The sad truth is that whoever is supposed to be coming simply isn’t. Another sad casualty of the battle fought between Rocket and the League. The sun cresting the hill would do little to end the fighting by taking a short rest. The humans and pokemon down below would carry on in its absence.[break][break]
The fighting causes trouble. Rifts. Tears in reality. Navy has spent the day tumbling through them. Pokemon at his side. Losing some. Gaining others. Losing part of himself down in the deep blue sea beneath them.[break][break]
One moment, he is stumbling through the cave. Trailing behind grunts. Fighting his own war in the depths against the Rockets. Striking blows as an unsung hero behind enemy lines. He grips a pokeball emblazoned with yellow and black, eager to send these unassuming grunts to an early grave before his sentiment kills the hate in his heart.[break][break]
And the next, he’s stepping around a bend in the road. The sun is above him, but growing low. He’s disheveled, but not overtly injured. Navy turns and he sees someone he knew must be here, by merit of her role within Hoenn society, but he still is shocked to encounter her again after so long.[break][break]
“…Melody?” He says in a cracked voice, as if doubting she is real.


[break][break]

+ 10 MP Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

There’s no time for words at first. An exchange of names. Navy unleashing a Pokémon from a red ball. Roland, his Gallade, flies out and unleashes a kick that compounds with the hit from Melody’s Pokémon. Out of the frying pan and into the dirt. [break][break]

“Navy.” He corrects her even though, on paper, she’s not wrong. Running his hand through his hair to pull it back, he looks at her and tries to hide his shame. To some degree, he feels like he abandoned this woman who put her faith in him.

“I’ll live.” He looks past her to the cart full of supplies. “You need a hand? Lopez and your three amigos in the Elite 4 here, too?” His words tease, but his eyes are serious. Scanning the trees. Roland stays near Melody.

[break][break]

+ Melody Miro 10 MP

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Sure thing, boss.” He slips into that easy, confident persona of his. The one he is on the battlefield. It’s a far cry from the man who tripped over his own shoelaces. That’s the man he is when he has to live in the world of humans. He’s fierce, and he won’t allow any harm to come to this woman. [break][break]

His fists fly along with Roland’s blades. They soar right into the face of a thug. He flies into a rage against these Rockets. He rips their Pokeballs free of their belt and tosses them away before their trainers can unleash them upon the battlefield. The Rocket raises a fist at Navy and he simply does not register that he’s been hit. [break][break]

A kid from the streets of Slateport going down after just one hit would be embarrassing. He can’t look bad in front of this woman. For some reason he can’t quite place, that’s the last thing in the world he wants.

In the distance, three Pokémon are heading their way. Another Pokémon flies from Navy’s belt. Junior, the same little baby Larvitar Melody once met, is now a full grown Tyranitar. He has consumed a mountain of air. He roars and stomps his feet, sending out a blast of earthen fury as a sandstorm kicks up. In its midst, Roland teleports into the fray, engaging in close combat with the Zangoose. [break][break]
“Glad you’re the one I ran into.” He says while beating a man to within an inch of his life for her.

[break][break]

+ 20 MP

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Hey, the way I look at it, I’m just your backup singer.” He puts it in a way he thinks she’ll understand. Navy takes a moment, a single moment, to marvel at Melody’s poise in battle. She fits the bill of an elite 4. She stays calm in the midst of this chaos. Grunts coming for them from all comers and she still looks like she’s fit to stride across the stage. [break][break]

It’s a brilliant strategy. The bird kicking up a tailwind. Putting the wind into Junior and Roland’s sails. Inside of the sandstorm, Roland can sense his foes. He senses their confusion. Their fear. It’s beneath a knight to ambush people. He is no Ceruledge. All the same, his pink blades strike in the sand. [break][break]

Navy sits on the edge of the storm. Rocket grunts do not make it past him. He will not allow Melody to come to harm. He’s not getting paid, but he does his best work pro bono anyway. He’s not going to let these grunts get away with this. Rocket takes and takes and takes. He will let them take no more. Not while he draws breath. [break][break]

From within the sandstorm, Junior strikes out. He takes the Ninjask into his jaws and bites down. The creature tries desperately to escape his grasp as the creature crunches down. It’s brutal. Not as brutal as the Garchomp, but not by much. [break][break]

“It’s safe to say they know who you are and what you’re up to, they’re sending an army for us, feels like.”

[break][break]

+ 30 MP Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Seven.[break][break]
Seven versus an army. Two humans. Four normal Pokemon. One walking legend. Navy marvels at Cobalion when it walks past him.[break][break]
Hearing about these creatures through League propaganda and old leaflets in high school is one thing. Seeing a god of Pokemon walk alongside humanity with one’s own eyes is another matter. It’s brilliant. It remains as brilliant now as it did the first time. Navy controls himself. The last time he stopped to marvel at a legend, Kohryu died. He cannot afford to make the same mistake twice.[break][break]
How reckless he is, though. Navy is right alongside Cobalion. The towering steel swordsman collides with the Pokemon of the grunts, sowing chaos in their ranks. Navy falls upon them. He has no weapon. He has precious little training in officially sanctioned martial arts. All he has is what years upon years on the street taught him. A desperate clawing fight for survival. A battle to keep himself and his little brother out of harm’s way.[break][break]
Hoenn and all the many people within its borders, its Pokemon, the people away from this battlefield, they’re all Gabe to him. So, to keep Hoenn safe, he talks with his fasts. Throws the Rockets away. Protects Melody. There’s a fire in him, an understanding of what he has to lose if he doesn’t take this battle seriously.[break][break]
“Roland! Top everyone off!” The seven each feel a warm sensation rolling over them, like a gentle wave. Whatever wounds have taken hold are healed. That Gallade has been the backbone of Navy’s team today. An indispensable ally.[break][break]
It gives Junior the edge he needs. He lumbers out of his own sandstorm. He sweeps his tail, tearing up stones from the ground and sending him into the waves of lesser Pokemon. Junior is no unique specimen. Tyranitars are rare, but they are still an observed species. He does not have the same capacity to inspire awe as Cobalion…[break][break]
But it must never be forgotten that he is a monster. Tyranitars devour mountains to grow. Their hunger is as great as their might. His steps shake the earth. His roar sends terror through the Rockets.[break][break]
“Well, they know they’re messing with the best.” He talks while his fists fly. “Love your new look, by the way.” His words are accentuated by a jab into a grunt’s temple.[break][break]
“What a bunch of idiots. Did they forget the part where you’re one of the five best trainers in the region?” A man whose deepest aspiration is to conquer her and her compatriots observes.


[break][break]

+ 50 MP Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

A roar pulls Navy from his reverie. His guard has never lowered a bit. He’s high on his own supply of adrenaline, but he knows the stakes.[break][break]
Hearing a roar like that, his hand jumps to the last pokeball on his belt. He feels that it is still secure. Vortigern isn’t free. He remains sleeping in the black/yellow cavern of his ball. What crests the horizon at a Rocket officer’s side is not the Black Dragon.[break][break]
It’s a smaller specimen. Taller than Navy, but not the towering monster he calls his ace Pokemon. It lumbers towards Junior. They’re in for a true battle of the titans.[break][break]
“Desert storm.” Navy commands. It’s been months, but these two are well-trained. They remember the interplay between one another. Roland teleports to the Garchomp’s side. Distracting him. The knight knows well the high hearts of dragons.[break][break]
“Those things are hell to train.” He comments to Melody, who’s in the throes of her own battle. The Rocket grunts surrounding Navy are recoiling. Many run. He seems to remind them of the Garchomp his lion-hearted Gallade now engages with.[break][break]
Roland’s hands glow once more. They reverberate with pink psychic energy. He unleashes a powerful buildup of sharp psychic energy, a psycho cut, along the Garchomp’s chest. Roland’s own hand-arm bleeds from the effort. His eyes betray the pain, but he stays focused. This beast, like Navy’s own Vortigern, has rough skin.[break][break]
The dragon is caught unawares by the lumbering charge of Junior. They are both veiled in a sandstorm. His scary face as the Garchomp turns does the impossible. It puts fear into the fearless. This monster, which from its well-behaved manner has likely been in human hands since he was an egg, has never had his place in the ecosystem questioned.[break][break]
Junior calls his monarchy into question with a crunch, sinking his teeth deep into the Garchomp. They roar, and they wrestle, hidden by the sandstorm.[break][break]
They can’t keep this up, can they?[break][break]
Not that Navy finds he minds if they do. After all, he can demonstrably do this all day.


[break][break]

+ 60 MP Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Navy has to admit…[break][break]
This woman, there by his side, fighting with her brain…[break][break]
She’s really demonstrating why she’s worthy of her spot as an Elite. It’s a masterful strategy. Well-orchestrated. Played out with the synergy of a well choreographed song. Melody Miro is not to be underestimated. No mere princess in a tower, but a warrior on center stage.[break][break]
It makes sense. There’s dozens of girls who can sing, dance, and sway the hearts of the masses. There’s but one he knows that can do all of these things and bring all challengers to their knees. Junior is caught off guard by the motions. Navy’s own strategies are far more offensive and straightforward, playing off of the synergies between his own Pokemon and their firepower.[break][break]
He’s never been subjected to something like this before. The Tyranitar experiences a moment of dizziness while the show plays out. He’s returned to his proper place at the front of the battlefield, almost topping over from vertigo.[break][break]
Instead, his tail slams into the ground.[break][break]
The ground under them all starts to rumble. Junior’s decided to unleash a full on earthquake, his most powerful technique, onto everyone in the area.[break][break]
Navy acts on instinct.[break][break]
“Hold onto something!” He says to Melody as he does what was once his job, pulling her into his arms, planting his feet into the ground, and protecting her as the inevitable fall comes.[break][break]
From what he can see, that Garchomp isn’t doing too well.


[break][break]

+ Melody Miro 70 MP

[attr="class","pokeclass"]