Lulu presented an alternative theory: That the League itself was responsible for Hoenn becoming the so-called origin point. Andrea couldn't deny that tampering with alternate dimensions for personal gain was quite greedy. However...

"Rocket trying to mine the meteorite instead of stopping it was also kinda greedy, wasn't it?" The dragon fanatic pointed out, her Druddigon grunting in agreement. "I'm not saying that you don't have a point. I think everyone's made mistakes, but it's not too late to fix those mistakes." Which was easier said than done, of course, yet very necessary.

"The first step towards peaceful coexistence is understanding each other. The second step is honesty." Andrea nodded to herself, sharing a small nugget of wisdom she'd gotten from a relationship advice blog. "I'm ready to understand you, Ms. Lulu. For starters, why do you hate me so much?" She asked.

Lulu Flint //mission

☉

”i don’t hate you. i simply do not allow people to get in my way.”[break][break]
something andrea had been witness to.[break][break]
”but if it’s honesty you value, here’s some food for thought: my beheeyem informed me a whole year before the meteor arrived that it was coming. i eventually did some poking around, only to find that the league already knew about it. i also found they’d ventured to sea!hoenn, and created a hostile relationship with them. they planned to use the meteor as a way to commit genocide, because they had failed at whatever they’d hoped to achieve by exploring an alien world uninvited—all as hoenn continues to recover from the last alien invasion they caused. and do you know how long it took them to tell the public anything after these discoveries, and that decision?” she paused, then revealing, ”months, at least. who knows how long they actually kept it to themselves? we will never know, nor will we ever learn the details of that secret mission that may have doomed us all because they will never, ever be honest. not with you, or me, or anyone else in this region.”[break][break]
there was a mere moment of silence, hardly enough to get a word in before she continued, ”as for mining the meteor, to chalk it up to greed is simply inaccurate. league propaganda keeps people from asking intelligent questions like why? it was a suicide mission, was it not? you think we did it for profit?”[break][break]
she shook her head, as though it were utterly ridiculous.[break][break]
”team rocket is at the forefront of scientific discovery, and of finding solutions to the league’s grave mistakes. we knew there was something on that meteor, because the league wanted it too. that’s how we found out about it. they were quite ready to join us up there, weren’t they?”[break][break]
built on many truths among the rest, her insistent speech waned, ”i am a scientist, andrea. i assure you, all i do, alongside my colleagues, is to ensure that there may be a tomorrow.”

[attr="class","ooc"]Andrea Vaneau [break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

That was a lot of purple text for Andrea to take in, but the gist of it was that the League had willfully kept information from the public, which only shook her already brittle trust in them even more, while making her second-guess Team Rocket's moral alignment.

What seemed to pique the PokéManiac's curiosity far more was the revelation that Lulu was, indeed, a scientist. "I'm something of a scientist myself. My thesis is gonna be on the plausibility of human-Pokémon metamorphosis!" The young woman remarked, though her claim was dubious at best without a PhD to back it up.

The eccentric girl clapped her hands once, smiling brightly. "We've found common ground. That was the third step. We both love discovering things! It's settled then... Let's deepen our bond by exploring these ancient ruins together!" She jovially proposed, all wariness and self-preservation from earlier gone in an instant.

Lulu had just said that she didn't hate her, so that meant they were now friends, right?

Without even waiting for an answer, Andrea turned on her heel and began delving deeper into the underground structure, using her phone to light up the path. "I actually learned about the meteor from a talking Oranguru... Well, it wasn't really talking so much as using telepathy, but you get what I mean." She initiated some small talk along the way. "It's so cool how Psychic types can see the future! Pokémon have so many awesome abilities!"

Lulu Flint //mission

☉

a scientist? that made this much more interesting. pokemon metamorphosis. maybe if she was able to recruit andrea, she would be enthralled to hear that lulu herself had turned into a claydol on one occasion.[break][break]

"ah. very interesting." briefly, she eyed the empty gaze of andrea's dragon hood. "i know others that study the same." biologists had of course made their attempts to unravel the mysteries behind that day in the tree, when so many rockets had taken on pokemon characteristics. she, herself, had possessed ten eyeballs.[break][break]

lulu decided to follow, albeit at her own leisurely pace. her gaze began to pass around again, looking for the shine of crystal.[break][break]

"pokemon are quite remarkable," she agreed.[break][break]

another step or two, and she asked curiously, "why are you here? are you looking for something?"

[attr="class","ooc"]Andrea Vaneau [break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

"You know others interested in human-Pokémon metamorphosis too? Who are they?" Now Andrea was even more intrigued. Could there be like-minded individuals in Team Rocket's ranks who wished to uncover the same mysteries as she did? For the time being, Lulu remained reticent on the subject.

"I'm looking for adventure, of course!" She jovially replied to Lulu's own query. "People say there's treasure deep inside these ruins. Maybe even one of those sparkly bits that fell off the meteorite. There might even be a super rare legendary Pokémon guarding the treasure... So people say anyway."

Everyone knew that Pokémon-related rumors coming from dubious online sources were always true. Especially if they claimed that their dad or uncle worked for Silph Co.

Eventually, the unlikely duo would come upon a sealed doorway, flanked by elaborate murals depicting the exploits of a great king from the distant past. Was it the entrance to the king's tomb perchance? The boulder blocking the entrance was too large for humans to move with their bare hands, a telltale sign that this structure had definitely been built by ancient aliens.

"Do you smell that?" Andrea turned to Lulu with a wide grin. "That's the smell of adventure!"

Lulu Flint //mission

☉

"my colleagues," she explained vaguely. "other rockets."[break][break]

she listened, following with the pace of a casually stalking cat.[break][break]

"the 'sparkly bits' are called tera shards. from the tera crystal." a bit of information that was surely circulating enough now to reach her soon anyways.[break][break]

at andrea's outburst, lulu's eyebrows raised. for a moment, she wasn't sure how to respond.[break][break]

"how thrilling."

[attr="class","ooc"]Andrea Vaneau [break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

Luckily, Andrea's overwhelming positive energy balanced out Lulu's gothic indifference. That boulder may have stood in their way, but not for long. "Adventure awaits behind that door! Go, Finn!" The young PokéManiac sent out another of her fearsome dragons: A Garchomp that Dug through the obstacle with its powerful claws, allowing the two humans entry.

The inside of the chamber was surprisingly barren, giving credence to the theory that the place had already been looted by grave-robbers a long time ago. It was a tomb alright, but one filled with disappointment instead of riches. Curiously, the only artifact to be left intact was the king's sarcophagus itself.

"That coffin looks HUGE! Could that mean humans in ancient times were as big as giants?" Andrea mused aloud, hardly able to restrain her curiosity. She waltzed towards the sarcophagus, eager to examine it.

Come to think of it, didn't that sarcophagus seem slightly... off?

Lulu Flint //mission

☉

lulu found the peppiness annoying, perhaps predictably. following anyways, she entered into the tomb after the intrepid treasure hunting andrea.[break][break]

”wow,” she remarked dully. artifacts and riches had not really been on her list. it was the rumor of the tera shard which had lured her in.[break][break]

eyes fell on the sarcophagus.[break][break]

”i think it’s fairly typical that important people are given bigger, more elaborate resting places.” she reasoned, crossing her arms. ”but this year has proved anything is possible. so, sure, maybe he was a giant.”

[attr="class","ooc"]Andrea Vaneau [break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-darkrai"]

Even Lulu, an actual woman of science, was willing to give that absurd theory the benefit of a doubt on account of various other absurdities that plagued Hoenn. Andrea wiggled her fingers in anticipation, and was about to push the lid open, when the sarcophagus suddenly sprung to life!



A pair of red eyes shone with malice, long appendages made of shadow reaching out to grab the intrepid adventurer, only to be repelled by a Dragon Rush and a Dragon Claw respectively courtesy of her Pokémon. The enemy, revealed to be an Alpha-sized Cofagrigus, flashed a terrifying smile of jagged teeth.

"Oh my gosh, the king from long ago came back to life as a Pokémon!" Or this was simply a regular Cofagrigus that had made this tomb its home, and had grown this massive thanks to a steady diet of treasure and golden coins. "Sorry to invade your tomb, your highness!" Andrea liked her theory better, though.

Soon, they were surrounded by a swarm of wild Yamask, the king's royal subjects... or simply the Cofagrigus' offspring. Regardless, they weren't happy to receive visitors, firing successive Shadow Balls at them.

Lulu Flint //mission

☉

was that what was happening? this congragigus, a king? well, not anymore. she watched it rise from the coffin. while she no longer possessed the same fear of ghosts as she once had, the sense of anxiety was still there. distrust. the motives of ghosts were too mysterious, not seemingly as simple as other pokemon.[break][break]

with a specialty in dark-types, if she had to be surrounded by enemies, this was the best case scenario.[break][break]

a pokeball was tossed, releasing a darkly colored houndoom.[break][break]

”shade.”[break][break]

a shadow break burst in many colors amidst its darkness, setting the cave aglow with something that looked reminiscent of the spacetime distortions. she hoped it would be enough to drive off the swarm, but if not, there was plenty else to send at them.

[attr="class","ooc"]Andrea Vaneau[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-houndoom"]

The Yamask scattered as a result of a move that Andrea had never seen before. The Cofagrigus did not like that. Dropping onto the ground with an audible thud, the living sarcophagus crawled on all fours, headed towards the Rocket scientist and her scary dog.

Fortunately, Finn intercepted it with another Dragon Rush, forcing the 'king' to flee. The Ghost type crawled on the wall like an arachnid, before phasing through the ceiling. "That was close! Are you alright, Ms. Lulu?" The dragon maiden ran up to the older woman once the danger was gone... Or was it?

Suddenly, one of Cofagrigus' shadowy limbs emerged from the ceiling, stealthily reaching out to grab Andrea while the latter was distracted.

Lulu Flint //mission

☉

the sight of the cofragigus advancing towards them on all fours was like something out of a horror movie. her face wrenched a little at it, and another command was nearly leaving her lips before the interception nullified the need.[break][break]
at andrea’s question, she responded, ”fine, yes.”[break][break]
the houndoom remained out of its ball, and while lulu’s eyes briefly cast around for a familiar shadow, andrea was grabbed by a dark hand not of her own company. she turned to witness it just in time.[break][break]
”get it.”[break][break]
her dog lunged for it, leaping into the air. the dark teeth of a crunch closed over the arm to free her.

[attr="class","ooc"]Andrea Vaneau[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-houndoom"]

The Cofagrigus' arm recoiled from the Crunch, freeing its captive in the process. A second Crunch courtesy of Andrea's Garchomp sealed the deal, making the Ghost type retreat for good. A real king would have stayed to defend his tomb, so them having a survival instinct likely meant that this Cofagrigus had been an ordinary Pokémon after all.

Andrea, however, kept clinging to her colorful delusions. "We beat the spirit of the ancient king! Yay for teamwork!" The eccentric girl celebrated, turning towards Lulu with her hand raised for a high five, since the two of them were totally besties now. Right...?

Whether the Rocket scientist reciprocated or not, the young PokéManiac proceeded to take a good, long gander at the room they were currently in, confirming that it was sadly treasure-less. "Hmm, there doesn't seem to be anything left for us here. Should we make our way back out?" She proposed.

Lulu Flint //mission

☉