[FIN] Just a few questions

[Suudonym]

Oh good. He often got even himself confused trying to explain that one. Another nod, "Twin brother. He was involved with Team Rocket against his will after being kidnapped by an agent as a child." The words sparked a thought, and his mellow demeanor gained some vigor, "Would the League consider offering asylum to Rockets who want to quit? Even those that don't want to be involved anymore don't have any choice but to continue following orders. They kill traitors and deserters."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alder hadn't been expecting a question, though really, he should have. He frowned thoughtfully, but his tone was apologetic. "That, unfortunately, is something I would need to discuss with my colleagues before I could give any sort of definite answer. But," he added, his smile returning, "I'm the one that's supposed to be asking the questions here - at least for now. You've been very cooperative thus far," he noted. This was good. Very good. "Can you tell me the easiest way to confirm everything you've told me?"  

[Suudonym]

He offered another nod; that made sense enough. Alder might have been representing the League, but that certainly didn't give him the authority to make a snap decision here and now. He murmured an apology in response to the reminder of their circumstances and gave some consideration to the request that followed. "Probably through Camphoreon's hospital," he determined. "There should be mention of my brother in my medical records… as well as a record of his death. It's also public information in Grande Ile and should be quick to confirm online."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Alright," he replied in more positive tones, coupled with a smile as he moved to flatten a palm against the table while he stood up, "that makes things pretty simple. I'd appreciate it if you could wait here for a few minutes while I go check a couple things." Mostly, check on the police who would be checking this for him. With that, the man stood and moved to exit the room.

He returned after a few minutes, and rather than sit this time, he simply stood just inside the doorway instead, offering Luke a smile. "Alright, Luke, everything's checked out, and we've no more questions for you. If you'll follow me, I'll lead you back out," he offered as he held the door open and gestured to the hall, though his tones suggested that it was something he would do regardless of Luke's response.  

[Suudonym]

Really the only upside to this whole mess was the fact that there was concrete, easily accessible evidence to back up his claims. Nonetheless, it was with some impatience that he awaited Alder's return, worried for Rosie and wondering what had become of Nicolette, Henrietta, and Akira. Fortunately he didn't have long to wait, and he readily stood to follow with a mildly relieved "okay" when Unova's champion returned with the suggestion of his release.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His smile persisted as he led the younger trainer out of the interrogation room and into the main hallways, and hardly any time passed before the pair found themselves outside. Once there, Alder turned to regard the other redhead. "Luke, remember when you spoke up during the panel, and I said I'd like to speak with you? I'd like to do that now - unless you had other plans for the rest of the day?" He asked with a brow raised, though it was easy to tell that it was no longer the afternoon, but was wearing on into the early evening.  

[Suudonym]

He'd contributed to a small number of investigations before - though as a witness rather than a suspect - and expected and was ready to respond to the standard 'thanks for your cooperation, you'll be contacted if we need to know anything else,' so he was mildly caught off guard when the words to follow were nothing of the sort. He shook his head, "No plans, specifically," - seeing Rosie was a priority that was almost physically painful to lower on his list, but it seemed prudent to hear Alder out - "though I'd like to send a message to my friends first, if that's okay."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alder brightened when Luke agreed, though he quickly waved a hand to dismiss the idea that it wasn't okay. "Of course! Friends are one of the most important parts of your life - please, take your time." That said, he proceeded to wait patiently while Luke messaged his friends.

Once the redhead finished, the champ began walking down the sidewalk in a random direction. "Now, Luke, I'd like to talk to you about a few things - but first," his smile broadened as he gave the young man a sidelong glance, "to keep things fair, since I asked you questions just now, you can ask me a few, if you'd like to. You and your friend Rosie seemed like two of the most concerned trainers in the audience today, if not the most concerned. I want to help alleviate those concerns, if possible."  

[Suudonym]

The messages he sent were brief, directed to friends who had also been at the convention to give a quick overview of his status and to request the same of them. This complete, he moved to follow as the older trainer started to walk, again unsure of an immediate response to what he said. It didn't necessarily seem terribly polite to begin the conversation with such heavy topics, but that was the panel - and presumably the discussion that had been expected to follow - was about, so… "I guess my main concern," he said cautiously, "after hearing the panel, is the fact that the League has no intention of offering a gym challenge in Kodo. If Team Rocket was driven out of Kanto by the League working together with talented trainers, then it seems dangerous to neglect that kind of relationship at the current source of the problem. When my friends and I decided we wanted to become better trainers, we left for Hoenn, so it sort of leaves me to worry about just how many skilled trainers leave to better themselves and don't return due to the lack of opportunities here."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The champ didn't seem at all perturbed by the concern or its severity - in fact, this was the sort of thing he'd expected. "Hmm..." A hand raised to his chin as a thoughtful frown crossed his face, his gaze shifting downward as he pondered on the trainer's concerns. "Yes, I see what you mean; that is a problem, and probably something Team Rocket counts on." He frowned as he paused, then lowered his hand back to his side as they walked on. "I'm sure plenty of Kodo trainers travel to other regions to strengthen their team, and just never come back, and that's one less trainer defending this island. Yes, that definitely is a valid concern, though I'm afraid that's not one I can change alone," he ended with an apologetic smile.

"I will admit," he went on, looking to Luke once more, "that when we were asked to speak at the panel today, we were briefed on the latest and more controversial events here, but not everything - or at the very least, I wasn't. You, your friends - you know better than anyone what's been going on on this island the past few years, and you don't need us telling you what's happened or what to do. I'm sure by this point, you already know - strengthen the bond between you and your friends, between you and your pokemon, and strengthen your team to be able to fight and defend what's important to you. But I agree, it sounds difficult if there are few opportunities here for improvement."  

[Suudonym]

The nod he offered was in understanding; though he felt it safe to assume that someone with the title of Champion held a lot of influence and authority, it was certainly naive to think that Alder alone could mend the issue. Luke assumed it worked in much the same way as Parliament, met, discussed, and eventually agreed on a course of action.

He frowned lightly, thoughtfully, as he considered the words. "But even with a strong, dependable team and each other's support, we're limited in what we can do," he said. "I'm sure they explained what happened in Kanto - that a Rocket shot one of our friends and threatened to shoot to kill if we didn't return all our pokemon and stop resisting. The only way I could think to counter that was to learn to shoot to disable… but I'm not really interested in hurting people. I don't think any of us are, and against an opponent who wouldn't hesitate to kill, it leaves us without a way even to fight back."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Something about Luke's phrasing gave Alder paused, and he blinked a bit in mild confusion. "We?" He asked, turning to regard the redhead with some surprise. "I was told of the attack at the competition in Kanto, yes - but I wasn't aware you were one of the victims." The champion frowned deeply, his concern for this trainer and his friends growing. While he knew some details of a number of things, he didn't know all of the details of any of them, let alone for any other unreported events, of which he was sure there were many. "Would you mind telling me who was involved, and what happened exactly?"  

[Suudonym]

He didn't especially like the idea of recounting the events in Kanto, having been spared up to now from having to speak of them to any but those who already knew the details, but if the information would help to clarify Kodo's crisis, he couldn't rightfully object. "Two others at the panel besides myself were involved: Rosie and Henrietta, the younger girl who was really enthusiastic. Five others were involved as well: three registered trainers, one former trainer, and one non-trainer. Rosie's sister - Faleen, who used a Sharpedo in the conference room - was the Rocket who attacked us, apparently trying to get information about what my brother told me about Team Rocket before he died," the words dragged a bit from his voice - it just wasn't a phrase he was used to uttering. "He hadn't told me a lot, the only really important information being that Faleen and Izaya Orihara, an acquaintance of mine at the time, were Rockets and that I shouldn't trust them. Faleen was openly lying about her status as a trainer in Kanto, so I warned Rosie about it, and she decided we should confront her. Faleen refused to speak with her, though, and we all wound up searching Vermillion hoping to find her. She attacked us using a Zoroark to approach us while invisible and used some kind of electric glove to disable a handful of us. Two more were knocked out by the pokemon she set on us, others injured, and when the rest of us released pokemon to fight back, one of our friends was shot."

His hands clenched and relaxed intermittently, an unfocused gaze watching the slowly passing pavement, his words tense and distant. "Faleen asked what I knew and wasn't satisfied with what I had to say. I think I probably would have died there if Rosie hadn't gotten her sister's attention, but I guess Faleen kind of snapped and loosed this awful grudge. She knocked Rosie out, nearly shot her and killed her, but Izaya - Faleen's partner, apparently - interfered and convinced her to leave." He breathed out quietly, steadied himself, and offered a shrug and a smile that failed to be more than humorless, "And that's how a handful of trainers in Kodo lost all peace of mind."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alder listened carefully, paying close attention to Luke's full explanation. When the trainer finished, he nodded, but took a few more moments to let it all seep in before speaking once more. "We were told of a Zoroark being used to sneak up on the trainers, and were warned that if Team Rocket showed up today, they might be used again." And they were. More than one, in fact. This was all deeply troubling. "From what I've heard, when Team Rocket first appeared in Kanto and Johto, they posed a threat but were put down by the League and strong trainers in both regions. I know in Johto, the effort was headed by Lance."

He paused again, thinking about the various situations, though after a few minutes he regarded Luke and spoke in sympathetic tones, "I'm sorry about what happened to you and your friends - and I'm sorry about your brother - but thank you for explaining that to me. It sounds like it was a difficult and painful event." Painful physically as well as emotionally. He could only imagine how it must've felt to see his friends attacked so mercilessly.  

[Suudonym]

"I guess the most intelligent way to counter that would be to keep Zoroark ourselves," he said, thinking aloud more than anything. Saber and Tyke appeared in his memories, but the thought came with some hesitation; they were originally Rocket pokemon, after all. Even if they were willing to fight against their former teammates, it seemed cruel to force them to do so…

Difficult and painful and probably the most desperately terrifying experience he had ever witnessed. "We've all been working hard with our teams," he said, the words somewhat dispirited, "ever since the contest in Sandalwood that the Rockets raided - even more so since what happened in Kanto. Being strong enough to defend myself and the people around me is… well, obviously something I've yet to attain," if recent events were any indication, "but at this point I have to wonder how much being a strong trainer can solve. If they were defeated before, there's no way Team Rocket didn't learn from it - which might even have something to do with the reason they came to Kodo, where training wasn't popular until just recently. It feels like we're being overpowered at every turn. Running away is rarely an option." His posture was tense, resolute, almost frantic. "I want to stop all this fear. I want to protect this island." But he couldn't even protect someone standing right beside him.