somewhere among the sea of faces is their father, probably stuck next to someone sucking their ass in hopes of ascending the rocket ladder. he feels no sympathy for what might follow this meeting.[break][break]

"dunno. but fuck what he thinks."[break][break]

when asked to vote, cian's cacturne steps forward, following cian's gesture to end up at the option that is most populated: MOUNT PYRE.[break][break]

"just pick what everyone else is. i doubt we'll be enough to sway their votes."[break][break]

as long as it isn't petalburg. he'd hate to have contributed to sending forces towards boruta maher.[break][break]

notes:[break]
- observing[break]
- votes for MT. PYRE

[attr="class","ooc"]CIAN MAHER[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-kecleon"]

Every professed opinion and strategic plot was cataloged into the folds of Barnaby's memory. As he listened to the myriad voices, any change in his even expression was miniscule; in fact, Barnaby seemed relatively unfazed as he too leaned toward Zev Harcourt and replied:

"Great question. Why risk it when the consequence of League failure is region-wide devastation?"

Hearing declan walsh's clarification caused an eyebrow to arch ever-so-slightly. Rather than assuage his worries, it only added to them.

"they have set primal points in every single city and town in the region for reserves. the league's plan should still proceed."

Should.

There was no guarantee that ROCKET's disturbance wouldn't postpone the League's plan enough for it to buckle in on itself. Such an operation risked the lives of everyone in the region and seemed too much of a gamble for Barnaby's liking.

His concerns were echoed by Cillian Quinn. He expressed their shared sentiment well enough that Barnaby didn't feel compelled to vocally agree. The voice of an underboss surely held enough weight to get the point across.

As for the proposed siege, he was indifferent about its location. Walsh's plans for Littleroot already seemed fixed in his mind. While Felix Gallagher's logic concerning the capture of a coastal city made sense, so did bryan delarosa's interjection about XERNEAS' ability to maneuver on land and the Legendary's influence on their offensive power. Elisabeth Fiorelli's point about the longevity of their foothold if they were to take Littleroot was also valid.

In the end, it seemed to Barnaby that the location didn't matter if their main goal was to distract in preparation for mining the meteoroid, as mint frost professed.

Scientific progress at the cost of public opinion. Was it worth it?

In answer, THEO BECKETT's voice rose above the tumult, his inflection icy and direct. Again, Cillian Quinn's response spoke more to Barnaby's logic, with Serena Malcolm proclaiming the benefits of a tempered approach. Rowan Wrynn, too, appeared to agree to some extent, at least where Pacifidlog Town was concerned.

"I agree with Martín del Mar. If the public perceives Rocket to be interfering with the only plan to deal with an apocalyptic threat to our region, it could be damaging for future PR efforts."

Littleroot aside. At least the siege wasn't directly aimed at decelerating the League's attempts at teleporting the meteoroid.

"This is a turning point, in essence. Are we saying we no longer care about the public perception of Rocket? Or are we saying that the perception we have built up isn't strong enough to maintain going forward?"

Ultimately, expansion of ROCKET's influence was paramount to their collective goal. The means to that end seemed to differ widely, however, between the members themselves.

With his piece expressed, Barnaby released his Shadow STEELIX to join those clustered around the Petalburg grunt.

• outfit check
• using ROCKET persona (BEE + black hair)
• we're baddies but do we have to look super bad?
• voting for petalburg primal point
• UNOWN-A floating above him
• NINETALES beside him
• standing beside zev & summer
• open to interaction

☉

”they’re all so short-sighted.”[break][break]

she had been unsure if darkrai could hear the thoughts in her head, but like she had on that day when it had bestowed its avatarship, she willed silent words towards it.[break][break]

”tell me if i’m on the right path, darkrai, please. will i fail? will you bar us from your world in the end?”[break][break]

while team rocket’s varied attempts to reach ultra space continued and commenced, she would become increasingly committed to her alternative. would it be a foolish waste of such precious time amidst dimensional threats?[break][break]

as far as the debate went, she couldn’t wrap her head around a siege over grains of sand when they had not yet taken their first step across the greater sandbox. she didn’t want war. not this close to a new home on the mainland. not over practically nothing in the grand scheme—but unlike last time, she would not speak up about looking to the future in the great beyond, because she’d learned better.[break][break]

she had to wonder, though: would the real dark triad simply swoop in, and sabotage the reserve once they were done? was that the real plan, declan walsh ?[break][break]

she stayed quiet for Cillian Quinn , Rowan Wrynn , THEO BECKETT , because they all stood on the steps below their master–and she was not exempt from that rule. she would cross her fingers that these ideas did not kill them all.[break][break]

with the change of her eldest brother’s vote, a nod commanded her houndoom to switch places, and stand beside the representative for mt pyre. petalburg would likely be outvoted. she could see no point in disagreeing with him.[break][break]

perhaps it had been silly to assume that they would focus their sights higher this time.

[attr="class","ooc"]

tldr:

• talkin to darkrai with her mind, maybe
• switches to mt. pyre cause Cillian Quinn

[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-houndoom"]