[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Anchor collided with anchor. Chain collided with chain. The two parried each other blow for blow, their Dhelmise seemingly refusing to use any moves. They'd ended up, against all odds, in a strange sort of honor duel. Perhaps there was a kinship in their unorthodox fighting style. How often did people just heft up a Dhelmise and spin it all around?[break][break]

"Oi! Boy!" the second mate bellowed, tossing his Dhelmise aside and motioning towards himself. "Hows about we settle this, man to man?"[break][break]

The second mate's biceps were as thick as Isaac's head. Isaac barely came up to his tit in height. Despite that, he didn't shy away from the challenge. It was speed and technique against size and might, each punch the second mate landed on Isaac answered by a rapid barrage of his own. Against all odds, they were smiling and laughing, both ship's crews simply staring on in confusion.[break][break]

That all changed when the captain came home to roost.[break][break]

The second Eris crumpled to the ground, Isaac wheeled on his sparring partner with fire in his eyes. "You really gonna listen to this child-beating jackass?" he whispered. The second mate stammered, his seven foot height, rippling muscles, and endless bluster becoming tame in the drop of an eye once his captain arrived.[break][break]

"Well, I don't give a fuck." Isaac leaned in nice and close, fist an inch away from the second mate's solar plexus. "I'm gonna wipe the dock with him. And if you get in my way, you'll wish he was still up to put you in irons, you hear?"[break][break]

The second mate would have a lot to consider. For now, Isaac left him to his thoughts, wheeling around and leaping down to challenge the captain. He stuck a hand out, Sanford dutifully sailing back into his hand. "Here's how we're gonna do things," Isaac said, pointing Sanford towards the captain with a fire in his eyes. "You step away from my captain, take your crew, and get off this ship. Or I'm gonna teach you why you never bring a sword to an anchor fight."

[break]

[break]

[attr="class","adrie-lyric1"]To the monster you became

[attr="class","adrie-b"]

[attr="class","adrie-content2"]

[attr="class","adrie-note"]Isaac Merlo || mission || outfit

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Just remember, you asked for it."[break][break]

Isaac stepped forward, cockiness in his grin and swagger in his step. Then, as if clipping through a hole in reality, he vanished. The pirate captain snatched Eris closer. He was no idiot; people didn't just disappear in the blink of an eye. This landlubber pulled the wool over his eyes somehow, and he wasn't going to drop his guard until he figured out how. He wheeled around in place, making sure that he never left his back exposed for long.[break][break]

Unfortunately, there was one direction he hadn't considered; up.[break][break]

Sanford flung Isaac down from above, his leg extended for a diving kick to the back. It wasn't the cleanest of hits, but the elements of surprise and momentum paid dividends. The captain stumbled forward, and Isaac rushed to follow before he had the chance to turn around. He snagged the captain by the wrist with one hand, then brought his elbow down right above the arm joint.[break][break]

No amount of size difference could make an attack like that pretty. With a resounding crack and a pained shout, the captain let Eris drop. Isaac released his wrist, slinging his now-freed arm around Eris to catch her before she landed. In a perfect world, the fight would have ended there. This wasn't a perfect world. The captain bucked his head back, smashing Isaac's skull with enough force to leave him seeing stars.[break][break]

It was Isaac's turn to stumble back now. The captain swung around in a furious backhand, revenge ripping out from his throat. Isaac could barely spin Eris to safety's way before he was smacked right in the face. "Don't fuck with me, pipsqueak!" the captain roared, sticking his hand out to bring call his Aegislash back to his side. He lined up his swing, ready to end these brats' rebellion in a single, heavy strike.[break][break]

He wasn't the only one with friends in high places. Sanford sailed into Isaac's hand, the feeling of ice cold metal snapping him out of his gaze. He grabbed the Dhelmise's chain by both hands and held it up in a makeshift block. The chain looked like it would give way, but Sanford refused to falter. The Aegislash drew to a close just inches away from crashing into Isaac.[break][break]

With the blade snagged, Isaac criss-crossed his arms to tangle the Aegislash up in chains. He then pulled back and to the side with all his might, sending the captain stumbling forward into a heavy elbow to the solar plexus. The captain doubled over, but he was used to the pain. It was a reality of life on the high seas. He recovered before Isaac could raise his guard, sinking a fist into his gut and giving it a hateful twist.[break][break]

"Once yer done yakkin' on me deck, ye'd better swab it up," he hissed. Slowly but surely he rose to his feet, waiting for Isaac to crumple as Eris had. The second he'd finished standing, Isaac's look of pain flashed to a triumphant smirk. He was already halfway into a lunge; it was trivially easy to shoot forward instead of standing to meet the captain's eye.[break][break]

Before he knew what was happening, Isaac had taken him down to the ground.[break][break]

They weren't the only ones fighting the good fight. Polly Roger flew in circles around the Dondozo, shedding feathers into its eyes to try and stop it from seeing Reiner. Attacks that were once pinpoint accurate were now becoming heavy-handed misses, all while Polly Roger assailed it with taunts. "Swab it up! Swab it up!" she called. "Yer done! Yer done!"[break][break]

Incensed, the Dondozo decided to cast the net wider. It wheeled around, prepared to knock Reiner and Polly overboard with a furious smash of its Aqua Tail. Immediately, Polly Roger shut up, knowing if this hit connected they were done for.[break][break]

A pair of massive teal claws snatched its tail before it had the chance.[break][break]

Cambria had breached from the ocean, the Golisopod picking a particularly brutal choice of First Impression. Its smaller arms grabbed onto the ship's railing, helping brace the giant bug before the even more giant catfish could start flinging him around. Together the two stayed locked in an endless stalemate. It was a position that suited Cambria; from this angle, he could pepper it with barrages of Pin Missiles without much fear of reprisal.[break][break]

For the moment, Isaac seemed to have everything under control. It was just a shame that the crew, starting to rise with hatred in their eyes for this interloper, had other ideas.

[break]

[break]

[attr="class","adrie-lyric1"]To the monster you became

[attr="class","adrie-b"]

[attr="class","adrie-content2"]

[attr="class","adrie-note"]Isaac Merlo || mission || outfit

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Isaac wrestled the captain to the ground like a lasso around a bucking bronco. With the captain's head safely tucked into a wrenching headlock, he felt like he finally had some breathing room. He even took the time to turn to Eris and flash her a winning smile. "C'mon. You know I'd never get hurt on you."[break][break]

The mass of assembled pirates had other ideas.[break][break]

The captain took advantage of this moment of surprise. He whistled for his Aegislash, who turned away from its wrestling match with Sanford to toss its King's Shield over their way. Smirking, the captain smashed Isaac upside the head with it, ringing his bell and allowing him to scramble to his feet. "Give him hell, boys!" he cackled.[break][break]

Eris wasn't about to let that go unanswered. A familiar floral scent filled the air, and Isaac took that chance to roll out a Pokeball of his own. A long time ago, the first time they met, Eris dragged Isaac along on many experiments on her legendary menagerie. There, they discovered that Springtide Storm did more than whip up a pretty pink breeze.[break][break]

The Pokeball opened up to a figure wreathed in white light. A pair of wide, winglike ears spread from the figure, cutting clean through its football shaped silhouette. With these ears, it drifted along the breeze, the rest of its body unfolding by the moment. Its small, stubby legs grew long and powerful. Its head spread away from its torso, taking on a far more canid body shape. Even its flower flared out into a shape more like a scarf, fluttering along the spring breeze.[break][break]

One of the pirates, staggered, tried to draw a Pokeball. Before it could, the figure's power erupted, a Seed Flare knocking the Pokeball right out of his hand. In the fading light, the identity of this mysterious Pokemon had finally become visible.[break][break]

Dandori the Shaymin, if just for the moment, had achieved his Sky Forme.[break][break]

"Atta boy, Dandori!" Isaac cheered, ducking under the captain's heavy forearm. His wild swing ended up popping one of his crewmates right in the face. Two more pirates rushed Isaac from each side. He surveyed his options, then hit the deck, using a leg sweep to trip one up and slingshot him headfirst into the other's gut.[break][break]

It was all out anarchy. Sanford and Aegislash tumbled through the air, green algae and purple tassel intertwined with each other. What pirates weren't being tossed about by Eris' storm were being tossed about by Isaac's steely fists. Cambria yanked the Dondozo's tail hard enough to force its mouth open, Polly Roger perching on its lip to blast a copied Springtide Storm down the great fish's gullet. Agitated, a Tatsugiri burst out, smacking the Chatot away with a heavy tail swipe.[break][break]

In the center of it all stood Eris, Dandori perched next to her to keep her safe at all costs. His new form mimicked Isaac's daring swagger with ease.

[break]

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[attr="class","adrie-lyric1"]To the monster you became

[attr="class","adrie-b"]

[attr="class","adrie-content2"]

[attr="class","adrie-note"]Isaac Merlo || mission || outfit

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]It didn't matter that Isaac was dwarfed, in size and in number alike. It didn't matter that bruises stung across his body from head to toe, electrifying him whenever another one of their fists made contact. It didn't matter that the smell of seawater was being mixed in with the sound of blood.[break][break]

What mattered was that his little captain would be okay.[break][break]

Isaac gave as good as he got, which considering the numbers advantage was far more impressive than it sounded. He stepped on the back of a pirate's knee and pushed him down into the sleeper, only to whip him around and throw him into another pirate's incoming rush. He ducked under a rushing elbow and answered with one of his own, sharp and forceful enough to take his breath away. He swung one pirate into the mast, then used the momentum from a kick to his gut to springboard off and deck another in the face.[break][break]

"Oi! Cap'n Jackass!" By the time the pirate captain turned back around, his crew had fallen one by one. Standing in the center of it all, bruised, punch-drunk, and clutching his arm like it'd fall off otherwise, was Isaac. "We doing this or what?"[break][break]

The captain, not even remotely interested in a fair fight, reached for a Pokeball off of his belt. However, before he could, he felt a tight pressure around his wrist. Looking down, his eyes widened at the sight of a familiar, callused fist rising from the shadows.[break][break]

"Aye," confirmed the second mate as he rose from his Dhelmise's Phantom Force. "This do be a mutiny."[break][break]

The captain tried to scramble out, but his former second mate's grip was as iron. He turned his captain around, then smashed him right in the face with a fist as big as a frying pan. He stumbled like he'd had too much grog, already out like a light on his feet. It was trivial for even an exhausted Isaac to stagger up and drop him with a knee to the gut.[break][break]

Tatsugiri pointed to their commander, letting out a distressed burble. Dondozo, now covered in soot, flopped away from Cambria and Reiner to swallow up the fallen captain. His Aegislash flew up to cover the large fish, ensuring their surrender wouldn't be interrupted by any dishonorable tactics. Isaac looked at the sword, their gazes intense, before giving it a smile and a nod.[break][break]

Tucked safely within the Dondozo's jowls, the Captain and his Pokemon returned to the sea.

[break]

[break]

[attr="class","adrie-lyric1"]To the monster you became

[attr="class","adrie-b"]

[attr="class","adrie-content2"]

[attr="class","adrie-note"]Isaac Merlo || mission || outfit

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Before Eris could stumble and trip, Isaac was there to catch her. Perhaps it had been serendipity; with the fatigue and tension in his shoulders, he seemed like he'd have dropped were she not there to meet him.[break][break]

"What's wrong, cap'n?" he asked, a weary chuckle escaping him. "Never seen a few bruises before?"[break][break]

"A few" was surely an understatement. There were red marks all over Isaac's body and face, signs where fists, elbows, grabs and even Pokemon attacks had made their mark. Over the next few days, they would blossom into carpets of purple and yellow swirls. That was future Isaac's problem, though. Present Isaac wore that boisterous, devil may care smile that always made it seem like everything would be okay.[break][break]

"Trust me. It'd take a lot more than a bunch of random pirates to take me down." Briefly, Isaac looked over his shoulder, a challenge sparking in his eye as he looked over at the second mate. "No offense."[break][break]

"Ha! Big words from a little man." The second mate puffed his chest out proudly, hoisting his Dhelmise up to rest it against his shoulder. "We both know Skarsgård and I would've had ye keelhauled in no time."[break][break]

"Oh, I'd love to see you try." Isaac knew the tiny hands currently holding him for dear life were going to start throttling him if he tried to make good on that challenge. "But don't you have a crew you gotta mop up?"[break][break]

"Aye. I suppose I do." The second mate walked off, lifting fallen pirates two at a time under his rippling muscles. Skarsgård floated beside him, forming a net of algae in order to help collect the fallen. "Yet if we find ye on these waters again, yer gonna owe us a rematch!"[break][break]

"Looking forward to it, big guy." With a cheeky little salute, Isaac saw the second mate off as he began loading his crew back onto their proper vessel. Somehow, Isaac got the feeling that picking on helpless little merchant ships wasn't going to be the new bossman's style.

[break]

[break]

[attr="class","adrie-lyric1"]To the monster you became

[attr="class","adrie-b"]

[attr="class","adrie-content2"]

[attr="class","adrie-note"]Isaac Merlo || mission || outfit

[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"S'just a couple of bumps and bruises. I've had way worse." Despite his braggadocio, it was clear all those fresh wounds stung. The way he flinched and hissed as the disinfectant did its job made that clear. "Worth it, anyway. Couldn't let those bastards get a hand on you."[break][break]

That probably didn't help much with Eris' apologies. Those big, soulful eyes staring into his soul, her tiny hands clasping his own as tightly as they could, the way she nibbled at her lips until they bled . . . it was clear Eris was hurting over this whole misadventure. Isaac could see where she was coming from. This whole adventure was her idea, after all.[break][break]

And Isaac wouldn't have changed it for the world.[break][break]

His palm rotated in her hand, allowing Isaac to give one of hers a gentle squeeze. "Nothing to be sorry for, kid," he said, shooting her a smile equal parts confident and weary. "You wanted a high seas adventure, and I got ya all that and more. Absolute win, if you ask me."[break][break]

" 'Sides, look at 'em all." Isaac turned to the crew, nodding his head their way for emphasis. "If we didn't show, they'd be in a real jam, wouldn't they? Your big heart and need to see what's over the next horizon saved a bunch of lives today."[break][break]

"I know this region makes it real hard sometimes. But don't you ever forget that, okay?"

[break]

[break]

[attr="class","adrie-lyric1"]To the monster you became

[attr="class","adrie-b"]

[attr="class","adrie-content2"]

[attr="class","adrie-note"]Isaac Merlo || mission || outfit