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A loud mechanical whine and whirring would jolt Reno awake from his nap, requiring a few blinks from Team Snagem's valiant Co-Leader before he could remember where exactly he was and what he was doing. Staring around for a moment, he would let out a groan at the sight of the corkboards and yarn. While he had no regrets with keeping the things together and all organized, the last year had been an absolute drought of information besides the fact that there was somewhat of an uptick in Shadow Pokemon sightings. It absolutely didn't stop the continuing screening efforts of every Bug type Shadow Pokemon that rolled through the door and keeping some of them for extended observations if they weren't claimed by any of the team. Sure, the fungal checks took up a decent portion of time that could be spent otherwise, but it wasn't like they were lacking manpower or mechanical power to compensate. And if he was correct after thinking on how the infection had been described as working from its victims, then it was a potential way to get Shadow Pokemon to follow orders despite their own rebellious nature.

Tacking the now finished printed picture of the Shadow Scyther that Sub had apparently just recovered onto the debatable board, a low grumbling would alert him to the fact that he had possibly forgotten something minor. Like food.

----

Giving a small nod as he finally stood up from his morning ritual, Beau could feel the temptation to take a picture of his newest iteration of his own personal haven. Which is when he heard a click behind him as Aria made sure that the fully blooming garden within his greenhouse was immortalized. Turning to look towards the woman, the Bug hybrid would give a sigh before smiling. "Yes, yes. The others will want to see this. I know." He said, walking over to his resident social media expert. After his little learning experience in Paldea between his new Arboliva and the herbas, the bug for actively pursuing botany had finally gotten him. And with such a valuable resource nearby, who was he to not take advantage of the school to learn some more on the subject beyond what he could third-handedly remember from La Ruche. And that...had started a small problem for Beau. Because apparently, he was a minor savant on the entire subject and breezed through courses on the subject like he was already an expert. And now...he was in regular contact with a lot of the Grass Gym Leaders, which resulted in a lot of shared photos of gardens and tips about new methods to try and maximize plant health and growth.

"Of course they do. Pitcher plants, citrus trees, and Datura plants all have such vibrant colors and unique shapes when they’re properly taken care of.” Aria gave a smile as she sent the photo to Beau’s SNAG for his little group chat and Deligram. Sure, there hadn’t been much change in her life since starting up the whole content creation thing with Iono but that entire branch of things provided enough change on its own. Especially since she was now starting to get a strong following outside of simply being a way to see more Iono. “Although what are these things?” She questioned, giving a small poke towards a few larger flowering bushes with light pink blooms.

“Oh, those are Dictamnus albus. And they make such a nice contrasting piece with these pistachio trees and the olive trees.” Beau said with a smile, placing his hands on his hips.

“You just want to use the scientific name because calling it burning bush would give the game away, huh?” Aria jabbed.

“Oh shut up. Not EVERYTHING here was grown with expressly explosive intentions. What about Jerry?” Beau protested, pointing towards the center of his greenhouse. Over there, with a few other berry bushes set around to contrast it, was the transplanted Spicy Herba Mystica.

“We both know you’re hoping it’ll miraculously work like it for those fish and make everything grow massive.”

Glancing around a little, Beau muttered, “Maybe. But he is still very important. Even though he can’t make things grow, Jerry has worked so well for food flavorings. Nearly got a few people to breathe fire with those sandwiches and I got to finally actually taste and feel the sensation of spicy. If Jerry starts growing any better, I might start selling these things for Bug hybrids.”

—---

“Your fifties? Should I go get you a rocking chair and a cane to wave around then?” Reno said, walking into the main room with a smirk on his face. His expression would drop a bit as he continued. “Don’t know how much stock I’d put in the only Ein basket though after all that former Cipher equipment showed up in Paldea. Wouldn’t be surprised if Mister Mushroom tried to help himself to some data alongside all of that.”

Beau would be in the room soon after, rolling his eyes at Reno. “Yes yes. Mister Mushroom poisoned the water supply and put a pox on all the firstborns as well. Anything else I’m missing?”

“Besides maybe his occasional screaming Mushroom to the sky, I think its pretty accurate.” Aria added, sticking her tongue out at Reno.

"Ehhh...." The gambler dipped another piece of bacon a couple of times into the same pool of syrup, which garnered a little low warning growl from his charge that he continued to pretend he hadn't heard. He crunches into the piece of meat with a bite, thinking how best to answer. A lot had happened, and the things with the Dragon Clan... were better left unsaid right now. He wasn't ready to talk about it, but he wasn't going to bump into creating another Crystal situation. A half-truth it was then. "In between coming and helping Sub with his latest Shadow Pokemon obsession?" He asked, half answering some of the question as he chewed. "Traveling, training. This one," he nods his golden crest down in Ogerpon's direction. "Has had a lot to learn about the world outside of Kitakami, AND about life in general. She's been sheltered quite a bit, both in terms of what she knows about the world and how we can't brute force our way through every situation."



Tsuki had little to worry about, as Ogerpon had mostly attacked him for getting too close to her home. The last time people had come to visit her... it hadn't ended well for the little Pokemon, so she was a bit territorial when it came to her little den. "Pon pyo pon." She interjected, through a mouthful of some of the last of her pancakes, seeming to pout a little as she frowned at Darts. I could brute force my way through, if you would just let me.

"No, you can't, as we saw in Mymay." Darts sighs, moving to dip his bacon again. His interloping on her breakfast was not going to be taken any further and the Ogre responds in kind, utilizing her cudgel to deflect her trainer's hand, smacking him on the knuckles before he can get in close. Whatever they were talking about was making her furious, her little face shaking with rage before the Hearthflame mask rotates in front of it, little licks of flame coming off her sleeves as they turn vivid red.

"Po pyon graaah!" She spat angrily, staring him down. You cheated, they cheated, I am the strongest!

"Hmph." The gambler snorts, clearly unimpressed as he matched her gaze, eye to eye with Ogerpon as he intentionally dipped his bacon in the syrup, pulling it back to his mouth with a audible crunch. "Clearly, not." The pair were locked in a staredown, sparks flying between them as the Masked Pokemon seethed in and out at the brazen display of defiance from Darts.

Even though they were sitting in front of Aile having breakfast, it looked like the Giratina hybrid was closer to getting attacked than anybody else in the building.

"Leon?" Ulla looked at Keiko and Ter. Guessing the reason they didn't mention her brother was because they probably thought it was right she would be the one to explain who he was. She grew a small smile and started to remember fond memories. "Leon is my big brother. Which, makes him your big brother too." She said to Yuna as she ruffled her head. "He use to do this a lot when we were together. He taught me all I know. He made sure I lived in happily. We...We lost our other mom and dad when we were very young. So it was mainly just us two. Just like me and Papa, he is also a Channeler. A Poison-type Channeler, the pure opposite of me. He got me sick one time, he got really scared and went off to train. He's very laid back, but. he has a lot of heart. He promised me that he will always be with me. By my side, or as my shadow." Ulla said very hopeful, to one day see her brother again.

The Fairy child looked at Sub and nodded. "And I will now be here and in the Fairy Realm to help with the purification process. Please, do not be afraid to ask me or my Fairy Pokemon for aid. My healing capabilities are much better now than before when I first joined." Ulla said very confidently.

There's a tense silence as Darts and Ogerpon stare one another down, before the Pokemon breaks first, tersely swinging it's fiery head around towards Aile and tilting the mask up, its starred eyes looking interested.

"Pon?" What's an apple?

"Trust me, you'll like this - you've already had one." The Giratina hybrid chimes in helpfully, out of bacon for the moment as he sits back in his chair with his hands folded.

"Pon pyo." We were not asking Just Darts for his opinion, thank you very much. She huffed, crossing her arms and continuing to ignore him as it looked towards the returning Flygon.

The months to came felt like they took much longer than they actually were, and for Sol, they'd started as soon as everyone else came back from the trip to Kitakami. Everyone save for one, that had a nervous Aile approaching him to break the news that was already plain. Aden hadn't returned, with little more than a message about dealing with something and that he'd return later. The proximity and bad luck of something happening weren't something she could be guilty for, even amid remarks about the conspiracy boards as she called them. He was able to find that the same message had been sent to Sub, with no further correspondance to either of them. At first, he assumed maybe he wanted time to find himself again; he certainly wouldn't blame him after the Ziton encounter and the state he was left in for it. The issue was a week or so later, when several days passed after trying to reach out with a message. Make sure he's alright and there was nothing to worry about.

When that message was left unread and no signal could be found from his SNAG, the first one he went to was Sub to confirm it wasn't any malfunction, then to Cera, Crystal and Reno. If his SNAG couldn't be pinpointed, then surely the psychics closest to him might have a better shot with their strong links. When they too failed to find his whereabouts- if not whenabouts- another 'conspiracy board' was put together in the name of finding any leads. This time with Aile and others' help.

Sol otherwise split a lot of his time a few ways, with many a night being spent on the boards. Aile and Reno were among the bigger helps with putting them together and studying them for any leads they could find, be it from the Mycellium Maestro and the apparent buggy link, other topics as they came up, or where Aden ended up. By day, it was either hunting down Shadow Pokemon and purifying them- and gaining knowledge in dealing with his Charizard's infection at long last- or trying to glean any information he could for even more leads. His mind struggling not to dwell on concerns, he'd train. The trip to the Asado Ruins brought about a lot of questions, from the move he'd managed against Barbara to Arcoiris itself. Why and how it worked like it did, and the implications it meant. To say nothing of the Iron Valiant he'd caught, for that matter.

The move itself was the easiest discovery to sort out. That ended up being Weather Ball, and he was able to easily replicate what he did with it in the ruins during a rainstorm. He found it was surprisingly easy to take its energy and send it through the blade as well, confirming a hypothesis that formed when that same energy funneled into him through it back then. Up to then, everything he'd put through Arcoiris' blade was either fire itself, or heavily related to it like Solar Beam or the plasma for Thunderbolt... it gave a strong focus for his training in trying to learn the limits of an artifact he thought he understood.

---

As for Amaranth, she found an itch she didn't realize she had. She kept thinking back to the festival even after getting back to Paldea and working on the schoolwork that came with her trip to Kitakami, and it fueled the decision to start learning more about contests in earnest. She'd find several older ones online to watch and study, and she was quick to tell the similarities with the tribute battle and what she could tell from the Grimmsnarl. She kinda wished she could've spent another day there and learn about what got them into performing in the first place. It didn't take long at all for her to end up watching a contest where Lisia was present, apparently an idol among Hoenn's contest circuit, and having a performance with her Altaria that gave her doubts about what Raoul Contesta saw in her. Sure, maybe she did alright for someone who'd never been in a Pokemon Contest in her life (that she knew of), but Lisia was easily in a league of her own. Still, she had to admit she was curious about how she'd actually fare...

It took a bit for her to find time between classes to start taking trips to Hearthome City and visiting the Contest Hall there. She found herself awfully drawn towards Sinnoh even if she couldn't quite figure out why, but as soon as she presented the business card, the receptionists there were quick to get her ushered off and sorted out. Turns out having Contesta's recommendation was an even bigger deal than she thought it was, and she'd be fitted for an outfit better suited for a Coordinator and performer than what she came in with. A few days later saw her in possession of a frilled lavendar dress that darkened towards a shade of blue at the edges, and a wing-like white-and-blue bow with a long ribbon. A couple of smaller ones adorned the top of the outfit's shoes, careful to not impede movement. Combined, they served as a stark contrast to the more tomboyish look her usual outfit and boots gave and she couldn't help feeling a little nervous at how different it was.

But a new outfit didn't a Coordinator make, and she learned this the hard way when she finally tried one proper. Though some things had changed since the contests she watched, a lot of it wasn't too different from now. While appealing and putting on a show was far and away the focus, battling wasn't completely absent and it carried the same air as the rest of the contest. In practice, it really did feel a lot like the tribute battle in Kitakami, and she could imagine exciting the crowd was the real goal. She struggled to really get much traction at first, though, being new and lacking experience in what the different categories meant, even if there were certainly more head turns than she was used to. It took some experimenting to find her footing, and a suggestion that she try to aim for more of a cool factor. Her Pidgeot and Fletchinder would quickly become two of her go-tos when she undertook a contest, having a knack for cleverness and coolness respectively. She'd find some modest success after that, taking up a lot of her time outside of classes, and even began to keep scarves on the two; a green one for Pidgeot, and red for Fletchinder. Between those, she'd also find herself drawn to Mt. Coronet, especially with the student she heard of at the Academy. All in all, she'd been incredibly busy, though despite it all, she'd still manage to report to HQ from time to time, if only to catch up with the others.

---

At this point, Sol was outside HQ as the STR was occupied. Fair enough, he thought, as he pocketed a small sack of elemental gems he'd just bought from Nebu. "Should be enough for a little practice..." He said to himself, unsheathing Arcoiris and taking a glance around to ensure there wasn't anyone that might randomly get in the way. He wanted to keep any collateral damage to a minimum, sighing as he tightened his grip on the blade's hilt. "Do like you have with the Fire-based moves and Weather Ball," he remarked, psychic energy building up. "Build it up, then funnel it through."

After a moment, the energy welling around him would get forced through Arcoiris' blade, making it take on a violet hue from the aura surrounding it. He'd take a few light swings to watch as the energy trailed along, coming to rest shortly after. "It's staying pretty well this time. Don't think it's ever going to feel as natural as something like Flamethrower and Solar Beam. Still can't believe I thought it a Fire artifact this whole time either, but Reno was right about the similarities to the ruin's walls." As he mused, he could feel the aura quiver a little, its stability beginning to falter.

"Right, before it tapers off. With a little bit of focus, I should be able to force it out." Nodding to himself, he'd send an upward slash into the air, forcing the psychic energy out and sailing skyward for about a second before dissipating entirely. "...I was late on it. Let's try it again." He'd start to repeat the process anew, his focus briefly being lost when the wind picked up and a shadow suddenly loomed overhead. Trainers flying across to Johto or Kanto weren't unusual to see, but he'd pick up on the flash of green before seeing Gale land with a not-so-enthused Amaranth on her back.

"Could you aim a little lower next time?" She asked, sighing in relief and giving her Pidgeot a light pet.

"Sorry, thought the coast was clearer... short notice?" Sol remarked in return, noticing Amaranth was still in the dress that made up her contest costume. "You're usually quick to change out of that."

"Er..." A nervous glance came and went as Amaranth looked towards the cave for a second, not quite wanting to admit the outfit had grown on her despite how impractical it felt. "I forgot...? I wasn't thinking before leaving to come here."

Sol didn't buy it for a second, but it wasn't his place to judge. "It's fine, it's good to see you regardless. How's the trips to Sinnoh been?"

"Hard to find a break between the classes and being around other Coordinators, but it's been good! Gale's been easing up more about so many eyes being on her, haven't you?"

A chirp would come from the Pidgeot as she preened one of her wings, careful to avoid catching the green scarf in the process. Amaranth was careful to get off Gale's back so she wouldn't be in the way either. "Been trying to keep an eye on any Shadow Pokemon there or in Paldea too, though I wish I'd have a bit more time to explore Mt. Coronet. Sub and the others are around, yeah?"

"You're asking me?" Sol replied, giving a shrug. "It's hard to say a lot of days. He should be, though."

"Cool, thanks. Though... Gale, let me recall you so you can rest, okay? I don't think the door's really Pidgeot sized still." Recalling Gale, she'd go on into the cave and towards the HQ entrance as Sol continued the training session he'd just started. Once she was inside, she'd notice several around, including Sub, and she was pretty sure she caught a glimpse of Aile and Darts in the kitchen along.... some green thing? Person? Pokemon? Had she managed to miss that the whole time? Her attempt at waving was left in a weird halfway state, confusion on her face and her train of thought derailed before it left the station. "...hi...?"

Odd and Lykas arrived to the main room shortly after the mass message was received, Libelle held in the Channeler's arms for the moment as they came to a stop. "What's up, boss man?" Lykas asked, curiousa. "Been a while since you called a group meeting like this." He pointed out.

"Right?! It's been pretty calm for a while." Odd chipped in, lazily bouncing Libelle on his hip as she played with some toy or another Lykas had offered her. He wasn't exactly sure what that was, though, unable to see it as he was.

Clare would arrive about the same time, tilting their head to the side as they did. "Is something wrong? I was just cleaning my room..." They pointed out. It had been a while since they'd been back for long so their room had gotten a bit dusty.

Sub would receive a message to his SNAG not long after that.

In the few days following was more of the same. More shadow Pokémon purified, more training. Again, nothing to write home about. Though this day, it started off all manner of weird. Sub was actually calling everyone together. “Ah, christ…” I spoke up. “We were supposed to be in Paldea later, aren’t we?” I would ask Freth.

“Something that got Sub to bring a meeting here? Now? He…did say he was going to bring everyone along for it, but…I didn’t think that it would warrant this.” I sighed out a bit. If something major did come up, then surely Tristen would understand, it was what the job demanded, but it felt like Arceus was toying with us again for some reason. “Come on, let’s go find out what he needs.”

“Yea.” The two of us would make our way down the halls and off towards the common area of the headquarters, sort of preparing the worst out of this situation.