[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]she's, truthfully, thankful for the help of hoenn's champion. aside from (hopefully) protecting her from ruining her position further, he's a welcome sight after the events of the meteor plan.

she flashes a small, warm smile when he approaches.

"hey!"

the smile widens.

"no, you're good. how's the coffee?"

she considers, then, for a moment if she should divulge everything she knows right here and now. it seems like a good idea but... she holds the sea hoenn card close to reveal a little bit later.

"i'm glad to see you're okay after the meteor."

and really, she is. they might not be the closest per se but she has to admit, she does enjoy seeing kyle at league events.

but that's besides the point, isn't it? they have a job to do.

"do you mind if i tell you something before we start?"

kyle lopez

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]her smile widens a fraction. he's, truthfully, a comforting presence whether he really knows it or not.

and in a way, it is sensitive information. it's not... well, okay it is sort of bad but hopefully not as world ending as one would think.

"i saw sea hoenn mining the meteor right before we evacuated from mt pyre."

there's no easy way to say it, she supposes.

and like word vomit, she keeps going.

"it -- i don't know how to, like, explain it but it sort of just appeared in front of me like a pink slash and then when i looked in, there was sea hoenn actively mining the fallen meteor in their dimension."

a question comes, then, that she isn't so certain she wants to ask.

"do you think it's possible to recreate the pink slash? to see what their plan is?"

kyle lopez

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]she mistakes relief of no genocide for relief of bad news. and perhaps, they’re the same thing.

”what if… it’s different than ultra space? would it be possible then?”

it’s still a budding theory but somehow, she believes it true.

”i think it was something — maybe palkia, i’m not too sure — using a move to cut into our reality. father winter called it spatial rend during mt pyre but… it looked different this time.”

almost like it was a different form from the pink cyclones they witnessed minutes prior.

her eyes widen at the admission kyle breathes, however, and her head tilts softly with curiosity.

”you tried going back to sea hoenn? why?”

kyle lopez

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]for a long while, she's quiet. processing. calculating.

and while he makes very valid points, there's something off about the whole thing. it keeps bugging her, festering like a wound she can't see to even begin treating. and it feels so obvious, so blatant that it should take up her entire field of vision.

"what if ultra space isn't there anymore?"

it's soft, barely audible. she thinks of the barrier, of the multitude of scenes it displayed. every single one of them was different. another glimpse into universes, dimensions. and yet, there was no ultra space.

now, the rifts are here and they're open and god, it's such a shot in the dark to even say.

"i -- it's possible ultra space has somehow collided with hoenn. maybe that's how the rifts are possible? if the dimensional highway merged into our universe, it could explain the rifts and the influx of new pokemon we haven't seen before."

she has to admit... even speaking it aloud sounds closer and closer to insanity.

"are you sure you want to try?"

her cheeks are flushed a soft, embarrassed shade of pink.

"i do appreciate your willingness to help but... i don't want to bring you down with me."

being in the crossfire is fine for her, perhaps, but for their champion?

his intent sounds solid enough for her to not worry much about the rest. she is, however, unable to bite back the curiosity and the question it drags straight out of her body.

"what happened when you tried going back? was it similar to the pink slash i saw or was it using the rift beneath rustboro?"

kyle lopez

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]she hums.

not completely gone... but also not quite the same. perhaps the same could be said for sea hoenn or even hoenn itself.

"what'd you see when you tried going to sea hoenn?"

she pries half because she curious and mostly because it'll help her, in some sort of way, to explain what she's seen in that pink slash. if she has concrete understanding, maybe she could even convince dahlia goode in their meeting later in the week...

she blinks, then, as his intentions become more pronounced.

"you'd rather... help me clean up?"

the concept is, perhaps, a little amusing.

"i suppose that's better than watching me get fired, right?"

for both of them, really. he wouldn't have to learn a new face in the position and she'd get to keep the spot she's been holding onto with white knuckles since her return.

"we're in this together for now, then."

and with a soft flourish of her right hand, she gestures for him to take the lead. her smile is faint but there all the same.

"so, what's the plan, champ?"

kyle lopez

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]her smile turns sheepish.

"definitely better than the three day war."

although, as it stands right now, she doesn't have nearly as much to lose as she did back then.

kyle takes the lead and she observes him with a steady curiosity. a smeargle comes out from one of his pokeballs, followed by three stonjourners.

"okay."

she tries to get her own smeargle out before his smeargle does anything. the silly goose dog plops onto the ground next to her, paint brush tail at the ready.

"let's see if it's the right place for this..."

as kyle's smeargle begins to use spatial rend with the added juice of his stonjourners' power spot, she waves a hand for her own smeargle to try sketching the move he uses. she's not sure that would even work, really, but she's feebly trying something. his smeargle might be too quick for her sketching smeargle to copy.

kyle lopez