"Yup." he said with a nod. "And we just do what we can to keep out double agents." he didn't trust the traitors like ollie morales did. Most were just criminals who wanted to avoid the consequences of their own actions by crying like SIX Krokodile tears. He never bought it.

"We can't. A truce doesn't imply trust. A truce is just a ceasefire. We're not at peace." he said wit ha shrug. "Besides, no Rocket is stupid enough to go galivanting around with League personnel. The second they step over the line they could just get arrested. Rocket's will stay to themselves. Same with us until we figure out the Kyogre situation."

---

annalise henderson | 6th anni prompt - six

Yuina spoke up in response and Paxton can only blink, not quite understanding what she was asking. Luckily she continued, allowing him time to process her words. But she only serves to confuse further. Years of professionalism keep him from blurting out with JUDGEMENT 'Did you not hear what I just read you?'. He blinked again, saying instead, "It's a volunteer effort in symbiosis with AQUA."

They'd scheduled an hour of time for this and he had intended to use it as space for discussion. So far, it felt like he was hitting a wall. Nothing really stuck. He thinks about his prior conversations with others, closing the folder and resting it on his lap. "Ms. Higashi, what are your actual concerns?" he asked, teal eyes lifting from his papers one final time and staring back at her. Nothing in that folder would help him,. He'd have to figure out the issue by himself.


ooc: Yuina Higashi | a few days post state of the region adjusting to, had to push back due to war efforts now its post sootopolis raid | 6th anni prompt - judgement 

"I'm glad for the insurance. But your training panned out too, right?" he asked. She couldn't put all the blame on others. She'd been working herself hard too. And he would remind her of it. It was something to CELEBRATE. He smiles at the ranger. "Yeah, I'll order a new one. Turned in the old one and it nearly split open when I handed it over." he said with a soft laugh before taking another swig of his drink.

"Welcome to the club." He'd felt like shit since his family died. Then she speaks up again and he lets out a louder laugh, one that shows off how his teeth glint in the low light. Not the respectful snorts and whispers of chuckles he usually displayed. "Yeah, ain't that a bitch." he said, imitating his long ashen father.

"Just a bunch of sob stories to keep themselves form being slaughtered." he said with a shrug. Paxton never heard the words though. He sat in a sniper's nest after all. Most of the time his hosts ended the conversation quickly enough before someone even knew to start it. "But dahlia goode trusts the amnesty program , so I have to make sure we vet them right." Rigorously. Without restraint or remorse.

---

annalise henderson | 6th anni prompt - celebrate 

Paxton spares a glance at the poor dog, but said nothing. He'd long since given up trying to convince girls to feel better. All he could do was stay with them while they weathered through their own storms. His expression doesn't shift when he catches her tired smile and he waits for her to open up. He doesn't rush her, more pale grey lines appearing on his thick pad of paper. Cold press, the only type he bothered using for watercolor in HOENN.

He misses the sudden dissonance Genny felt with herself, eyes down at his paper. But at her words he let out a confused snort. "Huh?" it stops his work, making tired, teal eyes focus on Genny's own nervous ones. Was she sweating? Her knuckles are paper white but she's not holding onto anything. "What are you talking about?" he asked, waiting for her to explain.

---

Genevieve Cromwell | mission prompt: remote recovery | 6th anni prompt - hoenn 

Paxton huffed through his nose. "Copy pasted with a pokemon seems more plausible then. No bodies, no way to trace them back to...wherever they came form. No fingerprints or dental." That would for sure identify them if a face didn't work.

"I'm sorry. If you need me to help carry those out I'll make time." he said, familiar with the unpleasant work. But it was work all the same. He'd heard every kind of response by the time he'd finished tracking down families and trying to give them something to console them. It was never enough. But he thought it better they had closure than to always wonder why.

"But again, it wasn't just Rocket's missing. The civilian child I found, she disappeared as well. That other Eduardo said he'd take care of her." He said, voice slowing down as he reviewed the memory in real time. "But I'd been about to check her...because something had struck me as odd." he said, remembering the unnatural way bones bent and skin split. But...why had it been strange? "Penny needs more prodding for tasks considering how busy her schedule is. Maybe it's some sort of Council only intelligence?" he offered with a frown. Something higher than both their clearances that only the Council and dahlia goode knew.

"We'll do what we can with what we know. I can remind PENELOPE LIVY since I'm...more likely to see her. I guess. Her office is next to mine anyway." he said, remembering he'd seen the redhead less and less.

---

Gunner Graves | 6th anni prompt - contact

Charles checks the air for scent while Conniebear takes a perimeter and disappears into broken fauna with a soft closing of her jaws. Paxton keeps forward, undeterred and following the tracks he could see. The threes are thick and so is the underbrush but he finds purchase by stepping on the destructive footprints.

Up ahead he hears something whip by, rustling the bushes, followed by the sharp yelp of Conniebear giving chase. beginning her hunting RITUAL "Looks like we got a lead." he looked at the Calyrex. "Find it?" he asked as they continued in dark bushes. "I swear I saw something pink but- I'm not sure." And Conniebear hadn't managed to trap it either. A shame.

---

Elise Calcifet | 6th anni prompt - ritual

"Respectfully, you don't have the means to know if Celebi is changing you." he said. She barely had the means to keep her own schedule. She continued on and Paxton held back a sigh. He looked around her office as she spoke. The mess on the floor, and the manic writings and post it notes everywhere. He recognized this sort of energy. Or, at the very least it felt familiar. A spiraling distraction from something much worse, barely staving it all off.

He thinks of ollie morales , frowns slightly as he remembers the odd request he'd made. He wasn't a babysitter, he didn't take care of adults- but seeing the state of Yuina's office it'd make sense the Head Ranger worried so much. If he valued Ollie as a friend, he'd try his best to do it. Take care of her like he'd asked, or at least try to. "Yes, that is dahlia goode 's main reason for support but that's not the only issue. Genevieve Cromwell and ollie morales have the right to be concerned." He drops his Commissioner's name, as he does every hard conversation he had to have. She'd been pleased with the direction SAPPHIRE had taken, and he strived to CAPTURE anyone he could under it.

He turns to another page in his folder, flipping some notes. He was nothing if not well prepared. “You're now a target for the DRK Triad. Ever since the DESOLATE LAND incident where aaron faust was nearly killed, there has been a relentless hunting of avatars and possible avatars alike." And they were such a pain to kill. Even those who were felled, their comrades took every body back. He doubted it had anything to do with camaraderie.

"I urge you reconsider. Especially as the process is simple. A few physicals to establish a baseline with yourself and Celebi won't take much of your time, and then specific evaluations to check for any changes in disposition or physicality." he explained. He moved to another page, annoyingly well prepared. But this was simply a conversation he had needed to have so many other times with other personnel. Honestly, he should delegate someone to do this, but it would seem more genuine if the director himself showed.




ooc: Yuina Higashi | a few days post state of the region adjusting to, had to push back due to war efforts now its post sootopolis raid | 6th anni prompt - capture

"I have, and I've seen plenty of meetings I could stand in for you as your deputy." He'd done it before no less. That's what he wazs there for after all, to shoulder the weight of everything she couldn't carry by herself. While ollie morales helped her shoulder other pains, Paxton's effect is more literal, practical. He carves out space for her, allows her to breath, ligthens the load that came with being a Councilwoman in war time. She'd asked for him perosnally years ago, he knew she valued his work, beleived in it.

It's with this relationship and rapport, the familiarity of a person who gets the job done for their superior when needed, that he stresses the point once again. Least he went to Daphnée Marseille personally and reorganized the schedule himself.

"The possibility of a legendary's volatility is calculated based on the initial analysis of the patron." he stated. Nothing was certain for SAPPHIRE. But certain patrons were far more unwilling to work with them than others. Gods, am i right? "It's a combination of things and we only have MATIAS SILPH to go by." he said. He can't be exact. He can't promise it's true. But it's enough to be a cause for concern.And isn't Matias' PAST meltdown enough of a reason to be wary? 

"Matias is recovering well, and is under watch more often than most due to the PRIMEVAL incident." PRIMEVAL had been the final push for PROJECT SAPPHIRE in the eyes of the higher League echelons. He just wished its creator would give it time of day.

ooc: PENELOPE LIVY | pre war, right before state of the region. | 6th anni prompt - past 

ASPEAR
🥄 TEACHES A LEVEL UP MOVE. (trash)

LEPPA
🥄 TEACHES A TM/TR MOVE. (trash)

ORAN
🥄 EVOLVES STAGE 1 → STAGE 3. (E.G. RIOLU → LUCARIO). (trash)

CHESTO
🥄 EVOLVES STAGE 1 → STAGE 2 or STAGE 2 → STAGE 3. (trash)

SITRUS
🥄 TEACHES AN APPLICABLE MOVE (E.G. ANY FROM GEN 7-9 LEARNSET, TM/TR, MOVE TUTOR, EGG TUTOR). (trash)

KEE
🥄 FULLY ALTER A POKEMON'S MOVESET WITH LEVEL UP MOVES. (steelix learns IRON TAIL, THUNDER FANG, DRAGON BREATH, IRON TAIL, MAGNET RISE, DIG)

PECHA
🥄 ALLOWS YOU TO CHANGE YOUR POKEMON'S FORME (ALOLAN/GALARIAN, ROTOM, WORMADAM, LYCANROC, ETC.) ALONGSIDE ANY APPLICABLE ABILITIES OR MOVES. FORME CHANGES THAT ONLY AFFECT THE POKEMON'S APPEARANCE ARE EXEMPT FROM REQUIRING A PURCHASE. (trash)

PECHA
🥄 ALLOWS YOU TO CHANGE YOUR POKEMON'S FORME (ALOLAN/GALARIAN, ROTOM, WORMADAM, LYCANROC, ETC.) ALONGSIDE ANY APPLICABLE ABILITIES OR MOVES. FORME CHANGES THAT ONLY AFFECT THE POKEMON'S APPEARANCE ARE EXEMPT FROM REQUIRING A PURCHASE. (trash)

MALLOW SPECIAL
🥄 GRANTS THE POKEMON ACCESS TO Z-MOVES. YOU DO NOT CREATE A CUSTOM Z-MOVE WITH THIS REWARD. (joules the magnezone gains access to z moves)

MAX HONEY
🥄 UNLOCKS THE GIGANTAMAX FACTOR FOR A POKEMON WITH A GIGANTAMAX FORM; CAN ALSO BE USED TO EVOLVE A SHADOW POKEMON. (duralodon gaints gigantamax)

MEDALI RICE BALL
🥄 APPLY A TERA-TYPE OF CHOICE TO A POKEMON. (joules the magnezone gains ground tera type)

He notes the Yamper following along Genny and smiles before patting himself down. But he's always got at least one poketreat on stand by. "Here big guy." he said placing it on the ground for the electric type to eat before turning his attention back to Genny. He pats the stack of watercolor pads and pint set, as well as the handful of brushes he'd managed to procure. He then uncapped a coupe of already pre filled water cups between them.

"That you did." he said with a small nod. He'd spoken with her very seriously some time ago. She'd been shaken after the island business in RESURFACE TREASURES. He'd advised her the best he could. With the experience he'd gained from watching dozens of others grapple with their faith. In themselves, in their cause. He'd even been a victim to it, for a while. Maybe he still was, bitter and jaded and angrily fighting for a cause.

But Genny's not like that, he doesn't think. Genny has time to keep what's left of her intact.

"Avatars? Y'wanna talk about work?" he asked, distracted as he was busy penciling in a sketch of the fountain in front of them. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I know they're both blessing and burden." he began smiling fading instead into a thin line as he thought of Hoenn's WILDCARDS. His pencil moved quickly, pale grey marks being left fluidly on the page. "I know they're...mmm. They're good to have on our side." he added.

"And I know they have an ultimate cost, with a limit we don't see."

---

Genevieve Cromwell | mission prompt: remote recovery | 6th anni prompt - wildcard

Paxton pulled out a notepad and pen, beginning to jot down notes, mainly looking around her books with interest before back to Yuina. "Partially." he said with a small nod. "You're what I call favored. Not quite avatar, but not without an otherworldly eye on you." he began. "We want to monitor the effects of Legendary pokemon against humans." he explained, frowning as he broken down the concepts into something simpler and easier to explain. "This is to prevent another PRIMEVAL incident."

"In exchange for your time, PROJECT SAPPHIRE would allow you its vast scientific resources to continue your distortion research. Paradox pokemon and similar ANOMALIES have been a subject of study, particularly their syncing abilities." he said. "Additionally, I figured you could make good use of the wellness services we offer. Genevieve Cromwell in particular seemed worried for you." He frowned at this, sharing Genny's concerns over the woman.

Even if he didn't know her, and he time management was less than stellar, anybody blessed and burdened with a legendary pokemon was always in danger. "She mentioned you had lingering fears or worries, or had been for a while. That's why I made sure to highlight our specific programs on the back of the proposal packet."


ooc: Yuina Higashi | a few days post state of the region adjusting to, had to push back due to war efforts now its post sootopolis raid | 6th anni prompt - anomaly