"This can be a fast excursion, too," Ameena told herself as they wandered into the tunnel. She had little interest in staying underground for long periods of time. She wanted to luck out and catch an ideal pokemon at the first encounter much like last week. Gardevoir remained unimpressed and nearly judgmental -- but Ameena wasn't claustrophobic, okay? She just preferred fresh air. That's all. Really.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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The Metang appeared as they turned a corner and immediately when on the offensive. The Gardevoir stood between them and threw herself into combat. She launched mystical fire to burn the steel pokemon. It used magnet rise to evade the assault. Gardevoir used imprison to hold it in place. As the Metang fought against its restraints, she launched mystical fire again. Ameena simply watched as Gardevoir took the steel pokemon out methodically with her fire until it collapsed in her prison. Ameena was just happy for the reason to leave. She tossed a pokeball.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – catching![break][break]

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She sighed, but not because he was an annoyance. This time, it was a sound of concession. Tera crystals did have unpredictable impacts on pokemon behavior. It was difficult to run control groups because of the odd energy of the crystals. They seemed to be a catch-all for unusual power interactions - the only predictable quality was that you could not wholly predict an outcome of a tera experiment. [break][break]

"Well, I suppose I am just sight-seeing, then." She would need several trips to better understand if the iron boulders here behaved oddly, though she would also need a few samples from ones that were not exposed to crystals. Still, she was confident about her hunch. [break][break]

She made a face at his response. It didn't seem like he was being coy. Still, he didn't have a Ranger armband nor the excess of safety equipment she associated with Leaguers. How could she better inquire about him? "If you are not a scientist, what brings you to the chasm?" The area certainly wasn't safe. [break][break]

She turned at the sound of movement; an iron boulder had earned its namesake in throwing a boulder at the two of them. Immediately, Gardevoir stood between Ameena and the pokemon and used psychic to hold the boulder in place. "Get rid of it," Ameena instructed coldly. The Gardevoir obeyed, tossing the boulder back at the ground type. Gardevoir teleported down into the ring of iron boulders and began to fight with the herd.

TAGS – Tempest Quinn [break]

NOTES – mission (the great chasm of hoenn)[break][break]

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Her head is spinning from the sight of so many gods about the ship. A sick pleasure twists in her belly as the wardens fall from the onslaught, but the sheer power behind everyone's sygna suits, mega evolutions, z-moves, and avatarships only convinces Ameena how important it is to craft an impeccable 'get the hell out of dodge' card to play when needed. That, or maybe an indestructible bomb shelter of sorts, but the force of everyone's attacks made that seem unlikely. [break][break]

She needed wine. [break][break]

Their targets were backed into a corner -- the wardens had fallen, the never-rot/pecharunt was no daunting force, and the Megalopolan mastermind was at their collective mercy. Ameena could appreciate mob rule in some scenarios, but the rapid calls for death and revenge had admittedly surprised her. [break][break]

Ameena drew closer and found herself beside a masked woman, Neffatari Nzingha , who advocated quietly for their value as subjects of study. Ameena was thinking the same, particularly with the bracelet she had pocketed from Novina. "They know much that we do not," Ameena agreed, "it would be foolish to extinguish their spark." After all, Ameena had seen the notes from their society left in the ultra spaces, and it was hard to piece together. Living subjects would be easier. [break][break]

She returned Espathra and sent out Kirlia who produced a curing life dew also. More quietly, she murmured, "We can always kill them later."

TAGS – [break]
NOTES – votes spare [break]
action: sends out kirlia to produce life dew [break]VSqGDFYU

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Ameena rarely spent time in this area of HQ. She often visited just for a little rest and relaxation in the middle of a trip around Hoenn, so she frequented the break room and the tea selection there. But she was making an effort to visit more often and get to meet the newer members; it was important if she wanted future volunteers for a sleep study. More than that, it was important to know just what your allies were capable of. [break][break]

When asked to oversee the ghost extermination, she eagerly accepted. She was paired with a... kasper thaler . Hmm. [break][break]

Ameena stepped into the entrance of the dorms to see one other person, someone she had not seen before. "Are you Kasper? I am Ameena, here to see that the ghost problem is handled effectively." She was eager to see what the other could do.

TAGS – kasper thaler[break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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Ameena walked behind Gardevoir, letting the sensitive pokemon ahead to hedge her bets about a fast reaction in case of a cave-in. While she had little trouble with caves in her lifetime, getting stuck inside rusturf tunnel sounded like the worst possible way to generate a fear of the underground. She had wanted more research in the great chasm, too, so it would truly inconvenience her to struggle. [break][break]

Explicitly, her decision was not made of fear but a pre-emptive desire to avoid developing one, of course. She was simply cautious. And if Gardevoir looked rather unimpressed with her current line of thought, the tall psychic knew better than to communicate such doubt. They were looking to grow Ameena's team. Nothing crazy; just in and out, really.

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – [break][break]

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She didn't often find herself in Sootopolis, but she had been curious about the casino in town based on chatter she had caught in HQ. Gambling wasn't her thing - she played next to no card games - but she found the uptick in gaming lately to be a fascinating consequence of the added stress in the region. People were scared and uncertain of what was coming. [break][break]

Gambling as a result of that fear was worth seeing in person. And truly, the casino was packed like barboach. People were hoping to earn enough money to protect themselves in the coming conflict. Perhaps, even more were hoping to distract themselves from the anxiety altogether. She couldn't guess with any certainty what the split was. And, she supposed, there were people in this casino that would've been in here if the sky was falling. Addiction did not pause for potentially life-shattering events like a war. [break][break]

TAGS – [break]

NOTES – rigged gacha rolls mission[break][break]

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Smoke hangs in the air like a confession that can't be taken back. Trench warfare was a dated method, but she had ordered her Sergeant's orthworm to make such a ground formation for them as they circled the insurgents. Galar was home to a few terror organizations, but while the intel stated as such, she had a feeling this was less about insurgency and more about a group of radically progressive politically-active youth who wanted the monarchy to be dismantled for greater and better things. [break][break]

The distinct lack of military training or weaponry gave it away, along with the fact that group had made no demands and had no insignias, as one might expect terror organizations to have. But more than that, they were in a country-side home instead of taking cover somewhere more defensible. [break][break]

The situation is a play on the destruction of a village, though the scenario has shifted to be smaller and more personable. Instead of combing the streets for political radicals, she stands in a trench before a house. It's not a decision she would normally make, but in the dream, it seems quite rational despite the lack of projectile weapons or snipers. There's no reason not to charge forward, no reason not to just appear with a teleport. [break][break]

Her Sergeant generates a smokescreen with his tentacruel. Ameena walks through it, unencumbered by the smoke. Her other soldiers create a ruckus in the expanse between the house and the trench, drawing fire. It's obvious something is traveling through the smoke, but the insurgents or politically active youth or whatever they are do not fire on it. There's nearly a mile to traverse, but Ameena stands before the house in just a minute. [break][break]

The smoke sits on her tongue like a secret. The door to the house is unlocked. She can hear screaming upstairs in a language she doesn't understand and yet, all the same, she knows they are cursing the government and promising to kill her soldiers. [break][break]

She feels removed from her body, watching from a third person perspective, unfeeling as she sees herself walk up the stairs with her sword drawn. It's ceremonial. She has guns, several, and a knife, and draws nothing but the sword. She has pokemon to fight this fight for her. She has Espathra to teleport her directly into the house ages ago but made no move to release her; she had Munna to put them all to sleep for an execution, but never released her. [break][break]

It would be a true dream if it were just a power fantasy. It would be a true nightmare if it were just the separation of mind and body, the powerlessness of it. This one is neither. [break][break]

The faces of the youth always change. She knows she must have seen these faces in passing, that the mind cannot construct expressions well enough to design its own people, but she never knows a single one. They come at her haphazardly, streaked in dirt and tears and anger. She strikes them down with her sword with practiced ease. They never lay a hand on her. They always fall to slaughter like miltank. Every time she goes through the dream - with a different strategy, with a different team, with a different setting - she always wins the fight effortlessly, without emotion, without active thought. [break][break]

She wakes and writes down every conceivable detail on top of letting Musharna consume it; eventually, she will understand this one, which is so perplexing. Is it a nightmare, the feeling of being a puppet on a string? Is it a dream, the unstoppable force that she is? Is her mind asking her to work through her military experience, though the scenario is never similar enough to a mission to truly reflect it? She always wakes to the scent of smoke.

d r e a m – G 13[break][break][break]

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