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[attr="class","textbox"]When Navy said war was coming to Dewford's shores, he sure as shit wasn't kidding.[break][break]

There was a time when Isaac argued that it would be one of the better positions for Rocket to invade. Hell, there was a time when he'd hoped for a decapitation strike on Mossdeep, just so this war could come to a quick and merciful end. What an idiot he was. It'd be a slow, agonizing strangulation, all as he and everyone he'd believed in were packed up on ships and torn away from the home they'd betrayed.[break][break]

Maybe he'd hoped on the islands it would be out of sight, out of mind. Now, with wars on spontaneously appearing landmasses and pockets out of this dimension, Isaac knew just how far Hoenn's reach exceeded its sight. How could the extent of Hoenn's seas be "forgettable" when he could walk them as if they were dry land, all while their knowledge of worlds beyond worlds deepened every day.[break][break]

Isaac knew better now. He also knew which side he was fighting for.[break][break]

He was by the inner parts of the town, working on safeguarding Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki's gym. If Rocket knew anything about war, it was how to rig a battlefield. Backstabs, sabotages, infiltrators, the works. Yet they were greedy to a fault, and the secrets of Dynamax would be like catnip to them. With eyes closed, Isaac stood atop the rooftops, waiting for the giveaway that another had-[break][break]

There! A sound! Isaac wheeled around, ready to snap into action, only to realize he was facing off against a lost Carbink. It peeped urgently, brotherly instincts compelling Isaac to hear what it had to "say." At first, its efforts at leading him away from the warfront felt suspicious. However, before he could question them, he heard a whistling on the wind.[break][break]

Cannon fire. Lots of it. Of course they'd send pirates after Dewford.[break][break]

"Hear ya loud and clear, buddy," Isaac said to the Carbink, shooting it a warm smile. "You show me the way, and we'll be there in one . . . two . . . three!" Normally, your contact leaping off the roof was a cause for alarm. However, instead of have a messy landing in the sands, Isaac's body instead unfolded into the winds. The Carbink would be mercifully brought along, the two's slipstream travel far swifter than any footslogging could be.[break][break]

As they arrived, Isaac was surprised to see a distinct lack of bodies being blown to bits. Instead, the beach's defenders were left twitching and shuddering on the floor, waves of grunts rising up from the ocean like the swell of a tidal wave. Whatever wondrous weapon Rocket had cooked up, it was doing a number on the beachfront defense with bare minimum risk to their own men.[break][break]

He hated to admit it, but it was kind of genius.[break][break]

Nevertheless, the weapon wouldn't go without reprisal. As Isaac's body reformed at the edge of the shoreline, he held a hand to the sky. At his beckoning, the skies above the beachfront started to grow thick and heavy. Before long they started to ripple, then rupture, and finally split entirely. It was an entire rainstorm, conducted over the span of mere moments.[break][break]

Yet this was no ordinary rain. As its shimmering drops touched down upon the battlefield, those who came in contact with it would find their pains eased and their muscles soothed. As the tension bled from them, their struggling would lose its impotence, the beachside defenders allowed to rise if but for a single, precious moment.[break][break]

"I don't know how many of those I've got in my system, so you're gonna have to get moving, fast." Isaac's voice echoed along the shoreline with the force of a thunderclap. "Fall back to town if you're hurting. And if you're not?" A confident smirk spread across Isaac's face. The rains that fell upon his arm spread into a shimmering veil, then hardened into an aegis of blue ice.[break][break]

"Then I'm with you."

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Maybe he was dying again, Eddie thought miserably to himself when he felt the first few droplets of rain. This wasn't in the forecast, to the best of his recollection, so maybe this was some sort of hazy “one foot in the grave” sort of hallucination of a body slowly shutting itself down. Though, if that were the case, why did he suddenly feel so... invigorated? [break][break]

A loud voice suddenly boomed across the beach, carried across the coastline like it was thundering from on high. Eddie would have been convinced that he actually had died were it not for the fact that he could now scramble to his feet. He peered through the new rain, trying to locate it's source, when he suddenly spied the man with the shimmering blue shield upon his arm. Eddie, struck by awe, could have almost forgotten he was in an active war zone were it not for another whizzing shot from one of the cannons, [break][break]

“I still got some fight in me!” Eddie called, his own voice booming enough to carry even through the pouring rain, “Let's give 'em hell!” [break][break]

The Carbink whizzed back to Eddie's side as another round of cannon fire sounded across the beach, [break][break]

“Puck, give us some cover!” [break][break]

The little fairy loosed another squeaking cry as it's LIGHT SCREEN shimmered to life, fast enough to catch another round from the stun cannons and dissipate it's round into a shower of sparks. Eddie reached for another couple of Poke Balls at his waist, [break][break]

“Ozruk, you're on defense; keep those fuckers off us! Kurokami, you're with me!” [break][break]

The Hisuian Pokemon readily accepted their orders as Eddie stole another glance back at his savior. Whoever he was, Eddie was glad to have him on his side.

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Isaac Merlo [break]
mission | hyperborea

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[attr="class","textbox"]Isaac's presence lead to quite a few of the pinned-down Leaguers rallying to their feet. While many fell back, just as many faced down Team Rocket with renewed vigor. It also lead to an avalanche of incoming fire, not from the cannonades but from the many, many Rockets that had taken the beachhead. One minute, Isaac was a shining presence. The next, he was a cloud of dust and debris.[break][break]

As the smoke faded, reflective light took its place. Rather than illuminate a freshly-done corpse, it instead highlighted the facets of a frozen prism. Cracks spread across its surface, only to be dispersed by a triumphantly-grinning Isaac as he emerged from it. "Good to know you guys still miss me," he said, serving up defiance with a smile. "And, hey, you're aim's getting better."[break][break]

A trio of Pokeballs hit the sand. Isaac was no longer alone. Now a Hisuian Zoroark and a Lucario flanked him from each side, a Ditto swirling up his shoulder all the while. "Alrighty. My turn."[break][break]

The Ditto sprang from Isaac's shoulder, joining Puck by the battle's borderline. Upon seeing the Light Screen form, it nodded in understanding, then stretched its body out to a similar size and shape. Any cannon shots that tried to skirt around Puck's screen would find themselves dissipating into a wall of goo, its Limber body making its stunning effect little more than a light tickle.[break][break]

The Lucario rushed to the Avalugg's side with Extreme Speed. As she leaped onto its back, she settled into a defensive stance. If anyone was going to try and reach the big lug, they'd have to deal with a rain of Aura Spheres coming from atop its back. As she took her position, she turned to Isaac and nodded, a sign for him and his Zoroark to go and take the front lines.[break][break]

Together, they arrived next to Eddie, who was also doing his best to direct the flow of traffic in this situation. "Nice planning out there," Isaac said, letting sea spray and rainwater roll down his arm. As he did, they started to solidify into a handle made of ice, waters continuing to gather at the tip. " 'Course, if you're this far out, you're gonna have to watch yourself."[break][break]

"You a sword guy? Spears? Maybe a big ol' hammer type?"

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In the heat of battle, Eddie was thankful that he had the presence of mind not to sock his new friend in the jaw when the younger man's voice tore him from his fevered defense. A grunt fell at Eddie's feet, incapacitated by a solid hit to the temple, and the private turned to acknowledge the man with ice forming in his hand, [break][break]

“Thanks; I appreciate the back-up,” he acknowledged, though his brain was still fogged by the rush of adrenaline. Almost enough so that Eddie didn't quite grasp the question when it was presented to him, [break][break]

“I – what?” [break][break]

In his periphery, Eddie caught a glimpse of Kurokami rushing some grunt's Linoone with a fierce STONE AXE, and inspiration struck, [break][break]

“Gimmie an axe, bud; somethin' big an' painful lookin'.” [break][break]

In an instant, the long shaft of the weapon formed, and a thick, jagged chunk of ice at the end molded itself into a sharply bladed head. Eddie grimaced against the cold of the pommel placed into his hand, but fought against the discomfort as he charged back into the fray, [break][break]

“So, you make a habit outta bailin' chumps like me outta shit like this?” Eddie called back over his shoulder as he leveled another passing grunt with a powerful blow. Flakes of ice chipped off of the axe's head, but it did not crack or fracture. [break][break]

Distantly, another round of the stun cannons fired. Though one round whizzed past the Carbink and its double's heads, it dissolved into static against the Avalugg's timely PROTECT.

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Isaac Merlo [break]
mission | hyperborea

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