“just peachy.”
[break][break]
if a one-worded answer isn’t enough to reveal the sarcasm that lies behind her answer, then kat’s tone does the job. she’s not one to openly talk about her feelings, and enough time has passed since lance’s (supposed) death that she’d shut him off, too.
[break][break]
she had no more tears to spare.
[break][break]
”i am fine. seriously. i have everything i ever wanted.”
[break][break]
she isn’t lying.
[break][break]
she’s just not telling the whole truth.

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

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“such bold words,” anti-matter energy wraps around her digits as she walks, resisting the urge to temper with gravity furthermore. as much as she’s tempted by the idea, she won’t risk harming lars for this.
[break][break]
“..and such arrogance. for what? a replica of the titan we already vanquished?”
[break][break]
katherine, by all means, is not impressed. not by adrian’s choice of words, not by his decision-making, and certainly not by the way he was trying to paint a false picture. there’s a distinctive lack of credibility that makes his short speech fall on deaf ears. it’s underwhelming.
[break][break]
just as his performance has been.
[break][break]
“no, please, go on. tell me more about this pokemon you haven’t seen up until ten minutes ago. tell me more about how it’s safe with you, how it’s an aspect - a myth coming to life - a god that chooses to serve under you - its rightful ruler.” kat was indeed mocking him. in the face of adversity, threats and all. if he’d heard of her, if he knew of who she served, then she hoped that he also knew this wasn’t nearly enough to strike fear in her heart.
[break][break]
“you are nothing.”
[break][break]
“no one.”
[break][break]
“a civilian who’s in way over his head.”
[break][break]
but his valiant act earns a heartful chuckle, along with a series of slow claps. “and that’s okay. i do not fault you for your mistakes, mister… whoever you are. truly. i understand. it’s so, so easy to lose yourself in situations like these. it’s precisely why mister anderson and i are here.”
[break][break]
to fix this mess.
[break][break]
to punish teach Adrian Malcolm.
[break][break]
the remnant stirs awake, violently reacting the closer she grows. it’s held firmly in her grip as she locks eyes with adrian. ”but even a failure with a death wish deserves to live. so for the sake of being kind...”
[break][break]
one of her hands raises. she performs a salute. very honorable, isn't she?
[break][break]
”i hereby promise that by the time this is finished, you’ll know why you should never cross me or the league.” yes, in that order.
[break][break]
dragapult’s dragon pulse continues pulsing, intent on harming the titan further. it doesn’t stop for a break nor a breather. katherine, however? she awaits for the titan to attack: prepared for a shadow to whisk her out of harm’s way.
[break][break]
notes: [break]
- they all talk while dragapult continues to fire its dragon pulse, since it was never asked to stop, unlike regirock.[break]
- kat promises to teach adrian a lesson. will she..?[break]
- the fragment reacts as kat makes her way closer. she's prepared to teleport away should regirock attempt to strike her.[break]

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

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“Really?”
[break][break]
The question is asked with a raised eyebrow. The Morningstar’s claim is one that Katherine dismisses easily, but she finds it to be somewhat amusing all the same. Funny. Maybe she’d put her to the test one day.
[break][break]
“Well, I suppose taming them is easy but personally, I’d much rather keep an untamed Pokemon so their strength remains untouched.”
[break][break]
Giratina doesn’t come to mind, for it is neither a dragon or a beast. It is a god. But the creatures of Ultra Space, the beasts Katherine prided herself for collecting, had shown remarkable differences in strength. Those who’ve had the League’s antidote administered to them lost bits and pieces of their strength at the cost of growing fully tamed.
[break][break]
But the elusive ones, those who avoided the treatment, retained their strength in full.
[break][break]
The bottle is given to the dragon-tamer without resistance as Kat’s eyes drift towards Fernando.
[break][break]
“And you seriously considered retiring. Hah.”

[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar FERNANDO SILPH Raziel Beckett [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“He’s skilled and has a head on his shoulders. It shouldn’t surprise any of us, but I guess it still somehow does.” Maybe it has something to do with how he presents himself. You wouldn’t expect some awkward gamer to be half the trainer that kyle lopez happened to be.
[break][break]
“Uh-huh.”
[break][break]
Old news or not, Melody probably needed someone to help her catch up considering her memory issues.
[break][break]
”I am. If you want to understand it better, then it’s best to look at it like a contract.” Which, for the most part, that’s what it was. An agreement. ”Members of the initiative can be called upon by the League to aid in certain tasks - like war, attacks on cities or even natural disasters - and in exchange the League will provide them with resources.”
[break][break]
In other words…
[break][break]
Money.
[break][break]
“It isn’t too strict or anything, and Dahlia is pretty understanding if a member would like something specific added to their contract, or whatever. As long as they aren’t pushing it and asking for something stupid, or that they haven’t earned.”
[break][break]
Not that there was much else people could even ask for, but still. The commissioner was more than understanding.
[break][break]
“She actually asked Kyle and me to keep her updated on potential candidates too. Trainers we could train, and whatnot.”

[attr="class","ooc"] Melody Miro [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

the illustration catches her by surprise.
[break][break]
it’s the same pokemon.
[break][break]
She should’ve known, of course, considering the buried hunch she’d been trying to understand in full, but doubt was still apparent. Up until this very moment, it was all up in the air. She could have imagined the signs, mistranslated certain things— but such wasn’t the case.
[break][break]
Mars encountered Azelf too.
[break][break]
”So it’s been visiting others…”
[break][break]
A hum escapes her, moments of silence taken to ponder the most obvious question in the room: why? But then again, maybe she should also ask ‘who else’?
[break][break]
”..Erm,” kat clears her throat lightly before continuing, ”Well, I suppose it didn’t just show up to say hey. It… I guess it gave me some sort of a prophecy. And if I had to guess, since it also visited you, it gave one to you as well.”
[break][break]
Why? The question still rings in her mind. How is this all connected?
[break][break]
”It’s a shame I am terrible with riddles.” She chuckles, making light of the situation. That was one way to handle the appearance of a god, wasn’t it?

[attr="class","ooc"] Martín del Mar [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“if that’s how you feel.”
[break][break]
of course he doesn’t.
[break][break]
just their luck. just her luck. she looks at him with both regret and anger in her eyes, lance was a false reminder of her life before giratina, and kat loathes those memories. a part of her wishes she could take it all away and forget about it. it’d make looking into lance’s eyes all the more easier. “forget i said anything.”
[break][break]
or don’t. it wouldn’t change anything.
[break][break]
would she regret this conversation too, if something happened to him again?

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

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

“It usually is.”
[break][break]
What, though? She wouldn’t know. The Legendary pokemon couldn’t speak (as far as she knew), and it wasn’t great with signs either. It tended to take the reins and do whatever it is that it wanted, and she…
[break][break]
Well, as long as it wasn’t too frequent and didn’t mess with her plans, she followed.
[break][break]
“You sounded pretty scared yourself, you know,” she teases with a smile. ”are you sure you’re not afraid of loud noises and people too..?”

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

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

A quirked eyebrow is all Xander receives in response.
[break][break]
At first.
[break][break]
What follows suit is a thorough stare, Katherine finally gracing him with a full examination, allowing her eyes to trail from the crown of his head to his very shoes. She definitely cared about first impressions, and Xander’s already wasn’t impressive. The lack of confidence is viewed to be his achilles’ heel in this quick rundown, but she continues to judge and criticize silently.
[break][break]
“Really?”
[break][break]
It didn’t sound like a joke, to be fair.
[break][break]
”Why? What do you think I can teach you?”

[attr="class","ooc"] Xander Belmont [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

Her hold grows ever so slightly tighter, only half aggravated at his teasing. It would have been much easier for her - and probably for him - if he’d just left. She wouldn’t have to worry about him dying again.
[break][break]
“I don’t believe that for a second, Lance. And neither should you.” He could find other things, a different home and new people. A second chance at life only comes once.
[break][break]
“I’d have left if I were you,” and yet, here she was, her hands tied to him in a dance.

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

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

Yuck.
[break][break]
If sea sickness from diving into the water or crossing dimensions won’t cause Katherine to vomit, then Kazimir Wynter’s speech probably will. There’s enough self-pity in it to make her shudder, and enough fake positivity to make her cringe. All the makings of a good speech.
[break][break]
Her chuckle, although quiet, is stifled by a hand out of respect for the situation and some of the others who were in attendance, but not due to the fact it was her co-worker who was giving the speech. She couldn’t care less about that. Hell, she'd have even laughed in kyle lopez's face if he dared to utter something as stupid as this.
[break][break]
“How very profound, Kazimir. Thank you for that.”
[break][break]
A sly smirk remains plastered to her features, but Melody Miro’s announcement is quick to erase it. The gym-leader’s positivity almost rubbed off on her at times like this. It’s enough to urge her to move on and not offer further snide comments.
[break][break]
“Oh, okay. Just try to keep up, alright?” They aren’t in too much of a rush, either way— or they weren’t until Melody Miro dove into the water headfirst.
[break][break]
”Aw.”
[break][break]
“Well, they’ll probably call us if something goes bad.”
[break][break]
notes/tldr:[break]
- surprise surprise, she's still a bitch[break]
- 'compliments' kazimir for his speech before melody partners up with her[break]
- doesn't follow melody into the water just yet[break]

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

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

the touch of a smile taints her lips with an upward curve, but lance’s question remains unanswered.
[break][break]
“why are you here, lance?” she won’t expand on whether she means with her or at the soiree. she moves slowly and traces his movements through her own, allowing him to take the lead. ”i thought you’d have left hoenn by now.”
[break][break]
maybe he still could.
[break][break]
maybe he should.
[break][break]
arceus knows he’d be much safer living the rest of his life anywhere other than this region.

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

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

Ink continues to ooze from the cut she’d received earlier, pouring indiscriminately. The slight attraction to metal seems to have remained too, subtly drawing Katherine’s arm in one direction or another.
[break][break]
How annoying.
[break][break]
“Same here.” she confirms along with kyle lopez in response to Martín del Mar’ report. Frankly, she doubted that they’d need so many pokemon to begin with. They knew what they were up against now. The beast won’t strike as easily as it did before. With that thought still lingering in mind, Kat makes her way onwards, sticking close to her partner in crime.
[break][break]
kyle lopez.
[break][break]
“Is that…” It is. That is most definitely a dead body. “..What the hell?” Unlike kyle lopez, she makes no effort in identifying the dead person, instead letting him deal with that. Her eyes flit elsewhere as she searches for the angel’s trail. Instead, she finds herself looking through one of the many cabinets, finding reagents, rare candies and other evolution items.
[break][break]
It’s around this time that her Sableye makes its return.
[break][break]
“Keep this,” a rare candy is tossed to the ghoul as she continues to rummage through things, tossing one thing there and another elsewhere. Smoke arises when two powders meet each other, but she pays it little mind. The ghost does make sure to FEINT ATTACK items that are discarded in their direction.
[break][break]
It’s not like bleach and rubbing alcohol combined together can do much harm, right?
[break][break]
”Yes, yes. I am not leaving you or your wet dog, Kyle.”
[break][break]
She watches from a safe distance, though, and keeps to herself while digging for other items that she can find here. A bottle named ‘meagererverso’ earns a thorough stare from her, but is eventually tossed away too once she decides that it smells too foul for testing or keeping.
[break][break]

SPOILER: Click to show

CkvQXgzi+130[break]
Find the remains of a lab worker (+20 Black)[break]
Mix alchemical reagents and set off a reaction (+30 Black)[break]
Commit a crime (+10 Black)[break]
Loot evolution items and rare candies (+10 Black)[break]
The ink pattern is drawn to nearby metal ? (+10)[break]
Incineration (+30)[break]
? (+20)[break]

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

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

The clack of powerful footsteps and even taller heels announce her arrival before Katherine’s revealed in full.
[break][break]
Frankly, she didn’t know why she was here nor did she care to find out. All she wanted to do was get it over with. Whatever obligation this was, the sooner she’ll be done with it, the faster she’ll go back to doing what she wants. She was most certainly her own boss, but it wasn’t too rare for the League to ask of her to do things on their behalf.
[break][break]
Missions, publicity stunts, and even private meetings such as this one were all the same.
[break][break]
”Don’t worry about it, I don’t really mind.” She lies through her teeth. She does mind and she’s already judging him for bringing her here. This didn’t feel urgent-- so what was it about?
[break][break]
He wasn’t some creep with really rich parents, was he?
[break][break]
“So… What can I do for you?”

[attr="class","ooc"] Xander Belmont [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]