the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

Back to the grindstone it was with her, apparently. Elinda should have been expecting it - almost two weeks had passed since Gilbert's visit and since she had been added to the League's payroll as an active... agent? No, too formal a word. Participant or irregular seemed like far better phrases befitting her role in the organization at this point. Regardless, sooner or later they were going to pull her into things and actually giving her work to do, although the first assignment thankfully wasn't all that different compared to the kinds of things Devon and the Safari Zone had her doing. Hell, she'd done a bit of security work as a trainer long before that as people typically weren't keen to mess with individuals in possession of multiple Gym badges, much less from several distinct regions.

More to the point, though, Elinda would have to thank Gilbert, even if he hadn't done anything. It was hard to say as she wasn't as familiar with the man as she had been with the child, but it was his style to pull a few strings to see that people got the assignments important to them.

It'd only been two weeks, but she was home again. Back in Lilycove, this time not merely as a resident but a League appointed protector.

Not that one would be liable to recognize the place.

It was a very alien thing to see, with most of the city proper cloaked in a wet, white blanket that the vast majority of the tropical island's inhabitants had likely never seen before, at least without traveling beyond the region's borders. As impressive as it was, though, it was an even stranger sight still to witness it rather abruptly stop outside of the city limits, giving way back to the region's typical climate where the jungle and rainforests reigned supreme. And right beyond that snowy border was where her assignment was - a small dig site, set in the foothills overlooking the city. Not too far from her own home, actually, and as Elinda turned to look off to the side from atop Metagross and several dozens of meters in the sky she was able to spy the property, having just narrowly avoided the local and abrupt climate change. Clad in her typical crimson coat and black clothing underneath it, the trainer wasn't on the clock quite yet, having just returned to Lilycove's airspace minutes earlier after receiving the assignment during her stay in Verdanturf. Supposedly there was another trainer already on site, and with any luck that meant things would remain under control long enough for the blond to do a fly over and get a feel for the altered terrain.

This may've been her back yard at one point, but moving a bit of dirt could change a lot in a very short time.

Spotting the League station that had been set up alongside the dig site, Elinda would lean over to pat Metagross above the eye, getting his attention before pointing down to the building in question - not long after, the Iron Leg Pokemon would alter his flight path, bringing the pair down in a gentle descent for landing.

@honoka

the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

As Metagross touched down at the station Elinda saw that she'd indeed been correct about the presence of another trainer... one with impressive Pokemon, no less. Dragonair and Metang weren't all that strong compared to their evolved forms - at least no stronger than your average Pokemon of similar typing that any number of trainers might be carrying - but they did immediately tell Elinda a number of things about the younger woman. First, she either had relatives or similar connections to obtain such difficult to find species as that was how Elinda had acquired hers... or she was a far more experienced trainer than her age would imply, which wouldn't be out of place considering the other thing the two Pokemon in question said. While the same couldn't be said of Dratini to quite the same extent as they were already fairly versatile Pokemon, Beldum were not easy to train unless you were both lucky enough and smart enough to teach them moves aside from Take Down... and even then it tended to be an uphill battle as they were slow growing Pokemon, comparable to titans like Tyranitar, Dragonite and Hydreigon who often took years or even decades to evolve.

It boded well.

Feeling the slight shock of Metagross's legs touching the soft, tropical soil Elinda wasted no time in vaulting over the front of the Pokemon and allowing her knees to absorb the force of the landing, dusting her coat off as the other trainer approached her. She'd been able to tell that the other woman was young from a distance, but not that young now that she was getting a better look at the girl. At a glance Elinda almost had to say she was the same age as-

"... bwah?" It wasn't a word so much as a general sound of confusion as the girl started talking. The sense of familiarity wasn't something Elinda typically expected from other trainers much less people in general, and- hold on. That name. Why did she know that name? Unless-

Oooohhhh, a number of pieces were beginning to fall into place here. She was from Johto... or at least that was the place she had last visited. Elinda was extremely surprised to hear that Ryusuke had opened up to anyone, though, much less about his immediate family. Generally speaking he was a very private person who disliked people prying into his personal matters, and that had gone even for her and his father. The hand that was offered to Elinda went largely unnoticed as the woman continued trying to process what was being said, though, and more importantly why.

Given what she knew of her son and all the information this girl already had-

"You banged." Elinda said blankly, her expression matching her tone of voice. Having actually spoken the words aloud, the older blond snapped back to reality, one hand coming up flat in a gesture to stop Honoka from speaking further, the other pressing down on the bridge of her nose.

Nope. None of her business. More pressing matters to attend to. The Ex or- no. Again. Dropping it.

"Job description said there were bandits in the area, probably planning to raid the dig site. Any sign of 'em?" Elinda said, eyes still shut and hand to her face.

@honoka

the things that you might like don't grow inside of me

Well, that was one bit of good news. Depending on how you looked at it, anyways. First possibility was that League intel was good, bandits caught wind of the improved security at the dig site and it had scared them off. Best possibility, no conflict and no need for violence. At the same time, though, the least likely as the gang had been dumb enough to be spotted in the first place. Second possibility - League's intel was bad, but with ultimately the same outcome as the first. Problem there was that bad intel was never a good thing since it could lead to a lot of problems elsewhere... silver lining being that if they found out about it here it hadn't been on a job where it could've done some real damage.

The third possibility, though, was the one that kept Elinda on guard as she walked past Honoka to look over the dig site as the younger trainer was struck beet red and left sputtering. Third possibility - they were dumb enough to get seen, dumb enough to try it anyways while trying to be clever about it. That particular option left a lot of room for potential fuck ups on both sides, and chances were that whatever the gang did was going to result in a lot of collateral if they were just outright incompetent. Flip side of that coin... still no good, and Elinda was still mulling over the potential outcomes in her head as Honoka spoke up again from behind her.

"Eh? Oh. .... grrreat?" Elinda responded, barely glancing back and the words spoken carrying heavy emphasis on the older woman's distracted nature. It wasn't that she hadn't heard what Honoka had said, but... dumb criminals and quiet didn't typically go together, and something was still bothering her about the whole scenario. None of the League employees and scientists in the pits below looked out of place and none of the vehicles around the site weren't supposed to be there... so what was it?

@honoka