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[attr="class","textbox"]In the nighttime chill, the fire seemed like it'd unravel at any moment. And so, it did.[break][break]

Isaac's hand flew down to his belt, because by this point he'd learned the hard way how frail the boundary between odd and deadly could be. His new life demanded constant vigilance. Prison, gyms, hospitals, and now the back lines of a warzone's twilit hours. True safety had long become impossible.[break][break]

In the fading wisps of the fire Isaac could see the outline of a figure. Masked and suited up, their identity was nigh impoddible to discern. However, the fire didn't just seem to highlight them. It almost seemed to flow into them, its tongues licking towards them harmlessly before unraveling. Not a single ember remained in its wake.[break][break]

Shit, he was seeing things. Wind must've blown just the right way, that's all.[break][break]

What he did know was that the glimpse of uniform he saw was no League finery. This was an ambush, one way or another, and like hell was he going to take it lying down.[break][break]

Two Pokeballs hit the ground, but only one seemed to properly open. Out emerged a Blastoise, leering towards the soldier that he'd briefly glimpsed through the red light of the system release. He wasn't about to take the first shot at an unarmed man, but his cannons were primed and ready for any escalation.[break][break]

Perhaps, in that same red light, he would notice the unnatural way the Blastoise's shadow contorted.[break][break]

The figure was getting closer. There was no more time to wait. Isaac whistled and Toto struck, his Water Spout careening heedlessly through the darkness. Uninjured as he was, the attack was massive. Surely, even in this darkness, he'd brutr force his way into a solid hit.

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[attr="class","textbox"]Each flash of light, more quickly devoured than last, was like the pulse of a beating heart. Da-dum. They appeared at the edge of the beachhead, wreathed in flame. Da-dum. At Toto's release, they were approaching. Da-dum. At their Glalie's release, their approach hastened. Da-dum. By the time Isaac's secret weapon had slipped out, their arrival was imminent.[break][break]

Toto was so proud of his new trick that he'd failed to consider the defenses Pokemon had available to them. A scowl spread across the Blastoise's face as he glowered at the soldier.[break][break]

He didn't have much time for mean-mugging. The Gengar emerged from the shadows, having dodged every pulse of this little light show. His own light, a Dazzling Gleam, was a strike in two parts. The first was the actual danger, Toto throwing himself before Isaac to try and soak up the worst of the damage. He winced, a growl slithering out from his throat.[break][break]

The second was danger to follow. Now wreathed in an eerie pink, the soldier was far too close for comfort.[break][break]

Luckily, Toto wasn't alone in this two-on-one scenario. Out from the shadows burst a pair of blazing red eyes. They, too, wreathed themselves in light; not a Pokeball's harsh red glare, the unsettling pink of a Dazzling Gleam, or the warm hues of a raging fire, but instead the dusky green of soulfire. From around this crown of green, the being's identity was all too clear; a Marshadow.[break][break]

As it emerged from Toto's shadow, it rose in a furious uppercut, the Spectral Thief hellbent on striking the Gengar's very essence.[break][break]

Toasty wasn't the only one pushing this fight to the spiritual realm. Toto challenged his anger into a blazing red Aura Sphere. It sped through the air, locked not onto the Glalie's body but instead its soul. Until it made contact with something, it would follow the Glalie's movements like the very specter of vengeance.[break][break]

Was that who had come to visit Isaac today? Even as their Pokemon clashed, Isaac settled into a fighting stance.

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[attr="class","textbox"]Smoke vanished off into the Phantom Plane, and this time his rift lingered behind. By ghost standards, this was an invitation, and one Toasty was all too happy to take. Cracking his little, mitten-like knuckles, he leapt after the Gengar, bracing himself for whatever dangers awaited on his home turf.[break][break]

In contrast to their duel of equals, Toto and Glalie were having far more of a slugfest. The two exchanged heavy haymakers one after the other, interrupted only by the defenses tucked in their back pockets. Last time, Toto's Water Spout was reflected by shimmering Protection. This time, as the water within Toto started to ice over, Isaac found himself being struck by inspiration.[break][break]

He set his hands on the site of the attack, then began to pull them back. Crystals of ice rose from the spot, Freeze Dried water now resting atop the surface of Toto's skin instead of rupturing him from within. Paired with the natural resistance to cold that Suicune had granted them, what should have been a sure tide-turner instead just left the Blastoise flinching.[break][break]

Isaac was the one who felt the impact more severely. Such concentrated water manipulation took a lot out of him, leaving him slumping against the Blastoise's side. In response, Toto crooked an arm around him, pulling him out of the harm's way. Water began frothing at the tips of his cannons; another Water Spout threatening to bear down on the Glalie? The furious glint in his eyes sure made it seem so.[break][break]

Or was that intensity just a cunning feint to bait out its next Protect? Right before he fired, the Blastoise's cannons swiveled upwards, Life Dew dribbling down them in a shimmering cloud. The seared patches of skin from the Dazzling Gleam he took began to fade, and Isaac was no longer in danger of fainting into Toto's side.[break][break]

Finding his strength, he plucked the largest piece of ice off of Toto's body. The lacerations that remained were proof that, were the Freeze Dry not accounted for, Toto would've been in serious pain. He gave the Blastoise's injured flank a gentle pat, then began reshaping the ice into something a touch more lethal looking. "Stand down. We don't have to do this."[break][break]

If Zev had any lingering doubts that Isaac had changed, the blade of ice he pointed towards him would dispel them in a second.[break][break]

TEAL DEER;[break]
Toasty follows Smoke to the Phantom Plane, so they can kick this battle off properly.[break]
Isaac uses his water manipulation and teamwide cold resistance to draw out the Freeze Dry from Toto before it can do too much damage.[break]
Toto feints an attack, hoping to draw out another Protect, before instead using Life Dew to heal himself and Isaac.[break]
Isaac, still dazed and wavering, points an ice blade at "the masked soldier", telling them to stand down.

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[attr="class","textbox"]When the soldier took one look at Isaac and just kept coming, he had an idea what was going on.[break][break]

"Knowing you? This blade won't, either." Yep. There were those black, crystalline tendrils. If Zev was as thorough as Isaac remembered him, his entire body would've been covered in the stuff. Impenetrable, and not a gap to be found. The eyes, his one chance, were tucked safely behind his mask. Clever. "Knew you'd come for me sooner or later."[break][break]

The tendrils shot for Isaac's heart, and Isaac forced himself to move. He stepped one way and pushed his blade out to the next. To try and strong-arm his way through such hard crystals would get him killed; small movements, and a focus on momentum over strength would be key to helping him survive.[break][break]

Survive. That was all basic swordfighting would let him do against such a superior foe. He'd need to try a little harder than that.[break][break]

Perhaps his blade's downward flop would seem hilarious to Zev, as if Isaac's new powers were suddenly impotent. However, as soon as the length of his blade bent in on itself, Isaac willed it to freeze once more. What was once a sword was now a shackle, bending in on itself to try and bind Zev's two tendrils together. Just because he couldn't be hurt didn't mean he couldn't be stopped.[break][break]

Theirs wasn't the only fight going on. By their sides, Toto and Glalie were locked into a similar grapple. The Glalie had recklessly abandoned its prior plan, instead charging in to engage Toto directly. As an artillery Pokemon, this was far from the Blastoise's strong suit. He stumbled back a step as their heads collided, letting out a pained hiss.[break][break]

Much like Isaac, he'd just have to make the most of their dicey situation. His cannons swiveled to face the Glalie, answering its assault with a point-blank burst of light from his Flash Cannon.[break][break]

TEAL DEER;[break]
Isaac parries the double tendril strike, then reshapes the ice blade into a shackle. He aims to bind Zev's tendrils together to "disarm" him.[break]
Toto hunkers down, taking the headbutt on the chin and answering with a point-blank Flash Cannon.

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[attr="class","textbox"]A moment was all Isaac needed to get moving. Trying to play power vs power with a more experienced, deadlier man was the definition of foolishness. He abandoned the shackle to try and slip behind Zev's back, knowing damn well that if he stayed still for a second the tentacles would rend his back.[break][break]

For a moment, Isaac considered trying to put Zev in a lock. If his outsides were impenetrable, pressure on his insides may have been his only hope. One look at the halo like ring spanning the tendrils disabused him of that notion. The second it worked, he'd be skewered alive for daring to try.[break][break]

Perhaps it wasn't ice that was the answer here.[break][break]

Even behind Zev wasn't safe. Tendril after tendril spiked down towards Isaac, forcing him to keep moving. He changed his pattern and angle constantly, knowing predictability meant death. Freaking tendrils. Would it kill the guy to give him an actual limb for once?[break][break]

Unfortunately, he wouldn't. Instead, he'd give Isaac a face. He was so fixated on this dance of death that he didn't even see the Glalie's Bulldoze coming. Thrown off balance, he forced himself to lurch forward. Stumbling back would get him killed. Rolling through, disorienting as it was, at least kept his momentum. Normally he'd balk at sacrificing his position, but what position did he even hold right now?[break][break]

Maybe this was his sign to surrender it.[break][break]

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Isaac asked as he hauled ass. With a whistle, Toto ran to follow. Their legs still quivered and quaked from the chase, but Toto wouldn't let that slow them down. A layer of shell exploded off his back, the Shell Smash lightening his burdens and letting him surge forward. Before long, he'd snatched Isaac up, tucking him under one arm like a linebacker.[break][break]

They didn't need to outrun Zev for good. They just needed to make it to the sea.[break][break]

TEAL DEER;[break]
Isaac keeps moving to avoid a spiky, tendrily death.[break]
Bulldoze hampers this plan; he opts to roll through instead of stand his ground or be thrown on his ass.[break]
Desperate, he flees to the seas, Toto's Shell Smash speeding them along.

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[attr="class","textbox"]In that moment, Isaac realized two things. The first was that, before reaching the shore, they would meet their inevitable death. The second was that Zev had given him an arm.[break][break]

The only opportunity Isaac could rely on was the one he seized himself. Who needed a beach? He had all the water he could want.[break][break]

They only had so much time to work. Isaac clutched his Mega Brace close to Toto, a glow enveloping the Blastoise. Infinity Energy swirled along his back, filling the cracks in his shell and causing it to swell with power. This reinforcement may have been the difference between life and death; frost spread across the edges of this new, fortress-like shell as the Freeze Dry took its toll.[break][break]

Hexagon shapes burst from the shell, revealing weapon after weapon. From a massive cannon on his back to an array of peashooters the size of his fingers, Toto had been transformed into a living arsenal. His stomach burned a daring red, the same color Zev sought to pluck from his heart, and triangular markings lined his limbs. Blastoise or Mega Blastoise G, it was surely no matter to Zev. He'd die all the same.[break][break]

A thrust of the Blastoise's tail spun him out, and every cannon fired at once. A G-Max Cannonade ripped from Toto's back . . . and proceeded to miss Zev by inches. Was this his waste of a last stand, mere footsteps away from impalement?[break][break]

Or was it all according to Isaac's plan?[break][break]

Infinity Energy linked him and Toto, connected by the bond of their Mega Evolution. His drive was Isaac's drive. His strength was Isaac's strength. His water was Isaac's water. With a sweep of Isaac's hand, the "missed" cannonade swept into Zev from the side, as if it were a tidal wave.[break][break]

They weren't the only ones to act. A little Copycat had followed Smoke out from the Phantom Plane, choosing this most oppprtune time to strike. Toasty wouldn't be able to hurt Zev, but with his own emergence he sprang into the back of his knee with all his might. If he could just make it buckle, he'd be even weaker against the incoming wall of water.[break][break]

Most of the water would wrap around Zev's legs and waist on impact, the shackle strategy writ large. However, this time it wasn't ice, hard and strong yet brittle and conquerable. It was water, pliable, flexible, and always drawn to restore itself. It would only last with Isaac's focus, but until then prove a far more effective prison.[break][break]

Two of the Cannonade's smaller streams proved to be the exception. They would surround one of Zev's outstretched arms, aiming to seize it before he could pull it back. One would aim to coil around his wrist, while the other would push down just above the elbow joint. It was the first, simplest lock Zev had ever taught Isaac, the humble armbar, now weaponized in a clash of demigods.[break][break]

Perhaps this indulgence should have been the first warning sign. As Toto rushed past Zev, and Toasty hopped atop his shoulder, they should have just run for the hills. Instead, Isaac patted the Blastoise's shoulder, a request to slow down.[break][break]

"Suicune," he said, watching Zev from afar. His hands folded together, interlaced like the waters he commanded, only his two pinkie fingers ourstretched. They quivered, visibly strained, and yet he persisted. He couldn't leave. Not yet. Not until he saw if even the invincible could feel pain. "And all the other Pokemon that've gotten me so far."[break][break]

"This isn't just some god's strength. It's ours."[break][break]

TEAL DEER;[break]
Toto the Blastoise Mega Evolves to Mega Blastoise G for a last burst of energy after such a painful hit.[break]
His G-Max Cannonade "misses", but Isaac steers it into Zev's side.[break]
Toasty the Marshadow Copycats Smoke's Phantom Force, bursting from the Phantom Plane and into Zev's knee.[break]
Isaac tries to snare Zev in water . . . with two streams also trying to catch him in an armbar.[break]
Instead of leaving while he should, he hangs back to get the last word and see if Zev can feel pain.[break]
Oh no.