[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]She allows the man his last words. An appeal, the justice her younger self never been allowed nor given to anyone. If Michael Navidson had taught her one thing, it was that: not the rule of law and order, nor a rejection of it, but justice.[break][break]

"No. I can't trust you. You can't trust me, either, and you know it."[break][break]

She's not naive enough for that to work. She recognizes his talent, however. A younger, more idealistic version of herself may have fallen for that line. With just those words, it's obvious why he was entrusted that shard of ice to begin with. [break][break]

"But..."[break][break]

He makes a compelling case. [break][break]

She needs him alive to get out of this hell.[break][break]

"Navy. You help me save him, I won't do a thing to you. Give you my word."[break][break]

Not that that meant much. She'd lied to practically everyone in her life, the current Dewford Gym Leader included. What was one more lie atop the pile? Where would it end? [break][break]

Not here, at the very least. One lie of omission, and he was none the wiser as to her own past. [break][break]

Just as well. [break][break]

Some things in the past don't deserve to be preserved or uncovered, no matter how much this man may think otherwise. [break][break]

Across the frozen expanse, walls of flesh begin to split apart, glowing pink eyes dotting the vista as far as the eye can see. They glare accusingly at a giant who should by all rights have died, at his master who slays angels. At the girl who became one. The world seems to tremble beneath their feet, a slumbering god turning restlessly as it faces a bad dream.[break][break]

"Neither of us are makin' it outta here if we don't work together."[break][break]

She swallows, feeling the sensation of sharp daggers running all the way down her throat. Looking out at the Sea and all of Eternatus's angels, they appear as immaculate marble statues, some tribute or a passion play to the abyss itself. The beauty is hard to look at. She turns back to face the Rocket, Howard Slayte, instead. The ugliness she now sees inside him seems to steady her vertigo some. [break][break]

"Wonder who's idea it was. This cruel joke, I mean... givin' someone so obsessed with preserving things a buncha ice, watchin' it melt in his hands."[break][break]

Shuwen picks Tsubaki up with his free arm, carrying the past and future of Dewford with him as he nods Howard's way. An ancient king of the skies at his beck and call, Howard sends out his Aerodactyl and accompanies them into the frozen Sea.[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]The dream dies and begins to rot. [break][break]

Walls, pavement, buildings all seem to sigh, exhausted. Their forms fall in on themselves as death takes them, pungent scent assailing her senses. She watches the scene warp before her eyes, some seeming-parody of exaggerated cyclical decay, watching the city disappear into the dark created by Galar's Black Knight.[break][break]

Then, a momentary silence, broken only by a crude bout of laughter. [break][break]

It feels like a joke, that laughter-- pointed not at any particular thing but rather the subject of the joke itself, humor that begets itself as a serpent devouring its tail. Whatever the cause, whatever the end, it shall remain a mystery lost to the dark.[break][break]

She immerses herself in that echoing laughter for what feels like an eternity. She loses herself. Everything is lost to it, til she forgets how to... breathe? She needs to breathe to live, doesn't she?[break][break]

Hand reaches to her neck. Eyes open, chest heaving. [break][break]

She hits the floor of her cell, and the impact forces air into her lungs. The laughter, she realizes, was her own wheezing as she struggles to breathe against the toxic chain round her neck. She feels the stone floor of her cell against her cheek, cold and soothing, something to abate her fever... then, she turns to the panopticon. The room swirls. Dazzling sight of a gorgeous bird burns her eyes, and a distorted vision of Michael Navidson laughing through his tears.[break][break]

A clattering of metal on metal, and the twisted form of a megalopolan looks down at her.[break][break]

She stares at it for a moment.[break][break]

"The angel..."[break][break]

She doesn't speak of her own Nihilego. Instead, she speaks of the angel Eris Halla taught her about in the midst of a scarlet simulation. Not that the megalopolan would know the difference, even if it wasn't enthralled by the same chain that binds her now.[break][break]

"What're you doin' with... that... thing..."[break][break]

She spends the rest of her energy on that, and trails off. The megalopolan dumps mochi into the cell and moves on, leaving her to languish in the post-dream exhaustion, still giggling to herself. She stares at the mochi on the ground. It looks appetizing, but... she can't quite reach it. [break][break]

She tries to focus. [break][break]

What was her last thought before the dream...? [break][break]

It takes her a moment, but she reaches up and clutches her throat in hand, feeling the pulse of the chain beneath her fingers. Where it connects feels like a poorly-attached limb, an extension of herself. Like a lycanroc caught in a trap, she snarls at whatever the chain is caught on, keeping her on this cold floor, mochi just out of reach... [break][break]

It reminds her of the captivity of her youth, bound in chains of a much more metaphorical nature but nonetheless just as stifling. No matter what, she longed to leave that place. To escape. And then...[break][break]

"... I'm... not your slave... won't end up like the angel... "[break][break]

What she saw as she gazed into the mask - a peaceful life, the life she always wanted, a place she could enjoy her life while not embroiled in war for a single week - suddenly comes into stark relief. She gasps, forcibly drawing in breath to keep on laughing. It hurts now, laughing like this. It's torture, breathing in til she feels a stitch in her side, feeling the chain tighten round her neck with each sharp intake of breath. [break][break]

A sudden rush of endorphins. She feels the toxins bubbling up, filling her head as she mutters under her breath...[break][break]

"Fezandipiti is... the prettiest! Fezandipiti is the prettiest! Fezandipiti is..."[break][break]

The taste of those words in her mouth make her sick. Words she doesn't mean. Words she'd never say. She swore she'd never compromise herself again, to say things she didn't mean to appease others. freya morningstar and FERNANDO SILPH know well, these past few months working for the council just how prone she is to saying exactly what she has on her mind. [break][break]

"Fezand... ipiti is the... prettiest...!"[break][break]

She silently curses, still giggling under her breath, and bites down on that false limb, trying to tear through it with her teeth. [break][break]

"F-Fez... and... ip... it.. i... i-is... the... p-pretti..."[break][break]

The pain is excruciating, as would be tearing through her own flesh. But she doesn't stop. Not until the laughing hour comes to an end. [break][break]

[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Coiled black body squeezes tight around the flying lizard as it takes to the skies. Sumire clings, twisting and squeezing tight, crunching down around the sun even as it sets alight. She lets out a fierce hiss of anger and of pain, her scales sizzling with the heat, but she plunges her fangs deep into the drake's flesh in order to stay connected.[break][break]

A hurtling mass of orange and black comes toward Aja, all of its heads poking out of his apple to peer at the incoming fireball. All at once, they open their mouths as if in shock, and then...[break][break]

"Shoot that thing outta the sky!!"[break][break]

Baki's voice cuts through the chaos like a bolt of lightning on a dark night. The hydra collectively amass their energy, sending a fickle beam straight at the incoming attack right as it connects. Orange and blue flames congeal into a maelstrom that covers everything, and Tsubaki shields her eyes, unable to look straight at the mass of energy without burning her retina. [break][break]

[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]The Sea remains perfectly still, the winter preserving this moment in time. Angels are covered-over with a thick layer of ice. Even the Sea's beating heart doesn't seem to penetrate the silence. Nothing but the two trainers, Navy's pokemon, and the winter itself seem to be aware that time has ceased to have all meaning.[break][break]

Tsubaki's spirited desire to fell the giant is stayed by Howard's hand, and she turns to him. The giant looms overhead. They can slay it, if only he'd... [break][break]

So. That's what's over. Not this world, but... his life.[break][break]

Or so he says. [break][break]

"Nothing ever ends. It ain't over. You can defect, like Merlo and the others--"[break][break]

A smattering of curses cuts her off, but he must've heard the name.[break][break]

Isaac Merlo wanted to kill Walsh almost as much as her. Howard would be a powerful asset in that same fight, someone who's fighting cause they have no other option. Unlike her, some peon... if the leadership wanted him dead, he must be important. He'd be a useful asset.[break][break]

She's suddenly painfully aware he doesn't know her status, one of his former colleagues. Lucky, she thinks. Not trusting anyone paid off. Always does. She swallows painfully, ignoring the lump in her throat. Opens her mouth to speak, but...[break][break]

Suddenly the giant's form contracts, reduced to its familiar size. She almost expects a cracked husk, but the lights on its body flicker and it makes a metallic sound. Alive. Or at the very least, not dead. [break][break]

She stares at it with a dark look, wondering what the hell happened... silent scorn, for it remains alive. [break][break]

"... There's always an exit. Even with that pokemon, you can get out if you want it."[break][break]

She knows it's futile now. A man who had lost everything is easy to bend to your will. A man with something to lose, a man who's afraid of the worst coming to pass... he will never take a risk that upends everything he holds dear. Her words will fall on deaf ears. [break][break]

She furrows her brow, heated look in her eyes that threaten to melt the blue ice that makes up the golem's body. [break][break]

"Why isn't it dead?"[break][break]

There's a dangerous tone in her voice for all but a moment, and then it evaporates into thin air as she remembers herself. The girl who speaks next is abrasive, but in a way much more alike the Tsubaki that Howard is acquainted with. [break][break]

"You're the historian, aren't you? Or was that a lie as well?"[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]He... [break][break]

He knows?[break][break]

The girl blinks in disbelief. Then, slowly, she starts to piece it together: a well-kept secret, trust placed in one wholly undeserving...[break][break]

She and this man are one in the same. [break][break]

And like in life, they'll meet a common end, too. At least, if what he's said comes to pass. [break][break]

Tattered body flits from Navy's lifeless grasp, and Tsubaki turns up at the giant. It reminds her of a Darkest Day in a lost world, a world devoured by the Skeleton around them and the black Knight both. More times than she can count, she's glimpsed the form of something poisoned by the Skeleton's toxic dynergy, but it always takes her breath away.[break][break]

"Don't be such a fatalist!" She winces at the irony, that it's her of all people saying something like that. "... Doesn't matter how you've lived your life-- all that matters is that you want to live!"[break][break]

A star flickers above, strange hints of a congealed wish. She's seen it written in scarlet pages, crimson ink in blood. She knows what this is, and yet... the strange giant is reacting to it. Soon, the end he speaks will come to pass. They need to act, quick.[break][break]

"Tell me you wanna live, Howard! Cause I ain't goin' down like this, and I'm gonna need your help!"[break][break]

The shinobi behind her croaks in surprise, glancing up at the giant. Her father's limp form remains in his arms, his black skin cracking in the white cold. [break][break]

"Hattori! Shuwen! You too!"[break][break]

Whatever energy she has left she levies into a shout. It's thanks only to the tolerance she's built up, that she can manage that much. Had she not fallen into the Sea a year ago, she'd be as comatose as Michael Navidson .[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","omgentop"]DEWFORD GYM

[attr="class","omgenmid"]

VS. HYAKKARYŌRAN TSUBAKI

POISON TYPE

x BADGE

DYNAMAX

[break][break]

GYM DETAILS

After a year of constant challenges, Michael Navidson 's DEWFORD GYM has finally been taken over by Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki , his protégé and deputy. [break][break]

Tsubaki's gym largely retains its basic features from her predecessor: from the outside it remains a moderately-sized blue building, adorned with the League's insignia and a small plaque indicating the name of the gym and its current Leader. [break][break]

Inside, the decor has changed considerably to the point it is nearly unrecognizable. Children's drawings of dragons are accompanied by graffiti and paint splatters across the walls, floors, and ceiling, and the bright colors glow beneath hostile moody lighting reminiscent of a rave. [break][break]

[break]

Challengers are taken to a pitch reminiscent of Galar's grand arenas, neatly manicured grass surrounding a central stage. Notably, this arena could accommodate the entire population of the island and then some, unusually large for the population it serves. A wall of audio equipment stretches two stories high from center stage, large enough to reach every seat in the house. [break][break]

[break]

Once a traditional challenge begins, challengers are lowered into a much larger arena constructed beneath the pitch. This lower arena's terrain is much more rugged, filled with crystalline structures and pulsating walls reminiscent of the Ultra Deep Sea that lies beneath the island. Combatants have much more room to maneuver in this lower arena.[break][break]

Note that this gym focuses on NARRATIVE BATTLE RP, i.e. what creates the best story and/or emphasizes character development. Challenges are cooperative, not adversarial, and the leader will actively work with you to help you achieve your goals through RP. Creativity is rewarded. Lastly, what works best according to the logic of the pokemon video games may not always be the best strategy for this fight.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE

Dewford's current educational objective focuses on DYNAMAX, teaching trainers how to utilize their own pokemon's transformations as well as training them to more effectively defeat Dynamaxed pokemon. The maxim of this gym is, THE HARDER THEY FALL. [break][break]

This special objective is conducted exclusively through an Augmented Traditional Challenge. Ordinary challenges remain open, with the understanding that not every fight will involve Dynamax.

FORMAT: TRADITIONAL

TRADITIONAL CHALLENGES are standard pokemon battles, offered in two variations: 2v2 singles, and 2v2 doubles. There is also an augmented variant offered in 2v2 doubles format only. This gym does not currently offer a non-traditional challenge.[break][break]

[break]

Please select one of the following options in your sign-ups:[break][break]

[attr="class","ynospace"]

• 2v2, singles
• 2v2, doubles (most popular)
• 2v2, augmented doubles

[break][break]

NOTE: AUGMENTED TRADITIONAL CHALLENGES involve the use of DYNAMAX, granted by Tsubaki's Nihilego and its Ultra Burst. [break][break]

This works like a traditional battle, with the added option to Dynamax. It is fully expected that those who partake in this challenge will Dynamax their pokemon.[break][break]

Dewford does not possess a natural Power Spot. All Dynamax transformations are conducted through Tsubaki's Nihilego and its Ultra Burst. Because of the nature of this pokemon's Ultra Burst, those who undertake this challenge must provide their own Dyna Band.

RULES

The following moves are banned from use: destiny bond and perish song. This is standard for most if not all gyms, even for traditional formats.[break][break]

Those who abuse their pokemon, or who give the gym leader an in-character reason to doubt their suitability as a candidate for Champion, may have their offer rejected or rescinded.[break][break]

Finally, if the thread is waiting for a post from the gym challenger for one week or if the challenger's player falls into long stretches of inactivity, then the gym challenge will be at risk of sudden archival. Challengers may be given exceptions if the leader is notified OOC.

SIGN-UPS

APPLICATIONS

TO APPLY FOR A GYM BATTLE, please fill out the form below (or simply post with the necessary information). There is no queue limit or order, challenge away.[break][break]

[blockquote]
[b]character tag:[/b] @tag[break]
[b]format:[/b][break]
[b]pokemon:[/b]
[/blockquote][break][break]

QUEUE

• n/a
  

HALL OF FAME

• ---
  

[break][break]

The gym leader will challenge any one or two challengers at a time via random selection. Those with fewer than three badges at the time of their submission may gain higher priority. [break][break]Once you have been selected and notified by the gym leader, you may start the thread and tag Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki .

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Baki looks at the man dangerously. If fights in the underground of that gilded city had taught her anything, you always press the advantage. It's odd, even a year and twenty detached from that world, to see people treat battling as a sporting event involving manners and conduct, rather than something born of necessity, out of sheer ruthlessness, the urgent need for survival. [break][break]

He doesn't need to tell her to attack twice. [break][break]

"A'ight! [break][break]

"Kiga-- drown it in venom!!"[break][break]

The woman directs her toward the opposite foe, a psyduck. A look of scorn, and the royal drill pokemon smashes her foot into the earth, the needles on her hide bristling at once. Black venom shoots forth, a jet of corrosive acid that rushes like a wave of slude across the battlefield, staining the sand beneath their feet. [break][break]

Baki watches intently, waiting for that acid to connect and burn away before she dares celebrate the hit-- all business. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]She's ripped from the womb. The cold, in contrast to the warmth of the angel's black ichor, shocks her as it hits her all at once. She gasps, taking in a breath as if learning how to breathe all over again, mouth gaping wide and trying to remember that instinct buried deep... [break][break]

"C-c-c-c-cold..."[break][break]

The first thing she sees is a massive wall of white, a giant golem obscured by snow. She recognizes the chill. Nothing's ever hit her in quite the same way, with nearly as much intensity. Suddenly, pieces of the puzzle seem to fall in place all at once... [break][break]

That strange colored white steel construct, found in Granite Cave. [break][break]

The ice-made golem, from the bottom of the frozen volcano.[break][break]

Something's off.[break][break]

"... th-th-the iceb-b-b-berg... f-from Route 105?"[break][break]

Suddenly, her eyes dart to Navy's and she sees him as if for the first time. She doesn't question why he's dyed black, nor why he's holding her with a pained grimace, nor does she concern herself with the fate of her angels or anything else. [break][break]

Her mind focuses solely on what's important:[break][break]

He doesn't know. [break][break]

She's gotta warn him! [break][break]

"Navy! Be careful, I think Howard's a... a Rocket!"[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]The body of the Beast groans and cracks, shuddering with growing pains as it responds to the light above, the shimmering of stars. [break][break]

The woman dyed the color of the sea pulls him deeper into the toxic morass. [break][break]

He can hear the choir of the angels. Sirens on a distant shore calling him to join them, to live with them forever in forests of azure. To envelop him in beauty and pleasure, to smother him, til he becomes so lost in it he is liable to disappear. To be swallowed completely, teetering on the precipice above the howling abyss, scarcely out of reach of oblivion. The silence, the peace... what could be more maddening? [break][break]

Black hands grasp his face and pull his gaze toward her, where gold meets steel gray. [break][break]

This gaze-- knowing, pained-- pleads with him to save her, to rescue her from the chains of this mortal coil. She longs to join the angels. This incomplete form, this incomplete world, it shall never come close to the ideal that is to be near God, to live forever amid the choir and the danse under a sea of stars. [break][break]

But these are not the eyes he is familiar with. They are the eyes of something that is not used to seeing the world this way. Innocent, yet pained. As if it cannot bear something so incomplete. Whatever is behind that gaze is not the girl he remembers. It is the influence of the black ichor that surrounds them gazing through Tsubaki's vision at Navy now, the eyes of one of the angels.[break][break]


These words, they seem meant for him. All the same, they seem directed at something else.[break][break]

The midnight sea grows. Beyond the black, winter wails. And yet, here at its core, the angel protects him from the chaos outside. It is as a womb; protective, warm, inviting. He can stay however long he likes. [break][break]

Outside, the black of ideals is overtaken by the truth of white frost.[break][break]

Their world is rotten.[break][break]

It can be saved. It must. [break][break]

Shards of ice crack and fall away, as a gigantic tentacle filled with barbs sweeps at the similarly gigantic iceberg, attempting to swat it away. The sea is dyed black, hole ripped in the angel's chest seeping blood into its surroundings. It does not seem to notice. Instead, it focuses its animosity on this prodigal giant. Returned, though its blaring voice is dissonant with the song of the sea. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠