"Our target is up on the cliffs, there."

He's careful not to gesture toward it, only inclining his head subtly in the direction as an indicator.

"There's a trail that'll take us most of the way, and then we're going to break from it and scale to a less travelled point for the drop-off. We'll need to do a bit of climbing."

But they couldn't bring the proper gear for mountain climbing and would need to rely on their Pokemon if the going got too tough. Gavin's brought his Lycanroc along, for the popular lupine Pokemon weren't likely to attract too much attention walking alongside their trainer.

He begins to lead the way, scanning their surroundings for others before asking,

"What brings you to Hoenn?"

Kenjiro Yamada

"Who pulled the papers?" presses Gavin. "Beckett?"

He assumes, however accurately, that Kenjiro Yamada had perhaps come to Hoenn along with the others who'd followed his former mentor.

Gavin shakes his head, dismissing the thought.

"Either way, it's good to see you're — well, how are you, actually? I don't want to assume."

He certainly looked stable enough but the underboss was a prime example of how looks could be deceiving.

"You ran a Game Corner in Kanto?"

"Why'd you run it if you found it boring? Superiors put you up to it?"

Gavin, of all people, knew better than to refuse an order from a superior. No matter how much you hated it.

"What, like a sword fighting thing?"

Gavin's never been trained with a sword; he prefers a gun at range, a knife if it's personal. Above all else, he'd rather use his fists. There was something incredibly raw about a fistfight.

"Careful on this bit, it's precarious."

Gavin's made the climb before, leads the way with cautious steps.

Kenjiro Yamada

Gavin nods, solemn; no words are needed in confirmation. He knew better than most what happened to those that dared question their superiors.

"I can imagine. Most people just use their Pokemon these days, anyway."

Even guns and knives were uncommon.

"Only a bit more of a climb, then it plateaus the rest of the route."

Once they've reached the top, Gavin offers a hand to help Kenjiro Yamada up.