“Wa- Whoa! Incoming!” Eva elected to take the fairly new flyer Dolly out for a little spin on her way to meet with Alexei. The freshly evolved Pidgeot needed the flight practice and needed to get use to carrying a passenger. The Kantonian pokemon had been doing ok – until the landing.

Dolly shrilling happily, angling downward towards the Braviary and their trainer at a much too steep angle. The velocity had Eva’s blonde hair whipping wildly behind her. A white-knuckle grip threatened to pull the feather right out of her, “Dolly, slow down!”

The avian doesn’t until they nearly crash land safely away from Alexei. It’s an abrupt, rough landing but luckily Eva is nimble enough to keep her balance and jump off as the Pidgeot settled on the ground, “Yeah, yeah, we’ll work on it,” she tossed a berry towards Dolly who nimbly caught it mid-air.

“Hey Alexei!” she greeted with a bright smile. She lowered her flight goggles to hang loosely around her neck, “How’s it going?”

---

Alexei Ivanov

Unfortunately, it’s not the first time out. With a heavy sigh she shrugs her shoulders, “Eh, she’s just a . . . slow learner,” or just impossibly thick headed.

The Braviary didn’t seem amused by Alexei’s admittance. It made the doctor smile and shake her head, “We all start somewhere!”

It doesn’t take long for the odd Braviary to catch her attention. Eva’s gaze is locked on the dark colored bird with the white crown of feathers. She studies the new avian in awe, stepping to the side of inspect it from another angle.

“Crazy is an understatement,” she grins at Alexei, knowing all to well just how crazy things have been for the lot of them and Hoenn as a whole, “Did you catch him in a distortion? Was it more like a forme change or evolution?” she’s still trying to make sense of all this craziness. There didn’t seem to be a pattern to any of it.

---

Alexei Ivanov

Flying through a distortion? Alexei sounded like angelo vestri. Although, it didn’t’ sound like Alexei’s was on purpose.

“Wow! So he changed right under you?” her voice brims with excitement, “Did you . . . feel anything?” She’s not quite sure what he would feel but any description of a change in energies may help. She had spoken with others that confirmed people actually aging in the distortions.

Eva looks at the feather with fascination. She gently takes the feather from Alexei’s fingers and rolls it between hers, “This is a traditional Braviary’s feather right?” her gaze glances over to the variant, no red feathers to be seen.

“Do you think he’d let me take some samples?” with an innocent smile, she points towards the foreign Braviary.

---

Alexei Ivanov

Eva shared Alexei’s sentiment. She too sought to learn as much as she could about these Distortions. It was part of her charge as a head professor to do so. Knowledge led to better understanding which meant better protection for the Hoenn people and their fragile universe.

“I know what you mean,” she sighed, stepping closer when offered. She extended a hand slowly as to not startle the raptor. With a gentle touch, she stroked his plumage, “That’s why I’m collecting samples from the new forms of pokemon – I’m trying to see from when and where they come from. It may lead to some better understanding of what is going on,” and how she could possibly stop it.

The balance is Hoenn is off, and something is interfering. Balance must be restored.

With a quick, mostly painless motion, she plucks a white feather off the alternate Braviary, twirling the stalk of it between her feathers. Eva tucks it safely away with the others, “Have you noticed any changes in behavior or moves? Like a change in typing?” That seemed to be a recurring theme in the new variations she ahd come across.

---

Alexei Ivanov

Eva is quick to pluck while Alexei distracts, safely tucking the feather away with the others for evaluation later, “Well, I’m always here to help,” Eva confirms with a small smile and a nod.

Upon his apology, she shakes her head over and over again until he stops, “No, no, no, no need to apologize! This is the kinda stuff I live for! Without a good sample size, the data are weak. This helps a lot, I promise, Alexei,” hopefully that could help put his mind at ease a bit.

With a snap of her fingers, Eva summons her trust RotomPhone to her side. The sentient device beep and hums to life, shooting out of her pocket and settling at eye level, “Take notes please,” she whispers as Alexei begins recounting the differences that he has noted in the new Braviary.

“A demonstration would be great! Do you mind if I record it?” she motions to the device, “There have been quite a few new attacks we’ve been able to document . . . it’s all quite exciting!”

---

Alexei Ivanov

The RotomPhone angled itself perfectly to record the Braviary. The modified WING ATTACK it dispelled did look similar . . . but very different to the flying-type attack they are used to seeing.

“Wow!” Eva smiled, admiring the rainbow energy that dispelled with the gust of wind, “I see what you mean!” the RotomPhone floated in front of her and she pressed rewind on the screen. With a few taps, she watched the attack in slow motion and took another look at the Braviary.

“I think you’re right, it does have psychic-like energy, doesn’t it?” She points a finger towards the bird’s crown, “The energy kinda matches the plumage above the eyes, doesn’t it?”

---

Alexei Ivanov

Even slower, it is more obvious. The Psychic energy bursts from the bird in a slow build, “Yes, I see it too!” she assures Alexei, reaching over to give him a clap on the back, “I think we just discovered a new attack! . . . Or one that’s been forgotten for hundreds of years,” Eva is sure to save the two videos before tucking the Rotom Phone back into her pocket.

She’s sure the last statement would warrant a question from the Gym Leader, so she doesn’t wait to explain, “While doing my research I’ve noticed some similarities that overlap with history. I don’t know if you’ve had the time to read my article on the alternate Electrode but, it proved these distortions are ‘occurring’ in the past, suggesting these are extinct well . . . now extant variations of our modern species,” She smiles, always enjoying the feeling of discovery, “I have a lot more history to dive into,” she has yet to discover where these variations originate from.

---

Alexei Ivanov