It was hardly adequate, for with each answer that Elisabeth Fiorelli gave, several more questions sprouted into existence, like buds on an early spring tree. Nomi tempered her burning curiosity, however, acutely aware of her test subject's irritable nature. Instead of kick open every door, she began to crack them open, one-by-one, meticulously gentle. All she needed to do was peer inside, after all, and get an initial lay of the land. From there, she could decide where to enter - where to make herself at home.[break][break]
"So different," she noted. "Do they...conflict?" Nomi paused, choosing her words wisely. "Do they fight over you?"[break][break]
She approached Elisabeth, needle in hand.[break][break]
"Unless I am mistaken, it does not seem to me as if their choosing of you was a coordinated effort. Therefore, I can only conclude that they bonded you for different purposes entirely."[break][break]
She reached out, hand hovering above Elisabeth's arm.[break][break]
"Apologies," she murmured, as if the prospect of drawing blood was some ordeal to be endured, and not a routine procedure. Something about being in Elisabeth's presence made Nomi feel as if she were one small mishap away from some tantrum, an unleashing of power that would pierce her like thorns.

TAGS – Elisabeth Fiorelli[break]
NOTES – Social | Outfit

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BARNABY FINCH | howard slayte[break]
NOTES – RESEARCH[break]

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Andrea Vaneau[break]
NOTES – Mission[break][break]

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Nomi had been ready for the attack - after all, she had dealt with the undead Megalopolians twice before. Yuina was correct: light drew them.[break][break]
All the same, she was surprised when Yuina and her Samurott were the first to take on the zombies. They were so quick, in fact, that Nomi barely had time to direct her own Pokemon to also protect them.[break][break]
Bodies clattered to the ground, and soon enough, it was eerily silent within the tower once more. The ELECTRIC TERRAIN died down, and the massive mechanical doors groaned shut behind them. Nomi stared at Yuina with a measure of shocked awe.[break][break]
"There's more to you than meets the eye," she observed, somewhat cryptically. Then she smiled, crouched down, and began to efficiently pull the clothing and helmets off the inert aliens as if she were doing something as mundane as washing dishes. She was a scientist, dead bodies did not bother her.[break][break]
"Hm, these will be a little big, but they'll suffice. A good enough disguise."[break][break]
Uniformed and helmeted, Nomi took in their surroundings. They were in what had once been a grand reception hall, she guessed. A welcome desk, half-smashed to pieces, lay abandoned to their right. Rotting armchairs and shattered ceramics - what had the potted plants of this world been like? Or had they been crystals? - to their left. A winding staircase just ahead. The entire place was dark and foreboding, like something out of a horror film. Nomi steeled her nerves, returned Ephedra to its Pokeball, then walked forward.[break][break]
She paused. Kallistatus drifted next to her, and as she glanced at it, she had a sudden thought.[break][break]
"Light will draw the monsters. Instead of use it to see, I'm going to need more eyes."[break][break]
An Unown-! and Unown-? popped into existence. Nomi smiled fondly at them.[break][break]
"That will do," she nodded. "Allright, let's head upstairs and see what we can find."

TAGS – Yuina Higashi[break]
NOTES – Lesser Megalopolis #3[break]

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The Johto champion and his pupil were making their way across the Ice Path. The pupil was eager to arrive at their destination, for the champion had promised her a rigorous training exercise amidst the frost and snow. As they rounded a corner, the champion's eyes fell upon something in the distance - a dark shape huddling for warmth.[break][break]
"Come, we must help whoever that is," the champion beckoned. The pupil's impatience warred with her own concern for the person, but she followed after her master, ever dutiful.[break][break]
When they approached, they found that it was a young man - perhaps no older than the pupil herself. He wore damp black clothing, a red R etched onto his chest. The pupil immediately bristled, recognizing their region's symbol for Team Rocket, the terrorist organization.[break][break]
"Please," the young man begged, tears welling in his eyes. "I was foolish. I ventured too close to a frozen lake, and the ice cracked. I fell in and now..."[break][break]
He indicated his leg, which was twisted and swollen at the knee, the angle all wrong. He was shivering violently; it was clear he was going into shock. The cold water had chilled him, and he needed immediate medical attention.[break][break]
"Let's go," the pupil begged of her master. "He's Rocket! He was probably poaching or something. We're not supposed to help people like that. We can call for his arrest and be on our way."[break][break]
But the champion regarded the young man with compassion, and after a few heartbeats, held out his hand to him. The Rocket took it eagerly, and gingerly, the champion pulled him up. The young man leaned against the champion, his face a mask of pain.[break][break]
"I will take him to Blackthorn, and then we can return here to train. It won't take long, my Alakazam can teleport us."[break][break]
The pupil huffed, but nodded her head. Who was she to argue with her master?[break][break]
[break][break]
Sometime later, the champion and his pupil were sitting together in a cozy Blackthorn tavern, sweat-soaked and exhausted after a long day of training. The champion seemed completely at ease, relaxed and enjoying the stew he had ordered. But his pupil still looked troubled, and eventually, she blurted out - "Why did you carry that Rocket to safety?! We vowed to protect this region!"[break][break]
The champion's eyes twinkled, and he put down his spoon to regard his pupil.[break][break]
"I left that man, who will surely be arrested, in a hospital. Why are you still carrying him?"[break][break]

TALES BENEATH THE DYNA TREE[break]
NOTES – Theme: Truth and Ideals

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Nomi gazed up at the massive, seemingly endless tower - an obsidian claw against a backdrop of many smaller prismatic skyscrapers. It loomed over the ruined city like a nightmarish sentinel, judgmental and severe. An eroding street littered with defunct Z-crystals wound away from it, the road by which Nomi and her companion had travelled to reach their destination.[break][break]
A sense of foreboding settled into Nomi's heart, but she willed herself to ignore it. Beside her, Kallistatus's presence was something of a comfort - which helped.[break][break]
"Here we are," Nomi announced. She smiled pleasantly at Yuina Higashi, the young woman from Slateport University she had recruited to come with her into the rift. "Lesser Megalo Tower."[break][break]
Nomi tested the doors. Locked. Or rather - broken. Barriers were of no consequence to someone with teleportation powers, but Nomi was not yet ready to reveal that part of herself to Yuina. All in good time. But for now, they would need to go inside the old fashioned way: by walking through the entrance.[break][break]
Nomi took out a Pokeball, contemplated it for half a second, then released the Paradox she'd acquired recently from the Silent Icelands. Ephedra, she'd named it. Her colleagues were referring to the species as Iron Leaves, but she'd always preferred to give her Pokemon unique names - even the ones that were more machine than organic creature.[break][break]
"We need to power these doors," she told it. A metallic keening sounded as the Paradox began to charge, power generating from within its core. The ELECTRIC TERRAIN crackled to life around the base of the tower.[break][break]
"Electricity alone won't be enough," Nomi remembered, turning to Yuina. "When I was last here, it became apparent that light is necessary for restoring - and powering - much of this city."[break][break]
After a moment, Ephedra dipped its head. A bladed arc of light burst forth, the PSYBLADE colliding with the door. Electricity hummed, and with a groan, the gears began to turn.[break][break]
They could enter.

TAGS – Yuina Higashi[break]
NOTES – Lesser Megalopolis #3[break]

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Oh, that wasn't. That wasn't what she'd expected.[break][break]
"I - "[break][break]
She bit her lip, looked at the gym floor. She stared at the grease stains and scuff marks, evidence of the hours and hours spent battling demons.[break][break]
Why did it hurt so much to be told she was the best godsdamned thing? Clearly she was not at all the best godsdamned thing. She could hear the agony in Parker's voice.[break][break]
She had brought up fairness, but this wasn't fair, either.[break][break]
"None of us will be safe if the world ends, Parker."[break][break]
Her voice was small, her vision tunneling. How could she possibly explain this to Parker? She'd tried and failed a dozen times already, why would this time be any different? Every passing second, the weight she carried grew heavier. What was the point of being able to see a threat to the very fabric of existence, if you did not have the time or words to convince anyone of it?[break][break]
Especially the one person who mattered more than all the rest.[break][break]

TAGS – parker jones[break]
NOTES – Mission | Outfit vibes

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[break]
Nenet's reaction was not unprecedented. Nomi had brought several people - Rocket and League alike - to the Unown Dimension, and not all had taken it well. And she could not really blame them for it - after all, it was incredibly jarring to be yanked from a comfortable, familiar reality to a brand new, rather alien one without much real warning.[break][break]
What are you?[break][break]
It was a question rarely asked, and yet, it was the crux of Hoenn's anomalous nature. Avatars were a major reason the DRK Triad was intent on ushering in the apocalypse meant for their home universe, and they were also a major reason Hoenn was able to survive as long as it had. Avatars were protectors, but also destroyers. They were blessed with power, but it was a double-edged sword. To stand apart from the rest of humanity, to be poisoned by energies incompatible with the human body under any other circumstance...it was a difficult thing to live with, let alone explain. On top of all that, there was the unique burden the Unown had placed upon her.[break][break]
"I am something of a prophet," Nomi found herself saying, though it was far from a boast. If anything, it was an admission twinged with grief, and the heavy acceptance of a specific destiny. "The Unown chose me as their Avatar." She paused, meeting the other woman's gaze. "And - as you have likely already figured out - I am a member of Team Rocket. Just like Zev."[break][break]

TAGS – Neffatari Nzingha[break]
NOTES – Mission

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Already, Illeana was proving to be of a like-mindedness with Nomi: her fondness for the Unown combined with her obvious scientific expertise.[break][break]
"I believe Tera energy is the...essence of possibility. The dream mist functions similarly. Both have the capacity to manifest new realities shaped by our thoughts, desires, hopes, and fears. It makes me wonder - what might we be able to learn about human nature - and about Pokemon - if we combined the two more intentionally? Could we maybe create...a portal? The paradoxes seem to come from somewhere. But where?"[break][break]
Would they eventually be able to see into the past? Into the future? What was the Interdream Zone, anyway?[break][break]
"Dimensional studies? Now that's an interesting topic!" Nomi's crimson eyes lit up with an obvious eagerness. She glanced at the Unown-A floating next to her. "I would very much like to visit the Unown Dimension."[break][break]
Stabilize Hoenn's universe...[break][break]
That wording caught Nomi's attention. Did Illeana understand the concept of the Origin Point? Perhaps they were even more aligned than Nomi had originally thought.[break][break]
"I will stop by," she resolved. It didn't matter that this woman was loyal to the League, and Nomi to Rocket. Some things outweighed faction squabbles, and saving the world was by far the most important of them.[break][break]
They were nearing the cave entrance, so Nomi set down the equipment she'd been carrying. In the distance, she noticed Petunia, diving for some fish Pokemon in the water. Could any of the Paradoxes swim?[break][break]
"I look forward to working with you in the near future, Illeana."

MADE BY GUNSMILE

"What is that?"[break][break]
A shimmering gold symbol appeared in the air before the Smeargle as it whipped its paint-brush tail in a sweeping arc. Pink energy had begun to coalesce - the telltale sign of a SPATIAL REND - but then abruptly dissipated, replaced by the symbol. Kallistatus buzzed next to her, gyrating with excitement. She glanced at it, crimson eyes widening with realization.[break][break]
The shiny Unown-K had seen this symbol before.[break][break]
"DRK Triad?" She hissed, tensing.[break][break]
But as she turned her attention back to the symbol, she felt a sudden weight on her subconscious, as if a great eye were peering into her soul. It reminded her of the Presence she often felt within the Unown Dimension. Her skin prickled, and for a split-second, it was as if everything around her was melting - the great chasm and its many Tera crystals transforming into a Salvador Dalí landscape of surreal anomalies. Nomi blinked, eyes watering, and everything returned to normal. Had she hallucinated the sudden changes? Or - [break][break]
"I need one of those Smeargle," she decided, pulling out a Pokeball. Something strange was going on here, and it reeked of DRK Triad. Of the supernatural.[break][break]
Of Arceus.[break][break]

SMEARGLE SWARM[break]
NOTES[break]
"Knowledge forbidden?[break]
Suspicious, reasonless...[break]
Why should their Lord envy them that?[break]
Can it be a sin to know?[break]
Can it be death?"[break]
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

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