[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]the scientist is alerted to the arrival with the sound of a buzzer and a voice echoing over an intercom a moment later.

"ms reyes, your appointment is here."

and her guest is not waiting longer than a few moments, greeted with the sight of the scientist emerging shortly after the buzzer has been pressed. a looming golurk trails slightly behind her, as if its become a part of her. and in a way, perhaps it has.

"hello, thank you for coming!"

she flashes a small yet welcoming smile.

"Eva Morales referred you, right?"

the text from her science sister is still relatively fresh in the mind. something about larger than usual pokemon and the possibility of it being a genetic defect sticks out more than the rest.

"follow me," she murmurs. her golurk rumbles softly and turns away, waiting for the scientist to begin leading them back inside. "we can talk more in the lab."

Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she nods slowly in greeting to the giant beedrill, flashing a warm smile.

"it's a pleasure to meet you both."

and really, it is. she enjoys the thought of being sought out for help, as if it means she's still of use despite her demotion in ranking after aqua.

she chooses to stay quiet as they walk into the facility, humming softly over bits of information as shalin fills the air with curiosity. the mention of space-time distortions makes her head turn, following the picture being painted for her. pieces of a puzzle rise and it's up to them, perhaps, to place them in the correct order.

"she didn't come from a distortion, correct?"

while the distortions themselves are familiar to the scientist, the concept of alpha pokemon is still elusive. it makes sense until it doesn't, perhaps, and she's more interested in seeing things on a molecular level to understand more.

"i've heard of odd types of pokemon being found in distortions or even pokemon changing on a molecular level while within the chaotic walls of a distortion but i must admit, i'm a little unfamiliar with alpha pokemon."

when they enter her lab, she closes the door behind them with a click to ensure they're not interrupted. shalin and her beedrill do, after all, require illeana's full attention.

"would you mind if i take some blood samples? i'd like to look at queen zing's dna to compare it to the beedrill samples i have on file."

Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]a hum of understanding escapes the scientist.

not captured within a distortion yet mirroring the size of some pokemon found within their walls... definitely a curious sort of existence.

her smile stretches with the telltale sign of warmth.

"we can get to the bottom of it today."

at least, they'll try their best to do so.

shalin agrees to the process of genetic inquiry and in doing so, solidifies illeana's thoughts a little further. with the comparison, they should have the answers they'll need to place the pieces together. she moves away for a moment, leaving her golurk to linger in her stead while she gathers materials. vials, gloves, tourniquet, gauze, bandages, alcohol swabs, needles, and a small tube are all carried back over in her arms.

and after a moment, she guides shalin and her beedrill over to a nearby examination table. there, she relieves her arms of the supplies by placing them on the table's clean surface.

"okay, that should be everything..."

her eyes return, then, to shalin, focused and expectant.

"are you both ready to begin?"

Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]her movements still for a moment.

the information is food for thought. her mind devours it without leaving a single crumb, as if starved and ravenous. it groans and growls for more.

"is there any evidence to suggest the distortions and abnormally large pokemon are connected? have they been witnessed to stay in hoenn outside of a distortion's confines?"

there is, perhaps, a connection. she does not want to place any faith in such a theory unless the genetic structure lends itself as irrefutable evidence.

illeana blinks at the request. a blanket? does she even have one here?

"let me see if i have one..."

she turns, then, and scans every inch of her lab until she finds one shoved in a small corner. it's a little old, worn, and raggedy but it will do. she returns with it in hand, extended as an offering to shalin.

"will this suffice?"

Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]"it's possible, but i'll know for certain once i run some tests."

from her current standpoint, distortions are unearthly and entirely unpredictable, but she cannot place more faith in them than she already has. science has gotten the world this far... perhaps it will explain the stature of shalin's beedrill as well.

once shalin has wrapped the blanket around queen zing's head, illeana preps her station. needle, vial, alcohol swab, tubing. her gloves snap on a moment later and she looks to shalin when confirmation comes.

"okay."

she swabs the area first, touch gentle against the beedrill's body.

"there might be a little pinch..."

her words are soft as the needle goes into queen zing's skin. she braces for a slight struggle as she connects the tubing to the needle and feeds it into the vial. within moments, enough blood is gathered for her to gentle pull the needle out. after a moment, she caps the vial and settles a hand on the injection site, hand beginning to permeate pink mist.

any residual pain from the blood sample fades with her healing mist.

"i'll begin analysis now. give me a few minutes, please."

and with that, she retreats to the back of her lab to begin blood analysis with her machines.

Shalin Nariya

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]as machines whirr with the life of processing, illeana goes over the chart one more time.

physically, there is a noticeable size difference. genetically speaking, however... it could be a number of things: a mutation to the genetic structure, a birth defect, etc.

she holds off on casting judgement until the results are in hand. and even then, she reads them over three times just to be certain.

when she rejoins shalin and queen zing in the lab, a touching moment is on display. it's cute, she notes with a faint smile. cute and pleasant, something hoenn needs more of. less tension, more love.

it's never that simple, though, and she clears her throat before opening her mouth and drawing attention back to their task.

"results are ready."

an outstretched hand extends the papers toward shalin. she does not need to hold them in hand to know what they say.

"i compared queen zing's sample to another beedrill sample i had on file."

between the league and her own personal database, comparing samples has never been easier.

"from the analysis results, i do not believe it is something related to the appearance of distortions. while these larger pokemon might be transported from another place through the space-time distortion itself, the dna sample differs from that of the hisuian variants from these distortions."

her smile is patient, kind, as she continues.

"the abnormal size, instead, comes from a genetic sequence that is responsible for things like appearance, height, and weight. it is more luck than an abnormality to have the dna align in such a sequence, but it does not look to be a mutation caused by anything traceable. i tested for pokerus-y as well, but found no trace of the virus either."

it's not necessarily an answer that shalin might have been looking for, but it's the only solution she can offer.

"like us humans, pokemon are also born with different heights and growth rates locked into their genetics. they really aren't so different from us in that regard."

Shalin Nariya