For better or worse, June was oblivious to most of the chemist’s problems. She did not bear the physical problems of her forced companion, a constant pain that refused to leave her be. Nor the feeling of losing all power, one that she was awfully familiar with in her own way.

But when her options were to soar above the streets of Slateport with a woman that had harassed her horribly the last time they met or contend with a corrupt pig who had horrible intentions. Deserved or not, one seemed better than the other. Not that June knew; she put all of her attention towards the ‘road’ ahead.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t gonna drop your name,” June called above the wind. Once more, they banked hard and disappeared into a narrow alleyway. Faster than they should, but they didn’t slam into one of the many blood-red brick walls. “But nothing will change if you don’t do anything. That’s usually how stuff goes.”

No action meant no change. And no change was only desirable if the situation was beneficial for the one being subjected to it. Odds were that Absinthe was not benefiting from being harassed and stalked by police. But the fear of the council woman was an understandable one.

Being on the radar of a high-ranked league member as a Team Rocket member was terrifying, theoretically. And in practice

“If anything, I can just lie to her. Make some shit up about harassing me. Or we can paint him as a chronic liar. But letting him be on the streets is dangerous for people,” she insisted. They left the safety (and danger) of the alleyways. Sirens were still present, but further and further.

“Cause it sounds like this problem goes beyond you. You just happen to have the personal connection.”

---

Absinthe Blackwood

June was drunk on debt. It swallowed her whole and held her in its crippling cell. A most selfish struggle, yet it was not by her hand that made it so. So much so, that it was hard to remember what she was like beforehand.

But did it matter at this point?

“Everything, Howard. Just… everything,” she trailed off. There were many places to start, yet no end in sight. Much like their journey through the depths of this hell, they went on and on and on. And much like the anxiety in her heart, she wished it would just end already. So she could breathe.

“Hiding stuff from me.” Step.

“Being in Team Rocket.” Step.

"Trying to run away the first time." Step.

“Killing yourself on the guilt of it all.” Step.

“Not running away again.” Step.

“Running away from history.” Step.

“Drinking yourself into a coma.” Step.

“Being in…” Step.

“In…” CREAK!

“In l–”

The last rung gave out. June didn’t have time to react, and her hands slipped. Darkness swallowed her whole– but not for long. Thankfully. Her ass hit the ground a second later, and pain shot through her entire system. All the air in her lungs was driven away, and she was left scrambling to suck it all in.

“Ah…” She sucked in deeply. Hurriedly. Arceus, this sucked. But she knew better than to cut through the darkness this time. Dimensions of the surrounding space could be infinitely large, or infinitesimally microscopic. A box best left unopened, previous experience told her.

The cave. The tomb. She shut her eyes tight and let Howard have the reigns to the dreamscape again. Not again. Never again.

“How much... further, Howard? I– I can’t…”

---

howard slayte ameena abadi

Trading 4 gacha pokemon (Scizor, Pinsir, Kleavor, Wormadam) to GIDEON GRAVES in exchange for one Iron Moth to june sleigh

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

4X Premium Gachas (Bug, one from a harvested Colbur) (450 PD)
1X Normal Gacha (from State of the Region I think idk if I already claimed this one) (0 PD)
1X Passho Berry (350 PD)
4X Greppa Berry (8 PD)
1X Iron Valiant (From MP Shop, Close Combat/Moonblast/Feint/Quick Guard/Shadow Sneak/Psycho Cut) (0 PD)

HARVESTING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

1X Colbur Berry (Cashing in for above thing, so for june sleigh )
2X Passho Berry (One goes to june sleigh , one goes to Grigori Sokolov )

TOTAL

do come again!

808 PD

Grigori was an enigma. Almost as paradoxical as herself, in honesty. The way he acted never betrayed his true position in Team Rocket. His nature as a human being. She’d only heard whispers, and off-handed comments from nearby grunts as she trudged to wherever Howard sent her next.

He was a good man– but brutal. It was almost impossible to see, but… it hadn’t been as much of a surprise as she thought it’d be. At least his shitty construction work kept him content. Somehow.

“I don’t know what he is,” she responded. “but he’s there for me. He and Dad must’ve been good friends all that time ago…”

If only she knew.

“It’s pretty easy, when your entire world gets upended,” June walked past Howard. This campsite was likely not where they needed to be, for this nightmare. The calm before the storm, the way he clung to it like she had her well of apathy. “There are worse fates than death.”

Like being the one left behind to pick up the pieces of the mistakes.

The island. The damn island. The beach flickered back into the memory scape—Matchstick’s crumpled body. Mt. Pyre, with two figures of light hair, in each other's faces. Intense heat, dizzying electricity, a crimson king, and a violet machine gave her incredible powers.

But they returned to Howard’s archeological pit. The one piece of history he’d want to remain buried in the world. It went against his entire philosophy, the point of his existence. The past was to be preserved, and unearthed, not left to rot in the dust. Pain was one thing, but the fear of it was another thing entirely. Almost worse than the actual event.

“You’d know.” In his way, he knew exactly how it worked. That’s why she led the charge this time, despite every single neuron screaming to run away and never look back. Investigation of someone else's problems was easier than your own.

“Lot of things I couldn’t imagine you doing before either.”

---

howard slayte ameena abadi

“Setting up my shitty business,” she murmered. A normal person would’ve done so in a day. Maybe two days tops. Online things weren’t hard, and she only needed to apply for various business and safety permits.

“Grigori had to drag me by my teeth and do it all for me– still took a couple of months,” she said apathetically. The auto-mechanical degree had been easier. The holiday slogs that drove her to the brink of death were nothing.

In the face of such a deep and dark pit, it’d been nothing for her to do some forms. “I just couldn’t… muster up the will to do anything.”

She purposefully kept the thought repressed. Of that dark room, and the barren walls and impossibly long days and restless nights, where even Matchstick’s warmth was barely noticeable. Let Howard show his darkest days, and let hers fade into obscurity.

“How… how much further?” She took a few tentative steps toward the archeologist. Away from the comforting light. Further into indescribable hell. “And why here? What’s down here that’s so important?”

---

howard slayte ameena abadi

EXCHANGING MP

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS!

[break]

BEFORE PURCHASES MP TOTAL: 770 from end of First Wave + 535 MP from this one (Posts+Prompts+tie+Faction based Conflict)+ 425 MP From this Thread = 1730 MP

EXCHANGING: 500 MP FOR Iron Valiant Paradox
### MP FOR ITEM
### MP FOR ITEM
### MP FOR ITEM
### MP FOR ITEM[break]

CURRENT TOTAL MP: 1230 MP

“... I don’t know!”

She did. But that was an answer reserved for everyone not named Howard Slayte. Admin Fox. Her boss. It included Freya Morningstar, apparently. And even as the council woman warned her mentally, she didn’t listen. Even if the words met the reality of physical space, she wouldn’t listen there either.

There were things far worse than death. They would both know.

Scratch that. In Hoenn, almost everyone knew. Right?

Right?

“Just… don’t tell your bosses what happened. Exactly. Just say something happened, I don’t know,” she warned. The threat from the warehouse was still fresh in her mind. Was it still in his?

Did he still even deserve the threat? Violet continued the impossibly fast path forward, away from Rayquaza. Away from Freya. But she couldn’t outrun the feeling that something was so nice about this.

---

howard slayte freya morningstar

10 MP for post
50 MP For using a paradox/legendary in a way that reflects character (paradoxical decisions, running away from problems physically and metaphorically)
50 MP for reflecting on loyalties
50 MP for Self-doubt for herself (why does she not want to run Howard over with Violet rn? Kinda brazy!)

Pretend Miraidon is still here with the littol picture...

• player/ooc name: Rysa
• character tags: june sleigh , Grigori Sokolov
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): coal doe (sad face)
• ic posts for characters: June Post, Grigori Post
• are characters in directories?: Y
• any notes/comments: I WILL KILL EDUCATION (in minecraft) WITH MY TWO BEAR HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something echoed in the recesses of her mind. Less a memory and more a relic, a novelty kept around for no discernible reason.

“I’m not letting go, June. Not now, not ever.”

“I… I…”

Can’t. Couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Won’t. But no words escaped past her lips. Instead, she only looked away. Underground was bad. It held disasters. Matchsticks didn’t like cramped spaces, and neither did she. But…

It was the least she could do. Maybe. Hopefully. They’d see. Not like she had a choice– they had to see this through, right? It was not a choice for either of them. Some things just had to be seen through. Regardless of consequences.

Basically the last 2 and a half years of her life.

And soon, the spot was in sight. What she assumed was the spot. She sucked up suddenly, sharply. One step back. Not again. Never again.

But paradoxes were just that. Nonsensical. She’d follow along anyway.

---

howard slayte ameena abadi