A distortion: perhaps the violation of some immutable law of the land, or the ire of the force of unnature they had fled from.[break][break]

They warp into an expanse of dark, desolate desert. The only thing that guides them now is the blue backlight of energy sources against the horizon and the whimsy of stars in the night sky—to be seen clearly for the first time.[break][break]

Yujin is already scrolling through her PDA with a stylus.[break][break]

“What a conundrum,” she says with a grin for some reason. “We’re several kilometers off base. Used to be over there.” She points with the stylus like a magic wand. Needless to say the portal they had used was also in the same direction, along with the faint whiff of burning plastic in the desert breeze.[break][break]

“You have a steed, yes?” He was knightly. She’d shoot her own foot before believing he didn’t have at least some type of equestrian pokemon on hand. “I’ve got a few fliers for the distance, though I wonder about any lightning.”

The airfield bar is quiet that afternoon. A lone bartender polishes some cups and a few boots make their marks across the wooden floor. Photos and awards share the walls with public requests and modern posters. [break][break]
An old-fashioned jukebox sits in a corner like a moody airman, watching plane trails through the window ceilings.[break][break]
“You Captain Manson?”[break][break]
Yujin places down on the table a glass of bourbon and slides it over; the diamond pattern catches lightly on her callouses.[break][break]
“Drink while you can. You’ll be stuck with me for the next month or two, north of Icirrus.”[break][break]
She tilts her head slightly, to examine him from above her persistent sunglasses.

“Noted. Please do your best.”[break][break]

The request has an odd note to it... pity, perhaps.[break][break]

Yujin leads the way to the center ring, surrounded by high-grade glass and rings of raised seats looking in. Not too small, not too big—just right.[break][break]

From the light of her pokeball manifests an Alolan golem: grumpy and wizened, with a long iron beard that almost entirely covers the front of the bright white mawashi (sumo thong) it was forced to wear today.[break][break]

“Don’t worry, Butters won’t be using any specials.”[break][break]

She snaps her fingers, causing the golem to advance.[break][break]

“Only good old-fashioned suplexes.”

[attr="class","bottom"]Aris van der Veld [break]

Their exit is barred in a maw of electricity.[break][break]
Yujin takes to the sudden force against her shoulder with placid calm, allowing lightning to zip by the scuff of her boot.[break][break]
Then she squares up next to Gwyar, all playfulness absent from her features—perhaps the result of their escape being complicated and their situation turning dire.[break][break]
“707, shields up.” [break][break]
Her klefki forms up right up behind the guarding aegislash: complimenting its shield with a wall of scintillating pink that spans vertically across the room, and together, they tremulously hold against the volatile energies pressing down upon them.[break][break]
"We're teleporting."[break][break]
She doesn’t even look at him, only takes a step closer to his side.[break][break]
“Ready.”

[attr="class","bottom"]Gwyar Wledig [break]

MOSSDEEP CITY.[break]
MOSSDEEP SPACE CENTER.[break][break]

Thin black boots saunter across the reception floor; her shadow diffusing across five different tiles at once, with five different motives at a glance.[break][break]

“Yes, sir. We’ve just finished speaking.”[break][break]

She pushes the revolving door out into the crackling outside air. That pesky electrike—she refuses to think of it as hers—follows suit, apparently more curious about her than loyal to its swarm.[break][break]

“Yes, sir, everything will be recorded.”[break][break]

It was a venture requiring countless inconspicuous trips, hidden in varied month-long missions, spanning three years of staggered work.
How much longer does she have to pretend to be some bumbling mechanic, ‘fixing’ machinery all across the continent?[break][break]

“In that case, I respectfully request more pay.”[break][break]

Laughter on the other end. Yujin doesn’t join in. Her eyes are dragged heavensward, to the roiling haze.[break][break]

There is a slight disruption in the call before it clears.[break][break]

“…No, sir, you’re never out of the loop. You're simply... watching the scenery go by.”[break][break]

location: mossdeep[break]
electrike forgets howl, learns electrify

“As you wish, Mr. Greyson.”[break][break]

She looks straight at him. Her voice takes on a funeral tone, dutifully reading through a dull script that colors slightly at odds and ends.[break][break]

“The increasing unrest in Hoenn has drawn international attention. Many organizations and volunteers are pledging their aid, but that also invites increased scrutiny.[break][break]

"Specifically, questions over the effectiveness of the A.Q.U.A. Initiative and what it has achieved in the few years since its founding.[break][break]

"You recall, of course, the recent Mt. Chimney incident.”

The studious and genteel older brother: described now and then between the placement of chess pieces, when companionable silence had run its course.[break][break]

Her lips pull together in an ugly grimace. It is the very picture of transparency.[break][break]

“My brother would have said the same, but those mistakes got him killed.”[break][break]

The pause doesn’t sit long this time. The darkness beyond that door is easily held at bay with just a simple lock, albeit worn from twenty years of doing its duty.[break][break]

“But it was a very long time ago. I don’t think that’s the reason.”[break][break]

The worse truth was that there was no reason at all. These habits, these cruel inclinations, are senseless and traceless.[break][break]

“Ugh!” She slaps her cheeks lightly and stands up. “Let’s go for a walk—feed some pidoves, maybe.”

The skies part and swirl, fingers of blood-drenched lightning striking out towards the land.[break][break]
The grassy biome blooms twice and League and Rocket rumble in the flowers with little choice other than to play nice.[break][break]
The translator whispers again and Yujin thinks, Claydol? It brings to mind the journey into the darkness with Gunner Graves, but those eyes are too alike the Registeel to be kind.[break][break]
Sensing another opportunity to mitigate paperwork, Yujin points her polteageist at yet another unfortunate gambler.

[break][break]
|eLA1R7A +10 terrain

Using:[break]
STRENGTH SAP (SHIELD/HINDER)[break]
GIGA DRAIN (STRIKE/SHIELD)[break]
AROMATHERAPY (HEAL)[break]
TEATIME (SUPPORT)[break]
SHELL SMASH (BOOST)[break]
WILL-O-THE-WISP (AFFLICT)[break][break]
On: Elaine Highland
[break][break]
HP: 2/3[break]
Riddle: "Claydol"

[attr="class","bottom"]

“Oh? You think so?”[break][break]
Her smile grows wider by half the inch.[break][break]

“If you ever bring it up to the bigwigs, I’ll support it.”[break][break]

She is loyal to the Core: a studious cog in the overwhelming machine, even if personal interests lie elsewhere.[break][break]

Unable, or unwilling, to step a hair’s breadth out of line.[break][break]

Eventually her search leads her to a new room, wherein she disappears beyond the titan-sized doors into the lap of silence. What follows is a thunderous boom—and all the cables curled around the edges of the powerplant flare into life like the spine of a sea beast.[break][break]

Yujin hastily reappears and slams the door shut, running over to Gwyar. Purplish energy snaps into place around the door in a FAIRY LOCK from the equally hurried klefki.[break][break]

“RETREAT!” she cackles at her partner, just before the doors are blown open by a volley of electricity and the vaguely-visible pattern of red eyes behind it.

13 engage a massive shard of a regieleki that had its original form displaced here by an unknown force.

[attr="class","bottom"]Gwyar Wledig [break]