"I-I'm not," he lies.

The moment he responds to his question, a surge of relief washes over him. Neutral, instead of negative, Priam finds solace to the fact that Silas did not seem to mind him and his mannerisms. Perhaps the boy had simply convinced himself that there were expectations to be met from him, even as a grunt of the organization. He straightens his posture to reflect his words, feigning confidence in the midst of the rocket boss.

He takes a Pokeball out of his holster: his Zoroark's. Eyes would linger on it if it meant looking less spaced out than earlier. A Dark-type was his best weapon against the upcoming wave of Pokemon they would protect the tree from. Surely, the boss can handle the situation on his own if word about his strength weren't mere rumors. The thought made him question of why he was there in the first place.

"...it's just that there's suddenly a need to impress when the boss is there, or something like that. It kinda got to me, I think."

He swallows, readying himself for the inevitable disappointment.

A hand goes over his Pokeballs, plucking one containing the Pokemon of choice and releasing it before the Ghost-types could reach them. A pinkish figure reveals itself, the Espeon standing on all fours as it steeled itself for the wave of Pokemon that would come after them. Priam's Pokemon takes a step back before turning his head around slightly, ready to take any orders and get to them immediately.

"Night Slash!"

The Espeon darts forward, paws outstretched as it pounces onto the Haunter, digs the energy-infused claws onto it, uses its body as a platform, and jumps towards the Trevenant afterwards. The Trevenant would find the Espeon weighing heavier than what it supposed to be and finds itself pinned under the weight of the Psychic-type. The Pokemon would jab it with its paw, knocking it out with a single hit.

It left the Gengar open, however.

He heard it. He heard the disappointment. It was a simple click of the tongue, but the weight behind it was felt by the young Rocket boy. Priam would be sweating right now had the night chill not frozen his sweat glands up.

The violent surge of electricity hits every Pokemon in the field, pain causing the Zoroark's disguise to eventually fall. A large foxman would be fronting for Priam, eyes steeled with the challenge. It did not get his need to impress, but as long as it does what it was needed to do, he did not mind. Besides, there probably wasn't too much expectations from him. Doing less was better than rolling a critical failure and sabotaging everything after all.

He can fix this, he hoped.

The rumbling in the earth eventually revealed a Golurk. It was big, but Priam knew not to judge by appearances. His Zoroark can still beat it with a single strike, he hoped.

"Night Da- Slash!"

One move was a ranged one, while the other was a more straightforward way of showing strength. Priam preferred the latter for this opportunity. Unfortunately for him, the Dark-type had already channeled the Night Daze, filling the area in darkness from a pulse of energy from it much like a smokescreen. He could see it kick the ground and lunge forward and strike right afterwards however, felling the giant with a one-two combo.

He would nervously turn to Silas, biting his tongue inside his mouth as he awaited for any acknowledgement.

'Not bad'

Priam repeated the words in his head as he took his sights off from Silas. He'd try to get the needless smile away as he was unreasonably proud of getting that statement from him. It wasn't direct, but that was to be expected. It was a praise, nonetheless. He'd cherish the memory of hearing the words from the boss's mouth from now on, or until he forgets about it.

"Agility," he adds to the queue of moves, voice exhilarated.

With claws still enhances with Night Slash, the Zoroark would rush for the group of Sableye. Like an alpha strike, it wouldn't take more than a moment for the Dark-type to fall three of the Ghost-types with what appeared to be a single attack. The Zoroark emerges from the blur as she finishes, heaving for pushing himself to more than what he was accustomed to. She never faltered nor showed any weakness though.