the divide. that sounds like something out of a very well-written homebrew dungeons and dragons campaign. matias can't help but nod his head in approval at young greyson's choice of words.[break][break]

"yep, yep. pokemon, mostly, but sometimes their trainers show up as well. that's when things get fun."[break][break]

perhaps too unhinged to care otherwise, matias doesn't bother hiding the joy he feels "defending" the divide.[break][break]

"we might even run into sea greyson."

[attr="class","ooc"]Greyson Connors[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-virizion"]

greyson contemplates that fact. would his twin look like him, albeit it with smaller changes? or an exact copy?

he wouldn't be more attractive than him, that's for sure. his next thought causes him to snicker.

"is your twin taller than you, at least?"

MATIAS SILPH

"nah. the prick is smaller than me."[break][break]

maybe it's from being able to shift into water and all that. actually, matias isn't sure what their deal is. are they able to turn into water from some kind of curse? an agreement with their queen, maybe?[break][break]

the portals lie ahead of them. virizion brandishes her LEAF BLADE, standing at the ready.[break][break]

"be ready."[break][break]

because the first whoosh! happens, and from the portal comes the first of many water-types.

[attr="class","ooc"]Greyson Connors[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-virizion"]

he pats matias on the back, suspecting that wasn't the truth. he would stand in solidarity with his friend, regardless of his short stature.

but, the jovial moments never last long.

lacking a creature of virizions strength, he instead relies on something he knows can hold his own. when the light fades a massive blue tyrantrum stands before him and she roars in trepidation of a fight.

"elders first," he concedes, grinning. then, the dinosaur is barreling into the fray THRASHING about wildly.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

"tch."[break][break]

water cuts, separated by a precise LEAF BLADE that drags across multiple targets. one after the other, they drop, like dominoes, but they'll keep coming.[break][break]

"some might mega evo—"[break][break]

a blastoise does just that only to fire a HYDRO CANNON at the tyrantrum. at least the sea people haven't adopted rocket's way of fighting.[break][break]

"mega evolve."

[attr="class","ooc"]Greyson Connors[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-virizion"]

the HYDRO CANNON rockets through the chamber and takes the unsuspecting dinosaur in the side just as she goes to take a step. thrown off balance, she's pressed to the floor in a drop that has the ground rumbling beneath their feet.
[break][break]
"arceus," greyson whispers, brow furrowing as he watches blue struggle to stand. when she does, another round of of the HYDRO CANON is already in the air and racing towards her. properly prepared this time, however, she's able to avoid the attack entirely.[break][break] blue closes the distance between them and opens her toothy maw to CRUNCH down on the mega-pokemon. as expected, the blastoise retreats to its shell.
[break][break]
"makes you wonder why the hell they're doing this."

[attr="class","notes"]MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

the ground rumbles beneath their feet, shaking the foundations of the room they're in.[break][break]

"weakening our defenses is my leading theory."[break][break]

virizion cuts through a starmie before slashing her LEAF BLADE against blastoise's shell, allowing CRUNCH to crack through.[break][break]

"because they've rarely sent in their powerhouses."[break][break]

sea matias once but even that had been an easy fight. matias joins greyson in wondering what their true goal here is.[break][break]

"maybe they've caught on to our plans."

[attr="class","ooc"]Greyson Connors[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-virizion"]

her STRONG JAW and devastating CRUNCH is enough to force the invading pokemon from its empowered form. blue feels the creature go slack in her jaws and she contemplates ending it entirely — thankfully she doesn't. with a whip of her head the creature is tossed back into the portal.
[break][break]"still, they have to know we're here. we're ready." they could of course send in pokemon to explode or self-destruct, but then again, wouldn't they be ready for that too?
[break][break]
why did this seem like an invasion out of desperation than anything else?
[break][break]
"it seems like it." he agrees, voice taking on a solemn note. the meteor itself was another problem entirely. the plan as purposed was problematic on levels he couldn't even fathom. to save our world, we would doom another? the thought made him sick.
[break][break]
"isn't there anything else we can do? not everyone, i'm sure, is out to kill us over there." as he watches blue go after another of the invaders, he thinks about his mother and father. surely they weren't crazed sociopaths over there too, were they?
[break][break]
the thoughts that threaten to derail him from his purpose here. so, reluctantly, but with the mental note of revisiting it later, he pushes it back.

[attr="class","notes"]MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

the thought and reality of the situation doesn't make matias nearly as sick as it does greyson.[break][break]

besides the fact that sending the meteor to sea hoenn seems to be their only viable option, at least for now, the truth is that matias just does not care.[break][break]

sea hoenn, land hoenn, whatever iteration of hoenn should not matter. what matters is their hoenn. his hoenn.[break][break]

"no, but it doesn't matter. they have their orders and we have ours."[break][break]

water splashes onto him from virizion's LEAF BLADE as she cuts through a tentacool. matias wipes it off, indifferent.[break][break]

"i take it you aren't a fan of dahlia goode's plan."

[attr="class","ooc"]Greyson Connors[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-virizion"]

nothing about this conflict excited greyson. sure, it was a chance to test his own mettle against a real threat. but, on the other hand, real lives were at stake - regardless of their dimension.
[break][break]
"i'm not, no." it felt odd to voice his concerns aloud like this; like he was committing treason, or speaking a taboo. "i think — i hope — that she exhausted other plans before coming to this one."
[break][break]
that would have at least made the gym leader feel better about this ordeal, albeit, only by a small margin. the idea that this plan was instead being used to solve two problems from the get-go? that would bother him.
[break][break]
"and i take it you are."
[break][break]
blue HEAD SMASHES aside a pokemon that greyson can't catch and he flinches automatically from the sound it produces. she doesn't even slow down as she barrels towards another.

[attr="class","notes"]MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

"she likely did."[break][break]

even now without solid reasoning other than the fact that she's his superior, matias finds himself defending her, appearing certain that dahlia must have thought this through.[break][break]

how matias truly feels, however, is up for debate.[break][break]

when the sentiment is mirrored, he shrugs, parroting what he had told FERNANDO SILPH the other day.[break][break]

"better them than us."[break][break]

no chuckle accompanies this time, however.[break][break]

the sharp sounds of HEAD SMASH are complemented by graceful slashes of LEAF BLADE. together, they form an odd cacophony that sounds across the wide space they find themselves in.[break][break]

over the vibrato, matias' voice remains loud and clear.[break][break]

"it's a shame we can't send rocket there as well."

[attr="class","ooc"]Greyson Connors[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-virizion"]

he doesn't voice his own sentiment. rocket were bad people, mostly, but they were also people down on their luck: cast outs from society just trying to survive.
[Break][break]
he wouldn't want their deaths on his soul.
[Break][break]
the incursion begins to slow as they're beat back to their own reality. soon, only a few remain.
[Break][break]
"it's almost over."

[attr="class","notes"]MATIAS SILPH

[attr="class","wizzcredit"]☉

the fact that greyson refuses to share his thoughts about rocket is telling enough. many share the gym leader's view — he's heard and experienced it firsthand — but that does not make it the right view.[break][break]

it isn't even the just view.[break][break]

over the pitter-patter of retreating forces, matias voices a question.[break][break]

"do you think me cruel, greyson?"

[attr="class","ooc"]Greyson Connors[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-virizion"]