Almost like a proctor or a professor Miles would respond to the question watching both the Venasaur and the Excadrill prepare the hole, Priam's usefulness knew no bounds.

"Ah A very good question!" And one he had an answer equally as good. Miles had the same concern upon realizing the tree had to be planted in the open, after all, Rangers constantly patrolled the entirety of the region, especially with the world as it was. However, there was one thing that constantly and undoubtedly halted almost all league business.

"Beauracracy my friend."

It'd taken a little work from oscar clayton, but together the two managed something of a deal. "As far as anyone here is concerned, Infinity Energies plans to build one of its new generators here, and so all land within the next 8 acres or so is official property of Infinity Energies. We're far enough off the beaten path that we haven't encroached on any of the region's routes and so this my dear friends is now private property."

While Miles' was of the belief that the idea that land could and should be owned was a disgusting scheme and tool of the rich to control the less fortunate, he'd taken this as a necessary precaution for what he deemed to be the greater good. In fact, Miles had an assortment of plans for the land if his research with the tree came to fruition.

"Any other questions?" He offers his hand more than willing to answer whatever the group of four could come up with.

priam conrad | peggie vela | Miles Sharp

it was hot.

sweat trickled down her lower back and her mood soured even further. she despised the hot. yes, research and her work was important. but she hated sweating. probably more than anything.

except maybe THEO BECKETT .

"can someone explain to me just what we're doing here?"

she doesn't even bother trying to hide the irritation in her voice. she releases a pokemon, a roserade, who sets to helping the other two.

meanwhile, natalie waits 'patiently'.

"Not quite as apt as the previous question, but acceptable nonetheless."

The muggy weather wasn't the most pleasant thing, Miles could attest to that even he found himself sweating more than he cares to, but for the sake of his work, his dreams, hard labor was but a small price to pay.

"Young Ms. Vela is correct we are gardening!" He exclaims as if it weren't the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm surprised you aren't more interested Fairchild."

Excadrill continues to till the soil the Venasaur softened alongside the Roserade, and Miles reaches down to inspect it, making sure to scoop a small amount into a test tube. Other than its richness a testament to the routes growing conditions the soil was like any other, but Miles always found it prudent to be safe than sorry, and a little foresight went a long way.

"Thanks to Priam, and his team we managed to excavate the tree from a route surrounding Fallarbor." before he continues he waves the two ladies forward to the tree itself.

"Touch it." It's more of a challenge than a command.

If the two chose they'd understand this was no ordinary specimen, not that its odd coloration wasn't already indictive of that. They'd feel what he, Priam, and Chu-e felt albeit to a lesser extent due to the tree's growing weakness.

"It's a tree that shares properties with an arbiter of life, The legendary pokemon Xerneas." He pays little attention to the two in favor of inspecting the growing hole now, giving the Excadrill instructions to widen it while Miles continued his lecture.

"In my studies thanks largely in part to both Priam and Chu-e I learned that the tree cannot survive unless it is directly connected to the earth, no simulated environment will do."

"So for all of everyone's griping, we're here in one of the most fertile locales in the entirety of the region. To see if we can better understand the nature of this puzzle."

"And of Xerneas itself."

He doesn't vocalize the last point, as it was admittedly a stretch, but that's what Miles truly came to do. If he could learn some portion of the life pokemon's secrets perhaps he could better use that information to heal his people, and moreover his world. Even in his research, he is a bleeding heart.

And even if all he hopes doesn't come to pass, this tree propagated life more so than anything he'd ever seen. If nothing else bringing a little more life to the world wasn't a bad way to spend a day.

Miles calls another pokeball revealing an Off-colored golurk. Where one normally saw blue and yellow there was black and green.

"Between Golurk and Venasaur let's see if we can get her planted now. Priam, shall we?"

priam conrad | peggie vela | Miles Sharp

"and i think i speak for everyone when i say we're truly proud you've come to the conclusion so quickly,"

her own voice was a dangerous combination of venom and sarcasm as she responds to peggie vela . the urge to bury her six feet under with the tree suddenly grew rapidly.

she does, reach out to touch the tree as he suggests. natalie blinks, the feeling pulsing through from her contact.

"now i am interested."

an emerald gaze turns to miles.

"where did you get this? how fast does it grow? could we expect to lure the legendary?"