"do you know where i've seen those before?"

kyle takes out his solgaleo. the sleek, white plating that consisted of its armor has been replaced by the same dark crystals found on these corpses. kyle used to think it was just a different form that made the previous avatar's solgaleo distinct, but connections can be made from the present scene to the beast he has in his possession.

"it's similar, i think. i suppose necrozma being the culprit of it makes sense, but does it connect to the mural earlier?"

he produces a knife and approaches the corpses. he leans down and then tries to pry one of the crystals out of its flesh.

the morbid desecration of corpses does little to faze someone who worked with dead bodies from before rocket's invasion on hoenn. it was, however, the similarity of the knife's material with the dark crystals that causes him to stare for a bit longer.

the misconceptions are welcome. he supposed he doesn't really look like a kid from the streets from where he is now.

a whistle from kyle alerts his pokemon on what to do as soon as they both see pokemon sent out. a z-move from the granbull accompanies the lycanroc's roar in preventing the other grunts from using their pokemon in the skirmish.



the rush he does towards the rocket grunts was a fake out. instead of attacking them with his weapon, he instead throws the knife up, breaking one of the light bulbs that illuminate the place.

the destruction was enough to take their attention for a moment, giving kyle the opportunity to sweep his legs underneath them and get them off their feet. at the end of the misdirection, the knife clinks on the cafeteria tiles as it lands with the shattered glass.

"i played dirty in those fights," he confesses to kazimir as he races for his knife. "there's no way i'm an actual fighter like you."

there's a hint of joy in his tone that reeks of nostalgic reminiscence.

it starts to get cold, and kyle notices frost accumulating on gravestones around him. before he can get ample time to realize what was happening, the flurry stops abruptly.

he turns around and sees a silhouette similar to a scarecrow under the moon's light. it drops down, and a shadow of an equine replaces it. kyle is confused at first, but realizes the culprit.

"oh, hey. long time no see, horsey."

there had been no reason for him to keep the spectrier around since he was already loaded up with pokemon at his beck and call, but the pokemon remained loyal to him after the trial he has been put through.

reunited, kyle approaches the horse. "thanks for doing that." he reaches for his pockets and takes out a carrot as a reward.

hands wrap around noah, locking him in, and immediately letting his weight pin him against the couch's backrest.

it was comfortable, like a weighted blanket.

"yeah. i just sat all day in front of the couch." he buries his face on noah's neck. "no wormholes, ultra beasts or interdream mist either."

the sequence of events would have played out by then, but disturbance comes in many forms that it would never had a chance to push forward. whether it was a work call for kyle, a barking of dogs killing the mood, or a disembodied voice coming from the basement.

"the silvally's talking," kyle complains, further covering his face with noah. "i don't want to move from here and check it."

he's certain a talking module for a silvally memory has never been manufactured before.

the dogs start barking in a specific tone, and the formulated chorus of whining and yipping was enough to signify that a particular occurrence in the household was happening.

kyle was on the couch, hand on the remote and back reclined in a pretty lax manner. his head dips back as he peeks at the front door, watching it open for the arrival of his husband.

he doesn't say anything, but he raises a brow at him, alongside a rhythmic patting of his thigh as an invitation.

his irregular schedule meant that he could either be gone for a long time or have an opportunity to chill in his home for an entire day. in this case, it was the latter.

it's the season of spirits, and it's the perfect time for them to come out of their hiding.

kyle has always been aware of ghost-type pokemon hanging out on mt. pyre more than usual during this time of the year. although the job to fend them off has been left to rangers and local volunteers over the course of the years, he still takes part on it like tradition.

stationing himself in the more misty corners of mt. pyre's cemetery, he looks around for wild pokemon that he can potentially chase off of where people wouldn't need to see them.

at least there's no wormholes or time-space distortions around here to make this case worse.

perhaps it's the way his brain was rewired a few encounters back, or that he was just naturally unfazed by strange occurrences, but his reaction to another suicune was not of shock, but joy.

"hey, you found him!" he smiles, and then looks around for entei the same way isaac searched for suicune. kyle finds him just a distance away. surprisingly, it keeps its distance. "oh, but he's not his brother, i think. is he not from this world?"

they had met another suicune before him, though it was more akin to a paradox pokemon. regardless, it was entei's similar reaction that led him to this conclusion.

"anyways."

kyle watches isaac approach and take the piece of paper by the crate's side. the note included its ingredients, explicitly mentioned to be procured from ultra space, as well as other side effects that include, but not limited to, nausea, paranoia, anxiety and hallucinations.

it did say those are only experienced with high dosage, but at least whoever receives it gets a good stimulant drug that keeps them up for the entirety of the clash between factions.

"do you know of this?" he picks up. "usually, the response is 'what's that?'."

he takes the bottle and opens it up. it smells atrocious, but it doesn't stop kyle from taking a swig of the unknown medicine to test its effects. if he dies, he dies.

stocking up before the big fight reminds him of his first trip to ultra space. he wonders if thinking about it for a brief moment would change the outcome of the scenario the dream has placed them on.

"there's gum on my desk's drawer somewhere inside. it should have my name on it," he tells navy as he steps out. "oh, wait. you were trying to sound cool. my bad."

similar sunglasses adorn his eyes, though what differs him from navy is the full swat tactical gear. he opts for protective gear as opposed to the more comfortable uniform he had that day, and instead of the guns navy had, kyle brought with him a myriad of stun guns and a pair of collapsible batons.

"i've always wanted to experience police brutality." he had been reserved for most of his life, but he wouldn't be today. "blackwell should be targeting someone from the shipyard. come on. it's time."

kyle finds himself brimming with excitement. maybe if he wasn't as scared as he was back then, he could have at least had fun in a losing situation.

"i think you're dodging the more important part of the statement that needs to be acknowledged."

he drops the knife from his dominant hand after it has been held by matias, catching it by its handle his other hand. he twirls it like a pen around his thumb before he takes a more comfortable grip of it.

"i don't need you to tell me everything. i just need you to be honest with me."

he points the tip of the knife back to matias, though it doesn't go like a chainsaw through his flesh this time.

"are you here for something else? you could be worried about livy as well, since the florist did say she's a good choice to go for instead of fernando."

"her."

up close like this, the temptation grows. impatience hits him and he makes sure he takes the first shot.

kyle takes out his knife swiftly, plunging it on matias' side. he's careful not to hit the vitals, or rather, he knows where to hit without the risk of death. even under the spell, he thinks about how he's uncertain if he'll attempt to use ho-oh's blessing.

"i wouldn't really care, but i don't like the way you keep treating me like someone irrelevant."

the mist spreads further, which now completely shrouds them.

"she said she wants to kill silph. i think i convinced her to switch targets. i'm surprised you aren't on her list though."

"yeah. i was going to ask for crystalflowers. cowabummer."

he brings the letters along with him to the door, with his mightyena following closely. it's more of an action brought by absent thoughts, though he doesn't intend to hide it from matias anyways.

"are you looking for the florist yourself? she's not here, but i can offer you a tour of the house if you want."

kyle raises a brow in a playful display of innocent teasing, offering a smirk to the surprised avatar of groudon.

"or do you not need it anymore?"