While one woman makes a speech, another grunt peels off from the crowd. He makes for the camera. Walking right up to it, he has the demeanor of a dog sniffing a nannycam. Examining it curiously, he pokes it, prods it, looks right into the lens and smiles.[break]
"Oooooiii! Come on! Start the fight already! Talking's boring!" He pouts, realizing that he is, in fact, forced to talk to these people - rely on them. He's never been one for relying on others. A lone wolf, although he's never given much thought to whether that's by necessity or deliberate decision.[break]
That girl's manner of speech gives him a headache. There's a twinge of annoyance at the corner of his lips. Turning back towards her, a growl builds in his throat.[break]
"Anyone ever told you that you're one crazy bitch?" Says the pot to the kettle.

You've been the plenty of parties in your day, and this one has the worst vibes of them all.

Granted, this isn't really a "party", not in the traditional sense. Sure, there's plenty of bright lights and eager bodies in the room, but nobody is here for a good time. This is all business and no pleasure. It's akin to a school test, or a job interview, or maybe some kind of laboratory experiment. The higher-ups are here to spy on you like your Mankey in a laboratory, and it seems your peers are all too eager to ape out, so to speak. You're sure that if the cameras weren't there, most of them would already be smacking each other about the place. Hell, you'd be tempted to smack them too. There's some proper knackers among them that you wouldn't mind giving a kick in the hole.

Alas, that kind of behaviour seems liable to get you booted from the project. You're not really sure what this "S.P.E.C.T.R.A" stuff is all about, but you know a ladder when you see one, and this is definitely a ladder. This is your easy way up the ranks, the quick path to getting everything you'll need for that run at the Hoenn Championship, and if you've got to deal with some rowdy grunts and pseudononsense about so-called "legendary" Pokemon to get there? So be it.

...No, this isn't selling out. This is entirely different. Don't get it twisted - Just because you're playing along with the bigwigs and the higher-ups, that doesn't make you their lapdog. No, you're still the same old wild beast on the inside. Putting on sheep's clothing doesn't change that.

Still, "not getting kicked out" and "succeeding" are unfortunately not the same. That's why you've positioned yourself in front of the monitors, looking across the rows of faces and statistics. For better or for worse, this seems like a group project, and both the "for better" and the "for worse" of that statement are wholly dependent on who you're paired with. The difference between passing and failing is defined by the thin line of who they decide to stick you with, and how you perform with and in comparison to them. With that in mind, you look over all your peers and their accomplishments, and compare them with your own, and reach a single conclusion:

"Hm... I think... I might be fucked..."

You're not sure why you thought that say that out loud, and really, I don't either. It was, objectively, not the correct thing to say. So, here's hoping that nobody heard that little comment and you can just slip through without further scrutiny, yeah?

---

He was curious about what they had to say about them so he perused his own file first, it was nothing extraordinary, much like all the other files he was browsing afterward. It was just grunt after grunt. A thought occurred to him, that this felt like the scene out of a movie, where all the bad guys were gathered up, and then disposed of all at once. It honestly wouldn't surprise him if the floor opened up beneath them, and sent them all plummeting into a spike trap. Though he doubted Rocket would be that sadistic, one could always be on guard. If there was something he had learned in his life it was that. His overly large Dragonite was behind him, silently judging what it viewed to be competition. Unfortunately it hadn't had a proper battle since the Savage it had brought to it's master.

Thankfully there was one person among all of the others that he recognized. Someone that he had done a few adventures with now. Makoto Kurumi was suppose to be here among the nameless riffraff with him, which was good, hopefully they would get paired together. They worked well together in the Mechanical Kingdom, and they had even helped him run an experiment to try, and contact Dialga. At least there was one person here whom he liked, but his chain of thought was broken almost immediately by someone obnoxiously declaring themselves to be the best.

Draco took that personally, and already was about to simply march over, and beat her Mechanical Pokemon into nothing but scrap, but a hand on his shoulder from Amor, stopped that.

"Not the time, or place buddy." His robotic sounding voice resonated quietly.

Folding his arms he observed the rest of those gathered, there were far to many faces that he didn't know, and that caused him to frown. There was no point in engaging in such a simple person, and he did his best to not let his gaze linger for to long on them, before sweeping it across the rest of them. Another familiar face appeared, it was Kouji Matsubara . If he was lucky he would get Makoto, and Kouji on his team, but luck never favored him.

TLDR
Draco the Dragonite almost went to throw hands with Xenon Antheil 's Iron Jugulus for her remarks!
Amor is in his MK.II armor, so he looks like This, and his voice is made to sound robotic!

Gerald found himself amidst a bunch of grunts, suddenly realizing that perhaps he’d dressed a bit too formally for these trials. Jogging pants and tank-top had been switched with a slick albeit well-worn suit. It had been the finest one he could afford on a Grunt salary.

Eyes darting around, recognizing some faces and learning others. Pondering for a moment what sort of trials this would be. That was until he heard the voice of a Xenon Antheil. Suddenly a sensation akin to listening to nails being dragged along a blackboard washed down his spine.

But he quickly shook that off and began to wander about among the grunts. A friendly but forced smile had been placed upon his resting-bitch face.

As he walked among the grunts one singular word caught his undivided attention.

Explosives!

He made his way over to the red-haired woman and forced himself into the conversation with four simple words “Did someone say explosives?” A small greeting wave was sent toward Sylvia Cousteau and whoever she had been talking with.

TAGS: Sylvia Cousteau
TLDR:
- Gerald realizes he dressed too nicely for this.
- Also realizes that the weird science lady is here...
- Tries to initiate a conversation with Sylvia Cousteau & Co.

THE HALL IS GRACED BY THEIR EXUBERANT SPIRITS, but Selena does not feel like competing. Brimming with overconfidence, the least she has to do is to actually prove herself in these trials. Selena knows they know what she already was: Tapu Koko's previous avatar, an ex-gym leader, a war veteran. She knows they know she is a wasted opportunity should be declined in this initiative. But the ex-gym leader also knows that BARNABY FINCH recruiting her doesn't just give her a free pass to everything.

Perhaps that is what she has to prove in these tests: that she is to be trusted.

As the aspiring S.P.E.C.T.R.A. agents make their presences known in the room, Selena looks at them and then at the monitor each and everytime they speak, trying to associate their faces with their name. She sees Kouji Matsubara's name, a familiar face she wanted to join forces in the trials, but waits to approach until Sylvia Cousteau, a fellow Kalosian, makes her case.

"Good thing the League is not as tenacious as us with power; otherwise we'd all be dead with this display of attitude."

Right then and there, the other man (Gerald Kaiser) approaches the crowd too.

---

EVENT: S.P.E.C.T.R.A. TRINITY TRIALS I
Kouji Matsubara Sylvia Cousteau Gerald Kaiser

TL;DR

• SELENA contemplates the reason why she is actually here
• SELENA listens, sees Kouji Matsubara in the group
• SELENA addresses the group probably around the same time as Gerald Kaiser LOL