Originally Cyg had been roped into this because she was a mechanic, by trade, and she’d more or less been volunteered by the Rocket organization to keep her eyes on their fingers in the pie-- making sure they didn’t get cut off, first of all, or get grabby, and take more than they were allotted.

So when she rolled up and did not see a vehicle in sight, she facepalmed into oblivion and was two seconds away from hopping on the horn to yell at whoever had put her name down for this stupid mission.

“What are we even doing here, Stirling?” Cyg asked, exasperated, as the set-up crew quickly and discreetly went to, well, setting up. “I’m not a vet. I’m a mechanic.” Her Golisopod shrugged, noncommittal.

Josh Devlin

☉

Hot canyon air blew across her face as she sighed into it once more, like she was a dragon that could burn the world down with her frustration. She was saved from further standing around and looking stupid by a dark haired kid and his Dragonair. He introduced himself as Josh and called her by her pseudonym, which meant he was the person she was working with for this mission.

Right, the mission. The mission where she was supposed to be posing as a vehicle maintenance specialist. She had to think on her feet to find a different cover because pit crew wasn't going to fly-- not when she knew as much about first aid as an infant knew about object permanence. She turned a wince into a smile, reaching out to greet the Dragonair with a gentle touch, arm hovering uselessly in the air when she was recalled.

“Hey, Josh,” she said, letting the limb flop to her side. Her eyes flicked to Resheph and all her very strange, cool looking gear, then back again. When he asked her about her Pokemon toolkit, she held up her hands. “Oh, I’m not racing,” she said, half a laugh. “I’ll be your spotter. In the air, watching the action, looking out for any hazards and keeping an eye on the target." Yeah, that might work. "Like Speed Racer.”

Because the Drift King posed a threat to Rocket’s books and general safety, and it would be a good idea to get rid of him-- in some fashion-- for all parties involved.

She reached into her old GMH blue electricians jumpsuit pocket and pulled out two earpieces, one of which she pushed into her own ear; the other one she held out to Josh.

“I would introduce Sima, but she’s never met a stranger she doesn’t like. To eat."

Her grin is pained.

Josh Devlin

☉

He went along with it, thank god, even agreed with it. She nodded along with everything he said-- except for not having seen Speed Racer.

“Eh, the TV show was better,” she said with a shrug. And less whitewashed.

“She’s a Hydreigon,” Cyg explained, stuffing her hands in her pockets and trying not to get angry at the implications of being well-behaved. Some people just had a different view of Pokemon-- this guy obviously needed a team that was going to act at his beck and call, for racing purposes, and she needed a team that was a little bit screw-loose and a lotta bit bloodthirsty. “She’s fine up in the air-- the best,” she added on, for showmanship’s sake, “but at ground level, there are too many bitable things.”

She flashed him a thumbs-up as he mounted his Pokemon. “You got it, boss,” she said, falling ever so easily back into that rank-and-file serfdom that’d been beaten into her during her GMH lineworker days.

Once he was out of biting range, Cyg recalled Stirling and released Sima, who burst forth with an ear-splitting roar and a swinging head. Cyg rolled her eyes and grabbed her Hydreigon by one of the crimson petals around her head, dragging it down low enough for her to clamber on.

“Behave,” she growled in the dragon’s ear, even though she had low expectations for this entire project. Sima snarled and pitched herself off a ledge, Cyg firmly dug in, wings catching the hot canyon air quick enough and rising high above the race.

She was going to ring through and ask Josh if he could read her but she heard his voice loud and clear. Honestly, she really only needed it to work one way-- if Josh lost, and the Drift King didn’t go quietly into that good night, Cyg had permission to drop 500 pounds of angry, bitey dragon on him, and no Liepard in the world, no matter how freakishly large, could save him from that.

The Liepard was easy enough to see from the air, all purple and garish, and luckily so was Josh’s Absol. So she saw when he got left in the dust just before the sound of the starting gun.

“Oops.”

Josh Devlin

☉

Cyg reigned Sima in and set her on a course above the racetrack, high enough to be out of harms way and get a good view, while still being within range to make out details-- which were important, given her current job. As it was the trail ran through several S-curves that left what was waiting ‘round the other side completely hidden.

She watched Josh almost get creamed by a bunch of rolling boulders, Acme-style.

“Seeing it and, unfortunately, believing it,” she radio’d back, pressing Sima down. “You let me know if you want to pull the ‘chute cord.” As in, let me know if you give up on this ridiculously foolish dream to convert this guy to the side of good, legal racing.

But a cheat called for a cheat. Cyg rolled Stirling’s Pokeball around in her hand, before swinging Sima in low. The Hydreigon roared in victorious bloodlust as she reached down and bit into a Machop with both side-heads; she grabbed the thing by its lats and shook it viciously, making Cyg hold on for dear life. At the same time, Cyg dropped Stirling’s Pokeball, releasing the Golisopod and allowing him to raise hell amongst the Drift King’s hidden Pokemon.

Sima dropped her captured Machop with a horrible, draconian shriek. “No, you beast, go-- up!” Cyg had to pull on her back ruff forcibly to get her to rise again-- but with Sima as a battering ram and Stirling left to pick up the pieces, most of the Drift King’s booby-trap camps were out of the running. At least before this first checkpoint.

Josh Devlin

☉

In retrospect, Cyg thought, maybe they shouldn’t have agreed to run a race around a track with more pitfall opportunities than a Mario Kart map. All they were missing were chain chomps. Cyg pulled Sima close to a collection of boulders further up. The Hydreigon used her tail to trigger the wedge stopping them, sending them cascading down the cliff far ahead of the racers, giving them plenty of time to see and avoid the obstacles.

She swung the dragon around, the great beast crunching down on an offending stone and chomping it into tiny, harmless pieces. Sima flared her wings and caught the hot air, rising high above the action again, having cleared more of the booby traps and hazards.

Cyg was so focused on clearing the way for Josh that she didn’t notice the aura spheres until they were well and truly launched. “Shit!” She wheeled Sima away from the projectiles, one hand grabbing a third and final Pokeball. Cutting a tight C-curve, she directed Sima past the aura balls in the opposite direction, back towards the Pokemon who fired them. She could feel their energy, smell the ozone they put off, as they shifted to chase after her.

Putting her knees into Sima, she drove the dragon down, straight as an arrow towards the Gallade at its cohorts; she pressed herself so low to Sima’s back she disappeared behind the Hydreigon’s crest. At the last second, she flung Harley’s Pokeball, and the Quilava burst forward in a flash of fire, burning down towards the Drift King’s cronies like a meteor. He landed amongst them already belching fire, a flamethrower lighting them up.

Cyg pulled Sima almost to a complete stop, wings flaring out to hover her heavy body for just a second-- then, a powerful flap up lifted her, just as the Aura Spheres passed underneath her. They crashed into the chaos Harley was eliciting on the cliff face, landing amongst the Pokemon who had originally shot them off. Three deep booms sent a cloud of ash and dust into the air, but Sima was already rising high above it, roaring loudly in victory. A series of lava plumes erupted along the top of the ridge, sending the lip of rock crumbling to the ground as Harley jumped nimbly from ledge to ledge, a burning trail of bedlam in his wake.

Cyg had ash on her face and she was shaking from adrenaline. “That was awesome.”

Josh’s voice shocked her back into reality and she remembered what the fuck she was actually supposed to be doing. With a few strokes of her wings, Sima obtained cruising altitude again, and Cyg looked over her shoulder. “You have one more S-curve and then a long straightaway,” she radioed down, feeling the sweat in her hair and on the back of her neck. “If you’re going to do something, do it soon. The canyon opens up ahead and I don’t know what else he has in store.”

Josh Devlin

☉

Josh radios a final time announcing his plan to break out and beat the Drift King on the upcoming straightaway. Cyg was to hang tight and intervene in the chance that he failed to do so.

Sensing that their part of the drama was done, Sima became unruly, the bloodthirsty spirit in her always hungry for more violence. “Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on-- ow! Don’t hit me with your head!”

Fussing with the angry dragon, Cyg missed the part where Josh overtook the Drift King, and when she looked down, he was winning. But the rogue racer and his Liepard were catching up. Her first thought was to cheat, obviously; have Sima drop a hyper voice from high up to distract or throw him off his game. But Josh seemed like one of those noble types that couldn’t abide an unfair fight, so she let him run.

She directed Sima to an outcrop just beyond the finish point and set her down there, sliding off to stand and watch the race end. Despite all the effort and strenuous airborne maneuver's she'd just gone through, she didn't seem at all tired; so should anything happen towards the finish line or after, Cyg'd still be able to drop four hundred pounds of raging dragon on the Drift King. But she supposed she had to trust Josh to do his part and win fairly.

Josh Devlin

☉

Cyg set her beasty down and slid off, thighs trembling; she recalled the dragon for the time being, not trusting her to be not murderous around civillians. Later she’d swing back and grab Harley and Stirling.

She took the earpieces back from Josh and smiled. “Yeah, I’ve got it handled. Go… do your bounty thing, or whatever.”

She’d make a nice buck off poaching the Drift King’s goons, but Josh didn’t need to know that. She waved at him as he headed off towards the Ranger station before turning to find some clear ground to let Sima out again.

Josh Devlin

☉