Were it not for what he saw on Mt. Pyre, he wouldn’t have believed John Peters. The farmer regales his sheriff with tales of aliens from another world. Peters swears, insists[ that there is trouble brewing in their town. Miltank and tauros are being abducted. Ordinarily, that would be attributed to the dead things crawling up from the sea. A search party could be formed from the old hands. Graves, Gwyar, Tsubaki, Noel, the rest…there’s plenty to handle affairs around Dewford.[break][break]
“It’s diff’rint, shuuriff.” Peters insists in his dour drawl, spitting red tobacco out after the words. “Seen them that took ‘em off. Walked with ‘em straight into a buildin.”[break][break]
Peters was even kind enough to lead Navy to the building. It’s ordinary. Too ordinary. Dewford is a hip little place. They love following along the latest trends. There’s an ultra ball festival or super potion concert every other day. Buildings are decorated in the trends. A visiting architect said the town stands as a museum of architectural trends throughout the last century.[break][break]
Yet this is a plain building, painted white. Ordinary windows, a standard roof. Nothing the sheriff has learned, is standard about this town.[break][break]
“Do me a favor, Peters. Get back to the station. Tell Baki that if I’m not out here in thirty minutes, bust in and save me.”[break][break]
“Shez in skool, shuuriff.”[break][break]
“Damn. Parker, then.” Hattori spills out of his pokeball as Navy starts his march inside the building. The door opens a mere foot and the frog has slipped inside, lost somewhere in the building. Navy trusts the frog. Trusts him to always be close by.[break][break]
What he sees inside is horror. His blood boils. Pokemon trapped in eldritch confines, looking at him with big, scared eyes. This isn’t just a matter for his deputies. He needs Melody. Pokemon HOME has found more lost souls in need of rescue.[break][break]
A voice bellows. Turning like a predator that has sighted prey, Navy does what many would consider stupid. He follows the voice to its source.[break][break]
There, he meets his alien. The uniform is different, but the style is the same. This is the same sort of creature that killed the last vestige of Gabe left to him. Higher thought is lost. The part of him that will forever be a black dragon stirs.[break][break]
The girl, hidden from Navy, sees his eyes when he looks at the visitor from another world. There is no pity in them, no kindness or understanding. All that’s left to him is rage. Fight or flight? He chooses fight, every time.[break][break]
“What do--” Two words is all Navy allows him. A heavy fist slams into the alien, forces him against a wall. The black dragon wearing a sheriff’s skin lunges. Another fist meets the first.[break][break]
“You think it’s right, all this? Kidnapping Pokemon, probably kids, too? Think it’s right to lock ‘em up like this? Huh?”[break][break]
Cowering, the man tries to crawl away, reaching for something unseen.[break][break]
An Arcanine steps out of a cage. This twin to Voyager has no warmth in its eyes. It has been kissed by an angel. It gathers momentum and charges the sheriff, wreathed in hellish flame.

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+ Eris Halla

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Moving like a man who’s on a first name basis with his guardian angel, Navy turns around. Someone else will deal with the Arcanine. He’s here for this alien. Doubtless, he’s not alone.[break][break]
Arcanine’s charge is stopped by two things: water shuriken from Hattori, flying from the shadows, and Reiner’s thunder wave. Water crashes into him along with electricity. The beast howls in pain as the water conducts the electricity all across his body. Jumping from his shadow with a kunai in hand, Hattori engages him in deadly combat.[break][break]
The two dance about the room. With how the Arcanine bucks, it looks like a Sinnoh rodeo.[break][break]
“Good grief. I have an Arcanine, you know. I’d hate for that to be him.” The alien in white pulls out some strange gun, ready to blast Navy. A heavy boot falls on his wrist, kicking the gun away. “None of that, now.”[break][break]
Behind him, a door opens. Two more rush into the room. Both are bulkier than the slim man squirming in pain under Navy’s boot.[break][break]
“Things are getting fun.”

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+ Eris Halla

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The bond between shinobi and Lord is a sacred thing. Any fool can possess a stone. Few can push a Greninja beyond his limits. Few can form an ironclad battle bond. The room explodes in light for a sublime moment as Hattori musters the resolve to face these monsters and their monstrous Pokemon.[break][break]
The two bulkier men pull out weapons similar to the first. A thief makes away with them, tossing the guns into the darkness. There they will not harm his Lord. Trusting the rest to him, the shinobi turns his attention back to the Arcanine.[break][break]
They swing on him. This isn’t like fighting another human. Navy’s body reacts like he’s fighting a Pokemon. This is wrong. His body screams. They can kill you. They WILL kill you. They killed Kohryu. They killed so many.[break][break]
He’s not the sort of creature that backs down, especially when someone needs his help. Clenching his hand into a fist, he ducks under the first blow. A biting retort comes with an uppercut. The other aims for Navy’s chest. Ducking back, he lets the blow hit the other man. A straight one-two jab to the chest meets the man.[break][break]
Other Pokemon exit the cage. Some move with an unseen girl. Others start to mob the creatures from another world. The Arcanine shrieks as he’s taken down by a pair of Vaporeon. He’s not yet down for the count, but he’s on the backfoot.


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+ Eris Halla

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Three shots.[break][break]
Three fuma shuriken.[break][break]
Three chances to make this count.[break][break]
Shot one goes to the Arcanine that struggles to rise beneath the Vaporeon. It cuts into him and explodes with concussive force. The power of water seeps into his wounds, dulling the internal heat organs most fire pokemon have. This buys him more time.[break][break]
Shot two flies to the girl in the dark. Beneath her, a monster snarls. Hattori is in the business of saving children if he can. He knows his Lord’s will on this matter without needing to consult him. Their battle bond tells him that the girl must be protected at all cost. The second shuriken flies true, protecting the girl.[break][break]
Shot three flies into the remaining two aliens. Hattori turns to watch the brawl. His Lord has been struck. Instead of crying or doubling over, the man simply gives as good as he gets. The bruise beneath the Lord’s right eye will be swollen by tomorrow morning. Maybe the eye will even be shut. That doesn’t stop him from punching like his life depends on it. He’s focused on one of them. Three, four, five hits. Five punches. He knocks the man around.[break][break]
He's not focused on the man behind him. Hattori aims the third shot at him. It sends him crashing into the wall. Humans and human-like creatures aren’t meant to endure such blows. Hattori reckons that one will be out of the fight for good.


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+ Eris Halla

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

A floral wind wishes over him. The fight is almost over. The renegade visitor from another world gawks at the sheriff. Navy breathes heavy, wiping blood from the corner of his lips.[break][break]
“What the hell are you?” The remaining man asks.[break][break]
“The lawfully elected sheriff of the town you’re fucking with. And you’re under arrest.” With those words, he unleashes one final barrage of punches. It’s his own special rapid strike: thug style. A hundred punches, one after another. Were it Shuwen giving this barrage, he would bellow certain words. Navy does no such thing. Instead, he leaves the figure slumped.[break][break]
All three are subdued, the Pokemon are running for the hills. There’s more to investigate, but for now, he pulls out his phone and makes a call.[break][break]
“Deputy, it’s me. Get down to that weird white building on the edge of town. We’ve got some perps to book. Get the rangers, too. They were kidnapping Pokemon.”[break][break]
This’ll be something worth reporting to the council: intruders scouting the region. Arceus knows they won’t find purchase in Dewford.



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+ Eris Halla

[attr="class","pokeclass"]