”told you i had your back.”

really, it was his job to be here, and a responsibility he felt to the region as a whole—but he was making good on his promise, right?

a fight on the water meant bo’s strongest pokémon would be weaker, but he had others that would do well enough. he, personally, didn’t mind the water.

”i swim fine. why?”

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

"just making small talk to pass the time."[break][break]

lance is honest with his response, not really minding if it may draw up some awkwardness between them. he's never really cared for that, anyway.[break][break]

luckily for both of them, interference comes not long after in the form of speedboats and dinghies.[break][break]

"i think that's them."

[attr="class","ooc"]boruta maher[break]
valor: defend[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dhelmise"]

they had plenty of real talk to have, but honestly, bo appreciated the lance kept it to small talk. he was, however, unsure what to say in response to lance’s transparency.

luckily, shit happened, and he suddenly didn’t have to worry about a response.

”yup. i think so too.”

he looked over.

”what’s the plan, vollans?” this was lance’s city, after all. he was just here for support.

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

"i'm not really one to play defense."[break][break]

despite the name of this valor objective.[break][break]

"let's take the fight to them."[break][break]

his dhelmise materializes out of the shadows only to drop down into the water. it sinks down, dropping deeper and deeper as a WHIRLPOOL conjures to stop the incoming speedboats.[break][break]

a few make it through, however.

[attr="class","ooc"]boruta maher[break]
valor: defend[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dhelmise"]

was it rocket stirring up trouble? maybe. he couldn’t be too sure, and this kind of shit was what he had avoided. he had been known to play defense, but recent events had changed things.

they would throw the first punch, and the oldest maher brother was on board, literally and figuratively.

”sounds good to me.”

a whistle summoned a large shadow which chased the boats that had made it past dhelmise’s whirlpool. the red horns of a shiny gyarados broke the surface, its monstrous face rearing back out of the water with a grimace. wind whipped around it, a twister ripping away at unfriendly vessels.

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

the poor souls don't stand much of a chance against WHIRLPOOL and TWISTER. those that make it through will soon be met with a swift anchor.[break][break]

dhelmise rises from out of the water with murky green tendrils. it slams them down for a POWER WHIP, rendering the unfriendly vessels ineffective.[break][break]

much to his surprise, a single vessel remains, and it finds its way to the side of their boat.[break][break]

"one's coming up."

[attr="class","ooc"]boruta maher[break]
valor: defend[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dhelmise"]

most of the boats were easily taken out by the focused storm they’d created. any that slipped through were taken out by the swinging, merciless anchor of vollans’ dhelmise—all except for one who had somehow evaded all threads thus far.

”not for long.”

after a brief dive back under, his gyarados was rising again. from its gaping toothy maw, a hydro pump blasted towards the remaining vessel.

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

HYDRO PUMP meets PROTECT, causing the torrent to split like a fountain in shopping mall lobbies, and once it fades, a carracosta is shooting up at them with an AQUA JET. it looks to slam into the gyarados.[break][break]

meanwhile, jolts of THUNDER shoot out from those still afloat, keeping dhelmise occupied.[break][break]

lance peers over the side, eyeing the sole captain who's looking to climb up their ship.

[attr="class","ooc"]boruta maher[break]
valor: defend[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dhelmise"]

the splash coming off of the protect was obvious enough for bo to realize something was fighting back. his gyarados needed no instruction. though aqua jet was too quick for the monstrous dragon to evade, it was quick to return a hydro pump.

bo noticed lance looking over the side of the boat and did the same.

”oh, nice. comin’ right to us.”

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

it's only then that lance is once again met with the damning fact that perhaps he shouldn't have been there in the first place. he'd been confined to his office for a reason, and that reason starts to show as he's forced to take a step back.[break][break]

"shit, maher, you got this."[break][break]

because lance shouldn't get hit. he can't, really, as one wrong blow might sideline him forever. shit lungs and all that.[break][break]

the captain makes it up only for his hariyama to roll onto deck.

[attr="class","ooc"]boruta maher[break]
valor: defend[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dhelmise"]

bo shot the other captain an inquisitive look, the question of why sitting on his tongue; but now was not the time to ask. if lance didn’t want this fight, then he would take it.

”if you say so.”

there was the brief thought to punch the man off the side of the boat, but that wasn’t the way. that might drown him, and bo was a ranger, now. he didn’t do things like use excessive force with no regard to the aftereffects.

so, just as the man was pulling himself onto the boat, he sprawled out and grabbed him by the back of the collar to drag him over the rest of the way, not wanting to give him a chance to do whatever it was he had been planning to.

unfortunately, there was already a pokéball in the criminal’s hand.

a mime’s back hand was the sucker punch that knocked bo back several steps with a cut tongue, seeing stars.

’mr. miiiime!’

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

for the record, lance would've punched the pirate off the boat.[break][break]

"shit."[break][break]

it sucks to just stand back and watch his partner get hit. to try and help, he pops open a pokeball, calling out his spiritomb that immediately slips into the shadows.[break][break]

"toss it overboard!"[break][break]

the spiritomb reappears before the mime only to burst in a DARK PULSE.

[attr="class","ooc"]boruta maher[break]
valor: defend[break]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-dhelmise"][attr="class","pkspr pkmn-spiritomb"]


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before there was the chance to toss the mr. mime overboard, bo’s gyarados was rearing up out of the water. an angry HYDRO PUMP erupted from its gaping maw, joining the dark pulse and rushing to clear the pokémon off the deck and into the ocean.

as its trainer pushed up to his feet to fight, bo was quick to land a hit back, taking advantage of a resulting stumble to trip him up again. this time, his arms were pulled back, handcuffs latching around wrists, tightening. he spit blood onto the deck and hoisted the man up, only to guide him by the shoulder to a more central location of the boat.

”sit there.”

the gyarados lingered near the boat, eyeing their catch, as though daring him to move. bo looked at lance.

”we gonna go get the rest of 'em?”

LANCE VOLLANS

☉