[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Though Zev's comment about the quality of her work was flattering—and all the more so because she knew he didn't perceive her as someone worth lying to—she felt no qualms about referring him to other smiths. After all, Aurelie knew very well what her best, most productive working pace was. If she forced herself to do more, she knew from experience that accidents would happen, things would get missed, and the quality he'd praised would degrade.

She wasn't going to force herself to go to such lengths. She had no need to prove herself and no desire to compromise her high standards of craftmanship. It wasn't worth it for him, Rocket, or her.

So, when he asked her to write down some names to look into, the red-haired smith simply nodded and reached for the nearest piece of paper and pencil. Some of the smiths she listed were very, very good, better than she was in some aspects. Others were at least passable enough to make simple, functional knives on request.

"Here you are, ranked in order of experience and skill," she said at last, sliding the sheet over to him. "At least, by my estimation, anyway. I'm willing to take on the Pyroar's share of the work, of course, but I can't do everything."

Unlike you, I still need to eat, sleep, and pay my bills, Aurelie thought, looking up at him. Fleetingly, she wondered how much such human needs still concerned him. Do you even get tired anymore, Zev? Do you ever feel ill, or hurt, or weak now?

Her gaze sharpened when he then shifted the conversation to her commission from Calyrex. As tempted as she was to make wisecracks about how popular she'd gotten since the mysterious King Pokemon had turned to her and asked for a saddle and shield, though, she decided against it. Aurelie's sense of humor had never landed well with Zev, much to her disappointment.

"The commission for Calyrex is going well," she reported crisply, her eye brightening with enthusiasm. "It took a long time to figure out a workable design for a metal saddle, which I've never made before in my life. I still can't imagine why it requested such a thing, when 99% of saddles are leather and that last 1% is usually wood."

Aurelie chattered on happily, "As for the shield, I've undergone testing with one of Rocket's other avatars to find a strong, durable alloy that's still be light enough to be maneuverable. It won't be as strong as whatever Zamazenta's shield was made up of, but then—what is? My design should be usable for ground and mounted combat and even maybe for a little bit of offense as well as defense."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie jerked her head up, startled, when the Galarian Moltres let out the deep, guttural hissing sound, the hairs on the back of her neck rising at the harsh, fearsome sound. To her, it absolutely sounded like the voice of a predator out for blood, seeking to ravage her flesh—or perhaps her mind, given its psychic powers. It was all she could do not to yelp in fear.

To her surprise—though, a moment later, she realized that she shouldn't have been surprised at all—the admin hardly reacted at all. In fact, if anything, Admin Bee's expression warmed and his eyes brightened as he met his patron's fierce stygian gaze. Taking heart from his calm, Aurelie watched in wonder.

"It seems like you two understand each other pretty well already," she ventured cautiously, when the great Legendary bird made no further ominous noises or moves. "So...this was the Moltres that you saw come out of the Violet Book, right? How long did it take for you to find it?"

There was so much more that Aurelie wanted to ask, but she didn't dare quite yet, not with both their eyes on her. Given the sinister reputation of the Galarian Moltres, though, the fact that it and the admin were seemingly in such accord was rather disturbing. She wondered what powers it had given him.

Can they read each other's thoughts? Do they speak to each other telepathically? the red-haired smith guessed, stealing another glance up at the Dyna tree and its occupant. Can he—oh Arceus—can he set people on fire with his mind now?

The redhead almost missed Admin Bee's question, so dazzled was she by this new thought. It was only when he fell silent that she realized he'd turned the conversation on her. Her mind scrambled to recall the words she'd half-heard a few seconds ago.

"As for me..." Aurelie sighed and looked down briefly at her hands in her lap in bemusement. "If you mean the Calyrex, well, I suppose it liked my stories and my skills. I don't really know why. It's certainly unique to have a Pokemon as a customer, though!

"But that's as far as my bond with this Calyrex goes," she went on, frowning slightly. "It's a contract between a craftsman and customer, nothing more, from what I can tell. A rather snoopy customer, too, though not a very communicative one." She shook her head slightly in wry puzzlement.

Aurelie sat up straighter on the bench at the mention of the work itself. "But the commission itself is going well, thank you for asking! There's been a lot of trial and error, because I've never made a saddle before, let alone one from metal.

"The shield has been fun to work on, though! I added spikes to it, so it's been an interesting challenge making sure it's still light and maneuverable. Especially if Calyrex will be using it."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Touched by her cellmate's trust in sharing her name, Aurelie vowed to be worthy of it as best she could. The name rang a bell, though it was hard to place it in the confusion of her mind. For now, she answered, "I'm Aurelie Lefevre. I only wish we'd met in better circumstances..."

Much to Aurelie's relief, the Ugly ward managed to finish their work of cleaning and polishing the tera crystals without incident. Fleetingly, she wondered, Who else is here? What is this never-rot they keep referring to? Who's watching us?

With the announcement of the Ugly ward being rewarded with a trip to the Chamber of Desires, though, all questions were forgotten in a flood of thankfulness. The transformation of the Toxic Chain now connecting her to her fellow prisoners continued to revolt her. But then the crystals in the ceiling began broadcasting images...

Gazing at the images displayed across the ceiling, the red-haired smith winced. Several people from the other wards writhed in their Toxic Chains, which tormented them into giving up their stolen crystals. Behind her mask, she squeezed her eye shut at the sight of two brutally beaten bodies hanging limply in their chains.

But then, Aurelie's eye spasmed wide in shock and outrage as the ceiling tera crystals showed two Megalopolans smashing a series of Pokeballs on an assembly line with wooden hammers. A broken cry escaped her lips at the last image: the very Gigaton Ball of howard slayte's that she'd helped repair, being crushed to bits.

"You bastards! You monsters!" she hissed furiously, her eye filling with tears at the memory of her handiwork being ruthlessly destroyed. "That ball was art! Oh, and there was a living being inside it, too. How can you do this?!"

It wasn't the last of the horrors being inflicted on them. Her grip on her cellmate's—on Freya's—hand tightened as the sadistic choices were given. Were there any displays of democracy or voting in Hoenn that didn't turn out to be horrible?

When Yuina Higashi forcefully abstained, though, the redhead went cold all over as though she'd just swallowed ice. She remembered another vote and her own abstention, and how pointless her gesture had been. I don't want that to happen again, Aurelie thought, where terrible things happened and I let them, when I could have done something. Anything.

Others began to vote, including Freya. Aurelie swallowed, looking back at the now-blank tera crystals in the ceiling. Aloud, she said, "I vote...Dummy. Better that fewer people should suffer, even if it's not a very large difference."

A choice she would never have made if she had known who was in that ward. But she didn't know. She hadn't clearly recognized anyone from the images; all she knew were the number of people in each ward and what their members had done.

Besides, a darker, more cynical part of her thought, I'd much rather have weaklings on my side than fools...

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie raised an eyebrow skeptically when Howard claimed he almost never cooked. For someone so money-conscious, she thought surely he probably had to cook at least a little, if only because ordering delivery or eating at restaurants was so cost-ineffective compared to cooking at home. For now, she didn't press the issue, though she did make a mental note to follow up later about it.

Instead, she beamed when the admin agreed to share the stew and even offered her some tea from Johto. "Thank you so much, I'd love some tea. And uhh, I guess, you're welcome for the chance to talk history and lore?" she hazarded, regarding Howard quizzically.

"Well, I suppose it's not so different from when someone actually lets me chatter on at them about metalworking," the redhead reflected, watching him reorganize relics with growing wonder. She had to forcibly pull her gaze away from the gold bar as he began putting it away.

Taking the cover off the dish, she pulled out two small bowls from her bag, as well as the paper bag of long, thin, crispy Kalosian bread. As she ladled stew into a bowl and pushed it toward the admin, Aurelie cocked her head to one side intently when the admin brought up Calyrex and its barrier.

"I remember its decree about the barrier," the red-haired smith replied hesitantly, "and about Dynamaxing in Sootopolis. And I remember reading a news article about a similar barrier like that showing up elsewhere in Hoenn. In Ever Grande City, I want to say...?"

Then, she trailed off and her jaw dropped when Howard laid a pair of objects on the desk that made her eye bulge with astonishment. "I...how...wait...what?" Aurelie spluttered. "Those were real? You have these?"

It's been five years at least since I last worked with one of these, a part of her mind whispered, as she reached out gingerly to touch the chunk of Dynite ore. The mental voice was faint and distant, the memory foggy.

But she remembered, still, smelting and hammering this ore into a usable metal and how it bent and twisted capriciously under her hammer as she forged it into a band.

Lifting her gaze to meet Howard's across the desk, she hastened to explain, "I have seen these before! But in a...a dream. A long time ago. I didn't know these were in Hoenn.

"But..." Aurelie caught her breath at the implications. "Calyrex was in that dream too. This Calyrex. And I suppose the Calyrex who existed in that dream—it would have reason to fear and abhor Dynamaxed creatures, which would explain why it set up this barrier here and now."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]A look of comprehension dawned on Aurelie's face as Howard explained what he meant by the phrase "we inheritors of Arcadia", followed by a look of awe and thoughtful speculation. This, however, was immediately followed with a cynical smirk, with a glint of what might have been sadness in her eye.

"Thank you for explaining about inheriting Arcadia and all that. I'd never heard of that phrase before," she replied gravely. "Now that I know, though, I just..."

She paused, uncertain of how to phrase the many doubts that flooded her mind at Howard's distant yet hopeful vision. What makes you think the war between Rocket and League will end in our lifetimes? Or ever? she wanted to ask.

Why do you think any future world would be any better than the one we have now? What makes you think we—or our descendants—will ever actually learn from history?

"I just wonder whether most of what you said will ever really happen," Aurelie finally said aloud. "Aside from the ash and suffering. But I don't have faith that people will ever be wise enough to stop fighting a war or learn from their mistakes."

It was a lovely dream, though. And it made her like Howard all the more, because he genuinely seemed to care about building a better tomorrow, and not just a tomorrow in which he reigned supreme or had infinite wealth or anything like that.

Realizing she was just standing there holding the finished spring, Aurelie shook her head rapidly as if to clear it of cobwebs and then nodded at the admin. "Right! Ahem. Anyway, yes, so my plan is to reassemble the Gigaton Ball piece by piece.

"That way," she explained, returning to the aforementioned Gigaton Ball and carefully sliding the spring into the correct position, "I can see how all the parts of this ball work together. I don't want to make everything ahead of time, only to realize it won't fit where I thought it would because I didn't understand some mechanism or action of a different part."

With a satisfied smile, Aurelie let the new spring settle into place with a soft click, holding two pins in the back so that they could be held apart or pushed together when the Pokemon inside was released or summoned back. "Et voila! One part finished. Now, let me see if I can make some new gears to replace the ones that look like they took some acid corrosion damage..."

Lifting her gaze to meet Howard's, she trailed off as she caught sight of the eyepatch that covered part of his face, much like the one over her own right eye. A long sigh escaped her in a surge of nameless emotion, at once warm yet melancholy and grim.

"As...as for my eyepatch," the red-haired smith found herself saying, to her own surprise. Her voice was quiet and toneless, as if she were reciting an Arcian catechism. "I was working in the forge and...my safety goggles fell off at the wrong moment. And there was some hot metal..." She swallowed, visibly.

"So, it was a lucky happenstance that my father taught me to smith with an eyepatch on when I was young." Now, Aurelie's voice was deadpan. One corner of her mouth lifted in a rueful half-smile, even as a tear glinted in the corner of her eye. "At least, now, I know how to maneuver around a bit with only half a field of vision, even around fire and sharp things."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Unsurprisingly, Zev's assurance that Rocket would be issuing Pokeballs as well as combat knives to its lower ranks proved less than reassuring to Aurelie. A shiver of foreboding traveled down her spine as she quickly grasped the ramifications. For whatever reason, Rocket was preparing for war again.

Why are we like this? she thought bitterly, staring at the paper in her hand unseeingly. Why are we the way that we are? We're not a crime syndicate, no matter what we claim, no matter what our propaganda says. Crime syndicates want money and power, not conquest. Not domination.

Not for the first time, she wished she had any idea how to change Rocket's direction. But now wasn't the time to gripe or grieve over her own ignorance and helplessness. Lifting her gaze to meet Zev's eyes, the red-haired smith didn't try to hide her unhappiness, but she kept her voice calm and steady.

"Okay, that makes sense," she sighed. "It's too bad that we don't have much advance warning of any conflicts that might come up. I don't suppose this time we'll get to vote on targets, like we did at the summit before the meteoroid strike, will we?" A grim chuckle escaped the redhead at the memory of that sham of a democratic vote.

She breathed a visible sigh of relief when Zev agreed to reduce the order, with an unexpected offhand compliment for the quality of her work. Surprised and flattered, Aurelie flushed with pleasure, despite her misgivings.

"Thank you for understanding," she said more cheerfully. Pursing her lips, Aurelie perused the list with renewed intensity. "I think...I should be able to make half of these without compromising my normal workload or raising any suspicions.

"And I can give you the names of a few bespoke blacksmiths and bladesmiths in Hoenn that you can go to," she added generously. "Some of them are League-aligned, I think, like Gwyar Wledig, so...on one hand, I suppose you'd be enriching a League member, but you'd also be using their resources to empower Rocket. Maybe that balances out, I don't know. It's up to you."

All's fair in love and war, after all, right? she thought, the bitter taste of discontentment flooding her mouth again.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie couldn't help chuckling in amusement at the underboss' knowing quip on the futility of getting a straight answer out of Calyrex. Then she listened, rather moved, as he pensively pondered their time in dream-Galar. Part of her marveled and wondered at the depth of emotion he showed. Surely, it couldn't be genuine—certainly not totally genuine. But she simply didn't know him well enough to be sure.

Zev Harcourt had been convincing too, after all, at faking warmth and sincerity. She probably would never have guessed his true nature if he hadn't chosen to drop his mask around her. Somehow, Aurelie didn't think that Cillian possessed that same level of cold, monstrous ruthlessness—but she wasn't sure.

And would it be worse if he did? Or would he be more appalling to face because of his very humanity, at once blackened by cruelty and violence, yet also brightened by love, loyalty, and compassion?

Aurelie could only pray to Arceus that she would never have to find out.

His hands, the hands of a killer and a loving husband alike, took the tongs from her as they both turned back to the sand mold where the aluminum was cooling. Suppressing the shiver that ran through her in the stifling heat of the workshop, the red-haired smith bent to remove a piece at random. It took her non-rider's brain a moment to recognize it as a stirrup.

Adopting a businesslike tone, she said, "All right, so I'll lay this piece here, and then we should look for the matching stirrup on the other side. Ah, yes, it's over there. Can you grab it, please, sir? Thank you."

The red-haired smith delicately removed a curving section, which she took even longer to identify as the saddle pommel. "Here, let's take everything out of the molds and lay them out on the mat here. Then, after that, we can start fitting pieces together like a jigsaw.

"Although I neglected to include a box lid showing the complete finished result," she chuckled wryly, shaking her head. "Let's see if I can remember all the parts of the saddle that I molded. There's the seat, the cantle, the base, the side flappy things—uh, I mean, the flaps—the girth strap..."

Metal clinked as they arranged the different, separate aluminum pieces onto the mat. A frown formed on Aurelie's face as she struggled to visualize how they should all fit together. She pulled and pushed the pommel, seat, and cantle parts together.

"So, what do you think, sir? The seat should be attached to the pommel, right? It goes...underneath, I think? Like this?" The smith looked up hopefully at Cillian.

Then, in her pocket, the alarm on her phone started beeping. "Oh! The metal for the shield should be done heating. I'll go pull it out and start hammering," Aurelie announced with obvious relief. "Would you mind continuing to work on assembling the saddle parts, please?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]While the Ultra Crater didn't hold the same innate appeal for Aurelie as the Mechanical Kingdom had, it certainly contained plenty intriguing mysteries and breathtaking wonders. The foremost of these were the craters, which were linked somehow with the moon and could be satisfied with strange offerings.

Unlike last time, when Jack had done all the work, Aurelie came prepared this time. From her backpack, she drew a stone bowl from a kitchen supply store, as well as a bathrobe printed with Typhlosions from her favorite thrift shop. For the jeweled branch, she offered an eyepatch adorned with leaves made of semiprecious gems.

Together, they toured the other craters to leave the offerings. With each stop, the moon grew larger and brighter overhead. At the last crater, it rose into dazzling prominence, a silver disc shimmering at the zenith of the sky, so huge that it looked close enough for them to reach out and touch.

Out of the corner of her eye, Aurelie caught sudden flashes of white. Turning, she gasped when she saw a group of Kartanas reacting to the sight of the great, luminous moon by leaping away through the fields and into the jungle beyond. She tugged at Jack's arm and pointed.

"Look at that!" the redhead whispered. "Where do you think they're going in such a rush? Maybe we should follow them and find out..."

Planting her feet cautiously to avoid stepping on a twig or rustling the grass, she hustled after the fleeing Pokemon. The jungle was dense and dimly lit, yet the trail left by the group of Kartanas was clear and easy to follow. Aurelie and Jack stayed at a distance, careful to avoid alerting them of their presence.

It didn't take long until they reached what looked like a spectacular emerald-green pagoda rising in the heart of the jungle, seemingly fashioned all from towering bamboo stalks. Dozens of Kartanas guarded the multi-story tower with gradually tiered, gracefully sloping eaves. Even in the celadon-tinted light filtering through the leaves and vines overhead, their blades gleamed bright and sharp.

As the party they were tracking through the jungle approached the pagoda, there seemed to be a guard change. For a few minutes, it seemed like no one was patrolling outside. "Do you think we should explore inside?" Aurelie whispered, catching Jack's eye.

Then suddenly, a single Kartana emerged from the entrance and stared directly at the two of them. Its sword rang free of its sheath as it hissed a fierce challenge at them and charged swiftly forward.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]It was the smallest of mercies that Aurelie and her cellmate weren't among the first to be served the trays of mochi. If they had, the red-haired smith would have angrily flung it back with a defiant snarl, such was her instinctive visceral indignation at being fed the corrupting, noxious treat.

And it wouldn't have ended well for her. They all had to watch as someone else did lose their temper and was hypnotically, agonizingly, lethally punished as an example to them all. The redhead swallowed hard, horrified by the FEZANDIPITI's power to inflict willful self-destruction on the rebellious.

When served the mochi, Aurelie didn't resist. At least, eating it still offered a small chance of survival. Resisting...offered no chance at all.

Her cellmate clearly reached the same conclusion. After guessing astutely that the Megalopolans might have built another spaceship, she silently accepted and ate the mochi. Aurelie did the same and found it surprisingly delicious, enough to tempt her into impulsively snatching a second piece. She hid it under the sheet on the cot as her cellmate urged patience and finding allies.

As their chains transformed, they were told to work. The prisoners congregated in the middle and bent over the dull, bloody crystals dumped out before them. A lump rose in Aurelie's throat as she imagined the indignation of her mother and brother—both brilliant jewelers—at the idea of using hands, clothing, and spit to polish them, instead of motorized lapidary wheels with emery, corundum, and diamond dust.

In a lull, her cellmate whispered to Aurelie again, nodding at the crystals in their hands and asking what they could make out of them.

"Fashion…them…into anything?" Aurelie echoed, stunned by the subtle, clever audacity of the idea. Why didn't I think of that? I'm supposed to be the craftsman here! she thought, almost annoyed at herself.

She studied the crystal shards in a new light. As the guards changed again, she whispered back, "These pieces are very small. I could see making a reasonable blade or even a hammer out of some of the larger bits, if only we had something to stick them together...

"Oh! Maybe the mochi dough?" She nearly jumped up to run back to her cell for the hidden piece of mochi but managed to restrain herself in time. "Or maybe threads from our clothing to tie pieces together?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie drew a sharp, startled beath when Zev suddenly released his disguise and it melted away like ice cream on a hot summer afternoon to reveal his true, familiar features. At least, she did learn how he'd managed it when his Obstagoon's disguise also dissolved, showing its true form as a Zoroark.

But she still didn't know why he wanted to look like someone other than himself. Was he a wanted man now? Had the League become aware of his crimes or his identity as either—or both—a Rocket Beast and Necrozma's avatar?

Or...is he just doing this for fun? Does he do things for fun that don't involve stabbing or gutting someone like a fish? she wondered. Could it be that he likes surprising people with his disguise and seeing their reactions? Is he developing—Arceus help us all—a sense of humor?

The half-serious thought distracted Aurelie so much that she jerked a little in surprise at the sound of his voice when he spoke. She sucked in her breath again, nervously this time, at his mention of upcoming operations. Especially when it involved arming a lot of grunts with combat knives.

The smile that had begun forming at the corners of her lips quickly faded. Numbly, Aurelie accepted the piece of paper he handed her and looked at the list. She let out the breath she'd been holding in a long, incredulous whistle.

"Zev, I run a specialty shop here, not a factory," the redhead exclaimed without thinking. "I can make this many, but it would take me a solid month of work. And that's with me ignoring this shop and my other commissions!"

Finally, her curiosity got the best of her. "Besides, what's this all for? What kind of operations requires so many people to have a weapon? Is Rocket planning to send all its grunts into battle or something? And in that case, wouldn't it make more sense to give them all Pokeballs with offensive Pokemon?"

Unless this is all a prank because Zev's suddenly sprouted a sense of humor, and he's actually just planning a fun Rocket-wide camping trip or something like that...

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Approaching the towering Dyna Tree, Aurelie couldn't help pausing to shake her head in wonder, both at the sight of it and at the unexpected changes in her life since the tree first sprouted up in Sootopolis. Its wide, spreading branches formed a canopy of rose-pink and pearl-white leaves, behind which peeped jewel-like fruits that filled the air with an enticingly sweet fragrance.

Who would've thought that telling four stories beside that tree would mean I'd basically be living and working in Sootopolis for a month? Or that I'd be throwing my whole body and soul into a shield and saddle commissioned by an oversized talking rabbit Pokemon? she marveled, smiling wryly.

And who would've thought this tree would've attracted that out into the open, where it could be tracked and captured? The redhead caught her breath, watching the black-and-red Galarian Moltres perched on a branch, greedily devouring one of the Dyna fruits. I heard it had bonded with Admin Bee, but...to see it like this...

It took Aurelie a while to remember what she was doing here and lower her gaze to the base of the tree, where the aforethought admin waited comfortably on the bench. When he gestured for her to join him, she smiled and plopped down beside him, running a hand through her hair.

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" she agreed lightly, turning to face the black-haired admin. "I've been doing well, thank you. Calyrex's commission has been keeping me busy, for sure!

"And I can imagine you must have been busy as well, sir." She nodded toward the Legendary bird still perched in the tree, piercing another fruit with its sharp beak. "How are you and your new partner getting along? Are you enjoying the avatarship experience so far?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

[attr="class","omgen"]