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[Rosie, Sera, Luke, Weidman]

Emil would have said something, but the others answered and the man kept speaking before he had a chance to answer the previous question. So he just stayed quiet, meekly looking between the people he barely knew and shuffling his feet a little. He did shake the man's hand though.

Suddenly there was a card thrust at him and Emil took it as if he had no choice in the matter. He blinked down at it and looked back up at the man. "Um... thank you."

[Rosie, Sera, Emil, Weidman]

Luke's attention sharpened at the familiar name of his homeland. He wasn't expecting that and wasn't sure how to respond other than with a slight nod. It was just a dropped name, but the boy listened a little less listlessly having heard it. And it was good that he did, it seemed. The group was indeed quite aware of said Rocket activity, and it sounded like the stranger would make a good contact on the matter. He accepted the offered card surprisingly willingly, "Thanks. We'll be sure to do that."

[Yuri]

Though Ivory couldn't see Opal, she couldn't help but try to locate her with her eyes from that spot. It was a subconscious thing in all honesty since she really wasn't trying to find her, but the current subject seemed to trigger that sort of protective response from the pale haired trainer. She was unable to locate the false ditto, but knowing her friend well, she didn't worry herself too much.

"Sometimes I think I know a bit more than I should... but it's kinda necessary as a ditto trainer. Know the different types of Pokemon out there so if in battle I encounter one, I can be familiar with what they are able to do. Basic stuff like knowing Pokemon type and some of the moves they can learn is really helpful." She laughed slightly before mentioning "...I guess that means I kinda have to be a bit of an egg-head at times."

With another stray chuckle, she nodded towards Yuri as he sympathized with the description of her neighbors. "I think it is impossible to find any place to live that doesn't have those sorts. As long as you don't get dragged down into the muck I suppose..."

The girl noticed another one of those food trays rushing by, and leaned out a bit to signal to her partner to see if he could snag her something.

(Seto)

The kid remained serious, attempting to maintain as mature a posture as she could. She knew a lot of people didn't value the opinion of children, particularly important business men like Mr. Kaiba. Still...sometimes it was from people they were the least like that they needed help from.

"It's okay," she told him slowly, meeting his gaze. "I know how it feels. You don't have to let it all out right now if you don't want to, but...you should at least blow off some steam. To ease the tension. Otherwise you might not be able to get through the night."

When he bent over again, she waited beside him patiently, silent. She had no idea what the medication had been for, but she knew it wouldn't cure him of his emotions. They didn't work that way. "Yes, you did," she said thoughtfully, as if just thinking back on it and remembering. "But I don't feel like it." The kid stared at his hand on his chest. "...Is that physical pain you're feeling? Or emotional?"

(Faleen)

"Not managing your time efficiently...?" he repeated, almost laughing as she took his arm. "And just what did you do that would make you say that? Did you do too much training with one pokemon? Maybe running behind on a new project of yours?"

He couldn't imagine the young woman wasting her time.Then again, her opinion was different from most about what qualified as 'efficient' time usage, so who knew? Maybe she had overslept a couple hours and blamed herself for that. And yet...something nagged at the corner of his mind.

Why didn't she at least contact me through e-mail or her tablet or...something? Her duties couldn't have kept her that busy, could they have? Maybe she had been on an extra-confidential mission where she wasn't allowed contact with the outside world.

"...I'd really appreciate that," he answered, a flicker of concern flashing across his face when he recalled the pokemon he had with him and the damage they'd caused so far. "Celty, Mairu, and Kururi have been behaving for the most part. Aila's Zorua, Riviere, doesn't seem to have been trained a whole lot, but at least he behaves, so it's easier to teach him and avoid mass destruction." He hesitated. "Then there's one more. Perhaps the most powerful pokemon I've acquired yet...but that's the problem. Since you had another of his species, I thought you could give me some advice."

Gently removing his arm from his date's, Izaya plucked a couple of glasses from a passing waiter and handed one to Faleen. Taking a sip, he returned his arm to its original position, linked with hers. "Are you hungry?"

He had the oddest feeling that he should have said something about her clothing, but it was one of those nagging urges that made him want to irritate people in order to get their reaction. This time the urge was less...malicious in nature, but he still resisted it. Faleen likely wouldn't have taken anything he said about her outfit as a compliment, either. Best to keep his mouth shut.

Harvard stood at the edge of the shindig, looking all the world like this was the last place where she wanted to spend her evening. There were files piling up on her desk back at base. The Elite had no doubt she would enjoy looking through the records of her predecessor more than bothering with glitz and glam. As the new head of Security, however, it was also her duty to monitor that nothing was out of place in the off-base affairs of Team Rocket, as well. Why else would she bother pulling out her own black dress. The almost knee-length garment was accented by red earrings, a red broach over the left strap, long white gloves, black heels, and a black clutch purse. Her mother had always said that every girl needed a little black dress, and that policy had never failed Harvard yet.

The last time he'd worn one of these things it had been made of duct tape.

...no, he was forgetting. The last time he'd worn a tie there'd been a Shaymin explosion.

----------

He hadn't been planning to go - he'd wished Aulus a nice time, picked up his half-finished copy of Hunter's Run and been meandering down the elite quarters hallway to get something from the cafeteria when a door had opened and out stepped Harvard, dressed for a date.

Harvard had spent the last several hours monitoring the storage area, tracking the names of every Rocket that stopped to check out some sort of formal wear. She hadn't been joking when she said she would want reports from those individuals. Of course, when did Harvard ever joke, really?

Spotting Hayes, she had shut her clutch with a light "snap!" and tapped it once against the other palm. "Elite Agent Hayes. Good evening."

"Hey," Hayes smiled, raising his bookless hand in casual greeting. "Going out?"

By contrast, he was in khakis, a t-shirt with some stylized green-spotted mushroom on it, and a button-up shirt left open and the sleeves rolled up. And sneakers, somewhat beat up and worn.

Harvard made a face with briefly raised eyebrows as if to say, "What choice is there?" She glanced down the hall after some noisy Grunts heading for the garage. "It would seem that more people have the night off than I originally anticipated. Someone needs to be there to monitor the situation and make sure it stays under control. Not to mention, this thing with the League in Camphoreon could prove to be a decent source of intel, something we could greatly use right now." Turning back to Hayes, she gave him a once over, noting the continued lack of uniform. "I take it you're not attending, though?"

"Wasn't really on my to-do list," the blond admitted, perhaps a bit sheepishly in the face of such a dedicated teammate. He'd been planning to get some eggrolls and read about falling dynasties, then maybe take Binary out and read about parallel core processing. "I guess if you offer free formal wear, people turn out. Well. Free-ish."

The woman considered her colleague for a moment. "So it would seem. If anything, I suppose I'm going to ensure crowd-control. Arceus willing, it hopefully won't come to that." If she had been a lesser woman, Harvard may have rolled her eyes when yet another loud group passed the other end of the hall. Instead, her mouth formed a tight smile, and she waited for the sound to fade away. A thought then seemed to come to her. "Not to sound too forward, but... Would you mind perhaps accompanying me tonight? Of course, I understand if you'd prefer to enjoy your evening off instead."

Hayes glanced down the hall when Harvard did, his mild smile never leaving his face as roisterous grunts bustled, one girl even giggling, into the elevator. "As backup?" he asked, looking back to the elite. She was new on base, didn't know many people, but anything else would be problematic.

"That. And to be honest, I'm sure it would also help me blend in more easily. People tend to notice the lone female standing around." Unfortunately.

The blond considered this for a moment. Then: "..yeah, all right. Have to borrow a suit, though." He'd read Martin already and all.

----------

And now he had a suit. Deep charcoal gray with a wine red vest, and what apparently wasn't a tie but a cravat. He had no idea what a cravat was, except that it wasn't any more comfortable and Kurt would probably laugh about it.

Harvard glanced over at Hayes. "I take it you're not much for these dress-ups, either," she stated more than asked. This was followed by the appearance of a well-practiced "social smile" as they approached the activities.

"They're not really my thing," the blond agreed; he'd switched his glasses out for his contacts, feeling a bit of reluctance as he remembered an entire month being near-blind.

..the glasses went in an inside pocket of the jacket, just in case.

For now he scanned the crowd, trying to pick out 'their people' in the milling throng.

A kid who looked around age 14 or 15 straightened his tie as he smiled innocently at the security guards guarding the entrance of the park. Waving, he pointed in toward the mass of collected trainers and officials as he made his way through.

Even if they had seen his tail on his way in, he doubted they would have stopped him. What was one lone pokemon more or less? For all they knew, his trainer was inside waiting for him.

[Maiko, Repede, Opal]

Rory was so distracted with his nerves and his small group of friends that he didn't notice the beam of red light flash from his belt. Pinkie Pie stretched out his legs and shook her mane. She back at her trainer and cocked her head to the side. She'd never seen him that color before.

Anyway, she started walking around and picked up the scent of nearby pokemon. She followed the scents to find a little spider and what looked like two small dogs.

"Ta! Ponyta!" She cried happily.