“Tell you what; if I lap you a couple of times, then I can make a breeze for you. How’s that sound?” [break][break]

Something tells Angelo that the teenager would find his joke none too amusing but he says it anyway, sly grin creeping onto his lips and fully expecting the backlash from Andy’s famously barbed tongue. [break][break]

Angelo was no stranger to aerial competitions, having participated in a few in this tournament alone already, yet what was the harm of one more? And another? And another? Especially since this one promised a fresh concept and an equally entertaining opponent. [break][break]

Atop the hill, Angelo climbs onto the back of Alfa, his first Dragapult chosen for the starting leg of the relay race. Other members of his Dragapult Squadron were waiting in the wings, no doubt itching to feel the breeze rushing over their stealth jet craniums. Blue eyes settle eagerly on the scenery, a flag fluttering some distance away amongst a nestle of buildings. [break][break]

“Ready, Kiddo?” Angelo asks, pulling his goggles over his eyes as he grips hold of Alfa tight. [break][break]

A gunshot pops into the air, splintering against eardrums and startling onlookers. [break][break]

But it’s nothing compared to the combined, competitive roar of the Dragapult and its trainers enthusiastic bark as they launch themselves into the sky without a breath of hesitation. [break][break]

“Let’s go!” [break][break]

The race was on.


[break][break]

+ Andy Blackadder [break][break]

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Bravo, Charlie, Delta… So on and so forth, Angelo’s Dragapult Squadron wait in alphabetical order along the relay race track; tiny, wispy spectres in the distance hovering like homing beacons. [break][break]

Beneath him, Alfa soars, body streamlined flat as he slices swiftly through the skies towards where the first set of flags lay hidden within crates. Leaning forward, goggles keeping his eyes sharp, Angelo pats the side of the dragon’s neck. “There. Lock-on, we’ve got this.” He commands, earning a grumble of affirmation. [break][break]

Eyes glittering with LOCK-ON, before they even come within range of the crate, the THUNDERBOLT that Alfa sends from his ejector ports crackles straight towards their target; obliterating it in advance. Angelo snatches the red flag out of the air as they soar past. [break][break]

“So when exactly were you planning on leaving me in the dust?” He calls on a grin, in reference to Andy’s earlier confident statement.[break][break]

As if he’d done it a million times – or if he really was just that reckless – Angelo brings his legs up onto Alfa’s back like he’s about to go on a pleasant Mantine Surf ride as they approach the swap point. Then leaps. [break][break]

Bravo swoops in to catch his trainer, Angelo landing comfortably and gripping securely onto his second Dragapult. Whether it was a good jump on Angelo’s part or that Bravo just has good reaction speed is left up in the air. [break][break]

Off in the distance, two brightly coloured flags flap with a beckoning wave in the breeze, attached on buoys upon the Slateport ocean.



[break][break]

+ Andy Blackadder [break][break]

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Angelo opens his mouth to laugh, finding the sight of the teenager as he hops aboard the small Shedinja too funny to not poke some fun at Andy’s expense. Karma bites him in the ass however, when he promptly gets a mouthful of grit in the process, thanks to a well-timed sand attack. [break][break]

“Fu- Ugh! Andy!” Coughing, expression pinched in distaste and annoyance, Angelo attempts to shout after the teenager only for his words to scrape in his throat. He spits the grains out of his mouth as best he could but he knew (unfortunately) from experience that the sand would be lodged in his mouth for some time… [break][break]

“Alright brat, eat this.” There’s no malice in his threat, not even when Bravo launches DRAGON DARTS seemingly in Andy’s direction, two tiny Dreepy shooting out at mach speeds and energetic chirps. One lands on the Galarian’s head, crawling over his face with obnoxious squeaks, while the other skims along the water surface to snatch the flag for Angelo.[break][break]

Bravo shoots forward to meet the Dreepy, Angelo picking up the little one and its prize as they pass before waving his red flag in Andy’s direction – behind him – with a mock salute.



[break][break]

+ Andy Blackadder [break][break]

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A laugh rips from Angelo’s throat, loud and joyous and not at all insulted by the middle finger thrown his way. He kind of deserved it.
[break][break]

The Dreepy that Andy had thrown squeaks in excitement, skyler dross would know well that this was their favourite game. With an excited wiggle and eyes sparkling as if the teenager had invited it to play, it makes to arc back towards Andy for another throwing but a whistle from Angelo calls it back. It’ll have to annoy the captain in the morning, instead.
[break][break]

A changeover later and a new Dragapult beneath him, he guides Charlie towards the maze of flags; keeping low to her spectral body as she plummets down between a hill flanked stream. QUICK ATTACK pulling sharp winds against his skin as they twist and turn towards the red flag.
[break][break]

“How’re you doing back there, kid?” He yells out over the rush in his ears, all taunting grins and concern only in jest. Andy, he’d quickly learned in the Adventour caverns, was a tough little shit.
[break][break]

Couldn’t take a pokeball to the face, though.




[break][break]

+ Andy Blackadder [break][break]

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One change over later and another Dragapult boarded, Angelo sets his sights on the next flag. They were over halfway now and as if the coordinators had figured this was the time for racers to start getting tired, something different was added to the obstacle agenda… [break][break]

Up ahead, high in the sky, Pidgey soar. A whole flock of them. And on two of the little tiny birds, flags are attached to their ankles like they were carrier birds of old, fluttering this way and that. Only they didn’t have a delivery destination in mind, Andy and Angelo would have to catch them. [break][break]

“Word of advice. Try not to fly directly underneath them,” he ‘helpfully’ tells Andy, with a smirk that is, ironically, shit-eating in the way teeth flash sharp. [break][break]

With a commanding nudge, Angelo guides Delta to ascend towards the flock and as they sneak closer a portal splits in the sky; rider and Dragapult disappearing within the void of PHANTOM FORCE. [break][break]

They reappear above where a flash of red and brown feathers flutter, Angelo’s hand snatching out of the splat of ink first…





[break][break]

+ Andy Blackadder [break][break]

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