annoying bastard.

maki glares at the stranger as he calls for help, feigning innocence in a way not unlike what she might have done. shoving all the gardevoir she caught into her bag, she prepares to make her exit, pulling her froslass from the front lines. she hustles over to jayden, keeping her eyes in the meantime on luke to ensure they're not being followed.

as the shadows cover them, maki continues to glare at luke. they succeeded in their mission despite interference, but that doesn't mean she's not annoyed.

[ jayden cross luke hyacinth ]

[ good to wrap up thread! ]

weak-hearted, petty, and easily manipulated, maki reflects as she stares down at the woman. it's no surprise to her that a traitor would have so many negative qualities. watching zev's rotom return with the information it found, maki considers how to dispose of helena. if she brought out her houndoom, she'd be able to burn her away, leaving remains that are near-impossible to identify. but burning a live victim takes time, and her screams might draw attention.

instead, maki looks at her froslass and gestures toward helena. the froslass floats over, takes a breath, and releases a blast of extremely cold air. the attack hits helena, and freezes her within seconds, making it impossible for her to move or scream in the final moments of her life. it's a quick but painful end.

but maki believes she held up her end of the bargain. she showed mercy by not tormenting the woman any longer. she never promised she would let her live, after all.

[Zev Harcourt ]

maki's posture loosens. she's expected to start them off, is she? changing from a defensive stance to an offensive stance, she analyzes her opponent, trying to determine if there's any weak points she can exploit. as it's jayden, she doesn't notice anything glaring, which means she'll have to get a little creative with it. charging forth blindly won't work, as that momentum could be used against her.

instead, she circles him on the mat, her expression kept carefully neutral. once she gets closer, she strikes; quick as a whip, she lashes out with what seems to be a strike to the gut. at the last moment, though, she pulls away and instead attempts to sweep his feet out from under him.

it seems her prediction was correct. they don't waste time on formalities; instead, maki drops into a crouch, a practiced stance that leaves no obvious openings. she'd been prepared for this, having expected as much given where they were meeting. a couple of the other grunts around them stop what they're doing to observe, their curiosity getting the better of them, but maki still pays them no attention. as long as they stay out of the way, the wooden audience is welcome to watch.

"always," comes maki's reply. she's spent most of her young life prepared for combat at any given moment. her training had been merciless, as she expects jayden's was as well. those outside rocket could never understand the ties that bind them together. the world outside is callous and cruel, and no one understands that better than those who've known that since they were children.

maki waits for jayden to make a move. whether he begins the fight, or whether he backs off... either way, she's prepared.

the woman is nearly incoherent in her desperation. maki doesn't hold any sympathy, but she allows pity to seep through to the surface, since the two can often be mistaken for each other. still crouched, she looks the woman over. it's time for a little manipulation.

"...that's a shame," maki says softly. "because it was some of your cohorts who betrayed you... you didn't honestly believe you have a bond, right?" she bluffs carefully, hoping that by pitting the woman against the others, she'll be more willing to give up pertinent information. "you'll risk yourself for them, but they wouldn't do the same for you..."

maki's froslass returns to her side, drifting on the wind. it waits for its next orders, just as cruel as its trainer.

[Zev Harcourt ]

the frost breath isn't enough to down the chatot in one go. as it raises its voice, maki's froslass squeezes tighter, releasing another frost breath to try and finish the job. another pokemon enters the fray-- an elekid this time, something that could be easily dealt with if only maki had ground type moves at her disposal. jayden's flash cannon tears through the gardevoir, and heads on a collision course toward the elekid.

and in the midst of all the chaos, maki notices the man reaching for his phone. she's too far away to do anything about it, though for a split second she contemplates the chances of rushing him to knock the device out of his hand. ultimately, she decides it's not worth the risk, so instead she calls a warning. "JAYDEN!" she yells, pointing briefly at the man to indicate something is wrong.

with more gardevoir downed, and while she's unable to do much else without risk, maki starts throwing more pokeballs. if they can just get out of this safely, they'll have what they came for.

[ jayden cross luke hyacinth ]

it was almost too simple. her prey gave her no challenge, and was begging for her life within seconds of maki's arrival. maki looks down impassively, thinking it would be better to rid the world of scum like this as soon as possible. but she doesn't let that thought show on her face; instead she kneels down, and her eyes crinkle as if she's smiling under her mask.

"of course, if you give me the names and locations of your cohorts, i will show you mercy," maki says to the defenseless woman. her tone is deceptively pleasant, as if she really is going to take pity on her.

but then maki angles her head slightly and catches zev's eye, still smiling. though very little about the expression has changed, he'll still likely sense the intent behind the gesture. 'mercy' does not mean maki will let her quarry live. 'mercy' simply means she won't have to waste her time on torturing the other woman.

[Zev Harcourt ]

formulating a plan, maki asks her froslass to use snowscape as it flies over the roof of the warehouse. it does so, and snow starts to accumulate on the ground on the other side of the building.

the warehouse itself is dark and foreboding. if she sets foot in there without being careful, she'll easily land upon a creaky floorboard or stumble over some debris, giving away her position. she nods to zev once she's ready to go in, and she takes her time as she goes, picking her way through carefully with just the light from her phone's dim flashlight. if she had to guess where the traitor would be hiding, it'd probably be in one of the large cargo bins that had been left behind...

she gets closer. and then, with little warning, there's an explosion of activity as the target rushes out. all maki can see is a dark shape hurrying towards the other end, where the pokemon lie in wait.

the figure reaches the exit, and skids on the accumulation of fresh snow there. maki keeps a steady pace as she approaches, and the escapee slips, tumbling to the ground, unable to save herself. by then, maki is there, looking down upon the woman.

"please don't resist. that will make this easier for both of us."

[Zev Harcourt ]

though maki doesn't live in the dormitory, she can often be found at the training facilities on the submarine. she takes her exercises very seriously, and would rather do them here than somewhere more public where she might be discovered. the submarine itself, and the people living there, take on more of a plastic quality to her. they're more like figurines than people, under the thumb of a higher power that dares them to step out of line. if they cut the strings, they'll fall limp and placid; useless, in maki's eyes. she socializes only as much as can be expected of her. no more, and no less.

there are people here who know her better, though. on this particular evening she's meeting jayden here to discuss something. what it is, she hasn't been informed yet. in order to pass time, she's been busy doing some stretching exercises to keep herself limber. there's some other grunts here working in a similar manner, but she hasn't so much as given them the time of day, focusing instead on herself. that being said... she hasn't yet broken a sweat.

when the door opens, and a familiar face walks in, maki immediately snaps to attention. "good evening, jayden."

taking with maki and jayden cross !

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

7X level tutor (40 PD)
acrobatics & flame charge --> talonflame
flamethrower, psychic, will-o-wisp --> braixen
psycho cut & night slash --> malamar

TOTAL

do come again!

280 PD

maki is no stranger to culling the weak. she's known since she was a child that if she showed any vulnerability, she would be cast aside. only those who can be of use to her family have value; judgment of her worthiness has always been the name of the game, as the only one of her siblings with any promise for this type of work. her brother may be the public-facing heir to the throne, but he's not the one with the most expectations foisted upon him.

tonight, she's come disguised. with a wig and a mask covering her face, no one but zev should be able to tell who she is. maki has to keep her public persona and her 'true self' separate, after all.

she has her froslass out, the ghost type lurking alongside zev's gengar. she's right on time, though she still gives zev a small, apologetic bow. "i intended to be here earlier," she explains, "but i decided it was best to avoid public roads." too many people might take note of her with the mask on, and with the mask off she might inevitably be recognized.

maki pulls out her phone, humming over a map she'd acquired of the shipyard. "it seems likely she's chosen a block right in the middle," she says. "we'll have to surround it so there's no avenues of escape. after that, it should be easy." they may even be able to get her to give up the location of other defectors, if they play their cards right.

[Zev Harcourt ]
[OUTFIT REF]

as part of team rocket, it'll be maki's job to quell such threats when they arise. there's nothing to rule over if the region gets decimated, after all.

she's never seen something like this, though. she rode into battle on her aurorus earlier, commanding it to use mist, but the dragon's blizzard blew away any hope she had of cloaking herself. that means she's going to have to tread cautiously, as aurorus is a large target. one wrong move, and both her pokemon and maki could die, though the kyurem doesn't seem as interested in assault as she would have thought.

there's little she can do to stop the blizzard, but she can provide cover. "stone edge," she commands, much like Elinor Anderson and her steelix. the move creates a wall that blocks off the harsh winds and snow, and maki ducks behind it for shelter and to regroup. as much as she hates to say it, she's out of her depth here. she doesn't always work well without being given orders, so she needs time to think and to plan.

this may very well be a war of attrition, either way.
Oeo7Fb0E

maki is riding her aurorus.
aurorus also uses stone edge to create another shelter from the winds.