[FIN] Just a few questions

[BlackFireKitsune]

Luke sounded more than a little discouraged - which was completely understandable given the circumstances and dangerous situations on the island over the past few years - but Alder frowned lightly all the same. "Having a strong team can solve a lot of problems, but that isn't the only solution. You need to work together with the other trainers - you can't protect this whole island single-handedly, no matter how much you want to," he reminded the redhead, giving him a stern look. It almost sounded, from his words, as if he did want to take everything on by himself.

"You mentioned before your concerns about trainers leaving the island to go elsewhere to train and get stronger; I gather that isn't something you'd like to do again, and instead would prefer to strengthen your team and yourself as a trainer on Kodo," he commented, switching tracks to something more constructive. "It just sounds like, at the moment, there are no such opportunities to better yourselves here like there are in other regions. Correct?"  

[Suudonym]

"No," he agreed, "I'm not so delusional to think I'm capable of anything like that." He obviously failed to understand just how frequently he endeavored to take things on alone, overlooking his solitary tendencies due to the fact that they didn't originate from arrogance or antisocial intentions.

A nod, "Yes. Short visits to other regions like the one to Kanto for the competition are one thing, but the only long term solution Kodo offers now is to battle within our teams and amongst each other, which is a bit limiting." Especially if the stronger trainers were searching elsewhere in the world for bigger challenges.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Since Alder knew almost nothing of Luke's behavior while trying to protect his friends, he nodded in response, "That's good. And I see what you mean - that does sound rather limited. Hmm..." A thoughtful frown crossed his face yet again, and he remained silent a few moments. "I'll have to discuss the options with my colleagues about what we can do to help bring more opportunities to Kodo, but for now, try not to worry too much. What happened today was unfortunate, and it grieves me that some people were injured, but at the very least, several of the Rockets present were arrested. Take heart in that."  

[Suudonym]

Luke did appear to take some heart in that, being quite poor at hiding his moods when he wasn't making a conscious effort, and he gave another nod in reply, "Yeah. And thank you for the consideration. I appreciate it; I'm sure there are a lot of trainers in Kodo that do." The boy at the convention who sulked to hear that gyms wouldn't be established in the region came to mind, for example. Even if it wasn't a gym, any sort of League-ordained challenge was sure to garner some attention.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The man brightened a bit as Luke did, glad to know that he appeared to be in at least a marginally better mood than before. "You're welcome, and I trust you're right. Thank you for coming to the convention today," he added, and realized that it sounded like the perfect point to end the conversation - but he had other things to discuss.

"Hmm... I'd like to ask you some other questions before I go, though. Those black pokeballs," he began, looking at Luke curiously, "what is their significance? We've had no reports of any special black pokeballs thus far - or at least, none I've heard of - so I don't understand what Rosie's question was about. I know in the past there were custom-colored pokeballs used by Team Rocket, but I don't know that they're the same ones she mentioned."  

[Suudonym]

He gave a light nod, a lighter smile. This wasn't anything like what he might have expected to come out of the convention today, but at least it looked like some good might come out of the Rockets' interference.

The mention of the black pokeballs brought a slight severity back into his expression; that certainly wasn't a subject that could be taken lightly. "They aren't something Team Rocket uses often," he said, "which is good for us, because for one thing, they can re-catch pokemon. Rosie lost a Togepi that was captured and registered to her by one of these things. They also change the disposition of the pokemon, turning them angry and hateful - and it's a permanent alteration."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Alder followed Luke's words, nodding once or twice, until he explained that they could capture already registered pokemon - ones that already had pokeballs - and he turned his head sharply to look at him, brows raised. "They can? That's..." That was so many kinds of awful and not right that he didn't even know where to start. He opened his mouth to speak, re-thought his words and closed it with a severe frown, then opened it again, "I can tell they aren't used that often, if I haven't heard of any reports of them yet. Good. It's very good they aren't used much - I can't even begin to imagine how distressing it must've been for Rosie to have a Togepi stolen like that.. And the poor pokemon, too..." He trailed off, his frown turning more sorrowful than anything. As if stealing pokemon wasn't bad enough, Team Rocket had to go and invent something to completely sunder any bonds the pokemon and trainer might've had. How could they protect their pokemon from something like that? "I see why Rosie asked about them today, but I wish I had a better answer for it."  

[Suudonym]

So 'nothing to say at this time' was a tactful way to hide the fact that they didn't know anything about it while addressing a crowd of hundreds. That was rather worrying; if they didn't know anything about it, then they didn't have any way to counter it, leaving them defenseless in the event Team Rocket began using the pokeballs more aggressively. "I guess it's probably better that it wasn't discussed, though," he said, the words grasping for the silver lining. "Something like that becoming public knowledge would probably cause a lot of fear and panic..." ...especially judging from the way they reacted to the completely compliant and non-violent 'Rocket' in the crowd. The goal was not to drive trainers from Kodo, after all.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yes," he agreed with a nod and a wry, humorless smile, "and we had enough of that already today, I think." The champion paused briefly to consider something, then looked to Luke curiously, "How did you find out about these black pokeballs?"  

[Suudonym]

"I think Rosie's the only person I know who's had any direct experience with them," he replied, "but… one of the pokemon my brother left me was a Rapidash in one of the black pokeballs." And because logically speaking, the next question was likely to be about said Rapidash's current location, "I wasn't confident that I could train him well with his disposition, so I entrusted him to a friend with a lot of experience as a trainer."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He nodded again but remained silent for a while as he considered this. It seemed he'd need to speak with Rosie about these, too, and ask her for her experience with them. "Wait - you had one in your possession?" He asked, brows raised as he looked to Luke again. "Hmm..." He was probably obligated to do something about that, but... "What is this friend's name, if you don't mind me asking? I'd like to speak with them as well, if I can, at some point."  

[Suudonym]

"Ray," he said, then hesitated when he realized that was all he knew of the woman's identity. "Uh, I don't know her full name, but she goes by Ray, lives in Sagestone. I can get in touch with her if you want, though."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Huh. He didn't know of anyone by that name, but he mentally shrugged it off and smiled at Luke. "I'd appreciate it if you could - I'd definitely like to speak with her about this." He paused, then added, "I'll probably visit the hospital tomorrow and see if I can talk to Rosie about her experiences, as well." Unless she wasn't up for talking about them, that is, in which case he would simply wait until she was.  

[Suudonym]

"Okay," he said with a nod, making a mental note to send a message to Ray on the matter. "She comes by the city every now and then; I'll see if she has plans to be around tomorrow, but if not, how should I tell her to get in touch?" The unsettled worry that touched his disposition at mention of the hospital was probably much more noticeable than he wanted it to be.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Alright," he replied with a short nod, though Luke's question received a brief, thoughtful frown. "I'm not the type of man to carry business cards around, but I'll be in Camphoreon for the next few days, at the very least. I'm staying at the hotel that the convention was held in today, if you or your friends need to find me, but I'll likely be out and about most days." He smiled encouragingly, noticing the concern in the trainer's expression. "I can register my number in your pokegear though, if you have it, so you can contact me."