As a Ghost capable of minimizing her corporeal form, there were few things she had to fear. In the mortal plane, coming across another entity that could pose her true harm was incredibly rare. Tire her out, perhaps, but never True Harm. She had far too much energy within her essence for that to occur. Of course, it did mean that she could not afford to be caught alone near her Kin, but for everything else in existence?
It was a dangerous line she walked. An oft repeated warning from Alex whenever she wrapped up agility training with her mortal aria. Become too secure in her strength, and one day she might lose it all. Perhaps it was because those words- such meaningless things given existence by one bound by flesh- had become etched into her being, that she was able to be as she was. Not yet power incarnate, but soon. One, mystifying, illusive step, and she would perform the same mythological feat as her aqueous companion.
Stoneless evolution. To have harnessed the powers of the night all on her own; to step beyond her tiny form and gain one that was analogous to her mortal shape.
Perhaps then...
A faint vibration in one of her beads stole her attention away from her introspection. There, in the further corner of the warehouse, three masses of living essence that were unmistakably human gathered around what she'd previously identified as a door. She would have to be quick. Spread out as she was, if she was not careful then she risked alerting any who lingered in the area. By the time enough of her beads- foci of her Very Being- gathered, the humans were deep inside, flickers of life resting on their hips.
To risk notice or not? Her role this eve' was nothing more than mere reconnaissance; a request from Alex's favored. To engage in combat would mean bringing attention to this area, something His chosen had specified to avoid.
It was tempting, so very tempting.
To slip in and bring them into slumber, to wade their memories and dreams without a care, stealing every bit of sustenance she- No. Not until all of her aria had passed. That was the promise. But, perhaps, she could not be faulted for a minor curse. A simple tracer by which she might hunt them down with, when the order had been given or a slight had been received.
Moving into the building, one bead at a time slipping through the air vents and into a proper position, she began to sing.
/ - /
He was no Joy, but it felt nice putting his degree to work again. Sure, the physicals he gave were routine and nothing special, but the sheer fact that he could look at the recorded numbers and be able to see the changes mentally was incredibly satisfying. The margins that each eevee managed to push from week to week were small, but over the month and a half of advisement they'd definitely gone leaps and bounds.
"Gale's been getting better at those sharp turns," he commented, jotting down a few quick notes. Beside him sat Izumi Sato, the leafeon-hopeful from Sinnoh. As part of her goal to explore as much of the wild lands as possible, he'd assigned her various books between the weeks, asking her to write up summaries of what they detailed alongside relevant practical exams whenever they came up during break times.
At the moment, she was working through a somewhat dry record of the various last resort edibles one could find within the forests surrounding Johto's northwestern forests. Certain types of trees whose inner barks could be eaten during specific times of the year; various weeds and plants that could help flavor a meal; there was even a small section on specific mushrooms, though he'd made sure to extract a promise to never consume one until he gave the okay.
For the eventual future, files on the preparation of wild pokémon were tucked away in his storage, but Izumi was still squeamish about the idea, especially after a trip to the fish market. He wasn't quite surprised she'd taken a silent vow of vegetarianism upon realizing exactly how live meat was prepared, though hopefully she'd get over it before they started approaching the smaller towns on the way to Olivine. If seeing fish being prepared troubled her that badly, he was wary as to how much a miltank or mareep would disturb her. Her vegetarian dishes were progressing quite well, though. Mix in some berries where calories weren't quite enough or it wasn't the right season for nuts and nutritional intakes were easily taken care of.
As Gale crossed the finish line, Alex knelt down with a smile and offered the eevee a leppa-oran based pokéblock; a small pick-me-up to help the youngling recover from the battery of tests. "This Saturday I want you to head into the National Park and go exploring. See what edibles you can find, and make sure you take pictures and videos of the trek." His eyes trailed over towards Morgan, the vaporeon guiding some of the other eevee's through Tail Whip drills, an important step in learning Iron Tail. "See if Meahgan and Eileen are willing to go with you. The Park should be safe enough between your three pokémon, but having more people with you wouldn't be a bad idea. Meahgan could use more battle experience and Eileen can get you guys out of a tough situation if anything goes wrong. Send Jasmine over next."
With a quick 'thank you', Izumi walked off, giving Gale soft praises.
"Need to go over the contract after the holidays," Alex muttered to himself. Teaching the kids had been far more enjoyable than he was expecting, and though he had concerns about any of them making it to the semi-finals of the following Silver Conference, without a doubt some of them would make top 16. While he was no sponsor, simply by being known as the one who helped tutor them would grant a great deal of prestige to his name, perfect for an eventual step into the civilian sector. Getting one of them into the semi-finals- or perhaps even as a Finalist- could only happen if he continued to tutor them. As his contract currently was, after all eight kids received their fourth badge he was to part ways, yet already he had plans for their lessons to continue well into their sixth.
"Mr. Collens?"
"How's Indra adjusting to her new form?" He asked, turning his attention towards the present. The once-mareep Jasmine received from one of her older friends back in Millenium had evolved shortly after their arrival at Goldenrod, a few battles having provided that missing bit for the electric sheep to stand on its rear legs. While instinct could do quite a bit in easing the transition, evolved pokémon always needed some time for everything to feel 'right'.
"She's doing well. Not exactly happy with all the drills I'm having her do now and whenever she thinks I'm not looking she keeps moving back to four legs, but things are moving." Jasmine squatted down beside him in an oddly familiar pose, giving Jupiter an encouraging thumbs up as he moved onto the field.
"And how's her electric attacks?" Alex gave the eevee a short nod, the signal to start the tests.
"Stronger, but with less control," she rattled off, far too used to the responses he preferred. "Indra can't hit targets as precisely anymore, but with as quick as they come out I don't really know if it'll be a problem."
"Possibly not until your sixth badge when you might have to be more precise, but until then being quick is fine." As Jupiter trotted over, Alex knelt down and gently rubbed a knuckle against the eevee's head, balancing the clipboard on his leg as he wrote down the information. "Half a second shaved since last time. You weren't using a bit of Quick Attack there, were you?" He joked, raising a brow. When the eevee mewled out a denial, he played along with a doubtful hum. "Well, we'll see how an actual sprint compares."
"Have you decided on when you'll have Jupiter evolve?" He asked after a moment. Come Solstice, all of the kids would be receiving their respective evolutionary stones. In the case of Sefina, Meahgan, and Estelle, they would be receiving a relatively inexpensive TM of their choice.
"After Whitney, for sure." Dirt crunched beside him, Jasmine having sat down properly, wrists resting on her knees. "We're nowhere near getting Bite to a usable level, and Heph and I are still working on things to reliably deal with our fourth badge." Hephaestus. A magnemite that Jasmine had traded her whismur for over the GTS. The Hoennian was decently trained, but lacked any real specialties other than a penchant for hiding in Indra's fur. Still, for being a pokémon that managed to participate in three gym battles it wasn't half bad.
"A solid plan." The test continued in relative silence; the kids had learned early on that he wouldn't be able to extrapolate any proper conclusions until after he had a chance to properly compare everything, and any conversation he was able to participate in often had to be put off until after he didn't need to jot down notes.
"Mr. Collens?"
Hesitant. Nervous. And biting her lip. Giving a slight squeeze of his aura, a few nudges away from 'emergency', Alex held out his clipboard, Caitlyn silently taking over the role of observation.
"About the project I'm working on," she started quietly. At his reassurance, she continued. "Is it safe?"
"I assume you mean beyond the usual Trainer risks?"
Jasmine nodded.
"Considering all you're doing is holiday shopping, you'll be pretty safe. Even if you do end up in a sketchy part of the underground, I doubt whoever's in charge of this whole affair would want their clients roughed up." Alex sat down next to her, visually tracking Jupiter as the eevee entered the last stretch of the agility course. "
"I... no..." Flickers of negativity danced across her face; concern, anxiety.
"Gut feeling?" He ventured.
"Estelle's been telling me about the Underground back home. About how it's where all the bad people gather. People who wouldn't hesitate to actually attack you and not just your pokemon."
Alex nodded. While Orre had been getting better, at its heart it was still a region of freedom and relative lawlessness, instead focusing on mutual respect- in the loosest sense of the word. "Remember that Estelle's from Orre. The place has changed in the past few years, but their culture is still vastly different from the rest of the world. I'm sure you've noticed a few times when she acted differently to a situation than you'd normally expect, right?"
Jasmine nodded.
"She's just expecting what she's used to, is all. Crime in Goldenrod is pretty low, and between the three of you you'd be able to get out of any sticky situation, if Estelle even let you guys get into them." Alex let out an amused huff of air, recalling a phrase that his old senior back from his time in the Ranger corps always told him. "Trust in your team, both pokémon and human. You'd be surprised what your allies can do."
If anything did happen though, it would be coming out of Whitney's ass. If the task of in-person searching was limited to the mentors only, it wouldn't be much of a problem, but having trainers barely into their first year?
He let out an ambivalent hum. "If you're really that worried, you should practice your quick draw." Alex lazily moved his left hand from his waist and extended it out in front of himself. "You won't get that much of a benefit in only a few days, but later down the line?" He chuckled. "Might even win you a tournament or two when you get older."
With a happy cry, Jupiter barreled towards Jasmine, leaping into her stomach and chittering excitedly.
"That'll be all, Jasmine. Enjoy the rest of your day." Alex rose as Caitlyn approached, the gardevoir acknowledging his quiet 'thanks' with a soft croon. "I'll need to get started on this as soon as possible. Did you need-"
Clothes. Satchel. Cap.
Chuckling to himself, Alex removed his X-gear and handed it to Caitlyn, re-securing it to his wrist when she got what she wanted. "I'll be back at the Center. Pass the message along to Morgan? Oh, and..." He leaned in closer, dropping his voice to a low whisper. "If you have a chance, try and figure out where Umbral went? Starting to get concerned about what she's been up to."
/ - /
Taking time off was an important event in one's life, even as a lucario. While she could spend every day honing her skills, be it alone or with a companion, it was far more important that she keep herself grounded in reality- for the eventuality that one day she would not have to be part of the answer to the worst case scenarios.
Until that eventuality though, Fridays were her special day.
A day where she could wander around civilization and browse the malls; hit up dance machines at a quiet arcade where no one could bother her (or fail to resist the lure of the specialty freestyle ones that had been slowly popping up); find a pokemon friendly ice cream store that didn't raise a fuss over her having her own wallet and cards, nor the fact that she had her own laptop and cellphone.
For today, that meant working in a quiet store on the northern part of East Opelucid, a brisk walk down pedestrian only streets that gave a fantastic view of the river. Over the past two hours a surprising amount of people had rotated in and out of the store, only a few of the younglings who likely hadn't worked with a trained mon in their life gawking at her. It truly was wonderful, she decided, having a foot in the civilian world. Just pretending that- even for a moment- all she had to worry about was getting the videos out on time.
Yes, if ever a day came where Alex decided to no longer be Unova's Last Call, she would adjust nicely.