Her concern over Navy's voice sounding huskier than normal was quickly washed away by his unfaltering sense of humor, eliciting a giggle from the young woman. "Heh. I've had Chomper since I was 10 years old. We practically grew up together, so I'd say he's the closest thing to a brother I have. I guess that'd make him Jalapeño's uncle!" She quipped in turn, petting her two pocket monsters.

Andrea's effortless smile effortlessly waned upon hearing two words: War effort. At once, her expression hardened, much like it had hardened when previously confronted about the subject. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but... What exactly do you want me to do? I'm not gonna fight Team Rocket over some magical stone that the League wants." The minor Gym Leader firmly stated.

Navy //mission thread

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Visibly concerned at the prospect of an impending attack on her hometown, a normally abstaining Andrea changed her tune. “Y-you think they could come here?” She asked in a trembling voice.

Having seen a simulation of the Slateport City invasion, she knew what kind of atrocities Team Rocket was willing to commit in order to extend its reach to the stars above. The thought that the same thing could happen to her people--to her mother and father--was deeply disconcerting.

“I’ll do it! My dragons will keep a watchful eye over this town!” The young PokéManiac said resolutely, followed by an emphatic growl from Chomper. “Although… Wouldn’t it be better if we could maybe, possibly, convince Rocket not to attack us or anyone else?”

Her idealist self had not given up on dreaming about peace, even after witnessing the terrible consequences that entailed when done for the wrong reasons.

Navy //mission thread

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Her body tensed up at the mention of the underbosses. Was THEO BECKETT part of the problem? When it came to people in the League who might have stood in the way of peace, the name ‘Silph’ rang in her head even without the sheriff needing to spell it out.

Whether Andrea was truly strong was debatable. She was highly competent to be sure, but in Hoenn, the only definitive proof of strength was beating the Elite Four and the Champion. That was a test she had yet to pass.

“I said I’ll do it, but… where do I start? My Pokémon can patrol the land, water, and sky, but they can’t be everywhere at once. You’ve gone to war with Rocket before, haven’t you? What’s their usual tactic for attacking?” The minor Gym Leader inquired.

Navy //mission thread

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The young woman keenly listened to him listing all the places that were likely to be hit. The Littleroot incident was, of course, known to the public, but hearing it from someone who had actually been there was much different than hearing about it on the news. Those people had families…

“If Rocket does come after Fallarbor, can we count on the League to help us? Should I tell my parents to move out of town?” Andrea asked, hugging her crocodilian son tightly. She knew by now how the council made decisions. If an all-out war broke out and multiple cities got attacked, they would prioritize defending Slateport and Ever Grande before anything else.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that…” The girl apologized, looking down pensively. Instead of asking about hypotheticals, she should be asking about the things that were happening right then and there. “So, about the chain… What’s that about? And what does it have to do with Dynamaxing?”

Navy //mission thread

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The Elite Four member’s response was immediate and firm. Andrea wondered if the League’s priorities had changed due to recent events. The corrupted droughts that sporadically appeared over Fallarbor, painting the rustic town in shades of gray, served as a reminder of the land deity’s rampage and what had been lost in the aftermath…

Hoenn’s ever-shifting agenda hardly even gave its people time to grieve, a new threat already rearing its ugly head in the form of that mysterious chain. Navy did not have any scientific insight, but he did possess a detective’s gut.

“Poisoned crystals… That sounds an awful lot like the Ultra Sea. Last time I checked, there’s a bunch of poisoned crystals around Eternatusesese’s heart.” The minor Gym Leader observed. “You think it and the chain might be connected?”

Navy //mission thread

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"No, I wasn't..." Andrea sheepishly admitted. Had she been in that muddy, bloody swamp, she would have had some choice words for the people who dared accuse that poor bear of the murders. "But I've heard everything that happened from Genevieve Cromwell. And that's not the only other place the chain's appeared. It's also appeared in the RKS Simulation."

With how often that pattern repeated itself, one could almost think of the Toxic Chain as a threat on par with Meteno. Or perhaps it was yet another thing to worry about along with Eternatus and the DRK Triad.

In light of all those looming threats, the young woman steeled her resolve. "Whether they're connected or not, Chomper and I will fight them both!" She declared, somehow sounding more stoked about fighting alien gods than she was about fighting Team Rocket.

Navy //mission thread

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