Unbeknownst to Rowan, Gavin is awake the moment his brother's presence trips the sensor by the door. The notification that pings from his phone is quiet, but paranoia has made Rocket's underboss an incredibly light sleeper. He jolts awake with the familiar sound, perhaps disturbing Tempest Quinn with his sudden, jerky movements as he gets out of bed.

Amber eyes narrow at the time displayed in the corner of his phone.

Who at this hour?

Ordinarily, the tripping of the sensor was shortly followed by a knock, or the chime of the doorbell. Neither occur, and a glance at the doorbell camera shows an empty porch. It wouldn't be the first time the sensor was tripped by a wild Pokémon, startled and run off by the porch light turning on. Both of his siblings had keys, but it wasn't like Lulu Flint to drop by unannounced, even if the hour wasn't strange due to the fact Darkrai's avatar required no sleep. He thinks Rowan would've called, if he wanted to come over, and likely dropped by some time during the day.

The dogs weren't barking, which was some small comfort. They were trained to—

CRASH!

Gavin forgets all about the dogs, then, rushing downstairs in a swirl of miasma.

He steps into the kitchen with gun drawn, finger on the trigger, and steps back in shock at the sight.

His mouth opens, then closes, and he puts the safety back on the gun before setting it on the counter and dragging a hand through sleep-mussed blond hair. He's wearing nothing but his boxers and covered in the evidence of last night's romp with his partner, but that seems irrelevant in comparison to whatever the fuck has befallen Rowan Wrynn.

"Stop — touching the glass," he snaps, tone sharp with worry rather than annoyance. "Arceus, Rowan, what the hell happened to you?" He doesn't give time for an answer before insisting, "Sit down and stay there for a sec. I'll be right back."

The miasma that swirled around Gavin dissipates as he exits the room. He returns with a first aid kit.

"Gimme your hands. I'll get you a drink after; first, you're going to tell me what happened."

Should Rowan comply, Gavin would tend to Rowan's bleeding hands as he did.

Rowan Wrynn

"Plates?"

Gavin's brow creases as he echoes the word, dumbfounded. Sharp though he was, he doesn't make an immediate connection to those plates secured beneath the bowels of the earth during Adventours over a year ago. Perhaps if he'd had a moment longer to puzzle it out, but Rowan saves him the trouble by bringing up a name that sees Gavin's lips twist into a soundless snarl.

"That cunt," he growls. "A message? Who does she think—"

He stops himself with a sharp shake of his head. No, he knows who Katherine Fairburne thinks she is. Untouchable, undefeatable, a goddess upon the earth. A damned fool, is what she was. She was mortal like the rest of them.

It had been Serena Malcolm's task, set by Walsh himself, to bring their traitor to heel. But if Walsh or Serena or anyone else thought that Gavin was going to stand idle as the witch attacked his family—

Nostrils flare as he inhales, loud. His jaw works.

"Fuck sending a message, we'll gut the bitch." The miasma is back, filling his bright kitchen with purple-black fog, but this time it doesn't seem to be a conscious effort on Gavin's part. It doesn't swirl around him but spreads, curving around furniture. "If all she wanted was the plates, she could've worked with Rocket to get them. She's full of shit."

Ferocious as his tone was, his hands are gentle as they work, removing shards of glass with tweezers and binding up the worst lacerations to stem the flow of blood. At some point his Lucario joins the brothers, and drops of life dew shed upon the bandages hope to soothe and promote faster healing.

Rowan Wrynn

"Yes," Gavin agrees; she was a traitor to Rocket, and should meet a traitor's end. "Walsh gave that command to Serena, but it's open season on her now."

He'd been worried for his protégé but knew better than to intervene. If she wanted to be a Beast, if she wanted the power she so lusted after, she was going to have to be strong enough to face threats such as Fairburne. But this had crossed a line.

"Oh." Sometimes he forgets that his brother hadn't been in Hoenn during the Adventours, and might have only heard of the explosion at the Church of Arceus through mild gossip later on. "Hold up, I'll get mine."

He disappears for a while, heading down into the hidden basement. When he returns, it's with a restored IRON PLATE contained within a heavy frame. Small fractures are visible where the segments had been carefully pieced together, and the inscription can be clearly read.

THREE BEINGS WERE BORN...

"We found them below the earth, during some sponsored dig called the Adventours. This isn't the only one, but it's the only one I have. Found it with Priam, Marcel, and Dominic; they entrusted their parts to me."

And, like the paranoid individual he was, he'd locked it up after the events at the Church.

"I don't know what she wants with them, but she lost her chance at getting this one when she betrayed us."

He sets it on the table, moonlight glancing off iron.

Rowan Wrynn