[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Swear on my life," Isaac said, nodding with a solemn look on his face. "Which, at this rate, is a bet I clearly shouldn't make lightly. But, hey. Surely I can't be that shit of a gambler, right?"[break][break]

Maybe it'd be better for everyone involved if they didn't answer that question.[break][break]

But, hey. At least he wasn't alone. Ash was a shit gambler too. Isaac didn't need to out-bet the house. He just needed to out-bet his bud. Who knows? Maybe their bad lucks would cancel each other out and they'd hit the jackpot! Or maybe they'd mix into some kind of twin-headed bad luck dragon and get them in some real deep shit.[break][break]

Isaac would've taken the sandwich in a heartbeat. However, before he could, it got snatched up in a haze of pink like. Isaac swiped for the floating sandwich, but it was tugged away from him at the last moment. "Okay, I know I've got bad luck, but this is ridiculous!" he protested, staggering after the escaping sandwich. Watson followed hot on his heels, leaping for the sandwich and gnashing his jaws.[break][break]

The culprit was a Bronzong, who laughed as clearly as a bell as it seized the sandwich in one of its strangely floppy arms. Isaac glared. "Don't you do it." The Bronzong brought the sandwich a little closer to its underside. "I said don't you do it!" By now, the sandwich was practically rubbing against its teeth. "Don't even think about i-"[break][break]

CHOMP![break][break]

"Well, shit. Ah well," Isaac said, shrugging. He could live with the loss. But Watson? No, Watson was distraught, eyes blank and jaw dropped. That Bronzong! Just ate! His sandwich! He let out a pained shout, then rushed the Bronzong in a flurry of Shadow Claws. Each hit left the Bronzong spinning like a top, faster and faster until it could barely stay afloat.[break][break]

"Y'know, you really didn't have to . . . ah, what the heck, it's fine," Isaac said. Isaac lobbed a Pokeball at the fallen Bronzong, knowing that even if it didn't get his sandwich back it at least gave Watson some inner peace. And wasn't that really the most important thing?

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Maybe I'm cursed. Or maybe you're blessed with immaculate cooking skills," Isaac joked. "Nine out of ten Bronzongs agree, get your meals here in New Mauville! You never know when there'll be some people you can mug for a bite."[break][break]

At least he was in good spirits about this. And Watson's anger evaporated as soon as he saw there were some replacement sandwiches on offer. The bright smile lit right back up on his face as he grabbed the sandwich. He then showed his appreciation by scarfing it down in a single, massive bite. He rasped happily between chews, and it was as if his little tantrum had never even happened.[break][break]

Isaac would've had a sandwich too, but tending to a little Pachirisu had taken priority. Normally, Isaac would have made some kind of joke about it. Then something about the restful smile on Ash's face convinced him not to. For the first time today, he looked at peace. It was as if he was staring back into a better time. It was as if, in a way, they had achieved the mission they set out for in the first place. Maybe they'd still find a Pikachu. But they didn't have to. The real point of the day was to heal Ash's heart, and by god, they were doing that.[break][break]

He wasn't going to let anything ruin this for Ash. Not even the Magnezone that was fixing its eye on the Pachirisu in the background. Before it could menace the little squirrel, Isaac whistled for Shockmaster. The Electivire crept around the periphery of Ash's vision, then leaped up to Shoryuken the Magnezone out of the sky. A quick toss of a Pokeball would get it out of the way before it could cause any further problems.[break][break]

Jeez. At this rate, he was gonna have an entire roomful of Steel and Electric types. Maybe he'd let Cygne study from for a bit. Wasn't there something she was talking about needing to study those for? Ugh. Nope. Couldn't remember. He'd have to ask her later. Til then, more spelunking!

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Aw, shit. I knew you'd have me covered," Isaac said, a grin on his face as he took the sandwich. For once, there were no hungry Pokemon. There were no hijinks or distractions. Even Watson was too busy chowing down in peace to give Isaac any trouble. It was the perfect time for a handoff. And the peace only made the sandwich tastier.[break][break]

By now, they had gotten surprisingly deep into New Mauville. Considering that for at least half of this trip they were paralyzed, it was kind of surprising. But Isaac could powerwalk with the best of them, and Ash was no stranger to playing catchup. They could turn back. Or, as Ash suggested with that bright smile on his face, they could keep going.[break][break]

At least, they could if there wasn't a fucking wall in the way![break][break]

Wait. No. That wasn't a wall. Walls weren't usually that strange shade of oxidized copper green. They usually weren't splayed across the middle of perfectly functioning hallways. And, of course, they usually weren't moving. No, this was a Copperajah that had ended up tunneling into a hallway, and it was currently doing its damndest to keep blazing a trail through the power plant's poor, unsuspecting walls.[break][break]

Part of Isaac felt sorry for the beast, which probably couldn't turn around and therefore had to brute force its way through stone and steel just to keep going. Another part of him really didn't want to wait the many hours it would take for the wandering steel type to continue blazing its desire trail.[break][break]

Instead, he just lobbed a Pokeball at it. Once they were in a larger, less enclosed space, he could release the poor thing. As his Pokeball clattered to the ground, Isaac looked to the newly emptied space. "Sounds perfect to me," he said, a daring grin on his face. "Lead the way!"[break][break]

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Was he a holiday guy? The knee jerk reaction was to say no. Tried it. Didn't like it. It always ended up ingenuine attempts at playing perfect family with a man who hated him so nobody asked any uncomfortable questions. Not that how he felt mattered. It was all about his little brother on those days. He was basically an ambulatory ornament, for all his say counted.[break][break]

It wasn't much better when he was alone. A holiday meant either Cold Route Squatting or Hot Route Squatting. Maybe if he was lucky he could watch a distant firework show or finagle some fancier food than usual. But festivity was for people with something to bring to the table, not burnout runaways who turned 18 and thought they could take on the world.[break][break]

No. Those holidays weren't for Isaac. But something funny happened when Isaac joined Rocket. He went from an isolated wanderer to a man surrounded by his peers. He remembered what it was like to be cared for. He remembered what it was like to care for them in turn. And, god, he never realized how much he missed those feelings. Twenty two years of pent up heart got uncorked, and now Isaac couldn't even claim to be a lone wolf with a straight face.[break][break]

And all it took was marking himself and staining his soul for life.[break][break]

"Holidays?" Isaac asked. He imagined doing up the Bazaar in the most elaborate, kickass ornaments he could get his hands on. He imagined putting his sleight of hand skills to use in slipping little gifts into the pockets of dear friends. He imagined his increasingly massive Pokemon team all going to town on a feast, because damnit, they deserved it. He imagined sitting hand in hand with ana fell, admiring a life they'd fought so hard to secure for themselves.[break][break]

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I could get into that. Maybe we could finally get you a good one under your belt, eh?"[break][break]

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Ashley Shepard Isaac Merlo

[attr="class","wildnote"] WHAT WILL YOU DO?