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[attr="class","textbox"]It would've been impossible not to recognize Kyle. The man was a literal symbol of the region. If there was any moment of not recognizing him, it was less because he didn't know Kyle was and more because he didn't expect him to come strutting up so casually.[break][break]

In a sense, it was funny. The two had wandered the region so often that, between the two of them, they'd walked it a hundred times. In all that time, they'd somehow never did more than cross paths. Isaac knew rangers, gym leaders, elites, scientists, councilwomen, and Zev Harcourt, but Kyle was the perennial friend of a friend.[break][break]

A birthday party here, a competition there, the occasional death defying adventure, yet never any time to talk.[break][break]

The closest memory Isaac did have was also his haziest; Kyle, 20 years older and likely not much wiser, offering him a ticket to a city of adventures and delights. How Zev ever consented to that plan, Isaac had no idea, but the ridiculousness of his ptesence in such a funland made it impossible to forget.[break][break]

"We've been around," he said. Out with the old memories. October's war threatened to make new ones. For a second, he thought to offer a hand, only to realize the champ was carting way too many boxes for that. "Name's Isaac Merlo. Good to finally meet you."[break][break]

"Need a hand with any of that?"

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[attr="class","textbox"]Apparently, that friend of a friend status extended to the gods themselves.[break][break]

Isaac did a double take as Kyle waggled his hands and called Suicune into existence. For a moment, he wondered if they'd both answered the same calling. However, this Suicune lacked the invisible, spiritual tether that connected Isaac to his sworn partner. It must have, somehow, been a different Suicune.[break][break]

On the line of the horizon, Isaac could faintly make out a pair of flashing violet eyes.[break][break]

"Ah, great. They're seeing double," Isaac muttered, the normally stilled waters of his mind rippling with Suicune's confusion. He turned to the horizon, calling out to the enigmatic legend. "You can come out, you kn-" Before he could finish, a cold wind blew past him. Suicune, once a distant observer, now stood at his back.[break][break]

"Sheesh, way to give me a heart attack," Isaac said, having just been jumpscared by his own partner. Suicune simply shot him a wry smirk before turning to face their mirror. Their eyes narrowed as they scrutinized the other. "I swear, hard enough to keep track of this guy on their own. Never thought I'd see two of 'em in one place."[break][break]

Apparently, the crate he'd salvaged was uppers made from Nihilego venom. Frankly, the concept made Isaac's skin crawl. That shit wasn't something to take lightly. "Nah. Not my kinda thing," he said, knowing he didn't need his brain to be even more active. The stupid thing already got him in enough messes. "And there's no way the crash from that isn't nasty."[break][break]

Squinting, he plucked the note off the crate to give it a good read.

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[attr="class","textbox"]"Huh. That true, buddy?" Suicune's response was a simple, curt nod, eyes locked on both the effigy of themself and the mirror of their brother. The ashen Suicune, little more than an image engraved in memory, didn't seem to respond. Entei, in contrast, kept a wary distance.[break][break]

There was a sympathetic glimmer in Suicune's eye. It was like hoping to see a loved one, only to happen upon an identical stranger. Northern winds parted the clouds above, crystalline ice bending the light above. An aurora shone across the sky, soothing green ribbons that carried Suicune's compassion and sympathy.[break][break]

As their light attempted to reach Entei's heart, they bowed thrir head in sympathetic mourning.[break][break]

Similar green light lifted off of Isaac's body in gentle peals. Was this the true extent of his power? Could he harness such a gift someday? Or would he always command but the smallest fraction?[break][break]

He'd let them share in their presence and grief. Right now, he and Kyle had a job to do. "Heard enough about it to know I don't want anything to do with it," he said, irritation fraying at the edges of his voice. It wasn't Kyle's fault. Pushers were the lowest scum on the planet, especially those who knew they had rancid supply. "There's drugs, there's the bad shit, and then there's fucking. This."[break][break]

Kyle Lopez, the champion of the Hoenn Region, proceeded to just shotgun Fucking This like it was a jello shot. "Dude, what the hell?" Isaac asked, impressed by his boldness as he was mortified by his stupidity. "Are . . . are you good? How's it feel?"[break][break]

He might need to start working on that smallest fraction of his power.

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[attr="class","textbox"]What the actual fuck was Isaac watching?[break][break]

"Yeah, so, uh. Hell is your current state of mind, then?" Apparently, not even this unholy mixture was enough to make the man flinch. Isaac knew he could be a little weird, but this was taking things to the next level. Apparently, it had something to do with his avatardom, but Isaac was pretty sure Hoenn's champion wasn't the avatar of cocaine.[break][break]

Luckily, like some kind of overpowered service dog, Entei was already on the case. Sacred Fire leaped from him to Kyle, somehow not incinerating the champ into a skeleton. Instead, it only seemed to burn away his toxins, leaving the champ both unharmed and reinvigorated.[break][break]

What the hell was with Hoenn's healers and their total lack of self preservation? Not that he could judge anymore.[break][break]

Suicune's aurora wasn't the right tool for the job (was this a test now?), but it wasn't the only thing in Isaac's bag of tricks. He reached towards Suicune, the legend's presence making it much easier than usual to weave the waters of life. Within seconds, Isaac had a shimmering ball of water cupped between his hands.[break][break]

"Here," Isaac said as he pressed it to where the Sacred Flame once burned. Injury wasn't the only thing his waters could cure. They also washed away decay, disease, and poison. Perhaps it'd be enough to finish what Entei started and ease the champ's nausea. "How's this?"[break][break]

Something told Isaac Kyle knew exactly what he was doing here.

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[attr="class","textbox"]There was a sorrowful look in Suicune's eyes at the mention of Elisabeth Fiorelli. Both to foster Isaac's journey, and to honor her own patron's nonaggression, they had stayed their hand. However, a part of them had hoped they would be able to get through to her and grant her crystal's clarity.[break][break]

Perhaps another time.[break][break]

"She does," Isaac confirmed, a hint of unease to his voice. "But to herself more than anyone else. If it wasn't so terrifying, it'd be kinda sad." It was still horribly sad. If anything, the terror she brought only made it moreso.[break][nreak]

For one so gifted, Kyle was in no rush to count his blessings. If anything, he seemed the most frustrated by how much power hung in the hands of a mob of rogue demigods. As much as Isaac had been making liberal use of his own powers, he couldn't help but nod along.[break][break]

"You've got a pair of real brainiacs back there, at least." Eva Morales and illeana reyes were, for lack of a better term, fucking brilliant. "And snail's not the only legend that can give a vibe check. Maybe if they study my aurora, we can whip up some kinda brain shield."[break][break]

Again; Hoenn's healers had no self preservation.[break][break]

Maybe Isaac still had enough. As Kyle asked about slapping the sense back into him, Isaac could only stare. "Me. Knociking the sense into you." he repeated, trying not to give in to incredulous laughter. "Are you trying to get the HBIC on my ass? Pretty sure they'd have my head if I even look at you funny."

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[attr="class","textbox"]". . . One of those guys, yeah."[break][break]

If there was any assumption Kyle was some secret genius, testing his aptitude and heart alike, it all came crashing down. The Champion, the strongest, the symbol of the region, was an almighty idiot.[break][break]

Okay, so maybe that was unfair. He clearly had a lot on his mind. Rocket just might not have been his highest priority, which in a world under siege from gods and monsters was fair.[break][break]

Then again, he did drink poison.[break][break]

Kyle's realization passed as quickly as it had come. Isaac offered a sad smile at his assertation that it wouldn't matter anymore. "It's always gonna," he said; scorned by Hoenn's most faithful, hated by those he'd left behind. He'd always be under the microscope more deeply than the average man. "Not like I can just take back the harm I've done, yeah?"[break][break]

"But I'm still here. And that means I can start doing better." Let them scorn him. Let them resent him. Let them judge him. He had no power to stop it. The only thing he had power over was himself, and that he would fight for until the bitter end. "So if you'll have me, I'd love to help."[break][break]

Michael Navidson had done everything in his power to warn him against this, but Isaac's answer was the same now as it was then. He'd been gifted a chance to make a difference. He wouldn't let it slip just because he was scared.

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[attr="class","textbox"]"Like hell I do." For all Isaac wanted to make things right, he wasn't just some good little government bootlicker. Maybe that was exactly what Kyle hoped. "There's a lot I don't trust still. That's all the more reason to join. It might be my only shot at making things better around here."[break][break]

Trying to change a cult of personality like Rocket was futile. You'd have to convince Declan Walsh that the system designed to give him power and control was, somehow, a bad thing and needed to go. Shockingly enough, that tended not to work. The Council, for all their many, many flaws, were at least trying to make things better around here. freya morningstar was proof of that.[break][break]

" 'Sides. Something tells me a lot of the shit I don't trust's thanks to Rocket's efforts. 'Least, part of it is." How much could he truly judge a region pushed to its breaking point by those who wanted to see it burn? Could Hoenn ever truly mend while this war pushed them to darker and darker means?[break][break]

Kyle asked if he was sure, one last chance to back out. Nah. The time for that passed the day he set foot on that sub. One way or another, he was bound to this war. It might as well be on the right side for a change. He turned to Kyle, flashing him a confident grin.[break][break]

"I'm ready."