"Likewise," she nodded, admitting defeat to gravity that was keeping her bound to the floor. As one would expect, notes and pen in hand, questions came her way that actually made her frown. Not because of their nature, but moreso the memories regarding it-- and how to explain.

Sighing softly, her eyes lower to the notebook as she mulls over her words, because in no other way would she be able to sound anything more than mockingly sarcastic if she just flat-out said what was on her tongue whenever it came to that; family. "Unless you plan on contacting my employer, not quite." she lets out eventually. "Those few of the Erling family that remain don't care, and have made that abundantly clear." The Unovan smiles scoffingly, but the pounding headache refrains her from shaking her head. The bitter feelings settle in her stomache, but she's quick to push those away.

"Sorry, that's not your fault." Brynn falters, slowly hunching forward to hug her knees. Somehow being small feels safer. "Not home, but Lilycove perhaps." She admits softly. "I don't think I could return to Unova just yet."

Gwyar Wledig

☉

Although she didn't realise at first what his intention was in handing her his coat, nor the order to bite onto it, she did not defy the authority in his voice and sunk her teeth into the thicker part of his coat. Only when he made her sit upright and moved his arm to support her head did it dawn on her, just in time for her to bite down harder as he popped her shoulder back into place.

Her pained cry was muffled by the coat, a stray tear in her eye as her remaining hand clenched into a fist, a most fruitful attempt to not grab unto something softer to dig her nails into.

Yet, despite the throbbing stings in her shoulder still, it felt far more pleasant to move with now it had settled back where it belong.

With the pain came a temporary focus, away from the grief, and towards the breathing she tried to control as she returned Gwyar his coat. Her eyes looked slightly clearer now, refreshed by the adrenaline that forced her body into a state of readiness, for however long that would last. "Brynn-" she replies, scuffling in a poor attempt to try and get up, all to no avail. The floor is as good a place as any to remain seated, then. There's a soft hiss escaping her when she touches ground again. "Brynnhildr Erling, sir."

Gwyar Wledig

☉

She'd only taken note of the man before her when he'd knelt before her, his voice a fait echo in the void that occupied her thoughts. He'd already finished speaking once the meaning of his words finally surfaced, making the Unovan lift her head ever so slowly. Like a lost lamb she just stared at Gwyar, an empty vessel trying to conjure words that took ages to form.

And when she wished to speak, her voice had been reduced to an inaudible sound, and her throat felt like it had been squeezed shut. Brynn just closed her mouth again and slowly shook her head, flinching almost directly after as pain shot through her head and shoulder. Exhaling sounded more like labored sighs, each and every one of them a numb focus to surpress the pain raging through her body.

Yet, she tried again.

After all, the blond police officer was just trying to do his job. There was more than enough time to wail elsewhere, away from prying eyes; maybe just telling the man she was fine -regardless of the blatant lie of that statement- would make him move on? Maybe that plan would have worked had her voice not been raw with emotion. If her body hadn't been trembling.

"Don't bother. They're all gone anyway." Her eyes dwindled, moving away from his face to stare back at the water behind him. "No-one's here." she said silently, trying not to move her dislocated shoulder.

Gwyar Wledig

☉

"A... a Pyroar? What's it even doing here?" she actually had to do a double-take on the fiery lion as it roared and tried to lash out at the Houndoom that kept it cornered. "I mean, the fact your Houndoom have tracked it leaves little doubt this is in fact what we're looking for, especially with how skillful you've said they are. So unless someone purposely released their Pyroar nearby, it shouldn't even be remotely close to this area."

Seeing how violently it was trying to defend itself, Brynnhildr was quite certain they wouldn't be able to just chase it off. It'd come back if they didn't take care of it properly; which meant subdueing it and making sure it got relocated. An extra step not included in their job description, alas. "I think it's for the best if we subdue it. Chasing it off would be wholely irresponsible." she said, only to flinch and inch behind Maverick when the Pyroar roared again, spewing a flamethrower to keep the Houndoom at bay. Although there was still a safe distance between the trainers and the pokémon, she didn't show much intention of moving back beside him. She only realised what she was doing after a moment and looked away momentarily. "S-sorry, I'm not really good with pokémon battling and such, so I might have to rely on you for this." she muttered apologetically.

maverick noah ryder

☉

It was an obvious answer to her question, of course. But the darkness looming behind her eyes was deep. Of course they couldn't have controled it. Although such destruction might have very well been within the effective range of their plans, it did not seem like the giant black monstrosity would have had bothered keeping friend or foe apart. She wished to ask more stupid questions. Where did it come from? What of it now?

She was certain that if he knew, he wouldn't be here looking so grimm and disappointed with himself. Nor would he share such knowledge with a random citizen. So in the end, she did not.

"They'll do it again. Lead us to the slaughter like clueless little lambs if they get their hands on another." In the end, that's how it had felt for her. She shook her head softly, feeling a booming headache creeping up on her, like a snake coiling around her. "Like most power-hungry things, once they've had a taste of the potential, it'll only be a matter of time."

FERNANDO SILPH

☉

A phone's ringtone echoed through the apartment, urging its owner to take a gander at the name flashing on the screen. Meyland. Why the hell was Meyland calling her? With a soft hiss Brynn rolled over to her nightstand, sighed deeply, and answered the call.

"Yes, Jimmy?" 


"Brynn, hi! Long time no speak, how's vacation treating you?" 


"It... goes, I suppose. Probably should've opted for another region, but y'know. Kinda stuck here." she tried to joke lightly, but the bitter aftertaste of her words lingered in her mouth. 

"Yeaaah, I saw. But hey, it's a blessing in disguise!"

"... define blessing."

"Weeeeell.... you see-"

- - - - -

"Tell me why I'm doing this again?" The Riolu next to her tilted its head, actually considered the question, only to shrug in reply. "Yeah, didn't think so either." she groaned, trying to adjust her costume a bit. A last-minute company party from Whachamacallit Inc. -yes, she could not be bothered to remember their actual name at this point- for all its affiliates and sponsors. And since Volta had only recently become involved with said company, the very reason Brynn knew fairly little about it, they'd been invited as well. But since its main branch was located in Hoenn, nobody of Volta's executives could make it... except for a certain someone vacationing there. 

They'd begged her to go as their representative, and had even gone ahead and ordered a few sets of costumes to be delivered at her doorstep, for the subtle dresscode; "Halloween Casual". Whatever the hell that was. And in all honesty, had it been just that, she wouldn't have minded. Their choice of costumes however was a whole 'nother story. One straight-up gave her secondhand embarrasment just looking at it. The other was a size too small, and the last one... well, let's just say she refused to go dressed as a slu---, uh, promiscuous devil nurse.

So there she stood, waiting for the elevator to arrive in a grim reaper costume, one of which the dress felt like a pro wrestler holding her in a double nelson. At least the faux-tattered cape and hood covered her up. Mayhaps the sole solace of this evening. 



A little party never killed nobody || Costume

Martín del Mar

☉

She probably didn't need to know about what the lighthouse workers had said, that much is true, but hearing the little anecdote did help her come up with a possible solution. "Ah, I see, sorry for assuming! But, uh...," she looked at the Ampharos' pale appearance and tapped her chin. "Sorry if this sounds brazen, but if I were Ampharos and I'd be in and around the lighthouse every single day, probably following the same routine on and on again... I'd feel bored. Maybe a change of scenery would help?" she proposed. It wasn't like she didn't know what it felt like, stuck in the same routine. Even if you liked what you did, eventually there'd come a drag in said routine, and without events to spice things up or cause some change... it would affect anyone, really. It sounded all too familiar to her.

Maybe that was why she suddenly felt the urge to help Ampharos?

"I don't mean to impose on your job, of course, but... why not add some variety to its day to day schedule? Or, like right now, take Ampharos somewhere new, away from the lighthouse's vicinity, where it can forget about its job for the day? I mean, if that's possible of course! J-just a suggestion!" The Unovan quickly added, not wanting to upset either the Ampharos nor the ranger on duty. She didn't wish to obstruct his tasks, and definitely not come across as someone telling him how to do his job. So to emphasize that she made an apologetic bow as well, hoping the young ranger wouldn't take offense.

Lux Defort

☉

There was a persistent buzz in her ears when she finally came to again. She could only faintly remember being dragged off and away from the center of chaos, and along the way her vision had blurred into darkness, her mind as blank as the expression staring back at her in the water. The blanket wrapped around her kept her warm, but the fact that she was still shaking uncontrollably made it clear she was all but okay. A little voice in the back of her head told her not to look at anything else but the reflection of the water; not next to her, where a small box with broken pokéballs issued the devastating news she did not wish to see.

Instead she gripped the blanket more tightly, flinching as pain shot through her arm and shoulder like a lightningbolt. How nobody had noticed that was beyond her, but perhaps her subconsciousness was a lot tougher than she was. Or maybe the chaos and wounded around her were in such bad shape that her case had been deemed a lesser priority, which she could perfectly understand. Having realised the pain again however made her body focus on it, witholding her mind from trying to shut down her emotions. It kept her awake, too, as her body subtly inched towards the fatigue adrenaline had been masking.

Brynn didn't want to close her eyes.

Because every time she did, she relived it all again. Oh so vividly.

Gwyar Wledig

☉

Gone. That was a whole less hopeful than she could've been, and for a moment she couldn't do much more than fall back into the deafening silence as she stared. Fernando Silph might be nothing more than a stranger at this point, a vague acquaintance at best now they'd exchanged introductions, but that meant little to the subtle shock she felt. Pity, some would call it. She knew very well she wouldn't have been able to carry herself as calmly as he had, had she been in his shoes.

Then again, if she had lived her life differently, mayhaps she would have.

So instead of his physical wounds, she focused on the other mention that could warrant surprise and shock. "Rocket? Was all of this their doing?" Brynn knew they'd been a thorn in many one's sides, but were they really capable of controlling such a monster? The war in Kanto answered her unspoken question about the atrocities they were capable of, but to have been the ones behind what had happened in Sootopolis...? "That... thing, you think they were the ones somehow controlling it?"

FERNANDO SILPH

☉