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[Junahia]

Junahia walked out from Deathgorge onto Route 5, The Barrens. Appropriately named, too, as he could see that everything here was barren and desert-like. He scanned the surrounding area, looking for anything or anyone he could battle for the advancement of Tsunami and Hurricane, who he released from their pokeballs so that they would be ready to battle.

[Indigo]

Jun would find the Barrens lived up to its name quite well in that it was devoid of much other than packed dirt and dust. Even the air seemed dead and stagnant in the heat, and the only shade around came in the form of the occasional collections of rocks around.

If the terrain was in any way beneficial, it was that any pokemon or human was much more visible against the plain backdrop of the area.

- A pair of numels were slowly trodding their way across the land.

- A hippopotas lowed loudly and stamped the earth several times.

- A baltoy slowly spun in place for no apparent reason.

- Three rattatas were running around.

- Close Junahia's right was a lone female trainer, possibly eighteen or around that age, making her way in the direction of Deathgorge. Though dressed for the weather in tan, airy, long-sleeved clothes and a wide-brimmed hat for the sun, she still needed to take a swig of water from a bottle. She appeared to be looking for something, and when she believed she had, she eagerly pointed a PokeDEX out and discovered she had found the three rattatas. Her shoulders visibly slumped in disappointment.

- A little farther off to the left were three men, all sitting down and dressed in light-colored, long-sleeved outfits similar to that of the trainer who found the rattatas. The tallest of the three sat and dangled meat above the mouth of a houndour. The shortest was watching a quilava run around him in circles, and the third, examining something metallic, accompanied by a xatu, and having a scarf hanging open around around his neck, was unmistakably Garuda.

[Junahia]

Jun groaned at the site of Garuda. He liked being a Rocket, but was hopeful of some time off. He hoped that Garuda wouldn't notice or recognise him too much when he wasn't dressed in his rocket outfit. However, he was happy enough to see two numels. They would be good training for Hurricane and Tsunami. He whipped out his PokeDEX and pointed it towards the two pokemon, awaiting their descriptions.

[Indigo]

(( Garuda: ;_; )))

This numel is female and level nine. This numel is male and level twelve, said the PokeDEX.

Kris, who had been folloing along quietly, raised an eyebrow at Jun's groan. "What? What is it?" she said, glancing in the same direction Jun looked to try and figure it out.

Garuda had seen Junahia, as their eyes did meet, but the Rocket casually looked the other way as if it were a passing glance and rose. He and his small group began heading in the opposite direction, the tall houndour trainer laughing and cheerfully throwing his arms around his fellow companions' shoulders as they went.

[Junahia]

Junahia looked at Garuda again, then to Kris as she spoke, then he glanced back to the numels. He had numerous thoughts rushing through his mind, and he couldn't decide what to do. Jun sighed and withdrew his pokemon, then he smiled at Kris. "Come on, I want you to meet some one. We need to be quick though." He quickly walked towards Garuda and made an attempt to catch up with him.

[Indigo]

It wouldn't be hard. The three were going at a leisurely pace.

"-music, games, text messaging, clocks for all the regions of the world, can surf the internet, and get this: it's a phone, too," boomed the tallest.

"Surely you jest," Garuda laughed, somewhat incredulous, and with effort managed to pull himself out of the near chokehold the man had on him. "Combining so many within one. It's madness!"

A chortling reply. "Certainly not!"

"But can it take pictures?" rasped the shortest as he too pried himself free. "Like the other?"

"Yes, yes it can!"

"Still your lying tongue!" "Lies!"

All three had noticed that Junahia and Kris were following, and they all glanced back. It was Garuda's eyes who lingered though and his smile, left from the previous conversation, died down into a puzzled frown. When he stopped walking, so did the others.

[Junahia]

Jun saw the way they looked at him, and stopped to speak to Kris. He whispered so the others couldn't hear him. "Kris. Stay here for a sec. I'll be back shortly, I just need to speak to one of these guys for a second." He turned and walked towards the three. Jun approached the one he knew to be Garuda and ignored the others.

"How's it, boss? I think I'd like to speak to you for a bit, if that's no problem." He averted his gaze from Garuda to the others about him, to see who they all were.

[Indigo]

"Uh, sure..." Kris said. She looked more baffled than anything else, but she did wait like asked and took the time to observe all three of the people Junahia had followed.

The tallest was a tanned man nearing his thirties. Though he was only athletic in terms of muscle mass and not actually burly, his height helped to convey more strength than he probably had. Behind his tangled, disheveled strands of long dark hair were a pair of wild eyes that had not been quite so vicious when he had initially turned around. His features were broad, thick, and covered with hair, from the makings of a unibrow to the short, hastily cut beard. Underneath his light, sweaty sleeves, Jun could see furs circling about his wrists. As such, the man smelled a little foul. Sometimes his upper lip would rise and flash a little teeth, as if he were an angry dog, and Junahia could hear him growl from deep within his throat.

The shortest, though looking the same age, was thinner in facial features and body structure. He lacked much of anything in muscle definition and the clothes he had barely seemed to fit. His beady blue eyes flickered to Junahia, then to Kris, then to Garuda, then to the tall man, then to Junahia all over again, never seeming to find a place to settle down and focus. Though it gave him a nervous air, the gaze was arguably as fierce as his taller friend and even more maddened. He had comparably little in the way of facial hair, only a five o' clock shadow, and the light brown ponytail he did have wasn't kept very clean. Every so often his nose would wiggle, seemingly without his consent, and he breathed rapidly through his nostrils. He was pale and smelled strongly of sunscreen.

Clean-shaven and actually taking the time to wash out his hair, Garuda was well-kept compared to the men he had spoken to, and decidedly less feral-looking. Garuda merely nodded to Junahia. "Then by all means, speak your peace," he said, no trace of concern in his voice. "You're in most understanding company."

His shortest man let up on his hostility at that point, though the tallest remained very tense.

[Junahia]

It would be lying to say that Junahia wasn't put off at all by the two other men stood nearby. They made him somewhat tense, and he wanted to think of a way to seem casual, calm and collected. He may have rushed into this conversation a little too quickly. Jun grinned to make it seem as if he was perfectly okay. "Well, boss. I was wondering if there's anything I can do to help out? I didn't really get to ask you after we last met, and I'm looking for something to do. There's a, uh, tournament going on here that I'm in, but that doesn't start for a while, and I'm sure my Pokemon could go for a work out before it. What do you say? You got anything for me?"

[Indigo]

Garuda thought it over a moment, but eventually just shook his head. "I apologize, but I have no work for you, merely a promotion. Just a few grunts working under you who have to do anything you say," he laughed. Then, taking notice of thinly-veiled hostility present in his group, his voice suddenly took a hard edge. "Amarok, Ratatosk, do show him some respect."

At the work "Amarok," tall man flinched and quietly averted his eyes from Junahia. Likewise, the shortest responded fearfully to "Ratatosk," and he physically stepped back, humbled.

"Yes, well," Garuda said, finding even more amusement in this twin display of humility. "If you accept the rise in status, we can quickly get the matter of your grunts settled and you can go about your business."

[Junahia]

Jun grinned. A few grunts of his own? Maybe the Rockets, or Garuda at least, saw more value in him than he had anticipated. And Garuda's comment to the two accompanying him made Jun think that they were perhaps grunts, also, and Jun should be seen as an authority to them. Or maybe he was getting power hungry. "So, a promotion? Hmm... Well, of course I accept, sir. What would that make me in rank? And when would these grunts be with me?" Jun said, thoughtfully rubbing his chin.

[Indigo]

"I suppose you would be called a supervisor. We aren't really known for creativity in titles here, just very good at recognizing who is superior," Garuda chuckled. "Your grunts can be with you in under fifteen minutes, as they are in the city already."

He then motioned to Amarok and Ratatosk. "I also offer two of my own for limited times. This giant here is Amarok, an excellent trainer of canine pokemon and a relentless hunter. Though he excels in wilderness survival and training pokemon, he is also quite intelligent in other matters at times." Amarok held his head high at the compliment. "The other is Ratatosk, a master of rodents, and well-versed in urban matters and gathering information. Both of them are very resourceful, fine warriors, and will not fail you. If you wish to use them now, you may." Ratatosk bowed his head a grinned at the boost to his own ego.

He pulled six slips of paper from his pocket. Each had a line of numbers on them, along with the name of a person in particular, though one was unmarked. "Three contacts for your people, two for mine, and one to contact me if need be," he said as he handed them to Junahia. "Treat your grunts as you will. I won't make the effort to care, so long as I do not hear of their blunders."

[Junahia]

Junahia chuckled with Garuda. No, they weren't very creative, from what he'd seen. A supervisor. He liked the sound of it. Jun had people that now worked for him, and that would do what he said. It felt good, for sure.

Garuda then went on to introduce his followers. Jun tilted his head to acknowledge them, once to Amarok, then once to Ratatosk. He figured that with his own grunts, the two of them wouldn't really become necessary. However, they sounded like good men, and it meant a lot to Jun that he could have some extra reinforcements if it was necessary.

He then took the papers from Garuda. Jun looked at each one to see what the names of the three grunts were - he would put the numbers into his PokeNAV after he was finished speaking to Garuda. Still, the blank paper made little sense to him, and he spoke up, holding it up for Garuda to see. "And the blank one, boss?" He also enjoyed the freedom of Garuda's last words. Treat them as he wants.

[Indigo]

The names were "Kale," "Xavier," and "Apollo." Also included were the names "Amarok" and "Ratatosk."

"Hmm? Oh, pardon, I may have forgotten to write my name to my number," Garuda said. He looked to Kris again, who was still standing there. "So, who is the young lady accompanying you today?"

[Junahia]

Junahia nodded to Garuda, though he thought that there must be more to the blank paper than he suggested. At the mention of Kris, Jun turned around. "Ah, her. She wants to be a Rocket. I have no intention of letting her be one, or letting her know of any of us, don't worry. She thinks I'm a cop, too. I just want to give her a little adventure so I can get in her. Her name's Kris, but she's nothing more than a pretty face to me."