it's hard to tell, but velvet's lampent is exhausted too. the last shadow ball it threw out was smaller and weaker than the others, though it still did its job perfectly. she returns it to its pokeball, letting it rest. then she turns and offers a high-five to kouji, grinning all the while. "woohoo~! we did it!" they'd solved the lighthouse's ghost puzzle. turns out it wasn't ghosts at all!

and on top of that, they'd gotten some pokemon for the cause. the cause of lining rocket's pockets, of course.

velvet turns and heads for the stairwell again. she's using her phone to light her path once more, trotting down quicker and more confident than she'd ascended. as she reaches the bottom, she looks back up again... and thinks she sees a face that isn't kouji's appear over the railing, then disappear just as fast. blinking, she figures she's just seeing things.

"alright. let's get the hell outta here."

[ Kouji Matsubara ]

velvet throws open the lighthouse door. "huh?" she glances over her shoulder, and then turns the flashlight on her phone off. they're illuminated by the light of the city now, though it's dim due to their distance from the city proper. surprisingly, it's warmer out here than it was in the lighthouse. there's nobody else around here, so there's probably no harm in having this conversation.

she turns around and folds her arms. "why d'ya think?" she says, as if that's a stupid question. "money, fame, power, influence, connections... same reason as anyone else." she assumes so, anyway. she's never cared enough to ask this question of anyone. "just 'cuz i like to have a little more fun doing it doesn't mean i can't be a little nefarious." velvet grins.

[ Kouji Matsubara ]

she sticks her tongue out and blows a raspberry. he's right, though. there's all sorts in team rocket. they've got people like her, here for power and influence, and then there's plenty of eggheads and other people just out for the money as well. she probably shouldn't judge, but... she's always been more the type to shove a nerd in a locker than to accept them as they are. not because she has such strong feelings, but mostly because it's what expected of her.

her phone goes off. velvet picks it up and takes a brief call, then hangs up. "whoops, i gotta run! just got a delivery at my apartment and i wanna make sure nobody steals it." she pockets her phone. "i'll be sending these kecleon in soon! make sure you tell everyone what an awesome job i did! bye~!" she sets off, walking fast, dialing the number for an air taxi.

[ Kouji Matsubara ]
thread wrap up!