“Good stuff.” Navy nods at the antidotes. “I doubt that’ll help with the neurotoxins once they’ve spread through their system, but it’ll save our hides.” Thomas isn’t a boy scout, but he sure comes prepared. Navy’s grateful for that.[break][break]

“Alright, then.” Navy mounts up Voyager, his Arcanine. Navy shared custody of Voyager with Gabe, his younger brother, since both his brother and the Growlithe were young. Perhaps the dog feels some guilt over failing to keep his first owner safe.[break][break]

“Onward and upward, then. Sending you the route to your PokeNav.” True to his word, he airdrops the info to his partner in crime. “We’ll start with the bodies that’re closest. Noticed some stuck on a coral reef not far away.”[break][break]

And they’re off. Swimming through the sea. Voyager carries him with all the famed speed of a legendary Pokemon. Funny to think Arcanine held such a lofty moniker in times long past. They arrive at the reef. Sharpedo swim throughout the reef. They have strange growths as well. Screaming faces in their maw.[break][break]

Navy remembers well his last encounter with these creatures.[break][break]

“You distract ‘em. I’ll grab the bodies.” Seems like that’ll be the MO for the day. Voyager’s quick and has a lot of room on his back.



[break][break]

+ Thomas Benoit

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It’s beautiful stuff, Navy has to admit. Voyager jumps from loose outcropping of stone to the next. Occasionally, on the edge of the stone, Navy sees white. Bone white. Alabaster. A terrifying color. To distract from the sight and all its terrible implications, he focuses on something he can understand: hypothetical battles. To keep himself sane, the detective runs numbers. Wondering who would win between Callan Young and Thomas. Whether Melody’s strategies would outpace Thomas’s brute force.[break][break]
The only one he can say with absolute confidence that Thomas can’t beat is Katherine Fairburne. She may no longer be one of the elite four, but that’s only because she took a step up in the world. Still…he’d love to see that fight.[break][break]
Voyager’s howl breaks him from the reverie. They’ve gathered up the bodies. The Sharpedo fall, but the swarm has caught their scent. Jumping back to Thomas, Voyager offers him and his Pokemon a helping hand.[break][break]
“Alright, we fall back to the base. Drop off the bodies. Then recover the ones that got spat out into that ravine up north.”[break][break]
Voyager is off in a burst of extreme speed, trusting in Thomas to follow.

[break][break]

+ Thomas Benoit

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The duo and their Pokemon are in for a shock when they get back to the base. Something has found its way to the walls. It feasts on the body of another fallen Pokemon – some stray from the deep sea. Charizards aren’t supposed to grow this big. It easily pushes twelve feet tall. In place of its eyes are strands of coral. It sniffs them. Turning to face the duo, it roars.[break][break]
“…mother of Arceus. Another one of these things.” Navy groans. He has but two Pokemon he can say with confidence can take on this monster. This battle is not meant for the Black Dragon. Instead, Navy tosses the ball holding Shuwen.[break][break]
He stands in a battle pose, waiting for the Kubfu to join him out on the field.[break][break]
“This guy’s tough. Think your Kubfu’s ready?” Navy grins at Thomas.

[break][break]

+ Thomas Benoit

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Its roar is a promise and a battle cry. A chant. An assurance that it will never die. It has given itself over to the sea. One of Mew knows how many other Pokemon lost in this place. A living sign of the toll this place demands to exist within its borders.[break][break]
Shuwen follows his junior’s example. While the creature roars and the trainers talk, he too bulked up. Falling into a battle stance, he listens to the sound of his own heartbeat. There is another heartbeat, somewhere far off in a realm beyond him. It beats in a strange rhythm. No. That is not his heartbeat.[break][break]
Shuwen’s heartbeat is slow. Like a river steadily flowing to the ocean. Nothing, no god nor master, will rouse him to anger or strong emotion. A perfect reflection of his trainer’s warrior spirit.[break][break]
This strange creature looks down on them. The red dragon’s mouth opens. A fire blast spills out, blowing and billowing across the ground. It’s hot. Hotter than hot. It melts the ground beneath their feet. Scorches sand into glass.[break][break]
Even in flames of hell, Shuwen’s heart remains calm. He steps forward, light steps carrying him over ground that melts into glass, and his fists find the creature. Having seen the antidotes in the hand of the other trainer, he knows what he will try. Salvation is beyond this monster. Only death can save him now. Yet he will play his part. He will fight. With his fists, he will buy the man time.[break][break]
Maybe he’s wrong. There are far worse things to be wrong about.

[break][break]

+ Thomas Benoit

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

They assault it from both sides. Navy a mere bystander. Watching. Observing. Waiting with bated breath to see what happens next. Hovering like some ghost lost in the sea. Wondering what will become of Shuwen, Thomas, and the Kubfu.[break][break]
Shuwen’s fists are now as they were once before, beating in a rapid drumbeat. One retracts. They other extends. It bellows a battle cry. Surging strikes beat into it, rapid fists not allowing the Charizard to advance. The creature grabs Shuwen by the shoulders. Its massive claws dig in deep. Heavy feet dig into scorched sand, refusing to let the creature win.[break][break]
He looks past the Charizard, off to the Kubfu. With his eyes, he asks one question: is this the best you can do?

[break][break]

+ Thomas Benoit

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Were this any other venom, any other place, any other circumstance, perhaps salvation would be possible. Not here, under this sea. Forces older than the ground and sea bind this creature. The Charizard doesn’t respond to the antidote. There is no immediate, sudden change. He carries on blowing flames into Shuwen’s face.[break][break]
Or, he would if Shuwen hadn’t predicted this. He gave Thomas his honest shot. When he sees the plain truth that it won’t work, Shuwen raises a fist. He jabs it through the chest of this great monster. His hand grasps the creature’s heart. He rips it away. It falls over, dead.[break][break]
There is no malice in the movements of the legendary bear. He does not look to this creature with hatred. It was simple mercy. Hard, but fair. He looks from Navy to Thomas and shakes his head, shrugging the creature off. It slumps over, dead.[break][break]
“We’ll, we’ll uh, get Flora to look after you.” Navy assures his Pokemon before looking to Thomas. “Think it’s best we take a break here. We’ll need to haul this Charizard up, too.”

[break][break]

+ Thomas Benoit

[attr="class","pokeclass"]