"... Lady, you have a heck of a roundabout way of talking." Said Doug as he grabbed the bridge of his nose, slumping back on his seat.

Telling someone both agitated and with a full bottle of alcohol in their system to calm down was generally a fool's errand, but the youth was surprisingly amenable, his spirit almost abandoning his body after his anger had been spent on the rant.

"If we gotta try to get into the rats' heads, I prefer to be told the why before the how." He said, rolling his thumbs over his sockets, breathing out slowly. "The only thing I ain't got when Rockets are concerned is patience."

Otherwise all he was hearing for the first several minutes of the conversation was an appeal to attempt to empathize with trash. Which got his blood boiling faster than the actual lava in Mt. Chimney.

"Ain't nobody with a workin' brain ever believed Rocket was really gone." He huffed with a frown, rolling his eyes as he let go of them, resisting the urge to spit. "Every friggin' time a rat crawled out and did a mess I couldn't even stop m'self from mumblin' 'Must be Rocket' at the offices."

Sometimes he was joking, but most of the time...

He leaned his head on his fist, still frowning but clearly too tired to shout.

"Anyone who willfully joins Rocket and does crime under their name deserves what's comin' to them. If their excuse can't be classified as forced servitude I don't care what their sob story is." He said bluntly.

Trying to make a war orphan and refugee see 'eye to eye' with the people who had taken his parents and his home was a wasted effort. Doug wasn't interested in being the bigger man- he wasn't even old enough to be called a man, so he would ride his one mean-streak of willful immaturity and rebellion for as long as Rockets were anywhere but six feet under.

"But." He leaned forward, eyes dark. "I'm willin' to do anythin' to bring their jenga tower crashin' down. So fine. Let's assume the jackasses who blame Rocket's invasion of Hoenn on the League join Rocket of their own volition and believe some half-assed philosophy made up so they can justify their own shittyness to themselves."

He grabbed the second drink she had offered, pitching his head back and downing the shot recklessly before laying it back down.

"All that jazz. Ya got any idea of how to learn all this info? Doubt they are handing pamphlets." Though after their stunt at the press conference... Who knew. Maybe they would be dumping them on the streets soon.

---

TAG: Selena Desmarais

“With you, I don't think it's a matter of debate anyway.”

Doug, now more calm than the way he was, has Selena's tense shoulders lowering with comfort. Fingers find themselves tracing the back of her ear as she tucks a few hair strands behind before she rests her chin on her palms. Selena is musing: it's rare to talk someone so young but made mature by all his experiences in his childhood.

“I'm a journalist.” Her statement doesn't say much, but with her head bobbing on one side and a confident smile on her face, it already speaks volume of her certainty. “We have resources.”

The pinkette stops herself from commenting on his opinion. It will be useless, based from his reactions from before.

“Judging how they introduced themselves to Hoennians, I assume they're working their way up the government subtly. This means, corraborating with local officials like the mayors—even gym leaders.”

Another sip.

“And even more daring, the elite four and perhaps, the council. There is no doubt they will take advatange of the weaknesses the league has exposed itself. We also have new people in headship positions like zenji jabami of the research department and kyle lopez in the champion spot, leaving two seats in the Elite Four empty—which can be what the Team Rocket is waiting to happen.”

And then she downs the glass.

“Not to mention what is it between Katherine Fairburne and I—even though I have no words to describe her hostility towards me.”

Selena checks the bottle, and she has already poured every last drop the liquor has to offer them both. The clock strikes eleven and it seems the night is catching up on them. The demon child's parents are arriving at twelve.

“So what do you think? Figure you can lend me a helping hand in exposing them?”

---

MISSION: BABYSITTER DUTY
John Sullivan

Letting the rockets sneak their way up the ladder was probably the worst thing that could be allowed to happen. The higher they went, the more doors they could open below them for other rats to crawl inside.

He wondered how many had found their place in the Military's totem pole. Hopefully not enough to compromise military action when they inevitably attempted another invasion.

His brow furrowed.

"Can't let those spots be filled up by just anyone. One Katherine is enuff'." He said, but he knew he had no influence over such things.

He had no say on who got made a Gym Leader- much less an Elite Four or Head Scientist... Well, that wasn't entirely right. He had one recourse.

Filling one of those spots himself.

One last drink down the gullet, and then silence. The youth stared off into space blankly following the intrepid reporter's question, before blinking.

A determined nod followed, the youth holding down a hiccup as he placed down the empty glass.

"Yes." He said, nodding at her sharply. "What can I do to help?"

He wasn't high ranking in the military, nor held any posts of importance... Yet. That probably meant little to others; people didn't have time to wait for one to become someone.

So he needed to get there. Faster.

---

TAG: Selena Desmarais

Selena has only her giggling to offer about the Katherine comment. When his face clenches to put his attention into what she will say, she matches his serious demeanor. No time to waste if it is about making an ally.

“I believe the people are more powerful than the government, do you agree?”

Her eyes fixated on the empty glass as she speaks, her finger outlines its edge as it goes round and round just like how she delivers her point.

“That's why I'm still here even when I'm facing head on with the biggest name in politics. People save me because they believe in the power of truth more than false authorities.”

And then her finger stops.

“Would you agree that if the press is the brains and mouth of a society, that the people are its eyes and ears?”

And then she looks at him.

“Would you be my eyes and ears?”

---

MISSION: BABYSITTER DUTY
John Sullivan

"I like how that sounds." He said, nodding with a small smile. He didn't know if it was a fact, given the status of his poor home Kanto at the moment, but he could certainly get behind the sentiment. One day, they would rise up again... and take down their oppressors.

He didn't know if he agreed with a lot of things, but that was part of the reason one seeking lofty goals needed others. Different perspectives, knowledge, skills, walks of life...

He filled a spot that the other woman did not have on hand, and she, one he didn't.

He leaned forward, nodding resolutely.

"Yes."

Kanto was already too much. Rockets would not bring their farce to Hoenn as well.

---

TAG: Selena Desmarais