lyune is, by most standards, anything but beautiful. countless scars adorn his body; his wings are tattered sails, nigh dysfunctional save for the mechanism on his right side that wraps meticulously around his leg and his shoulder blade. alien, lizardlike eyes inspect the golden woman as she walks towards freya. his tongue forks once, twice, and then he rests his long head down and lazes to sleep. 

freya looks upon the beast fondly and then regards anna.

"yes," she says and grimaces. "they don't take kindly to captivity. with the people of sootopolis scattered, so too are my staff. they've been okay scattered across the isles here, but a friend in pacifidlog remarked on the fish population recently. or, lack thereof.

"we used to ship meat in, but with the boundary up..." she trails off. the implication is there. 

"well, cadet? care to help?"

annalise henderson

☉

her dragalge and kingdra continue to play in the surf. a few dragonair twine around each other in the sky. dotted across some of the other isles are lumbering shapes, of which would reject a passerby trainer's capture attempts. there is admiration in her gaze, alongside her pride, of course, but the creatures are beasts first and foremost. 

"of course i don't mind," she says and as her gaze travels back to annalise, an apology coats her words. 

"over sixty."

she pauses. "i would offer them to be leased for a variety of jobs, but many of them are only...agreeable under my command. and like i said, the rest of my staff is scattered and many of them are not equipped to house the dragons they worked with while on the estate."

annalise henderson

☉

she laughs at annalise's reaction. not in a cruel way, of course, but genuine mirth colors her cheeks at her words. it's then that she's stricken just how long it's been since she has been around people. her station in the league is nonexistent as of right now, as she still hasn't worked up the courage to right things with FERNANDO SILPH. 

and everything else that's been on her plate lately...

blues eyes flicker to the spire in the distance and then back again. 

"i appreciate you," she says, first and foremost. she may not hold much status these days, but that doesn't mean she's forgotten her training. and shrugging aside habits instilled by the morningstars is night impossible. not that she minds. 

"i can draft a list of suitable habitats for most of them. if you wouldn't mind doing biological surveys from your end to measure their impact, that would be helpful. since hearing from pacifidlog, many of them are back in the pokemon center.

but you bring up a very real fear i have. they need to be kept sharp. and exercised. not only to keep them physically prepared for battle. my dragons are not domesticated pokemon - they are socialized. they respond to commands, they can work with tamers and handlers, but without constant commitment and contact, they will become unpredictable. wild. even detrimental in combat."

and with alternate versions of their selves crawling their way into their reality, having her army any less ready for an assault is out of the question.

she nods towards anna's altaria. "i'm sure you have some insight. altaria are known for their kind dispositions, but when provoked..." etherea has made quick, messy work of prey before.

annalise henderson

☉

but, perhaps, what anna doesn't realize is that it isn't just casual pleasantries. freya's an analytical woman (or, as some would say, a pessimist) and her hopes that the ranger who'd come out here would consider her ridiculous request with the utmost care, and logic, is a pleasant surprise.

this had been an interview, of sorts, as well. most of her staff members have quit - losing family, losing their homes, well, she can't quite blame them. but asking around a few of those she'd trusted had landed her henderson's name - known for her optimism. considered naïve at times, but not to let that write off her innate desire to help people, and a steady enough head on her shoulders to help her accomplish that. 

"wonderful. i plan to be involved as well. i can mainly handle ensuring the right ones get into the right hands. they can do a lot of good, i think." when they're not terrorizing the locals. 

she takes a couple of pokeballs from her necklace and drops them at either side of her. the balls slap back up into her hands as two dragonair appear beside her. twin serpents look curiously at the altaria and the woman across from freya before humming with delight. 

"i wouldn't be much without them," she says. aeris, the one with the everstone wrapped around her tail, rubs her scaled head against freya's waiting palm. the other, sypha, dips her head respectfully towards annalise and flutters the wings aside her head in greeting towards the altaria. 

annalise henderson

☉

there is a lot of work to be done to get this off the ground. a lot of paperwork and logistics to figure out - something freya never much cared for. and again, this little reminder that despite her trainings, was far and away ill-suited for the council position, makes her smile. she laughs softly, even, and shakes her head. 

"thank you," she says. 

for showing enthusiasm, for wanting to help, for looking forward.

"it's easy, in times like this, to let the tide drag you down." her dragons splash about in the surf, spraying foaming water around them. "it's nice to know the league has people like you."

but enough drivel and clout. "i think many of them would be useful as dispatch whenever one of those distortions happen. with proper training, one tamer should be able to handle at least a team of three. i'll reach out to my old employees as well and see if any of them are interested."

annalise henderson

☉