Nihilego smarted at the reflection, but Kirlia telported from the attack and brought herself to Ameena's side. Frogadier sped up and launched quick attack at the Cinderace. Nihilego recovered enough to wrap around Archaludon. The unusual use of Mean Look held her captive as he teleported behind her, teasing. [break][break]

"Getting distracted by my voice?" She tsk'd. "I thought you were raised a gentleman, but I must say, there is nothing polite about invading my personal space. And I thought we were getting along." It would be boring for things to end here, but Ameena had few options to escape a blade, as hypothetical as its threat was. [break][break]

"So," she said as she found the strength to turn to face him, too close for comfort. "What was the lesson? Always have a mirror coat ready? Teleport before your opponent does?" She had countless pokemon that knew the move - it was as much as a staple for psychic types as it was one for unsavory characters indulging in criminal activity. "Had I my scope, you would certainly be wingull food..."[break][break]

Everyone had strengths and weaknesses. She performed better from afar. Amor had a broader spread of pokemon types than she did and much more experience using them.

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Espathra fainted to the reflection of her own attack. "Plans can change if you have the resources to execute new ones." Battle was more complicated than one pokemon. She sent out Kirlia in place of Edith, who used mystical fire on his Archaluadon. "I have rarely fought on a fair battlefield, Amor; you must keep this in mind. My victories and medals are from assaults in the shadows, from tactics that skirt around the ethical law established for combat, from eluding expectations."[break][break]

She was a sniper for much of her career, though her family chastised her for battling so far behind. Yet, picking off what her pokemon could not was pleasurable and successful. She liked having overwatch and making the judgement calls. True to form, she sent out a third simultaneous pokemon, releasing Frogadier to hit Cinderace with water gun. Nihilego approached Archaluadon with power gem. [break][break]

"If I have enough pokemon to hold you back, it might be that stalling tactic that wins the larger battle. It does not matter how expert I battle, for I am no trainer, Amor... I was a Brigadier General. I fight with my pawns, not my pokemon. They keep themselves alive and keep others occupied just long enough to get into my crosshairs." She would inflict the same strategy on the next setting Rocket tried to overtake. "Should you KO my team, I always hold onto an ace to get me away. Should you kill my team, I catch another."

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

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He yielded. [break][break]

She sighed with relief. He turned on his heel to walk off, and she followed, glad to leave Draco behind. "Together," she echoed. They were going to escape the prison and take down as many miserable Megalopolans as possible. And then, they would inspect the rubble and derive value from it. This was going to be huge for her research. She was eager to learn more about what Amor had said earlier about dreams and tera. [break][break]

"I am not sure they left any secrets to destroying them in this little dreamscape, but the architecture is at least pleasant." She stood beside him in front of the large tower. She knew some destroyed skeleton of it still existed, but she had yet to visit that wild area. She was still processing the Ultra Deep Sea, to be totally honest. "It would be nice to watch it all burn with my own eyes. Maybe we can revisit after all of this nonsense, and you can let Draco breathe fire over all of it." Destruction was not a very viable coping mechanism, but doing it in your dreams negated all the real consequences.

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

His pokemon was interesting. It took the hit well. Too well. Edith was visibly dizzy from the iron head return. While all eyes were on her, Ameena tossed out her Nihilego as well - the very one she hatched from her expedition with Amor. The nihilego used toxic spikes on the battlefield, as she figured he would send another pokemon out to match her duo. "Sure. People have to prepare for their tools."[break][break]

Really, it wasn't a bad assessment. "But from another perspective, the tools are the moves the pokemon wield; they, themselves, are the craftspeople." Edith was good at using her skills. She was only ever held back by Ameena's need to not kill everything everywhere all the time. Edith used dazzling gleam on his Cinderace. "I think it unnecessary to always insert ourselves. Nature can handle itself. I pick pokemon with a good sense of self-preservation. They win the battle, and I win the war."

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – Released Nihilego (used toxic spikes), Espathra used dazzling gleam on cinderace[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

She averted his gaze at his request. She really couldn't understand. She wasn't sure what to offer him -- placating him was ineffective, but he might take offense if she said they should leave. Still, there wasn't anything they could do. Even if the Dragonite was released, what could the two of them do with the dragon in their dreams? [break][break]

"What if the Megalopolans are gaining something from your emotions? Perhaps, they wanted this to be a provocative experience. They gave our ward that mask of desire, so I think they want our strong feelings for some greater purpose." It was not possible for her to rule it out. They had showed her what she desired most, and the desire had been twisted, too. They casted doubts in her mind about her greatest ambitions. She would kill them for it. [break][break]

She spared a gaze at his suspended Dragonite. "We cannot help him like this. Save your energy," she pleaded.

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Ah, he wanted a baseline for her battle prowess. It was necessary to understand your subject before you introduced other factors. She was not offended to be his test subject; in fact, she was curious what he would learn about her. [break][break]

There was no need to act any differently even though she was being observed with thoughtful, critical eyes. She would not let it upset her balance. "Show him, Edith." The bird needed no further instruction. As Amor sent out the sporty fire rabbit pokemon, Edith shot into the air to dive into him with lumina crash. It was her signature attack, although the bird preferred the sadism offered by drill peck when she had a plaything in front of her. [break][break]

"I wonder if you have brought that big bad Deoxys with you today." She crossed her arms as she watched the battle. "My tools are not quite as fun."

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Ameena thanked Giovanni for giving directions to the training grounds; after landing, she had felt a little disoriented. She was still concerned about Amor after everything that had happened lately, but most of all, she was stuck on how he had reacted to his Dragonite. With the invasion incoming, he had invited her to the training grounds to test her strength, and she had hoped to get a good assessment of his mental state at the same time. [break][break]

"Here at last," she said as greeting, spreading her hands out in a dramatic flourish. The only pokemon beside her was her longest companion, Edith the Espathra. The bird was sizing Amor up already, eager for a fight, but she was always a little bloodthirsty. It had served Ameena well in her last tour in the military. "What are we learning today, professor?" As teasing as her question was, she really was curious as to what he wanted to see today.

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Ameena was pleased to have his support on her research, though she had questions about his own hypothesis and how he came to it. But more support for her studies was always a good thing, especially with someone accomplished. Amor, Lulu, and Ameena in one lab could make breakthroughs in a week that not one of them could accomplish in months. She valued collaboration above most else... finding competence without unnecessary ethical boundaries was the hard part. [break][break]

"I must dedicate more time to finding those willing subjects, so it is best I take my leave." But she was eager to see his work in action, so she needed to make herself available for another visit. As it was, she really did need to put more work into her studies; she had overextended herself lately with her efforts to network. [break][break]

She would let herself be walked out, glad that there were no burned bridges between them. She trusted they could collaborate on missions and avoid going for each other's throats, so she just needed to see how they researched together. "Good night, Amor."

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

She could have never guessed he would bear so much pain over his pokemon being captured. Was it the ego of it? It must hurt to have your pokemon taken and put up like trophies. She hadn't seen her team around her yet, but she was unconcerned. She could understand if his pride was injured; as an upper admin of Rocket, this kind of thing was insult to injury, and then some. [break][break]

"Amor... are you feeling OK?" The same question she had asked at their excursion to the Ultra Deep Sea. He had tolerated such insanity and hallucinations without a stronger reaction than silence. It had terrified her then. To see the opposite, to witness such outburst, over something much smaller, it made her concerned of his mental state. "There may be negative effects to this dream. Perhaps, the tera crystals are poisoning us, also. I would be surprised if they wanted us to dream for pure relief." [break][break]

Ameena didn't know how to put this piece together in the Amor jigsaw. He had never showed this much emotion about Eternatus, either, and that was terrifying. Something about this Dragonite was setting him off, or it was something about their condition. Was almost being voted to die getting to him?

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Ameena's set of subjects were a little lacking, lately. She jumped at the chance to get into Nikola's head. She had kept all explanations vague. She fully intended to wipe their memory of the laboratory. Gain memories and lose another, it seemed to be a decent trade. Musharna spilled a sleepy mist out while Nikola counted down, giving them no further opportunity to change their mind. [break][break]

The dream realm, in Ameena's experience, tended to be one you fell into gently. When Musharna did it, however, Ameena found entry to the dream realm to feel jarring and sudden. Whatever Nikola's case, unconsciousness came immediately. Ameena watched their expression in the bed as her machine readings showed Nikola in the stage of sleep where dreams occur.

TAGS – NIKOLA SAMSA [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Soldiers had the instinct to freeze trained out of them. Researchers had to fight the urge to react when it was necessary to hang back and observe. Both parts fought Ameena as she watched Amor's outburst, torn between helping or pulling him away and the urge to spectate. She tripped over herself as she followed him to the tube. She tried to put the pieces together quickly, but his own rage filled in the blanks. [break][break]

His pokemon...[break][break]

The dragonite didn't look battered. It was suspended in a tube, perhaps for study but, given the setting and dream state, more likely something of a message for them to receive. "It's okay," she urged, though he was clearly inconsolable. She stepped closer, but didn't touch him in case it caused a worse reaction. She was transfixed by the raw emotion overcoming him. All for a dragon? [break][break]

He gathered himself almost begrudgingly, it seemed. "He might just be asleep, totally unharmed. We will be reunited with our pokemon; the Megalopolans cannot hope to hold us for much longer." She didn't know if any of it would appease him. She watched his bloodied hands. "No one who failed to save their entire civilization is going to win against us two," she asserted. "Give it time. We have a plan. We will be out in no time." She didn't want to waste the limited time they had in this dream on anger or resentment, but she felt off-rhythm, off-balance. It was strange to see anyone of such intellect care that much for a pokemon.

TAGS – Amor Rose [break]
NOTES – [break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]