew what he was doing, no one would question if he intended his actions. Pfft, yeah, like he was doing a fine job at maintaining that image. He glanced around the room and coughed to try casually clearing his voice. "You, um, wouldn't happen to have seen a Chingling running around, would you?"

Alba was just starting to retreat, throwing out several more apologies in the process, when he heard Claire shout. Looked like his wasn't the only pokemon with a troublesome side- DARN IT!! He recognized that tassel!

"I've... got this." As calmly as he could, Alba crossed the room to the hefty Pikachu and the cabinet in question, and carefully opened and held open the door. Ta da! One Chingling, and one ruined box of saltines. Surprise, surprise. He supposed he should just be happy she had thought to share. For a moment, human and Chingling alike simply stared at each other. Alba sighed and shook his head. "Dare I even ask where you put it all?" It looked as though the oversized bell was going to just keep on staring at her trainer in response. Well, right up until Alba made to move his arm. That would be when she suddenly launched from the cabinet, right into Alba's face. "CHIING~!!" The cracker she'd been holding onto fell forgotten to the counter, the one in her mouth had at some point vanished, and all of her attention was set on happily clinging to her trainer's face. All poor Alba could do was utter a cry of surprise, stumble back a few steps to catch his balance, and proceed to grumble and complain as he tried to pry the clingy bell away.

After much effort (and flailing), Alba freed himself with his own victorious, "Hah!" He held Spook out at arm's length, giving her a disapproving look. "Actually, I think she's just easily distracted," he answered in response to Claire's first question.

The Pokemon in question smiled innocently at her trainer. A beat passed, and Alba hesitantly released his hold under Spook's stubby arms. He kept his hands hovering just at her sides as she floated in mid-air, as though worried she might suddenly drop, or maybe just launch in any given direction again. Thankfully, the Chingling seemed to have calmed down from her hyperactive display, and she levitated safely to perch on Alba's left shoulder in time for Claire's second question.

"Hmm. I call her Spook because that's what she is: a real-life spook. She gets a kick out of just about every time she manages to scare the daylights out of me. I'm still trying to figure out why I keep such a little terror around." Though he was frowning sideways at Spook, there was no malice or resentment in his tone. If anything, there may have been a hint of fondness- not that Alba would ever admit it.

The corners of Alba's mouth quirked upward briefly as he listened to the woman and watched the Pikachu. Food as a distraction? That sounded about right. It had been food that had led the Chingling to him at the very start, and it wouldn't surprise him if it had been for the food that she had stayed. Alba's lips returned to a neutral line. Somehow, that odd thought hurt more than he would've expected. Without really noticing, he raised a hand to support the oversized bell that gripped the side of his head. "Ling~?" was the quiet response, but Spook otherwise stayed silent as she nuzzled against the hand. No, it hadn't only been for food that she had stayed. He was being stupid to think otherwise.

When the young woman asked about his other pokemon, Alba only had to think for a split second before he shook his head. "That's a thought. Spook here's my only one." Technically, he had a Skitty somewhere back in Kanto. But that thing had hated him, adored the ex, and all around wasn't a custody battle he had seen as worth the fight. His raised hand returned to his side, and both hands disappeared into his pants pockets as he straightened into his usual, casually at-attention pose. "I guess even pokemon get bored and lonely, huh?" He turned his attention back to the only other human in the room.

Spook, on the other hand, had drifted away from her Alba-perch, and redirected her own attention back to the heavyset Pikachu. Floating into the cabinet again was no trouble at all, and she landed on the counter next to Zeus a few seconds later. Proudly held over her head in her tassels was none other that the prized cracker box. She cheerfully attempted to tip the box in his direction.

In trying to keep the box steady, Spook over corrected for the dual tipping, and toppled backwards with a squeak as well. With such a rounded body, she had to levitate to right herself. As soon as she was up, though, she was wading through the sea of crackery goodness to the electric mouse, and moved to help him back on his paws. Her trainer kept his expression as indifferent as possible, even though he felt like a heavy sigh was in order. Instead, he listened to the woman's reply, and nodded his head the slightest bit in agreement as she spoke.

He came up short on how to respond to the Pidgey question, though, and blinked dumbly for a moment. "A Pidgey?" he repeated. Was that a hypothetical question, or was it some unknown Rocket practice to offer Pidgeys to the rookies? It certainly wasn't the most intimidating creature, but it was a Pokemon known to grow into something that could be rather formidable. "I... haven't given it much thought before." He really couldn't decide where Claire was going with that question, and the last thing he wanted was to assume the wrong thing and possibly offend.

Spook jingled happily at Zeus' recovery. There was still the problem of their snack now being spread all over the counter, though. She pondered it for a few seconds, levitated to retrieve the bow without stepping on anything, returned to Zeus' side, and proceeded to start returning the crackers to the container. She'd been considered "wild" not a month ago. Even if Alba did take care to keep her well fed now, keeping spare food safely contained was still an instinct she followed.

Alba considered the offer. Or, at least, he appeared to be considering it. Truth was, his mind was decided the instant Claire mentioned the Pidgey possibly being killed or injured if it didn't find a new home. He'd never admit it, to himself or anyone else, but he really was a sucker for that sort of thing. "Well... I mean, yeah. That would be... great." This was Team Rocket he'd gotten involved in, right? First Lucas, with a Chimecho named Merry and an interest in guitar, and now this woman, with purple streaks in her hair and who baked cookies while discussing the welfare of one of the weakest bird Pokemon he could think of. These people were really part of the criminal class? His straight shoulders eased just the slightest.

With a nod to himself, he looked back to Claire and gave the smallest twitch of a grateful smile. "I'd be happy to take care of it for you. Oh, um, sorry." He briefly touched the knuckles of his right hand to his forehead in thought, then extended the hand to the young woman. "I burst in and didn't introduce myself or anything. Alba Ross. I just started here recently." It would've been obvious had he been wearing his issued trainee uniform. However, seeing as how this was his downtime, he'd ditched the uniform in favor of his own black slacks, and a white dress shirt with his preferred olive green sweater pulled over. His personal shoes were still in need of replacing, though, so he'd stuck with the issued black boots.