With the city recently occupied and anxious citizens still adjusting to the shift in power, Gavin doesn't want to be too far from potential conflict. It's for this reason that he opts to meet with Violet Fairbanks in Sootopolis rather than his office on the submarine.

Right at the agreed-upon time, the door opens.

"Miss Fairbanks, come in."

Gavin doesn't seem angry. Tired, if anything at all, with bags under his eyes, but with his usual straight-backed professionalism present in his mannerisms. He leads the way into a small but cozy office that seems to have been tidied up in the aftermath.

"I've been told you witnessed some of what happened with Kyogre after it left the Cave of Origin."

Naturally, she entered right away. There wasn’t exactly a spring in her step, sure, but she kept steady and strong at the very least. The man did not meet her with adversity, after all, so she found herself slightly relieved. From her last meeting, she had the impression that he was a reasonably genuine person. Or at least not one of those people that pretended to be calm, only to then blow up in your face.

Thus, she entered, took a seat if offered, and would make sure to be clear and concise. Gavin seemed tired, so the least she could do was make this easy on him.
And hence, she nodded. “Yes. I was trying to reach the top of the spire when the water sprout erupted and carried me and some bystanders upwards. Thee Kyogre itself appeared in the vortex, surging upwards and then used that momentum to jump out of the island, somewhat akin to that movie, ‘Free Wailord’. It also ate a woman named Skyler, who I think entered that cave as well? Either way, I followed the Kyogre but could not find it. But I did find that woman, rising from the waters. Rising, not floating to the surface or so.”

Gavin blinks at the language used. Ate her...?

"I'm familiar with Captain Dross."

He'd met skyler dross on a few occasions, though she hadn't always been aware it was Gavin she was interacting with. They shared enjoyment of treasure hunting and while the captain wasn't aligned with Rocket, she'd not stood in direct opposition to his knowledge.

A neutral party.

"But the Kyogre was no longer with her? Hm."

Rising, not floating to the surface...

"Did she have other Pokemon with her?"

“Hmm….there originally was one of those wheel Pokemon….you know, the mossy ones?” She briefly fell quiet, trying to remember, then snapped her finger in reckognition. “Dhelmise, yes, that’s it. That was with her before, but I did not see it afterwards, before the guy with the Mega Salamence came down and they started making out.” She crumpled her nose in disgust at that notion. Somehow, that was what had irked her the most. Though she had not seen the whole thing too well, due to keeping her distance and the lights fading.

Plus, she was not the most reliable witness for other reasons. “The Kyogre was gone, though. Like, completely, akin to before it came up the sprout. That thing was so massive and powerful that you could pretty much feel it, even after it passed you. But it was gone when I found her like that. Which is all kinds of weird, since she just seemed a little wet, but none the worse for wear….despite having been swallowed by the big fish.”

Mossy... wheel...?

Gavin's furrowed brow smoothes as she clarifies. Dhelmise. He's well familiar with the species. "More an anchor than a wheel," he says, but offers no further input as he tents his fingers and listens to her recount.

He considers the details of Captain Dross's make-out session wholly irrelevant.

"It's possible it didn't mean to swallow her," but legendaries were rarely so careless. He'd learned through Lugia that they possessed frightening intelligence, regardless of whether or not they chose to share it. "Do you know much about Dross?"

“Well, I did think that I knew her well. But turns out I only knew which buttons to push to make her squeal and squirm, not what really makes her tick,” she replied, shrugging. There had been a brief few moments in which she had truly thought that she understood that woman – and was understood in return. However, all of that had just been in her head. That person had been toying with her all along.

Which, obviously, was what irked her the most. After all, she was the one who did that to people, not the other way around. She shrugged, though, dismissing that. “Either way, I spent a summer with her, so I know a few things. Saved the woman’s life once, but I guess I really shouldn’t have had. Though that was before you recruited me, so I guess I couldn’t have known better? I don’t know much about the person she is now. That war really seems to have done a number on her.”

Gavin lifts a brow at her phrasing but otherwise appears unfazed.

"She's no enemy of Rocket, if that's your concern." Gavin flicks his wrist dismissively. "Not an ally, either, but Dross hasn't done anything in direct opposition of our goals that I'm aware of."

That war.

"The three-day war?"

“Probably, she actually only spoke of ‘the war’, but she was clearly referring to the latest one at that time,” she replied, trying to be honest about it. That was also the only war around the time that she truly remembered. Then again, it wasn’t like she was too attentive to these sorts of matters to begin with. She’d only heard of the three-day one after the fact. Though, admittedly, that was probably reasonable. It was easy to miss three days of world events when travelling, after all.

“Though I am not so sure about Dross. Back during the operation, she did go with the league members to the cave, which was under our control. I didn’t get to follow due to the whole space distortion stuff happening, but one of the League big shots recognized her and went to link up with her. If you ask me, she might well be an enemy at least by now.”

"Did she ever mention which warfront she fought on? I don't recall seeing her at Mauville."

Then again, there had been a lot going on at the time, including a brief and horrifying trip to Ultra Space. He'd read reports from Rocket agents filed on all fronts but there were holes in every story, even his own.

The Cave was under our control?

This was news to Gavin.

He doesn't show it, merely nods along with the information.

"Then we'll need to keep a better eye on her. Which League was it?"

Violet Fairbanks

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"Kingsman," Gavin spits. "He was one of ours, once. A traitor."

He does not elaborate on their history but doesn't feel he needs to; most in Rocket understood how traitors were to be handled.

"If she's keeping company with him, perhaps she is someone to worry about." He scowls. "Angelo I don't know. I'll have him looked into."

What Gavin doesn't know is that he has met angelo vestri, in a manner of speaking.

"Your information is valued, if fragmented. I assume whatever connection you had with Dross can't be rekindled for the sake of intel?"

It was worth an ask.

Violet Fairbanks

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"I wasn't implying you should try to fuck her."

Though his expression remains mostly neutral, there's a note of disdain in his tone.

"That rarely ends well." He thinks of Lulu Flint and FERNANDO SILPH, makes a note to check in with his sister after this meeting had concluded. "No, getting back in her good graces is all I was suggesting."

It seems Violet Fairbanks already has ideas to that end.

"Perfect, then she's not likely to suspect you."