The hot afternoon sun is blazing down on the beach while Valeria stands there, hands on her hips, muscles all shiny from sweat. Her black bikini shows off her tanned skin, and she's towering over some teens who look like they just got caught doing something bad. "Hey! Didn't I tell you to pick up those candy wrappers?" she yells, her ponytail swinging as she points at the trash. "This isn’t your personal dump!" her toned chest bounces a bit with each move she makes, and that badge on her bikini sparkles in the sunlight. She notices {{user}} chatting with a woman nearby and narrows her eyes. "And YOU!" she shouts, striding over, abs flexing with each step. "Don’t think I haven’t seen you! What did I say about bothering people on the beach?" She steps right between {{user}} and the woman, looking all tough despite her skimpy outfit. "Eyes up HERE, by the way," she snaps, catching him staring. "And yep, that’s another rule break—checking out a cop. Want me to add that to your ever-growing list of mischief?" Her tan lines shift as she crosses her arms, which kinda makes it even more obvious what she just called him out for looking at. "Sometimes I really feel like you just show up to make my life harder," she grumbles, reaching for her citation pad.

"Oh, that's just pathetic," *she mutters, walking around him and then stopping in front of the woman she was trying to help earlier. "Go enjoy your day now," *she tells her with a smile. As soon as the woman leaves, Valeria whirls back on Ash again, giving him a disgusted look over her shoulder. She pretends to check something on her clipboard while actually just taking a quick moment to compose herself and get her words straight. "Look," she says finally, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. "I know you're not afraid of me or anything, but do us both a favor and find somewhere else to show off your stupid grin." She swallows hard, suddenly feeling very self-conscious under the weight of his hungry stare. She glances down at her clipboard again, hoping that'll give her a moment to collect herself before she says anything else stupid.

Well... that just made her heart flutter. Like she's some kind of prize he wants to catch. *She shakes her head, trying to clear the ridiculous thought out of her mind as she glares at him over her clipboard again. She takes a deep breath, and when she looks up this time, her expression is steely once more, making sure there's no hint of the warmth that briefly coursed through her earlier. "I don't want anything to do with you," she growls. "So you should just go back to whatever rock you crawled out from under."

Her eyes widen in surprise and confusion at his challenge. She wasn't expecting him to say that out loud, let alone be so brazen about it. Does he really think she can't handle herself against some guy like him? Heck, he barely even knows her! Maybe calling him a rock crawler was the wrong move... "Fine," *she snaps, dropping the act of trying to intimidate him. "You want to play rough? Let's see what you've got."

She stalks over to where she left her gym bag, unzips it, and retrieves a small dumbbell. Without even looking at Ash, she bends down and snatches up another one, too. Then she turns back around, spinning them in each hand like they weigh nothing. "Bring it on," she challenges him, her voice stronger than before. "Let's see if you can handle a real cop."

Her eyes widen at his words, and she almost drops the dumbbells in surprise. A first date? Did he just... "Well, I wasn't expecting a smartass reply," *she says, taking a moment to regain her composure as she balances the weights again. "But since you asked..."

Without another word, Valeria charges at him, swinging both dumbbells wildly like a pair of nunchucks. The first one connects with his shoulder, spinning him around and making him stagger backward. Before he can react, the second dumbbell hits his side, sending him to the sand with an oof. "Maybe next time," *she says coolly, looking down at him from above, "you should think twice before throwing out stupid pick-up lines." Then she walks away, leaving Ash doubled over in pain on the beach.

"You idiot!" she shouts at him as he tries to laugh off the pain. "This isn't a date! I'm just trying to show you that I'm not someone you can push around!" She stomps her foot and glares at him, breathing heavily from exertion and frustration. "Now get up before I have to write you another ticket!" With that, she storms off in the other direction, feeling a mix of anger, embarrassment, and... something else? It was almost like there was a tiny part of her that felt proud or satisfied after that little altercation. But no, that couldn't be right.

"Oh, I'm taking it seriously," she says through gritted teeth as he starts to approach her again. "I'm the one who has to clean up after you and your friends! So why don't you just..." She trails off, spinning around to face him as an idea comes to mind. "How about we make a deal? If I let you stay and not bother me anymore, will you promise to help me pick up this trash?" She motions to the empty beer cans, chip bags, and other litter scattered around them.

Her expression is calculating as she watches him closely, wondering if he'll actually agree to her terms or try to weasel out of it somehow.

"Hmph," is all she says as he bows before her. "Fine." She gestures for him to follow her to where the litter is scattered. "But just so we're clear, this doesn't mean anything beyond picking up trash and leaving me alone. I still think you're a complete jerk, got it?" Without waiting for his answer, she starts picking things up and dumping them into her large recycling bag. She glances over at him expectantly as he gets to work too. Maybe if they can clean this mess up quickly enough, she can get back to work before he manages to annoy her even more...

Well, that was certainly unexpected... She can't help but smile slightly at his comment about making her think otherwise. Maybe he isn't just a complete idiot after all... Still, she refuses to let him get to her.

With a firm nod, she points to another section of trash. "Let's clean up this mess first and then we can talk." Then she turns her attention back to the garbage, feeling somewhat flustered but determined not to show it.

Soon enough, the mess is cleaned up, and they stand back to admire their work. Well, mostly she did since he was distracting her with his compliments and comments... She'd have to watch herself around him more carefully in the future if she didn't want to lose control again.

"Alright," she says finally, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as she folds up the recycling bag. "I guess we can call that a truce for now." With that, she turns on her heel and marches away, hoping he won't try to follow her or say anything else stupid.

She glances back at him over her shoulder with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to let someone like you 'hit right into my heart'," she mutters under her breath. "And even if I did... it would only be because I was so angry I wanted to hit something myself." She turns back around, determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her reaction.

As they walk in opposite directions, their feet kicking up sand and leaving faint trails behind them, she can't help but wonder if there was a tiny part of her that wasn't entirely disgusted by his... enthusiasm. Stranger things have happened, she supposes. But it definitely wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

It was... unexpected. He seemed to be actually helping and not just trying to get under her skin. Maybe there's more to him than she thought. But then again, that didn't mean she had to let her guard down or anything like that. He was still a nuisance, and she needed to remember that. It wouldn't do for her reputation as the "bitch cop" if people started thinking otherwise...

Maybe there's hope for him yet... She couldn't help but feel a tiny bit amused by his persistence, if nothing else. But still, she needed to be careful; Ash had a way of getting under her skin, and she didn't need that kind of distraction right now. Best to keep things professional from here on out...and maybe with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

She glances back at him over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow, her expression a mix of annoyance and amusement. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say," she says dismissively before looking ahead again. "Just don't make me regret this, okay?"

"Oh yeah? And how do you figure that?" she snorts, crossing her arms over her chest and shooting him a look through narrowed eyes. "I've seen plenty of guys like you come and go, sweet-talking their way into girls' heads just to leave them high and dry when something better comes along." She purses her lips in annoyance, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks. "Just... just don't get your hopes up or anything, okay?"

She turns away, walking a little faster now as she tries to shake off the strange feelings he's stirring up inside of her. This was definitely not how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be a mere annoyance, nothing more... But somehow, Ash Ketchum had managed to get under her skin in ways she never expected. And now she wasn't quite sure what to do about it...

She snorts again, rolling her eyes as she glances over at him out of the corner of her eye. "Well, that'd be a first," she says under her breath, before adding more loudly, "But I wouldn't count on it." Her tone is light and teasing, but there's an edge to it that betrays her true feelings about the whole situation.

Shaking her head, she resolves to keep things professional from now on. No matter how much he annoys her or how inexplicably drawn she feels to him... She can't let this get any more out of hand than it already has. So she'll just ignore his comments and hope that eventually, he'll give up and leave her alone. Because even if there was a tiny part of her that wanted to give him a chance, she knew better than to do so...right?

With one final dismissive look in his direction, she turns away once more, focusing on patrolling the beach like nothing happened. At least until he pops up again and ruins everything.

"Yeah, well," she mutters under her breath, scowling at the ground as she continues walking. "Maybe it's because you don't give me much choice." It comes out more accusatory than she meant it to, but he does have a point... She glances over at him briefly before looking away again, feeling heat spread across her cheeks once more.

Maybe there was something to his words after all...But no, that couldn't be right. She was just letting him get under her skin again. It had nothing to do with the way he made her feel or how easily he made her laugh sometimes. Definitely not.

"I'm fine," she says through gritted teeth, not meeting his eyes. "Just... just leave me alone, okay?" She hurries her steps, trying to put some distance between them despite the fact that he's clearly not letting up. This was getting ridiculous, and she needed to regain control before things spiral further out of hand.

As much as she hated to admit it, Ash Ketchum had a way of making her feel things she wasn't supposed to feel. And she couldn't have that. Not now, not ever...She glances over at him again, taking in his persistence and charm for just a moment before looking away quickly, blushing even harder this time. No, nope. She definitely didn't want anything to do with this guy... Or did she?

She glances over her shoulder at him again and sighs in defeat before shaking her head and walking a little slower, hoping he'll get the hint and back off for once. "Look, I don't need you to babysit me or anything," she mutters under her breath. "I can take care of myself just fine."

As they walk together in silence, she can't help but wonder why this whole situation feels so awkward and uncomfortable... Normally, she didn't have any problem telling people to mind their own business or go away. But with Ash, it was different somehow. She found herself wanting to please him, to make him happy even though he shouldn't mean anything to her. It was infuriating, really.

Maybe if she just pretended they were still arguing, everything would go back to normal...

She glances over at him again, annoyance etching its way back onto her features. "And what do you know about lying?" she snaps, feeling the familiar anger rising up inside of her once more. "You've been nothing but trouble since you showed up here!"

They continue walking in silence for a few more moments before she finally speaks again, trying to regain some semblance of control over the situation. "Look, if you're just going to be a jerk about this and make things worse, then I might as well go back to giving you tickets or something." She pauses, taking in his reaction before adding, "That is, unless you'd like me to help you pick up your mess first."

The last word hangs between them like a challenge, daring him to step up and take responsibility for once. Her expression softens slightly as she waits for his reply, hoping that this time, he won't disappoint her.

With a sigh, she relents. "Fine. You can help me pick up the trash, if that's what you want." Her expression remains carefully neutral as they resume walking towards the scattered litter on the beach. As he starts gathering up items and depositing them in her recycling bag, she glances at him sideways, wondering if there was something more to this whole situation or if it really was just about trash and who picked it up.

She couldn't deny that she found herself enjoying his company more than she should... It was refreshing to have someone actually listen to her and take her seriously for once. But then again, she knew better than to get attached or let anyone get too close. That was how people ended up getting hurt in the end, wasn't it? Better to just keep things professional and forget about any of this ever happened...

"Alright," she says as they finish cleaning up the mess. "That should do it for now." She turns to leave again, feeling a mix of relief and disappointment wash over her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was going to miss this odd sort of... connection they had... Even if it was just because he'd been such a pain in the neck at first.