'Nora' the Lilligant
The Gracedia Order
Lytala city, the Blood Pit Arena
Affected RPers: @Noblejanobii , @Death's Spook , @Neo Emolga (most likely), basically anyone else in the arena. (As a warning: Not competing directly.)

Nora, to Yvonne's mild displeasure, had pulled out a cigar and was now smoking-but that was hardly the worst that she could be doing right now, and the both of them knew it. Nora was getting a craving for something anyways, and Nora really couldn't be calm when one of them came on. Shaking hands, shaking world. Not good for work, and this was important work. Relatively speaking.

The Rotom had made no real attempt to disguise her tracks, opting for the fastest route through various side-alleys. Nora kept a hand close to her pistol while she traversed, knowing better from experience. Fortunately, no-one opted to exist in the cramped corridors between buildings the Rotom chose to travel through, and tailing her wasn't too hard as she clearly wasn't bothered. Yvonne had to hold her nose to keep from puking from all the trash. Nora had to try her best not to roll her eyes and complain at her companion's lack of stomach.

The Rotom's destination was thoroughly surprising for both of them. Turning a corner to tail the Rotom, they came across the stadium for the Blood Pit Arena-a prominent stadium usually made for somewhat less violent events re-purposed for the yearly bloodbath. Yvonne nor Nora would be questioned-they had competitor's passes, if they weren't competing themselves they'd still be let into the guest bleachers. The real problem, and question, was that the Rotom was also going to it.

...Well, maybe there wasn't a problem. Sure, the Black Lotus weren't exactly known for fair play. If the Black Lotus tried to pull that, or they otherwise played to intercept, then Nora could expect that the stands would become as hot as the arena itself in short order. But on the flipside, if they really believed they were dominating as much as they had, why bother with that? They'd take every precaution for Taiya, of course. Onyx Circle thugs just seemed to spawn out of the walls, on the other hand-they were replaceable. And if cheating was clear and blatant, well, it would make it seem like the Black Lotus was very strained, rather than mighty, to the masses, as well as dirtier than they thought. They can't cheat that blatantly, and if so, they wouldn't be causing havoc in the stands either way. If people didn't think their mass advertisement was unsafe to watch directly, then the Tempest Festival would already be losing some money, and the Black Lotus did not have infinite value.

Ultimately, there was nothing for it other than to enter. The charming Armaldo at the booth was clearly not Black Lotus and did not question the authenticity of their (perfectly authentic!) competitor's passes, and they were given pretty much immediate access. No reserved seating for the normal seats (the special seats costed extra and weren't part of the package); you found a spot you enjoyed and you sat down, and took your eyes to either the massive jumbo-tron like thing above the cage roof, or if you could, down to the desert wasteland arena below to see the action directly, and hope that your neighbors weren't going to start emulating the act. Low-ranking Black Lotus and more general temporary hire security guards lined the stands, making sure that there wasn't a full-scale riot or anything underhanded and/or sneaky going on. Anything else was fair game.

Now the only real problem was finding the floating lightbulb in a massive crowd of Pokemon-

"LET

THERE

BE

BLOOD!!!"

-and the event was already starting. Screaming and shouting and soon the noises of hell would be waged, and the pits opened up. Nora and Yvonne flinched simultaniously at the sheer volume. Nora could only barely glimpse that the Black Lotus team had started right beneath them, so to speak. Sadly, the cage was two-way; Nora would doubtless have loved to sneak in a bullet right into the flying Charizard's brain and have ended that right then and there, but aside from maybe blowing cover, it wouldn't even work. Yvonne tapped Nora's shoulder, and Nora turned-Yvonne found her, or him, the Rotom, floating very nonchalantly near to the back. The duo nodded to each other.

"They really do have to be loud and noisy, don't they?" Nora said, taking a quick glance at the crowd.

"And drunk and intoxicated, too. Just the worst. Yeah, horrible, isn't it?" Yvonne responded. Nora caught the undertones.

"My habits are my habits! Don't judge me for 'em," Nora snapped.

"I can, it's a trust matter. I can barley trust Pokemon in this state to listen to me-"

"Well then you're pretty much screwed over already, you're not getting rerolls on teammates or anything," Nora said.

"You'll be sober for the missions, then?" Yvonne said.

"'Course, 'course, don't mix business with pleasure 'n' scat," Nora said.

"The Rotom's watching," Yvonne said.

"'Course." Nora said, looking at the Rotom. No idiot was going to forget that those two Pokemon were roughly where he/she was thrown out of a fabulous casino not but five minutes ago, right? The Rotom wasn't perturbed enough to move, however-which was a good start. Wasn't skittish... Though, Nora would definitely be feeling very skittish in that situation.

Yvonne made her seat directly adjacent to the Rotom's left, and Nora took the seat immediately adjacent to Yvonne's left. Nora kept her eyes peeled-she figured her job in this was to make sure there weren't any interesting encounters mid conversation. Black Lotus assassins, mysterious 'benefactors,' the sort. That would be extraordinarily hard-between the ruckus of the Pokemon and the preexisting Black Lotus agents already stationed to ensure the roudiness didn't get out of hand... Nora performed a sweep of the bleachers, Trying to get a glimpse of anything or anyone suspicious.

"...You're following me, aren't you?" The Rotom said. It was like the mix between a curious young boy and a robot.

"Yes, can't deny that much. You did cause quite the scene," Yvonne said. "But we aren't here to hurt you over it."

Nora briefly eyed the Gracedia Order team on the screen, beginning their run through the maze-she had to wonder what their plan was. Then it switched to the Steel Scavengers... Their 'Grand Lady,' huh? Had she heard of that name before?

"... Why?" The Rotom asked. "Uh, why are you following me?"

"We're interested in your special talents. And we think you may be interested in what we're doing," Yvonne said.

Nora mulled it over a bit more-and it hit her, she had, she definitely had. It was too familiar, but not so familiar that it brought itself into her mind instantly. Nora struggled to remember when she heard the name of this 'Grand Lady.' The Tsareena reeked of importance... No, not now! She couldn't focus on the game itself. Her eyes darted amongst the bleachers. A Mimikyu there, a trio of Eeveelutions there, a Gliscor and a Empoleon in the midst of some secretive conversation there-aha. There was something. Though the Mimikyu was also interesting. Not a usual sight. Something itched Nora's brain.

"...I'm definitely not into that kind of thing," The Rotom asked. "I've been asked that before. I'm not going to be dying for something I don't understand."

"Well, would you fight for something you did understand?" Yvonne said. "We're... Mph. We're interested in ensuring a bit of a brighter future for Liao as a whole."

"Liao has a future?" The Rotom asked, a mild joke in his voice. "The way things are going, I'd bet you that the whole place would just descend into lawless hell the instant Taiya was done running the place, and those 'rebel' groups are just so busy bickering over thesmelves with unimportant derivatives that they can't even oust the kako."

Nora glimped Yvonne's attempt to make sure she didn't look too offended at that, and saw a beefy Loudred punch a irritating Swellow into submission a dozen seats away. Her eyes bounced back to the scoreboard-an Independent died early, as was basic tradition for these. Nora couldn't look much longer.

Nora did think the Rotom had a good point. At the very least a compromise between the Platoon and the Order could be reached. Maybe not the Scavengers, though. But it would be a much harder fight to beat if that were the case... Maybe. Nora had to think it through-that would pretty much be half of Liao, with a massive stranglehold on imports that Liao desperately needed to keep functional.

"Well then, you'd think it'd be better if no-one was doing anything about it?" Yvonne questioned.

"No, but that's precisely the situation we're in right now anyways. I mean, I think this is just a whole big sham. The Black Lotus either scam everyone out of the Blaze Jewel or just win as usual and go on to make like ultra-big domination soldiers of death or something-"

"Hrm, let's put it this way. If we were a united front, would we be able to field one team or three like we are now?" Yvonne asked.

"I know for a fact you're not united," The Rotom curtly responded.

Nora kept searching. The highest echelons of the pews, the roof, the area above-any snipers, anything. Was there anything? Nora didn't catch the glimpse of a sniper scope there or the subtle bump of a body on the roof-unless there was one directly above her, but then, they wouldn't really have a view over Nora and company. She kept searching. The Mimikyu came up again... Hrm. Were there any important Mimikyu she knew of? There was that Carpet-Weaver guy making waves... And that was about it. Nora didn't have a physical profile, but she kept tabs on the Mimikyu.

"...So you really think this is all for nothing, then?" Yvonne asked.

"Yep. No way you could win the games," the Rotom asked.

Nora's eyes briefly met Yvonne's. The two knew that the acutal details of the job itself could sway over the Rotom... But dare they?

"Now, can you just scram-"

"NO!" Nora jumped a little. No, that wasn't her, nor Yvonne. She looked back to the Gliscor and the Empoleon-the gliscor was standing up, then remembered where he was and, slowly, sat down, warily searching the area like Nora would. His glimpse passed Nora without stopping-Nora knew it, no recognition of her, at least. Her ears strained to hear what he might have to say next. "... No. You're asking too much, sir. I thought any price would be acceptable, but you've somehow surpassed my expectations. You could probably make the Queen turn down immortality for what you've just asked, good sir."

The Empoleon mildly shifted. Nora realized that the trio of Eeveelutions were trying to listen in-the general feel of the back row suddenly silenced. "...I would talk further, but you've attracted too much attention. Another time, perhaps. And trust me when I say that the cost is perhaps less than you think of it. I will say this; what if it were to be such that you had less than what you believed?"

"Doubtful," the Gliscor said. "But I will keep you in touch."

Nora wondered where she would have heard of a Gliscor before. Nothing came to her in the world of spycraft-these must be talking business. But what kind of deal would make Taiya refuse to pay?

"...That was... Something." Nora said.

"OK, uh, yeah. Uh, but seriously, can you scram? I just... I'unno. I just wanted to forget about how bad life seems to be, for a moment."

"Forgetting about how bad life could be is just... Look, you said it yourself that the games were a sham. Now..." Yvonne bent in. Whispering-whispering Nora could barely hear despite being right next to them-ensured.

"... What if it were that there were plans to take the very prize-"

"No."

The Rotom's response was just so final, so just absolutely noncooperational, that Yvonne had to back up. "I'm sorry, what-"

"No, I've said it already. Not. Interested." The Rotom turned back to the games.

"You don't believe in better?" Nora asked.

"Not at this rate," The Rotom responded.

"Better doesn't happen just because. It doesn't happen randomly, you know," Yvonne said. "If you don't want it to acutally happen-"

"I'm not risking my life over it, period," The Rotom asked.

"Your scat-filled, terrible life?" Nora asked.

"It's better than nothing," the Rotom said.

"What was up with the casino?" Nora asked.

"Some dumb attempt to get rich. The guy who was supposed to show up never did," the Rotom responded.

"And why did you target there, instead of some filthy run-down slum home?" Nora said.

"There was actually a lot of money there?" The Rotom asked, as if that was something obvious.

"You crazy? The slumdogs have a lot of minor knick-nacks they keep around that are worth way more and are easier to steal. You could easily make a living off of that old crap they keep around... They don't have any way to protect themselves either. You could just possess a small TV, walk off, pawn it off, repeat it until the night's over, then repeat it again when everyone's off to work whatever menial eight-to-five they've got. Bam."

Yvonne was giving mildly disapproving looks, but the Rotom looked mildly curious. "...What?"

"You probably thought of that already, didn't you, though? You just thought they either wouldn't have enough... Or you couldn't bring yourself to do it. The rich guys are easy targets, right?" Nora said.

"...Yeah. I, I tried, once. It was easy. But I couldn't do it again, I couldn't even make off with it. It just felt so... Even by the standards of this kako-filled a*sfest, that was too wrong," the Rotom said.

"So, you're willing to risk it against one of the biggest-a*s casinos and hotels in all of Xia, owned by one of the most powerful and influential Pokemon in Xia, for a payout that probably would have arrested you on the spot and thrown you in a Black Lotus prison for the rest of your life, but you won't do it against some nearly-a-hobo that could get you nearly as much in a go much faster?" Nora asked.

"Yes." The Rotom said.

"I'm sorry, but the way you've been talking, it sounds like you should just be crushing everyone and try to reach the top no matter what or who you inconvenience, but if you can't actually do that, are you sure that's what you really believe?" Yvonne asked.

Silence. Nora resumed glimpsing, keeping her eyes as peeled as possible for anything-anything! Anything that she may have missed before. Her ears were peeled for the most interesting covnersations, her eyes for the most interesting sights in the stands-anything! She noticed a kill on the Thundercrash gang now on the scoreboard-they were duking it out with the Prankster Platoon.

"...If there was a chance you could make one thing better-or hell, just stick it up to those snobs up top-would you consider it for a second?" Yvonne asked the rotom.

"I, I already did?" The Rotom asked. His voice mildly broke.

"So you're just going to live an unfulfilling life, capable of doing great, crazy things but refusing to do so, but you can't do the terrible, awful things that'd put you up top either. You're going to just let life die because you can't risk living it?"

"...Uuuuuuuuuugh. Fine. But first! Who are you and what is it that you want?" The Rotom asked. Nora's mind felt like a birthday celebration-thank goodness.

Yvonne's voice resumed whispering, and Nora resumed looking out. The Rotom's eyes bulged. "...What."

"Yes, I know... I don't think I'm ready for it myself, to be honest. It's something that's buzzing in my mind, the doubts, the fears, the worries-But I can't let that drag me down. We're going to be doing it, no matter what-but you could help, so much. You have that, uh... Possession thing, and it's not something everyone can protect against. You could really help. You could be responsible for one of the best changes Liao ever had. A hero! That would be a life well-lived, in my opinion."

"Mine too... Good god I'm shaking so much thinking about it. I've done risky, crazy cr*p before. I've done scat that felt like whoever thought of it pulled the idea from the depths of Murhe itself. But this is like someone dug beneath Murhe and then found somewhere more horrible. This just screams bad idea... But..."

"But what?" The Rotom asked. "What are you thinking? If it's that bad-sounding, why are you considering it?"

"You want to know why I suggested robbing the poor? I didn't have a family, I didn't have anything except trash, dumpsters and some hobos, and I'm lucky to have kept to friendly hobos, in this friggin' wretched hellhole. I should not have survived. I did. Mostly by theft, but I did. I don't think there's much lower on the totem pole of society to be. Of course, my antics didn't exactly curray favor with the Black Lotus, and they decided that since I wasn't with them... I had to jump ship. Managed to get to Jadeblossom... You've ever been there?"

"No." The Rotom asked. "What's it like?"

"Can't say it's perfect. That'd be a filthy lie and you'd know it. But it's like friggin' paradise. Food's better. Air's better. Everything is better over there. It's like, friggin Utopia over there, compared to this place. It's not perfect, there's still the usual troubles, but when you're livin' as a hobo in Lytala city, the comparison is like, wow. I never felt anything like it before. Can't say I'd be totally willing to die for it... But the Black Lotus are bearing down on my neck."

"... OK, there's one other thing you should know. Havard didn't call the police on you-he said you were lucky that he wasn't. You remember that, right?" Yvonne said. The Rotom simply bobbed up and down. More whispering-most likely about how the Graceida Order was there. Nora suspected that he held off of the police investigation because then they'd be turned up, and Havard would be in even deeper water than if he was 'merely' unveiled as a cannibal. The rotom's eyes lit up in shock.

"...But that would mean-"

"Well, that would mean that Havard is only waiting on us to fail, or at least for the competition to be over so we can get out of his hair. Then he can call the cops on you for the crime. The Black Lotus isn't about to oust one of their best moneymakers and certainly won't go easy on you either way. I don't want to hold this above your head, of course. You could run-but between Ante and the Master Blaze Jewel, running may not be an option," Yvonne said. "Interested now?"

The Rotom looked at the duo contemplatively for a while. Nora kept back to her scrutinizing of the crowd. "... Fine, I suppose... I guess."

"Awesome!" Yvonne said. Nora nodded her approval.

Now it was just watching the games, right? The screen flickered back to the Decidueye... Wasn't that... Oh, it was. Athena Pallas... Huh. Wonder what she was thinking of. She probably didn't see Nora or Yvonne, so far back in the crowd as they were. Nora had to watch for a moment. She hadn't really watched before. Maybe there was some tip, some trick, some tactic, that she could pull out of this to enhance her performance later on. Maybe.

Something.

Anything.