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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]A Z-Move!? This close to the crowds!? Had Josh gone mad!?[break][break]

Yes. Yes he had. And for a second, the roles were reversed. Josh had been the one not lifting a single finger, far too focused on saving something important to him to even consider fighting back. Isaac had been in a maddened frenzy, his world falling apart around him. He pushed, onward and onward, so desperate for things to make sense again that he was ready to force the issue with his own two hands. And he stopped at nothing to achieve that end, right down to launching a Z-Move with no concern for the devastation he'd caused.[break][break]

He was looking into a mirror right now. His sins were playing out right in front of him, a painful reminder of the worst night of his life. They played out through the visage of the one hurt most deeply by it, to the point where he had succumbed to the very same lows. The scenes were etched out in scars, the script had been written in blood. And he only had himself to blame.[break][break]

Isaac did not fly up. He did not fly away. He didn't even charge towards Josh. Instead, he guided a confused Sunny right back down to the ground. For all his past mistakes, his intentions through this protest had been honest. He wasn't here to be Rocket's sword. He was here to be the peoples' shield. For Jack Pile, dead before his time. For the protestors, gathered to send a message only to end up in a fight for their lives. For Julia, whose ice-cold voice in the face of his tsundere dismissal and Josh's misaimed rage was heartbreaking.[break][break]

And for Josh, who he had failed harder than anyone. He'd protect them all, even if it killed him.[break][break]

His determination burned hot. His hand burned hotter.[break][break]

His hands moved on their own. They slammed together, bringing the blades of Luck & Pluck together in the process. A white light spilled across their bodies as they pressed closer, closer, closer still, until the two had practically become one. Their length more than doubled. Their width and sturdiness increased dramatically. As light of evolution exploded off of its body, its blood-red blade began to fade, settling to steel tempered hard enough to turn black. Its edge, crimson and jagged, sparkled in the sunlight before plunging back into the earth.[break][break]

With Josh's defiant roar, the sheathes adhered to Isaac's back rocketed from their holsters. They, too, were overtaken by the light of evolution, fragments swirling around one another and interlocking into a rounder, less cumbersome configuration. It wouldn't be an aimless blade rising to meet this Z-Move. It would be the King's Shield.[break][break]

Yet what was a king without its subjects? Before Isaac even realized what was going on, four more glimmering shields formed in the air around him. Reflected in the shining metal, he could see Vivi, Ivan, and their daughter Joy. The triad of Eeveelutions had shuffled to the front of the crowd, Copycatting the King's Shield to ensure that Luck & Pluck didn't need to stand alone. They were joined by Nemesis, the reclusive Mimikyu paying back a favor to the one that had taken her in with a Copycat of her own. A slab of jagged rock rose up to unite with the shield wall, Caesar's yips as unmistakable as his Spiky Shield was.[break][break]

They were the first into the fray, but as the Emperor's Royal Roar collided with the shield wall, they would be far from the last. Crash and the Boys squirmed into gaps in the shield wall from below, declaring No Retreat to bolster their defenses. Sectonia's Defend Order filled it in from above, Combee drones assembling into a hexagonal wall. Jerry swirled out to the crowd's right, while Flapjack gracefully crested to their left. If anything got past the shield wall, their Mirror Coats would bounce any excess energy skyward instead of letting it wash over the crowd.[break][break]

Even those who couldn't lend their aid through techniques brought their bulk to the table. Shiver unfurled into a wall of fish, an Aqua Ring surrounding her to help her push through the pain. Larger and sturdier Pokemon like the Galarian fossils and Ceres stood tall before the feebler ones. Sanford launched itself towards Isaac, firing an Anchor Shot to the ground to keep him steadied even in the face of the inevitable. Even Kurze, standing off to the sidelines, found himself spurred to move. He cast his Disguise off, giving it a swirl of momentum before flinging it towards Isaac for support.[break][break]

Yet despite his - no, everyone's - best efforts, the Roar was mighty indeed. Even as Sectonia's drones flooded the gaps in the shield wall, the pure force of the sound was reducing them to mulch as quickly as they could appear. Crash and the Boys were sent flying one by one, no matter how hard they dug their little feet in. Jerry and Flapjack started to waver as excess noise spilled from the edges of the shield wall, raining on their bodies like a barrage of blows. Caesar's wall of stone was reduced to rubble. The imitation Shields of the Eeveelutions and Nemesis were fading in and out of reality. The roar was taking a turn for the inevitable.[break][break]

Zaius and Isaac had never seen eye to eye. The Oranguru was, in all honesty, a better Rocket than Isaac was. Yet even he found himself lifting a finger to help. Maybe he was moved by the boy's warrior spirit. Maybe he'd be damned if he let his trainer lose to a gym leader. Maybe he saw a propaganda opportunity in this for Rocket. His reasons were inscrutable, but his assistance wasn't. With daggers glared into the back of his head, he Instructed Isaac to give this one last go and make it count.[break][break]

Isaac took the grounded Luck & Pluck in one hand. He slipped his wrist into the King's Shield with the other. And then, his own yell of exertion muffled by the echoes of Josh's roar, he pushed forward with all of his might. Luck & Pluck began to glow once more, turning first white, then shimmering with every color of the rainbow. The glow started to spread, first up Isaac's arms, then into the King's Shield. Zaius' Instruct gave him the initiative to move, and Luck & Pluck's power gave him the energy to stand tall. The next part was all up to Isaac.[break][break]

Aegis Ignition.[break][break]

With that thought, Luck & Pluck's Z-Power flooded into the King's Shield. It expanded in a burst of rainbow light, large enough to catch the blow, large enough to weather its force, large enough to protect everyone. Sunny pushed forward with a Tailwind, lending a burst of momentum to this clash between two Z-Moves. He beat his wings with all of his might, hoping against hope that they could weather the storm.[break][break]

That wouldn't enough to dissolve the move. But it was the last push Isaac needed. The force of the Z-Move caused the Aegis Ignition to flash. Once. Twice. Three times. That was his cue. He thrust his arm up, and with it guided the shimmering shield in an arc as if it were a rainbow. Once it was at the apex of its curve, the rainbow light shattered, a detonation strong enough to redirect Josh's Z-Move up and over Isaac. Even as it trailed into the sky, high above the crowd, it never lost its defiance for a moment.[break][break]

It was funny. Isaac had loaned the crowd his Pokemon in the first place so that he could protect them. Now here they stood, battered, bruised, and weary, but protecting him instead. Maybe he was right. Maybe he didn't need to come here, after all. His Pokemon were more than capable of the task, and as they joined the protestors in a weak, weary cheer, Isaac knew they could fill that role for as long as he needed them to. His heart swelled in a mixture of pride and adoration. Everything was going to be okay.[break][break]

But there was one step left to handle. There was one person left to save.[break][break]

Both he and Josh were too scarred, too tainted, too broken by their struggles to be a symbol today. Not for the protestors. Not for the crowd. No, that symbol was currently breaking into a run, a living bridge that could put an end to this once and for all. They were right. "This" didn't concern Julia. Something far bigger than them, something far better than them needed her attention more. Isaac could leave this in her capable hands. And that meant he could give this final matter his full attention.[break][break]

He turned to Josh, a cocky grin spreading across his face. Josh didn't need to know that it had taken everything Isaac was capable of and more to fend that move off. All he needed to know was three things. A) His enemy barely had a scratch on him, even in the face of his mightiest technique. B) It was all because he had cheated. And C) He was going to respond to it in that same, frustratingly smarmy way he always did. With a hand cupped to his ear, Isaac shot Josh That Smirk.[break][break]

"Sorry, could you repeat that? I didn't quite hear you."[break][break]

He spurred Sunny along, drawing Luck & Pluck from the ground like the sword in the stone. The Crobat shrieked lack a bat out of hell, charging forward as if to swoop right at Josh. However, he would pull up at the last minute. With a twist of his legs, Isaac guided the ascending bat into a curve right over Josh's head. He wasn't heading towards the protestors. He wasn't heading towards the officers. No, his destination was the city's outskirts. There wasn't going to be any more collateral damage, any more people put in harm's way. Not this time. Not after the scar he had already given this place.[break][break]

Rather than face forward, he turned to look back at the situation fading in the distance. The distance Julia needed to run seemed to grow by the minute, an ever-expanding chasm between two shattered worlds. Isaac had no idea how much time there would be to fix everything, both tonight and for the rest of their lives. If Julia wanted to resolve things before they got ugly again, she might need some serious speed on her side.[break][break]

Perhaps she'd hear first an impatient snort, then a loud bellow, and finally the sound of rapid hoofbeats on pavement. If she needed speed on her side, who better than the Silph Cup champion himself, Buffaloman? Watson sat atop his head, holding onto his curved horns for dear life as the shiny Tauros stampeded out of the crowd. Upon seeing Julia, he pointed, rasping a few times in acknowledgment. The Tauros nodded, slowing its pace to match Julia's sprinting speed.[break][break]

The message was loud and clear; let's ride.[break][break]

As she gradually parted from the crowd, the protestors murmured among themselves. One tried to start up a refrain that she'd ditched and betrayed them, but was shushed by several others. "See? Look, she's got us," another said gesturing to Snaily. With Isaac's non-ghost defenders worn down to their limits, the Goodra standing tall served a powerful symbol in her own right. Others helped ease Chester into the group, ensuring that the Dodrio was sprayed down with some Paralyze Heal and safely surrounded by the crowd. A good handful still kept their distance, hesitant on trusting a Ranger, but it seemed Julia had made a sterling impression today.[break][break]

Whether Buffaloman and Watson ferried her to her destination in style, or simply served as escorts, Julia wouldn't find much resistance on her way to the exhausted officers. If she was fast asleep before, the Emperor's Noble Roar would make her quite easy for Julia to rouse. "Ma, c'mon, five more minute- . . . huh? You're not . . . ah, jeez." Blushing a little, the officer shakily snapped to her feet. "I'm at attention! Honest!"[break][break]

Julia wasn't the only one tending to the lost and the listless. Behind protestor lines, Echo waddled through the crowds. Starting from the back and making his way to the front, he'd toddle up to a protestor, give them a boop, and disappear with them in tow. After teleporting back, he'd move on to the next one down the line, sending them away with a smile and a wave. Some were all smiles, willing to take this stalemate as a triumph. Others bristled, Echo yoinking them away as they complained about wanting to teach the officers another lesson or two. However, the majority let out weary sighs, simply glad that this was finally over.[break][break]

The officers were in good hands. The protestors were in good hands. Isaac could only hope his would be good enough for Josh.[break][break]

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