[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo Johanna Joy

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

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo Johanna Joy

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

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Isaac's nose twitched once.[break][break]

It twitched twice.[break][break]

And then the dam burst. Isaac broke into laughter, clutching his sides and rolling from side to side. "Oi, oi, that tickles!" he said between breathless laughs, his sleepiness meaning his defenses were lower than ever. "C'mon, buddy, cut that ou-"[break][break]

Isaac blinked a few times, as if remembering that he was in a narrow crook between branches. There really wasn't much space to toss and turn on such a perch, was there? And any sudden movements might just . . .[break][break]

As if on cue, Isaac started to plummet.[break][break]

The good news was that Isaac was okay, his fall slowed by a few branches on the way down and ending in a bed soft leaves and grass. He was dazed and groaning, but mostly unharmed. The better news was that he'd went out of his way to safeguard the Omanyte, catching him on the way down and shielding him from the impact with his body. "Good to see ya, Jojo" he said woozily as he turned to where Jojo was standing. He held the Omanyte towards her with a weary smile. "This guy yours?"[break][break]

The best news was that the grass nearby started to shake. Clearly, Isaac's fall had been the perfect wild Pokemon bait.

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo Johanna Joy

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

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo Johanna Joy

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

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Isaac whistled at the brief Errol Flynn reenactment going on, clearly impressed by the talent Johanna's Pokemon could put on display. Despite the beefed-up Bisharp being an imposing foe, her Aegislash was able to make quick work of it. The strange mutation was now all hers![break][break]

"Sheesh, you should've told me you had an Aegislash," Isaac said once the little battle was handled. "I bet we could've really wowed the crowd if we put on a swordfight mid gym battle." Was Isaac teasing, or was he serious? Sometimes with him, it could be tricky to tell.[break][break]

"Then again, that's probably not League regulation, huh?" Or maybe it was. Some of these gym battles could get spicy, even with the more avant garde ones becoming deemphasized over time. "Ah well. Another time, then."[break][break]

"So, whatcha been up to lately? Eating up that life of fortune and fame? Scoring free roller coaster rides?"

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo Johanna Joy

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

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo Johanna Joy

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

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Yeah. 'Cause Pokemon training's such a safe sport," Isaac teased, even as he fondly looked over the Pokemon wandering around the route. It was easy enough for non-trainers to own a little pet Pokemon with barely any power behind it, but that wasn't the ideal the League held up at something to strive towards. Now that he knew how powerful Pokemon could be firsthand, it was almost surreal to him that this was the kind of journey they used to encourage 10 year olds to take.[break][break]

Then again, it was all the more important these days. With how much more dangerous the region had become, Pokemon gave all people of all ages the ability to protect themselves. When you were facing down a rampaging badassasaurus rex, it didn't quite matter whether it was a fresh-faced baby, grown man, or little old lady standing behind it.[break][break]

It wasn't surprising to Isaac that Jojo's journey hadn't been all fun and games so far. Josh Devlin had told him plenty about the paperwork, minutia, and elbow grease that it took to keep a gym running. Maybe that was why his old man was never able to hack it past minors.[break][break]

His own experiences at the Bazaar had taught him similar, too. He was more hands-off with it these days, in large part because a more militarized Rocket meant being Blackjack felt less like fun and games. However, he still poked in every now and then to lend a helping hand from behind the scenes, often to untangle messes that he didn't even expect to encounter.[break][break]

"Good on ya for stepping up to the plate, though. The gym's been a big hit so far," he pointed out, noting just how many challengers and successes she'd encountered. "You should be proud."[break][break]

What was Isaac up to? What wasn't Isaac up to anymore? He thought of the gym challenges he'd taken on so far; Josh, Alexei Ivanov, alec foster. Each pushed him further than the last. Each taught him new things to appreciate about both his team, himself, and the wide world they'd inhabited. They weren't the only ones; Finnegan Yang's sword school was already working wonders for him, and empowered him with such a sense of belonging.[break][break]

Then there was Eris Halla. Keeping her safe from the League and Rocket alike was a ton of work, but the moments where he could bring her happiness and peace made it all the more worth it. She wasn't the only one. His heart broke for what LEVIATHAN SPADE had been put through, though she was indoctrinated far deeper than Eris had been. Asher Baran was a lot better at taking care of himself, but even he was someone Isaac worried greatly for in this environment. If he could just keep them safe . . .[break][break]

And what of himself? Two Harcourts played tug of war with his soul. There was Zev Harcourt, to whom he owed his life, his career, his strength, and his future. Then there was Caleb Harcourt, who had survived the same struggles Isaac wrestled with and was one of the few to know the way out from them. The stories he told of Kanto still haunted him to this day, but it was a haunting he needed oh so badly.[break][break]

"Me?" he asked, snapped out of his reverie by the question. "I've just been kinda . . . figuring myself out, I guess."

[break][break]

[break]

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo Johanna Joy

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

[attr="class","wildpkmn"]

[attr="class","wildtag"]Isaac Merlo Johanna Joy

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

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Hey, sometimes the most important we can surprise is ourselves." Isaac shot Johanna a good natured smile, giving her shoulder a gentle nudge with his own. "Can't say I expected you to be the crowd type. But, damn. You've got 'em eating out of the palm of your hand. Be proud of that."[break][break]

Sometimes, life had a way of throwing you onto a vastly different trajectory than you expected. Sometimes, what you thought was a weakness turned out to be a strength just waiting to develop. Sometimes, what you thought was your lot in life was just a chain holding you back. Sometimes, the only true path to self-discovery was through the unknown.[break][break]

Maybe that was a lesson both of them needed to learn.[break][break]

"Well, I've been learning that I should start giving myself more credit, for one," Isaac admitted. "Stop letting a bunch of ghosts from my past tell me what I can and can't do." The Isaac of last year would've never been able to imagine everything that he had accomplished up to this point.[break][break]

At the same time, the Isaac of last year would've never been able to grasp the gravity of what he had to give up to get here.[break][break]

"It's funny. I took your gym challenge 'cause I wanted to support you, y'know?" A small, weary laugh escaped Isaac. It sounded so dorky when he said it like that. "It was a big step for you, and I wanted to see how the gym leader life was treating you. So I figured, hey. Why not give it a go?"[break][break]

"But . . . shit. I think I might have a knack for this whole battle thing."

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