Voicemail/IC and OOC contact;

[islandshore]

"This is Riku. Looks like you just missed me, so leave a message, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

If you're here for Training Center business, press 0, and I'll redirect you to our info."

[Should characters press 0, they'll be presented with a list of options:

1. Purchase pass.
2. Arrange battle.
3. Arrange private training.
4. Rental services.
5. Job opportunities.
6. Pokémon roster.

If your character presses 6, the following list will appear:]








[A second list pops up labeled "All-Out Only:"]



[A third and final list pops up labeled "Special Requests:"]



[If a character clicks on a Pokémon, a menu will pop up listing their stats, moves, whether they're available for rent, and their current status. See here for details.]

PGC contact;

[However, that's not all. Riku's set up a secure line, with its own automated message.]

"You've reached the Pokemon Guardian Corps. If you're here to report an emergency, press 1. If you're here to join the cause, press 2. For all other purposes, stay on the line."

[ooc: Please head your comments appropriately with video, text, and voice and note if you're calling for Training Center Arrangements.

For OOC Training Center business, please note which service you'd like to arrange. For rentals, list the Pokémon your character is requesting, what they'll be used for, and the total cost if your char is after more than one. I'm more than happy to handwave pass purchases, since I realize that repeatedly noting purchases could get a little time consuming.

For a job, I'm cool with an IC interview or OOC coordination. Whatever works best.]

Comments

[schachmeister]

[This is slightly backdated, but somewhere around the fifth/sixth of January, every Aurora League member is going to get one of these. It's a hand-written letter with a Pelagic gym letterhead leaving no doubts as to the sender.

It reads:]


I hope this letter will not be seen as me overstepping my bounds but --

I think the Aurora League should meet.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed that strange things are happening -- first the wild rumours about pokemon losing control, then the incident at the Safari zone, and now the message that was visible in the sky during the New Year.

Perhaps I'm worrying too much, but it is starting to feel like what happened a year ago when that creature managed to find its way into this world. That didn't come out of nowhere either; there were several smaller events that preceded it though we didn't see the connection at the time. I'm not necessarily saying that this is because of that same creature (though 'He will be back' could certainly be a reference to it) but something certainly seems to be going on. And perhaps this time, if we act early enough, we can put a stop to things before it gets that bad.

I know the Pokemon League is undoubtedly monitoring this situation too, but there is no reason why we of the Aurora League couldn't look into things as well. Or at the very least share our thoughts. Several of us are gym leaders and come into contact with a lot of trainers. Someone may have heard or seen something that, on its own, isn't particularly troubling, but if put together with other, similar accounts, could indicate something brewing.

Plus, even if there is nothing to share of that sort, I think it would be good to get to know each other a bit better. Several new members have joined us since that November. Who knows, we might need to depend on each other again in battle, and wouldn't knowing more about each other and how we fight help if it ever comes to that again? It's easier to trust someone at your back if you know what kind of person they are.


I know all of us are pretty busy, but I'm hoping you could all make time to meet on the 27th of January. That is still nearly three weeks from now, which should give those of us with gym schedules and other jobs enough time to arrange for some time off. I've even found a good place to meet at, where we can both talk and even battle if people would like. I've enclosed the address on a separate card in this envelope.


I hope to see you all there, though please let me know if you cannot make it.

Yours truly,

Armin Arlert


PS. Please do not worry about the costs involved. When I asked Lance for suggestions on where to meet, he told me the Pokemon League has a discretionary fund for these kinds of things.


[As mentioned, there is a card inside the envelope with the address of a battle club in Viridian City.]

1/17 (backdated)

[fingersandteeth]

I've been putting off telling you this, but I'm not working in the Newsroom anymore, so I don't know how often I can pass on anything to the PGC after this. It wasn't because I was frightened. It was because Tyler disappeared back in December and someone had to step in for him at Fight Club and I quickly realized that I couldn't be the main person running it *and* work at the Radio Tower *and* have a life.

However, I'm still friends with that Rocket girl I told you about, though, and I even hired her at Fight Club as a bouncer, so we have regular reasons to interact. And also because I figure it might encourage the other Rockets not to interfere with the business. She's a good kid. I mean, she was out at Christmas, but evidently it was mandatory, so I don't hold it against her so much.

(She's still catching her quota rather than stealing them. Some of the other Rockets who were press-ganged like her are doing the same thing. This could possibly be considered a good sign?)

Mid-January

[vrdantwind]

Hey! A charming young lady said you're the guy to contact about things involved with trying to address Team Rocket's activities. My name's Claude von Riegan, and I'd be interested in potentially offering my services...assuming you want them, of course.

Also I may or may not be in some hot water with Team Rocket already, so let's just say I'm motivated.

[islandshore]

Hey, we're always looking for more recruits. Especially right now. After what happened over the holidays... Geez.

But what exactly's got you on their radar?

[vrdantwind]

Well, it's related to what happened over the holidays! Specifically, I may have...borrowed one of their members' uniforms to do some light reconnaissance among their ranks.

[Which is to say, Claude stole a Rocket uniform right off a grunt's back and tried to infiltrate them. This didn't meet with a whole lot of success, but it was certainly audacious.]

I may have been seen. And threatened. By several individuals.

apologies for the delay! been a bit busy with work-related things

[islandshore]

Oh dang. That's pretty gutsy.

[Impressive. Definitely a good detail to add to a metaphorical resume.]

So basically, you got on their bad side and now you've got a target on your back.

Heh. Well, as someone who's probably in the same boat, I'd have to be pretty dense to turn you down. Always good to see initiative.

np!

[vrdantwind]

I've always had a habit for coming up with wild schemes and big gambles back home. It hasn't really changed here.

That said, I don't know how on the bad side of Team Rocket as a whole I am. I snagged a couple backup pokémon they were lending out to their foot soldiers - very weak ones - and I definitely annoyed a few of their operatives personally, but I don't know if I made anywhere near enough of an impact to get the organization's attention as a whole. I can't pretend my plan was particularly effective...but hey, it was the best I could come up with on the fly.

I have to say, the biggest draw for me of whatever resistance you've put together is more information about Team Rocket itself. I've got a thousand questions.

[islandshore]

I can try to answer at least some of them. Can't say I'm the biggest authority of how they operate now, but I've seen their past schemes and I know how desperate they can get.

[vrdantwind]

Well, the biggest question I have ties into their recruitment policy, if you can call strong-arming new arrivals into their ranks recruitment. How is it that the people they're forcing to work for them haven't collapsed the whole works from the inside by now? The person who recommended me to you told me that the location of their headquarters is more or less known thanks to someone on the inside, and I can't imagine all the things people literally forced into their ranks could give away out of dissatisfaction and spite.

I've also been wondering - someone told me that people can't be killed in this world. That you just wake up after 'dying' at a Pokécenter, so murder is impossible and people only die of natural causes here. Assuming that's true...I can imagine Team Rocket would be an organization very eager to try to find some kind of loophole in that clause. Death's an effective threat and tool in the hands of the unscrupulous and criminal, after all. Depending on how depraved they are, I could see them testing to see just how far one can stretch the definition of 'natural causes'. You don't know if they've gone to such extremes, do you?

I ask because one of the Rockets I pissed off definitely made a throat-slashing motion at me before he escaped, so I'm trying to figure out if that was an empty threat, a threat from someone who doesn't know murder is off the table in these parts, or an indication of something I need to keep an eye on.

[islandshore]

I'm not sure why, either. There's no way every new Rocket recruit's on board with what they gotta do, so you'd think there'd be a more concentrated effort to gut it from the inside out.

All I can think of is their resources, numbers, and presence are the problem. You might not be able to die, but torture's probably still in the cards. Or they could bribe their members with money and benefits, too.

Guess the other option's that the immortality only applies to us? Would make for an odd imbalance, though.

text (sent in late May)

[fingersandteeth]

I wanted to make sure he was going to stick around past the weird weekend, but my newest coworker is *not* happy about being press-ganged. A second inside man might seem superfluous, but given how often people disappear, it's probably good to have him as well. I'll be in Celadon in June, so I can bring him to the training center then.

[islandshore]

Hey, I'll take what I can get. Appreciate the heads up, too.

I'll make sure we got some space to chat in private. Maybe close shop early for the day, so there aren't random civilians luring around.

[fingersandteeth]

Thanks. I appreciate it.

[Steven types out his next words and erases them and then retypes them a couple times before pressing send.]

You should probably keep on keeping my status as true inside man a secret. That open post you made about the PGC you made after Sento Kiryuu caught me made it, well, easy for people to join under false pretenses. So it's probably a good idea with the PGC itself to stick with the lie that I never worked for the company myself, just for the Radio Tower. My coworkers know that's a lie but they also assume you're still thoroughly fooled.

(You'll likely have to do the same with my new coworker too eventually, I think. Make it look like he's got you fooled, I mean.)

[islandshore]

Yeah, that's a problem I'm still trying to figure out how to rectify. Part of why I haven't made a big PGC post since. Just not sure how to do it right without attracting unwanted attention, honestly.

I'm cool with keeping up appearances, though. I know how cutthroat Team Rocket can be, and I'd hate to endanger either one of you.

[fingersandteeth]

I don't know what to do about it, honestly. Like I said at prom, there's no one left at the company who's been here longer than about two years, so if you made a separate sub-group of the PGC for people who've been here long term, you might be able to get away with some planning that shouldn't be overheard by company plants—and I suppose the investment one makes after being a longer term resident of this world is excuse enough to have that separate secret subgroup. I'm... not entirely sure how much you ought to tell them about me, if you do that, however. It might be best to establish a consistent code name for me and and for the coworker I'm going to be bringing to meet you.

I'm sorry. I know this would be easier if I just went through your list of recruits and told you straight out if they were my coworkers or not—or if they aren't, but they're people who are keeping our secrets for us— but I... well. I can't. It's too much of a betrayal of people who never asked to be in our position.

But I am sorry.

[islandshore]

I could always look into getting a second PokeGear and making a pseudonym. I'm pretty sure that's what 'Seth' did back in the day, whenever he'd make his bombing announcements. Easy way to cover up an alter ego, since our IDs are traced to our accounts.

We could probably all benefit from some kinda codenames, at least when we're on the field. Some kinda disguises, too. The more we can cover our tracks, the better, when it comes to stuff like this.

But I get it. I'm not gonna ask you to rat out your friends. I'm not really here to compromise innocent people who just got a bad hand.

[fingersandteeth]

I'm fairly sure one of my younger coworkers did that for a time and it's a good plan. Honestly, I should ask Thace what he does to mod his pokegear. I've seen him trigger programs that immediately encrypt whole conversations at one shot--I think he and Chloe used them to help plan my Christmas present.

Code names and disguises though... that does sound appealing. Of course, that's entirely because I'm a comic book nerd at heart and I want to be the mundane sidekick to a whole passel of superheroes... but it really could work. And it would give me a good excuse not to name names within the PGC, if everyone's wearing costumes and using code names. And it's not like we haven't had mysterious vigilantes pop up during, ah, company outings before. There was the Black Persian at Christmas, after all.

And while I don't know how many of us are truly innocent anymore... thank you, Riku. I do appreciate that you aren't pressing.

[islandshore]

Might not be a bad idea in the longterm, then. But anything you can get- intel wise- on how to pull this off sounds good. Never been much of a tech wiz. My skillset's pretty bogstandard there, heh.

We could get codenames. Maybe wear masks when we're on active duty. My main concern's just... identifiable Pokemon. Like me. I've got a talking Weavile and Lucario, and I'm always seen with a specific Charizard. My hair's kind of a giveaway, too.

And hey, no problem. Was never a Rocket, but I did some pretty awful stuff when I was a teen. Plus, I've been in touch with former Rockets before and inside agents. I know it gets rough and you're putting a lot on the line.

Directly continuing their network conversation

[feathersfly]

[With Riku having given his secure line, Hawks promptly contacts that instead. Why keep talking over an insecure channel when they don't have to?

He's not sure how much this confirms, but then again, he's not sure how much of his paranoia is justified and how much of it is overblown. He's just going to have to run a risk here.]

so not to ask any leading questions, but does an anti-rocket vigilante organization like yours do any collaborating with pressganged rocket members? you know. ones that might not be happy being forced to be criminals.

[It's not particularly subtle. But at some point, Hawks was always going to have to gamble on whether this Riku is worth trusting - might as well take the plunge now. And, more to the point...Hawks doesn't have the patience to wait longer.

He's not generally an impatient guy - he does what it takes to get the job done, no matter what it requires or how long it takes - but patience isn't serving any higher purpose right now. He's not serving any higher purpose right now. He's done being a two-bit criminal. He'd been able to tolerate it when he was working with the League because there'd been a point to it. His spying on them was helping people, however indirectly. It was part of his hero work, and even if it meant getting his hands dirty, knowing that other people were better off for it was enough to make it worth doing.

But being a Rocket grunt...nothing he's had to do so far has helped anyone. There's no goal, no justification, nothing at all he can feel good about. Hawks can't stomach that any longer. If he's got a chance to connect to someone who can help him put his position to good use, then he'll take it.]

apologies for the delay- a lot has been goin' on IRL

[islandshore]

Yeah, there's definitely precedent. Both in terms of current and former members.

[He's wary of saying who- doesn't wanna out someone who might not wanna be outed, but hopefully that precedent will help soothe any concerns. It's not hard to read between the lines, given the context of the message, but he won't press too hard either.

It's not his place to interrogate someone who at least seems good intentioned right now.]

np, I have been a hot mess activity-wise myself

[feathersfly]

[Hawks' reply is succinct, when it comes.]

i want to help.

[islandshore]

Cool. We're always glad to have extra hands on deck.

Guess the question is, in what capacity? The more I know, the better idea I have of what to expect going forward.

[feathersfly]

any capacity i can. i'm new still, but i can pass you any intel i get from them. and anything i give to them, too. they've got other sources of info than just me, obviously, but you can at least know what they know for sure through me.

i've worked as a double agent before. i've got some skill in this field.

[islandshore]

Hey, sounds good to me.

I've got another inside agent. Dunno if he's touched base with you or not, but if it's any consolation, you're not alone in this. Should make it easier to cover your tracks, too.

[feathersfly]

no one's out and out told me they're working with you, but i've only been talking to one guy in the team about not being comfortable being press-ganged into a criminal organization. he's the one who mentioned potentially working with you. don't know if he's the same guy or not. although then again, he probably would have told me if he was working with you, considering my own interest.

i don't want to sell him out by saying his name, obviously. most of the otherworlders i've met in the team don't seem too bad. i'm not looking to get them in trouble directly, and i don't see how my exposing them would help anyone unless it ended up with going after them.

i'd like to know who your agent is, but i can understand if you can't tell me. you've got no proof other than lip service yet that this isn't a triple cross. although frankly, i don't think anyone in team rocket smart enough to pull one off is invested enough in any organized resistance to attempt one. haven't noticed a lot of concern about it at ground level.