Tempest Quinn was a beast, rabid and snarling, chained to the fencepost known as Cillian Quinn. As demure as Temp was, the cheery attitude was a front for the monster that hid underneath.

As the pool of poison bubbled and spilled, the chain strained. Demons spilled forth from the pool as Temp stole one of their own. It was easy for a demon to masquerade as an angel while it still hid its horns. As graceful as the Ultra Beasts were normally, they were a terror when roused.

"Do not-" Howard snarled at the Rocket Beast as an egg was plucked.

The chain snapped.

Chaos.

Howard Slayte was not a soldier. He was not a warrior. He lacked experience, and that lack of experience caused him to flounder for a few precious seconds as Howard and Temp were separated from Cillian. Tentacles created an ironclad wall that split the group in two.

Cillian said to run. Howard wanted to run. He had taken a few steps away before stopping.

"Get your husband!" A Pokeball opened with a red flash that melded with the reddish glow of Eternatus. Regice would not fit in this cave, and thus Howard's Sigilyth emerged. A Reflect coated Temp and Howard as the admin cowered underneath his sentinel's unblinking gaze.

"Tempest!"

---

Cillian Quinn Tempest Quinn

The others fight against the unyielding tide of this swarm with a stiff perseverance. Cillian and Tempest Quinn are both swords, sharpened and tested in the crucible of war. Watching the duo dance through the sea of glassy tentacles and spewing poison is a spectacle to behold.

Until Cillian's waltz is interrupted, things seemed to be going moderately well.

It's the enclosed space that causes the most distress. If Regice and Lugia could fit in this cramped chamber, the swarm of Nihilego would be atomized and turned into dust with the drop of a hat. Ice would become their tombs, and shadow would be their eternal caress until the end of days.

Again, the dance is interrupted.

"GRAB HIM!" Cillian's commitment to the idea of Rocket, if not Howard himself, strikes a strange chord that goes unnoticed for the time being. The admin's mode of combat is to annoy and misdirect. His Sigilyth's Gravity causes several Nihilego to crash against the ground in a misshapen glass heap.

It was a cute trick, but did not change the tide.

"This is bad." His eye flicked towards the exit, blockaded by a swarm of glass bodies as despair began to set in.

---

Cillian Quinn Tempest Quinn

DARK MITOCHONDRIA

ULTRA DEEP SEA

[player]https://file.garden/ZXZrnWMYuz15frfJ/HOENN%20MUSIC/shadow%20lugia%20battle.mp3[/player]
TOXINS POUR INTO Cillian Quinn AS HE FALLS ONTO HIS KNEES. He trembles. Trembles with rage. As his veins betray the transpiring metamorphosis, the black ichor pulses and floods where the INFINITY ENERGY once was. His deactivated suit exposes him to all elements.

But in that bareness, Cillian allows all of himself to be taken by the influence of his patron. No more restraint now. Not when there is a war to be fought for the glory of Team Rocket.

• NEW: due to shadow lugia's corrupting influence, cillian now physically embodies the dark aura of shadow pokemon. this aspect can manifest in his appearance and can become more intense and twisted depending on his emotions, his behaviours, etc. thorn can be creative with cillian's appearance, can choose if it is "toggleable", and can lean into eldritch aesthetics.



• NEW: cillian will be able to generally attack or defend himself using his own dark aura. however, for now, cillian can use more specific moves three times per thread: list of shadow moves. he can only SHADOW HOLD one target at a time.



• cillian himself can conjure a SHADOW MIASMA that can be directed like a powerful gale thanks to shadow lugia's own dominion over the wind. within the SHADOW MIASMA, cillian and his shadow pokemon are camouflaged but not intangible. within the SHADOW MIASMA, gavin and his pokemon have raised EVASION and SPEED.



• every time cillian and his pokemon faint another pokemon, he is able to POSSESS the pokemon with his SHADOW MIASMA. for a brief period of time, gavin is able to reanimate the pokemon and use its moves before the possession concludes. around the fainted pokemon's body, the SHADOW MIASMA will persist for a period of time.



• all of cillian's shadow pokemon have INCREASED STRENGTH.



• owned shadow pokemon will not be aggressive to cillian. furthermore, most shadow pokemon will be obedient to cillian as long as he can direct that aggression onto a target and if shadow lugia is on the field.

AS A RESULT of Cillian Quinn’s rejuvenated power, he may come across Shadow Pokemon that seek him. In the days to come, Cillian Quinn may discover a SHADOW NINETALES once owned by an overly ambitious man. This Ninetales, he would bequeath to his lover: Tempest Quinn.

Cillian Quinn Tempest Quinn howard slayte

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong.

SOMETHING WAS WRONG.

"This can't be real. This can't be happening. This is a nightmare..." The admin's voice was a coarse whisper as shadows lengthened in the cavern, growing longer and deeper as they integrated with Cillian Quinn's presence. The individual shadow of each Nihilego twisted together into unholy matrimony.

His shadow miasma grew.

Cillian Quinn.

Gavin Merlino.

Patrick Cavalli.

Nightmare. Monster. Field. Rocket Underboss.

"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" Howard wheeled on Cillian and Temp and sprinted for the exit, only to be caught and stopped by a wall of tentacles forged from glass. They wrapped at his armor, causing it to hiss and bubble as the admin struggled to push against them in a frantic burst. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

■■■. There was another ■■■.

There were two of them. Light. Shadow. The absence of light.

Knowledge of another Devourer was too much for Howard Slayte to handle. The weight of that realization caused everything to start crashing down. Thus, he did the only thing he knew how to do:

He ran.

---

Tempest Quinn Cillian Quinn

Coward. Coward. COWARD. COWARD SLAYTE.

No matter how far he ran, he could never escape that name. Howard stumbled and fell, his head banging against the side of his helmet as he sunk into the fleshy floor. As he rose to continue running, umbral shackles erupted from his shadow, wrapping themselves around his ankles.

Those chains felt awfully similar to Howard's hans.

"No! NO! I'm not a coward! I'M NOT A COWARD!" The admin's protests were drowned out by the overwhelming pressure. Claws emerged from every nook and cranny where light didn't shine. "LET ME GO!"

Slowly, his shadow dragged him back.

"Cillian! Please!" The admin's cry could not compete with the crack of thunder masquerading as a human voice. This was no human. "Let me go!"

Why did this always happen to him? Why was he being forced to witness the shedding of humanity for a far uglier form. A far greater form, but without the warmth and empathy that came with the burdens of the flesh.

---

Cillian Quinn Tempest Quinn