Field Office 9 - Late Morning - Drizzle
Cyrilla Niav
Cyrilla hummed softly to herself as she typed away at her computer. She could hear Zephyr purring slightly underneath her desk, probably curled in the bed Cyrilla bought for her the other day. Siri was hanging off the back of her chair for some strange reason, and Noctis seemed preoccupied with the orchid plant on the edge of Cyrilla's desk. Diva seemed content laying on the small two-seater sofa in the office, causing Cyrilla to huff lightly.
“You're a jerk, you know that?" Cyrilla stated as Diva snorted at her. “You could at least make some room on the couch for Siri. You know she likes to cuddle with you," she continued, watching as Diva lifted her head and glared. “Fine, fine. Have it your way, jerk." Chuckling softly, Cyrilla powered down her computer, shutting it off before a knock at her door caught her attention. She spotted Eryk in her door, lips pursed in a relaxed line as he glanced at the pokémon around the room.
“Meeting, and then lunch," he stated in his usual tone. “It won't be too long, I don't think. Aidan says he has something to tell us about the upcoming qualifying tournament," he added. Cyrilla blinked before nodding.
“Alright, give me a second," she stated, as she recalled her pokémon. Siri refused to go into her ball, though, causing Cyrilla to shake her head, and scooped the noibat up. “Fine, but you better be on your best behaviour. And no using Aidan as a roosting spot, alright?" she stated, earning a happy chirp from Siri.
They made their way towards the conference room where Cyrilla was certain Aidan and Kasimir would be. “Here," Eryk stated once they'd entered the room. He and Cyrilla took a seat as she cradled Siri in her arms, resting her head on top of the noibat's.
The other two were indeed already present—Kas had some middle-aged guy's picture up on the projection screen. Aidan was writing something in a file, but looked up to nod slightly at them as they entered. "Good, you're here." Closing the file, he glanced at Kas and nodded slightly.
"Right," Kas said, shrugging and gesturing up at the man on the screen. He was wearing an expensive suit—not quite a top of the line brand, but not far off, either, with a blue silk tie and a bowler had. "This guy is Antonio Geiger. He's a pretty middle-of-the-road promoter in the pro-battling scene. He specializes in scouting new talent and matching them with sponsors, which if he does successfully nets him an 'introduction fee' paid by the sponsor."
Aidan nodded. "It's legal, but some people think it's kind of shady. What's not legal is taking fees from trainers to be promoted, but some of them do it anyway. We're pretty sure Geiger doesn't though, which is good, since I've just confirmed that he's going to be at the Cinnabar Island Preseason Tournament at the end of the month."
Eryk furrowed his brows lightly, and pushed a soft sigh through his nose. Cyrilla arched a brow at that, though. She already knew where this was going; Eryk and Kasimir had to find a way to be scouted by that particular promoter. She glanced at Eryk and watched as the expressions passed over his face. Well, the ones she could tell were there, anyway. He didn't seem too pleased, but that was just how he was.
“That means we have to catch his eye if we want to be promoted?" Ryk asked arching a brow at Aidan.
“With the progress you and Kas have made so far, I don't think it should be too hard, Ryk," Cyrilla stated. He might not have had the chance to go on a journey to be a trainer, but he was undoubtedly good at it. Kasimir was a good trainer, too, from what little she was able to see of their matches against Aidan. She'd been too busy reading all the material Aidan had given her, and then some from the library.
"That's the basic idea," Aidan replied with a shrug. "Of course, doing well in the preseason tournament will take care of most of it, but the rest is going to be Cyrilla's job as your agent. You're going to want to shmooze this guy, talk up your clients, see if he's willing to grease some wheels for you."
Kas snorted softly. "Make him think we're worth the effort to talk up to sponsors in turn, huh?"
"Pretty much."
“Think you can handle that?" Eryk stated, causing Cyrilla to roll her eyes. She could hear the concern in his voice, but he didn't have to worry about it.
“Did you forget that it's my specialty, Ryk?" she countered, raising a brow in his direction. Siri chirped as if agreeing with her, causing Cyrilla to chuckle a bit. “The real question here, Ryk, is are you prepared? I might be talking the both of you up, but you also have to do your part, too. Kas, I'm not so worried about. The guy is as charming as a skitty, but you?" she began, shaking her head a bit.
“You need a different kind of charm. It's not that I don't think you could do it, but different things work for people. Kas has his charm, and his charisma. You... need to find something that works for you." Eryk pursed his lips together, but shrugged. At least he wasn't going to protest. Cyrilla inwardly felt relieved.
“Whatever helps us out," he finally stated, causing Cyrilla to smile a little.
Aidan snorted. "I mean let me put it this way: there's a fair number of curmudgeons in pro-battling. They let me in, after all." He glanced back towards Kas. "You got the tournament details?"
Kas nodded, switching the screen to what appeared to be a list of names and an as-yet incomplete bracket view. "Okay so it's a preseason event, which means none of the big names are going to be out for points yet. But the nice thing about it is the top four finishers all qualify into one regular-season tournament of their choice, so if we can manage that, then even if the promoter thing fails we can buy ourselves another chance."
He hummed. "As far as competition goes, it's hard to say how it's shaping up. Most of these people are locals and unknowns; I'm still running checks on some of them so I don't have all the information yet. Plus there's still a week before registration closes. Tournament's capped at three hundred, but I don't think it's going to have any trouble reaching that number, so it'll probably run a whole weekend. I've put in our registrations already—as you can see."
The names Nero, Eryk and Rheinallt, Kasimir were indeed included in the list, sorted alphabetically with the rest. Right below Kas was Rheinallt, Melody, too.
Cyrilla grinned a little as she rested her head on Siri's and turned so that she was facing Eryk. “Looks like you'll have some good competition, Ryk," she stated, earning a soft snort from Ryk. “What, you don't think so?" she asked, highly amused by the way his brow arched slightly. It almost looked smug, and that had surprised Cyrilla a bit, if she were being honest.
When was the last time he'd been so expressive?
“I wasn't saying that, exactly," he stated, reaching over to scratch behind Siri's ear. Cyrilla huffed lightly as she turned towards Kasimir.
“You hear that, Kas? Ryk thinks he's going to kick your ass," she huffed lightly before shaking her head. Aidan said that the four finishers would still be able to land another chance at getting a promoter if they couldn't get one this round. Cyrilla, of course, was going to take her job very seriously, even if it was mostly just for cover.
"I'm offended," Kas replied, holding a hand to his heart, though the glimmer of amusement in his eyes easily gave him away. He seemed to find Ryk's unusual range of expression to be as interesting as she did, though, even as his playful grin faded to more of a smirk.
“The qualifying tournament is at the end of the month, right? Is there anything else we need to prepare for? Other than what we've already gone over?" she asked. It wouldn't hurt to be as prepared as possible. The more she had, the more she could work with. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't work with less.
"Not really," Aidan replied. "Try not to totally ooze confidence if you're speaking to a possible connection to the endgame here," he advised Ryk and Kas. "And with your stuff, Cyrilla, focus for now on talking them up, but later down the line don't be afraid to drop a couple hints that they're feeling the pressure. We're trying to draw out the sharpedos here—we're gonna have to act like there's some blood in the water, but not too much or they'll sense a trap."
"Oh good. We're chum now. This'll be fun," Kas joked.
Cyrilla snickered softly as Eryk rolled his eyes. “Not too late to back out, you know," Cyrilla joked. This was their mission; they couldn't just back out. To her surprise, though, Eryk narrowed his eyes in her direction, lips pursing into a fine line.
“Not a chance," he spoke, something fierce flashing in his eyes. Cyrilla hadn't seen that in such a long time. The last time she'd seen anything like that was when he...
“Good," she stated, hiding her smile behind Siri's large ears. “How about we go get lunch, now?" she stated, picking her head back up and glancing at the others. “Unless there's something else that needs to be done."
"Sounds good to me," Aidan said, stretching his arms over his head. "I'll head up to the lab and grab Doc."
“We'll meet you guys in the foyer!"
“You're a jerk, you know that?" Cyrilla stated as Diva snorted at her. “You could at least make some room on the couch for Siri. You know she likes to cuddle with you," she continued, watching as Diva lifted her head and glared. “Fine, fine. Have it your way, jerk." Chuckling softly, Cyrilla powered down her computer, shutting it off before a knock at her door caught her attention. She spotted Eryk in her door, lips pursed in a relaxed line as he glanced at the pokémon around the room.
“Meeting, and then lunch," he stated in his usual tone. “It won't be too long, I don't think. Aidan says he has something to tell us about the upcoming qualifying tournament," he added. Cyrilla blinked before nodding.
“Alright, give me a second," she stated, as she recalled her pokémon. Siri refused to go into her ball, though, causing Cyrilla to shake her head, and scooped the noibat up. “Fine, but you better be on your best behaviour. And no using Aidan as a roosting spot, alright?" she stated, earning a happy chirp from Siri.
They made their way towards the conference room where Cyrilla was certain Aidan and Kasimir would be. “Here," Eryk stated once they'd entered the room. He and Cyrilla took a seat as she cradled Siri in her arms, resting her head on top of the noibat's.
The other two were indeed already present—Kas had some middle-aged guy's picture up on the projection screen. Aidan was writing something in a file, but looked up to nod slightly at them as they entered. "Good, you're here." Closing the file, he glanced at Kas and nodded slightly.
"Right," Kas said, shrugging and gesturing up at the man on the screen. He was wearing an expensive suit—not quite a top of the line brand, but not far off, either, with a blue silk tie and a bowler had. "This guy is Antonio Geiger. He's a pretty middle-of-the-road promoter in the pro-battling scene. He specializes in scouting new talent and matching them with sponsors, which if he does successfully nets him an 'introduction fee' paid by the sponsor."
Aidan nodded. "It's legal, but some people think it's kind of shady. What's not legal is taking fees from trainers to be promoted, but some of them do it anyway. We're pretty sure Geiger doesn't though, which is good, since I've just confirmed that he's going to be at the Cinnabar Island Preseason Tournament at the end of the month."
Eryk furrowed his brows lightly, and pushed a soft sigh through his nose. Cyrilla arched a brow at that, though. She already knew where this was going; Eryk and Kasimir had to find a way to be scouted by that particular promoter. She glanced at Eryk and watched as the expressions passed over his face. Well, the ones she could tell were there, anyway. He didn't seem too pleased, but that was just how he was.
“That means we have to catch his eye if we want to be promoted?" Ryk asked arching a brow at Aidan.
“With the progress you and Kas have made so far, I don't think it should be too hard, Ryk," Cyrilla stated. He might not have had the chance to go on a journey to be a trainer, but he was undoubtedly good at it. Kasimir was a good trainer, too, from what little she was able to see of their matches against Aidan. She'd been too busy reading all the material Aidan had given her, and then some from the library.
"That's the basic idea," Aidan replied with a shrug. "Of course, doing well in the preseason tournament will take care of most of it, but the rest is going to be Cyrilla's job as your agent. You're going to want to shmooze this guy, talk up your clients, see if he's willing to grease some wheels for you."
Kas snorted softly. "Make him think we're worth the effort to talk up to sponsors in turn, huh?"
"Pretty much."
“Think you can handle that?" Eryk stated, causing Cyrilla to roll her eyes. She could hear the concern in his voice, but he didn't have to worry about it.
“Did you forget that it's my specialty, Ryk?" she countered, raising a brow in his direction. Siri chirped as if agreeing with her, causing Cyrilla to chuckle a bit. “The real question here, Ryk, is are you prepared? I might be talking the both of you up, but you also have to do your part, too. Kas, I'm not so worried about. The guy is as charming as a skitty, but you?" she began, shaking her head a bit.
“You need a different kind of charm. It's not that I don't think you could do it, but different things work for people. Kas has his charm, and his charisma. You... need to find something that works for you." Eryk pursed his lips together, but shrugged. At least he wasn't going to protest. Cyrilla inwardly felt relieved.
“Whatever helps us out," he finally stated, causing Cyrilla to smile a little.
Aidan snorted. "I mean let me put it this way: there's a fair number of curmudgeons in pro-battling. They let me in, after all." He glanced back towards Kas. "You got the tournament details?"
Kas nodded, switching the screen to what appeared to be a list of names and an as-yet incomplete bracket view. "Okay so it's a preseason event, which means none of the big names are going to be out for points yet. But the nice thing about it is the top four finishers all qualify into one regular-season tournament of their choice, so if we can manage that, then even if the promoter thing fails we can buy ourselves another chance."
He hummed. "As far as competition goes, it's hard to say how it's shaping up. Most of these people are locals and unknowns; I'm still running checks on some of them so I don't have all the information yet. Plus there's still a week before registration closes. Tournament's capped at three hundred, but I don't think it's going to have any trouble reaching that number, so it'll probably run a whole weekend. I've put in our registrations already—as you can see."
The names Nero, Eryk and Rheinallt, Kasimir were indeed included in the list, sorted alphabetically with the rest. Right below Kas was Rheinallt, Melody, too.
Cyrilla grinned a little as she rested her head on Siri's and turned so that she was facing Eryk. “Looks like you'll have some good competition, Ryk," she stated, earning a soft snort from Ryk. “What, you don't think so?" she asked, highly amused by the way his brow arched slightly. It almost looked smug, and that had surprised Cyrilla a bit, if she were being honest.
When was the last time he'd been so expressive?
“I wasn't saying that, exactly," he stated, reaching over to scratch behind Siri's ear. Cyrilla huffed lightly as she turned towards Kasimir.
“You hear that, Kas? Ryk thinks he's going to kick your ass," she huffed lightly before shaking her head. Aidan said that the four finishers would still be able to land another chance at getting a promoter if they couldn't get one this round. Cyrilla, of course, was going to take her job very seriously, even if it was mostly just for cover.
"I'm offended," Kas replied, holding a hand to his heart, though the glimmer of amusement in his eyes easily gave him away. He seemed to find Ryk's unusual range of expression to be as interesting as she did, though, even as his playful grin faded to more of a smirk.
“The qualifying tournament is at the end of the month, right? Is there anything else we need to prepare for? Other than what we've already gone over?" she asked. It wouldn't hurt to be as prepared as possible. The more she had, the more she could work with. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't work with less.
"Not really," Aidan replied. "Try not to totally ooze confidence if you're speaking to a possible connection to the endgame here," he advised Ryk and Kas. "And with your stuff, Cyrilla, focus for now on talking them up, but later down the line don't be afraid to drop a couple hints that they're feeling the pressure. We're trying to draw out the sharpedos here—we're gonna have to act like there's some blood in the water, but not too much or they'll sense a trap."
"Oh good. We're chum now. This'll be fun," Kas joked.
Cyrilla snickered softly as Eryk rolled his eyes. “Not too late to back out, you know," Cyrilla joked. This was their mission; they couldn't just back out. To her surprise, though, Eryk narrowed his eyes in her direction, lips pursing into a fine line.
“Not a chance," he spoke, something fierce flashing in his eyes. Cyrilla hadn't seen that in such a long time. The last time she'd seen anything like that was when he...
“Good," she stated, hiding her smile behind Siri's large ears. “How about we go get lunch, now?" she stated, picking her head back up and glancing at the others. “Unless there's something else that needs to be done."
"Sounds good to me," Aidan said, stretching his arms over his head. "I'll head up to the lab and grab Doc."
“We'll meet you guys in the foyer!"