"Hey...alive?"

Though she had not expected it, the voice of a lone, kind soul reverberated throughout her progressively emptying head. Her vision had long since deteriorated to the point where borders had long since faded, leaving behind an uncomprehensible mess of colors. Despite every word she heard being so loud it made her head throb, it all sounded completely muffled.

"Ev...going...kay."

Though the words were getting more incomprehensible, she knew one thing. By pure chance, she had come across someone who would help her...

"But...Sieg is..."

As she had been picked up, she tried to say something but those words simply trailed off as her heavy eyelids shut and the whole world was consumed by a totalizing pitch black.

---

It hurts...

The first thing she knew, she felt her head throbbing. It was even worse than before, as if there was something wrapping around her head. The next thing she knew, there was an odd feeling on her left arm, as if there was something stuck inside.

"Where..."

As she spoke up, her eyes opened up. The artificial lights on the ceiling glared further into her, only causing her head to throb further. It hurt. It wasn't just her head. Her body hurt all over. So much so that she wanted to just curl up and fall back into hibernation. But the fact that those thoughts could even go into her head meant something more fundamental.

I'm alive...

She was bandaged up all over. The lacerations on her chest were stitched up. She had bandages atop her chest and on the back of her head. Pain medication and fluids were going into her through the IV line on her line.

Her legs still felt heavy. Her body ached all over. She was definitely not well, by any stretch. But she had survived.

As she turned her head, she saw the face of the redhead who had saved her--a familiar looking face. One she had seen fairly recently.

"You're the one who saved me?" She questioned the redhead. She was unable to move around much yet, but her mouth was still able to flap around, at least. "Thank you."

But it wasn't just the moment she had been saved that she had seen this ranger before. She had definitely seen her very recently. Somewhere.

But that was not what she needed to focus on. Instead, there was something more important.

"Did...you happen to find a Gallade in the area? I got separated from him..."

---

Tag: Genevieve Cromwell

True to the fact that she had saved Elaine, the person before her had some humility. Even so, Elaine was still grateful for the fact that she had been rescued. Even if she didn't accept that gratitude as a matter of course, she would still gladly feel it.

Faced with the Aerodactyl that had apparently done the heavy lifting of getting her here, Elaine found her heart racing (even more than it already was). Her eyes widened. Her pupils dilated. Her body broke out into a cold sweat as her arm squeezed. Pain radiated from the bite wound on her chest and the (now sutured) lacerations on her arm. She grit her teeth as she forced herself to take deep breaths.

It wasn't the same Aerodactyl. It was not going to hurt her. She was safe.

She just had to remember that.

Those thoughts cycled as she took deep breaths, calming her heart down a bit.

"I see. It's nice to meet you, Genny. Even if it had to be under these circumstances. And thanks again. I'd appreciate if your Gardevoir could help find him. He's the one who helped me escape death."

All of Elaine's Pokemon had been injured with the exception of just one--the Gallade that had been separated from her. At the very least, she knew he was probably healthy and looking for her, so she wasn't too worried about him.

Though Cillian Quinn had fired at them, the two of them had teleported out before the bullet could make contact with either of them. But the haphazard nature of the teleport meant that they were separated when they were teleported to an unknown location.

It was an unfortunate accident, though compared to all that had happened leading up to that moment, it was probably the most fortunate event that had happened to her today. The fact that she could say that was a sign of just how overwhelming it all had been.

"But where even did I end up? Where is this...I'm guessing clinic...clinic?" All reasonable questions. After all, she was barely conscious when she was haphazardly teleported out of immediate danger.

But there was one more question she had to ask. One that was nagging at her.

"And have we met before? I swear I've heard your voice."

Her brain was in too much of a fog, but she had definitely heard her voice before. It had to have been in one of those monumental events. The meteor operation? The incident with the rusted shield? The prison ship? Her mind tried to wade as best it could through the inevitable fog of pain. Even if she was not in as critical condition as she thought, she was still not out of the water just yet.

---

Tag: Genevieve Cromwell

"Ah..."

Seeing the Aerodactyl deflating and relegating herself into the corner was not what she had intended in the slightest. The poor Pokemon was the one who had helped her, even if she was unconscious for that whole part. To push it away like that was cruel.

"Sorry about that. Got a bit caught up since it was an Aerodactyl that did..." Elaine lifted her left arm and pointed towards the now sutured lacerations on her right arm and chest. "All of this. It was a different Aerodactyl, but the wound's still a bit fresh."

As she looked at the Aerodactyl, she tried to give a smile. "Sorry about that, Shale."

Having taken her chance to apologize to Shale, she turned back to Genevieve.

"Route 110. I guess Sieg teleported us far enough away. There probably won't be any reason to go out of his way to hunt us down at this point, huh..."

That was a comforting to hear. Even if their method of escape wasn't ideal, it was at the very least successful. Elaine had escaped with her life. The only problem on that end was her Gallade's loctaion. But, with Genevieve's help, they would probably reunite soon.

"Now that I think about it..."

Just like Elaine, she had been active for quite a while throughout the many perils that seemed to face Hoenn and its people on a regular basis. At the very least, she could say that it was not the Meteno incident when she had met her. After all, Elaine was fighting for her life atop a comet hurtling to terra firma that time.

Far from ground level.

But as she thought through the possibilities, her mind cleared up, she had narrowed it down in her head. It wasn't just once she had heard her voice.

"The rusted shield incident..." Yes, she vaguely remembered hearing her voice amidst the chaos. Though they had not necessarily ended up in the same location during that incident, she had definitely heard her there.

"...and the prison ship. You were in both those places, weren't you?"

---

Tag: Genevieve Cromwell

They were not pleasant memories. Well, from what she understood, not everyone from the Rusted Shield incident kept the same amount of memories. The twenty years of time that had passed felt ephemeral to many. But many of those memories were painful.

The time in the prison ship was a hell that tormented everyone who stood within it.

Those days were important. In the midst of those times, there was still something warm she had held dear.

But those incidents were brutal for all involved. After all, Genevieve was showing such a painful expression. "Sorry, Genny. I'll stop dredging up those incidents."

There was no need to give the girl who had rescued her any reason to feel pain. Based on what she rememebered of her voice, Genny had some particularly painful experiences. Reopening those wounds would be cruel. It was not the way to pay back that act of generosity she had recieved.

Smiling as she watched the Aerodactyl lighten up a bit, Elaine tried her best to sit herself up. She had been down, but she could not stay up forever. Rolling herself to her side, she tried to force herself up off her uninjured side before letting her legs dangle off.

Her muscles were screaming and even the act of breathing from exerting herself left searing pains especially in her arm and chest. But, she still let herself sit up.

Medical sutures were not so weak that they would break apart from something so light as that. Elaine knew that first hand.

"Who was hunting you?"

"It was just a pure coincidence." Elaine muttered as she looked at her wounds. She had merely sniffed onto a trail she had not expected, after all. Encountering Cillian Quinn was not something she had expected.

"I had come across a Rocket Underboss during an investigation in the middle of shady activity." Elaine sweat as she spoke. "The one with the Lugia. We fought and...well, you can guess what happened."

A wry smile formed on her face as the moments of her defeat lingered in the forefront of her brain. The moment where the Lugia had overturned everything in a single overwhelming instant. The oh so pivotal moment where reality had laid bare just how weak she truly was.

---

Tag: Genevieve Cromwell

"The fact that you're alive is something to cherish though, right? Some of us don't get to be so lucky."

She couldn't help but form a wry smile at those words as she clenched her fist and looked down. Genny was right. The fact that she was even alive to tell the tale was a fantastic display of absurd luck. In all reality, she should have died there. But she lived.

And just like before, it was all because someone or something had granted her that chance to survive. Even if the memory of the last time, she was fully aware of the ramifications of history daring to repeat itself.

She had been granted life.

"You're right. It's just...frustrating to feel so powerless."

She clenched her fist. After all, she had been granted life. And by that same vein, she had been granted the chance to lament her weakness.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't even get your name."

"Eh?"

She looked up at Genny for a quick moment, looked up at the ceiling and thought back through everything that happened.

"I never introduced myself. Huh..."

Taking a moment, she stifled her laments down. She didn't need to keep on lamenting in front of another. After all, she had already thrown her tantrum earlier.

"Elaine Highland." She said meeting Genny's gaze and reaching her hand out, despite her injuries. "I'm a detective. Though closer to the mystery novel type."

---

Tag: Genevieve Cromwell