[attr="class","nomitest2text"]
Explosions. Screams. An earthquake. A blast of bright light.[break][break]
The dust cleared. Nomi coughed.[break][break]
Nomi was
alive. Bruised, battered, covered in debris, but
alive.[break][break]
Valerian, however, was unmoving before her. With a gasp, Nomi rushed to his side, and gathered his damaged body up in her arms. He cracked open a baby blue eye, and gazed up at her with a dazed expression. She realized - heart pounding, tears welling - that it was because of his
LIGHT SCREEN that she had survived...that they all had.
Lulu Flint and
Violet Fairbanks and their Pokémon were all alive, as well, she could see. Even the
FRENZY PLANT that had constrained them momentarily seemed to be gone. But Valerian had paid a price.[break][break]
"You were brilliant, Val," she murmured to him, flashing him a watery smile from behind the glass of her spacesuit helmet.
"You were the best." She brought out his Pokeball and held it up, intending to return him to it. He thrashed in defiance - expression turning stubborn despite the pain - he didn't want to leave her, but he soon collapsed in a pitiful display of exhaustion.
"I know you want to keep protecting me, but I promise I'll stay safe, okay?" She could see the skepticism through his weariness, but it was for the best. He would understand, in the end.[break][break]
After she returned Val to his Pokeball to get some much-needed rest, she turned her attention back to the mineral vein. Despite the tremendous power of the
ORIGIN PULSE, the otherworldly crystal shimmered before her, unbroken, its glittering surface almost mocking all those that wished to steal from it with its unblemished appearance.
If the legendary Kyogre couldn't break it, then what can? Nomi wondered, awed and humbled by the resilience of the crystal. It made her want it even more. It was clearly powerful beyond imagining.[break][break]
And yet...she squinted.
Was there a crack running through it now? She followed it with her eyes...[break][break]
Killian Decker's Deoxys was floating ominously above 99943 Meteno's surface, surveying the landscape critically like an alien general. Except...it
wasn't that Deoxys, was it. She whipped her head around, searching...there! The Deoxys she'd remembered seeing earlier - slightly different, now eerily merged with Killian - was much closer to where she and Lulu had been attempting to mine the mineral.
There's another Deoxys!? Nomi thought, shocked. Had it been summoned by the presence of its "sibling"? Or had they awakened it when they'd attempted to break the crystal?[break][break]
One thing was certain: it didn't look friendly. In fact, it seemed to be...
charging?[break][break]
Thrust into another quick decision, Nomi released Trillium and, after shoving a few of the rocks that had exploded around the mineral - pieces of the surrounding landscape - into her pocket, frantically climbed onto his back. The Togekiss trilled urgently, as if sensing the impending doom headed their way.
"We need to move," she agreed. With a sudden burst of speed, he leapt into the air and carried her out of the direct path of the wild Deoxys and its nearly-readied
METEOR BEAM. They hovered near the mineral vein, but hopefully far enough away to not get hit.[break][break]
Nomi felt her brain buzzing, a million different thoughts and observations vying for dominance. What could she
possibly do to protect herself from so many legendary Pokémon, including a new one from deep space, who was
especially dangerous because it was not yet tied to a human avatar? What could she
possibly do to mine a magical, indestructible crystal? She was nobody special, nobody
important, just a young scientist hoping to discover something that would change Hoenn forever.[break][break]
Beneath her, Trill seemed to respond to her unspoken emotional plea, the bond between them translating her desperation and ambition into the one move that would leave everything truly up to chance:
METRONOME.[break][break]
uzybvKDK
[attr="class","nomitest2ooc"]
Togekiss uses METRONOME
[break]
TLDR
+ When the dust clears from the
ORIGIN PULSE, Nomi realizes she and her companions are miraculously still alive. Val saved them, but now he is critically injured.[break]
+ Nomi forces Val to go back into his Pokeball even though he stubbornly wishes to stay by her side.[break]
+ Nomi releases Trillium, her Togekiss.[break]
+ Nomi pockets a stray moon rock (meteor debris) and gets onto Trill's back, hoping he can maneuver her out of harm's way, but still hover close by to the mineral vein.[break]
+ Nomi feels overwhelmed by the sheer power of all of the incredible legendary Pokémon around her, and also feels frustrated by everyone's inability to crack through the mineral vein...not knowing what else to do, she leaves it up to chance.[break]
+ Trillium uses
METRONOME in hopes of its effect being something powerful that can actually help Nomi and Rocket succeed.