‘Kiddo’? Andrea was a grown ass woman. The man was quick to rephrase, but she felt belittled all the same. Not by Mr. Navidson himself, but by the organization he represented. He had faith in her, even if the League did not.

“We’ll keep you updated if we see anything suspicious, Rocket or otherwise. Thank you for trusting us!” The trainer of dragons bowed her head politely. Chomper looked excited too, always eager to throw hands with legendary Pokémon.

Hopefully nothing traumatic would happen to them in the foreseeable future…

Navy //mission thread

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His request for privacy was met with an accommodating nod. "Sure, let's go to my dressing room." She too needed to sit down after such a long day, after all.

While nothing too special, Andrea's dressing room was spacious enough for the both of them. An assortment of Kabuki outfits hung from a coat-hanger trolley, along with what appeared to be a Hydreigon-inspired Sygna Suit. In front of the mirror, there were various hair products and makeup tools.

Once inside, the young PokéManiac parted with her footwear, letting her feet breathe. As much as she wanted to take the rest of her clothes off, it would be rude to do so when she had company. She sat on a chair with her legs folded to the side and Jalapeño resting on her lap. "We're here now. What do you wanna talk about?"

Noel Parker //kimono drip

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Organizing a contest wasn't as easy as people might have thought. A lot of work went on behind the scenes. Andrea hadn't even gotten the time to change out of her kimono yet. Those geta were starting to hurt her feet, and that sarashi was starting to constrict her breasts.

A sorta familiar voice called out to the TOUKON hostess, causing her to turn around. She was holding a small Fire-type Pokémon in her arms. "Oh hi! Noel Parker, right?" The young woman greeted the blue-haired youth with a sunny smile that masked her fatigue.

"I guess you haven't met my son. His name is Jalapeño." The eccentric trainer introduced her Fuecoco. "He was too nervous to get up on stage, but rest assured, he was watching you all from the sidelines. Isn't that right, my baby boy?" She petted the little crocodile's head, who crooned happily at her affection.

"So, how may I help you?" Andrea asked Noel cordially. "You're not upset about the judging process, are you?"

Noel Parker //kimono drip

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"No, I wasn't..." Andrea sheepishly admitted. Had she been in that muddy, bloody swamp, she would have had some choice words for the people who dared accuse that poor bear of the murders. "But I've heard everything that happened from Genevieve Cromwell. And that's not the only other place the chain's appeared. It's also appeared in the RKS Simulation."

With how often that pattern repeated itself, one could almost think of the Toxic Chain as a threat on par with Meteno. Or perhaps it was yet another thing to worry about along with Eternatus and the DRK Triad.

In light of all those looming threats, the young woman steeled her resolve. "Whether they're connected or not, Chomper and I will fight them both!" She declared, somehow sounding more stoked about fighting alien gods than she was about fighting Team Rocket.

Navy //mission thread

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"M-Mega Evolution?!" Durindana was a wall before, but now she was the entire house! Trying to protect against a G-Max move would be a fool's errand, but there was a way to mitigate the damage done by it.

"We'll fight fire with fire! Barron, Mega Evolve too!" The young cosplayer exclaimed, removing one of her dragon paws to reveal a sparkling Mega Ring adorning her ring finger.

Encased in a cocoon of its own, her Aggron re-emerged as a pure Steel-type. With its newly upgraded, nigh impenetrable armor, it was able to tank the hit, but its ability to cause literal earthquakes was nonetheless hampered.

"Go for Iron Head! Make her flinch!" Andrea ordered. Despite all that bulk, Barron still moved fast thanks to the earlier polishing, charging headfirst into the larger target that was the Mega Duraludon.

Gwyar Wledig //traditional 1v1

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"I'm not trying to find out the truth of how the world was created." That sounded more like something Naomi Sato would be interested in. "I wanna use what's been written about it as a starting point to try and understand how you and I ended up here. Did Arceus create us? Did we evolve from Pokémon? Or did we come from outer space?"

Separating mythology from fact was important, as Yuina pointed out. It was a thin line to tread, especially in a world where gods and legends were real, observable phenomena. "Fine, I promise..." Andrea pouted. "I just wanted to know if humans are mentioned at all in the creation myth." To her knowledge, they were not, but maybe Yuina possessed a slightly different translation.

Yuina Higashi //sygna drip

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The three-headed drake retched from the poisonous bile that suddenly filled his hungry mouths. Simply being near that damned snail seemed to sap his strength away. That made Chomper angry. He barreled into his now Terastallized opponent with a foolhardy Outrage.

"We're not gonna lose! RAWR!" The Dragon Cheer belted out by its eccentric trainer boosted the Hydreigon's offensive capabilities, as did the RAGE the Sygna Suited girl felt by syncing up with a Pokémon that was the embodiment of wrath.

Perhaps it was that same connection that heightened Andrea's senses and response time, allowing her to Fly in the air before the assailing vines could ensnare her. "Give me the flower!" She yelled, before diving down, attempting an aerial tackle on the older woman.

Elisabeth Fiorelli //mission thread

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Hitmonchan's fist of iron connected, each strike causing the Buzzwole's bulging musculature to deflate ever so slightly. It would take a lot more than that to fell the mighty behemoth from Ultra Space, but for now, the opponent had him on the ropes.

Seeded by her grassy foe, Kokoro winced, her energy slowly being sapped. The golden dragoness rattled her scales once more with twice as much intensity, hitting Chesnaught back with a point-blank sound blast from her Clanging Scales, made all the more devastating by the echoes of her Clangorous Soul. The steel cage vibrated so much from the deafening shockwave, it looked ready to explode.

After her ears had stopped buzzing, Andrea responded to the Gym Leader's comment with a swell of pride. "Of course I'm a beast! My dream is to become a Pokémon myself! RAWR~!" The dragon-costumed girl roared wholesomely.

Taking note of the contemporaneous fight, Buzz-Buzz took a moment to assist his scaly ally with another Taunt, this time directed at the Chesnaught. No more seeds for you, mister!

noah faber //2v2, doubles

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With their combined efforts, the fused abomination was slain. “We did it! Great job, Chomper, and Charles, and Mana!” Andrea flashed a hearty thumbs up at her teammates.

Alas, the more they prolonged their stay in the pseudo-underwater realm, the more they risked losing their sanities to the Eternatus Core’s mind-corrupting influence. Given how life-threatening the situation had gotten, it was pertinent to leave this expedition with as little spoils as possible. Who would want to loot those gross crystals anyway?

“Let’s go back to Dewford!” The dragon tamer urgently yelled, mounting her trusty Hydreigon. “This place’s gotten too dangerous, even for Charles!” She added, directing her steed to Fly towards the rapidly closing wormhole.

Elise Calcifet

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