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The battle was nothing but utter chaos. And in the mix of the chaos, the burnt scarred man sliced his way through the poisonous pokemon with his shadow break duel swords. Determination in his eyes, he refused to let his new life be lost to war. In the midst of fighting enemies, Maverick called for Azula to attack the massive grass type. The band worked it magic, massive canine growing even bigger only to set the creature ablaze. It screamed in shock and pain, refusing to go down without a fight. In its last ditch effort, the creature lashed out and took several other pokemon down with it. Luckily, Azula manages to dodge its last retaliation.[break][break]

Even as the giga pokemon falls, the battle wasn’t over yet. The illusory Zacian’s runs through the blood stained battle field to usher them into the next round, and hopefully last, of the war. And just as it ran past the black knight and skeleton fighting it out, the zacian disappears into the forest going who knows where. Maverick eyed them, only to be forced to face with the two pokemon ahead of him.[break][break]

The two creatures fight it out, exchanging blows to determine who was the victory. And as more made it through the army, attacks of all types hit both the black knight and the skeleton. Shouts erupted from all around him, some ordering to attack the black knight while others call out to attack the skeleton. Maverick's warm crimson colored orbs turned to his houndoom, watching as she returned to her normal size and quick to return to his side.[break][break]

For a moment, the man and his canine watched the battle before them. This all felt wrong, and not in the way one may think. "I don't think it matters what pokemon wins this fight," the man mumbled to his beloved canine, flinching as a wave of attacks hit both creatures, "Both smell of doom on the region." Azula lifted her nose to the air, scenting out the air before she snorted. The ex gym leader's gaze shifted to the forest that Zacian disappeared too. "I think Zacian may be the asnwer to this problem. Let's go with it."

7XwjGdNT

[attr="class","bottom"]@teamzacian at route 120.[break]
team hammerlock. doesnt attack either and instead, chases after zacian[break]

Watching people die and scream and call for help were all familiar things at this point. You couldn't avoid casualties. But you could learn from them. Grow callous to your emotions. Abandon them entirely. It showed in the way many of them continued to attack, rather than help those on the verge of passing. Was that strength?

Derek is no different. As the smith's apprentice is overwhelmed alongside the other townspeople, the ranger does not falter. Instead he is asking himself... Did he ever even like these people? Were they worth the twenty years they'd sacrificed?

His Perrserker falling in battle yields a greater response. Fear and worry that it might also perish. But relief is found as it continues to draw breath. Secured within the confines of it's pokeball, it can finally rest while another takes it's place on the field.

The battle rages on. The faces around him dwindle in number. And they also become more and more familiar than at the beginning of this conflict. There is a semblance of security in that. And he feels similarly about these two titans dueling before them... But who does he trust? They are all making their decision in the heat of the moment.

One one hand, the devil you know.

And the other...the devil you don't.

There was no time to discuss it. With everyone else firing away with their hardest hitters, he has no choice but to get involved. Handling another pokeball, his Machamp takes the field in dramatic fashion. It's stature rivals that of the giants around them, and it smiles as it realizes the power in these hands that will help to decide this memory's final shape.

"Attack the black knight." Eager to discover the extent of it's might, the Machamp strikes forth with everything it has. Thegmax chi strike collided with an audible thud that reverberated through the air, weakening the necrozma for the onslaught that followed. And though Derek felt confident surrounded by the league's finest, he couldn't help but hold his breath until the smoke cleared...

7gTULsxC

---

tl;dr
derek saw his apprentice die and shrugs it off
derek returns perrserker, who has fainted
derek summons randal the vandal machamp
machamp undergoes dynamax (mega stone applicable?)
derek has sided with eternatus
dynamax machamp uses gmax chi strike vs. necrozma (increased critical chance / blocked ur chi dawg)

GOOD GALAR: RUSTED SWORD

☉

the gauntlets invigorate her. every jolt sends a shiver down her side, an elastic surge of energy that launches her forward. she moves with reckless abandon, steps quickened by supernatural forces.

waves of sludge creatures are felled before them. generals fall as their world and its people finally, finally fight back. she grunts as she deflects a blow aimed at nomi's side. queenie flanks her, cutting down what she cannot, and for once they are almost on equal footing. 

she knows, again, what it's like to have the strength to protect those she loves. 

until bailey goes down. it happens out of the corner of her eye. nomi's stumbling step, her pivot as she moves to save parker instead of their friend, doesn't quite register. not until philomena is crying out for her fallen beloved. she trips over the battlefield, swinging a greataxe and tearing through foes.

but parker watches her face drain, her world stop, and then poison sprays down her side. 

where is it going?

their friends, their loved ones, are all on this field fighting for a brighter future. something better than this. she is heartsick, suddenly, for the comforts of a home almost forgotten. near the end, hoenn had been a shitshow, but she could at least walk down the street and order a bagel without fear of sludge monsters and giant black knights cleaving her in two. 

parker! she can't stop staring at bailey's pained, twisted face. philomena's macabre, ruined likeness. 

i'm following the zacian. who? what? her gauntlets flex; energy sizzles, but the light is dimming. they need action. 

watch my back.

her gaze hardens, tearing away from the bodies of those they'd once called friends. she steels herself, waving queenie to her side, and stares hard at nomi's back as she takes off running. 

they'll get through this, the two of them. parker won't let them end up like that. 

Naomi Sato
i squeak this in teehee

following nomi to the ends of the earth (weald) so - abstaining
watches npc bailey's partner die sadge

☉

Maybe it would have been better to continue to think of these people as nothing but figments of imagination. As Megan watched, she realized that back then, she had dismissed them in part as a protective mechanism. Having known that they were here to achieve heroism and therefore would have to encounter adversity, something among these lines was, in a way, inevitable. Not that she could have ever verbalized that or anything like that. But she had had a reason.
[break][break]
One that she understood better now as she watched a man die that she had build homes with, another that they had built it for. Megan tried to disassociate from that in a way. Thinking this the final battle, there was a feeling of possibly returning home soon anyway. Yet, it still stung.
[break][break]
In contrast, she felt nothing about decimating the enemy army. Years of facing all but faceless goons had desensitized her to that notion. That was the enemy to be defeated, so defeated it was. Plus, she had no time to truly think about that. Her other protective mechanism had been to all but focus on one person and protect that at all costs. That was why she had chosen protect. One person, she felt she could save. All were impossible. Everyone knew that. But one, that seemed doable.
[break][break]
Hence, she went further in with Johanna even as the battle around them switched from a fight of giants to a more manageable size. Yet, Megan found herself confounded by the two legendaries fighting above. Both seemed wrong on at least some level. Having no preference, she simply waited. Jo, as always was more decisive. Though this time, Megan felt it was more justified here. Either way, once she saw the Annihilate, she knew what to do. “Hyper Beam on that Necrozma as well. Best to focus on one to maybe bring it down,” she ordered her Hydreigon, hoping that it would even make a difference this time. If nothing else, its attention could not exclusively fall on Jo this time. Megan once more prepared herself to Protect, that old memory of someone being all but disintegrated coming back to mind freshly.

[break][break]

+ Being late, Meg reminisces and scares, follows Johanna Joy in her choice to ait Eternatus, Hyper Beam on Necrozma, trying to Protect from retaliation 83EbpJOo

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