she had felt a sort of juxtaposition to Balder Schwartz , when she’d realized who he was. an old friend, and she had still been friendly with him that day on mt. pyre, over beers, though he’d never learned of her own avatarship.

now, the beast bryan delarosa had the power to become that beacon of light.

”come in, delarosa.” for once, it was unlocked.

the houndoom that famously tended to open the door for people no longer did so. instead, he slept behind lulu’s desk, snoring lightly every so often through his heavy-duty muzzle. his tail was the only thing visible.

the rest of the room was as usual. a bit unorganized at first glance, with notes pinned chaotically along the walls and stacks of papers all around. as tech-savvy as she was, lulu preferred physical copies of things, for reasons still unbeknownst to anyone.

bryan delarosa

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the door opened, and lulu was there with fingers laced neatly. she found herself nodding back to bryan, and then lily. months ago, she might’ve not given the pokémon the time of day, but thanks to shadow alakazam, she had begun to notice them all more.

her attention returned to the beast she’d called upon, and she gestured to the seat in front of her ‘organized chaos’ themed desk.

”that’s correct. please, have a seat.”

her face remembered a barely lukewarm smile.

”how are you feeling?”

bryan delarosa

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how had she felt? briefly, she recollected.

“tired,” a modest smile rose as though maybe she was joking—however true it was—”but powerful, once i figured out what i could do.”

smugness crept onto her face, toxic maybe, but soon faded to her steely sharpness as she settled back to business.

”can you control it?”

the lilligant was given a glance before her attention returned to bryan.

bryan delarosa

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lulu had told very few people about her powers specifically—except those who had been exposed to them directly. but she had already assumed that, considering rocket’s strong tendencies to gossip, her abilities were common knowledge. there was, presumably, no harm in telling him.

”i’ve taken on INSOMNIA, the dark-type ability. i’m also able to use HYPNOSIS, and DREAM EATER on pokémon, and people.” whom then usually experienced tormenting nightmares, but she decided to leave out the detail. it could be put together.

”walsh helped me, actually,” she then explained, ”but instruction is hardly the bulk of learning how to use your body. i’d say it’s much more of a personal journey, if you will.”

the news of his control, the fact that their science had worked, gave her mixed feelings, but she willed herself to remain objective.

”this is good news. can’t expect to have it all down immediately, eh?”

with a pause, and the same oddly ambiguous smile as before, she considered.

”balder’s powers seem to have manifested in the past under threatening conditions. perhaps that threat is something we will need to recreate—simulate, i mean—in order to achieve your greatest potential.”

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spooky. she blinked at him. ”indeed.”

he was following along just fine. she nodded affirmatively. ”that’s right. we just need to trigger a real fight response.”

after a moment of consideration, she’d come up with something.

”i propose we use darkrai to summon your fears. it’s paralyzing, and not being able to move would leave you with no other option than to use your power.”

bryan delarosa

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her stare flitted down at the flicker of light across his skin. she was reminded of skyler dross , and her markings. something had triggered him. anxiety? survival instinct?

sitting back in her seat, she gave him space. she wouldn’t force it—not so soon, at least. this would be handled with the same care that had been shown to Adrian Malcolm . still, his concerns weren’t exactly unfounded.

as he rose, she didn’t rush to stop him. her voice was collected, unworried by his flightiness.

”fair enough. but you know, they are just nightmares. not really there.” or were they?

the lilligant’s circling was enough to rouse djall at her feet. his growl deepened and grew in volume before lulu swiftly returned him to a pokéball.

”it is your power. do what you will—but, please do consider, the one who would benefit the most from this study is you.”

bryan delarosa

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when he changed his mind, she smiled lightly. ”great.” it wasn’t pleasant, what they were about to do, but at least she would feel especially rejuvenated by the end of it. hopefully, he wouldn’t be one of the ones to pull her under with him.

”i appreciate your concern, but that’s a common misconception, actually. i most likely won’t be able to see your dreams, and this will be your experience alone.”

she began to stand from her desk.

”there’s a small sleep study laboratory i’ve set up down the hall—with a special chamber, so you won’t break anything. we’ll do this there.”

looking up, she asked finally, ”ready?”

bryan delarosa

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