“you’re already doing a bad job if you have to ask.”
[break][break]
she already made the challenge, after all. it was up to him to convince her. the change in his demeanor, renewed confidence or not, seemingly goes unnoticed.
[break][break]
she waits.
[break][break]
”you only get one try.”

[attr="class","ooc"] DANNY HALL [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“i never said it was cheap.”
[break][break]
but the flavor didn’t lie. it wasn’t stellar alcohol either. Remi deserved better, but kat was never very good at appreciating people, let alone potential friends. But if bringing alcohol along doesn’t prove that she cared, then nothing would.
[break][break]
‘And what sort of boring, predictable job are you involved with?’
[break][break]
Oh. Right.
[break][break]
Remi wasn’t from here.
[break][break]
”I work for the government,” she admits. ”it keeps me busy. i do some modeling sometimes too, but that’s more recent.” and it was more of a request turned into an obligation on behalf of the aqua initiative.
[break][break]
The bottle is pried off from remi’s hands abruptly, distorted gravity nudging it towards kat who seamlessly catches it.
[break][break]
“Don’t hoard it all for yourself,” she says before taste-testing it. Hm, she ain’t half bad after all.

[attr="class","ooc"] Remi Cassel [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“your boss,” she corrects.
[break][break]
Priam’s question leaves her wondering for a couple of moments, weighing pros and cons before finally deciding that there aren’t too many. If Walsh wanted her, he’d have sent someone after her by now.
[break][break]
”if you want. i don’t really care.”
[break][break]
actually, she does.
[break][break]
“just do whatever is best for you. they might appreciate your honesty, but i doubt they’ll celebrate us seeing each other.” in an indirect, somewhat vague way, katherine offers a piece of advice without saying what she means most.
[break][break]
she wants him to be safe. it’s almost motherly. almost.
[break][break]
“shit.”
[break][break]
she forgot about the other thing she was in sootopolis for. ”i should go. i was supposed to meet someone in the city… ten minutes ago.” her pokemon are recalled before a dark portal materializes near her, offering a small view into her realm for priam to take in.
[break][break]
“well, text me if you need anything else.”
[break][break]
goodbyes weren’t her thing.

[attr="class","ooc"] priam conrad [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“no.”
[break][break]
he’s wrong. She’d already given it some thought when he showed up at her doorstep. she’s changed. perhaps too much so for lance to accept, perhaps not, but it wasn’t just them anymore.
[break][break]
and she’d never apologize for that.
[break][break]
”we can’t.”
[break][break]
her, him. giratina.
[break][break]
”i want you to be safe if you’re staying in hoenn,” and for better and worst, that includes them being apart. ”a lot’s changed since the war, but this is still hoenn.”
[break][break]
and it’s as dangerous as ever, isn’t it?

[attr="class","ooc"] LANCE VOLLANS [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

There are too many of them here.
[break][break]
Unfortunately, the option of forcing someone to walk the plank seems less than optimal now. Instead, they have to work twice as hard to cover for the mistakes of someone else. Kat should get used to it by now, shouldn’t she?
[break][break]
MATIAS SILPH’ commands are heard loud and clear, but they are just as easily dismissed away. He had the right idea - but something was missing.
[break][break]
“You’re forgetting something.”
[break][break]
The gusts of TAILWIND begin to blow, enhancing the speed of their canoe further, “We’re practically blind right now.” They could see a meter or two into the water, but not much else. It doesn’t leave them with enough room for maneuvering, let alone improvising on the spot.
[break][break]
But that, too, can be rectified.
[break][break]
Katherine’s Milotic is recalled amidst its peaceful swim only to be replaced by a chirpy Togekiss. The bird cries out its name once, twice, and eventually even a third time before looking towards its trainer, searching for guidance.
[break][break]
”Mm. Some light, please.”
[break][break]
It obliges, shining a brilliant, soft dazzling gleam that provides a prismatic display of lights. The strength of the move is lessened, if only to prevent sudden blinding. Melody Miro is inspected in the meantime, judged both for her decisions and how she performs under pressure.
[break][break]
Would she disappoint?
[break][break]
sSATm6pH
[break][break]
notes:[break]
- kat notices that they're still all blind, so she recalls milotic and sends out togekiss[break]
- togekiss uses a weakened dazzling gleam to provide light (without blinding people, hopefully)[break]
- one salac used on the 33[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] @/aqua [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

’He’s an avatar.’
[break][break]
It all clicks.
[break][break]
Why a man, who by all accounts was a no one, went to such lengths. He was riddled with greed. He’d been consumed by it. He had to have been inflicted by a godly curse, for there was no other legitimate reason Kat could think of that excused Adrian Malcolm’s actions.
[break][break]
“Ah.”
[break][break]
“...Of course he is.”
[break][break]
She didn’t know, but she should have.
[break][break]
The pink streams of energy draw her eyes, compelling her to take a step closer. And then another. She is relentless and unwilling to forgo either her piece or his. After all…Both of which belonged with her.
[break][break]
“Lars,” she calls out for the head-ranger, her gaze splitting away from the tether for only a moment. Her hand gestures for Dragapult to move, but where to? How? “Hold onto something.” She doesn’t ask— she demands.
[break][break]
”Now!”
[break][break]
It’s as though a switch had been flipped, only no gesture is necessary for the lights to turn on - or in their case - for gravity to betray itself and defy the natural laws of physics. All of them can feel the sudden attraction to the ceiling. Were the skies coming down, or where they going up? The distorted influence in the area gradually grows stronger by the moment, and the first to find themselves floating are them: the trainers. They’re carried along with their pokemon, however, one remains stationed on the ground.
[break][break]
After all, it's too heavy. Kat would need to use more of Giratina’s power to help the titan levitate and she has no intention of doing so. Instead, with Regirock taken out of the equation, even if only briefly, Kat’s Dragapult turns to seek vengeance.
[break][break]
It had been plotting their advance earlier, ever since it escaped into a shadowy portal. Its PHANTOM FORCE is carried out with the sole intention of throwing Adrian Malcolm off balance, mid-air, for the remnant to be freed of the man’s grip. It does not discriminate with its strength. It aims to hit hard, perhaps hard enough to wound or even maim.
[break][break]
They say all is fair in love and war. But Katherine’s edition never meant to include other Avatars. They don’t deserve fairness.
[break][break]
You can’t just be deserving, you have to be worthy.
[break][break]
notes: [break]
- kat warns lars, and asks him to hold onto something as dragapult utilizes phantom force to flee into a portal.[break]
- she also walks closer to regirock/adrian, holding onto her fragment still. then, her influence on gravity twists. what belongs on the floor is suddenly attracted to the ceiling - including everyone nearby. however, not enough power is used to cause the titan to levitate. it's too heavy. [break]
- dragapult attempts to use that to their advantage by headbutting Adrian Malcolm while he's floating, perhaps even with enough force to break a rib or two. whatever causes the man to lose his fragment.

[attr="class","ooc"] @/regirock [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

Not what she was here for.
[break][break]
What a shame.
[break][break]
“No, amethyst. This one won’t do either. Keep your eyes peeled. I know one of them is close.” maybe it is, maybe it’s not. One thing’s certain: kat won’t be encountering one today.

[attr="class","ooc"] @solowild [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“ah, i am in no rush. please, take as much time as you need.”
[break][break]
She means it. She was in no rush. Katherine made sure that she had no other arrangements to take care of before coming here. It was Sootopolis, after all. This could easily take the rest of her day— hell, there’s a good chance she’ll stay here until the small hours of the morning.
[break][break]
“You’d be surprised. A lot of people don’t know this, but I was raised here.”
[break][break]
Here, being sootopolis. Prior to the takeover, of course.
[break][break]
Her eyes are drawn to the drink, but she doesn’t consider sipping quite yet. Public space or not, this was still a city controlled by rocket. She doesn’t trust the bartenders. She doesn’t trust the man she was supposed to help.
[break][break]
She only trusts herself.
[break][break]
Her smile is taken from her far earlier than she’d anticipated. This question haunted her, time and time again proving that rumor doesn’t travel fast enough within the supposed organization.
[break][break]
”staying in rocket was no longer in my best interests.”
[break][break]
And her god’s, mainly, but also hers.
[break][break]
“Make no mistake, my loyalty isn’t easily bought. Despite what some think, it wasn’t a matter of money. It never was. The League simply has more to offer-- more of what i’m after, at least.”
[break][break]
It seemed like she wouldn’t share what ‘that’ was though.

[attr="class","ooc"] rosario de santos [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

she should’ve known better than to leave Melody Miro to her own devices.
[break][break]
the gym-leader’s curiosity leads to a small-scale disaster, just as the opening of the sealed clamperls did. what a beautiful start. ”melody!” she’s reminded of priam conrad’s childish antics for the briefest of moments, but the thought of the rocket is quickly dismissed away in the face of a bone-chilling, wet adversity. ”stay close, please. try not to touch things unless you have to.”
[break][break]
snapping her fingers, kat gestures for her milotic to stay close and stick by them, prepared to swim alongside their chosen canoe. the serpent is more than qualified for such a job, having proven itself on numerous occasions before.
[break][break]
unprovoked, anti-matter swirls along one of her digits, the temptation to tear a portal into her realm persisting. giratina wouldn’t approve of such, though. nor would any of her co-workers. she could handle a bit of water, but she also hates that she has to.
[break][break]
the urge to partner with FERNANDO SILPH, too, is resisted. katherine convinces herself that it’s simply because there are far too many people here for them to work together exclusively, but in reality, GABRIEL BLACK is just too good of a distraction. but could anyone blame her? it’s about time the league hired someone without the build of a scrawny twink. once more, dahlia goode proves herself capable.
[break][break]
the gym-leader is grabbed by her hand, led towards the right canoe without the option to voice disapproval. frankly, it wasn’t her choice to make. it was kat’s.
[break][break]
“sit.”
[break][break]
both of them do, but not before kat decides that she’ll volunteer to sit in GABRIEL BLACK’s lap if there isn’t enough room for everyone else.
[break][break]
UGa21Fui
[break][break]
notes:
- why is melody like this[break]
- kat lectures melody for a sec before grabbing her hand and leading her towards the right canoe[break]
- milotic stays out, prepared to swim alongside the canoe[break]
- may or may not be ready to volunteer to sit in GABRIEL BLACK's lap if they run out of space[break]
- 2 salac used

[attr="class","ooc"] @/aqua2 [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“i am not too convinced, to be honest.”
[break][break]
the fact he wants to see her again is a given. an expected result. kat doesn’t blame him for it. but with that in mind, she still doesn’t doubt that he probably finds it convinent to use her as some sort of a bodyguard.
[break][break]
hell, if the tables were turned, she probably would have looked at it the same way.
[break][break]
“think you can change that?”
[break][break]
in the dead of the night, he’s challenged. in more ways than one.

[attr="class","ooc"] DANNY HALL [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

The average ex-rocket wouldn’t accept such a ‘convenient’ invite, would they? But then again, the average ex-rocket couldn’t afford doing half of the things Kat does. Between staying under the public spotlight and not hiding or cowering from potential agents looking to cut loose ends, Katherine proved one thing.
[break][break]
Gods are fearless.
[break][break]
She moves in a very particular way, where sass meets vanity and vanity meets overall contempt for everything other than her. The superiority complex was big with this one, and it showed even now— as she paraded into the club.
[break][break]
The man of the honor reveals himself soon after she arrives, earning her undivided focus. She had a thing for well-dressed men, but she had a bigger thing for masks. She would have remembered someone like him if they’d met during her time in Rocket, but they didn’t.
[break][break]
“The playground, huh? Happy to be here.” Her name is butchered, but she pays it little mind. He gets a pass. ”Only one? What a shame, I was hoping for more,” she jests, her lips already curling into a smile.
[break][break]
Her gaze drifts towards the people who vacate the room on command, half-curious. She had her doubts still, but maybe rosario de santos was the real deal. Maybe she struck gold.

[attr="class","ooc"] rosario de santos [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]