silph_co | [video]

[video]

[Doppio has been at this training thing for a few days now. Nothing too complex, as he expected, but he does at least appreciate the tours of the city's back alleys and underground tunnels.

However, there are a few things that training isn't telling him even though he figures they may be handy to know if he wants to get anywhere in this place, and, well, he should really stick to Rocket communications for this first couple of weeks. From what he gathers, one of the Pokémon he's been given has already been trained a bit, so it might be suspicious to show up out of nowhere with THAT under his belt. Best to learn the ropes first, and then he can tell civilians he's been at it for a little while and just hasn't talked to anyone over the PokéGear yet.

So this is where he's turning to, with a Morpeko in his arms and a Magikarp in a tub full of water.]

Uh, hello? It's my first time doing this, so hopefully I got it right. I'm a new recruit - my name's Doppio, by the way - and I think the training is going okay, but... I have a few other questions? Like, what are Pokémon supposed to eat? This one [and he tips his head towards the Morpeko in his arms, whose ears twitch. Its fur is already darkening.] keeps stealing MY food, and the fish... might be sick? I don't think it can do much. Do they usually assign these to new people? Because that seems kind of unfair. ... Ah, are you getting hungry again? Already?

[The Morpeko shifts in his arms with an annoyed squeak. It hops free in no time at all, and an increasingly purple blur runs right across the feed.]

Cristina? Cristina, that's not MY food. Cristina!

[... He'll be right back.]

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Sure, but... Don't they need fresh air? Those balls look awfully cramped. [He just doesn't see a need to treat these little guys poorly even if they're in a criminal organization. Please understand.]

I guess I'll see what I can do when they stop training me. Am I supposed to make it swim a lot? How does this Pokémon training thing work?

Cram-

Oh! OH! Oh, right I can see where the confusion here is I guess...ahem.

They're not quite literally what it looks like- when you use the ball they're not getting compressed in there, they're more...being converted into a pocket space? So each pokemon has all the room it needs!

Pokemon training though ahhhh...well normally I'd say get in a few pokemon battles but with magikarp... ...maybe stick to doubles, let your morpeko carry the team for a bit.

Oh. ... Okay?

[He grabs a PokéBall from his belt - his Morpeko hasn't quite settled down yet, but it's still busy with the bread - and stares at it, as if just having a better look could grant him better insight. Maybe... these things work kind of like Coco Jumbo's room? That makes about as much sense as anything else so far.

... He might still let Cristina finish eating before calling it back, though.]

Yeah, I don't think Pesci - that's the, uh, Magikarp? - can do anything in a fight. Are you sure it's going to learn anything if Cristina does all the work?

Absolutely! Which is handy too- I'm going to bet the hamster is the stronger- so while she carries the fight in a bigger battle, the fish will be racking up experience! It's actually a common trick people use for raising up weaker pokemon.

Really? Does that mean Pokémon learn from watching, too?

[Because he's not sure how else this could possibly work.]

Well, provided they're in the thick of it yep. No idea if that's because of something more based in...'game mechanic' type stuff or what, but we can't deny it works at least.

It's pretty easy to figure out at least, so don't worry!

... Game mechanic?

[Look, it just seems like there is more and more he has to figure out here with each passing second.

(His Morpeko slips from his arms again, but it does seem calmer now.)]

....Hear that music in your head?

It's like video game music right? The fact is, this place runs on...a lot of 'PG-13 Videogame' logic. We don't even actually die here if anything happens, we just...wake up in one of the Pokemon Centers. There's plenty that works the way you'd expect, but at the end of the day? Stuff like the fights, who gets hurt...

Games.

[Music in his head?... Oh, right. The music. Somehow, Doppio has been tuning out most of it, but... Carly bringing it up means it's at the forefront of his mind again.

What the hell.]

... Wait, is that why the training's been really basic so far?

Yeahhhh...kind of a bummer but it's about how it goes.

[A sympathetic shrug...]

[He doesn't know about it being a bummer - if Team Rocket also kidnaps civilians, the real... bummer, for lack of a better word, would be exposing them to the kind of work that mafia business usually entails - but it sure is something. He's not sure what to think, to be honest.]

So... Team Rocket doesn't kill people? Ever? How much control do they actually have over this place?

...Doppio we don't stay dead.

Actually you can't even pick up a weapon. Or an improvised weapon. Your body just kind of...refuses.

Anyway if you 'die', you just wake up in the pokemon center. I'm pretty sure if they tried any killing, it'd just. Fail. Somehow.

[Shrug...] Anyway. They have the radio and the casinos...

[Again, what the HELL. How can they not pick up weapons at all? Even if this is a different world, this is sounding more and more like the work of a powerful Stand user. He's already struggling to focus when Carly goes on about Team Rocket's businesses...

But something particularly funny happens when he fiddles with his PokéGear to check a message someone's just sent him. His brows furrow, his eyes dart around the screen, the feed twitches and even though Cristina suddenly blocks the view there is a brief flash of green in Doppio's eyes -

that is nowhere to be seen when he looks over his Morpeko and comes back into view.]

G-Give me a minute. I'll get back to you.

[And a few minutes pass before Doppio does, indeed, get back to her - but it's just via text now.]

Sorry about that.
You know a Dirk Strider, right?

[If she were the sort, she'd dare him to try. But instead-

A flash of green. That's very interesting.

More interesting is the way he spoke after. And then the texting...hmmm.

She'll humor him, if only because it'll keep some control of emotion in her favor as well.

The feed, immediately after his question, moves to Private.]

Oh boy do I.

I hate to ask this, but what brought up Dirk?

[Doppio notices the switch to Private. He's not the only one. Is this Dirk Strider a sensitive subject...?]

He just started messaging me with some really cryptic stuff.
He's ranked pretty high, right? Do the higher-ups have access to info on all the grunts?
I've been wondering about that.

Yeah we're both Beta rank, the only one anyone 'imported' can really access from there is 'Alpha'.

We get information on our assigned grunts if they're there, but other than that it's not too hard to look it up if you have part of a name.

[Which she can see Dirk doing, honestly.]

He's like that though. He's...mmm.

He's okay, but he can be hard to work with...you know how I said this place is like a video game? I do not tell him that I think this. On the one hand, we agree.

On the other he will be entirely insufferable if I tell him we agree, because I am also the one who didn't really approve of how he was reacting to the world over that. There's recognizing game-mechanics and then there's just right out devaluing everything around you!

I don't really blame him for it? But he has some social skills to work on.

[They're both the same rank?... Hm. And Dirk is kind of a weirdo... Well, that's certainly the vibe he got. Smug creepy weirdo.]

Oh
So I guess that's how he got my first name...

[Might be a good chance to figure out if they know he inputted the wrong birthday on the PokéGear, or if it even matters?... Wait, do they have the Boss on file too? How would he even go about finding this out?]

I mean he told me to ask you about him, so I guess he doesn't MIND you saying all this

[The sad thing is Carly genuinely believes that would be the case.

Whoops. Anyway.] There might be things I'd rather not say to him (ahem. the game matter), but over all we've known each other a while, so we tend to give a good view of the other?

...

Also apparently I'm just the most likely person to actually help someone out. Because half of us are jerks, apparently. [She will not expand on this.]

So...
He's an alright guy overall?
Just kind of gets on your nerves?

That doesn't seem so bad for a criminal organization.
You can get some really nasty types sometimes.

He'll deny it but yeah. Honestly as much as a lot of the people 'imported' in aren't necessarily the greatest, it isn't as if we were like. Criminals to begin with either, you know?

He's got some hangups about that, and he'll probably deny being a 'good' guy if you say it to him but...well. I trust him.

And not just in a 'I trust him to do X' way!

[... So the other people Team Rocket has grabbed AREN'T criminals, or at least not necessarily. That's good to know. He'll be subtle from now on.]

Got it
Thanks for that, he was kind of creeping me out!

He has this effect don't be worried about it.

Anyway. This is where I'd offer some more advice, but I gotta ask, what made you swap to text? We can do private video feeds to you know! [Not to mention the fact that the swap was before they moved to private...]

Huh?

[... The Boss told him to turn off the video feed.]

Well Dirk sent me a text message so...
I guess I just kept going in text?

Oh, I see.

Well, if you don't mind, I want to use video again- I kinda need my hands free to cook right now.

[There is a half truth here. But hey.]

Yeesh he must have really given you the creeps if you swapped that fast though. Then again if he used your whole name And referred you to me in one go...in private...

Yep that would do it.

Uh

[B-BUT HE'S STILL ON THE PHONE...]

Sure, give me a second

[... Everything seems relatively normal when he turns the video feed back on; he's even recalled Cristina back into its Pokéball, although the Magikarp is still hanging out in the tub. He does glance nervously at something just off-camera, though...]

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>> PRIVATE

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