A traitor in Rocket? the idea wasn't that too farfetched considering some people's reason for being here, though she was certain that Lulu could deal with anything at this point. She had more than likely seen enough turncoats at this point to create a roster of traitors. "I see. A shame you had to go through that, but such is this life we've chosen. I wasn't off any better, all things considering." The snow filled horizon was clear for the time being. Nothing really caught her eye aside from some precious few dots off in the distance.

"I was stationed in Petalburg and ran into a ranger, stole their mega stone, and then got back to the outpost at the time the earthquake happened. I ran into my Kanto Boss who was stationed there and helped PROTECT him and his forces until we were called off. I meant to try and find him before he left, but was forbidden by the higher ups here."

She let out a scathing exhale of enough emotion to humble even the most haughty of snobs., crossing her arms as the Salandit weaseled her way back inside of her coat for warmth. The cold scales made her tense up a bit, but she continued on regardless. "Any word on if we plan to counterattack soon? I can't imagine the upper management isn't going to take the attack very lightly?"

[ skipping ]
[ BINGO: PROTECT ]

Lulu Flint

☉

"I'm glad we're in agreement. After all, if we want the best chance of finding that crystallization pattern, we'll have to find our little Rattata friends and see if they'll be able to "assist" us in this little venture of ours." Himiko wasn't one to let pesky little things such as morality get in the way of scientific advancements and such. Anything was worth the price of progress, especially for something such as this nature. To hear that Absinthe shared the shame kind of interests made a certain pride swell inside of her. "Allow me, Absinthe."

The woman helped Absinthe with her supplies, gathering what she thought they may need with a muted excitement to her steps. Working with poisons, while an incredibly dangerous art, had always been a sort of forbidden fruit. The allure of such potent chemicals had allured her from the moment her grandmother had allowed her to help water the plants she used for her own brews. Her mind went back to the muscled gorilla that she had met at Petalburg, Eduardo Hisakawa , as how her Salandit's poison had been inflicted that way. His only saving grave was that the scratches were superficial. had they been injected directly into his system, well, that man would be bedridden for months.

"We shall." Himiko followed Absinthe closely, a malicious little grin painted across her face. "I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy your guidance, oh gracious teacher~"

[ BINGO :: PRIDE ]

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

With the Baxcliber's ball going still, Himiko plucked it from the snowy ground. She studied it for a moment before pressing it against her heart with a soft sigh. "Rest and recover, my wounded friend. I'll make you into somebody to be feared." She thought to herself. Once it was over, she placed it back into her bag and rejoined Lulu with the same stoic face as ever. "Let's keep moving, one of those Revarooms has to be around here."

They continued further into the ice filled wasteland as arctic winds blew across the area. From nearby, a snow mound shuffled around as something was trying to dig its way out. From afar, a Smoochum's head pushed out of the abyss of white and wandered ever closer to the two women. Himiko's eyes were set upon it instantly, as the coloration was caught in her eyes instantly. Stumbling across two shiny pokemon in one expedition was quite the cause of celebration!

The Salandit scurried over to the baby pokemon and made short work of the ice type with yet another FLAMETHROWER. As the two fought, Himiko let out a sharp exhale, her breath coming out of the scarf around her neck. "How have you been since Petalburg and Sootopolis? I didn't notice you out on the battlefield, so I assume you had been busy with other matters."

[attempting catch on smoochum]
[ BINGO :: CELEBRATION ]

Lulu Flint

☉

Her eyes almost seem to dimmer at the mention of not needing to poison anybody. Or maybe that was just the lights inside of the room that was doing that? Either way, Himiko let out a slow nod and went to glance towards the other grunts. "A shame, I was hoping to see your methods in action." she said, then awaiting the plan by Absinthe since they had a due date.

The plan would be rather grim in practice, going to grunts on their bed, likely their final resting place, and gathering blood. "Won't the drastic rates of the grunts being poisoned affect the quality of the samples we draw? Wouldn't it be better to aim for freshly poisoned samples rather than the ones festering in their beds?" Himiko inquired. She could really care less about the world losing a couple of Rattata in the process of the greater good.

Absinthe revealed a cooler filled with blood bags and likely what other instruments that they were going to need for their outing fetching blood from and body who would need it. The woman looked so serious, a worker who enjoyed their nose hitting the grindstone, the same as her. The Kanton picked up a stray blood bag, looking towards the cooler. "Of course. I enjoy any little outing in our line of work, Absinthe. It would be my pleasure to tag along with you~"

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

Himiko wandered ever so closer to the microscope at Absinthe's display, doing as she said while her eyes were slowly set upon the lens of the scientific tool. The vision was blurry, out of focus even, though thankfully her tutor was doing well to show her how things worked. Dainty fingers turned the knob on the side to zoom in closer to the sample and observe the crystalline patterns. "Hopefully this is correct." she said idly, then saw what Absinthe had been talking about beforehand.

Around the edge of the sample were those same crystalline structures, each containing multiple lines that made up a pattern before. It was all so fascinating for Himiko, who had been seeing this all for the first time before. She wanted to forgo the current task and go about discovering everything there was to see in a sample like this. It was only by the hand of her superior that she was able to pull her desires away for the moment and focus on something else.

"Nothing but pure brilliance. No wonder how toxins and such can be so intricate nowadays." The Kanton woman smirked at Absinthe at the mention of gaining fresh samples. She leaned on the counter while ideas rushed around in her head. "Will we be drawing some fresh blood? Or do you want us to go around poisoning people? I've not done this sort of thing before outside previous experiences."

[ BINGO: BRILLIANCE ]

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

It was refreshing to meet yet another brilliant mind in all of Rocket, considering that Himiko herself had never really been one to receive any kind of college level education. It was never in the books considering the vastness of her siblings and immediate family, all of which who had dedicated themselves wholly to Rocket and received hands on training with their area of interest. She had a brother, one of many, who wished to learn more about history and become an archeologist and researcher for Rocket. Needless to say, it was going to be a very informative lesson.

"I figured as much. Those Ultra Beasts barely look like average Pokemon. It would make sense for their cellular structure and everything else to be just as alien." Himiko's fingers drummed across the counter top, eyes alight with intrigue at what this sampled blood could provide. Her grin only seemed to widen. "But the hardier the fruit, the sweeter the reward."

Absinthe led her through the process to discovering how they were going to discover the crystallization pattern, dropping a sample onto a glass slide for their review, followed by producing a microscope out and setting the droplet for them to see with use of the special eye equipment. When asked if she had ever used one before, the woman shook her head from side to side.

"My grandmother taught me poison crafting from a young age. It was very traditional, being as old-fashioned as she was. She could do everything by hand, measure without a ruler, weigh reagents without a scale, all from muscle memory, a true professor of poisons. I can do the same, to an extent, but I've never used a microscope before."

[ BINGO: PROFESSOR ]

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

They wandered ever closer farther inside of the safari zone after the most recent annoyance with the Gligar. Himiko wouldn't let such a thing hamper her mood much, if at all. Onna walked beside her while the two began to search about for their next target. It wasn't a whole lot of things that caught her eye thus far. But one such Pokemon that had interested her was a lone Baltoy sitting in place by the crossing and just...spinning.

She did need a psychic type in her roster, and this would be a nice addition until she could find a better prospect elsewhere. They also had a ball to spare, so why not? "Ready to go, Onna?" the Zoroark nodded and Himiko smirked. This was going to be a cake walk. "Bitter Malice." The ghost-type's white mane let out an ethereal glow as a powerful wave of energy smashed into the Baltoy. It fell over on its its back, the spinning have ceased as Himiko threw out a pokeball to catch it.

[catching baltoy]

☉

"As eager as a Bidoof to an ungnawed tree." Himiko agreed with Absinthe, casting her gaze to the other woman. The gas mask gave her a sort of serious look to her, and even that little case of resting bitch face was similar to her own, perhaps even more severe. But alas, the lovely woman in emerald color accepted her help with no questions asked, the kind of help that Himiko was far more used to than the alternative.

The woman moved to give the main scientist her room and took her place near the side, eyes adrift in movement. Himiko wanted to contain every little detail inside of that little mind of hers. Her theory was interesting concerning the genetic make up of Nihilego poison. She had wanted one for her own desires and samples, yet it remained out of reach for the moment. She recalled her previous discussions with some of the Underbosses about, staring at the samples before them. "Fascinating." she put simply, paying no mind to how the victim likely felt. "Indeed it does, Absinthe. I've heard numerous reports of what the toxin can do over long periods of time, although cases like this seem much more informative. Just by looking at it, I can tell a stark difference in the spread. Note the mild discolorations around the edge of blood and where the natural red color begins. A slow acting toxin, at least to begin with."

Himiko walked to the side opposite of Absinthe, leaning on the table as she peered into the awaiting vial. "So how would we go about discovering this pattern, doctor?" she teased with a wicked grin. "Every poison's got a different pattern, and I'm assuming a Nihilego would be far more complex considering its origin."

[ BINGO: EMERALD ]

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

So this was what happened at Sootopolis. Himiko had only really heard secondhand reports about the fate of this sunken city. It must have been nothing short of life changing to be able to see Kyogre here, bursting through the dam and spilling into the oceans here. Her brows raised at the sight of the scenery around here. Buildings collapsed or damaged beyond repair, businesses and homes ravaged by the forces of attacks. Even the

This was truly the result of this petty little war. Desolation and no real victory to be seen. It was so human, for lack of a better word.

So Himiko was placed on the small forces sent in to help establish the city, which she questioned if it was truly a good idea. In terms of jobs to have, it ranked somewhere between "septic tank cleaner" and "minimum wage cashier", but whatever would get her name out there quickly. The Kanton's eyes flickered to a piece of rubble that was laying on top of a building, as some loose Pokemon inside were struggling to free themselves. Her Hisuan Zoroark perked up and located their cries as Himiko watched.

"Help them out, Onna." she said, walking over to the building piece as the Zoroark gathered its energy into a small scale SHADOW BALL and fired at the broken piece of building. The small explosion of stone and rubble had made ample room for the inhabitants to be let out. An Alolan Muk slithered and and would bubble out an appreciative nod before it went around and began its clean up duty. Some other avian types flew upwards and into the skies, with a few more terrestrial Pokemon scattering. That was one house down, but now, where would they go next?

Their answer came in the form of a man wandering up to her, blonde, dashing good looks, a prime candidate for Rocket's poster Pretty Boy. Himiko's stoic face focused on him for a second before she gave a nod. "It would be well appreciated. I haven't stepped foot here since I arrived in Hoenn. Hard to fathom, I'm sure. But I figured it would be a good time to familiarize myself." She extended her hand out for a shake, with the Kanton woman glancing around them. "Himiko. Were you present for the battle that took place here?"

[ BINGO: WAR ]

Rowan Wrynn

☉

Some of the volunteers walked out of the room, eager to go and fetch the next batch of chemicals or fragile objects that will no doubt, either find their way onto an awaiting desk or crash onto the floor. Himiko opened the door for the latest of them to walk through, then strode into the laboratory herself. Fingers glid across the surfaces leading to the woman of the hour, as the Kanton let out an impressed whistle. "I see Rocket spares no expense when it comes to its research centers. Now if only you had more capable interns without the hands of a Goodra." She mused, then began to inspect some of the contents of what was inside of here.

She extended an arm towards the other woman, offering her hand. "Himiko, I received orders to come up here and assist with your work here." Of course, that small bit was kind of a white lie. She was, instead, ordered to help haul up boxes with the rest of the vermin here but far be it from the Kanton woman to do that when there were far more important things to do here. "I'm a toxicologist from Kanto. Brewed my own poisons and currently trying to learn more about the Nihilego and other Ultra Space variants. Nice to meet you."

Absinthe Blackwood

☉

Their first annoyance had made herself known with a low glide across Himiko and her Hisuan Zoroark. The flying bat would let out a series of hisses and noises while swaying from left to right. "Ugh, pesky little rat." The Rocket glared at the opponent as she'd ready herself for the upcoming battle. The Gligar aimed a Slash at the Zoroark, which didn't even phase the other pokemon, who aimed a Shadow Claw at the other opponent. The Gligar was sent back, doing a small tumble in midair, but rebounded just as fast. "Not weak enough. Give it another attack, Onna." The Zoroark nodded its pale head and brought both hands together behind it, beginning to charge up another SHADOW BALL. The Gligar continued to race towards Onna, aiming a CROSS POISON at the Ghost-type, although once it neared, it was treated to a sudden blats of energy. Fully defeated on the ground, Himiko stood over it and tossed a pokeball on top without a care.

[catching gligar]

☉