Cradling his coffee cup in his hands, Gunner blew on the hot liquid to cool the surface before taking a sip. His brow knitted together in frustration. [break][break]

"I don't get it. Nothing adds up. We rounded up the injured and dead Rockets, and now they're effectively 'missing'. There aren't any reports on them, statistics, or anything." [break][break]

He raised the index finger of one hand. [break][break]

"Second, there's no record of their leader in any database—the civilian one, the known criminals, INTERPOL's." [break][break]

He held up a second finger. [break][break]

"Third, I've interviewed every single member of the security team from that day. Not only did all of them pass their initial background checks, but none of them saw any suspicious activity on site." [break][break]

A third finger joined the other two, before Gunner dropped his hand to his lap. His frown deepened as another piece of the puzzle wormed its way to the forefront of his mind. [break][break]

"The worst part of this whole thing is how dismissive Penny is acting. She's quick to remind me about how imperative it is to close out this investigation, but she's too busy to provide support." [break][break]

He didn't want to blame her, of course. PENELOPE LIVY was busy with her work on the Council, preparing for an imminent attack from Team Rocket and managing public relations following the conference.

TAGS – paxton concordas[break]
NOTES – social

[attr="class","pkmn"]

On the surface, Kyrenai's answer was truthful, but Gunner could not help feeling it was also evasive. It was the sort of evasiveness field operatives practiced when speaking of missions that had never officially been sanctioned. [break][break]

He made a mental note to listen to the recording again later to pick apart her words. [break][break]

"Like any politician, Miss Livy receives all manner of communications from the general public that include threats, insults, proclamations—less than savory stuff. Naturally, the HBIC screens these before they ever reach her and handles them accordingly." [break][break]

"In your unique position as her bodyguard, have you observed, or are you aware of, any suspicious activity toward Miss Livy, especially in the days leading up to the conference?" [break][break]

Gunner highly doubted Kyrenai knew something the HBIC didn't, but one could never be too sure. Thoroughness was a virtue.

TAGS – Kyrenai Black[break]
NOTES – social

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Gunner could not help the disappointment that flickered to life inside him at Yuina's negative response before professionalism snuffed it out. His mouth flattened into a thin line at yet another dead end. [break][break]

"We are actively working on identifying him," was all the answer she would receive on that matter. [break][break]

Folding up the paper again, Gunner decided to switch tactics. [break][break]

"Since you're frequently here in the upper district for work, did you notice or encounter anyone suspicious on the streets in the days leading up to the conference? Or perhaps during the morning before the it started?"

TAGS – Yuina Higashi[break]
NOTES – social

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Through the whipping sands of the poisoned sandstorm, Gunner spied silhouettes moves in concert, too many to count. Ulysses Monroe's words smashed into him like a bullet, bringing devastating revelation. [break][break]

Kantonian pie. Kanto. [break][break]

Team Rocket's Kanto division had come. [break][break]

Gunner slapped his hand to his comms unit and announced to anyone still in range, "This is Lancer. Kanto is here—I repeat, Kanto is here." Tremendous quakes from somewhere north of their location caused the ground to buckle. "There are too many of them; we need to retreat." [break][break]

He locked eyes with Eduardo Hisakawa, who was making a mad dash in his and Georgette Bluebottle's direction. To the woman, Gunner said, "Tom Thumb will blast a hole in Rocket's ranks. Get your Glastrier ready to run." [break][break]

More loudly, he shouted at his Pokémon, "Escape maneuver! Take us east!" [break][break]

The Claydol zipped ahead, its speed belying its size, glowing with ominous intent. When it drew near to a squad of Rockets, it unleashed its full power in an EXPLOSION. [break][break]

"Now!" Gunner signaled Georgette, recalling his fainted Claydol. He twisted in his seat to gauge Eddie's distance from them. "Hurry, Hisakawa!" [break][break]

As they rushed to escape Petalburg, the agent released his real Salamence to help clear the path to safety. [break][break]

TAGS – Georgette Bluebottle Eduardo Hisakawa[break]
NOTES[break]
– Gunner is at LOCATION J-5. His SYGNA SUIT is inactive.[break]
– Announces the arrival of Kanto Rocket into the League comms.[break]
– Gunner's Claydol uses EXPLOSION on the Rockets to clear a path for him, Georgette, and Eddie. After Claydol faints, Gunner switches in his real Salamence to help with the escape.

[attr="class","pkmn"]

The NIGHT DAZE from Gunner's Zoroark-turned-Salamence missed its mark, but thankfully, it made an opening for Georgette Bluebottle's Glastrier to strike a devastating blow to the Munkidori. Triumph swelled in Gunner's chest, but a sudden, massive quake dashed it against boulders of fear and panic. [break][break]

The ground tore apart as Petalburg buckled beneath the weight of tremendous stone. Gunner lost his footing completely, landing hard on uneven ground. The sandstorm around him whipped into a frenzy and turned a sickly shade. He inhaled and immediately coughed. [break][break]

Poison, he recognized at once. [break][break]

A wrathful scream from jack wainwright tore Gunner's attention away from the compounded hazard. He whirled around in time to catch sight of the Ranger taking off on his Togekiss. Munkidori, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen. [break][break]

Gunner leaped to his feet, just as Georgette demanded he go with her to follow Jack. Accepting her hand up, he vaulted onto the back of her Glastrier and recalled his Zoroark. In the fox's stead, he summoned his Claydol. [break][break]

"Tom, shield us from this storm!" [break][break]

A PROTECT raised up around the two humans and Glastrier as Tom Thumb levitated alongside the horse. Unfortunately, the sandstorm was too thick and the ruined roads too disorienting. Instead of finding where Jack had rushed to, the group stumbled upon another battle already underway. [break][break]

"Hisakawa!" Gunner yelled, spying Eduardo Hisakawa. Squinting through the whipping sands, the agent took in the scene: Eddie and an unknown woman facing off a group of Team Rocket operatives, led by— [break][break]

"Monroe?!" Gunner gaped. Wasn't that the former Commissioner?! [break][break]

TAGS – jack wainwright Georgette Bluebottle Eduardo Hisakawa PETRA MONROE Hawkins Yamaguchi Himiko[break]
NOTES[break]
– Gunner is at LOCATION J-5. His SYGNA SUIT is inactive.[break]
– Joins Georgette to follow Jack. Recalls his Zoroark and brings out his Claydol, which uses PROTECT against the poisoned sandstorm.[break]
– Unfortunately, they stumble upon Hawkins, Himiko, and Monroe vs. Petra and Eddie fight.

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"No one's calling about the grunts, of course," Gunner said, taken aback by Penelope's question but recovering quickly. "But there's no record of them, either—not even information on where they're being detained." [break][break]

That worried him the most, not the civilians; he was content to let the League government's PR department soothe their concerns. On the other hand, he had never been denied access to prisoners before. [break][break]

Penelope's suggestion of a cybersecurity breach gave Gunner pause. [break][break]

"No, we haven't yet," he said at length. "I wanted to rule out the possibility that I was looking in the wrong place, or that there had been some kind of miscommunication. I thought you might know more." [break][break]

After all, she had complete access to all the data in the Bureau.

TAGS – PENELOPE LIVY[break]
NOTES – social

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Before Gunner could land his Sygna Suit-powered THUNDER PUNCH on his simian foe, psychic waves from Munkidori slammed into him. He stumbled backward, clutching his head with both hands. The world around him swam for a tense, dreadful minute before his vision started to clear. [break][break]

Then shouts rose up around him, voices he didn't recognize. Multiple seized him, too many for him to count. Twisting his body, he tried breaking free from their grasp, but to no avail. His assailants overpowered him, shoving him to the ground on his knees. [break][break]

When Gunner looked up, he finally saw who they were: Rocket soldiers, masked and armored, pointing various weapons at him. One drew a long blade, a machete of sorts. [break][break]

A surge of adrenaline flooded Gunner's veins. Once more, he tried to break free and run, but the other Rockets shoved him forward, forcing his head onto a block of stone. The machete rose high into the air above him. He screamed vile curses. [break][break]

Sunlight flashed on the blade as it cleaved toward his neck. [break][break]

Suicune's PRESSURE shattered the illusion. Gunner blinked, sweating, heart racing in his chest. He took a few seconds to process what had happened before a renewed fury swept through him. [break][break]

Turning to regard Munkidori with contempt, he recalled his Typhlosion and summoned his Zoroark—though the fox emerged in the form of a Salamence thanks to its ILLUSION ability. Energy released from Gunner's Sygna Suit as it deactivated. [break][break]

"Give it a taste of its own medicine, Mordred," the agent ordered. [break][break]

Flapping his wings, the Zoroark-turned-Salamence reared back its serpentine head and unleashed a NIGHT DAZE at Munkidori. [break][break]

TAGS – jack wainwright Georgette Bluebottle[break]
NOTES[break]
– Gunner is at LOCATION O-4. His SYGNA SUIT is inactive.[break]
– Experiences a false death where he is summarily decapitated by Team Rocket.[break]
– Snaps out of the vision thanks to Suicune's PRESSURE. Swaps out Typhlosion for Zoroark (illusioned to look like a Salamence).[break]
– Zoroark uses NIGHT DAZE on Munkidori.

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Gunner returned to the conference room with two paper cups of coffee, made precisely to order. He handed one to Paxton and kept the second for himself. The two men were huddled together to investigate the identity of the terrorist leader, who'd led the assault on the State of the Region conference just days ago. [break][break]

Unfortunately, they had been working for hours already without any success. [break][break]

Sitting down at the conference table, Gunner sipped his coffee while his eyes scanned the screen of his laptop. The civilian database was open, a pop-up window indicating that a scan for profiles had finished. [break][break]

"No results found for anyone matching the composite sketch," he said, heaving a tired sigh. "And the audience members I've already interrogated haven't seen him before, either." [break][break]

Glancing over at Paxton, Gunner asked, "Any luck on your end?"

TAGS – paxton concordas[break]
NOTES – social

[attr="class","pkmn"]

An unexpected answer. Gunner assumed most young women gossiped about everything with their friends. He filed away this oddity for later examination in case it was relevant, before moving on with his line of questioning. [break][break]

Reaching into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, he pulled out a piece of paper. Unfolding it, he placed it flat on the table between him and Yuina. It was a scan of a larger composite sketch, the features depicting the same man who gave commands during the attack. [break][break]

The leader, Gunner had assumed. [break][break]

"Have you ever seen this man before? Or perhaps any of the other terrorists?" he asked Yuina.

TAGS – Yuina Higashi[break]
NOTES – social

[attr="class","pkmn"]

The information Kyrenai provided was not news to Gunner. Though he didn't know the bodyguard well, he'd worked with her before in a similar capacity. The first time was during the winter masquerade ball in Slateport, held at the National Museum of Natural History. [break][break]

"And can you describe the exact assignment you were given for the State of the Region conference a few days ago? What were your orders?" he asked, confident that he knew this answer, too. [break][break]

Gunner watched Kyrenai closely, keeping an eye out for any unusual behavior or tells.

TAGS – Kyrenai Black[break]
NOTES – social

[attr="class","pkmn"]

The swift arrival of medical aid brought relief to Gunner. He supported jack wainwright's unconscious body as first a boy with a Togekiss (El Sunderland), then former Mossdeep Gym Leader Georgette Bluebottle tended to the Ranger. For a brief moment, Gunner's heart warmed at the thought of so many willing hands gathered together for the sake of the League. [break][break]

Then Isaac Merlo dared to show his face, and Gunner's heart hardened. It didn't matter to the agent that Suicune had chosen Isaac as its Avatar, fast-tracking him through the Amnesty Program and into AQUA. He was still a Rocket defector. [break][break]

And those same Rockets had just bombed a hospital. [break][break]

Gunner surged to his feet, leaving Jack in the capable hands of his caretakers. He stepped out of the healing pool summoned by Isaac in defiance of other's choices. But before the agent could open his mouth, a high-pitched shriek cut through the sandstorm's roar. [break][break]

The Pokémon that appeared from the darkness was one Gunner recognized from reports of strange statues and prison wardens. It slung a SLUDGE WAVE at the group from the end of its Toxic Chain, forcing them into action. [break][break]

Georgette acted first, her Glastrier summoning an AVALANCHE that split the ground in twain. So violent was the sudden shift in landscape that Gunner had to retreat from the surge of ice and snow, moving eastward with Jack in tow. [break][break]

"Guinevere!" the agent shouted, but his Typhlosion was already moving. Opening her jaws, she unleashed an INFERNO at the Munkidori. Gunner followed up with a THUNDER PUNCH aimed right for the Pokémon's head, his Sygna Suit crackling with electricity. [break][break]

TAGS – jack wainwright Georgette Bluebottle Isaac Merlo[break]
NOTES[break]
– Open to interactions![break]
– Gunner moves to LOCATION O-4. His SYGNA SUIT is active.[break]
– Typhlosion uses INFERNO on Munkidori; Gunner uses THUNDER PUNCH on Munkidori.

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Gunner stumbled as the ground shook again, a massive boulder tumbling past him as the sandstorm thickened. He dug his heels into the soil and adjusted his grip on jack wainwright's unconscious body. Nearby, his Typhlosion carried Jack's unconscious Sirfetch'd in her jaws as she picked her way through the rubble. [break][break]

"Medic!" Gunner shouted, hoping someone would hear him over the repeating, resonating cries of the colossal shadow emerging from the ground. "We need a medic!" [break][break]

Dynergy swirled around him, familiar thanks to forays in the Ultra Deep Sea and clashes with titans in the desert. Sickening in its cloying embrace. He gritted his teeth against it and hobbled on, pure adrenaline keeping the pain of his leg injury at bay. But for how long? [break][break]

"Medic!" [break][break]

TAGS – battle of petalburg[break]
NOTES[break]
– Open to interactions![break]
– Gunner is at LOCATION N-4. His SYGNA SUIT is active.[break]
– Gunner is carrying an unconscious jack wainwright and shouting for medical aid.

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Gunner took note of what his recording app could not: the clenching of Eddie's fists, the way his face contorted with furious emotion, the focused stare as if he were memorizing the features sketched onto paper. [break][break]

The rage, more than anything, exonerated Eddie in Gunner's mind. [break][break]

Unfortunately, it didn't seem that the HBIC was going to get anything more from the interrogation. Nodding, the agent took back the composite sketch. It disappeared back into the manila folder. [break][break]

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Hisakawa. That's all for today, though if anything new comes up, we'll reach out to you. Feel free, also, to reach out to us if you learn something helpful to the investigation." [break][break]

Gunner moved to stand and escort Eddie from the premises.

TAGS – Eduardo Hisakawa[break]
NOTES – social

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