she was in a small office. it was not her own, but she was by herself at that moment. a wall was lined with a few computers, and some equipment pushed out of the way. she sat at a table, scrawling thoughts in a journal.[break][break]
when she looked up, the tired look on her face gave way to a wide smile. she was happy to see him, perhaps more so than most other colleagues that had welcomed her back.[break][break]
her poipole gave a friendly wave.[break][break]
”kepler. it's good to see you.” and with coffee. ”you know me well.” a lie, really, but it seemed like an appropriate thing to say. he at least knew her well enough to know she would always appreciate coffee.[break][break]
”and what else do you have there?” research on infinity energy? primal energy? tera crystals? all possibilities were exciting.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]kepler brueshaber [break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-poipole"]

”i will definitely drink it,” she assured him. the cup was left sitting there for the moment as he began to place down his intriguing assortment of notes. she was undisturbed by the chaos. her poipole levitated around the table, reaching to help kepler if needed.[break][break]

listening, lulu glanced over the pages as quickly as he went, which was fast. ”i’d love to take the time to read through all of this, if that’s alright.” all of the topics were of great interest to her.[break][break]

about rocket’s goals, she sighed, ”as always–but i’m so glad to see you kept up on your research anyways. i have no doubt they will come to see the value in it.”[break][break]

as she skimmed headings, the name project: scarecrow stood out to her. however, a different question would come first.[break][break]

”galarian zapdos? i wasn’t aware it was in the region.” she was not as in-the-know as she had once been. at least, not on all of the legendaries and their whereabouts. the birds were quite low on her list of priorities. ”any particular reason for your interest in it?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]kepler brueshaber [break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-poipole"]

the project: scarecrow file remained atop the others. however, she didn’t direct attention to it yet.[break][break]

”i admittedly know less about the legendaries compared to some of the others around here–but i am curious about their behavior, all flocking here to ‘the origin point.’”[break][break]

she leaned back in her chair, eyes flicking towards another within reach that could easily be pulled up to the table.[break][break]

”what’s the story?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]kepler brueshaber [break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-poipole"]

”the work is important,” she countered firmly. ”if there is a solution to our ‘origin point’ predicament, the answer may exist beyond our world.” [break][break]

her hand gestured for him to go on with his story, then, before reaching for the coffee he’d offered her. the roasted smell wafted through the room pleasantly.[break][break]

his story of years in galar wasn’t news, for she’d been filled in by Cillian Quinn not an hour after arriving from her vacation. ”twenty, wasn’t it?” years. ”it must have been jarring to return to our modern problems.”[break][break]

after a momentary pause, she asked, ”and what of the zapdos?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]kepler brueshaber [break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-poipole"]

her face scrunched in a bemused sort of way at chocobo, as she reached for coffee.[break][break]

The galarian zapdos had imprinted on him. it was something she guessed she had seen before, with luka chêne ; and then the detail of the feather reminded her briefly of the one declan walsh had mentioned once, that she didn’t dare ask him about now, though she wondered about it still, as she wondered about the whereabouts and allegiance of cresselia, and its ability–or lack thereof, which would be unfortunate–to solve their interdream zone predicament.[break][break]

where were any of the rest of the gods, and for what terrible reasons did they lay in waiting?[break][break]

”with your child, the god chicken?” his laughter was contagious, and she chuckled over the lid of her coffee. ”if you see it again, maybe don’t call it that.”[break][break]

her smile faded just a tad, as she thought then not of cresselia, but of darkrai.[break][break]

”so, it’s avatarship you’re after?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]kepler brueshaber [break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-poipole"]

’absolutely not’ wasn’t a surprising response. she’d found that many people despised the idea of avatarship itself, and the incident of Bailey Cooper also lived on as a cautionary tale for those who might seek such power.[break][break]

safety was what he’d once wanted, and she could remember feeling the same when she’d called out to her old patron. she so missed the security of being able to simply disappear into the shadows at will.[break][break]

his elaborating took a darker turn than expected, and she struggled to fill the silent pause with the right words before he picked up again. Grateful, she brought coffee to her lips instead.[break][break]

when prompted, she nodded, ”of course. they had it under their control, thanks to an arceus supposedly. why?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]kepler brueshaber [break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-poipole"]

”oh.”[break][break]

it was not a thought that had occurred to her, and now it seemed strange to her that it hadn’t. the drk triad had been killing avatars, after all. they sought power over their world to end it, presumably.[break][break]

”you think the dark triad will go after other legendary pokemon? have they shown signs of that, beyond dialga and palkia?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]kepler brueshaber [break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-poipole"]