The ground heaved - and it was only with quick intervention on Akero's part, that El is able to avoid the crumbling earth. The angelic pokemon dove low to scoop them up onto her back, swirling petal-laden winds helping to steady them in her saddle, as she whistled.

Their brother, however, was not so lucky. As Isaac Merlo calls to El, they try to reach out for him - "I-Isaac! I've got you--!"... But to no avail; Isaac falling just out of reach of their outstretched hand, as the gaping maw seems to swallow half the squad whole. "ISAAC!"

Worry drives El - their initial instinct being to fly down the hole after them, to make sure their brother is okay. But, one of their pokeballs opens on its own - revealing their Alakazam, Bibidi. She hovers before them - a hand held up to stop them - her mental presence washing over El's mind with reassurance and knowledge...

... She could still sense him. Though he was too far for her to reach his mind, the others were alive, at the very least.

A rollercoaster of emotions, to say the least - that Isaac was okay, but there was no way to actually reach him, unless they dove down after him. But... He said it himself, right? He'd catch up. They just had to trust in him. And kyle lopez 's words would help to put them at some semblance of ease.

Even if their heart twisted a little, at having been separated from their brother once more.

So for the time being, as El landed Akero with the others, they'd glance around. "Is- Is anyone hurt?" They called, to human and pokemon both. "Akero knows healing moves, if - uhm - anyone needs it." With Life Dew and Wish alike, they'd be happy to tend to the injured before they moved on.

And once everyone who was hurt was tended to, El would recall Akero for the time being.

But, much to El's surprise, they had a new companion - an azure beast, unmistakably Suicune, formed by Kyle's sacred ash. They couldn't help but pause for a few long moments in awe - "Beautiful..." - a hand slowly rising up to stroke its muzzle... Yet, the beast barely reacted to the touch. And much to Bibidi's unease, it bore no mind - no soul with which to feel. It was simply a construct in the shape of the late legendary...

... El felt mixed, at this knowledge. They cast a glance to Kyle, then back to the Suicune - unsure of how to feel - before soon deciding to settle atop the beast's back. All things considered though, the Ash-Suicune made for a steady steed - El would carefully knot their fingers into its mane, and it listened to even the slightest tug, the slightest nudge of their heels, as if it were but an extension of themself.

And thus, the group moved onwards - Yuina Higashi making a way forward with the aid of her Feraligatr. Ash-Suicune leapt up the cleared path with ease, allowing for El to scout ahead a little...

TLDR:
- El is deeply worried for Isaac Merlo - but Bibidi the Alakazam comes out and reassures them that he'll be okay. (Personal Prompt)
- Offers for Akero the Togekiss to heal everyone's injuries with Life Dew/Wish
- El is awed at kyle lopez 's Ash-Suicune; but is a bit unsettled and saddened when they + Bibidi realize that it's a construct, rather than a living breathing pokemon.
- Still rides on Ash-Suicune, heads up the pathway that Yuina Higashi cleared.

The ground quaked around the group, causing Vanilla to scurry away alongside most of the group to safety. Her feet hit the ground as fast as they could as the ground gave away beneath her. By some stroke of luck, the Galarian had leaped towards safety just in the nick of time. The other people in her party, roughly half the group, hadn't fared too much better about this. Vanilla turned around to see a giant hole where everyone else had been through. A few coughs escaped through her covered mouth, doing her best to limit how much smoke was being let in. The rising temperatures close to the peak wasn't helping matters any, and right now was already being overwhelmingly hot. "Navy!" The girl yelled down to the other half of the two that had scolded her at the beginning of the trip. It looked deep, but she knew that everyone down there could fend for themselves. They were an elite squad of people from Hoenn, after all.

Well, and herself.

El Sunderland seemed to take this development the hardest, having cried out for their brother. The two had interacted briefly as Vanilla carefully walked over to try and offer a sympathetic smile. They cared deeply for Isaac, although she didn't know exactly why. They could be family or just extremely close. "He's gonna be alright. Trust me, like half the people down there wouldn't let a fall take care of them." Even kyle lopez shared the sentiment to try and ease El's mind. But in a more confusing display, the boy would summon two familiar Legendary Pokemon out of nothing. The act had left Vanilla speechless, having not witnessed such an act before. The Raiku and Suicine would each be only barely corporeal, made out of some kind of dust or something. They were mirrors of what once were likely proud legends of the Hoenn Pokdex. She pulled out a Pokedex and tried to scan each in some vain attempt at obtaining their data, but even the camera would fail to register their shape. "How did you even do that?" she asked, then looked at Kyle for a moment. She waited, as if he had forgotten about the third and final canine brother that the two dusty versions had. Once it became clear that it wasn't coming or El or her, she'd huff and turn her attention back on the people in the hole until they were leaving.

"W-Wait, we're just going to leave them down there?" Vanilla asked, motioning to the hole. Even if any were to reply back or scold her again, she knew that time was of the essence. That expression of conflicting about the decision was as clear as day on her face. After the reminder, the teenager cursed to herself and followed behind, but not without huffing in belligerence.

They continued on while she did her best to keep up. Sweat drenched her forehead on the walk over, wiping it with the back of her head to try and cool down somewhat. While not as well equipped to handle something you might need an ash version of a legendary for, Vanilla could at least offer her assistance where it was due. She walked alongside the group and paid attention to their surroundings. Everything still seemed to be growing tired of their existence here, and there was no guarantee about whether or not those weird Pokémon from before were going to reappear. During this little trek, she noticed that Yuina Higashi had been staring at the black plumes above. She looked along with her while she summoned a Feraligator and would proceed to try and cull the magma flow that created this little airspace. It took a Waterfall to stop the flow of magma as they could finally make their way around to pass through the narrow passageway.

Vanilla walked along as her Iron Thorns trudged alongside her. The atmosphere was as hot as it was tense, with everyone on edge for what could attack them next. They came across a vantage point as Vanilla ventured close to the edge. It was seas of magma for as far as the eye could see. But she did spot a small group of Pokémon on the other side of the mountain before them. Were they being followed or watched? The road before them was winding around and hard to follow, especially as it came to a towering wall of earth with the path leading to the side. They could continue down the path as normal, although Vanilla had other ideas.

"Electrolyte, gimme a boost." she said to her Iron Thorns, the Paradox Pokémon slowly leaning against the Rocky wall and helping her to grab a hold of some small rocky outcroppings. The stone was hot to the touch and felt painful the longer she stayed put. It reminded her a lot of that time she accidentally held a hot pan without checking to see if the oven was on. But as long as she moved quickly, it could be a pretty ascent. Her grip slipped, almost causing her to hurdle back down towards the ground, but she recovered. Once she had reached the top, Vanilla would look out at the vista she had climbed on top of. Some faint silhouettes were visible in the sky, and she carefully went to the edge to gaze out at the surrounding places. One of which caught her eye.

"Hey guys!" Vanilla called down to the party, a decent amount of distance upwards of where they were. A hand pointed westward, towards an outcropping of rocks. "I can see a bunch of Pokemon going over the ridge to the left! There might be a shortcut to the peak there!" Of course, this proceeded to cause her throat to inhale a bunch of heavy, scalding hot air alongside some smoke. She’d look for a way back down so as to not give her location away to their predators.

---

TL;DR:
↳ Vanilla has no Sygna Suit equipped.
↳ Vanilla's Iron Thorn is currently active.
↳ Begrudgingly leaves the hole party be
↳ Walks alongside the party on their way down the path Yuina made
↳ Uses her Iron Thorns to scale a rocky wall and found a shortcut to the summit past a ledge
↳ PROMPT: Vanilla Kingsley’s past experiences in unfamiliar environments must in some way be critical to the team finding their way to the summit.

Vanilla Kingsley 's reassurance gets a soft smile from El, even as they looked about ready to melt into Akero's saddle from stress. "Yeah-- You're right. Isaac's pretty great - and he's able to take care of himself..." They murmured, nodding a little. "I just... Can't help but worry, still. This - uhm - isn't the nicest place, as cool as it'd otherwise be..." Maybe if the pokemon here were less hostile, it'd be a place that they'd explore and study on their own time.

But for the time being, a way forward is charted; and atop Ash!Suicune, El is able to easily take up the front alongside the others their Alakazam - Bibidi - following close behind.

However, after dispersing a group of wild pokemon, they are met with a chilling sight. That of a pair of dead bodies - heavily charred, and what wasn't burnt away is practically mummified by the heat beyond any recognition. El echoes Yuina Higashi 's feelings on the matter, freezing up atop the ashen beast's back as their breath catches in their chest. Alarm fills them - and in its wake, fight or flight has them wanting to leave, yet... "... I... I d-don't think we should leave em, but..."

... But they had to keep moving, right? And on top of that, there was the question of the youngest in the group as well.

Bibidi, following El's thoughts, glances back to Vanilla. And quietly, the Alakazam would place a hand over her eyes to prevent her from seeing the corpses. Paired with this, a quiet telepathic request for Vanilla's trust - trust that would hopefully be easily given, since they weren't total strangers.

In any case, they couldn't linger for too long. Sooner or later, those wild pokemon would return - and it was hard to say whether Nyla's trick would work a second time. If the group did agree to move on though, and if Vanilla trusted in her, Bibidi would readily guide the young trainer forward.

TLDR:
- El appreciates Vanilla's reassurance, though expresses they're still a little worried.
- Readily takes a front position as the group moves, riding on Ash-Suicune and followed by Bibidi the Alakazam
- When the corpses are found, El is very spooked - but is uncertain about just leaving the bodies there, even if they have to keep moving. El is also concerned about Vanilla seeing the corpses.
- Bibidi covers Vanilla's eyes to protect her innocence, and telepathically requests her trust on this.
- If the group moves on + Vanilla goes along w Bibidi covering her eyes, Bibidi will help guide Vanilla.

With her little scouting report made, Vanilla focused back on rejoining with the group. There was a small hill that led back onto the path that everybody was using a little ways north of their location. The youngest of the group hurried over to this little crack and slid back down to join her companions on this heated expedition towards the summit of the volcano. Yuina had gone off in search of finding out what the pack of Pokemon was circling around for, with her ashy legendary taking her up there alongside her Sneasler. Vanilla was one of the crew that were on their way to catch up to her and hope for a good report out there. She looked back at Kyle, though with an obvious question. "So what's an avatar? Is it just speaking for them or something? Or are you actually one of them in disguise?" It could happen! If a giant floating hand could tear apart a mirror version of their world, Kyle Lopez could be a Pokemon in disguise, at least in Vanilla's mind.

As she got up towards Ruina with the group, Vanilla was thankfully unaware of the bodies on the wall as she was near the end of the group. Since El had seen it before hand as well as their Alakazam, they had a lead on top of her. Bibidi moved behind her and covered her eyes while Vanilla was confused at the sudden lack of sight. "H-Hey! What gives?!" she complained before the telepathic request from Bibidi that she understood. Even with the small amount of experience that she had with El's partner, Vanilla could tell that it was something serious that the Pokemon wanted her to trust them to cover her eyes. "I trust you." she said while allowing the Alakazam to restrict her sight. The Iron Thorns behind them wasn't too far behind as it moved alongside its owner. Though as the group hesitated, it let out a defensive, guttural noise as it could sense that the Pokemon the Sneasler had driven away were slowly regathering.

"We should probably get out of here and keep moving. Electrolyte's sensing something up ahead."

---

TL;DR:
↳ Vanilla slides back down to rejoin the group
↳ She's the last in the group to arrive at the corpses but her vision is blocked from both by Bibidi, saving her the grief
↳ Iron Thorns senses that the Pokemon from before are keen to return soon
↳ Vanilla warns the party about this

Farhan? El considered it a second, but shook their head. "I don't... Think they'd come out this way." They responded - glancing roughly in the direction of Hoenn. "He's part of the Kindlers, right? They're kinda like... A clan of specialized Rangers? But they focus on fire-types, and maintaining around Mt. Chimney; I don't know what they'd be doing out here..." They heard of the Kindlers sometimes, given their proximity to Mt. Chimney in Lavaridge. And for a time, they had been curious about what it'd like to be a Kindler themself...

... But nowadays, they think they're happier an ordinary Ranger. They got to see more of Hoenn, that way, and they got to raise a wider variety of pokemon.

As far as the question of repel went though, El was happy to provide. Taking out a can and shaking it up, they'd spray the bodies down in Repel - in hopes that the scavenging wild pokemon would leave them alone for long enough to be retrieved.

And with that, the group was ready to proceed - and as the corpses fell out of sight, Bibidi would uncover Vanilla Kingsley's eyes.

But as they ascended further up, the next potential obstacle came in the form of a Kommo-o lording over a bejeweled hoard - one that possibly included tera crystals. El noted the others preparing for a fight - but they would be the one to speak up and suggest an alternative. "Maybe we should, uhm... Leave it be?" They spoke, glancing to the large dragon. "It's not like we _need_ to fight it... And we don't need those crystals, right...?"

Though the Kommo-o had taken notice of the group. And though not immediately hostile, it would still put up a territorial display; rattling its scales together in a Dragon Dance in preparation, and letting out a low _growl_ in their direction. Clearly, it was not about to let the group anywhere near the crystals without a fight.

TLDR:
- El mentions that the Kindlers - Farhan's group - probably wouldn't come so far out from Mt. Chimney.
- Sprays the bodies down in Repel in hopes that they're intact when the time comes to retrieve them.
- As the group moves on and leaves the bodies behind, Bibidi uncovers Vanilla Kingsley's eyes.
- El suggests leaving the Kommo-o alone; the Kommo-o notices the group (but isn't immediately hostile,) and Dragon Dances in a territorial display.