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Abby got exactly what she wanted. That flustered face of his. It was rare to catch him so off guard, flustered and blushing so badly that he needed a moment to think. Blushing, stammering, and making a total fool out of himself.

She adored it.

Abby's playful pout had turned into a full on smirk, just leaning into the computer screen to look at him. Even when he suddenly spoke, seemingly finding the words for apologies in French after so long, she was just giggling right away. She quietly listened to him fully finish speaking. About makeup, work, Skylanders, and apparently his family. How interesting.

The praise to her dress certainly got her smiling, exactly what she had been hoping for. Not that she'd admit it.

"Oh yes, of course. Because you're a man who needs makeup. Been catfishing me since day one. Well, technically I catfished you, but-" She waved a hand back and forth like it was no big deal, clearly teasing in response with a laugh. "Doing good though. Been a pretty eventful day. Mostly because I left my jacket at home, and I tell you, the air conditioning at work is freezing me out a bit. The root of my entire problems today."

She laughs yet again, it's so light and freeing. "I mean, come on. It's not exactly like I can get up and walk around to warm up. So, you know. There I was, just freezing at my desk there, when I get the bright idea to get some coffee. So you know, I wheel myself down to the break room and grab a mug. Only to, well." She moves to grab the small little plastic cup on her desk that held several brushes and pencils, only to drop it down dramatically.

"You know. Take a sip, way too hot. Burns my tongue! Spills and goes, everywhere. And, well I can't exactly just, climb down onto the floor and wipe up the mess. So I had to go get help, and- you know what? Do you know how hard it is to go get someone to clean up your mess, because you're not able to?" Abby laughs again, slowly rolling her eyes as she goes to grab the juicebox from across her desk and takes a little sip.

"I mean, the folks at Hydance are super supportive, hah. But man, does it feel so silly. Like, I already deal with dropping stuff enough at home. I have a few of those, magnets on sticks and little gripper things. You know, the clawed things that you get at the supermarket for like, 5 dollars? Horribly overpriced, because then snap on you immediately? Whatever they are called. And you know, it's not like it's easy for me to just go down and get a replacement! Because I still have things all over my floor!"

"Heavens, I can't even tell you about how many times I get cereal everywhere. One time I got dry choco-puff cereal all across my carpet, and then accidentally rolled over it with my chair before I could clean it, and then it got all crushed in deep, and even my vacuum didn't seem to get it all out, and-"

She blinks, a faint blush forming on her own cheeks. She was absolutely rambling, now was not the time for that, no matter how much he rambled. It was cute when he did it! "... Ahem. No, the dress was, totally something I wear in my down time. Mhm. Glacia says hello, by the way! She wanted to come, maybe one day, heh."

The book was unharmed, she shouldn't have expected anything less. Corruption was hardly easy to confront. And yet as the two others picked up the book, she could hardly shout warnings fast enough before the power suddenly shut down. The whole place seemed to crunch as dust settled in the room.

A confrontation broke out between the remaining trainers, and Laguna didn't know how what to say. There was no power the Tome could grant that would save their friends, it would only doom them.

The Corruption was not something to be embraced. It was an enemy, in a way that was absolutely undeniably so.

She was lost in her thoughts, stunned. When the others finally stepped out, she'd look back at her Pokémon with a soft frown on her face.

"You attempted to warm them, Momma. That's the best you can do." The Bergmite would hop down out of Mr. Business's arms, nuzzling against her leg.

"Thanks, dear. I just worry, so many people don't... know. They weren't there. They haven't seen what we have-"

Her words were suddenly interrupted with a loud crunch in the wall behind her as the room began to crumble. A powerful muscular arm shoved straight through the wall, hand outstretched trying to grab hold of the intruders that still remained. "Business!"

"On it!" The Mr. Mime swiftly held up his hands with a Quick Guard, the fist slamming into the forcefield to protect the Trio. Suddenly, another hand gripped the hole in the wall, ripping it apart as the Buzzwole attempted to press its bulging muscular upper body through the hole it was making. "It's not gonna last! We gotta go!"

A small black wire crept across the floor, lazily winding up from a huge crack in the floor.

Taking the advice of her Pokémon, Laguna swiftly pivoted on her feet, reaching down to grab Glacia to get the hell out of there, only-

"Glacia?" Laguna's heart froze in her chest, the Bergmite no longer right at her side.

"M-momma!" Bergmite's voice was strained, struggling as wires wrapped around her small form, swiftly attempting to tug her down a crack that she was too big to fit down. It was the sole reason she hadn't vanished immediately. It was practically crushing her.

"N-no no!" She immediately entered a sheer state of panic, swiftly moving over to grab down onto Glacia's spines, bracing her feet against the ground and tugged hard.

She fought, struggling hard against the wires that threatened to claim her baby, all as Mr. Business was barely holding back the Buzzwole. Another punch slammed into the force with such force that Mr. Business was slid back on his feet a few inches. "C-can't hold!"

"Momma! I'm scared!" Glacia struggled against the wires, attempting a Rapid Spin, only to be held in place.

"Don't be, Momma's got you, I got you, I-" Tears were dripping down her cheeks, sparkling onto the electric wires below. The ground cracked even further, the hole slowly widening and another tendrilic wire snapping up, sparks flying. "I-I won't lose you again!"

Mr. Business could barely hold back, his arms weakening, energy fading in face of the terrifying muscular threat before them. He couldn't give up, he couldn't abandon them in their time of need. He steeled his resolve, staring daggers up at the Buzzwole, who then slammed its proboscis into his force field.

It took a few moments, but eventually Glacia's face slowly softened, realization washing over them. They weren't going to make it out. Not without Laguna coming to intense harm in the process, and even then there was no confirmation that she'd make it out either way. She had already died twice, she had faced death and crawled out with the help of her trainer, her Momma, Laguna. She would be okay.

Laguna immediately recognized that look on her face. How could she not? It was ingrained into her mind as a core memory.

Once at the Bedrock Shrine, and then at Bronstanton Manor.

"N-no! D-don't you-!"

"I know you'll come for me Momma. I love you."

Laguna screamed.

Glacia wiggled with every ounce of its energy, twisting around to grip a wire within their mouth. A powerful Ice Fang ripped through the exterior of the wire, causing the beast it was attached to to make some unholy noise and tug as hard as it can. The floor erupted beneath them, and Glacia was suddenly swept straight into darkness.

Laguna kept screaming, sobbing as her arm reached down into the darkness, trying to grab her baby.

Mr. Business was the one who leapt into action to save his trainer. With a Power Swap on the Buzzwole, temporarily borrowing its intense strength, twist around to grab his hands around Laguna and rip her away from the ground and carried her out of the building as fast as his feet could carry her.

She was limp in his arms, her heart bleeding. Seta's past words rang in her ears, as if the rest of the world suddenly didn't exist.

"A shared death is not a shared fate."

She wished it was her. Glacia didn't deserve this.

"You are right to be concerned. To take a spirit from the Everworld is to teach it understanding of something eternal. Immortal."

Glacia... The bravest Pokémon she knew, but it drove her absolutely crazy. Sheldon, Hoppy... now Glacia. Her baby.

"Fear is erased, replaced with faith. But fear is what guides mortals. Without it, in confidence, we fade. Our steps grow tangled. The way back is lost, and a new one must be found."

"... Business, please help me find her. I can't do this anymore on my own. I don't know if my heart can take it."

"I will, I promise."

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Of course he made the easy joke about getting lucky, she practically set it right up for him on a silver platter. And yet, she couldn't help but just laugh in response at his fake disbelief. Honestly, she couldn't quite believe she had made the joke herself, but here she was.

Her confidence was fluctuating in waves tonight, it seemed. Up and down, over and over again. But, even that seemed normal. The butterflies in her stomach, nerves about something she was actually looking forwards to.

It was nice.

And yet, as he approached the question of how to carry her, she just continued to smile. She had thought and prepared about this for a while, Abby was ready. Or at least, she hoped she was ready. The idea alone had her so excited, but in the moment, she could only imagine how flustered she'd really be.

"As long as you don't drop me, too hard, we'll be okay." She immediately laughed, giving him a teasing grin. With that out of the way, she pivoted into talking about it seriously for a moment. She gently set her food and drinks aside, gripping her chair and gently shifting herself forwards a bit.

"I can't move my legs, at all. No feeling in them, so I can't support my weight, or wrap them around you neither. So the best choice, would be to wrap one arm underneath my knees, and the other around my back. Going to have to keep me against your chest, balance the weight a bit."

Slowly reaching up, she'd crook her fingers to silently ask him to lean down towards her. "But you're going to have to help me up, first. I can help with that, at least."

Her smile faltered for just a second, seemingly debating if she was being too forwards, before just shutting her thoughts up and acting stubbornly anyways. She was good at being stubborn, it was perhaps her core personality trait. With a quiet laugh at her own thoughts, she'd reach up, only to attempt and wrap her arms around his neck. "I trust you."

"Did you hear that?" Laguna would finally speak to Mr. Business, glancing over in his direction.

"It sounds like a friendly voice, mixed with the sounds of combat." He spoke, pulling off his cleaning gloves with a carefully practiced motion, tucking them into the apron they wore. "And it sounds like they are destroying the building. Sigh." He verbally said Sigh, shaking his head. "And to think, our cleaning efforts are for naught."

"Uh, hello!" Laguna suddenly called out as loudly as she could, leaning far out the building as she tried to get the attention of the people above them. "Can you not wreck our shit? I just cleaned up this couch! I really don't wanna clean it again!"

Snip.

A rush of air suddenly whipped by Laguna faster than she could see. After a few seconds, not only did a few strands of hair suddenly drift apart, but her cheek was suddenly bleeding in a straight line.

"Gah!" Laguna called out in pain, and before Laguna can even recognize what had happened. Mr. Business had suddenly jumped into action. A Quick Guard was swiftly put up with arms stretched out, the invisible forcefield protecting Laguna as the Beast then became seen.

It slammed into the guard with a slash of its hands, incredibly tiny but no less powerful. After seeing it's cutting powers stalled for a moment, it suddenly flew straight upwards, presumably to the others atop the building.

"K-kartana!" She cried out, this time her voice filled with genuine caution and fear for them and not annoyance. "Be careful!"

Laguna could not help but let out a soft sigh as Nero went to apologize. He didn't need to. In truth, neither of them probably did. The whole situation was fucked, but that's what came from using the game as way to cope with loss. Eventually, it could come back to bite you.

Somehow, some way, even in ways that you could never have predicted.

"No no, It's okay." She took a few shaky breaths, breathing in and out deeply. A brief, but effective breathing exercise to help her focus and not melt into her emotions all over again. "Don't bring yourself down to apologize, you have done zero wrong. But, I agree. I think it is, plenty time that we finally deliver the package. We can probably have a, well, deeper conversation on all this later? But only if you want to."

Her legs were shaky, but steady as she moved over to grab her package once again. Just before she could turn to walk down, suddenly Sir Hail's chains were wrapping around her waist in a gentle hug. "Do you require my services further, Ma'am?"

Laguna would just smile, slowly shaking her head. "I'll let you know if we do. You are relieved of duty." And just like that, he went back into the Pokeball.

She'd press forwards, taking her first few steps onto the fire escape. Were they always so high? Or was it just her nerves and shaky legs making it seem like the fall was more intense than it really was?

Laguna couldn't help but bite her lips, glancing out across the town to try and see where the package recipient even was. It seemed like all they'd have to do after dropping down the fire escape, was cross the street and they'd be right there. The horses racing through the streets didn't really inspire confidence when her legs were jelly, but they'd have to do.

"Alright, well um, ahem. Come on, let's go." She'd turn, giving Nero a soft grin before finally stepping down the steps. Only to immediately stumble, falling down a few steps and dropping her box, which tumbled down a few more as she gripped onto the bars to catch herself.

The mysterious gems had Laguna scratching her head, especially considering they were hollow, liquid sloshing around. Were they really all that special? There would be room to investigate it later, but for now they had to get out of here.

Descending into the room, Laguna's eyes swiftly scanned the room as her Pokémon joined her at her side. It seemed so many else were so worse for wear. Pokémon gone, stolen from them. Many in poor physical condition, the Beasts taking prisoners but leaving scars to remind us of their presence.

If only... Hoppy and Sheldon were still here. Maybe if she followed one of the Ultra Beasts here, she could find where they were keeping all the stolen Pokémon. And yet, she knew better than to sacrifice her current friends for such an act. She could not condemn anyone to do it...

She would never sacrifice a Pokémon against their will. Nor would she ever allow such a stupid plan to go through, nobody else would be made to suffer.

Her eyes scanned to the skeletons, the tomes. The black, seeping ichor. It immediately pulled back memories of just as dangerous times. Times where they had confronted the Corruption, pushed it back, protected Asper as best as they could. And yet, it was here, clear as day.

It had been within the safe, that much was clear. But for how long? Before the city fell? There was no way to tell. She spared a glance at her Pokémon, speaking loudly so that all may hear.

A quote popped into her head. An older time, another place, and yet it always seemed to grow more relevant each time. Corruption and burning flames rise in her minds eye. A phoenix, rising from the ashes from sacrificed souls. A genius inventor rising from his darkly-stained wooden prison. Of Corruption, spreading from body to body like a disease, infecting, twisting, and destroying.

"Corruption is infectious. Insidious darkness that changes those it touches." She nods solemnly, and her Pokémon seem swift to understand her intent. "We should not allow it to harm anyone else. It-"

"Sidera somnia ferri," Mr. Business suddenly spoke, the words of Cygnus's rescue ringing in her ears. "I read your reports. I know. This is no easy matter."

Glacia was just staring at the tome, the ichor, an almost literal fire burning in their eyes. Their determined desire to protect immediately flaring up, no denying their heroic spirit. Not after it burned so brightly in protest against such a threat before, and will again.

"Then it's settled."

Laguna would stretch out her hand, snowflakes swiftly twisting around it, summoning forth the chill in the air. "Do not touch that tome! Less you end up cursed as Cygnus was, or as Bunya's form is now. Corruption will destroy you, and all that you know."

She wouldn't wait any longer to tempt fate. Her sights were set on the tome, her Pokémon ready to fight as well should it come to it. They were ready. No knowledge of what might happen, or what was to come, but something so twisted by the corruption could not be allow to spread itself further.

A flick of the wrist, an icicle would form within the air, firing forth in an attempt to Attack the Tome. Attempting to pierce it through, to ruin its contents forever. She only could hope that her words would be enough to stop anyone too curious for their own good.

Player Subclasses:
Pokemon 1: Bergmite
Pokemon 2: Mr. Mime