seemingly, the scrutiny does little to phase him. his still face is like an icy monitor waiting for the screensaver to shift to an answer already processed.[break][break]

"there is a pointed reason why you are a scientist and not a general." the boss says. "even you, so inebriated with the drk triad, are blind to their base of operations."[break][break]

he stands as a fount of pitch black.[break][break]

"are you expecting me to throw resources, of which we have limited quantity, at a threat we have little knowledge of?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Naomi Sato[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

"if we consider recent happenings, i would not be surprised." [break][break]

in his seat, the boss remains a still, cloaked monolith of black. his cape hangs above and past his formal dress, masking the particulars of his shape. he sits before her as a vague brushstroke.[break][break]

"however, i am inclined to believe the system draws upon the fabric of our universe in some fashion too, including the enmeshed threads from the other realms." the boss says. "i question the truth of each scenario's premise. no doubt, they are not one to one representations of this history."[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Lulu Flint[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

Petalburg has been wrangled up, but the flock of wolves must still be separated: drafted into their places and thrown bloodied bones to avert their impatience. The Petalburg report is acknowledged—but an orichalcum sun erupts.[break][break]

Some come to his defense. He affords knowing glances; should Shred snarl at the top, he would certainly bite those even slightly below. He stills his tongue before lashing it from a calm masque:[break][break]

"how much of your brain matter has been replaced with orichalcum for you to believe that you could have killed her?" The Boss says. "dogs more feral than you have been put down by ticks."[break][break]

He continues.[break][break]

"some enemies have more value alive than dead." Outside, a troop of Kantonian Rockets marches alongside their Pokemon. "illeana reyes is unstable. she will not only tear space, but the league from the inside out. that much i gather from our battle." He raises a finger. "about freya morningstar. she too will be kept alive. for now. until we eke every last advantage from her and her constraintive visits with me inside the cave of origin. as long as i possess one half of the means to recreate the blue orb, she must comply to avoid mutually assured destruction."[break][break]

The discussion is opened once more. For intel. For questions.

[attr="class","ooc"] @rocketcanons[break][break]

TL;DR: acknowledges petalburg report; responds to shred; explains illeana is unstable (in his eyes) and inadvertently explains the ceasefire by saying freya must be kept alive to eke out advantages/mutually assured destruction due to blue orb and kyogre.

[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

"have we not learned about placing faith in the league's intelligence? they trip over themselves like spinda on ice." [break][break]

the boss tracks reactions beneath the silent veil of his stoicism. rocket is filled with wolves, many clamoring into perceived vacuums of power and cracks in the podium. as any boss would be conscientious of, he wonders who seeks his own seat.[break][break]

"underboss fiorelli and i had discussed the event prior to our entrance. in the thick of battle, one must be able to improvise a myriad of plans: advancement, retreat, even one's death. although she may possess powers of reviviscence, i am of the belief that she is not foolish enough to frivolously test fate once more."[break][break]

he replies to the orichalcum cretacean:[break][break]

"he will convene with us after he makes his rounds. our kantonian counterparts are of a wilder breed." [break][break]

the boss' stare cuts across the table, at each attendee. [break][break]

"speaking of kanto, be advised that on hoenn soil, we are their superiors, and i am your boss. dissidence will not be tolerated. fraternizing with the enemy will be considered treason. death will be served to the disobedient and wavering. are we clear?"[break][break]

illeana reyes's words have not been forgotten.

[attr="class","ooc"] @rocketcanons[break][break]

TL;DR: responds to "elisabeth-howard death" plan questions, references jayden's "how many times can elisabeth die" question, and replies to shred's question about monroe. lastly, he makes a call for 'loyalty' to him, to rocket.

[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

"your ideas are nothing but idealized what ifs." [break][break]

the boss' flat expression, though it is a blank canvas, adorns the lighting of his words. his dry tone betrays that he is unimpressed.[break][break]

"you speak of infiltration. so where, pray tell, are the drk triad?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Naomi Sato[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

"an emulator with a corrupted database. an unreliable narrator hiding behind a flashy exterior." [break][break]

the boss rolls dust between his gloved fingers before casting it away.[break][break]

"it is certainly worthy of study." he shakes his head. "i am not a fan of how it portrays me."[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Lulu Flint[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

"it is too early for celebratory remarks."[break][break]

the boss regards lulu curiously. her return had been a surprising kindling, a reignition of his previous jealousy. [break][break]

"have you reacclimated to your position yet?"[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Lulu Flint[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

the boss stirs little. if he didn't require breathing, one may mistake his pallid figure as haunted wax.[break][break]

"i do see the DRK triad as a threat, certainly."[break][break]

the boss leans back to squash what little gap remains between his back and his chair.[break][break]

"however, if you are so impassioned about them, then how, pray tell," he gestures to her, gloved hand open as if to receive her answer as artifact, "can kanto's rockets root out the drk triad?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Naomi Sato[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

though the rocket boss' expression alters little, perhaps it is through the small tinkering shifts of his posture that may express his ultimate approval.[break][break]

"a match?" the boss rises. his cape cascades behind him to frame him in darkness. "i would be happy to oblige one of my rocket beasts."[break][break]

he procures a pokeball from his shadowy fount and the battle begins.

[attr="class","ooc"] Tempest Quinn[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

"we have chained ourselves to each other." winds billow past his pale face and echo in haunting operettas against sootopolis' chamber. "your stalactite. my stalagmite."[break][break]

and these eternal relics shall be placed back into the cave. one for morningstar. one for walsh. the tainted orb, now poisoned perpetually by the boss' intervention, has led kyogre—and freya to rocket.[break][break]

truth be told, perhaps the league could have turned the tides with their pokemon. among them, a thunderous dragon, heroes of old, and hoenn's ancient keepers... [break][break]

but rocket has dreadful arms of their own. fearsome birds born from shadow and imagination. a flower of infinite bloom and eyes that scry and sculpt reality. a cosmic horror of pure, endless black.[break][break]

of course, a pokemon does not need to be of legends to become one. even a doublade can slay the strongest of creatures, the strongest of trainers in the tempest of war.[break][break]

it is clear that should the battle have continued, the city would have been razed entirely. how could the league risk a pyrrhic victory? how could rocket risk losing a home? all of this, swaddled in the ice-cold prophecy supposedly so dependent on the city's survival, has scabbed this outcome salty for all sides.[break][break]

before the councilwoman departs, the boss says one thing: "beware your head professor. she is as dishonest as she is monstrous. one may dare to say even worse a monster than you are."[break][break]

and soon, walsh fades into shadow. a meeting must be planned.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

"but my meddling will not cost millions of lives, will it?" walsh says, each syllable a calculated stroke of some crisp, dried brush. "you and i know what choice you must make. the choice you will make."[break][break]

the question arrives, expectant of an answer as complex as its own make. however, his response is a simple one:[break][break]

"i fight for team rocket, of course."[break][break]

he gestures again to the stalactite. it drips its poison, its endless blue foreseen by robin coello.[break][break]

"it is sootopolis too, that must remain intact." the rocket boss says. "now get on with it. fate will guide you when instinct can not."[break][break]

and when she touches the blue stalactite with her bloodied hands, the city's fate will change. he withholds words for her: an ominous warning to consecrate their departure.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]

walsh does not react to the draconic. instead, he grows weary and responds to what he comprehends.[break][break]

"then do not waste my time."[break][break]

sootopolis is in peril. the core of hoenn's rocket is drowning. there is still much work to be done. while a covert Naomi Sato aspires to save the world beyond faction lines, the rocket boss views this war far past simple "victories" and "defeats".[break][break]

what will come next is far more interesting and far more delectable, for hoenn still possesses many mysteries. both new and old.[break][break]

"i thought morales would be where you are standing now." the boss says. "but the prophecy is far more literal than i thought. 'the dragon must return to its snow white lair'."[break][break]

he stares at the aberration.[break][break]

"to return to sootopolis, it must remain in one piece." [break][break]

the kyogre roars, the winds of its ancient voice coursing through its body. he gestures at the blue stalactite.[break][break]

"i have been monitoring this artifact for a long time, but i have refused its natural purpose. i have toiled laboriously to prevent the formation of its stalagmite. only through that can a new blue orb be formed." the boss says. "with no blue orb to contain it, there is only one option."[break][break]

he points his gloved finger at her.[break][break]

"you, so burdened by rayquaza's blessing, you alone can calm the kyogre." he says. "however, controlling the kyogre is no one-time endeavor. no, this is a sustained labor. a sentence decreed by nature and forced by my long planned stratagems. to stop kyogre means to save my city and to save hoenn... but it also means, you will be rooted here among enemies. forced to return and return and return to sootopolis stone to placate the kyogre and make business with the ones you so unfairly despise."[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]
[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon darkrai"]