MARCH UPDATE

An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 4:35:19 GMT

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MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

[attr="class","Navypog3-tagged"]
howard slayte

[attr="class","Navypog3-subtitle"]
ROUSE THYSELF, RIDER.

[attr="class","Navypog3-pkmn"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-post"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-icon"]

“Huh.” Zaria looked to Howard, just as every other eye in the courtroom did the same. She admired his moxie.[break][break]
“Our Queen didn’t expect a sword in her back while dueling the Rider.” Crystal hummed.[break][break]
Howard flew from his seat, seized by terrible power. He revolved like a globe, dangled over the courtroom like a fresh-caught Magikarp. Chi-Yu cried in mad rage, swirling about in the air with all the fury of an erupting volcano.[break][break]
“I have accepted what I am.” Said the Dark Queen. Whatever fury his words rouse, she will not afford him the victory of hearing it in her voice. “You and your hero cling to ideals, as if you’re any better.” Flames lick at Howard’s boots. “I hold you in contempt.”

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Admin Fox

He/Him

May 9th

Rustboro City

Bisexual

Archaeologist

Rocket Admin

5'9 (with hat) height

The future will tempt you, the present will indulge you, but the past will shackle you.

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POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 5:04:22 GMT

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[attr="class","gunstest6"]

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[attr="class","gunstest6body howard"]

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There was a brief moment of elation where Howard felt proud. He was quickly humbled.[break][break]

As he was dangled up to be held in contempt, the heat was blistering. The admin sweltered under the gaze of the court. From admiration from Zaria to bemusement from Crystal, there was only one person whose opinion truly mattered. [break][break]

Howard's eye met Navy's. [break][break]

The punishment began. [break][break]

"I value the truth more than any person alive, but the world you've helped build leaves none of it behind. You've created hell on earth, and all we have left are our ideals. That things can be better." Flames licked at his feet, tingling and burning. "That's all we're left with! Where your truth begins, ideals will soon follow!" [break][break]

Somewhere a million miles away, Reshiram's Light Stone glimmered with inner light.[break][break]

5,400 degrees Fahrenheit.[break][break]

That was the temperature that PENELOPE LIVY 's Chi-Yu burned at. When fighting Kyurem, Howard had seen it melt through stone and every attack thrown its way. It was the antithesis to anything built around it. Chi-Yu could not build, it could only destroy. The only thing Howard had seen it fail to melt was Regice itself. [break][break]

His boots bubbled as melted leather licked at his flesh, scarring and burning it. Howard's scream filled the court. [break][break]

"You're not the only one who's accepted who you are..." Howard's voice was raw as he screamed again. "Isn't that right, Pale Rider!?"[break][break]

"NAVY!"

Navy [break][break]

NOTES

- March forward, squire.

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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Michael Navidson

He/Him

October 13th

Slateport

Heterosexual

Elite 4.

Sheriff

5'10" / 177.8 cm height

In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

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POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 5:26:23 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Navypog3"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-big-img"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-1"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-title"]
MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

[attr="class","Navypog3-tagged"]
howard slayte

[attr="class","Navypog3-subtitle"]
ROUSE THYSELF, RIDER.

[attr="class","Navypog3-pkmn"]

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He wasn’t going to sit back and let Howard die. Navy steadied himself in his defendant’s box. To leave it meant he, too, would be at her mercy. To move would be to die for his ideals, singed by Penelope’s truth.[break][break]
“Hell no she isn’t.” He jumped the booth. Shocked gasps went up around the courtroom. It bought Howard a little more time. Chi-Yu’s fire raged out, finding a new source of fuel. It hungered for Navy, its supposed ally, its strongest soldier from Galarian myth.[break][break]
“I accept me, but I don’t accept the world’s gotta be this way. I’ll burn, and the folk behind me will know peace.”[break][break]
He closed his eyes, and had faith. A shuriken grazed Penelope’s cheek. Had she not turned her head at precisely the right moment, it would have found true purchase.

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Michael Navidson

He/Him

October 13th

Slateport

Heterosexual

Elite 4.

Sheriff

5'10" / 177.8 cm height

In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

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POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 5:27:03 GMT

howard slayte and Eduardo Hisakawa like this

My Lord and his Squire are going to burn. They speak brave words. They hold the attention of their fellows like actors on a stage. I am perched high, a blade in the dark, a perfect killing tool. The Dark Queen does not notice me. I am beneath her notice, smaller even than her bead.[break]
I am not Roland, blessed with a strong sword-arm. I am not Zacian, the Hero of a Thousand Battles. I am not Shuwen, my Lord’s mighty fist.[break]
I have envied them all, for how tall they stand. They are strong. None of them, not a single one, could save him here. None of them could deliver him from these flames. That, and that alone, is what I can do. The shuriken turns in my hand, gathering momentum. It spins on into infinity, tossed along a golden curve.[break]
Only when it closes in does she notice me. Her eyes turn. I am seen. I am regarded.[break]
I don’t feel the first arrow pierce my side. I only feel the gathering energy in my body. Kyle, my Lord’s greatest friend, once told him something: z-energy is one of the first things that turned the attention of the Dark Triad upon this world.[break]
I fall. The human guards fall upon me.[break]
Yes, yes.[break]
Hit me. Hurt me. Pierce me. Break me. Even my own friends are compelled to attack. They tear me. The bead burns me. Hurt me. Kill me.[break]
My mind dies, but the body presses on. There is only one way I can save him now. The fallen meat that was once me turns to face this Dark Queen and her ruinous monster.[break][break]
I am not the true Hattori. I am a character in your story. I know he would do the same thing, were he I and I him. You saw worth in a small thing. You see worth in lost children, and you shepherd them. You guard the weak from the tyranny of evil men. That is your strength, and that is why you alone are the one who can reforge that which was broken.[break]
I am your shinobi.[break]
And a shinobi is one who endures.[break]
Be vigilant, my Lord.[break]
I love you.

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Michael Navidson

He/Him

October 13th

Slateport

Heterosexual

Elite 4.

Sheriff

5'10" / 177.8 cm height

In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 5:27:30 GMT

PENELOPE LIVY likes this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Navypog3"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-big-img"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-1"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-title"]
MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

[attr="class","Navypog3-tagged"]
howard slayte

[attr="class","Navypog3-subtitle"]
ROUSE THYSELF, RIDER.

[attr="class","Navypog3-pkmn"]

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[attr="class","Navypog3-icon"]

No corner of the room was left in darkness. Hattori’s shuriken missed. The same burning mark appeared under him that once marked Navy, when he was first captured. An arrow took him as he fell. Then, a sword blow. Guardsmen dogpiled him. He was stabbed, beaten, torn apart by their blows. Navy was powerless to do anything.[break][break]
“Hattori! Not like this!” The Rider shouted, following the same compulsion as the rest. He rushed to help his Greninja, to force him up, to comfort him.[break][break]
Hattori’s body turned on its own, facing Penelope and Chi-Yu. She looked down upon the frog, who understood envy better than most, like was nothing but a speck on the floor.[break][break]
“I sentence you all to d-” She did not finish her sentence. Hattori shot forward, and all the accumulated harm doled upon him by flames and weapon was returned upon an appointed target. All of it, all that terrible pressure, was released in one cone of force. Penelope and her bead were caught in the epicenter. They simply ceased to exist.[break][break]
Everything behind them did. The high walls gave way to empty air. Stones were destroyed, wood was torn up. It was like a hurricane tore through the building. Madness descended, a spell broken by the Queen’s death.[break][break]
Above them was no poisoned sky. Hattori’s last act rent the very air, returning blue skies to a city held too long by envy.[break][break]
At last, he fell, head turned towards Navy.[break][break]
Two crystals rolled from his hand: one of fire, and one of water. His last gift for a loved Lord.

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Admin Fox

He/Him

May 9th

Rustboro City

Bisexual

Archaeologist

Rocket Admin

5'9 (with hat) height

The future will tempt you, the present will indulge you, but the past will shackle you.

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POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 6:05:41 GMT

PENELOPE LIVY likes this

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[attr="class","gunstest6body howard"]

[attr="class","iconimg"]

Shinobi. 忍び. One who serves.[break][break]

Hattori had served with grace and duty. On the ship where Howard and Navy had first worked together, Hattori had been the Pokemon that Navy had used. Not Vortigern and his great strength. Not Urshifu and his unbeatable blows. Not Roland, whose story was still being chronicled from beyond life and death. [break][break]

No, he had used Hattori. He used one who had not been blessed with talent, but one who had excelled in spite of it.[break][break]

What Navy had seen in Hattori, Howard saw now. [break][break]

"You... HATTORI!" [break][break]

Penelope Livy died within the blink of an eye. Even if her annihilation was slowed down to a fraction of a second, her death would still be impossibly quick. The amount of force that Hattori had rebounded had surpassed a Treasure of Ruin. In that moment, the admin's respect for that frog grew. A shinobi was one who served.[break][break]

Cillian Quinn had hated that frog, but even he would be able to respect that sentiment. Hattori had served.[break][break]

As PENELOPE LIVY died, Howard swore that it happened in slow motion. As she died, he saw her hand reach out for something Someone.[break][break]

The Dark Queen of Motostoke had died, but she had died alone. Where was the king that had ruled alongside her? Perhaps he had died long ago, or perhaps the dream had decided that ollie morales could not be present.[break][break]

If he was, then Penelope might have pivoted from her assigned role within the story.[break][break]

For a moment, the her slim fingers transitioned into that of a young man, blessed by the fires of reincarnation in another world. Howard did not recognize him. [break][break]

It was impossible for Howard to recognize Gabriel Navidson. [break][break]

Howard fell in a crash against the floor, only rising to his feet as two Tera Crystals clattered against the Pale Rider's boot.

Navy [break][break]

NOTES

- March forward, squire.

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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Teddie

Michael Navidson

He/Him

October 13th

Slateport

Heterosexual

Elite 4.

Sheriff

5'10" / 177.8 cm height

In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

awards

4,008 posts

DOLLARS

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 6:16:41 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Navypog3"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-big-img"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-1"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-title"]
MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

[attr="class","Navypog3-tagged"]
howard slayte

[attr="class","Navypog3-subtitle"]
ROUSE THYSELF, RIDER.

[attr="class","Navypog3-pkmn"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-post"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-icon"]

As Navy knelt to mourn his fallen shinobi, the crowd behind him began to cheer. There was a lesson in there, for a man more cynical than he. The love of the people was a fickle thing. He stubbornly ignored that lesson, instead hugging Hattori close.[break][break]
“Thank you.” He whispered to one who could no longer hear him. “I promise I’ll see you soon, Hattori. If you see Gabe or Kyle, tell them to wait for me. I still have work to do.” Whether Hattori waited for him in the waking world or died in this fable, the frog still deserved to hear the words. Only then did he pick up the crystals, stand up, and turn to the crowd.[break][break]
“Motostoke, your champion has returned.” They cheered him. “Go. Spread the word. The Pale Rider is here, and we move against all who serve the poisoned dragon.” Some from the crowd ran to him, returning his gun and his axe. Armed once more, he turned to Zaria.[break][break]
“You shouldn’t have swung at her. Your blade-”[break][break]
“We’ll talk about that later.” Zaria assured him, her voice sounding as if she aged years in the span of the trial. “For now, your people need you. A hero’s return is cause for celebration.”[break][break]
“They’ll want a feast, once the city’s cleaned up.” Crystal turned to look at the clear sky above them. “It seems her portion of the corruption in Galar is gone. A shame we don’t mean to return to Wedgehurst. It would be easy going."[break][break]
“Howard, Crystal.” He looked between them. “Would you two see about things here? I have to see about things in the city.” The Rider waved to his fallen friend. “I have to bury Hattori.”[break][break]
“You don’t waste any time, do you?”

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Magnetic

Admin Fox

He/Him

May 9th

Rustboro City

Bisexual

Archaeologist

Rocket Admin

5'9 (with hat) height

The future will tempt you, the present will indulge you, but the past will shackle you.

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TAG WITH @magnetic

POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 8:28:08 GMT

mila alexopoulos likes this

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[attr="class","gunstest6"]

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[attr="class","gunstest6body howard"]

[attr="class","iconimg"]

Victory tasted like ash. [break][break]

It was fitting, in a way. Penelope had burned so brightly that she had left naught but cindered remains behind. Motostoke remained, and it would recover just like the sky had. Still, it would take time. Time for the ashes to be parted, for the fields to be tilled and grown and full of new life. [break][break]

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. [break][break]

"When the ash is pushed aside, life will grow. When the ground is clear, graves can be dug." Howard looked to the horizon and frowned, supported by Zaria and Roland as they left the court. His feet were blackened, the flesh blistering and bubbling due to his contemptuous outburst. [break][break]

Penelope would find that legacy fitting. [break][break]

Stabbing into his heels, burning the flesh as he walked. She'd find that satisfying. A legacy that painfully dug into a member of Team Rocket far after her passing. [break][break]

"Huh." Howard blinked once as he looked far off. "The sky is clear. The land will be, as well. Go honor Hattori, Navy." [break][break]

It felt hollow. Celebration felt hollow, now. Howard watched as the sheriff departed with Zaria. In the midst of the celebrations, the admin found himself hiding in an alleyway on a bench. His feet hurt. He was tired. [break][break]

A shadow towered over him. Howard's eye flicked up and stopped. This wasn't possible. It wasn't. Yet as he saw the figure, he knew that it was entirely possible. The dream was pulling from Navy's conscious to fill the gaps in the story. It was why nobody knew anything about the Void. [break][break]

"You..." [break][break]

"Happy celebrations, Mr. Squire." [break][break]

The guard from the train, the one that Howard had spared, looked down at the admin with the face of Grigori Sokolov.

Navy [break][break]

NOTES

- March forward, squire.

[attr="class","howard6pkmn"]

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MADE BY GUNSMILE

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played by

Teddie

Michael Navidson

He/Him

October 13th

Slateport

Heterosexual

Elite 4.

Sheriff

5'10" / 177.8 cm height

In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

awards

4,008 posts

DOLLARS

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TAG WITH @teddie

An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

POSTED ON Jun 11, 2024 11:02:29 GMT

howard slayte and ameena abadi like this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","Navypog3"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-big-img"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-1"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-title"]
MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

MORE HUMAN[break]THAN HUMAN

[attr="class","Navypog3-tagged"]
howard slayte

[attr="class","Navypog3-subtitle"]
ROUSE THYSELF, RIDER.

[attr="class","Navypog3-pkmn"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-post"]

[attr="class","Navypog3-icon"]

A quiet hill sat just south of Motostoke. When the poison first receded, during the tenure of the heroes, it had a beautiful view overlooking a lake. With blue skies returned to Galar, so too returned the view. It seemed a suitable resting place for a hero.[break][break]
Navy’s spade dug into the earth, finding it soft and easy to turn. The Navidsons, according to his father and grandfather, were farmers in Hoenn before Slateport developed into a metropolis. Working the land was in their blood. Even if the earth was pulled for grim purpose, he found the work satisfying.[break][break]
“When Howard and you were making your plans, you called our band the Magnificent Seven.” Said Zaria while Navy worked. She had volunteered to help, but he waved her off. Instead, she kept him company. Valkyrie waited at the bottom of the hill.[break][break]
“It’s from a movie. One of those Unovan movies.” Said Navy.[break][break]
“You like movies quite a bit, don’t you?”[break][break]
“Best way to tell a story. Kyle’d say it’s video games, but he’s got bad taste.” Navy dug down. Not much farther and he’d hit six feet.[break][break]
“Tell me about that one.”[break][break]
“What, the Magnificent Seven? It’s a classic. Based on this Johto film, Seven Samurai. Good stuff. A town can’t defend itself from bandits, so they hire someone to help. Don’t really have money to pay, so the ones that do it, do it out of the kindness of their hearts.”[break][break]
“That’s very noble of them.” Zaria listened with childlike enthusiasm. She must have loved stories.[break][break]
“Some folk say cowboys and knights have a lot in common.” His lips quirked in a sneer. “Those folk are idiots.” Zaria blinked. “Anyway. Four of the seven die. They die will, but they still…”[break][break]
“Hattori died well.” Zaria assured him. “Kyle died well.” It was Navy’s turn to blink. His work paused, the shovel buried in the earth.[break][break]
“How d’you know how Kyle died?”[break][break]
“I don’t know how I know.” She said. “I just know that I know.”[break][break]
“Huh.” He grunted.[break][break]
“War is coming for your Hoenn, Navy.” She said, serious. “And more than four will die defending that place. Hundreds. Thousands.”[break][break]
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”[break][break]
“What if you meet Howard on the battlefield? What of the man who killed you, or his husband? Could you make either of them a widower?”[break][break]
“Probably not.” He admitted. “But I can take their punches ‘til they get bored and run off.”[break][break]
“And what if that isn’t good enough?”[break][break]
“Look.” He faced her fully, jumping out of the hole he’d dug. “The kind of movies I like the most are Paldean westerns. You know why? They’re authentic. Real. The Unovan stuff, it’s clear-cut. Concrete. Good guys, bad guys. You see a Wayne flick, you know he’s the good guy. The film’s never gonna cut to the guy he killed and show you him goin’ home to a starving family. It’s not gonna make you remember they’re human too.”[break][break]
“But the Paldean ones? Oh yeah. You see stuff like that. I told Goode I’d fight. I tell Freya,” he simply assumed Zaria knew who freya morningstar was, given how much else she seemed to know, “that if she don’t want me to fight, she’s gonna have to throw me in jail. I mean it. But when I fight humans, I don’t kill. I’ll stop ‘em. I’ll arrest ‘em. If those Dark Triad guys or Eternatus’s cronies show up, I’ll do my best to put ‘em in the ground. But Temp? Cil? Hell, even crazies like Delarosa? Them I won’t kill.” He was quiet for a while, listening to the song of the wind. “It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he ever was, and all he’s ever gonna have. All he’ll ever be is the thing he was the second you killed him.”[break][break]
“You stole that from another movie.”[break][break]
“Yeah, I did.”[break][break]
“You killed men on the train.”[break][break]
“We’re in a Unovan flick.” He grinned. “And the awful truth is, I’m good at killing. Some part of me enjoys it.”[break][break]
“But you don’t kill in your world?”[break][break]
“In my perfect world, I’m bored senseless. Guess I’d be a lot like a rusted sword.”[break][break]
From her quiet smile, he thought she liked that answer.

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 0:16:30 GMT

CIAN MAHER, Navy, and 1 more like this

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"You're not the real Grigori." Howard's head slumped down, dejected. "You're just like Penelope, or Noel, or Tsubaki, or even Gwyar. Not here. Just a prop on this great stage."[break][break]

"Perhaps, Mr. Squire. Does it really matter?" [break][break]

"Yes. It makes me feel different about the circumstances of you being here. You're fighting on the sands of Dewford right now, probably surrounded in corpses." [break][break]

"But you ordered us to not kill anyone." The guard masquerading as Grigori Sokolov was traditionally stoic. It was as Howard knew him. Quiet, formal, to the point. All of the things that Howard ascribed to the man known as Grigori Sokolov were tied together here. A million smaller truths weaved into a lie. "You wanted it to be clean."[break][break]

"How convenient it is that I'm not there. Things happen in times of war." [break][break]

"That is very true." Grigori laughed softly. "Yet you don't seem concerned." [break][break]

"Never said they'd be at your hand." Still, they'd likely be the hands of others. Grigori would not kill, but Shred's rage had a tendency to leak out and poison everyone around him. "People will die, though. You're the guard from the train that I couldn't kill. Did I fail to kill you because I recognized you?" [break][break]

"Does it matter?" [break][break]

Did it? Howard cocked his head and frowned as his feat tingled with pain. He'd need to ride for a spell until the wounds healed. He gauged the timeline in his head. A few weeks, maybe. [break][break]

"No. When the time came, I couldn't kill you. Whether you're my friend or some nameless prop, taking a life is beyond me. I sold my dream to Rocket, and I sold my soul as well. Maybe even my ethics." Howard's voice narrowed. "But I didn't sell my heart. I'm not Cillian or Temp or Theo or Jayden. I'm just me. I hate them all. I want them to die. I'll never act on it, though."[break][break]

"Not yet."[break][break]

Howard nodded once. [break][break]

"Not yet." [break][break]

Silence followed. Grigori was still fighting in battle. Maybe at this very moment, he was being forced to content with Regice. If so, Howard could only wish him the best. Defeating it was impossible. [break][break]

"But I never hated you. Not for a moment. I never hated Shred, or any of the other nameless grunts pulled from the masses. It was easy to say that I wasn't involved, back when I was just one of many unremarkable men in service to a cause that didn't care in return. When Sootopolis fell, it wasn't my fault. I just sold artifacts. When we fought to stall Meteno's erasure, that wasn't my fault. I hadn't given the order. When Mint recruited me..." [break][break]

"...it wasn't your fault, because you weren't part of the collective." [break][break]

"Exactly." [break][break]

"Do you still think that, Mr. Squire?"[break][break]

"Regardless of how this goes, Rocket will know me as the man who razed Dewford. That will be my legacy." Howard's voice was soft. "It was my fault. I wanted to beat Eternatus, but I got lost along the way. Regice needed a heart, a core to complete what we as a species broke, but honestly?" [break][break]

There was no better person to admit this to than the ghost of a friend. [break][break]

"I got tired of losing. I couldn't beat illeana reyes or PENELOPE LIVY in Area Zero. I couldn't beat them with Kyurem. When Vital happened, and I saw CIAN MAHER , Josh Devlin , and ollie morales sitting on that podium, I envied them. They were so strong, and I was so weak." [break][break]

"They should have claimed Regice from that island instead of me." [break][break]

Navy shouldn't have been the one on trial. It should have been him. He should have died. It would have been a fitting end. Instead, he had to carry the legacy of this action forever, like Navy had said. [break][break]

"I destroyed a city because I wanted to win." [break][break]

And that would be his legacy forevermore. He could change, he could stay the same, but that fact would not change no matter who said it. Even if it had been to bring down Eternatus, even if it had been done to assemble giants, that was Howard Slayte's legacy.

"You admit that?" [break][break]

"Yes." His voice was hoarse. [break][break]

"And that you're the same as your colleagues?"[break][break]

"...no. Not yet. Soon."[break][break]

"Very well, Mr. Howard." Grigori's voice was soft. [break][break]

When the admin looked up, the grunt was gone.

Navy [break][break]

NOTES

- March forward, squire.

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 0:58:41 GMT

howard slayte likes this

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ROUSE THYSELF, RIDER.

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Hattori was in the ground. Dirt was thrown over him. At last, his shinobi could rest. With all the words said, Zaria and Navy walked back down the hill, mounted their horses, and started back towards Motostoke.[break][break]
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a defeatist?”[break][break]
“Say again?” Navy said, more amused than offended.[break][break]
“You talk like you’re going to die before your war is done.”[break][break]
“I already died once.” He allowed that admission to hang in the air. With how much this woman seemed to know about him, and how much sharper she seemed to get with every crystal they found, he wondered if she knew that, too. Perhaps she saw Cillian Quinn pierce his heart.[break][break]
“Perhaps I can understand why you’re so reluctant to kill.” She acquiesced. “Most people go their whole lives looking for the answer to what’s on the other side.”[break][break]
“I don’t like talking about it.” He admitted. It was one of the few things Navy was content to shut his mouth about. [break][break]
“Fine, but you have to stop acting like you’re going to die. Think about tomorrow.”[break][break]
“Tomorrow’s for tomorrow.”[break][break]
“No,” Zaria insisted with more heat, “it isn’t. When we sleep at night, I see…I think I see your life.”[break][break]
“Hopefully nothing intimate.” He joked.[break][break]
“Eris needs you.” She insisted. “And the girl wearing your daughter’s face. The Liberator needs you, and Uxie’s chosen needs you.” A small pause. “Even that unknown child blessed by Azelf needs you. Your liege lord Goode will need you, once you win. If your kingdom wins, as you think it will, it will need you to help rebuild.”[break][break]
“Mhm.” He didn’t sound so sure.[break][break]
“Just make me a promise, if you want me to keep helping you.” Zaria had a good heart, Navy thought. He wondered if she would truly stop helping him if he refused her request. He doubted it, but it wasn’t worth testing the point. Not when so much was riding, for both of their worlds, on their success.[break][break]
“Fine. What is it?”[break][break]
“When the fighting is over, continue your education.”[break][break]
Navy brought Valkyrie to a stop. Zaria’s Rapidash carried on until its rider realized he wasn’t coming. She turned back, cocking her head.[break][break]
“Wait. Your big request is that I go to college?”[break][break]
“If that is what it’s called in your world, yes.”[break][break]
“Man.” He laughed. “You’re weird, lady knight. Anyone ever told you that?”[break][break]
“You can call me Cyan, when it’s just us.”[break][break]
“Cyan.” He tasted the word. “Alright. I’ll go to college. Don’t know how you’ll be there to see it, but I’ll live, go to college. Sounds boring.”[break][break]
“Your problem is that you have too much excitement.”[break][break]
…[break][break]
They made their way back to Motostoke, and roused their companions. The band of six were feasted. Folk raised their glasses in toast. Six, where once there were seven, rode on the road north of Motostoke. Blue once more gave way to purple.[break][break]
“The witch and the warrior-king will expect you to stop in Hammerlocke first.” Crystal said as they started. “I think your best bet is to head straight for one or the other.” A playful cat’s smile pressed on her lips. “It’s exactly what you would do, but I doubt they’d see it coming.”[break][break]
“Works for me.” Navy shrugged. “Ballonlea’s easier to get to. I know some routes through the Wilds.” He turned and beheld Howard’s massive pack of gear, piled like some great tower threatening to topple.[break][break]
“Think we’ve got enough supplies for the trip?”

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 2:14:55 GMT

Elisabeth Fiorelli, Navy, and 1 more like this

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Howard scowled from beneath his towering back. Pots and pans clinked as he walked. Even more supplies were attached to his Rapidash, but not enough to limit the stallion's speed. There wouldn't be much need for it once they reached Ballonea, as the trees and great mushrooms would be hinder their movement substantially. [break][break]

"Lots of poisonous stuff in the forest. Gotta be prepared if we're gonna cut through Galar's forests." It was all fun and games until the Magnificant Seven, now six, overdosed on the spores of a Shiinotic. [break][break]

It'd be a wild way to go, and DESIREE BLOOMS would be green with envy. Or nicotine. [break][break]

"I know Elisabeth Fiorelli well. jayden cross too. They're not people we can out plan. They have more resources and manpower than us." They were both competent, powerful, dangerous. Elisabeth was a bigger threat in the real world, but Jayden would be more dangerous here. Outside of the story, Cross still wanted to seize his own destiny. He wanted more than what life had given him. "I wish we could take them out simultaneously."[break][break]

Jayden would bend to the whims of the story, and he'd be far stronger for it. He had yet to break his chains.[break][break]

The Wild Area stretched on for infinity, and another string of Power Spots peppered the ground like tumors. [break][break]

"I still can't believe how much smaller they are here. In Hoenn, they're massive. Glaciers, even. I understand why each Legendary Giant was built atop one."[break][break]

Even if Regice's had sunk into the waves, and if New Mauville's Power Spot was missing major swaths.

"It's a miracle that Galar managed to trivialize these things for sporting events."

Navy [break][break]

NOTES

- March forward, squire.

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Sheriff

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In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 2:16:40 GMT

jayden cross and Elisabeth Fiorelli like this

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ROUSE THYSELF, RIDER.

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“I remember watching Galar’s playoffs every year, back when I was a kid.” The Rider reminisced. “It was the only time you got to see pros pull out their crazy mons and strats.” In those days, seeing fully evolved Pokemon, much less well-trained Pokemon, was a rarity reserved for cinema and sports. War was a sport. Each of a professional trainer’s main Pokemon were celebrities in their own rights. When they Gigantamaxed in Wyndon’s arena, it sent people into a frenzy.[break][break]
When the same happened in Hoenn, Navy imagined their would be a frenzy. He imagined people scrambling for the hills, desperate to escape the chaos. How many would die because Rocket and League alike couldn’t leave well enough alone?[break][break]
That’s the story of their whole damned universe, if you ask him.[break][break]
“That aside, don’t know Cross at all. I’ve seen Fiorelli a few times, and…” And the mercy he showed her cost Kyle his life. That price should have been Matias’s or his to pay, but instead an innocent was forced to bear the burden. “Anyway. Don’t know what they’re going to be like. Don’t know if they’ll be anything like they are in the world we come from.”[break][break]
He wonders if he’ll have better luck against Elisabeth here. She will not be the genuine article. She is meant for greater things than this fable, and her patron would not allow her to die here. Yet still, the thought of this fight fills him with dread.[break][break]
“What are they like?”

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 2:56:38 GMT

jayden cross, Elisabeth Fiorelli, and 1 more like this

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"Hm." Howard was silent for several moments as they grew closer to the Power Spots, which thrummed with a vibrant red energy. It reminded Howard of Regice, even if the admin hadn't seen the construct in a few weeks. [break][break]

"Jayden's tough. I've never seen someone fight with as much vindication as him. It always felt like he was struggling against something that he couldn't beat." Howard scratched his chin as he thought of his colleague. Memories of fighting and training and battling the Toxic Chained admin in Littleroot flashed before his eye. "He reminds me of you, actually. You both raise people up. He tried to do the same to me." [break][break]

But had he succeeded? Perhaps that was a dream that jayden cross had yet to experience, if he dreamed at all. [break][break]

One day, he'd wake up.[break][break]

"Chien-Pao chased me around Sootopolis, once."[break][break]

Fun times. It was almost as enjoyable as being trapped in the bathroom with Wo-Chien and a bucket of bleach. Howard considering telling Navy about the bathroom incident, but what had happened in that bathroom would stay in that bathroom, including most of Howard's dignity.[break][break]

"Elisabeth... I don't know. I never knew her before Wo-Chien, but I can't imagine her being better without it. You ever meet someone so awful that you can't envision them in any other way but completely miserable? That's what she reminded me of."[break][break]

"She'd summon me to her office and dump tasks on my desk. I always got the feeling that she hated me." [break][break]

He was silent for a spell. [break][break]

"I got the idea to attack Dewford from her."

Navy [break][break]

NOTES

- March forward, squire.

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Sheriff

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In the warrior's code, there's no surrender. Though his body says stop, his spirit cries, "NEVER!"

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