GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park

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played by

LunarMona

Luce
she/her
22
June 22nd
Anistar City, Kalos
Demisexual
Attorney
Grunt
10 height
10 height
i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.
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17 posts
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Lucette Castellane
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 16, 2023 6:38:23 GMT
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She watches the Dynamaxed Charizard go down with her Greninja’s and the other Pokemon’s help while the Galarian Articuno goes down too, but the latter is now deceased. In the aftermath of the fight of the purple bird, there were younger ones being cared for by the others who were imprinted on. Kotaro gives his trainer a nod since he’s still okay at the end of the battle, so they turn to the Galarian peasants as they applaud the heroes’ efforts with her boss and the other from the opposite faction they were working with hailed as kings of Hammerlocke. [break][break]

In the first month, the pink-haired young woman helps to set up the defenses for the city again since the barricades were destroyed. She trades her modern jacket and skirt for some medieval clothing since they might be in this alternate Galar for Arceus knows when, but she worries a lot about her family back home in Kalos. Both the two kings are ruling over the territory as she wipes the sweat off her brow of pushing up one of the wooden fences over the outside of the city gates.[break][break]

The first year passes, she gets a home in Hammerlocke to live in, the young woman decorates it with some fabric she can find and makes it look like her family’s estate in Anistar City. The family crest of the Castellanes show proudly on the fabric banners hung up in the kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and the front entrance. Outside of her home, she helps to get some food and water supplies for the rest of the people of Hammerlocke and for her fellow heroes and royals.[break][break]

Over the decade from the first year, Lucette sets up a bathhouse for others to relax after work since she thought it would give others a chance to have some downtime between getting busy with other things. is one person she pays a visit to for catch-up and some tea when she can get off her legal duties. [break][break]

Necrozma attacks the city and when it leaves, there are black metals left behind. She asks to make her shortsword imbued with Water Pulse and when he finishes, the shortsword itself is glowing blue with the water making pulsating rings around the blade.[break][break]

BTZvjb|4




@rustedshield [break][break]

NOTES


- Lucette sets up a bathhouse in the 10 year timeskip.[break]
- Luce gets her shortsword imbued with Water Pulse from Amor's blacksmithing. Its ranged attack is shooting out a pulsating torrent of water when she swings it and its strikes leave a trail of water too.






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played by

Oob

Rabbit
He/him
Twenty-five
November 17th
Opelucid City
Gay
Researcher
Grunt
5'11" height
5'11" height
Days fade into a watercolour blur / Memories swim and haunt you
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342 posts
Alba Evovae DOLLARS
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Alba Evovae
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 16, 2023 10:23:36 GMT
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Ballonlea



[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/666350207843172410/1118590213258739813/FFXIV_Now_i_know_the_truth.mp3[/player]
[break]
Now I Know the Truth - Final Fantasy XIV
[break][break]

Alba has always been able to recall his dreams. Perhaps it's the side effect of being around a Pokémon so intimately linked to them for so long, but either way, the half–sensible visions of the night are always crisp in his mind whenever he wakes. Like all memories, some fade, and others linger; some only serve to keep his real memories fresh.[break][break]

Alba does not place much stock in his dreams. They show him other worlds, other lives that physically could never be. He discards them like unneeded waste. While their exact nature still eluded contemporary science, it was still plain as day that they were simply ideas and sensations conjured up by the brain. Why would he let himself linger on something that wasn't real? Something that only 'existed' for twenty minutes before melting into a fine mist wasn't worthy of attachment.[break][break]

It is this principle — 'Everything here is just a dream, a bygone memory I will soon wake up from.' — that drives the scientist through the first month. Every moment he has to spare is put to use trying to find a way to return to reality. ventures out into the ruins, and he sometimes he follows, listening patiently to whatever the roulette spin for today had decided she'd say, knowing it would all be meaningless come tomorrow.[break][break]

While the world around him feels so sickeningly false, he acts as if it were true, for the sake of self-preservation. It's not a regular dream that he finds himself in, after all, but some oneiric curse he had the misfortune of falling under. He'd rather not kill himself, thinking that nothing would affect him permanently.[break][break]

With and his companions bridging the divide between the cities, the letters start to come. It was a simple, passing spark before all of this, but he's happy to hear that spark still shines on.[break][break]




As the months grow and grow, the assaults on his new (temporary. The words drips with defiant bile) forest home only get worse. The people who did not exist slowly return to the fog they came from. A few more children are left without a home, and are forced to seek out another. An orphanage, one of the parts of the city keeping the lights on despite the hardship, welcomes them with an open door and a warm hearth.[break][break]

One day, the woman who (wasn't real but still) runs the orphanage dies. She disappears with as little fanfare as could be, and suddenly there is a gaping hole, reluctant to be filled.[break][break]

…He doesn't mean to step into her shoes. Even if only a handful of people are people here, the shades that play the part can still annoy him. They can't have these children wandering the street aimlessly; they're noisy, and everywhere, and when another attack hits they're going to get in the way. So Alba takes on the temporary position, until someone better suited could come along and take over from him.[break][break]

He hasn't given up on leaving, even if it's clear this is a longer-term project than he first thought. It's just that now he has less free time to spend. Still, if anyone approaches him with this, that, or the other, he's happy to lend his scientific expertise.[break][break]

The letters continue to flow. At some point, he reads 'Dearest' and has to pause, as a spark slowly creeps across his face.




The mask disappears, somewhere in the second year. It's too inconvenient for him to keep wearing, surrounded by the same people day after day like he is. The faction divide has largely eroded away, regardless; it's lost any purpose it might have once had. Perhaps when the dream ends, there will be consequences for such a choice, but he considers that, and makes it all the same. His thoughts on the falsehood of Galar have only grown quieter in recent days, anyway. 'Uncomfortably quiet,' he thinks some nights. As the years stretch on, even those moments dwindle like dying stars. The experiment period has long exceeded his expectations. The scientist Alba Evovae was unprepared to last this long, and so a dream has seeped into his bones.[break][break]

The letters to and from his beloved are steady like the tide. He remembers a face illuminated by fluorescent lights, sixty-thousand leagues under the sea. What does he look like now, changed by this dying land? 'See you soon,' he writes, that thought swimming in his head.




Archer, from Fate Stay Night.

The Black Knight arrives. Alba buzzes at the prospect of an unknown, just as he steels himself to defend the home he's built for himself. He'd die for the dreams he sees day after day. He doesn't understand why, but he has long outgrown denying it. A decade spent in a foreign memory has changed his idea of truth and falsehood, a cliff face made to weather an eternity of wind and storm.[break][break]

The orphanage stands untouched, even as calamity gouges out pounds of Ballonlea's flesh. He joins the vanguard in protecting their city, but that is the one place above all others he seeks to save.[break][break]

The Black Knight shows mercy, or perhaps it simply tires of trying to catch prey that bites back. It leaves, and they breathe a sigh of relief, licking their wounds and counting their dead under mushroom-light. For all it has taken from them, it has left a gift as well; black metal. Even after ten years, Alba can recognise the similarities to the shards from that dog's shield.[break][break]

Armed with sword and shield, their purpose crystal-clear,[break]
They'd vanquish chaos, restore the realm, dispelling fear.


But that particular prophecy is not meant for him. The weapon he asks to be forged is a large hammer, with seemingly no particular reason behind it. Perhaps he wanted something that could both create and destroy, or perhaps he just wanted something large enough to turn black crystal into glittering dust. Or… maybe he wanted a weapon too heavy for the kids to swing around. Gravity and its own size keep it fixed to the floor, but he picks it up and it seems to weigh nothing at all.[break][break]

Something looms on the horizon. The world is ending, and the prophesied time is sure to come. There is an uncomfortable thought trailing that, but he refuses to let it come into focus. Something that 'exists' for twenty minutes—[break][break]

The sounds of muffled shouting bring him out of his musing. Leaving an unfinished letter at his desk, he drags himself out of his chair to take care of the commotion.[break][break]

—Is still worthy of that fleeting time.




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NOTES


Farewell, mask.[break]
In the first month, he spends all his time trying to find a way out.[break]
Over time, he takes on the position as head of the Ballonlea orphanage, and changes.[break]
He never really stops, but Necrozma's arrival brings research/exit-seeking back to the front of his mind.[break]
Writes letters to throughout the whole 10 years.[break]
His chosen weapon is a hammer with the power of Gravity.
C9fGUZTE


[break][break]@ballonlea squad (10 years after ver.)





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played by

nellethiel

Caleb Sharpe
He/Him
30
October 13
Lavender Town, Kanto
Bisexual
League Ranger
Elite
Chasing memories
of sapphire eyes and cruel smiles
6'4" / 193 cm height
6'4" / 193 cm height
Leave the past where it is: behind you.
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795 posts
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Caleb Harcourt
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 16, 2023 16:09:09 GMT
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This post is a summary of the following thread: Sworn Brothers, Now and Forever
[break]
THREE DAYS
[break]
When it was all said and done, they handed him a crown.[break][break]
A crown?[break][break]
He stared down at it for a good, long time before he even thought to put it on his head. It was a corroded, tarnished thing, like the city itself, and it felt far too heavy in his hands.[break][break]
"I think there's been some sort of mistake," he said to .[break][break]
His body ached in a bone-weary way, and he felt rattled by the relentless, violent nature of the poisoned Pokémon. All around him, people kneeled, swearing fealty to Caleb and Isaac. Even dipped her head to them in respect; she'd been with them throughout the battle - courageous and clever - but even she seemed to feel they were deserving of the sudden elevation to kingship.[break][break]
That's what the peasants were chanting: All hail the kings of Motostoke![break][break]
"He's the one you want," Caleb tried to tell them, deferring to Isaac. "He's the real hero."[break][break]
Isaac was the one who'd rallied them. Isaac was the one who'd protected them. Isaac was the one who had bolstered all of their attacks, with words and his powered up armor. Caleb had merely heeded his call, which had felt like the right thing to do. Deeper still, Caleb had wanted to ensure that a surplus of courage didn't kill the younger man.[break][break]
Isaac's life was precious, after all. Caleb had promised to help Isaac make it out of Rocket alive.[break][break]
But here in this Galar-that-wasn't-Galar, in a time-outside-of-time, Rocket and League were suddenly meaningless labels, their faction conflict a footnote in comparison to the larger war going on between the poison and the kneeling peasants.[break][break]
We did what the Calyrex wanted, Caleb thought. Play along, and we'll be sent home.[break][break]
So he put the crown on his head, even though its weight was an uncomfortable symbol of an authority he did not feel he deserved.[break][break]
ONE YEAR
[break]
Calyrex did not, in fact, return. Those from Hoenn were not sent home.[break][break]
The reasons why were beyond Caleb; the scientifically inclined - such as - might look for answers in the landscape, the constellations, the energies of this strange memory, but that wasn't Caleb's specialty. All he knew was that an entire city's worth of peasants were relying on him and Isaac to lead them, so they'd better do it, and do it well.[break][break]
Isaac had all the ideas. The way he enthusiastically rambled on to Caleb in their makeshift "castle" (the hotel attached to the central train station) turned Caleb's mouth up in an amused grin. Isaac's hope was infectious: the animated way he seemed to know exactly what was needed to inspire a group of downtrodden people who'd, quite literally, lived through hell.[break][break]
So Caleb left the "smart" stuff to Isaac. Education, infrastructure, resource management. He offered to do some of the hard labor, but many insisted that such work was not fit for a king. How he hated the title at first, wore it like a brand of shame rather than a badge of honor. The crown would have gathered dust if not for Isaac's constant reminders that symbols mattered. Especially in times of war.[break][break]
It was war that Caleb knew the most about, in the end, and so he took it upon himself to direct the effort of setting up a city watch. After pointed out the ominous prophecy, scrawled creepily across the city walls, they agreed that training grounds could prove useful. An armory was built and a forge established, which Caleb entrusted to .[break][break]
Swords had never been his thing, but he got better and better as more of the peasants offered to practice with him. He caught on quickly, having lived most of his adult life as a trained assassin. He had the athleticism, he just needed to learn the right techniques. Every night he went to bed with an aching body and a satisfied, exhausted mind.[break][break]
The less he could ruminate on the fact that they were trapped in a very detailed, very realistic memory cage, the better.[break][break]
TEN YEARS
[break]

Caleb missed . He missed . He even missed being a Ranger. And sometimes, he missed too - if only because he had poured so much of himself into trying to mend things with his older brother, protect Isaac from him.[break][break]
But when Zev started sending letters, Caleb burned them all. Better for Isaac to think the other man dead or unreachable than allow their complicated mentor/mentee relationship to tarnish Isaac's kingship. Isaac and Zev had been separated, their connection violently ripped apart like the sudden snapping of a rubber band. Now it would forever remain a broken bridge, one that Caleb did not wish to mend. It was for the best.[break][break]
In the end, Isaac was a better brother to Caleb than Zev had ever been.[break][break]
Caleb took it upon himself - no matter how many of his people protested - to fight in the field. He rushed into battle alongside his army of Galarian peasantry and displaced Hoennians, commanding them and directing them, willing to die with them - die for them. The gigantic, violent Pokémon with their strange poison affliction kept coming. And each time, not without fatalities and injuries, Caleb and his people pushed them back. It was invigorating, restorative, meaningful to fight alongside them. To feel like he was finally molding himself into the sort of man he’d always wanted to be: not a killer, not a coward, but not really a hero, either. Just a man who did what felt right without overthinking it.[break][break]
As the years passed, Caleb often wandered the outskirts of the city, in part due to the rumors surrounding the deeds of , the "witch of Motostoke." Attempting to treat with her in person was not a task he allowed to pursue, despite their history; too important was the younger man to the people of Motostoke. If either king had to die at the hands of a cruel mistress, it would not - could not - be Isaac.[break][break]
She refused to treat with him, but often appeared out of the gloom, a beautiful phantom with eyes like sapphires, mysterious and clever. Barnaby haunted Caleb, toyed with him, tempted him, and Caleb knew he should not want this man, should not allow himself to be riled. But Barnaby had him by the throat, and with only a future of endless, dark days ahead of them, the word "Rocket" a meaningless label of some long-forgotten past, Caleb held him roughly and gave into the torment. There were no words fit to describe what they were: not just lovers, but something far more complex, something with implications that could not possibly be known by either man except for a measure of heart-rending peace.[break][break]
When the Black Knight came, a creature that stormed the Power Spot from the depths of a nightmarish void, they almost crumbled, almost lost it all. Despite their training, their dedication and vigilance, and despite Isaac’s unrelenting spirit, they simply did not have weaponry capable of truly hurting Necrozma. They forced it to retreat for a time, but they all knew it would return with a vengeance. And if the Skeleton awoke, they’d face something far worse than a war: they would be thrust into an apocalypse.[break][break]
Their one saving grace was the black crystals left behind by Necrozma, scattered across the battlefield near the Power Spot. People far more intelligent than Caleb figured out quickly that they could be turned into weapons and defensive objects imbued with Infinity Energy. Caleb went to and commissioned a trident.[break][break]
Now, when he walked calmly into battle, the storm would roll in with him. The rains would fall, and he would glare at his enemy with eyes like a raging ocean, all of the pain and grief and tragedy he carried with him a thing to be wielded, molded and shaped, made into something better.[break][break]
He would never be a hero, but as king, he would cleanse the land of the toxins that plagued it, one way or another.[break][break]
QsTm5XHT




[attr="class","ooc"]
[attr="class","tag"]GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
[break]

NOTES


Caleb is wearing medieval clothing and a crown[break]
Caleb is in MOTOSTOKE[break]
Caleb and are crowned the kings of Motostoke[break]
Caleb defers to Isaac, thinks of him as the "true" king, due to Isaac's pure heart, clever ideas, and unbreakable spirit of hope[break]
Caleb focuses on the war effort. Gets involved with 's training grounds. He fights in the field with the people, willing to die for them.[break]
Tries to treat with but the witch won't have it. Enemies-to-something-more-complicated-than-lovers with .[break]
After barely pushing back Necrozma, Caleb commissions a TRIDENT OF RAIN DANCE[break]


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played by

Senpai

He/Him
21
January 01
Fortree City
Heterosexual
Rocket Employee
Grunt
175 CM height
175 CM height
i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.
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Gerald Kaiser
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 16, 2023 16:35:11 GMT
Gerald Kaiser Avatar


PRE-TIME SKIP

The battle came to an end. The army was destroyed, in no small part thanks to his Z-move. As the Decidueye returned to him, he praised it with an unusual gentle pat on its head.

For a moment Decidueye thought its trainer was sick. But it did not question it. Not this time. The townspeople erupted into cheers celebrating all of the heroes of the battle, some more than others.

Even Gerald was cheered upon, causing him to blush and act nervously around them. He waited for them to stab him in the back, though no knife came.

That night he took off his mask and armor and joined the common folk in celebration.

ONE MONTH LATER

A month flew by quickly. Fear and worry for his little sister edged him on to make his way back home to Hoenn quickly. Not only did he fear her safety but also the influence his aunt might have upon the young impressionable girl.

He gave little thought to the prophecy that appeared. Letting instead those who had claimed titles of Lordship and nobility worry about those as he walked amidst the common folk, repairing buildings and defense. While building he quickly realized the constraints that they were living within.

The people of Circhester needed more land, more places to grow, to expand. And besides if this Galar was saved from the poisonous sludge armies then surely they could go home, right?

His first expedition was surprisingly successful. He placed it right after one of the onslaughts the poison monsters kept throwing at Circhester. He returned no worse for wear. Through success he began to grow more open, more likable. He started giving his Pokémon names, a practice he had not done before. He even had moments where he bonded with people.

He even grew intimate with one for a while, after a conversation and an impromptu question. It was all a bit sudden really. Though in the end they were not destined for each other.

ONE YEAR LATER

Over the first year he made several trips outside the protective walls, alone and in small groups. They were all surprisingly successful. Whether by sheer luck or skill there were no fatalities.



Through these displays, Gerald gathered quite a following. Brave young men and women joined him, and the group grew bigger. People even started referring to them as a Survey Corp.

with size came a higher likelihood of failure.

Had they stuck to simple expeditions, they might have continued their streak of success. But no, whether by greed or foolhardy belief that they would succeed they set out to conquer a nearby forested area that would provide Circhester with much needed resources.

They succeeded or so they thought. A day or two went by, then during nightfall waves of Poisonous Pokémon fell upon them. It was the first real loss for the Survey Corp

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1105515680738070529/1119222798519386113/tumblr_nsek0f9VHK1u1e0iso1_500.gif

Gerald made it back, wounded alongside other members. What had been a sizable host, reduced to no more than twenty men and women. Grimm expressions on their faces as they dealt with the loss of well-liked companions in their own ways.

But the people hailed them as heroes, though they felt far from it. At first Gerald didn’t understand. But then he came to a realization that a lot of the peasants within Circhester longed for the same as he.

Freedom.

With this realization, he found purpose in the Survey Corp. The Survey Corp became his life. Hoping that the people of Circhester might be free once more. And in freeing them hoping he might return to his little sister.

The thought of her still pained his heart.

FIVE YEARS LATER

Five years is a long time. By now the Survey Corp had become organized, well trained through experience and hard work. Fatalities were high as ever. But that was to be expected in their profession, and so even the King of Shadows , seemed to approve of the attempts to reclaim Galar from the monsters.



There was no lack of volunteers. Young and old men and women ready and willing to dedicate their heart to the cause.

Gerald had been appointed Commander. His time beyond the walls grew shorter as he took a more organization and leading role. Within his new role he grew more charismatic. The fervor of his words measured equal to the fervor he displayed on the field when he did go on expeditions.

When he was called beyond the walls the people that accompanied him often returned telling tales of his ferocity and strength, of how he would single handedly hold the waves of Monsters at bay for them to escape. Appropriate as the wings of his Iron Moth became the symbol they carried on their backs. These tall tales gave him the Moniker of The Sleeping Titan. A compromise between telling the tales, and those folks behind the walls who could not believe this of the man they had come to know as a kind, but stern commander and father.

Yes, father.

For his time spent inside the walls had offered him opportunities to connect with a lovely peasant girl. She was kind to a fault, she would always berate him for not taking care of himself, saving others while forgetting himself. She always feared when he went beyond the walls, and celebrated when he returned.

She loved him with the entirety of her heart and he loved her, something he at first never thought he could do again .

He felt happy with her. At first this happiness came alongside a sensation of betrayal as he remembered his sister. Who by now was surely much older. Surely she would think he had abandoned her. But growing older and wiser he came to realize this feeling of betrayal was a burden he should not carry.

His wife gave birth to a boy first, soon followed by a girl. They were the stars in his eyes and he grew to become a veritable annoyance of a father when he wasn’t on duty, sometimes even during, for those who knew him well. He was the doting parent. Perhaps trying to break a chain of generational trauma that he had long since forgotten.

TEN YEARS LATER

Another five years didn’t change much. His work never finished, whether it was that of being a parent or a Commander. He learned to deal with the loss of his soldiers. Each time he would carry the burden of telling their parents. Each time he would take the blows of frustrated anger or hugs of despair as parents lost children and children lost parents.

His children grew, as well. Healthy and happy, through the guidance of their parents. And when the parents were too much, they’d seek the comfort of their cool aunt

When Necrozma decided to rear its ugly head, Gerald was one of the first on the front lines. Jumping into the fray with a fervor befitting a Titan. The years of combat experience pulled him through as he helped minimize casualties while dealing as much damage to Necrozma as possible.

Still, casualties were many. Gerald’s luck kept smiling upon him as he did not lose any from his family.

When the battle was over and casualties accounted for, he gathered pieces of the Necrozma metal left behind. From the pieces he collected a mighty warhammer was forged, with the power to erect stony spikes on hitting.

And with it, perhaps he would finally reclaim Galar for Circhester and his family.

auMTvAuJ

TLDR:
- Gerald celebrates the Victory pre-timeskip.
- During the first month he helps rebuild, has a relationship with (Though that would not last)
- He takes his first expedition into the wilds.
- The following years is just continued establishing of the "Survey Corp" and Gerald settling down with a peasant girl and having two children.
- When Necrozma comes around he helps fighting.
- Gerald collects the metals and gets forged a STONE EDGE Warhammer.


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played by

Ceej

a. z. fell
She/Her
30
December 21st
Fortree, Hoenn
Bisexual
Surviving
Civillian
we could
have been us
5'8" / 172 cm height
5'8" / 172 cm height
i'm just a demon who goes along with hell as far as she can.
awards
1,436 posts
ana fell DOLLARS
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ana fell
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 16, 2023 19:42:50 GMT
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rusted shield (MOTOSTOKE)



True to her word (and ’s summary belief in it), ’s defenses hold. Cyg is rather focused on the giant, sentient garbage heap belching in her face, but she can hear the way the countless masses squelch and slip against the barricade, the torrent of it rising in a fever pitch the longer it goes on.
[break][break]
From all angles, trainers attack; the earth shakes and quivers, Cyg’s knees knocking together as she struggles to say standing. The Garbodor responds with a putrid wave of noxious ooze that makes her gag and cover her nose with the crook of her arm, eyes watering. “God, this thing smells worse than Slateport in summer.”
[break][break]
cuts a swathe through the miasma and behind him contrails of wind pull and shape the gas. Cyg finds a sparse pocket and sucks down a breath, silently thanking the madman for his contribution; something goes flying in her peripherals and she’s forced back into the fumes as chunks of building rain down around her, narrowly missing her and causing the ground to pitch and heave. “FUCK!”
[break][break]
Undulating uncannily like liquid, the Garbodor subsumes the train station-- but then a strong magenta aura surrounds it as Kanaya forces it back and brings it to heel, the innate Virgo inside of her reeling in disgust at the state of things. ’s earthquake makes it so Cyg has to get out of dodge yet again, and she’s separated from Kanaya, briefly, by the writhing of the city streets.
[break][break]
Kanaya raises her hands and brings her gentle fingers together and the psychic contracts, slicing through the Garbodor like a knife through hot butter. In quick succession, and also attack it; pinions of earth stab straight through it. “Oh, look at that,” Cyg says, breathless from the effort of dodging, jumping, and inhaling smog, “it’s been impaled.”
[break][break]
Punctured and leaking, the gigantamax effect is shattered, causing the Garbodor to shrink and faint to normal size to the ground below.

[break][break]
“Fucking A--,” Cyg says, sliding down a newly-made slope to stand next to , “did we do it?”
[break][break]
There’s a series of pops, like a whole carnival’s worth of balloons imploding, and then suddenly there are people in Renaissance dress everywhere, swarming out of the woodwork like Durant over rotten fruit.
[break][break]
Cyg turns to hug and congratulate Isaac but then there’s a jostling of petticoats and elbows and she’s been pushed back and back and back until she’s spat out of the swarm. She stumbles and is caught by Kanaya, who has since shifted back to her normal state. Her Gardevoir lifts her to standing and gives her a curt nod, signifying they did, in fact, do it.
[break][break]
“Ok, well… what the fuck do we do now?”
[break][break]
THE FIRST MONTH

[break][break]
The first month is hard. Cyg spends most of her time confused as to why people aren’t trying harder to get back home. There’s nothing for them, here; just a weird prophecy and a city that needs rebuilding, but it isn’t hers. She resolves to stay out of it as much as possible, because she’s read this book before, and forming any connections just makes it harder to leave.
[break][break]
seeks her out and Cyg tries hard to rectify the Elisa she knows and loves with the one that stands before her now.
[break][break]
Perhaps the most damning change is that she chooses willingly to hang out with and seems, even, to enjoy his company. Cyg doesn’t share the sentiment.
[break][break]
It’s hard. She wants to support Elisa and loves her dearly, and she knows that if anyone deserves to have their villainess moment, it’s Elisabeth Fiorelli. But this… sinister aura of resentment isn’t doing her any favors. She’s tried so hard to move beyond her inner feelings of jealousy and spite, and this just seems to be sucking her back in.
[break][break]
It fucking sucks. She owes Elisabeth everything.
[break][break]
To add insult to injury, is a king, now; his priorities are shifting, again, and he, once more, is put on a path where he gets to succeed and do what he’s best at, which is caring about people. That’s not her fucking cup of tea. He certainly doesn’t need her to do it. Besides, he has , who is more than capable of keeping Isaac safe and guiding him out of trouble.
[break][break]
So there’s more than one night where she cries herself to sleep with a pillow over her face to muffle her screams as she seeks to escape this twisted Game of Thrones fantasy.
[break][break]
THE FIRST YEAR

[break][break]
There’s only so long you can spend feeling sorry for yourself. Cyg’s funk doesn’t last too long before she’s out in the world trying to do something. She isn’t the kind of person that will run herself into the ground trying to be better, of course, but if she spends any more time wallowing she’ll fucking kill herself.
[break][break]
does some classic fucked up shit but just, like. It’s not even. Clever enough to be worthy of Elizabeth. It’s just a maddened and power hungry grasp at relevance, and the mask of reverence is ripped forcibly off of Cygne’s eyes as she stands there and is, once more, handed Elisabeth’s sloppy seconds.
[break][break]
“Sure, yeah. Love a good train.”
[break][break]
She takes it because she knows she can do something with it. It’s kind of the same thing she’s doing with , playing the idiot savant to get what she wants, taking the discarded parts of whatever evil machinations the Big Brains are working on and building them up to something better. It’s her own sort of manipulation, though rooted in something decidedly less sinister.
[break][break]
So she runs the trains and begins to patch things up as best she can, improving the engines from the guttered old smog-belchers to as sleek and efficient as is possible with the technology available to her. She fixes the stations and the tracks and gets things more or less back on schedule to make for ease of transportation of people and supplies. She dedicates particularly fast and quick runners specifically for medical aid and the movement of the injured away from dangerous spots.
[break][break]
, to absolutely no one’s fucking surprise, is an excellent king. He’s kind, intelligent, creative, gentle, bright, all the good, sappy adjectives that make her heart hurt with how much she loves him. , on the other hand, seemed more uncomfortable than anything, so Cyg tried to help him out, too, by bringing him in on some of her less brainy projects and teaching him about, like, trains, and shit.
[break][break]
“Engines are like penises,” she assured him, “ simple. And once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”
[break][break]
The boys bring her in as an advisor (and also she’s sleeping with one of them, there’s that bit) but she likes to think she’s helpful when it comes to infrastructure planning, defensive tactics, and adding just a little bit of Cygne flair in here and there where she can. (When she’s smithing with , her own artist’s mark is the Autobot insignia.)
[break][break]

’s devolution into an island hag does wonders for Cyg’s own sense of isolation and she begins to seek out the likeminded in order to learn and grow. She works with to learn metallurgy and blacksmithing, and the two trade knowledge in order to better each other and become, Cyg thinks, good friends.
[break][break]
She makes herself a whole fucking bunch of swords because swords are fucking dope. She fucking makes a sword for everyone she can think of.
[break][break]
With Aurelie’s help, Cyg begins to branch into the medical field, designing and building prosthetics for people: with less technology and fewer resources, it’s limited to arms and legs, but she does, at the very least, nail down the patent for how she’s going to replace her foot and ankle if or when they ever get home.
[break][break]
Eventually, though, she has to choose. And it rips her in half. But she chooses with her health, her hope, and her heart.
[break][break]
She shows up at the castle on a day when the kings are holding court and bullies her way through the swarm of people, common and noble alike, and lays her sword-- a hand-and-a-halfer with a vined crossguard and hilt and pommel engraved with dahlias-- at ’s feet.
[break][break]

“‘Till all are one.”

[break][break]
TEN YEARS

[break][break]
Things fall into a similar sort of monotony that they’d had at home. Cyg begins to think that maybe it’s just a byproduct of being alive.
[break][break]
Roughly two years in she asks Isaac if he would ever like to get married.
[break][break]
“I know it’s, like, probably not a priority,” she says, one arm looped around his shoulders as they’re puzzled together in his hotel-castle bed, “and I’m definitely not fucking trying to be a queen. But I love you and at this point I don’t really see myself feeling some kinda way about anyone else. Ever.”
[break][break]
She’d spent much of her life not ever planning on getting married, because the idea of it was old-fashioned, and the thought of conducting a wedding seemed so stressful. But a royal wedding is a glorious affair: it instills the people with strength and hope for the future, and as the queen-to-be, she has no end of resources to help plan. Turns out, autumn in Galar is a spectacular season for an outside event, and her one condition is a dress train that falls down about eight steps, because she loves a good train.
[break][break]
And it’s right. It’s right. It’s right. Cygne Merlo. It has a beautiful ring to it-- and the symbolism? Chef’s kiss.
[break][break]

She makes their rings, with ’s guidance, because they’re far finer and more important than anything she’s had to make yet. One black steel, one white gold, two halves of a set of spreading wings.
[break][break]
The year after, she’s pregnant. It’s devastating in its own kind of way. A hopeful way. A way that threatens to give her wings and choke the life out of her in the same motion.
[break][break]
She agonizes over what she’s going to do. There’s no to guide her, anymore. It’s a terrifying notion. No one else from their world seems to be out here doing the domestic grind and repopulating. Obviously, she has to tell Isaac, and she’s going to, she’s not going to keep this a secret-- but it’s so scary.
[break][break]
Also, how old is she, again? Thirty-three? Maybe? Something like that? Is her body even going to be able to do this? Maybe she should’ve waited to upgrade her ribs. She can’t imagine they’re super flexible. Oh, god, was that going to be bad for the baby? Was she even going to keep this baby? What if Isaac didn’t want to? What was she going to do then? What the fuck was she doing?!
[break][break]
So she does the next best thing and finds .
[break][break]
“I need you to talk me down from this ledge, please.”
[break][break]
And he does, because he’s good like that and good at that, and all she really needed was a little bit of hand holding before she goes and gives Isaac the big news-- which she needn’t have panicked about at all, of course, because he jumps in with both feet and his whole heart.
[break][break]
And it’s okay, and will be okay, in the end, Cyg realizes, for the first time in, maybe, ever. Things will be okay in the end.
[break][break]
So. Pregnancy. “The single most terrifying thing I’ve ever had to do,” she regularly tells Isaac. The single most frustrating thing she’s ever had to do, too, because as the months go by she can do less and less of the things she enjoys. No heavy lifting, no forging, no sword fighting, just pissing all the time and regularly praying she doesn’t get prenatal diabetes.
[break][break]
This is the part that’s always scared her. The raising part? The bit where the kid was already formed and out in the world? Cake. The bit where it was a little parasite leeching off of her and pressing down on her organs? Torture. Misery. “I’m doing the next one in a test tube,” she would groan into the cool of the bathroom floor, wracked by morning sickness and hobbled by the swell of her stomach.
[break][break]
But she carries it to term and a week, which is a glorious victory in and of itself. And though she’s anxious beyond all belief for the actual delivery, when it comes down to it in the end, no epidural and nine months of pent-up frustration put the nerves on the backburner. The little one comes out pink, screaming, and already, frighteningly blonde.
[break][break]
“God, we did so good,” she mumbles, half passed out and bone-tired exhausted as she cradles the sleeping infant and Isaac in the same bed.
[break][break]
Unsurprisingly, Isaac is a great father. And Cyg is (maybe also unsurprisingly?) a great mother. It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that a relationship built on strong mutual love and respect bordering on reverence should transition rather seamlessly into parenthood. There are bumps, of course: Cyg gets hit with a particularly nasty strand of the postpartums that present demons she actively has to battle for months and months. Isaac now has to balance being a dad, a husband, a king, a hero, and a warrior, all in one. And there’s the lingering question of what happens if they ever do go back that Cyg thinks of every time she looks at their child that certainly isn’t helping her depression any.
[break][break]
But after a year or so, the ship rights itself and the sailing gets smoother and smoother. The little girl’s name is Sabrina (Princess Sabrina Ellara Merlo, first of her name, etc etc, if we’re being specific), and she’s loud, rambunctious, and firmly independent, much to the chagrin of her parents and adopted family ( and , namely, amongst others who have come to be a part of their little clan). If they’ve told her not to run off and explore the hotel-castle alone once, they’ve told her a trillion times, though it never seems to stop her.
[break][break]
Roughly two years following that-- so five in total, halfway to the end of days, though they wouldn’t know it-- Cyg asks him if he’d like to have another.
[break][break]
“But, like, on purpose, this time?”
[break][break]
Princess Two happens with no less pomp, but decidedly less stress. Cyg’s an old pro at this, by now. The gestational heartburn is a bitch, though, coupled with the cravings for fast food that don’t exist in this timeline.
[break][break]
Iris Dahlia Merlo enters the world with ease compared to the first one, and this time, she’s ready for the postpartum depression; this time, it’s her beating it up with a bat, and not the other way around.
[break][break]

Parenthood looks good on them, even if it is one of ten thousand things that Isaac has going on; and it is, by no stretch of the imagination, a perfect world. There is danger around many corners. They frequently have to withstand onslaughts of poisoned Pokemon and Gigantamax raids from within the heart of their own city. The girls are quickly taught how to defend themselves and what to do when trouble strikes, as it so often does.
[break][break]
But it is comfortable, and they are happy, and before too long, the familial bliss is so strong Cyg almost forgets that life used to be different.
[break][break]
She works the forge with , helps plan defenses, runs the train system, and mothers.
[break][break]
“Ian Malcolm was right,” she laughs into Isaac’s hair one night as they’re falling asleep, “life, uh, finds a way.”
[break][break]
She’s on the field when the Necrozma attacks. Over the last ten years her tendency and desire for self-martyrdom has certainly not faded-- if anything, it’s been fortified now that she’s a mother. She frontlines it along with and and some of the other heavy hitters that have been marooned in Motostoke along with her, and she likes to think she gives as good as the Avatars and various other bigwigs, though she doesn’t have a Legendary at her side and wasn’t a member of the long-defunct E4.
[break][break]
They almost lose. Even with everything, they almost lose. And there’s a new fear in her, now, that kindles overnight as she holds her family close and vows to never come this near to the destruction of all she holds dear again.
[break][break]
She grows closer with , who almost fills the niche Elisabeth left behind. With the help of some other science types they discover they can use infinity energy to imbue the dark ore left behind in Necrozma’s wake with Pokemon moves. She and Aurelie quickly set apart learning how to manipulate it, to change and shift it, and the latter becomes INUNDATED with requests for weapons and armor.
[break][break]
“Just use me like a gun,” Cyg tells her on another late forge night, “point and shoot.”
[break][break]
Autobot insignias, everywhere.
[break][break]
“I’m just bummed I don’t have enough ore for a whole mech suit,” she confesses to as she helps put the finishing touches on ’s weapon.
[break][break]
Now that her kings are armed, she has enough time to turn to herself. So many ideas run through her head, and she doesn’t sleep for at least two nights as she works them all out, eventually landing on the Hammer of Justice: a large, two-handed weapon imbued with the power of hyper beam. On its own, it was a force to be reckoned with, but when charged, it went off with enough power to level buildings. It was unceremoniously ripped from League of Legends but also sometimes Cyg felt like she was the only one who remembered any sort of pop culture from the Before Times.
[break][break]
Life continues to advance, despite everything. Every day, the thought of Hoenn, of team Rocket and Fiorelli Floristry and What Once Was fades a little bit more-- or, at least, she forces it to, because paying heed to it means acknowledging that what they have, what they’ve built, might not be at all real.
[break][break]
And the thought of going home-- what used to power her through her every moment-- suddenly becomes more of a nightmare than anything this memory has thrown at them, yet.

[break][break]

[break][break]

hbGsrFBf




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NOTES


jesus hotsauce christmascake. okay so:
cyg has the espresso depressos for the first little bit. takes over the trains from after she kills the Old Train Guy. turns it into something better and really helps setting up transport and infrastructure. eventually splits with Elisa resulting in more espresso depressos in favor of King Isaac because, obviously. [break]
they get married! they have kids! more espresso depressos. [break]
cyg bonds with aurelie and learns how to smith from her! makes essentially jayce's hammer that is empowered with hyper beam.


[break][break]


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MADE BY GUNSMILE




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played by

Alicia Jewel

she/her
21
July 5
Fortree City
pansexual
Ranger
Elite Ranger
Single
135 height
135 height
i used to dream in the dark of palisades park.
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612 posts
Julia Davis DOLLARS
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Julia Davis
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 16, 2023 20:32:52 GMT
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Lazuli's G-Max Resonance was powerful, but Julia had never seen it look this strong before! Someone had called for a Helping Hand, and thanks to that, the chunk of ice froze the earth between the poisoned army and then erupted outward like a frozen geyser. Julia beamed.

[break][break]"Awesome! Thanks a—"

[break][break]Her words caught in her throat when she turned to see who'd aided her. was adorned in black clothing and a mask, and there was only one reason that Julia could think of for someone to be dressed like that: Rocket. She knew firsthand that not all Rockets were pure evil—heck, some of them were even good people who'd gotten caught in the undertow—but her recent experience with and had made even her usually friendly and chipper self wary.

[break][break]At least she had a battle to take her mind off trying to figure out whether this Rocket was dangerous or not! Obviously, he'd helped her out, and that was totally a good thing, but that worry still tugged at the back of her mind. She really didn't want a repeat of the Ultra Deep Sea.

[break][break] absorbing the black armor that Articuno had been wearing made the Rocket Beast look even creepier. So why the heck were the people crowning him as one of Hammerlocke's kings?! At least was also crowned to balance things out, creating a King of the Day and a King of the Night.

[break][break]There was a baby Articuno, too! was so lucky! But as much as Julia wanted to fawn over the little Legendary, Mirabella completely vanished with it for three years. There was so much going on in that time period that Julia forgot all about the little one until Mirabella revealed herself again.[break][break]




[break]

One month later



[break]Julia had thought they would be in this memory for a few days at most, but a full month passed with no sign of a way home. The better king, , approached Julia one day with his plans to create an Adventurer's Guild. Eyes shining, Julia eagerly agreed to join this project.

[break][break]Eerie writing appeared on the walls of Hammerlocke one day and spelled out a prophecy. Julia didn't fully understand it—she'd leave that to the smart folks—but it sounded hopeful. There was a way out. There had to be.

[break][break]In the meantime, she kept herself busy defending the city from the hordes of poisonous Pokémon and the gigantic ones that emerged from the Power Spot. Lazuli's Heal Bell put in a lot of work curing poison in herself and her allies during these attacks.[break][break]




[break]

A passing year



[break]Travel between Galar's settlements was difficult thanks to the sludge that covered the land, but thanks to and his Glastrider, it was at least possible for them to communicate. Julia quickly wrote a letter to to ask if he was okay, only to find out he'd been crowned one of the kings of Motostoke! She had no idea whether to start her letters with "Your Majesty" or "King Isaac," but he told her that just "Isaac" worked. She still added "King" to that sometimes. It felt right.

[break][break]It was definitely better than King Zev. He'd replaced the makeshift crown the peasants had given him with one that screamed, "I am an evil king, fear me and kneel before me!" Julia didn't understand how the people could still bow to him. Were they just too scared to rebel? Maybe something could be done about that...

[break][break]For now, though, she dedicated herself to her work with the Adventurer's Guild to keep the city and its people safe. Despite the grim situation she'd been dropped into, she had to admit that being a bona fide adventurer was kind of fun. If she thought of it as the fantasy world that was styling it into, it was easier to ignore the reality that she was stuck here for who knew how long.

[break][break]Between jobs, she did her best to keep everyone's spirits up. She was no storyteller like , but she followed his lead in telling people they were heroes from "beyond the sky" here to save them. She had her work with the Guild to back that up, too. When introduced Pokémon racing to Hammerlocke, Julia and Chester gladly joined in whenever they had the time.

[break][break]All this work in this poisoned land did a number on her prosthesis, though. It had been built to endure Julia's active outdoor lifestyle, but the manufacturer apparently hadn't accounted for being thrust into a medieval world. After the wear and tear caused her to stumble in battle, causing Snaily to jump in front of her to protect her, she visited the blacksmith, Leif Ironson, and his apprentice, . Poor Leif had no idea what to make of the material he saw as he examined Julia's detached leg, but he said he'd see what he could do.[break][break]




[break]

A passing decade



[break]Getting used to a metal prosthesis took some work, even with Leif's skills making it as lightweight yet sturdy as possible. It felt like those first days of learning to walk again, only this time, she didn't have a physical therapist to guide her through it. She had to reach back into those difficult memories and remember what she'd been taught. It was frustrating, if she was being honest.

[break][break]It was easier to think of it as another challenge to overcome, though.

[break][break]Her idea of a rebellion against the King of the Night never came to fruition. was scarily competent as a leader, even if his tone toward his subjects was always cold, like he just saw them as pawns rather than people. All the peasants Julia talked to said something along the lines of the king's word being law and how they were safer under his protection. Ugh, this would be so much easier if Zev would just do something clearly evil already...

[break][break]"Are you really okay with this?" she asked one day. "Ruling alongside him?"

[break][break]After three years, reappeared in the public eye. Julia was excited to see the no-longer-baby Articuno again, but Eunice was elusive. When she heard that the Legendary had been seen rescuing and even playing with children, she became even more determined to meet the bird that would later be known as the Mystic Warden.

[break][break]Lazuli and Ribbon, particularly the former with how difficult it was for her to travel on land, lent their abilities to 's healer work whenever they could. Lazuli cooled fevers and soothed wounds with her Life Dew while Ribbon gathered what she could from the realm's little uncorrupted flora to form nutritious Pollen Puffs. As the years marched on, though, the Ribombee found that more and more difficult, and her puffs started being used more for offense than defense. At least her aura-reading ability was still useful in diagnosing certain ailments.

[break][break]Julia wasn't a huge fan of sitting around doing nothing, but she still made use of 's bath house for her overworked muscles. She was surprised at how nice it was to just relax for a little while.

[break][break]Seven years after their arrival—it was hard to believe so much time had passed—Leif Ironson passed away, leaving to run the forge by himself. When the shop reopened a week later, Julia was among the first to enter. She offered her condolences and told Amor he was a worthy successor who'd do a great job running the place. The years would prove her right.

[break][break]Then, in the tenth year, Necrozma attacked. Julia was among those on the front lines, fighting alongside her Pokémon to drive what the people called the Black Knight away. In the end, they were successful, but not without far, far too many casualties. Many of the peasants she had helped inspire and protect lay dead on the ground now; every unmoving body pricked at her heart like a needle. Ten years constantly fighting to survive will dim even the brightest of sparks, and Julia, despite her best efforts, was no exception.

[break][break]Yet there would always be something to kindle that inner flame again. began to tell "tales of the dead" meant to honor the deceased and celebrate their victories. Though her memory of its exact wording was vague, Julia remembered the prophecy and how it had promised hope when all seemed lost. She had to hold onto that. She had to focus on the victories rather than the losses, no matter how much they hurt. It was what she'd been best at ten years ago, and it was time to take that back.

[break][break]The black metals left behind by Necrozma could be forged into a powerful weapon. Julia briefly considered having her leg upgraded, but that was too risky. If something went wrong, she could say goodbye to her ability to walk. That was pretty important. Instead, she went for the classic weapon of heroes: a sword. Naturally, she asked to forge the weapon for her.

[break][break]Time skip Julia:
Uchika Hanesaki from Hanebado!


[break][break]
|y1H74TP


[attr="class","juliatag"]@goodbyegalar


[attr="class","julianotes"]

notes.

  • Mega turns used: 4/5? (IDK how this works with the time skip, tbh)
  • Starts to thank for the assistance but hesitates because Rocket
  • Joins 's Adventurer's Guild
  • Writes to over the years, probably complaining about a lot
  • Joins 's races when she gets the chance
  • Visits Leif and at the blacksmith's and eventually gets a new prosthesis
  • Lapras and Ribombee sometimes help with their healing work
  • Julia makes use of 's bath house for her tired muscles
  • Gets a sword that can use Sacred Sword
  • Time skip FC is Uchika Hanesaki from Hanebado!


[attr="class","juliapokes"]









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played by

Kiwi

Genny
She/Her
26
July 19th
Hau'oli City, Alola
Bisexual
Full Time Ranger
Elite Ranger
Roads may be rough and tough, though it will lead somewhere.
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874 posts
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TAG WITH @genevieve
Genevieve Cromwell
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 0:01:23 GMT
Genevieve Cromwell Avatar
[nospaces]
[attr="class","genny1"]
[attr="class","genny1body"]

Everything gets way too overwhelming, and as Dr. Rhythm's lifeline is about to fade... a savior comes in. Unorthrodox as it is, the last thing Dr. Rhythm sees is .[break][break]

Speeding to his side now, Genny slides to grab at his hand... and while she cannot forgive the person who saved him, she returns Dr. Rhythm, happy it wasn't a third death tonight. Looking to Hitoshi, she nods quietly.[break][break]

"... thanks."[break][break]

It's weak. There's no energy in her words. She's lost. She can't help, and she doesn't feel like she can anymore... between 's Decidueye, or that Rocket who killed Lady Bloom, or the many who charge the Articuno now like or , Genevieve grabs at her chest.[break][break]

I'm not like . Or , , or . I can't.[break][break]

The war continues on into its climax, and the battle subsides to its finale. With it, she can relax. She can finally rest. Today, has shaken her confidence greatly. She's no longer feeling capable. She feels so helpless, unable to do anything. She missed @elio , or hell, the girl from the masquerade .[break][break]

This loss would humble her greatly for the years to come.[break][break]

. . .[break][break]

ONE MONTH LATER...[break][break]

She still hasn't recovered fully... she's gone to the outskirts to collect the bodies of Ms. Clean and Lady Bloom. She's erected a grave for both outside Circhester in the ice and the snow. Dr. Rhythm can't do much these days, but he's hung on this long for Genny. She needs the stability. She needs to stand strong. It's a lesson that no one is here to teach her, that she has to learn herself.[break][break]

Most nights are spent laying in a bed and crying to sleep. Sometimes both. Usually both. There's a lot of darker thoughts swirling the bowl of her mind. She writes letters to her mother, but she just shakes and shivers. She's failed so much, she isn't okay, she's just not.[break][break]

She's hardly present for the writing on the towns or cities, but even if she reads it, what does it matter?[break][break]

She can't make a difference.[break][break]

And she'll never make it home.[break][break]

. . .[break][break]

ONE YEAR LATER[break][break]

It takes a year before Genny feels herself even remotely able to pull it together. She lost so hard, it was hard to come back from the brink. But at some point, Dr. Rhythm would nudge into her. On his deathbed, the Toxtricity would do what he could to give her confidence back. To help those in need. He went out every time to do what he could each attack, even though she begged him not to leave.[break][break]

Because that's what a hero does. Regardless of the stakes, regardless of the pain. His muscles hurt, his body could hardly take it, and he came home with a new scar each time, but Dr. Rhythm never once stopped believing.[break][break]

One thing that he always did. No matter what, Dr. Rhythm always thought that Genny was enough. Even if she cowardly stayed away from the field, he'd come home and hug her and quietly hum a small tune.[break][break]

She didn't need to be like her heroes. She was good enough for him.[break][break]

The third burial was what snapped Genevieve out of this suffering. She cut her hair short. Hazel eyes looked on with determination.[break][break]

Back to the grind.[break][break]

Daily, she'd have Wander wake her up, where she would get to exercising in every morning. Every afternoon, she would spend time in the mines to mine this Dynite Ore, to give to those in need, like Queen Morales, Queen Morningstar, and both King Quinns. Every night, she would head to the observatory to assist where she could. She learned every constellation she could, she went every mile she could to become the best.[break][break]

She wasn't done. Not by a goddamn long shot.[break][break]

. . .[break][break]

TEN YEARS LATER[break][break]

Genevieve Cromwell would be known as a warrior, a woman who would do everything she could. She would deliver messages to the royalty, she would go to the mines to check on the progress of the ore, she would partake in the battles as best she could with her limited arsenal of three; Wander the Rockruff, Cardi B the Tinkatuff, and Venus the Ralts. It was a modest trio, but she would do what she could to save those in need.[break][break]

Cardi B would fall too, unable to continue on as she fought the Necrozma. This time though, Genny did not weep. She laid her to rest, and continued fighting. And once the Necrozma left them... black metals were left behind.[break][break]

She spent days upon days creating it when she had the time. This infinity core, this powerful energy core that surged with power. Like a taser almost to someone who inspired her to be better, to be stronger. Someone who saved her in her life. A song for him. For those lost, who gave her a chance.[break][break]

The SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE BOW. A bow with a number of strings like that of a harp, to play a song that would fire off the electricity with reckless abandon.[break][break]

She would prepare to use it for the coming war. Cadet Cromwell would persevere. Because that's what she did best.[break][break]

She was always enough. She just needed to see that for herself.

_gjYiT11




@tag[break][break]

NOTES


- TIME SKIP FC[break]
- The Last Sunlight Yellow Overdrive... thanks Hitoshi, you saved the good doctor.[break]
- Genny goes through an arc where she feels utterly useless. She isn't like her heroes. She can't do it.[break]
- The first month, she can't She makes a grave for Lady Bloom and Ms. Clean. No better.[break]
- The first year, Dr. Rhythm keeps going out there. He keeps fighting. And he dies happy that he could help.[break]
- Would always hum for Genny at night. He'd always come home for her. He never once stopped believing in her.[break]
- Cue the beautiful message that 'you are enough'.[break]
- Genny wakes up, and begins to embrace herself.[break]
- She wakes up every morning to exercise, spends all afternoon in the mines, and every night studying the stars.[break]
- The first ten years, she creates the SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE BOW. Yes, you have to say it every time. It does OVERDRIVES for her fallen friend, Dr. Rhythm.[break]
- Cardi B dies sometime in the fight against Necrozma.






[attr="class","genny1pkmn"]





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played by

wizz

the ferryman
he/him
twenty-eight
october fourteenth
lavender town, kanto
knoxsexual
team rocket
executive
alone with all my illusions
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1,306 posts
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TAG WITH @sam
samuel carter
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 1:25:12 GMT
samuel carter Avatar
[nospaces]
[attr="class","sunandstars"]
[attr="class","sunandstars2"]














[attr="class","sunandstarsw"]

the battle finally comes to an end and in the ashes of one bird of prey comes another. an egg forms and sam is the one to whom it imprints on, that feather in his pocket the key to why. he thinks back to when keldeo had taken time in his stay, remaining on mt. pyre until he was healed up.[break][break]

but can 'raising a legendary' really count as the same thing?[break][break]

as royalty is crowned and people begin to settle, there are words of miasma that come to light. it is made blindingly clear they cannot go home and that idea haunts him. he is thankful to know that it is some sort of otherworldly dream place, but he doesn't understand or know much more than that. which is exactly why he must learn more.[break]

[break]

[break][break]

THE FIRST MONTH
[break]

that is exactly where all of his efforts are poured. straight into learning all that he can about the stars. they apparently hold secrets, secrets that he wants to help unearth. he's no professional, but his eidetic memory from back in the real world holds strong even in the realm of dream and prophecy, this trick of the mind.[break][break]

it is not just the stars that rapture his attention. the galarian articuno hatches and he takes great care of it. protects it with all of his other pokémon. it is raised to understand that life is not what is handed to you, not what you make it. it is not black or white. it is, in fact, the opposite of death. it is all things at once only colliding with a small fraction of time, one's own time; and from there, life takes root.[break][break]

he trains the bird as much as he can. he does not name the legendary, not entirely sure if such a thing is even allowed. he gleans what he can and helps it to grow strong.[break]

[break]

[break][break]

THE FIRST YEAR
[break]

as one month begins to blur into twelve, sam keeps himself occupied with constant tasks. he serves as the warden of the stars, keeping those researching how to get home safe and helping in any way that he can.[break][break]

his primary focus in the first year becomes that prophecy and keeping protection around those who would need it with all the uprisings.[break][break]

all while longing and yearning for home. after all, he's only just gotten his happiness back. he's only just seen the light of his stars and the bright cool light of his moon for the first time in what felt like forever after burying his mother...[break]

[break]

[break][break]

A DECADE PASSED
[break]

he is the same face with a bit more age. he is still clean shaven and well kept. he still sports a pair of sport capris and a hoodie. tattoos remain across his skin, stained forever into his skin.[break][break]

warden of the stars and keeper of one of the legendary birds birthed from that death, he holds his title with pride.[break][break]

in the absence of , he has become even more stoic than usual. in the absence of his stars, he is a black and void sky. in the absence of his sun, he holds no warmth. with no moon, there is little ebb and flow to the waters of emotion within him.[break][break]

all he wants, all he wishes for, is a way home. however he may come about it, that is what he fights for.

LOCATION[break]
+ ballonlea[break][break]

ITEMS ACQUIRED[break]
+ galarian articuno (hatched, event only)[break][break]

TL;DR[break]
+ wishes to be home with knox[break]
+ spends the first month making connections with those doing star research[break]
+ spends a year collecting information on stars and the cryptic prophecy[break]
+ for ten years becomes cold and robotic toward everyone and only comes to life when speaking of , or getting home


[attr="class","sunandstarst"]

GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD[break][break]

J3vZZ3kc[break]
+10



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played by

milky

jayden
he/him
28
december 25
ballonlea, galar
bisexual
wyndon ceo
admin
we'll never get free, lamb to the slaughter
awards
4,450 posts
jayden cross DOLLARS
part of
ATTACK
+8
DEFENSE
+4
SPEED
+7
TAG WITH @jayden
jayden cross
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 1:32:44 GMT
jayden cross Avatar
[nospaces]
[attr="class","asteroid"]
[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]
[attr="class","textarea"] he becomes a king. [break][break]

-
[break]

silence reigns when the townfolk surround him, and , setting faux crowns atop their brow. glimmering jewels of topaz and sapphire gleam atop his brow as they fit him with the title of aristocracy. [break][break]

scoffs, talking about the foolishness of such a monarchy. you are only ruled when you let your mind rule. [break][break]

is enchanted; he can see it in the way her eyes are set aglow, full of childhood promise and fairytale, everything that she has ever dreamed about coming to fruition. he thinks about the way she stepped away from him in the cyberspace, holding hands around . who would have thought - she did not need a man to rise. she could rise all on her own. [break][break]

and last, jayden is bewildered. he is stunned into silence, same as he had been when had given him adminship. [break][break]

it seemed distinctly unfitting, him as a leader, and yet here he was - standing at the center as they all cheered for him to rule. [break][break]

-
[break]
“i don’t know if i can do it,” he confesses to late at night. his brows are pinched together, a frown pressing his lips taut. [break][break]

“you can,” they tell him, endeared and whole. the way they look at him is determined and full of fire, so embalmed with adoration. [break][break]

his heart stirs. [break][break]

“i can,” he repeats, swallowing, as his arms close around them. his face presses against their shoulder, focused on the feeling of them in his arms. “i’ll do it.” [break][break]

for you. for rocket. for us. [break][break]

-
[break]

there was no one else to protect the kingdom, after all. [break][break]

-
[break]

luka was a sweet and doting queen, speaking with the townfolk and cheering them on in the times of distress. rhydia was the quick-witted and clever artisan, devoted to turning the town to a new age of renaissance. [break][break]

but it was jayden who noticed the crumbling walls, the broken buildings. it was jayden who had been raised in the hell of kanto, who had seen the world burn enough times to want to build it up from ash. [break][break]

he is quick to strengthen their defenses. he tells and to build up the militia, tells to gather intel by whatever means necessary. [break][break]

alliances fall away as ballonea becomes their home. or in jayden’s case, his return to home. [break]


ONE YEAR IN


[break]
when the writing appears on the walls, scribbled upon stone like poisonous sludge. there is no second-guessing it. it is not the work of some delinquent child, or misbehaving pokemon. it is nightmarish and wholly unnerving, the sort of thing that would rule his dreams in the months to come. [break][break]

“mint,” he says, turning to his friend. “go tell the others.” [break][break]

-
[break]

to jayden, the meaning is clear. [break][break]

they needed to protect ballonea, protect the people, until the upcoming battle. the timing remained unclear, but at least to jayden, this was enough motive for him to instruct his advisors to build up the militia in preparation. [break][break]

after all, war was a commonality for him. he had been raised in the throes of it. in some ways, it was more comforting for him than the glowing mushrooms that surrounded their town. [break][break]

-
[break]

“what do you think it is?” [break][break]

he stands in the observatory, arms crossed as he watches conversate with the other scientists such as . his attention is to , once the overseer of mt. pyre, but now the warden to the stars. [break][break]

he and only have just found out they are brothers, and how fitting is it that they are both trapped in this memory, in this twisted timeline without . [break][break]

“we’ll find a way home,” jayden says to him in a voice that is sure, even though he isn’t sure if he believes it himself. [break][break]

-
[break]

to no one’s surprise, his closest advisors are rocket. he relies on for his military council. he relies on for his guard. he relies on for his clever wit and bright personality, for his ability to sneak into the smallest spaces and make sure that the league aren’t secretly building a retaliation back against them. [break][break]

rocket has always been jayden’s whole life, from the moment that he was born, but as mint’s secret reports on the league grow more and more mundane, the word rocket falls away to family. and family falls away to ballonea. [break][break]

he still misses the others. so he writes letters to people like and , to and . he even once tries to write to , even though he knows the letters won’t go anywhere – may be able to travel far, but even then, there are limitations to where he can go. [break][break]

besides, jayden does not even know what he would tell . [break][break]

that he is king? when he doesn’t deserve to be? [break][break]

that he misses him? misses kanto? misses his best friend more than he’s ever missed his own father? [break][break]

-
[break]

“felix.” [break][break]

“yes?” [break][break]

“have you slept?” [break][break]

“no.”
[break][break]

-
[break]

he worries about felix. he knows that his fellow admin, now friend, has not been sleeping. he knows that felix is still thinking about - jayden thinks about her too, but probably not in the way he does. [break][break]

jayden has experienced heartbreak before, but he is the last person to be able to give advice on it. [break][break]

but still, he tells felix to write letters. [break][break]

it’s helped him, after all. [break][break]

-
[break]

when alliances fall away, so do masks. [break][break]

jayden does not know what to say or think when catches him in the observatory late at night, with his mask drawn. he’s pouring over the paperwork, of the stars that fill into what was once ink-blank pages. [break][break]

michail? [break][break]

a name he had not thought to hear, at least, not from anyone that wasn’t fern. [break][break]

it occurs to him then that he’s revealed himself. that of everyone in ballonea, it is that would find problem with it. [break][break]

when he turns to her, horror and betrayal and hurt ripple across her face like waves crashing upon a shore. [break][break]

-
[break]

“i’m sorry,” he says, eventually. [break][break]

“i should have told you.” [break][break]

-
[break]

with queen ’s insistence, the kingdom surges into a period of regency and renaissance. her ideals may have been a bizarre, her ambitions a bit lofty, but no one could argue that her art pieces were not beautiful, that her dream for ballonea as a shining star of humanity was not at least aspiring. [break][break]

they punctuate such ideals with balls thrown once a year, to both celebrate the new monarchy but also to inspire the town folk amongst a time of dread. [break][break]

each and every time, jayden is sure to ask to dance first, to cure the blight that was their first masquerade together. [break][break]

-
[break]

“i love you,” jayden whispers against their lips, reverently. pressing him against a tree as the celebrations continue on behind them. [break][break]

adoring. devoted. reverent. [break][break]

no matter the world, no matter the circumstance, he wanted fern by his side. the world could fall to ash, and he would be okay as long as they were there with him. [break][break]

and he would say it, again and again, as many times as they would allow. [break][break]

-
[break]

love was easy for jayden, now, but the same could not be said for everyone. [break][break]

jayden has made mistakes before, so he feels like he cannot comment on others when they make them. [break][break]

still, it is unfortunate that every time he turns a corner, he is forced to witness one of his guard entwined intimately with another. [break][break]

“delarosa. frost.” [break][break]

sigh. [break][break]

“there’s a meeting in ten minutes.” [break][break]

-
[break]

he tries to ignore the bruises blossoming on his best friend’s neck, beneath the steel of his plated armor. [break][break]

he tries not to worry. [break][break]

still, he cannot help but wonder. [break][break]

is mint even happy? [break]

-
[break]



THE NEXT FEW YEARS



[break]
in year three, fern gets sick. [break][break]

the winter is bad, and the herbs don’t grow, and not even resident healer can cure him. not even or xerneas, the bringer of life, can pull them back from the edges of sickness and maybe even death. jayden worries himself ragged - it’s just like the time after the ultra deep sea, where he did not know if fern would live or die. people like or try to draw him away, but they can’t. [break][break]

does, but only to do his kingly duties. and then he is back, at fern’s bedside. brushing their hair back, and replacing wet cloths to his forehead, the gnawing ache in his chest growing larger and larger still. [break][break]

he cannot be the one to bury fern into the ground. if they find a way back home, he cannot carry fern into his arms in front of and tell her that he has not been able to do the one thing, the most important thing, for a king to do. to protect the people that he loves. [break][break]

he had never once thought he would lose fern. he cannot lose fern, not after he’s already lost rocket, lost everything and everyone else. [break][break]

he cannot become like , the shell of a man who’s lost his true love, a phantom who can protect the town but not his own heart. [break][break]

-
[break]

“how is he?” jayden asks, voice urgent. [break][break]

“dunno yet, yer majesty,” the former colonel huffs. but one look at the pained gaze of the monarch, and he relents. albeit unwillingly. [break][break]

“we’re doin’ the best we can, sir.” [break][break]

-
[break]

but winter does not last forever, and neither does fern’s sickness. [break][break]

with the help of people like and , fern eventually recovers and jayden’s life falls back into place. his world starts to spin again. [break][break]

when his sun returns, so does the light to his eyes. [break][break]

but if there is one thing that jayden learns from it all is that he cannot bear to lose , that he will do all he can to keep them by his side. [break][break]

-
[break]

“i love you,” he says. it’s the same way he has said it every time - intensely devoted, reverent, adoring - but this time he is kneeling. on the grass, in the middle of a crowd of beautiful shrooms. [break][break]

in his hand, a ring. [break][break]

solnyshka, i want you by my side. i’m yours. forever.” [break][break]

“will you be mine?” [break][break]

-
[break]

i was wondering when you’d ask. [break][break]

is that a yes? [break][break]

it’s an absolutely, duck.
[break][break]

-
[break]

becomes a prince, wedded to their king. the night after follows in celebration, timed perfectly with one of their royal balls. [break][break]

but this time, when jayden takes fern to the dance floor, it is with something special and more perfect than he has anything else before. [break][break]

his eyes are bright as the moon, full of laughter, as he spins his newly-wedded husband in the air and kisses him for the whole town to see. [break][break]

-
[break]

the attacks of DYNAMAX POKEMON increase, as the colossal pokemon emerge from the ominous POWER SPOTS. poison leaks everywhere as the creatures rise like specters from the night, evoking dread and horror on a level that borders on nightmarish. [break][break]

but jayden and the rest take care of them with ease, having spent the majority of their lives preparing for such a battle. [break][break]

even so, there are casualties. losses. even if it is the townsfolk who jayden do not know as closely as the rest of them, he still buries each and every one of them with the same care and consideration he would a fellow rocket. [break][break]

peace is overrated, and as the years pass, so do the battles with it. it is almost a comfort as jayden slices his blade against a rebellious peasant — reminding him of the past that he had once left behind. [break][break]

-
[break]

when burns the pokemon center and is put in jail, jayden is the one to call for her death. [break][break]

it is only because of benevolent queen that her life is spared. [break][break]

if jayden had it it his way, she would have been dead in a heartbeat. [break][break]

-
[break]

“queen rhydia,” he says, blinking as he notices her in the town square. it is dark and quiet out, without only the stars glimmering above as company. the road in which she walks only leads to one location. [break][break]

he and she both know it. [break][break]

“a walk late at night?” he muses, eyes flitting to her. careful, one hand rested on his blade. “it’s dangerous out.” [break][break]

her lips curve into a smile that reminds him of his mother’s, and she responds with the cutting ease of his father. [break][break]

“of course, king jayden,” she replies. “but there is beauty in danger, is there not?” [break][break]

no life without suffering. no safety without danger. [break][break]

queen , keeping them afloat, in her own way. [break][break]

-
[break]

and then, there is an attack. [break][break]

their city militia is excellent at defending the city, thanks to the efforts of and both, but there is one thing that they don’t account for. as royalty, jayden has a royal guard of his own but it is mostly unneeded. after all, being raised as an assassin makes you well-equipped for when one tries to kill you. and for as unpredictable that queen could be sometimes, she was also as adequate to protect herself in dire straights. [break][break]

but it isn’t them who are hurt. it is queen instead. [break][break]

in the recovery room, jayden is tense and contemplative. [break][break]

his arms crossed, a deep-seated frown on his brow. [break][break]

rhydia makes a joke that if was just an inch more to the left, she would be dead. [break][break]

but it’s true. [break][break]

“felix,” he said, turning to his best friend. “protect her. you’ll be her guard from now on. we can’t risk losing her.” [break][break]

-
[break]

felix and luka together is not something that he expects. jayden struggles with it, but eventually, he finds happiness in his friends happiness. [break][break]

when and come through, he shares the news with them. [break][break]

and he wonders of the expression on ’s face, if he really did see the shadow that crossed her face or it is merely a memory.

-
[break]

there is no action without consequence. all of the attacks on the city, some by the hands of poisoned dynamax pokemon and others by rumored daemons cloaked in shadow, result in countless victims. with death comes loss, and it is only a matter of time before there are more orphans in the town that they know what to do with. [break][break]

maybe it is because some of them share faces with the people back at home. some who share faces with people like and , people who pull at jayden’s heartstrings no matter how many years pass. [break][break]

“the church is still empty,” he suggests to one day. he knows that the captain of the guard must hurt too. “maybe we should open up an orphange.” [break][break]

“we can name it after august.” [break][break]

-
[break]

it shouldn’t come to surprise that jayden finds himself more enamored with the orphans that he thought. he has always been a person more devoted than he is willing to admit. [break][break]

when he notices one of the girls spending more and more time with them, either toddling after jayden in his rounds around the town or sitting upon a stool next to fern separating herbs in their apothecary, it’s only a matter of time. [break][break]

when fern comes to him, jayden simply cannot say no. [break][break]

he tells himself it is for the future of the kingdom. [break][break]

-
[break]

jayden had never thought of children, of having them or wanting them, much less more than one. back in hoenn, his memories were too consumed with his tortured past to even think on a future. [break][break]

but being king of ballonea, spending time with the people he loved, and knowing the pain of loss as adequately as anything else, changed him. [break][break]

when he goes to , it is almost comically pleading. [break][break]

“please?” [break][break]

he holds two cute, cherubic-faced toddlers up in the air. twins. both on each arm. [break][break]

fern cannot say no either. [break][break]

-
[break]

“do you think she’d like her namesake?” [break][break]

jayden asks fern one day, balancing a baby aisling on his hip. despite sharing no blood relation, the baby has hair as dark as jayden’s and eyes as blue as fern’s. he smiles gummily as his father hands him a piece of toast with jam. [break][break]

his twin, maritza, stands in the center of the garden, pulling apart blades of grass as aoife places flowers in her hair. [break][break]

bemused, fern turns to their husband. [break][break]

“i’m not sure if she has a choice, duck.” [break][break]

-
[break]

i named my son after you. [break]
are you happy, ash?
[break][break]

-
[break]



TEN YEARS IN



[attr="class","tenyearsimg"]


when the BLACK KNIGHT appears, jayden stands in unison with his kingdom to defend it from harm. [break][break]

it’s assault is relentless but so is his. [break][break]

he fights back to back with , ready to protect their home and their family, and everything else that stands in-between. [break][break]

-
[break]

when the blacksmiths tell him of the black crystals, and how they can be utilized for war, jayden’s first thought is of in MOTOSTOKE. even though the years have passed, he knows her craftmanship to be excellent so he writes her a letter and with the help of , asks her council as to what weapon would be the best. [break][break]

with her notes, he takes it to his good friend and blacksmith . [break][break]

of course it is a sword. it has to be. [break][break]

but instead it is not one sword, but rather two. a set of dual blades to be released at a moment’s notice, they embody the power of a BITTER BLADE. the metal chosen was forged from the depths of obsidian metal and the necrozoma’s black crystal, a color so impenetrably dark that it devoured all light that entered it. one hilt was adorned with an intricate crow motif, the other resembling that of a wolf. [break][break]

most importantly, the soul-siphoning ribbons twist around the ends of both, aimed to both empower the swords and also remind the wearer of all that there is to lose. [break][break]

because there is no life without loss, no decisions without regret. had once spoken to him of it, but it is only now that jayden begins to understand. [break][break]

but the militaristic king planned to now wield it in the final clash. he would use such feelings of hatred or grudge towards their enemies and strike them all down from where they stood. [break][break]

it was the job of a king, after all. [break][break]

to protect his people. no matter the cost. [break][break]

wsPbf7WX [break]

[attr="class","break"]




[attr="class","oocbox"]
[attr="class","ooctext"]

tldr.


— location BALLONEA [break]
FUTURE FC | WEAPON - BITTER BLADE
[break][break]

• jayden becomes KING of ballonea, alongside and [break][break]
• as a king, he is MILTARISTIC in rule, focusing on securing the city and defending against intruders. [break][break]
, and become part of his royal guard, and he relies on them as advisors for the next ten years. [break][break]
• when explodes the pokemon center, he calls for her death but is stopped by . in secret, ends up releasing her. jayden knows, but he and never discuss it. [break][break]
• he and get married. they have three kids - one girl, then two twins. they're named after fern's mother, and . [break][break]
• with the help of and , he forges DUAL BLADES (BITTER BLADE).




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[attr="class","title"]
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD





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played by

Dove

Admin Bee
He / Him
30
April 12
Lumiose City, Kalos
Pansexual
Broadcast Journalist
Admin
if you're lonely
come be lonely with me
6'0" / 183 cm height
6'0" / 183 cm height
i fell for your magic. i tasted your skin. and though this is tragic, at least i found the end.
awards
2,353 posts
part of
TAG WITH @barnaby
BARNABY FINCH
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 1:42:06 GMT
BARNABY FINCH Avatar
[nospaces]
[attr="class","barnaby-wrap"]
[attr="class","barnaby-main"]
[attr="class","barnaby-words"]
[break]

Poisoned beasts fell, their walls held, and for now — Motostoke found momentary peace. Hard-won, but apparently influential enough for the peasantry to be inspired by and in particular.[break][break]

Hailed as kings, even, complete with decrepit crowns.[break][break]

Where others kneeled to pledge their fealty to the twin royals, Barnaby simply laughed at the periphery of the crowd.[break][break]

What a joke.[break][break]

Unfortunately, would find it to be a long-running one.[break][break]

ONE YEAR LATER
[break]

Hollow kings did not govern him. Neither did old ties to what was — mask discarded, his allegiance to ROCKET meant little in the wake of their imprisonment here in this altered Galar.[break][break]

But idle hands were the devil's plaything. CALYREX coming to herald them as heroes and return them home was a hope that quickly diminished after months of waiting. Barnaby stewed in his discontented boredom. For his own safety, he helped when Motostoke was besieged by attacking beasts, but otherwise kept to himself. was one of the rare exceptions; a connection to a dwindling past, but still so different than the Elisa he remembered.[break][break]

It was a stifling existence. Eventually, he couldn't be confined any longer or risk his sanity.[break][break]


[break]

So, Barnaby began taking on courier work as an excuse to venture out past the walls. Astride SPECTRIER, he became a dark, spectral rider that braved the poisoned wilds to correspond with others in neighboring cities. It was a harrowing calling, but the risk staved off the boredom and gave him a renewed purpose within the ruined realm.[break][break]

Though he didn't forge many meaningful connections with the townsfolk or those that had been trapped here with him, he was still aloofly cordial with... most. crafted the horseshoes needed for his mount, for example, and ... well. Theirs was a complex connection.[break][break]

TEN YEARS LATER
[break]

There were no roots keeping him on Motostoke's poisoned soil. As the years dragged on, Barnaby did not invest in those around him. No one could hold him down; his place was on the winds, traversing from town to town as the whim struck him. When he tired of one place, he'd move on to the next, carrying missives and letters and important documents with him as he went. After the attack by NECROZMA, he'd even had a recurve bow of MYSTICAL FIRE commissioned to help deter the monsters he ran across in the wilds. A cycle that spanned the decade.[break][break]


[break]

Still, there were some that made an impression on the courier.[break][break]

would always hold a soft place in his heart, especially considering how she'd deteriorated... right before his eyes. A witch, now, of her own making. Caged, crazed, collapsing under the monotony of such a simple existence. Cursed by those ochre eyes; the devil itself dragging her down into the depths. It was ruining her, bit by bit, as the years wore on. But he'd stay with her when she'd ask or when the mood struck, holding on to something they'd created what felt like a lifetime ago.[break][break]

hung around for a time, previously always Elisabeth-adjacent, but even she waned from their sphere in favor of... domesticity. After marrying and settling down into a fairytale life, she cast aside the witch she once held so dear. Barnaby himself couldn't care less. Seeing her peel away from despite their once-strong ties only reaffirmed his decision to stay at arm's length around others.[break][break]

This mantra would be constantly tested over the years, however, courtesy of .[break][break]

Theirs was a layered relationship rife with frustration, attraction, and unresolved, unvoiced, emotion. Caleb was many things to : a body to keep him company, a connection to the pulse of Motostoke, a reminder of their past life — but most of all was his personal plaything. Riling him up past the point of no return was Barnaby's favorite game in all the land. There was an unparalleled satisfaction in the way the false king gave in, time after time, to his taunting wiles.[break][break]

In truth, Barnaby's dull existence here always seemed to shine a little brighter when Caleb was around. Perhaps that's why they continued to clash and come together throughout the decade.[break][break]



mBl4VWxw






[attr="class","barnaby-notes"]

motostoke gang[break]
• unmasked now[break]
• becomes a courier; travels between towns on SPECTRIER[break]
• stills cares for ; worries for her as she descends into madness[break]
is his plaything but it's complicated™[break]
weapon: recurve bow of MYSTICAL FIRE








[attr="class","barnaby-pkmn"]
















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played by

kimmy

peppermint, micha
he/they
27
january 19
hearthome city, sinnoh
homiesexual
ig baddie
rocket beast
I can get by the days just fine but the nights, 🌙
awards
2,899 posts
mint frost DOLLARS
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TAG WITH @mint
mint frost
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 1:43:01 GMT
mint frost Avatar
[nospaces]
[attr="class","neonmint"]

[attr="class","top"]


[attr="class","colorbar"]

[attr="class","body"]

[attr="class","iconimage"]


The battle is one and Neon's brilliant blue grin is wide and his laugh is loud. The creatures are repelled and he welcomes back his Baxcalibur with open arms, cooing his praise. He sees 's crowning and laughs. Rocket? Nobility? would think it apt. He'd hear later that Jayden was crowned, together with the crybaby pyre girl. He'd learn the name from the cheers of the peasantry and then promptly forget it. [break][break]

ONE MONTH... [break][break]

The days stretch into a month, with Mint feeling itchy, out of place. He'd long stopped recording the strange place. He ran out of storage and had no means to edit it himself in this hellscape. He also had nobody to consult with as was in another city and had a hand more so in crafting his persona, not the data storage installed in it. He does his best to help where he can. He goes to to bring him reports of the edges of the walls and he sticks with at the walls to help him build where they may need. He misses modern convenience. He misses his phone. His audience. The sheen in his hair begins to dull. [break][break]

He skirts around , assisting with practical first aid to cover where his avatarship could not. He doesn't say it out loud, but he knows his file. He knows he's some kid touched by a god. He needed his energy more than the rest of them, same with . And as it becomes less us vs them and more hoenn vs galar, they needed everyone they have in top form. They have no idea- no data of avatarship is parasitic yet. So he steps in where he can. [break][break]


ONE YEAR... [break][break]

A year passes and they are all on edge. Routine and also missing home. Some adjust better than others. Some blow shit up and his hackles raised when he sees one of their shelters go up in flames. Mint calls for the Beasts to execute , answering the King's call for a simple end. Nearly moves to do it himself only to stall when another third of the crown calls for mercy. [break][break]

"The damage outweighs her perceived worth."
[break][break]

He sneers at the benevolent queen, damn near ready to turn the knife on her, but when Jayden agrees he balks in surprise. [break][break]

But he says he will deal with it, and he's seen Jayden try to kill for less so he drops the subject. [break][break]

Only to laugh bitterly when these incidents crop up again and again and the failed attempts to snatch their tiaras goes down in flames. But Jayden takes care of it, and their temporary chaos fades into the background. Mint turns his focus elsewhere when Jayden asks it of him. [break][break]

An advisor to the crown. Begrudgingly, he comes to the service of a triad. [break][break]


ONE DECADE... [break][break]

But Neon is a sociable creature. He craves attention, conversation. As much as he condescends, 2/3s of the crown over time he grows from silently judgemental to terse to professional. He falls in step, speaks up when he needs to. Gradually, Neon steps into the shadows, lowering his guard and less alert of League and Rocket. The factions fall away. [break][break]

And Mint Frost eventually makes his debut. Spurred forward by the chance to show off at a ball- a break from work and stress and listening in on boring conversation. Instead he becomes part of the conversation, damn near spinning it around his little finger every time. [break][break]

The first ball he's beside himself with excitement. His cheeks flush with drink, and he spins and spins and spins with new life once the helmet is off. He allows himself to forget this hellscape and the fighting. [break][break]

It marks the most active participation at the royal court, filling awkward silences and defusing tension with a quick joke or a snort. Perhaps he would've been more happy taking on the role of jester. But that performance is more private, saved for someone else to watch him dance foolishly in a dream of his own coping. [break][break]

When there is no longer a League thread to worry about, Mint turns his attention to the stars. Particularly, in innocent curiosity. He visits after suggesting she continue the research. And while he isn't part of the team, he would find himself there on occasion skirting around the good “Titania” ( chosen because of the poor girl’s assets more so than remembering classic literature) as she conducted her research. Taking ( stealing ) their notes, and speaking to the peasantry (and the surprisingly knowledgeable ). [break][break]

At some point, in his little gossip huddles, she shows up and he’s drawn to her despite the surrealness of it all. That girl that he loves instantly because she looks just like - she’s as an excitable gossip as he is, clocking little bruises on his neck and teasing him over strolls in the market. When he tells her of the work with stars she regales him about Galar’s traditions- their astrology. But more importantly, she talks of their fortune telling and something clicks in Mint’s mind as the monarchy works double time in unearthing the mysteries of the sky. She’s too kind, just like his own sister. She gives him a little worn thing, a deck of tarot cards and Mint avidly sets to learn. It’s fun- it's a distraction. [break][break]

It brings him back to his art and he slowly, slowly modifies the deck. Little delicate brush strokes, and a small hum as he changes wooden cards into familiar faces. His smile bittersweet as he remembers the last Christmas he did this. [break][break]

By their 3rd year, he’s garnered that reputation. His readings are a fun and lively source of entertainment. He delves so deeply into the personal lives of the peasantry he becomes a matchmaker. At first its little thoughts here and there. The recall of an interesting detail, the slight nudge there. But soon enough his matches are more successful than not, and he becomes that. Another duty to his plate. Another distraction from what’s going on. He ignores the dulling of his eyes and hair. [break][break]

It’s a strange year for him. The year he dances with some peasant in a tavern one night, and then ends up in his bed. The last shred of innocence ripped away from him in this purgatory. They’re gone when he wakes up and he’s left feeling strange. He can’t help but simmer on it, mulling it over and rolling it nonstop in his head. It’s only days later that his inexperience and frustration lead him to . Over the years, he’d grown closer with Beast. Much of it stemmed from their connections and then their work under Jayden. Just like , he trusts and loves his friend having weathered many battles with them. He’s not sure, not quite aware of the subtle shift. Not until there’s a hand on his cheek and lips on his and the darkness of a castle corner to hide them. [break][break]

And it’s weird. [break][break]

Because they don’t talk about it. Mint tries to read him, to wait. He gives him the grace that only a friendship would. Too much. Especially when they get messy. When court officials and even their friends find them in each other's arms. [break][break]

Besides, it's exciting isn’t it? In this sleepy town? Where the next best thing he has to look forward to is the next wave of sentient poison? He lets Bryan get to him, ingrain himself in his brain. Something takes root, but he can’t quite define it as love. Not then, not ever. He’s too ashamed to admit that. [break][break]

His life turns into cycles as the years wage on. He does his best for the crown, now devoted to his work. He passes the time in the Pokemon Center, grouses at and when they surpass his height and mess his hair. He’s a little calmer around , patiently slipping him sweets and laughing at the similarities between him and Jayden. He brings people together, watches them get married, fall in love. It builds an ache in his chest. Mint volunteers to escort foraging, trading herbs he needed to help with healing salves in exchange for hard labor and quality time. He confides his fears, his struggles. [break][break]

And over the years his relationship with consumes him as well. Holding back his frustration- his confusion he turns to the glowing mushrooms that survive within uncorrupted territory. Oftentimes, it's who he shares the strange shrooms with. Confiding and laughing with him somewhere secluded like old times- like karaoke. Mint opens up and their friendship grows. His days are cycles, routine. And when the hangovers get worse with his consumption, he falls further into the arms of a man he’s not sure really wants him. The ache in him builds. It haunts. [break][break]

As much as he confides in and , as much as they soothe the pain he can’t help but feel jealous- bitter. When marries , when he can’t stomach saying ‘yes’ to more and more wedding invitations of the city- he leaves. He begs to take him elsewhere, braving the wastes time and time again. He sees regularly, brings her little trinkets and tells her updates of Ballonlea. She listens, she gives him tea. She offers a poison that could knock a Copperajah down and he smiles and laughs. That wouldn’t work on an immortal, even if he considered it. [break][break]


THE ATTACK... [break][break]

The attack comes a few days after he’s dropped off once more. is long gone, and can’t carry back the news, but Mint suspects he will experience it on his own in due time. The Necrozma blasts through years of perfectly planned defenses. Much of their infrastructure is lost. He’s at Jayden’s side when they rush to repel the threat but it doesn’t die. It simply gets repelled. [break][break]


Much of the reconstruction and the uncertainty brings tension. [break][break]

"What are we?" He snaps, finally. [break][break]

"We're a good time."
[break][break]

Any argument he starts ends the same way. A groggy morning after and a sore back. The next time he can hitch a ride with , he convinces them to deliver him to to craft his weapon. The BLACK METALS he brings with him are forged into a strange floating weapon. Upon his touch and Straciatella’s, the thing lifts and spins, resembling his tarot cards around a globe. BLIZZARD forms, attaching easily to his weapon to match the storm of feelings inside him. He’s grateful, offering his own services. Readings, conversation, a haircut. He tries to drag the grouch out of their shop and has a drink with them before he heads back to Ballonlea with the next rider. [break][break]

He waits for whatever is to come next. With more prophecy unveiled, and the appearance of the BLACK KNIGHT, he remembers wisps of Hoenn, and feels something strange as Galar rises to a fever pitch.



hNYwLnAe
[break][break]

[attr="class","oocbox"]
[attr="class","title"]TLDR;

@any rocket | time skip DRIP [break][break]

- one month: fuck the bullshit, we still here so he helps doug with the healing so the kid doesn't burn out ( literally ) [break]
- one year later: sees the queens as weak, calls for an execution too, gets hella into astrology and birth carts, is gifted a tarot deck and he starts painting again for fun alone. [break]
- one decade: fucking bryan on and off, royal advisor, drops the NEON act and becomes the best court lord you ever did see, stalks for hto goss, does shroomies, gets hella depressed, visits elisabeth and amor in other cities, becomes a match maker, grows closer with the little guys and felix. gets the divine light astrologian globe and puts BLIZZARD on it BAYBEE [break]

[attr="class","pkmnparty"]

















[attr="class","lyricbox"]
it's a highway, highway to the dark [break]
and a neon medusa's got your heart .



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kohaku

She/Her
Twenty-Five
Jubilife City, Sinnoh
*shrugs*
Freelancer/Ex-Ace Child Detective
Civilian
Violet Fairbanks
Dating
--- height
--- height
Let's Keep things a bit clandestine, shall we?
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564 posts
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TAG WITH @elaine
Elaine Highland
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 2:54:10 GMT
Elaine Highland Avatar

Filename: Day_0.m4a (Last Modified 06/15/N0)

This is Elaine Highland. To be honest, I'm not sure whether making these recordings will serve any purpose in the long run, but the situation does not look like it's coming to an end anytime soon.

Suffice to say the current storm has passed. After being transported to some odd version of Motostoke, the large scale onslaught of corrupted and posioned enemies came to an end with minimal insult. Well, I say that but I don't think anyone has had a chance to take stock of the damage just yet. After all, with what had erupted from the town and the onslaught without, there was plenty of damage to go around.

Jeanne and Sieg are injured but there seems to be time to nurse our wounds...and for everyone else to nurse their own.

We have yet to be teleported out of here. So, there's probably more to all of this than just that one skirmish.

It's not over.

For the time being, I'll see what I can do here. Try and regroup with some of the others.

Maybe I'll finally stop seeing and hearing her before the next phase of this all starts. Whatever this is.


Filename: Day_42.m4a (Last Modified 07/27/N0)

It was a macabre type of 'prophecy' that was left behind. The final clash 'twixt the Black Knight and Skeleton? The heroes wielding Sword and Shield? The major canine emerging to tear apart the memory? It's been a couple of weeks since those words arrived so conspicuously.

Moreover, the fact remains that we've been stuck in this forsaken land for over a month at this point. What I had hoped would be a simple battle had ended up being far more protracted than I ever imagined. After all, we're all stuck in a world that is beyond foreign to us with no end in sight.

If the prophecy is right, 'the long-lasting memory' will be torn apart when poison overcomes the land and hope wanes. I wonder if maybe giving up hope is the answer here. Though, I guess trying those abstract choices may not always be the best option.

For the time being, it's best to try and get along as best we can.

Though, some people are not the type who would do such a thing. To reap everything for themselves. I'm sure there are people who would be like that among those of us who ended up here.

I wonder what kind of people their royal highnesses are like.

I wonder...am I like that?

Elaine?


Filename: Month_10,Day_15.m4a (Last Modified 03/31/N1)

Another day, another onslaught. I had thought I'd grow numb to all of this at some point, but I guess the fact that I can still feel exhausted is probably a sign that I still retain some humanity. No matter how much I grow scared that I am losing my humanity, I guess even that sign provides some solace.

It's been nine months since we all first arrived in Motostoke. Nobody ever probably believed that it would last this long, least of all me. To this moment, I still sometimes try to hold out hope that we would find our way out soon.

Hope for the future.

Rage at my impotence.

Even that part of me I can call my old self has finally calmed a bit as I say that. Her chiding has abated, even if a bit.

Anyways, I guess I forgot to mention the point of this log. I am hereby reinstating the Highland Detective Agency. I was always a pretty small operation before this, so it was only natural that I would resume my raison d'être.

I wonder if would be willing to join along. She's been good at listening to me a lot but pulling her along for my silly endeavors is probably a bit much.

*ksssssht*

What?

It's coming from where?

Got it. I'll head along to help.

*kzzssht*

So much for inauguartion day.


Filename: Year_1,Month_3,Day_31.m4a (Last Modified: 09/14/N1)

I'm starting to wonder if I should start putting multiple digits in the year part of the filename. 01, so to speak. We're a year into life in "Motostoke" but there's no signs of a return home any time soon. Moreover, I'm aging. This is real time here.

Existential crises aside, for now, I'm surprised that I've encountered His Royal Highness for the the fifth time this month in the middle of the investigation. Though, he was definitely apprehensive about me calling him 'His Royal Highness.' Note to self: Prod at the king more often.

That being said, if I were a suspicious woman...wait, I am. Still. His alibis check out for this crime. Not to mention, I have my doubts that someone like him would stoop to grand larceny like that. He doesn't seem the type.

Of course, past experience dictates that that does not raise anyone from suspicion. But I would like to think that I still have some capability in judging a person's character.

Ah well, Tempus fugit. I still have to catch the culprit at the end of it all.


Filename: Year_1,Month_4,Day_3.m4a (Last Modified: 09/17/N1)

Well, I am glad to announce that my suspicions were right. I am indeed not inept at judging a person's character yet. Needless to say, the king will never know for now that he was a suspect.


Filename: Year_1,Month_4,Day_4.m4a (Last Modified: 09/18/N1)

He kneeeeeeeew.


Filename: Year_1,Month_5,Day_5.m4a (Last Modified: 10/19/N1)

Who would have thought that being endorsed by His Royal Highness would have caused my reputation to skyrocket like that? Actually, I guess that makes sense...I'm way too cynical. I got that from you, Elaine.


Filename: Year_1,Month_9,Day_11.m4a (Last Modified: 02/25/N2)

The boy died. The boy died.

I failed to protect another one. You weak bitch. What do you think you're doing? Did a little success temper the embers again? Did you forget?

Did you forget?

Did you really dare forget?

At the end of the day, your weakness dyes you in blood. So you know what you must do.

Rekindle your rage.

Remember what to hate.

And then, rise again.

Ahaha. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!



From this point, audio files become more and more corrupt and more sparse. It is unknown if the recorder had deleted old files or whether she had stopped recording as frequently.

Does a moment of insanity belie a person keeping herself together or does the converse apply?

For now, until they can be recovered, that will remain a mystery.




Filename: Necrozma.m4a (Last modified 06/12/N10)

It feels like forever since I've made an audio recording. I'm so used to quill and parchment at this point that I almost forgot how to do this. Guess I was lucky that we were nowhere the UI could receive updates from.

Suffice to say, I'm glad I ended up taking the position of Commissioner that His Royal Highness had offered...even if I turned it down the first couple of times.

Guess I still feel well enough to tease Isaac, even in an audio recording.

Aidan's doing well. I still remember when he came up to me, eager to become my apprentice. Inspiration really did him good. Not to mention, he has a good survival instinct. He wasn't even phased by Necrozma's attack. The kid has come along well.

I wonder.

I still hold out hope that we may be able to leave some day. Even if ten years have passed.

*hic*

...

...

No, Elaine. You've cried enough tears. You've become stronger. You fought back against a legend.

I need to stand proud for once.

We need to stand proud.

After all, the future is still far from set.

I can walk forward.

After all...

*thnk*

In my hand, I wield the power of an Inferno.





TL;DR:
  • Elaine's outfit, Pre-timeskip
  • Post-timeskip FC: Devola-Nier Replicant
  • Elaine makes friends with during the first year
  • Elaine reopens her detective agency in Motostoke in the first year
  • Elaine makes friends with after getting an endorsement of sorts from him
  • During the ten years, Elaine falls into depression and insanity over her past self and the part of herself she feels is missing from her
  • During that time frame, she ends up becoming police commissioner in Motostoke, appointed by the king
  • Elaine takes up an young apprentice in the interim, not really thinking too much of the fatality rate for Crobatman's sidekicks
  • Elaine assists in the effort against Necrozma.
  • From the black metal, she forges a staff with a hidden blade, imbued with Inferno (Visual-Staff of Agni from Kubera)

3xj0FQ8x


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Epic BugCatcher

Dr. Doug
He/Him
20 (40)
March 3
Viridian City, Kanto
It just works
Lt. Colonel, Medical Corps
AQUA Initiative
Dreaming
of our future
5' 11" (181 cm) / 180 lbs (82 kg) height
5' 11" (181 cm) / 180 lbs (82 kg) height
You're being healed. Please do not resist.
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John Sullivan
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 3:12:56 GMT
John Sullivan Avatar

Aw shit.


Here we go again.



The armored articuno was dead. The enemy army was routed, and the giant pokemon was felled.

He felt a little sick, but at least the battle was over.

He didn't stick around for celebrations, nor the impromptu crowning ceremony.

He would deal with all that later.

He needed a moment to clear his head. Then another to find and everyone else. And then, to finally make sense of everything going on.

"... None of this is real." He says, trying to shake off the sickness in his chest at the thought of the bird's corpse. Omega looks at him silently, humming as the youth wraps his arms around him.

He found a corner within the pokemon center and fell asleep hugging his Orbeetle.


1 month.


A month came and went. A long time. He could hardly believe they were still there. It was the longest op he had ever been involved in.

Skirmishes came to them. A lot. His military training kicked in with a little too much frequency. He didn't imagine the rocket majority was too enthused.

Must've been very weird for the citizens of Ballonlea to witness their soft spoken healer occasionally shout orders to their King and Queens at the top of his lungs.

He didn't feel very saintly on those days. He often wondered how would've done it, oft wondered if he should try to ask her.

He figured he would— once they got out of there. It had almost been a whole month now. So much fighting and healing and protecting and—

— Surely, they were almost done?

Not so. Apparently.

Towards the end of the first month, they found that someone had vandalized one of their damn walls.

"Ominous." He had said, not missing the dripping poison the 'prophecy' had been written with.

If it were to be trusted... they were not far along its timeline yet to be anywhere near close to escaping the memory.

So he didn't trust it one bit.

None of this was real— specially those poisonous words.

"Gonna need some yellow tape, Tsuchi." He said as he knelt down to rub his Ariados under his chin. "Gotta keep the kids from hurtin' themselves. Spider web."


1 year.


A whole year. Prophecy 1, Doug 0.

A single year in Galar saw him use his powers more often than 3 in Hoenn.

His job on the battlefield was General. His job off the battlefield was healer.

knew that better than most. Doug had become well acquainted with the youth and his sickness in the past year.

The peasants recognized the archetype immediately— put a name to it before he could say anything.

They called him the Knight Hospitaler now.

Ah well— whatever made his job easier.

"It's not funny." He said, slapping his snickering Escavalier upside the head as they stood by the gates, awaiting for while wondering if be joining them or not on their expedition.

An entire year had passed, they were still there. He could no longer wait until they 'got out' of the memory. That might be tomorrow, or it might be in 5 more years.

, , skyler, , , , , ... So many people he cared about had been at the raid. He needed to know if they were okay. He had wasted too much time waiting for everything to end.

"They are tough." Doug muttered to himself, brows furrowing at his own reflection on Bedwyr's shiny armor. "I'm sure they're fine..."

None of this was supposed to be real— But the danger felt authentic all the same.


2 years.


Some of his friends were fine.

A whole bunch of them were missing.

It seemed as though only those they had seen at the statue, 2 years before, populated the cities.

He tried to believe that everyone else was free and still in Hoenn, living their best lives— but that only felt him feel isolated.

He didn't want to become a nuisance to and his new school. The boy was growing up fast, and making friends with everyone.

For his part, he was cordial with all, and even worked alongside a few. , , , whatever their codenames were.

He could get along fine with them all. For the most part.

He would have rather had his old friends, though.

Fighting had become too consistent, too routine. The enemy didn't really grow all that much in strength.

He tried to distract himself from his loneliness with different tasks and projects.

Maximizing efficiency on the warfront with and .

Playing astrologer at the observatory with Queen , and .

At the forget with and .

Making the kids at 's orphanage laugh.

Helping with the botany work at 's apothecary.

Getting high with .

It didn't work all that well, if he were frank. But he could tell you all about why a tauros soldier shouldn't get high off toxic weed in the observatory now.

"... Next." He mumbled within the empty pokemon center, knees up on an empty couch. His Poryphone-Z switched to the next picture. He stared into it silently.

None of this was real.

"Next."

The loneliness however, felt very real.


3 years.


He struggles with what to say to a desperate King .

The King's lover is bed ridden and sick.

He doesn't really know what's happening, and it's getting to him.

He's not a real doctor.

The magic isn't working. He couldn't tell the other man why if he wanted. He doesn't really understand how his powers work.

He can only lean onto platitudes and assurances.

And by sheer miracle, it works.

makes it through, possibly due to Lele's healing. Maybe due to something else.

He has no way of knowing.

He stares at a half written letter while sitting in the corner of a silent pokemon center.

He scraps it after a moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

can't help him with this. Not from an entire other city.

His shoulders quaked. His teeth grit.

Damn it. Damn it!

"Just tell me something! Anything!" He suddenly shouted as he threw aside the table before him, words echoing in the empty pokemon center.

But Tapu Lele had no response for him. She did not so much as appear.

This wasn't real, but sickness was. If enemy armies didn't kill them, the blight might.

He needed to do something.


4 years.


He never would've imagined finding himself under Hideo's tutelage. Or Uxie's?

Whatever. Either way— how times had changed.

After 3 years without studies, he had thought going back to hitting the books would be considerably harder.

But the joke was on him.

There were no books. He had to write his own.

"Wait— say that again?" He stopped his tutor for the upteenth time, dipping his pen into ink before going back to the linen paper, fixing focused look onto the 'man'.

General in the battlefield, healer off from it, and student by moonlight.

He couldn't' honestly say his life had changed much between Hoenn and Galar.

Though he found the study of medicine to be considerably more captivating than Military science, if he were honest.

Despite the much, much broader scope of knowledge he suddenly needed to understand and memorize.

None of this was real— except for this. This knowkedge... it was real.

"Oup." He shivered, feeling a pair of wings wrap around him. He grinned at Lepi, leaning back onto her fur despite the cold. "I'm not sleepy yet. Don't worry."

Next time something happened— he would know what he spoke about.


5 years.


, the crazy bitch, was back. He wasn't too happy about it, not for a good while.

Queen 's eccentricities could be alarming, but at least she made the city prettier.

Also, she hadn't (proudly) burnt down his fucking pokemon center.

"Fuck it." He had been looking for an excuse to get away from the dreary building anyway.

May as well take the opportunity afforded to him.

He wanted something less... brown and town-ey. A better view.

He decided his next healing center would be nearer to the forest, just for a change of pace.

He was getting stir crazy with all the fighting and studying and healing and all the other things.

Following a strict schedule in order to tick every box had gotten old. His new companions were nice, much nicer now than they had been years ago, when he had first felt the isolation, but...

He still missed his old friends. He hadn't looked at their photos in ages— not since his phone had died.

Every day, he feared he might one day forget their faces. If only there was a way to preserv—

He shared a look with his phoneless Porygon-Z, the modern art looking pokemon tilting his head.

"... I should talk with Queen ."


9 years.


Over 5 years, his healing center had taken on the shape of a monastery.

Huh. He had left the architecture and style mostly in the hands of the local master builders. He wasn't sure if this was their idea of a joke.

Over the past years, he had gotten impressively good at wood carving. Learnt the basics of sculpting from Uxie, gotten more artistic guidance and advise from Queen . Despite her eccentricities, she proved surprisingly forthright in helping him better his wooden sculptures.

He hi-fived a sculpture of a winged on his way inside.

"... Saint Healer, who's that?" A child had once asked while Doug looked over his health, ridding him of a persistent cough.

"Hmm? My brother. He was real good with maps and flying. Not very funny though." He said dismissively, a small smirk on his lips.

"... So he's, like... A saint of maps?" The child asked innocently, to which Doug absentmindedly shrugged.

"Sure." Saint wasn't how he would describe Angelo but—

Whatever.

"Saint Healer, who's that girl?" Asked another child, this one a small girl with a scratched knee. She was pointing at a statue of another small girl, her hands clasped together whilst a Lion wrapped protectively around her.

"Oh? My little sister." He said simply as he cleaned her wound. "You would've loved her. She got along well with other kids."

"Who's that?"

"My mentor. Bit violent and angry. Meant well, though."

"Who's that?"

"She was like a mother to me."

"He taught me to not judge others without knowing them."

"A man with a heart as big as his body."

"One of the greatest detectives I've ever known. Should stop touching stuff."

"His red eyes were breathtaking. Could've smiled more, though."

"Greatest Captain to ever sail the seas. Couldn't drink to save her life though."

"A man of unbreakable will and convictions."

"Hey—" "Saint—" "Healer—" "Who's that?"

"... A future god slayer I used to know."

A simple question from one of the town's children had somehow become a mythology.

Patron Saint of Navigation, Matron Saint of seafarers, Patron Saint of teachers, matron saint of motherhood...

Blah blah blah.

These people had too much time on their hands.

"I'm not working on a new one right now!" He shouted over his shoulder to a group of kids standing on his courtyard, chipping away at the wood still. "Get back to the orphanage 'fore I tell Fern where you've been!"

The chorus of 'okays' brought a small smile to his lips—

Whoops! Almost forgot!

This wasn't real. Even if it felt like it was~.

"Stop moving." He told his matron bluntly, dragging a snort out of the lounging Tapu Lele. "It's hard enough already, sheesh."


10 years.


For all intents and purposes, he was a doctor. A general practicioner with all the knowledge needed, and several years of field experience under his belt.

He even had magical powers.

But he still couldn't do anything for them.

He stood over hundreds of blanket covered bodies. Dead lined up the floors of his monastery from end to end. Of all ages and all professions.

The black knight's work.

No.

Necrozma's work.

This wasn't real. None of it was. He couldn't forget that. Not even for a moment.

Not for an instant.

Because if he let himself believe...

"I..." He stared at the corpses as he slowly sank to one knee, peeling away a blanket to reveal a familiar face, matted in blood.

And now, tears as well.

"I'm sorry."

He can't pretend forever.

When he finally meets the others, he greets them all with a smile despite himself, and takes no weapon for himself.

He has no need for the power that killed his people.

He's the Patron Saint of Healers, and not another innocent soul would be allowed to die on his watch.


jQGfhinD

TL;DR:
After the battle
-Feels sick after helping kill Articuno
-Skips on coronations and falls asleep in the pokemon center hugging his Orbeetle.

1 month
-Being a general on the battlefield and a healer off from it.
-Sees the prophecy.
-Uses his Ariados' spider web to prevent kids from getting close.

1 year.
-gets acquainted with 's illness.
-gets called knight hospitaller by the public, to his Escavalier's amusement.
-visits other settlements alongside and maybe .
-misses his friends, wants to see if they're okay.

2 years.
-some friends are okay, most are missing. FUCK.
-feeling alone, he tries hanging out with everyone.
-still feels lonely, and miserable.
-Watches pictures of his old friends on his Porygon-Z phone.

3 years
- catches the illness, is desperate and Doug has no idea what the fuck's going on.
-somehow things get better.
-Doug has no clue if he's responsible for this or they all just got lucky.
-Angrily begs Lele to tell him anything.
-She ignores him.
-He decides he must do something.

4 years
-Doug has been learning medicine from Uxie and Hideo's school.
-General in the field, healer off it, student by moonlight. Literally Hoenn life all over.
-Unmentioned in the post, but I like to think he's been keeping mail contact with .
-Cuddles with his Frosmoth.

5 years
- burnt down his goddamn pokemon center.
-Fuck it. Moving to the forest. Bringing over the nice master constructors along.
-... also, learning wood sculpting from and Uxie.

9 years later
-Living in a forest monastery now.
-location is filled with and surrounded by numerous wooden sculptures of Doug's friends. See if you can figure out who!
-locals have begun making myths and religious lore out of Doug's vague explanations for them.
-Doug has become a much more able and learned physician thanks to his studies and hard work under Uxie, and no longer relies just on Lele magic to heal others.

10 years later
-But that doesn't save all the people who died to Necrozma.
-Doug struggles to remind himself this is not real.
-Fuck it, it feels real.
-Doug swears to protect everyone.
-Doug foregoes any black metal weapon. He does not trust Necrozma, nor the prophecy written in poison.

-Thank you for bothering with this long ass post.


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played by

Nano

mari, ouroboros
any
twenty six
june 25
lavender town, kanto
demisexual
nurse
ace
meet me on
the edge of oblivion
5'4" height
5'4" height
and i tried to save a life with these diamond hands of mine; but they're sharper than a knife
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495 posts
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TAG WITH @marisol
MARISOL SIMONE
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 4:02:31 GMT
MARISOL SIMONE Avatar
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[attr="class","marisol"]
[attr="class","luck"]
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the attack from the beast misses her--[break]
barely. [break][break]

she obtains the specimen quickly enough, but her safety is nothing short of a miracle - or a gardevoir whose senses are sharp enough to tug the trainer out of immediate danger while she’s engrossed in her own research. if she’s honest, she should have paid more attention and better heeded her surroundings, but she doesn’t know how long she’ll be able to stay here. after all, she’s never had to stay away from home for too long. she imagines that, after the immediate danger, they’ll be ported right back home, as though nothing happened. why does she think this? because it’s happened before? yes, she thinks so because it’s happened before. [break][break]

how naive.[break][break]

what does marisol do when she’s given time she’s never planned for? she’ll make the most out of it, and she’ll adapt to the circumstances she’s thrusted into (she’s regurgitated herself through the blender enough times, processed and kneaded even more - what difference will once more make?). marisol, unlike before, does not break – she bends. [break][break]

there was never much to live for, in the first place. [break][break]

the peasants on the streets fill the roads, injured and hurt. some have been infected with poison, and she notices through the rubble that corpses pile up. nevermind the sludge; the unsanitary conditions will have them all die of common disease before any blight reaches their skin. it’s odd, she’ll admit, using her modern day knowledge to heal and tend to people, and to approach the city to suggest a way to get rid of the corpses. [break][break]

the putrid reek of rotting corpses is no more, but it changes nothing. time doesn’t stop routine, and neither will circumstances stunt research. her time is spent reinstating the pokemon center to turn it into a clinic or a hospital - one that anyone would be free to enter. she’ll never hold her knowledge to herself, either - she’ll spread it with a small smile she learns to wear over the years. she’ll spread her knowledge of medicine, treatment, nursing (and dismembering) to the peasants whose faces she, at the time, barely tries to remember. [break][break]

healing isn’t only curing, and some research must be conducted to find a cure. countless visits to to talk research or technology (or for companionship, and she’ll admit that the years of his friendship and the crude humor starts to wear down the stoic expression she wears). [break][break]

but company can be kept by plants and papers, and the callused hands that hold plants and dirt never rest. it’s when she looks through the magnifying glass does she get a glance of who she once was (and the ghost of a man whose memory haunts her in a time that’s not their own). it’s disgustingly familiar when she looms over the covered body of the long dead with a syringe in hand, but she reminds herself that it’s for the sake of research. it’s for the sake of learning - not some sadistic revelation. [break][break]

and the years dredge on. [break]
when does she stop dreading looking in the mirror?[break][break]

months turn into years, and marisol is never interested in romance - not when there are so many people in need of healing, and not when she’s so busy trying to learn more about the sludge that always seems to come back up. medicine and vaccines become common with her knowledge, and in the face of pandemics and pestilence, she presses on with knowledge she’s tirelessly recited in her head so many years ago. [break][break]

people lose their homes, and others lose their lives - and even more lose parents or children. though the space becomes less and less livable with the attacks, she tries to run an orphanage for some semblance of normalcy (because NPCs as they are, it never sits right with her to let them roam the streets in despair and grief; maybe she sees too much of herself in those lifeless eyes). [break][break]

but research doesn’t stop. [break][break]

and she’ll dedicate her life to it - though now she doesn’t test for the sake of a sick desire and pursuit of knowledge. [break][break]

now, there’s something to save.

[break][break]


nS_P|MIM
[break][break]

TL;DR:

  • location: motostoke
  • honestly? takes the situation really well tbh
  • first month: pulling herself together, treating the poisoned and the injured.
  • one year: establishes a proper healing center and nursing home
  • one year: begins advancement and leaps in medicine using modern day knowledge
  • one year: begins research and experimentation with the poison on local fauna, corpses, and attempts to capture and observe one of the poison sludge pokemon
  • one year: dedicates her time to science and the advancement of technology. creates her own little lab that doubles as a clinic
  • ten years: development of vaccines for common illnesses, like the cold and the flu
  • ten years: establishes an orphanage for children who lost their parents to poison/necrozma attack
  • ten years: a lot of experimentation and testing to develop a cure for the poison
  • weapon: heal bell spear




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@ @rustedshield @motostoke

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played by

Pilo1

B
He/Him
30
July 9th
Little Root
Gay
Beast
Rocket Beast
Priam conrad
nappy pals
637 height
637 height
Well if it's war that you want then you got it, if it's pain then I got what you need.
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1,748 posts
part of
TAG WITH @bryan
bryan delarosa
GOODBYE GALAR: RUSTED SHIELD
POSTED ON Jun 17, 2023 4:14:44 GMT
bryan delarosa Avatar
[nospaces]
[attr="class","bryanpog3"]
[attr="class","bryanpog3-big-img"]

[attr="class","bryanpog3-1"]
[attr="class","bryanpog3-title"]
MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN
MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

[attr="class","bryanpog3-tagged"]


[attr="class","bryanpog3-subtitle"]
I HOPE YOU KNOW WE HAD EVERYTHING. WHEN YOU BROKE ME AND LEFT THESE PIECES.

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[attr="class","bryanpog3-post"]



[attr="class","bryanpog3-icon"]


Oh.[break][break]

He was now quickly plummeting to the forest floor as he quickly crashes and smashes into it and grimmsnarl plops onto him knocked out. [break][break]

As bryan's body restores itself and he awakens from the fall that would have killed anyone else, he rolls his neck. His grimmsnarl still alive and breathing as he withdraws it, intent on healing it later from this fall and hit. He waits for the next big bad to show up for them to fight as this is how things usually went in hoenn right? [break][break]

After a month

It was clear no one was coming for them, it was clear there was no way out of this hell. They couldn't leave the country either as any attempts to leave the city were met with more of those poisonous creatures that plagued the area and Bryan's healing wouldn't measure up to their poison. It reminded him of the substance he encountered in the Deep sea as it seemed it adapted to his healing abilities as well. "FUCK" he screams as he punches a tree in the forest, knocking it over. "FUCK FUCK FUCK" He could only think about and how he must have been worried sick about Bryan. Why didn't he stay with him, why did he go to fight the other damn fucking dog? [break][break]

He breaks down, he's destroyed, riddled with emotions much like that of a toddler as he loses all control over his situation. Crying out his name several times as he lost his mind. He had lost soleil, the only other thing keeping him together was him, his pure smile, his unending joy. It was infectious, without it....who had he become? [break][break]

He had to hold out for him, he had to get back home. Everyone else was adapting to this place better than he was, was a king, was assigned to run a militia with him, and was made to be the head of intel. He was desperate during the first month, wanting to go home, to his bed, his home, the home he shared with Priam. [break][break]


[break]
After a Year


He had become numb. All his attempts to return home ending in failure he became a shade of who he was. [break][break]

Bryan becomes assigned as the "sword" of the king. It was similar to his role in rocket, he tries to set up a routine for himself. He goes through the motions each day, however he feels himself slowly lose himself bit by bit, chip by chip. The withdrawal of his favorite liquors for some shit ale made from a special type of mushroom and fauna found in ballonlea. It tasted awful and his body quickly metabolized it, an awful sedative to placate himself and pass the time. [break][break]

He needed a better one, a more consistent drug to get him off, He had observed some of the peasants partake in the local fungus. Mushrooms that caused them to hallucinate and provide a temporary reprieve from the awful situation they had all found themselves in. Something that made it better, it provided all of the benefits to him without any of the withdrawls as his body quickly processed those as well. What was week long process for some was merely a day time nap for him. [break][break]

And so, he spent a majority of his time in the forest, indulging in these mushrooms, using his skills in farming to sustain his own addiction. However he had desires for more, he wanted a sense of control, one that his best friend might get in the way of if he knew truly what Bryan had planned. However, there was someone with a skill set much different than Bryan's. One that he so desperately needed. [break][break]

He gave a wicked grin when one day that exact person wandered right into his mushroom garden. [break][break]

.
[break]

During the 10 years. [break]


That infamous moment where it all began, nestled away in a dark corner of the castle, sweet nothings being whispered into his ears as a cheek was placed on his cheek, his rough hands and calloused hands cascading down the side of mint's face, until eventually the grabbed at the man's chin and he grinned at him. He noticed the way mint would eye him, his gaze lingering ever so slightly at Bryan's body. He lifts the man's chin up to his own face where the deal was sealed before it escalated.[break][break]

His plan was working, was wrapped around his finger a precious orchid he tended to whenever it tried to outgrow it's pot. He was the perfect piece of ass to relieve him of his carnal desires, the ones that reminded him that some semblance of him was still human despite everything that had happen to him. had tried to speak to Bryan about it, the effects that this relationship was having on mint. But he disregarded it. He told himself it didn't matter, mint was just a method to pass the time. [break][break]

It wasn't like any of them had the power to stop him, Jayden needed him, the village needed protectors since all of the avatars of rocket had been split leaving him one of the few in the town. It's not even like they had any methods to kill him, he'd just come back and seek his revenge so they resolved to just leave a sleeping beast rest. [break][break]

He runs his militia much like how he ran rocket's in Hoenn. However instead of paying his men in money which held little value in this society, he heals their wounds that were not caused by the poison, his healing being unable to counteract it even with Xerneas's assistance. However to assist in taking the edge off and keep his men loyal to him. He pays them with mushrooms, lifting materials with his strength to assist them in rebuilding, defending against these strange Pokémon with his own strength. Making himself invaluable to the town's efforts. Xerneas was a common sight in the town, rarely speaking to a majority of them, only a select few such as , , or whoever else sought him out and had Bryan's approval as he remained hidden in the forest.
[break]

During the battle [break]

Eventually the prophecy writtin in poison comes true, the black knight they had all loathed and feared made his appearance and Bryan, armed with a hammer he stole from a poisoned tinkaton, fights against it. He spots familiar black metal identifying it to be of a similar material to that of 's own crystals he grew. [break][break]

Eventually Bryan manages to tinker with the crystal enough, embedding it into the hammer he stole from the tinkaton and infuses it with the move GIGATON HAMMER. The hammer became a symbol for his strength, being one of the few people actually capable of lifting it up as his boon from xerneas made it possible for him to pick it up with ease. [break][break]

However, seeing it again after all this time instills a fear in him again. One that had been settled long ago as he was sure the prophecy was full of shit. [break][break]

RIPjdRIO



[attr="class","bryanpog3-bot-1"]

notes about this post


.TLDR [break]
. First month Bryan freaks out and tries several times to try and get back to priam, only realizing they're trapped by the toxic sludge. [break]
. After the first year bryan seduces mint and begins to grow psychedelic mushrooms to placate the village soldiers and keep them loyal to him and . [break]
. After the 10 years, Bryan steals a tinkaton hammer for his weapon and learns to use GIGATON HAMMER. [break]
. Bryan's fc doesnt change cause he didnt age lololol

[attr="class","bryanpog3-bot"]

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img
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Hogwarts AU
RPG Unlimited
MR
The Enroi Region
N:FB
Vyrehaven
Celestial Guardians, AU Sailor Moon RP
EO GENESIS
Code and Crown: An advanced literate warriors cats RP, set in medieval times
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