The scene seemed to transition from party to chaos in seconds as the time distortion formed in the venue. Jack kept his arms up near his chest to fend off the crush of the crowd against his lungs. His height gave him an advantage in seeing over the panicked crowd, so he scanned around for any sight of Zev Harcourt and Aurelie Lefevre. Shit, there's too many people, I'm never going to spot them in this, he thinks to himself as he angles sideways as the rest of the crowd continues pushing toward the exit.

As the horde of concert-goes begins to thin, Jack continues to scan anxiously for any sign of his friends. Here and there he sees Rangers and League Officers, and a few trainers, head back into the venue. From far off, he thinks he spots Zev heading in as well but can't tell from this distance. Is that him? What is he doing? Old chap must feel some responsibility since he's an event sponsor but Arceus knows he shouldn't be in there without me protecting him, Jack frets as he turns to head back toward the anomaly, although he has already lost what fleeting bit of sight he had of Zev. Popping open a pokeball, he grabs both of Harpe's hilts from the cloud of red light and strides confidently forward. The rich fabric unfurls from the pokemon and wraps around Jack's forearms just as the first wave of disorientation hits him at the edge of the distortion.

Reality itself seems to break as the light turns dark or shatters into blindingly colorful fractals. Jack's heart races even as his physical movement slows, his body responding as if from within a nightmare. Jack attempts to look around, to open his senses, but the edges of objects seem to bleed into the air. He turns again and finds himself face to face with a strange Avalugg, one with rocky protrusions, unlike anything Jack has seen before. Almost without thought, Harpe provides and iron defense as the strange pokemon rushes forward to bounce of the crossed swords of the Doublade. The sound of the collision and the Avalugg's roar is lost to a myriad of noises that shatter apart into the sounds of motorbikes, and children crying, and the crash of waves against the shore.

Jack whispers a command to Harpe that seems understood even though only the crunch of Autumn leaves seems to fill the air. The Doublade blurs into multihued shadows and appears behind the Avalugg, slashing into it. Taking advantage of the distraction, Jack throws a pokeball which seems to teleport back and forth before reaching the pokemon and capturing it in a blaze of rainbow light. Determined to rescue Zev, he begins to run forward, heedless of the glitching reality, only to find himself standing on the outside of the venue as if he had never entered.

Splashfest: Mainstage

[break]NOTES: form change to Hisuian Avalugg

Perhaps relaxed isn't the best way to describe how Gavin is feeling, but the break from the chaos of the Splashfest and all that had come before it is welcome. Not all of the musical performances were to his tastes, but that was fine, too. It's noise, something on which he can focus his racing thoughts in order to block them out. It's almost nice.

And then the all-too-familiar crackle of a distortion appears, because you're not allowed to have nice things in Hoenn.

Thankfully this one is smaller than others the Rocket underboss has encountered, and the League security seem to have it under control. Shocking. Amidst the chaos, his fingers close around a peculiar RED SHARD that falls to the ground. Another for the collection...?

+ RED SHARD