The sky weeps for the dead. Thunder’s crack and wind’s howl are their dirge. There will be many funerals after today. Families across Hoenn and beyond will have to say goodbye.[break][break]
Navy isn’t ready to say goodbye. Not yet. He hasn’t even accepted that Gabe is truly gone yet. There’s a thousand ideas running through his head as he listens to Kyle over the wind. Maybe he could earn the respect of a god who can revive the dead, or one who grants wishes. Maybe…[break][break]
Maybe he can do something. The Rockets have secrets beyond counting. Aces aplenty up their sleeves. A thousand clever tricks. Maybe one…[break][break]
It’s just people on both sides. People fighting for something. People with families. People with aspirations, hopes, dreams. Dumb kids pulled in by Rocket, just like Gabe was a dumb kid pulled in by the dream of a champion’s belt.[break][break]
He moves like a shark through the streets. Quiet, with cold eyes. Dead eyes. Empty eyes. Eyes that offer recognition at Kyle’s words before he focuses on something else.[break][break]
A pair of young men. Rough looking. Celebrating this victory. They have bags over their shoulder. With the city in this state, plenty of people left their stuff behind. They have five one another.[break][break]
“Man, people said we were dumb to get these. Now look who’s dumb? Team Rocket’s on the map!” One of the dubious duo says as he rolls up his sleeve. There’s a red R carved into the skin with a tattooist’s needle. A brand of loyalty that will last on the flesh long after it dies in the heart.[break][break]
Navy stands before them. There’s a flash of lightning behind him.[break][break]
As the blue dragon Gabriel Navidson urged up the waterfall coils free from his ball, it is not the wind that howls.


[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

You’ve gotta love Kyle. The man’s a miracle worker. Supported by the howl of a Mightyena Gabe would have him fight under the glitz and glamour of a thousand lights and tens of thousands of adoring fans, Kohryu descends upon the next wave of Rockets. The important ones are off doing important things. This is a meaningless battle.[break][break]
They’ll find people to replace these nobodies, yet the weeping blue dragon does not care. Gabriel Navidson saw good in bad people and worth in worthless things. He was the sort of person who could turn a rock into polished gold with the power of his belief. Belief can turn a street rat into a hero – for that is exactly what he believed both Navy and Kyle are.[break][break]
Their actions ill suit heroes. Neither seems to care. Their Pokemon do not care. Hoenn weeps above them. Kohryu unleashes an aqua tail that slams one of the grunts into a wall. The other curses, his arm seemingly locked in place by terror. Whether he recognizes Kyle or not, he can at least recognize an angry Gyarados when he sees one.[break][break]
“It’s a shame, they spotted us. We’ve got no choice, really.” In the thunderlight, he looks like the black dragon he will one day catch. His gunmetal eyes are cold. Kohryu slams into the frozen grunt, rainwater coalescing into a waterfall. He rises high into the air, sending the grunt up with him. The man falls far away, screaming into the distance.[break][break]
“Who knows, they could have been trying to explo—”[break][break]
In the midst of Navy’s bravado, a small girl looks out from a window. She shrieks at the sight of Kohryu, but her eyes settle on Kyle. A lifeline to pull them back from the worst instincts of their nature.[break][break]
“Are, are you here to help?” The girl asks.


[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

There are two Michael Navidsons. There’s the truth, that this is a part of who he is – someone who fights until he feels nothing. Someone who leaves behind thoughtless destruction in the shattered teeth of thugs and those he runs across. But then, there’s Navy. The part of him that Gabe saw. Someone who could be better. A hero. Navy doesn’t feel like a hero – especially not with a Rocket grunt there, slumped against the wall, several ribs shattered by Kohryu’s tail.[break][break]
But Arceus, he wants to be. He wants Kyle and himself to be the people Gabe believed them to be. Gabe’s Hoenn, in Navy’s eyes. Kyle’s just a guy from Slateport, but people look up to him. Purely by virtue of his position, there will be tens of thousands of nameless civilians who hold him up as a symbol of hope.[break][break]
A symbol that, no matter what, someone’s looking out for them.[break][break]
“We’ll take you back, don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here.” Navy offers with a smile, trying to be the better man.[break][break]
Then, she drops the bomb.[break][break]
“They, they took my mommy.” She points to the R on the thug’s upper arm, leaving no question as to who took her.[break][break]
This isn’t a place for a hero or better men.


[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

His mind slips back to the day Gabe set out on his journey. There’s a way it always goes in the stories. A nice man offers the young, intrepid trainer a selection of Pokemon. Gabe chose Charizard. Of course Gabe chose Charizard. The words of that wannabe Professor ring in Navy’s ears.[break][break]
On your journey, you’ll face many choices. Every choice has consequences. No matter what, you have to live with the consequences. Stern words for a trumped up Pokemon salesman, but they ring true to Navy. Eh, you’ll be fine. The guy ended with a shrug.[break][break]
They face a decision. Whatever Rocket’s doing with this girl’s mom, it’s not good. It’s…not for her eyes.[break][break]
He thinks about Gabe again. Gabe’s half-missing head is scorched into his mind’s eye. Before he can stop the image from flashing into his mind, he sees the same for the girl. It’s like letting Gabe make his own choice to swim or not. If he takes this girl with them, she’ll see things. They won’t be able to protect her.[break][break]
The battle has already been fought. They’re licking their wounds. There’s nothing more to do except help who they can. Navy’s voice is shaking when he finally speaks. It’s weak. Defeated.[break][break]
“Kyle. We…we have to go back.” He picks the girl up and starts walking to his Gyarados. “We…we can’t. We can’t do this in front of her.” And by then, it may well be too late.[break][break]
“We’ll, we’ll save your mom, kid, but we gotta get you outta here first.” Kohryu does not judge. Whatever opinions he has, he keeps to himself. He lowers himself so that Navy can climb into the saddle.



[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

In the days to come, the irrational part of him will wish he had chosen a different path. Maybe, just maybe, they’d send in the cavalry for Kyle. Maybe if they raged their way into the base, drew out all the Beasts and other big dogs, the League would have to push this fight. They’d rip and they’d tear. End this here and now.[break][break]
It’s a nice little dream of a yesterday that couldn’t be and a tomorrow that will never come. They’d just get themselves killed. Navy’s death is incidental. He’s just some nobody from Slateport. Kyle, though – his head on a spike might will be the push Rocket would need to instigate their uprising here in Hoenn. That’s what he tells himself when he regrets not making that push.[break][break]
They snake through the streets. Kohryu flies quiet and low. For a monster so profoundly big, he’s good at snaking his way unseen. Gabe trained him well. Stroking along a patch of scales, Navy encourages the Gyarados on. Just a little farther now…[break][break]
A pair of Houndoom emerge from one of the houses. Well-trained. The ambushers have become the ambushed. Kohryu roars and lashes out with his aqua tail, empowered by the rain. The dogs whine and get slammed through a wall, back into the buildings. Light consumes them. More light from behind.[break][break]
It’s not just two Houndooms that come out after that. They’re mega Houndooms.[break][break]
“You didn’t think we’d just let you walk out of here with that bargaining chip, especially after nearly killing our friends, didja?” A man calls out. A mega stone’s set at his wrist.[break][break]
They wanted blood. For their sins, it looks like they’ll have it.

[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

With sound and fury, Kyle shows exactly why he is Hoenn’s champion. With a Pokemon so many overlook, he pushes them back. The grunts’ ears bleed. Covering them, some fall to their knees. Their houndooms recoil in pain. They snarl, ready to go on the offensive…[break][break]

Until they see the two legends standing at his side amidst the whorl. Navy can’t believe what he’s seeing. He isn’t Officer Lopez. He’s Kyle Lopez, Champion. Thunder cracks. A north wind blows. On it is death. They have but a single moment of safety left. They stand in the eye of a hurricane that is allowing them to run, should they wish.[break][break]

Navy and the grunts are unified in what they have to say in response to this development.[break][break]

“What[break]

the[break]

fuck?![break]”[break][break]

One of them has the good sense to run. The other decides he’s going to be the man to kill Hoenn’s champion. Flailing an arm forward, still deaf, he waves his arm at Kyle, urging his mega on.[break][break]

Dogs have a better sense than humans for when a fight’s lost. Even drunk on the power of infinity energy, it knows what he’s dealing with. These are his betters, creatures he can never hope to best. His Houndoom abandons him. Garbed in his brilliant armor, he turns and runs.[break][break]

That just leaves the question of what to do with the man who decided to fight. Bereft of his Pokemon, he’s at Kyle’s mercy.[break][break]

Navy can’t get close enough to talk to the champion, but he covers the girl’s eyes.


[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Holy shit…” A repetition that will cross his lips time and time again as the days turn to years. Wide eyes do nothing but observe, flitting back and forth. There is no tool or trick in Navy’s arsenal that is the equal of these two beasts he breathed into existence with willpower. It’s one thing to hear a rumor about an old friend – that he has been blessed by something greater than himself. Another to see the facts of what has happened to him laid bare.[break][break]
Kohryu welcomes the returning hero on. Though this day is, ultimately, their loss, the loss does nothing to dampen Kyle’s heroism. Hoenn’s champion can defend its people from anything. Sootopolis’s loss was but one slip-up, one Navy hopes will not be repeated.[break][break]
With the champion onboard, Kohryu kicks up. The girl clings to Navy, grounds him in the here and now. It’s a preview into his future. The people around him anchor the detective to the present, keep that image of Gabe’s body out of his mind. There will be many people like this girl across the years – people to whom he gives everything he has so that he will not have to look inward.[break][break]
He’d be lying if he said there was no jealousy in his heart at his friend. One climbed to the top of the world, one still crawls around far below in the alleys and gutters of the world. It’s his own decisions that led him there, just as Kyle’s decisions led to his ascent.[break][break]
Everything’s a choice, and everyone has one.[break][break]
He’ll tell another lost girl that, years from now. They’re sitting in a crowded theater. People flit their eyes towards them, humor them with annoyance at the distraction from the cinema, go back to concentrating. It’s always a choice. How can he envy Kyle when Kyle is nothing but the sum of his own decisions, and he his?[break][break]
They arrive back at the hospital. They never find out what the Rockets wanted with this girl’s parents. She’s one of Arceus knows how many children that end up in the lackluster foster and orphan system of Hoenn. Navy will check up on her. He’ll consider trying to adopt, but he simply doesn’t have the means of the funds.[break][break]
“Damn…Gabe wasn’t wrong to look up to you, you know that?” It’s one of the few things he says to Kyle on their way back. Who can say whether he hears the words over the wind.[break][break]
“…got a long way to go…” Quieter. A seed planted. The ultimate path away from that morgue slab. Climbing up, never looking down. Never looking back. Throwing yourself into anything and everything.[break][break]
And too soon, they’re back. Back in reality. Crying children surround them. Mothers, fathers, loved ones lost. Just two people again, one with far too many responsibilities.[break][break]
“I’ll leave you to it, Lopez.” He’s back to his old manner of speech, just for the span of a sentence. “I have to make…” It hits him again. Fresh. “…arrangements.”[break][break]
“Take care of yourself, Champ. And…thanks.”

[break][break]

+ kyle lopez

[attr="class","pokeclass"]