Sunlight shone over the peak of Mt. Moon and directly into Irvine's eyes, leaving him in a characteristically bitter mood. It could also have been the bickering crowds that they had been avoiding for the better part of the last hour, or even the packs of children that had ambushed them like wild PokÃ©mon before that, but he and Jack at least had the choice of ignoring the more social aspects of their mutual torment. The omnipresent ball of light and heat that hung in the sky was far more tenacious, and uniquely antithetical to the poor Sneasel's nature. As usual, he had taken out his frustration on the trainers of Route 3, but the trip was fairly short and there were only so many campers standing between him and his destination. He wasn't sure whether fighting under the sun or waiting under it was worse, but the only building in sight also happened to be the only source of shade, and it was completely surrounded. For once, he actually<span style="font-style: italic">wanted</span>to be inside his ball.<br/><br/>â€œWell, Iâ€™m sure I can get us in by just bullshitting that itâ€™s for research. I mean, pokÃ©professor in training; thereâ€™s no way I can miss out on such a valuable observation opportunity! Sound good to you Irvine?â€ Jack asked him before quickly switching to a different tack when he didn't get a favorable response. â€œI mean, uh, you can probably beat the hell out of a bunch of Zubats. Would that be good for you? Because I know youâ€™re not really one for whimsy and adventure.â€<br/><br/>He hadn't actually been paying much attention to the the aggravated chatter that filled the area, but upon realizing why the crowd was there in the first place - that it was being denied access to the caves running through the mountain, he tugged on Jack's shirt and gave him a look of both discomfort and grim determination.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Unacceptable</span>. He was going through those caves within the hour or someone was getting hurt.<br/><br/>â€œWell, I donâ€™t know, we could try to go around if we donâ€™t want a fuss. I donâ€™t mind not having to deal with Zubats if it can be helped, but for speedâ€™s sake, letâ€™s just give it a shot. Irvine, try not to attack anyone before we get through, okay?â€<br/><br/>The addendum, 'If we can find a peaceful solution at all', did not need to be included.<br/><br/>Jack beckoned him over and took Kicks into the crowd, much to the Scraggy's neurotic discontent. Irvine himself didn't move an inch until his trainer had reached the other side, at which point he built up speed and leapt cleanly over the line of people separating the two of them. The stunt drew far more attention than he would have preferred, but he wasn't prepared to push his way through a crowd of strangers merely for someone else's benefit. He leered at those watching to keep them quiet while Jack made his usual attempts at diplomacy. Together they were executing a common tactic that they fell back on whenever things needed to go their way. It rarely failed after the humans realized that Irvine wasn't bluffing.<br/><br/>â€œHey, Iâ€™m finishing my research thesis for my title as a professor, and I came all the way to Mt. Moon from Unova. Are you really not going to let me see this? I mean, itâ€™s a fantastic research opportunity. If youâ€™re really concerned about letting people in, I guess I could supervise a small group through the cave. You know, unless you really like angry people screaming at you. Then you can just do this all day.â€<br/><br/>A man in the crowd opened his mouth to speak, but quickly thought better of it when Irvine's claws came out. It was no act - he could tolerate a few people at a shared campfire with no particular interest in him, but being the center of attention in a group of any real size was too much. The most he could do to preserve the barest shred of civility needed to keep himself from looking feral was maintain a somewhat neutral posture, but there was no such ambiguity in his eyes. He scanned the people in front of him for anything that could be interpreted as hostility, silently daring them to interrupt Jack's proposal.