[attr="class","becketttheobg"]

[attr="class","becketttheotxt"]

Lulu Flint's greeting is met with a soft smile that, like her houndoom's persisting grudge, remains only to widen from her affirmation.

"i can still feel the sting in my leg sometimes."

he'd been lucky enough to be spared a lifetime of burning pain. can't seem to feel grateful for it, however.

the ends of his SYGNA SUIT peek over his shirt, though not far enough to reach over his collar.

"are you sure of your choice?"

[attr="class","becketttheopkmn"]

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[attr="class","lulu"]

she winced at the mention of her dog’s damage, unable to recall if she’d apologized.[break][break]

”sorry.”[break][break]

it was simple, but more genuine that it could ever have been before, after she’d blamed him for not knocking. after so much time and space, it seemed like a harsher punishment than he’d deserved.[break][break]

when asked about her decision, she nodded, ”mostly. if there’s one pokemon i feel closest to, it’s him — but it’s because of how we were before he was like this.” she paused, feeling a small wave of sadness. ”before darkrai.”[break][break]

her old patron’s departure still affected her, and it was far worse that djall had never improved. he was more than just a pokemon, or a pet. he’d been her friend.[break][break]

”you’ve trained many more pokemon than i have. you know their behaviors. how do i get him back?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]mission: get in sygna[break]
THEO BECKETT [break]

[attr="class","becketttheobg"]

[attr="class","becketttheotxt"]

her apology is not needed, though it is appreciated with a simple dip of his head to acknowledge as much. it feels like a lifetime ago now that having any residual grudges would be silly. not that he had any to begin with.

he nods at her affirmation only to shake his head after.

"you might not be able to."

a pause.

"pokemon are simple creatures. teaching them is easy. unteaching them is always difficult, though not impossible. give it time, perhaps."

it may be possible now with her old patron's departure. the sympathy he would have felt for the dog is absent, not returning even as he looks at it.

"your bond with him will make the process easier. when you further develop your sygna suit, you'll eventually have access to his abilities as well. which is why it's important to be sure of your choice."

[attr="class","becketttheopkmn"]

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[attr="class","lulu"]

there was disappointment in her eyes. She still believed cresselia could help djall, but november’s attack on the ss party rocker’s moon mission had all but blasted away such hope that the lunar pokemon would offer her any favors. what had she offered it but silent criticism that it had not appeared sooner to offer the world other aid too?[break][break]

pokemon were not simple creatures. theo was wrong, as he’d ever been, and as her father had been, too.[break][break]

djall stared at him, looking as simple as he was assumed to be. perhaps it was true for some. in his case, however, the potential was suppressed. his was a mind caged.[break][break]

it was a kind of survivor’s guilt lulu felt, perhaps, for she had lost her mind around the same time as he did, but only hers had returned.[break][break]

she had not given up or turned her back since.[break][break]

”i am sure,” she assured him, firmer than before.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]mission: get in sygna[break]
THEO BECKETT [break]

[attr="class","becketttheobg"]

[attr="class","becketttheotxt"]

hearing her call back with her assurance is all he needs to return a nod.

"then let's continue."

from the pocket of his coat, he pulls out a SYNC STONE, a small, rainbow-colored stone that seems to have lost its glow. he offers it to her along with an explanation.

"you may be familiar with sync stones. essentially, they act as conduits between trainer and pokemon, utilizing their bond to enhance their abilities on both sides."

his poipole floats to rest on his shoulder but not before plucking a pokeball from theo's belt to call out his milotic. his SYGNA SUIT activates with a tap on his chest, covering him in a shimmering glow of SAFEGUARD.

"there are various methods of channeling that bond into the sync stone. i did it through battling, though the choice is yours."

[attr="class","becketttheopkmn"]

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[attr="class","lulu"]

when the crystablooms had flourished in hoenn, her attention had instead been on another flower: the eternal floette, and how it might power their spacecraft to meteno. still, she’d been curious about the now dubbed ‘sync stones’.[break][break]

she took the dulled heart and ttried to think of what might activate it. words had not been enough to lift the spell on her dog, and she knew that theo’s method was not uncommon.[break][break]

perhaps the bond that already existed there would be enough, in the heat of combat.[break][break]

”let’s try a battle, then.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]mission: get in sygna[break]
THEO BECKETT [break]

[attr="class","becketttheobg"]

[attr="class","becketttheotxt"]

"a battle it is."

adding to their history of training sessions together, they battle, pitting houndoom against milotic in what should have been a one-sided battle on paper, but reality can often be surprising.

what matters in the end is the SYNC STONE, and when it begins to glow, he knows they've done their part.

"there you go."

he says.

"as you continue to upgrade your sygna suit, you'll eventually gain access to his moves as well. it took me some time to get used to it, but i'm sure you'll have a far easier time."

considering how she was once darkrai's avatar.

[attr="class","becketttheopkmn"]

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[attr="class","lulu"]

and a battle it was.[break][break]

djall’s aggression got the better of him here and there but settled into better strategy with her instruction. he minded her well, and with their bond, they were able to rise to the challenge of their disadvantages and change the course of the battle – at least long enough to activate the stone.[break][break]

they’d call the battle off short of true defeat on either side, and she called her dog back over, tired as he was.[break][break]

”good job,” she praised with a stroke of her hand across the black fur between his horns.[break][break]

it took her a moment to put together why it should be easier for her to adjust to a sygna suit, but after a moment it occurred to her and she nodded, ”i hope so. i already feel a bit late to the party.”[break][break]

she pocketed the sync stone and smiled. ”thanks for your help.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]mission: get in sygna[break]
THEO BECKETT [break]

[attr="class","becketttheobg"]

[attr="class","becketttheotxt"]

the glimmer of SAFEGUARD fades the moment he deactivates his SYGNA SUIT, his milotic recalled back into its pokeball along with it as he responds to her with a slight nod of his head.

"of course."

while it is expected of him to help where needed, he is not here out of obligation or loyalty.

he is here because he wants to be.

[attr="class","becketttheopkmn"]

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