[FIN] Reviewing the Fragments

[Gwennythe]

A little table had been 'purloined' from somewhere.
It sat in front of a grunt, in plain clothes (sandals, jeans, a plain black t-shirt) , who sat upon the floor of one of the break-rooms.
Her hair, untied, fell a little in front of her face while she looked down at the chess board that occupied the little table.
It looked to be an old board, and she'd substituted a missing white knight with a bottle cap, while an absent black pawn found itself replaced by a penny.
Tambrey was, apparently, playing chess against herself (though an empty muffin wrapper and -a lot- of crumbs on the other side of the table, suggested someone or something had been attempting the game at some point before) and black seemed to have the upper hand.
"Aha!" Tambrey smirked at the board, and her imaginary opponent, before using a bishop to take the bottle cap knight.  

[Wylde Roses]

In the time since the 'party', Kratos had found his thoughts focusing not only on his life goal, but also on what had happened at the gathering. Weidman... it wasn't a name he knew from his life before, but it was one that concerned him greatly, as the redhead was still convinced that he had been the principal mind behind those tracking cards. That whole experience weighed heavily on his mind, and not even the recent hatching of Yuan and Martel's egg into a quiet and curious eevee could get him to stop thinking about it.

And so, Miette had taken it into her paws to force him to relax again. With a few gently-applied shocks and accompanying shoves, the pikachu managed to get her point across that Kratos needed to go to the lounge and take a break for a while! She even had an assistant in Iris, the newly-hatched eevee, who headbutted her trainer with all her nonexistent strength to try and get him to move.

The persuasive twosome had made Kratos shake his head and agree, if just because they were right about him needing a break. Thus it was that he walked in the door with the pikachu on his shoulder and the eevee in his arms, just in time to see Tambrey take the bottle cap night. Miette reacted first, grabbing a lock of Kratos' hair and pointing at the black-haired grunt with a shout of "Pika! Pikapikapi!" The eevee in his arms made no sound, but blinked her big blue-green eyes curiously.

"I see, Miette," Kratos said quietly, "Now stop pulling my hair." The admonishment made the pikachu let go with an embarrassed blush, and the redhead walked over to the couch, taking a seat before speaking again.

"Hello, Tambrey."  

[Gwennythe]

If she'd missed Kratos' arrival, she was soon alerted to it by the string of excited 'Pika-speech'.
Tambrey carefully placed her piece and looked toward the door with a rueful smile.
Clearly things were still weighing on her mind too and leaving their mark on her expression; she had a smile for the entering trio, but marked with some tiredness.
If she'd slept, it might not have been much.
Still, it /was/ a smile.
"Hey Bruce," She quipped, before offering a little wave to Miette and to the Eevee. "Hey Miette and... cute thing I haven't met yet."
She looked up to him on the couch.
"How're y' today?"  

[Wylde Roses]

Kratos raised an eyebrow at Tambrey again referring to him as Bruce, but didn't correct her. He didn't really mind the nickname and it was somewhat fitting, at that. Instead, he simply ignored the comment and offered a polite nod in return.

"Iris," the redhead said, patting the eevee on the head once "She hatched last night." Iris mewled at the touch and tried to bat in Tambrey's direction, wondering who the lady was. Shushing her briefly, Kratos took in Tambrey's appearance - it seemed that she was still troubled by the events of last night, as well.

"Fine, although I find my mind is occupied with the events of last night. I assume you encountered the same difficulty as I did on the way back?"  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey smiled a little wider as Kratos informed her of when Iris had hatched.
"Nice t' meet you, Iris," She greeted the little Eevee "Welcome to the world."
After a moment of thought, she plucked a pokeball from her belt and let a flash of light into the room.
Dissipating, not into Lasi this time, but into a young looking Chikorita of unusual colouring.
"Treestar isn't all that old, as far as I know- a few months now; there you go, Tree, introduce y'self and have a bit of a play." For interested Pikachus, five more pokeballs sat upon the belt and one of them might have a familiar, 'batty' scent should she be able to tell that.
Then, there was the question and Tambrey's frown deepened.
"The cards." The dark haired grunt confirmed. "Impossibly small tracking devices. I got stopped in the desert f'r a bit."

Treestar stood, blinking, at the Eevee and the Pikachu in the room. These had to be the fluffiest, least scary, things yet.
"Cheeeka!" He greeted them; 'Hello Fuzzies!'  

[Wylde Roses]

Iris trilled happily in response to the words she'd heard, then kicked her paws a little so that Kratos would put her down to play with the pretty stranger. He complied willingly and set her down,watching with a careful eye as she waddled to the grass pokémon's side on shaky paws. "Eee eeeveeeee!" 'Leafy friend!'

Miette, on the other hand, offered a brief hello to Treestar but was much more interested in the other pokéballs Tambrey had with her - primarily one that smelled very familiar. "Pi? Pika chu?" She asked, hopping down from Kratos' shoulder and running to Tambrey's side, poking hopefully at the pokéballs on her belt. "Chu pika, chu?"

Kratos nodded, folding her and and leaning back against the couch with a thoughtful frown. "Hn," he responded, already half lost in thought. "I was, as well. Passing out those cards was clearly the mean reason for the gathering." Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at Tambrey, wondering what she thought about all of this.  

[Gwennythe]

"Hm?" Tambrey glanced down at the chattery Pikachu, fussing with the pokeballs on her belt. "Oh. Heh." She smirked and, as Miette poked it, pressed the button on Lasi's ball to bring the pink bat out.
Who immediately locked eyes, happily, on Miette and let out a contented sigh.
"There y' go." She left them to it, knowing the bat was unlikely to be left to just gaze at the Pikachu adoringly by his object of affection.
"I think you're right. Well, I'd guess that'd have t' have been the objective but... 't was a risk, surely? And, I mean, what if so many people'd taken a card that... a huge number jus' went back t' a hotel or... somethin'? There must be quite some tech' involved for them t' track every card, right? I s'pos they've always had the 'dexes, but, well, 'part from that, I guess I've never thought 'League' and 'advanced technology' to be quite so paired up b'fore..." She frowned at the chess board and was quiet for a moment. "D'you play?"

"Cheeka-reeta chee!" Treestar didn't seem insulted or concerned by the Pikachu being more interested in his 'big brother's' pokeball. The fuzziest one had given him a name to put right and seemed perfectly playful to him. No, no, he was 'Treestar', but he supposed that he /was/ a 'leafy friend'!.  

[Wylde Roses]

Miette squealed in delight and jumped at Lasi, kissing his cheek with a happy "Chuuu~". She had missed him so much and she wanted to spend time with him and talk with him and play and visit and how was he had he been okay did he get to go the the party last night because she didn't and that wasn't fair, it wasn't fair at all!

Kratos frowned thoughtfully. "It would be a great financial risk... that kind of technology is expensive," he said, and nodded. "I used to, but that was some time ago." The redhead looked over the bored, narrowing his eyes as he took in the replacement pieces.

Iris giggled and sniffed curiously at the older pokémon. Leafy friend was so nice - and and his name was Treestar? "Ee! Eeveee veeeee vee!" Treestar was nice - Iris was a nice too yes? Could they be friends?  

[Gwennythe]

Lasi blinked, blinked again, sighed happily once more at the kiss to his cheek, then realised he was supposed to be listening as well as enjoying being in Miette's presence.
"Guh buh, guh!" He had missed her too and was pleased and happy to be out spending time together, but no, he hadn't been allowed to go to the party- apparently something about the last party he'd been at had disqualified him from this one, according to Tambrey. It was annoying, but knowing he hadn't missed Miette there made him feel a bit better about it; how enjoyable could a party really have been without her there, after all?

Treestar opened his mouth in a happy little smile as he was sniffed and pretended to sniff the fluffy pokemon right back, twitching his leaf.
"Chee cheeka!" He thought that Iris was a very nice name and was pretty sure it was plant! Which just made it even better.
Yes, they could definitely be friends; he liked having friends. Yes, he was 'Treestar' and that, he pointed a little leg toward the Golbat, was his 'big brother' Lasi, but usually Lasi was a lot noisier and flying around or eating; he'd never seen him act like he was, now, with the pink Pikachu before.

Tambrey considered the white pieces' options and then used a pawn to take another.
"We can reset the pieces if y' wanted to pick it up. Found this in a cupboard; 's missing a couple of bits and I was a little wary m' previous partner was about t' try and eat more 'f them." She indicated the bottle cap and the penny; "I found some stand-ins."
She considered what he said after she'd made white's move.
"'S true, but 's the League, right? Probably got finances 'nuff, more than us, and donations too, no? And the scale- well, if not machine made, maybe they put the things together with psychic pokemon or such; that would cut costs, right?"  

[Wylde Roses]

Miette giggled, happy to get to spend time with her handsome batty friend, but then scowled at the thought that he hadn't got to go to the party either! "Pi! Pika pi pika pika chu pika!" It wasn't fair that he didn't get to go and that she didn't get to go when he was so wonderful and parties were wonderful and they both deserved to have a good time at one!

Iris gasped - she didn't know her name was a plant, she thought it was just her! "Eeee, eevee!" She had a big brother too, his name was Zero and he was a floaty thingie. She had a mama and papa too, mama was like her but all leafy and papa was a big big birdie! Did Treestar have a mama and papa? She tried to jump around in excitement but ended up falling over because of her shaky little paws.

"Hn," Kratos said, regarding the board thoughtfully. "Perhaps, but do you want to finish your current game first?" He asked, switching his gaze to the four pokémon in turn, then back to the board and Tambrey. "It's possible. But I don't believe that it's a risk they would be willing to take unless they already had a solid plan behind it."  

[Gwennythe]

"I'm playing myself," Tambrey shrugged "So I know how this ends; in a moment I'll move the white queen to take the black, uh, castly thing- rook!- because that me won't have noticed th' knight in position there t' take her. That rook'll move up and hem the King in, then with the black queen and that rook, I'll have the game. Or more or less somethin' like that." She made the next move just as she described, thinking on the League and not all that engrossed in it.
"Well, tracking devices- so they could monitor where each card was- so whatever th' plan was would've involved lookin' at the location of the card at... some point. Maybe continuously- that sounds like a boring job."

Lasi nodded emphatically at Miette's ranting on the matter; she was completely right- he'd been /helpful/ at the last party he'd been to; he'd even helped to clear up a mess and tried to bring a young couple together. Apparently, though, his trainer thought that behaviour to be unsuited to parties.
He didn't understand, at all, though, why Miette wouldn't be allowed to go; in his opinion she was pretty much the -perfect- party guest and he was adore to attend an even with her one day.
"Guh buh, buh." Also, parties had wonderful cakes and food that he longed to share.

"Cheeka chee?" A big floaty thing? That sounded really neat to have as a brother! Yes, he was almost sure that 'Iris' was a plant; it was something he remembered having read to him from a book his trainer had dug out when he'd arrived.
He listened to her describe her mama and papa and smiled at the cute little fall, but still tried to check her over to make sure she hadn't hurt herself.
"Cheee..." He replied with a slightly sadder tone on the question of his mama and papa; he had, apparently, come out of an egg at a breeders, but he did not remember that. He remembered seeing older evolutions of himself- and he'd thought one of them was his mama- but they'd never gotten in speaking range before he'd been purchased and placed within a pokeball. It had seemed like a long, lonely time in there before he'd found himself called out of the ball, now in possession of (he pointed at the dark-haired grunt with a stubby claw as he introduced her) Tambrey. Here was nice though and his trainer seemed nice, if weird like most humans tended to be.  

[Wylde Roses]

Kratos nodded, watching Tambrey play for a moment without verbal comment. He could see a few other possible moves for the black 'player', but given that Tambrey was only playing herself, the game would more than likely go exactly as she planned. "It's likely that they're attempting to locate headquarters," he said honestly. "If they're confident enough to send out tracking devices, then they are willing to take on the base itself." Which was a troubling thought, if he was right... did they have enough of a force to hold of the league long enough to evacuate if necessary? If something like that happened, they would probably lose men...

Miette nodded and sighed dramatically - it just wasn't fair. Parties were such wonderful things, and she used to get to go to them all the time - why shouldn't she get to go to them any more? And Lasi was a perfect gentleman, he deserved to get to go too! "Pika! Chu pika chu ka pi pi pika!" Maybethey should just throw their own party - a party for pokémon only, no fuddy-duddy humans allowed!

"Eee, eevee!" Iris chirped, pleased that her name was a plant. It made her feel like mama! Oh, but - but leafy friend was sad now. He didn't know his mama and papa? That was terrible, and Iris decided to try and cheer him up. Getting to her wobbly paws again, she trotted closer and nuzzled Treestar, telling him that it was okay because he had a great big brother and a nice trainer and he could borrow her mama and papa if he needed to!  

[Gwennythe]

Treestar smiled at the little Eevee; she was comforting and understanding, already, despite being so young. So, 'borrowing' a mama and papa wasn't exactly a solution, really, but it was a very thoughtful thing to say and she was right; he did have a nice trainer and a big brother and, he told her, some 'sisters' too.
"Ree, cheeka!" Plus he had nice friends, like Iris, who he was pleased to hear liked the fact her name was a plant- plant names were good!

Even her dramatic sighs were adorable! Lasi remained looking rather lovestruck, even as he kept agreeing and getting more excited by Miette's ideas.
"Guh buh!" A party for /pokemon/! That was a /brilliant idea/; there were so many places they could use and he knew that the tv could play music sometimes- or they could borrow some music player somehow! Surely some pokemon would know how to use the devices, too! He suspected he knew except that his wings made putting the knowledge into practice a little difficult.

The next move followed the predictions she'd made about the game; the white queen fell to a knight.
"Wouldn't that depend on all the cards given out? I mean; how'd they locate the base if they had t' many cards t' sort through? /That/ seems kind o' risky then, t' me. If it's based on numbers, what if a lot a trainers went th' same way? I mean, 's one city and travellin' trainers would likely gravitate t' just one or two accommodations, right?"  

[Wylde Roses]

Iris gasped and wagged her tail, excited with the idea of a sister. "Vee! Eeevee eee vee vee eee!" What was a sister? Was a sister like Aunt Miette? If so, they must be really nice and wonderful and she would like very much to have one someday - maybe she could borrow one of Treestar's for a little while? That would be nice if so, she'd love to try out having a sister-thing!

Miette nodded and waved her paws around, pleased with her new diabolical plan. "Pika! Pi pika chu pika!" They could have a really fun party with snacks and music and dancing and contest moves and games! Nobody would be left out except for stinky, no-fun humans who didn't need to go to an amazing pokémon party anyway!

"True," Kratos acknowledged thoughtfully. "But the cards would be able to identify the locations of endangered trainers, as well as those few of us who didn't stay near the city." Pausing for a moment, he thought deeply and ocntinued to watch Tambrey's chess game. "They might not need to watch those that clustered at hotel locations. Still, it would be a risk."

Something wasn't sitting right with this whole situation, and Kratos couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.  

[Gwennythe]

Treestar tilted his head as he looked around to regard the pink Pikachu talking to his 'brother'.
So this would probably be 'Aunt Miette'.
He watched her for a moment.
"Cheeka chee..." His sisters were /kind of/ like 'Aunt Miette', but none of them were that bouncy and one of them could be down right /mean/... In fact she pretty much always was; mean and/or scary.
She probably would not want to 'borrow' Neph.
The other sisters, though, like Pygi and Ella and- well Palu was more of an 'Aunt' kind of, he guessed... Anyway, they were nice and he was sure they'd enjoy being borrowed by Iris!
Ella was kinda funny, but she was super-nice and Pygi was lots of fun!

Lasi was more than ready to volunteer to get the snack situation sorted! He had several plans and some acquaintances, he suspected, who might want to come to the party too and could definitely help in snack getting!
Would Miette do the music and the games? She seemed to have such a good idea of those things, though he kind of wanted her to help with the snacks too as he also wanted to help plan games with her... Wow, parties were a lot to think about; his brain was going to need refuelling soon...
"Guh, buh!"

Tambrey moved a rook for the white pieces while she listened, then moved the black queen to undo white's hard work and forming a 'check'.
"Check." She chirped brightly then fell back into her thoughtful frown.
"So. We have cards. Given out by the league. They have phone numbers on them; we're assuming those are real numbers? They also have tracking devices in them. Imposs-" She paused and narrowed her eyes before continuing "Impossibly small tracking devices."
It looked like there would have been more if she hadn't stumbled on whatever thought had suddenly crossed her mind.