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Rome would raise a hand to his chin, scratching at it as he listened to Crystal's rambling train of thought. As she mentioned the whole Hisui and Paldea thing, a look of recognition would cross his face as another attempt was made to make him think of what had happened before he had arrived here. "Ah, yes. Sorry, was apparently still pulling myself together. I was preparing for an expedition to Paldea and had been talking with some of the Hisui natives that had immigrated to our land. We were discussing the Stellar Lock system that was going to be used there utilizing the local crystalline structures. Apparently, they still have that fearful awe of Pokemon and would rather lock away any troublesome specimens rather than attempt to capture them." Turning to look at Crystal, Rome would furrow his brow as he examined her closely. "Hmm. I thought you were a Solgaleo hybrid and would know some of this, but a closer look has me perplexed. That explains the confusion. I thought you had the same base level of cultural knowledge that I did. Sorry for the accidental assumption."

I stayed rather composed, if albeit keeping to my usual demeanor as the SWIPE operatives has been seeing me, even with that bit of a bombshell that was dropped. Though, what does one say to that? What can someone say to that? I’d imagine a few in Snagem probably going at the ready to blow Sub out, but honestly? Would the hunt for S22 warrant anything? I suppose it raises the question why that was so much of a secret? For that matter, was that the reason why I heard Darts getting decked in Kitakami by Crystal that I heard about shortly after I got back from Paldea and the Victory Road tour? Because he wouldn’t say that he was after that guy? I suppose it also begged the question why Sub was having Darts track him down, never mind track him down alone, or the secrecy. If S22 figured it out and he was completely unhinged, Darts probably wouldn’t be here to tell anyone this, let alone me right now. Though I suppose as far as these SWIPE guys are concerned, it was probably justified that much didn’t get out. But then it raised the question if that Agent WHITE guy isn’t S22 himself, then who in the bloody hell is that then? His twin that we probably don’t know about? Actually, wait, Ein did mention that he did go through a bunch of other experiments, and S22 was basically the one that actually worked. The 22nd iteration, specifically. Presumably, 1 through 21 perished to Ein’s machinations. But that was perhaps only an assumption. Even if there was no association with Ein’s experimentation, Agent WHITE does come off effectively a freak of nature comparatively, feeling not all unlike S22 himself when he was under Ein’s control, and it was unnerving. I was left hoping that it was left for show and he wasn’t the freak of nature that S22 was. But given that we haven’t seen what he could do, I can’t just assume he and whatever Pokémon he has close by to his side is for show.

Nevertheless, like most people out against us, SWIPE seems like they will scrape and dig scraps of anything to put against us. Ebonite-based devices to stop teleportation and such. Expansion suits, or rather bootleg mock-up ones based around the ones Lysandre had made, assuming. Hell, even got Kess knowing that she was an absolute pain in the hide to fight; name the right price and she’s all yours. I remained silent as I started to muse the situation. It did leave one question, however, I was compelled to ask amongst all else. I took a look out towards the entrance to the kitchen to double-check and make sure there was no one hanging around then spoke to Darts, silently in return. “Did Looker ask you about it while you were in there with him?” I asked the Giratina hybrid. Perhaps this might give me some more insight as to what they were after.

Poggle would lean into the head pets, chirping… relatively quietly. He certainly had the capabilities to be louder. Truly quiet might be a different story. Then the healing energy came, tidying up any of the burns the Nincada got from getting blasted with the Red Gem. More excited chirps would come from him then. “Nin nin! Cada!” The bug Pokémon would fly down and nuzzle against her leg, thankful for the healing.

“Haha! Thank you Ulla. I can tell Pogs there appreciated that quite a bit.” Aile’s smile would fade, though, as she thought about the first question. “Um… Some of that could be debated. I first joined up with Snagem when they first came to Kalos, so that’s where my knowledge will really… mostly kick in. She rubbed the back of her neck, deciding that she wasn’t going to explain too hard. “One could argue that overthrowing the Kalosian Monarch isn’t the greatest thing, but most of the nobles were elitist pricks anyway. Talking from personal experience dealing with them. Or, the kids of them, at least.” She raised her eyebrows briefly before continuing. “Overall, though, We’ve been on a decent path since I’ve been here. Dealing with the Shadow Virus, taking Lysandre down, taking Ein down… Can people argue with the broad strokes that we’ve done good things? Now, from what little I’ve looked up on the history of Snagem, at least when I stayed in Orre, is that they used to be affiliated with Cipher somehow, and they stayed in Orre, from everything I could tell. But the two Snagems only share the name, not motives.”

Sighing, Aile would blow some of the hair out of her face. “At least, that’s how my information shakes out. I couldn’t tell you too much more, since I didn’t pay too much attention to global affairs. Until I joined Snagem, at least.” The woman would shrug, hoping that would help teh girl at least somewhat.

—---------


Crystal would keep her eyes on Rome as he explained what he was doing before joining her on the beach. Fearful of Pokemon still… That would track with Hisui, from what she read of it. Interesting that he was talking like he was there for this whole thing… But at least Asado sounded like it was there for a few hundred years. At least. He’s talking like this is brand new stuff, though. And what temples in Hisui would utilize this?

And then Rome would take a really good look at Crystal, now realizing that she wasn't… normal. “Ah… I am. Out there, in the physical world? That body’s made of space dust and space metal. Quite possibly as close to being a Solgaleo without actually being just a Solgaleo, if that makes sense.” Her grip on her braid would tighten a bit as she thought about just how she got there. “I… I used to be an Espeon hybrid. And then I was attacked and taken over by an entity called… called the Ziton,” she choked, still not comfortable saying the infernal thing’s name. “It… They… Whatever, my body was taken over, and we were in the process of being absorbed by the Ziton. And then my friend, whose face you’re currently wearing, managed to break his way in and pull us out.” Crystal would pause for a second, thinking about what she just said. Focusing on her hand for a second, she would conjure a mirror from out of nowhere. “Just in case you wanted to see” she’d offer, gently tossing it towards her very odd companion. Anyways.”

“After that, I wound up sticking with him for a moment, taking over a slime… goo… body that was out, and watched our original body get incinerated and die to try and end the Ziton right there and then. Nope, because at that point, it decided to punch through reality and the resulting Wormhole dragged me and my stolen body into Ultra Space. Over time and with the eventual help of a Solgaleo and Lunala, I got help to get a new Cosmog hybrid body. Bunch of stuff happened after that that I won’t get into for making the tale even longer, but I’m not exactly that old. Well, for their standards. Including my past life, but not including Ultra Space travel, since I dunno how time works there, I’m… around five hundred years old?” Crystal would give a sheepish shrug, maybe a little embarrassed. “Most of that was just me travelling to find my home reality, too. Not…” She’d put her hands on her face, groaning. “Not learning much. Mostly feeling things out as I go.” There was a burning shame as Darts’s words from Kitakami came back. How she hadn’t been doing anything, while he had been training, understanding his body. Light. Her ears practically wilted as rain started to come down, with Crystal drawing her knees to her chest. “I… I really haven’t been doing anything. Light, I haven’t done a damned thing. Nothing other than being a damned taxi for the team into Ultra Space and causing more problems for them otherwise. And I had the gall to complain about how our body never changed after evolving just earlier.” She hugged her knees tight, now just staring straight ahead. “Where would we even start now, though?”

"Please, relax mister Deo, or should I say officer Deo?" Looker said with a smile and a wink. "I'm more than happy to talk as officers. You see, I pulled record of your service in Sandgem Town and I'm impressed. You certainly were an exemplary peace officer. How did someone as noble and selfless as yourself, officer Deo, get caught up in Team Snagem? And why? It looked like you had a good stable job back home. Was it money? Or did Snagem make you ones of those offers you can't refuse?" He continued to ask Deo.

"As for charges currently, officer Deo, you are facing no charges. At least, not yet. Trust me, I do not want to recommend any against you, I just need you to help me help you. Like you said, from former cop to cop." He smiled.

This information made Deo at ease. He leaned a little to relax himself. Of which he would begin. “About 2 maybe 2 and a half years ago, I was forced hybridized into this monstrous form of a luxray. Making me Shiny at that. Was I a good member of the Sandgem peace officers? I would say maybe. I am not the best, I am not the worst either. I figured that if no one knew what happened to me, and slink into the shadows, I would not have to worry about my comrades worrying sick or worse, arrest me.”

He paused, to catch some breath, but also to shake off a cold from his shoulders that was the inescapable chill of fear, the dread, the mind killer.

“I left the peace corp with little knowledge or warning as I was hybridized, mind you, against my will. I knew snagem would take in an outcast like me, even so, a couple people have criticized me for being a ‘pig’ and they see me as such. I would not be surprised if they blame me for the sting and raid.” His face grew red, but cooled as he knew he was safe.

“They did not threaten my family, nor my grandmother, but if they did, they would be 6 feet under. I think it was because they have a sweet tooth that they ignore the fact that my grandmother knows where I am. She also knows what I am as well. Perhaps by joining snagem, I would escape the big fear of what I have become and learn to accept it. I fear from my time here that if they ever wanted to lash out at the force, I would stand in for us and cause a scene.”

A small trail of tears emerged from his eyes, and a few would drop onto the table. Of course Deo would try to get a hold of himself, and that being forming fists and letting go of them. He started shivering as fear set in. He knew he was in for it, but for what?

“To say I am true to the law is true, but I would not willfully try to do bad if I could help it. I had no idea that what we were after with team dim sun, or whomever they are, was against the law. If I knew it was wrong, I would have been weary about it. Out of all the Snagems here, take it easy on the kids. They need a proper home, and I feel that a mercenary HQ is not a fit home to raise children.”

Reno would flash a sardonic smile as he got up from the desk, giving a quick two-fingered salute to Looker. "Thanks for the chat, Lookie-loo. You and your moralizing stool pigeon have fun here." Making for the door before a response to get out, Reno would spare a long glance towards Agent WHITE. Shaking his head before he attempted anything too foolish while everyone was under the gun, he would make for the main lobby. He was going to force these SWIPE agents to make sure they had to do their work to keep him in view, so he naturally made for the kitchen to start making himself something to eat.

However, it seemed that Reno's shoulder had suddenly become unoccupied at some point. She would already be hard at work with her own mission, running over to where Darts and Blizz were set up and giving a wave of her ears. A female voice would echo in both of their minds as she did so. 'Hello sirs. Would you like to enter a psychic chat with Reno or shall we keep trying to be separated in both body and mind?'

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It would take a few attempts to fully catch the mirror, only managing to keep juggling the implement for the first few attempts before managing to wrap a hand around the handle. Rome would take his own seat beside Crystal, legs finally forming alongside a somewhat generic set of robes now clothing him. Going over the facial details, he would take a few moments to consider what exactly he was witnessing before tilting his head quizzically. "Well....I do not recognize a few of these scars but overall, this appears to look right." He simply said, placing the mirror on the sand as the rain began to start. Taking a moment as he began to digest Crystal's own problems, Rome would begin to slowly feel himself keying off of a few words she was saying. Obviously, he knew Ultra Space and the evolutionary line for Solgaleo and Lunala, that was how they went to and from Hisui and Paldea. But the years and a few other things were beginning to dig at him, trying to get him to think of something beyond where he had come from.

But he couldn't immediately jump into his own issues, there was someone in need of help in front of him. Looking to his hand as it continued to grow more detailed, even slowly etching in fingerprints and creases in the skin, he felt like an answer was coming to him. "You start with your next step. You already figured out interdimensional travel if you can actively enter and exit Ultra Space. You just need to take the next step and figure out the finer details of what you can do. The next step...." Rome trailed off, his own thoughts finally proving too strong to not derail him from his effort to talk with his new friend. "Next step...with the Ziton. For....so long. And then....finally found in Snowpoint." Shaking his head, Rome would blink a few times as he swallowed. "Sorry. Something about the future and that...name....resonated with something."

Ulla smiled warmly as she saw Poogie feeling better. Her smile then faded as she listened to Aile's tale. Some of what she has said Ulla has heard pieces of, but no full detail either. "We should probably meet with the others to go see what they were questioned about. Maybe then we could figure out what they want." That's when Ulla had a thought, maybe their goal wasn't to find the single guilty party. But, to entirely dismantle Snagem from the inside. Possibly turning everyone against one another?

Do not go down with this ship.

That's likely the case..."Have you seen anyone else? Nobody was able to rest after we got back from the volcano. So I'm sure everyone is still tired." She asked concerned. Other than Blizz and Alie, she hasn't seen anyone else yet finish their questioning. "These S.W.I.P.E people are taking too long. Some of us good be seriously hurt. And we haven't seen or heard of Doc Owl yet."

Looker nodded along as Deo spoke, spilled his heart out even. At several points he would make notes based on what Deo said and once the hybrid was finished talking he went ahead and closed his folder, seeing no further use for it. He would look to Deo and smile. "You're a good man, mister Deo, I can see that now. Just a bit misguided. You were confused and angry over your hybridization, searched for acceptance and understanding from anyone, anywhere, and that led you to Team Snagem. And despite not agreeing with their methods you turned the other cheek so you could remain part of what you saw to be a sanctuary away from those that shunned you. Does that sound about right?" Looker asked.

The man would let his words marinate in Deo's mind for a bit before he look towards Kess. "You know, you are not the only hybrid to over look the wrongs of their supposed saviors in exchange for safety. My friend miss Kess here did similar. She did a lot of bad things but look at her now. Not only is she free of her past but she has been able to since move forward, to step out into the light and now defends justice. And that's all you want, isn't it, mister Deo?" He said as he looked back to Deo. "Work with us, mister Deo, we can get you away from this life of vigilantism and crime, maybe even bring you into our fold and restore you to your career as a peace officer."