Sunlight bathes a battle pitch surrounded by a cheering crowd. At its center is no gym leader, but a mere trainer. They work the crowd up, win their hearts, sell them on a lie many in the League love: that they are better, that battles are fair. There is a luster in the eyes of Navy’s gym trainers, each of them filled with hope and determination in equal measure.[break][break]
As the Seraphim steps into the gym proper, a much shorter trainer bumps into him. The boy can’t be older than fifteen. Tears well in his eyes, a sharp inhale blocked by snot. Looking up at Amor, he’s taken aback.[break][break]
“S-Sorry.” One word, spoken in haste. He steps past the next challenger and carries himself away as fast as dignity will allow.[break][break]
The man responsible arrives to greet Amor. As worked up as the last challenger was, Navy is a portrait of calm, cool energy. One hand in his pocket, the other resting lazily near a belt full of pokeballs worn in the style of a gunslinger, he regards Amor with cool eyes. They have only met once before, but Navy was given the impression then, as he has now, that this is a serious trainer.[break][break]
“Mr. Rose. Good to see you again. Didn’t expect you so soon.” Eyes the color of gunmetal scans him. Whatever he sees earns the challenger a nod of approval – after all, Amor carries himself well.[break][break]
“This’ll be your fourth badge, yeah? Surprised you don’t have more.” What he says next tips his hand, but there’s no point in playing coy now. “When I saw your name on the docket, I looked you up. Quite the history you have. Great showing at the star tournament, brushed shoulders with countless legendaries. Seems to me like you’re one hell of a guy. So, humor me for a sec while we walk.”[break][break]
He turns and leads the challenger into the sole remaining room within the gym worth being called that. It’s a battle pitch, plain and simple. Standard size, artificial green grass, two raised platforms the combatants can stand on to observe the battlefield below. State of the art radio and communications systems ensure the two can speak clearly to one another over the course of the battle.[break][break]
“Why do you wanna do the gym challenge? Clearly you don’t need the education. You wanna take Lopez’s spot?”

[break][break]

+ Amor Rose

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

A subtle press of a button stops the camera feeds. They’re alone. Navy’s gotten this trick down to a science. It’ll look like a glitch in the footage. For a few moments, he can speak candidly to this man. Navy admires him, admires his strength. Admires the fierce independence. Much like freya morningstar, this person embodies all the finest qualities of a dragon.[break][break]
“Your Pokemon suits you.” He likes to think it’s a nice exercise in understatement. Thumbing the pokeball at his waist, which bears the insignia of a roaring dragon’s head, he pulls it out. This will be almost traditional – for a time.[break][break]
“I’ll explain how this usually goes. League’s a meat grinder. You know it. I know it. It chews people up, spits ‘em out. Doesn’t tell ‘em what they’re signing up for. Suddenly, they’re bleeding out in Sootopolis or living twenty years in another life. You go in much for poetry? I didn’t when I was in school, but there’s this one line that always stood out to me…”[break][break]
“The real war’s not in the papers.”[break][break]
“You get it, don’t you, Rose? Yeah, I think so. The point of this gym is to show kids – the young, dumb, the patriots – what it’s really like to fight for the League. I want ‘em to run home scared. I want ‘em to know that it’s not some fairy tale. But that look in your eyes…like your dragon’s. I know you already know that. So…”[break][break]
A black dragon flies free from a pokeball in a flash of red light. Vortigern moves faster than a creature his size has any right to move. Thundering across the distance, the massive specimen of a Garchomp spies an equal and he relishes in the chance to conquer that equal.[break][break]
“…you n’ me, we’ve got the same goal. Almost. I wanna be Top Champ and keep these kids safe, no matter what. So, come on, Rose! Help me practice! Show me your strength! You wanna take down Silph? Young? Connors? Melody. Then come on, take me down. I’m just another obstacle.”[break][break]
Vortigern’s jaws go right for Draco’s throat. There is no hesitation. It’s kill or be killed.[break][break]
The ground under them shakes. They’re sinking into steel darkness.

[break][break]

+ Amor Rose

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Only the black dragon’s speed saves him. The fist comes crashing towards his face. What a curious thing, to see such a strong blow coming from a gentle creature. Igniting the jet engines on his head, Vortigern jumps. His claw balls into a pointed fist, oozing with poison.[break][break]
Ice meets poison in a clash that sends rocks flying all around them from the force of the blow. Even the challengers might be thrown off balance by the exchange, if they’re not careful. Navy grips onto the side of the observation deck to steady himself.[break][break]
In the aftermath of the blow, Vortigern skids past. There’s distance between them again. As the black dragon turns, he readies himself for another charge. Different creatures serve different roles. He’s made for an all-out offensive. The Black Dragon does not see type advantage, or power match-ups, or such human concerns. All he sees is another dragon. Draco is a fellow monarch, a creature that stands above all else.[break][break]
He wants nothing more than to taste of this king’s flesh. He wants to consume the best, and through that consumption, grow stronger. For a dragon such as he, there can be no other way.[break][break]
“I’m--- not the kind of person who lets power go to their head.” Navy stammers his reply, still not used to how powerful dragon Pokemon are. They’re in a league of their own. Fitting that it so often takes a dragon to slay a dragon.[break][break]
“Well, I guess I let the dumb kids around here off the hook too much.” He tries to hide the apprehension he feels watching the battle behind a smile. “Dewford’s a long way from League HQ. I’m not about the drama that happens there.”


[break][break]

+ Amor Rose[break]
Thrusters ignite![break]
Poison jab v. Ice Punch clash[break]
Vortigern skids away and turns back.[break]
Talk no jutsu

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Then I’ll look my kid brother in the eyes and tell ‘em I tried when I see him in the afterlife.” He says with a soldier’s reservation. “They’re shitty. Arceus, they’re shitty. But they’re better than Rocket.” The last sentence is laced with uncertainty. Josh Devlin, a kid he respected as a gym leader, almost killed a child he has come in to care for deeply. Dust kicks up. Dragons roar. He feels like he is hit by a sonic boom. What speed they both have! It’s a battle of truth and ideals, gods and men.[break][break]
“I’d rather be there. I’d rather fight in the trenches. I’d rather save who I can. If they hate me for it, so be it. If they want a piece of me for trying to save kids instead of kill them, so be it. I can take a hit. I’ve been hit by people a lot scarier than Silph or his cronies.” That he says with his chest. He might not know how he’d take power, but he knows how to take a beating.[break][break]
Vortigern and his human have that in common. He’s caught off guard by the speed but he adapts. Writhing within his fellow king’s grasp, he tries to claw at him. He’s slammed into solid stone. Draco launches Vortigern through it. They careen through the battlefield. They are lost in man made fog, which smells awful. They skid against the ground and Vortigern finally seizes his chance.[break][break]
His claws dig into Draco. They’re already in an intimate embrace reserved for battlers and lovers. It he easy, so easy, to dig his claws in. The thrusters turn on with no warning. They create opposing force as his feet dig into the ground. His roar shakes the earth, his will kicking up the stones along their path.[break][break]
Vortigern drags his foe along the jagged stone edges of the arena. His rough skin demands a hefty toll for this intimacy. He longs to draw blood. He hungers for flesh. Having felt this creature’s strength, he wants to devour him whole and by so doing make them live forever as a part of him.


[break][break]

+ Amor Rose [break]
Talk no jutsu[break]
Vortigern is slammed across the battlefield.[break]
Digs his claws into Draco and ignites his thrusters again.[break]
Drags him along the stone edge of the arena floor.[break]
Yo is this dragon on dragon violence or yaoi guro?

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Dragons do not relish the cold. Garchomps especially. They are creatures meant for warm climates. Vortigern’s blood runs cold with every blow. His internal temperature rapidly drops with every punch. This monster he fights has trained against dragonkin. Vortigern can think of only one place to go from here: up.[break][break]
He jumps. They climb together, leaving a jet stream of white in their wake. This trail in the sky spirals upward. One beats the other with relentless fists. The other claws, bites, loses himself to the fury of a draconic outrage. Up they go while Vortigern rages, remembering the days when he was but an oversized Gible or a teething Gabite.[break][break]
He has survived this far tearing down all comers. He’ll survive this. If he is to be the creature that stands at the human’s side when he reaches the mountaintop, then he must not fall. He won’t lose – not to the human, not to the dragon in his wake. He’ll crash the Dragonite into the solid stone above them both.[break][break]
“In one way…they’re a lot worse than Rocket.” His admission doesn’t pain him. This thought has stayed close to his mind ever since he saw his brother’s body laying on the slab. “Once upon a time, I almost ended up in Rocket. They make sure you know what you’re gettin’ into. No one joins Rocket with false expectations.” Navy makes no secret of the respect he has for that.[break][break]
“The League? Oh no. They don’t tell you shit. They just tell you to fall in line. Act like a good soldier. Next thing you know, people are dying around you. Gods are fighting. That’s the point, Rose. Name of the game. Everyone has to pick a side, and it’s my job to make sure all the kids the League lies to know what a war’s really like.”


[break][break]

+ Amor Rose [break]
league sucks btw[break]
Vortigern uses outrage and launches up.[break]
MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“ ▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー！！ [break]
▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー！！ [break]
▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー！！ ”
[break][break]
Vortigern roars. A beast of the land travels into the sky. An iron head slams into his rough skin to bring him down low. A shockwave of dust flies across the battlefield. Rocks are sent flying. He hits the ground with so much momentum that a human body would explode into a thousand pieces. Blood seeps from the wounds left by the headbutt. Bones snap loose. They hang out of him. Arceus does it hurt. By the creator and all of the dragons he spawned, does it hurt.[break][break]
What dragon balks at pain? What do wounds mean to one of their kind. They rule over everything. Their word and their voice is absolute. Pain itself bows to them. This pain is an outrage against his very nature. It drives him mad. He grows wroth once again.[break][break]
His world is a world of red. Blinding scarlet, rifts of crimson. He shoots up through the red haze, back to Draco. His claws, maw, every inch of him glows with blue energy as he screams. He rages against his fellow dragon like all will be right in the world if he can just overcome this challenge.[break][break]
“Shit—” The latest shockwave nearly knocks Navy over. He rarely lets Vortigern off the leash. He’s a Pokemon that would slaughter most challengers. A champion’s companion if there ever was one. He’s not fit for the role of gym Pokemon. [break][break]
It speaks to how highly he regards Amor and Draco that he fielded him. It is] good practice for his own run on the elite 4.[break][break]
“If Josh pulls a stunt like he did before, I’ll deal with it myself. Same for the rest of them. And if they fire me for it, no one will be able to say I didn’t try. I’ll make myself indispensable. If they dispose of me anyway…” His hand balls into a fist. “I don’t gotta wear League colors to fight for what I believe in. But I’m gonna do all I can while I’m here. I’m sick of being on the sidelines while people are being hurt.”




[break][break]

+ Amor Rose [break]
Vortigern uses Outrage[break]
hurting children is bad, actually

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“That ain’t even a question. ‘Course the League’s infiltrated. Hell, they’ve probably been infiltrated on and off since Slateport.” He admits. It’s a meaningless admission, really. There’s no real profound insight there. They’re at war. During war, both sides use spies. Navy suspects there are League and Rocket infiltrators on both sides. The neck and neck arms race that dominates the region speaks to that.[break][break]
“But my options are the League and the people who killed my brother.” That admission is quiet. None of the gusto or bravado with which he speaks to the world is there when he makes that admission. “How the hell am I supposed to throw my hat in with them, Rose? How am I supposed to believe in people who would do that?”[break][break]
Vortigern carries no such doubts. Vortigern is a beast defined by his inability to stay down. A king must carry on until he dies. He must carry on after he dies. When his legs are taken, he must use his arms. When his arms are gone, he still has his maw. When that has been taken, the very earth trembles at his command.[break][break]
He, too, is bleeding. He, too, must not stop. His legs sway until they are planted in place. He’s spitting blood. Something inside has been broken. To back down now is to admit he is below this creature. The human means to have him fight legends. How is he himself to be a legend if he falls here?[break][break]
Pain is temporary. Victory is forever. He does what most would call folly. As the ice wraps around his legs, he claws at them. He tears his own flesh to free him. He rips his own skin apart so that there is an inch. His powerful legs do the rest. His jets ignite. He turns. He strikes.[break][break]
“▂▂▃▃▅▅ーーー！“[break][break]
This creature has no voice. He cannot speak in the tongue of Pokemon. He can only roar and rage. Speech is beneath one such as him. They are both battered, bloody, on the edge of falling. Who can say who will win? All they both know is that they will never stop fighting.


[break][break]

+ Amor Rose [break]
Outrage continues[break]
Frankly this is just torture smut at this point[break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]