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While she had been insistent upon coming along this time, for just one day, Terpsichore was still quite nervous about accompanying Nix to the laboratory with his ongoing report. Gathering and relaying information like this could be a taxing effort and tended to take a couple of weeks, but then the group would be on the road for another few months between. However, the amount of scientific mumbo-jumbo being tossed through the air wasn't what tangled up the shroomish-girl's otherwise easygoing demeanor: it was the fact that this was a laboratory, and pokémon being able to transform into a humanoid shape was still a rather new trend. She didn't want to become some mad scientist's new guinea pig, but she wanted to be supportive!

Lagging behind by sticking to the furthest walls of the room, Terpsichore watched as a few scientists conversed with her trainer. A few took momentary glances at the child, causing her to tense up in reaction, but they would always go right back to work. She breathed another sigh as her hyperactive nerves settled down again after another such instance, relieved but all the while curious. Had they already received all the information they needed about poké-humans like her? Had Nix striked up some sort of bargain to keep her safely under his care? Was Nix the one that was using her as a guinea pig? She chuckled silently to herself at the last thought; honestly, if that's what he was doing, it wasn't so bad at all.

It wasn't often that Nix brought up anything about his family, and this... this wasn't one of those times. For all Terpsichore knew, Nix didn't really have any family to speak of, so the thought of asking never crossed the shroomish's mind. In all honesty, she couldn't even tell that the older man in charge of this particular shift was even related to her absent-minded trainer. All she saw as she looked across the room at the gathering of scientists was... a batch of intimidating people. She disliked feeling so uneasy! She was always the outgoing one!

Rubbing at an arm as though she were a child scolded, her eyes ran quickly over her immediate surroundings, downcast. Reflexes still on edge, she jumped upon seeing the edges of a dusty pink mass in the corner of her eye. After the initial reaction of shock, however, Terpsichore found herself giggling at the unsuspecting ditto, who was currently looking rather miserable in the corner none too far from the shroomish girl. Whatever had the little pokémon upset, it wasn't the girl, but it sure could have been misconstrued that way. But she couldn't help it! "Well this brings back memories," she snickered wistfully. Well, at least she wasn't alone.

Even though she could hear voices outside the door as Dea and her entourage neared, Terpsichore still ended up jumping and skittering quickly away from it when it opened, back to another corner of the room. She felt like such a scaredy cat, and in her mind, there was no reason she should be acting in such a manner. She had no terrible experiences in any place remotely similar, nobody had treated her badly while she was here, and she never heard any horror stories about pokémon research labs. No, this was all a product of an overactive imagination. That, and probably the fact that Margarita had been clamant about reading more fairy tales, of which Terpsichore had to be the one to do it. For stories so whimsical, they tended to have the most horrid of villains. She couldn't think of what else might have been causing it! So, instead of confronting it, she hid behind a chair, mostly out of view. The pinkish blob of a ditto gave the girl a questioningly incredulous look, but Terpsichore was a strange one to the pokémon anyway; she had yet to make sense.

"--and the square perimeter of the area seems to have more of a migration of them than we previously thought. The statistics show that--" the lead researcher rambled before being nudged in the ribs. He spun half around, offering Nix a slightly muddled look. The field researcher indicated toward the door in an effort to be polite about his interruption, especially when he half-expected the outburst that followed shortly after. "Deanna!" the older man stumbled, taking strides toward his daughter now confined to a wheelchair since he had last seen her. He wished he could have offered a brave face, a smile to let her know that he was happy to see her, but he had been hoping a relapse of her illness was not written in her future. "This shouldn't have happened," he grumbled under his breath in defiance before worried eyes turned to look the woman in her eyes, "Are you alright? How did this happen? Did anything cause the relapse?"

Straight to the point, but at least his worry was evident. While Nix was uncomfortable with the sudden drama, never the social type, he made haste in pointing something out before it got out of hand, "Chill out; don't suffocate her." He was sure Dea wouldn't appreciate being buried under three feet of questions and doting as soon as she wheeled in through the door like that. Regardless, a quick response of that magnitude coming from his superior greatly amused the man.

Karma hadn't moved from where the pokémon was stationed, trying to pull up something previously registered in the amorphous one's mind. <<Deanna... Deanna... I'm positive I should know that name..!>> the ditto mulled, desperate to remember. No matter how hard it tried, though, the recesses of the pinkish mass' mind didn't relent any information. <<It's no use...>> Karma admitted, defeated. It stayed parked in place, attempting to coax out immensely stubborn and reluctant knowledge.

The head scientist rocked a bit uneasily on his feet, as though thinking long and hard about the implications of this turn of events. The short run, the long run, they would all need to be adjusted to fit with the time, the accessibility, the... He shook his head mildly, catching himself in his patterned behavior before he got carried away in too logical a thought process. Despite the overwhelming worry, he managed a smile, "My my, sounds like you've had an eventful series of events happen! It doesn't sound like overexertion, but... you haven't been overdoing it or anything, have you?" Nix cleared his throat from behind the group, pointing out without mentioning that his superior was becoming too overbearing again. Grayson held back the urge to roll his eyes at the failure to catch it himself, but didn't dwell, choosing to fall back on track. With hastiness, he added, "And it also sounds as though you've had a number of positive events happen." He sighed a bit at that, realizing it took more effort to find the good when one was dwelling on the foreboding that came with the bad, "What good news could the hospital possibly give after that?" He almost scoffed the last remark, but this was merely repercussion from the fact that he openly detested the hospital, the origin of many an unfavorable memory.

Maybe the older man could learn by example a bit better, or at least that was a grazing thought Nix had on the matter after a bit of reveling in the amusement. He nodded to his cousin, "It's good to see you again, Dea. Sorry it couldn't have been under more favorable circumstances." He hadn't seen the woman in... years, was it? Had he been out in the field, traveling over parts unknown for that long?

Grayson winced slightly at the silent jest to his communication, but let it roll off. He flashed a sincere smile to the teenaged arceus at his daughter's side, "I am most grateful to you all for being there for her when I am unable. It does mean a lot, and I am sure that even Dea considers you all to be highly valuable. You are all family, after all, and being there can be the strongest of medicine. Thank you." It wasn't lost on the man that the poke-kids had grown in a rather unusual fashion, and truthfully it was quite intriguing a sight to behold. Perhaps he could ask about everything at a later time, when he wasn't so hard-pressed with emotion.

As the group was chatting, voices muffled by the pulsing in her feathered ears, Terpsichore managed to pull herself onto her knees from behind the chair she took refuge. Peering around the back of the seat, she spotted who exactly it was that entered in through the front where she had vacated from, and was thoroughly astonished. While she caught a glimpse of Dea in her wheelchair, she was unaware it was any cause for alarm -- or anything permanent, for that matter. Sure, it confused her, but something else stood out along with the scene, "Eilam?" He sure got bigger! "Eilam, is that you?"

Karma pulled itself out of the trappings of its mind at the rise in chatter, but remained glued to its claimed spot. Eilam, now that name sounded really familiar as well... That strange girl hiding in the corner apparently knew the teen as well, but Karma was fairly certain that it had no idea who she was. Then again, the ditto could never be one hundred percent certain, and it knew this better than anyone. The pink pile of silly putty couldn't have looked more distressed or depressed, despite the lack of defining structure.

Despite the irritation that was looming in the scientist's mind, he couldn't help but be calmed when he saw his daughter's soft smile. She was fine with it, had already come to terms with it... he wasn't doing any good by acting up about the whole situation. Couldn't he live by her strong example and do the same? He wished he could... but it was his little girl that was affected the most by it all. Dea deserved so much better than the lot she was given in life! For being of such weak constitution, however, she certainly had more than her share of determination and stubbornness. As she described her adventures around the world despite her handicap on health, her smile became more contagious, "Nothing can get you down, can it? That's my girl." He snickered, "Well I will just have to learn to be as strong as you are, won't I? You are a wonder to this world." He nodded, taking note of her intentions in her personal research, "And have you found any leads yet? Jirachi, you say? That could answer a lot of questions, and bring up even more..." He mused a moment, but his pause in silence was extended by the impact of the good news that Dea set forth to explain next. Truly he was wordless, a new worry enflamed alongside pure euphoria; if he were a computer, this may pose concern if the sudden freezing would be followed by a blue screen.

Luckily, Nix was there to interject his own witty comment, "Wait.... OH YEAH, Dea is married, isn't she?" He beat a fist into an awaiting palm with his sudden recollection; he couldn't help but momentarily forget, considering he had been absent from any ceremony that took place. He smiled sheepishly at Dea, "Heh, sorry about that. That's great news! Isn't it, boss?"

Any further statements that may have fallen from Nix were quickly interjected with a sudden hug from Grayson to his daughter seated before him. If words were going to fail him, well... actions spoke louder, right?

Terpsichore blinked at the admittance Dea gave, not fully understanding the implications of what being 'pregnant' meant. Everyone else seemed to know, so it was... elementary to humans? Hmm, another thing she'd have to study if she were to be more like a human! They seemed really happy about it, though, so she was quick to mirror the jubilance with a congratulatory grin of her own as she made her way nearer, feeling a bit more comfortable with the relatively normal atmosphere. She nodded to Eilam as he acknowledged her query, her eyes growing wider when she got a better look at the teenaged arceus. "Wow, you're looking more and more adult-human by the day! That's amazing; you look great!" she exclaimed, fascinated. With Eilam's question, Terpsichore bounced her head, "That's right! You guy's 've got a good memory!" She flicked her eyes toward her trainer briefly, a bit confused as to why Dea would also know Nix -- she had been too frightened to pay attention to the conversation before she had realized who was at the door. "That's right, Dea!" the shroomish child chirped, agape, "How did you know that? Are you psychic?" Truthfully, even if Dea had known about what kind of pokémon Nix had in his possession before, Terpsichore still would not have been one in her memory; she was the newest addition to the troupe, and had only been traveling with him for a few months. In fact, Terp couldn't have been certain he had any pokémon prior to Endymion's unexpected alliance.

From its seat on the tiled floor, Karma peered over at the growing congregation by the door. The ditto pulled itself nearer a few small steps, but stopped short of reaching such a destination. There were probably only two individuals in that group that knew the amorphous pokémon was even in the room, and Karma wasn't too keen on getting stepped on. Or rolled over, in the female trainer's case. Jeez, she looked so familiar... But it was alright, there was enough stimulation in the place for the ditto to be fully engaged, even if the short thing wasn't actively participating.

The scientist nodded as he absorbed his daughter's relayed information, adding it to his metaphorical notepad in his mind. This was all certainly interesting, and certainly something he'd have to try to look in to. He had known about some of the pokémon's bizarre transformations for a while now, but never had any lead as to where to look for an explanation until now. With everything that Dea had been through, with her illness and news of the future, she certainly proficient at what she set her mind to! "That seems like a logical conclusion to have come to, so it is a very good lead. You just be sure to keep me posted on whatever you find out, and I will help where I can. Don't hesitate to ask if you need assistance, alright? And I mean with anything you might need," Grayson stated firmly, giving the woman a stern -- if loving -- look. "This is probably something too big for one person to handle. Or... three, even," he reiterated, noting the anthropomorphized children at her side with a sheepish smile.

"Same here! I'd love to find out more about this!" Nix excitedly interjected. He paused a moment, scratching at an ear in thought, "Well... I might be harder to get ahold of. Might be best just to report to him, and he can relay it to me." He jabbed a thumb at Grayson; sometimes it was advantageous to be related to your boss in instances like this.

Terpsichore giggled at Eilam's blunt response, "Well that's a very good trait to possess! I know how hard it can be to remember specific details, especially when it wasn't that long of an encounter." She beamed, finding it rather flattering that what she said before was worth remembering; Dea and Eilam really were very nice people, she was glad to know them! "Well that is very sweet of you to be looking after her like that. It's so different to see a pokémon so devoted to their trainer, it's almost refreshing," the brunette noted, "What was the hardest thing for you to get used to after growing, Eilam?" She'd have to go through that sort of growth process herself eventually, after all, so it was all the better to take notes while she could!

The shroomish girl glanced with perplexity at the woman seated in the wheelchair, curious as to what she meant about the 'psychic thing.' Instead of asking, she decided not to detour the conversation, "It must be so neat to know so many people! So you're pretty social, aren't you?" Her mind was running a mile a minute, "How did you know we'd be coming here? I didn't even know Nix came here very often! Granted... I haven't been with him for too long, but..." Terpsichore thought on that a moment; Dea really was very good at her researching skills, since Terp hadn't realized she had said so much in so few words! It was remarkable, and she was slightly jealous over such skills. Maybe she could learn to do that as well?

Karma huffed at all the talk about having a great memory, slightly perturbed by the swerve in conversation. Although the pokémon knew better, it almost seemed as though they were talking about it because the one with a faulty memory was in the vicinity. Who did humans curse in cases like this? Murphy? Either way, the ditto didn't feel like getting depressed over something like this, so instead of dwelling on what couldn't be changed, the amorphous putty pile inched around the back of the group, sure that nobody would be backing up so far anytime soon. Karma wasn't the fastest, but that didn't rule out being strategic and careful. And careful the pokémon was, nearing close enough to start batting at one of Lucinda's ribbony tails that hung barely in reach of the ditto's stubby arm formations.

Grayson glanced down to the miffed rodent pokémon in his daughter's lap, chuckling at the reaction she gave to being left out of the count. "I'm sorry, Lightning. Even four would be too few," he restated with correction, ruffling the pikachu's ears apologetically. There was nobody that could tell him that pokémon, no matter what form they took, were anything less than human in spirit.

Eyes turning back on Dea, Grayson agreed, "That would be excellent. I will be sure to help on the information gathering should I come across anything. There must be something I can find in the archives that could be of some use, and maybe some of the field researchers can gather some on their travels as well." He grinned at Dea's willingness to inform him, no matter the reason, grateful to have such a sweet-tempered daughter. He really didn't need to worry so much.

"You bet!" Nix asserted without delay, "Already have, from the looks of things, eh? Three of them down, and two of Dea's. Wonder if it's a hit list of all the pokémon in the area..." The researcher mused on that, wondering how many more in the area had yet to be changed. How frequent were the occurrences? How much time would they have before they were all transformed? Did this jirachi have an endless supply of these stars? Did it really want to do that to all of them? The questions kept pouring out; so much so that the man pulled out his notepad and started scribbling some ideas down to investigate when he next got the chance.

Terpsichore's smile was brimming, "Ah, so that's the difference! I don't think most people think of their trainers as friends. I could be wrong, but it really doesn't seem like it to me. Maybe more like... distant relatives? Or coaches?" She mused on the matter; she had been a wild pokémon for the majority of her life, so she wasn't entirely certain if she was correct in her assumptions, but it seemed like a rather strong argument on the matter. The shroomish thought about what sort of things she may be able to reach better with the greater height that came with a growth spurt when Eilam explained. She could help packing and unpacking better, perhaps, especially with the tents... and she was sure she could be more helpful with other things as well. Really neat! At the mention of a change in girls' behavior toward him, Terpsichore flashed a quizzical frown. "Oh? What do you..?" she began asking before she caught on, "Ohhh... Does that happen... a lot?" She hadn't really... thought about that aspect of society before, so focused as she was on career.

Flailing after Lucinda's ribbons as she turned, Karma seemed a little saddened that they were now out of reach. That is, until realization came that Lucy had, in fact, turned around. Karma jolted as one might with their hand in a cookie jar, glancing sheepishly at the hybridized child. Oh... oh no, she knew Karma as well? This was awkward... why couldn't zhe remember anyone? Nevertheless, the ditto attempted to put a smile on and pretend that memory of Lucinda was retained, <<H-Hi! I'm, um... okay. Life in a lab, you know? Not a lot happening and all.>> There was a nervous laugh, and Karma knew zhe sounded a bit pathetic with the attempt, <<Have you been well? Anything exciting happening lately?>> Yep, definitely pathetic.

Grayson grinned at the return of Lightning's cheery demeanor, glad she didn't feel like holding a grudge against him. "Well I am very glad to hear that! We wouldn't Light to be upset," he replied. With all the distraction and sudden appearance of so much surprising information, it was no wonder that he had missed the golden ball of fluff using Dea as a chair. In fact, it was probably apparent that Grayson had forgotten that his own pokémon was even in the room despite the fact that Karma never left. This conversation was just much too important, but at least it was easy enough to direct the man back on track, back to reality where he could observe such things himself. Nodding to Dea's question, Grayson responded with an affirmative, "That would probably be for the best. All I'd have to do is remember to keep it in my pocket. Maybe I can get your mother to prod me about it as well, in case I forget."

Nix jolted at the sound of his name, not realizing until then that he had been tuning out the conversation in favor of bleeding his thoughts onto paper. He looked slightly disappointed, but he wasn't without agreement on the matter. Thinking about it a moment with a quick scan over his notes, he conceded, "True, but there must be some way of luring it out. Ask it some questions, see what makes it tick, what sort of goal this is leading t--"

"Nix..." Terpsichore scolded, fists on hips at his enthusiastic rambling. It cut the man off and he flashed a smile, almost as if to say he wasn't doing anything. Turning back to Eilam, she nodded at his explanation of why he probably viewed things differently than the average pokémon, "Ah yes, I remember you telling me about how long you've known Dea! I suppose that would make a real difference. I would imagine that most pokémon are younger than their trainers are, too." She mulled it over; there were many possibilities for why some pokémon would treat their trainers differently, but she was the type of girl that liked to discover what those differences were. The shroomish snickered as Eilam admitted that he didn't see the difference in how other females acted around him, "Well it's probably good that they aren't so forward, that could get awkward! What are the types of things that Dea notices with them that you miss?" She didn't have any idea whether this conversation direction was making the teen uneasy or not, but she was just too curious!

Oh oh, the whole transformation thing really did seem interesting to Karma, but as much as zhe wanted to ask about it, the ditto thought better than to. Chances were that zhe had long since asked about it before, and asking specifics about it now would only foil the pokémon's efforts to appear normal. Even if the transformation-capable pokémon was unaware that Lucinda already knew. <<I bet it's tough. I can't imagine what it would be like to suddenly change like that overnight,>> Karma thought aloud, deeming the observation alright for vocalization. Zhe really had no idea that zhe didn't have to try so hard at pretending to remember everything. Instead, the pokémon perked, <<At least you get to wear all those human clothes, I really like them on you!>>

Grayson turned to face his pokémon when Dea had mentioned the small one, noting how the interaction between the two pokémon was faring. He nodded gravely, "Yes, it is. Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything I can really do about it, either. There's been no progress..." He heaved a sigh and waved a hand in resignation, "But I'm going to keep trying nonetheless. You're welcome to try to help as well, but I don't think you'd have much luck without frequent exposure, I'm afraid."

Grayson flashed a meek smile as Dea offered a different way of communication, but shook it off with a wave of the hand, "I just have to put it on a daily to-do list, is all! Don't worry about it, I'll make every effort to remember the thing. Besides, we wouldn't want you to waste that energy of yours so much, if the range is an issue. This way, you can even call to chat if you'd like." He snickered as she seemed to be more full of her old spirit now, "Well, I wouldn't hesitate to help you test it out, if you really wanted. Just don't overdo it." He flashed an innocent smile at his daughter at her playful scolding; while it was apparent they were close family, it was almost impossible to tell that the two of them were father and daughter with their antics.

"Heh, and I thought I was bad," Nix jested between lines of notes. Glancing down at the mild research he had been conducting, the young man frowned, tapping the back of an index finger on the notepad, "Isn't the lore that jirachi grants wishes?" Was this even a testable theory he was providing?

Terpsichore giggled, feeling she may have hit on something. After all, she was younger than Nix, and so was Endymion and Margarita. At least... as far as she knew. However, it was then that Eilam mentioned that all of Dea's pokémon saw her as family, and her eyes fell on Lightning in the woman's lap. She was... fairly certain that the little pikachu was not around the same age as Dea, as rodents tended to have a much shorter lifespan than humans. "Hmm..." she mused, "I couldn't say. Honestly, I've not really seen any others that act like all of you. Maybe you're all just like-minded individuals?" She beamed; it must have been nice to get along with people all the time. She sure wished she could have said the same about herself!

Karma's grin couldn't have been bigger, glad that zhe managed to steer the conversation in a positive direction. Lucy's outfit really was so colorful and active, though, and matched the hybrid's skin tone so gracefully. <<I think you both have made wise decisions on the input, then. It's good to have someone who knows you so well! Your tails even look like ribbons with the dress!>> Karma noted, wondering if it was even possible to tie them into a bow without it being too uncomfortable.

Grayson chuckled at Dea's offer to help that was muddied in a lack of confidence. He gently pat her on the shoulder, "Come now, you're my little miracle. For all we know, you probably could start getting through." He didn't want her to sell her skills short, despite the fact that the man was fairly certain the ditto was permanently damaged. For this, he suggested, "I think we just need to think of something that could help jog the memory when things like this happen. I haven't come up with anything yet, but I'll keep trying. It's nothing to be concerned about, Karma's managed this far just fine."