This Howard was not the one she met months ago, nor even the one who had been in her sleep study. She didn't like what she saw when she looked at him. He had lofty ideas for humanity and saving it, but he had fallen into a dark pit. [break][break]

"You are making a case to day drink," Ameena said in complete monotone. "When is the last time you abstained from drinking for a full twenty-four hours of your own volition?" She did her best to meet Makoto's gaze, to signal with her eyes that - at no cost - should they let Howard drink himself to death. It was her responsibility as a Rocket to keep that from happening, and it was her responsibility as a scientist to keep her most promising test subject from dying in their reality.

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi howard slayte [break]

NOTES - disagreege[break][break]

For all the darkness Howard had been plagued with lately, she had hoped the excavation would bring out a better side of him. The sight of him buried in a flask immediately thrashed such hopes. [break][break]

She let Capsakid out into the site to launch seeds at the undergrowth. [break][break]

"The heat will not mix well with your drink," she mused. Makoto's Erebus took a similar interest in his flask. "How long can we get away with this activity before the ultra beasts intervene? In every area of ultra space, the wildlife have been aggressive and territorial." She pulled up a water bottle of her own. She had no interest in fainting so early in the project due to the heat.

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi howard slayte [break]

NOTES - capsakid uses bullet seed (25 bp)[break][break]

Ameena visibly cringed at Makoto's warning. She could imagine the horrific sight, and unfortunately, she was imagining it a lot. The Deep Sea had revealed a plethora of horrors that hid in the abyss. This creature from space would undoubtedly fit right in. [break][break]

The tera blast threw Malamar flying backwards. The tera Deoxys refused to hold back. [break][break]

"Its memories?" For all the risk of dealing with space pokemon, she had to give some credit: they were unendingly interesting. Memories lied closer to her field of expertise than space exploration, so it brought her a crumb of comfort against the dream mist creation. "So, we want it to remember how to change?" She hadn't expected the power to rely on such an internal process. She assumed the ability was locked behind a more external factor.

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

The stars were plenty. [break][break]

She tucked into the telescope. There were many threats that came from the abyss above, but she could appreciate the beauty. From a distance, of course. Much like the Ultra Deep Sea, she preferred a safe viewing distance because the beauty did not outweigh the violence inside. Necrozma unsettled her deeply, and even Deoxys felt unknowable. [break][break]

Another meteor could come down and wipe them out, ignorant of the in-fighting that plagued the region. More macabre thoughts chased her, but she laid it to rest with a long exhale. The stars were plenty. [break][break]

She was unimaginative in some ways, and this was one of them, but she could still make out the definitive v-shape of one constellation. It had to be the shape of the one that perished all that time ago, the harbinger of victory.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – VStR [break][break]

She's focused more on the cadaver than Diana, interpreting her hesitation to be a polite professionalism in letting Ameena have first go at the body. "That is a good question..." Unfortunately, she knows nothing of his prior life. He's clearly a gym goer, since the mug has some kind of Rustboro gym circuit logo, and the man's clearly in shape. He could have a heart condition or some other underlying problem. Some people who frequent gyms do so out of a compulsion to control their health after a troubled, hospital-riddled childhood. It came down to the illusion of control. [break][break]

Illusion... "What if he died of fright? There has been an uptick of ghosts. Of displaced pokemon around Petalburg, really. An angry one could have produced such a horrifying sight that he just..." She made a brief choking sound. A dark amusement surrounded the scene for her - being a veteran, she's seen so many tragedies that few can throw her off her feet. [break][break]

Then, two guards come in, dragging a knocked out Lucario between them.

TAGS – Diana Cavendish [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Ameena's slow to pick up on the nature of Diana's question, taking it more genuine than a display of disgust. "This is Richard King. Night shift guard. He has a Lucario as a teammate, which the remaining crew are bringing our way." She glanced down at her phone which held some of that information. The notification to drag her to this case was only twenty minutes prior. Perhaps, they'd assigned more established Rockets to the case based on geographical location to get this handled quickly. After all, neither of them hold a skill set strongly aligned with investigative work. [break][break]

She lowered herself to one knee besides King to tug at his shirt collar for marks. No bug bites, no needle marks, no rashes. They need a cause of death. It couldn't be something inconspicuous like a heart attack given his partner's KO'd status. But what the hell could've done this...?

TAGS – Diana Cavendish [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Ameena's secretary isn't paid enough, but, more than anyone else on her payroll, he's got more awareness of her nighttime job (and her basement projects and her allegiance and and and). His silence is valuable and fairly compensated. She had told him to expect dem, and the description Ameena gave was accurate enough to send Fenelle to her door. [break][break]

"Come in," she offers before realizing Fen won't hear it. But Rotom covers the mistake and the two of them enter. Her assessing gaze is filled with a strange excitement that she can't cull back in the name of professionalism.[break][break]

Fen's got a problem that's peculiar. It's a problem Ameena's had, too. Whatever happens of the experiments today, it'll be valuable. [break][break]

She gets straight to business. She'll have to have her Alakazam teleport them to her laboratory shortly, but the questions can begin where it's more comfortable. "When did you notice the bizarre behavior?"

TAGS – Fenelle Miller [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

It doesn't need to be real. The implications of a dream!Deoxys impacting the real Deoxys - Erebus - and improving its abilities were tantalizing. If it were true, it begged the question of what other dream manifestations could materially alter the real world without ever becoming real themselves. Beyond a few cracks in a tera-laden cave, that is. [break][break]

The crystal Deoxys' aggression could not be understated. Ameena could appreciate how it focused Erebus rather than herself. "What will the absorption look like?" It's a process she can hardly wrap her head around. It only exacerbates the supernatural otherworldly-ness of Deoxys. She's got a bit of a bitter taste from spatial threats after seeing the monstrous destruction and nature of Necrozma. But Erebus seems to be made of different stuff, literally and metaphorically. [break][break]

"Hold it down," she suggested. Malamar obeyed, using gravity around the crystalline Deoxys to make it more difficult to maneuver. More quietly, she added, "I have never seen a dream manifestation use tera before."

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Ameena couldn't see it. The sounds of battle were unmistakable, however. She did her best to use what senses were available to her to predict if combat came to close, but the measure was unnecessary. Xurkitree quickly dispatched of the Bisharp that had charged after it. It's zap cannon shook the ground for a few moments before blessed stillness rested over the environment again. Ameena caught up to the still Xurkitree to see the fainted Bisharp. [break][break]

There was no need to waste a perfectly good specimen. She tossed a pokeball.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – incense used - steel | catch[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Xurkitree trekked ahead. [break][break]

The icy environment disagreed with Ameena on a molecular level. She preferred hot and dry climates to the freeze that bit into her skin. The flurry threatened to blind her against the overwhelming whiteness of the environment. She had Xurkitree's flickering brightness to guide her ahead. The two of them were hunting for special pokemon after receiving reports of extra large steel types in the area. A few new additions to her collection couldn't hurt, but perhaps she should have weighed the location more heavily in her decision making.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – incense used - steel[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Of all she could have predicted, the visage of a meteor wasn't on the list. Her research had led her to Alola during the time of Meteno, so she had missed experiencing it outside of RKS. The metaphysical alarm projected from Erebus gave her enough time for her mount to pull them away. Ameena then switched out the Pyroar for Malamar, who would be better suited for combat. [break][break]

The crystallized (terastallized?) Deoxys before them took her breath away. [break][break]

Ameena never expected to see another in her lifetime. "This must be what we are looking for, unless the mist has conjured up what you seek as a mockery." Such a thing couldn't be put past the natural phenomena of Hoenn. Tera and interdream mist worked in tandem to tease helpless people about what they could never have. She had witnessed her mum far too many times to ever forget it. But her research with Lulu Flint gave her hope that they could make these manifestations real with the help of Celebi and other factors. [break][break]

"How do we know if it is real?"

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Ameena appreciated Makoto's immediate loyalty. It was that exact trait that she sought to foster in her League contacts. Rather, both of them had loyalty, but she needed to shift it from an allegiance of the League to an allegiance to their own principles, which would allow her to serve their goals while they assisted her in her own. It was all she could ask of someone - to stick together for as long as their purposes aligned. [break][break]

She wondered if Howard had earned their loyalty, or if it was something Makoto simply offered to those they deemed deserving. [break][break]

The presence of Erebus in her mind forced her to flinch, though she soon recovered. The feeling was bizarre but not abrasive. "Who could be down here?" Her voice was hushed, conspiratorial. Then, the pink mist rolled in ahead. [break][break]

"Is Erebus sensing something in the mist already?" Those advanced senses would come in handy. Ameena tensed automatically, fearing another appearance of Fezandipiti.

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

In the immediate aftermath of Petalburg, she had visited him in the hospital and ended up in his dreamscape. His mind had held a facsimile of Galar, though it was one that never existed in their reality. Howard held strong feelings about that Galar, the one she had seen snippets of but couldn't fully comprehend. [break][break]

How to justify the question... "He's changed," she said simply. His physical appearance was only one element. Some other darkness seemed to shroud him, one he hadn't held before. She recalled their first meeting, hunting eggs that logistics had misplaced in HQ. She could tell there was something different about him compared to the other Rocket brass, but she'd never been able to put her finger on it. Now, though, he seemed different in a new way, and similar in one she hadn't expected but couldn't verbalize. [break][break]

"I worry he is unwell. More than he seems, that is. He has been through some unprecedented events. The energy he has been exposed to could be... well, pay it no mind." She shook her head and refocused on the tera crystals they passed. "I am something of a worry wart, after all."[break][break]

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi [break]

NOTES – [break][break]