Any trepidation he felt toward the order is quashed in favour of obedience.

"Understood."

He clicks his tongue twice, signals to his Pokemon.

Lucario uses its COPYCAT to mimic the HEAT WAVE, air shimmering with the intensity of the twin attacks. So, too, does the TAILWIND strengthen — Gavin's partners have been trained to compliment Theo's own.

Suffocating heat fills his lungs, but not once does he complain.

[attr="class","beck"]thunder cracks above them, calling for his attention. his head tilts up and sees dark clouds gathering overhead, and from them, rain starts to pour.

droplets of water sizzle as they pass through the HEAT WAVE, but the RAIN DANCE will soon take its full effect. fuck. they've countered. they've forced them into an unfavorable fight.

before he has a chance to react, a strike of THUNDER comes crashing down into the ground next to him. the impact's similar to a small explosion — he's sent flying back, body crashing into a nearby car. the back of his head cracks the window and his vision blurs.

the SUNNY DAY comes far too late.

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

"Beckett!"

Alarm surges through him as he watches the admin get thrown back by the force of the thunder; his Lucario had managed to DETECT the danger and shove him out of the way in time to avoid being met with a similar fate.

Cursing under his breath, Gavin whistles and signals for Crobat to defend as he rushes to the admin's side. With the fading effects of the RAIN, a HURRICANE rattles violently against the building and shatters glass.

Three clicks of his tongue and a HEAL PULSE targets Theo.

Gavin offers him a hand, urgency in his eyes.

[attr="class","beck"]the HEAL PULSE does what it can to numb the pain. he breathes and takes the offered hand, pulling to drag himself up to his feet. he leans against the car which soon proves to be a mistake.

THUNDER cracks down again, striking the car.

the SUNNY DAY does what it can to combat the ongoing RAIN DANCE but it seems to be a lost battle.

his pokemon scramble, fire-types unable to do much except continue their HEAT WAVES. nidoking and dragonite stay close, ready to defend against any threats that approach.

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

Gavin yelps and stumbles back as another bolt of THUNDER hits the car.

It's too dangerous out in the open with the storm raging overhead, but what else are they to do? The Pokemon Center is their objective and to abandon a mission means to meet a far worse fate than the lightning.

"We need to find what's causing the rain."

But Theo's hurt, bound to be unsteady after cracking his skull against the car.

"I'll scout."

His heart pounds as he makes a run for the Pokemon Center. There are enough footholds along the wall that if he can just climb up to the top, he thinks he'll be safe. They won't want to risk striking their allies inside the building. Crobat moves with him, its TAILWIND stirring up a breeze to protect him from the heat as he climbs.

Lucario, at Gavin's signal, remains behind with Theo.

It COPYCATS the SUNNY DAY to strengthen its hold against the rain.

[attr="class","beck"]staggered and dazed, he pushes off the ground, slowly rising to his feet. SUNNY DAY grants them a brief lull but more importantly, it gives him a moment to recover. he feels blood trickle down his neck as he nods.

"go."

with a click, crobat flutters overhead and acts as a shield against the heavens. he watches merlino's figure disappear out of his sight and for moments, he considers following.

he takes an involuntary step forward only to hear THUNDER crack. it jolts straight for the crobat and causes it to seize up. it remains airborne only by sheer will.

someone out there's smart enough to target him. the question is: who? and where are they?

his eyes scan, peering through the rain.

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

Nerves and sweltering heat see his palms sweating as he struggles to find handholds along the side of the building. A shard of glass punctures his hand as he grips the edge of the roof, likely blown there by the earlier hurricane. Blood runs hot against his palm, dripping from his fingers, but he doesn't feel pain beyond adrenaline.

Cradling the hand against his side to staunch the flow of blood, he catches his breath.

From this new vantage point, it's not hard to spot the culprit — a Gyarados curls around a broken fountain, its trainer giving command from cover nearby. An officer, Gavin assumes, aware that Theo is the one in command.

Another bolt of THUNDER aims for the admin.

Whistle. Sharp, urgent, calling to his Lucario and drawing the attention of the officer. A click sees his Pokemon DETECT the incoming bolt and takes the hit for Theo, collapsing forward as its limbs seize with an electric shock.

Two clicks, and Gavin points to the Gyarados. This time, THUNDER targets the curled serpent. Lucario's COPYCAT takes equal advantage of the returning rain.

Target, Gavin signs, and indicates the officer's location.

He's forced to duck behind a twisted chunk of the metal roof as a dragon pulse fires at him, pinning him down.

[attr="class","beck"]the DETECT saves him the trouble of having to deal with the THUNDER. he glances up, sees the sign, then immediately clicks in response.

dragonite pushes off the ground, takes to the air and soars towards the broken fountain. its own DRAGON PULSE fires through the air — the attack creates a pocket in the air for dragonite to slip through and utilize. THUNDER cracks again, this time striking the dragonite, but electricity courses through and channels around its fist.

it follows the DRAGON PULSE all the way and throws a THUNDER PUNCH across the gyarados' large face.

his eyes flick up to merlino.

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

While pinned behind twisted steel, Gavin digs the shard of glass from his thumb. His hands shake from the adrenline and he cuts his fingers with the effort, but he flicks it free in time to hear the Gyarados' roar of agony.

Peering out from behind his cover, he meets Theo's gaze and nods.

Whistle. He clicks twice, points.

Following his signal, Lucario and Crobat target not the Gyarados, but its trainer.

ROCK SLIDE sees the building which the officer hides behind crack underneath an unseen pressure, chunks of brick and twisted metal cascading from above. He's struck in the shoulder by debris and goes down, leaving him open for Crobat to swoop in with its CROSS POISON. It latches on to confirm the kill with VENOSHOCK.

Whistle, this time for Theo.

Target down.

[attr="class","beck"]advance.

the RAIN DANCE lingers for moments but SUNNY DAY soon overpowered. dark clouds disperse, fading into nothing but white wisps against a canvas of grey. despite the intensity of the sun, the sky looks bleak.

with nothing left to counter, the HEAT WAVE intensifies as they make their approach.

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

We go through the front.

Orders were orders. When Theo gives the command to advance, Gavin doesn't hesitate to abandon the safety of the roof. He jumps down, lands a little skewed, recovers before taking a defensive position in front.

He clicks his tongue, and the HEAT WAVE becomes nigh unbearable with Lucario's assistance. A HURRICANE urges the searing wind forward, forcing the officers to retreat further into the building to escape its wrath.

They advance.

Some of the officer's Pokemon remain: an Alakazam's TELEKINESIS looks to slam Theo into the wall, and Gavin finds himself fighting off a Gengar's HYPNOSIS. He staggers as the psychic sleep threatens to overwhelm him, tearing his gaze away from the grinning ghost. He's snapped out of it when he's SUCKER PUNCHED in the gut, doubling over as his Pokemon come to his aid.

They'll need to capture some of the staff alive — the thought stays his urge to call for another rock slide, instead signalling Lucario to HYPNOTIZE the Gengar.

[attr="class","beck"]dragonite blurs into its EXTREME SPEED and shifts across the vicinity in an instant, cutting off the alakazam's attempted TELEKINESIS just in time. the psychic-type releases its hold and theo drops to the ground, landing safely on his feet before his eyes dart over to merlino just in time to see the SUCKER PUNCH connect.

he curls his tongue but the click never sounds. his attention's dragged away by movement in the air and it's only out of pure instinct that he clicks a command in time. his own charizard flies overhead in time to meet the pidgeot in a head-on collision — FIRE PUNCH scorches against fearow's many DRILL PECKS, holding strong even as blood pours from charizard's flaming fist. it roars, then bellows a FLAMETHROWER to send the fearow flying back.

"merli–"

he's cut off again by the sound of earth cracking. he looks back, sees dragonite pinned on the ground under a sturdy-looking rhyperior, and streams of HYDRO PUMPS blast against his fire-types right as he curls his tongue.

shit.

[attr="class","noodles"]Cillian Quinn

Attention snaps to Theo as his name is called, but there's little to be done against the barrage of pressurized water that pins them down. The sound of battle is deafening but that worries Gavin little thanks to their training; he focuses instead on the way Theo's team struggles against the enemy's force, the Dragonite pinned to the ground.

Lucario follows his gaze, acts on instinct. It COPYCATS the HYDRO PUMP, bending one of the streams to turn it against the Rhyperior. Crobat's HAZE begins to fill the room as the bat swoops toward the back on silent wings.

Instinct begs him to follow, but conditioning keeps him in place.

He looks to Theo.