[attr="class","st-2-001"]

debrief

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arlette had been sitting silent since arriving, a finger curling strands hair as she waited for the meeting to start. she’d been in no condition to accept the support from the silph co. upon leaving the caves, thus making her deal with the annoying process of entering the building. all the steps (while simple and well executed) had left arlette exhausted only minutes into stepping inside the conference room. she’d been focused on two things since sitting down: minding her own business and keeping quiet. at least kim cole-essam was there ; sort of.

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once the commissioner comes in the man leading the whole event begins. a video starts and arlette can’t help but wince at the recording. she’d lived through everything being shown so watching it playback like some high school presentation only left arlette feeling sick. the fall into the rough current, coughing up water from her lungs ― the whale and that same fear of drowning again ― and the regirock ; the video didn’t do it justice. the more traumatic scenes are cut (something arlette’s grateful for) but her mind helps fill in the blank spaces the tape leaves behind.

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everything arlette’s experienced (for the most part) had been displayed for the room to view and, once it came time for them to share, arlette doesn’t even bat an eye. she stays seated, slouched partially in content silence. everyone else could go ahead and share their thoughts on the past events before she. surely their insight would be more helpful to the group.



• noods is a liar he didn’t give me my 1000 money [break]
• sat next to kim cole-essam [break]
• didn’t say shit cause lmao just rewind the video tbh [break]

[attr="class,"memoryDarkheader"]

[attr="class,"memoryDarkbody"]Alex’s comment is met with a soft snort. ”Al, there’s no way I could give you a heart attack.” She smiles tiredly, “your fans would skin me alive.” The humor of her friend was greatly appreciated; god knows Vera needed a laugh. She was struck with a pang of guilt as she realized she hadn’t been attending to the other’s needs since the incident. From the looks of it, things weren’t going well with Alex either.[break][break]

The thermos is placed on the table and nudged towards Alex with the tips of her nails. The coffee inside it was no longer searing to the touch but instead it had dulled to a comforting warmth. ”Listen, this won’t give you cavities, but it’s there if you need it.” It’s an offering, a silent encouragement.[break][break]

She places her elbow on the table surface and supports her cheek on her hand, debating if she should continue as she runs her other hand through the blonde curls on her neck. She doesn’t want to push further, but the curiosity and fear are difficult to ignore. She lowers her voice, keeping this conversation between the two of them. ”Is it about the League?” she asks, knowing the organization’s affairs have been less than stellar for a while now. Its heavy leaning towards a private corporation such as Silph only adds to the question.[break][break]

The conversation takes to the backburner as the meeting commences. She presses her back against her chair as they take a trip to the past. It did capture her attention; For the most part, she and Alex had been on a separate path from the group, and although it had been perilous in its own right, it seemed the other rescuers had their own plethora of risks on the way to the doors. A Wailord in a cave? A chasm with roaring waters? The guilt hits her again, piles on top of it; she could have helped them if she had stayed.[break][break]

She shakes it off. She’d already decided it back then. Leaving Alex to fend for himself would have hurt worse: he had been alone.[break][break]

Her eyes catch him in her peripherals. Would he have gone back if she hadn’t appeared? Hadn’t helped him in the puzzle? She bites the question down on her lips and watches several others discuss the one human casualty of the operation. She has nothing to offer except silent condolences. Poor kid.[break][break]

It is when Malcolm begins the discussion of the ruins themselves that she can pitch in. ”The path Hawthorne and I took had a manmade trap that activated and caved in the entrance—illuminated the carvings on the walls, too. We found something in there.”[break][break]

She crosses her arms, brow furrowed in concentration. ”A Swampert, but its genetic makeup had been altered.” Her research was League property. The photos of the fin and the Swampert had been sent beforehand for the presentation. There would be no secrets. When flashed, the room would know of hers and Alex’s discovery. “The source has yet to be found, but the effects are unprecedented: Swampert, a third-stage evolution pokemon, had achieved another level of evolution.”[break][break]

She continues, recalling their experience with the unusual creature. “It took two fully-evolved pokemon to take it down. There were no signs of intelligence unusual to a hostile wild, but it couldn’t be captured by a pokeball, and it was able to use Ancient Power, a move only obtained through breeding in the Swampert line. The running theory is that its DNA had already been registered to a ball left active somewhere in the ruins.”[break][break]

There’s a sigh as her shoulders slump. They were likely never to find the specimen or the ball now that the ruins had been reduced to nothing. No tracking of the owner, and no tests beyond the limits of the fin. “Unfortunately, we’ve also found the mutation isn’t permanent. The energy wavelengths began reverting back to normal after only a few days. Attempts to reproduce the effect have proven futile thus far.”[break][break]

✔ quietly curious about @joey
✔ learned what a regirock is
✔ relayed creighton's info on the peculiar stone