[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Approaching the towering Dyna Tree, Aurelie couldn't help pausing to shake her head in wonder, both at the sight of it and at the unexpected changes in her life since the tree first sprouted up in Sootopolis. Its wide, spreading branches formed a canopy of rose-pink and pearl-white leaves, behind which peeped jewel-like fruits that filled the air with an enticingly sweet fragrance.

Who would've thought that telling four stories beside that tree would mean I'd basically be living and working in Sootopolis for a month? Or that I'd be throwing my whole body and soul into a shield and saddle commissioned by an oversized talking rabbit Pokemon? she marveled, smiling wryly.

And who would've thought this tree would've attracted that out into the open, where it could be tracked and captured? The redhead caught her breath, watching the black-and-red Galarian Moltres perched on a branch, greedily devouring one of the Dyna fruits. I heard it had bonded with Admin Bee, but...to see it like this...

It took Aurelie a while to remember what she was doing here and lower her gaze to the base of the tree, where the aforethought admin waited comfortably on the bench. When he gestured for her to join him, she smiled and plopped down beside him, running a hand through her hair.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" she agreed lightly, turning to face the black-haired admin. "I've been doing well, thank you. Calyrex's commission has been keeping me busy, for sure!

"And I can imagine you must have been busy as well, sir." She nodded toward the Legendary bird still perched in the tree, piercing another fruit with its sharp beak. "How are you and your new partner getting along? Are you enjoying the avatarship experience so far?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","barnaby-main"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie jerked her head up, startled, when the Galarian Moltres let out the deep, guttural hissing sound, the hairs on the back of her neck rising at the harsh, fearsome sound. To her, it absolutely sounded like the voice of a predator out for blood, seeking to ravage her flesh—or perhaps her mind, given its psychic powers. It was all she could do not to yelp in fear.

To her surprise—though, a moment later, she realized that she shouldn't have been surprised at all—the admin hardly reacted at all. In fact, if anything, Admin Bee's expression warmed and his eyes brightened as he met his patron's fierce stygian gaze. Taking heart from his calm, Aurelie watched in wonder.

"It seems like you two understand each other pretty well already," she ventured cautiously, when the great Legendary bird made no further ominous noises or moves. "So...this was the Moltres that you saw come out of the Violet Book, right? How long did it take for you to find it?"

There was so much more that Aurelie wanted to ask, but she didn't dare quite yet, not with both their eyes on her. Given the sinister reputation of the Galarian Moltres, though, the fact that it and the admin were seemingly in such accord was rather disturbing. She wondered what powers it had given him.

Can they read each other's thoughts? Do they speak to each other telepathically? the red-haired smith guessed, stealing another glance up at the Dyna tree and its occupant. Can he—oh Arceus—can he set people on fire with his mind now?

The redhead almost missed Admin Bee's question, so dazzled was she by this new thought. It was only when he fell silent that she realized he'd turned the conversation on her. Her mind scrambled to recall the words she'd half-heard a few seconds ago.

"As for me..." Aurelie sighed and looked down briefly at her hands in her lap in bemusement. "If you mean the Calyrex, well, I suppose it liked my stories and my skills. I don't really know why. It's certainly unique to have a Pokemon as a customer, though!

"But that's as far as my bond with this Calyrex goes," she went on, frowning slightly. "It's a contract between a craftsman and customer, nothing more, from what I can tell. A rather snoopy customer, too, though not a very communicative one." She shook her head slightly in wry puzzlement.

Aurelie sat up straighter on the bench at the mention of the work itself. "But the commission itself is going well, thank you for asking! There's been a lot of trial and error, because I've never made a saddle before, let alone one from metal.

"The shield has been fun to work on, though! I added spikes to it, so it's been an interesting challenge making sure it's still light and maneuverable. Especially if Calyrex will be using it."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","barnaby-main"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]"Yeah, I've never heard of any Pokemon ever commissioning a human to make them anything before," the red-haired smith agreed with candid wonderment in her eye—and perhaps a glint of pride in being the first. "Though I guess Pokemon generally don't talk either, at least not in any language we'd understand."

Her expression turned pensive with recollection as she thought back to the last words it'd spoken to her. "As for who the commission is for... I'm sure that it has to be Calyrex itself. I didn't mean to imply that it might be otherwise.

"After all, its words were, 'Fashion me a saddle of staunch resilience.'" The red-haired smith recited the words with the ease of someone who'd replayed that speech countless times in her head or aloud in her workshop. "'And forge a shield of formidable might.' So, it seems as though it intends to use the saddle and shield itself in battle."

She shrugged and let out a wry chuckle. "It hasn't said anything more, but it does appear sometimes when I'm forging. Thankfully, it usually stays quite still, so I've been able to measure it for the saddle and shield's proportions. Easier than with some human customers, honestly."

Aurelie paused and tilted her head skyward again to stare up at the Galarian Moltres, still preoccupied with its snack. The sight stilled her usually ready flow of words, and a look of unabashed awe came over her face.

"It's breathtaking," she murmured honestly. "It's hard to believe something so huge, so powerful, so...real just materialized out of the pages of a book."

She drew a sharp breath as the Moltres finished devouring one fruit and immediately turned to pierce the skin of another, juices still dripping off its beak. "And it's so hungry too! Your patron must cost you a fortune in groceries," she chuckled, looking back at Admin Bee.

"Either that, or it just really likes Dyna fruits, I suppose," she added, with a grin that suggested she could hardly blame the Galarian Moltres for having a taste for the succulent-looking ruby-red fruit.

It did pause for a moment, though, when Admin Bee mentioned Calyrex, almost as if the Pokemon's name had somehow piqued its interest.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","barnaby-main"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie's brow furrowed in bewilderment when Admin Bee agreed about the looming specter of war—but then brought up the League marshaling its resources and readying itself for confrontation. "The...League?" she faltered uncertainly, taken off guard.

"When Calyrex spoke to me of war, I thought for sure it was referring to Eternatus, not the League," she mused, sucking in a sharp breath. "After all, they were certainly enemies back in Galar. I hadn't thought it might be the League until now."

The redhead pressed her lips together tightly for a moment as her mind began whirring with the dire possibilities of Admin Bee's suggestion. "It does feel like tensions between Rocket and the League have been rising. And it's not like we're not always preparing for some kind of conflict with them."

I've never been through such a war with them before. I wouldn't even know what to expect, let alone how to begin to prepare for it, she reflected bleakly. But Aurelie knew she couldn't simply say that so baldly to the admin, not when she'd finally gained a little credibility in his eyes.

"I suppose I can certainly help with Rocket's armaments and offense," she replied instead. "I can make sure our weapons, especially our blades, are all of the highest quality.

"And I can fight too, although..." She smiled faintly, her glance sliding upward toward the fearsome, hungrily feasting Moltres once more. "I doubt I'd be half as useful in that way as you are, sir."

Then, Aurelie's eye narrowed as she looked back at Admin Bee, remembering how he had never said anything to her that didn't have a purpose. War with the League was never a light subject, and surely not one he just "happened" to mention at this moment, in this place. She frowned and tilted her head curiously to one side.

"Why do you ask? If I can, um, be so bold." The redhead crossed her arms. "Did you have something more specific in mind for me to do?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","barnaby-main"]

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]"Oh," was all Aurelie could think of to say, her mouth falling slightly open with surprise when the admin told her he'd been thinking of her. Her hands curled and flexed briefly in her lap, betraying her unsettled thoughts.

I never thought I'd ever cross his mind, she thought, at least if he wasn't wanting a new knife or something like that. Then, a cynical smirk tugged at the corners of her lips, and her hands fell still as realization swept over her. I bet it's not really me he's thinking of. It's Calyrex.

That was what Admin Bee had asked her about, after all. Nor was he the only Rocket who'd taken a greater interest in the red-haired smith since the King Pokemon had spoken to her. Surprisingly, though, he hadn't asked her more about Calyrex: what she could (or couldn't) do with it, whether it spoke to her again, what its intentions might be. Perhaps he already knew.

As relief flooded through her, Aurelie nodded. "Well, thank you. For checking in on me and for the warning. If war with the League is looming on the horizon..." Slowly, she shook her head and sighed. "Forewarned is forearmed, as they say."

And the better armed we are, the better I'll feel, she concluded. Not that the prospect of war made her feel particularly happy, but surely, a victory was always better than a loss.

" And I promise I'll do everything in my power to give Calyrex what it's asked for," she added. "I too want to keep it on our side as much as I can. It'd be a damn shame if it lost faith in us after getting converted to our side because it was killed by that Elite Four avatar."

With that, she rose to her feet and gave an abbreviated, ironic salute as Admin Bee bid her goodbye. "Until we meet again, then, admin. And until then, wish me good luck with making Calyrex's saddle and shield, and..."

Aurelie's eye strayed back up to the still-ravenous Galarian Moltres, and she smiled ruefully. "I'll wish you and your new ally good hunting and many satisfying feasts in the near future. Here, and hopefully at the Dyna Tree in Ever Grande City."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT