silph_co | ARRIVAL [ACTION]

ARRIVAL [ACTION]

Who: Bido & any other Team Rocket member
Where: Goldenrod Rocket Base (Cafeteria)
When: Aug 11
Summary: come bother this guy while he's eating

[ Even a simple thing like sitting down still feels weird in this body. He adjusts his hips on the cafeteria chair. Most meals so far he's just scooped up as much food as he's reckoned he can get away with and finished it as quick as possible before stealing away to a break room; today, though, the urge to flee the open space isn't quite as strong. So he lingers over his tray, once in a while scooping up a bit of something and hand-feeding it to one of his lizards. It's still early in the lunch hour, and the table he's sitting at is empty... for now. ]

[ With his uniform on, and the brim of the cap shading his face, there's basically nothing distinguishing him from the rest of the grunts. Someone might not even be able to tell he's new. Except... maybe for the way he keeps digging out his PokéGear and turning it over in his hands like he's never seen anything like it before. ]

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Junk?

[ In spite of his generally dampened spirits, the word manages to come out with an undertone of indignation. As far as food goes, he's had MUCH worse. Who's this... pink-haired prettyboy to tell him what's worth eating and what isn't, huh? ]

[ ...Wow, that hair is pink. It's hard to focus on the sting to his pride in the face of something so vibrant. ]

[ After an awkwardly long moment of silence he turns back to picking at his food. ] Like what, then? [ ...he asks without looking up. ]

[Meanwhile, there doesn't seem to be even the faintest trace of malice in Doppio's expression. ... It's debatable whether there is any trace of thought, too. Something about his face brings to mind the image of some wide-eyed rodent or gecko just going about its day.]

Honestly, even the berries you can pick out in the wild are probably better for them than the cafeteria food! Maybe not so much for people, though...

[His smile is perfectly pleasant but, again, there's something sort of vacant to it.]

Are you still in training? I guess you can't just go out to a better joint yet.

[ Wow. Nature is beautiful. There are three wide-eyed geckos in this small corner of the cafeteria. And one Salandit, who looks a little crestfallen to see the end of its lukewarm tater tot delivery service. ]

[ It'll survive. In the meantime, there's an uncharacteristic cramp in Bido's conversational muscles. He clears his throat, then takes a looong sip of Miscellaneous Canned Fruit Juice. Of course, the stranger's still standing there at the end of it. ]

Mm-hm.

[ ... ]

You've been out there, then, have you?

... Uh... Yeah.

[Doppio stares blankly for at least three whole seconds, then lets out a little laugh.]

Hey, you know you aren't gonna be stuck here forever, right?

I-I knew that...

[ He scoffs it out only after realizing that Pink-Hair probably means the base itself, not the... rest of his situation. Not that the insight isn't uncanny. The notion of being trapped has definitely occurred to him! ]

[ His shoulders slump a little; the next words hold a great deal less Bristle. ]

We'll be working together. I'm asking what you think.

...

[This time, there is a glimmer of thought behind his silence. Doppio tentatively reaches for the chair next to the rookie; he refrains from pulling it up for now, but he's considering it.]

About Team Rocket? Or more like... about this world?

Eh?

[ Granted, Bido did mean the Mysterious Realm Above, but now that he mentions it, Pink-Hair seems like he's been at this business a while... long enough to get his uniform tailored all funny, at least. So he supposes some more information on the Rocket front couldn't hurt, either. ]

Anything, really... is there something you were thinking about just now?

[... ... . . .]

Not really! You're just worried because you're new, right?

Really, mister, you should come and sit down already if the news is that bad...

[ Why else would his fellow goon seem so eager to dodge the question? ]

[Doppio laughs.] Oh, there's no bad news!

[... But he IS taking this as his cue to sit down.]

I was wondering how you felt about this whole Team Rocket business, yeah... Since they nab all sorts of people, a lot of the otherworlders here just hate it.

[ Otherworlders, eh? He hasn't heard that euphemism for "dead people" before. ]

[ A far more confusing addition to his Pokémon Isekai Context Clues 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, though, is the idea that Team Rocket could be somebody's afterlife even if they WEREN'T part of a gang while they were alive. Silly Bido, assuming there's any comprehendible meaning to the things that happen to you. ]

Eh? Doesn't that cause trouble, hiring guys who hate it here...? I mean... [ He trails off. The subject of betrayal is still a hard little ball in his chest. So he couches his fear in a punchline. ] If you really think the food here is junk– wouldn't that be a security risk?

Edited 2025-08-17 01:40 (UTC)

[...

So, Doppio does, in fact, try to avoid sounding TOO gung-ho about crime around some members of Team Rocket, because it is abundantly clear that they're not into this crime thing at all, and... you know, it's just easier and better for morale if you play along, right?

He's starting to get the impression that won't be a huge issue with this guy, but he can't be entirely sure yet.]

I mean, if anyone really wanted to make a fuss about the food here... Like, if they hated it so much they complained to civilians, or even to the cops... Letting people know you're in Team Rocket is against the rules, yeah? So that alone could get them punished.

Well sure... but all I mean is, if someone really wanted to...

[ It goes unquestioned in Bido's mind that even in the afterlife, both the carrots and sticks offered by the establishment would obviously dwarf anything an operation on the fringes of society could be capable of. There's no blaming Pink-Hair for being vague with him under the circumstances. His attention abruptly turns to his Juice Drink once again, as a brief reprieve from the agonies. ]

[ Siiiiiiip. ]

I think everyone's doing a decent job though, with the rooms and the handbook and everything.

Edited 2025-08-19 03:42 (UTC)

[There. That sentiment is worth digging into, to figure out what's really behind it. The Boss's grand goal of annexing Team Rocket seems impossibly far out of reach at times, but surely... if they could find enough people dissatisfied with how the Rockets operate and willing to do something about it...]

You think so? The rooms are pretty nice... It's not like you can get any better for free.

... What about your training? How's that going?

[ Poor Rocket dorms; dammed with faint praise. To Bido, though, it's just normal praise, because hot damn! Free room! ]

[ And in a similar vein... awkward as it might be, the simple act of extended conversation is having a slight but visible effect on his spirits. ]

See now– now that you've said, about the guys coming in from all over, it makes a lot more sense why the training's like that... for the ones who haven't picked a lock or anything before. So, ah. Those part's've been a little slow. It's nice though. The rest of it. All these thingamajigs I never would have figured out on my own.

[There we go. That's the non-issue confirmed. Although -]

Thingamajigs? What, like the PokéGear? [He pulls out his own; it's scratched and a little beat up, but still functional.] I mean, it's pretty much just a super fancy phone! But I guess if you didn't have phones back home, that doesn't mean anything to you...

[- this IS just kind of Nice Conversation now, isn't it.]

[ It doesn't strike him as at all strange that Pink-Hair would assume he might not have phones where he's from. They were invented within his lifetime, after all. Cutting-edge technology! ]

Just a phone? Now that's an understatement, isn't it?... though I suppose, if you look at it like that...

[ He picks up his Gear again, already flipped open, imagining he's holding the receiver to a payphone. Hm. Well... he'll get used to it with practice. ]

Still-- having a radio and a camera and all that inside as well... it's a little incredible. I sort of have to wonder what it looks like in there. But then I know it'd be a pain to put back together... keh heh.

A super fancy phone. Like they managed to cram an entire computer inside it!

[Probably more of an understatement if you're only familiar with landline phones, yes - which is a possibility Doppio is not considering right now. This conversation is going so many places.]

Wait, does that mean you're good with that sort of stuff? Tinkering and putting machines back together?

[ Bido's interpretation: it's like there's a mathematician squeezed in there, working all the gizmos. Which makes just about as much sense as anything else in this context. ]

Oh– well, no, nothing like that! I don't know the first thing about machines...

...Mostly I was good at listening. Looking around, following people... that sort of thing.

Oh, gotcha! Actually... [He lowers his voice a bit.] Me too. I mean, I did a little bit of everything back home, but... Getting intel's important!

Ah, really...? Then maybe it isn't just coincidence...

[ He follows Pink-Hair's lead and lowers his volume too, even though he was already speaking fairly softly. Henchman Instincts have already cemented "no talking about organized crime in earshot of sensitive newbies" as a top priority. ]

[ That said... he proceeds to just kind of stare down at the table for a while. It doesn't seem like he's actually looking at it, though. ]

You... wouldn't have happened to see these past few days. A big, muscular man with blond hair like this... [ He briefly gestures, indicating a mohawk. ] Or– a bald guy with glasses, and a scar going from here to here? [ He points to his eyebrow, then the back of his head. ]

[Doppio furrows his brow. His memory isn't the best - which may not be the best trait for someone who reportedly gathers intel on the regular? Don't worry about that though - but if he tries his best to recall...]

Nope... Neither of them ring a bell, sorry.

[ Mm. Well. They'll probably have turned up somewhere... ]

It's alright. This place is pretty big.

Did... you come by yourself?

[He did not. The Boss, even deprived of his Stand, is a force to contend with, having managed to escape Team Rocket's clutches and guiding Doppio from a safe location from the very beginning.

But saying this much is out of the question. This guy may be nice, but it's way too early to tell where his loyalties will ultimately lie - and the continued secrecy of the Boss's operations is paramount.]

Yeah... A couple of people from my world have come and gone, though. [That much, at least, is true. Traitors to the gang, American Stand users - he's seen both.] So maybe the guys you're looking for will show up eventually.

[ The "world" comment he takes as a metaphor. It wasn't uncommon for Greed to talk about the criminal underbelly of Dublith that way. ]

[ And it's a morbid comfort, to have the others to wait for. But something else in that answer does give him pause. ]

Come and gone?

...Where did they go?

... I dunno. Back home, I guess.

[What that means for people like Abbacchio, who were very much dead, is... beyond him.]

...Right.

[ He sits with that for a while, fidgeting absently with the PokéGear. His Salandit eventually seems to catch wind of the uncertain vibes and slinks to the edge of the table to plop down in his lap. Sssaaaaa. ]

Eh? Sorry, we've been talking for a while now... I suppose you're feeling left out. Here– this is our teammate, um.

...We haven't really caught your name yet, have we?

[ He can't just call him "Pink-Hair" in front of his lizards. They ought to have a more professional source of influence. ]

Hi there!

[Doppio, for one, seems thrilled that the Salandit has joined the conversation. It takes him a moment to realise that he's being spoken to; when he looks back up at the friendly stranger, that dazed sort of empty-headed expression on his face has returned.]

Oh, uh, right. My name is Doppio.

[ This is the zoning-out-mid-conversation corner. It's all good. Salandit chuffs, eyes narrowing contentedly as it basks in the new attention. ]

Doppio... that's a good name. [ Reminds him of a friend. ] Mine's Bido. These two seem to like you.

[ Well, Salandit clearly does, at least. It's impossible to tell how he's discerned this from Treecko, who's been taking advantage of everyone's distraction by picking through Bido's lunchtray for tasty leftovers. ]

Oh, um... Thanks. [A good name... Has anyone ever called it a good name before??] Your name is neat too?

[Is that the thing to say? It sounds like a thing one might say in respose. Hey what if he just stares at Bido's Salandit now.]

Oh yeah, so what are their names?

Theirs...?

[ Salandit's ego is thriving as both humans stare down at it vacantly. ]

I don't think...? I mean, nobody else named them...

[ Or do they just HAVE names, in their own animal language? But then, surely when they were the same he'd have noticed knowing something like that... mutter, mutter, mutter. The low volume and his hand over his mouth renders the words incomprehensible, but he is, without realizing, trying to work this one out aloud. ]

... You mean... you don't want to name them? I mean, I guess that's fine... You don't have to.

[ clueless to clueless communication ]

Eh? Well– well hang on, so it's the usual thing, for someone to name them...?

[ He doesn't want his guys to feel left out!! ]

What about you...? Have you come up with names before?

Oh yeah, I name all my Pokémon! Look, this is Cristina -

[He reaches for the very first ball on his belt and sends out a little Morpeko who, uh... promptly proceeds to shove Treecko aside and have a go at the leftovers, herself.]

... She can be kinda cranky when she's hungry.

[ Cristina isn't the only cranky one! Its meal abruptly infringed on, Treecko lets out a dangerous sound like a series of wood-on-wood clacks and lunges right for the other Pokémon... ]

[ Only to be caught in midair, Bido's hair-trigger reflexes snapping into play. An angry, squirming 11-pound lizard is not the easiest thing to keep your hands around. Somehow he manages it. ]

No– no! Come on, stop that! We're on the same team and there's plenty here for everyone...!

[ Treecko's resistance gets gradually weaker... but it doesn't give up. Finally Bido sighs and lets go with one hand to grab his canned juice, offering it to his Pokémon as recompense. This seems to placate it... mostly. It slinks to the end of the table and glowers at Cristina between adorable mlems of its beverage. ]

My goodness... sorry about that.

...Cristina's a nice name too. [ A nervous and apologetic glance to the oversized hamster in question. ] So... they like names that a person would have?

Oh, don't worry about it! Like I said, she can be cranky. [Doppio offers the Treecko a gentle smile.] I'm sorry, little guy. You wanna try Cristina's favorite berries?

[Cristina, for her part, is absolutely unbothered. Flourishing. In her lane. Or at least she is after she's free to snack on the leftovers, taking no time at all to enter Full Belly Mode™️.

As for Bido's question...]

Huh? I mean, usually I just look at a Pokémon and name it whatever I think of first...

She changed color...! Look at that...

[ Bido's admiration of Cristina, plus the lack of acknowledgement from said Lunchtime Rival, only seems to make Treecko sink deeper into its petulant mood. At Doppio's offer of Berries, its brow twitches with obvious interest... and then, dramatically, it turns up its nose. Ouch. ]

[ Meanwhile– oops. Salandit finally claws its way back up Bido's pants leg, having been thrown for a loop when he stood up earlier. Neither of his lizards seem to be having too good of a time right now. Bido frowns. ]

...I wish it was as easy as all that. I want it to be something they can be proud of... I guess, maybe, I'll try and think about things I'd like to be called.

[ The list of agreeable things he's been called is not a long one. This might take a while. ]

[Doppio is mildly disappointed by Treecko's refusal, but he doesn't linger on it for long. After only a moment, he is considering Bido's words.]

... You mean... You don't like your name?

[He may be missing the point.]

Eh? No– no, my name's fine.

[ It's better than nothing, anyway. And it's the only thing that's really stuck. ]

But I mean, other things. That sound nice. I mean, I can't just call them my own name, can I?

But, in that case... Shouldn't you be thinking of things they'd like to be called?

[Empathy towards other people? Not always easy for Doppio. Empathy towards little guys, though? He's got that down.]

...

[ He's... not wrong. ]

[ But what Doppio doesn't know is that the two lizards, as per Bido's most reasonable theory, used to BE him. So their taste in names can't be that different from his own... can it? ]

[ There's no way he can explain his elaborate corkboard of rationalizations to a human he's just met. So he doesn't try to do that. ]

Eh... I guess so... if they give me any ideas. I don't think I can pronounce most of the stuff the green one likes to say.

[wow yeah that is Something to unpack later,,]

Uh, I mean, I don't think anybody can really understand what most Pokémon are saying...

Well, maybe they're just not paying attention!

[ Most Pokémon, sure... but these are HIS Pokémon. They're on a Wavelength together. They're communicating just fine. A thing he knows for a fact, because of the aforementioned convoluted Game Theory. ]

...Hey, why don't you give it a try, then? A name idea. I'll tell you if he likes it. [ He lifts Salandit up from his lap by the armpits and lets it rest its upper body on the table. It blinks both eyes slowly at Doppio and Cristina. ]

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ARRIVAL [ACTION]

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it's like he's having some kind of Bizarre Adventure

eyyyyyy

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BREAKING NEWS: "reincarnation" to be amended to bido's emerging list of spiritual beliefs

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i blinked and four days passed. whoops

relatable 😔

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