Hoenn nearly shattered under the oppressive weight of its own guardian. The people were shaken and the League competency questioned. In a time of such turmoil, Eva has remained mysteriously quiet, absent in some sense. Her work got done, but her office door remained closed and one could rarely find her at her listed residence. Rayquaza too had been quiet. The dragon retreated to the heavens to recover in peace amongst the stars.

Many expected her to be right there by his side for his recovery. Primal Intoxication was, after all, one of her specialties. Her science was sound and the instructions clear. No one needed her to oversee it.

Too much time alone with her own thoughts and reflections of the crisis has turned her against her coveted peace. Uncharacteristic tempests and gales that tore across the remote Southern cliffs of Ever Grande Island reflected the turmoil that raged inside.

She is angry. Very angry.

Eva felt it was best not to come with Rayquaza. She could still feel a whisper of the dragon’s insatiable appetite to tear him limb from limb. Instead, she uses the familiar Gallade to TELEPORT home so she can’t hesitate and turn back around.

Everyone has to face their demons, eventually.

She doesn’t greet him in the same way. She can’t say his name. It dies on her parted lips as if something snatched it right out of her throat. She had thought about this moment so many times and prepared herself for what it might feel like to see him alive. A part of her thought it would be joyful, but the storm of feelings raging through her chest is anything but.

Instead of speaking, she just stares at him with unmistakable confusion that she fails to hide in her emerald eyes.

---

MATIAS SILPH

It’s all a rushed blur, a series of seemingly impossible events that amalgamate into something from a nightmare. The monsters don’t stray far from their sinister script. They growl and bite and beat fear into the prisoners for the meagerest of transgressions. Her mind never really catches up. She stumbles out alongside Tempest Quinn and clings to the only figure she feels comfortable with, though there is something disquieting about him she can’t quite place.

Eva does just enough work to get by. She watches carefully. As her mind clears and the fog over it dissipates, she’s immediately formulating. Patience is a virtue, especially when faced with the impossible.

There is no room for error here, that much is made clear by the steep consequences. When they acted, they need to do so with unmatched precision. She will do what she does best: study. Every detail could be woven into a clearer picture that provided better understanding. She smothers the urge to fight and defend. Her time will come.

“Trust,” she agrees with her cellmate, Tempest Quinn.

---

Tempest Quinn

+ Eva is staying quiet and flying under the radar, studying their captors and this situation so when they strike they can do so with fatal precision
+ Eva votes TRUST

For a fleeting moment, she sees him, the real him behind those crimson eyes. It’s enough to pull him back from the edge, but not enough to keep him there. The strength he boasts is a fallacy, much like the power this Primal Groudon promises him. At his core, he is weak, a slave to the promise of power and the immortality of his ego. Even she can’t call him home. As bright as she shines, as clear as the path may be, she can’t force him to follow it.

“Matias . . .” her eyes beg him not to go, not to give in, not to leave her with an impossible decision. She can feel the noxious tendrils of the PRIMAL ENERGY constricting around him, intoxication imminent. His immortality is fleeting. He may have survived the initial PRIMAL REVERSION, but he wouldn’t survive this.

Maybe that’s why she doesn’t fight it, she doesn’t hold on for dear life. He ascends and she simply watches, her chest tightening into knot after knot as she swallows the pain and turns it into fuel. kyle lopez’s SOLGALEO steals him away as a last ditch effort to save him. She sees it now, he may have been hers, but she was never his home.

Eva trusts the others to protect the cities. To bring an end to this, the titan needed to be neutralized. With or without its avatar, it still remained a threat.

THE SERPENT WILL SINK ITS FANGS
INTO LAND OR SEA

Eva ascends to meet her patron as they rise out of the lava and scraps of what remains of the summit of Mt. Chimney. Somewhere inside the dragon she can feel the MIKADO ORGAN calling to her, stuttering like the dead engine of a car. She pulses with a golden light that matches the shimmering pattern etched into the dragon. She tries to revive the hidden power within, knowing it’s something they’ll need to truly succeed.

SUBMIT

They command, snapping like a whip to curl around their brethren and constrict around them like a chain. Eva stands atop the dragon’s broad skull, a hand stretched forward with burning golden eyes boring into Groudon’s own.

SUBMIT

She repeats, the command echoing across the dissolving landscape with the same resonance as the continuing ERUPTION.

---

MATIAS SILPH
Melody Miro & paxton concordas & ollie morales & lam logan

+ Accepts that she may not be the one to save him
+ Trusts the others to protect the cities
+ Rayquaza and Eva go to handle the titan 😎 so it is written in the prophecy
+ Tries to Mega Evolve Rayquaza (but ultimately fails?) as they attempt to constrict (extreme speed) Groudon like a chain

The sharp roar of pain bounces off the crumbling cliffs of the mountain and the serpent recoils against the searing pain of Groudon’s SOLAR BEAM. It shakes their hold on Eva enough to release her from its vice grip. The golden rays of the PRIMAL ENERGY putter out and she falls to her hands and knees, choking on the very air she draws power from. The soft coo of MEW sounds like a distant echo, the shouts of Melody Miro, ollie morales, lam logan, and paxton concordas feel so far away. She watches them lunge towards MATIAS SILPH at half speed. The world around her feels like a dream.

Rayquaza’s desire for carnage becomes a distant memory. She finds her way back to her own pillars. It is their greatest divide, the deep fissure that keeps them from true unity. Where Rayquaza accepts peace through war, Eva does not. For the way to peace, is the way of love. There is no greater power on Earth. It conquers all things.

She sees her friends rush in, hell bent on saving someone who has done them all so much wrong. Betrayal, hate, manipulation. Yet, they fight for him.

She’s not the only one who loves him.

Love defies the rules of reason, it is the only exception.

Of all their power combined, it is the most powerful and the most powerless. It gives hope to the hopeless, light to the never ending darkness, life to the lifeless, warmth to the most frigid depths of the soul. It is the only thing that can conquer the most invincible barrier one carries, the impregnable stronghold of the heart. What else can claim such power?

But it can only do so with consent, which is what makes it powerless.

Legions of soldiers may not be able to defeat the titan, but five hopeful souls with love in their hearts could save him.

“Mew,” she doesn’t need to say anything more, her eyes say it all. In a flash, she’s TELEPORTED to him, past the lava and the stones and the fire. DELTA STREAMs pulse out from the golden angel to trap them in a world of their own. She doesn’t scream at him, she doesn’t shout, she doesn’t beg, she only acts on the instinct she knows above all else, the only language she knows to transcend all others.

Eva reaches out to grab a hold of his face and pull him into a kiss, an act designed by nature for when words become superfluous. It’s genuine and kind, without malicious intent or deceit. It’s a truthful proclamation she’s never quite abandoned. It’s, above all else, pure. Despite all the power she’s been given at her fingertips, love still remains the greatest of them all.

With love comes sacrifice, while Rayquaza descends with DRAGON ASCENT in an attempt to cave in the entire volcano and disrupt the looming eruption.

---

MATIAS SILPH
Melody Miro & paxton concordas & ollie morales & lam logan

+ Rayquaza is struck by SOLAR BEAM which breaks its hold of Eva, giving her some repreve
+ She realizes what is happening and asks Mew to TELEPORT her over there
+ Eva tries a smooch because what is more powerful than love?
+ Rayquaza uses DRAGON ASCENT on the Volcano itself to try and collapse it

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the darkness with the speed of a crawling Slugma. A rhythmic bass pounded in her skull, beating against her sanity like a Rillaboom.

“Mhhmm.”

She groaned against the intrusive thoughts, the shaking that stirred her belly and forced up whatever remained of her last meal. The Professor jolted up, curling over the side of the cot towards her unexpecting cellmate and let the spittle of bile out that splattered across the damp, stony ground.

“Wha-”

She adjusted to the darkness, recognizing immediately the danger she found herself in. Her mind raced to put the pieces together while her body scrambled and accelerated into fight or flight. She bolted past Tempest Quinn, stumbling over the tattered legs of the jumpsuit that was too big for her small frame. She hit the ground with a crack, but the adrenaline forced her back up and she found her balance by grabbing hold of the cell’s bars.

There, she waited for a beat. She breathed in and out, long and steady. Her logical mind cleared the fog and fought past the nausea to make sense of their situation. After assessing the layout of what extended beyond their barrier, she put her back to it, facing the man that jostled her awake. She didn’t recognize him immediately, and presumed him to be a stranger.

Megalopolans. Toxic Chains. A prison.

Her fingertips tore at the chains around her neck which only tightened in retaliation. She hacked a choking sound behind wide, bloodshot eyes before giving up. The chains relaxed as she did, and she sank to the ground with her back against the bars. There was no point trying to blast their way free with DELTA STREAMs. She felt weak, and lost. The tether to her patron that had always thrummed with a steady hum was just the faintest whisper, almost nonexistent.

“Sorry,” she mumbled hoping she hadn't spit up on him. She finally wiped her mouth, her lips curling in distaste, “Water?” she asked not even sure if she’d want to drink it if it was there.

---

Tempest Quinn

+ Panic attack
+ Oh shit… Hi, Tempest Quinn?

Eva knows those eyes more intimately than most: The shallow curve of his heavy lids, the sharp points that gave him his intimidating, cutting gaze, the way the edges softened when he looked at you with a genuine smile, the red that bled into his dark irises when the adrenaline kicked in.

As similar as they may be, those are not his eyes.

In truth, Matias hadn’t been her MATIAS SILPH for a long time. So, in a way, she’s not surprised when the Volatile erupts from the titan’s festering wound and curses them with a single, powerful word that reverberates down to their core. But he’s in there somewhere, crawling desperately through the dark trying to find his way out back to himself.

I will never stop fighting for you, to save you from yourself.

She knows it, she believes it. It’s faith and hope in that love, though as one sided as it may be, that fights back against the ancient demand. It steels her core, sharpens her resolve, and drags a strength to the surface only her patron may have recognized.

MEW senses the danger and raises its small paws. A shimmering PROTECT surrounds them before the mountainside is rattled in exploding PRECIPICE BLADES and the thundering fall of rockslides in the aftermath of the percussion.

Amidst the fog, a light glows bright, the beacon in the dark she promised to be. What would have been gold, if not for the oppressive sun, instead shines a bright white to match the ivory scales of the serpentine dragon that loomed behind them like a ghost.

Threats spoken in their own ancient tongue don't scare them. They respond in full, capturing the woman’s mind and body and voice for their own.

YOU FIRST.

They had been waiting for this moment. For this VOLATILE, wicked being that sowed nothing but chaos amongst their peace to present themselves for their sacrifice. Their demise would bring peace. Peace to Hoenn. Peace to their chosen. Peace to their brethren.

The starved and ravenous serpent’s lips peel apart. Dripping fangs fall into place, coated with slick anticipation. The edges of their lips curl into what could only be called a smile.

DRAGON ASCENT sent a powerful blast of energy across the mountain top that pushes away the last of the suspended debris. Their fangs lash and snap at the man that was once everything to her. He had always been, and still remains, the greatest threat to their success. Death is not a finality, not in this world.

Death is only the beginning.

---

MATIAS SILPH
Melody Miro & paxton concordas & ollie morales & lam logan

+ Primal Matias? Shiiiiit.
+ Mew uses PROTECT to guard Eva and Melody Miro
+ Raquaza takes over Eva to respond
+ Rayquaza has been waiting for this moment for so long and gives in to their own PRIMAL urges and tries to snap Matias in half with a DRAGON ASCENT chomp chomp

They land safely upon the mountain side amongst the soot and smoke. Eva lets Melody go as the DELTA STREAM fades. The stagnant, super heated air burns like hot oil down her throat and she chokes on her own words with a painful cough.

“We have to-” her thoughts are broken apart by the same raspy cough that tightens through her chest, “We have to find him.” If he is still alive.

In a world bleached of color, the sweat pooling at her brows still glistens as it beads down her face. Her vision blurs beneath the salty sweat and she finds herself having to constantly wipe it away to keep her eyes on Groudon, Rayquaza, Melody, and Meloetta.

Grounding themselves puts them in more danger than if they were airborne. Here, on Groudon’s turf, they are subject to the PRECIPICE BLADES threatening to impale them. Eva reaches to move Melody out of the way of the shift earth, but an unexpected pink PSYCHIC stops the blades in their tracks.

The cheery ring of Mew’s soft coos brings a splash of color to this desolate world, “Mew!” she smiles in relief, both emotional and physical as LIFE DEW falls over herself and Melody. The healing waters help make it more bearable and her skin no longer cries out in pain with each movement.

“Let’s find Matias,” she stands defiantly against the odds stacked against them and leads the charge towards the summit. A beacon of hope shines brighter with each step.

Meanwhile, at the summit, Rayquaza’s momentum pulls them back towards the colossal titan. The blistering heat ripples across their ivory scales and baths their muscles with a renewed vigor. Primal Groudon’s attention and care to protecting the swelling at the nape of their neck does not go unnoticed. Rayquaza’s slitted pupils focus on a potential weakness. Their serpentine body continues to uncoil and a metal coated tail snaps like a whip at the lump on their nape.

---

MATIAS SILPH
Melody Miro & paxton concordas & ollie morales & lam logan

+Eva is happy Mew is there, hi baby!!
+ Starting to look for any signs of Matias
+ Rayquaza notices the lump at Groudon’s nape and uses IRON TAIL to try and smack it

Rayquaza jumps before Eva has the chance to comprehend what is happening. She’s too caught up in her own storm of emotions to recognize the perils of the present. She sees a figure falling and instinctively reaches out with a push from her patron to catch her. A powerful gust of wind pushes Melody Miro into Eva’s waiting arms and she helps her get settled on the dragon’s back.

It’s a shame to go against everything she’s ever practiced to let emotions get in the way of her logic but here she is, convinced Matias is dead but needing to keep it together enough to stop Groudon’s imminent eruption. When Melody poses the question, she stares at her with a rather blank and surprised expression. Eva has no answers. She should, but she doesn’t.

“M-Matias,” is what she manages to blurt out before her throat closes over the rest of the truth she refuses to believe.

Eva holds Melody tight as Rayquaza rolls to barely dodge another THUNDER strike. The ground titan’s refusal to submit resonates as a thrumming pulse of energy beneath them. Rayquaza’s serpentine body tenses and Eva is filled with the overwhelming sense of urgency. The emerald scales rattle and the body beneath them pulses rhythmically. It’s an unmistakable sense of power that crescendos into a persistent echo, like an earthquake.

“Be careful, but end this. We’ll do what we can,” she passes her sentiments on to the dragon through the touch of her bare hand on their burning hide, “Hold on, Melody,” she warns her briefly before she pushes them both off of Rayquaza’s back and into a free fall towards the top of the mountain.

As soon as they are free of their burden, Rayquaza lunges forth in a flash of light. The world around them slows to a crawl and they curl around the emerald SOLAR BEAM to strike at Groudon with EXTREME SPEED.

DELTA STREAM flares to life to buffer their fall and Eva and Melody are safely deposited on the mountain’s rocky slope.

---

MATIAS SILPH
Melody Miro & paxton concordas & ollie morales & lam logan

---

+ They catch Melody Miro
+ Rayquaza urges them to get off so they can fuck shit up
+ Rayquaza attacks with EXTREME SPEED
+ Eva and Melody land safely on Mount Chimney with the help of Eva's DELTA STREAM

Eva seems quite comfortable lounging in the sand current as it carries them to parts unknown. She’s the first to arrive, finding sure footing on a seemingly invisible solid surface. She pounds her boots against the platform to ensure its stability and to knock off the excess sand from her laces. The sound echoed off something which she found odd because there was nothing. Cian and Hideo would find her dusting off the sand clinging to her top and scarf.

“That was kinda fun, huh?” she spat out some sand that clung to her lips, “Except for the sand part…” it got everywhere.

The professor looked around and began walking in no particular direction, “I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like a to-”

SMACK

“Ah!”

She runs right into . . . something. She blinks wildly, clearing her eyes of the budding tears of surprise. The stunned professor takes a wobbly step back. Her hands find her face and gently rub her tender nose before reaching out like she was in a dark room looking for a light switch, “Careful guys there’s, uh,” her hand finds the invisible wall and she smacks it a couple times to hear the echo resonate across the chamber, “You can’t see these walls.”

---

Hideo Kino & CIAN MAHER

Eva snaps back up to her feet to avoid being caught off guard by either of the aggressors. A brief survey of the situation shows she isn’t the only one with an out of control pokemon. Freya and Jayden both struggle to control their dragons and Elizabeth just looks annoyed and pissed (as usual).

Some unseen force continues to make Thalia act irrationally. The haphazardous PSYCHO CUTS ceased, but now she seemed hell bent on drawing blood from Jayden and his dragon. A flurry of MAGICAL LEAVES shot out from the metallic paradox like a machine gun as his Roaring Moon disappeared and was replaced with a more ghostly dragon.

“Freya!” her voice booms across the cavern, calling her back to her to regroup. Jayden’s frigid gaze is met with fire. Gold flashes in her eyes and dances off the prism of the cave’s crystals. The stale air stirs, and a blast of DELTA STREAM follows the sweep of her hands. An impenetrable gale counters his cascade of ice. It shatters against the invisible barrier like a violent wave smacking a cliffside.

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli & jayden cross & freya morningstar

CqHr7WjS

She breathed deeply, inhaling what she thought was crisp, clean air. Something wasn’t right, perhaps it was all the stress and sleepless night catching up to her as she scrambled to unsuccessful seize control of whatever this pandemic was.

“Mmhhmmm,” she groaned, bending over to rest her hands on her knees. She nodded to the Gallade in reluctant acceptance that she needed some HEAL PULSE aid to keep her going. She let the move wash over her like a gentle wave. It took some of the unsettling sickness away, but something unnatural still lingered.

She was no good dead or infected, so she checked herself into one of the medical tents to be seen and make sure she was clean. While waiting and being monitored, she had plenty of time to review the cases she’d been studying which led her to a number of conclusion, including the curious abilities the infected pokemon demonstrated. She replayed battles over and over again until she was confident she could piece together the unique abilities these TOXIC CHAINS were granted their host.

---

😈if your character has participated in AT LEAST 3 POISON PATROLS, they may feel slightly unwell during this patrol; furthermore, your character may be able to discern that the TOXIC CHAINS do corrupt and imbue Pokemon with unique abilities...

“This is getting out of control,” Well, it was far past that. It was certainly, absolutely, positively out of control. Eva felt in over her head. She’d never seen anything like it. It spread so fast and mutated to have different effects pending on the strain. The whole thing gave her a piercing headache.

She pressed her fingers to her temples and squeezed her eyes shut. A calming wave of HEAL PULSE cut through her like a knife through SOFT BUTTER. It did little to ease her emotional distress. The headache, however, disappeared, “Save it, Blade. We’ll need the healing you can give us.”

With a sigh, she pointed towards a Dustox, signaling for the Gallade to cut it down with a PSYCHO CUT so she could toss the pokeball and catch the pokemon for further study.

---

|zI02ri7