Dr. Matoran visibly enjoys hearing this explanation! "I would want to consult a biologist to be sure of the things you say about sleep phases, and I don't know how much of that would apply to a legendary anyway, but extrapolating this data does put the source of the tremors under Terra Cave a week from now. If the cave system goes deeper than we thought . . . yes, I must concur with both your logic and your expletive. Nothing is certain, but the risk is too great not to act. I'll be calling the Elite Four about this. And crediting you, of course." For all the seriousness of his words, he sounds rather happy.

Aril bows. "I'm glad I wasn't off-track. Who are the Elite Four?"

"World famous, or so I thought. They're champion Pokémon trainers, which means they're experts on all things Pokémon and have extremely strong and well-trained teams. If there's an emergency involving Pokémon and the local emergency response folks can't handle it, they're who you call."

"I'm from very, very far away. That sounds entirely reasonable, though I worry that Groudon might overpower normal Pokémon... perhaps I should be there as backup."

Also, he really wants to fight Groudon. 

"You think your team can succeed where the elite four might fail? I'm skeptical, but I'm hardly going to stop you. I'll be there myself, standing well back with a video camera." The excitement in his voice suggests he and the proverbial reasonable person have different ideas of "well back".

"Oh, not my team. I love Daana'd and Pasiap dearly, but I doubt they could stand against the local equivalent of an Elemental Dragon - or possibly a Yozi, I'm not sure how the primordial forces of this world stack up against my own. But it is my job to do exactly that-" he taps his Caste Mark, still sparkling from his research project "-so I should attend."

"Well, now I'm unutterably curious about the details of your abilities. Though of course I'll understand if you say they aren't my business."

"I'm a Solar, and something of a jack-of-all-trades. It's harder to describe what I can't do than what I can. Though my generalization means I'm not as good at most things as a more focused example of the breed - I'd like to have my Circle here to help out, they usually help shore up some of my shortcomings. But I'm still a Solar; I can cut a mountain in half, I've killed gods, and I can certainly take down an overblown elemental spirit."

"Goodness! That all sounds extremely exciting, though I hope killing anybody isn't a regular occurrence. I would love to see a demonstration, though not one with . . . unfortunate effects on the landscape."

"If you just want a demonstration of the powers..."

Aril flares a few motes of peripheral Essence. A golden lion's head burns over his own, and he's surrounded by golden light. His face is as hard to look directly at as the midday sun, and his presence fills the room. He himself seems larger than life, as if he's somehow grown to (even more) superhuman size without, actually, changing his physical dimensions.

The lion's head, the aversion, and the illusion of size fade after a few seconds. The brilliant light remains.

"Fascinating!" Rumbles Dr. Matoran, once he's caught his breath. "If you had shown that to any of the biologists downstairs I expect they would all have followed you into my office like a trail of Pysducklings, asking you questions until you told them to go away." He chuckles at his own mental image.

"Perhaps I'll give them a demonstration, then! I'll have to do something to fill my time before our appointment with the cave."

"I'm sure they'd appreciate it greatly! You're welcome to do that while I'm on the phone with the Elite Four, or you can wait around here if you prefer." He takes out his pocket device and starts dialing.

Aril heads downstairs and back to the biologist, still glowing.

"Dr. Matoran tells me you might be interested in my abilities as a Solar. Also, I realized I never actually got your name."

"I certainly am! And I'm Annette Karana. If you told me your name I'm afraid it's gone right out of my head."

"Aril Kalen; my pleasure. My powers- well, I demonstrated to Dr. Matoran the basic expression of anima-" he repeats the display with the lion's head and the sunlight "-and many other things are within my power but I confess I don't really know what would be of interest to a biologist, he just said you'd be interested."

"Well, how much do you know about how your powers work? Did you start out human and become a Solar, or were you born one? Are your powers a specific set of things, like Pokémon attacks, or more freeform?"

"I was born a perfectly normal human, and like all Solars I ascended with a great act of heroism, in my case killing a raksha who had been kidnapping children from nearby villages. My powers are mostly expressed through specific Charms, which I have to learn by expending Integral Essence, which I gain through further acts of heroism. This leads to a predictable life cycle for most Solars, which I mostly adhere to except I'm better at it because I keep not dying."

He remembers something. "Oh, I knew I was forgetting something - one of my Charms lets me talk to Pokémon. Supposedly Aether Corp is going to be more interested in that, but it's probably worth mentioning."

Annette is scribbling notes on a new page of her lab book. "What Charms do you know? What is Integral Essence and how does heroism produce it and what happens if you run out? Congratulations on the heroism by the way. The Solar lifecycle, is that escalating acts of heroism until you try something too dangerous and it kills you? And can you talk to my Vaporeon?" Her hand goes to the single Pokéball on her belt.

"Too many to list, but notably I can cut mountains in half, fluently speak languages I never actually learned - such as this one - and cause people to fall in love with me through dance. Integral Essence is a physical manifestation of the approval of the Unconquered Sun, heroism produces it because the Unconquered Sun likes heroism, and nothing happens if you run out you just have to do some more heroics. Thank you. Yes. Also yes."

"Causing people to fall in love with you through dance sounds . . . troublesome. But the other things are amazing! When you speak a language you don't know, whose vocabulary do you get? Do you learn it as a one-time thing or does it change every time you talk to a different speaker? If you went to Johto would your accent change?"

"I've never had any complaints. When I speak a language I don't know, I'm actually speaking my own language, and it's translated by the grace of the Unconquered Sun. I don't actually know about the accent; I believe it's based on who I'm talking to, but I'm not sure."

"That seems plausible; your accent sounds local to me." She lets her Vaporeon out of its ball; it weaves between her legs and nuzzles her ankles. "Awww, who's a good Biscuit? You are!" Annette says, reaching down to pet its head.

"Hello Biscuit!" Aril says. "I can understand when you talk; is there anything you'd like to say to your trainer?"

Biscuit wants treats! Does Aril have any? He knows Annette has some. Annette is the best, she has treats and headpats and a good lap for sleeping on, and when they're in the place that smells like her instead of the very clean-smelling place they're in now she has the ribbon on a stick!