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"Um...excuse me! H-hang on a second!"[break][break]
Her first mission of the evening is to keep Rockets from entering the rift in Granite Cave. And to be fair, the girl she's intercepting certainly doesn't seem like a threat. But does look young. Too young to be in a place like this, and caught up in a horrible conflict besides. Luka's heart breaks to think of something happening to her.[break][break]

Frankly, it doesn't matter what faction this girl belongs to. Rocket or League— she's worried nonetheless. Although she does hope it's the latter, for should their encounter turn contentious there's no way she could bring herself to harm someone so young.[break][break]

"Are you lost? Can I help you find your way back?" Luka doesn't mean to sound condescending— every word comes from a place of genuine concern. "This is, um, i-it's not very safe, you know. If you're lost, I can help you find your way home!"

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The immediate assessment of Luka Chêne is a solid one. She really doesn't look like she belongs here, too peppy and obnoxiously pink to be taken seriously. But what she lacks in brains and brawn and battle prowess she makes up for in stubbornness— that, and her arsenal of support Pokemon have helped keep the League members stationed around the rift entrance hale and hearty.[break][break]

In a moment of quiet, her partner had gone off to grab more medical supplies. A poor decision really, for she hasn't been alone for more than five minutes when someone comes barreling down the cave, nearly impaling her on their Scolipede's horn. It's only because of their laughter alerting her that Luka is able to jump out of the way in time, pressed against the rocky stone wall as the giant bug races past.[break][break]

"T-that's so dangerous!" she scolds, her heart hammeing in her chest. "You could really hurt someone, you know!"[break][break]

Of course she could have been hurt. That's the point. But Luka still scolds her assailent like she's disciplining a child, finger point and all.[break][break]

To prevent another such rush, she quickly reaches into her bag and pulls out a sticky glob. With one precise toss (thanks to so much practice at the splashfest!) she manages to throw the glob at the Scolipede's feet, trapping it in a thick layer of adhesive ooze. Her Musharna is quick to act once the giant bug is trapped in place, unleashing a powerful psychic towards it.

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"Yeah...I kind of feel bad for them, though. I mean...isn't it kind of like when those strange pokemon started appearing in the distortion thingies? I-it's like they don't belong here, and they're scared. And we're just attacking them because it's all we can do..."[break][break]
She sighs, but luckily Derek's question breaks her out of this depressing train of thought.[break][break]
"Oh! Um...."[break][break]
There are a lot of memories to sift through, some more unpleasant than the rest. Luka just hopes they don't manifest themselves in the mist again. "The first time she just kind of...floated by. It was in the interdream zone too. I started to think she might have just been a vision in the zone, y'know? But she gave us...like, it felt kind of like a blessing? So I think that was real."[break][break]
Just as she feared, her memories start to play out around her in the mist. The strange basement of the musesum they'd been to, paxton concordas's poor Golem being frozen Glaciate ice, the hazy vision of a celestial being shrouded in pink fog.[break][break]
"The second time...was different. I think we bonded...kind of? She like...she was part of me. It's a bit heard to explain..."[break][break]

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"W-wait! Don't hurt it!"[break][break]
This messed up Jigglypuff had tried to attack them first, but Luka's heart has always been too soft in situations like these. Ollie is likely making the correct move— the creature seems woozy from the poison darts, and the hyper voice dies in it's throat.[break][break]
"Ah, um...o-okay, okay!" Luka fumbles around for an empty love ball and chucks it towards the Pokemon. Even though it's a straight shot and it's quite literally stuck in place, it screams again and bats the ball away with a powerful swing of the long appendage that protrudes from it's head.[break][break]
"Shoot! Umm..."[break][break]
What Luka grabs next isn't a ball or a weapon, but a handful of trail mix from her bag. She isn't sure exactly what she's going for, but she throws the treat into the wailing Pokemon's open mouth— almost as a peace offering.
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If the Liepard allows her, Luka reacts to the sniff by trying to pet her elegant head a few times. Such a lovely companion deserves a little affection, after all. A small smile lifts the corners of her mouth, but Milo's assessment snuffs it out again.[break][break]
"Don't be silly," she says with a shake of her head, "T-they're not bombs!"[break][break]
She'd like to say that the League would never toy with something so dangers, but that's obviously untrue. Still, she can remember from her breifings that these weird stones are mostly for utility, but could possibly be used as a weapon in a pinch.[break][break]
"If we don't do this, Rocket might get an upper hand. I-it's no good if they get to the seal stones first, right? I...don't want to hurt anyone, but..."[break][break]
She pauses, teeth worrying her bottom lip. As a means of distracting herself, she glances over at Milo again. "How are you feeling? Do you think you can move on, or should we rest a bit more?"[break][break]

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"The seals...did you hear that?"[break][break]

It sounds like a lead! Perhaps too good to be true, but so far her search has lead to nothing but dead ends. It sounds like these rockets might actually know something, and Luka isn't exactly sure how to get it out of them, but beating them in a fight seems like a good start.[break][break]

She braces herself against the impact of the winds, her Sylveon's ribbons wrapped around her legs and keeping her steady. Though the pair of them both struggle when the ground shakes underneath them— Sugar, who'd been protecting her trainer, takes the brunt of the residual damage, and despite floating airborne Madeleine also feels the impact of the quake.[break][break]

It leaves her a bit rattled, but she tries not to let it show. "Thank you!" she shouts back at Calpurnia Kubrick, all saccharine sweetness despite the insult and the situation they're in, "You should come watch one of my contests sometime!"[break][break]

Pleasantries fall to the wayside a moment later; they're still in battle, after all. Greyson's Blastoise takes hit after hit, so Luka sends Madeleine to help her teammate with a soothing heal pulse. But in doing so, she neglects to notice the other attack coming towards them- there's too much to focus on! Sugar yelps when the bug buzz hits her, and though she doesn't go down she's starting to look rough.[break][break]

If she wants her sygna suit to be useable, she needs her Sylveon to remain active. So Luka makes the choice to swap Sugar for her Audino instead, not realizing that that's exactly what her opponent wants. The chubby purple healer is released with a flash of a love ball, and Luka wastes no time in activating her mega evolution as well— though with a bit less flair as she would in a contest. It's still adorable though.[break][break]

The other woman's Vivillion is their target for now, and a hyper voice is blasted towards the little thing, hopefully powerful enough to take it out of the air.[break][break]

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For a moment it almost feels like they have the upper hand. But in a place like this, there's nowhere to run.[break][break]

Luka scoffs at Lulu's assertion that she's special, important enough to hunt down while the rest of Rocket fights tooth and nail for the seal stones. But the woman's unwavering determination is frightful in it's own right— so laser focused on her own goals that she's willing to risk the entire mission.[break][break]

It feels almost impossible to stand up to such indomitable will. Even so, Luka fights tooth and nail against it, knowing that what she has to protect can never fall into the hands of Darkrai's avatar.[break][break]

"T-that's ridiculous," she asserts as her Pokemon continue to fight— two moonblasts erupt from both Clefable and Sylveon towards Darkrai, while her Musharna's hydro cannon attempts to blast the Marshadow off it's feet. "You're outnumbered! I don't want to hurt you, so just back off-"[break][break]

The words die in her throat when the avatar emerges from the shadows, an arm around her throat and a knife to her gut. She'd forgotten for a moment that even with her Pokemon incapacitated, Lulu herself is just as potent a threat.[break][break]

She struggles. Fear and adrenaline take over as she squirms in Lulu's grasp and tries to throw an elbow into the woman's stomach to free herself, but the poison barb pressed against her own quickly takes the fight out of her.[break][break]

Her Pokemon don't sit idly by either, and make their own attempts at rescue. But even they realize the gravity of the situation, neither able to attack Lulu without hitting their trainer or incurring the woman's wrath. It's her Sylveon that rushes in boldly, however, her small teeth bared as she tries to bite Lulu's leg.[break][break]

"Stop!" Luka shouts, her voice trembling like a leaf in a storm. "I-I'll be fine, s-so don't...d-don't worry about me!" She's not sure who she's saying it to, but she knows her Pokemon are in terrible shape already, and she doesn't want Andrea to be hurt because of her. But her voice lacks conviction, and her eyes, wide with fear, betray her terror.[break][break]

She doesn't want to give up the lunar wing. She also doesn't want to die. But trapped in this moment, she doesn't know what else to do.[break][break]

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"Kind of? E-except they're not like, in your head. This place makes them, a-and I think other people can see them?"[break][break]
She's trying to help with an explanation but the weird Pokemon in front of them takes precedence. Ollie is right— it does look like a Jigglypuff, but wrong somehow. A long pink tail trails behind it, bobbing through the mist like a fishing lure.[break][break]
"I think so?"[break][break]
Taking her own advice about visions in the dream zone to heart, Luka approaches the bizarre Jigglypuff with caution. It seems to have finally noticed the pair, turning around to blink at them with wide yellow eyes. A beat of silence passes, and then it opens a fang-toothed mouth and screams so loudly that Luka almost feels her eardrums burst.[break][break] She staggers back just as the creature leaps forwards, unusually aggressive for something that looks so cute. In the moment, the only thing she can think to do is throw a sticky glob towards it, trapping it's little feet in a puddle of goo while it screams again in indignation.

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MATIAS SILPH is a topic she'd rather avoid. Once upon a time Luka might have confided in Remiel about that entire catastrophe, but they're not exactly close anymore.[break][break]
"I don't really want to talk about it," is all she says about it. "I've been working more with the rangers these days anyways."[break][break]
It feels rather bizarre to engage in small talk during a search and rescue, though it does help to cut the tension a bit. Still, Luka remains on high alert as she and Helios carve themselves a path through the vegetation. Their vigilence pays off, for another cry soon echoes around the bottom of the pit, this one sounding much closer than before.[break][break]
"I-I think I'm close!" she shouts into her comms as Helios burns away thick swaths of kelp. As they press on, she can hear the sounds of conflict and movement up ahead. It's hard to make anything out clearly, but something large and fungus-like seems to be moving up ahead where the cry is coming from.

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”Eh? Th-that wasn’t me!”[break][break]
But her reply comes too late. Though Luka can’t see him she notices the flash up above and can only assume he’d teleported himself down towards her. Except they’re still both stuck amidst a nearly impenetrable wall of vegetation, separated by whatever is lurking around in the dim green light.[break][break]
The general rule of thumb is to stay put in situations like this, but there’s someone else that needs their help and Luka isn’t about to stick around and wait for Remiel to find her. Instead she releases her Blaziken, the member of her team she’d saved to use for last. The rest of them have been battered enough for the night— her fight with oscar clayton had left almost all of her main team incapacitated— but Helios is still in relatively good shape.[break][break]
Sharp talons and bursts of flame make quick work of clearing a pathway through the alien plant life. Luka continues to keep an eye out for the person they’re trying to help, and an ear tuned towards any voices that might filter through her comms. The though that this might be a trap still lingers, but she presses on regardless, stubbornly determined to see it through.

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Oops.[break][break]
Luka hadn’t meant to piss off the legendary bird. Frankly, she hadn’t expected the scatterbang to be so effective. She flinches when Zapdos’ screeching cry pierces the air, a clear and dangerous threat aimed towards their little camp.[break][break]
Her fellow rangers scramble to prepare themselves. Some have fled, and though it’s disheartening Luka can’t really blame them. Those that remain send a few attacks hurtling towards the Zapdos; she sees what might be a psybeam and ice beam aimed towards the great bird. However it’s still quite a ways away, and it doesn’t seem that either manage to land.[break][break]
It seems to Luka like any attacks will only anger Zapdos more, though at this rate perhaps it’s too late to mitigate the bird’s rage. She doesn’t really want to fight it, but they at least need to defend the camp long enough for everyone to escape safely, and hopefully not lose all their supplies. So she stays, her Sylveon at her side to keep her sygna suit active so they can provide support to the team.[break][break]
However, the very first attack is devastating. Even though she’s protected by her suit Luka can still feel the intense heat against her face, and Sugar barely manages to weather the attack. She’d like to recall her Sylveon, but needs her active to maintain her suit. But Sugar is already in rough shape, and the Zapdos hasn’t even arrived yet![break][break]
After a moment of consideration she releases her Audino and immediately requests a heal pulse to keep Sugar in the game. Her Sylveon perks up a bit and is able to retaliate, striking back with a springtime storm of her own. The rains that fall are quickly infused with that looks like cherry blossom petals, turning the downpour into a miniature pink hurricane that swirls towards the Zapdos.
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”Yeah, I have.”[break][break]
Some encounters have been more tame than others, but they’ve all been disquieting. ”Sometimes it’s not so bad. But this stuff…i-it has a way of messing with your head. It makes you see things…” She shudders.[break][break]
”I-it’s just important to remember that it’s not real, right? Or, erm…s-something like that.” Her laugher is soft and nervous, like the twittering of a little bird. ”But it’s okay! I-I’ll help— oh!”[break][break]
At that moment, something scampers in front of them. It’s little pink body almost blends in with the interdream zone, but the shape is somewhat familiar in a way Luka can’t place just yet. But she also can’t tell if it’s actually there, or just a figment of the dream zone.

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Derek’s voice is a welcome respite from the one that echoes around her head. The insidious whispers continue, their high and mocking tone echoing sentiments that deep down, Luka already knows to be true.[break][break]
You’re nothing. You’ll never be strong enough. You’re just a pathetic, scared little girl. How can you be arrogant enough to think that Cresselia would acknowledge you?[break][break]
Luka squeezes her eyes shut, trying to block out the sound. But it carries on the mist and follows them, weighing on her shoulders so heavily that Luka wonders if they’ll manifest into something tangible. It’s only the large crash of another paradox Pokemon that snaps her out of it— green eyes open with a start, but not quickly enough for her to react before Derek does.[break][break]
Steel meets stone, the collision powerful enough to make the very earth quake beneath their feet. Luka’s thrown backwards a few paces but manages to stay upright, though doesn’t manage to aid Derek or his Pokemon in time. One blow is enough to take out the Ggigalith, which honestly makes her more than a little frightened. There are no massive powerhouses on her team, after all. Most of them are built to support others.[break][break]
But after a moment of thought she releases one of her heaviest hitters. Her Lopunny might not have the most brutal of strength, but she makes up for it with speed and agility. And after their training with Isaac Merlo, Luka’s a little more confident in taking this thing on.[break][break]
”L-like we practiced with Monsieur Isaac, Bonbon! Let’s go!”[break][break]
The rabbit nods and takes a running start before she leaps into the air, using her forward momentum to charge up a powerful high jump kick aimed right at the paradox Pokemon’s enormous frame before it can charge them again. It probably isn’t enough to take this creature down, but hopefully they can slow it enough for Derek to make a more decisive blow.

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