LAVARIDGE

he'd been researching for hours. Book were piled twelve stacks high all over the floor of the living. Like always, Espeon joined him for his study sessions. His private study was probably a better place to be doing this. Oh well, he'd move everything once Lex got home.

LAVARIDGE

Home again, enjoying a cup of coffee with Loveless on his lap. Killian continued his research on Legendary Pokemon and their connections with people. He was desperate to find an answer, some way of making their power his own. He wouldn't stop until he did. Espeon mewed, and Killian gently stroked her back. Today was going to be another long day.

LAVARIDGE

He sat on the floor of his study surrounded by open books with Loveless cradled in his arms. He hadn't gotten a good nights sleep since the events with Lulu Flint. Not even in his own bed, with Alexandra Briarwood next to him for comfort. Killian was doing his best to hide it, feign bravery, but it had to show. "Focus, it'll all be worth it in the end." is what he kept telling himself, but would it really?

Killian stroked the Espeon's back and she purred. "You won't leave me, will you girl?" Loveless meowed, nuzzling into his hand. Killian smiled faintly, "I'll take that as a yes."

LAVARIDGE

Work had consumed him since his promotion. He'd spent hours inside his study pouring over reports whenever he got him. His only company was Loveless like always. Hidden somewhere in these documents was an answer to a question he'd been asking himself for weeks now. Killian could feel it in his bones. He wouldn't stop until he found it. He couldn't.

Johto. Goldenrod Graveyard.

It never ceased to amaze him how quickly things changed. In only a few months, a city that once felt like his playground was almost foreign to him. The layout hadn't changed. He still remembers the twists and turns, the shortcuts tucked inside alleyways and abandoned buildings. As if he could forget. They were hardwired into him, burned into his mind from years of use. It was the atmosphere that had turned.

Dense, suffocating, a cloud of distrust and paranoia poisoned his city. His memory of home was tainted by knowledge, by the truth. While he was trying to raise an empire, the woman he'd loved had been suffering. Used and abused by a man he'd considered his friend.

A wave of quiet anger bubbled in his chest. Inside his pockets, Killian's fingers curled into fists. He wasn't far from the casino, and with Kaito not around - it be easy to get revenge. Burn his whole operation down to the ground and be gone by the time the sun came up. Temptation gnawed at his mind, but a deep breath lulled it to sleep.

He wasn't here for revenge today.

Killian rounded the corner to the graveyard. Old and rusted from lack of care, its iron gate squeaked open with a hefty push. Shoulders tensed as he walked down the cobblestone path. A gentle mist pooled at his feet, blown in from parts unknown.

Once a year, every year, Killian made this trip. Kaito hunting down Alexandra Briarwood or nightmares from Lulu Flint wouldn't change that.

His pace slowed as he drew closer to his destination. It never got any easier for him. If anything, the anxiety only grew with each year that passed.

He came to a stop in front of a plot of land with no tombstone. Withered flowers sat piled atop dead grass.

"You'll have to forgive me. I forgot to grab the flowers this time. There's been a lot going on lately." the weight on his shoulders builds. He sighs, hoping the release of air will lessen the burden, but it has the opposite effect.

"I almost wasn't able to make it, but I'm here. Like I promised." lips purse with discomfort. "Hope you're ready to listen because I've got a lot to unload." he chuckles dryly, letting an awkward silence fill the air.

Johto. Goldenrod Graveyard.

Killian distanced himself from the stoneless plot of land. Wet grass crunched underfoot, and he exhaled. A wispy trail of breath visible in the air left his lips.

He'd shared a lot today. Killian whispered the stories of his life to the aether. Whether or not they reach his mother, he's not sure, but on the off chance they will, he speaks them. She'd always liked to hear him talk of his day. If Arceus were kind, the deity would allow her to listen.

"I've got to go."

Silent, he turned and lowered his head. "I'll see you next year." Killian headed back down the cracked cobblestone road. Hesitating to leave only for a moment as he reached the iron gate, he looked over his shoulder and frowned.

"Maybe."

And then he stepped out into the mist.

JOURNAL ENTRY 01

It's been three days since I bonded with Deoxys in Oldale Town. I can sense it underneath my skin, inside my veins. Every emotion it has I feel like my own. It's...overwhelming. At times I don't know whether what I'm feeling belongs to me or it.

Is this normal? Do Cillian Quinn and Lulu Flint have this relationship with Darkrai and Lugia?

I'm noticing changes beyond the flood of feelings. I'm stronger. Just this morning I broke the bathroom sink, ripped it clean off. Incredible.

Intoxicating.

I'll need to figure out what else I can do.

JOURNAL ENTRY 04

Tonight I gazed upon the stars, and it felt like seeing them for the first time. Thousands of distant lights, so brilliant and awe-inspiring that they left me speechless; I stared for so long before noticing something felt off.

The oppressive weight of melancholy sat on my chest. Mixed with a peculiar sense of longing, it formed a dangerous cocktail. One I recognized the taste of immediately.

I was homesick.

I craved the coldness of space and desired to drift about its soundless void. Expect it wasn't me who wanted these things. The stars weren't my home, but they were its.

Deoxys.

The first emotions I'd felt from it other than irritation and anger. When I pressed, it retreated. Before Deoxys sank into our shared mind, I touched something underneath its sadness.

Fear.

Of what, I'm not sure. But something out in space has it scared and unwilling to leave Earth. The meteor? I don't think so. Maybe it will tell me in time, once it knows it can trust me.

That I'm here to help.

JOURNAL ENTRY 06

It's been months since Deoxys and I became one, and our bond is middling at best. No matter what I do, it refuses to lower its guard again. It's only willing to cooperate when we're in danger, or I beg.

My frustration is mounting. What am I doing wrong?

If only it could speak instead of forcing me to interpret vague feelings. Maybe then we'd finally make progress.

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STARLIGHT CASINO
SUB-LEVEL 2

The Eevee slept soundly on top of one of the lab's many tables. Killian watched as it breathed, its ashen fur rising and falling steadily. What filled its dream, he wondered.

Pleasant strolls down grassy plains? A feast fit for a king?

He frowned. Picturing the Eevee's dreams wouldn't make what Killian needed to do any easier. "I'm sorry little one." Killian whispered, "But your dream must end."

Killian's arm shifted into a tentacle, Deoxys's red-blue biomass squirming around the limb. He understood so little about Deoxys, but Killian knew it altered biology - enhanced DNA, two traits shared with the Pokerus infecting his Eevee.

If he injected Deoxys cell into the Eevee, what would happen? Would it die? Grow?

Curiosity gnawed ravenously at him to find the answer.

Wide-eyed, tongue wetting his lips, Killian stabbed the Eevee with his tentacle. A small prick but its hard to draw blood, providing Deoxys' cells an entrance into its body.

And now he waited.

KILLIAN'S EXHIBIT

MOD POST

WHEN THE EEVEE IS INJECTED, the Underboss would witness immediate effects. The EEVEE shows signs of discomfort, crying as it writhes, sensing something moving, working, invading within its small, furry body.

The Underboss would discover that DEOXY'S CELLS do not strength or alter POKERUS-Y. Rather, they attempt to take it over, assimilating them into its own constitution to grow. The cells continue to seek out more of these yellow-tinted microorganisms...

There is time to reverse the effects should the Underboss attempt to remove the DEOXY'S CELLS.

Killian Decker

STARLIGHT CASINO
SUB-LEVEL 2

He does nothing, comfortable in his apathy as the Eevee suffers. The thirst for knowledge is too great. Killian's curiosity too perverse. "No signs of alteration." he muttered, looking at a nearby screen.

"The DX-Cells are actually absorbing the Pokerus and growing." remarkable. He hadn't expected this outcome.

An idea formed.

On some level, Killian could exert control over Deoxy's biomass. Though the cells inside the Eevee were separate from him, could he still bind them to his will?

Killian focused on the cells and gave a single command.

"Duplicate."