[attr="class","juliaw"]

Awesome, the ice cat was the most popular choice! But maybe that wasn't such a good thing if it could summon avalanches like that... especially if they were aimed right at the meeting room! Oh, man, this was getting exciting! Dahlia reached out her hand. Taking it would have been the typical romantic response, but protecting her sounded even better.

[break][break]Wait... what the heck was this last option? "Abandon her to join the feline Pokemon for the judgement of ruination"?

[break][break]"Okay, game, what the heck does that mean?" Julia asked her tablet. It didn't answer, of course. Curiosity gnawed at her, urging her finger to hover over that ominous option. What would happen if she pressed it?

[break][break]She jabbed the option to protect Dahlia. Even if it was just in a game, that third choice gave her the creeps.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

Julia was a bit disappointed that Isaac had never met that other Rocket before, but what he added to that had her confused. "What do you mean?"

[break][break]She waited for him to elaborate on the "jam" he'd been in—or multiple jams, really—but he fell silent. His eyes looked far away, like he was recalling something painful. Maybe it was a lot of somethings. For a moment, she wished she could read his mind. Watching him like this made her feel like she was still wet behind the ears. Before Isaac, Julia's encounters with Rocket had been black-and-white ordeals, the good guys stopping the bad guys. But now that she knew Isaac's true identity and had been saved by another Rocket, things were different. And she had a feeling they'd keep being different from here on out.

[break][break]"So what happened?" she asked when she couldn't stand the silence anymore.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

"Sounds fun, right, big guy?" Julia beamed and gave Snacker another firm pat on the head.

[break][break]Julia thought over the nicknames of Josh's new Eeveelutions. "I get Basil, but where'd the rest of the nicknames come from? Ooh, what's that special challenge like?"

[break][break]Apparently, those weren't the only new Pokémon Josh had. "Sounds like you've been busy! I've made a lot of new friends, too, but I don't think I've got nearly as many as you do. Is it hard to take care of them all?"

[break][break]Julia held on to this cheery mood for as long as she could, even as they descended deeper and finally found the wreckage. Julia had prepared herself for this mission, so it wasn't much of a shock to see the state the plane was in, but looking at it still made her feel sad. Flying was supposed to be one of the safest forms of travel, but when something went wrong, especially above the ocean, it could really go wrong. Her only consolation was that there weren't any signs of human remains other than the blood that remained, and even that was enough to send a hollow chill through her bones.

[break][break]Josh's reminder of the mission gave her something new to focus on. "Got it. Wait, why are they called black boxes if they're red or orange?"

[break][break]She and Marina joined their search for the not-black black boxes, starting from the front end of the wreckage. The pungent smell of jet fuel made her wrinkle her nose. "Man, I didn't think crashes would be so stinky." Better fuel than blood, at least.

[break][break]As she guided Snacker around the outside of the aircraft, she noticed something weird. She'd expected the plane to be wrecked and broken apart, of course, but there were spots where it looked like holes had been melted into the fuselage. Julia peered inside of one, but all she could see was blood stuck to the inside wall. Not very helpful.

[break][break]"Where's it supposed to be?" Julia asked. She'd assumed the black box would be in the cockpit, but she hadn't seen any signs of it yet.

[break][break]Marina suddenly stopped and turned away from the wreckage, looking alarmed.

[break][break]"What's wrong?"

[break][break]The Huntail swam toward her trainer with a hissing cry and pushed against Snacker. Julia didn't understand, but she steered Snacker back. Then, a purple glob hit the plane and began melting through it with a hiss. Oh, that was bad!

[break][break]"There's something here!" she shouted. "It's shooting poison at us!"

[attr="class","juliaw"]

That was a really good answer, too, but the narration was, sadly, right. Julia wanted so, so badly to just leave the Pokémon be so they could live in peace. Digital Dahlia seemed to agree. But Rocket wouldn't let that happen.

[break][break]Wait, wasn't this supposed to be a dating game? Julia shouldn't have been feeling these kinds of feelings, dang it!

[break][break]Now there was a video from the Hoenn Bureau of Intelligence and Counterterrorism. The Galarian Legendaries were fending off something odd—it might not have even been a Pokémon. Four strange creatures were laid out as choices: a leafy snail, a fiery fish, a deer or moose with a pot on its head, and... oh, the frosty cat with sword fangs looked cool, no pun intended! Julia picked that one.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

Julia would not peek, thank you very much! She'd rather pet the big doggo.

[break][break]Oh, digital Dahlia was actually asking for her opinion at the meeting? Julia read over the options. Killing them was absolutely out of the question, of course. Capturing them would keep them away from Rocket, but the last choice had a point: they may have been seeking refuge in Hoenn.

[break][break]"Hmm..." This was a tough one. It was too bad there wasn't a "Befriend them" option. Capturing them seemed too forceful, but leaving them be ran the risk of their falling into Rocket hands. Man, being the Commissioner's assistant was harder than Julia thought it'd be! In the end, she chose what would be best for the region at large. They could totally make friends with them at the same time!

[attr="class","juliaw"]

"Good thing I'm good at winging it." It was still hard thinking of this in terms of battles and war, but Julia could at least take pride in her capabilities. Always better to focus on the positives than the negatives, if you asked her.

[break][break]But the painful reality that Isaac couldn't keep operating as a vigilante within Rocket forever made that difficult. Julia wanted to tell him to quit and just do his own thing, but she stopped herself. She'd tried that once before. It hadn't worked out too well. Besides, now she understood that he had people he wanted to protect in there. She wanted them to all leave, to fill Rocket with nothing but monsters so she wouldn't have to worry about taking them down, but it wasn't that simple, was it? None of this was, and that frustrated her.

[break][break]She turned away and went uncharacteristically silent. Her hands stilled on her Pokémon; she couldn't even look at them. In Mauville, she'd said that she and Blackjack would never stop fighting. But when faced with the reality of war, of what it meant to truly fight a friend, she hesitated. She'd seen the injuries that people had come away with. She didn't want herself or Isaac to end up like that. She didn't think she could hurt him like that.

[break][break]So Julia did what she did best with hard thoughts like these: She redirected.

[break][break]"You know, the weirdest thing happened at Littleroot." She still couldn't look at Isaac, but a small smile played on her face, and her fingers began combing through her partners' coats again. "I went to stop a Rocket—a blond guy wearing a half-mask, which honestly wasn't a very good disguise—" She giggled a bit at that. She figured she'd recognize Cade Atreides if she ever saw him again. "—and he told me to get lost. Said the battlefield wasn't a place for someone like me or something. I didn't exactly listen."

[break][break]She finally half-turned to look at Isaac. "He could have really hurt me. He even sent an Avalanche down at me." Something painful flickered in her eyes, but it was gone in an instant. "But he was just trying to scare me off. He could have hurt me, but instead, he just ran me off. I'm kinda embarrassed about it, actually." She laughed self-derisively.

[break][break]"That wasn't the weirdest part, though." She finally sat up to fully face Isaac again, her serious expression tinged with lingering confusion. "When we ran into each other again, I'd been knocked to the ground. It could have been a lot worse, but I was still hurt. He could have just ignored me or, heck, even tried to hurt me more. But instead, he gave me a first-aid pouch so I could patch myself up. He said he didn't wanna see me die.

[break][break]"Do you know him? Do you know if he got in trouble for that?" It was one part genuine question, one part hoping for a chance to make a point.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

The change in scenery had caused the Zoroark's disguises to reappear, but Julia reminded herself that they were still Pokémon and could take whatever she and Shalin threw at them. Or, rather, what they ended up throwing at themselves with Julia's new strategy.

[break][break]It didn't last long, though. The queen's reprimand snapped the king out of his confusion, and the two became much more coordinated. Julia's taunts became ineffective; if one fox duo was in the way, the other would refuse to fire until they were in a better position. It worked out defensively, but Julia couldn't do any damage this way. And with how fast they were going and the light mist filling the room, Julia wasn't sure if even those defenses would last long.

[break][break]"Shalin, look out!" Julia shouted, but she was too late. The Mystical Fire hit Prance from behind, and Shalin had to quickly dismount and recall the Wyrdeer. In her place, Shalin sent out... Queen Zing? Julia didn't get why Shalin would send out her Beedrill in an environment so hostile to her, but then the light of Mega Evolution shone, and it all made sense.

[break][break]It was like Queen Zing turned into a completely different Pokémon after Mega Evolving. No longer was she the gentle, regal queen bee; her primal instincts were taking over, causing Shalin to cry out as she was shaken by Queen Zing's faster wingbeats. The Beedrill rammed into the Alolan Ninetales and jabbed into it with all four of her stingers.

[break][break]Suddenly, Chester cried out and ran to one side to dodge another Night Daze. No more time to watch, then! "Lazuli, Water Pulse again!"

[break][break]Lazuli sang out another Water Pulse at the Ninetales, but it seemed to have even less effect than last time. Julia grimaced. There was no way she could bait the other pair into attacking them again, especially not with Queen Zing currently pinning them down.

[break][break]Wait... Queen Zing looked like she was doing a lot of damage. And she was Mega Evolved... Did that have something to do with it? Julia took out the Lazuli Lens. If it was made of Laprasite, then...

[break][break]As if responding to her thoughts, the Lens began to glow, bathing in the light of Mega Evolution. Julia's eyes widened. How was it doing that? She didn't have a Key Stone. Did the Lens have one embedded in it? No, this wasn't the time for questions; it was time for action! Yet she hesitated and stole another glance toward Queen Zing. Mega Evolving had made her so ruthless that she vibrated with no regard for Shalin on her back. Would it turn Lazuli into something she wasn't too?

[break][break]Lazuli made a gentle sound, and Julia turned to face her. Trainer and Lapras stared into each other's eyes for far longer than should have been allowed in the heat of battle. Lazuli's shone with love and trust for Julia, and she nodded. Julia nodded back, face determined. No matter what this did, Lazuli would still be her precious partner.

[break][break]Julia held up the Lens, which resonated with her determination and glowed even brighter. Its power touched Lazuli, who also began to shine with the power of Mega Evolution. The light cocooned her, and then it burst, revealing a changed Lapras. Her transformation wasn't as dramatic as Queen Zing's, but she was larger, her horn was longer, and her shell had taken on a new shape that reminded Julia of a cross between a cruise ship and an ocarina. Ice particles floated along what looked like a musical staff encircling her. When she let out a cry, it seemed to echo across the room.

[break][break]"Whoa," Julia said. "Okay! Lazuli, use—!"

[break][break]She didn't get to finish her command before Lazuli sang toward the ceiling, the ice around her swirling faster. The air above the fire-type Ninetales and the king Zoroark froze into large chunks of ice that came crashing down on the pair. Although it was an Ice-type attack, it seemed to cause even the Ninetales a great deal of pain. The ice crumbled to the floor, where the lava refracted off it to create a rainbow. No, it wasn't a rainbow; it was an Aurora Veil that wrapped around Julia and Shalin's teams, keeping them safe.

[break][break]"Ohhhh, that's why you used that!" Julia wouldn't know the attack was called G-Max Resonance until after their adventure.

[break][break]Lazuli nodded. Even that one movement was filled with grace beyond what Julia had seen from her before.

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"Whoa!" Julia started when Snacker flailed beneath her, but she was soon laughing as he bounced over the water like a jetski. Sadly, their fun had to come to an end.

[break][break]"Yeah, Josh is right." She was still smiling as she patted Snacker's head a couple of times. "We can go on a ride later! Right now, it's work time."

[break][break]As they descended, Josh reminded Julia of his Glaceon's nickname. "Oh, yeah! Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde, like the Pac-Mon ghosts! I raced them at your Gym! I just named my girl Inky 'cause she shoots ink." Only the deepest of thoughts went into Julia's nicknames.

[break][break]The bright, casual conversation helped distract her from the cold, dark depths they sank to. She'd been diving before, back during Splashfest, but this was a totally different beast. Josh sent out his Lanturn, giving them a cone of light to work with.

[break][break]"Hmm..." Julia hummed as she scanned what she could see of the ocean floor, but even with Illumina's light, she couldn't see the wreckage yet. She popped open a Dive Ball, and a Huntail slithered out. "Marina, help us out. Search around for anything metal."

[break][break]A couple thousand feet below the surface was quite the number for Julia to process, but Marina looked right at home here. She opened her mouth in a facsimile of a grin and wiggled her tail, then swam off to where Illumina's light didn't reach to search. A short while later, several dots of light approached; it was Marina, her eye spots glowing. She spun in a couple of tight circles, then began swimming back into the darkness.

[break][break]"That way," Julia said, pointing after her.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

Spot and Ribbon weren't in top form, either. Though Spot's grip remained firm until the moment the thug's hands were tied, he was breathing heavily from exertion. As soon as the ruffians were restrained, he fell into a sit on the ground. Ribbon let out an exhausted squeak and dropped onto his shoulder. The Lucario was too tired to complain about it.

[break][break]"Good work, everyone," Julia said. She watched for a moment as Ettie tended to her pack, whining, chuffing, sniffing, and even licking. The pack did the same for her in turn; the only real difference was that Ettie used bandages and Pecha Berries between reassuring noises and nuzzles. To many, it may have been a strange sight, seeing this human girl act like a wild Pokémon, but it made Julia smile to see just how much they all cared about each other. There was some pride behind it, too, at seeing how well Ettie had adapted to human life while retaining her feral roots.

[break][break]"Mind looking after Spot and Ribbon for a sec?" Julia asked her. "I've gotta go get the other guy."

[break][break]Spot's ears perked up, and he made to stand. Ribbon buzzed a protest as she was nearly knocked off her resting place.

[break][break]"It's okay, you guys stay here and rest! This should just take a sec."

[break][break]Spot looked uncertain. Ribbon squeaked out something along the lines of "Just do what she says so we can rest," and after a few seconds, Spot relented. Julia smiled and gave him some encouraging head pats (with a gentle index-finger pet for Ribbon for good measure) before jogging off toward where they'd left the third thug.

[break][break]Luckily, he hadn't moved from his spot on the ground with Princess still sitting on his chest. "Did you get 'em?" he asked.

[break][break]"Yeah," Julia said, and it was only then that she realized his question was weirdly casual for their accomplice.

[break][break]"Good. That's what those bastards get for leaving me behind."

[break][break]Julia couldn't help but snicker a bit. "Nah, it's what they get for trying to kidnap a bunch of innocent Wooloo. Speaking of which..." She tugged some of her rope taut.

[break][break]The man sighed. "Never shoulda taken this dumb job..."

[break][break]She cleaned some of the blood from the man's nose—it would definitely need proper medical attention later—before tying his wrists behind his back. He didn't resist, seeming more annoyed with the whole series of events than anything. Julia led him back to where they'd cornered the other two thieves. He leveled a steady glare at them after being sat down.

[break][break]"I'll call some Officers to take these guys away," Julia said, pulling out her cell phone. "Can you open the back of the truck to let out the—?"

[break][break]"Mehhhhh~"

[break][break]Speaking of Wooloo, it looked like Ettie's new friend had come to check on them! The little guy looked nervous, but when he saw that the thieves had been restrained, he let out a cheerful bleat and rolled right over to Ettie.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

Two canid Pokémon of Galarian origin... Those sounded kind of familiar, but Julia couldn't quite put her finger on what they were.

[break][break]Even though the disclaimer at the start had said this was a work of fiction, Julia wondered if there was a grain of truth in this tale. She'd heard rumors swirling around about how scarily accurate some of these dating routes could be. Nah, there was no way the League would let sensitive information like this out. It was just a story.

[break][break]The Sygna Suit immediately stuck out among the options. Julia wasn't very good with formal wear, so she had no idea what the "best" option was here, but the Sygna Suit sounded way more interesting than the other two. Besides, it was supposed to make a statement to the Council, right?