He sees the lie in her expression before it leaves her lips; she's not fine. There's a tired vacancy that comes only with trauma, a vacancy he recognizes but does not know how to reconcile. See, Rocket had never taught him how to cope. They had taught him to adapt, or die.

He is softer, with her, but only by degrees.

There is a lesson to be learned, here, one he'd attempted to teach on a bloodied Slateport street. Don't make him ask twice.

So though he doubts her, he doesn't challenge.

"It's a rare thing for the boss to summon all of us. Such things are of great importance." The gravity in his tone suggests he believes the words; it went beyond the fact that he'd been given an irreplaceable gift with each meeting. "Prove yourself, and perhaps you'll be the one he takes notice of, next."

He doesn't comment when she calls out his title, but his lip quirks.

"Lugia is no monster."

There's a warning in his tone, a spark. It has chosen him to be its partner, and Gavin sees it as his liberation.

"I am its Avatar. Do you know what that means?"

A fluid motion with his wrist, and miasma swirls from the tips of his fingers to the points of Sandslash's jagged spines. The feral creature snarls as it breathes in sickening fog, claws at the ground with bloodthirsty intent.

"Battle me," he commands. "Give me everything you've got."

Sandslash tenses; the moment Plank sends out a Pokémon, it lunges with pure FRUSTRATION.

---

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon sandslash-alola"]
Sandslash uses Frustration.
Shadow Miasma ups speed and evasion.
Gavin's shadow Pokemon have increased strength.

She is taken aback, but obeys. Good.

Sandslash lunges with feral fury, but the Golisopod makes a strong first impression before it can vent its frustrations in full. Sent sprawling, it catches itself on the ice with curved metal claws and rights itself, growling.

A fierce, bitter wind blows through the cavern, and hail begins to pelt at exposed skin.

"I asked you a question."

---

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon sandslash-alola"]
Sandslash is hit by First Impression. NVE.
Sandslash uses Hail. [1/5]

Her muttered comment suggests insufficient command over the hulking beast; the same one from their mission, he'd wager. Gavin's eyes narrow.

"If its first instinct is not deference, you're doing something wrong." Though Sandslash attacked with unbridled fury, it did so because Gavin had ordered it to. His commands are simple, subtle, silent, a turn of the wrist and a movement of fingers. "Who is in command: you, or your Pokémon?"

A sharp whistle echoes through the cave and draws the eye of his charge; Gavin gestures again.

Though it looks as though it would rather lunge for the throat, Sandslash hunkers down and allows the larger beast to charge straight for it. When it throws its uppercut toward the shrew, there's a violent clash of claw and steel. Sandslash holds Golisopod at bay with its claws, protecting itself from the danger.

"Lugia has spoken to me. Chosen me. I am its vessel, and you will respect it."

---

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon sandslash-alola"]
Sandslash uses Protect against Rock Smash.
Hail continues to fall. [2/5]

"And if you need to hold back?"

Gavin is relentless; though Golisopod sported a strong first impression and a great deal of strength, that could be to their detriment in a sensitive operation.

"You should always be in control."

This time, Gavin allows the attack to connect. Sandslash is thrown back by the impact of the wave and spits as it slams into the cavern wall. As soon as it is back on its feet, the beady eyes of the Pokémon have flashed to Gavin for instruction.

A haunted, howling gale rips through the passage bearing a blizzard in its wake.

Meanwhile, as ice and snow ravage the battlefield, Gavin has turned his full attention to Plank. Her attitude sours him; had he behaved with such indifference toward those who'd trained him, they'd have put him in the infirmary.

"It frightens you?" He tilts his head, slow.

A burst of shadow heralds the legend's emergence, its broad purple-black wings casting darkness. There is less frenzy in the depths of its deep red gaze, but malevolence remains — radiates through a space it fills almost entirely. It cranes its neck to look down at them, sharp teeth outlined in its parted jaws. Though its presence alone exerts a great deal of pressure, Gavin is not afraid.

He has been taught how to be afraid.

"Perhaps you should show respect to the things that scare you, girl."

---

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon sandslash-alola"]
Sandslash is hit by Liquidation. NVE.
Hail continues to fall. [3/5]
Sandslash uses Blizzard. It's accuracy is boosted by the hail.
Sandslash's shadow abilities take effect.
Lugia is exerting its Pressure.

For all the posturing, it is Lugia's mercy that sees Plank unharmed. Had the legend thought to lash out, to teach her a lesson, Gavin would not have stopped it.

It looms over their battlefield, blizzard raging around it, and seems to thrive as snow transitions to falling rain. Lugia's presence seems to dampen Sandslash's feral aggression to something more controlled; its frenzied snarls are reduced to a grumble as its comfort zone rescinds.

Gavin whistles, turns his wrist.

Sandslash sets up a safeguard that shimmers in the air, glaring up at the Pelipper whose wings gave it an aerial advantage.

"Lugia is your ally, not your enemy."

Yet he knows her fear from the chills Darkrai had once sent up his spine.

"The rain is good," Gavin remarks. "But how will you capitalize on it?"

---

[attr="class","pokesprite pokemon sandslash-alola"]
The hail has stopped.
Sandslash uses Safeguard. [1/5]
Lugia is exerting its Pressure.