[PRP] Breakfast of Champions

[Tori Honoo]

She blinked at his suggestion, looking a little surprised, though she acquiesced after a short moment of hesitation and slid into the booth with a grateful smile and a soft 'thank you'. Lovey continued to bask in the man's pettings.

She watched the master trainer carefully, almost regretting her question as he seemed to choose his words carefully. "That's...good." She rubbed her arm, shrinking a little. "I knew some of the people there, but they seemed to have gotten out alright...It's terrible that it happened...but I'm glad it wasn't any worse."

His polite relief over her lack of involvement was accepted with a nod and a smaller smile, before she took another deep breath and asked, "I know I might be out of place to ask... But do you know if they'll release the names of the Rockets involved any time soon?" It would be clear in the girl's tone and demeanor that she might have been familiar with a few of them, should he choose to ask about it. Her grip on her sleeved arm tightened a little.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

While his brows raised at her admission she had friends in attendance, really he shouldn't have been surprised. He was sure, actually, that almost every trainer there had at least a few they went with. "Yes, it could have been much worse - much worse," he repeated in serious tones. But then he brightened. "It wasn't, though, and for that we should be grateful."

Her question of the involved Rockets received a thoughtful frown and a brief shake of his head, "No, I don't know that. I imagine they'll release them relatively soon, but don't quote me on that," he ended with a small, wry smile. "I just know they will at some point. They always like to show the names and faces of criminals they've arrested."  

[Tori Honoo]

She nodded, offering a smile of her own. "Right."

His answer to her question wasn't exact, but it was accepted readily. It worried her, but she also had high hopes that the two that she had been directly involved with as of late had been two of the ones taken. "Yes... the media does like to have fun with that kind of thing..." she responded, knowing very well that 'fun' might not have been the best choice of words. Her expression, however, remained troubled.

Her brow furrowed, as she continued tentatively, scared that her questions might be too much and too forward. "You didn't happen to see any of them first hand, did you?" she asked, reaching for her tea to play with her straw, before she realized what she was getting at and shook her head. "I'm sorry, you just said they'd release information sometime soon. That's not exactly a fun scene to relive, I'm sure." She offered an apologetic smile, and changed her question. "Was anything said before the attack happened? In the panel, I mean. I was curious about what the League had to say on a few things, but I had prior commitments..."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He nodded at her first comment, though her first question made him smile. "I did see them," he affirmed, then shook his head with a soft frown. "No, it's really not at all." It still deeply bothered him that one of his pokemon had injured one of the Rockets. Even if they had ill intentions, he didn't want to physically harm any of them. It troubled him that he had.

"A lot was said before the attack happened," he replied, an amused look in his eye as he smiled at her again. "We had nearly finished the panel entirely and were in the middle of answering questions when everything happened." He paused briefly. "What things were you curious about?"  

[Tori Honoo]

She nodded in understanding. She wouldn't want to relive it at all either, and wouldn't blame him at all for it. Curiosity, though, pressed her forward. "Do they know if those specific rockets were related to the two in Kanto?" she asked, avoiding direct eye contact. A terrible side of her hoped that Faleen and Izaya had been there, and had been two of the ones captured. Especially Faleen, though it worried her to think that Rosie would have been there to witness it...

His amused look was slightly reassuring, however, and she tried for another smile, though her heart beat a little more rapidly as she considered what to say next. She had already asked about Kanto, though not specifically, she guessed. She could always ask later. For now, she moved to another topic. "Oh, um... Was anything said about the legendary pokemon that have gone missing...? Or...appearances of more of them than there are supposed to be?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alder frowned a bit, then shook his head, "I don't know that myself, but I'm pretty sure the police must. I'm not exactly related to everything except for the fact I was a panelist," he explained with an apologetic smile. "I was invited here as a guest, so I don't really know what the police have found out since the convention."

Her next question made him rather curious, though he remembered the questions asked of them at the panel - by Rosie, no less. "Most of the legendaries that went missing for a while have since been spotted again. One person did ask about legendaries with unique coloring, though, being sold around the island."

The waitress finally appeared with a brief apology before handing Alder his meal, for which he thanked her, and she smiled down at Dove. "Would you like to order anything ma'am?"  

[Tori Honoo]

A sincere look of apology crossed her face as he explained how very little he was actually involved in the entire catastrophe. She had thought the League, the strongest opposing force against Team Rocket, would expect it's elites to head off their efforts. She now realized how idealized the thought was: Good guys versus bad guys. Of course it couldn't be so easy. "Sorry...I'm just impatient to see those two brought to justice specifically..." She rubbed her arm again. "Just a personal hope, as terrible as it sounds to want someone convicted..."

Ah, so someone had asked already...maybe she wasn't the only one who had come in such close contact with the rare Pokemon. It was good that the originals had been returned, and she smiled weakly as she was glad for it, but the smile was quickly washed away by a flood of shame and embarrassment as he said he had been asked specifically about their colorations, and more alarmingly, their availability for purchasing.

Wen the waitress arrived, she stalled her speaking, and only asked for a bowl of sliced pecha berries and a bagel with cream cheese after a moment of debate. When she disappeared again, Dove spoke up, addressing Alder once more. "My friend Rosie has been pressing me to go to the league for a while," she explained, quietly, as though she knew she was to be scolded. "I might know something about the new legendaries...and I'm not sure what to do about it..." Panic bubbled in her stomach as she finally sought help. This could be bad. This could be so bad. Or it could be good. But it could be so so bad...  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Patience," he reminded her with a kind smile. "You must have patience. It isn't all that terrible, though, as I'm sure you have your reasons." Not that he knew what those reasons were, but he was sure they were valid.

When his food arrived, he eagerly began to eat it as the girl ordered, and also while she spoke. Once she finished, he leaned back in his booth a bit, chewing his food thoughtfully before swallowing it and speaking again, "One of the people attending the convention was a blonde girl with blue eyes named Rosie. If that's the same one you're speaking of, then she was the one who brought it up during the information panel." He paused though, a soft frown on his face as he didn't understand the meaning of her sudden meekness. Did she know something, and was afraid to speak of it? 'New' legendaries? "What might you know?"  

[Tori Honoo]

"Does getting mauled by one of their absols count?" she asked sarcastically, before catching herself, and looking to the table again. "Not that that was any worse than watching my friends almost get killed, too," she continued, deciding that she had already started and might as well finish it. She hadn't really had the chance to talk about it, with anyone at all that she felt would actually listen... It might as well be a league member, though she thought she had handled herself rather well, after the initial shock.

She looked up at him again, her eyes clear as she nodded. "That was probably her," she sighed, now a little more worried. If Rosie had brought it up already, there was no telling what had been said, or what conclusion had been made. His question made her pause again, and she looked away, then reached to her hip, and drew the masterball from its place on her belt, showing him just above the edge of the table, so as to not draw attention to herself from anyone else in the restaurant. "I... have one."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He looked over at her with raised brows as her quick and sarcastic response caught him off-guard, then mentally backtracked to figure out what he'd said to elicit such a different reaction than how she'd spoken thus far. Perhaps it was just a sore subject - figuratively and literally, it sounded like. But, that sounded at least a little familiar... His expression morphed into a thoughtful frown as he asked, "Were you one of the ones attacked at the competition in Kanto?" She knew Rosie, it seemed, so she very well could be one of the friends that went as well.

The masterball caused his eyebrows to raise once again, and his purple eyes flicked from her face to the sphere. His expression turned thoughtful again, remaining that way for a few long moments before his gaze returned to her face with a simple, "I see." He didn't think he'd ever come across any of the trainers who happened to see one, let alone own one, and such a situation immediately piqued his interest. "Where did you get it?"  

[Tori Honoo]

The burst of sarcasm had already made her take a step back, as she hadn't wanted to seem disrespectful, and the surprised look he gave only added to it, if only a little. It was a sore subject, but also one she hadn't really had the chance to talk about, and had left her with more scars than just the physical ones. She nodded as he posed his question, and looked up from the table with an apologetic look. "Yes..."

The masterball still in her hand, she moved it to the table just in front of her, but kept her hand over it, as if afraid someone--or Alder himself,even-- might try to take it from her. His response was mostly expected, and she nodded again, without prompt, before she looked away again, her countenance much more withdrawn as she admitted, with shame, as though she new she would soon be scolded, "I bought it..."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Her short response to his question was met with a nod and a serious expression, which taken out of context might've looked a little comical over his scrambled eggs and bacon. "I'm very sorry you were involved in such a situation; it was regrettable what occurred there."

While his gaze followed the ball as it was placed atop the table, his was more a curious expression, and while he did reach to take something, it most certainly wasn't the ball in her hand - it was, instead, his fork. He did come there to eat breakfast, after all, and had every intention of finishing it before it cooled. Before he took anymore bites, however, he merely cut a few smaller pieces away to make them more manageable as he nodded, then asked, "Where did you buy it? I assume it was somewhere here in Kodo," he added, since this was the only region he'd heard of such reports of legendaries up for sale.  

[Tori Honoo]

Unsure he would want her to elaborate, she only nodded, her gaze still apologetic, as he apologized. Regrettable... yeah. If he wanted to question her, she would be willing to answer, but as badly as she wished she could talk about it with someone, she didn't want to bother him any more than she already was... Though it did irk her somewhat that this was the first anyone from the league had said anything about it. And she had been the one to prompt it.

The question, which she had known was inevitable, was met with a soft sigh. "From a man, just outside of downtown... I was curious to see what was inside of it, since most people don't carry masterballs, and he released it behind a building. I was really skeptical at first, but when it came to me immediately, I just... I didn't want to leave it there with him. It's young, and fascinated by almost everything, but it just..." Her words fell apart as she pictured the tiny mew hovering around her in her home, it's excited little voice singing through the rooms as it zipped around and played. "It's like a child, like family, and I won't let anything happen to it." Even if it meant defying what was meant to be, the league, and all of her friends.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As she explained where she'd acquired the masterball and its occupant, he listened closely, trying to memorize the important details - though really, he had no idea where 'outside of downtown' was. Not that he'd even been in Camphoreon, or Kodo in general, very long to know much of its geography. For a few moments after she finished, he remained silent, thinking over the information. When he finally spoke, it was in serious but gentle tones, "If you ever encounter such a situation again, I implore you to act natural, to not buy anything, and to leave and immediately report it with as much detail as you can - especially the location and the people involved." That said, he watched her curiously for a moment or two as he tried to figure out what the creature was without asking. 'Like a child' and given at least her Eevee, he assumed it was something small. Like a child... Hm. Since he didn't get too far, he voiced the question at last, "What legendary is it?"  

[Tori Honoo]

His response was not at all what she had expected, and for a moment, it showed in her face. Again, the feeling of guilt twisted in her belly, and she looked away to the ball under her palm. "Of course, sir." She couldn't have just left it there, though, after seeing it, and that thought alone brought about an entirely new wave of doubts and conflicting goals. She should have done that the first time... but then where would Trill be now? The idea of it disappearing with that man sent slivers of ice down her spine, and she shuddered a little, involuntarily.

When asked about which legendary she held, she returned her gaze to him, a small fear still glinting behind her eyes. "Mew." A happy one. A young pokemon that trusted and loved her. They wouldn't take it away... they couldn't.

And if they tried, she'd give them all hell.