The fight had already begun by the time Eddie received his cue to take the stage. In the life before he first came here, perhaps he would have found himself paralyzed by fear, with a desire to play the hero but without the strength to see those ambitions through. But now, as the dragons began to clash, there was no room for such indecision, [break][break]

“Cali, eyes up!” [break][break]

The first of his team of Pokemon surged forward, an iron titan closing in on the Walking Wake with a Dragon Rush. The Aggron roared with triumphant fury as he collided with the beast, ready to hold the psuedo-Suicune in a grip as a tight as a bear trap, [break][break]

“Batou, you're on back-up!” [break][break]

The Lucario rushed forward next with a Quick Attack, glowing with an eerie light as he surveyed the brawl. Perhaps it would be too risky to launch an Aura Sphere of his own with friend and foe grappling in such close quarters, but he was certainly ready to launch a Heal Pulse if things grew too dire. [break][break]

Eddie's focus momentarily wavered as he eyed the Gouging Fire lingering nearby with suspicion. It was a strange echo of his encounter with the same two Pokemon on the excursion he'd joined with Yuina Higashi , with both creatures vying for whatever scrap of land they could get in this place ripped out of time. It wasn't a threat just yet, but Eddie's hand still drifted to the next Poke ball in case the facsimile of Entei found itself eager to join the fray as well.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Navy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Eddie would have almost felt bad for the Walking Wake if the thing hadn't almost succeeded in killing him the first time their paths crossed. The creature was at the center of a microcosm of violence, and Eddie found himself amazed that the paradox still had the wherewithal to try and strike back even in the throes of it's beatdown. Amazement quickly turned to fear when he realized that the attack was about to be launched successfully, [break][break]

“Watch out-!” [break][break]

The command died in his throat as the Hydro Steam fizzled into nothing against the Gouging Fire's Burning Bulwark, the super-heated torrent disintegrating into thick plumes of steam as the water evaporated against the fiery aegis. Eddie blinked once, then twice, as though he were a dreamer shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, [break][break]

“The hell?” [break][break]

He turned to Navy, his coppery suit shimmering in the sunlight, and considered the observation made by the man that Eddie couldn't help but think of as a god of war on this primordial battlefield, [break][break]

“Friends, huh?” [break][break]

Odd, but he'd take it. He'd made stranger friends over stranger circumstances these past couple of months, [break][break]

“Then maybe we oughta let 'im in on the action. Caligula, hold that fucker steady!” [break][break]

The Aggron cracked the ground beneath him with a tremendous STOMP as he planted his feet into the earth. He reached forward and grabbed the Walking Wake, one hand grasped onto the creature's strange crest, and the other in it's thick mane, seizing the paradox in a fierce deadlock as the Gouging Fire dashed forward with claws extended. Batou continued to play the part of the vigilant medic, eyes darting from Caligula to Hattori to Arthur, anxious to see if any would be caught in the clash of the titans. [break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Navy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

For just a moment, Eddie's world was bathed in red. [break][break]

In the grand scheme of things, Navy had probably seen worse; Eddie suspected for a while now that he, like the Walking Wake, bore some scars beneath that armored suit. That fact meant very little in the moment Eddie watched the birth of bright, crimson streaks by a monster's hands; how foolish he was to imagine Navy as a god when he bled like a man, [break][break]

“Navy!” [break][break]

Thoughts of his own Pokemon were the farthest thing from Eddie's mind as he ran to the other man's side. With some amazement, he watched Navy catch himself with ease, graceful as a cat with the stubbornness of a bull as he took his fighting stance once more. Shit, he was right; Eddie, though inexperienced in the ways of war, was not a total stranger to a brawl. A little bloodletting was just a part of the song and dance, was it not? And no victory was worth a damn if it was not hard-won. The notched scar in Eddie's eyebrow ached almost imperceptibly as he called out his next Pokemon, [break][break]

“You're damn right we are,” he replied with renewed conviction, “Beau, get in there and give 'em hell!”[break][break]

The Tauros emerged in the midst of a bounding leap, literally hitting the ground running as he charged into the fray. Nearby, Batou emerged from the treeline some distance away, having been similarly blown back by the shield's burst, a little battered but no worse for wear. A roar from further beyond gave Caligula's own approach away. [break][break]

And nearby, rising to it's feet, the Gouging Fire seethed. It too bore the blood of a dragon, and it practically trembled with the violent pride of a creature scorned. It loosed a reptilian hiss as it skulked back towards it's ancient adversary, biding it's time for a new opening to strike.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Navy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

“Leave it to me!”[break][break]

When Navy said that he and Arthur were going to hit their opponent with everything they had, Eddie hadn't realized that he meant it so literally. Man and beast moved in pugnacious concert to overtake the Walking Wake and Eddie cursed himself for lacking the means to join them. But hell, Navy had given him is own job to do, and Eddie was determined to see it through. [break][break]

There, as the Walking Wake was backed into a corner, it's attacks catching little more than the air around it as it swiped and blasted spouts of boiling water, an opening presented itself. For a brief moment, a dizzying strike to the creature's head dazed it long enough, and man and dragon's blows abated long enough, that Eddie realized he finally had the means to strike, [break][break]

“Beau, hit 'em fast and hard!” [break][break]

The Tauros charging in the wings bolted forward, the scent of ozone coursing through the air in his wake. It started with just a few sparks as the bull sailed close to his target, until his onyx fur was alight with dazzling, surging bolts of electricity. He was a thunderstorm personified, all lighting and summer rain and fury descending from on high as he collided with the Walking Wake, knocking the creature off it's feet as it screamed in pain and indignation. [break][break]

While Beau had the chance to recover from the wild charge that dazed even him, the Walking Wake wasn't afforded the same opportunity as it's brother lunged. It was almost funny, really, that the creature was to meet it's end with an attack not unlike the ones it had used to cut down outpost after outpost. Dragon Claws sank deep into the exposed belly of the creature, and Eddie couldn't help but wince a little as the Gouging Fire sank it's teeth into the side of the Walking Wake's face. Eddie vaguely remembered an old quote about violent delights and violent ends, and he supposed that the phrase had never rang more true than now as he bore witness to a monster's very real mortality. [break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Navy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

It was finally done. [break][break]

It didn't seem real until Navy's voice rang out through the now still air, and Eddie nodded back in reply. It was bloody, and messy, and horrifically violent, but justice had finally been served; lives that had been taken had now been avenged, and Eddie could rest easier now that the creature that had tried to do him in was finally put to rest. Still, he couldn't bring himself to feel any lingering bitterness as the Gouging Fire drew away, and Eddie stared at the dead shape of what was once an apex predator. He wondered, vaguely, if an afterlife existed for creatures such as this, [break][break]

“Hah, you're flatterin' me. Feel like you and Arthur did most'a the heavy lifting.” [break][break]

Batou and Caligula finally returned to the fold, with the Aggron surveying the aftermath with abject confusion and the Lucario running up to Navy and his team, fretting over them like a mother hen, [break][break]

“Yeah, I'd like that,” Eddie smiled, eyeing the Gouging Fire curiously from the corner of his eye, “I'll be back with ya in a sec; Batou'll get ya patched up as best he can.” [break][break]

The distinct flash of a Heal Pulse in his periphery reassured Eddie that Navy and his crew were in good hands as he turned to properly face the enemy of his enemy. [break][break]

The Gouging Fire looked up to return his gaze, maw streaked with gore as it regarded the strange, hairless ape that had aided it in it's fight. Eddie half-expected to see lingering fury there, blood-lust burning bright in the wake of the Pokemon's conquest, but he was more surprised to find such fervor absent from the evergreen eyes that stared back. As the victorious Tauros limped over to join Eddie at his side, the trainer could have sworn that the Gouging Fire was eyeing them with... interest? Curiosity, maybe. Maybe it was time for Eddie to start his sales pitch, [break][break]

“Yer strong as hell.” [break][break]

Alright, flattery may have been a simplistic way to start, but hey, the statement still held true. Eddie could have sworn that he saw the ancient dragon tilt it's head to the side, just a little, as though such a thing were obvious, [break][break]

“I dunno if you're the fightin' type- if ya helped us out just 'cause we had a mutual enemy, or if ya just like the thrill of it, but- ” Eddie paused, considering something, “Well, I know this place is all about 'kill or be killed'. I'm sure ya spend every day fightin' for yer life out here. And I'm sure that's a rough way ta live.” [break][break]

The Gouging Fire seemed to consider the statement as well, with some degree of incredulous suspicion, [break][break]

“So, uh, wouldja be interested in gettin' away from all'a that? I won't lie ta ya and say that there ain't all kinds'a fightin' outside'a here, but...” [break][break]

But to live in a land with beasts such as these must be a terrible fate, to have to fight tooth and nail just to survive each passing day. That was no way to live, in Eddie's opinion; life was meant to be enjoyed and luxuriated in. He fished a Poke Ball out of his pocket and carefully turned it over in his hands, [break][break]

“I figured I'd at least extend the offer to ya. You helped us out, and I ain't the kinda guy to let his debts go unpaid. Whaddya say; you wanna get outta here?” [break][break]

He held the Poke Ball before him, a final and literal act to reach out to the paradox. As the Gouging Fire drew near, lifting it's muzzle close to the capsule, Eddie realized that the creature could easily just take his arm off. For all he knew, he could have seriously injured the creature's pride with his impudence; dragons were powerful but fickle things, their whims unknown except to those closest to them. [break][break]

But the worst of Eddie's fears did not come to pass as the Gouging Fire dissipated in a flash of red light, it's decision made as it accepted a new future rife with possibility. Eddie quickly drew the Poke Ball close and inspected it carefully, as though he hadn't just witnessed the spectacle for himself. Huh, he hadn't entirely expected that to go as well as it did, but he couldn't stop himself from grinning like a child as he stowed the Poke Ball away. [break][break]

As he jogged back to Navy's side, that grin refused to falter. Navy had given him a new life, too, out from these depths. It wasn't the same, really, but Eddie hoped he could extend some of that new promise to the paradox that now accompanied him to the lands outside of this place. There'd still be fighting, sure, but many more wonderful things awaited them in the world beyond; sunny afternoons, good meals, and best of all, the warm comfort of friendship. [break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Navy

[attr="class","pokeclass"]