“Definitely weird,” Lex agrees, nodding along as she tucks the gem stone into her pocket. She stands to her full height as Morgana drifts around her head, peering from behind red lockes as she hears her name from Nina’s lips.

“I’ll send her through again but, that was likely it. All the commotion probably scared any lone stragglers off,” a wave of her hand dismisses Morgana to resume her search. The Beast’s gaze shifts over to Nina and her Vulpix, “You take off earlier – I’ll let you write the mission report for this,” her lips curl into a wicked smile, her tone suggesting it’s a favor o Nina when really she just wants to push the paperwork off to a subordinate so she didn’t have to do it.

“We’ll be in touch.”

nina larson

A call to the jayden cross’s company headquarters on a Sunday was certainly unexpected. It’s the last thing she really wanted to do. What on earth could she offer the admin, anyway? Maybe he needed something stolen. That she could help with.

The announcement of the more inclusive M.A.G.M.A initiative didn’t escape her. Lex still had her reservations about the whole thing. Instilling power into humans was not natural. In her humble opinion, it just asked for trouble. Even though Killian Decker seemed better, perhaps even healthier, now with Deoxys that didn’t mean he would remain that way if the legendary left him.

Parasite or symbiont? Lex had yet to figure that out.

“Thank you,” she offers Jayden a brief smile as her amber eyes drift over her surroundings, “What can I do for you?” there’s no sense in dancing around with formalities. Waste of time.

jayden cross

Lex is no stranger to the Phantom Plane. Traversing it is always unsettling but it’s something she has gotten used to. One of these days, her soul would probably get trapped, but that day had yet to come.

One guard. One twink. The Shadow Gardevoir found them with ease. He was right where he was supposed to be, just delayed, “Smoke,” her voice echoed through the plane as if in some distant, hollow cave. The Gengar that trailed them took that as his signal.

Hungry, starving actually, Smoke phased back to reality. Mint would see large red eye appear behind the guard. Energy pulsed from his small hands pointed towards the guard. A warm blanket of HYPNOSIS would wash over the man, coaxing him into a deep sleep before he has the opportunity to release any pokemon. From behind Smoke, Lex would step through the dark mist alone and into Mint’s view.

She doesn’t look happy, but she doesn’t look pissed yet either.

mint frost

“Oh? Yummmm,” she hums with a small smile. To be honest, she hadn’t made coffee in quite some time. She’d been surviving off the flavored water they called coffee at the headquarters. It takes her a minute to remember the appropriate ratios, but while Killian works on the breakfast. The coffee finishes just in time, and she poured them two cups.

“Merci, my king,” her accent just as terrible.

The food was much better than what she had grown used to so it’s no surprise when she eats it fairly quick, “I really missed your cooking,” among other things, “So, what are you up to today?”

Killian Decker

“Hm, so you are physical,” she smiles as she witnesses the man slam into the building and slump to the ground. It seemed to hurt.

Good.

While he recovers, Lex reaches out to grab ALEXANDER STONE by the shirt, pull him closer, and strike him in the face with a mean right hook. Thank you, THEO BECKETT, for the lessons.

The darkness is assaulted by the light after Tapu Fini escapes the WHIRLPOOLSt of the Dhelmise. The MOONBLAST falls onto the Gardevoir like a crack of thunder. She screeches in pain, blinking out of existence as if she was suddenly gone from this world.

Her own dark energy still battles the MISTY TERRAIN. A darkness cuts through the pink, and an angry Gardevoir appears behind Tapu Fini, summoning the oppressive energy of SHADOW SNEAK the push the pokemon toward the Dhelmise, hoping it would attempt another ANCHOR SHOT to trap them in place.

nina larson & ALEXANDER STONE & FERNANDO SILPH

Lex assaults ALEXANDER STONE
S!Gardevoir si hit with MOONBLAST
She retaliates with SHADOW SNEAK

Lunala?

It had been a long time since Lex had seen the legendary that soared above. In fact, it had been a long time since she had seen Valerio Dachev.

“Val?” she whispers to herself when her amber gaze falls on the extroverted ex-beast. When Lex first arrived in Hoenn while on the run, when she first joined Rocket, Valerio was her teacher, her mentor, her only friend. Sometimes it seemed like it remained that way. She had yet to connect with anyone in Rocket the way she connected with Valerio. He’s a sight for sore eyes, relief in the darkness. She finds herself smiling, hopeful. She never got to say goodbye before he left for Kanto.

Power surges from all three corners of their battlefield. The Lake Spirits bestow a surprising power onto the legendaries that stand beside them. The energy overflows, filtering into the pokemon that surround them as they all begin to display unnatural forms.

Lex’s own Gengar grows to massive proportions. The familiar Mega Evolution is grander in size and power. The ghost’s fists pound into the ground, which shakes beneath her. The characteristic mischievous smile pulls across her lips, tongue flicking out to taste the air and lick her lips.

With her newfound power, the Genger roars, her large maw opening wider and wider as a sphere of spectral energy accumulates upon her tongue. The MOONGEIST BEAM is massive, cracking and popping with excess energy that looks to escape. Gengar’s Mega Evolution tames the energy, keeping it packed together in a concentrated sphere before it erupts with a thunderous BOOM as it fires towards Necrozma as a sinister beam.

Hi Val, bestie!
Gengar undergoes primal mega evoluyion
Gengar uses MOONGEIST BEAM

Confirmed! <3

One by one she pulled the items from the bags, sliding them across the counter towards Killian, expecting him to help put them away. She certainly didn’t miss the thin layer of dust that use to occupy the kitchen island.

“Hm, that’s good I guess. Won’t have to buy more food,” hopefully it’s just the sleep it needs and nothing more from Killian.

With a hint of a smile, she briefly glanced up from the groceries, “I’m happy to hear you’re sleeping more,” Once the bags were empty, she tucked them away and snagged the fresh bag of coffee off the counter to move towards the coffee pot, “So, what’re you gonna make us for breakfast?”

Killian Decker

More ghosts have been rumored to be appearing these distortions. Much to Lex’s delight, her newly acquired Quilava may have the potential to turn ghost-type upon evolution.

Or so the rumors say.

It’s worth a shot. Despite her distaste to venturing into the chaos, she does so anyway. Meteor Falls does not bring back pleasant memories but she’s a much different person than when she was captured by the League.

“Alright,” she growled, expanding the sphere in her hand, “Let’s hope this trip was worth it!” More than the trip, the pokemon the traded to get this Quilava in the first place, “Hm, maybe you need to battle something,” That’s typically how evolution worked.

She points towards a charging Haunter, making note that maybe she should pick on of those up too before they leave. The pokemon tenses, fire erupting across its back before it charges with a FLAME WHEEL.

Fire consumes it, but so does another energy. A haunting, purple haze consumes it and when it returns from the smoke it has change, evolved into some sort of strange, spectral Typhlosion, “Good,” she smiles, watching it unleash an INFERNAL PARADE towards more charging pokemon.

The gengar she brought with her as back leaps forwad as well, spewing a POISONOUS GAS from its large, open maw across the field before it.

Lex’s Quilava evolves into HISUIAN TYPHLOSION (1x free evolution from inventory)
H!Typhlosion learns INFERNAL PARADE (1x level tutor from inventory)
Gengar (F) learns POISON GAS (1x level tutor from inventory)
Collecting 1x Yellow Shard

Through the darkness and the range of attacks launched towards the intruder, it’s hard to see if Lex’s pokemon actually did any damage. The question is answered with through it’s retaliation. The darkness is broken by the powerful PRISMATIC LASER. Its flash is blinding, and the sheer power of the explosion sends her flying backwards. The world around her spins, the screams and voices of other muddled as her head pounds. Warmth drips down her cheek, fresh blood from where she smacked her head against a rock.

“Killian,” he’s the first thing that crosses her mind, not the bloodied corpses of the Abomasnow and Golurk that were torn apart by Necrozma’s attack. He’s not there. It takes her a moment to remember that he went off on his own.

Light returns by the blessing of three small sprites. The ocean titan appears beside them, but Lex doesn’t pay much attention. The Beast blinding grabs one of the dwindling pokeballs from her waist. She’s not sure who it is. When the red light flashes before her, the shape of a female Gengar appears. Her mischievous smile spreads. She takes her place beside the others that have joined Kyogre.

As her vision clears, she stands, stumbling briefly before finding her balance. Through the new light she sees a familiar Metagross racing closer, “Killian!” Relief washes over her . . . he’s ok . . . right?

Golurk dies
Abomasnow dies
Lex releases Gengar that uses Shadow Ball

“Hm,” Her jaw tenses, eyes narrowing, as she watches the two duck and run, disappearing down an alleyway. The Beat doesn’t seem too bothered, especially as she recalls her Jellicent and calmly follows after ALEXANDER STONE and Tapu Fini, “They won’t get far,” she smiles, knowing her Gardevoir wouldn’t be far behind them. As she trots down the stairs, she brings her comms online to reach Cillian Quinn and bryan delarosa.

“I don’t know what beef you have with Tapu Fini but it’s here . . . and it brought ALEXANDER STONE,” Even Lex, a rather small brained Beast, could deduce Fernando was somewhere in Rocket’s custody for the legendary to resort to raising the dead.

Meanwhile, Alexander would not find himself alone in the shadows of Sootopolis. A haunting presence stalks him, a spectral tug at his own phantom being. A dark mist spreads like a fog across the ground, battling with Tapu Fini’s own pink terrain.

The ghost emerges from the PHANTOM FORCE suddenly and without warning, her target is the abomination that is ALEXANDER STONE. He doesn’t belong here. A shrill scream, terrifying and chilling, rings from her empty lungs as a PSYCHIC burst aims to slam the imposter into the nearest building.

nina larson & ALEXANDER STONE & FERNANDO SILPH

Lex alerts bryan delarosa and Cillian Quinn that Tapu Fini is here with a guest
Lex returns Jellicent to chase after ALEXANDER STONE
Shadow Gardvoir attempts to cut off their retreat and uses PSYCHIC to try and slam ALEXANDER STONE against a building

Living apart would never work. Lex tried that, and it was a miserable year. Even after all that time, they still wound up together. That was Killian’s doing, of course, but she was happy he came to Hoenn to seek her out.

“Ok,” she smiled, the store, “That sounds so . . . Normal,” in a life of chaos, normal was welcome at that moment. Where Lex would normal take his hand, she refrains, instead lacing her fingers behind her back to resist the urge.

---

The excursion to the store is rather uneventful, thankfully.

They return with enough groceries to last them a few days. Lex had put some of her pokemon to work before they left. When they returned, the kitchen was mostly spotless. Definitely much cleaner than how she left it. They even threw out the curdled milk and an AROMATHERAPY drowned out the scent of moldy food.

“Much better,” Lex gently set a paper bag on the counter and pushed it towards the center before drawing out some items one by one, “So, do you like . . . eat more with it inside you?” In some aspects, Killian felt foreign to her now. What was he like with it living inside him?

Killian Decker