"We're gonna die,
It's just a matter of time...
Hard times come,
Good times go"

It was just a week ago he heard his younger brother, August Gallagher , belt out to that one song. Felix couldn't remember the name of it, or the band for that matter, but he could fondly picture the wide smile it brought to his sibling's face. Maybe I should buy him some tickets, he had thought to himself then. It's cruel to think how drastically different things were now.

Through puffs of heavy breathing, the man steadied himself by anchoring his arm on top of the gardevoir's shoulder. Dots of color now made up his vision, pulsing and shrinking with each inch of movement he made. It was growing and harder to see, to breathe, to stand, but as always, Felix refused to acknowledge any of this.

He had to. For August Gallagher .

A wave of heat kissed the left side of his face, as the two bodies of flame slammed against one another, forcing their warmth across the field. But Charizard wasn't one to give in. With adrenaline coursing through his draconic veins, the beast pushed out another burst of INFERNO. The scorching breath pushed through the ends of his last move, attempting to overwhelm his target through sheer force alone.

On the other side of the field, Gardevoir, who was unable to now utilize healing, was left with one other option. Attack. Pink orbs consumed her eyes as the image of a glimmering moon rose from behind them. Hues of pink, purple, and red coated its outer layer, vibrating til a mystic MOON BLAST came out, directly aimed towards the blue eon and his trainer. Aegislash, still hellbent on defense, kept to SHADOW SNEAK to extend his reach to the pesky avian. Long and sharpened, his shadow jabbed forward, doing what it could to pierce the bird for the last time. Gallade, on the other hand, prepared a WIDE GUARD for the next incoming attack he was sure was coming.

- charizard uses anothe rinferno 
- gardevoir uses moon blast
- aegislash uses shadwo sneak
- gallade prepares wide guard

angelo vestri

Charizard's competitive nature burned true and bright in the form of intense blue flames. They spat with a vigor that far exceeded his previous attack. And so, when his rival managed to easily escape his clutches, maneuvering around his plumes of smoke and rage with a trained aerial ace, he had no choice but to meet the challenge. Claws bursting into purple flames of concentrated energy, the dragon threw back his head and met the incoming attack with his own DRAGON CLAW.

Upon impact, a burst of sound broke out, vibrating off the two via a wave of intense pressure. Charizard, who was slower in his response than normal, gritted his teeth as he barely managed to meet the attack. The pain that trickled through his block still burned his skin. But that only encouraged him to push forward, stronger than before.

Gallade, on the other hand, didn't miss a single beat with his response. Bringing his arms up, the blade Pokémon summoned a WIDE GUARD out in front of his squad, blanketing their frontal surroundings with a blocky shield of orange and yellow. Like a tornado of knives clanging against a metal wall, the SPRINGTIDE STORM was appropriately matched.

But that victorious disengagement was short-lived, as a barreling spiral of harsh psychic energy came down from above with a force previously unthought of. Aegislash, who was still stationed nearby, was able to meet its intensity with his KING SHIELD. However, no amount of defense could prepare the Pokémon for the surge of power that lurked beneath the surface of Latio's attack.

Family.

Loyalty.

These were concepts the Pokémon only vaguely knew about. Besides Gallade, who'd been Felix's partner for quite some time now, the others were fairly new to the concept of these Pokémon-trainer bonds. And their trainer's stoicism only made it harder to grasp. So, while the PSYCHIC blast was successfully blocked, its remnants lingered. Shocking and tearing at their minds in a new, unfound way.

In the chaos, a new problem emerged. Familiar blank gunk pooled at Felix's feet, rippling and contracting with even the slightest movement. When he tried to break free, the tar only clung onto him tighter, entrapping him in layers of suffocation. When it had become clear to him that escape was futile, he'd only sharpened his gaze forward, prepared for the fate that would meet him.

Even though tight lips, water poured down his throat, rubbing it raw and red. His chest heaved in and out, heavy from pressure, as black liquid pooled in his lungs. If this had not been a familiar experience for him, it would have left him paralysis in fear -- as it had the first time he experienced the jaws of PHANTOM FORCE. But, since then, there had been one major difference: he had forgotten how to fear death.

Surging back up to reality, the trained mercenary met the pilot's attack with both his arms pushed out, preventing it from slicing at his skin. If abled, he'd attempt to take hold of the extending arm and bring his knee to the man's chest. Adrenaline coursed through his veins with every inch of movement. This wasn't just a battle for his life, but August Gallagher 's.

"I'm either gone in an instant
Or here 'til the bitter end"

From afar, noticing the drastic situation, Gardevoir puts up her glowing hands and attempted to use PSYCHIC on Latios. If anything, she'd keep the legendary away from his other half. 

- fuck this was long
- charizard meets AERIAL ACE with DRAGON CLAW, but is still uwu wounded ego wise and physically 
- prepared WIDE GUARD blocks SPRINGTIDE STORM
- KINGSHIELD blocks PSYCHIC but the power of friendship still goes thru n hurts them mentally
- Felix gets taken in by phantom force n tries to disarm angelo
- Gardevoir uses PSYCHIC to keep latios from going to help angelo

angelo vestri

A pained growl carried forth across the field, as the jaws of the white drake bit down at Charizard's exposed neck. Scarlet pooled at it's seams, slipliting off into ravines down his neck and staining the ground around his feet. But, it's when pushed against the wall that Charizard thrived.

Shutting his eyes, flames began to collect at his scales, burning bright with the BLAZE of pressure.

The pressure to push forward, to fight, to protect.

Soon, the pokemon would be as lit as a star, burning brightly as further fumes trickled out from his lips and nose. Whether the white drake would stay, clamped up around his neck, or be pushed back didn't matter. Because, either way, he'd come in charging with a empowered FLARE BLITZ, looking to settle score once in for all.

Claws of air clashed against impenetrable metal, falling victim to another KING SHIELD. The guidance of Aegislash's reliable shield gave enough time to warrant another attack from psychic type beside him.

Flames of purple broke out across the Gardevoir's palms. Her fingers went through the fluid movements of three gestures, back to back, calling upon a strike of psychic energy downn on the togekiss.

On the other side of the field, madness ensued.

The solid thud of his knee connecting to Angelo's chest was quickly curtailed by that of his own raspy voice, as fingers dug into tenderness. While the searing pain had effetely burnt out the nerves, pain still trickled in, clawing at his shoulders with whips of metal and scorn. Raw and torn, crimson leaked from his ravaged inner cheeks. The bitterness of it's iron nipped at Felix's tongue as he flew back from Angelo's weakened swing. He, as well, was teetering off the edge of consciousness, body thoroughly savaged from the LUSTER PURGE he took.

One's rumination is never swift. It creeps along, silent and patient, as it aims to strike when one's most vulnerable. Felix has known this for years. And yet, when it came time to strike, he fell victim once agan.

It was after the other's snarky quip that a new arrival shattered the airwave. Latios. Like a dog defending it's owner, the blue eon bared it's fangs at Felix, preparing what looked to be another Luster Purge. From where he stood, there was no escape; his legs were far too tired to run, and the beam's sheer radius would swallow him up regardless. Closing his eyes, the man prepared himself to feel the scorn of legendary power befall on his body once more. it would be immediate, he consoled himself. A blimp compared to the years he experienced up until now.

But even that fate was too merciful for reality.

A pair of familiar arms coiled themselves around the base of Felix's chest, and with a flash of pink, he vanished.

- Charizard uses empowered (by BLAZE) FLARE BLITZ. Hes currently 1/3 health
- Aegislash blocks togekiss' attack with king shield
- Gardevoir uses psychic on togekiss'
- gallade tps Felix away

angelo vestri

As the dust settled, and their enemies came into view once more, the quad of Pokémon all gave each other knowing looks and worrying glances. Their trainer was gone, and despite his intentions, they were left behind. Forgotten. Lost.

Suddenly, a psychic voice echoed inside their heads -- masculine and noble -- urging them to "Retreat".

Extreme Speed is the first move to connect, knocking the wind from out the Gardevoir's lungs. Flinching, she gave the others another look, before urging them to come close. This wasn't the time to fight - disengaging and escaping had become their newfound objective. Aegislash meets one of the SUCKER punches with a KING SHIELD, but the other one fell through the cracks, knocking the sword by its side.

From their left, Charizard continued to battle against its own reflection, tossing and turning to the roars of battle. DRAGON PULSE vibrated off his body as he plunged through with his empowered FLARE BLITZ from before. Whether it connects or not has no implications for his next course of action; falling back, downturned eyes travel towards the center of the field. The space between their party and his had ultimately shrunken down to a handful of painful steps. Grunting, the Draconic Pokémon opened its maw, knowing full well what had to be done. A plume of smoke escaped from his throat, creating a thick SMOKE SCREEN for the pokemon to hide in. From there, Gardevoir took over, leading the rest of the straggling pokemon with her psychic messages. Flygon, from afar, was even able to slink through the ground, emerging over by their feet.

Once together, she'd corral them around before completely vanishing from one strenuous TELEPORT.

- felix left them behind uwu
- they all took the hits
- charizard uses smoke screen
- they gather around gardevoir and TP OUT

angelo vestri