"Psychic presence," she echoed with interest. "That must come in handy." Psychics were her preference. She wondered if that kind of sense could be overwhelmed. It felt inappropriate to ask, though she did want to know more about the limits of such an intuition. [break][break]

Her expression darkened at the thought of Fezandipiti. "I did not fight it directly during the... episode... but it fought with its toxic chain again. It is very reliant on its poison to infect the mind of its attackers." Something resistant to poison was a must. But Ameena had little interest in continuing to revisit such a dark moment. The panic she had felt was beneath her, but something about the warden pokemon had filled her with an overwhelming helplessness. [break][break]

She preferred any other topic, really. "Have you worked with howard slayte lately?" He'd been unhinged, and the way he'd hurt Montgomery James would need to be answered for. She wondered if Makoto had an insight into Howard's behavior lately. Was he on a war path or was their fight a one-off?

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Tera wasn't her favorite element to study, but it continued to prove itself relevant to her research. But Makoto was good company, and Ameena could enjoy some the scenery of the area. It's capacity to draw in dangerous paradox pokemon made it impossible to let her guard down. [break][break]

She rode on Pyroar who followed Makoto dutifully. "Nothing out of the ordinary," she responded as she continued to survey. "Last time I was here, I saw a Fezandipiti again." It's visage had unleashed great anxiety in her. She hadn't realized how much she had held onto from the Penitentiary until faced with her warden again. She wasn't sure what to expect for anything relating to Deoxys. The pokemon was strange in many ways. [break][break]

"Do you think Erebus will sense when something's out of place here?"

TAGS – Makoto Kurumi [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Petalburg's conquest had suffered relatively few challenges. There was no massive League assault to take the city back. The skirmishes at the outskirts were largely handled without giving any territory up. Consequently, the murder of a Rocket guard on watch left the organization on high alert. It could be a sign of infiltration. [break][break]

"What an interesting pair they have assigned the case." She looked to Diana with open amusement. She hadn't seen the other woman since the Penitentiary. [break][break]

She opened the door to the break room of the refurbished grocery store (now a defensible building at the edge of town). The deceased guard lies on the ground, body untouched. His coffee mug is room temperature now and half-filled. Papers are scattered on the desk, but none have fallen to the floor.

TAGS – Diana Cavendish [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

The idea of their bodies being left unattended is panic-inducing, but the presence of Lulu Flint and Naomi Sato both serve to settle her. No force can overpower the sheer amount of skill and proficiency and strength aboard the ship. Surely, they'll be okay, and surely, those that she doesn't see now must be awake and guarding. [break][break]

Saorise, the suddenly-appearing doctor had said. She doesn't recognize him. Project Chimera doesn't ring a bell, either, but she lacks the clearance for a lot of special projects. [break][break]

Lulu shoots the man and they blink out of existence. [break][break]

"We should follow our host," Ameena says as she rubs at her eyepatch-covered eye. She spares a glance at oscar clayton before she forces herself awake, gasping into awareness. [break][break]

The sounds of battle are clear. [break][break]

Ameena doesn't pay any mind to the rest of those in the bunk, assuming the rest are waking like herself. Lulu mentions the crystal, so Ameena throws herself out of the bunk and carries Unown's pokeball out with her. The paradox beasts by the tera crystal are facing away from the entrance the crew and Ameena can use to enter, which gives them a precious opening. "I can hold them still for an assault," she whispers, releasing her shadowed Unown. If Fenelle Miller is by her side, she'll spare dem a glance, offering some visual encouragement. Perhaps all the lessons dee had taken over der time in Rocket would payoff right here and now. [break][break]

And, barring anyone stopping her, Ameena would order Unown's shadow snare on the nearest iron moth.

TAGS – relevant to the waking and cargo bay crew    [break]

NOTES – eyepatch on left eye [break]wakes up and heads to the cargo bay[break]shadow snares an iron moth[break] pJtJX5GU

She shut down immediately at his challenge. All emotion left her face and she waited, like a scientist in an observation hall or a sniper adjusting for wind. She instructed herself not to feel hurt at the question, though something angry tore its way through regardless. She would never ask him to turn his hand against Navy. Her wounds from battle with him had been superficial, but had they been debilitating, she would not have asked it of Montgomery. [break][break]

In two words, he offers her a chilling ice bath to clear her head of the warm but foolish reality it had previously been living in. She had been stupid to think progressively chipping at his oath to the League would lead him to her side. As he turned away, the space between them felt too small. She felt suffocated by it. [break][break]

How much of her life had she organized around him lately? [break][break]

The sight of him turned away from her was sobering enough for her to leave the bedroom and then the complex altogether. Not home, but some other place that held nothing of value. She belonged to her lab and her studies alone.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break]

Ameena's breath caught as he said he didn't think about the future much anymore. She feared the worst. He was resilient, but everyone had limits. Avoiding the future was a symptom of a larger problem. Perhaps, she had underestimated howard slayte in more ways than one. "The future is all we have," she argued. In her own case, she obsessed over an alternate future that she would have to fight to obtain. [break][break]

"Howard's not someone you can underestimate." He knew that, clearly, but she couldn't help herself from fretting. "You need a plan, and you need allies." The silence after felt heavy - she could not offer herself to help him take down Howard. Howard could be key to a turning point in her research.[break][break]

It would hurt her to be rid of Howard, but it would hurt her to lose Montgomery. The best outcome was for their quarrel to be a series of stalemates. This was not, of course, a sentiment that a supportive girlfriend could offer. "You do not have to worry about it now," she conceded, rubbing at his jaw in the hopes of soothing any vengeful flames she might have stirred up in him.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – [break]

"Messing with someone's dreams," she expands thoughtfully, "requires a psychic interference. One person has little control over what another dreams, though I suppose I could have tried to impose my sleeping mind's works onto that visible 'scape. The issue is that I have built a significant resistance to what Musharna releases." She hums. [break][break]

"But through other means, I certainly could have. The problem lies in this: you must open your mind to enter someone else's or to even influence theirs. There is no one-way door. If I had tried something of this nature, you would have had opportunity to mess with mine, also." She doesn't explain that she wouldn't need someone to alter her dreams - she dreams every night, and she relives her mistakes without power to stop it. Sisyphus.[break][break]

But that is neither here nor there, really. "This dream work is not mind control, Matias. Is that more what you are getting at?"

TAGS – MATIAS SILPH [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

Despite Evelyn insisting she didn't want to know, Ameena offered an explanation. "Blacephalon is an ultra beast from one of those wormholes." As she spoke, one opened above them. "It stems from Megalopolis." She didn't need to explain the danger factor. They were both staring at a ticking bomb, after all. [break][break]

"We should take our leave." The wormhole above yawned open while their pokemon fought. The Blacephalon was overwhelmed and confused from hypnosis, giving them a good window to escape.

TAGS – Evelyn Vespera [break]

NOTES – leave[break][break]

[attr="class","itemcolicon"]

[attr="class","itemcolname"]ultra beast event

[attr="class","lgdcol"]

[attr="class","itemcoltexttit"]BLACEPHALON 1-B

[attr="class","itemcoltext"]You attack the Blacephalon alongside other figures. You may witness some familiar faces: Adrian Malcolm and his Arcanine, Thomas Benoit and his Scizor, Noah Faber and his Unfezant, Kyle Lopez and his Manectric, Remiel Calcifet and his Solrock, Fernando Silph and his Tapu Fini. Though they may recognize you in return, it is all but a shallow connection. After all, they are simulations.[break][break]

The battle is fierce. The Blacephalon's head is tossed around like a hot potato before it explodes and another takes its place above the Ultra Beast's collar. Another Blacephalon bomb descends from atop the lighthouse like a New Year's ball.[break][break]

Eventually you defeat the Blacephalon and/or defuse the bomb in some way. Whether you fail or succeed, an ultra wormhole emerges for you to leap into...

An almost remorseful expression falls on her face at his incredulity. Her case is a rare one, but it's been blessing and curse. She needs the constant access to the dream realm for her studies. It's a shame that so much of it warrants revisiting nightmarish scenarios and the event of grief that's kept her from living a normal, satisfying life all this time. [break][break]

Instead, she focuses on his skill. "I better hear you play outside of this dream. I want to know how rusty you really are." Another thing to tease him about. Maybe he could retire from his League work and play music instead, though she knew that kind of simple life wouldn't be enough for him, not when so many people needed help. She couldn't help herself from picturing scenarios where he could be her kept man, reality be damned. [break][break]

The magic of a dream, really.

TAGS – Montgomery James [break]

NOTES – get in sygna[break][break]