Just a relatively relaxing day in the air. June was lucky to have avoided most of the fighting in exchange for recon. At least her adventure was over, right? She could go get some sleep for the first time in... forever? A long time at least. Luckily there were no flying Excadrills up here.

Then, suddenly, the air exploded around her.

Stone Edges, Power Gems, Ancient Powers, alongside every other Rock-type move in existence seemed to be aimed specifically at her. From the ground, a full series of Rock-type Pokemon ranging from a Carbink to Cradilies to a Probopass were bent specifically at knocking her out of the sky.

Talonflames made for easy targets, after all.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Howard peered up at the flying spec from behind his helmet and bodysuit. Completely anonymous, he let out a Golurk as well. With a snap of the finger, the Golurk's body changed, folding in on itself. The head and legs retracted into the body, and the arms became rests for the massive cannon that was housed in the Golurk's main cavity.

"Atlas..." Howard waited while the Golurk's targeting mechanisms callibrated. Once locked on, there would be No Guard from its attack.

"Fire."

---

june sleigh
Points:
+50 (mission start)
+10 (post)

From ‘no action’ to ‘too much action’ in the blink of an eye. June’s senses were overloaded as the earth came up to take her down. Rocks exploded in every direction. The shrapnel ranged from harmless pebbles to rawst-berry-sized rocks. She immediately pressed herself as far down into the saddle as it would let her, “What the hell is going on?!”

Matchstick meanwhile, took immediate evasive maneuvers. It could not hope to dodge the impossible landslide-esque barrage of debris that rained down, but the actual projectiles themselves weren’t the worst. Bigger meant slower, and faster meant it could be buffeted away with each power flap of its wings.

But neither of them even saw the Golurk’s attack. Sure, the Talonflame saw it close the distance with an uncomfortable urgency. So, it flew faster. Yet no matter how fast it went, nor how creative it pathed, it always trailed behind.

SKREEEEEEEEEEE! SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE--


“HOLD ON GIRL, WE’LL GET THROUGH–”

---

An explosion rocked the sky. All the rock projectiles blew up or away, completely thrown off track by the sheer force. But that wasn’t a problem; the blip in the sky grew larger and larger. Not a nosedive but a chaotic downward spiral. While the trainer must’ve been out for the count, its Pokémon appeared to be in complete panic.

No matter how hard it tried to rise or correct its course, nothing happened. It was easy to see why, once it got about fifty meters off the ground. One of its wings jutted out an an unnatural angle. Combine such a powerful attack with a particularly frail Pokémon like Talonflame, and there was no hope.

The least it could do was keep itself from immediately crashing into the ground. Instead, it slid across the sand. It left a small trail in its wake, a mix of yellow and drops of crimson that stained the earth. It didn’t take long for them to come to a complete stop.

But the trainer still didn’t move. Completely dazed, she clung to her bird with every muscle in her being. Was it over? Did the attack finally stop?

---

howard slayte
+10 MP (Post)

Score. Howard allowed himself one small flash of satisfaction at the precise strike. Immediately, that satisfaction soured into loathing and hatred. How could he allow himself to feel satisfaction at something like this? While this silent war was being waged, the enemy crashed into the sand.

That's it. They were beaten. Howard turned away, unwilling to commit to the notion of crushing someone underfoot. They'd lie there, beaten, until some member of the League came to save them. Maybe their chain of command would note that a scout hadn't returned, maybe they'd be chanced upon.

There was no way to know. So he began to walk away.

"Golurk, we're done here." Howard's eye widened, and he turned. Golurk. Shit. "ATLAS!" Howard screamed as he ran back down the shoreline, his other Pokémon in tow. If he didn't give Atlas admission that an order was fulfilled, the automaton would simply continue.

Matchstick was slammed with a firm Zen Headbutt, rolling further across the shore with June. The Shiny Golurk followed, before raising a foot to crush the Talonflame and its trainer.

"I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" Howard shouted at his Golurk with a mixture of desperation and authority. The automaton stopped, and lowered its foot. It became motionless again, awaiting orders as it stood, towering over the pair. Howard stood, visor gleaming in the light, as he looked down at the defeated pair.

"No... No!" Howard ran forward and attempted to pry June from the defeated Talonflame while his voice buzzed artificially. "June! June!"

---

june sleigh
Points:
+50 (start)
+20 (posts)
+10 (knock out)

The world rolled. A terrible force propelled them further on the ground, a terrible whirlwind of soft, white clouds into hard, yellow sand. It was hard enough to process as is how they got onto the ground. Whatever being sent them further would remain a mystery for the moment.

At least she stared up at the open sky. Dazed, confused, and shell-shocked, but with her eyes on the blue and white and yellow and red–

Huh?

“I COMMAND YOu t…”

As the world grew impossibly dark, it changed back to normal. Senses slowly returned, proper vision and sound at first. Someone scrambled towards them, she could hear it over the soft waves that lapped at the beach. Their feet thumped into the earth with reckless abandon. Didn’t they see the Golurk right there?

The one that stood off to the side, emotionless as a proper automaton? I think it tried to…

Smell came next. Why couldn’t she smell the sea? It was right there, as salty as ever. She loved to run next to it and swim in on the brutally hot days. Instead, oppressive dirt and iron clogged her nostrils with their foul stench. She tried to scrape her tongue on her teeth, but all it did was shift the mixture. Taste confirmed it to be an awful experience.

Then, she felt the stranger try to pull her off her ride. June feebly clung to their arms and hands as they pulled her out from underneath the red bird. With a little elbow grease, her leg was free from the relatively heavy weight. Covered in debris, her feathers all ruffled out of place. Her wing jutted out at a painful angle.

Talonflame…

Sense returned. “Matchstick!”

June’s call was feeble, but filled to the brim with raw emotion. Just as she had clung to her ‘savior’, she tried to pull away. Back to her companion, whose rise and fall of her chest mimicked the waves. Short, shallow. Could disappear at a moment's notice and return to the icy depths.

“She’s–she’s– she’s hurt! I need to… I need to…” June couldn’t tear her eyes away.  Where could they get help? It took all her focus to even think up the name. “Matchstick! Matchstick, wake up! We need to get back to, to camp! They have doctors there!”

The bird stayed in its stupor, clearly knocked out cold. Memories trickled back, one at a time. They’d been flying, and then a bunch of rocks flew up at them. And then a big explosion, and then…

“You… You!” She craned her neck to the ‘stranger’, “Did you see what happened? We got attacked! It’s not safe out here.”

---

howard slayte

+10 (Post) + 50 (Pokemon Knocked out)

"..." June's bloody face was reflected in the mask. Both her and Matchstick were beaten pretty badly. Talonflame were not known for the constitution. Using his Golurk as an artillery platform... It was like using a mountain to crush an ant. It was not needed. Yet he had done it anyway.

Navy and his voice rang in his ear. He had been brave. He had fought. Yet, in the end, it had meant little. All the sheriff's words had done was lead him into hurting his friend.

Friend? No, no. He and June were not friends. They were acquaintances. Not friends.

"...yes. Another Team Rocket member struck you down with their Clawitzer. You're lucky to be alive." Howard's voice was mechanical and impossible to distinguish from behind the mask, but it was definitely concerned. He looked over to the Talonflame. "I have potions. Do not move."

Standing, a Pokemon erupted from Howard's belt into his arms. A Phione, which proceeded to use Aqua Ring. The healing water slowly lessened the pain from both June and Matchstick's wounds. Howard leaned over the Talonflame and used a potion spray from the wrist.

He would make amends for this. Even if it was behind a lie. Even as he felt a gaping pit inside his soul.

---

june sleigh
Points:
+50 (start)
+30 (posts)
+10 (knock out)
+25 (legendary)
+10 (assist)

June promptly ignored his command as soon as he let go, her desire stronger than sense at this point. She slowly crawled over to Matchstick, oblivious to the pebbles and stones that dug into her forearms. Adrenaline continued to pump through her veins by the consistent, racing rhythm of her heart. As if it too were blind to the circumstances.

One mental note managed to pin itself in her dazed mind: Fuck Clawitzer. If she ever saw one again, it would become her lunch soon after.

Soon enough, as the healing waters from Phione calmed the nerves in her body, her fingers brushed the warm red feathers of her Pokémon. Warmth was good. Warmth was life. Countless scratches and bruises lined her underside, each one a needle into her chest. They felt sickeningly sticky as blood trickled and flowed from them.

But her wing… how did you fix that? June could replace a transmission in a couple days time. An engine gasket was child’s play. Oil changes? In her sleep. Machines were easy; parts were mass-produced for all the new cars and appliances they took for granted, and their manuals found with a few strokes on a keyboard and internet access.

The replacement parts for Matchstick remained impossibly elusive, and the prompt ‘Where did the manufacturer put the screws on Talonflame wings?’ gathered dust on the mechanic forum to this day.

But the potion knew everything. Wounds were covered in the fine mist. Open gashes became white spots on its skin, and bloody streams turned into trickles before stopping altogether. Little by little, the damage done by the ‘Clawitzer’ repaired itself. The girl watched the magic happen in real time, empty red eyes locked onto where the foam made contact with Matchstick.

“Matchstick…” she said. A gentle hand rubbed across the side of the bird’s head.

“Hey,” June called with the enthusiasm of a new widow, “wh-which base are you stationed at? For the League? Do you know the closest one?”
June’s head finally turned to something what wasn’t her bird. Out to the distant landscape, critical of every craggy boulder and short sand hill. The ambush from her supply run with Kazimir Wynter now sat fresh in her mind.

---

howard slayte
+10 MP (Post)

"League?" Howard cocked his head in confusion. Was June blind? No, she had just fallen hundreds of meters and crashed into a beach. She was in shock, likely concussed, and fearful. It was better to envision you had been saved by allies rather than captured by enemies.

Besides, Howard knew June. If she was at maximum power, he would've been suplexed into the sand.

"You are not a Ranger. My base is irrelevant. My Golurk will carry Matchstick while the potions take effect." Howard said, reaching down and picking up June in a fireman's carry. He stumbled slightly. Heavy. Meanwhile, Atlas scooped up Matchstick with minimal effort. "Tell me when you are capable of standing."

The nearest base belonging to the League? Howard frowned to himself from behind the mask. He had helped sketch the island's layout on landing, but Howard himself wasn't too sure where the League's nearest base was. There was a natural harbor not too far from here. He could just leave June here then fly away via Golurk. A flawless plan.

He just didn't need to reveal himself.

"Do not worry. The Pokémon League treats its civilians well." Howard assured his passenger. He began trekking down the beach.

---

june sleigh
+50 (start)
+40 (posts)
+10 (knock out)
+25 (legendary)
+10 (assist)

June immediately wormed her way out of the stranger's grasp, and a hmph followed when her feet hit the sand. Pain rocketed through her left leg, and she cursed loudly. She used the convenient heavyweight and carefully tapped her foot against the ground a few times. Nothing gut-wrenching.

Thank Arceus, it wasn’t broken. Probably just very unhappy with the land. She draped an arm over their shoulders and started to hobble-slash-hop down the beach by their side. “I’ll be fine. Don’t think I’m not, or I’ll strangle you.”

It did mean it took that much longer to reach whatever destination the stranger had in mind. The steps got easier and easier as they continued on until they were more like participants in a three-legged race than a crash survivor and some helpful stranger. Helpful? June chuckled out of the blue, as the natural harbor was a more physical location than an ideal destination.

“‘Pokémon League treats its civilians well’?”

Plenty of ships and boats, but actual activity amounted to around a dozen bodies that mulled over equipment and boxes and whatnot. Most gave the pair wary glances as they became more than blips on the horizon, but none moved towards them yet. Probably to make sure that they didn’t get blown apart by an enemy force. Great.

Her muscles ached. Slowly, he let go of the metal person and fell to the ground. Even with the finish line right in front of them, she desperately needed a breather. June pulled herself into a sitting position and turned to the sea.

“That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve heard in the last year and two-thirds,” she spat out. Her torn-up shirt looked to Howard, while she stared out at the bountiful water. “They care the bare minimum here, and they certainly don't give two shits about us anywhere else. Not enough to actually help.”

Was she even in a good state of mind right now? No, not at all. She’d been shot down, her closest friend resembled taxidermy, and this stranger had the nerve to lie to her face. "Unless you got the secret to life hidden underneath all that armor, then don't tell me how the League treats its civs."

---

howard slayte

"I don't care about your stance on the Pokémon League." The voice was harsh, as if slapping June in the face. "Your choices are to leave Hoenn, fight, or join Team Rocket. Do you think they'll treat you much better? Your choices are terrible, but one leaves you with a future. Stop whining."

Howard's own harshness of tone shocked him. He had no particular care for the Pokemon League, but he knew that they were better than Team Rocket. If you left Hoenn, at least the League wouldn't hunt you down and make you fill their ranks. You'd be branded a deserter if you left, but they wouldn't chase after you.

If you left Team Rocket, your life ended.

In a sense, she was right, though. Who sent out a delivery girl with a Talonflame to the front lines? Talonflame were fast and agile, but not ideal for a warzone such as this. Howard's Golurk, however, was prime material. Bulky, fast, destructive. It was extremely versatile on land and sea.

And extremely versatile at breaking civilians.

It was unnerving how much Howard sunk into the mask. He didn't want to give anything away. His voice was harsher. His tone, more apathetic. Now that they were on the move, he could afford to be hardhearted, as if that would change the fact that he was the one who shot down June and Matchstick to begin with.

Matchsticks were awfully fragile.

"One second. Stop." Howard stopped moving, and cocked his head again. "Mist ahead. We'll go around. Unless you want to relive the past and get attacked by abominations. Stay close."

They took a path around the mist.

---

june sleigh
+50 (start)
+50 (posts)
+10 (knock out)
+25 (legendary)
+10 (assist)
+10 (incorporate mist)

Junes’s trimmed nails dug into the palms of her flesh, the only thing that kept her from straight up attacking her ‘savior’. Good to know that the blind Pokémon League supporters always found their way into every situation. Must be nice to have your head up your own ass. Better to ignore all the civilians unfit to fight, unfit to leave, and have any semblance of morals.

The ones that always got hurt when conflicts arose. The ones that kept getting ground underfoot for the glorious ‘fight against crime’.

“Fuck off.”

That’s all she said as they continued their trek. This time, she hobbled without the aid of the stranger and with a healthy distance between them. Didn’t want to disturb that illusion they held onto so dearly. Besides, she’d have to thank them even more than necessary, and the thought of a sincere show of gratitude drew blood from her palms.

But she didn’t defy them when they started to go around the mist. June heard bits and pieces during their meager dinners, from those who had gone into the mist. They all seemed incredibly worse off for it. Best not to tempt fate. Or the past.

By the time they finally got around the Dream Smog and back in view of the natural harbor, the sun had made excellent progress on its own journey. What did ‘right before the peak’ mean? Eleven? Noon? Too long. Her feet complained which each step, her legs taut and sore. At least people finally started to come closer, even a few with that signature armband that had the plus sign on it.

Time to part ways. Thank Arceus. “Thanks for the help.”

Cold, emotionless words spilled from her lips. The bare minimum. She didn’t so much as spare a glance towards Howard, the Stranger, as she limped over to those who actually cared about her. Even if she wasn't sure it was due to her condition but rather her ability to help after being healed. “Don’t worry about me, help Matchstick first.”

She vaguely motioned in the direction of the Golurk, who had hopefully put her bird down on the ground and backed the hell up. Unless this was the Stranger's base of operations. Then she’d have to consider making another risky journey down the coast for the next base.

---

+10 MP (Post) + 10 MP (Incorporate Mist)
howard slayte

"Of course. Put the bird down." Howard snapped his finger towards Atlas, who gently put Matchstick at June's feet. As the bird was put on the ground, the Golurk stepped back towards its owner, and stood at attention. Howard looked at the Pokemon, and then back to June.

He felt nothing in that precise moment but a weariness he had never felt before. A fear, gnawing at his insides. He was the reason she was like this, not the League. The League hadn't shot her with a Golurk, he had. It felt wrong to let them take the blame, but Howard allowed it. Anything to avoid even more guilt.

"Hold it tightly." The mask blared as June walked away. He knew that she didn't want to say anything to him. She would sulk and nurse this grudge, and then go back to the front. She could hate this hypothetical League, but when Howard looked their way, he only saw freedom.

Freedom that he would never have.

He could not let her live with that misconception.

"Glory to Rocket." The voice blared out to her as the Golurk scooped up Howard and shot away into the sky.

---

june sleigh
+50 (start)
+60 (posts)
+10 (knock out)
+25 (legendary)
+10 (assist)
+10 (incorporate mist)

Hold what tightly? And did this person just say ‘Glory to Rocket’? June’s confusion only heightened at this newfound information. So was this actually a Rocket? Or did they have a really sick sense of humor? Either way, June only watched them fly away in the hands of their Golurk.

The sight of Matchstick's still broken wing got her mind out of that rabbit hole immediately. June's expression turned somber, and slowly walked toward her friend. Determined to stay by her side as long as she could.

—

Only when the shade of night rose, when fire held back the shadows with the licks of their tongues of heat and energy, did June finally remember something. She sat next to Matchstick, who was out of commission for the rest of her stay. Time had flown by while she sat there all day, even though the combat medics insisted she was in the way and that her presence wouldn’t do anything.

It gave her time to think, as loathed as that was. That Stranger. Nothing made sense about them. And when realization made itself clear, the problem only compounded and created a ring of pain on the back of her head.

“Matchstick,” she whispered to the sleeping bird, “that person in full armor… they called me by my name.”

---

howard slayte
+10 (Post) +100 (Completion of Survey) + 250 MP (Tie)

The man landed several miles away, near the foot of the mountain. He wandered into a small cave, breathing heavily. Breathing heavily, he recalled his Golurk and released his Stakataka. The alien lifeform separated, turning into individual blocks which each rolled out to act as lookouts.

"Fuck." The man took a seat on a rock. Hiss. The helmet separated and the visor popped off, revealing Howard's face. Breathing heavily, he pulled the rest of the helmet off, and stared at it. His reflection was warped. Howard put his forehead to it and took a deep breath.

The helmet slammed against the cave wall as Howard threw it, yelling. Yells quickly broke into sobs as Howard's anger fizzled into guilt. He had nothing to be angry about. There was no reason to feel rage towards June Sleigh.

Those wounds. Those scars. Those were his doing. He had done that. Him. Him. Him.

Emotions boiled over the vessel of his heart and spilled outward. He had done that. He saw it, in his mind's eye. June, laying on Matchstick after being shot down. A few months before, she was just delivering an artifact to him. Then, they were drinking coffee and eating corndogs.

He had thought she knew he was in Team Rocket, and was blackmailing him. After seeing how fragile she seemed, no.

"I'm sorry." Howard sunk to his knees. "I'm sorry." No acceptance came, except from the echoing of the cave. The rocks offered no reply. Only the cave's echo replied.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..."

---

june sleigh
+50 (start)
+70 (posts)
+10 (knock out)
+25 (legendary)
+10 (assist)
+10 (incorporate mist)
+25 (UB)
+100 (Sky)
+250 (draw)
Total: 550