There’s a comment to be made about how, moments after she had such a strong reaction to his laugh, Melody pulled Navy against a wall. The words are left unsaid. His head is spinning as he sees the monster coming for them. He’s gotten a mega stone somewhere. He recalls seeing some of the Cargo he stole from Rocket with a certain ranger. There were mega stones in there…[break][break]
“They’re really bringing out the big guns for this.” It’s all Navy can do. Smile at the void. Feel terror and apprehension. That’s a monster coming for them. To call such a beast a Pokemon is to level an insult at both that species and Pokemon in general. It’s a beast. Lumbering for them. This well-behaved, collared dragon has had a taste of real power.[break][break]
Junior understands that he needs to act. The Pokemon screeches. The Garchomp, not used to the noise, raises its scythe hands to try and cover his ears, only to realize he has no hands. They’re weapons. This is a creature designed for one purpose and one purpose alone: to kill. To maim. To tear. There is nothing else it can be meant for.[break][break]
It disappears into the sandstorm generated by Junior, leveling a powerful blow at the Pokemon.[break][break]
Navy gets his pokeball out, recalling his Tyranitar. Garchomps, when mega-evolved, are empowered by the sand.[break][break]
“Roland! You’re on your own!” The Gallade understands and nods. It’s a classic battle. The odds are against him. Roland smiles and teleports back close to the trainers. He’ll let the Garchomp power his way through the muddy waters.[break][break]
At Navy’s waist, a sleeping dragon wakes up. He peers at the world outside of his pokeball with one eye open. Curious about this creature that would call himself a king.


[break][break]

+ 90 MP Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Junior kicked up a sandstorm by merely existing. Navy curses their luck. This Garchomp, smaller than Vortigern, is something meant for assassinating targets. He thinks, not for the first time, about how terrifying it would be to be trapped in a sandstorm with this monster. It hungers for their blood…[break][break]
His hand slips to the Pokeball at his belt. There is only one creature he has that can combat this threat. Not yet, he thinks. Not now. Unleashing this monster onto this battlefield is to consign them all to the slaughter. He can hardly control Vortigern.[break][break]
Why did he bring Vortigern? It’s because the job that brought him to Dewford was billed as dangerous – perhaps the most dangerous job he’d ever done. The client was right, in a sense. The actual job was nothing. Overhyped. But what came after, this frantic fumble in the dark…[break][break]
It really is the fight of his life. Without the black dragon, he wouldn’t be alive.[break][break]
He’s stuck in his own head, struggling with the notion of what he must do. Melody is doing a marvelous job…[break][break]
And that’s what scares him. Truth be told, he doesn’t know Melody all that well. He worked with her for a limited capacity. But she seems like a good person. The sort of person Gabe would get along with. He can hear his little brother now, teasing him about working for an Elite 4 trainer.[break][break]
He doesn’t want to see her devoured by this dragon. He doesn’t want her to have to suffer like he has. Losing Kohryu almost broke him. Roland holds down the front, charging after the Garchomp with psycho cut after psycho cut, but the Garchomp is dipping and dodging through the sandstorm like a boxer in a prize fight.[break][break]
“That’s enough, Roland.” The Gallade looks back at him in shock as Navy holds a pair of pokeballs. One recalls Roland before he can say a word. And the other…[break][break]
“This thing thinks he’s the king. Let’s show him, Vortigern.” The black dragon slips free of his ball with a deafening roar. He has smelled another of his kind. Vortigern dwarfs this other Garchomp. He dwarfs him by three feet at least. He looks down at the other dragon and then back at Navy.[break][break]
“Back Vortigern up, Melody. We can’t afford to mess around.” Navy pulls a stone out of his pocket. It begins to glow.[break][break]
The black dragon melts. The pain. Navy can’t imagine the pain he’s forcing upon this apex predator. His body melts in a tumultuous blast of energy. Blue claws become two red scythes. The golden eyes focus on nothing. He rushes at the first thing he sees.[break][break]
He shows this lesser, human-raised creature what a real dragon rush looks like.

[break][break]

+ 100 MP Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“No!!” Navy shouts. Bellows. Screams. It’s like he’s back on the mountain again. The shoe is on the other foot. Another death he could not prevent. Another Pokemon to weigh down his soul.[break][break]
“Tch. Dammit!” He grits his teeth. Balls his hand into a fist. Charges after the executive who ordered this monster onto the field. He’s screaming. Melody and him both take out their frustrations in different ways. Perhaps Cobalion can see the anguish in Navy’s eyes, in the form of frustrated tears. Perhaps he can sense his heart. In it is the rage of a dragon.[break][break]
Mirrored by Vortigern, the black wyrm. When the other Garchomp took to the earth, he did not do so alone. If this monster possessed the capacity to smile, he would be smiling. For all of the agony inflicted upon him by mega evolution, he feels nothing but joy. This lesser creature thinks himself capable of treading in these same realms. Vortigern takes to the earth, too. He swims just a step behind the lesser creature.[break][break]
He lunges out of the ground like a true apex predator. His jaws find the smaller Garchomp. He is going for the kill. There is no way around that fact. His fangs are sharp, his claws sharper still. They dig into the smaller creature’s body. Consuming on him. Feeding on him. It is nature’s ultimate act of love. This monster roars in triumph, inadvertently holding his kin in place for Cobalion’s attack.[break][break]
What an agonizing way to die this must be.


[break][break]

+ Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The dragon does not care for emotion. It does not care for sentiment. It engages in an act vile in most any world, eating the flesh of its own kin. Garchomp are one of a scarce few Pokémon species known to engage in such an act. It tears the skin, contenting itself with the warm meat beneath. The wet sounds of its sloshing and chewing fill the cave. Driven mad by pain, it is a blessing from Arceus himself that he has something to distract him until the energy that morphed him is spent and he is forced to regress into a smaller shape, his scythes reformed into claws once more. He integrates all of the meager strength this lesser king had into himself. [break][break]
He doesn’t notice Melody’s tears. He cares not for his own trainer’s renewed grief. Not even the solemn nod of the legendary earns his attention. There is only the feast. Only his placated rage. Only the macabre dance of life, played out to its inevitable end. [break][break]
Navy’s face is a mask of rage. The smug executive that conducted this battle is smug no more. All of his assured confidence melts under his fist. He bangs his hands against this man until his own knuckles are raw and bleeding. The man’s blood gets sprayed across his cheek. He hears bones break under his fist. [break][break]
“You bastards just take, and take, and take. And for what? To save Hoenn? To line your own damn pockets? Just cause it’s fun to stick it to the man?! To hell with that. To hell with Rocket. To hell with you.” He raises his fist to deliver a blow that will send the man down a road he will never be able to come back from. [break][break]
At last, he hears Melody’s voice. Sweet, even now, as her namesake. It’s a melody of grief, steeped in mercy. He doesn’t understand how she can be merciful now. Not with people like this. The man’s brown eyes look up at him with fear…[break][break]
And Navy tosses him away, like a sack of potatoes. He lands in a heap next to the grunt. [break][break]
“Fuck, man…” He looks to Melody, not even apologetic for his language. “I’m sorry, Melody.” [break][break]
What more is there to say?

[break][break]

+ Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

What he does can’t be called appropriate. Not with someone he doesn’t truly know. But he understands. And that understanding compels him to act.[break][break]
He crosses the distance between them. His hands are caked with blood. His blood. The blood of others. Such is a warrior’s lot in life. His eyes are stained with tears. His expression is forlorn.[break][break]
Navy hugs her. He does not dwell on how soft she feels or how, even in the midst of this battle, he smells agave under all the dirt. It’s a simple act of humanity. Comfort. Grief. Shared pain.[break][break]
“I know.”

[break][break]

+ Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Arceus, how long has it been since he let someone in? Let himself hurt. He keeps walking. He moves forward. He fights. And he crumples under the weight of the world.[break][break]
But there is none of that now. Navy keeps the embrace going. Letting them pour that torment into one another. The pain from losing Gabe, the pain from losing Kohryu. Swampert’s death. So many deaths. Rocket takes and they take and they take. And the League lets it happen…[break][break]
But Melody is not the whole League. She is one woman, just was wounded as himself. This is not a matter of nations. This is Navy and Melody, and all the pain that the world has piled upon their shoulders.[break][break]
“I shut everyone off. It’s not your fault.” His voice is raw. Almost apologetic. “I should have let you be there for me. I’m gonna be there for you. I don’t care how many Rockets show up. I’m gonna fight like hell to make sure you and nobody else gets hurt.” He knows that people will get hurt. More people will die.[break][break]
But he’s still going to fight. For Hoenn. For Gabe. For her.[break][break]
That’s the essence of the man known as Navy.


[break][break]

+ Melody Miro

[attr="class","pokeclass"]