Somebody spoke of her in a formal matter, or as close as one could get for Rocket related matters. Her eyes looked back to the seat across from her in the booth at who she had to welcome to this impromptu meeting. The man wore his dark hair short and somewhat messy. It reminded her a little of some of the people she worked with back home.

"That all he send you?" Himiko spat out with a glance that couldn't be more interested in the procedures and everything surrounding this god forsaken punishment. While grateful to be alive still, she had her own priorities at the moment. Somebody had been responsible for this set up that landed her here.

"Then I guess you know the reason why I'm here."

Her index finger lightly scratched the surface of the table as her eyes never left Zev's. He was hardened. Somebody that had been through the unspeakable and back again. Although they wore that same visage to the outside world, his was impeccably genuine. Himiko's was more of a front.

A Fidough in the pen with a Houndoom.

"So what? You're going to be my new handler then?" she asked him out bluntly. "Like this organization thinks that I'm some scared kid that's running away from her problems?"

Zev Harcourt

☉

Himiko was in disbelief at what this man had just said to her. Her look of disbelief changed into one now fully that was aggravated. "Entrance interview?!" she hissed, "I've served Rocket since the minimum age. I've done enough tours to justify my loyalty."

Her eyes narrowed Zev's own. "So why I should justify it to you, is the better question."

He could make his point known and do some evil thing a Rocket would do or put her in her place. She wouldn't put it past him. She had far too much pride to get on her knees and grovel at somebody. Regardless of the reason, Himiko spat up an answer.

"I'm a smuggler like my Dad. Back in Kanto, I dealt with mainly Pokemon and other illegal goods. I know how to get what I want and when I want it." She looked at him with a fraction of the amount of venom in her voice that Zev could work up. He could see through her little act for what it was.

"Skills in stealth, reconnaissance, herbology and poison making. That good enough?"

Zev Harcourt

☉

Himiko paused at the question. She lowered her voice and slowly bobbed her head up and down. The blanket of black hair shifted up and down as it flowed down from the top of her head.

"Not a lot of people, but I've done it before. It takes time to get the extract and it's traceable if you have a Pokemon with the nose for it. You can't just bring a plant from another region and use it without somebody knowing you have one."

The people surrounding them appeared to have not caught onto their conversation. The large noise pollution around them had made this morbid conversation to have become just another mundane conversation in a sea of the everyday occurrence. Her hands came to rest themselves on the edge of the table.

"I'm not limited to just lethal things either. Paralysis, hallucinogens, numbing agents, even blends so painful you'll wish you were dead. You name it, I've brewed it."

Zev Harcourt

☉

Her answer came almost immediately. Himiko had obviously been egged on by the mention of the very thing that landed her in this position in the first place.

"I was set up, of course!" she said with a sneer. "I've made that sleeping injection a thousand times over. I kept it ready to go at a moment's notice. Everything was perfect!"

She took a moment to collect herself with a groan of frustration and then continued.

"There was a Druddigon that was seen flying nearby Kanto while on migration. An alpha sized one, the largest of any seen before. So my team was sent to capture him, a simple a little mission, yes? We managed to get him captured in nets and I went to give him that injection. So imagine my surprise when it only causes him to go berserk instead." Himiko crossed her arms and rested them on the table with a scoff.

"I know for a fact that I only brought my sleeping agent with me. I've administered it to countless Pokemon, large, small, you name it. Somebody tampered with my concoction and it resulted in this mess. So I'm going to find out who made me come to this backwater region, and I'm going to pump them SO GOD DAMN FULL OF CHEMICALS THAT THEY'RE GOING TO GLOW IN THE DARK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA WHEN I-"

A bunch of eyes had come to look at the both of them. Himiko's voice had risen to shouting levels as she looked at them and paused to consider her wordage before continuing in the silence.

"...When I go diving for Clampearls next time. It's a fun and lucrative hobby."

Zev Harcourt

☉

She rolled her eyes quietly after her initial outburst. Starting over from the very beginning. A meat shield to be used as some higher up to cover their asses.

How very honorable indeed.

Zev did have a point though. She was going to have to find a way and climb her way back up the rankings if she wanted to get back to how it was beforehand. She could care less about playing errand girl for a bunch of people she didn't care for. All that mattered was finding the one responsible for her getting into this mess.

Himiko accepted the slip of paper given to her and unfolded it to take a glimpse at the address. Simple enough, really. She put it into her coat pocket and had a chance to ask him some questions. Which she quickly had a few.

"Zev, was it? I lost a lot of my team back home. What's the quickest way to find more?" she asked with a veiled interested. Her arms sat on the countertop once more as Himiko peered at the stoic and apathetic man. "And do you have any business of yours I can help with? You're the first person since my demotion that's not a hassle to interact with, so why not repay the favor?"

By that, she wanted brownie points. Any extra edge she could get over anybody else.

Zev Harcourt

☉

Drat, he caught onto her little ploy. She scoffed at his dig about his "business" and not really wanting anybody else to really help him with killing people. Just your average top brass's day in Rocket. Still, there was some part of her that was a bit put off by how...nonchalantly he said it. As if he had been asked his favorite food.

Himiko leaned back in her seat with a casting gaze.

"You and every other boss on this Team." she murmured to herself. Her eyes briefly cast away at the crowds around them. People walked by as the entire town almost was alight with the holidays. Such scorned eyes peered at the families walking about. Children busy enjoying the most wonderful time of the year. Some thoughts bubbled up as she grit her teeth and waited for Zev to finish.

"I think I can manage to make something. Shouldn't be too hard for somebody of my caliber to find work here." Himi said, her hand placed before her bosom as a smirk grew across her face. "Anyway I can help, I'll do such. But onto more pressing matters..."

She moved to the menu of the restaurant, shuffling her menu around. "Are you interested in having a meal? I'm dying to see how palatable the seafood is here."

Zev Harcourt

☉