Himiko had gotten the message when she had returned back from her patrol mission with a set of other grunts in the force. There really wasn't much of a reason to see it as anything important given that they seemed to be a test in patience more so than keen eyesight. She returned home to get the message and location sent to her by a higher up, Lulu Flint. Something about wanting company by the silent icelands.

Color her interested.

Some time after Lulu arrived, Himiko would approach dressed in a worn yet cozy winter coat, alongside winter pants and boots. Her eyes carried themselves over to the other woman as she approached. Wrapped up tidy around her neck in the coat was the cozy head of her Salandit. "Flint." Himiko put it shortly, her stoic gaze never faltering. "Wonderful to talk with you in person. I'm a bit of a scientist myself."

She offered a casual smirk and continued forward to look over at the icy landscape. The white color edged on the light beige color of rocks and earth while the temperature around them. "I wasn't here when this all took place. What happened to create this ice filled crater?"

Lulu Flint

☉

"Looking for a specific Pokemon then, hm? Even a poison one as well, my specialty~" The Salandit hiding in Himiko's coat let out a pleased hiss. Its snout was briefly sticking out of of neckline before sniffing the air and squirming back inside. "I've heard about them. Finnicky little things. We'll see if we can find one out here."

Himiko listened to Lulu's brief tale, a hand going to her chin in thought. Those scheming eyes moved back to the wilderness around them, imagining a fearsome dragon being the cause for a freakish wintery mountain to remained trapped like this for likely some time now. Although its presence and a Hoopa's was certainly a cause for some type of ecological anomaly. How amusing.

"I had only heard of its aftermath back when I was still in Kanto. Quite the show indeed that you Rockets over here gave us." The woman took a moment to gaze over the rocky landscapes at the many miles of ice and snow across form them. A few stray Pokemon wandered across the snow filled landscape as she let out a soft chuckle. "Never thought I would get to see it in person. Really puts things into perspective, doesn't it?"

It took some amount of time as Himiko watched the scenery before she turned back to Lulu with amused eyes. "If I may inquire, is there any reason why you specifically invited me out here?"

[skipping]

Lulu Flint

☉

"Of course. I had a feeling..."

Her history, why did it always come back to her greatest failure? Himiko's expression remained neutral, honed in on Lulu as she stood in place. She was livid, clenching her teeth in a retained fury while keeping herself held back only by the happenstance that it was a superior here with her. The Kanto native said nothing for a moment, then exhaled, facing away from Lulu. The chance to prove herself was appreciated, one which she couldn't think about at the moment.

"I'm not ashamed of it." she lied through her grit teeth. "Everyone makes mistakes. I'll get back home soon enough." Maybe it was just the blind fury in her system that caused her to look at the nearby Perrserker wandering about. She whistled to wake the Salandit from her sleep. A masked head popped out of her neckline and scurried back onto the ground in the direction of the steel-type. She watched while Rouge scuffled with the wild Pokemon. She was quiet, then groaned to herself.

"We'll find that Varoom." Himiko asked, crossing her arms while the Salandit used FLAMETHROWER on the Perrserker. The intensity of the heat melted the ice around it until the snow fall began to dot the barren landscape once more. "Simple enough. Even if I have to turn this place into a desert." The Perrserker was sent flying back, followed by one of her Pokeballs being thrown through the air and crashing down upon him. Himiko awaited to see if she would catch it before looking back to Lulu.

"What kind of research do you do in your work? I've been thinking of applying for other departments."

[attempting catch on perrserker]

Lulu Flint

☉

Himiko hadn't been expecting Lulu's answer after the pause. It had been a sobering thought to see that somebody may have been in a similar situation. Her expression didn't change at all. Just focused ever on the horizon for the Pokemon they had been searching for. The Salandit continued to dig through the snow while the hunt continued. A large figure came into the distance, one which caused the stoic woman to suddenly perk up.

A Copperajah, its normally orange coat a beautiful green color. She absolutely must add it to her team! "Wait." The Kanton smiled and hurried closer while her Salandit moved behind her. Once close enough to launch a surprise attack, she motioned for it to instigate the fight. Rouge skittered forward and launched a plume of flames at the Copperajah with FLAMETHROWER! The hot flames, while weak, still dealt considerable damage to the steel-type. The trade continued for a moment or so longer before the Salandit had came out the victor.

A pokeball was sent sailing towards the fallen Pokemon. Himiko's back was still to Lulu, though after a few minutes of silence, she relented.

"You want to know the worst part about it?" she asked hesitantly, her eyes briefly flickering to the other woman before going elsewhere. "I've tried to reach out to talk to them, ask how things are back home, but they never did respond back to me. I've been away for close to a year now, but nobody seems to care. Not even the people I used to supervise."

Maybe a small part of her felt hurt, though that bitterness was quickly swallowed up by a refusal to accept the circumstances of what landed her here. "But we're in the middle of a war, so it would make sense. They're probably overworked to the bone." She waved the thoughts off and trusted in the comfort of this conflict. Whenever this would be all said and done, then she'd hear back from them.

Lulu seemed open to her curiosity about her fields of research, and she wasn't lying. Himiko had wanted to branch out away from just being a meat shield for the more important people. While not exactly trained to be putting chemicals into beakers, she knew her way around some general lab rules. Lucky for her, Mrs. Flint appeared to have a wide range of things to step foot into.

"All of those options sound intriguing, but I'll take anything at this point. I've a hunger to learn and all the time in the world. My civilian cover is as a florist, but back home, I created my own poisons. It's a family tradition, my grandmother was quite the toxicologist herself. So I'm not just somebody coming into this with zero practical experience."

"You did mentions quite a few things that sound familiar. I'm assuming that you deal with those other worlds, the Wilds or whatever their name is, alongside different dimensions from dreams. I've heard about one of our own, ameena abadi, I believe. She dealt with them in the past, I'm pretty sure. Fascinating woman, isn't she?"

[attempting catch on copperajah]

Lulu Flint

☉

Would that really get her family to contact her? Himiko wanted to believe in the lie for any amount of hope, though it was slowly dwindling as the months went on. Even with a brand new shiny pokemon, all the woman could do was sit and stew in her own ire. Even the thought of another shiny to begin her collection once more didn't have the same luster as it would have gotten from her. "Maybe." Himiko didn't even offer an indignant huff. "I've already waited for so long, so why won't they answer?" She looked at Lulu for an answer that likely wasn't even there.

Regardless, her attention moved onto the towering silhoutte wandering closer and closer towards them. It was taller than the two females, though its stance was haggard. Himiko's brows raised in curiosity as it moved closer enough for details to be made out. It looked to be in rough shape, pretty badly beaten and wounded, with some scales missing here and there. Rouge readied herself for another blast of flames, but somehow, the woman knew far well of what may be the problem. "Hold." she ordered the fire-type. She stepped forward to finally notice the dragon type as it let out a threatened growl deterring her away from it, though it struggled to maintain the facade.

"I know that look, the one you're feeling now." she began, eyes locked onto the dragon-type's eyes. He puffed up his chest and let out as deep of a roar that he could muster. "You've been burned, scorned by the very people you put your trust into, and you're hopelessly lost. Maybe you challenged somebody you thought you could take and found out the hard way. Maybe it was a fight over a mate and you lost. I don't dare whichever it is, it's history now. What I can offer you is a chance to grow stronger." Himiko held up a pokeball towards the dragon type, her hand kept level and voice calm, despite the aggressiveness shown. "I'll make you into one of your kind that should be respected, give you a reason to keep going, help you see things you never would have thought of before. You can join me and grow strong, or walk around here and sulk about "what-ifs" and regrets. And we both know that one's far more painful than the other."

The dragon stared at Himiko, its eyes honed in on hers. Yet Himiko refused to back down. The air between them both was tight, with the Rocket narrow her gaze. "If you want to strike me, then do so. I may not know if I'll be able to walk it off, but I know damn sure that you'll be taking what little energy you have left afterwards." Just two arrogant bastards playing chicken with one another. After a few more seconds, the Baxcaliber would walk to Himiko and let out a huff Himiko said nothing, then offered her other hand to slowly allowing her hands to glide around the wounds.

"Bite marks, cuts, protrusions." she said to herself. Her voice remained softly, though she continued looking back to the Pokemon. "I know it hurts. Let me focus your anger. We'll both take what we want from this world."

The Baxcaliber remained quiet, but slowly leaned into the pokeball in Himiko's hand, then disappeared inside.

[attempting catch on baxcaliber]

Lulu Flint

☉