"Distortion World... Giratina..." The girl muttered, still slightly dazed. If his theory was correct, then this Areo Zero had not existed beforehand, or if it had, it'd been hidden from the eyes of the deity presiding over the reverse side.

"No, I haven't been to it. What about you?" Andrea asked the man, tilting her head curiously.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

"A primal version of Suicune..." The young PokéManiac pondered aloud. "So it's like those paradoxes that look like ancestors of Pokémon that we know, like Roaring Moon looking like an ancient Salamence. But that... doesn't make sense. According to legend, the beasts of Johto were created a hundred years ago by Ho-oh."

150 years, to be exact. If Josh Devlin were here, he definitely would have corrected her.

"I guess there's only one way to find out if that's really true. Let's go, everyone!" Andrea exclaimed, delving deeper into the cave in search of the ancestral Suicune whose existence defied history itself.

Eva Morales

☉

Tiamat had lost?! Knowing the Dragonite's strength, that was almost too hard to believe. As the Master of Faster, Josh took full responsibility faster than any other trainer would have.

"Will you stop blaming yourself for five seconds?! We can still win this!" Andrea yelled at him. Friendship partially meant being able to call someone out when they were being a big dum-dum, which was what he was currently doing with his self-martyrdom.

Distracted by Tiamat's fall, the storm of springtime blessings came out of left field, knocking out her Mega Salamence. "Sora, no!" The girl cried out, but the azure dragoness gave her a reassuring nod, making a heartfelt Wish just before fainting.

"Chomper, you're up next!" Andrea said, recalling her Salamence into its Pokéball. Her shiny Hydreigon entered the battlefield, glaring at Lam's Altaria in utter defiance. "Now the REAL real battle begins!"

lam logan, Josh Devlin //traditional 4v4 doubles

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Chomper and Meatloaf reeled back from the splash of water on their faces, wildly shaking their heads. They looked more confused than hurt by the attack, but it had still done its intended job of preventing a full-on fight from erupting between the overly competitive dragons.

"Teehee~ Good job, Ceto!" Andrea couldn't help but giggle at the tiny Dratini's antics. Learning a brand new move on the spot, and using it effectively to boot, was nothing to sneeze at.

The young woman flashed a smirk of her own as Draco walked up to her. The two of them were roughly the same height, yet he looked like a giant compared to her thanks to his robust physique.

Amethyst eyes lit up at his challenge declaration, blissfully ignoring the Dratini's glare of jealousy. "How about tomorrow then? Same time, same place! You'd better bring your best, 'cause I know I'll bring mine!"

And thus, it was settled; a proper, honorable battle between dragons with plenty of time for both teams to prepare.

Draco Prowler //mission thread

☉

"That sounds rough... I can't imagine Articuno ever going berserk." Andrea remarked, only for a swarm of Electric-type Paradox Pokémon to then appear, multiple layers of Electric Terrain lighting up the entire cave in hues of yellow.

"Fight back!" The trainer of dragons cried out, her Hydreigon, her Salamence, and her Roaring Moon firing successive Draco Meteors, while her Iron Jugulis fired a Dragon Pulse out of its artificial maw.

Channeling Infinity Energy through her Sygna Suit, the draconic cosplayer Flew down to where Josh and his Aerodactyl had fallen, checking up on them. "Are you alright, guys?"

It was only then that Andrea caught a glimpse of black and yellow stripes moving within the raucous crowd of paradoxes. "W-wait, is that..."

Josh Devlin //mission thread

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"Yeah... I think I can feel it!" Andrea didn't mind a bit of rain either, even if it meant that her prized Sygna Suit would get soaking wet. "Wait, is Thundurus a dragon too?" She looked back at the Galarian prince, puzzled.

Looking at the lightning deity's Therian Forme, she supposed it boasted some reptilian elements. Not all dragons had to be Dragon-type, after all.

"Next time, they should battle over an uninhabited area. Then they can really go all out!" The draconic cosplayer remarked, sheerly in awe of the two legendaries' contest of strength.

Remiel Calcifet //sygna drip

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"Down there!" Andrea gently patted Chomper's sides, guiding him down the suspicious cavern. Upon landing, the dragon rider dismounted her Hydreigon, and inspected the dark scar in the wall.

"You think it might be hiding in here?" She asked, ever curious. "By the way, is it true that Walking Wake looks like Suicune?"

[player]https://file.garden/ZXZrnWMYuz15frfJ/HOENN%20MUSIC/MysteriousCry2.mp3[/player]

Suddenly, a strange cry echoed from within the cave. "Whoa, did you hear that? That sounded like a Paradox Pokémon alright!"

Eva Morales

☉

Dejected, Andrea did not give him an answer. With a belief system that went so far back, nothing she said could possibly dissuade him.

The drill went silent. The tremors subsided. Scientists were now packing their things, while taking last minute notes.

"Sounds like they're done for the day." The dragon maiden observed.

Suddenly, a tear through the fabric of reality appeared before the duo; a rift to the Distortion World stared back at them like the eye of a beast, non-Euclidean structures floating within an ineffable, never-ending mass of primordial chaos.

As quickly as it had appeared, the rift closed, leaving the young woman utterly flabbergasted. "W-what the hell was that?!"

That's right, Andrea Vaneau actually swore.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

"It's you I'm worried about, silly!" With her sock puppet of a hand, Andrea gently booped the other woman's nose. Being an avid Sygna Suit user, she was well aware of their limits and how draining continuous usage of Infinity Energy could be to a human being.

"There's no shame in going home, Shalin. It's not the same as giving up. The Giant Chasm will still be here tomorrow for us to explore!" The Hydreigon-cosplaying girl continued, before cracking a smile. "Unless some legendary Pokémon destroys it, but what are the odds of that happening?"

Shalin Nariya //sygna drip

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"It's an old coin!" The golden piece was held in a sock puppet's mouth for Ettie to see. "You can't use it to buy your groceries, but it can probably be sold to a collector for a high price." What that prize was, however, Andrea had no clue.

Perhaps the hidden treasure of Area Zero was a lot more literal than some people thought. Maybe a renowned pirate from antiquity had buried an entire chest filled with golden coins somewhere in the depths of this great crater. But hey, that's just a theory.

The PokéManiac snapped several landscape photos with her Rotom Phone, zooming in on any points of interest, such as the many waterfalls surrounding the canyon. "We may not have found Koraidon today, but we got an idea of the Giant Chasm's layout. This mission was a success, if I do say so myself!"

Ettie //sygna drip

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