His response is unsurprising, disappointing even as he acts perfectly within the boundaries she had already assigned to him. The two hadn't ever worked together in a professional capacity before today of course, but she had heard talk of the man here and there throughout Rocket regardless, enough talk that she could reasonably form a model of him within her own mind, figure out what kind of person he was before he even spoke. It was such a stagnant and boring thing, if this was the kind of person she was going to be working with than she could already tell that this mission was going to be a disappointment.
[break][break]
Not that she let any of this show on her face as she simply smiles and puffs out her chest. "Just make sure to remember everything you see today when you make your next big position and send plenty of funding my way. What I've got in store at the end of this road is gonna revolutionize everything you ever thought you knew about Pokemon." And so off they go into the depths, diving head first into the bowels of the earth as they walk into the cave and begin charting this unknown territory.
[break][break]
At first things seem fairly normal as they make their way inside, spatterings of unaspected Terastal Crystals dotting the walls and ceiling, tints of red or brown beginning to develop in the larger ones. There's wild Pokemon running around of course too, they lack any signs of aggression and are more than content to let the duo go about their business as Xenon carefully scrapes samples from the more developed Terastal crystals into empty vials. Those few that are looking for a fight are scared off quickly enough when they see both a Glimmora and a Medicham guarding the two, even a wild beast knows there's no merit in picking a fight it can't reasonably win it seems.
[break][break]
But as they go deeper in, breaching the bounds of what was previously charted and entering the unknown, something intangible changes. The developed Terastal Crystals grow more frequent, larger, the bounds of the cavern seem to expand and the branching paths increase. There are more Pokemon running around, larger Pokemon, not Dynamax size by any means of course, but... larger in a way that isn't natural in the modern world. If either of them had a head for history they might find some comparison in the Alpha Pokemon of the ancient past, but not quite the same even so as the wild creatures shy away from battle. They almost seem... afraid of something.
[break][break]
Electricity tingles at the back of Xenon's neck. The black Pokeball on her belt hums with energy, visibly shaking as whatever was inside fights to get out. "You feel that too?" She whispers as she rests a hand on the trembling container, goosebumps rising along her skin as she scans around the cave for the source. "That right there is the proof I needed." She raises her mechanical hand and clicks something within the joint of her thumb, a display screen pops from her wrist and begins scanning for the same energy she found in the others she found, it doesn't take very long before a number in the corner of the screen starts to tick up once she settles on one tunnel. "You're a lucky guy you know. You're about to get a glimpse of the future as it appears." The expression she's making... she can't see it herself, but its none of that false enthusiasm she was putting up earlier at the beginning of the cave. This is raw manic excitement as she grins so wide it feels like her face is about to split open, sweat beading on her forehead as she takes one step forwards. And then another.
[break][break]

+ Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]