MARCH UPDATE

POSTED ON Apr 12, 2024 2:26:02 GMT

Once more was Grigori dragged out to some city, to help with the search of a mythical, powerful avian. Littleroot was the destination this time around. Except this time, they had their own in the back pocket. Yes, this mission was to be done with one Admin Bee.

Wonderful. Actually, scratch that, he couldn’t tell himself that mentally. That was a lie, and he didn’t do those.

Woeful.

It was also a darkly comedic choice. It bothered him, as he stood in the designated meeting spot. On the edge of the town, but close enough to see the people mill around. It was closer to the end of the day, and stars peeked out from the twilight of the evening sky. How long had it been, since this was once disturbed by the throes of war?

How long until the next war rolled along?

These thoughts and worries ate him alive until he couldn’t bear it any longer. He wandered away mindlessly, still in vision but to a nearby pond. Swanna roosted in the center, and various other birds hovered around the edge. Some harassed a Tympole, while others went for the invasive Magikarp that flopped their way into its waters.

Next time, he’d show up on time instead of twenty minutes early.

BARNABY FINCH

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Admin Bee

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Lumiose City, Kalos

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POSTED ON Apr 20, 2024 19:14:36 GMT

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Neither wonder nor woe were sentiments BARNABY FINCH would ascribe to his rendezvous with Grigori Sokolov. [break][break]

Curiosity, perhaps, was the better word. [break][break]

Especially when he arrived to see the man loitering by the water, captivated not by the sight of Littleroot Town in the distance, but by the dull workings of insignificant creatures.[break][break]

"I appreciate your punctuality." Barnaby spoke up, moving to stand beside his subordinate at the pond's edge.[break][break]

"You know," He offered after a beat, his cobalt eyes sliding from the water to linger on the other man's face. "You've been on my mind, Grigori. It's why I invited you here." [break][break]

His talk of nuance in the face of Hoenn's tribulations — of ROCKET's tribulations — had been telling. With war looming on the horizon, Admin Bee was curious to probe the grunt's mettle and resolve.

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MOLTRES ⨀ BERSERK | FIERY WRATH / BURNING JEALOUSY / FROST BREATH / HURRICANE / FUTURE SIGHT / POISON GAS / PROTECT

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TAG WITH @grigorisokolov

POSTED ON Apr 26, 2024 16:05:10 GMT

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“Mr. Bee,” Grigori greeted. His tone flat, and his gaze still focused on the pond. The innocent Pokémon went about their business without care in the world. How nice it must’ve been. Or maybe not– perhaps they’d be victims of war as well. Or worse– forced to join in the conflict by some trainer.

“I appreciate the compliment, but I would be lying if I spoke the same about my thoughts on you,” he said. “I have been busy with personal matters, work– always something.”

Moving. Helping june sleigh , helping howard slayte , helping Rocket. Not only the truth, but a very believable one. But, it was a surprise to hear that his boss thought about him more than he the other.

“May I ask why that is? Have I lagged behind my peers in the sudden, grueling training regime?”

Unlikely. If anything, he was one of the lucky few who hadn’t had some injury, or doubt, about the whole thing. It was obvious why: War was here, and it would spare no one. He could feel it in his bones.

As if on cue, one of the Swanna finally claimed what it’d been hunting for. A Tympole slid down its gullet in one clean gulp. The rest were not as lucky or uninterested, with one that managed to puck it up between its beak only to fling it across the pond. The grunt grimaced. Even if it was the cycle of life, he did not have to be content with it.

BARNABY FINCH

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Admin Bee

He / Him

April 12

Lumiose City, Kalos

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POSTED ON May 13, 2024 23:24:07 GMT

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A brief silence fell over the two ROCKETs, punctuated moments later by a lilting laugh from BARNABY FINCH.[break][break]

"Compliment?" The admin clapped Grigori Sokolov on the shoulder a few times as his laughter mellowed. "Ha! That's a good one, Grigori."[break][break]

To underscore his amusement, Barnaby even wiped an invisible tear from his eye.[break][break]

"No, no. By all accounts you're quite the exceptional soldier, actually."[break][break]

Composure was regained quickly. Jokes aside, they did have business to attend to, after all.[break][break]

"But something you said before stuck in my brain..." BARNABY FINCH trailed off, leaving the other man's question partially unanswered.[break][break]

"You know, I'm not originally from Hoenn," He offered instead — a rare tidbit of personal information from Admin Bee. "Where I'm from, we have a saying:" [break][break]

He looked to Grigori Sokolov's face once again, studying it, taking in his reactions.[break][break]

"Serving the homeland is half of duty, serving humanity is the other half."[break][break]

After a beat to contemplate, Barnaby asked, "What are your thoughts? Do you agree?"

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MOLTRES ⨀ BERSERK | FIERY WRATH / BURNING JEALOUSY / FROST BREATH / HURRICANE / FUTURE SIGHT / POISON GAS / PROTECT

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POSTED ON May 18, 2024 17:23:06 GMT

Grigori might as well had not been from Hoenn. Sure, born and raised for sixteen years. But then followed a who-knew-how-long hiatus to Kanto. Even when he returned, the place felt as alien as Kanto had. Then why had doubts crept into his mind as he continued the life he had in the other region?

“I feel like I’ve read that before,” he said. It danced on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t form the words. “Certainly not from Hoenn or Kanto.”

A truth, one that Barnaby couldn’t also lie about. “It’s also something I certainly don’t disagree with. But…”

After a few long seconds, his eyes still fixed on the Swanna, he bobbed his head a few times. ‘Y’know’, he seemed to say, ’Team Rocket’. It sounded like a nice phrase, in a way. Unfortunately, his position in the organization made it a rather hard pill to swallow. To pitch to fellow man.

Too hypocritical.

“Homeland is easily defined, easily changed. It can be whatever you deign to be the place you think is home. A house, a community, an entire region. But humanity… to me, it has a lot less wiggle room. Either some greater purpose, or the people that inhabit what you’d call a home land.”

“Would I be wrong in presuming that for you, Homeland is Rocket territory, and humanity is our universe?”

He remembered their little discussion all those months back. How focused the admin had been on Team Rocket’s well-being. Not a wrong thing, given the position. But the grunt doubted Bee cared as much for the people of the towns they captured as he did.

BARNABY FINCH

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Admin Bee

He / Him

April 12

Lumiose City, Kalos

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Broadcast Journalist

Admin

6'0" / 183 cm height

i fell for your magic. i tasted your skin. and though this is tragic, at least i found the end.

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POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 0:29:08 GMT

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"Perhaps." The presumption brought an amused smile to BARNABY FINCH's face, but it was faint, not even creasing the corners of his eyes.[break][break]

"That's certainly one way to look at it. And it wouldn't be wrong, given our organization's goals..." [break][break]

Like Grigori Sokolov, the admin's attention remained on the pond. It was a focal point that diffused the formality of their encounter, allowed him to speak more freely than he might with others.[break][break]

"However," A sidelong glance was thrown the grunt's way before the splashing of a FROAKIE goaded his gaze back to the water. "I've found that it's difficult for most to live up to this sort of two-pronged duty. They can't divide their efforts between homeland and humanity well enough to do anything of significance for either."[break][break]

"There's always something getting in the way." He added, echoing a part of Grigori Sokolov's earlier excuse.[break][break]

A moment passed in not-silence: the humming of insects and toads and other nighttime critters filled the space around them as dusk began to fade. The sun set but lights from Littleroot Town took its place on the horizon.[break][break]

"...nuance, was it?" Barnaby murmured softly then, a thoughtful finger tapping at his lips, before speaking up a little louder and asking, "...if you had to make a choice, Grigori, which would you choose?"[break][break]

While the two men stood there and watched, a SWANNA snatched yet another TYMPOLE unceremoniously from the water. As the SWANNA gorged itself, BARNABY FINCH wondered if it — if any of the pond's residents — somehow sensed the impending calamity to come. [break][break]

"Homeland or humanity?"

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MOLTRES ⨀ BERSERK | FIERY WRATH / BURNING JEALOUSY / FROST BREATH / HURRICANE / FUTURE SIGHT / POISON GAS / PROTECT

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POSTED ON Jun 13, 2024 2:36:48 GMT

“I can agree with you there, Mr. Barnaby,” Grigori muttered. Very often a division of attention left both sides worse for wear. Good intentions paved the road to hell, and sacrifices had to be made somehow. Another matter was whether that was from the person attempting or one interest point being ignored.

Much like this little pond, next to the edge of town. Did the town give it the care and attention it deserved at the cost of another faculty? Or was it equally underkept with its unknown companion, somewhere far away yet forever unknown?

Would the people even care if it disappeared one day, replaced with something entirely new?

“Humanity,” Grigori answered. Zero hesitation, as soon as the options made themselves clear. “Those who inhabit a location ultimately determine where the homeland is. What qualifies and doesn’t. A land without people, or residents to inhabit it is… well, it matters little. No one could argue.”

Being uprooted was a given. Whether that was loss of job, a constant war, broken hearts, or shattered ego, people changed location and the world continued to spin. People either found a new place to plant their roots or died along the way.

Grigori scoffed, “But, perhaps, your saying has stuck around for a reason. There isn’t a point in humanity if you lack close ones to support and nourish you. We would be no better than mindless drones, a part of a homeland rather than the protectors of it.”

“Do you suppose a saying cares whether one believes in it or not?”

BARNABY FINCH

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Admin Bee

He / Him

April 12

Lumiose City, Kalos

Pansexual

Broadcast Journalist

Admin

6'0" / 183 cm height

i fell for your magic. i tasted your skin. and though this is tragic, at least i found the end.

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POSTED ON Jul 8, 2024 4:35:17 GMT

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"I was hoping you'd say that."[break][break]

Grigori Sokolov was such a curious man. So tenured within ROCKET's ranks, so experienced in the ways the organization worked. You'd think he'd take on the staunch, unquestioning loyalty that many seasoned ROCKETs did.[break][break]

In the face of an admin, BARNABY FINCH reasoned that most grunts would have picked the more insular homeland. Save the homeland, save ROCKET.[break][break]

But not Grigori. He was a more holistic kind. Tenderhearted? Or pragmatic? Barnaby wasn't sure which just yet.[break][break]

"People are the ones who put belief into a saying," Like the people in the humanity Grigori had chosen.[break][break]

"I'm sure you know the threat that the DRK Triad poses, not only to Rocket, but the entire region?"[break][break]

Here, Barnaby turned away from the pond to look upon Littleroot Town, nestled at the bottom of the hilltop they stood on. [break][break]

"We have bigger problems than seizing Hoenn from the League. But," With no discernable provocation, two shadowed chairs coalesced from the darkness — one of which BARNABY FINCH sat in. The other, obviously, was for Grigori Sokolov. "I don't necessarily think these two concerns are mutually exclusive."[break][break]

The admin gestured for his subordinate to sit with him and take in the cityscape below.[break][break]

"Can I tell you a secret, Grigori?"

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MOLTRES ⨀ BERSERK | FIERY WRATH / BURNING JEALOUSY / FROST BREATH / HURRICANE / FUTURE SIGHT / POISON GAS / PROTECT

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POSTED ON Jul 16, 2024 21:51:36 GMT

Such was the beauty of philosophy and all of her branches: there existed numerous, perhaps endless, views and approaches to designs and the world around them. Sometimes, they even defied expectations. Cemented the idea that assumptions were never to be trusted whole-heartedly.

They could be wrong. Such was the curious case of Grigori Sokolov.

They could also be slain, buried, and forgotten to the ages. Such was also the case of Grigori Sokolov– if he wasn’t careful with his thoughts. Some things were better left assumed, ideas let to run rampant than to be culled by the careful hand of facts and logic.

“So I’ve heard and surmised, Mr. Bee” Grigori said. He took ample time to follow Barnaby to the chair, yet he sat down once he reached ‘his’ spot. It felt odd and taboo, in a way. One so mighty as Moltres-Galar, its power granted to a single soul– only to be utilized for a comfortable chair.

But the view was peaceful. A city, nestled in nature and brimming with potential. Littleroot was a perfect place to retire. If only he could. Instead, he must make himself ready with the idea of war for a second time.

“I would agree with your estimation,” he said. He kept his back planted firmly to the rest, his neck straight and posture perfect. “It is a war on two fronts. One, we can make and lose ground with. The other– only spells our demise.”

But all he offered to the promise of a secret was a slight twist of his head and two perfectly capable eyes locked onto Barnaby’s own. Secrets could build as much as they could destroy. It was better to let the scenario play out than to rush to promises.

BARNABY FINCH

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Admin Bee

He / Him

April 12

Lumiose City, Kalos

Pansexual

Broadcast Journalist

Admin

6'0" / 183 cm height

i fell for your magic. i tasted your skin. and though this is tragic, at least i found the end.

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POSTED ON Sept 3, 2024 3:25:00 GMT

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"I didn't choose Rocket."[break][break]

BARNABY FINCH was intermingled and interwoven and intertwined by a strangling knot of familial obligation, of circumstances beyond his control, that kept him rooted in the ranks of TEAM ROCKET.[break][break]

"In fact, if I'd had a choice, it wouldn't have been this." [break][break]

What had he told Elisabeth Fiorelli all those years ago? That he'd been born in a cage?[break][break]

"...but that sort of life was never an option for me."[break][break]

To defect would guarantee a miserable, otiose demise — and that wasn't the sort of death he was destined for. Not now, with Hoenn's fate so tied with his own.[break][break]

"Sometimes," Barnaby paused for a moment, breaking eye contact from Grigori Sokolov to sweep his cobalt gaze over the city below. "We make due with our lots in life. We come to terms with what we have."[break][break]

"I did," A beat, and then the two men were looking at one another once again. "And I hope you have, too."[break][break]

"I'll need you as focused as you can be in the war ahead."

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MOLTRES ⨀ BERSERK | FIERY WRATH / BURNING JEALOUSY / FROST BREATH / HURRICANE / FUTURE SIGHT / POISON GAS / PROTECT

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POSTED ON Sept 7, 2024 21:53:07 GMT

BARNABY FINCH likes this

This was…

…

Treason.

No other way to spell it. A dangerous admittance. While it did not hold the same gravity as a proper defiance of Rocket, a defection, most would call it a slippery slope. To show feelings of inadequacy, to doubt the cause, to even hint that there was a world where one did not join Rocket after all was a decline into death.

Grigori Sokolov had killed better men for lesser guilt. And for his boss to say such things? He stiffened, then turned back to the scene in front of him. Peaceful. Serene.

Others had these thoughts too?

Squash the idea. Kill the doubt. To let it live is to let sin fester. Best to deal with the traitorous thoughts early, before they became something dangerous. Concrete. Real.

“Apologies, Mr. Bee,” Grigori leaned back into the chair, “but I’ve long since done as much. My lot in life was not much better, if at all.”

He had chosen it, but the life of crime had chosen him. Different conditions, same feeling.

“I will do my best, but…”

“What if I can not quench this unease? This apprehension to war? You are my superior, but I… have already fought one long, arduous war. My bones do not feel ready for the next. They groan. Ache. If I may step above my rank, you are not ready for what they entail. Very few are.”

Everyone thought they were. And then war came. Only the psychotic and bloodthirsty were satisfied with the large-scale conflict they gave. The resilient were worn down, the eager were stomped upon, and the innocent suffered. His eyes looked into the horizon, past the treeline and the landscape. They gazed a thousand yards, into the past.

He was not ready to make them suffer a second time.

BARNABY FINCH

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Admin Bee

He / Him

April 12

Lumiose City, Kalos

Pansexual

Broadcast Journalist

Admin

6'0" / 183 cm height

i fell for your magic. i tasted your skin. and though this is tragic, at least i found the end.

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TAG WITH @barnaby

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2024 1:53:00 GMT

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Though Grigori Sokolov may have remained a grunt within ROCKET's ranks, he was still a man nearly twenty years BARNABY FINCH's senior. He'd had so, so much time to experience the cruelties that mortality had to offer.[break][break]

Kanto had been a bloodbath, and he'd had a front row seat to it. Turned the spicket, even, and let it flow.[break][break]

"Perhaps not." The admin conceded, a thoughtful finger at his lips. "But there are things in motion beyond our control. We don't have a choice, Grigori."[break][break]

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Resistance or dereliction of duty would be punished accordingly. Most, therefore, chose to gamble their life on the battlefield rather than face the guarantee of death.[break][break]

"Aching bones or weary spirit... we must do our duty."[break][break]

BARNABY FINCH stood to leave as the last slivers of light faded on the horizon.[break][break]

"For the glory of Rocket."

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