She'd never had much. Before the house, before Rocket, she'd never had much.[break][break]
She'd had a grandmother, who'd loved her, who'd rocked her to sleep smelling of tobacco and wet tea-leaves, but who'd died just like the rest. A shrine to visit, where she'd rung bells and asked questions that nobody ever answered. An Eevee she'd pulled from a bramble brush, spent hours plucking the thorns from the fluff of his mane one painstaking barb at a time. Valerian had been her only real friend.[break][break]
There is some wisdom she's heard before - nobody can be somebody's everything - that surfaces as Parker speaks. And maybe, just maybe, if the world had been a little less cruel to her, a little less unforgiving, she would actually believe it.[break][break]
"I'm sorry," she says, because it will never be the same again. There will be passion, but there will also be blood, from now on. "For all of it."[break][break]
They both know it's Nomi who keeps them chained to Rocket, not Parker. Never Parker.[break][break]
"But I found something we can salvage," she croaks, scrambling over mud and marbles to get to her all-that's-left. She leans in to press chapped lips to Parker's cheek.[break][break]

TAGS – parker jones[break]
NOTES[break]
- Takes place immediately following the battle of Sootopolis

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Akin to the constant pixelation of the RKS Machine in the midst of a changing scenario, the Mewtwo's conjured replication distorts, becoming familiar and unfamiliar shapes. It is as if some unseen force is attempting to pry it apart, but cannot succeed due to the inherent elasticity of its form.[break][break]
And then, to her shock, it speaks.[break][break]
A voice inside her mind: a psychic connection that sounds all too eerily human in its attempt to communicate.[break][break]
"You seek all Pokemon?" Nomi repeats, still too stunned to make sense of the statement. But then she follows the Mewtwo's outstretched paw, the invisible thread between it and Kallistatus...and a sudden intuition rises out of the depths of her skewed understanding of the situation: a scientific breakthrough.[break][break]
"You've never met an Unown before, have you."[break][break]
It's not a question; more of an observation. The group of Unown swirl around her, then drift towards the Mewtwo. An Unown-A alights by its right shoulder, an Unown-C by its left, an Unown-B directly in front of its face. Kallistatus lingers by Nomi, though no less willing to satisfy the Mewtwo's curiosity.

TAGS – SPIRAL[break]
NOTES – Mission[break]

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Do it.[break][break]
Lulu's consent - her trust - is all Nomi needs.[break][break]
Summoning a shimmering veil of blue energy, Nomi teleports instantly to the Tera Crystal, wasting no time in wrapping her small hands around it. Oddly, it feels warm to the touch, as if lit from within by a crackling flame. She can feel the way it resonates with the ship, and the way it calls out to the Paradox Pokemon, beckoning them. Tempting them. They are connected somehow, she knows. Tera Energy is the power of potential, of possibility, of dreams made manifest.[break][break]
"Please work," she whispers.[break][break]
Unown begin to pop into existence, joining Kallistatus. They circle around Nomi as an alphabetical cyclone. With a sudden burst of interdimensional transference, a portal rips its way free of the universe's constraints, and swallows Nomi, the Unown, and the Tera Crystal into its star-studded abyss.[break][break]
[break]
Silence.[break][break]
The Visionary stands within the Unown Dimension, the domain of her divine kin. In her shaking hands, she holds a massive Tera Crystal, still thrumming with internal heat. The Unown dance and pulse before her, swirling about, conjuring imagery out of galaxies.[break][break]
She sees the ship, her companions, and their Pokemon. Far away though she is, she watches them fight the paradoxes. And she knows, in her heart, that the Tera Crystal can still power the ship from here. She is reminded, for the thousandth time, that the normal rules of reality do not apply to the Unown Dimension, or to Tera Energy.[break][break]
"It's up to you now," she says to them, despite knowing they can't hear her. "I'll hold this here as long as I can."[break][break]

TAGS – Lulu Flint[break]
NOTES[break]
- Nomi takes the Tera Crystal to the Unown Dimension to keep it safe from the paradox Pokemon while the others fight!

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howard slayte had regained control of Regice, but its destructive impact on Granite Cave remained.[break][break]
"Research station," Nomi repeated, stepping carefully over a jagged piece of rogue ice. "We need to gather samples of the various anomalies here." Tera Crystals, shards of divine frost, and other irregularities - such as relics from different dimensions. Nomi was quite keen on finding some of those, whatever they might be.[break][break]
Though Kallistatus hovered beside her, ever dutiful, Nomi reached for a Pokeball in her supply pack. Aurelie's Tinkaton would need help carving out a suitable space for their work; it would go faster if they all chipped in. Her Unown were powerful creatures, especially as a collective, but they weren't exactly the ideal candidates for terraforming.[break][break]
Hellebore appeared with a grunt. Nomi pointed at the Tinkaton.[break][break]
"Can you help us out, please?"[break][break]
The Heatran snorted, then immediately launched himself at the nearest boulder with an IRON HEAD.

TAGS – Aurelie Lefevre Rhys Collins[break]
NOTES[break]
- Heatran uses IRON HEAD (Steel, 80 power)

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She should be awake now, right?[break][break]
The void stretches out before her, an endless expanse of inky black. The entire landscape exudes a sense of nothingness. Panic seizes Nomi's heart, a cold dread coursing through her entire body at the sudden realization: is she stuck in the dreamscape? What about Lulu Flint and the others - [break][break]
howard slayte's voice breaks through the deafening silence. And then she sees him, manifesting out of the purple mist - as lost as she is.[break][break]
"Hold things?" She blinks at him, confused. "Physical items, you mean?" She'd never considered such a thing before, but immediately recognizes the potential benefits. "I suppose, I could store something in there for...well, forever. It's people who can't stay there indefinitely."[break][break]
She cocks her head at him, curiosity overtaking any lingering fear concerning their trapped state.[break][break]
"Why do you ask?"[break][break]
But she does not hear his answer, if he gives one. Instead, she hears the voice of Makoto Kurumi, resonating with urgency. Are those...sirens in the distance?[break][break]
We need to wake up. Now.[break][break]
Nomi's eyes snap open.[break][break]
She, howard slayte, and Makoto Kurumi are back in the Rocket spacecraft, freed from their dream prison. Kallistatus hovers beside Nomi, humming to the rhythm of gratitude. Nomi can sense through their bond that Makoto's Deoxys had aided them. Nomi glances at the alien Pokemon, dipping her head to it in thanks.[break][break]
The journey isn't over, however. The familiar energy of teleportation transports them all to the cargo bay. There, Nomi immediately recognizes the dangerous forms of Paradox Pokemon accosting a large, shining Tera Crystal. They will destroy us all, she realizes, instantly intuiting the relationship between the Tera Crystal and the ship's integrity.[break][break]
How long can you hold things in the Unown Dimension?[break][break]
A sudden idea. Nomi whirls around, searching for Lulu Flint.[break][break]
"Lulu! I think I can protect the Tera Crystal, long enough for everyone else to defeat the Paradox Pokemon." She locks eyes with the other scientist. "But you have to trust me." Her expression hardens with resolve. "And the Unown."[break][break]

TAGS – Lulu Flint howard slayte Makoto Kurumi[break]
NOTES[break]
- Nomi gets stuck in the dreamscape, but finds howard slayte and Makoto Kurumi[break]
- Howard asks Nomi about storing objects in the Unown Dimension, but before she can respond, Makoto's Deoxys forces them to awaken, then teleports them to the Cargo Bay where the others are fighting the Paradox Pokemon trying to destroy the ship's Tera Crystal[break]
- Nomi recognizes that the Paradoxes are moving too fast, and with too much power - they won't be able to prevent them from fracturing the Tera Crystal in time[break]
- Remembers Howard's question, and gets a sudden idea. Wasting no time, she calls out to Lulu Flint for permission to act

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It's a logical question, and an angle Nomi had already considered.[break][break]
"Hunted, yes, but I think it's because she has some connection to them," Nomi explained, careful not to outright condemn Yuina nor reveal her fondness for the woman. "One that she does not necessarily remember or understand."[break][break]
The manipulation of time was certainly involved in whatever that connection happened to be. Time and memory, Nomi supposed. The two were interconnected; dreams and recollections of the future and the past had produced the Paradox Pokemon, after all.[break][break]
She regarded Elisabeth with a measured gaze.[break][break]
"I suppose the best possible next step would be to...keep tabs on all potential Avatar candidates." She paused, considering the extent to which she should continue to invest in her former ideals. "League and Rocket. Try and catch the Triad in the act of attempting to prevent an ascension."

TAGS – Elisabeth Fiorelli[break]
NOTES – Social[break][break]
"And she stood there, grinning forever, and the dust that had gathered and lay in heaps on her shoulders was muddy with tears..." -Hesiod

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[attr="class","itemcolname"]legendary event

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[attr="class","itemcoltexttit"]HERO DUO 1

[attr="class","itemcoltext"]You find yourself in midst an ancient battlefield in Galar. Ahead, an Eternatus glides around the heavens, conjuring black storms and absorbing red particles from the war-torn region. Around you, Dynamaxed Pokemon wreak havoc on nearby hamlets. [break][break]

Before you, two metallic weapons are set in stone: a sword and shield.[break][break]

Which do you pick?[break][break]

It's difficult to know what's real anymore, but one thing she does know, is that she doesn't care.[break][break]
Simulation, dream, or truth: the universe has gifted her a second chance to make things right with someone she loves, and she does not intend to waste it.[break][break]
"I'm sorry," she sobs into his chest. "I'm so sorry, Professor Graves. I never wanted to abandon the PhD program. I never wanted to quit on our work together. I should have told you about my situation with Rocket. I should have told you about the Unown."[break][break]
She rambles more apologetic nonsense until the tears begin to slow and she sucks in a shaky breath. Kallistatus drifts over to the professor, hovering right in front of him, its singular eye curious.[break][break]
The landscape begins to fracture and it is as if the machine has peered into the depths of Nomi's soul, and extracted the one location relevant to both her and GIDEON GRAVES outside of their shared academic history. A familiar Galarian battlefield manifests, and Nomi cannot explain why, but the sight of it squeezes her heart with a bittersweet nostalgia - for something that had once been good.

TAGS – GIDEON GRAVES[break]
NOTES – RKS

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She recognizes the kindness beneath Freya's threat. It is the best she can offer Nomi, given the circumstances, but it is woefully predictable. It is stubborn to a fault.[break][break]
"You are the head of the League's Amnesty program," Nomi murmurs. "You are not incapable of mercy."[break][break]
She gives no warning; it's payback, perhaps, for the flash-bang theatrics. The alternate reality of endless starscapes collapses in on itself, funneling the two women back to Hoenn in a shimmering burst of blue crystalline energy. They land exactly where Nomi had initially found Freya; as expected, Aoki Hana is absent.[break][break]
The rain has also stopped. The myriad of Unown that had shadowed Nomi are no longer visible - left behind in their pocket world. Only one remains: a shiny blue K, hovering by Nomi's shoulder.[break][break]
"Please let King know, we wish him the best on his new path." He'll know who the other part of the "we" is, even if Freya doesn't. "He's League now, so we won't come by his bar anymore. Assuming it stays open."[break][break]
She pauses, another portal beginning to form behind her out of thin air, its edges lined with ethereal quartz.[break][break]
"You can tell your loved ones, that the Visionary will never mean them any harm."[break][break]
And then she is gone.

TAGS – freya morningstar[break]
NOTES[break]
- Takes Freya back to Hoenn

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"I ask because I think I saw - "[break][break]
Nomi trails off, catching sight of Lulu Flint staring directly at her. It sends a slight chill through her; it is as if the other Head Scientist had known exactly what she was talking about with Ameena. Is she upset I didn't come to her instead? A silly thought, perhaps, given that Lulu had invited all of these people aboard her spacecraft. Any one of them might prove useful in the hunt for knowledge. She didn't need to feel guilty about choosing Ameena over Lulu for a conversation about dream mist...right?[break][break]
Her thoughts are troubled as the night continues; she abstains from further card games, resolving to talk to Lulu at the earliest convenience. Lulu makes herself scarce, however, so Nomi reluctantly finds her bed. There's always tomorrow.[break][break]
[break][break]
She wakes. And...finds herself in a long, narrow, dimly lit hallway lined with doors.[break][break]
"Kallistatus?" She immediately looks for the shiny blue Unown-K. It appears by her shoulder, and she breathes a sigh of relief.[break][break]
"Where are we?" She wonders aloud. She has no memory of ever seeing a place like this before, especially not on the ship. She takes one, careful step forward. Then another. The doors have no labels, and the hallway seems endless. Perhaps she is meant to open one?[break][break]
Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she stops in front of a door painted strawberry-red. She touches her hand to the doorknob and finds it unlocked. Hesitantly, she pushes it open.[break][break]
She is greeted by the visage of a quaint cottage with a warm, inner glow. Laughter can be heard from within. Freshly fallen snow covers the yard, but Nomi knows instinctively, that there is an herb garden beneath. A garden she tends to, when she has the time. When she's not forging weaponry and armor out of shining black crystals, dark as the void. When she's not tangled up in bed with parker jones, her wife - [break][break]
Nomi slams the door.[break][break]
Heart racing, she quickly opens the next door. It is a hazy purple.[break][break]
"...either way, it’d be best if we all woke up."[break][break]
Lulu Flint's voice? Nomi blinks, confused by the odd scene before her. Lulu, howard slayte, ameena abadi, Makoto Kurumi and...a Meltan?[break][break]
A book goes flying across the room, hitting Howard square in the jaw. As it happens, the world around Nomi begins to dissolve. Right before waking, she finds herself murmuring, to nobody in particular (or perhaps anyone who can hear):[break][break]
"I knew it! Dream mist can show up in space."[break][break]

TAGS – Open to interactions![break]
NOTES[break]
- Nomi abruptly ends her conversation with Ameena when she realizes Lulu is looking at her. Feels guilty about not spending more time with Lulu, despite their current issues...[break]
- Goes to sleep and wakes up in a mysterious hallway filled with doors[break]
- Opens a door and gets a glimpse of the life she lived in Goodbye Galar, during which she married parker jones. Slams the door as the emotions become too overwhelming to bear.[break]
- Opens another door and finds several of her other spaceship companions (and a Meltan?) arguing about something. She arrives just in time to see Lulu Flint throw a book at howard slayte, and then the dream dissipates. Nomi is now SURE there is dream mist around them!

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"They are. Some of them."[break][break]
The memory of Nisa Holo's cruel laughter, the mockery by which she'd aimed her relentless assault on Nomi and Isaac Merlo in the RKS Machine, is a poignant reminder. Nomi's expression troubles. She'd allowed that particular vendetta to take up too much space; she needs to make room for nuance. It could be the difference between life and death; all scientists understand the implications of being even one decimal-point off.[break][break]
"But Father Winter, he's different. He seems to have his own agenda, outside of the Triad's usual modus operandi. He gave us a warning - one he didn't have to give. There's a fourth party, another entity, vying for control of Hoenn's fate."[break][break]
There is more to it than that - mint frost's existence, a fatal attraction - but there are some secrets Nomi will not tell, not even to achieve her own ends.[break][break]
"I also have reason to believe, that the Origin Point the DRK Triad are so keen on containing...it may not be a physical place, after all. It may be an event. A point in time, rather than space."[break][break]
Can Freya draw the same conclusions; see past her stubborn framework and understand the greater danger? Nomi is not asking her to set aside her loyalties. If anything, she is insisting that Freya remember who she ought to be most loyal to: not a fellow Councilwoman, but the people they have vowed to govern. The innocent citizens of Hoenn.[break][break]
"There are layers to all of this, Freya. Layers and layers, and I cannot peel them back alone. Incurring Walsh's wrath by outright defying him is a foolish venture I will not entertain."[break][break]
She pauses, sensing the attention of a distant awareness that has nothing to do with the Unown who call this realm their home. She and Freya cannot stay here much longer.[break][break]
"But I want to save our world, and there are subtle ways I can work against anyone who would oppose that goal."

TAGS – freya morningstar[break]
NOTES[break]
- Talking to Freya in the Unown Dimension

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Not long after the meeting, she appears before him, in all her crystalline glory. No time is wasted with explanation; she simply grabs his arm and yanks him unceremoniously into the Unown Dimension: the only place in any realm where she can speak freely, with the lowest risk of declan walsh's interference.[break][break]
"Father Winter," she begins, with little pretense. "I think I may have been wrong about him. About his intentions."[break][break]
An infinite expanse of swirling galaxies greets them, and the Unown collective dances around Nomi and mint frost while humming to the rhythm of excitement. Each letter bobs up and down, pulses with a pale white light, spelling out nonsense words as they float randomly in all directions. There is an order to the chaos; a beauty in the madness. Nomi, of course, finds it all quite comforting.[break][break]
"We need to find him. And Mint - I think," she pauses. "I think he wants to be found." She eyes the Mercurial curiously. Her voice lowers, takes on a softer candor - the sort of tone one uses when they find something undeniably endearing. "He called you his songbird."

TAGS – mint frost[break]
NOTES[break]
- Talking to Mint in the Unown Dimension, directly following the events of Disseminate III

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