Ugh. Shizue lightly held her head, now that the lights allowed her at least a little movement, her strength returning to an extent. Or maybe it was just the spores’ effect naturally diminishing with time. It was best to not confuse correlation and causation at such a pivotal point in time. And it truly did seem pivotal, with things getting more and more crazy. In daze, Shizue had brought out another of her test subject Venpides, which briefly tried to help her get up.

Then more energy was discharged, blasting the area around her, near her, enough to throw her body a few feet away with some cuts and bruises. Once more, a Venipede was taking the brunt of the damage at least, so she survived. Even in the relative comfort of continuing to observe the opposition, which was, by now, already taking more pro-active measures.
Which was telling. If this being was truly utterly superior to everyone around, if they all were but ants to it – why would it even need to expend any amount of energy to swat them away?

With a bit of a cough, Shizue chuckled as she heaved herself up onto her feet somehow, before slowly schlepping herself towards one of those big Pokemon being infused with something. Yes, that seemed right. Oh, wait, this could be more efficient. Sluggishly, she called out her Haunter, so that it could help stabilize her with its mostly gaseous form as they moved towards Yvetal. That just felt right. Even though she did not really know why. Sometimes science was about feelings, after all.

- Another Venipede bites the dust
- Gets briefly ragdolled by the boom
- Gets out Haunter to help her get to Yvetal while continuing to observe

“I make of this that we are seeing two exceptionally stubborn individuals of this group,” was her first assessment. Given what these Pokemon were using and how long it must have been going on, it was painfully obvious that they were of the sturdy sort. However, while she knew that contests between Pokemon could go on for a long time, she did not immediately understand why this. A proper fight certainly would do more to impress others – and it would be over more quickly. A test of endurance like this probably had a different kind of meaning. And given that, apparently, multiple others had participated, it was not the result of a simple grudge in her non-expert opinion.

But then again, Perish Song was the kind of move meant to take the other with you regardless. There was no winning condition in her eyes. It was likely that the surviving Absol would succumb to the other’s song after anyway. Hence, the meaning had to lie in it making it that far to begin with. Further than all the others. The last Absol standing.
“Maybe the key is in what we did not see so far. We were beset by individuals, yes, but not by what appears to be a leader. I do not see anyone of elevated position watching, either. Mayhap that is what this is about. Them seeking to decide who will become the next leader?”

Of course it was a good idea. Shizue made it a habit to have those. Well, most of the time at least. Fortunately, her partner while not having the same idea, had been prepared for this occasion nonetheless. It certainly was convenient to have someone with supplies around. And she genuinely meant that. As someone without much experience, it was natural that she could maybe bring an outside perspective, but she did not have the kind of expertise to prepare for all eventualities.

Thus, they had poffins now. And, most importantly, the Absol seemed to accept the gift except for the one that seemed to deem her the suspicious one. Granted, of the two researchers, she would be the one most likely to poison poffins. But she hadn’t, this time. Hence, all she could do was shrug and make a slightly apologetic gesture. Hopefully, it would accept this. Not like she could do more to convey that she was not even involved in procuring the poffins.
Pokemon were not exactly good at picking up on cues like this.

“There is always violence. But I am not sure of the chances, there,” she replied first, thinking. As scientists, they naturally had Pokemon that at least technically could fight, even if they were untested. All Pokemon had the capacity for violence. But that also went for the wild Pokemon. Which had a lot more experience fighting and surviving in the wild. They were not stronger by default, no. But they did not even know how many Absol there were. Hostility, unprovoked, struck her as a bad idea to begin with.

But just rejecting one idea did not mean that she brought anything to the table herself. They probably did need a way to pacify these Pokemon, or at the very least, to bribe them. “Though growling like this is a challenge of sorts. No reaction could be just as bad as provocation. It is likely that we would either have to fight, or to placate. Berries, mayhap?” She herself had none on her. But maybe the other one had? She seemed to be from around these parts, so she likely was more used to these sorts of things. Well, Shizue had some things on her that could be used to take care of this problem. Only those would probably be a bit too…lethal, for League characters.

“True, true,” she simply replied and followed. When there was nothing worthwhile to say, she usually kept it to a few words. Sure, she could get long-winded when it came to scientific explanations that required it. But she did not like to waste other’s time. Poisoning them was fine, but that would just be rude. Plus, it would be wasting her own time too. Maybe she just wasn’t in love with her own, slightly raspy voice, as many others seemed to be.

Instead, she focused on the task quickly, priming her senses on her surroundings. All about, there were the sounds of living creatures. That much was to be taken for granted, of course. This was part of the wilderness, of course. Life was abundant. But there were also more deliberate sounds, along with a certain presence. They were being watched. Absol were territorial creatures, from what she’d read. But they were not inherently aggressive or hostile to humans. For now, their presence was likely accepted. But that could change if they triggered a response. Certainly.

“It appears we are not the only ones interested in this,” she quietly relayed to the other. “Maybe these ones also seek for this song to be resolved. One way or another.” It certainly did not feel like a trap so far. Granted, that would be what made a trap a good one. Yet, given her experience with other wild Pokemon, this felt more like a social issue. Not a trap.

Fascinating. Even a poison type was affected. And from the looks of it, this was not even a diminished effect. The Venipede still had its strength sapped, much as herself. The little bug(ger) was visibly suffering. Despite looking droopy and tired by default, that much was obvious. “Interesting. The effect applies to poison types as well. Clearly not one of the known status effects. Possibly not biological. Or terrestrial, given everything else,” she continued to muse, mostly to herself, but also to others. But she is also already thinking about how to best take samples, instead of everything else.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Naturally, she was doing her best to take in what she could. In doing so, she relied on others to do their thing. The other members of the team were to take care of matters as best they could. Defeat the enemy. Potentially protect others, even if they were no goody-two-shoes. But she was a scientist. It was her role to observe, learn, think and apply.
And it was the role of her Pokemon to protect her, even in that state. The little Venipede was draining fast, but it did manage to curl up and protectively move between the indiscriminate assault and its trainer. It sacrificed itself, but she would have sacrificed it too without hesitation, had she thought of it. Something did hit her arm, some kind of branch or something, but especially with those spores, she was all but numb to that. It had probably been kicked up by the explosion.

But who cared about explosions? That was a scientific phenomenon thoroughly explored. Yet, these spores, the tree, the stranger? That required her attention, her mind still being the most functional part of her body. “The spores are not meant to debilitate. Not even to kill, no. They help the tree feed on life. That is where this all leads. The tree does not need to absorb life for sustenance. That means this feeding frenzy has to lead to transformation of some kind. Unless energy is not gathered for the tree, but rather through it for that thing…”

- Still weakened by spores
- Venipede sacrifices itself
- Continues to observe and theorize about what is happening.

“Absol, not directly,” she admitted. Not being truthful on an occasion like this was pointless. It was best to simply be concise and allow the other to know. It wasn’t like she needed to know much. This woman seemed like she knew a thing or two about them. At the very least, she spoke of the species with some familiarity, for whatever that was worth. These were her hunting grounds, so at the very least, she knew the lay of the land.

“I am familiar with dark types in general and most Pokemon found in jungles. I also did the required reading, of course. But experience has to be earned somewhere.” A faint chuckle to take the edge of. Her attention was drawn towards the sounds of the Absol, however, sounding a faint dissonance. “At the very least, I our quarrel does not appear hard to find.”

Hola? What a strange greeting. It was not of this region, probably. Neither of her own, either. Probably a foreigner. The name certainly sounded like that, too. But that didn’t matter much aside from a temporary curiosity, really. At the end of the day,, this was a somewhat casual task. There was observation to be made. And stranger or not, this person clearly was a woman of science. No one else was to wear lab coats and other scientific regalia.

“That is what I have come to here to do,” she thus replied plainly, believing to be speaking to a like-minded person. And she, too, also had not too much in the manner of manners. “I am Murasaki Shizue, researcher in the fields of poison and wildlife.” The latter was just added as a technicality to sound better. But at the end of the day, it was also true.

League? Not really. But Shizue was not exactly a known member of Team Rocket, either. In fact, she was mostly just another researcher, already in the area for its many poisonous Pokemon to gather some samples. Some clerk had confused her with a league member due to helping out with an incident involving those – mostly out of curiosity, really – so she had been asked to help her fellow researcher with some Absol troubles.

Now, evidently, Absol was not a poison type Pokemon. But it was still interesting. And, if nature had taught them anything over the years, it was that even single-stage evolutions could get surprising new evolutions. Yes, yes, Eevees could become just about any type. Attempts to force a poison type evolution had failed lethally though. And Absol was certainly the kind of Pokemon that might wander into one of those space-time distortions and come out poisonous. That was what happened to Sneasels, apparently. It was possible.

Plus, she was already in the area anyway, so she had decided to swing by, wearing her usual travelling garb which was entirely primed for functionality, looking for this supposedly big researcher. Why the clerk had focused on that attribute was still a mystery to her, but she figured that she’d find out.

Distributing the endeavour rewards! ( pkmn-hoenn.boards.net/thread/25075/eggstravaganza-endeavors?page=4&scrollTo=289778 )

Shizue Murasaki
x3 POKEBALL
x1 TYPE 1 EVOLUTION
X3 LEVEL TUTORS
x1 MOVE TUTOR
x1 GACHAPON TICKET
x1 INCENSE
x1 MOVE TUTOR
1x premium gacha ticket
x3 EGG TUTOR
x1 TYPE 2 EVOLUTION
x1 shiny swap
90 pd
3 rainbow shards
x1 event mega stone

Violet Fairbanks
x1 RAINBOW SHARD
1X SPARKLING DUST
x1 STARF BERRY - immediately usable"
x1 FREE EVOLUTION
x1 ABILITY CAPSULE
1X STARF BERRY
x1 KASIB BERRY - immediately usable
x1 MEGA EXTENDER - consumable item that automatically extends the duration of your MEGA EVOLUTION to five turns
1X FORM CHANGE
x1 TYPE 3 EVOLUTION
x1 SALAC BERRY
x1 DEVOLUTION STONE
x1 sivally memory or free move
x1 Z-CRYSTAL - consumable item that allows a pokemon to use any applicable Z-MOVE. this counts as your one Z-MOVE per thread


Evette Moreau
x1 RAINBOW SHARD
x1 SPARKLING DUST
x1 mega shard

A symbiote? Well, that could technically be it. But that would imply that both the host and the Pokerus benefited from the relationship. She was not quite certain of that yet, either. Plus, symbiotes tended to not be hereditary either. Neither seemed to properly encompass what was going on.

Though the offer of studying one was certainly a useful one. “If you don’t mind, certainly.” Shizue wasn’t one to say no to an offer like that. She had a feeling that the affliction might have slight differences depending on the host species, too. So, even if she got her hands on other specimen, more could be useful. Though, admittedly, this meant no vivisection. Ah, well, it happened. “Though I reckon it would be rather boring for you to watch me take samples. Whatever you prefer, really.” She shrugged, simply accepting it if he wanted to watch. Plus, they all but had arrived at the nearest settlement already. The time of parting hath all but come.

Young lady, once more. That still sounded somewhat odd. But it clearly was just what he called people. She didn’t really mind or care much. “No need to apologize.” She meant that as a simple fact, really. Not that she really hated being called a liar. People did that when they did not like the truth, anyway. It meant nothing. Like most words not based on scientific principles, they were just as hollow.

Though he really did put a lot of emphasis on her age, which was very slightly annoying. Mostly because she’d gotten a whole lot of that during her education. Skipping grades probably just had that kind of effect on those around her, she’d figured. People just could not comprehend genius, she’d decided. “Impressive, maybe. And yes, I have heard of it. That is in part why I visited the hatchery. I doubt that it truly is a virus, though. It seems to not be communicative in any way other than hereditary. I personally would not classify that as a virus. Though I still need a sample of my own to analyze. Maybe the structural composition is more akin to a virus after all.” She shrugged. With information that new, she really wanted to see for herself before deciding on how to interpret this.

“I am not a liar,” she simply stated and left it at that. As a scientist, she would never claim that anything she said was 100% completely accurate and correct. It was only something she explained to the best of her knowledge and ability, something she could be wrong at either way. But Shizue, despite being many things, was not a liar. Which, admittedly, made it difficult to secretly be in Team Rocket, of course. Yet at the same time, it was reasonably doable, given that people hardly ever asked to begin with.

And even if they did, they were seldom so concise that she had to actually explain it in detail. “I am a researcher of Pokemon and their abilities,” she stated, being fully accurate while just leaving out the more dubious aspects of her work. “Though, admittedly, my knowledge in breeding is only cursory. I read a book or two. Not enough to be much of an expert.” At least talking like this made time fly faster, letting them get to their destination with a bit less boredom.