Gavin watches Theo interact with the Naganadel, clearly pleased.

"It's obedient, but far from docile in battle. It's shown significant combat capability."

Under Theo's tutelage, he expects to see it thrive.

Gavin clicks his tongue, signing a command to the Stakataka that Theo would recognize as 'stairs'. Like building blocks, the cubes shift and rearrange themselves into a mockery of steps, which Gavin climbs to sit atop his tamed Beast.

"This one is called Stakataka. I fought a creature in a wormhole that Walsh told me the Megalopolans call 'Necrozma'. This one," he pats the Ultra Beast fondly, "helped me get out of the wormhole alive. Alongside Lugia, of course."

There's a warmth in his tone, matched by a ferocious twinge of pride in his thoughts. Lugia, too, remembered.

"Naganadel evolved from something known as 'Poipole.' I've not heard of it evolving again, but you can never be too sure."

[attr="class","beck"]briefly wondering, his tongue curls to click in his mouth for a command merlino should know to be ATTACK. the moment naganadel moves is when another click follows. it settles after.

"i can tell."

finally, he breaks his gaze away to watch merlino climb up the other ultra beast. what merlino says is registered but gratitude overpowers.

"thank you, merlino."

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

There is no greater proof of years spent training together than when Naganadel understands Theo's commands as Gavin's own. Stakataka eyes the stranger with interest, similarly recognizing a signal to attack, but it remains docile.

Beckett's gaze is met with open warmth.

"Gavin," he insists, lip twitching. "We know each other well enough."

Suddenly, his relaxed expression sours to something intense, serious. He shifts his gaze to the shadows along the wall as if expecting something to appear.

Nothing does; Gavin hops down from Stakataka, returning it.

"Let's go back to my office."

[attr="class","beck"]his eyes follow merlino's to the wall and it takes very little to understand. his lips thin, expression also souring, but he turns away before merlino notices.

the naganadel is returned into its luxury ball and pocketed.

"let's."

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

It's not until they're back in his office with the fairy lock on the door that Gavin feels as if he can breathe easy. Here, the shadows are nothing but reflections against light.

Here, he is safe.

Gavin glances to the window, exhales before turning back to Theo.

"You worked with Walsh in Kanto, didn't you?"

He doesn't bother trying to sound casual. He is tense, fingers tapping against his thigh in a patternless motion.

[attr="class","beck"]"a little. he was rather elusive. i hear he still is."

he tenses, too, but for very different reasons.

"why?"

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

Theo's tension feeds into his own. With no knowledge as to why the mention of the Rocket boss had his former mentor on edge, Gavin's mind is left to wander.

"Still is," Gavin confirms.

Even when prompted, Gavin's explanation is not immediate. Even in the comfort of his office, where he's certain Beckett is his only audience, it takes effort to summon the courage he needs. His hands are steady, his breathing calm.

"My name — it's not really Gavin, you know." And he's certain that Beckett doesn't know, for he'd covered his tracks so sufficiently that Walsh himself had been ignorant to the truth. Until... "Walsh has done a lot for Rocket — for me — since he came over from Kanto. I've been nothing but loyal to him, so I told him the truth."

This time, even Gavin feels the PRESSURE that settles. Lugia's displeasure is smothering, absolute. Though he's looking at Beckett, Gavin's gaze shifts slightly to the shadows behind. They're stationary, with none of Darkrai's eerie influence.

"I thought he was going to kill me."

[attr="class","beck"]his expression stills at the revelation, confession, or whatever this is, unwavering in the face of it. he tilts his head, indifferent.

"i figured as much when your accent wasn't your own. but i didn't care then."

theo's eyes also find the shadows of the room. it should scare him but perhaps fear is being overpowered by something else — he feels the same as he felt in mount pyre. he sees the chains of a SPIRIT SHACKLE but he blinks it away.

"why would he?"

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

"Wouldn't have done you any good to look into it; I was careful." His lip quirks, a hint of pride in his tone. He cants his head. "Do you care now?"

He's curious, more than anything.

What lightness creeps into the conversation is snuffed out by the question.

"I don't know. That's what worries me."

[attr="class","beck"]"not particularly."

because he knows the person in front of him despite whatever name he decides to use. he tenses again when the topic shifts.

"i don't know him well enough to know where he stands. but do you trust him?"

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

'Do you trust him?'

Theo has trained Gavin well. His spine tingles with discomfort, lips pursed to trap the knee-jerk response behind his teeth. He knows what he is supposed to say.

But it is Theo that Gavin trusts.

"He didn't kill me," Gavin says at last. "That's — all I can ask for."

It's not a real answer; he doesn't have one. Indoctrination ran deep enough to see him loyal in spite of his uncertainties, willing to follow Walsh's lead despite the knowledge that there were many in Rocket who'd easily follow him.

Gavin's tone suggests no hint of resentment for Declan Walsh, for there is none.

[attr="class","beck"]understanding where merlino's loyalties truly lie, he nods, then shifts the subject for both their sakes.

"what is your real name?"

he tilts his head.

"just curious."

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

"Cillian. Quinn, not Merlino."

It's strange, to feel so comfortable admitting a secret he's kept for so long.

There's no hesitation, as there had been for others, for Theo has long since secured Gavin's trust. And if Declan Walsh would know his past, it seemed only fitting to confess to the one who'd ensured his future.