There's the soft sound of footsteps down the oddly installed stairs in the crater. The source is a slight, androgynous figure, starting to grow into something resembling maturity on their own journey. They wear a soft grey tunic that makes them look slimmer still, hands in their plain black shorts. Besides them floats a Metang - their surface well-polished, humming faintly as their powers feel out the space as their trainers' eyes sweep through the space themselves. 

The metang's psychic exploration of the surroundings might discover a ghost lurking somewhere on or around the girl.

The girl looks up and nods at the other trainer as they approach, then goes back to watching the city, the crater, and the sky. She's certainly had people talk her ear off when she's not up for it before, so she won't force anything.

She intermittently drums a short pattern on her thigh, and occasionally tilts her head a bit thoughtfully.

Their metang turns a little, angling up to brush against her side. 

"Meta. Metang?"

They taps their fingers atop their head, a little bemused turn on their lips. 

They slide on past, and poke at the walls for a moment, taking a few deep slow breaths as she sort of... unfocuses, a little, the way that Hailey's probably seen countless affinitied trainers calling on their little special something.

...It really is a nice cool day, today. 

A faint little curious smile flits across Hailey's face for a moment. Affinities are neat. 

"You know..." 

They tap their lips together for a moment. 

"It's surprisingly well attested that Clefairy and their line came from the moon? I think there's some other pokemon that came from outside this world as well, and I wonder how many others came from the stars or some stranger place. There are pokemon associated with all sorts of forces, and things, and I wonder how many metallic mons are of meteor iron, rather then something more terrestial or..." 

They sigh, and closes their eyes, their metang letting out a little toneless hum of bland bemusement. 

"Huh. Good question." She tilts her head for a moment, then shakes her head. "I feel like there'd have to be, with enough time and enough craters. Be hard to track down which ones, though. Archaeologists have a hard job. Wonder if there are any secret things in common between meteor pokémon."

"I'm not sure at all, myself. Even if pokemon did come from somewhere else,, with a different set of resources and a different world, how would we really know, thousands of years later? Either they couldn't survive in this world and would be likely lost to time, or they'd look more or less like what we'd expected of a pokemon adapted to our world. Still..." 

There's a faint touch of laughter in the tip of her chest. 

"Pokemon aren't always the most... rational things. For all I know, tommorow someone will run into Uxie and get all of our theories confirmed. Certainly, there's a... certain trend for pokemon to evolve with certain stones based on the sorts of forces that they're best attuned to. I'm hardly a professional geologist but 'moonstones' are perhaps rather telling. Or perhaps we'll run into more - certainly, it's easier then ever to find out if any novel pokemon pop out by the crater." 

She exhales gently. 

"Though perhaps I shouldn't read too much into it, given the multitude of other stones and methods for evolving out there." 

She snickers quietly and nods. "Yeah, fair point. There's just no way to know, unless someone invents time travel or a legend takes pity on us."

Something about her shadow seems to pulse ever so slightly. It seems very faintly amused, if one were to read into it.

She shakes her head, smiling slightly. "Can't help but wonder how much is lurking quietly in the dark, though. Be cool to find a mystery, y'know?"

"Of course, of course." 

They glance down reflexively at her moving shadow. 

"I imagine you're better qualified then most to tell of what lurks in the dark, coincidentally, then?" 

She smiles faintly. 

A quick smirk steals over her face. "You imagine right. Today, at least, it's ghosts in the dark."

"And..." She tilts her head thoughtfully. "At a guess you could tell me a thing or several I don't know about the metals in those pretty little space rocks."

She nods sharply. 

"Quite, though I'm not sure it's too interesting. Iron and nickel, mostly, with a handful of heavier elements. The more... arcane analysis is a bit beyond me, though it does seem like it's a little like moon stones, somehow? Might have seen something like another set of the traces before, but I can't recall too well, and Concurrance doesn't recall anything that matches while they've been a Metang, at least. The... asteroid itself I believe ends up with a certain collectableness, at least, and perhaps power, but I've not yet heard what use, if any, those people have for it." 

"Huh."

Score another point for affinities matching starters, at least.

"Wild stab in the dark, almost all those collectors aren't gonna do jack shit with their asteroids. Feel like there's got to be something to learn from those patterns, though. Just no clue what, yet."

"Quite... " 

She hums. 

"I suppose it was never going to be that easy. Still, there's certain possibilities a metagross can eliminate that a metang cannot, which is justification enough in my eyes to keep up my journey." 

She pauses for a moment, and takes the time to properly lock their eyes on hers. 

"Is there something specific in the shadows that you are looking for yourself, if you don't mind me asking?" 

She stares off at the trees for a time.

The shadows inside her coat almost seem to turn to faintly rippling liquid for the barest moment.

"Freedom. Respect, maybe. Or enough of an ace up my sleeve to keep me and Neo safe."

They take a deep breath in. 

"For me... I suppose it's about pride, perhaps, or simply... taking what's given, being grateful for what I have. The hospitality and kindness I've experienced is... flattering, to say the least, and It's still sometimes a little hard to believe that I can just... wander, like this. Or maybe it's about finding some - trick or secret or title to call mine, that I can show others, to make a home in 'the clever metal one', if not something more... permanent." 

She nods.

"Certainly better hospitality than 'home'," she mutters.

A slow exhale, centering herself.

"A trick or title would be nice, for sure. I'll believe in something permanent if it happens, though."

They... nod, a bit still and awkward, eyes not really... looking anywhere in particular, beyond 'not quite at her'. 

After a moment, she says, "Hailey."

A faint quirk of her lips up, to if not a smile, something more... relaxed. 

"Iron." 

They extend out a hand to shake. 

"A pleasure to meet you."

She reaches out and shakes their hand. "Likewise."

A misdreavus pokes her head out of the shadows of Hailey's jacket, pink-tipped tendrils drifting slightly on an absent breeze.

She smiles curiously.

"And this is Neo."

"A pleasure to meet you as well." 

They step aside a little, and Concordance comes forth, their oversized eyes alert and aware. 

"And this is Concordance. They're quiet interested in you both." 

"Interesting." She hums. "Wonder why."

She gives Concordance a thoughtful look and tilts her head. It's not like she's done anything interesting, yet.

Is it about her being ghost-type? Or about Neo living in her shadow full-time?

"Well, I'm a bit curious about you and your trainer as well, Concordance."

A glance down, a glance back up. 

"Concordance has some expertise in intuitive psychic perception. Your bond is interesting, and... humans aren't the only ones who can get a good impression of one's character from a simple 'feeling out', especially given psychic assistance. As for your other question..." 

"Met... Tang, Me." 

There's a sort of... coarse impression to their words, that could be discerned given time, and a certain - ease, of reaching out to grasp them, perhaps? It's not the most simple thing but... 

There's a simple inquisitiveness, a light - blankness, a proper deliberate pause, and a little pulse of the all-too-familiar drive common amongst pokemon. 

"They're wondering what sort of question that you'd like an answer for, and beyond that, if you'd appreciate a battle to get more familiar in place of words." 

Neo drifts out of Hailey's jacket and floats back and forth, her smile widening.

"We'd certainly enjoy a battle," she replies with an eager little smile. "Don't really have a clear question so much as just... wanting to know what you two are like."

"Ourselves." 

They duck their head. 

"Or at least... we endeavor to be. There's certain... visionaries, or at least - exceptionally intelligent and well-spoken people who... have a certain distinctness to their character that makes them - obviously disparate from the dross." 

"As for our story... The story of my life I feel is... somewhat self-explanatory? I grew up around here, and I'm back after a bit of a - training tour, you might say. Concordance's bonded self was my starter, after a bit of cajoling. Beldum like... simple things, straightforwardly pushing towards their goals, and trainers with a certain talent in their affinities, and I managed those things well enough without being a poor fit for their future. I worked to help them grow to something... a little more, in time, and I'm glad that I've been able to do something to reward the faith they've put in me. Beyond that... I've done some catching, too - though nothing more then relaying balls to the professor on assignment, so far, and some reading on the sciences. That's... been my life, since I set out, more or less in full." 

Arceus. They're cute. Oh no.

"Yeah, that particular kinda unfakeable spark some people have. Pretty cool goal. S'neat to learn about the thinking of a pokémon that different."

She smiles interestedly.

She nods gently. 

"So..." 

"So."

A flurry of barely perceptible shifts and flickers dance through Hailey and Neo's shadows, in the improvised language they've worked out.

<What do you think of them?>

<Calm. Interesting. Cute. Won't be sure 'til we battle.>

<Assuming you like them after the battle, wanna travel with them?>

<Probably.>

<Okay.>

Barely a moment later, Hailey looks over at Iron.

"How about that battle?"

"Let's, yes." 

They stride out down the steps, 'til there's enough of a clearing for a mid-level battle. 

"To ball-recall or we call it off, one on one, I presume?" 

"Yep." She nods, then turns to her partner. "You got this, Neo."

She spends a moment moving back and forth along the edge of the crater to see if there's a good angle to connect her shadow to Neo's, but the sun is too high in the sky, and actually stretching her shadow a meaningful distance is still beyond her abilities.

She gives it up for now.

Neo floats in place, just a few paces in front of her trainer in the crater, grinning widely.

"Ready when you are."

"Begin!" 

They wave their hand forward, and Concordance surges forward shockingly swiftly, claws glowing with misty grey light for only a moment of anticipation before the 'bullets' condense at each tip and shoot forward at Neo. 

She holds her left hand off to the side and quickly snaps her fingers twice.

Neo, already dodging to the side as she sees the shots, weaves under them, then lashes her shadow forward in a darkened blur.

They raise their hand up, and a blue barrier forms across Concordance's crossed arms, crashing against the burst of shadow for a moment before both fade away. 

They relax a bit, and then weave another barrier, this one a diffuse pane of energy in a soft green. 

On hearing a pair of simultaneous snaps and a whistle from Hailey, Neo flits backward, a fel, smoke-filled wind blowing sharply at Concordance from behind her.

Their fingers slip back, clapping against the base of their hand. 

Concordance floats back a little, harsh light condensing down into a revolving sphere of circles. The wind billows around the barrier, a large chunk of the power diffusing and dissipating but still bleeding through - then the faded wind is met with a cannon of steel type energy, working to shove through the gust of ghostly power.

Neo darts sideways in a desperate lunge, flickering intangibly into a shadow on the ground. A few lingering wisps of shadow-smoke burn away under the cannon blast. She flickers away in an evasive pattern across the ground, then stretches her shadow sharply at Concordance again in a lightning-quick lash.

Concordance shudders back a bit, their skin tarnishing as the ghostly energy dances against them for a moment before it washes away. 

Their hand flares out and up. Immediately, a faint corona of electricity flares around Concordance, accelerating slowly at first but jerking up swiftly after a moment. A moment later, they emit a diffuse wave of loosely formatted psychic power in Neo's direction, corsuscating dull pink waves of energy flowing out of their eyes and claws.

Neo bursts forward and a bit to the side, letting herself get clipped by the edge of the psychic blast to lash out with her shadow again. She staggers from the glancing hit, but strikes out solidly.

Iron shakes their head and pushes both their hands forward, and Concordance's arms glow with the grey of their metal-power, bracing against the shadowy assualt before lunging forward themselves, the firm bracing power shifting forward to the tips of their claws as the bullets form once more. 

Hailey frowns, twisting her hand sharply and snapping her fingers once, then gives another sharp whistle.

Neo dives into the shadows once again, ducking away from the steely projectiles, poking just enough of her head out to summon another fel wind.

Concordance doesn't need much instruction to throw up a wall of Protect's energies. 

"Do you make a habit of stalling out your opponent's? I suppose there is something to be said for the endurance to fight on even beyond the grave." 

Their tongue clicks, and there's a new source of shadows right near her as the earth trembles and spits forth a tide of telekinetically controlled stones. 

"No, we prefer to hit our opponents stealthy, fast, and hard, but Neo's acting like some of Concordance's attacks hurt more than I'd expect them to, given the types, so we're falling back on caution."

While she says that, she holds her left hand high and her right low, and snaps first with her left, then her right, quickly.

Neo dips entirely into the shadows, and uses her concealment to emerge suddenly behind Concordance, lashing out with her shadow once more.

Concordance reels forward, the surface of steel cracking and fissuring, listing forward a little before they refocus and shoot out a wave of mingled telekinetic and telepathic force to try to stagger her in turn more on instinct then instruction.

Neo pushes through that, staggering slightly, lashing out hard with her shadow one more time.

She's leaking more-substantial wisps of shadow from her form, mostly from the bullets that clipped her in the earlier attacks.

Their hand claps into itself, and little motes of grey-glistening energy form once more, shooting forth in a broad singular beam to challenge the rush of shadow now that Concordance has regained their bearings. 

The steely beam doesn't do a lot to disrupt the ghost-type attack, but it does quite a bit to discourage the ghost. Neo dives sharply to avoid the blast, grimacing as she's clipped by the edge, her form wavering around the edges as yet more wisps begin to leak.

But at another pair of snaps from Hailey, she strikes out with her shadow a final time, diving into the shadows as she does so.

Concordance lurches back at the blow, audibly creaking and groaning and then in a moment there's a brilliant flash of light, scouring away the shadows with pure radiant brightness - 

Neo falls out of the vanishing darkness, still looking thoroughly battered. She readies herself to lash out again—

But Hailey whistles once, high to low, and pats her thigh softly.

"We concede," she says aloud, a concerned frown on her face.

She steps down into the crater and gathers her little ghost into her arms.

They bow their head politely, and tap their finger against a ball, the soft red beam of the recall system spilling out and collecting their own pokemon post-haste. 

They blink a little, eyes flicking down to their feet before stepping slowly forward towards them. 

"Is there something wrong?" 

"I don't know why, but those steel moves were hitting her like a type advantage. I wasn't sure at first, but the psychic strike toward the end made it clear. She'd be eager to fight 'til she drops, and normally I'd let her, but this is odd."

She feeds Neo a sitrus berry.

Some of the leaking wisps around her form close up, and then she vanishes into the shadow of Hailey's coat.

"That is unusual... I've heard of regional variations of pokemon that go down to the substance of their typings and abilities, but something that subtle is... odd, certainly." 

"I presume your pokedex doesn't return anything odd for her? It might be wise to check again if it gives you anything - which it might, if it's something progressive."

"Though...

"I'd expect that you'll need a specialist to find out anything useful, I don't think it'd hurt to check with what we have here." 

They stroke their chin softly. 

She coaxes Neo back out with a mago berry, and then scans her.

"No," she shakes her head, "it doesn't turn up anything abnormal. As far as it can tell, she's just like any other injured Misdreavus."

They tap their lip. 

"I suppose one thing that might narrow it down is if Neo can use Babiri berries? I'm not entirely sure how - narrow the mechanism of those are, but it might give some insight into her condition. Beyond that..." 

They shrug a little. 

"Your guess is if anything likely better then mine." 

They glance over their shoulder. 

"Would you like to go to the pokemon center together, then? I suppose it's not impossible that it's something on Concordance's side, and Nurse Joys' services should hopefully at least give a referral to where we could look for further answers." 

"Babiri... for easing supereffective steel damage? Hmm. That's a really good idea to narrow that down. I haven't picked any, though, because I never thought Neo would need one. Know a store around here that carries 'em? And yeah, going to see Nurse Joy together would be great. Maybe she has one, even."

"My first thought would be to check the department store - even if they don't have any in stock, we might be able to get something out of the attendant in the food section." 

They take a moment to pull out their bag and fiddle with the potion nozzle's interface to get it to apply to Concordance's ball, an odd little hum radiating from it after a moment as the healing fluid drains away. They place it back in its place, and saddle up the bag back on their back. 

"And well fought, incidentally. You've clearly trained quite well, to work so fluidly in combat." 

"Thanks," she replies softly, leading the way toward the department store with a nod, Neo hiding back in her coat.

"Lot of time where training was our only distraction from home," she mutters.

"Think we should poke our heads in the Center on the way, just to ask if the nurse has a babiri on-hand before continuing on to the store?"

...They nod a little. 

"Sounds wise to me." 

"Mmkay." Conveniently the center is on the way to the store. She looks a little frustrated at the situation, but gradually works on steadying her face out toward neutral. "Neo likes y'all, by the way."

Their cheeks pinken and twitch a little before they really realize what's happening. They relax into the words, a little, and just... keep walking for a few more moments. 

"...Much appreciated." 

She shrugs a bit, making an expression that's not quite a smile, and keeps walking.

Soon enough the pokéball logo of the center is looming overhead, and Hailey leads the way inside.

"Welcome to the Pokémon Center," Nurse Joy greets them brightly. "How can I help?"

"D'you have a spare babiri berry? My partner is acting like she was hit with type advantage when there shouldn't be one, and I wanna check that out real quick before having you heal her."

"Oh! What an unusual request!" She bustles over to a row of cabinets, quickly pulling out a babiri berry. "May I examine her while you do?"

Hailey takes a slow breath. This is just another Nurse. If anyone can be trusted with Neo, it's Nurse Joy.

"Yeah, probably should," she replies, pulling out Neo's ball and releasing her. "More data is better, you might spot something I don't, trained professional and all that shit."

Neo shivers a bit as she appears, and definitely looks like she's been hit hard. Little streamers of shadow are still wisping off her body. She grabs Hailey's shadow with her own and tugs at it in a question.

"Pokécenter," Hailey replies. "Gonna get you checked out and healed up."

She relaxes a bit and settles onto an exam table, looking up at the nurse.

They have a little concerned wrinkle in their brow as they watch Neo settle back. 

"My metang's Flash Cannon was what caused the reaction - they should be able to replicate the attack for analysis, in case it's something odd on my side, rather then hers." 

Nurse Joy hums thoughtfully.

"That is quite a bit of damage for a steel-type move to do to a ghost. Yes, I'd appreciate if you could test the move again for me. Down that hall, fourth door on the left, Trainer." She points to indicate which hallway.

They take a moment to glance Hailey's way to inquire if she's coming, before walking off down the hall. 

The testing room reminds them of a more mundane doctor's office, simply widened out a few more meters to fit room for the testing lane. It's complete with the firm foam bed in an uncomfortable shade of grey-blue, a computer station for an old desktop, and a few instruments set into the grey walls. The end of the lane features a steel armor plate, a mess of blinking lights and taped cables tucked away just behind it, and a blue glass screen typical of the more advanced technology needed for dealing with the more esoteric forces involved in the moves of pokemon. 

They step forward, and click through the basic testing configuration, before the lights flick green. Their shoulders slide down a little, and Concordance spills out of their ball, the soft wash of red light leaving them floating in the air, waiting. 

"The nurse asked to confirm that there wasn't anything particularly strange about the flash cannon you used earlier. Could you please replicate it for me?"

They let out a bassy hum, then form the interweaving rings of silver-grey light, before the ball streams out into a beam of coruscating light, splashing against the armored panel, causing it to creak slightly for a moment, before beeping satisfiedly.