’a stone bowl, a jeweled branch, a robe of fire rats, a dragon's jewel, and a seaborne shell.’[break][break]

preparing for another excursion, she had been reading up on team rocket’s collective research when the peculiar list had caught her attention. a bowl was brought along from her home at last minute and packed into her backpack.[break][break]

her voice was muffled behind a gas mask as they came out the other side of the rift. ”the sky here is a strange sight, isn’t it?”

a haze of otherworldly yellow was in place of the blue they were so used to. if only launching a satellite did not seem so risky. they had, however, brought along a telescope, and some canisters to collect air samples.[break][break]

”before we set up, there's something i'd like to do first. you've read the reports, i imagine, with that bizarre list of items? i brought a stone bowl. i'd like to see what happens if we take it to a crater.”

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

”i’m not sure either¬. i’ll look into it when we get back.”[break][break]

she was still catching up on rocket’s research. So much had been discovered over three months. notes on the ultra crater had been hurriedly reviewed over breakfast, and by the time she’d gotten to the strange list part, it had already been time to leave for work.[break][break]

”good thinking with the pokemon. what’d you bring?”[break][break]

not a moment later, they’d feel heat on their backs, and the roar of fire behind them. the celesteela were closer to the rift this time, and they were awake.[break][break]

her head snapped in the direction the flames went raced, quickly setting a small but growing portion of the alien landscape ablaze.[break][break]

she added to her previous question, ”water-types, perhaps? or should we let it burn, you think?” so as to not interfere with the natural order of things there. but then again, the celesteela seemed to be attacking them¬–an unnatural thread. ”either way, we should pick up the pace…”[break][break]

a pokeball was tossed, releasing a steelix that towered three stories high before it lowered towards them. ”climb on! we’ll find a crater quicker like this, anyways.”[break][break]

there would be enough time to put out the fire before they sped off, if it was what he chose.[break][break]

21 involve deadly, incendiary gas from celesteela that can suffocate or burn down stretches of land/flora/you and your pokemon.

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

lots of water-types indeed. ”ah. i’ve battled that moltres, too, i believe.” in the border, where they’d discovered a seal stone. she wondered if the moltres was truly real or not.[break][break]

once that part of the realm was spared from the celesteela’s inferno, the steelix was commanded onward over the pocked terrain. with masks and wind, it was difficult to speak to kepler, so lulu was quiet as she surveyed what all they could see from steelix’s height.[break][break]

”that looks a good spot,” she assessed as her eyes fell upon a crater. it was as good as any. a hard pat on steel slowed the giant to a stop at the edge.[break][break]

as they looked down upon it, there seemed to be something in the dirt at its center. the metal body of a spaceship protruded just enough out of the ground to be detectable from their distance.[break][break]

”there’s something buried down there,” lulu pointed out, before beginning to make her way down with careful but eager steps.[break][break]

20 excavate or stumble upon an old megalopolan spacecraft or dead celesteela in a crater that has been buried deep underground; in the process, encounter evidence that only ultra beasts used to live here.

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

“it’s not my favorite of the wilds, certainly.”[break][break]

they went down the walls of the crater and inspected the object buried there. ”dig it up for us, steelix.” and it dig, spearing its metallic head into the ground and excavating their very interesting find.[break][break]

as the dirt and dust fell away, there were enough clear signs to identify the vessel’s origin. ”it’s megalopolan.” she was sure of it, and retrieved a camera from her bag to snap a several photos.[break][break]

”that’s why we stopped here,” she replied as her eye gazed through a viewport. ”i say give it a try.”[break][break]

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

she inspected the ship carefully as it was excavated from the crater, brushing off dust with a gloved hand before each photo.[break][break]

”it certainly is,” she agreed appreciatively, that it was a spaceship, without a doubt–and an interesting one at that.[break][break]

kepler’s logic that followed was reasonable. she added to the possibilities, ”maybe they were looking for energy. it’s why they came to hoenn, after all.” the megalopolans had been desperate. it only took one trip to lesser megalopolis to know just how much.[break][break]

out of the corner of her eye, then, she saw something rising behind the yellow veil of the atmosphere. ”a moon,” she observed aloud, almost more awestruck by it than the ship, and she was pretty excited about the ship.[break][break]

before she could say anything else about it, however, leaves were slicing through the air. one sliced a shallow cut across her thigh and shin, clean through her pants.[break][break]

”shit. kartana.” a pokeball was thrown, releasing her houndoom. holding the mega stone on a chain within her shirt, it glowed, and the houndoom glowed too and mega evolved, its horns lengthening and its eyes darkening with power. it charged at the ultra beast.[break][break]

”inferno!”[break][break]

🗺️ utilize mega evolution in an advantageous way.

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

"could be." the celesteela certainly seemed to pack a lot of power.[break][break]

as kartana attacked, her houndoom’s inferno exploded from between sharp teeth, unleashing flames everywhere around them. it burned through kartana's leaves and singed their bodies until they decided it was too much effort and left.[break][break]

though short, the battle was still enough to disturb celesteela from the ground, several of them bursting out of the sand and soaring higher into the yellow sky.[break][break]

in the small moment they had within protect's bubble, she suggested, “what about them? it looks like some of them might be headed for that moon, even...” which would be quite a journey to attempt to join them on, but who better to give it a try?[break][break]

her eyes settled on a celesteela nearby that was beginning to awaken. surely, it would take off as well, like all the others.[break][break]

“let’s go!” she suggested, returning her steelix and running towards the ultra beast, jumping on just as it began to rise out of the crater. her houndoom leapt on after her.[break][break]

unfortunately, the celesteela was not headed for the moon, and it would become quickly apparent that it was, disappointingly, much too far to reach anyways–at least for now.[break][break]

25 attempt to fly toward an emerging moon via celesteela or some other method, but realize the moon is not quite reachable yet.

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

the celesteela descended back down towards the alien terrain, and she allowed the beheeyem to help her to safety, returning her houndoom on the way. how disappointing.[break][break]

”next time,” she agreed with a nod. they would return with better equipment and well thought out ideas, and surely they would make it to that rising moon.[break][break]

”let’s take some samples and head back for now,” she suggested.[break][break]

ZZ5EyKxU

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