Howl had been standing at the edge of a bridge spanning a channel of deep, dark water when they caught the reflection of the dome in the lake. Like a soap bubble or an oil spill, it was a refraction of rainbow light; only then, looking up in confusion, did they realize the sound of the ambience around them hand changed, muffled and distorted, like a dream.

Strange lightning, disconnected from clouds or ground, zapped sideways near them, and they stumbled back, not quite panicking, but not quite alright, either. It felt like a trip, like they were young and their mom had been slipping ketamine into their mac and cheese again; their hand shook slightly as they called out Sequera for a confidence boost.

“What the heck is going on?” they asked their-- normally quite on top of things-- Greninja, who took a long look at the distortion around them, and shrugged. “Great, super helpful, thank you.”

A commotion from somewhere above them drew their attention. Without speaking, Howl clambered into Sequera’s back, and she cleared several ridges in a single bound, clasping the mountainside and jumping up again until they found the source of the noise-- another human, and a saddled Manectric.

“Are you okay?” Howl asked, descending from Sequera’s back as she dropped into a crouch. More lightning, and the hair on the back of their neck stood on edge. “Do you know what’s going on here?”

Josh Devlin

☉

Howl relaxed a bit at the stranger’s admission of being okay. They turned a slow circle, looking up at the oilslick sheen of the dome around them. “Solid?” they ask, their voice warbling in the static and energy in the air. “That means-- we’re trapped? We can’t get out?”

They tried to hide the pinched tone of panic that was hiking in their voice.

Luckily, their new companion, Josh, offers them a distraction by means of an introduction-- a long one, with, honestly, more info than was needed. It was a brief respite bceause halfway through, the world decided to erupt. Howl buckled, hands over their ears, eyes clenched tight against the brightness. When they peeked out again, they saw a large, pink feline, stalking just a few feet away.

“What the--,”

Sequera struck a tense pose next to them, her eyes focused on the Sylveon pinning Josh. With shaky fingers, Howl slowly reached for their belt, popping Blais’ ball off.

“I go left, you go right?” they whispered to their Greninja; her chin dropped half a centimeter in acknowledgement.

They burst into motion, Sequera backflipping over Howl’s head and firing off a hydro pump downwards into the prowling Sylveon’s face; Howl sidearm pitched Blais’ pokeball at the Sylveon pinning Josh. The Larvesta erupted in a ball of flame, slamming into the large cat with a flame charge and sending it flying off of Josh and skidding in the dirt, a smoldering burn on its chest.

Josh Devlin

☉

Howl felt a sick flip-flopping of relief and regret in their stomach because hoo boy that could’ve gone badly. “Yeah, don’t mention it,” they say, voice a little warbly. They watched Josh get mounted and ran as far forward as they could to get out of the line of fire.

No matter how many times they saw it, Howl would never get tired of seeing Sequera fight. She hadn’t singlehandedly gotten them out of the Kanto occupation as a Frogadier on luck. She was a whirling, twisting, flipping dervish, dodging out of the way of the Sylveon’s reaching ribbons with back springs, hand-stands, and tucks, like her body was made out of liquid. Unfortunately, all the evasiveness left little time for her to actually strike.

The Moonblast caught Howl’s attention and they turned to check on Josh-- and good thing they did, because he looked like he wasn’t doing so hot. The heavy, pounding steps of the Drapion echoed the pulse in Howl’s ears. “Sequera, help Josh!” they ordered, and the Greninja jumped over to do so, taking up a defensive position just in front of Josh’s Manectric.

Howl tossed their final Pokeball yelling “Malarkey, Bonemerang!” and their Cubone slid forward with a brutal toss of his bone; it went spinning out, taking out one Drapion at the-- the ankle? Did they even have those-- sending it falling right onto its face with a sound like a ton of bricks; the other tried to climb over its fallen equivalent only to get smacked hard by the Bonemerang’s return in the back of the head, causing it to flinch.

Never one to be left out, Blais crawled closer to the Drapion, before lifting his larval head and releasing a gross sounding, bug buzz burp, making the second Drapion recoil and stumble backwards, holding its pained head.

Josh Devlin

☉

Little did Josh know, Sequera had been born and forged into the middle of a warzone. She’d been Howl’s right-hand ninja during the entirety of the Kantonian Rocket occupation. Her skills included, but were not limited to, sneaking, spying, making weaponry out of household objects, and throwing her voice.

Howl watched with horrid fascination as Josh’s Charmeleon Kiss of Death’d the downed Drapion. It was like a car crash-- they desperately wanted to look away and knew they should, but they couldn’t. Then the thing vanished in a pulse of light and they exhaled a heavy breath they didn’t realize they’d been holding.

They realized Josh was speaking just about in time for the Magmortars to spawn. There was no time to answer with their name, but they did notice the growing transparency of the dome that kept them trapped. Howl caught the reverb of them punching through the space-time continuum just in time to watch Malarkey get dusted by a flamethrower.

But the little guy was plucky, if nothing else. When the flames had faded, he was visibly blackened, smoldering, but still ready to fight. He shook his head, sending ash casting to the ground, before winding up his bone and using bone club to smack the Magmortar right in its rotund midsection, and it rippled backwards like a water bed.

Chaos was erupting all around them. Sequera spun neatly out of the way of the Dusknoir’s punches, continuing her backwards dance of evasion-- but neither could she attack. Josh seemed to have his corner handled, but Howl’s Pokemon were scattered all over the place.

Josh Devlin

☉

Howl’s stomach plummeted into their shoes as the Dusknoir seized Josh. “No!” they yelled, reaching out and lunging--

--and just like that, everything ended. The bubble popped and the static electricity released with a hiss. Josh fell, and Howl knelt by his side. There was a tense moment where they didn’t really know what to do, and then Josh spoke.

“Y-yeah, I think so,” Howl allowed, leaning back to loom around. The encapsulating dome was gone. Aside from the flame marks in the dirt, it looked like nothing happened. Howl blinked, then shook their head, as though waking from a dream.

"We gotta get you to a doctor, friend,” Howl said. Sequera crouched next to Josh, nodding her agreement.

Josh Devlin

☉

Howl didn’t feel like they helped much but that would’ve been a hard thing to get out of if either of then had been all alone.

”Call it providence,”they said, helping seat Josh on his Dragonair, wondering at the efficacy of riding off into the sunset on a noodle. The Dragonair seemed capable, though. “I’m Howl. You go ahead. We’ll catch up… sometime, I’m sure.”

They stepped back and waved as Josh’s ride lifted into the air and struck out towards much-needed medical help.

Josh Devlin

☉