[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Similarly bundled against the damp chill in a knee-length wool coat and scarf, Aurelie frowned as she looked around the shadowy cavern. Though she'd visited Mossdeep City many times, the red-haired smith had never been inside Shoal Cave before. Now, shivering a little in the unseasonally cold air, she couldn't help wishing she had come in more temperate times and possibly in more relaxing company.

Still, she turned her face toward BARNABY FINCH with a thoughtful shrug. "Anything is possible, I suppose. But..."

Aurelie hesitated, before adding frankly, "I think it's unlikely. That experience in medieval memory-Galar was so surreal and so exceptional in so many ways. So many things happened differently there and behaved differently there than they do in our world. Things, people, and Pokemon for sure."

She swiveled her head to study the interior of the cavern again. In the glow of their flashlights, it seemed quiet and beautiful, with water as clear as glass and stalactites that hung from the ceiling like icicles, slim and graceful. Telltale flakes of glittering frost clung to the walls, hinting at the possible presence of something icy and powerful within.

"If I can be so bold," Aurelie ventured at length, glancing sidelong at the admin beside her, "I remember hearing a report—or maybe just a rumor—that the three Galarian birds simply appeared out of thin air and flew off. Is that really true? Or was that more of an exaggeration?"

Noticing a particular trail of frost crystals widening and growing denser as they headed deeper into the cavern, Aurelie walked closer to the wall to trace and track them. "Is that why you're interested in finding them?" she asked over her shoulder. "Because of the strange way they suddenly emerged into our world?"

Her tone was curious but respectful and slightly self-deprecating as she went on, "I do get the sense you've thought a lot about the three Legendary birds, after all." She vividly remembered how Galarian Articuno and Zapdos had been conjured up by the interdream mist, back on that mysterious island in Route 105.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","barnaby-main"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]As seemed typical with the admin, from her limited experience, he was again quite concise and close, bordering on cryptic, with his words. Still, his description for the cause behind the Legendary Galarian birds' appearance was fascinating. Ever the nerd, Aurelie couldn't help imagining the assembled Rocket leadership summoning the three birds like wizards with an ancient, forbidden grimoire.

Then her eyebrows rose when he mentioned that it was Declan Walsh, the Rocket Boss, who had wanted the birds found. An involuntary shudder ran through Aurelie at the memory of the only time she'd ever seen him, at the Rocket summit last year. Her lips tightened into a thin, tense line.

"Ah, Walsh," Aurelie echoed. Though she did her best to keep her tone neutral, there was a faint but discernible tinge of fear in her voice. And under that, was there something even fainter, almost like...anger?

"I suppose it makes sense he would be interested in them," she mused. "Of course, I only know him by reputation, but he doesn't strike me as someone who fails to recognize power when he sees it. Or someone who'd hesitate to use any form of power as a weapon."

What little she did know of Walsh was fearsome and unsettling. The mastermind of the Kanto invasion, the leader of the Kantonian syndicate...and, as she remembered vividly, the megalomaniac who ordered Rocket to mine a meteoroid and attack cities for energy when all of Hoenn was on the verge of complete destruction.

Aurelie glanced sidelong at the admin, a tendril of curiosity unfurling within her. "Do you know the Rocket Boss well?" she asked. "Or at least, have you met him often? I'm curious what you think of him."

She could see the two men being somewhat alike, at least in their intolerance for weakness. Aside from that, though, she wondered if she would be able to learn something about either Admin Bee or Walsh from his answer. Unless, of course, he stayed just as close-mouthed as ever.

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[attr="class","barnaby-main"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie watched the admin's face alertly in the gentle violet glow of his Starmie, trying to discern deeper sentiments or opinions about the Rocket Boss they were discussing. Unfortunately, both her knowledge of interrogation techniques and the admin in general were too lacking. The inscrutable admin's face was a closed book to her, his words smooth and informative but unrevealing.

Still, she was learning a lot from the information he did share. Of course, Aurelie knew about the Rocket leadership's meetings to disseminate intelligence and determine strategy. But she knew much less about Rocket's influence in other regions or Walsh's role in making the Hoenn branch as powerful as it was.

And the fact that Admin Bee owed something as worthwhile as the expansion of his own information network to Walsh's support gave Aurelie pause. Information is currency was a lesson she learned early in Rocket. It made her doubt that Barnaby would sympathize with her vague, emotional opposition to Walsh.

Why is everything always so complicated? she couldn't help wondering. Why can't anything ever be easy?

When he asked for her thoughts, Aurelie's eye widened. "Me?" she asked, visibly startled by his question. "I've only ever seen him the one time, at a distance, at the summit last year. And I've heard some stories about his takeover of Kanto. So, I don't know how valuable my thoughts would be.

"But," she continued, pursing her lips in thought, "because you asked, the impression I got was... Impressive. Decisive. Intimidating. And more than a little mad."

She smiled with what she hoped was disarming frankness. "But then, I suppose the same could be said of all of us. He strikes me as someone who'd be implacable and unforgiving, whether as a foe, ally, or leade- Achoo!"

Her last words were punctuated with a loud sneeze, as a blast of freezing, arctic air assaulted them from one of the branching passages leading deeper into the icy cave. Shining her flashlight into the passage, Aurelie peered into it curiously. She saw no more movement within, only more frigid sheets of ice.

"Is this where we were supposed to set up the equipment?" she asked, nodding at the bag slung over the admin's shoulder. "It seems like we should be deep enough in Shoal Cave to get some readings."

She hesitated for a moment and then decided to be daring. I'll never learn anything if I stay meek and quiet, she told herself. Aloud, Aurelie asked, "Do you know what Walsh's...Rocket's plans are for the Galarian Legendary birds? I can't imagine we'll just let them lie, once we find them."

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[attr="class","barnaby-main"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie's eye widened with surprise when Admin Bee responded to her candid impressions of Walsh with appreciation and even encouragement. It seemed honesty was the best policy when he specifically asked for it. She supposed she was...lucky?...that he'd been able to overlook her unsolicited truthfulness and unprofessionalism during their mission together on the resurfaced island.

Listening to the admin's take on the redoubtable Rocket Boss, Aurelie pursed her lips in thought. "You have a point," she agreed, at length. "I was going to say, it's easy to have wild, fanciful, ambitious ideas...but it really isn't, most of the time."

When he favored her with his sly grin and friendly comment, she smiled faintly back. She realized she was actually starting to relax around him, which sent a jolt of alarm through her. If she let herself slip again, Aurelie suspected that harsh words would be the least of it this time.

As he began setting up the monitoring equipment, she bent to help him, mostly by steadying tripods and stands or untangling wires and connecting them to the right ports and outlets. Aurelie's eyebrows rose when one of the energy monitoring sensors began beeping almost immediately. Something strange and powerful had been in this cave recently, it seemed.

"Could it be...Articuno?" she breathed aloud, leaning forward to study the sensor's readings. "These lights on the side are flickering in patterns of red and purple. I think the manual said that means it's detecting high levels of psychic energy?"

She tilted the sensor slightly, just a few degrees, toward the depths of the cave. Both the volume and rate of the beeping increased almost at once. The redhead sucked in a sharp breath, brushing loose strands of hair away from her eye.

"I wonder if that means it's near," she murmured, her words emerging in warm plumes of steam. "Or if it was here, even if it's left now.

"It would be nice if these birds were the tool that could give Rocket a decisive advantage over the League," she mused thoughtfully, even a little wishfully. "If adding their power to Rocket could end this Groundhog Day cycle of endless skirmishes and wars, I'd certainly be all for that. Then we could focus on all the other threats facing Rocket and Hoenn." She chuckled darkly.

Aurelie reached for one of the infrared cameras, thinking to aim it toward the same cavern depths to see what it could capture. As she did, she cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at Barnaby again. "If it is near, do you have plans for what we would do? Would we fight it? Or try to catch it? Or is it possible to negotiate or even converse with such a being?"

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[attr="class","barnaby-main"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]"Oh, I didn't even think of other Pokemon in the area causing the higher energy reading," Aurelie murmured, a little chagrined. She looked around the cavern thoughtfully. "I've noticed it's been rather quiet around here, but I suppose that doesn't mean it's completely empty. The baseline reading will help a lot."

Her chagrin deepened when she realized she was letting her guard down in front of him again. But the admin seemed less tense and more willing to answer questions and converse with her, which had been a decided relief. He'd even smiled! Perhaps if he was feeling more laidback, she could too.

She did feel safe in at least admitting ignorance about the nature of this Galarian Articuno, not having attended the leadership meeting where it had emerged alongside its brethren. "I also didn't think of this Articuno not being the same as the one we know from Galar. I thought the Violet Book pulled it from there to here, like...like a magical summoning grimoire, you know?"

Aurelie gave a wry, self-deprecating smile at the nerdy sound of her own comment. As Barnaby finished setting up and turning on the cameras, monitors, and sensors, she followed behind him with a notepad, recording the various readings and results they captured.

To her disappointment, although the monitors continued detecting high levels of energy in the area, of both the psychic and Infinity varieties, the cameras and sensors didn't confirm the presence of Articuno. Maybe there were a few suspicious anomalies, but it would take more of an expert than her to tell for sure. She let out a small sigh.

"Well, I hope whatever information we find here is useful," Aurelie remarked, crossing her arms. "And hopefully it does lead to finding Articuno soon. And to us being able to make use of it in one fashion or another."

She hesitated for a moment, considering her words carefully, and then added, "So, thank you. For inviting me along. For answering all my questions. And for listening to my rambling too. If you hear more about missing Legendaries and the like, please feel free to let me know. I'd love to help out more with things like this in the future."

The ghost of a smile played briefly across her face for a moment. "But...maybe not somewhere quite so cold every time. Hopefully, the next Legendary we end up chasing will enjoy lurking about in sunny beaches and flower gardens instead. Who knows?"

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