His nerves had numbed, bristling instead with anger. Not at the circumstance itself, but at himself. There was no one to blame but himself for the way his life had turned out — for being alone in the world. You get out of the world what you put into it, and what exactly had he put into anything? It was a wakeup call, this unanticipated loss. Wren wasn't supposed to leave, but how could he not? What was keeping him here?
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In any other time, he might have felt the relentless bludgeon of nerves having finally been given an opportunity to do something (even if that something was Rocket). However, right then, there was only the resounding realization that he couldn't afford to mess this up, so he wouldn't. It was really that simple. Even if the instructions given to him were vague and he had no way of knowing if it was even legitimate.
[break][break]
The distortion was fascinating though. Immediately, all thoughts of disgruntlement ended upon seeing it. It wasn't the first time seeing one of these, likely not the last either. Though that did little to diminish the incredulousness of it.
[break][break]
Alinsky, right? "Shi-" He hated the way he jumped in his skin. Typically, he was the one to sneak up on people, not the other way around. "Yes, that's me.... sir." When was the last time he'd called someone sir? Hell if he knew. Idly, he wondered who was behind the mask. Was the anonymity really necessary? Clearly to this man it was.

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+ Recruitment: Act I | Martín del Mar

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Standing there and being the one seen, it has a vulnerable effect. He cant blame the other man for his secrecy, and wishes he could appeal to the same level of anonymity. There is no hiding, no shadow. It's just him, and what a pathetic excuse for a person he makes. Maybe the man will see that in him too, turn away and readily dismiss him. What would he do under that situation? Bite back or back down? Luckily, he doesn't have to find out.[break][break] Even without that direct line of sight, the pressure of that gaze through the other's visor is enough to make him bristle. Like the stray rabid dog he's always been.
[break][break]
There's a sliver of relief when that pressure is finally released, eyes darting down to the Riolu with a matched expression of disregard. "Yes," He nods at the question, glancing back towards the distortion as the underboss explains the situation. He makes it sound simple, though even before the additional information was offered, Levy knows it likely will be anything but simple. "Sounds... simple enough." He mutters anyways, knowing the catch is coming.
[break][break]
And there it is... He barely suppresses the deep sigh of breath that follows. The itch of excitement he feels is unanticipated. The electric shiver that he so rarely feels anymore. Centiskorch appears from the master ball in his hand with a flash of light, disjointed movement of limbs as it follows after him. He's not sure what he should expect, passing through a distortion, but it's there and gone in a flash. Then, he's on the other side.
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+ Recruitment: Act I | Martín del Mar

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

He's seen these distortions before, but never within one. It's fascinating, to say the least. Had it been any other time and even remotely possible, he would have liked to study it further. He isn't exactly the scientific sort, but that doesn't mean he isn't somewhat intrigued by the way the world works. How fragile everything feel when it can splits open like this and changed so easily.
[break][break]
There is an unnatural feeling about the empty darkness, the gaping maw to some vacuous abyss. He's been told not to peer into darkness, to ignore that little voice to submit to it. However, at the moment, it is unexpectedly hard to focus. It's the other man's voice that pulls him out of his own head. He nods then, "Yes, sir." Then he is moving again. There isn't much room for fear or anxiety, even with instinct building in that natural desire for fight or flight.
[break][break]
He spots the first shard relatively soon, but it's blocked off by a large Scolipede looming over him. It's somehow even taller than his own centiskorch, which scuttles forward to block the other pokemon's POISON STING. The Centiskorch blazes hotter, lashing out at the bug with INFERNO. While the two anthropods battle, Levy makes a dash for the first shard.
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+ Recruitment: Act I | Martín del Mar

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It's probably fucking sad, the desire to be seen as useful. However, growing up without purpose had a way of doing that. Survival had been all that his life measured up to. Live to fight another day, that was the gist of it, right? That was all this was, but there was more to it. There was more to this. He knew the societal opinion of Rocket and it wasn't like he could blame them. He wasn't oblivious. He wasn't taken advantage of or the victim preyed upon. No, he was the villain in the story and he didn't care to even justify his reasons. They were his own. If he had to prove to this guy to effectively prove his own self-worth, then he was willing to do that.
[break][break]
Shard in hand, it seemed a very small means to whatever end. Truly, he hadn't a damned clue what it was for, Signa suites aside, but if M.A.G.M.A wanted them then that was enough for him. Centiskorch dealt another blow of INFERNO and the Scolipede was naturally done with beneath the intensity of the heat.
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"No." He said, maybe a touch too sharp. His tone was maybe lacking in the prior respect he'd shown before, but he had never asked for assistance and had deemed he never would. That would probably change. This was a team sport, to say the least, but he wasn't ready yet to accept that. There was another loud crack, thunder like. He twisted at the sight of a shadow behind him, rolling out of the way as a new, yet unseen pokemon crashed down on the ground he'd just been standing with a SLAM.

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+ Recruitment: Act I | Martín del Mar

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The decision was made and unexpectedly respected. There had been far too many people that would throw themselves into his problems without needing to be there. Or well, one person. They were gone. The underboss watched on as he evaded the next attack.
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The pokemon would ramp up, the energy was shifting. Not much time left, as the other man had stated. Not much time left to collect as many of the shards as he could. Not that there were that many to collect in the first place.
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There was really no way of knowing if he was doing a good job or making a mockery of himself and everything he was choosing to fight for. However, no one was dead so... really that was all he could rely upon. Clearly his masked friend was content enough to call it a day. Maybe Levy had been expecting more challenge, but he definitely wasn't about to object on the challenge of a space-time distortion.
[break][break]
"Okay, I've got them. Should we go?"

[break][break]

+ Recruitment: Act I | Martín del Mar

[attr="class","pokeclass"]