The Giant Chasm and Area Zero were filled with hidden treasures waiting to discovered. Today, Andrea was willfully assisting Prof. Morales in tracking down Walking Wake--an elusive and powerful Paradox Pokémon that had first been revealed in the hit dating sim, Rondez-View of Luv.

With the amount of ominous foreshadowing insidiously injected in that game's dialogue trees, one could begin to suspect that RVL had been an early prototype of the RKS Simulation. Put that in your conspiracy board, Isaac Merlo!

That aside, this excursion was also a great opportunity for the two of them to catch up. "...and then Lord Rayquaza grabbed Kyogre and pulled it underwater, where he gave it a beating! Whiskers, my red Gyarados, helped too!" Andrea gleefully exposited, while flying down the massive canyon on Chomper's back.

Eva Morales

☉

Ah, the Kyurem incident. She remembered seeing many people wearing masks; definitely Rockets. And once again, they had quarreled with the League over a quaint, stone-like artifact.

Matias' bloodthirsty vendetta against Team Rocket was consistent with what Josh Devlin had said about his character, yet it still made Andrea think. "Is that what you want, or is it what Groudon wants?"

While patrolling the area, Andrea's Aggron accidentally stepped on a smelly pile of... something. The bipedal rhinoceros grunted in annoyance, shaking the icky muck off its foot.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

"If I need to take five? Shalin, you look awful. Maybe we shouldn't have come down here..." Andrea could tell that the ranger was downplaying her exhaustion, so she went into overprotective big sister mode (even though Shalin was older).

The Type: Null's presence did deter an Iron Bundle from drawing near, and Chomper was also vigilant. However, overpowered Pokémon could only achieve so much if their trainers were too spent to command them.

Suddenly, a violent earthquake permeated the valley. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, but it made the young PokéManiac wish she had been in flight when it happened. "Whew! That was intense!"

Shalin Nariya //sygna drip

☉

The League scientists started drilling into the earth with their machine, causing tremors on the ground. Somehow, even through all the noise, the Elite Four's question rang loud and clear.

Andrea visibly flinched. She could never admit to him that she was in contact with THEO BECKETT, that she had been visited by Naomi Sato, or even that she'd gotten a present from Lulu Flint. Civilians were not meant to intertwine with the organization to the degree that she did.

"I... No, I haven't." Unfortunately, the young woman was terrible at lying. "Have you?" She asked in turn.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

From her point of view, Draco was the weird one. Not only was he broody and mysterious, but he also apparently lived there, in this cave. “Oh, so you’re like a hermit!” Andrea nodded in gleeful understanding. “Do you hunt your own food? Where do you sleep? Where do you poop?”

Her barrage of prying and embarrassing inquiries were topped off by a statement that would firmly cement the girl’s status as the weirder of the two. “I hope to abandon civilization and live in nature too someday. After I’ve turned into a Pokémon, of course!”

A wizened Drampa descended near the eccentric cosplayer, it too being offered pets and unconditional affection by the girl. “Your dragons are so friendly!” She remarked, before addressing the man’s next question. “Sure can! I can also do this…”

She took a long, deep breath, before belting out a reverberating Dragon Cheer that sounded almost like the roar of a real dragon, making any Dragon-type Pokémon feel incredibly pumped. “RAWR~!”

Draco Prowler //mission thread

☉

"I get it... I dunno what the League is up to more than half the time." The young cosplayer admitted, cracking an uneasy smile. "I guess we have that in common, right?"

Murderhobos in arms, one could say.

A wild Glimmora got a bit too curious about the man-made contraption, and drew near, but was quickly chased away by Andrea's Aggron.

"You don't think that Team Rocket might try to sabotage them, do you?" The girl turned back to Matias with a worried look.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

"W-what's going on down there?!" A confused Andrea blurted out, part of her feeling disappointed, but also worried that she could not see what transpired underwater between the two feuding legendaries. For all she knew, she might have just sent Whiskers to her death, and there was nothing she could do about it.

In the end, both her red Gyarados and the sky deity emerged from the abyssal depths safe and sound, much to the young woman's relief. The Sea Basin Pokémon's fate was left uncertain, but something told her that if Kyogre had actually died in the scuffle, the consequences would have been immediately felt throughout Hoenn.

As Rayquaza bent down towards her, the dragon enthusiast tentatively outstretched her hand in an attempt to touch the giant serpent's snout. "Thank you for saving Hoenn again. Sorry I got you hurt. I promise to be a better friend next time..." She vowed, getting teary-eyed.

Eva Morales //mission thread

☉

The bedridden girl mustered a chuckle at the good doctor's comment. "Heh. I don't mind scarring per se. Scars make you look tougher!" Doug himself was a prime example of that. That scar around his eye was the only reason she'd been able to recognize him after both his face and physical age had changed entirely.

Small talk aside, they could only keep dancing around the subject for so long. Andrea let out a long sigh, her expression tinged with melancholy and trauma that she tried in vain to repress. "It all started with a swarm of Drampa going berserk near Verdanturf. We tried to help, but then, that man... Pokémon... whatever it was, showed up and attacked us for no reason."

Chomper let out a low growl, baring his fangs. Clearly, he was not a big fan of the thing that had attacked them.

John Sullivan //mission thread

☉

It took Andrea a moment to recover her bearings as well, the effects of the rage-inducing powder still lingering, while nearby, Chomper was still reeling from the friendly fire courtesy of Shalin's Flygon. As far as battles went, this could have gone a lot smoother.

After their enemies had fled, she rushed to her friend's aid, helping her up. "We're in the Giant Chasm. We just fought a bunch of paradoxes, and... I think we went crazy." The young PokéManiac tried to mentally put the pieces back together herself. "Are you able to walk?" She asked the green-clad ranger.

Although she tried to take charge of things, Andrea was not in much better shape herself. A sudden, inexplicable sense of dread paralyzed the dragon enthusiast from head to toe.

Shalin Nariya //sygna drip

☉

The cosplayer's Dragon Cheer must have been effective, because her begrudging ally managed to capture the prone Ultra Beast by throwing a singular ball. A critical capture or sheer dumb luck? Regardless, it was his prized possession now. Yoink, indeed.

And get the hell out they did. Climbing up the staircase led them into a sizable lobby. "This must be the inside of that really tall building we saw!" Andrea speculated. Thankfully, there were no Megalopolans to be found. The front entrance was heavily barricaded and all windows were sealed off. Whatever its true purpose was, this tower had been fortified against the city's own residents.

Just then, a tear in the fabric of reality conveniently manifested in the middle of the lobby, emitting a warm light reminiscent of tropical Hoenn. "Guess we've found our way back home! How lucky!" The young PokéManiac remarked, smiling from one ear to another.

Before she could step into the Ultra Wormhole, the easily distracted girl's attention was drawn to an ominous mural drawn in what she hoped was red paint and not the alternative. It depicted some kind of draconic being that did not resemble any of the Dragon-types she knew. Several small, humanoid figures could be seen cowering in fear, while others knelt before the creature as if it were a god.

"Woah..." What could be the meaning behind that mural? Was that thing a Pokémon? An Ultra Beast? Did that scene somehow explain how Lesser Megalopolis had ended up a ghost town? All of these were questions that Andrea was too drained to contemplate at the moment.

Shred

☉

"Of course I'm tough enough!" Andrea pouted, her cheeks inflating almost like a Patrat's pouches. "I've fought legendaries multiple times AND I survived on Meteno!"

The drilling rig was fired up, its noise scaring off a nearby swarm of Glimmet that floated away. "So... Got any idea what they're mining back there?" The girl asked, hoping to fish for some insider info on what the League was cooking.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

"A Sygna Suit is like magic clothing that makes you sync up with your Pokémon. It's kinda hard to put into words, but when I'm wearing this, I feel like I'm one with Chomper!" Explained the Hydreigon-cosplaying girl, her actual Hydreigon letting out an affirmative growl.

The tribal man's plain introduction elicited a confused look from the young woman. "Draco... What an unusual name. I like it!" She beamed. "Funny how we've never run into each other then. Maybe we just hang around different areas. Have you been to the Dragon's Den?"

Having sufficiently dried up, Andrea crouched on her knees and attempted to pet Ceto, if the tiny Dratini would allow. "Thanks for the help, little one." The girl smiled warmly, before cocking an eyebrow at Draco's next question. "Hmm? No, I fell while I was trying to Fly." She casually revealed.

Draco Prowler //mission thread

☉