[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]If there was one skill Isaac picked up after his crazy year and a half, it was looking cool under pressure.[break][break]

Even with a pair of freshly-evolved brutes between him and Vortigern, Isaac had been intimidated. The dragon towered over Rampage, even an incidental strike enough to force it to a knee. Isaac didn't run up to challenge the dragon himself. He ran up because, if things got ugly, he needed to be able to pull Rampage away before she got hurt.[break][break]

He'd learned firsthand the awesome, terrible power of Sygna suits, too. Alongside his rush came the little, niggling worry in how quickly his mind could get swept up by forces outside of his control. Neo was a rather stable and stoic Pokemon. She wasn't the type to fly off of the handle easily. Even in the face of that, he found the control he fought so hard to maintain being pulled away.[break][break]

It was amazing the fears a steady voice and a rogueish smile could hide.[break][break]

Despite that, Isaac had convinced Navy. Now it was Navy's turn to convince Vortigern. The two faced one another down, the sheriff and the apex predator, the air between them saying more than any of the words Navy could say. Neo took a step closer to Navy, but with a look in her eye and a beat of their synced up hearts, Isaac urged her away. This was not their place to interfere.[break][break]

Navy made his intent clear, and Vortigern responded in turn. The dragon disappeared, and with it Navy could finally release the breath he was holding. Isaac went to climb onto Rampage's back, only to realize that her new, more bipedal form was a poor fit for it. Instead, he unhooked the saddle that dangled off her back, fortunate that Neo had evolved into a creature of similar physiology.[break][break]

"Guess that's another thing we've got in common," Isaac said. If anything, it made him even more of a black sheep. The majority of the League, at least, seemed to share Navy's sentiments. Isaac remembered the League's kill on sight orders on Mt. Pyre, and how the second the meteor was no longer a threat those orders went out the window.[break][break]

Rocket, Isaac bitterly thought, was not nearly so kind.[break][break]

"Feels like half of this war's brother against brother, y'know?" How many Hoenn natives drew their battle lines? How many convinced themselves that the best way forward was to fight their own region? "And the other half's some huge mess Kanto dropped on our doorstep. Hell of a knot to untangle, huh?"[break][break]

Indeed, be careful who he bonded with. Isaac had already bonded with a group that would see him, and everyone he loved, dragged down into the abyss. How many people did he love with all of his heart, fear he could never live without, who would shun him for the choice he had hanging in the balance? How many would hate him for spitting in an admin's face and declaring that, yes, human life had value?[break][break]

"Man, you don't know the half of it," Isaac let himself admit. "I know what its like to deal with hard cases. And there's a whole lot more to those bonds than a magic stone. Though at least I don't gotta deal with my whole menagerie living in my head at once."[break][break]

Briefly, Isaac imagine being plugged directly into some kind of Rocket hivemind. They'd like that, wouldn't they?

[break]

[break]