[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]where technology is helpful, she finds most of her comfort in the dusty pages of old tomes. dug out of the aisles of various libraries and dragged here to fernando's own personal library. they surround her, now, as she lays on the floor. each one opened and abandoned, pages waiting to be turned.

there's nothing in majority of them, she's come to realize.

excerpts here and there of legendary battles in old times but besides that? nothing of great use.

the subject of groudon rises and falls, passing and weaving through each book until she's certain they connect but not sure how. it's as frustrating as it is interesting.

her attention snaps away from worn pages when he speaks and she's abandoning the books on the ground to join his side. a hand rises to brush against his shoulder, a reminder that she's close.

"not really," comes as a heaved sigh. not quite defeated but definitely frustrated. "each book outlines the same thing. the ancient battle ties in, sure, but there's nothing about a crystal being involved yet." they'll have to keep searching, keep reading until something clicks into place. until then, she's at a loss. "have you found anything?"

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]while he lays out the groundwork of what he's browsed through, she pulls her phone out. a text is thumbed up, glanced over, and sent away. it will land on one particular phone, cryptic and urgent. "need your help." sent to the only anthropologist she knows, Remiel Calcifet. her phone is then pocketed and left alone. if it buzzes with a response, she'll check after fernando has released his claws from her today.

"a god," she murmurs, plucking information from his brain and laying it out on a metaphorical table. eventually, it will make sense but for now? it's merely random puzzle pieces, the edges of them not fit to mold together. irritating. "either a savior or a monster. ancient battles fought against kyogre over territory? or overload from this primal energy?" she'll leave his side only to return with a book clutched to her chest. it's open, dusty pages staring up at her.

"in here, each is considered to be a creator. groudon of the land and kyogre of the sea. it mentions the primal age but nothing about where the energy comes from or how it's tamed," she glances up and away from page of lore to seek his eyes. "and still no crystal mention. if i could find a book on the primal age, it might be there. i fail to see how a crystal this important isn't accounted for anywhere." unless it's hidden in the carvings of a mural... dewford comes to mind and she begins thumbing through pages, as if searching for something to connect the two.

"there has to be more than just the same event, right?" illeana reyes is, unfortunately, baffled at the moment. each way she looks at it, any comprehension she had just flies out the window. "primal energy seems to be on a similar ground to mega evolution but i'm not positive how. it's, like, a close cousin or something?" overflow of energy altering the genetic structure to unlock more power, yes, but why just these two?

ugh, this is infuriating.

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]"the primal age was a time for beasts," she murmurs, as if reciting from the worn pages of a textbook. "a time of gods. groudon and kyogre created land and sea, respectively, or so it's been told." her stories of creation are different, sure, but she chalks that up to regional differences and shuffles on. except, her thoughts will drift back to the meeting as they collect information. she had dragged a book from home just in case her thoughts went in the current direction. it sits behind her, untouched with a metallic cover and gold script across the front.

sinnoh myths and legends, apparently needed in this quest. she'll grab for it once he finishes speaking, breaking their staring match for a moment.

"that's true. i doubt anyone knows much about the crystal's origin," she offers. illeana returns to face him, book now in hand and raised for him to see. " but the meeting got me thinking about why it's shifting out of place. if it's not connected to ultra space as the commissioner claims, then i can only see one other place." she'll spread the book open and offer him the marked page. her own handwriting sprawls across margins, arrows pointing to possible important pieces. "i think it's connected to the domain of this pokemon. it comes from sinnoh legend, something i happen to be quite familiar with. i haven't figured out how they're tethered, yet."

with her breakthrough comes his own. mega evolution stirs something in him, enough for him to exclaim mossdeep and pull collected data from the far corners of his database. she leans over his shoulder to browse, collarbone bumping into him in the process. she doesn't bother to apologize for the disturbance, instead dissolving into the new information.

"primal evolution looks different than mega," she murmurs. pieces are coming together, laid out for her hands to place. "mega evolution changes form almost completely to unlock hidden power. primal seems to be the beginning of it all but instead of changing the genetic structure, it looks to unlock power with minor changes. so, if mega stones aid in mega evolution, then does this crystal cause primal evolution?"

she'll look to him for an answer, as if either of them have an inkling behind the mystery. it's starting to come together but it's too hazy to tell, too soon to know for certain.

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]more information pours in, eliciting a thoughtful hum from the blonde. mega evolution called upon on a whim, abilities far surpassing any previous accounts of this phenomenon before... she asks pointless questions, then, if only to cement her own processing. "no stones used either, right? simply called upon?" just checking as wheels turn, as pieces lift and sort themselves into useful and useless columns.

and yet, something about it still baffles her. well, bothers might be the better description.

"based on what was described in the meeting, i'm assuming the connection between primal evolution and bailey's powers lies within this crystal." she retreats to her spread out books once more to return with a notepad. scribbled notes from the meeting sprawl across pages in messy cursive, offering a mild refresh of the topics discussed. "as both the crystal and primal energy were responsible for her avatar powers, i believe it might work similarly to the way a mega stone works with a normal pokemon. naturally, she's human but the way this crystal reacts to primal energy itself has me wondering if it's a source in itself." a pause, a consideration, a gathering of thoughts. "i don't want to assume before we know more but it's a high possibility it's very similar to a mega stone. primal stone, maybe?" she's merely guessing by the end.

illeana sorts through her memory as he turns his attention to her book. connections, books, myths and legends. there's a particular city that comes to mind while sifting through, one that stands out for monuments of legendary beasts. the mental note to visit is tucked away in that file and left for another time.

"i can make some calls," she murmurs thoughtfully, as if her entire phone book is on display in her mind's eye. her parents are scientists themselves but nothing having to do with dimensional instances. ah, but her father had one friend she can reach out to... it's a start. "and if needed, i can travel to sinnoh to gather what information i can from statues and shrines." a longshot, really, but possibly helpful.

a sigh escapes, then, and she draws her eyes back to the screens.

"it's coming together but nowhere near fast enough."

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]she understands progress doesn't happen overnight but damn, it sure needs to hurry it's ass up.

studying for so many hours leaves little ground made up. the notion is frustrating in itself. so much so that she offers a hum of acknowledgement and a lazy stretch to his uplifting words.

"a vacation sounds nice," she murmurs, even though she technically took two in the form of sabbaticals. it's not necessarily in her plan to relax much during a research trip but the concept has her interest by the hand.

mentally, she's already planning stops. celestic town, eterna city. both places she knows could hold something. the town where the past lies and the city where history lives, each viable stops on the search for more information about a legend. her mental itinerary jolts to a stop with the proposal of a question.

there's no hesitation in the answer she gives.

"of course."

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]"i'll take care of planning," she doesn't leave room for argument, although she expects little from him. she'll flash a smile and murmur a soft, "you just show up."

and she knows he will.

"do you have an idea of when would work best for you?" an attempt to not step on his toes, to not force his hand. it's a courtesy more than anything, as the hunt almost feels like her back is against the wall. there's a need to find more crystal shards that wasn't there before and it bleeds into the room with a soft pink mist. psychic terrain, given back only by the presence of the single shard. what's once lost feels as though it can be found and she's hungry to find redemption.

FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]pink swirls from pores of the body, faint and insignificant. it doesn't do much in this situation, more a lack of control than anything. it's been months since the last produced one, since it served a purpose. perhaps it will once more. it spreads toward him in tiny waves, as if summoned to his soul, to the one tethered to his.

"okay," she murmurs, a finger rising to tap at her lip. a newly developed tic behind the process of thinking. mist comes in tendrils around the appendage, coiling and shifting like cigarette smoke. she pays it no mind. "this friday or the next? if you'd like to extend, i have no problem staying longer." it certainly wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to spend more than a weekend away with him. perhaps not as work filled as expected, though, if their recent entanglements have anything to say about it.

FERNANDO SILPH