With a small army of shadow Pokemon at his back, Gavin patrols the streets of their occupied city and allows triumph to settle. It had not gone as smoothly as they'd hoped, not even as they'd expected on account of the way the city had rearranged itself, but Rocket had emerged the victors.

A few frightened citizens unaffiliated with Rocket shrink back from the Harbinger as he sweeps past but Gavin doesn't engage them.

He's looking for the injured, for the dead.

It's a different sort of injury that befalls the one he comes upon after spotting a gaping wound in a tavern's facade that had once held a door and heading inside. A stain upon the soul.

"Rowan."

A soft click of his tongue leaves his shadow Pokemon to stand sentinel outside the building and afford some privacy from would-be refugees.

"Did you want to talk?"

Not 'Are you OK?' because to that question, Gavin knows the answer.

Gavin accepts the drink without hesitation, downs it in one go. Though it does little to chase the exhaustion settled like lead in his bones, the burn in his throat provides something to focus on.

"I know it's not something you were keen on."

Killing. Murder.

"Rocket Beasts are our elite. Our strongest." That had been why Rowan Wrynn had joined their organization. For power, recognition, freedom. "It can be a good thing if you let it. I'm proud to see how far you've come in such a short period of time. It's not just what happened here."

He gestures around to vaguely indicate Sootopolis.

Gavin doesn't miss the bite in Rowan Wrynn's retort, offering an apologetic grimace.

"I know."

He didn't always know how to handle situations such as these. His first kill had been followed up by a brutal don't make the next time so difficult while he was still dry heaving and shaking and nursing his trauma.

He wants to console but doesn't know how.

"As your Swampert did do for you," he corrects, gentle but firm. "There's plenty in the League wouldn't hesitate to use lethal force against us."

He can't say for sure with noah faber, though the gym leader had certainly seemed eager for blood when he'd leapt toward Gavin. Had it not been for Lugia's interference...

"But I know that doesn't make it easier to deal with."

When Rowan Wrynn turns, he'd see Gavin's expression pinched with empathy.

"That's not something I can answer," he admits, lips pressed tight. "It's different for everyone. It was nearly a year before I felt—" and it hadn't been OK, not even then, but Rocket had taught him how to be "—numb to it."

Because he'd had to be. Because if he didn't close himself down and learn to follow them blindly, he'd be next.

It would be different, for Rowan Wrynn.

"You won't be alone. Sera and Jayden have also been promoted." Rowan's friends with Serena Malcolm, he knows; Gavin's not sure if he's ever met jayden cross. "You can decline if you don't think you can handle it, but if Walsh himself has singled you out..."

Well, it might not be the best idea to disappoint the boss.

"I can talk to him if it comes to that."

Gavin dips his head in silent agreement.

"Good, that's exactly the way you should look at it." Approval warms his tone. "It's good to have more fresh blood in the ranks of our Elite. Someone who wasn't here for Silas, for Kanto."

Because it had fucked a lot of them that were up in irreparable ways.

"I'm here if you ever need anything."

It's an awkward extension of camaraderie but he doesn't take it back. He wishes someone had been there to offer him the same, back then.

Amber eyes squint at the careful sketch. Without colour, it's not an easy identification, but the shapes inspire a certain familiarity that clicks after a long moment of study.

"Yes, I think. It was with kyle lopez in Mauville. I don't know what it's called, though."

Gavin frowns, wondering if this was the same one he'd seen with kyle lopez. Were there multiple? Perhaps they were simply very rare. Had it chosen to assist on its own during the war or was it under the Champion's guidance?

Questions without answers are shelved for a later date.

"We'll look into it," he vows. "There are people in Hoenn who study these sorts of things. Chu-e Choi knows a fair bit about myths and legends, from what I've heard — if he can't tell us what it is, maybe he'll know where we can look for more information."

It locked eyes with me.

Gavin remembers the surge of emotions he'd felt as Lugia had chosen him, as if the shifting planes of his universe had righted themselves at last. To be chosen by something greater than himself, to be worthy...

"Did you feel anything? When it looked at you?"

'Seems ridiculous, I'm sure.'

Gavin shakes his head. "Doesn't seem ridiculous at all."

How important it had been to him, that feeling of acceptance.

"It felt similar, for me, when I was chosen."

At the mention of the northern winds, Gavin doesn't look at Rowan Wrynn like he's crazy. He looks almost proud, a smile dawning.

"It sounds like you've attracted its attention. Have you noticed anything... else?"