[attr="class","merkI"] Celeste wasn't entirely aware of what she was doing here, but at this point, it hardly mattered to her. This was an opportunity to make a few more connections. Connections she desperately needed if she wanted to get anywhere in her current line of work and who was she to turn down to invitation from someone such as he? He proved himself in the attack on Slateport, much more than she could say for herself. Regardless, she turned to look towards him as she spoke. "I trust, you have reasons for inviting me out in particular, yes?"

Just outside of Slateport City, it was surprisingly nice considering the circumstances. It was a bright, sunny day, but at least the wind felt nice on her skin. Perhaps she looked completely out of place wearing black concealing clothing, sunglasses, and even carrying a parasol above her head, but it was almost a necessity if she went outside anywhere. The sun's rays weren't particularly kind to her skin, and she had an aesthetic to upkeep. Regardless, her eyes eventually were drawn to the massive snoring Snorlax within the path. It managed to perfectly squeeze itself right into the middle of everything.

Celeste hummed curiously, tilting her head as she slowly pulled down her sunglasses just a bit to take a look at the sleeping Pokemon. With an incredibly blunt tone, she spoke. "It's in our way."

Notes: N/A

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Celeste simply watched as Olivia sent out her Mudkip to separate the two fighting pokemon within the lighthouse. She simply leaned back, against the wall by the stairs and watched the small confrontation going on. Curiously, the Surskit came flying her way after they were separated. Watching Olivia catch the Finneon she just protected, she figured she might as well idly toss a Pokeball towards the Surskit in an attempt to capture it as well.

Kneeling down to pick up the ball, Celeste finally returned her attention towards Olivia to talk. "Listen, I'm not going to argue with you. I don't care how rough you think you had it, I don't expect a woman like you to even begin to attempt to sympathize, so I won't waste my energy trying to get you to." She slowly turns around, letting out a long sigh and placing her hand on what remained of the railing.

"I was here first, might I remind you. I'd ask what the hell a Councilwoman is doing prowling around at night, but the truth is... I just don't care." She'd let out a sigh, sounding quite exhausted with the whole debacle. What was there even to say? Olivia might as well be from an entirely different world as far as she was concerned. All her anger and rage just slowly faded away into apathy.

"... I'm going back to meditate. Do as you want, I don't care." With that said, Celeste ever so slowly began to make her way back up the stairs towards the top of the lighthouse, but not without saying one more statement. "Go ahead, waste your time looking me up. You'll find nothing important." At most, even if she found her name through the system her record would be rather clean. Despite all her occasional illegal actions, she hadn't been caught for doing anything yet.

Notes: Capture Attempt on the Surskit!

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Celeste had just managed to plant those berries too. And look at this... bird. This squawking, choking bird came screaming in and spraying water all over the place. Of course, she was going to help the pokemon, but she was going to feel angry about it soaking everything first. Not to mention, his flapping wings and frantic movements to try and dislodge the... was that a Pikachu in its throat? God, they really should learn to pick better targets.

With a sigh, Celeste summoned Jaspers from his Pokeball. The cat stretched out his limbs, blinking up at Celeste, over at the frantic Cramorant, only to nod his head and suddenly charge forwards. With a sudden leap forwards and an expertly trained eye for yanking items out of pockets unnoticed, Jasper's used Covet and practically stole the pokemon right out of its mouth, who promptly dashed away as fast as it could.

As soon as it was no longer choking, it coughed up a bit more water before seeming to settle down a bit. With a curious expression, Celeste simply rolled her eyes and tossed a Pokeball over at it. Perhaps it would calm down in a bit, and she could always use a bird pokemon on her team. That is, despite a tendency to swallow things too big for it, it seems.

Notes: Capture Attempt!

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It seemed she didn't have any interest in guessing. A pity, Celeste would have let it drag on for as long as she possibly could. At the very least, the bitter tone was returned in kind. Celeste simply sat back down onto the stairs, a soft smirk spreading over her face. As long as Olvia didn't know who she was, she was in control of the conversation. "Now, is that any way to treat your family, hmm? A poor, orphaned girl? One who struggled to survive by the skin of her teeth? I don't exactly see Miss Silver Spoon struggling to afford food, that is." Of course, that gave away more than enough information to probably narrow it down eventually, but she highly doubted Olivia even bothered to remotely look into the Abbiatis that lived here other than a stereotypical glance.

Celeste let out a soft sigh, her words slowly starting to fade. And to think when she was younger she used to curse the others who had it easy until she couldn't breathe. And now that she finally met one... It didn't feel worth the effort. Her words would fall on deaf ears and she'd be reduced to just 'that whiny girl who wouldn't shut up.' She could let out her anger, but some part of her knew it wouldn't be satisfying. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before slowly standing back up to her feet. "... I don't care why you're here. You're interrupting my meditation, and unless you're going to join me in silence then I have no time for this."

Notes: N/A

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Slateport wasn't the same since the attack on the city. In a few years, it would recover and then they would hold memorial services for those who lost their lives, but it felt like a joke. She wasn't there, but she had seen plenty. The destruction just a few things caused was enough to cripple an entire major city. No wonder it was so underprepared for Rocket to grab their talons in and never let go. As it stood, however, Celeste was taking the excuse to get a view she rarely had. The top of the lighthouse was certainly something else, and with it's damaged state seemed to be mostly unoccupied. Her eyes cast out to sea, Celeste simply let out a long sigh and watched the waves crash against the shore. It was calming, refreshing, a reminder of the good things to come.

That is, when she noticed something a bit odd, someone else was walking along the beach. Normally this might not cause alarm, but rarely anyone ever was out so late on the beaches that she had practically claimed for her midnight adventures. Eyes narrowing, Celeste watched as they seemed to change course and head for the lighthouse. How peculiar, were they after her? Even the lighthouse keepers, if there were any still active, wouldn't be sneaking through in the dark like this.

Carefully moving down the stairs, taking one silent step at a time, for once being so light was relatively beneficial, keeping the stairs from buckling and creaking under her weight. That is until one particular step decided to give her away. When the, oddly familiar voice called out asking who was there, Celeste at least had confirmation they weren't here for her. Otherwise, they wouldn't have asked. Casually slipping down the rest of the stairs, Celeste finally got a view of the stranger. Olivia, they were no stranger at all.

Celeste instinctively bit her tongue, fighting to keep back any practiced insults she had come up with over the years. Continuing to step all the way down into the room, the lighthouse was surely a wreck, and making sure not to step on any debris was a bit important. After a few seconds, however, Celeste finally spoke. "... You know, for a woman with all the power in Hoenn, you're not exactly painting yourself in the best of lights here, auntie." It was a mockingly affectionate term, with bitterness seeped into every syllable. She wasn't her direct aunt, but that honestly didn't matter.

She couldn't expect Olivia to recognize who she was, not with how distant the branches of the family had become, but Celeste was still going to be bitter about it regardless. Purposefully not introducing herself just to leave Olivia guessing.

Notes: N/A

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It seemed her partner wasn't much for conversation either. Not a bad thing either, considering the opposite would have been someone who never shut up, she infinitely preferred this. Isra seemed nice, judging from what brief commentary they've shared with each other.

When the grabbed onto the Dhelmise as well, Celeste simply motioned to the well-trained anchor Pokemon to lower them down into the ocean. Slowly but surely, they were lowered and then pulled down into the ocean below. It wasn't super bright beneath the water, with this rescue taking place later in the day, but they could still see just fine without breaking out the diving lights just yet.

A swarm of water-type Pokemon swam around the area, diving in and out of rocky crags in the ground. It was honestly a rather beautiful sight in her opinion, but they were regretfully not here to sightsee. Reaching to her belt, Celeste sent out Leviathan, the single Wishiwashi.

The swam in circles for a few seconds, enjoying the ocean's cool currents before Celeste's motions got his attention. Speaking through the radio on their diving masks, she kept a calm tone to her voice. "I don't see any luvdiscs, we should start searching."

With that in mind, the Wishiwashi's eyes suddenly shined rather brightly and not even a few seconds later a sudden school of Wishiwashi formed all at once, coming to his help and forming the massive school-form Wishiwashi that was so often called the Demon of the Alolan seas. As they quickly set off, searching through the many crags, Dhelmise simply remained steady, leading them down rather gracefully.


Notes: N/A

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She can't help but allow a smirk to drift across her face as he mentions she was the "Ghost Girl." Such a title was oddly fitting, given her experience and their past encounters. Looking over at him, she spoke with a cool tone to her voice. "Ghosts are weak to two types, primarily. Dark-type moves, and other Ghosts. It seems they are their own greatest weakness."

However, the sudden sight of a floating tea set disturbs her casual rest at the bottom of the tree. Suddenly climbing to her feet, Celeste didn't waste a single second in allowing all of her pokemon to be sent out from their Pokeballs. If they were coming in a swarm, then surely they wouldn't mind if she and Gavin returned the swarm in kind.

"There!" She called out, although the sight was probably obvious by now as the shadowy balls of tea launched towards them, paired with the sudden addition of multiple other attacks directed at them and the tree itself.

"Kelporeal, Power Whip!" Celeste quickly commanded her Dhelmise, intent on at least disrupting their coordination and sending the Polteigeists flying. The massive anchor Pokemon quickly swung around, careful of the tree itself as it's massive anchor and long kelp chain flew through the swarm.


Notes: N/A

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Climb inside? Celeste's eyes widened a little bit as she watched him carefully maneuvers inside through the window with the help of his Greninja. Luckily, her Dhelmise was more than able to adjust for the lack of weight on one side and able to keep things balanced for Celeste as she continued to rest on their anchor.

The offer to be helped inside struck multiple emotions at once. An urge to prove that she could do it herself, a desire to perhaps do things her own way, but at the same time she felt a bit thankful. He didn't seem to imply she couldn't do it, only an offer to help. It was a refreshing quality.

Nodding her head, Celeste ever so carefully reached a hand over, physically shaking from the sheer nerves threatening to spill her over the edge. Grabbing onto Gavin's expectant arms and reluctantly putting her faith in him, she carefully climbed into the room, quite visibly relying on his help a lot, as right away it's painfully obvious that her physical strength is next to nothing.

Breathing heavily inside the room, Jaspers instinctively climbs over towards her side and reassuringly brushes against her leg. With a quick pat to their head, Celeste was intent to show as little weakness as possible, starting to walk over towards the Rotom with a curious expression on her face despite how her legs felt like jelly.

"Look at you..." She spoke softly, gently placing a hand on the glass. The Rotom seemed definitely skittish over the sudden strangers into the room, attempting to escape from the glass away from her. "Shhhh, It's okay little guy. Momma's here to take you someplace safe." It was of course at that moment she decided she wanted to keep him, nothing could sway her decision.

Looking back at Gavin briefly, she spoke with the same quiet voice. "Well, what's inside those crates?"


Notes: N/A

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Truth? That single word caused Celeste's grin to slowly grow even wider. That much she could easily handle. As he stared her down once more, she simply grabbed onto her teacup and took another small sip. "My motivation? Why I must attest, it's quite simple. And I imagine an individual such as yourself shall understand where I am coming from." Placing the teacup down, Celeste's entire calm demeanor seems to slowly melt away as she allowed the anger and apathy to the world at large reveal itself in her expression.

"I want to be respected." She spoke clearly, staring back at his own eyes. "Failing that, however, I want to be feared. For too long I have suffered, struggled to rise up out of the gutter these people call society. To compare myself to those simply born healthier, wealthier, more respected. I want to watch everyone who even dared to consider me flawed due to the circumstances of my birth to be crushed beneath my own two feet. For if neither my family nor my neighbors care to respect me as Celeste Abbiati, the poor girl without a cent to her name, then perhaps they'll learn to fear me. And rue the day they ever deemed it fit to mock me for all the things they take for granted."

Her smile took on an almost wicked quality for a moment, the sheer perverse fantasy of ruining their lives all too exciting for her. That is until she slowly sat back, let out a soft breath and relaxed once more. "I'm a simple woman, with simple desires. I shall rise up from the filth of this city or perish proving I am capable of far more than they ever will be."

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The truth was finally revealed. An illusion, quite charming in its own way. The touch to her neck certainly startled her, but she adjusted rather quickly afterward and just continued to sip her tea before placing the mug back down. She was expecting a proxy, someone speaking on behalf of the boss, but a Pokemon was infinitely better. Given her relations to someone so powerful in the league, some precautions until her intent were made clear only made sense. She simply chuckled softly in return to the Zoroark, nodding at the actual man now before her as he sat down. A suit himself. Good thing she decided formalwear was in for this meeting.

"No apologies required. I can simply imagine in our line of work, precautions are necessary." She waved a hand dismissively, putting the point aside for now. "A pleasure to finally meet you, Mr. Grandier. I assure you I am plenty capable. I am not shy about admitting my physical limitations, to brag that I am capable of more than I am would be folly. They infuriate me, yes, but this is not the conversation for self-bemoaning. My talents lie in things of a more subtle nature, as I imagine work best for a particular type of work within the organization."

"If I have learned anything in life, it is that reckless bravado gets men killed. Patience, however, is my strong suit." She leaned forward a little bit, folding her hands as she spoke. Her eyes slowly scanning over the man before her, attempting to read his facial expressions as best as she possibly could. "Perhaps I should ask, what precisely do you look for when... hiring, hmm? Do you seek strong trainers? Perhaps loyalty? Tell me what you expect, and I assure you we shall get along just fine."

Notes: N/A