The Garchomp tensed up at the sudden appearance of an interdimensional portal, flicking its tail in agitation. Poking a sleeping dragon was generally never a good idea, but the quick apology prevented the situation from escalating. With a snort, the landshark went back to sleep.

The shiny Nido-couple treated the unexpected visitor with some trepidation, but did not engage. They continued to gorge themselves on berries, but kept a close eye on her. The ranch was indeed the epitome of rural life, teeming with all sorts of critters and no humans save for the one.

Finally, the Aggron glared at the mystery woman, protectively raising its arms over the Rhyperior. That Aggron was male, while the Rhyperior was female. It was trying to protect its mate from a possible threat--a common behavior amongst the species.

"H-hello..." Andrea hesitantly greeted the stranger back, feeling slightly unsettled by the presence of the Symbol Pokémon. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together. "You're the Visionary, aren't you? And that Unown is your friend?" She asked.

Naomi Sato //mission thread

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Her Unown had a nickname? The way it bobbed up and down was kinda cute. It was hard to imagine how the DRK Triad could use those things to carry out assassinations and other villainous deeds. "Nice to meet you, Kalli!" Andrea reached out a hand, and--if allowed--would pet the floating eyeball creature.

"Yes, he did." The young cosplayer responded to the question about Isaac Merlo. Had the former grunt not told the Visionary about their little talk at the beach? How had the Unown avatar even known where to find her? Was she psychic? There were a lot of questions Andrea wanted to ask, but one of them took precedence.

"He said you're one of the people who want the war to end. Is that true?"

Naomi Sato //mission thread

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The hint of sadness in the Visionary’s tone did not go unnoticed. Did it mean that even someone as powerful as her--someone who’d managed to turn the DRK Triad’s own weapon against them--was powerless to change the future?

Something peeked at the pink-haired woman from behind the Rhyperior’s leg. It was a baby Rhyhorn, much smaller than the adult ones usually found in the wild. Mama Rhyperior showed off her child with pride, as if to say ‘Look, I made this.’

Andrea smiled warmly. “That’s Junior. He’s the son of Donna and Barron.” She perked up at the mention of the Rocket and League conflict. “Yeah, that’s the war I was talking about! It needs to end expeditiously so that we can focus on the real enemy!”

Expeditiously. She liked that word.

Naomi Sato //mission thread

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The Visionary was allowed to pet the baby Rhyhorn, who was quite receptive to affection. Naturally, the baby's parents kept a close eye on her. If the woman tried anything funny, their parental wrath would even rival an avatar's powers.

Andrea smiled at the interaction, but her smile waned when a particular group was mentioned. "Not just heard of them... I've met them too." More than once, in fact. The eccentric girl started recounting each encounter with the nefarious, interdimensional cabal.

"In the Tiered Tea Room, we met a white-haired lady, who showed us a weird Pokémon. It looked kinda like Thundurus, except pink and girly." She exposited.

"Then, in The Cloud, we met a scientist with crazy hair called... Malaria? Macarena? Macadamia? Anyway, he said that, although he was a member of the triad, he wanted to help us... by trying to kill us." She continued.

"I'm pretty sure it was Holo who summoned Kyurem after we stopped Meteno, though she was dressed like a ninja for some reason." She went on.

But wait, there was more. "Oh, and just earlier this week, Father Winter appeared in my room while I was sleeping, which was weird and creepy. He told me to change the course of history, and then sent me into an alternate timeline."

Naomi Sato //mission thread

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“Right, Maldacena. That guy.” The dragon-hooded girl nodded. Between that and the white-haired lady’s group, Hexadecimal, the DRK Triad really needed to pick up easier names.

The Rocket scientist had some intel of her own to share regarding Nisa Holo’s capture and subsequent escape. “I see. You were in Meteno too? Sorry if Chomper’s Draco Meteor gave you trouble…” Said Andrea apologetically.

That time she had ordered her Hydreigon to carpet bomb a bunch of Rockets was not one of her proudest moments. Even she was not immune to the League’s propaganda painting Team Rocket as the ultimate evil.

At the Visionary’s next question, the girl visibly hesitated. “Uhm… Nothing important. It’s just an alternate timeline, so who cares, right?” She murmured back, while awkwardly rubbing her forearm.

Naomi Sato //mission thread

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There was no room to dance around the subject. The Visionary was there for a reason, and her time was too precious to be wasted on Andrea's indecisiveness. "OK fine..." The dragon-hooded girl sighed in defeat, hugging the baby Rhyhorn like an emotional support animal.

"Before Father Winter visited me, I wrote him a letter wishing for peace between the League and Rocket. So he sent me to a timeline where that exact thing happened. In that world, FERNANDO SILPH had become the new Commissioner, and he was working together with declan walsh to ensure Hoenn's survival... Except their way of doing that involved destroying every other universe. Sea Hoenn, Land Hoenn, Megalopolis... I tried to stop them from doing such a horrible thing, but I failed. And then... I kinda got crazy and summoned Kyurem to freeze all of Hoenn."

By the time she was finished with her exposition, tears were streaming from her eyes. This was the first time she had spoken to anyone about those events, and replaying those scenes in her head hurt just as much as when she had experienced them first hand.

Naomi Sato //mission thread

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