[attr="class","icon"]

noah flexes his bicep. pats it like a proud baker admiring a new mound of fresh dough. [break][break]

"easy as appletun pie, dude." the gym leader says. [break][break]

slowly, noah's finger pushes the button on his ultra ball. from it, a scarf of spectral energy unfurls into a haunter's shape. its claws rise like blood moons.[break][break]

"i've got just the guy to watch our backs." [break][break]

the gym leader takes a few steps forward before peering back.

"ready?"

[attr="class","bottom"]kyle lopez[break]
B7n4wd9Y[break]
[break]
az excursion d - dark

[attr="class","icon"]

noah laughs as he arrives, tickled by the fanfare of the minor gym leader's introductions. her performance reminds him of an old career. of a simpler time. one made fogbound by rocket's breath.[break][break]

"you're getting into this, andrea!" the gym leader ascends onto his podium. all grins, he tosses his two pokeballs against the cage.

the metal fencing rattles as a HITMONCHAN and CHESNAUGHT manifest from cardinal light.[break][break]

"glad to finally meet you face to face." noah rolls his shoulders, stretches his quads. "alright! just show me you and your pokemon are capable of handling close quarters combat. you can do that right?"[break][break]

he expects much from the minor gym leader.[break][break]

the bell rings.[break][break]

his HITMONCHAN rushes toward the dragon-hooded girls' pokemon, while his CHESNAUGHT fires suppressive PIN MISSILES overhead.

[attr="class","bottom"]Andrea Vaneau[break]
tl;dr - hitmonchan rushes forth / chesnaught uses PIN MISSILE[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

the blows barrel into noah with little pause. sluggish limbs swing back—but knuckles bruise and crater his form. as pain erupts and consumes him like flame, the gym leader topples to the ground.[break][break]

noah can barely open his eyes. gasps are strained through clenched teeth, and his sweaty chest heaves to carry a burden he does not know.[break][break]

"who... did i steal? you're speaking fucking nonsense..." the gym leader asks. he struggles to lift himself from the canvas as the world continues to spin. as his vision whirls, he attempts to connect the dots: "kyle?"[break][break]

his GRAPPLOCT lays unconscious nearby. tentacles sprawled and loose.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH[break]
tl;dr - grapploct faints![break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

"what else can you show when your back's up against the cage!"[break][break]

noah assays noel's patience. his cool and calm. like testing punches, the gym leader's taunting comes in and out like bouncing springs.[break][break]

his CRABOMINABLE sputters steam. as the SHAYMIN emerges, the crustacean marches toward the SHAYMIN with little fear. though it is a bulky creature, its toothpick legs tap dance across canvas and surviving ice.[break][break]

but an EARTH POWER is difficult to detect. the fissure gasps and the terran javelin pierces the crab's abdomen to launch it away. the CRABOMINABLE'S UNCONSCIOUS BODY strikes the cage fencing—and before it can hit the floor, it is recalled.[break][break]

in return, noah's HARIYAMA is summoned. it raises its continental palms as a boxer would.[break][break]

"one versus one. just how i like it, man!" noah says. "how are ya feeling? right here, right now?"

[attr="class","bottom"]Noel Parker[break]
TL;DR: crabominable faints / hariyama summoned / noah asks question[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

"glad i could be of help!" noah stretches his quads, and the warm-up is quick to roll into a jog-in-place.[break][break]

his sneakers thud dull against the obsidian expanse of the city. the darkness is overwhelming here. suffocating even. so, when robin's TOXTRICITY emits its bright light, noah's heart fills with quiet gratitude.[break][break]

as robin marches forward, the wall spits further crumbs. it lurches and before it can fall onto robin or near her, noah's URSHIFU is quick to manifest.[break][break]

the bear grunts as it holds the wall up.[break][break]

"we gotta survive first before you can even think about challenging me." the gym leader laughs after catching up.[break][break]

a fragile fragment of the solitary rampart gives up. it falls with a loud kram![break][break]

in the vicinity, frenzied hisses begin to rise in a haunting, sinuous chorus.[break][break]

"shit."

[attr="class","bottom"]robin coello[break]
tl;dr TY FOR YOUR PATIENCE[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

[newclass=.omgen b]color:#d172c6;[/newclass]

"you got it, man!" [break][break]

more DRAPION pins strike the obverse side of the jostling log. where aaron's head would've been if the trunk had been rotated once.[break][break]

as aaron's pikachu slips out of its confines, noah's machamp holds the log up like a flagbearer. slit! one quick swish of a pocket knife—and aaron is freed right into noah's arms.[break][break]

the trunk is thrown—and a chorus of cries erupts from the splintering clothesline.[break][break]

"whoa! you're a bit heavier than i thought." noah says. "been working out?"

[attr="class","bottom"]aaron faust[break]
ykPpnAKX[break]
[break]
excursion e - rescue

[attr="class","icon"]

for the tiniest epoch, the brain may register noah's crumpled, twisted body as devoid of all life. grass and dirt-stained skin. torn streaks across clothes. no word, no sound from an unseen face.[break][break]

"fuuuuuuuck, are you for real, man."[break][break]

his hitmontop spins toward the gym leader. with a focused cry, the hitmontop unties knots for limbs and helps him back to his feet.[break][break]

a smear of grime marks noah's cheek.[break][break]

"snapped out of it yet, vct champ?" noah stares at the looming raging bolt. the shadow of its cloud-like muffler stretches across them.[break][break]

like a dreidel, the hitmontop spins after cian's raboot. it traces frantic circles around the dragon's feet in a gamble to confuse it.[break][break]

"don't freeze on me, man!"

[attr="class","bottom"]CIAN MAHER[break]
UH|RqXWx[break]
[break]
excursion c - monster hunter

[attr="class","icon"]

noah stands too, careful not to efface the lam's pidove with his sneakers. the fighting-type specialist sports a bright determination. a big, knowing smile. face serious, yet glowing.[break][break]

"how about artichoke begins firing arrows, twang twang twang," noah flutters his fingertips as if loosing a bowstring, "and i soar down like a battle royale game on with my decidueye."[break][break]

his bird, staid yet autumnally clad, clacks its beak.[break][break]

"then i start doing my thing. pow, pow, pow," noah says, "and then you swoop down, ksshaw! hoo hoo—that's artichoke by the way—hoo hoo—and then we take turns giving each other cover."[break][break]

the scene is painted by figurative foresight.[break][break]

and though there a real stakes at hand, noah cloaks the sharper points of his adrenaline with his imagination as a cry bellows in the distance:[break][break]

[player]https://file.garden/ZXZrnWMYuz15frfJ/HOENN%20MUSIC/MYSTERIOUSCRY1.mp3[/player]

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]
HD3PA8Jp[break]
[break]
excursion b - research station

[attr="class","icon"]

tentacles clash with purple flashes of light. protective psychic energy carves itself into the air like dancing scarves. each deflection buzzes from impact. [break][break]

yellow eye-mask markings scrunch up like a howling sponge. a SUBMISSION is attempted. tentacles begin to surge around the poliwrath and its psychic barricade as a geyser of hot air expels from the breathing hole on the side of its head.[break][break]

"you're just getting yourself into hot water again." noah's words punctuate his punches. slick muscle captures the overbearing lights above. "are you gonna finally learn your lesson or—"[break][break]

the headbutt lands.[break][break]

and noah's trained body, so accustomed to the rules and regulation of his ring, falters and sways. he staggers backward. like awkward anchors, he raises heavy arms that plead for him to let them plunge.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH[break]
tl;dr - grapploct attempts to submission again; noah headbutted and woozy[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

kyle's right. any advice noah had would pale to the experience the champion cultivated from the battlefield. in the quiet of war's prelude, noah thumbs his insecurities. dulls the silver shine of his merits. he does not recognize how he knits this plastic cat's cradle in kyle's shadow.[break][break]

"you're right." noah leans his head into kyle's. his voice is hushed and darkens by by the second. "so, we're going in guns blazing? or like, quiet like zorua?"

[attr="class","bottom"]kyle lopez[break]
TAMbw8hp[break]
[break]
az excursion d - dark

[attr="class","icon"]

noah's flung. he skids across the canvas upon landing, feet desperate to gain traction as the psychic energy runs off his sweaty skin.[break][break]

the GRAPPLOCT slithers toward the prone POLIWRATH. several tentacles rise and arc toward the burly amphibian, their ends balling into boulders for a SUPERPOWER.[break][break]

the gym leader catches his breath. his chest heaves, strained by the eroded stamina after the attempted pin.[break][break]

"you want this fire?" noah says. "i'll give it to you then."[break][break]

incensed, noah bolts for matias. his choreography loses lissomeness—but such footwork is exchanged for aggression. from a tight boxer's posture, punches arc out from noah's tough, tank-like frame.[break][break]

he feels like he's fighting for something important. something more important than this gym match. his pride? reputation as a fighter? his worth and skill as a gym leader or ordinary human? noah does not know and checks 'all of the above'.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH[break]
tl;dr - grapploct moves toward poliwrath and attempts SUPERPOWER; noah tries to punch punch punch[break][break]