She feels how tired he is. For all the benefits it offered, Hoenn felt like hell on earth. She was still reeling from the Penitentiary business. [break][break]

"In the meantime," she offered, "we have each other and lots of liquor." Her amusement was clear to see. It was easier to temper the crazy storm of Hoenn with like-minded people. Easier still when your goal was to find a fool-proof way out of it all, an escape into an alternate dimension through the realm of dreams.

TAGS – THEO BECKETT [break]

NOTES – dw / completely randomized types [break][break]

The question hooks her. She needs to know what he's going to share about the dreams. [break][break]

"I could have Legal produce an NDA, but my retainer of lawyers work rather slowly... though their contract work is always air-tight. I will tell you this much: given what you are, the data you can offer me about dreams is far, far more valuable than whatever story I could spin to tabloids, or whatever else you might be concerned about." Certainly, he wasn't going to spill League secrets. What else could he fear beyond his reputation? [break][break]

She had little interest in a smear campaign and no need for further profit.

TAGS – MATIAS SILPH [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

She smiles. He's an interesting man. She knows most of the public stuff about him, but she's spent little time reading Rocket dossiers on big name Leaguers because she spends such a significant time behind battle lines and working behind the scenes. Still, she can only imagine the kind of horrors that come to him in his dreams after all he's been through. She wonders how his dreams have been impacted by his relationship with divinity. [break][break]

But that isn't polite conversation. [break][break]

"Complicated in what way?" She leans back, positive this conversation will not be brief. "I am always happy to get to the bottom of unusual dream activity, though if this is more a result of recent troubles, I must admit that I am a poor therapist." Psychology held relevance to dreams, but it was far less important than the layperson might suspect.

TAGS – MATIAS SILPH [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

A success. She sighed with relief. "One for the books." The shadow army grew. [break][break]

His excitement was contagious. The glint in his eye was not unlike... "You are like your sister. I can see it now, when you are in your element." But no scientist could be faulted for the relief and the exhilaration of an experiment coming to fruition. [break][break]

"I do not think this," she gestured to his miasma, "is in the cards for me, so I will have to settle for home training. But I look forward to seeing what it can do." Of course, she had her fill in sudden violence from her own pokemon, so she couldn't see herself bothering with any further. [break][break]

The pokemon unable to shed their toxic chains were of greater interest to her. "If I get my hands on any other candidates, or any shadow pokemon outright, you are welcome to them. I think Unown will suffice for my purposes."[break][break]

"I am curious to see if shadow pokemon can influence my dream experiments." She tried to manage her glee.

TAGS – Cillian Quinn [break]

NOTES – canon connections[break][break]

It is unbelievably easy to hide behind Porgyon's flawed but powerful code running and the capacity of her laboratory to operate so seamlessly without human oversight. Both are testaments to her strengths: ambition and perseverance. Both, however, failed to serve her needs. It is far too easy to point out every factor that aligned in the most unfortunate mishap of her scientific career, that this was mathematically infinitesmal and therefore unworthy of safety protocols or contingency. [break][break]

But easy has never been rewarded. [break][break]

That, and he does her the favor of not hopping over her desk to strangle her, so she feels incentivized to give him the whole truth. "I have been preparing a thorough recounting of events for you, Cillian, Elisabeth. I intend to hand it over. I just need more time to untangle the corrupted data to give the most accurate information." Some of it will never be rescued, for no fault of her own. [break][break]

"The shortest version: Porygon's census data was incorrect. He pulled people from the 'do not select' category. He pulled you and several admins from Rocket, and known Leaguers with notable prowess. All. Bad. Choices." She was unsure if naming anyone further was a good idea. Matias and Josh were problems if they knew. [break][break]

"It did not stop at running the data; it initiated the experiment. My pokemon and a team of non-Rocket fixers abducted twelve people. You were all brought to my lab. You were fed a dream mist concoction of my own creation. All candidates were paired up to learn more about shared dream spaces. You were paired with Cillian Quinn ."[break][break]

She might be pushing things in asking, but. "Do you... remember? The initial dream?"

TAGS – Tempest Quinn [break]
NOTES –

She came across a white form. Upon closer inspection, it was an Oranguru. The pokemon seemed to be at peace. She was meditating. "Seems like an object lesson." Sigilyph didn't react to her attempt at humor, but Sigilyph was a pretty straight-faced pokemon for one lacking a face completely.[break][break]

Ameena pulled a pokeball. "I could use some serenity on my team." She tossed the pokeball, and Sigilyph used gravity to hold the ball down and dissuade attempts to break free.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – normal/psychic SW catch[break][break]

She had not been in Rocket when she came to Hoenn. She had come for research opportunities; she had not known, then, just how many opportunities would be here. [break][break]

"The price is too high," she assessed immediately. "For all the power granted through Avatarship here, and for all the unique and unnatural creatures like the Ultra Beasts and the Paradoxes, what has any one of us actually gained for it?" Pessimistic, sure. Unfortunately, her goals meant she had to stay here. The anomalies in Hoenn gave her far too many breakthroughs in her research. That, and the brilliant Lulu Flint was here, and she was the greatest collaborator for Ameena's goals. [break][break]

"But if you were not here," she ventured, "where would you be? And after what we have seen in Hoenn, how could anywhere else offer fulfillment?" It would be quiet, elsewhere. Too quiet. And you would be condemned to watch all that goes down in Hoenn.

TAGS – THEO BECKETT [break]

NOTES – dw / completely randomized types [break][break]

She had taken to travelling by foot lately. It was obviously faster to teleport, but things had been moving so quickly lately that this small concession put her mind at rest. Slowing down physically gave her time to process. Additionally, the act of achieving something like travelling for necessary resources or to meet with a client let her take this processing time without guilt. After all, she was being productive. And, her pokemon seemed to appreciate the time to stretch their legs.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – normal/psychic SW[break][break]

She entered her professional persona as she rose to accept his hand shake. "Mr. Silph," she acknowledged with a polite smile. She sat back in her chair and assessed him. It was unclear if he was suffering nightmares or narcolepsy or addictive and obsessive qualities just from looking at him. There were so many possible side effects of the study that she was still trying to quantify. [break][break]

She didn't intend to waste her time or his with excessive pleasantries. She wanted to extract data from him as efficiently as possible. His own interpretation of the events could be interesting, but so far, no one had shared the nature of the initial dream, and no one had been forthcoming about any fixation on the person they dreamt with. But the ball was in his court. "What brings you in?"

TAGS – MATIAS SILPH [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

As she reached the exit, a misty terrain filled the area. She spared a glance at Sigilyph. It spoke volumes. Her pokemon went off to find the pokemon behind it. Ameena examined her nails as she waited. In about a minute, her companion returned with a knocked-out Popplio. She wasn't sure what use to make of it quite yet, but if nothing else, the performance capacity of the Popplio could be useful if there was a lucrative contest in the future.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – warden sz | catch[break][break]