Josh and Aslan had perhaps gone a little too fast trying to snatch Calyrex from their murderers. The royal and regal Pokémon slipped right through his arms, and it was perhaps a good thing; Josh, too, may have been speared by Groudon's PRECIPICE BLADES, and there could have been two victims instead of one. While he no longer believed he was the Knight of Thunder, he still had the chivalry of one and did not understand why the legendary rider would willingly as to be sacrificed like this. He loudly hissed at MATIAS SILPH and at Elisabeth Fiorelli for their misdeeds. The very presence of the Scorned brought out an emotional flare-up he had thought his conversations with League higher-ups had brought him past.

"MATIAS SILPH , I once looked up to you," the Pokémon racer lamented as the teleportation beam to HAMMERLOCKE began to form around him. "I once thought of you as a leader. A leader who genuinely wanted your successors to achieve greatness. A leader who desired a world free of Rocket's malfeasance. But no. Your true colors have become evident to me. There are some," he pointed at Elisabeth Fiorelli , "who deserve every bit of your wrath. And mine too. The reason I joined Hoenn's League is to make sure people like her can never threaten the families of anyone else like they did mine. I would want to see no more than the heads of every one of Team Rocket's playmakers speared with lightning."

The beam began to engulf Josh as he continued lashing out at the Volatile. "But the little guy who is following directions because he doesn't have a choice? Why should they be swept under the bus?! Rehabilitate them! Allow them to make themselves useful! They do not deserve death like those truly responsible for this madness do! I serve the League's precepts, not sycophants who manipulate their followers into your twisted interpretation of them!"

The Gym Leader turned toward absalom steel. "I'm sorry you had to hear all of that. I just can't stand either one of those two. It's a long story, and I'll share it with you when we make it back to Hoenn if you want me to." He breathed a deep sigh to collect his thoughts. Before Josh could resume his heated discussion with the two Avatars, the beam of light to HAMMERLOCKE swallowed him...

It almost felt like an instant. Her words had been drowned out by the roars of the scattering lances. But even worse, the once stagnant air around her had blown in two directions. If she had not been witnessing the result, she would have never believed with had happened.

The person who she had not even caught a glimpse of had taken advantage of her vulnerable back to launch an attack. But that was not all. The Glacial Spear had been flying towards her.

Had it not been for the quick thinking of Siegfried who had broken out of his Pokeball to act as a shield for her.

In one instant, her two knights had been gravely injured. One from a sucker punch that knocked her to the ground and other from the spear of ice he had been protecting his master from.

Yes, it had all happened in an instant.

And in that instant, the world almost seemed to blur. The form of the young woman who had walked out after launching the sneak was beyond vague. Though she could see glimpses of alabaster white with a contrasting mask upon her face, she could not tell who she was.

Even though she could hear the words of the young woman before her, the voice seemed to distort. A feminine voice would be distorted into one sounding inhuman and would be distorted by a faint ringing.

Perhaps Violet Fairbanks could count herself fortunate that the veil of her lie would be maintained at least a bit longer.

Ah. Ahhhhh. She's right you know. Ever since the incident in the Cloud, you've lost something vital.

The young woman took two Pokeballs and returned her two criticaly injured Pokemon to their Pokeballs. She never once turned back as the questions were answered and as the others put their acts of euthanasia into place.

Sure, your megalomania was one thing you lost. But, at it's core there was something more fundamental that you lost. Something that made you me. Otherwise, you wouldn't be standing here so blank-eyed.

Time almost seemed to stand still as what seemed to manifest before Elaine was an ethereal mirror of herself, it's presence so tenuous it could fall apart at a breath. Yet, the malice in its voice and face were undeniable.

What do you think this was? It was the desire that created me. Something so fundamental cannot be left empty without collapsing in on itself.

Yet, Elaine could not breathe a word to the her past self who had died. What had she lost? What had dulled her blade to such an extent? She could press her hand to her heart forever and never find out.

It was a primal instinct to you. Do not forget it.

Your rage. Your hatred. The fires that you so cruelly tried to snuff till they were nothing but faint embers. Rekindle them. Use them. And forge that which you lost.

Or else you will lose your Pokemon and your friends one by one. Once again, you will...

NO ONE. I WILL LOSE NO ONE AGAIN. NOT MY POKEMON. NOT MY FRIENDS.

As she said 'friends', the face of Violet Fairbanks flashed in her head. She reached forward and grabbed the manifestation by its face and swung her hand to the side.

"NO ONE."

Her hand grabbed a lone Pokeball and released the beast within--the dragon she had only just recently recalled.

"IMMOLATE EVERYTHING, TIAMAT!" She cried out as she jumped atop its back.

She would let her rage and hatred burn bright and burn everything in sight. After the dragon took a deep inhale, it let it out, a mass of flames to consume everything before, including the stranger who helped remind her of what she had forgotten.

"We can head to Motostoke as soon as we've crushed everything."

---

TL;DR:

• Elaine's outfit, not well suited to the cold but such are the casualties of fashion
• Ceruledge is severely injured by Sucker Punch, Gallade is severely injured by the lances
• Elaine returns both Pokemon
• Elaine is admonished by her past self about something she had lost before she wipes that illusion away. None of it happened in real time. Think of it as a conversation in her mind.
• Elaine sends out Flygon, hops atop its back and uses Fire Blast towards the Spiritomb
• Elaine makes verbal intent to head to the Motostoke portal

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El averted their gaze, sheltering behind Midas' prior Protect against whatever may come their way. They couldn't bear to watch the king's suffering - and the end that would soon come for it. But with time, someone would manage to deal a killing blow upon Calyrex - putting it out of its misery.

And with the end, came a number of radiant petals - ones that produced beams of light, leading to four different locations. Circhester, Hammerlock, Motostoke, Ballonlea... The four remaining settlements that still stood, in Galar.

But rather than immediately pick a location, El can't help but find themself in that of quiet contemplation - their gaze drifting towards the deceased Calyrex. They... wanted to give it a resting place - a proper burial, even if not one fit for a king - though it'd likely take time that none of them had, especially in a place as cold as this. The earth, frozen as it was, was probably as hard as steel.

Instead, they make a quiet prayer that it is able to rest in peace. It deserved that much, at least, after everything that it had to put up with.

After they return Midas to their pokeball, they glance to the others, to see what they make of the information offered. To see where those around them might go. But much to their surprise, it seemed that there were those who had the same idea as them - just in a different direction.

When luka chêne began putting together the statue and making a burial mound for Calyrex, El would join in alongside John Sullivan , Aurelie Lefevre , ana fell , Isaac Merlo , and Julia Davis . Bibidi, too, would be there to help in such - using her Telekinesis to gather together all the little pieces of the statue that she could find, and hold them in place so that Ume's Frenzy Plant could stitch it up.

But what of the body? After some thought, El would decide to gather the stones and broken bricks of the ruined building - creating a proper mound for the king from whatever they could find. They packed snow and gravel into the gaps - caring naught of their fingers going numb from the cold - simply wanting to make sure that the king was properly interred, rather than be buried under nothing but snow.

It's only when this cairn is complete - Bibidi joining in the work, once the statue was as put-together as it could be - that El steps back. They can't feel their reddened hands - which they shove into their pockets, giving a shiver. But, they feel better about leaving Calyrex like this - they feel like this is better.

The sound of churning earth and Julia's voice makes El jump a little, before they glance in her direction - noticing a stone spike, and her frazzled expression. "I- r-right!" They respond - already moving with her, in the direction of Hammerlocke.

TLDR / NOTES :
- El and Alakazam (with Telekinesis) pitch in to help rebuild Calyrex's statue, makes a cairn for the king from the stones/bricks/etc. scattered about the ruins.
- Jumpscared by the sound of Matias' earthspike + Julia's voice, wonders what the heck just happened
- Follows Julia Davis to Hammerlocke
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Underneath the helm Amor watched it all play out in front of him, he drank in the answers that this King Pokemon gave everyone not just himself. The Skeleton, and Black Knight had fought, and if those two pokemon were the two that he thought they were, sweet vindication flooded through his veins, and it took every ounce of his willpower to not just scream 'told you so'. To no one in particular, but it made the warning he received start to piece itself together even more. However that was all driven away, during the "peace" that Isaac Merlo had bought him, Amor watched Josh Devlin throw what amounted to a glorified temper tantrum at MATIAS SILPH . It made his blood boil watching the attempted child murderer try to get self righteous with the psychopath. However what truly piqued his interest was how the Silph retaliated.

Amor knew that he was Groudon's Avatar, but had little data on his actual abilities. He was not as well documented as Raziel Beckett , or Katherine Fairburne . So noting that he could make spikes of earth appear at will was good to know, but even that information did little to ease the emotions welling up inside of him.

"Hypocrites, every single one of them...." Came the intrusive thoughts once more.

Underneath his armor his face twisted into a sneer, and without informing any other Rocket, Amor made his choice. With Draco at his back he walked into the beam that would take him Hammerlocke. If he was going to be able to fight them one day, knowledge of their abilities was necessary, and today was just as good as tomorrow to him.

If he got to drown them all in a sea of sorrow along the way, that would just be a bonus.

Mpgraio8

TLDR
Amor goes to Hammerlocke.
Short, and sweet!