Their usual business was conducted with a fluidity that spoke to the repetitive nature of the interaction. A signature is written, a receipt taken. Paperwork that Gideon was all too familiar with. Where Angelo tucked his copy into his jacket pocket, the professor slid his into his lab coat.

A quick mental note to hand the paper off to his accounting team is made before his attention was divided by Angelo's conversational inquiry.

"Hmm. Great question." Gideon held his left pointer finger to his lips in a thoughtful gesture, sweeping his gaze over each cargo crate as he considered the options in front of him.

"Some of more recent scientific significance include crystal shards from 99943 METENO." Those would not be put on display until they'd been properly analyzed. Even still, the larger slivers would likely be held back for the collections.

"There are also a few fossils that appear to be of an unidentified Pokémon species. Interestingly, they were all found clustered together." The fossils would need to be verified by experts, though, before any new species could be named.

"Probably the most compelling in my opinion are these older texts..." A hand is run across a crate with the label Castelia City, Unova. "They speak of a strange being with almost unlimited power."

Gideon turned to Angelo, a thin-lipped smile on his face. "Are they referring to a god or a fairytale? Or something in between? Who knows... half the excitement is figuring it out."

angelo vestri

☉

angelo vestri had strayed into a trap that too many intellectuals were apt to set out - the lure of a musing conversation. He'd gotten Gideon started and the professor wasn't about to end his rumination anytime soon.

"The qualifications for being a god are rather subjective, aren't they? Omniscience, omnipotence... where does one draw the line? It's something that has been bent and flexed throughout history."

Gideon was by no means a religious man, either. Where some saw gods, he saw flesh and blood and a tangibility exclusive to mortal beings.

"Some Pokémon truly do hold astounding power. We've seen that time and time again here in Hoenn, especially recently." The likes of DIALGA and PALKIA came to mind, but there were even more still that had shown nearly incomprehensible abilities at places such as Mt. Pyre, Littleroot Town, and on 99943 METENO itself.

When Angelo asked about Gideon's interest in particular, the professor returned the pilot's smile in kind.

"Not the unlimited power itself, but the hint that it provides - that there's some unknown force out there that modern society has yet to discover. Or rediscover, I suppose."

Here Gideon, too, leaned back against a nearby lab bench.

"Science is about continuously striving to understand the world we live in. I want to add to that collective knowledge. So, while this stack of vellum," He gestured to the old texts that had started this line of conversation. "May look innocuous to many, I see a treasure map waiting to guide me to newfound information."

angelo vestri

☉

A hunger there was, indeed.

His words had been chosen carefully, of course, as they always were. Although he knew little of angelo vestri, Gideon reasoned that even the whisper of treasure would excite the man’s adventurous spirit. And so it did - with the added bonus of a lighthearted joke.

To this Gideon smiled, replying, “I admit, I do indulge in flowery language at times. The base sentiment still stands, though. We can learn a lot from these documents.”

His gaze swept over the tomes once again before landing back on the pilot in front of him. His next avenue of conversation struck Gideon as quite intriguing.

Devil’s advocate? He could appreciate the stance and desire for debate.

“I was thinking more in terms of the being itself, but,” Gideon paused here, taking a moment to consider Angelo’s words. “It’s source of power could potentially be either Primal or Infinity Energy, though the texts lead me to believe Infinity Energy is the more likely catalyst.”

Gideon's interest was piqued, so he followed up with his own question.

"Are you interested in studying these types of energies, Mr. Vestri?"

angelo vestri

☉

The professor watched as the pilot pushed himself off of the desk, but did not do so himself. Instead, he listened intently as the man waved what equated to a tantalizing piece of bait right in front of his nose. Gideon took it, of course, because it was too tempting not to.

Although he didn't know much, Gideon knew angelo vestri to be quite the seasoned traveler given the inherent transience of his profession. This, and the way that their conversation was beginning to lean, made him wonder what sorts of things Angelo had encountered out there in the world.

Something to add to GIDEON GRAVES' treasure map, apparently.

"I am, actually." The professor responded with an arched eyebrow, a wry smile forming on his lips as he did so.

"I'll admit you've piqued my interest. Whatever it is, this something must be quite special."

angelo vestri

☉

"Understood." He responded, somewhat skeptical of the insistence for secrecy.

Whatever GIDEON GRAVES had suspected this object may have been, however, it definitely wasn't something as outwardly simple as what angelo vestri pulled from his pocket. Perhaps that was what made this all the more intriguing.

Now Gideon pushed himself off the edge of the lab bench. Where before there had been tempered curiosity, now his eyes were alight with unabashed interest and wonder. He moved closer, but not too close. After all, he wasn't sure what the orb even was.

"Incredible..." A marvel, really. From within the glass capsule a self-sustaining flame burned ever-bright and unrelenting.

How? Why?

Questions burned into his brain that would likely serve to be equally unrelenting from this day forward.

Gideon slowly pulled his gaze away from the unusual sphere until it was level with Angelo's own. Once the initial shock of the reveal had worn off, that same wry smile of his returned. "Alright, you got me. A vessel of pure Infinity Energy is quite special."

He resisted asking to inspect it closer. For now.

"What else do you know about it?"

angelo vestri

☉

Angelo's shit-eating grin wasn't lost on GIDEON GRAVES, but he didn't have the inclination to retort with anything other than a short nod. His interest was in the explanation that was to come.

The professor listened dutifully as angelo vestri spoke, his eyes closing as thoughts and suspicions and suppositions shot across his mind in rapid succession. How? Why?

"And the receptacle?" Gideon inquired as his eyes snapped open. His gaze swept back to the glowing sphere within the pilot's palm. Angelo had mentioned finding the flame, but not that it was already encased when he did so. Something that could contain pure, self-sustaining Infinity Energy was almost as intriguing as the energy itself. "Did you find the flame already within the orb?"

So many questions. Especially when Angelo relayed that the flame had followed him. Sentience. Their conversation on gods moments ago felt rather pertinent now.

"What happened when you touched it?"

angelo vestri

☉