"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Gavin squints at the message on his phone, struggling to decipher meaning from the ramble. It sounded like a complaint more than anything, something about whales and Mossdeep, and he'd have written it off as spam, trolling, or a wrong number if not for the name attached to it: Chu-e Choi. The guy had a sense of humour, but Gavin couldn't be sure this was a prank.

It's the news that fills him in: Mossdeep had a whale problem.


Gavin's Corviknight reflects sunlight from its silvered wings as it circles the harbor in search of a particular head of hair. When Chu-e is spotted, the Galarian bird pulls into a dive and lands atop one of the moaning whales, leaving Gavin with a vantage point.

"Going to be honest," Gavin calls out to his fellow Rocket as he slides off the whale and steadies himself in sand, "I mostly came out to make sure you're feeling all right. What the fuck is this?"

He shows the other his phone, the somewhat nonsensical text. He doesn't seem angry, more amused than anything.

Chu-e is less than surprised when Cillian Quinn shows up. He had found the text that had been sent, hadn't been sure how to explain, and resolved to ignore it. It was a problem that would sort itself out. Probably. Instead of replying to the other, he jerks his thumb over at Princess. The pokemon is hunched over the phone next to him, fingers (did Gardevoir have fingers?) flying over a rhythm game now.

"She has a gambling addiction." As if that really explained anything.

"I'm touched you care about me. Or maybe it was my wonderful cookies?" He sighs. "Think you can...." He waves a hand around, vague. "Help me with this? I kind of want to bath and then melt into my bed."

Chu-e really did look like shit, more so than usual. Maybe it was good that Gavin had checked in on him. That recent seizure in Slateport had taken a lot out of him.

Gavin lifts a brow at the vague explanation, but offers no further question nor comment as he glances over at the Gardevoir. Beyond his corrupted legendary whose mind had been poisoned along with its body, and the Metagross who was as much computer as Pokemon, Gavin did not have much experience with psychic-types and their heightened intelligence.

Lucario had been the closest thing; his chest tightens at the thought.

"One of those cookies was poisoned," he quips, as if Chu-e Choi would have forgotten. "You're an asset; I look after assets."

There's a few beats that follow his deadpan, dismissive answer, before Gavin chuckles. "You've a better sense of humour than most of Rocket and I am tired of their shit. Not tired of you, yet. Corviknight?"

Gavin reaches up to gently tug a pin from the side of his glasses, and the Keystone embedded within resonates with the pearl-shaped stone clipped to Corviknight's leg. Bright light absorbs the silver bird and bolsters its size, its strengths, until the wind from its beating wings is near enough to unbalance the Rocket underboss. He can only imagine how Chu-e's frail form is coping.

"Handle them."

Gavin, on the other hand, plops himself down on the surface of a weathered picnic table in the sand and observes the former Beast curiously.

"You look like shit, you holding up all right?"

At being called an 'asset', Chu-e gives a false gasp of indignation and raises a hand to his chest to clutch his metaphorical pearls. There is something like a smile in there, though weak. "I only poison those worthy of it, thank you very much."

When the Corviknight started to do it's thing, Chu-e was only on his feet thanks to Princess. A small barrier kept him from topping like a tower of cards at the gale. With her help, he also makes it over to the picnic table to plop down on the opposite side.

"Eh, been better. Been worse. Had a public seizure, bled on a guy, called him 'daddy' by accident. You know, the typical weekend activities." Chu-e did try to give Cillian Quinn a grin at that, though it may have come off more like a grimace. "But, like, for real, thanks for showing up and helping out. It was an accident, but, like, I'm not above being gracious." He rolled his eyes a bit at the last part. Some people acted like if you tried to help them out they were above it. Or worse, entitled to it.

"Then I'm flattered," he drawls, smirking.

Laughter comes sharp with surprise as Chu-e explains the perils of his day, quickly demanding, "How do you accidentally—?" before succumbing to a fit of chuckles. It felt good to laugh. It felt good to laugh with Rocket. "Who was it? Anyone I might know?"

After his amusement dies down, he addresses Chu-e Choi with more sincerity. "We help our own. Gotta practice what I'm preaching."

He doesn't admit that he'd gone out of his way to help. Rocket has never allowed him to be soft; he is expected to be a terrifying presence, a ruthless leader. But Rocket were like a family to him, more important than his own blood. His expression is somewhat distant as he watches Corviknight war against the bulk of a Wailord with its wind rage, slowly pushing the Pokemon back toward the water.

"Someday you'll call someone 'daddy' by accident and then you'll understand." Chu-e says it with such confidence that perhaps Cillian Quinn should be a little worried. "Let's see... you know a... Razz Kingsman ?" It was unlikely, but sometimes it felt like the region only consisted of a couple dozen people so it was just as likely as not. After all, it had been Chu-e's second run in with the guy. And soon there would be a third, which neither he nor Gavin would be aware of at the moment.

Chu-e nods along at what Gavin says, humming in agreement. This new Rocket, which didn't expect you to fight and claw and tear down your allies was much better than what they had before. But, that distant look on Gavin doesn't suit him, so Chu-e is quick to change the subject and lead on the conversation.

"Oh, hey, I met with Remiel Calcifet a few days ago." Pulling up his sleeve, Chu-e showed the other his golden bracelet, with the mega stone attached. Another shift of his hair on his right ear showed off the inconspicuous daith piercing that held the keystone. "This was in my house. He said it was a Mega Stone. That's what your pokemon just did, yeah?"

"I sincerely doubt that," Gavin says; his grin disguises the errant thought that he'd never called his own father anything but 'sir'. Eyebrows arch at the sound of a familiar name. "I do know him, actually. One of the Rangers. He and I ran together during the Pokeathalon during the summer, pulled a few leaderboard spots. Man, I'd have killed to see the look on his face."

Razz Kingsman struck him as serious, focused on business more than pleasure. Perhaps that perspective was skewed by the fact they'd only ever interacted during jobs or sporting events, but...

"You've met our resident royalty, then?" Gavin's tone is a touch dry. It was not knowledge among Rocket that Gavin was Galarian, nor that he'd been raised in such a manner that he resented the royal family. Remiel Calcifet was different, because he was Rocket; the underboss had a problem with the station more than the man. "Calcifet's all right, once you get past the pomp. Yes, that's what Corviknight did."

His attention shifts to the bird, which was now pressing its body weight against the plump whale to physically roll it toward the waiting ocean. Not once did the bird complain of its task. Gavin looks back at Chu-e Choi.

"Found out what it links to, yet? I've got a couple, myself." He gestures at Corviknight, then adds, "Metagross, Steelix, Alcremie."

"He was alright. I put him to work cleaning out my house." Chu-e hadn't been aware that Remiel Calcifet was royalty. Damn, if he had known, he might have tried to work him a little harder to see what would have happened. Still, now that it was in the open, Chu-e idly started to play with the bracelet. "An Audino. I don't have one of those anymore, though." This had been a gift for a man two years gone, different than he was now. It was a small miracle, not that Chu-e believed in those, that it had been found at all before it was dumped into his donation pile.

"Alcremie?" Chu-e perked up at Cillian Quinn's mention of the fairy type. "I've always wanted one of those. The trade embargo Galar had for a while made importing one impossible. Could never find any breeders, either." But, he waved that off. "Has it let you taste it's cream? If you get it to like you, it's supposed to be really sweet."

Gavin laughs, sharp, at the thought of Remiel Calcifet cleaning the former Beast's house. "Bet he loved that."

He watches Chu-e Choi toy with the bracelet, and does not miss the word: anymore. He wonders what had happened to the last one, but decides not to ask.Personal relationships in Rocket were a minefield of delicate conversations. He liked Chu-e. He did not want the other to hate him.

Alcremie seems a safe subject, and Gavin leans on it.

"I stole her from a bakery." Gavin grins; it's not clear whether or not he's joking. "She's grown on me, and I think it's mutual. She's a damn mother hen. Her cream is very sweet, and she likes to give me mints in the morning."

There's a genuine fondness in his tone.

One last blast of wind from mega-Corviknight's wings manages to budge the Wailord into the surf, and the mournful creature slowly drifts back out to sea. A small crowd waiting for the boat to Mossdeep, much like Chu-e, cheer with the victory, and Gavin offers a smile.

"Looks like your boat can finally leave. See you around, Ki."