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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Mar 9, 2019 19:45:54 GMT

"I wonder if my old apartment's still in tact," he ponders out loud.

He had lived in Slateport for a long while before, having stationed there until the attack came. The vast difference between the two periods of time can easily be observed by anyone who has been in the city at least once in their lives. He would get sentimental, but there was a right time and place for everything, but not now.

"What are we retrieving anyways?"

Kyle remembered an earlier trip to Slateport shortly after the disaster happened, when he tried to salvage any of the usable things he has in his apartment before it could possibly get looted. He wore casually back then, with just jeans and a hoodie, and had successfully managed to blend in. Not that he got spotted before though. He wore a similar getup this day.

He turns to Alexander as he awaits for his response. He could never imagine him going on a trip with the same agenda as he had months before, especially with a family having a history deeply rooted in Rustboro. It left him thinking it would be anything official relating to league business, but he wouldn't discount the possibility of the trip being credited to personal interests.

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TAG WITH @stone

POSTED ON Mar 11, 2019 8:27:58 GMT

for once, alexander does not know. there are rumors, whispers of information buried within the depths of slateport that contain vital information for the league, maybe even enough to turn the tide. that is all he heard; its validity still remains unknown but it's a lead that's too prolific to ignore, especially since it came from high up the ranks.

"a red box said to contain information the league needs it might be nothing, but it also might be something."

sadly, that is all he knows.

"let's hope it's something."

the two of them are smart enough to know that they have to remain vigilant and careful while traveling through slateport. no matter how many times he may have come back, it is still rocket territory and they are the anomaly; bugs that rocket will be looking to squash.

to kyle's earlier comment, he smiles.

"it probably is. just abandoned. is it far from here?"

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Mar 11, 2019 16:58:21 GMT

"Just a few blocks away from here," he answers. He turns his head to its direction, though he never specified which one of the buildings has his apartment. "I've already went back and gotten my valuables shortly after the invasion though. There's only clothes and other useless stuff in there now."

A Mightyena returns to their location afterwards. A relaxed expression and the soft movement of the tail suggested there was no trouble around. They were safe from any rocket encounter for now. Kyle gives his Pokemon a pat on the head for its efforts.

"Any idea where it is?" he prompts the gym leader.

Otherwise, all he could do was to get his Mightyena to alert them if there were any Rockets around. They'll be wandering around aimlessly if they didn't have any other clue to go by. Doing so was not only dangerous, but also time consuming and tiring.

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TAG WITH @stone

POSTED ON Mar 12, 2019 3:32:55 GMT

alexander can only imagine what it must feel like to have one's home taken away as suddenly as slateport happened. going to sleep only to wake up to the sounds of alarms blaring through the city must have been a terrifying experience. he wasn't in the city to experience the initial wave, but he was part of the responding forces that helped civilians safely evacuate.

still, a part of him will always wonder if he could have done more.

"intel points to the shipyard. we are close, i believe."

alexander worries for what remains of Malcolm Stone's legacy. he pushes the thought out of his head for now, choosing to remain vigilant as they continue walking.

"i read the report on the rescue mission. you did well, considering the circumstances."

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Mar 12, 2019 17:09:16 GMT

"the shipyard..." kyle shudders at the thought of it.

he had been one of the forces that tried to reinforce that part of slateport when the attack happened. the only thing he could remember was the feeling of being outnumbered and overpowered back then, although he wasn't sure if that was simply his fear altering his perspective at that time.

at the very least, the event had given him the drive to at least close the gap between him and the opposing faction.

he knows the layout of the city all too well, and so he doesn't risk getting lost. his mightyena serves as a detector for hostile individuals should they happen to wander deep enough into the territory. the search for whatever object alexander was looking for should proceed smoothly.

the prompt for the rescue mission appears in the conversation. kyle flinches at the mention of it.

"t-thanks."

he does not consider himself to have done a substantial contribution for the operation. all he did was try to stay alive when things went south too quickly.

"it was a disaster though. everyone just did their own thing and-"

he stopped himself, not wanting to talk about the others behind their backs.

the mission was a success, at least when they talked about getting the commissioner to safety. still, it was clear that kyle was discontented with how the entire operation went.

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TAG WITH @stone

POSTED ON Mar 13, 2019 7:59:58 GMT

"it was, but the commissioner is safe and that is what matters most."

it might be startling to hear such a statement, but alexander is focused on the big picture; he would sacrifice lives to save one if that one has potential to win them the war. it is still too soon to say if dahlia goode is the key to victory, but it is interesting how she was held captive for months and yet no physical harm was done to her. the events of the mission seem confusing to most but to alexander, he knows that she was set free by choice.

"i want your opinion on it. truthfully. there is no need to hold back."

everyone has their own opinions on the mission, himself included. he has heard from a few different sources and they all vary. it seems as though all of them can agree that the mission was a disaster, just not to what extent.

as alexander listens to officer lopez, the shipyard comes into sight, or at least what remains of it. the ground is cracked and dirty, filled with nothing but debris. it isn't hard to picture the intense battle that was fought here, especially after reading the report on it.

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Mar 13, 2019 17:26:12 GMT

dahlia goode likes this

"the mission?"

he goes deep in thought once again. everyone knew it was a trap to begin with, and so he decided not to include it on his statement.

"i'm just surprised miss dahlia goode was actually in that location. rocket could have used her as a bargaining tool instead."

he shouldn't be complaining, but he does.

"it was obvious that they knew we'd go for her, but they just kinda let us take her despite the casualties. either they already got what they wanted from her or they're just testing the waters with the league."

he scratches his head amid the conspiracies he makes up. they were nothing but rambles until it was proven true or hints pointing to them were found. there were none, however, to his knowledge.

"...or something. i dunno. i watch to many movies that it makes me think of cliched reasoning."

he ends the disclaimer with a shrug.

arriving at the shipyard, kyle's hand ran swiped across the row of pokeball in his holster, releasing the remaining five mightyena simultaneously. he grumbles at the sight, knowing that they were supposed to find a red box amid the rubble.

"search the area. bark if you find something interesting, or something red."

he doubted the dogs would know what was considered interesting or not, but there was nothing lost from trying.

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TAG WITH @stone

POSTED ON Mar 14, 2019 8:15:43 GMT

what makes the rescue mission such an interesting case to follow is not the fact that it was a clear trap, but rather how easily they managed to rescue the commissioner; easy in the sense of losing only one league officer when it should have been all of them. despite the one personnel loss, all of them escaped relatively unscathed.

"i agree."

he takes a moment to gather his thoughts.

"dahlia was released by chioice, or at least that is how i see it. the question we now have to ask is: why? it is clear that rocket has more to gain with her in captivity and yet they chose to release her. even i do not understand why. it is odd."

alexander watches as the officer releases the rest of his mightyena pack, appreciating how loyal they all seem to be. it's a testament to kyle's abilities as a trainer.

"i have not been able to schedule an appointment with her. still recovering, they say."

through the shipyard they walk, mindful of their presence and of any others that might be lingering. so far so good. they find their way to the main part of the shipyard where the offices are. he stops by one in particular: Malcolm Stone's.

"do you remember the shipyard master?"

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Mar 15, 2019 5:12:22 GMT

"i don't know him personally, but yeah," he answered. he continued with an unrelated note. "i was here when the rocket invasion happened."

he decided not to share much after that. it was safe to assume that ensuring his personal safety was the right decision that time as anyone with six poochyena couldn't have done much more. the reports of the incident should be enough to tell what happened that day, to which he assumed that alexander already read.

they already were there when he realized that they were in the office of the person they talked about. important document were obviously stashed in the shipyard master's office, a fact that kyle would admit to forgetting. he tries to open the door, and unsurprisingly finds it unlocked. he swings it open to let themselves in.

"you think they already got to what we came here for first?"

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TAG WITH @stone

POSTED ON Mar 16, 2019 2:04:26 GMT

hours upon hours of reading and analyzing the rocket invasion has left him with the same pool of guilt that refuses to subside. no matter how much he now knows there is nothing he can do to go back, to change the events of the past. oh, how he wishes he could.

a nod is all alexander is willing to give as a reaction.

“i do not think so.”

the office seems relatively untouched. its delicate state of cleanliness is only due to its shipyard master: a man of elegance reflects it through his office. but things seem to be more scattered than they should be, but alexander attributes it to the battle that raged on outside.

dust on everything, alexander walks over to the side of the room, approaching a large painting of the entire shipyard. he looks at it for a moment, then runs his fingers along the borders until he feels an oddity.

click!

the painting shifts to reveal a hidden safe.

“i doubt what we are looking for is in here, but—“

alexander pauses, turning.

“did you hear that?”

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Mar 16, 2019 14:58:00 GMT

kyle is easily amazed with the intricacies of the office. hidden compartments he had only seen on movies that were actually logical to implement in an important office was first seen in the ruins of the shipyard for the first time. he watches with awe as alexander reveals the safe.

he turns along with the gym leader as soon as he asks. eyes would try to find anything unusual with the place, but fails to find any anomaly.

"i, uh, didn't hear," he answers honestly.

his mistake was leaving all of his mightyena outside the room to conduct their own search and to double as a guard, though he does have the gym leader with him for protection should anything bad happen. he has grown reliant to the senses of his dogs, although he could have attributed it to being too distracted by the painting when it opened up to show the location of the safe.

"should i get my mightyena up he-"

he interrupts himself as he points out a fact that he left out.

"er, they should have reacted if there's any danger around. what did you hear?"

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TAG WITH @stone

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2019 7:48:38 GMT

maybe he is just imagining things; influenced by the adrenaline that naturally comes from such a mission. or maybe he isn't.

and then he hears it again, confirming his passive twenty perception.

"that."

he points to his ears, tapping once as he hears a sound that resembles clicking. he steps away from the safe, drawing a hand to his belt to ready himself for a reaction. the sound comes from underneath the desk and so he approaches it with caution. he shoots kyle a momentary glance before peering down.

"it is a larvesta."

the small fire-bug peers up inquisitively, a curious look on its face as it scatters backwards, away from alexander.

"oh, no, i am not going to hurt you. you are fine."

with the safe now discarded, at least for the moment, alexander turns to kyle and asks:

"do you have food or water? it seems to be frightened, perhaps because of its age."

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Mar 18, 2019 14:06:16 GMT

he finally hears the sound, although he didn't react to it as much as alexander did. perhaps from the knowledge that the mightyena did not react to it that kyle had deemed it as far from dangerous.

the gym leader coaxes it before he turns to kyle. he doesn't bring much, but he always brought snacks with him when he wasn't sure when he'll be able to return from a job. from a small bag strapped on his belt on his back, he produces a freshly bought candy bar from a vending machine from their office.

"i got a candy bar and, uh..." he tries to frisk himself, wondering if he forgot anything that seemed remotely edible. he feels a small bag on his back pockets. "...dog treats."

larvesta was a bug-type, and a rare one at that. kyle wasn't sure what they eat, but conventional larvae do eat leaves or something, which he does not have on his person at the moment.

he offers both to alexander, his hand carrying both objects as he brings them closer to him. the treats were more likely to be generic pokemon food that were simply flavored for his pokemon's liking while the candy bar was more tailored for human consumption than a pokemon's. either way, both did not seem to suit the larvesta in kyle's point of view.

"take your pick, boss."

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TAG WITH @stone

POSTED ON Mar 19, 2019 3:41:40 GMT

both options are horrible for the young larvesta but they did not have the luxury to be picky. with a soft smile, alexander nods his gratitude as he accepts both the choices only to hold both of them out to the fire-bug.

the word boss should not be unfamiliar to him but it still brings with it an air of freshness. normally referred to as sir, boss is a pleasant change.

"here you go, young one."

surprisingly, the larvesta crawls forward for the dog treats, gobbling all of them up at once. the candy bar is ignored and as alexander rises back to his feet, he hands it back to the officer.

"how weird."

taking out a single pokeball, alexander passes it over as well.

"i believe it is in our best interest to care for the little guy. capture it for me, please."

and with that, alexander steps back over to the safe and sudies it closely. it is made with the finest of metals, virtually indestructable but it has a weakness that stems from its odd choice to be more technological.

calling out his rotom, alexauder taps at the safe once.

"please short-circuit the safe, rotom. be careful, we need the contents inside."

the electric-ghost zips and zaps, disappearing only to transform itself into an electrical current to travel through the safe. soon enough, a brief spark happens and the safe clicks open, shutting down.

"thank you, rotom."

rotom appears back out only to be recalled back into its pokeball. alexander slowly opens it, mindful of any traps. inside is the red box as described, and he smiles as he reaches for it.

"found it."

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TAG WITH @kyle

POSTED ON Mar 19, 2019 17:51:56 GMT

he accepts the candy bar back enthusiastically. the pokeball-- not so much. regardless, he takes it, along with the responsibility of capturing the lone larvesta they found with it.

the bug-type rejects kyle at first. his unfriendly demeanor contrasting the gym leader's more gentle approach. brows furrow at the show of attitude, to which brings the larvesta to cower once more. he heaves a sigh, scratching the back of his head as he watched the pokemon get uneasy. he wasn't dealing with this today.

kyle chucks the pokeball at it whether it likes being caught by the trainer or not.

unsurprisingly enough, the larvesta stays at the pokeball. kyle would attribute it more on the weakness it suffered from being abandoned for a long time more than his poor attempt to coax it into capture. he takes the pokeball containing the larvesta and moves on afterwards. the cause did not matter anyways.

by the time he returned to alexander, he already sees him open the safe. on his hands were the red box he had mentioned.

"what's in it?" he utters without thinking.

getting curious about it, he peers over behind the gym leader's shoulders, hoping that he would open its contents right there. kyle doesn't have much thought on what may be in the box, but he nonetheless gets nosy.