He's not at his office when she texts him.

OK. Who's with you?

She's not allowed on the submarine without a chaperone, after all.

He's just received the all-clear for teleportation on board the vessel when she sends him another message, unnecessarily informing him that the door to his office is locked. It's always locked, whether he's there or not.

There's a muted pop as Gavin and his Claydol teleport behind her, the psychic-type returned to its pokeball as Gavin's Klefki stirs to reverse the fairy lock that was placed on the door.

"Did you need something?"

He opens the door, gesturing for her to head inside.

Eris Halla

Gavin acknowledges the startled grunt with a quick glance, amber gaze sweeping across the corkboard in their grip before turning his full attention to Eris.

Weird, important stuff...

Well, his sister and one of Rocket's admins had recently told him of a meteor that was due to crash into Hoenn, so it couldn't be any more alarming than that, surely.

As the trio of humans and their Luxray escort enter the office, the pink and white ears of a Sylveon perk up from where it had been sleeping in Gavin's chair. The fairy-type trills as it stretches and steps onto the desk, ribbons swaying without breeze and reaching out to brush Gavin's arm when he comes close. For all its CUTE CHARM, however, the Sylveon was a menace.

Not to Gavin, who sits down and lets it curl up in his lap.

"I'm listening."

Eris Halla

Reiner stares, and Gavin's Sylveon stares right back. Gavin either doesn't notice, or doesn't care; his attention remains focused on Eris and the poor grunt she'd roped into being her accomplice for the evening.

The underboss huffs, amused, when she mentions the report's complexity.

"Am I to assume you've looked up and identified the meanings of all of them?"

It seems like something she'd do. It's something he would have done, as a kid. He could never stand not knowing.

He's equally impressed and alarmed by the conclusion she draws.

She couldn't have known, could she? Had Lulu Flint or Killian Decker told her what they'd told him?

"Yes, they took a shot at me as well," he says, but his tone suggests his thoughts are racing elsewhere. He's thinking less of the assassins and more of their imminent demise at the hands of the meteor, again. Shaking his head as if to clear it, he hones in on the name.

Locke Jamison.

"That's the courier, isn't it?" From the Church, the poor guy who'd wound up caught in two of Rocket's excursions. "What do you mean, not in the way I'd expect?"

Eris Halla

A cold chill ripples down Gavin's spine at the mention of Malamar, repressed memories threatening to surface before he forcibly redirects his train of thought. If Eris were paying enough attention, perhaps she'd notice the way his fingers clench or how the Sylveon's ribbons curl and tighten around his arm.

"What about Beheeyem?"

They could tamper with memories, too. He knew only too well.

Her bracelet, to him, looks unremarkable. He doesn't see the Unown she claims to but doesn't doubt her in the slightest, not after the strange occurrences surrounding such creatures during the Soiree.

His eyes widen.

"He what?"

A bubble in the brain of not only Eris, but of one of Rocket's admins. Martín del Mar. Gavin makes a mental note to check up on him, to inquire after his health and his knowledge of this event. Fuck.

"Okay. Okay, Eris, don't fret too much about it." Because apparently it could kill you. "We'll figure it out, all right? You've got the whole of Rocket backing you up on this, we'll figure something out."

Eris Halla

Hideo? The name sounds vaguely familiar, tickling the back of Gavin's thoughts, but he can't place it. He brushes the thought aside and shakes his head.

"What if the Beheeyem was acting of its own accord?"

Most Pokémon wouldn't mess with their own trainers or allies but who knew with those weird alien things? Gavin doesn't trust them.

How is she not stressed? Because he is, just hearing about it, but he keeps that to himself. He also makes a mental note not to assign Martín del Mar to anything particularly harrowing if he can avoid it. Just in case.

"Azelf," he echoes. "What's that? And, yeah, Palkia supposedly lords over space, but I don't know if that had anything to do with what was going on in Sootopolis. That was another level of weird. Then again, encountering Dialga wasn't exactly normal..."

Because he had, over a year ago, when he'd taken a step outside his back door and found himself in a memory.

Eris Halla

Sensing that Eris would hear nothing bad of her friend nor his Pokémon, Gavin allows the subject to rest. He remains quiet and contemplative as she describes the Lake Trio, frowning when she seems to trail off in a lapse of memory.

It had been a stressful event, so he can't blame her for that.

"Well, 'met' is generous," he admits. "I got pulled into a sort of error in the timeline; saw events from Hoenn's past that I wasn't there for. Dialga sent me back, at the end. It didn't speak."

He doesn't add that he'd tried to speak to it; that was a private memory.

His brows arch at mention of the Darkest Day.

"I've heard of it, but I thought it was a myth." He'd grown up in Galar, after all. "So I never put much stock in it. What do you know about it, Eris?"

Eris Halla

Most sensible adults would easily dismiss a child spewing apocalyptic prophecies, but Gavin's expression is extraordinarily grim as he listens to Eris' account.

"Only Hoenn?"

A meteor, and now this? Perhaps it was time to move.

"The Tree?" Arched brows break his dour expression with surprise. "Something's after it? Do you know what?"

He leans forward.

"I'm going to have to tell Walsh about this." Which would be a hell of a conversation, but that was a problem for future Gavin. "Rocket are safeguarding the tree. If something's putting it in danger, that'll affect all of us."

Not to mention their plans to infiltrate the glade, but he doesn't mention that.

Eris Halla