silph_co | [ Action - Goldenrod Base ]

[ Action - Goldenrod Base ]

It was like being at the Wish House.

Walter didn't remember his childhood fondly. Or any part of his life really. But the orders, the training, the quiet masses of grunts he was ranked beside was familiar. He knew how to do as he was told. He could memorise lists of commands and booklets on conduct. Running, fighting...it was all familiar to him. And given he was still extremely confused and lost about how he came to be here and how he was alive, the familiarity was welcome. Even if he expected to be shoved into a facility like the Water Prison if he disappointed or failed his superiors.

Between training, he persued books on these 'Pokemon'. It seemed the world revolved around them, given Team Rockets goals and the power these beings could obtain. His own were currently small and weak. But that would change. Until he gathered his bearings and determined what he was meant to do, how to return home and complete the Sacraments ritual, he would obey Team Rocket. He had forgotten the comforts of having a place to live and if they were willing to pay for him then he wouldn't complain about doing work for them. It wouldn't matter anyway. he would eventually find a way back and cleanse the world of sin. If he had to clear this world of it's sin too, then he would find a way.

He roamed the halls with Darkness perched on his shoulder, a passive look on his face. You could never be sure when or where an attack might come and having the Murkow keep an eye out for threats helped him manage the mild anxiety he felt in being so close to people.

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"I told you, I'm not allowed to take all of the oranges from the cafeteria anymore. I'm only allowed to take one. It's the rules."

A childish voice filters from around the corner Walter and Darkness are approaching.

Upon rounding it, the speaker is revealed to in fact be a small child, not older than ten, albeit one that seems to mostly consist of one big mass of wild, half-matted black hair.

Wrath is standing in front of a Trubbish with his hands on his hips, wearing a baggy little Rocket uniform (no shoes, though. Getting Wrath to put shoes on is a Herculean feat that even the admins have given up on by now). The Trubbish is jiggling sadly, looking down at a single orange clutched in its goopy tentacle arms. 8( Today is a dark day for hungry Trubbish everywhere.

"I don't like it, either! But it's the rules, so we gotta."

The 'no shoes' part of Wrath's appearance didn't bother Walter at all. The High Priestess' of the Order didn't wear shoes either, as part of their rank within the Church. The strange trash-pokemon was more interesting - what a wonderful metaphor for humanity, a walking bag of rubbish. He paused to take in the pokemon and glanced at the trainer, making a mental note that there was free food nearby to take, before moving to sweep past them.

Unlike some people Walter may or may not encounter down the road, Wrath would have absolutely no problem with hearing humanity equated to a walking bag of rubbish. Despite the fact that his life's goal was to become one, and the fact that he has met and been enchanted with a large number of humans in his time here.

Wrath's approach to conflicting opinions is to happily believe both at once and not think about it too much.

However, if Walter was hoping to avoid a confrontation with the base's littlest Rocket, this just wasn't his lucky day. Because as he moves past the hall, the pint-sized ex-monster hears him, turns around, and immediately goes trotting along after him. Followed by the Trubbish, which huffs and snorts as it waddles along behind him.

"Hi! Hello! Are you a new Rocket? I haven't seen you before! I'm Wrath! I like your skull beast."

...well he hadn't anticipated being followed by the child. Walter wasn't particularly fond or good with children. If anything, they made him a little uneasy. The only kills he had hesitated with were Eileen, when his younger self interfered and drew him back, and the young twins he had killed for their hearts. The others he had killed he felt no remorse for but the twins haunted him for some reason, manifesting in numerous monsters in his Otherworld.

He paused and turned, hoping that answering Wrath will discourage him from continuing to follow. "Yes, I am. My name is Walter. He," Walter indicated to Assumption with a tilt of his head. "is a Cubone. I named him Assumption."

Short of inflicting physical violence, it is very hard to discourage Wrath from doing anything. And even then, it's a toss-up.

Little guy's persistent.

"Assumption? I don't know what that means, but I like it. This is Hungry! I named him that because he's always hungry."

The Trubbish nods, its entire body jiggling. Despite its apparent eternal hunger, it holds out the orange to Assumption in offering. Sharing is caring!

Walter remained quiet. If he didn't reply then the boy would leave him be. That's how it typically worked, wasn't it?

Assumption looked at the orange, then up to Walter for permission. He considered the offer and shook his head, disappointing the little Pokemon who shook his head in turn to Hungry. Walter didn't want Assumption getting used to generous offers. He knew from experience that food could be a useful motivator in training and teaching. Giving it to Assumption freely would hinder that.

Not with Wrath, it didn't.

He continues along, completely un-dissuaded.

"Do you know where everything is? I could show you important places, like the cafeteria and the door to where they put the dumpsters outside! It's a big building, easy to get lost in."

The Trubbish doesn't look too troubled by the rejection, and pops the whole orange into his mouth with a glorp noise. Unlike Walter's Cubone, this creature and his trainer don't seem to practice any form of trainer-Pokemon discipline at all.

On the one hand, the child was annoyingly persistant and seemed to think Walter would need to know where the dumpsters were placed. On the other, he didn't enjoy hurting children. And he still was new. He knew where to find food, where the training grounds were and his own room; the rest of the building was a mystery.

He looked at Wrath, slightly puzzled. Why was this kid talking to him anyway? He had only walked past. "...I could use a map." He spoke quietly, hoping Wrath would give him what he needed and then stop.

Look, when you're Wrath, the dumpsters are very important. People throw all kinds of good shit in there.

Fortunately for Walter, the little scruffball seems to at least know where to find what was requested.

"A map? Follow me!"

And with that he turns right around and starts to trot off down the hall, feet slapping on the shiny tile floor. He is followed by the Trubbish, who beckons at Walter and Assumption helpfully with its garbage tentacles.

Walter followed Wrath quietly, like a ghost. Assumption was quick to pursue, chasing after Hungry eagerly. When he got too far from him Walter leaned down to catch the Cubone and pick him up. Given how small Assumption was, it was easy for Walter to carry him in one hand, supporting him by the belly before tucking him into the crook of his elbow.

"You do not run far from me unless I permit it." He murmured, giving the little Pokemon a firm squeeze before relaxing. Assumption didn't fuss however, accepting that he was going to be carried now.

There couldn't be a stranger set of people and Pokemon roaming the halls of HQ today.

But despite all scatterbrained appearances, Wrath is blessedly not leading the new grunt on a wild goose chase.

After a couple of corner-turns and one stairwell, the main desk comes into view. A sour-looking, older woman mans the station, a cigarette in hand. Her Meowth is curled boredly beside the book she's reading. A steamy romance involving a wide-eyed business intern from downtown Unova and a wildman who'd been raised by Primeape on a remote island, by the looks of the cover.

Said book is quickly put down when Wrath brazenly trots right up to the desk and jumps, clinging to the edge to see over it.

"MISS FRONTDESK! We-- pblbtlthhh!"

Apparently 100% prepared for Invasion by Wrath at any given time, the woman had picked up a spraybottle and nailed him right in the face with it. He dropped back to the floor and recoiled, hissing like a raccoon and baring his bizarrely-sharp teeth.

"NO hands on the desk! Two feet away at ALL TIMES." The woman huffed out a sigh, then shot Walter a long-suffering look, as if to say, 'See what I have to deal with?'. It's clear that the 'two feet' rule only applies to Wrath, and that there's definitely a story behind it. "What do you need? My break is in five minutes, so make it snappy."

Walter remained placid but glanced between Wrath and the woman. That sort of treatment didn't seem required but he didn't speak up. A little water in the face was hardly a note-worthy punishment in his books, although Wrath's reaction was bizarre.

"A map of this place. And a pen." Walter answered smoothly. It didn't matter if it was incorrect or old - if there was one thing he had noticed and admired from watching Henry navigate his worlds, it was the way the man handled the maps he had acquired. Hence why he needed the pen as well.

After spluttering and shaking his head wildly, Wrath shoots the woman a glare and straight-up growls, a low buzzing sound in his throat that carries on even as she completely ignores him and boredly hands Walter a generic, photocopied map of the building and a ballpoint pen.

"Here. Keep the runt out of trouble if you keep hanging around him, will you? I'm not paid enough to play babysitter to a Poochyena that someone taught to wear clothes."

It sounds harsh, but... well, Wrath is still growling.

Walter accepted the map and opened it, finding his room and marking it. He looked back at Wrath before replying to the woman, unbothered by Wrath's animalistic growling. It was interesting to meet a human who didn't pretend to be above the animals they were. "Thank you. And he is not my responsibility."

It seemed like Wrath was a wild child to Walter. He didn't intend to keep 'hanging around him'. He hadn't intend to even talk to him. He left the grouchy receptionist and retreated to a corner, where he could be out of the way as he inspected the map.

Well, Walter wasn't wrong.

But he also wasn't yet free of the small, badly-dressed shadow, who had (of course) followed him over to the corner and was now leaning in slightly to see just what Walter was putting on that map.

"Is it helping?"

"...Yes." Walter continued to add little marks, making a key. He would need to note areas that were (curruently) out of bounds to himself, doors that required a Card Key and were certain rooms were, such as the training area and the cafeteria, along with what hours they were frequented. He glanced over to Wrath, nodding. "Thank you."

he then intended to leave, to fill in his map. Assumption gave Hungry a little wave and trotted after Walter. Although, whether Wrath would actually let him go was another thing entirely.

Wrath watched all this with great interest. He'd never particularly had use for maps-- for once not because it was 'a human thing' (even Homunculi could make wrong turns on their way to spark insurrection and military violence in other countries) but because nobody in their right mind would ever have trusted the resident feral child with the directions, so he'd always been happily oblivious whenever the need for a map arose.

He beamed when thanked, showing off every one of those wolfish teeth.

"You're welcome!"

... And then, yes, he continued to follow Walter. Not saying anything. Just happily trailing along in line after Assumption, with Hungry waddling along behind him.

Walter, enjoy having two extra shadows for what will probably be the rest of the day.

8)

Walter allowed the following as he began to double check the map, looking for areas he hadn't been to yet and would need to further investigate before making notes on. He didn't see a point in trying to chase Wrath away - the child was ultimately doing no harm.

Assumption looked up behind them and beamed, a little skip in his step at having Wrath and Hungry tag along. It was a friend train!

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[ Action - Goldenrod Base ]

[BELATED, action!]

BELATED, action!]

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Wrap this up? (and oh god I made so many typos last time that's embarrassing)