Makoto may have the slightest of mixed feelings towards Amor Rose after the ride that had been his attempt to call out to Dialga; but ultimately, his presence is a welcome one. He has proven to be reliable, and the time the two shared in the Mechanical Kingdom showed that he had a caring heart towards other pokemon; which, the fact puts them at ease around him somewhat.

But, as he approaches them - which is regarded with a subtle smile from Makoto - he does something unexpected. Namely, he takes off his helmet - revealing his true face.

At this sight, the subtle smile quickly shifts to a much-less-subtle surprise - eyebrows rising. Long flowing hair, a prettyboy face, unblemished skin... There was no denying that the man before Makoto was attractive - that were this any other situation, his smile would likely have stolen someone's heart. Having the smile being directed at them certainly had them at a loss for words for the briefest of moments, at the very least.

But as Amor spoke, Makoto blinked, before being unable to help a chuckle and nod at the greeting. The casualness of it all helped smooth over any ruffled feathers, from the sudden unmasking. "I feel that I have the opposite problem, sometimes... Tsukiko may be strong, but she doesn't exactly take things seriously." They responded, musing out loud "Perhaps the two of them could learn something from one another?"

The question of whether they'd get paired up though, would be met with a soft hum. "I agree, and it's not impossible... Though, the question is whether that's the intention of those watching us..." Makoto spoke - their eyes drifting towards one of the nearby cameras that they couldn't help but find themself hyper-aware of. Just what were those running the show watching for, exactly?

Were they looking someone in the eye, in gazing at this camera in particular?

Though, the praise to their skills would be met with a soft sigh. "Thank you - but I can't say that scouting or hiding would do me much good in a head-on fight..." Which they believed to be the purpose of this whole event, ultimately. But that was why they signed up, didn't they? To learn.

The voice from another Rocket - Isaac Merlo - briefly drew their attention. Makoto looked to the blonde young man - noting where his attentions were directed - then back to Amor, a question soon occurring to them. "... Should I continue calling you Seraphim, by the way?" They asked, continuing "Or would you rather be Amor?" They paired this question with a nod in Isaac's direction, to indicate what the young man had spoken.

TLDR:
- Makoto may have slight mixed feelings at Amor Rose , but ultimately welcomes his approach.
- They are surprised at Amor taking off his helmet - thinks that he looks attractive.
- Mentions that Tsukiko has the opposite problem from Draco - suggests that the two could learn something from each other.
- They agree at liking to be paired with someone familiar + thinks it's not possible. But it comes down to what the higher-ups want.
- Makoto stares at one of the cameras for a moment, wonders if they're looking someone in the eye in the process.
- Thanks Amor for praise, but thinks that scouting + stealth won't help them in a head-on fight (which is why they signed up, to learn.)
- When Isaac Merlo speaks up, they notice him looking at Amor
- Which prompts them to ask Amor whether he wants to be called Seraphim or Amor.

“Heh. I’ll try to remember it, yella.” He says, masking his inability to commit names to memory with masculine bravado and a half-assed nickname. At least his voice is animated. Turning to Kaname Fujihara , he examines the guy. Looks him up and down. If Xenon is a yapping dog, then this creature who now paces and looks at the taller, elegant man has more the make of a wolf with a collar around his throat, bearing the name Yumi Hasegawa .[break]
“Yo. Nice to meetcha. I’m Hitoshi. You’re smart, yeah? Maybe we can work together. Y’know how to shut up. Not like some’ve these bozos.” He laughs, saying thoughtless, juvenile, but utterly honest words.[break]
Behind him, the monitor flares. He watches the show with fascination. The shapes are meaningless to him. Groudon, Xerneas, the beasts of ruination. For a creature like him, a black dog, they may as well be the moon. They are so far removed from the world and ecosystem that this creature knows as to be divorced from him by measurements of lightyears.[break]
Amber eyes scan the choices. For him, the answer is obvious. He is one of the first, if not the first, to walk forward and answer. Hitoshi jabs the terminal, giving it his answer.[break]
C – THE THREATS UNKNOWN[break]
“What?” He turns back to the rest of the class. “If I know what I’m dealin’ with, I can kill it.” This creature doesn’t understand the task being asked of him in this hypothetical. Anyone observant on the other side of the glass can tell. Maybe they’ll find some humor in his answer.[break]
“I can’t kill a ghost or fog or anything like that.”[break]
He slinks past Kouji. Past Kaname. Up to a guy who seems to be the center of attention. Looking at Isaac Merlo , he makes a statement followed by a simple question.[break]
“Oi, Blondie. People like you. You’re strong. Wanna point me at stuff to kill when the test starts?”[break]
He is a sword with the blunt force trauma of a mace to the chin.

The dog watches the next man make his decision, backs it up with words. To his credit, he listens until he finishes talking. Yumi has trained him well to listen before he speaks. It’s a luxury many of the thugs of the Hasegawa household were not afforded, in another place, in another lifetime.[break]
“The hell’re you talkin’ about, idiot? Scrotum’s what? Look. All I’m sayin’ is this: the stuff they showed on the monitors, they’re just big dumb lizards, dragons, whatever. At the end of the day, if you know where their heart is, you can pierce ‘em. Here, look at this.”[break]
He conjures Jubei, his Ceruledge, from his pokeball. Sensing there is no intention to kill, the Pokemon merely flares his blade at Hitoshi’s side to help accentuate the trainer’s point. The flame on top of his helmet flares.[break]
“See that blade? Jubei ain’t no god. He ain’t a legend. But BAM!” Hitoshi has drawn a tanto and stabbed it up through empy air, quick as a cobra striking prey. He holds the pose, tanto held above his head, as if reaching up to stab at the heart of Arceus. “He pierces a god's heart, the god'll die like anything else. Crush his brain, electrocute him, smoke out his lungs. Everything dies.”[break]
A dog yaps, with no grasp of the stakes.

“You talk a lot.” Hitoshi says as the other guy finishes, sheathing his knife. “That ain’t the point. Point is, which one’s the highest priority. We can just kill the stuff we know about.” He says as if this is the simplest thing in the world.[break]
“If that big bird decides to fly out in the open, just send everybody in this room out with some fire hydrants. Jump it. We’ll sort it out. We can’t do that to somethin’ we don’t know about! It’s like fightin’ the air! Or fightin’ gravity! If you don’t know about somethin’, it’s just a thing! You can’t kill a thing until you know where its heart is!” [break]
He kicks his feet, looking back to the monitor. Perhaps he has no concept of the fact every word he’s saying is being scrutinized. Maybe he just doesn’t care.[break]
“What I don’t get is, if these guys have all these big things, like that deer or dragon, why don’t they just jump the guys they want dead and kill ‘em?”

Luckily, your little comment avoids most notice, attracting only passing notice. Though, that was mainly because there's squeakier wheels in the room that are in need of far more grease. No, you're far from the biggest fuck-up present here. Somehow, you're probably not even in the top five. You might not even crack top ten!

That's a little surprising, honestly. You're not used to being the sensible one in a situation, to be the cooler head that's meant to prevail. Though, you're sure that'll make you a more tempting prospect to the higher-ups, wherever they may be. Are they even watching this right now? Sure, there's plenty of cameras looking down on you, but you've done enough breaking and entering to know that the presence of cameras doesn't necessarily mean there's anyone watching. Recording, sure, but actively watching?

It's a dim view of your bosses, that they wouldn't even deign to observe you live, but it's not one that would be out-of-character...

Hold that thought: Seems that things are finally kicking into gear. The screens change, and instead of people, there are Pokemon. More specifically, the "Legendary Pokemon" that this entire event is based around.

Legendary Pokemon... What a joke. It's all just classifications and labels and bullshit like that. See, look at Moltres, this so-called "legendary bird". Is it really much different than a typical Talonflame? What's so legendary about it that the former's so much better than the latter? The fact that there's only one of them? By that same token, if there were flocks of Moltres in the sky, and only one Talonflame in the whole wide world, then things would've just arbitrarily flip-flopped the other way. It's utter tripe.

But, you're choosing to keep those complaints to yourself, because there's already enough arguments going on right now, and you sure as hell don't need to add another one to the pile. You don't need to add your own (correct) opinions to this disagreement soup. Though, that won't stop you from stirring the pot.

"Wow, we've got a pair of regular geniuses here." You dryly remark, walking past Hitoshi Inoue and Ashley Shepard on your way to the computer. "They should get the two fo you on some kind of debate team. If you put your heads together, you might be able to mock up a coherent point before the day is out."

That's a bold statement, especially considering that you have no idea what your answer is. So, as you arrive at the computer and skim through the presented options, you make a snap decision: Dog-brains is going for C, and the brainiac is going for A, so you'll take the difference and vote for 'B. The Threats Within'.

Mainly, because that seems like the kind of esoteric answer that'd get you big marks in this sort of esoteric quiz.

---

Shred votes B and acts generally like a dickhead.

The first trial began.

Gerald’s attention moved to the task at hand. He quickly moves over to an available screen.

The question sits upon the screen and he reads it thoughtfully as the choices flashes beneath the question.

Each answer called to him with equal force, and so he quickly decided that there was only one possible answer to give. And so he quickly pressed ALL THREE of the options.

TAGS:
TLDR:
- Gerald pressing ALL THREE OPTIONS