Lex remained at her post: waiting, watching, judging. The steady amber gaze held an unmistakable predatory nature as if determining if he was predator, prey, or useless and better left to rot with the corpses in her wake. She’d seen him in action before, but a lot of time had passed. He seemed softer than he once was. Perhaps that’s what time in the lab did to you, Lex wouldn’t know.

The shriek of the beasts echoed through the cavern, seemingly everywhere at once. They tore around a sharp corner, hurling mud and steam, and blood that spattered against the shimmering crystals Amor was so infatuated with not that long ago. Shadows nipped at their heels, and at the first sign of the Magearna, disappeared.

She watched from behind the thin film of white smoke. The Magearna made quick work of the first and quickly moved on to the second. The third Walking Wake leapt over their engaged comrade and continued their charge, hissing and spitting HYDRO STEAM.

The groan of rusted metal and the grinding of steel chains whined as the two Dhelmise lashed out with their ANCHOR SHOTS. The last Walking Wake shrieked in surprise and defiance when it found itself ensnared in the trap. The two ghosts rocked back and forth, slowly tightening their hold on the struggling beast.

It’s then that Lex pushed off from her perch. She slowly approached the raptor-like paradox pokemon. There was a hint of wonder and curiosity that rarely found itself trapped in her eyes, “What an odd pokemon,” she kept a comfortable distance in case the Dragonite wanted it’s shot, “I guess I see the appeal.”

---

Amor Rose

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Total:

After a long sigh, her shoulder shrug beneath her leather jacket and her weight shifts from one foot to the other, “I guess I expected it to be more of a challenge,” sure, she appreciates an easy job, but she craves the excitement, the danger, and the ruthlessness of fighting for survival.

She's left wanting for something, but that seems to be a constant now-a-days, “Perhaps unsatisfied is a better term.”

---

THEO BECKETT

lHOMUCeJ
Total: 916

Unfortunately for Belial, she feels the burn of the eyes on her - tracing and judging and scheming. Her peripheral vision is as clear as what lies directly ahead of her. At this particular moment, it’s the stream of the Rotom to her phone. A shadow of the creature dances across her screen, indicating it’s still working through the mess and working on putting together the data for relay.

It’s then she glances over towards Bellial. Instead of hiding her appraisal, she openly lets her amber gaze trace his figure up and down. It’s clearly judgmental, assessing him as prey or predator or useless.

She stops when he poses the questions. The judgment fades into something sharper that carries the silent promise of demise when she looks him in the eyes, “Careful to not stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, Stone,” His name is emphasized, as if to imply that’s where he’ll end up if he continues to pry, “I have no interest in joining your little club,” she dismisses the notion with a wave of her hand and she returns her attention back to the phone.

---

Belial Stone

dlEFhWhY
Total: 132

Lex led the way by a few steps, leading them deeper into the bowels of the insatiable chasm. Lex appreciated Mei was at least not foolish. Well, it was too early to tell but she seemed to be amenable to her suggestions which was a good start.

Amber eyes briefly drifted over to her companion when she subtly pried into the more personal life of the thief. Anything more than the task at hand Lex deemed personal - which chase guarded carefully. She would indulge Mei if only for Yumi’s sake.

“We grew up together in Johto,” is all she offered as an explanation. It should be enough to quench her curiosity, she hoped. Lex wasn’t much for small talk, but at the risk of further prying she turned the question back to Mei, “How did you two become roommates?” In all honesty, Lex would have never pegged Yumi as someone who needed (or wanted) a roommate which inspired her own suspicions in regards to their relationship.

---

Mei Liu

D0T4kx18
Total: 205

Lex was unimpressed. She walks through smoldering ashes and scrunches her nose up at the stench of charred flesh. For an organization that seemed to have a region on edge, they sure burned like any other fragile mortal. There was more to it though, she wasn’t naive, but it seemed rather odd how ill-prepared and chaotic they were.

She tables her thoughts for another time and drifts through the smoke like a specter towards Theo. The Ceruledge scours the battlefield for any survivors from the Lava Plumes that need a swift and humane ending.

Lex basks in his approval with a subtle smile and stands before him, feeling whole amongst the death and carnage and the praise of those two little words. She doesn’t reply with words, just a shrug of acceptance as she briefly looks back to view her handy work.

“Is that it?” she finally speaks, turning back towards him, “All you need me for today?”

---

THEO BECKETT

B2elooJN
Total: 964

While Belial busies himself with trying to brute force the machine into doing his will, Lex takes a step back. The ex-Beast leans against a nearby crystal, watching with predatory amber eyes. She’d lit a cigarette that is held with reverence between her first two fingers. The white smoke curls over the toothy sneer, “Watch yourself, Stone,” she warns in a slow, deep octave.

When prompted, she pushes herself off her perch and saunters over with slow, steady steps. She never seems to inhale the cigarette. It simply burns between her fingers like incense. Her free hand cracks open a pokeball, “You men and your brute force,” she tsks with a little shake of her head. The dark red lips curl into a salacious smile and she looks Belial dead in the eyes, “Some things need a little finesse,” The shiny Rotom blinks into existence. She shares a brief command with the ghost and sends it on its way.

The electric type zaps itself into the machinery of the drill to sort through the damage and determine if it is even salvageable.

---

Belial Stone

pFgRu3pX
Total: 69

Lex took a moment to peek in the bag slung over her shoulder. After a little rummaging, she seemed satisfied with what she managed to slip away with. Surely someone with a lot more brains could make sense of this stuff. She was just the thief, and that’s how she liked it.

Behind her, the tent went up in flames, consuming the evidence that remained inside. She sauntered over towards Ryker, nodding in approval as she appraised the litter of dead bodies still oozing from their wounds, “Nice work,” which was a compliment of the highest regard in her terms, “We’re done here.”

The ex-beast held out her hand as if waiting for her Shadow Gardevoir to hand her something. The phantom glitched in place, fading in and out of view. An envelope suddenly placed itself in Lex’s hand. She promptly tossed the contents towards Ryker, “Here’s your payment. I’ll deliver this where it needs to go,” she shrugged the bag higher into her shoulder, “Call me if you need anything,” a sly smile slipped across her dark red lips, and she disappeared along with the Shadow Gardevoir.

---

ryker hayes

lo_NjLGg
Total: 349

Lex quirks a brow and looks at him with an unspoken question. She isn’t trying to be elusive, she’s just a guarded person, “Suuurrre,” it drips with sarcasm at the implication that he understands her. Or perhaps that’s not it, he sees her? The interpretation is left to marinate because the camp peeks over the foliage and crystals around them and they suddenly have a job to do.

Unsurprisingly, she releases a ghost-type to fight alongside his majestic Gyarados. Where his boasts strength and power, the agility of her companion highlights her more elegant approach to battle, carefully crafted with speed and finesse. The Ceruledge’s purple glow sharpened the shadow of the scar that ran across her left eye.

“Such a gentleman,” she slid forward alongside the Ceruledge and they disappeared into the dark portal to walk amongst the dead in the PHANTOM plane. They reappeared on the other side of the camp and the cavern suddenly flared a bright red as LAVA PLUMES hungrily consumed anything in their path. The gut curling screams of agony echoed off the cavern walls and the chaos left the masked Triad grunts scrambling for a moment as they collected their thoughts.

Theo wanted them to burn it all to the ground, and Lex wouldn’t disappoint him. She may talk a big game and be a bit of a brat about it but at the end of the day, she’s a good girl that knows how to follow orders.

---

THEO BECKETT

lELjttPR
Total: 806

Hmph. He had a point. It was more exciting here. She’d just be rotting at a shady bar if she didn’t decide to come back. Well, it wasn’t much different here that bar just happened to be in the sweaty depths of Slateport. This work was better than the fighting rings, though.

Was it, though?

Regardless, she found the same thrill, the same outlet for the grief that turned into rage that turned into a wildfire that incinerated everything in its path.

“Oh?”

There was a brightness in the single syllable that mirrored the mischievous smile. She reached for a pokeball as well, “That sounds reasonable.”

---

THEO BECKETT

IinwpFHQ
Total: 751

His words reached out like a hand and put a choke hold on an eerie silence that fell between them. Her lids fell into a narrowed gaze that bore through him like the rumbling drills tearing this crater apart, “Strange?” she repeated, her voice monotone until the subtle inflection to make it a question. One brow ticked up, “Is there really any good way to be strange?” There wasn’t. But it was a good thing Lex didn’t quite care what he thought of her. Quite frankly, she didn’t care what anyone did. She’s a lone wolf, a solitary ghost; pale, mourning, and haunted by what could have been if she didn’t die alongside him. Because now, she’s just a shell of herself. The old Lex did die, and she’s buried in Johto next to him.

She didn’t have time to let his words stew and rile up a reaction from the volatile woman because he said something even crazier next that turned her growing scowl into a surprised smile, “A pack of them? Really?” she laughed, shaking her head in both regret and disbelief, “You’re high maintenance, aren’t you?” most rich people were, “I’ll see what we can do,” a sharp whistle caught the Houndoom’s attention, “Round em up, we’ll be waiting,” the Houndoom would have help from the shadows. The pokeballs on her hip cracked open, pouring thick, viscous ebon smoke across the rocky ground. The shadows stretched and dashed forward alongside the hunter towards their prey.

Lex leaned back onto a nearby crystal, reaching into her pocket to pull out a cigarette. She casually lit it and let the white smoke curl over her deep red smile, "Get ready, my ghosts are efficient. They're all yours. Show me what you got, Mr. Polite."

---

Amor Rose

BPA5crU4
Total: 872

Lex nods along with his explanation, gaze flickering between the tall spires of crystals that surround them, “Hmph,” she finally grunts in thought, “They sound lovely,” her voice drips with sarcasm worked off the playfulness in it earlier.

“Maybe I should have just stayed in Johto,” she absentmindedly let the little tidbit of information slip, offering a clue to her whereabouts and what she was up to in her extended absence. She can’t retract the words so she lets them linger before continuing, “So are we just destroying their encampment? Or do they have something we want?”

---

THEO BECKETT

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Total: 642

The journey was rather uneventful, and the cliffs stretched up into the dark sky like a jagged shadow. She led them into a small alcove that seemed well protected from at least two sides. No cave or unexpected opened would give a malicious presence the option to ambush them . . . at least, that’s what she hoped.

Lex let the bag on her back slide off her arm and onto the dry ground with a subtle thud before turning to face Victoria and address her question. The dull light of the pale moon gave her grin a haunting look, “Always something different. The veil between our world and the afterlife is thin here. Expect to find yourself haunted by all manner of strange,” she crouched down to unpack two bed rolls and a LITWICK. The little pokemon’s flame gave them some light, and it’s FLAME BODY some warmth.

Their shadows that danced by the light of it’s flame seemed to move of their own, curiosity pulling them closer to veil and into their world.

---

Victoria Beckett