#she did her job. given everything and then some. what now? why now? theyve fought gods before; they can do it again. she dares them.

[trainingdummyrabbit]

my beasts!!! my mysterydungeon beasts!!

this is team relic!! ft Milady the Hisuian Sneasel as the Hero, and Azrah the Hisuian Zorua as the Partner! ^_^

Milady is a bit quiet and stoic, tending to hold a more composed air about her whenever she acts. She proceeds in a very calculated manner, always considering as many outcomes as she can before making a decision. Despite this, in battle she's shockingly reckless, oftentimes taking the forefront even when she doesn't need to. She tends to only account for herself in combat-- meaning she tries to carry the brunt of the load on her own, almost as though she forgets she has teammates. Against her more rational outlook, she's very very stubborn when it comes to jumping to action.

Even so, past her stony demeanor is a bit of an awkwardness. A lot of what comes across as flippancy or composure is simple confusion. She honestly isn't very good at "friendly small talk." ...or any talk at all, really. She's very blunt and to-the-point, simply because she values honesty. If she doesn't know how to react to a situation, chances are she will simply nod with a hum or not respond at all and leave. She gets uncomfortable with that expectancy, and simply chooses to Not Deal With It, and simply do the bear minimum. Act the part.

...which is kind of how she ended up getting tied up in an exploration team with Azrah.

Azrah (or Azzy, for shorthand,) has a very small presence, tending to opt for Curt and Polite in interacting with others, almost as though he's walking on eggshells the entire time. Considerate to a fault, he has a hard time making decisions, causing him to be very softspoken and cowardly. He really does dream big though! Even if dreams like that aren't really for pokemon like him.

Teaming up with Milady was honestly a bit of a split second decision. He thought she'd surely turn him down-- she was so cool and strong, after all! Maybe she was already part of a team or something-- but she didn't. (She had no idea what she was doing or where she was going, but felt a bit too awkward to say anything else after the fact... she didn't really mind anyhow, so... whatever.) A lot of their first interactions were Azrah checking in on her when she was quiet, and Milady deciding what to do and where to go. A bit awkward at first, but they found themselves getting along pretty well pretty fast despite it all. They just kind of... clicked into place, after a while.

There's more, but um, it's very much PMD spoiler territory and that might be important to some folks so. Post Length and Spoiler Warning Readmore Cut ! Woe!!

Azrah's insecurities run a bit deeper than he tends to let on. His nervousness isn't necessarily just due to his meek nature-- though it is at least a part of it-- but it also has a lot to do with Himself as an individual. Hisuian Zoroark are well known for their rather capricious and vicious nature. They're known for their Malice, after all. It very much sets a precedent for him-- one that he doesn't want to uphold. It's why he keeps his emotions in such a tight lock-- he doesn't want to get angry and lash out at others, so he talks himself out of feeling that anger at all. Doesn't speak up for himself when others talk over him.

He believes his instinctual defensiveness is a personal flaw and something to be repressed-- he doesn't want to be dangerous and violent like Zoroark of his kind tend to be, and overcompensates by muffling it as much as possible. He's the type to cry if he ever gets mad enough to yell. In suppressing that defense mechanism, he kinda becomes a huge pushover and a bit of a doormat... but its better than being a Bad Pokemon.

Milady, of course, is our resident Human-Turned-Pokemon amnesiac. She holds her composure more often than not, but she's deceptively anxious. Not having access to your memories doesn't seem to quell your body's habits, and it's something she is very fully aware of. She's constantly filled with a quiet sense of stress and anxiety, quietly building in pressure as she goes. She had something important, and she can’t find it. It’s frustrating. She’s frustrated. Confused and lost in a world that doesn’t quite belong to her, with ingrained knowledge of things about herself and the way the world Should work, but the image of it just out of reach. Her awkwardness isn't just in her nature.

She knows she should keep her level-headed attitude (but why?) and she has an image to upkeep (to whom?) but... but.

Milady tends to overprepare. Always checking over and over, making absolutely certain everything is in order for every worst-case scenario under the sun and then some. But when things really do get dangerous, she gets... admittedly very overbearing. She hates not knowing what to do-- hates not being able to control a situation. And when she can't... she runs. She stops thinking completely, almost unwittingly, like the flip of a switch. Some sort of measure her body remembers, but she does not.

She'd lost something once. It takes her a long time to piece it together, but it couldn't be anything else. It's a lingering sense of guilt that she can't shake, the desire-- the need-- to be better than she is. Reach her limits and pass them. (Maybe then they'd forgive her.)

Azrah mostly tends to let Milady handle things more often than not to avoid getting in the way. At the end of the Fogbound Expedition though, he does step up a bit more when she starts showing signs of getting overwhelmed. He was nervous at first, but he does want to help. It was nice when she looked back and encouraged him too...

The "Groudon" fight is the first time Milady and Azzy fully sync up as a team, minding each others blind spots and giving them cover-- working around each other to keep the other safe, rather than tiptoeing circles around invisible boundaries. Milady does not run, and Azzy does not hesitate. It's at this point that Azzy accepts his place as part of the team-- Milady needs him as much as he does to her, and wants to live up to that. As well, Milady starts to be able to relinquish a bit of her need for control, trusting Azzy to be on the same level rather than taking up everything herself.

It's what starts allowing them to accept what they had as Theirs, rather than just something that they happened to stumble into.

All these things start tangling together as things go along-- Azzy's grudge with Grovyle and looking up to Dusknoir; Dusknoir being someone he aspired to be as a "Good Pokemon" despite his scary reputation as a Ghost Type, mixing with his stubborn worldview of Grovyle as one of the Bad Ones, unable to accept it even after they learn the truth in the future. All the while, Milady's past begins resurfacing, bringing out parts of her she wishes to keep buried-- mixed with the volatility of trying to keep Azrah safe and retaining her visage of a Good Leader. Everything just causes them to stick closer and closer together as everything unravels-- which makes things deeply complicated towards the end of the game.

Milady's entire life revolved around her own life being temporary. As a Human, it was simply the truth of things. She'd never had to think too hard about any future-- in fact, even now she actively tried not to. Even when the deadline reared its head, she continued to not think about it. She couldn't. The entire world was weighing on them, after all. It was what she was meant to do from the start, there was no room for regrets. But when the time came to finally say goodbye, it was only hearing Azrah call out to her that she realized. She wanted to live.

It was funny. Both of her lives spent with complete disregard to herself, to what she could be, what she could have-- and it was only when she no longer had the choice that she'd wondered. What if she wanted more?

But a good leader always saves face. So...

wait.. have i never talked abt azrah and milady over here... do you guys know about my beasts.... do u want to hear abt my beasts