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

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[attr="class","itemcoltexttit"]1000 HANDS 1-B

[attr="class","itemcoltext"]One of you allows yourself to be taken— or perhaps, you were simply unlucky. The hand grasps you tight and does not let go as it retreats from the spaceship. There is no telling where you'll be taken, but it is clear that you will face certain judgement.[break][break]

The spaceship is still functional. Before the next shift, you may attempt to pursue the hand or flee to safer spaces.

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Nomi remembered this space craft: she'd been to this stage before. She rushed over to the control panel, intent on finding out whether they were, once again, traveling towards the "Ascended Hall of Origin."[break][break]
They were! Nomi's heartrate sped up, excitement filling her. Perhaps this time, she'd make it to Arceus...[break][break]
Mint let out a distressed cry, and Nomi's crimson eyes quickly snapped up, finding him. The giant hand was back, and it was smashing through the ship and reaching right for Mint.[break][break]
"Mint, watch out!" Nomi yelled, forgetting it would be impossible for him to get hurt in the simulation. It was too late, however, he had been taken.[break][break]

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Zekrom was defeated, and Nomi - like Cillian - also thought of Remiel Calcifet, the traitor who she'd fought in the Ultra Deep Sea and failed to capture. Was this some sort of omen as to his eventual fate?[break][break]
The DARK STONE was an unfamiliar, yet beautiful, object. Nomi reached out to try and take it from Cillian for observation, but just as she attempted to do so, the simulation around them began to fade away, the scene before them dissolving.[break][break]
"I wonder if such a stone exists somewhere in Hoenn," she voiced aloud, ever curious to make yet another new discovery.

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Nomi blinked, feeling momentarily dizzy as her surroundings came back into view. Admin Bee was looking at her curiously, brow furrowed.[break][break]
"I'm not entirely sure either," she admitted. "I saw something I don't understand." Yet, her tone implied.[break][break]
For half a second, she thought perhaps the man in her vision had been him - the Admin standing before her - but thinking back, the figure with the fiery wings had been too nondescript to know for certain. It was just a feeling, anyway. Probably because he had been with her this whole time.[break][break]
At least she hadn't fainted this time.

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And just like that, they were alone.[break][break]
Well, not alone. Holo's Unown-K remained, tangled up in Ogrelord's hairy prison. Nomi's mind raced with possible actions they could take before the DRK Triad agent returned: and she would return, of that Nomi was certain, intent on eliminating them. They had minutes, maybe seconds, to act.[break][break]
Looking frantically around at the "walls" surrounding them, which were covered in a pixelated pattern of binary sequences, it was clear that they were still trapped in the RKS Machine with no exit in sight.[break][break]
No unless...not unless they made one.[break][break]
"Isaac," she addressed him calmly, with sudden clarity. "Don't let Ogrelord hurt Holo's Unown-K. We need its help."[break][break]
Taking out several Pokeballs - nearly the entire team she'd brought along for this particular journey - Nomi released three more Unown: Watt (W), Vin (V), and Bang (!). They joined Alpha (A) and Nu (N), the five of them floating around Nomi like a small army of eyeballs. She approached the Unown-K caught in the hair, watching as it stared down at her, its expression as neutral and enigmatic as ever.[break][break]
"We're going to get out of here," she said to it, her voice taking on a kindly tone. "Why don't you come with us?" She gestured at the others. "You can be part of our family." She smiled, fiercely confident. "It's a damn good one. We're capable of so much more than she thinks we are."[break][break]
She being Holo, of course.[break][break]
To Isaac, Nomi explained, "I have a plan. When they work together, Unown can warp reality, build anything the imagination can conjure. I need you - all of you - " she pointed at Watson and the rest of his team. " - to help. Imagine what it would be like to get out of here, to return home. I don't know if it will work but..." she nodded, resolved. "It's worth a shot."[break][break]
With that, she closed her eyes, envisioning her office on the Rocket submarine - every detail. The silent, permanently frozen Deoxys core and the field journal she'd brought home from the Ancient Tomb sitting on her desk. Half-finished experiments, test tubes filled with colorful liquid. Tera crystals glinting under harsh fluorescent lights. The couch she'd ordered so parker jones would have a place to nap.[break][break]
If there was one thing Nomi had learned from her scientific work recently, it was the remarkable, seemingly unending power of the imagination.[break][break]
"Unown!" She called out to them. "Please create a way for us to leave the RKS Machine!"

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"Thank you so much," she cooed to the attendant, following in his wake, smiling like the harlot they assumed her to be.[break][break]
Without worrying too much about the fact that rumors were probably already rapidly spreading across social media concerning FERNANDO SILPH's new "pink-haired mistress", Nomi allowed him to lead her away from the line, his arm a heavy weight draped around her dainty shoulders, his overbearing presence a suffocating reminder of his dominance over not just her, but all of Hoenn. When he let go of her, she breathed out a soft sigh of relief she hadn't realized she'd been holding.[break][break]
"Half an hour should suffice," she agreed, expression slipping back into her normal professionalism twinged with curiosity. Without hesitation, she launched into the business of scientific inquiry: the only thing Nomi actually worshipped. Well, except for maybe Parker's muscles.[break][break]
"As I wrote to you on the Amigo app, I am interested in collaborating," she began. "You have a private lab, surely stocked with the region's most prestigious cutting-edge equipment, and I have research grant money from the university I am hoping to take advantage of. Hoenn has been under great distress lately, as I am sure you, being a councilman, are aware." She eyed him. "I know this may sound far-fetched, but I have reason to believe it is possible to infuse INFINITY ENERGY into manmade objects...to enhance them. Strengthen them."[break][break]
The research she didn't remember conducting in a place she and priam conrad had identified as "likely Galar, but like, in the past?" had hinted at this. If Rocket's best minds hadn't been able to figure it out yet, perhaps the League's had.

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"Not personally, no," she replied, even though her brain was screaming yes! "Your brother, GIDEON GRAVES, is my thesis director at Slateport University. I'm a PhD candidate there." She held out her hand in a polite gesture of greeting. "We've seen each other before, in passing, but I wanted to officially introduce myself."[break][break]
That wasn't entirely truthful, but she wasn't sure how to explain the weird feelings that had surfaced upon seeing this man. It had been the same when she'd come across angelo vestri in Granite Cave recently. Another man she had never met before and yet, somehow knew. It hardly made any sense at all, but, well, she'd also come back from the Ancient Tomb with a field notebook full of research she didn't remember conducting so...[break][break]
Beside them, one of the children playing the Dugtrio-Ring-Toss game started crying, and Nomi was momentarily distracted from her reverie. The kid had seemingly lost one of his prize tickets. Fishing around in her pocket, Nomi pulled out one she'd earned earlier in the day. She crouched down and handed it to him.[break][break]
"Here you go," she said gently. "I don't really need it."[break][break]
He stared at her, blinking big round eyes rimmed with tears, then smiled sheepishly, grabbed the ticket, and hurried after his friends before she could change her mind.[break][break]
Nomi chuckled, standing again to face Gunner. "Sorry about that. Can't say I'm the best with kids, but I figured I'd help," she apologized. "Do you have any? Kids, I mean."

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It wasn't every day that one was afforded the privilege of escorting a renowned astrobiologist into a different dimension. When Nomi had been forwarded the email sent to Slateport University by one of Mossdeep Space Center's leading researchers, she jumped at the opportunity to be the woman's guide into the Ultra Deep Sea.[break][break]
Nomi approached with an eager step and a friendly smile on her face, raising her own hand in a returned greeting. Her pink hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and she was wearing the wetsuit she usually took with her into this particular rift, Pokeballs and other supplies attached at the waist. She recognized the elegant woman from the photos supplied by the university, as well as images Nomi had seen of her accompanying her published articles and research papers.[break][break]
"Yes, that's me. Feel free to call me Nomi, most people do."[break][break]
Nomi followed the other woman into the rift, floating forward, unperturbed by the strange, viscous watery-air that permeated the place.[break][break]
"Neffatari Nzingha, right?" She asked politely, having practiced the Alolan name several times on her own but desiring to double check the pronunciation with its owner. "It's an honor to finally meet you! I really enjoyed your paper on Minior colors and weather patterns. I recently encountered a purple Minior, and have been using your research to figure out if finding it where I did had anything to do with the high tide."[break][break]
Oops, was she rambling already? She blushed, flashing an apologetic smile her companion's way.

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"That was fun!" Nomi exclaimed, cheeks flushed from the adrenaline rush of their little "competition." Her pink hair was a mess from the combination of extreme spin and jerking around in the bumper cars, but she didn't care in the slightest. She was having a blast, and it seemed Jayden and Cillian were too - much to her delight.[break][break]
Nomi opened her mouth to reply to Cillian's inquiry regarding their next move, but stopped as her stomach let out a loud rumble. She blushed, giggling. "I wanted to suggest the house of mirrors, but it seems my stomach has other plans. Can we get something to eat?"[break][break]
Innocent crimson eyes full of sisterly pleading won them over, and she soon had a gigantic funnel cake dusted with copious amounts of powdered sugar. It was sickeningly sweet, a greasy fried masterpiece, and she devoured it with a surprising amount of fervor for one so small and dainty.[break][break]

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As she descended back into the water, the aftershock of blissful release sending shivers down her spine, Nomi snaked her arms around Parker's shoulders and straddled her waist comfortably, as if she'd always fit there, perfectly placed. Her cheeks were red with the heat of pleasure and she leaned in to gently press her mouth to Parker's messier one, the taste of herself lingering on the other woman's swollen lips, surreal and erotic and right.[break][break]
"Like is an understatement," she breathed, helplessly undone. "You're incredible at that."[break][break]
And you know me so well, she almost added, but it was too late to say anything else, because she was too busy fervently kissing Parker again. The bikini bottoms floated further into the lake, the metallic heart clasps twinkling nearly as brightly as the stars above, completely forgotten.[break][break]
Nomi's hands began to wander, finding Parker's chest, exploring every curve and muscle. She drew her mouth down, playfully biting at Parker's neck, a renewed wanting from an endless well of desire only partly sated.[break][break]
She reached around and unclasped the bikini top that felt suddenly way too constricting, letting it, too, fall into the water with a soft splash. She smiled sweetly at Parker, coy and conspiratorial.[break][break]
"You too," she demanded, eyeing Parker's top, grinding her hips into the pesky swimming trunks Parker was still wearing as if to emphasize her point. "This is a proper skinny dip."[break][break]
As it should have always been, and always would be.

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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Her time with FERNANDO SILPH having come to an end, Nomi breathed out a sigh of relief, weary from the battle of wits she'd just engaged in. Keen on relaxing during the rest of her time at the carnival, Nomi eagerly looked around for parker jones, who she knew was lurking about somewhere, waiting for Nomi's "date" with the councilman to end, but her eyes found a different familiar face instead.[break][break]
She froze, trying to figure out how she knew the blond man idling by a group of kids playing a Dugtrio-Ring-Toss game, their wild giggles a stark contrast to the intensity of the man's expression. Nomi watched him, somewhat rattled by a profound sense of deja-vu, his name on the tip of her tongue.[break][break]
And then it hit her: the man was Gunner Graves, her professor, GIDEON GRAVES's, younger brother. The man who had been at her brewery with Summer Atreides last winter, on a date.[break][break]
And, she realized with a jolt of recollection, a League special agent.[break][break]
Pulling out her phone, Nomi quickly texted Parker.[break][break]
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Why? She could just walk away, share cotton candy with Parker, have some fun and then go home. But she had a weird feeling about Gunner...like he was someone she ought to say hi to. Like they were friends or something, except, that wasn't true at all - if anything, his affair with Summer might have already put Nomi, and other Rockets, at risk. She'd been meaning to check back in on that particular internal investigation, but things had been rather hectic since the conflict at the Ancient Tomb.[break][break]
This man was problematic and dangerous: if she were smart, she'd avoid him at all costs.[break][break]
"Hey, um, Gunner right?" Nomi inquired pleasantly, approaching him despite her better judgement.

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Nomi looked up, expecting to see one of the lab techs, mentally preparing for some final, menial ask before she would be able to go home.[break][break]
Instead, she saw a ghost that took her breath away.[break][break]
"Lulu?" She whispered, frozen, crimson eyes wide.[break][break]
How could this be? Was she really here? Vaguely, Nomi remembered that Darkrai had the power to manipulate the mind, turn dreams into nightmares, trap one's consciousness in a state of perpetual darkness. Was this some sort of trick, an illusion, an attempt to manipulate her somehow? Her experiences with the dream mist combined with what had recently happened at the Ancient Tomb only served to further confuse Nomi in that moment, allow doubt to creep into her quivering heart.[break][break]
But then Lulu spoke and it sounded like her. Keen eyes darted to the Unown-N in a moment of paranoid suspicion, but then the former Head Scientist smiled, anxiety melting away, replaced by a bittersweet relief that made Nomi's chest ache.[break][break]
Nomi wanted to say, I'm just borrowing it, it's your office, it will always be yours, but she could not speak. Cillian Quinn had been so sure she was gone, might even be dead. Nomi had tried to find her, but to no avail. She'd never given up hope, and yet...and yet...[break][break]
Before she could really stop herself, think it through, Nomi had circled her desk. Her legs carried her forward, and with silent, unnoticed tears streaking down her cheeks, she pulled Lulu into a hug so tight it might have been painful.[break][break]
Nomi held her, afraid that if she let go, the other woman would disappear again.[break][break]
"I missed you," she sobbed. "I missed you so much."

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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It was a good thing they were in a secluded area, alone save for Valerian and Amulius off in the distance, watching their backs. If anybody had been nearby, they surely would have heard Nomi, her inability to keep quiet made obvious by the cacophony of pleasure-induced sounds that escaped her mouth as she pressed her cheek into the rock. Parker worked her magic and Nomi's brain stopped functioning properly, her surroundings melting into a white-noise backdrop of bliss. Loudly, she sighed out nonsense mixed with Parker's name.[break][break]
Parker was an expert, a master of her craft, and it was extra good somehow because it was intimately personalized in a way she could not possibly know about, and yet, she did, Nomi's preferences quite literally on the tip of her tongue. Every nuance, every teasing motion, the heat of her mouth and the tightness of her grip and the hungry way she devoured Nomi - it unraveled her, consumed her, lit a fire in her belly until the pressure was too much. Nomi's body tensed, and she cried out ecstatically, shuddering against Parker.[break][break]
"Fuck," she breathed out an uncharacteristic curse, grinning stupidly, cheeks flushed.

MADE BY GUNSMILE