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“Maybe you should take up poetry,” he offered, nose wrinkling.
“I’ll even pre-order a first edition.” Dimly, he recalled other bits of her report, and prior reputation.
“Do you believe in flower power too, then?” One of hands lifted in that universal
peace symbol.
“Maybe you should give peace a chance!”[break][break]
It was all playful banter that shored him up against any wariness he felt. Up here in the air, he didn’t feel cornered in the expansive, shadowy dark of the deep sea. Up here, he was safe from being tangled and restrained by the Rocket who had let her gardevoir devour his quaquaval.[break][break]
For a moment, though, that playfulness slipped away as sharp words darted back at him with cutting intent. Lam frowned, the green of his eyes narrowing to pine dark slivers. A derisive bark of laughter followed.
“Civilians have no place in this,” he spit back. Many of those who came through the doors of his gym were no more than
children. He’d never claim to thrust them into actual combat. Others came to his mind—friends, his gentle-hearted boyfriend. None of this was to be a
hero. [break][break]
He wasn’t a hero.
“Neither does destiny.” This was about avoiding inevitable change. Keeping everything together so that any superficial cracks in the surface of his life didn’t split wide into unpassable fissures. He couldn’t crumble to pieces this time, he
couldn’t afford to.[break][break]
Poppy twittered as the weak pulse of a
LEAF STORM attempted to bat her away. But his attention fell upon the tropius as it easily succumbed to the attack. As the butterfree caught its trainer, he expected the familiar red beam of light to shoot out and gather the lumbering creature before impact.[break][break]
But she chose safety and surety. Did she truly trust
anything? Including her own team?[break][break]
“Ooooh, Naganadel—nice choice!” He flashed a thumbs up, though his smile was more of a grimace at the price she paid. The echoing thud and crack lifted to them, and Lam winced. He felt for the poor creature, regardless of how loyal it had been. It was clear that it was a dependability that didn’t extend both ways. [break][break]
Saffron pulled upward as the
SLUDGE WAVE spewed outward at them. The shift shielded Lam from the attack as the unfeazant took the brunt of the powerful onslaught in the belly. The toxin worked fast, engulfing the bird’s system, and it wasn’t long before he was sinking in the air rapidly.[break][break]
In order to relieve the unfeazant of his weight, Lam let two pokeballs roll into hand—one in each. Then he whistled to Poppy before tipping backward and allowed himself to freefall for a few precious seconds.
“Match its type!”[break][break]
In the small window afforded them, the shiny pidove surged forward to distract them. Though her primary focus was the underboss with her butterfree, she busied herself with the ultra beast. Swinging forward, the little bird took on a much larger opponent.[break][break]
Unexpectedly, draconic energy plumed around the pidove as she charged the naganadel, swinging her entire weight in the
DRAGON HAMMER aimed at the beast’s thorax.[break][break]
Meanwhile, Lam recalled the unfeazant before he could plummet out of sight through the clouds. Though he descended at the same time, he tapped the release on the second pokeball and thumped heavily onto the back of a large flygon.[break][break]
If he’d fallen out of sight, he soon rose back up to meet
Elisabeth Fiorelli. It was a calculated risk, letting himself drop. But, though a painful landing, his trust had been paid off.
“See? Entirely avoidable. Ladon, ahead.”[break][break]
The flygon wasted no time, soundwaves rippling around him as he let out a shrill cry that ripped outward toward the mega butterfree and its trainer. The
BOOMBURST crashing through the air and swallowing up the wind and silence of their elevated height.