While it was difficult to properly comprehend the scope of the coming pandemonium, it was palatable after having engaged with just one of these Zodiac people directly. These plans would utterly destroy and upend the lives of all the people in Hoenn. It would be overwhelming for most anyone to shoulder on their own.

Luckly, Tristan was never alone.

[i]”How are you feeling?”[/i] He spoke to Oracle first, seemingly ignoring Forrest. Rather, he was preparing the documentation and his thoughts to debrief the now less-modestly-clothed man.

[i]”I am well enough…”[/i] She never lied. She never particularly felt the need to. Still, she wasn’t incapable of placating and speaking around the full truth. Tristan pulled his lips in, knowing well what she meant, but knowing he couldn’t do anything about it. Either way, it was more important to relay the information and start to formulate a plan.

Tristan raised an eyebrow once he physically looked at Forrest. It’s like he was [i]trying[/i] to get a rise out of him.

“Well, quite a bit. I guess Shaq’ti and I make a good team.” He looked at her and offered her a forced half-smile. “We found essentially exactly what we were looking for.” He was stalling, that much was clear.

But, it wouldn’t be for that long. “First, it seems that the Zodiacs weren’t directly involved in the attack on Mauville. Though, we do have a list of individuals that are allegedly involved, along with quite a list of names that worked under Jonton. Oh, and their business dealings too. I’ll be giving all of this to the Master General momentarily.” One of Tristan’s many gifts, other than his impeccable sense of style, was his ability to multitask. Even as he spoke fluidly to Forrest he was typing up some sort of report.

“Second, we have a list of targets. Luckily, you, your wife, and your kids aren’t one of them.” He paused, allowing Forrest to make the inference for himself. A moment later, Tristan pointed to the TV on the wall behind him revealing the report he was working on, scrolling back to the list of targets to which he was referring.

“I’ve already sent Veritas to collect my parents and Percy. I figure it’s better to have them here. I wanted to let you decide how to handle your parents.” He’d pause and allow Forrest some time to digest all of this.

And he had only just begun.

“Luckily, as you can see, HQ isn’t listed as a target. I’m not sure how much I believe that, though. Hopefully we can confirm this… somehow.” Tristan might have seemed worried, but he was at the same time trying to come up with some sort of solution.

“In any case, the personnel files here are 3 years old. I’m not sure if another location would have more updated documents. It’d be annoying if they were organized enough to not have everything in one location. Spread everything out, as it were. Makes our job harder.” Tristan continued to effectively mask his concern as he spoke. He tried to keep focused on the task and his job. His personal feelings and emotions would have to wait until later.

And it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Now, there aren’t any dates or indications of when or what they plan to do at the locations or with the personnel. So, we’ll have to come up with a few contingencies to account for possible plans of attack they might have. What I’m most concerned about, though, is…” and he would scroll down to the portion he had written up about the Zodiacs themselves. 

Taurus, Sagittarius, and Pisces were the only ones with information regarding their appearance, Pokemon, and aliases (only in the case of Sagittarius as “Sarah”). They would also list the Mythical Pokemon, but the rest only had this last piece.

“I don’t know if they are already in possession of these, if they’re still looking for them, or what they plan to do with them. The only thing was their names next to the Pokemon. But…” He wasn’t going to allow them much time to consider the implications of this, and would rather focus on their next task.

“We need to head to the Southern Island base as soon as we can.” He’d finally turn to face Forrest. “How much do you trust Rich?” he asked. With the two of them here, with what they had just experienced, there was no mental energy remaining for formalities. Also, the question was serious, and his eyes bored deep into the man. Even managing to ignore his physique for the moment.

“I have 2 reports I’m prepared to send out. One with just the information about Jonton, the information regarding those that worked under him and their business dealings. And one with everything I’ve just told you.

“Now… I need you to be honest with me. I don’t care how you [i]feel[/i] about the Master General. I need to know if there is anything that might cause you to hesitate to give him this information. Anything at all.” He was deadly serious, and would go on to explain why.

“Right now, the only thing we have going for us is that we have an inkling into what they might be doing. We know that they’re looking into all of these people. We can’t overpower them. So the only thing we can do is try to out-maneuver them, and even that is going to be near-impossible. We need to make sure they continue to underestimate us, and we need to overestimate them.” He paused, wondering if it were even possible to overestimate these Zodiac people.