Eva’s mouth dropped to say something, but no words came out. Her emerald gaze just turned and followed Noel as he walked towards the lobby’s front doors. He’d find out soon enough.

Eva tempered an amused giggle that rose at his feeble attempt to free them from this place. She did little to hid the wide grin when he turned to address her, “Yeah, I already tried that,” plus some DELTA STREAM. The door wasn’t budging and she couldn’t get a pokemon out there to dig them out. Well, at least not from here.

“I imagine the other entrances are snowed in too. There’s not many overhangs protecting the doors,” something they should probably bring up with maintenance after this, “If we go upstairs, we could probably let a few pokemon out from the windows to dig us out,” that was the best plan she had.

“I’m Eva,” she stepped forward with an extended hand and a welcoming smile, “You got any better ideas, mister…~”

---

Noel Parker

“Nice to officially meet you, Noel!” for someone who was snowed into a building, the professor seemed quite chipper - so was the curse of Eva Morales. The League Headquarters was basically her second (maybe first) home so spending the night wouldn’t be that big of a deal. In fact, if she hadn’t run into Noel, she probably would have just walked back to her office and slept on the couch.

Eva bounced up the steps behind Noel as they explored their options. She mirrored his disappointment with a slow shake of her head. She raised a sleeve to wipe against the frosted glass, “Yep. Well, that happened fast. Must be one mean blizzard out there.”

There was only one place left to try, “We could try the roof but… I’m sure there’s a pile of snow in front of the roof’s door too,” The responsible part of her whispered that they should try that but . . . they were already on the office level so, “I know which window we can break,” she clapped and spun around, motioning for Noel to follow her.

---

Noel Parker

The professor’s eyes follow a line to her side to briefly glance at Noel with a rather amused look, “Been snowed in so I have to break a window to get out?” she laughed lightly, “Pretty specific scenario.”

They turned a corner down another long, familiar hallway. It’s quiet, too quiet, all except the echo of their own footsteps, “Who am I?” she Chatot’s the question which bounces with the rhythm of their footsteps, “That’s a loaded question,” she commented with a small smile.

She’s Eva Morales, Head Professor, Rayquaza’s avatar, the Peacemaker. She’s a sister and friend. She’s an enemy to some.

Is that who she is or what she is?

She’s a woman with a foundation built on love and hope, an inspiration, a fighter, a martyr, selfless to her own detriment, a beacon of light in the ever growing dark world.

She wants to be so many things the world keeps denying her. Perhaps she’s just meant to be someone else.

“I’m just . . . Eva, I guess,” is what she decided on as she stopped suddenly in front of a door, “This is it,” she hovered over the locking mechanism and the door jerked open after a moment of manipulating it. On the other side of the door was a rather nondescript office. It’s plain, boring, clearly used but rather bland. It’s professional to a T.

“That window,” she pointed behind the desk. It’s a large, semi-circular window overlooking a courtyard with a sloping bank of snow that led right to it, “You got something that could blast through that?”

---

Noel Parker

“You can always clean up a mess,” she replied, almost absentmindedly as she stood back, letting Noel take over and assess the window. It was a simple statement but held an implication that it meant more than the simplicity of it.

Eva inspected Noel as he inspected the window, only jumping back with the serpentine form of a Milotic crammed between them in the office. THe crunch of a desk and the scattering of paper made her frown ever so slightly. If there was anything in this office that would be missed, it was the desk. She was sure of it . . . because it was her office.

“Nothing that can’t be replaced,” she reminded herself out loud, though it was drowned out by the roar of the HYPER BEAM. The attack decimated nearly the entire wall along with the window. A large, nearly perfect hole let a rather chilling draft in that made the professor shiver.

“Nothing that can’t be replaced,” she repeated, this time louder for Noel to hear. She inched closer to the edge, smiling as he slid down the snowbank. Her brow quirked slightly at the offer to catch her if she falls. He really didn’t know who she was, huh? Eva Morales never fell. Well, not anymore. It was kind of him to offer, though. She entertained the idea and slid down the bank of snow with familiar clumsiness, accepting any help he offered when she stopped at the bottom, “Thank you, Noel.”

Eva dusted off the snow from her own wardrobe before unclipping a pokeball from her belt. A giant COALOSSAL crunched through the snow which melted rather quickly underneath them. Soon, there was a little pile of mud they had to slop through to get to the window, “We’ll patch it up for the time being.”

Coalossal created a number of STEALTH ROCKS that Eva gently nudged into place at a distance with the help of her DELTA STREAMS. The little cracks were sealed with a few well-placed TAR SHOTS.

Eva returned the pokemon and turned back to Noel, wrapping her jacket tighter around her, “I guess I could have gotten rid of all this,” she scrunched her nose vaguely motioning to the still falling snow, “Guess that wouldn’t have helped us though.”

---

Noel Parker

One of Eva’s self-determined superpowers was being able to connect with people. It wasn’t uncommon for her to pry a little bit or others to open up to her willingly. She enjoyed things like the sappy stories and always listened earnestly. Everyone she met was an opportunity to learn something new, especially a new point of view. Like Noel’s pleasant acceptance of snow despite all the trouble had just caused them.

“Change is inevitable,” she began, “And sometimes unexpectedly pleasant,” she smiled over at Noel as they prepared to part way, “It was nice to meet you too, Noel. Safe travels!” Eva huddled up closer to her Coalossal to take advantage of their warmth as she waved Noel off.

---

Noel Parker