Navy thinks he’s hearing his own heartbeat when his ears detect the wings. Lugia and her thunderous stormclouds are heard long before they’re seen. Hattori clings to his side in fright. They’re in this together. Once this show starts, once this box is well and truly opened…[break][break]
Well, he’d best hope that Callan Young, Laurence Anderson, and the others are as good as they’re made out to be. Until then, it’s an endurance match – the fight of his life.[break][break]
“This is what it’s all about.” He whispers to himself, flicking the top of the detonator as Lugia finally comes into view. Riding atop the great mother of storms and waves is Cillian Quinn himself. The Harbinger, in all his glory. Perhaps Rocket’s mightiest warrior.[break][break]
“Being a champion, I mean. Not fighting in arenas…rescuing people. Keeping Hoenn safe.” Hattori, the only one who can hear him, is apprehensive at best. “You’re one of my best friends, Hattori. Let’s get through this together.”[break][break]
Lugia draws closer, closer, closer…[break][break]
Navy plays the part of a hunter, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Watching, waiting, on the edge of his seat. That moment comes, he flicks the detonator open…[break][break]
The boat goes flying in a cloud of smoke, fire, and metal. For a brief moment, gone as soon as it happens, the sky is orange. Even from where they’re standing, on the treeline of this small deserted island, they can feel the heat.[break][break]
This isn’t the time to take chances. Both trainer and Greninja turn and hightail it deeper into the woods. This is just a cheeky wave. The real game starts now.

[break][break]

+ Cillian Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Closing his eyes, Hattori opens his ears. He hears not one set of wings, but two. Two monsters, coming in fast.[break][break]
Above them, there is copious cover. Inland, trees dot the island. They’re dense enough for Lord and Pokemon to kneel down low, cover themselves up in fallen tree leaves, and wait. That’s what this is going to be: a waiting game. Hattori was not in the caves under Dewford with his Lord, but he has heard the stories. The man riding the skies above them is a master of monsters.[break][break]
Not Pokemon. Monsters. Terrors. Each of them stronger than the last, stronger than any creature has any right to be. What is he before creatures like that?[break][break]
Waiting beneath the brush, the wingbeats grow closer. His Lord whispers in his ear.[break][break]
“Two of ‘em. Let’s see if they take the bait. Get ready…we’re gonna have to hit ‘em hard if they do.”[break][break]
The shinobi gulps. Further inland, he set up a substitute. Assuming that the Harbinger would bring some kind of tracker with him, they doused it in a strong, rank stench. Anything with a nose worth its salt will pick up on that scent. It’ll lead them right to it…[break][break]
And when they do, the shinobi and Lord will be waiting.[break][break]
Little do either of them know that a dark hunter will soon pick up their true scent.


[break][break]

+ Cillian Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

That roar chills both Pokemon and trainer to their bones. It is Hattori, as ever, that saves Navy. When the shinobi sees the eyes of the monster turn towards them, his padded hand goes for a pokeball. Lizzy, Navy’s Cyclizar, is called out onto the battlefield. Navy understands what to do when the red light streaks from his belt.[break][break]
They’re riding through the trees with a hurricane at their back. Hattori fires off an ice beam at the predator that will inevitably follow them. Trees, totally uprooted by the violent storm, swing by them. Some are narrow misses. Others are jumped by Lizzy.[break][break]
One almost catches them. Hattori manifests a blade of psychic energy and cuts through the tree like a knife through butter. All the while, he’s clinging to Navy. He’s shaking like a tree. He’s afraid.[break][break]
“We’ll get through this, buddy.” Even here in this hell of battle, with two monsters and their master nipping at their heels, he finds time to pat the Greninja on the head. “You’re stronger than you think you are.”


[break][break]

+ Cillian Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

There was a terrible storm in Slateport once. Like any coastal city, it experiences its share of violent storms. People are used to them. Navy remembers that day now, as Lizzy navigates him across an island with rapidly decreasing cover.[break][break]
It’ll be okay, he told his brother in those long ago days, Lugia’s not gonna let any storm get bad enough to kill us.[break][break]
Navy’s never been religious. He goes in more for Rayquaza for its awe factor than Johto’s twin gods. Yet still, he remembers those words. He remembers the comfort his brother took in Lugia. He grits his teeth at the hell the storm mother calls down upon him.[break][break]
“Just remember somethin’, Navy.” He whispers to himself as he urges Lizzy to do a hard turn around. “You started this fight. You pissed off this hurricane. Gotta see it through.”[break][break]
He prays that Elinor’s out by now. He prays everything’s going according to plan. He’s a pawn doing battle with a much bigger piece.[break][break]
This pawn moves across the chessboard. If he can make it to the other side, maybe he can be something equal to the man riding on Lugia’s back.[break][break]
Onward he rides, and well.[break][break]
“Give us cover, Hattori.” Hattori nods, throwing out smoke bombs. They turn into a smokescreen, momentary cover against the wind. It adds another element of chaos. Lizzy’s going full throttle. She kicks onto a loose, flying tree…[break][break]
…and Navy urges her to rush right into Lugia’s belly. The dragon rush is augmented by a fresh explosion of smoke, better to obscure where they are ahead of the impending counterattack.

[break][break]

+ Cillian Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Despite everything, he feels guilt.[break][break]
This was once a gentle creature. She was something little boys and sailors could pray to when the weather turned sour. It brings him no pleasure to cause this god pain.[break][break]
Regret turns to fear so easily. The storm takes on a pink hue. Navy has seen a dozen disparate species of Pokemon use this move. None have made this storm manifest with as much ferocity as the great Stormmother.[break][break]
Lizzy is torn apart beneath him before she can even fall. The force of the fae winds rips apart her tail and one leg like teeth pulling at a chicken drumstick. Rider and Pokemon are separated.[break][break]
“Lizzy!” This Icarus cries as she is sent flying far off, higher and higher. Blood trails behind the poor dragon.[break][break]
He has no time to mourn others. Hattori, through his shinobi arts, substitutes them for a log, pulling them down towards the ground. The winds prove too strong. Navy is separated from his Pokemon in the fall. He lands on the sands below with a thud, coughing up blood.[break][break]
“What the hell…was I thinking…?” Crawling along the sand, he looks for anything that can help him. His pokeballs seem to have been lost in the storm. Lizzy is far away. Hattori is nowhere to be seen. Something inside him doesn’t feel right.[break][break]
“Lars…Young…this better be worth it.” He prays through gritted teeth.[break][break]
Standing up is pain.[break][break]
Stay down, Michael. His father’s ghost says.[break][break]
You’re not man enough for this fight.[break][break]
“My name’s Navy.” He growls to a man who isn’t there, looking up at the apex of the world. An arm hangs limp at his side as he stands amidst the storm, surprised he can hold on.[break][break]
“Come down here and fight me then, motherfucker!” He cries out, pointing with the arm that doesn’t have a bone jutting out. Clenching that hand into a fist, he wobbles and stands ready. This man is a monster that dwells atop the mountain he climbs.[break][break]
Even if it costs him his life, he won’t back down. He won’t show fear. That’s what it means to be Navy.

[break][break]

+ Cillian Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Death comes for him on the edge of a knife. Just like last time, the smart move is to run. Injured as he is, he could put some space between Cillian and himself. He could find a pokeball. Every second he buys is a second Lars and Articuno don’t have to dance with Lugia in the skies above Sootopolis.[break][break]
But he’s something of an idiot. Warriors don’t back down, not when their pride’s on the line. They march forward, damn the consequences. Damn everything. He’ll fight this battle until the last breath leaves his body.[break][break]
Under the dark sky, under crying winds, under the watchful eye of the god that binds her fate to this criminal, Navy marches forward. Trying to ball his left hand into a fist, he realizes he can’t feel anything there. He’s got his right hand.[break][break]
“Hey, asshole!” Navy yells as they’re mere feet apart from one another and closing the gap. “Long time no see!” Two soldiers, positioned on opposite sides of this war, strike out.[break][break]
Out of the corner of his eyes, Navy sees something stir in the shadows beneath the blonde.

[break][break]

+ Cillian Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]