As he's been doing his best to avoid sudden, loud noises in the interest of catering to his ruptured ear, Orion jumps at the sudden sound of the door being kicked in. His head turns sharply toward the sound only to see a man he recognizes from promotional images to be kim cole-essam — longest serving member of the current council and the only one he hasn't met.

And what an impression the man makes.

Orion can only blink at Kim as he strides into the room with his unexpected greeting, dahlia goode slipping in behind him like some sort of ghost. Orion is more than willing to forgive her reserved demeanor: of everyone at the table, she'd certainly gone through the most on the night of the new year.

He opens his mouth as if considering introduction, then closes it and shakes his head. He recalls the advice given to him by Fernando, might've laughed under differing circumstances. Instead, the newest councilman finds himself relieved as the most familiar of the invited group strides into the room. He offers Laurence Anderson a friendly smile, shifting his gaze onto the other man when he takes his seat.

"I got the alert for that as well," he confirms. "Glad it got sorted out."

Orion listens quietly, respectfully, to Olivia Abbiati's introduction. He is not sure how these meetings are usually structured... but Kim seems to take immediate issue with her approach, even going so far as to insult the councilwoman. He exchanges a brief look with FERNANDO SILPH, further understanding the need for the earplugs. This was not going to be pretty, was it?

"With respect," he says, carefully, after a pause, "we've all been through a lot of strain these past few weeks. Taking shots at each other is hardly going to make things any smoother." Anxiety sinks its claws in deep, but Orion had made a promise to himself upon accepting a position on the Council: he wasn't going to sit back and offer no opinions of his own. He might be the newest member, but his voice remained valid. He turns his gaze on Olivia. "I think there's none better in this room to explain the feud between yourself and Balder Schwartz. How would you describe the situation? Not all of us," he looks to Lars, Dahlia, and Kim, "were present for the fallout."

He'd caught the tail end of the argument that had led up to it: had seen Solgaleo's avatar turn rogue.

Orion silently agrees with Kaida; perhaps the ranch wouldn't be in financial danger if they performed basic habitat construction and actually looked after the environment their pairs were living under!

"Ah, what a beautiful creature," he says fondly as the Servine is released, smiling at it. "Your Ekans, too. You've got good taste."

Orion's reputation as a collector of all Pokemon strange and unsettling often precedes him: he specializes in ghosts, dark-types, Pokemon with psychic links to their trainers. Spiders, snakes, anything venomous... he caters to Pokemon that many other trainers leave behind as a result of misunderstandings. As for the psychic-types, they understand him.

He pulls out his Trevenant, releases her into the freedom of fresh air. She seems perturbed to be away from their home in Fortree, with its lush foliage, but relaxes upon sighting her trainer.

"You're a natural with the environment," he says, and does his best to show the spectral tree the images from his phone. He's not sure whether she comprehends, though the Rotom appears to communicate something with her. "Do you think you two could make this," he gestures to the Servine, then to the pitiful excuse for a breeding ground, "look more like this?"

He indicates the pictures, hopeful.

Wood groans and creaks as the specter inhabiting the tree moves its bark-clad limbs. The Pangoro watch with evident curiosity as she lumbers into the center of the field and plants her roots. An unnatural growth begins to overtake her immediate surroundings: grass becomes thick and lush, the leaves on the nearby trees take on a vibrant green, and the Pangoro... seem intrigued? At least, that's what Orion's hoping their less-aggressive expressions can be taken to mean!

---

these poor rangers
Kaida Adachi

It's not until he notes the pallor of her skin, the way she seems to steel herself before stepping onto the boat, that something clicks for Orion: she's scared of something. It's a foreign concept to apply to someone so outwardly bold, but the signs were there. What was she afraid of? The water? The depth? Failure to complete their mission?

He doesn't feel he knows her well enough to ask. Even if he had, it seems clear enough that she doesn't want to talk about it. That's all right. He fears things, too. It's normal. Humanizing. If anything, it endears him to her.

"Okay," he agrees, and follows.

The boat takes them out a fair ways, until they can't see land any more and it's all bright skies above and dark waters churning below. They're told that this was the last known location of the Luvdisc colony, and thus it seems a reasonable place to start.

Orion double-checks his oxygen and nods to himself, then to Stormy, before lowering himself via ladder into the waters. They're chilly in comparison to the Hoennian heat, but his diving gear protects him from the worst of it. Schism leaps over the side of the boat with a fair amount of grace for such a lumbering creature, his impact raising the sea about Orion's neck.

As he waits for Stormy's own descent, Orion releases Nephelai into the deep, her light a comforting beacon beneath the waves.

---

hope this works! figured her sour mood would be evident, but can always edit if not!
Stormy Silph

As the one who'd organized the meeting, Orion had suggested his house as a relatively neutral location that would not arouse too much suspicion. All involved were affiliated with the Rangers in some way or another, from the reserve, to the Elite, to the Head Ranger himself. Annie Mei was a special case, the youngest of the group, but it wasn't the first time she'd interacted with the rangers.

Recieving guests has always been a source of stress for the councilman: he cleans an already tidy home for the umpteenth time, straightens decorative pillows on a couch that rarely sees use, lights incense that smells of pine and morning dew.

Throughout the process, the chimera that had prompted this conjunction of criminals watches Orion intently, seemingly studying his every movement. It's unnerving, but Orion allows it nevertheless. He seeks to understand the creature as much as it clearly longs to understand him.

That's why he's doing this, after all.

It came with tremendous risk, given his new position on the council. He could lose his job harboring a secret like this. As could Laurence Anderson. But his drive to understand the horrors the group had individually created far outweighed his fear of compromise.

Type: Null just seemed so lost sometimes. Like a newborn released into the world without direction.

A knock at the door nearly has him departing from his skin, but Orion pulls it together and goes to open it, offering a wan smile to his guest.

"You're first to arrive, congrats," is dry in its delivery. He waves a hand. "Come in."

---

as promised, the mega thread for the nulls! (if anyone with a null who isn't tagged reads this and wants to find a way to get involved just hmu on discord)
Annie Mei evan fader Laurence Anderson Stormy Silph

Perhaps it's the strain the situation's placed on him, or perhaps it's simply because the comment on Abiatti is unexpected, but Orion barks out a sharp laugh.

"Sorry," he says, recovering his composure. "Just — didn't expect the brutal honesty. Appreciate it, though. The world needs more of it."

Opinions he's made about Olivia begin to solidify into something more concrete, for better or for worse. She struck him as someone eager to take charge, but not necessarily as someone who should be in charge. Too quick to act, not enough tempering of her words before she spoke. The display with Balder Schwartz had given him such impressions.

"Then I endeavor to be more like Dahlia than the others," he decides, quietly hoping she's made it out of this whole ordeal alive. Last he'd seen her had been with kyle lopez, and she'd disappeared after that. "Minus the relenting. Give people an inch and they'll take several miles, gotta be real careful with that."

He shakes his head. He doesn't have the patience to be a yes-man all the time. People were going to have demands, lots of them, and it was unreasonable to think one could cater to them all.

"Speaking of Dahlia... any updates on her condition?"

---

~
FERNANDO SILPH

[attr="class","falen3"]


[break]PERSIM - ABILITY CHANGE[break][break]

Cillian Quinn's Crobat changes its ability from Inner Focus → Infiltrator.[break]
Cillian Quinn's Steelix changes its ability from Rock Head → Sheer Force.[break]
Orion Lykos's Dragapult changes its ability from Clear Body → Infiltrator.
[break][break]

[break]PECHA - FORME CHANGE[break][break]

Cillian Quinn's Sandslash changes forme. Sandslash → Alolan Sandslash.[break][break]

[break]CHESTO - EVOLVE STAGE 1-2 or 2-3[break][break]

Florian Laurel's Kirlia evolves. Kirlia → Gardevoir.[break][break]

[break]LUM - 10 POKE[break][break]

Cillian Quinn recieves the 10 Poke.[break][break]

[break]SITRUS - APPLICABLE MOVE[break][break]

Cillian Quinn's Tyrunt learns an egg move, Poison Fang.[break]
Orion Lykos's Rotom learns a tutor move. Uproar → Defog.
[break][break]

[break]LEPPA - TM/TR MOVE[break][break]

Cillian Quinn's Omastar replaces Shell Smash → Rain Dance.[break][break]

[break]ASPEAR - LEVEL-UP MOVE[break][break]

Orion Lykos's Arcanine replaces Howl → Extreme Speed.[break]
Orion Lykos's Gyarados learns Rain Dance.[break]
Cillian Quinn's Lycanroc learns Stealth Rock.[break]
Orion Lykos's Inteleon learns Acrobatics.[break]
Orion Lykos's Prinplup learns Water Sport.[break][break]

Arceus. FERNANDO SILPH looks about as bad as Orion feels; the newest councilman has bags of his own, but he's done his best to tame his hair and doctor his appearance to give off an aura of put-togetherness even if he himself feels nothing of the sort. Fernando, however... he looks like death, and Orion's composed expression falters with a flicker of sympathy.

"Silph," he acknowledges in response, defaulting to formality as his colleague had done. He raises his brows as earplugs are passed to him, but is quick enough of wit not to ask what they're for. This meeting, it seems, is not slated to be a peaceful one. Adopting an expression of grim acceptance, he nods his thanks. His busted eardrum, not long into its healing process, will be especially thankful for this small gift.

They head up together, and Orion seats himself next to Fernando; Silph is the member of the Council Orion knows best, though he barely knows him at all. He's not even met Kim or Dahlia.

He greets Olivia Abbiati with a polite nod and a twitch of his lip, keeping any thoughts about the chair she'd chosen for herself withheld. They've got a lot to talk about, and he's not about to start making waves.

Olivia catches him off guard. He tenses at the sound of his title, expecting trouble, but turns to find a familiar face in the crowd. More familiar than most of the faces in the Center, at very least. The thought does little to comfort him; after the fallout between Olivia and Balder, Orion's not entirely sure what to think of the councilwoman.

Still, his tensed shoulders relax upon the realization that he's being greeted not with demands but with concern for his well-being.

"Oh, I-I'm all right." A slight tremor in his tone betrays his shattered composure. "Physically, anyway. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that what we faced out there was... a lot."

What an excellent introduction to his boss: not in the safety of a council meeting, but while she was fused with some kind of beast and trying to strangle the life out of one of his colleagues.

"I stayed back to help with the rescue until more of the Rangers arrived, and I didn't want to stress my Hydreigon any further by flying back to Fortree for medical aid... I'm here for my Swampert. The acid rain got him pretty bad."

Orion hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath in anticipation until the Pangoro turns back to its companion with a huff and the ranger sighs in relief, sweat beading on his brow. That had been more intense than he'd signed up for.

Kaida's ready to throw in the towel, but in spite of their failures thus far, Orion doesn't share the sentiment.

"Nah, c'mon," he encourages, offering her a brief smile. "We're rangers, we can't give up just like that! If things get too rough, my Nidos'll protect us, don't worry."

Basileus, the male, snorts and stamps his foot in agreement on the matter when Orion glances at him for moral support. As ever, the Nidoqueen looks less interested, but Orion figures she'll go along with her mate.

He pulls out his phone, the Rotom inside it greeting him enthusiastically as it blinks awake.

"Hey, pal," he returns. "Can you find me some more suggestions for Pangoro mating conditions?"

Thankfully, his Pokemon doesn't sass him on the request like it had earlier. That's a weirdly specific thing to be searching for, but OK! This time, he buzzes in affirmation and begins to pull up various articles and studies. Some of them were things Orion had already read, but he's drawn to a series of forum posts between Pokemon breeders discussing the particularly ornery natures of the bears.

"Apparently the environment has a lot to do with it... gotta really set the scene? They're from a pretty lush region in Kalos, so replicating that in Hoenn might not be too difficult... got any grass Pokemon? I've got a few... my Trevenant's good with plants, if all else fails."

---

these poor rangers
Kaida Adachi

To his knowledge, Woobat spend a great deal of their lives in caves. He's surprised, then, to see one out in the open.

Its supersonic emissions seem to aggravate Braixen's sensitive ears: they flick and twitch, but the dual-type offers the fluffy bat no aggression in response.

It bumps into Orion, who chuckles.

"Sorry, pal, am I in the way?"

It squeaks at the sound of his voice, then latches onto his arm with its nose. The ranger shakes his head, amused, and gives the fluffy creature a pat. He palms a safari ball in his hand, tapping the Woobat with it.

---

catch!

Orion wants to believe that those on the Council have integrity; perhaps this is why he accepts Fernando's response without question.

"Well, I'm glad you seem to have an understanding of public perception." His words are edged with a dry humour. "I'm with you on that, for what it counts. I imagine we'll need to convince Olivia."

After all, it was Olivia Abbiati that had issued the initial gag order on the media. Clearly she wanted their silence, that secrecy that Fernando was speaking against.

"I've still not met Kim... or Dahlia, really." He doesn't think today really counts as having 'met' the commissioner, considering she'd spent most of the night trying to kill everyone. Arceus, the media was surely going to have a field day with that. Orion can feel a headache forming already. "Any idea which way they'll swing?"

---

~
FERNANDO SILPH

It's not often Orion finds himself in Sootopolis. Compared to the rest of the region, it's fairly out-of-the-way, and unless it's on ranger business he doesn't often travel from the mainland. He'd booked passage by ship after confirming the meeting place with Annie, and they step off the boat into the bleached-white stone of the crater and its uniform buildings cut from the same.

"Never been to his house before," Orion tells Annie as he pulls up his phone to follow the GPS coordinates. "He's been to mine, though. I... think this is the place?"

It's less... obnoxious than he'd expected? Laurence's family had a certain renown in the city; Orion had lived in Hoenn all his life, had heard of them as a result, and he'd been worried that he was leading Annie to some intimidating mansion. He restrains himself from sighing in relief, acting for all the world as if he knew exactly what they'd been getting into.

He lifts his hand to knock, then looks to Annie. "You need a minute, or are we good?"

---

~
Laurence Anderson Annie Mei

Slateport's Pokemon Center is packed by the time Orion reaches it. He'd not felt safe abandoning the disaster site until a majority of the first-responders had arrived to take over the duty of rescuing civilians and Pokemon trapped under the wreckage: there's a track of dried blood below the councilman's right ear, he's covered in numerous cuts and scrapes from helping to dig through the rubble by hand, and he might be too late.

It's loud inside the Center through his good ear: people crying, shouting, clamoring to get attention for their wounded Pokemon. Orion's never liked crowds. People press in around him, ignorant of personal space in their rush to be heard, and he finds it hard to breathe for multiple reasons.

Schism.

He's not dared to release his Swampert since recalling it during the raid, fearful of any further damage the poison might do to the mud fish outside of its protective stasis. A faint light in the Pokeball's center is the only indication he has that his partner is... well, not all right, but alive.

His hands are shaking. He feels sick. He wants nothing more than to go home, but he can't... not until he gets his Pokemon seen to.