"You want to 'understand Celebi better' before you join." he repeated, eyes now dipping down to his papers as he flipped a page over and began to annotate he reasoning. He nodded along as she claimed guardianship of a creature with control over things she nor anybody in the Hoenn could dream of. The commonality of these god creatures and their unprecedented contact working it's way to the egos of those who came into contact with them.

Yuina left it open ended, mentioning they would consider the program at a later time. He had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing her again. Not unless she needed something. And even then it would most likely be ollie morales or someone similar.

Well, he could at least tell the Commissioner he'd tried. "Alright, thank you for your feedback Ms. Higashi." he said, not bothering to pick up the paper pamphlet he'd given her. "I look forward to seeing your paper on the Distortions. I know many of my colleagues are keenly interested what your insights may be." So invested had he been before, now he lets go with ease, shrugging out of his position. He doesn't get up to shake her hand, for she had not offered the courtesy on his arrival.



ooc: Yuina Higashi

He looks over the pokeball, not realizing dahlia goode had chosen to lend her the Tapu. And in some part, the Tapu had to approve right? After all, it had fought by her side if briefly. But Genny keeps talkin, and Paxton waits for her to stop and catch her breath.

He blinks, staring down at the redhead as she tied herself in knots. He began to comfort her before his jaw set a little. What was she saying? "Genny, you aren't doing anything. No one person is more valuable than the other in this fight. Not commander, or vanguard. Avatar or officer." his eyebrows furrow as he tenses away form the girl. "You can't be this arrogant going into combat. That kind of thinking gets people killed." He knew he could count at least a dozen of people that would recklessly kill themselves trying to save Genny from dying should she try to shoulder the world's burden on her own.

Parts of this conversation feel familiar. Where all he can do is talk, but nothing actually gets through to her. Only what she wanted to hear, picking and choosing whatever suited her desperate need to keep fighting. To be useful. He couldn't say he didn't sympathize though. War was so much bigger than any one person. It had almost swallowed him whole before. Even so, he sees the red flags as they sprout. This is heroic, this is martyrdom. "Navy didn't mean develop a hero complex to cope with loss. He didn't mean use it to rationalize your recklessness."

He takes a deep breath. Was ollie morales aware of this? He'd give him a call regardless. "Genevieve Cromwell ." He doesn't touch her. Doesn't smile. A stoic frown just barely hiding the simmering worry and disappointment he felt. She'd only gotten worse since their last talk. He had to stop her from hurting herself. "Have we ever discussed SAPPHIRE?" Genny is not his. She is not his soldier. She is not his charge. He can't do anything but watch and advise, no matter how dark a path he watched her walk. Even when she didn't have the heart for it.

---

Genevieve Cromwell | mission prompt: remote recovery

"Smart girl." he said with a snort before he knocked back the rest of his drink. He takes a few gulps, finishing before holding up his finger at the bartender. "Two shooters. Dealer's choice." he said before looking back at Annalise. "Sure. I'd appreciate the company." he said with a nod. It'd be more interesting than going by himself.

"Mmm, don't think you were that bad last time." he said with a shrug. Anna finished her glass as soon as the bartender dropped the tall glasses of dark liquor. He passes one to her. "Yes..?" he began before she brought up Mew. "Oh- no, that's right. Whatwasit...Mewkia, right?" he said remembering the looming figures of dual Palkias in the distance before his attention had shot back to Calyrex. "I'd love to get some readings on you and Mew together." he said with a nod before picking up his glass and gesturing to her without managing to spill a drop.

"Shots first." He throws it down the hatch and and slaps thick glass on polished, old bar countertop.

---

annalise henderson

"I think it would be appropriate to prime those who haven't found their loved ones in the ERs yet." he said after a moment of consideration. He sighs through his nose. As usual, Rocket was responsible for another domestic attack and people still wanted to claim they could change them. How delusional.

"This is hard on all of us." he said, trying to both comfort and allow PENELOPE LIVY some slack even if she wasn't here. But that had been her event. She'd organized it, hadn't she? He threw back the last of his coffee, drinking quickly still warm brew.

"Yeah, I get it. Let me know if there's anything I can do to lighten the load. I'll be online. I'm just covering for Penny for the next 3 ish hours." he said, pointing to the laptop on the table before giving him a small cheers gesture with his empty cup. "Sometimes intelligence takes time. We'll figure it out." he said with a small smile to his friend before tossing the cup away. "See you. Don't forget our sparring sesh on Thursday." he said as he left, leaving no room to argue. Now, even more than ever, they had a reason to stay training.

---

Gunner Graves

He nodded. "And I appreciate it. I look forward to reviewing that report." he said, eager to know what he could of the events within Kyogre. He's relieved Freya is alright, but he also wanted to know what exactly had forced them to call the truce.

"Draconids most likely have a grater tolerance for either infinity energy or primal energy. I'm not confident which one yet, truthfully." he said with a small shrug. "I want to up your appointment frequency to every week rather than twice a month." he added. "I understand the council is busy, however, I don't know if that PRIMAL energy is cooking your insides alive as we speak." he said before gesturing at your horns.

"Best case, it's only when you sprouted those, and now its more passive er- tolerable levels of it. But still. I'll be comparing your blood samples today to MATIAS SILPH . I need to verify if his levels are as high as yours." he added. "Additionally, I wanted to know if any of this hurt? SAPPHIRE can remove the horns for you, and I don't think you have a scale issue anymore, yes?"

freya morningstar | mission prompt: community engagement

"I don't know the specifics on the mutual ceasefire, I havent't talked to freya morningstar yet. Even then, I fear it may be above my pay grade." he said with a small shrug. "It absoltuely does, which is why we shouldn't be comfortable in Sootopolis." he said before adding. "I'm not goign there unless I need to. And even then, I'm keeping an escape route open." He wouldn't allow Rocket to pull another fast one on him again. Not like Kanto.

"SAPPHIRE is a research program. That's more on AQUA to handle." he said with a laugh. "I don't consult on battle plans. I just do admin work." That said all he needed to on the Kyogre situation. "I think, it's placated for now and that's all we can hope to do. I'll be heading out there to take some readings on the titan but, I'll not be staying long."

---

annalise henderson |

"You agreed to the meeting and the time." he said simply. "We scheduled this due to protocol your Commissioner approved of. If you had any misgivings about it, the professional action to take would've been to send an email explaining them." he said. He didn't have time to walk around it all with her. Then again, what did he expect from someone ollie morales liked?

"Your personal relationship with Celebi doesn't matter to me." he stated, closing his eyes a moment. Rarely did he care about the inner workings of a god creature and their favorite person. What he cared was if they were an influence. If they were changing. All things he needed to see and track and make sure they don't devolve into something much worse. Lest they were tasked with killing the next avatar that went berserk. MATIAS SILPH had been lucky that day most of the people that'd responded tried to get him to come back to his senses. Thank the Gods for Rayquaza and Eva Morales . "That's a bond I won't pretend SAPPHIRE can quantify."

He paused, mulling over her words. He lets them hang in the air, analyzing, dissecting, processing. He picks it apart and shuffled them around in his brain. He stares back at one sleep deprived researcher. He lets time pass, gathering his thoughts, before speaking up once more. "If I understand this correctly, you want to...reflect on the relationship you have built with Celebi?" He's not sure he's following. His main concern, this early in Celebi's budding relationship with Yuina was the physical examination. Deeper psychological exams could be set if that ever proved to be true. "Is that your only concern? I encourage you to speak plainly."


ooc: Yuina Higashi | a few days post state of the region adjusting to, had to push back due to war efforts now its post sootopolis raid | 6th anni prompt - im fREE

Paxton stared back, waiting. There's no response. It's very clear Yuina had already made her decision so he doesn't really care what she says about SAPPHIRE anymore. She's silent before asking her question. He nearly scoffed. How many times was he going to reschedule this meeting? "What are your concerns?" he repeated, content sitting in the chair. It's clear he wasn't getting up to leave.

"I scheduled and hour of time to have this discussion with you. You've since, attempted to cancel after I had arrived, asked one question about the program, and then implied SAPPHIRE is conscripting the people it works with" It was clear she hadn't read the pamphlet. "I'm not exactly sure why you think so poorly of it, so now I am asking you what your concerns are." Even with people who had refused, like Hideo or Genny, he'd spoken with them and tried to find some way to compromise. They hadn't even made it past SAPPHIRE's symopsis. Now his sales pitch has changed, and his careful eyes are set on Yuina instead of SAPPHIRE. It reminded him of PENELOPE LIVY. It was always so ironic those that despised the League the most, were most often the one deepest in bed with it.


ooc: Yuina Higashi | a few days post state of the region adjusting to, had to push back due to war efforts now its post sootopolis raid | 6th anni prompt - im fREE

"I did." he said with a nod, seemingly ignoring his team and Freya's strange new look. He worried more for her tired mind, the almost deadpan tone of her voice. He meant it genuinely. He hoped this would be fast and she could take the spare time scheduled for them together to rest somewhere. Eat something. CAKE even 

"We've been analyzing them for signature energy like the other avatars and the results were honestly..." he trailed off as he pulled up the folder and a vial with some of her scales in it. Freya would notice that his team had long since cleared out for their appointment. Doors closed, and stations abandoned, taking lunch or something.

"I wanted to take a blood sample just to verify something." he said. He shook the vial for slight emphasis. "This thing is potent." he stated bluntly. "Your scales were not only showing a very powerful energy signature away form your body, but it was also enduring as a signal. Even now they still show stronger than any other avatars blood sample." he explained. "The PRIMAL energy radiates. There's infinity of course, but it's easily overpowered."


freya morningstar | mission prompt: community engagement | 6th anni prompt - cake