A flash, something parting the waves beside her. Gwendolyn couldn't make sense of what had been responsible for that, having clutched her eyes so far tight that the world may have not even existed. A figure aboard a Kingdra sped through the water towards her as the recruit looked on to see the shape of the woman from before that had gone to attempt to save her.
Relief flooded into her system as she reached out with her hand.
"Thanks for the-" It was still not enough as something had been pulling her back. Gwen swam further to try and grab it, yet no matter how hard she paddled, the woman had always remained so far away. Her focus slowed the world around her as for some unknown amount of time, it was all she could do. Just swimming to reach a person that kept being pulled apart. Maybe it had been minutes, maybe hours, but after some time, the tips of fingers graced the other woman's.
Fully out of breath, Gwen let out a stern nod and allowed the other Ranger to fire off towards the surface. Behind them, the sound of rocks crashing down behind them. The adrenaline inside of her was beginning to lessen, though the battle remained above them. Lights and colors shined down across them while the sky turned dark. There was still work to do, and Gwen knew full well what awaited her. As they neared the surface, she readied herself to fill her lungs with precious air. The feeling of being drenched in water parted and she opened her mouth to-
"ARGH!" Gwen rose with a start, at least, as best she could, brought to life by the sheer pain in her right arm. Her heart beat faster than any land Pokémon that she could think of to name. Something warm and wet slathered against her head, and thinking just didn't work. Her vision was faint, though it beat the alternative of what could have happened.
"I'm...alive?" Her throat tasted of blood and it was effort to even hold her head up, though she fought through it all.
An immense weight was on top of her, pressing against her legs as large rubble and fragments of rock pinned her against the wall. But through somehow coming out alive, her right arm remained trapped in the miscellaneous rubble she was pinned against.
And it fucking
HURT.It was an unbelievable amount of pain, as her fingers couldn't even ball themselves into a fist. Any attempt to do so brought with it a great deal of pain as well as something sharp digging into her palm. Her pink didn't even respond to her command as she feared the worst. She grunted and began to try and tug her arm free from the rock but was unable to. Pulling on it cause a severe amount of pain as something on top was preventing anything from coming loose. Just min numbing sensation that made her chest rise and fall in rapid succession.
"Shit, not good." Her eyes whipped around beside her at what laid around. The arena they were in was cramped. Had she not been stuck here, there was maybe enough room for three Gwens to stand beside one another. Her backpack lay just out of reach on the other side, as if taunting her. With her waist unusable and only one arm's length to work with, she groaned while trying to stretch out for the bag in an exercise of futility.
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" Gwen huffed and looked down at the surroundings as her lagging, pained mind would begin to process things. She beat on the wall in anger, her palm slapping the rock face.
"You're such an idiot! Who jumps recklessly like that?! This isn't far! I can't just stay here!" Her visible tantrum was constrained only by the rocks holding her down.
"You've figured your way out of worse things. You can do this Gwen." She had to stay positive, just continuing to look on the bright side of things! This was an activate war zone, so people were around. And she was certain her scream had been loud enough to catch somebody's attention. No doubt that woman from before would come looking for her down here!
"Just have to wait for help to come." No doubt that it would be coming shortly! Any minute now, she'd hear some person yelling out for her, or the rocks coming tumbling down as somebody would save her. Minutes of silence came, with Gwendolyn sitting and waiting. Nothing but the sound of muted noises coming above her.
And here she lay...
Her head came to lean on a rock while she couldn't help but feel so lightheaded all of a sudden. A great exhaustion took over her, no doubt the effect of being on edge for the entire better portion of a day and a half. Gwen still willed herself awake in this precarious position. If she fell asleep here, it would mean the end. Although trapped like this and without anybody seeming to come to her, a part of her wondered what the point of delaying the inevitable was.
Nobody's coming, are they? Gwen slapped herself at the idea of such, reinforcing her beliefs that at least one person would have noticed her absence.
But then, the world around them shook. Something above them had left out a series of attacks so great that the earth would shake again. Their little rock tomb around them would let out an audible noise as chunks of hardened earth rattled against one another. For a moment, Gwen felt terrified. A death by being crushed sounded like the most painful way to go. Yet she cloud only close her eyes and pray.
"I'MSORRYFOREVERYTHINGIDIDANDIPROMISEILLBEABETTERRANGERIFYOULETMELIVE,PLEASEDONTLETMEDIEIWANTTOLIVEPLEASE-"PSSSSHHHHHA leak.
Water began to flow into the pocket of air that Gwen had landed in. It was a trickle at first but the rocks moved enough for a healthy stream to begin to pour inside of them. The floor was the first thing to become submerged in water, as Gwen's heart sank at the fate that awaited her.
"N-No! No, stop! C'mon, please!" Her eyes went to the bag across from her and futility reached out again as tears blinded her vision. Without a way to call her Pokemon out, there wasn't a way she would be able to clog the hole.
That was it then. No more thinking into it.
She was going to die down here.
"Pl-Pleeeease..." Gwen said through undecipherable sobs and cries. She lashed out against the rock pinning her down. The pain didn't matter anymore to her. It could hurt her down to her core and she wouldn't care as long as she got out of here.
"FREYA!" she called out, pounding on the rock with a free hand. There came no response, no gentle reminder from somebody more experienced.
"R-ROBIN!" No more trademark chuckles or teasing from the most important person in the world to her.
"PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE!"Just the sound of water pouring into her earthen prison.
In no time at all past her wails, the water level had flooded up to her chest, though her position of laying on the floor made her have a first look at her water gravestone. The waters pushing into her nostrils, muting the dreadful cries. She choked on salty water and weakly raised her head to inhale as much air as she could. But she continued to struggle against it, all the way into the bitter end. She didn't know how long she had, nor why she didn't shove her head under and end it all. Gwen had to last for as long as she could.
Her head rose above halfway at the water, vomiting up what felt like a gallon of water from her stomach. She sniffed, wiping her mouth with her free hand weakly as possible. But from the other side of the wall, there was somebody standing there, watching. Her eyes flickered over to see the torso of
freya morningstar watching her. Gwen coughed up another lungful of water and yet, the other woman strode over as if nothing was wrong. With hopeful eyes, Gwen felt joy seep into her heart at the woman she admired the most.
"Freya, you-""Some assistant you turned out to be." Her voice flooded with as much venom and vitriol as one could manage. Gwen silenced herself with confusion as she knelt down at her with an unamused expression.
"I put so much trust into you, gave you a seat under me, gave you something to aspire to, even gave you one of my own brood. And yet, this is how you end up. A pathetic mess of an assistant without any purpose."The waves crashed Gwen's head underwater again, forcing her underneath the water, but from above, she could feel the cold, hateful grasp of Freya on top of her head, preventing her from raising it up. She struggled to breath, feeling water forced itself through her orifice.
"You deserve to rot down here like every other useless body in this sea."After some time, Gwen forced her head above water again, coughing up more water below. Her waist was fully submergedm but the difference in water alongside the lubrication had worked in her favor. She slowly used her strength to slide her aching feet out of the rocks pinning them down. It wouldn't free her, but it bought her time.
"I tried! I really did. I took everything you did for granted..." The Ranger groaned in pain, inhaling as much defiance as she could while her arm screamed in pain at her rising. Her vision faltered while almost slipping and plummeting back into the waters below. That's when something hit her head.
Looking across from her, Gwen gasped.
Carlisle, Compton, and Hendroff stood above the kneeling Ranger, their eyes cast down upon her. They openly carried the wounds that had had been the killing blow for each. Carlisle's front half was seared, a charred red with her eyes in tact and her chest open with nothing inside, Hendroff's chest cavity was cleanly pierced through, and Compton looked deathly skeletal and pale. The sight of them alone made her trembled in a mixture of fear and remorse.
"You were to weak to save us, Gwen." Carlisle began putting her fried boot on Gwen's leg as the water level neared her head once more. The waves lapped at her chin while she remained frozen in place. Her mouth hung agape, struggling to find the words.
"The other two were out doing something useful, and where were you? Struggling to work on a breaker box while we died for you." Compton's foot was next, striking her chest and holding her down.
"You let her kill me and never intervened. A monster like her doesn't deserve your love, but you still persist. So what does that make you?" Hendroff silently rose his knee and with a forceful curb-stomp, Gwen was back underwater.
She struggled to free herself while the voices continued to mock her.
"You're not a real Ranger and never will be. Everyone despises your weakness.""What sort of League official lets their comrades die for nothing? You'll get what you deserve, an unmarked grave and nobody knowing what became of you.""..."With a sudden burst of energy, Gwen slowly forced herself back up. She now stood with her stomach plunged underwater, and a searing pain across her arm. She was sobbing again, her head feeling as if it was being torn open.
"IT'S MY FAULT, ALRIGHT! YOU'RE RIGHT, I'M NOT A RANGER, BUT I"LL TRY HARDER IF YOU JUST LET ME LEAVE!" She was hyperventilating, the exhaustion continuing further as she leaned against the wall for stability. The pocket area around her was hazy and her vision teetered on the edge of darkness. All until she rose her head and saw who she wanted to see since arriving in Sootopolis.
robin coello
She smiled in that same pleasant tone that she always had, but something was off. Her voice held contempt for her as she walked closer. A hand was put on Gwen's dirt caked cheek. It felt so real, b-but she couldn't have entered here, could she? It felt so real...
"Aw, Gwennie, I know you better than you do! Always playing the hero and wanting to put on a brave face for me and everyone else."The hand slid off as Robin raised her index finger to playfully boop the tip of Gwen's nose.
"Nobody buys your talk about playing the hero like Noah or Freya. You pretend to be somebody important when you have nothing. Deep down, you're that same scared little girl who only came because I did. There's no interest in you making the world a better place. You're so terrified of being seen as useless that you signed up to the League because you were scared. You're not even brave enough to tell me that you love me."Gwen held her lone ear in some vain attempt to block out the voice of Robin as the other shoved itself against the rock. But it persisted.
"You owe everything to me. Your work, your accomplishments, your life, it's because of me. Your existence belongs to me, Gwennie. And you'll die for it."
"SHUT UP!" Gwen screamed, shaking her head back and forth as she spat out more water.
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! NONE OF IT'S TRUE! I-I WANTED TO HELP YOU BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW HOW!" She closed her eyes and slowly felt Robin's presence leave her alone in this rocky hell. All of the words in her mind continued to play on repeat while Gwen felt the water brush against her neck still.
It was true, all of it. She didn't want to admit it, but she
knew deep down it was what stayed locked away, in the back of her mind. SHe may not have much longer left, but she could try and make peace with them before she went.
"Ah-I'm sorry, Freya." Gwen said, closing her eyes.
"I've been a horrible person and never got to thank you for everything you've done for me. I hope your next assistant isn't as awful as I was. A-And I'm sorry I didn't get to save you three. Carlisle, Hendorff, Compton. Ah-I saved what I could to bring back to your families. I would have visited every week if I did survive. And I'm sorry for being a fuck up, Robin. Before we got the notice, I wanted to take you out on a date and then just confess and tell you-" She choked on her words for a minute, then finally saying it.
"I love you. I love the way you're always motivated and never seem to let any small thing break your mindset. I treasured every single moment we spent together, but I can only pray you'll forget about me. Be happy and enjoy life."The bag floated on top of the water would rumble for a second. As Gwen continued rambling on, a pokeball opened as Gishath's form appeared in the water. While not as buoyant as anything else, he could still float and move to his hysterical trainer. At the sight of him, Gwen was far too weak to bother fighting back. The Gabite felt her warm an arm around his dry hide, casting an eye down into the water to see she was stuck. Even as their air pocket was slowly receding, Gwen continued to sulk.
"A-And Gishath, I'm sorry. You trusted me with everything, and I failed you. I-I don't know if you're r-real, but please, just take my bag and the rest fo the team and go through that crack. You can fit through, a-and find a better trainer than me to serve."The Gabite huffed and looked back at the opening into the sea, shielding by the rocks as the water continued to flow inside, as if he were debating it. The bag floating on the water would turn over, revealing the contents inside. Some waterlogged books with pages ruined now, a map of the region, Gwen's belt. All of it didn't matter to him, not one bit.
Until that familiar shine was barely visible inside. It was the emerald Gwen had kept for so long since they had met.
He dove underneath the water as Gwen watched from above. The Gabite began to attack the wall with her hand stuck inside, but he was far too weak. The moves only proved to hurt him without a scratch to the wall. She watched him, ignoring the searing pain in her arm at every attack. He resurfaced for air and tried again for a few seconds again and again.
"G-Gishath, please. You don't have long..."He dove under and tried again, resurfacing again.
"I-I don't want you to die because of me. Just listen..."He dove under and tried again, resurfacing again. It continued again and again until, she exploded with what little air she had left.
"WHY WON'T YOU SAVE YOURSELF, YOU FUCKING IDIOT?!""Because I won't leave you behind!"The air was gone, as water had filled the chamber. Gwen wasn't sure if what she heard was real. A talking Pokemon? Was it another thing she was imagining, or a divine miracle that would save her? Not like it mattered now. Without any more air to breath, Gwen's body went limp as water flooded inside of her. There was no way to hold her breath any longer, and she welcomed it at this point. Gwen felt her heartbeat slow, a sudden chill take her while her eyes slowly closed.
So that's it then, huh? she thought weakly, watching Gishath's form again until a blinding light took her. Sensation in her body would cease. She didn't feel cold, or warm, or really anything at all. Just numb to everything.
I wanted to do more...but I hope I did enough. The body of Gwendolyn Conway floated in the wreckage in free fall. Her head tilted back and...just thought about the fleeting things she knew herself as.
Aspiring Pokemon Professor.
Fledgling Ranger Recruit.
Bumbling Dragon Tamer.
Goodnight, Robin...
cxY2_zy5Location: E3
TL;DR:
• Gwen wakes up pinned against a rock and a hard place (huehuehue)
• Panics about her inevitable fate
• Hallucinates people she knows telling her things she didn't want to face
• Begs Gishath to leave and find a new owner, but he refuses
• Dies(?)
• Cont. in Next post
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rkWnoK16
"hmm." The Rocket Boss bears witness to the CALYREX's body. The flooded city Rocket still calls home. He does not seem perturbed and as reports of PETALBURG's FALL grace his ears, he realizes that this calamity is a gift in decide. A gift that Rocket can continue to milk drip by pure blue drip should she live. He wrinkles his nose at 
[break]
