#migratory-soul

[littleamarillorocket]

"Look at this." Riley gestures to his Minccino. "You could have candy, or you could have this thing. I know which one is sweeter. Hint: it's the Minccino. Look at those big, black, empty cesspools for eyes. And look at its little arms! They're too small to walk on or to even carry things, but don't you just want to tickle those little toes~ies? And it evolves with a shiny stone, by far the shiniest of all stones. Wow! Just imagine it dressed up in bling. Cute or what?" He takes a swig of cognac.

Yellow could sense this guy wasn’t actually all that thrilled about the Pokemon, but wow it was so cute!  She smiled at the Minccino.  ”Well, I can’t argue with you there.  He’s really cute.”

She bent down to be more at eye level with it, but then looked back up at Riley.  ”Is it okay if I pet him?”

[insane-immortal]

"What is this about Riley being a baby daddy...."

[steelingpeaceofmind]

Riley downs a gulp of cognac, putting his favorite liquor to the side as she refuses anything he offers to her. Oh well. More for him, he supposes. At first he’s unsure if he wants to continue with his request; but he loses that thought quickly.

"… Roark is a very special person to me," he begins coldly and evenly. His words have to sound mechanical in order to keep him from breaking into little pieces. "And it seems silly, but I’ve always seen him as my own son. That’s why I’m s-so deeply disturbed by his behavior at HQ—his destructive tendencies, his oddities… this.

"Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, Roark tried doing… you know, but with hanging. After he got out of the crisis unit in the hospital, I paid to… I paid to keep him in a separate mental hospital. The doctors there found out a l-lot of neuroatypical behavior in him, and all this time I had no idea R-Roarkie was so mentally ill. I hate not being able to help him. I hate being useless…

"Anyway, he responded well to his drugs and therapy and was allowed to leave after only a couple of weeks. He promised he’d take his pills and he’d be the Roark we all knew and loved. But I g-guess he stopped when he got here."

He pauses, trying to regain his composure.

"When I visited him in the hospital, he said he was willing to get on the meds again. But you see, he’s treated with a drug called Clozapine, and even though it controls his delusions and… quirks, it’s pretty dangerous… he needs blood counts every week so he doesn’t develop some blood disorder—I forget the name of it. Are you—are you able to do that? Roark absolutely despises hospitals and he refuses to go to the doctor unless he’s bleeding. I mean, I’m not sure if he’ll keep his promise, but it’s a… it’s a start, I guess. I’m just really worried because it’s such a dangerous medicine and he has multiple heart defects and I’m sorry this isn’t really importantIjustneededtoventandthisiscrazyheneedsahospitalbutRoarkie’sacriminalnowandhecan’tgotothecityoneIjust…"

[theories-on-evolution-blog]

Diane listens quietly as Riley speaks, taking in everything he says with a mixture of worry and surprise...and sadness.  She met Roark herself at the shelter in Fuchsia City.  He'd seemed nice -- troubled, certainly, but he'd just attended his mother's funeral.  He'd said some things that stuck with her then, and their infrequent meetings here at the base had always been pleasant.  He'd even given her Lycan the Zorua kit not so long ago. 

For all his seeming oddities, she'd never have guessed how deep his mental issues truly ran.  It doesn't make her think less of him, or worse of him: it only makes her worry for him. 

Diane wishes again that she were better-versed in human medical treatment.  She can perform first-aid, give physicals, and administer shots to both humans and Pokemon, but anything more than that is still beyond her.  She doesn't know about medicine, about side-effects, about any more than the most well-known blood disorders, like haemophilia and leukemia...

...but she does, at least, know about blood counts.  It's part of her routine physical procedures, after all. 

She smiles at Riley, relieved that this is something she can do for him and for Roark.  "It is important," she insists.  "And I can do blood counts, so that shouldn't be a problem.  If it would help, I can even give copies of the results to you, along with the medical staff here."

She pauses for just a moment, considering whether to speak or not...but it seems an important point to make, so she presses gently on.  "You know...even though he is a member of Team Rocket, that doesn't necessarily bar him from treatment at a regional hospital.  It would take a fabricated ID, of course, but there's nothing barring him from medical treatment if it's beyond what our facilities here can accommodate.  I think...your biggest hurdle might be Roark himself, in that regard.  If he despises hospitals and doctors so intensely, you'll need to convince him that it's necessary.  But if you can, you'd only need to speak with an Executive about a fake ID and doctored records.  You don't need to feel helpless or hopeless," she finishes, smiling across the desk.  "And you shouldn't feel useless, either.  I'm sure that Roark is going to need your support, moving forward.  ...so don't give up, all right?"

[torrentedadmin-blog]

"Ma'am, please step aside." Riley is halfway through the bottle of Cognac by now. "You are being arraigned on multiple charges of being beautiful. You have the right to scream my name."

"Honey the only reason I'd scream yo name is if I was callin' y t' mop up mah vomit, a'ight? Which may just happen' if y'spout any more carp like that in mah direction. Dam, y'all niggas is nasty."

[theories-on-evolution-blog]

okay so ordinarily I pay 0 attention to banner ads because

come on they're banner ads

apparently anything involving the word ROCKET is an exception to the rule

and this was too good to pass up

[shadowedsapphire]

Shatter Heart// Sapphire Riley

"C'mon, I could do this when I was ten why is it so hard now?"

Letting out a short, frustrated scream Sapphire kicked the ground, frustration evident in her stance. Sapphire glared at her hand, watching the blue marks fade as her concentration shifted. She had thought that maybe, just maybe she could summon the shards of the orb-- somehow get them out of her body, stop whatever was growing in the back of her head. It was only growing stronger, louder, more forceful...and it scared her.

She didn't want to lose herself to-- to this thing that had just grown louder and louder since her first loss of control. She had no choice, she had to get this thing under control and fast. She settled herself back on her feet, taking a deep breath and letting the soft sounds of the forest around her help her focus all her concentration on summoning the orb, or really what was left of it.

After a few moments of concentration she felt what she needed to focus on, and she put all of her willpower into reaching it-- bring the shards to her hand, it shouldn't be this hard--

And she felt her mind explode with pain.

She collapsed to the ground, marks on her arms and face glowing bright blue, her attempts to catch her breath foiled by the blood bubbling up in her mouth. This was wrong. There had never been any backlash this bad when trying when she and Ruby had been younger-- it felt like something had cut her on the inside, and she spat the blood out of her mouth to catch air, breathing hard when she could. And judging by the blood dripping from her lips, something might have. If summoning the shards ripped her up on the inside-- how could she get them out?

She never even heard the footsteps of someone approaching through the underbrush.

[theories-on-evolution-blog]

migratory-soul:

Riley smiles as the door opens and he’s greeted by a woman in a lab coat. She confirms that she is, in fact, Diane as she introduces herself to him. Riley’s grin widens and he holds out his hand to her to shake it.

"Charmed. I’m Riley Fannin, a business partner of Team Rocket’s and member of the legal department." Pause. "… I’m the only one there. It’s… new."

"At any rate, the greyface suggested you were studying the phenomenon known as Aura, and I was wondering if you needed a subject to study?"

Diane's smile brightens at the friendly greeting, and she happily takes the hand he offers.  "It's wonderful to meet you, Mr. Fannin," she says, stepping aside so that he can enter.  "So Team Rocket has a legal department now?  Do you think you'll be defending Rocket members unlucky enough to be taken into custody by police, or will you be working more on the legal aspects of the business side?"  Really, both field work and business are well outside her area of expertise, but Diane is always willing to listen and learn something new.

Of course, then there is the mention of Aura.

Diane's eyes light up at the remark.  "A-are you familiar with it?" she asks, clearly excited as she digs through the pockets of her lab coat.  "I-I've been noticing some...well, to put it simply, some very strange things lately, and I've noticed that one of my Pokemon has been particularly agitated in the presence of these phenomena, so..."

She finally pulls out a particular pokeball and drops it on the floor, releasing a Lucario.  The Pokemon looks to Riley and barks a greeting to him as Diane sits down and offers Riley a chair.  "Since Lucario are known for their Aura sensing abilities, I've been thinking that Aura might be behind some of what I've been seeing...but I don't know the first thing about it, and Carina isn't the best teacher, given the translation barrier.  Would you be willing to share what you know about it?  And if you have any questions for me, I'd be happy to answer them!"

[theories-on-evolution-blog]

After a long time asking around and exploring HQ, Riley finally finds what he presumes to be Diane's office. He gives a few rapt knocks, waiting a few moments before he speaks. "Excuse me, is this Diane's lab? The greyfaces thought I might be of use to your research."

For once, Diane was not actually in the middle of work when the knock sounded at her door.  Instead, she was in the middle of a combined feeding- and play-time for Phyllop the Horsea.  She had discovered rather by accident that the Pokemon’s natural Sniper ability could shoot a Nerf dart out of the air with remarkable accuracy, and had proceeded to busy herself with firing through her stash of foam ammo and watching the Horsea knock them out of the air with a squirt of water.  And for every dart, she dropped a tiny brine shrimp into the tank for the Pokemon to eat.  Talent deserves rewards, after all.

Still, the knocking caught her attention, as did the unfamiliar voice and the intriguing offer it carried.  Stashing the Nerf gun in a desk drawer, the Scientist hurried to the door, opening it with a smile.  “Yes!  It’s nice to meet you — I’m Diane Skala.  So what sort of research did the little grey men ask you to help with, sir?”