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Some of the Snagems were more loquacious than Monique. And that in and of itself was an asset to her.

Wren called her Cynthia, not Alia. And Sub called her "the Sinnoh Champion". The sheriff parsed this new information with a sense of dread. Sinnoh had never taken a shine to the Snagems. It was as consistently hostile as Hoenn was consistently friendly. At least it explained the coat, she thought, remembering her bug bite-infested trip down Route 202. The singularity of the term Champion didn't hit her quite as quickly. After all, Paldea seemed to hand out that title like candy, an accreditation rather than a position. Perhaps there were other Sinnoh Champions. If there were, she'd rather not meet them right now, though. As it was, this was an inhospitable place for any sort of encounter, let alone one involving a woman who clearly meant every word she said and almost certainly had the Pokémon to back that up.

Her head swiveled left to right, looking at the rest of the team, back to Cynthia, back to the Snagems. She'd gleaned enough about her interrogator to know she was going to be playing a card from that proverbial deck soon. But she was not going to be the first to act. Not unless things got worse fast.

Aile nodded, looking at Poggle on her back, then at her left arm. “If you can somehow get some sort of groundshake going out, try to make it abnormal, maybe two or three times in a row, and I could catch on it. You’re supposed to be underground, right? Or at least ground floor? I’ll an eye out with my tremor sense. That, and Poggle can keep an eye out. How do you feel about staying burrowed, Pogs?” The Nincada would peek over his trainer’s shoulder, letting out a chirp while nodding. “Right then. Good luck, guys. Rachel, Brian, thanks for the assist, too.” The ground channeller would wave and head back towards the Robo-Rayquaza, Poggle jumping down and burrowing back into the sand. Aile had her own tremorsense, but it could very well be that the alpha Nincada had stronger senses than she did on that front. Between the two of them, hopefully they should notice something. Hopefully. Giving it a little more thought, she’d bring out Tatooine, who would make herself at home in the desert underneath the jet, keeping an eye on things visually as well while her trainer would get to studying the booklet Kaminiko left. It was better than nothing for training. Was she going to have to get some proper training on this at some point?



Crystal would let out a small sigh of relief as a couple members stayed behind to keep their extract vessel safe. Granted, one of them was maybe one of the stronger members of Snagem, but in case anything did attack the jet, that probably wouldn’t be a bad thing to have her there. Still, anyone to guard the jet was good, one way or the other. The hybrid would wait her turn to get brought over, keeping her eyes peeled once she arrived with the others. Alarm would appear on her face as she noticed Cynthia arrive, probably as surprised as everyone else. She knew Cynthia was the champion of Sinnoh, but she also heard that she was fairly knowledgeable about the lore and mythos of Sinnoh as well. A place she hadn’t had much of a chance to explore, that she remembered. Why was she here, though? This place wasn’t a historical ruin, at least in a traditional sense… Though, she could see it falling under the criteria for it, maybe minus age. It was something of relevance to the region, hell, it had a global impact, and whenever the government decided to finally vacate the place, it might very well just waste away. It would depend on when they left, though.

Crystal would shake her head and push the tangential thoughts out of her head, bringing herself back to the here and now. They were dealing with one of the most powerful trainers in the world, and while she wasn’t outwardly hostile, she was certainly ready to rumble. The hybrid would keep her hands folded together in front of her, weighing any words she wanted to say carefully. There probably wasn’t much she could say to add on, but she might try. “Information. What we’re being told as history doesn’t match up with our own memories and motives. Considering how meticulously Ein kept notes on us, we figured whatever he left would tell us the truth of what actually happened.” One way or the other, she thought to herself, sort of preparing for these files to also be manipulated somehow. That would wind up being their luck. “If we didn’t need this place, I would be personally fine with a Gu- a Glutton just devouring this place. If we could send it back out without it deciding the entire world was its next feast.” The team, to her memory, had not encountered a Guzzlord, minus Monique, and it was kind of a miracle she had emerged from that reality. Either way, she wasn’t sure who all would even know what she was referencing if she called it by its actual name. So, a reference to its codename it was.

Ulla was almost star stuck at the sight of Cynthia. A Pokemon Champion her and Leon looked up to, here? She wanted so badly to be on better terms and ask for a battle. But, as it is now. Wouldn't be ideal. Cynthia's presence alone sent chills down the young girl's spine. She took notice of her trailing her finger against an Ultra Ball on her hip. "Easy way." Ulla spoke up as she knew their place currently. Being caught now, would leave to even more trouble. "Seeing how you'll be accompanying us. Can I assume we'll be able to persuade you that we are innocent with evidence? Would you aid us actually then?" She asked Cynthia. Ulla was a bit nervous she might've sounded of a bit arrogant.

"Please...I know your hands are tied Cynthia. But, if we really were guilty. What would be the purpose of us being here looking for evidence?"

Amber watched as some of her teammates, Crystal and Sub, among others, interacted with Cynthia. She would have chimed in with her own thoughts, but it seemed that would be redundant, considering what the others were saying. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as Cynthia asked if they were going to do this the easy way or the hard way, and Ulla speaking up had the Froslass hybrid looking at the young girl with something akin to awe in her eyes. Ulla was right, of course, but would Cynthia see it that way.

"I agree with Ulla," she said. "We're not here to cause trouble, and I would very much like to avoid angering you, Cynthia. Also, I personally see no point in engaging in a battle my Pokemon would have no chance of winning." That wasn't to say that she didn't believe her Pokemon could do some kind of damage; she just had no intention of facing off against that monster Garchomp she remembered Cynthia having on her roster.

I perked up when Cynthia started to explain about the various incidents post-fight with Ein. “Sub, did you know anything of that? These people should have known that madman wasn’t going to just have anyone rooting around in his crap.” I said to the Snagem leader. It also begged to question why weren’t we called to actually try to clean some of this up instead of trying to hunt for Shadow Pokémon. Like honestly, where did the priorities lie? But then, it left to question then if anyone in this blasted alliance, which is looking ever shakier since now the common enemy is gone, actually trusted us to begin with in spite of putting our necks out as we did.

Tristen as he listened on to Cynthia speak to Wren and the others, started to realize something wasn’t right. “Hey, Blizz?” Tristen spoke up.

“Hm?”

“I’m starting to think something is up in Sinnoh now. I just don’t know what yet.” Tristen said.

“How so?”

“Well, if the news is anything to go by, Sinnoh was the main instigators in the alliance in getting Snagem brought in.” Tristen said. “And Cynthia just said that it was strictly Sinnoh who was here working on this. Some alliance if its all just them running the show. And besides, weren’t Sinnoh generally neutral at first? Not wanting to get involved? Why the change of mind all of a sudden?”

“I was starting to think of that myself.” I said to Tristen. “It’s a little too coincidental. But even so, who do we even question at that point? We can’t just say the whole region is guilty; what good is that? We’re still effectively dead in the water on that. But it’s something to keep in mind, I’d think. Regardless, it doesn’t change what we need to do now.” I looked back at Cynthia, crossing my arms. “Cynthia, the two of us know having a brawl all the way out here isn’t going to do anyone here any good.” I said to her. “You’re not going to get any argument out of me about you coming inside; you’re more capable than most as far as I can figure. Though, I do have to point out a concern: You…don’t have any Pokémon that is or once Shadowfied, do you? There’s a fair chance you may end up dealing with just about anything pertaining to that in there, at bare minimum. One of the last things I’d want to deal with is say your Garchomp going nuts on you and the rest of us.”

“It’s been a couple of years now since that fight, Blizz, do you really think that there would be Shadow Pokémon still here?” Tristen asked.

“I wouldn’t put anything past Ein, honestly. Rather it be shadow Pokémon or the virus distributed in some other ways. Seriously, that sociopath is disposed of and still he’s a thorn in everyone’s side. I mean…” I motioned towards the tower. “…Cynthia just said, after all.”

“I guess you got a point.” Tristen said.

The eventual teleports that would bring the trio in would see them greeting the tower, a mix of disdain at the sight and shock that the plan even worked.

"...you know, I'm as surprised as you are," Sol remarked, inspecting himself briefly to ensure that he was still in one piece and there wasn't some arm stuck in a wall ready to give a fitting gesture towards such a predicament.

"That's- it's so simple. Why didn't I think of that before?" Cera asked, almost beside herself at the whole thing working despite the sheer patches of nothing she could only assume were Ebonite serving as holes in any sort of mental read on the area.

"I'm just glad it did work, now how're we getting inside?" Amaranth asked, failing in her endeavor to avoid tensing up as she looked up.

"That's a-"

Before that sentence could finish, an even better question hit all three of them at once as an unfamiliar voice spoke up and Sol would be the one tensing up this time. There were some people one would rather not encounter if their goal was to avoid being starstruck at a minimum. Or, in this case, filled with absolute dread as he came face to face with Cynthia. Even in passing, she wasn't the sort you wanted to call an opponent.

But as they listened, Amaranth stepped forward. "With the looks and whispers I got, you'd think I got a recommendation from Mr. Contesta because of being in this team... I'm surprised the region hasn't already branded us criminals the second they got the chance. But I don't think we're in a position to really go for the hard way here..."

"We weren't in a position to not go here, either. I'd be happy letting this place rot, but we can't and if that means having you following us to make sure we're on good behavior or whatever, fine."

Throughout it all, Sol had a hand on a ball himself, eventually moving it away with a hard sigh. "Even if we did want to fight you, this is hardly the place for it. Better to have you on our side than not against whatever's still in there."

"Oh I know how it is." Cynthia affirms, waving behind her at the group trailing behind her. "But unlike some people I don't feel the need to posture like a sunburnt girl spurned by a jealous lover."

With that parting remark being the most emotion Cynthia had shown them, she approaches the door to the first dome, punching a combination of numbers into the keypad next to the door to open it with a pneumatic 'hiss', revealing a lift and a crystalline glass tunnel further along inside of it. Once everyone had gotten on board and their limbs were tucked inside she manipulates a console in the center of the room, locking the first door and causing the lift to pull them along into the next dome. Upon reaching it she would repeat the process, ensuring all of the Team was along each time as they slowly got closer and closer to the looming Tower, passing through each of the external domes. The lift rides through the glass tunnels really showcased the beauty of the Orre region once able to get away from the harsh desert, the sun refracting through the translucent column around them casting shimmering patterns on the surface of the lift and wall. This was clearly the way the original architects had intended Realgam Tower to be, a shining beacon that served as an oasis reflecting the best parts the region had to offer while also offering respite from the harsh conditions.

"While we're on our way," Cynthia says conversationally, tapping another series of numbers into a keypad, letting the group catch up with her before shutting the next Dome door and engaging the lift. "I can inform the lot of you in on what progress has been made within the tower in an official capacity. The answer is, despite nearly three years of excavation... not much. As I mentioned there have been accidents. Many accidents. Not local to the researchers Sinnoh sent either, just about every region that has sent a research team has suffered casualties. If it's not outright fatalities, it's disappearances. If it's not disappearances it's desertion - packing up outright in the night and leaving, never to be heard from again. If it's not desertion... well..." The Champion's face, normally composed, blanches slightly. "I think you all can understand there's another way to leave this world."

Seeming to steel herself after her momentary break in her composure, she taps the last sequence into the keypad and the last door 'wooshes' open upon arrival of their lift, leaving them in front of an enormous steel door, restraining bolts built into it like a bank vault. The pistons were retracted at the moment, owing to the activation of the four Pokeball-shaped orbs in the wall, glowing red, green, blue, and yellow in sequence. Once upon a time, four Cipher Admin had held four keys to lock this door, but the way was left wide for them now.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here..." Darts murmurs to himself as they all pile into the final lift behind the massive door and being sliding towards the reception area below the tower proper. Ogerpon said nothing, a bad feeling shivering through her body as the lift engaged, her Wellspring Mask firmly fixed in place while looking around, reflecting her inner turmoil as she did so.

The glass tunnel the lift took them through looked similar to the other four or so tunnels the Snagems had just passed through, but halfway through the glass had a greasy, grimy film to it that slowly deepened and darkened the closer they got to the reception dome, eventually blotting out the Orre sunshine as it became thick and viscous like oil. If they turned around they could see the light getting further and further away at the end of the tunnel, plunging the lot of them into darkness like a dying patient's final moments. Not only was it disconcerting suddenly being plunged into pitch blackness, but anyone with the senses to tell would be able to discern that the gloopy oil-like substance was some kind of thick Ebonite paste painted on to block out the sunlight and also keep anyone who might have a way out of here inside.

After a little ways shunting through the lift in total darkness, even Cynthia seemingly unwilling to break the silence, there would be some dim light ahead of them. Breaks hiss below them as the silver lift slowly slid to a halt inside of the dome, pulling them up into the dimly lit area, dots of amber lights that probably were supposed to serve as emergency lights only illuminating the space. Yawning empty chasms of former water displays long-dry outlined the edges of the room like a vascular system drained of all its blood. One silver Sudowoodo statue, halfway smashed to bits, and another empty plinth with just the legs of another, were some of the only ornamentation in the otherwise halfway destroyed reception area. Gone were the bright flourescent lights and fancy showmanship that had made up the inside of Realgam Tower originally.

Here and there plastered on the wall were bits of advertising, or like last time the Snagems had been here, banks of slot machines and abandoned gambling equipment too expensive or difficult to remove that belied the tower's original purpose. All around the team it was clear that Ebonite had been built into the tower's structure directly, if not also applied in a similar fashion to the entryway tunnel. Thick and oppressive as before, the intent to keep any teleporters or Psychics inside once caught in the maw. Once the group took their first steps into the place, just like last time, the enormous weight of grief and human and Pokemon suffering alike would bear down on them; terror crashed in on the team from all sides. It was palpable. The taste of the horrors that had been inflicted both in here and above them lingering in the air akin to blood on the battlefield, marking the scars and surgeries this place had undergone throughout its transformation to Realgam Fortress.

There was a group of people, researchers ostensibly, gathered around various documents, charts, and other miscellaneous paraphernalia scattered on a cleared-off reception desk from a former life. Scattered around the room were hardhats with lamps, pickaxes, rope, and satchels of other excavation equipment and tools from various disciplines and sciences. This dome was a staging area for the group to be able to take breaks, resupply, and coordinate from before heading further on into the depths of madness.

All of the assembled experts seemed to be from differing regions, thick Kalosian accents mingling with the more region-native Orre accents to the harsh gutteral Galarian accent. The scientists, explorers, and archaeologists who had been assembled were global, and more than a few of them had a couple of murmurs to themselves and each other as the team approached them off the lift.

The research leader, a woman, was standing at the head of the room, nearest the elevator. A blueprint was erected on an easel, a diagram of the tower inscribed on it with rooms highlighted in shades of gray, black, red, and other colors. Something about the way everything was so low-tech gave off the impression that there had been some event that caused the group to doubt their technology inside the building. Her pink pigtails shake back and forth underneath her research goggles as she prods the map, talking to a heavily bearded hiker in a cowboy hat. For a head researcher she was a bit on the shrimpy side, short and decked out in a gray and white functional dress and lab coat combination, with thigh-high boots rounding out the ensemble.

"No, no, no..." She was saying, in a high-pitched voice, exasperated, one hand on her hip as her venomous green eyes flick from the Hiker back to the map as she points to one of the rooms. "If we had Cynthia here still we could go into some of the black areas still, but without some kind of backup it's much too risky to go futzing around without a full team of- oh!" The woman cuts herself off as the group approaches, a little taken aback by the size of them, but recovering quickly as she realizes Cynthia is back for something. "Speak of the Giratina, you're back!" She chirps, face turning to look back at all of the Snagems gathered behind the blonde champion in turn. "Who're your friends here?"

"Snagems, meet head researcher Doctor Lovrina," Cynthia explains, standing aside to let them meet face-to-face, "An expert in the field of Pokemon empathy and psychology, she's been instrumental in helping to capture and treat several of the monstrous experiments the research team has come across-"

"Oh. Em. Gee." Lovrina interrupts Cynthia, flinging her slim arms around Keiko's neck in a hug before she has too much time to continue the conversation. "Bestieeeeee! It's been too long!" She squeezes Keiko tighter and closer as she squeals her joy, finishing the hug with them face-to-face as a bright smile stretched out, a spark of happiness in the middle of a dark dungeon. "How have you been? I didn't know you were coming to see me. Are these people all friends of yours? Hiiii there!" She gives a little waggle of her fingers at the nearest members of the team, still grinning.