Someone had to

So let's get this on the road, Talia Celes

It was irritating to be found when he was actually trying to be sneaky, subtle and deceptive.

It was even more irritating to not be recognized by the person who found him when they also worked for the league.

Was he so dismissed by the public they missed the fact he was always there?

'Yer ego's talkin', shit-head.' Chastised his inner voice as he fixed an irritable look upon Talia Celes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ya new or somethin'? Don't start conversations with a damn threat. The league is under scrutiny as it is, rookie." Doug replied bluntly and irritably, before producing a League Officer's badge. "Captain Sullivan, military. Mauville and its surrounding regions are under my jurisdiction."

He wasn't usually this bitchy, but his ego had been beaten enough to inflate with the bruises, and he wasn't about to let any disrespect fly by.

"Who are you?" He asked. He sized her up; clearly on a mission, this one, if earlier words weren't telling enough. "Ya ain't no Elite Ranger; know that roster like the back of m'hand. Cadets shouldn't be out n' about on their own, ya know?"

Doug knew a lot of such stuff; more than he needed, really. It was important to be aware of who was who in the league; never knew when imposters and pretenders would turn up.

Perhaps more important was to know who was who in Team Rocket- as far as the league was aware, anyway. Being able to recognize those names and faces swiftly was invaluable. They tended to be out and about after all, brazenly walking through the cities of Hoenn as if they were free, innocent and not the scum of the Earth.

He had known such things since he had first become an officer. One of many things he had done in order to make sure he appeared absolutely untouchable as a soldier, so that none could dismiss him for his age.

YET TO WORK SO FAR.

"Rangers ain't my problem though; I've got a smuggle ring to bust, so- see ya." He said, and began to turn around and move away.

---

PREVENT
Evidence has suggested a Pokémon Smuggling trade deal is to be had within the (any) city. Locate it and prevent the transaction from going through. Bonus points if you can catch the criminals involved.

Someone had to

So let's get this on the road, Talia Celes

"And you could've asked nicely, but you threatened me instead!" He shot back irritably. "We'll call it even!"

The youth's gait was less a march than a stomp, his excessive irritation rather obvious even to someone whom might've just met him.

He was being overly touchy, he realized that. But not matter how aware of the fact he was, he couldn't just 'chill'. There was a burning feeling in his chest that FERNANDO SILPH's last words hadn't been able to fully douse, no matter how true they had been.

The feeling of being underestimated, of being patronized, of being dismissed by the people who's recognition he wanted. Whether it was it was all true or just in his head, the feeling embers still remained.

He didn't care about rockets looking down on him, so why did it matter so much if the commissioner or the councilmen or the aqua folk did...?

He had no clue. Surprisingly though, the bickering was actually doing a halfway decent job at cooling him off.

Doug gave the young woman a dry, withering look at as she threw his words back at him, brow twitching as he squinted up at her.

"No, Talia Cedes, it means I'm a badass, and can handle something like this on m'own! Hell, I can handle ANYTHING on my own! declan walsh, Cillian Quinn and FUCKING dorian westcliff could come here THEMSELVES and I'LL WOULD SNAP THEM ALL OVER MY KNEE!" Snapped the youth irreverently while gesticulating wildly by repeatedly kneeing the air. "And it wasn't advice, it was regulation! You're right, your partner's a reckless dumbass!"

The youth continued to wildly flail his arms while stomping forth, clearly no longer caring about stealth.

He was gonna BLAST THIS SHIT WIDE OPEN, GODDAMN IT!

---

Someone had to

So let's get this on the road, Talia Celes

"hOw wAs i sUpPoSeD To kNoW YoU WeReN'T HoStIlE?" He echoed flippantly. "I dunno, maybe ask for an ID instead o' goin' RoboCop on my ass?"

Honestly, did she not hear the other part of what he said?!

"We're the league, newbie!" He let her know, looking irritated. "We're constantly under scrutiny! Intentions? Don't matter! Our every word, every action, are subject to criticism."

They really couldn't play it too safe when interacting with civilians. Being charming, empathetic, understanding— these were things they all had to embrace. They shouldn't have needed to go to such length, but enough within the Hoenn public seemed to be waiting for whatever slip up might prove Rocket was right all along.

"Criticism Rocket will use to turn public opinion against us." He mumbled, brow furrowed. "So don't. Threaten. Randos on the street!"

Or the routes. Whatever!

Unfortunately, his extended diatribe crashed into the cadet's sudden, soft-spoken logic, bringing his ranting to a close as he wheeled on his heel and pointed a finger.

"... Yes." He conceded after a moment, releasing a long suffering, closed-mouth scream. "Yes it is."

And with that he swiveled back and continued to march forth.

Someone had to

So let's get this on the road, Talia Celes

"The general Hoenn public Hoenn ain't politically savvy." Doug replied bluntly. "Makes for a very progressive... or apathetic voting force, depending on who you ask. But that also makes it a flighty, fickle one."

Just as the public's seeming lack of interest in proper politics made them willing to accept young politicans like dahlia goode, FERNANDO SILPH and most recently, Elinor Anderson into the government, it also made them susceptible to obvious propaganda attempts.

Though he supposed that could work in both sides favour.

More importantly—

"I'm ain't no ranger, rookie. You can do whatever you want." He said bluntly as he continued his march towards the house doors.

This wasn't strictly in Mauville, nor was it an AQUA operation. He had no real authority over this ranger; simply seniority and a bad temper.

Back to the door, however— it looked as if someone had kicked or blown it open.

"Yer partner ain't one for subtlety, huh?" He asked bluntly, snorting as he kept marching forward. "If yer coming, stick close. Somethin' tells me they're gonna be on high alert— if they are still 'ere."

He palmed a net ball and threw it out, releasing his Orbeetle onto the scene. The hovering beetle's eyes glowed blue as it took in its surroundings, giving Talia a brief look of acknowledgement before turning towards Doug, who nodded.

Her partner had, if nothing else, made their path a bit more obvious by blowing up the first hidden doors, destroying any attempts from the trick house at deception in the process. If nothing else, the dumbass had plenty of bravado, he would give them that as he went in deeper.

Someone had to

So let's get this on the road, Talia Celes

"Unfortunately." The youth muttered, the word marked not by his apparent temper but by resignation.

Even now, the memory of Sénon Game's dismissal still weighted on him. He hadn't seen the man since that day. He should've made the time to visit. One should never be too busy to visit friends or family... Maybe he should get a bouquet of flowers for cait alfric while he was at it? It had been a while since he had paid proper respects.

Hm. Maybe a bouquet of Crystal blooms...? Did anyone sell that?

He shook his head after a moment. It was a silly thought.

"Alright, you do that." He said simply, following behind Garo into the depths of the trick house with the ranger in tow. "Just keep an eye out. We're sauntering into Rocket's trick house. Who knows just how many- ... How many..."

The youth's word drifted off as the path opened up before them. Looking as if someone had managed to accidentally trigger each and every death trap put in place while on their way there.

After carefully looking around for a good moment, Doug couldn't help but whistle in appreciation.

"Jeez, is yer partner made of iron or something?" He asked as he began to walk forward, no longer worried since their forbearers had gone ahead and triggered every single trap on the way. "Might've to give 'em some kinda badge for their service."

No.

"... So we were talking politics, yeah?" The youth picked right back up where Talia had conspicuously skipped, ever eager to talk about how much he despised capitalism. "Did you know an estimated 17 percent of total global food production is wasted?"