It is not just a plane that the masked man sees. Sitting upon its wing, perched like something out of an old film, is a masked samurai. A straw hat obscures his head. Perhaps the vigilante might recall this same mask from before they all entered into the dream of Galar, if they weren't too far away on the battlefield.[break][break]
He rides the wind. It is a miracle that defies the laws of physics which allows him to sit on the wing of the plane. Around him is a small swarm of Kartana. Perhaps they have something to do with how their master remains standing upon the plane despite everything.[break][break]
"Yoooooo!" He waves at the mask wearing crusader. His orders are clear: attack the League. Yet he does not immediately go on the offensive.[break][break]
"I think I can see the cornfields down in Dewford from up here!!"

"But I can't! I promised Senpai and the others I'd help out in the air!" Which, given his lack of flying Pokemon, was a conundrum. Without the means to fight in the air, he had to get creative - or at least this dog's version of creative. There's some rustic charm in what he's doing, but it's lost on him. If he finds anything strange about the nature of this conversation, he keeps it to himself. There's nothing odd at all about two men having a normal, cordial conversation while riding atop monsters from another dimension.[break]
"Say!" The dog says with sudden gusto, "You with the League? I'm supposed to kill you guys if I see you." A notion he doesn't sound pleased with, but he is nothing if not a loyal dog.[break]
"You wanna just fly away?"

"Souka." The dog says, suddenly taking on the poise of a samurai. "Souka. Can't back down. Neither can you. I see how it is." Pointing at the stranger, a second Kartana flies from his sleeve to join the first. No beast balls house these creatures. They serve him willingly, frightening as anyone with common sense might find that notion.[break]
But then, the dog himself exists outside of common sense.[break]
"Go! Kusanagi!" The dog cries, pulling out a black ball. As the ultra beast charges the haywire oven, it is enveloped in dazzling crystals. Exploding into a symphony of light, it streaks water in its wake. Kusanagi levels a water-aligned tera blast at the toaster.[break]
The other simply lingers, seemingly not excited about the prospect of taking the other man out of the air.

"Nani?!" The dog howls at the substitute's appearance. The sight of soggy bread is almost enough to make him puke. "What the hell?! No fair! Bring him back! BRING HIM BAAAACK!" Hitoshi screams, pointing his finger forward. His second Kartana takes this as a signal to charge. It accompanies Kusanagi, leveling a sacred sword at the substitute. Accompanying it a leaf blade from Kusanagi.[break][break]
"What's the big idea, doing a play like that? What're you supposed to be, some fancy pants big shot from the League?! You one of those elite 4 bozos? Mathias Dilf? Whitedaughter Blathers?"

Kaz? Kazawhat? Kazawho? Dogs can’t much remember people names. They remember deeds. Actions. Traits. The name goes in one ear and out the other, and not because he bears the bigger man any ill-will.[break][break]
“Autumn.” He vows with utmost sincerity. “That’s a name I’ll remember.” Close enough, or so his mind says. It’s closer than some get. He served Cillian Quinn in a twenty year blur. He came out of that dream calling the man Blondie.[break][break]
These fabled tactics harm not only his Kartana, but make the plane’s engine sputter. The forward propeller dies, causing the plane to drift into a downward slope. The problem with Kartana, as everyone knew, was that they were glass cannons. One is set sputtering. The other, in a single hit, is knocked out outright. Such is what happens when they’re not properly trained.[break][break]
Kusanagi is recalled to Hitoshi’s side. As the plane descends, the dog draws his sword. It hooks into his skin. Z-Energy begins to gather around his Honedge.[break][break]
“Oi, Autumn. You got anything you care ‘bout so much you’d die for it?”

"Nothin'!" He says with his chest. The gentle caress of the Honedge turns into a piercing needle. It sinks into his flesh, drinks of his blood. "My life ain't mine to lose. I made the person I serve a promise. She said I can't die. I'm the kinda guy who keeps my promises. So I told this sword: it can have everything. All of me. All of my blood 'cept the last drop. That's hers. Only she gets to decide where I die!"[break][break]His blood ignites the blade. Ghostfire ignites the steel, turning it a pale blue. He won't have long. Resolve, Z-Energy, and blood are a potent cocktail. They drain quickly. Howling in rage, he channels that fiery resolve up towards the man and his Pokemon. It cascades towards him, a wall of flame, a promise made manifestt.

Upon investigating the wreck, the masked vigilante will find...an empty plane. Both its pilot and the mad dog riding along the wing are gone. Vanished into thin air. With him goes the Ultra Beasts that flocked to his side. How this happened is a mystery that will be solved another day.[break][break]
On the dog's end...it is total defeat. Mischief that has escalated to a matter of life or death. As it always does, the z-move leaves him drained. Vulnerable. Had he done that on his own, under any other circumstance, it would risk ruin.[break][break]
But he had allies. Allies that fought with him for twenty years. Powerful allies. Allies that knew him and his heart well.[break][break]
"Where the hell d'you get off doin' this, Munenori!" Hitoshi coughs, his body almost bloodless. Munenori is his Gallade. The Pokemon forced itself out of his ball. He forced himself onto Hitoshi's shoulder. He teleported them away, recklessly, not thinking of their destination. He teleported himself into a gate, half on one side, half the other. His Pokemon sits dying.[break][break]
Crawling, the dog tries to clutch his hand. He feels the backlash all those Gardevoir in the woods felt.[break][break]
"You fuckin' idiot! Don't die on me!! Yumi told me to live, and yer a part of me!"[break][break]
Munenori simply smiles. One limb dies so the whole body may live. A fair trade. Chivalry and Bushido...those words are the heart of a Gallade. He dies smiling, knowing he got his foolish master to a doctor that can give him blood.[break][break]
And that is the end of this story.