[attr="class","skullbody"]By the time he'd worked up the will to act, it had been too late. In an instant, Palkia twisted the space between dimensions, and a death rattle echoed across Mt. Pyre. He couldn't make out the voices; people, Pokemon, and even spirits cried out in a single, pained unison. And then they were gone.[break][break]
He refused to let this stand.[break][break]
Those who were closer to the Primal Point, those who were already ready, lashed out against Father Winter and his malformed Palkia. Some saw success, enough that the Primal Point was allowed to fire despite his intervention. Others simply had their efforts swallowed in field after field of defensive Unown. Yet, when the dust cleared, the godbeast and its handler still stood. And they had every intent of getting away with it.[break][break]
Even after the lives they unceremoniously snuffed out.[break][break]
Even after their meddling caused a rupture in reality, unleashing the dead upon the world of the living.[break][break]
Even after
Cillian Quinn disappeared, swallowed up in a towering explosion.[break][break]
Isaac turned to Ashley, determination flashing in his eye.
"I'm not letting them get away," he said. His voice was weary and wavering. His stance was shaky. The pain jackhammering the side of his head was starting to catch up with him. Yet Isaac Merlo only knew one direction; onward.[break][break]
He turned to Knuckles, nodding. And then every g-force imaginable slammed into him as the Lucario tore off, piggybacking Isaac towards the battlefield with a steely glint in her eyes. Isaac regretted his choice almost immediately. The extreme speeds she could run at pounded Isaac with g-force after g-force, and the side of his head pounded like a jackhammer. What remained of his vision blurred. His heart shuddered as if it was going to explode. Was he pushing his body through too much, too soon? Was he going to fall here on the sidelines, unable to impact anything?[break][break]
And then he felt a gentle claw on his shoulder.[break][break]
Isaac shook his head, forcing himself to see through bleary eyes. His jaw dropped as he saw a familiar Aggron behind him, floating free and unshackled from the limitations of reality. Was he seeing a mirage? No. It was impossible. There was no faking that warm, gentle look in her eyes.
"You're back," Isaac said, awed and breathless. In response, Kiryu simply shook her head, a frown spreading across her face.[break][break]
"Oh." A pause.
"But you're here?" This time, Kiryu rumbled in affirmation, and in that moment Isaac knew. There was no getting Kiryu back. Not even the realm of death being torn open could undo what had been done. She was old. She was tired. She had lived a long, fulfilling life. And now, even through the most tragic of circumstances, she could finally find her much needed rest. Perhaps it was fate that dictated Mt. Pyre, Hoenn's place of rest, would be where she laid down arms at long last.[break][break]
But that didn't mean she would go gentle into the good night. Just as Isaac stayed with her in her final moments, so, too, would she stay by his side for as long as he still needed her. With her at his back, and Knuckles guiding him onwards, Isaac knew he couldn't ask to be in better hands.
"Thank you, Kiryu," he said, his small voice barely holding itself together to prevent the deep, bittersweet warmth within from spilling out.
"For everything. I love you."[break][break]
Her hand squeezed around his shoulder. From it spilled a magnificent rainbow light. Her power, her determination, her love spilled down Isaac's arms, washing over the burns from when their Mega Evolution backfired. There was no pain in that arm anymore; only a gentle, soothing warmth. It poured back into Isaac's Mega Band, and then practically erupted into a rainbow burst.[break][break]
With each step she took, Knuckles grew taller. With each hold she had on Isaac, she grew stronger. Her tail flared out in a single swish, and her long, wavy dreadlocks floated back into the wind. An aura laced with Infinity Energy exploded around her, giving her the power to run faster, fight harder, and protect the one that she had come so far to find again. Kiryu's love for the trainer she raised had passed down to the poor, beaten-down stray that he had given a new lease on life.[break][break]
For the second time in Knuckles' life, Mega Lucario stood tall. Yet where once she was born of frenzied hate, now she was driven by purpose and love.[break][break]
Knuckles scaled the peaks of Mt. Pyre in heavy leaps and bounds. With how high she jumped, it was almost as if Kiryu was carrying her, helping her reach heights she could never imagine. It was funny. Beforehand, Isaac had envisioned this strategy for damaging the Primal Point; pop up the ridge and attack from out of the sun. Now he was turning that same plan against the man who threatened Hoenn most.[break][break]
Yet it wouldn't be an Aura Sphere that they launched. Instead, as Knuckles crested over the ridge, Isaac held his Pokeball up for her.
"I've got a plan," he promised her.
"Trust me?" The Mega Lucario looked skeptical for a second, but ultimately she nodded, leaning her head against the ball.[break][break]
As she disappeared, Isaac landed on the ridge, whipping one last Pokeball from his belt. It wasn't the freshly-evolved Duster or the ever-tricksy Sanford taking the stage. Instead, the ball hurled right at Father Winters' feet was a massive explosion of lights and colors, the product of far too many Pokeball seals loaded onto a single ball. If the man could handle being flash-banged, he would be able to see Aubrey; exhausted, drained, and almost fainted Aubrey, the Scrafty looking like beaten-up shoe leather compared to his magnificent godbeast.[break][break]
She wheezed, barely standing from the exertion. Despite this, as she turned to look at Father Winters, she snickered with a shit-eating grin on her face.[break][break]
As if out of nowhere, Sanford whizzed from the shadows behind Father Winter. They aimed not for the man himself, but instead for his Unown. Would their efforts prevent it from interfering as Aubrey stepped forward to slug Father Winter right in the gut? The injured Pokemon's appearance was little more than a ruse; while she was too tired to lead the fight herself, her
Beat Up meant that all of Isaac's team had followed her in spirit.[break][break]
Isaac may not have been at the initial clash, but he was able to see what was going on even from his distant position. The man had surrounded himself with defensive Unown, taking advantage of their numbers and vision to blunt attacks heading towards him and his Palkia. Was there a better counter to that than a pre-emptive blinded, followed by a Dark type assault on all angles?[break][break]
After Sanford and Aubrey came Toto, the Blastoise charging from the left to try and steamroll over Father Winters. Duster hopped off of his shell, the Marowak twirling his bone to try and smash the Unown-D on the way past. It was poetry in motion, every member of Isaac's team working together seamlessly for the first time today.[break][break]
And that meant every member. Kiryu's spirit burst out from behind Isaac, Knuckles riding atop the great Aggron's shoulder. Together, the two sailed towards Father Winter, Kiryu's head lowered and Knuckles' fist drawn back. While it paled in comparison to the strikes they could perform under their own power, Isaac's two strongest Pokemon sought to end this Beat Up on a high note.[break][break]
"I don't give a shit who you are or how many of these things you control. You're not getting away," Isaac snarled. Would his gambit work successfully? Or would his team just be beating their heads against an endless wall of Unown?
"I'll chase your ass to Ultra Space if that's what it takes to make you pay for this."[break][break]
2i3TgL6L[break][break]
TEAL DEER;[break]
Isaac and Knuckles to rush the mountain after seeing Palkia's Spacial Rend and the Hoenn region's clash for the ages.[break]
Along the way, Kiryu's spirit supports him onwards one last time.[break]
Knuckles Mega Evolves to ensure they make it before Father Winter can escape.[break]
Despite this, Isaac recalls her, instead throwing Aubrey's ball at Father Winter's feet.[break]
Her Pokeball, riddled with an ungodly number of ball seals, is practically a flash bang.[break]
Aubrey uses Beat Up, seeking to use dark type attacks from every angle to counter Father Winter's Unown shield strategy.[break]
5x Salacc used!
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[attr="class","skullinfo"]MOBILE POST / M-M-M-M-MEGATHREAD