with the light being given off by other sources, priam decides to get the shiinotic back to its ball.

though he initially led the charge, priam decides to lag a bit to be in a position to assist wherever needed. success of the operation eclipses the spotlight in terms of priority.

he'd go for both whenever it's available, however.

"oh. i got this! i got this!"

it's a shame that bryan delarosa was farther ahead, but the opportunity to showcase the ultra beast rarely comes up. he takes the chance and runs up to the giant rillaboom and chucking the beast ball containing the pokeball.

the guzzlord appears from the pokeball. it was smaller than the ones that appeared directly from ultra space, but it was still decently larger than an average pokemon nonetheless. it takes the hit for priam as he yells out a command.

"belch!"

using its large mouth on its stomach, it scoops up dirt, soil, and marshy water from the ground before regurgitating it, alongside its stomach acids, straight at the rillaboom and those behind it.

"beat it up! beat it up!"



priam rallies the other rockets in a hopeful attempt to get them to dogpile the threat. he already provided the front line. all they need is the firepower, which should be enough given their numbers.

in the meantime, priam waits for the opportunity to sprint past the rillaboom.



tl;dr

• shiinotic in, guzzlord out
• guzzlord frontlines vs the rillaboom
• guzzlord uses belch at rillaboom and everything behind it
• priam tries to get others to dogpile the rillaboom

valentine besoras...

priam honestly doesn't know much about the name, nor the person behind it. after all, the window to provide for the organization's own research project was open to all, regardless of whether you're important or not.

still, he logs in the name on the list of people who had contributed to the cause.

in the same procedurally mindless grind as of late, the pokemon also receives the treatment as the rest of the steel-types sacrificed for project exodus. it goes down the furnace, as with the rest of them, and would be turned into nothing but alloys and liquid metal.

hoenn news blared from the television when bryan announces his return to the apartment. the voice was distinct enough that priam can pick it out form the noise of the television.

"bryan?"

priam turns from the couch to the door where he sees bryan. the espeon that had been laying on his lap was quickly tossed in the air in joy as priam drops from a sitting position to his back on the seat. "bryan d. is back!" he yells as he catches his espeon.

as he composes himself, he drops the espeon back to the floor, wherein it curls itself to a more comfortable position, before he goes back to sitting with his front facing the newly experimented rocket.

"honestly thought you went mia like everyone else, y'know?" he tells him in a humoring manner. "can't even leave a text message? i was about to be worried about you, just so you know!"

too many names had already been gone, though adding another one to the list still never felt easier for priam.

what's the difference between his gabite and them...?

the only obvious answer was that his gabite was revived through the help of the blue mulch while everyone that had attempted wasn't. it wouldn't coincide with the fact that his guzzlord didn't receive the same treatment despite being in the same boat, however. then again, the guzzlord hadn't been dead in the first place and was just a limb that regenerated its entire body as opposed to the other way around.

previous experiences with the tree also do not match the behavior. the ones near fallarbor and the one at littleroot had little to no resistance while the one near mt. pyre only had been indirectly causing a defensive mechanism instead of doing so aggressively.

"i, uh, don't know." priam crosses his arms as he thinks deeply into the question. "i'm qualified for an educated guess too, right? so, uh, i'm guessing it just developed a defense mechanism after the previous trees got picked on so much. maybe it doesn't even have any intent of its own and it's just territorial and defensive against anything that isn't its own, yeah?"

his answer sounds educated enough, he supposed.

"i just need time to think..."

there's a look of exasperation as priam locks his fingers together behind his neck with his arms draping down. he stares at the ground as he attempts to recall the rest of the words.

the shroomish drops on the ground at this point, but thankfully, it stays by priam's legs this time.

"rock, steel, ice or land... something, something, blah blah blah, needing it soon."

he already had part of it decrypted, but his own guesswork of its own meaning prevents himself from blurting it out from his surprisingly normal fear of death. anything that isn't related to 'set it free', he was willing to share though.

"i, uh, experienced voices in my head when i went to the regirock ruins with mister Cillian Quinn. maybe it's that?" he shares. "also fits the rock, steel and ice thing too! that means the regis, right?"

the trip to the ruins, and the recent appearance of regidrago, were constant reminders of them for priam.

"oh, is that where they're supposed to grow? i've been planting mine on a pot of soil! i'll see what i can do next time for my ferroseed!"

he'd probably bring home a bunch of rocks in their apartment and chuck the ferroseed there. he only has just learned how to fertilize soil for potted plants, but he can learn how to fertilize rocks too, maybe.

"wait, you just use your scyther as a lawnmower? you're missing out then!"

in the midst of their nerding out, priam has his phone ring. the subject of the email relates to the current project, whose contents manages to get priam to grimace upon reading it.

"ugh. looks like i have to go somewhere else."

he quickly stuffs a pizza in his mouth and takes another cup of coffee for the road. "crff yerr rurter!" he tells with a full mouth as he ditches the assistant in her lonesome once more.

the urshifu is quick to follow up as soon as the kangaskhan launches its attack. with the houndoom as its target, the fighting-type perceives it to be open since it already has acted.

the baby comes up and faces the urshifu itself, and tries to take on the move to protect its mother.

unfortunately, the unseen fist of the urshifu was manages to go through its defenses. a dynamic punch from the large ursine launches the smaller kangaskhan into the bigger one, knocking the rampaging normal-type out of its outrage.

"yeah! beat it up and clear this place up!"

the kangaskhan stands up, but finds itself outnumbered two against one and a half. as it weighs his options, priam turns to lulu with a question.

"there's gotta be something around that causes this phenomenon, right? we going to go take a look around after this?"

"hell yeah!"

he takes the shot of vodka out of oscar's hand and quickly takes his drink with bottoms up. any sense of regret only happens once the act has been done.

as soon as it settles in his stomach and the aftertaste of the alcohol lingers in his tongue, priam stands still. his face is as rigid as it can ever be as he endures internal pain to not appear weak in front of the rocket beast.

returning to the scene, he places the sunglasses over his face, the book by his lap, and then pushes a coffee table to be right next to the chair, where he'd place the glass. with his foot, he also spaces his feet apart to make it look more lax.

his eyes water, but not enough for a tear drop to flow over his cheek. he makes one quick swipe over his eyes with the back of his hand.

"hell yeah!" he repeats, ignoring the fact that he still doesn't like the taste of alcohol. "we splitting up?" he asks. "do you want the bedroom or the, uh, rest of the house?"

priam falls silent for a second.

as much as lulu wanted to differ away from it as soon as possible, priam remains fixated with the topic for a moment since it's one of the few times he can flex with the connections he has made.

"i can try to find out if it bothers you a lot," he brings up to lulu. "could cost a lot though! i doubt it's going to be worth it, but well," he shrugs and exhales, "i don't really know the value of these things."

it was just an offer though.