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[attr="class","text"]He was running behind. Well, not terribly so, but just enough to make him scramble. Genny would understand, though, right? It didn’t really seem like an urgent matter to meet her there out on Route 120. But then again, she’d sounded sort of weird on the phone when she’d called to ask for a hand, hadn’t she?[break][break]

It wasn’t like Lam was an expert in reading tone. But by that point, he’d known Genny long enough to tell when something might’ve been up. He hadn’t seen her in a hot minute–and that was something he felt pretty bad for. After the time he’d spent getting lost in the Deep Sea, he’d closed in on himself for a bit. Hadn’t gone out as much. Hadn’t hung out with many people beyond his boyfriend.[break][break]

That wasn’t too fair, was it?[break][break]

So, he’d make up for it today! Maybe he didn’t exactly know what that looked like just yet, but they’d never really had many issues in the past. So surely it’d all work out correctly today. He frowned slightly as his altaria began to descend over the route. In the short distance, he could make out the top of a bright ginger head. That had to be her.[break][break]

Slipping off of Mallow’s back, his shinx followed on his heels–just as eager to see Genny as Lam was. Noodle scampered ahead with feline trills and chirps of greeting, only to slow down with obvious confusion.[break][break]

“Hey, Genny! Sorry I got here a little…” his words trailed as he caught up to his pokemon, brows knitting together as he got a better look at his best friend. “..late. Your hair– trying a new look?” It was definitely something. Unevenly cut along the ends, making it look like it had been a struggle to chop off in the first place.[break][break]

It wasn’t just that, though. Something was definitely up.

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[attr="class","credit"]MADE BY GUNSMILE

lam logan[break][break]

NOTES

- STANDARD ATTIRE, MISSION[break]
- Genny coldly tells Lam he's late, has him come along. Pumpkin King and Vanilla Ice go with into the cave where GG occured.[break]
- Zagreus the Growlithe whines at Lam. He wants his person back.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","text"]“Yeah, I’m sorry about that—some of the wind currents were stronger today. Not great for flying.” No unbothered wave off? It’s as strange as the uneven cut to her hair.[break][break]

Lam’s smile mirrors her in the moments before it fades from her face. He’s glad to see her, but something’s shadowed that normal brightness. Void of that nickname she’s always used (and been the only one to get away with it,) it feels like he’s done something terribly wrong.[break][break]

Not that he really knows what he might’ve done outright, but uneasy guilt turns over in his stomach when she walks forward without any more than a simple directive. A silent oh falls from his mouth, confused and diminished.[break][break]

A wet, velvety nose edges itself against his palm, and Lam looks down to see Genny’s growlithe. Frowning, he scratches behind Zagreus’ soft ears in an attempt to soothe the poor creature’s whines. “Yeah…I don’t like this either.”[break][break]

Concern still evident, Lam looks down at the growlithe and nudges his head toward her back in a signal that they should follow. Then he’s hustling to catch up with her, jogging to fall in step beside her as they make those first steps into the strange cave.[break][break]

“So what’re we up to today?” he asks in a bid to at least attempt lighter conversation first. It still feels sort of stilted and awkward. “Anything in particular we need to find?”

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[attr="class","credit"]MADE BY GUNSMILE

lam logan[break][break]

NOTES

- STANDARD ATTIRE, MISSION[break]
- Zagreus happier with Lam pets. As he catches up, go into LORE.[break]
- Notes the finer details of the mission. She isn't smiling like a naive little Ranger anymore...

MADE BY GUNSMILE

[attr="class","sideinfo"]

[attr="class","text"]Her reassurance does little to ease the concern that persists. Again, there’s guilt, but he’s not sure why he still feels as if he did something wrong. “Er, alright..” He looks down at Noodle, and Zagreus as well. Neither seem at ease, either.[break][break]

“Wait…ex?” Lam’s frown deepens, confusion further clouding his features. When did that happen? Was that the cause for this change? Surely not, this seems more…extreme? He’s not sure if that’s the right word for it. Profound, maybe.[break][break]

But before he can ask further, she’s carrying on. They were inside eternatus? Disgusting, and weird, but it sort of makes sense in hindsight now. All those strange things he’d seen afterward too, during the battle at Dewford. It clicks into place as his nose wrinkles in distaste. “Seems straightforward enough,” he replied with a nod of his head.[break][break]

He manages to return a slight smile in exchange for the one she offers, but it’s weak. If only because her own smile is muted. It’s not the one he recognizes, not by a long shot. There’s something numb and removed. For a moment, he wonders if they should just get this over with. Work in silence as the cave swallows them up.[break][break]

Glowing hunks of rock begin to crop up around them—indicative of Tera crystals from their colorful sheen, and it’s something that feels as though it should be awe inspiring. But that’s kind of hard to let sink in when there seems to be a pall over his best friend.[break][break]

Carefully, his fingers catch her wrist—gentle and only enough to hopefully snag her attention away from using the job as a distraction for whatever it is that’s going on in her head. If he gets smacked for it, alright. But for right then—[break][break]

“Hey, hold up. Gen, what’s going on? Are you- did I do something to make you upset?”

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[attr="class","credit"]MADE BY GUNSMILE

lam logan[break][break]

NOTES

- STANDARD ATTIRE, MISSION[break]
- After a little venom, Genny sees her reflection in a Tera crystal, and just... laments.[break]
- When Lam asks if he did anything wrong, she is confused... and gives a very, very short answer as to why she is this way.[break]
- That mission fucked her up.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","text"]Message received. The clipped tone of her voice clues Lam in fast to the fact that she’d rather avoid the subject. He winces at the acidity of it, frown deepening as another pang of guilt flares up from accidentally poking too hard at what seems to be a very sore spot. “Ah, I’m sorry about that.”[break][break]
Had this situation felt like a normal one, Lam would’ve offered the typical sort of encouragements a friend might after a break up. Those sort of you’re better off without ‘em or he’s missing out for real with someone like you. But this doesn’t even really seem to be the source of whatever was going on. Just an added grievance to the pile.[break][break]
“Well, um- I’m here, if you need anything.” Like he always would be.[break][break]
Looking around the cavern that opens up around them, it really is a sight to marvel at. For a moment, he pulls out his phone to snap some photos—both to show Ikarus Rook later, and to refer to if they descend further in pursuit of their objective. It was strange to see that she doesn’t do the same, or even really react to how pretty the sparkling crystallized formations are. [break][break]
Maybe he shouldn’t have reached for her with how she reacts, whirling around it a momentary fury before some of the tension eases away. The sting in his reaction is likely obvious—something he’s not able to mask in the suddenness of her reaction. “I don’t know,” he replies, because he doesn’t know, “I just. I don’t know, I know I haven’t been as available recently, and it feels like I let you down or something.” [break][break]
But that’s making this about him, when it probably isn’t.[break][break]
He shakes his head. “Nevermind that, I just feel worried.” She seems to catch his drift, though, because before he can agree, she’s giving him a short and concise response.[break][break]
“The dog mission…” He doesn’t know anything about it, but she’s not the only one who has been acting oddly in the wake of it. Absently, he recalls his hang out with MATIAS SILPH and the shift in his personality as well. But where Matias seemed to gain a degree of calm, Genny seems like a dulled version of her normal sunniness. [break][break]
“I haven’t heard much about it,” he comments, stooping to examine a particular crop of green crystals rather than try to touch her again. “What happened?”

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[attr="class","credit"]MADE BY GUNSMILE

lam logan[break][break]

NOTES

- STANDARD ATTIRE, MISSION, BIGGER MAP[break]
- How heartbreaking. Genny had to throw her heart away in Galar. So much death, so much suffering.[break]
- Her resolve, in how she's broken, but still together. The cracks are there.[break]
- Uh-oh. Iron Hands is throwing some. They use ELECTRIC TERRAIN to start.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","text"]For the most part, he listens quietly as Genny opens up to him. He doesn’t interrupt, save for little hums and nods of acknowledgement. Again, he’s reminded of the impact this particular mission seems to have had on more than one person. He can’t imagine it. Being alone the way she was for that long, and losing so much in the process. It prompts an ache in his chest for what she endured, and what she must still be wrestling with.[break][break]
His loss during the fighting outside of Dewford suddenly feels smaller in comparison.[break][break]
As her words wind down, he chews his lips for a moment and then carefully extends his hands until they settle on her shoulders. Lam looks down at her, trying to catch her eyes despite how blank they look—stuck in the memories that won’t release her. “Gen, I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like. But you know, you don’t have to go it on your own, yeah?”[break][break]
He feels a bit like a pot calling the kettle black. How often has he chosen to not rely on the help of others, hidden behind laidback friendliness, because he thought he should be able to hold his own? Because he thought that he should be strong and steady and capable so as to not let everyone around him down? It’s an embarrassing thing he’s had to slowly come to terms with.[break][break]
He considers tugging his best friend into a hug, but hesitates for fear it’ll be rebuffed. But he still smiles down at her, careful and somewhat somber. “You’re not alone now. I’ve been trying to get stronger too. After my own…” he trails, shakes his head. It doesn’t need to be discussed now. “The point is, we could work toge—“[break][break]
His response is shortened by the bark of Genny’s growlithe. Pulling away, Lam frowns as he twists toward the cause of Zagreus’ distress.[break][break]
“Ah, yikes,” he grimaces as the strange creature rumbles into view. Sensing the trouble, his shinx scrambles back to Lam’s side as he tosses a few pokeballs to join Genny’s ensemble. A scovillan and the altaria he’d flown in on burst forward—fully prepared to assist in subduing the anomaly creature.[break][break]
“Looks sorta like one I found out in the deep sea.” One of the two, anyway. He frowns, looking around the cavern, past the crackling ELECTRIC TERRAIN it produced. “I don’t see any of that pink mist, though. Do you?” The last time he’d encountered one of these things, the cloying interdream mist had been prominent.[break][break]
So where was it now?[break][break]
Not that they really had time to waste evaluating the scene. The Iron Hands seems to be charging up for some sort of onslaught. “Habanero, beat it to the punch!” His scovillan is on it—thundering forward to unleash a plume of FLAMETHROWER at its shiny, metallic body.

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[attr="class","credit"]MADE BY GUNSMILE

lam logan[break][break]

NOTES

- STANDARD ATTIRE, MISSION, BIGGER MAP[break]
- Genny does not care for their interruption with Iron Hands. Zagreus uses RAGING FURY to assist and take it down.[break]
- Two THUNDER PUNCHES on both Pokemon precede a BELLY DRUM, the Iron Hands planning a big strike to come.[break]
- Genny informs Lam they need this thing outta here, pronto. Before this goes from bad, to worse.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","text"] A weak smile is all Lam can manage before their conversation is interrupted. The look in his eyes is the offered promise to continue later if she wants, or to just talk about anything in general. Whatever helps.[break][break]
But for now, they’ve got work to take care of. Lam finds himself equally as annoyed, frown twisting his expression as he studies it. “That’s strange. Maybe they’re multiplying now?” Is that possible?[break][break]
His Pokémon fill the open gaps between hers to form a protective wall.[break][break]
“Good call,” he remarks lightly as he watches her command Zagreus with a commanding ease. It’s obvious in that moment, that she really has come quite far despite the sorrows that anchor her in place. She’s level headed, efficient in the moment, and it’s impressive. The sort of person he’d want to have in his corner.[break][break]
—Not that he’d ever considered them to not have each other’s backs when it counted.[break][break]
The massive android falters, expressionless eyes flickering for a moment before it recoups with fluid ease. It volleys back with no trouble at all. A freight truck with no sign of pumping the breaks.[break][break]
Habanero stumbles back, zapped and stunned by the THUNDER PUNCH that the Iron Hands manages to land on him. The scovillan is stilted, frozen in place as limbs temporarily lock up with paralysis before he can fire off a photosynthetic ENERGY BALL. The energy flares, then flickers away, unused.[break][break]
“Yeah, agreed,” he replies as he resists the urge to step away from Genny’s side to cover the scovillan as he tries to inch backward and free up the locked movement in his legs. “It seems stronger than the other I’ve seen too. Wonder if that’s just coincidence.” Or maybe it’s this place.[break][break]
“From the air where it can’t reach, Mallow!” he directs, looking upward to where the altaria sails overhead above the bionic creature. She trills, circling protectively around the right pack of trainers and Pokémon before gathering what shimmering energy she can to send a hurtling MOONBLAST down on top of the Iron Hand’s head.

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[attr="class","credit"]MADE BY GUNSMILE

lam logan [break][break]

NOTES

- STANDARD ATTIRE, MISSION, BIGGER MAP[break]
- Iron Hands isn't a fan of Moonblast, so comes after the Altaria with a WILD CHARGE, stopped by Skulley the Cubone.[break]
- Genny asks Lam to go ahead and fire back, as her Cubone comes in with the BONE RUSH. Take it away, Lammy!

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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[attr="class","text"] Figuring Habanero is too stunned to do much else, a quick recall pulls the scovillan back into his ball not long after Zagreus is pulled from the fight and swapped for a pint sized powerhouse.[break][break]
“Appreciate that!” he thanks Genny as her cubone hurtles forward to cut down the WILD CHARGE before it can crack up into the air and pull Mallow down. It’s definitely an Achilles’ Heel moment for the Iron Hands as it backlashes, unable to halt the impervious, tiny gremlin swinging at it with sturdy bone.[break][break]
Even if the situation is a risky one, battling outside of the arena still brings a certain rush when it seems like there’s an upper hand. He is all grins as they batter back the threat, and when Genny turns to him, the smile widens to a lopsided smirk. Bolstered by the fact that he’s Lammy again—that seriousness she’d met him with slipping just a little.[break][break]
His tone is equally as confident. “We shall.”[break][break]
As Genny’s cubone charges in with the swinging BONE RUSH he whistles up to Mallow. The signal is short and shrill, but it prompts her to let loose a pitched cry of her own. Swooping in as Skulley takes up the Iron Hands’ focus, the altaria uses her DISARMING VOICE to provide a nail in the coffin.[break][break]
Lam lets out a short laugh as the mecha creature falls in a clatter of hands and metal, effectively powering down. More a wheezy puff of relieved breath than a full-bodied laugh. Leaning, he nudges her shoulder with his, then lifts his loose fist for a side bump in success should she choose to return it.[break][break]
“Like I was trying to say— together. We got this.”[break][break]
Jogging forward, he rests a hand on Mallow’s ducked head in appreciation once she lands for a breather. Then he’s stepping closer to the inert Iron Hands and nudging hollow metal with the side of his foot. “Should probably get some good documentation of this before it wakes up again, huh?”

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[attr="class","credit"]MADE BY GUNSMILE