Sore from the blast, Xander's struggling to get to his feet as the Regidrago begins to charge its attack. All three of his Pokemon rush to his aid. They form a protective semi-circle around his battered body.

Xander winces, "Run..." better him to die than them. But they refuse to leave their trainer to die alone. "You guys can't be serious." he groans. Energy from the exposed gemstones nearby causes the pendant around Xander's neck to glow faintly.

Zygrade strikes from around the corner with its Glare halting Regidrago's progress. Xander's heart races, and suddenly, Lucario begins to glow.

A forced Mega Evolution triggered.

Xander doesn't take the time to process the change. Finally standing, he takes off away from the legend and towards the meteorite fragments.

Lucario, empowered by its sudden transformation, keeps the Regi busy. Charging to attack with a Meteor Mash while it's still unable to move.

---

TLDR:

Xander's Lucario Mega Evolves unexpectedly.

It uses Meteor Mash on Regidrago.

Xander runs to grab Meteorite fragments.

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]darkness quite literally bleeds into the entire house. it catches her off guard, blind, and grasping at straws. her hands reach out in front of her, feebly grabbing at whatever lies ahead. it's merely rubble and dirt, nothing to guide her and nothing to help. fuck.

"well this sucks," she mumbles under her breath. after another moment of struggling, she finally sighs and gives in to calling another pokemon out. galarian ponyta joins her side in a flash of light, illuminating enough for her to see the silhouette of what she believes to be FERNANDO SILPH. she's quick to reach for him, quick to attempt to pull him out of the darkness.

"here," she murmurs, voice low. "dazzling gleam, please. keep it up as long as you can." the pastel pony practically radiates light within moments, causing illeana to glance down. it's blinding against the darkness, almost difficult to bear but she manages well enough. all that matters is getting out. she doesn't notice if he keeps up, doesn't stop to wonder.

instead, she pushes on and past. out of the dark and into the gloom. it makes her a target, easily. too much light comes with a heavy price, one of hyper beams and damage.

she barely manages to duck out of the house before a claydol fires. the hyper beam clips her arm as she moves and she's yelping as she stumbles out and toward the rest of the group. enough to sting, enough to bleed, enough to warrant a psychic terrain. she's blindly navigating by this point, merely hoping to find Xander Belmont or FERNANDO SILPH or frankly anyone. help?

excursion.

tl;dr:

- darkness falls

- plays into Katherine Fairburne's plans by tryna grab fake!fern's hand, doesn't notice if she leaves him behind

- releases galarian ponyta, keeps toxapex close for safety

- trying to escape the dark by lighting a path out with dazzling gleam

- gets clipped by hyper beam. doesn't attack yet, needs to get situated first?

- we're just tryna regroup man

Adrenaline pumps through him and waves. The pain from his broken arm and fractured ribs are tossed from his mind. Running beside him, his Greninja offers support.

Shattered, Xander finds the fragments of the meteor being protected by the Regi. He's not sure how many of these he's supposed to grab and opts for only one. The others are free to risk their lives for the rest if they want.

A single fragment in hand - he sprints towards the village. A flash of light releases his Dragpault from a Poke Ball, and it pushes him onto its back. They'll move far faster this way.

It's a good thing too. FERNANDO SILPH's Tapu rocks the area with an immense storm. Which Gloomtail pushes past and ends up in the path of illeana reyes.

-

Mega Lucario grimaces against the pain of the Dragon Pulse. It's pushed back and skids across the ground. Able to stay rooted despite the fierce winds. Lucario launches a counterattack to keep the Regi distracted and focused on it. Copycat triggers and from cupped hands Lucario blasts a Dragon Pulse back at Regidrago.

---

TLDR:

Xander takes a single Meteorite Fragment.

Gloomtail is released and Xander rides it to make a quick getaway. Running into illeana reyes along the way.

Mega Lucario [1/3] takes the Dragon Pulse but uses Copycat to launch his own Dragon Pulse at Regidrago.

[attr="class","illie"]

[attr="class","illie b"]

[attr="class","illie i"]coldness doesn't dwell on her until it's too late, until the jig is up and she has no one to blame but her own naivety. night daze sends her reeling, body stinging with the acute sensation of pain. her pokemon stumble, struggle to catch their footing, and she's realizing too quickly that the target on their backs is growing by the second.

mild relief comes in the form of Xander Belmont , rushing into her line of sight. a slight blue glow captures her attention and she's sighing. a meteorite has been snagged. thank god... there's more left to obtain and that thought keeps her pushing through despite the attack from Katherine Fairburne .

another hyper beam fires, rumbling through the area and looking to stop her in her tracks. she's slower now, a little more battered than moments ago. night daze left her struggling but she's quick to decide on the next course of action. two claydols begin to move in and she's releasing another pokemon to assist. the metallic sound of gears fills her ears as her klink joins in.

"keep them busy," she murmurs. "hyper beam, venoshock." and off she goes, leaving her toxapex and klink to handle the two drawn in claydols. she knows they'll hold their own while she's gone...

the distraction provides enough cover for her to escape, to drift closer to regidrago and the meteorites. the beast is kept busy with other pokemon, thankfully, and she's scanning for an opening. battle ensues around the entire area and really, the safest option comes naturally. the galarian ponyta at her side is perfect for the job too.

"psychic," she whispers, never taking her eyes off the regidrago. "lift one of the meteorites over here, please." a faint purple glow radiates from the pastel pony and illeana observes as that same purple glow begins to take over the body of a meteorite. it rises softly, unnoticed, and slowly starts to drift away from the rubble.

closer, closer. come on...

excursion.

tl;dr:

- attacked by night daze, totally strugglin' it's fine

- breathes a literal sigh of relief to see Xander Belmont

- trying to avoid all these damn claydols wtf

- calls out klink to tag team two claydols with toxapex, using hyper beam and venoshock respectively

- using the distraction to get closer to the shards with galarian ponyta

- we're tryna psychic one of the biddies out yeet

Gloomtail doesn't stop to see if illeana reyes needs any help. It's selfish of him, but the dragon's more concerned with the safety of its trainer than hers. As they round a nearby corner into the village, Xander spots a familiar face.

That of Professor Creighton's unconscious body guarded by a still active Claydol. "Shit." he taps at the Dragpault's back and points, "There, we have to save the Professor." it's a struggle to speak. Even harder to breathe now that he notices it.

Dragon Darts are fired like missiles from the sides of Gloomtail's head. They slammed into the Claydol with an explosion. Phantom Force teleports Gloomtail behind the golem. Xander reaches for the Professor's body with his good arm. With Greninja and Lunartis aids, they managed to push him onto Gloomtail's back.

Mega Lucario Copycat's the Scale Shot to fire off into the Regidragon. Focusing it on even as it attacks the newly arrived cloaked figure.

-

Mega Lucario grimaces against the pain of the Dragon Pulse. It's pushed back and skids across the ground. Able to stay rooted despite the fierce winds. Lucario launches a counterattack to keep the Regi distracted and focused on it. Copycat triggers and from cupped hands Lucario blasts a Dragon Pulse back at Regidrago.

---

TLDR:

Xander spots Creighton, goes in for the rescue and takes out another Claydol.

Mega Lucario [2/3] uses Copycat on Scale Shot to attack Regidrago. Ignores everything else happening around it.