Elisabeth had tuned out the prattling of Naomi Sato for the better part of an hour or so.[break][break]

Unmasked as she was, she didn't care to hide the glazed-over expression of sheer boredom that the Head Scientist's observations invited in her. Truthfully, in another time and place, Elisabeth might have even found the insights fascinating.[break][break]

Unfortunately she was in the company of a woman she found irritating beyond all measure, through no fault of the Visionary's own. If anything, the woman's good qualities were what made her such anathema to a woman who served as the manifestation of grudges and resentment.[break][break]

Her dislike of Nomi could be interpreted as a compliment, from that perspective.[break][break]

"It's all tiresome, isn't it?" the underboss interrupted, glancing over the landscape before her eyes narrowed. "All this strange, inexplicable new phenomena. I dislike it." The sight of the Tera Crystals specifically reminded her of the Cave of Origin. It reminded her of the Galarian Moltres, and of the way it looked at BARNABY FINCH.[break][break]

"Birdwatching," howard slayte had said. How that word still haunted her.[break][break]

Her lips curled into a distasteful sneer as she stifled an undercurrent of fury that had no outlet. No outlet, that is, until they stumbled upon a most fortuitous scenario indeed.[break][break]

"It's our lucky day," Elisabeth murmured in a sing-song voice under her breath, pleased to see two high-profile targets ahead. A Gym Leader and a filthy traitor. What a welcome distraction from this scientific tedium. "Follow my lead."[break][break]

Wo-chien manifested out of the darkness with a SHADOW SNEAK to strike at the visible figures in the distance; the ground shook and trembled underfoot as snarling briars broke through the earth to surround their prey.[break][break]

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[attr="class","ooc"] Naomi Sato Navy Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"Don't patronize me, Navidson. You'd greet my colleagues quite differently."[break][break]

His chivalrous offer insulted her. THEO BECKETT and Cillian Quinn would laugh themselves sick to know with what little regard she and Naomi Sato were given by two of the League's staunchest defenders.[break][break]

That kindled the GRUDGE within her to new heights, her eyes flashing a startling ochre sheen.[break][break]

The Greninja evaded and parried Wo-chien's SHADOW SNEAK with a mirror of its own, and as the Ruinous Beast hissed with displeasure, the ground blackened beneath their mutual shadows. Stretching out to encompass the entirety of their surroundings beneath frost-touched briars, all present life rapidly sickened and diminished with decay.[break][break]

Much like fern delaney's ELECTRIC TERRAIN in the Cave of Origin had vanished, so too did Navy's before the Ruinous Beast's gluttonous hunger.[break][break]

when wo-chien is on the field, elisabeth can summon a BARREN TERRAIN that clears any existing terrain, while preventing any other from taking form for a period of time. anyone within the terrain will be continually STRENGTH SAPPED, weakening them while also healing elisabeth and wo-chien.

[break]

The world became barren, ripe for the BLIZZARD that Isaac Merlo planned to unleash on them all. The light of their mutual QUARK DRIVES snuffed out.[break][break]

"As for you, Merlo," she continued coolly, raising her hand to curl fingers into a fist, "who's to say this isn't a response to your invitation?"[break][break]

Naomi Sato would determine her own method of attack. As far as Elisabeth knew or suspected, the woman was not much for open combat. In which case, she'd be the firepower between them.[break][break]

The resulting RUINATION shattered whatever peace might have existed between all gathered here, creating an enormous dome of crackling energy that thrust all enemy Pokemon into a pitch-black storm of malcontent.[break][break]

The air itself hung heavy with resentment.[break][break]

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[attr="class","ooc"] Naomi Sato Navy Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","pkmn"]

The biting chill of the BLIZZARD swept around them, howling and screaming with the unvoiced frustration of all present. In the endless white haze, black bolts of the RUINATION flashed to life before fading.[break][break]

When it did, the blanched rays of a MOONBLAST and the thin needles of a PIN MISSILE all hurled towards the Ruinous Beast, like it was a lightning rod for all the grudges present in the room.[break][break]

The way that Navy threw her old profession in her face, whether out of mockery or worse, pity. The sorrowful gaze Isaac Merlo gave her, reminiscent of her own father's look of disappointment. The heightened sense of indignation and resentment that all this inspired in Elisabeth herself.[break][break]

The Ruinous Beast savored it all, drinking from the font of misery with obvious relish.[break][break]

Wo-chien furled up in a SPIKY SHIELD to deflect, seeming to hulk bigger and more hideously the more it drank in the presence of the GRUDGES of those present. The barren landscape had weakened their blows, STRENGTH SAPPED as the creature feasted on the life that it had stolen from them and the earth itself.[break][break]

"You both must have me confused with someone else," she remarked drily. "Any flowers I'd send you now would wilt and decay."[break][break]

A SPRINGTIME STORM swept through the vicinity, blackened petals reflecting the truth of that statement as Wo-chien hissed loudly, each striking with the sharpness of knives as they hurled towards all foes present -- trainers included.[break][break]

"And there's nothing to miss about the past, Merlo. Whatever you thought you knew of me, I assure you--it wasn't real."[break][break]

That woman never existed, as far as she was concerned. That had just been a feeble attempt at pretending to be someone she wasn't.[break][break]

Naomi Sato's quiet plea had gone unheard. So much else consumed her attention, the whispering of her Unown had been neither expected nor acknowledged by the underboss.[break][break]

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[attr="class","ooc"] Naomi Sato Navy Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","pkmn"]