It was foolish for Eva to think that when all this was over that she’d have time for a vacation. With the barrier shattered and scattered to the wind, Hoenn’s physical borders were once again open. The Professor half expected a wave of Hoennians to flee the terrifying region – surely some did. But many remained, confirming her faith in their resilience.

Of course, the Professor over-booked herself. So, naturally, she was late to arrive to the Lilycove library. She had time to change out of her usual scrubs and into something more casual. She was still getting use to the frigid temperatures so she was bundled up in black leggings, boots, and oversized sweater and a beanie. The knitted fabric couldn’t hold back her rogue strands of curled blonde hair and braids.

Somehow, Eva remained stealthy as she snuck up behind Josh. It wasn’t intentional, just no one recognized her with the hat so she wasn’t stopped 6 times on the way over. Her emerald eyes peers over his shoulder at the directory, a grin pulling across her pink lips, “Oooo that one looks interesting! Wonder who wrote that,” her voice was dreamy, as if she held a particular reverence for the author: Dr. Eva Morales.

She was obviously joking, evident by the playful smirk lighting up her soft features.

---

Josh Devlin & illeana reyes

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]she comes in a moment after her colleague, Eva Morales, with freshly frostbitten cheeks and a bright red scarf still wrapped tightly around her neck.

it's natural for slightly colder climates in the thick of winter months but this? this is unnatural, frigid differences from worlds colliding. she's heard the reports beginning to trickle in, the aftermath of the meteor plan perhaps being more chaotic than the preparation.

she joins the group as eva lets out a dreamy statement. it pulls the corners of the mouth upward into an amused sort of expression.

"whoever they are, i'd love to collaborate a bit."

she plays along with the playful atmosphere and does so with a slight sparkle to the eyes. it's, perhaps, the most alive she's looked in the past few weeks.

and after a moment, she gives both parties a once over look, eyes quickly scanning for signs of injuries. pink mist puffs out of her mouth subconsciously at the thought.

"how're you holding up? you were both in the meteor squadron, right?"

the personnel report still feels fresh in the mind despite only looking at it once or twice a few days prior.

Josh Devlin Eva Morales

The smirk deepened when Illeana played along with her game, “Anytime!” she nodded enthusiastically, happy to see her Science Sister back at her side to help the young gym leader with his little predicament.

Her features darken at the mention of Kyruem. Even just the thought of the ice titan strums the chord tethered between her and her deity. Fear and anger, two rare emotions for the Professor, travel up the line. For now the dragon is far, but she feels it stir in retaliation and intrigue. It shifts its travels closer partially out of concern but also curiosity.

“Kyurem,” Eva quickly interjects. It’s not a name they should fear, nor should they keep secret. It could breach into Hoenn against any time and each trainer should be prepared for its arrival. After all, it only seems to be growing stronger. Many lives were lost to the Never-Melt-Ice, but Eva felt confident should could figure something out, “He’s in the best hands possible,” she smiled, having consulted on the Pyroar’s care, herself, “Healing takes time,” for both the soul and the body.

Eva listens along to Josh’s story, nodding in understanding at every turn, “Mega evolution, you say?” she glances over to Illeana with a smile. Josh came to the right people!

“Let’s seeeeeee,” Eva hums, leaning forward to take control of the computer. She opens a page that depicts the cover of a rather old looking book, “This is one of the best resources on the described history of mega evolution in Hoenn,” she leans back to let Josh and Illeana take a look, “I pretty much read it cover to cover when writing my paper on Primal Energy,” Hoenn was a hot bed for Primal Energy and, consequently, Mega Evolution. For it is Primal Energy and the sacrifice of Victini that allowed the harvest of the METEONITE for Mega Stones. Having been touched by the Mikado Organ, Eva does now have a rather unique perspective on the energy.

---

Josh Devlin & illeana reyes

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]a look of concern is quick to rise, overtaking her smile.

eva supplies a name she's heard more in passing recently than before. it sticks out like a sore thumb and for the life of her, she cannot figure out why it sounds familiar. in her lab, however, a half-read book left untouched for a few months would hold the answer.

"healing does take time."

and with the statement, a thought rises. her smile returns in a smaller form, warm despite the quietness of it.

"when we're done here, i'll head over to lilycove's hospital to see if i can help move the process along with my healing mist if you'd like."

it's the only comfort she can really provide but is it enough?

the question of mega evolution comes suddenly, quickly ushered in by a desire to replace what has been destroyed. she understands, on some level, the sensation josh is feeling. and after eva supplies her answer, illeana offers her own.

"this library should have a copy of my old colleague's paper as well on the mega evolution phenomena. from what i understand, the energy required for mega evolution bloomed in hoenn due to victini's sacrifice in a great battle. the sacrifice caused victini's immense energy to activate the mega stone mineral veins hoenn's scientists had uncovered from the earth."

she smiles at the memory of her colleague. while they weren't the best of friends, lucas lane was always a relieving face to see every day in the league's laboratories.

"to find another mega stone, it could be possible to track the energy signature these mineral veins give off in a similar way we currently track primal energy."

Josh Devlin Eva Morales

Illeana does a much better job summarizing the key points of the texts without having to read through them extensively. Still, it’s good to have access to the details when you need something more precise.

Eva grins over at Josh at his suggesting, “Now that’s thinkin’ like a scientist!” she gives the gym leader a rather forceful pat on the back as a means to compliment his problem-solving, “I’m sure we can modify some of the Primal Energy equipment to pick up mega-energy signatures,” she thinks for a moment, “Might be difficult to narrow down Absolite unless we know someone with one that we can use to calibrate the device,” that would be something they could concern themselves with later. First, they had to figure out where to look.

“If you wanna go conjure up a map I can go find the text that describes the known mineral veins. It will at least give us a good starting point,” Eva knew the library like the back of her hand so it wouldn’t take her long to pluck the text off the shelf, “Maybe you can go find your colleague’s old paper, Illeana? The more resources the better!” It is clear to see Eva’s clear excitement in exploring something new, a new avenue to track Primal Energy. If anything, Rayquaza could probably help. They seemed to have a radar to mega-energy. A craving, really. Without really waiting for an answer, Eva excitedly dips off between the shelves to retrieve the reference text.

---

illeana reyes & Josh Devlin

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]she nods quick confirmation. when they're done, the hospital will be the next step. perhaps she could stop by her lab before heading over with him to retrieve her galarian ponyta as well... the more healing hands, the better.

"sounds good, just let me know when you'd like to head over."

as they supply more concepts into the conversation, her mind works to place pieces together. they fit in a way but there's one or two missing. the puzzle is not quite complete yet.

"do you have a piece of the absolite?"

it's a long shot, one she doesn't quite have a lot of faith in. it does, however, breathe life into another idea...

"actually, mega stones simply unlock the power already within pokemon, do they not? we could use the energy signatures from your absol to narrow the search a bit if we use a pokemon's detect to hone in on it."

perhaps another long shot but it could possibly work.

eva suggests finding the texts and papers that correlate to their search. and with a nod of confirmation, she disappears for a moment to find the exact paper in their catalogue. it's close, tucked away in a neat brown folder and labeled with her former colleague's name. his credentials and personnel picture stare up at her as she carries it back over to offer it to the group.

"got it."

Josh Devlin Eva Morales

Eva smiles gently, giving Josh a comforting pat on the back, “That’s what friends are for, yeah?” Family, really. The League was like one big family. At times dysfunctional but overall, Eva knew she could count on her colleagues if she needed them. She’s glad to see Josh feels the same way.

illeana reyes is brilliant, as always. It will be a bit more difficult than an actual mega stone (or Eva assumes) but definitely a good starting point if there are no other options. Luckily, Josh kept one of the shards to the Absolite, “Brilliant!” she leans in whiles setting her books on the table. Her gaze studies the little gem for a moment before nodding, “I think that will help calibrate a device to give us an idea of where you may be able to find one. With that as a base as well, Illeana’s idea of a pokemon using DETECT would be best once you find the location. It will be more accurate, I think.”

Eva cracks her fingers and sits down at the computer. Her fingers type away, sending a rhythmic clicking through the library as she logs into her computer system in her lab, “Josh, may Blade borrow that gem for a moment? He’ll need to take it to one of the Primal Energy devices to calibrate it to detect Absolite energy,” she types a little more as the Gallade waits for the crystal, “Once calibrated we can use the satellite mapping system to find an approximate location,” technology was certainly not her strong suit but working with the Primal Energy detection devices didn’t require her to do any more programing. It was already set up for this kind of stuff.

---

illeana reyes & Josh Devlin

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]after a few moments, the computer blinks itself into full life.

the map of hoenn generates next. a yellow blip follows and their half of the endeavor is practically done.

she leans over Eva Morales's shoulder to confirm before nodding in agreement. route 121 seems like the best radius they can provide him.

her eyes turn back onto Josh Devlin, then, and she flashes a smile.

"once you get in the vicinity of mt pyre, you can begin using detect to narrow down your path. if your group also has access to this move on their pokemon, it'd be useful to have multiple detects searching in various areas."

aside from that, they've done all they really can.

"keep us updated, okay? we can provide help where needed if you'd like."

Josh Devlin Eva Morales

Eva taps a few more keys as Blade disappears with the Absolite. She taps her fingers gently against the table, patiently waiting for the map to blink to lie once Blade synced the shard with the machines.

“Oh! That sounds like fun. I used to go on all kinds of adventures like that,” now she’s just old and stuck behind a desk, likely not cut out for such a dangerous task.

The computer chimes, the screen blinking a few times as it syncs with the data back at the League Headquarters. A zoomed out map of Hoenn appears against the sapphire background of the Hoennian Sea.

A yellow blip appears, pinging the location of what Eva assumes is a match to the signature of the Absolite. She zooms in on the location, “Looks like there might be a match somewhere near Mt. Pyre. Route 121 maybe. I think that’s about as close as we can get you,” she shrugs, glancing at Illeana is see if she had any more ideas.

---

illeana reyes & Josh Devlin