The wind blows across the beach sands. Local yokels were watching a spirited battle between a young contender and one of the gym trainers hired by the Sheriff. Everyone’s breath catches in their throats. A life hangs in the balance. Anyone with the basest understanding of tone can feel one thing: this is personal.[break][break]

“I’m right here.” These three words cut through the crowd.[break][break]
Across the sands marches Dewford’s sheriff. This is not the man Tempest saw in the caves under Dewford. That man was hanging on by a thread. Alone. Afraid. Caught between two worlds. A creature in denial of its own existence.[break][break]
Gunmetal eyes regard Tempest. They see someone with a sublime name. It suits them to a T. They are a tempest, a whirlwind, they are strength.[break][break]
They are a wall to be overcome. It is his duty to defend these people from monsters like him.[break][break]
His hand rests by his pokeball in the style of an old gunslinger. He, too, wears his sygna suit. Its long scarf trails behind him in the wind.[break][break]
One of his Pokemon, the same one who lost an eye to Temp’s husband, is already out of his ball. Hattori hides in the shadow. Lurking. Waiting. There to ensure that the trainer isn’t hurt.[break][break]
Shoulders squared, legs spread, Dewford’s Sheriff looks at the storm coming for his town.[break][break]
“You want blood, Tempest Quinn, you got.”

[break][break]

+ Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He says with utmost sincerity. There’s anger there. Anyone could understand why this man would react this way.[break][break]
The spotlight hits Navy, but the strike that follows doesn’t hit him. Instead, yet another Johanna Joy plush doll is pulled from the crowd. A puff of smoke surrounds this substitute.[break][break]
Navy, pulled by Hattori, now hovers close to Temp. They’re both basking in the strength of their sygna suits, why not make use of them? Clenching his fist tight, he levels a right hook aimed straight at the man. If the spotlight is on him, he’s going to share it with his opponent. It’s only right that they share the dance.[break][break]
Kicking the dirt, electricity spreads throughout the field. It may give a small advantage to the Luxray, but it gives a vastly stronger boost to a familiar face. Roland, perhaps the first of his kind and certainly the most unique, emerges from his pokeball. Bathing in the electricity, his quark drive activates. Even one-armed, he is a threat. Streaking across the battlefield, he brings the fight to the Luxray.[break][break]
With an elegant upward cut, he strikes. In its wake is a streak of pink fae light. This psycho cut is augmented beyond his normal capabilities.[break][break]
“Bring it, fucker! Glad someone in Rocket’s finally listening! You guys’re always welcome to come fight me.”


[break][break]

+ Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Navy’s damn lucky he knows how to take a hit. He doesn’t see the feint for what it is until it’s a moment too late. The cutting hit goes for his crotch. An attempt is made to alleviate the blow. Raising his knee, it’s not quite quick enough. The hit sends him down to a knee. Thanks to a lifetime on the streets, he’s not sent reeling. Instead, he maintains some dignity. On one knee, preparing to rise again.[break][break]
Keenly aware a Flareon is charging right at him. It builds up blistering speed, trailing towards him at a breakneck pace.[break][break]
Once more, it is Hattori who saves him. The one-eyed shinobi appears from the shadows. He’s a thief in the night. Appearing between Navy and Agni, a kunai of solid black shadow rests in his hand. Cutting out with it, he does what a clandestine warrior does best: he steals. In this case, he steals the spotlight right off his trainer. A shinobi is one who endures. He can endure the spotlight.[break][break]
Roland pulls power into his quark drive. Scanning the battlefield, he sees that the spectators are running. The cavalry’s not coming. For better or worse, Sheriff Navidson is the cavalry. Fairy fire gathers at the end of his hand. A man with moonlight in his hand holds nothing there at all, or so a poet once said. That poet never felt a moonblast right to the face.[break][break]
He tries to shoot back the Luxray, distract it. If they allow an opponent this strong to gain the upper hand, it will be a disaster for his trainer.


[break][break]

+ Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

All three battles carry distinct themes.[break][break]
Navy’s is a battle of strength. He sees the kick coming. Being knocked off balance here is dangerous. He knows what he has to do. As the kick comes his way, he throws his fist out. One fist turns to more. He jumps up punching. It’s what Kouji Matsubara got a taste of, back in April: rapid strike, thug style.[break][break]
Hattori’s is a battle of resolve. Remembering the trembling little thing he once was, locked away in a cage, he knows what that young Greninja would have done. Before a charging, rampaging monster, he would quiver. Shake. Tremble. Cry. This battle is not over yet. His resolve has not broken. His dead eye stands in testament to his adherence to his creed.[break][break]
Hattori disappears into thin air. It’s an old trick. His shadow moves along the ground. Only when it finds Agni’s shadow does he appear again. Materializing behind the shadow Pokemon’s back, he aims to turn its own darkness against them. A ghastly blade appears in his hands, the end of his shadow sneak as he tries to bury it into the charging Flareon.[break][break]
Roland’s is a battle of will. He, too, has been injured by Rocket. Even one-armed, he could still cut down a legion of lesser Pokemon. His blade rises to meet the charge. Psychic blade meets electric charge in a brilliant clash of yellow and pink. The beach cries with the howl of thunder. The exchange sends Roland flying back, although he hands on his feet with a twirl.[break][break]
Machine though he may be, his will is not yet broken. Parts of his innards spark, but he’s not out of this fight yet.



[break][break]

+ Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Navy’s foot catches on a certain part of the pitch. This Tempest he battles is remarkably good at keeping his guard up and taking a hit. Admirable qualities. Perhaps in a world where Rocket hadn’t killed Gabe, the two of them could be friends. Maybe they’d be comrades, fighting the good fight together.[break][break]
Dwelling on what might have been is a fool’s errand. Instead, he navigates past Temp. Just past the pitch is a patch of stand. Kicking it, his foot catches on a lever. The pitch slips open.[break][break]
At once, they’re all falling down into the depths below. Navy’s shaking hand moves to Roland and Hattori’s pokeballs. Both of them are recalled. Hattori could probably navigate down on his own, but their part in this is done.[break][break]
“Hope you’ve got a trick up your sleeve for this, dick.” In a streak of crimson light, Ole Ironsides shrieks and flies free from his ball. Spreading his wings, he catches Navy. The detective’s in the saddle now. Wings spread wide, he’s soaring across the battlefield. Their eyes stay on Temp, making sure he doesn’t elude them or slip away into the rocky battlefield below.[break][break]
This is where the fun begins.




[break][break]

+ Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“And there’s the legendary.” Navy muses from atop his bird. Everyone has one. It’s one of the more common ones, if it could ever be said that a legendary is common. He hates how clinical he’s becoming about this. That’s a creature of legend, and it’s due respect.[break][break]
Temp would find himself amidst a rocky battleground. It’s a massive dome dug out of the granite. This warrior’s playground is littered with traps. Just by stepping onto the ground, Temp feels the gentle buzz of electric terrain. That part’s more like a party trick than a real tactic meant to stall. Stealth rocks and spikes line the ground.[break][break]
This is a battlefield. No distractions. No onlookers. Just Navy, Tempest, their Pokemon, and all the pain they mean to inflict on one another. The gym leader lands on a nearby rock. Ironsides gazes down on the Rocket.[break][break]
There is only one escape path: the tunnels back above, cut out through the stone along the roof of the dome.[break][break]
“Now that we’re alone, y’know…you’re not gonna believe me but…I really don’t wanna kill you.” He wears a warrior’s grin. “I owe you and your husband a weird kinda debt. So…wanna have some fun? That’s a mighty strong Pokemon you’ve got there.”


[break][break]

+ Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Sure, why not? I’ll be your huckleberry.” Ironsides helps Navy down to the battlefield floor. Sliding off, he pats the old steel bird on the wing before he takes flight again. Ironsides looms far above, not interfering for now.[break][break]
“I only got two guys good enough to play with someone like him. Let’s see who gets to come out…” Like a madman, he grabs a ball at random. Until Shuwen jumps out of the ball, Navy had no idea which one was inside. Both are equally good picks – masters in their fields. Pacing behind Shuwen, Navy starts slotting a stone into a watch.[break][break]
“There’s probably another big fight coming. Another tussle in the gang war between League and Rocket. Guess you could say this is just practice.”[break][break]
Shuwen doesn’t wait for an order. Knowing the other will soon strike if he doesn’t, the bear tries to take the initiative. Lumbering forward, quick as a lightning bolt, he surges forward and unleashes a flurry of blows on the Zarude.[break][break]
“ORAAAAAAAA!” He cries as the surging strikes flow.


[break][break]

+ Tempest Quinn

[attr="class","pokeclass"]