"yeah... it has, hasn't it?"

a slightly drawn sigh escapes derek as he begins speaking. it seemed like everyone has been mindful of his reclusiveness as of late. though maybe it was a good thing. "i'm fine now, but things could've been better." derek could have been better, in more ways than one.

the lack of bees buzzing is quite telling that they're nowhere near where they ought to be looking. the ranger picks up his pace, while the sobble at his shoulder looks closely at their surroundings for any signs of their target.

"you seem well, though. can't say i remember you smiling the last time we were here." definitely an improvement compared to before, though it made derek wonder why that was.

"anything interesting happen while i wasn't around?"

---

tl;dr
lorem ipsum

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]"hopefully things get better from now on."

there's a fifty-fifty chance of such a thing occurring, anyway. she'll place her bets on things looking up if only because the world could use some optimism once in a while.

too much and you'll suffocate but just enough to push through? perfect.

she lets out a little laugh, waving their previous encounter out of the air with an idle hand.

"less stressed, i guess?"

no more meteor left to fend off...

she's become better at masking emotions on some days. her success rate is increasing to thirty percent instead of ten. it's enough to earn a smile here and there.

"no, i don't think so. there's still the rifts and team rocket to worry about, but nothing too pressing at the moment. have you gotten back into the swing of things yet?"

well, if you don't count sea hoenn. she tries to put their survival out of sight, out of mind for half the day at least by asking of himself, of his progress now that he's back.

DEREK HOFFMAN

"good... that's good."

as one of the league's important figures, ridding illeana of as much stress as possible would be ideal. though, of course, it took pressure to make diamonds.

but apply too much, and everything falls apart.

"i guess you could say that." as far as getting back into the swing of things, it wasn't like there was much for him to do. a couple missions here or there. it was his time spent in the border that was crucial. everything else was negligible. inconsequential, even.

"finally got around to going through one of those portals again. finally had someone i was familiar with along this time." he pauses, thinking back on what happened within. it was worrisome... but a much needed wake-up call.

"i imagine you've been more than busy with them yourself?" as a scientist who loved to poke and prod with dangerous substance and phenomena, derek was certain illie was discovering what she could about all of the places those portals lead. "anything useful you could tell me about them?"

the sound of bees buzzing erupts from up ahead once derek finishes making his little inquiry.

---

tl;dr
get ready for the b-b-b-b-bees!!!

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]curiosity rises quickly. her head swivels toward him quickly, eyes refocusing on his expression.

"oh, you have? how was it?"

information is important nowadays. she'll swipe whatever she can at this point. more reports, more intelligence... all with the sole purpose of trying to close these rifts in any way she can.

the question turns on her, then, and she feels the weight of it settle against her shoulders. somehow, it does not drag her down much anymore.

"i have, though i haven't gathered enough information yet."

there's still so much she doesn't know. it's both exciting and infuriating all at once.

"from what i've seen firsthand and in reports, each rift contains dangers like ultra beasts or angry entities. they also contain resources we might be able to use later down the line."

a pause follows before her head tilts to the left, curiosity weighing it down.

"is there one in particular you were curious about?"

yet, his answer doesn't come. instead... the familiar sound of buzzing bees rises quickly. it drowns out all else, insistent and demanding to be heard. looks like they found the hive after all.

DEREK HOFFMAN

"well, to be honest?"

it wasn't good. derek would leave out the specifics, but he'd just about gotten jonesy killed. he'd managed it better this time, the prospect of such a thing occuring. and yet that didn't sit well with him.

sure, he should get used to the possibility. but for jonesy, well.. that was a pokemon derek wasn't willing to part ways with. "it could've gone better. but it was productive, regardless of how bad things could have ended up in there."

curiously enough, he hones in on illeana's mention of ultra beasts. "i haven't noticed any of those in the border. just spirits and shadows." so they weren't in the same one. or seeing the same things once inside.

"probably going to plan on the ultra deep sea one next. at least after one more trip into the border." there was still something he was hoping to find. to witness.

but their little chat is interrupted by the obvious. these bees are met by a rogue DRAGON HAMMER thanks to jonesy, and a slew of gheleon's (zeraora's) PLASMA FIST. it's a very easy time to clean up after them, which is where head scientist illeana reyes comes in. derek might as well just be hired muscle.

though he's still curious. "what ultra beast species have you encountered out there, exactly?" while considered hazardous to train, some of them were remarkable enough to warrant it anyway.

---

tl;dr
derek handles the bees
sample and skidaddle, miss scientist

illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

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

[attr="class","illeana i"]while he makes quick work of the bee horde, she merely observes. her role in this is simple: sample extraction.

and once he's done, she steps in with vials to begin collecting.

"um, i think deep sea has nihilego and poipole if i remember the reports right."

she ushers the knocked out bees into pokeballs, then, after vials of their blood have been collected. whatever's happening to them... their blood should be able to tell more than they will, themselves.

"i haven't experienced the deep sea too much yet, though, so i'm not sure if the reports are entirely accurate."

her smile is sheepish.

"for all we know, there could be something worse lurking in the deep."

isn't there always something worse waiting for them, for hoenn?

tucking the newly filled pokeballs back into her bag, she turns her full attention back onto derek.

"if you go into any other rifts, could you bring back some information for me by any chance?"

another mind set on the path for intel gathering never hurts, right?

DEREK HOFFMAN

"guess i'm gonna find out, huh?" he knew those names, but not all that they were capable of. he'd be careful, especially with the notion of something worse. even if illeana's trepidation was likely seeded somewhere else.

"what kind of info?" there was a lot going on in those places. from energy readings to potential space-time phenomena. the fact they could venture to these places was an anomaly in of itself. one that they had finally begun to understand.

"is it sensitive or just a personal interest?"

illeana reyes

☉