The winds are far less relenting as she climbs the sky, further, higher, until she can see all below her. The people; those scattered and those huddled together in groups, pokémon far more exotic than she’d ever thought to encounter, the strange flowers, the tree of life…. She doesn’t know where to look first, yet her eyes always seem to focus back on the tree and the flowers. A shrill shriek of her Togekiss snaps her out of her daze, but before she has the chance to even think of her next move, her mounted pokémon starts trashing heavily.

Within moments Togekiss is descending, crashing. Brynnhildr tries to hold on for dear life to both Togekiss and Bell, her Galarian Ponyta, and nearly lets go when her left hand grazes the needles stuck within the Togekiss’ belly. They sting, and the sudden movement of the spikes make it bash its wings in a weak attempt to catch air once more. Both trainer and pokémon realize one of its wings refuses service when it’s far too late, and the ground is fast-approaching.

Something snaps when they crash into the ground below. Togekiss, in a last attempt to save its trainer from being crushed beneath it, flung her away, effectively sending her flying. The first hit is the hardest, and she feels her shoulder crack in a sickening way trying to shield Bell the Ponyta from any hurt. Panic fills the Unovan as the strength in her arm disappears, and with it Bell too escapes her grasp as she keeps on tumbling onward. Unaware as she keeps on falling, the pokéballs on her belt have come loose and open, calling Pallosand, Stufful and Krokorok to the field. As she comes to a stand-still, the world around her is spinning, and pain has taken control of her body. No matter how much the Unovan tries to, her arm refuses to move, and when she tries to roll over on it the pain has her back on her back in seconds. Her face is burning, and as she’s trying to make the world stop from spinning a wet nose nudges her head. Brynn’s trying her best to focus, and does so immediately as the shock of his red snout has her on alert. Yet she soon realizes the blood is not his… but hers. With her good arm she’s trying to touch it, and notices the severity of the gash snaking across her entire forehead when her hand comes back soaked in carmine liquid.

Then, two things happen. Bell starts glowing, and taps its small horn against her forehead, using Heal Pulse to try and lessen the damage. Brynnhildr however only now notices her wrist is glowing; and not just a little bit, but like someone had hidden a small light underneath her skin. The rest of her pokémon have now gathered as well, and help her sit up. She sees Togekiss in the distance, but the disturbing amount of red on its feathers make it abundantly clear no more help can be given to the poor thing. Joltik too has disappeared from the safety of her neck, and Brynnhildr’s naively thinks it’s just lost in the tumult, unknowing that it too has founds its demise by the spore it had snuggled earlier.

She would find out soon enough.

With the help of Krokorok and Ponyta, Brynn gets back on her feet, and feels herself drawn towards a certain direction as by instinct. Instinct, and the glowing wrist that seems to guide her towards a small group. Two are further down fighting the tree, but Brynn only has eyes for the figure holding the young girl. The pain they were going through was apparent, and she spoke softly as she got closer. ”Bell, do that thing you did for me, but on them. They need it more than I do,” There’s something in her voice that makes the Ponyta obey, reluctantly trotting over to Felix Gallagher and using Heal Pulse on him instead.

Intruding as she might be, she cares little as she sinks to her knees near them, her wrist still glowing as she merely introduces herself and her pokémon with a short. ”Allow us help,”. Krokorok and Stufful set themselves up as second defense between the three and mint frost jayden cross , while her Pallosand has a mind of its own, and suddenly starts moving all the nearby sand towards itself. It’s trying to grow until it’s big enough to cover the trio, like an open-mouthed cave, and uses Sand Tomb around itself to add extra layers to its self-imposed defense.

@

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He and Elisabeth Fiorelli had been given the same prophecy as a now-dead girl, who was killed under seemingly mysterious circumstances. This confirmation given by Martín del Mar was not one that eased the tensions of the moment; if anything, the realization that he too had somehow been touched by the Lake Guardians was utterly anxiety-inducing.

At this point adrenaline was the only thing keeping Barnaby on his feet. Exhaustion and unwelcomed dread weighed heavily on him, as if a hundred cinderblocks had been chained to his ankles, pulling him downward; internally, he fought against these dragging forces and tried to focus on what he could do in the moment to help.

He hadn't noticed until now, but his attempt to remove the damned Dark Spores had proved futile. Barnaby could feel them begin to morph into something more solid and attempt to bore into the fabric of his clothing, draining his stamina all the while. They needed to be taken care of - quickly.

To this end he released his ALAKAZAM, who swiftly went to work psychically removing the spores. It was slow work and only a few could be detached at a time. Meanwhile, GURDURR continued with it's Wide Guard around their congregated group, which now included a returned Alexandra Briarwood, Hideo Kino, and Arashi Akiyama.

Seemingly reacting to Hideo Kino's presence, their runic circle sprang to life in an intensely white luminescence. Simultaneously, Hideo's wrist ignited in yellow light as well. Next... came the screams. The poor boy held fast to his head, crying out in pain and writhing miserably in the dirt. Barnaby could only watch, helpless, unsure of how to assuage the phantom agony.

Then, as if the pandemonium couldn't get worse, the Tree of Life suddenly splintered and erupted into something wholly malignant. Dark and crystalline, not unlike the protrusions marring Chu-e Choi and several of the felled Pokémon on the battlefield, the creature that emerged was absolutely terrifying.

Barnaby didn't have time to gawk, however, as seconds later his own wrist began to glow the same ominous yellow as Hideo Kino. Immediately, an intense pressure swelled inside his head, threatening to bring him to his knees yet again. Gritting his teeth and inhaling sharply, Barnaby momentarily closed his eyes against the searing pain. Palms pressed against his temples, squeezing hard - it was all he could do to bear the shared torment with Hideo.

A simple touch, a whispered word. Mars' hand reached for his and Barnaby obliged, his eyes blinking open to meet the admin's familiar amber gaze. Martín del Mar's sentiment grounded him back into the here and now of the chaos surrounding them, for which he was grateful. With a little time, and the soothing help of SLOWKING's Heal Pulses, the pain slowly subsided.

"Thank you." Barnaby whispered back, squeezing Mars' hand once before releasing it to retrieve the Luxury Ball belonging to Celeste, one of the first Pokémon he'd obtained upon arriving in Hoenn.

Mars might recognize her as the LIEPARD that had accompanied Barnaby in the private garden where they'd met all those months ago. She held a soft spot in her trainer's heart, in part because she was an extremely capable Pokémon - and that was what he needed now. Barnaby could trust she would give her all to protect both him and those around him.

He listened as the ROCKET admin relayed what he knew of the monster in front of them - NECROZMA - and what they needed to do now. If they didn't defeat it here, then... who knew what atrocities it would unleash upon the region.

"Follow them," Barnaby instructed his LIEPARD, gesturing to Mars' MALAMAR. "Attack with Assurance. If it tries to counter, use your speed to retreat back here." And be careful, he thought silently.

Throughout this time, his, Elisabeth Fiorelli's, and Hideo Kino's wrists persisted in their yellow glow. From afar, Barnaby thought he saw a flash of different colored light. Would the Lake Guardians actually come to aid them when they needed them the most?

• hidden identity (masked)
• standing beside mars & elisa at the western point
• pressure from first DE event
• ALAKAZAM removes dark spores
• GURDURR still using WIDE GUARD to defend group
• reacts to shared pain with hideo (wrist glowing)
• LIEPARD used ASSURANCE on NECROZMA

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