[HGT][C/Eva] Racing to the Other Side

i used to dream in the dark of palisades park

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raikourider

Master of Faster

He/Him

December 12

Goldenrod, Johto

Straight

Mauville Gym Leader

Champion

Single; Not Looking

6'1" height

"With great speed comes great responsibility."

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Josh Devlin

[HGT][C/Eva] Racing to the Other Side

POSTED ON Nov 4, 2024 6:26:46 GMT

Though the Beast's electricity harmed neither of the two riders, it didn't make their ride any less intense. The saddle-like thundercloud beneath Eva and Josh turned white, Swift letting go of the cloud above him. The two descended the stormy Johtonian skies riding lightning itself, the jagged bolt anything but smooth. Perhaps the feeling Eva experienced would be similar to the day they rode the back half of Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent, fully protected against the elements.

Even beneath his helmet, the skin around the front of Josh's face turned red and white from the surreal speed. Was this what Shalin felt when she got into her Sygna Suit and rode on her Venusaur's Power Whipping vine? The last time he had felt something so intense was when he rode Swift's EXTREME SPEED while the Beast was under kyle lopez 's command. Was this his inner worry for the battling Beasts' fate drawing out the ashen legendary's ultimate attack? At least the ultimate attack in Josh's mind...

The landing was heavy, but not flattening as it should have been. The riders would fall through the buoyant thundercloud at impact, feeling ashen mane beneath them with the texture of feline fur. On the ground, the Beast coasted on his momentum, letting his immense speed diminish to the point where the two would be able to speak again. "It's all... so horrible..." Josh lamented as he watched the spectral scene unfold. The battle between the Great One's most sacred children and swaths of Rockets raged on, the Beasts dashing about in blurs of yellow, red, and blue not unlike the white one Eva and Josh had been part of moments before.

"They... really died that day, didn't they?" Josh trailed off as Swift galloped toward the city under siege. "How can Rocket do this? Are they really so powerful that they can just... defy the Great One's will?"

Eva Morales

{PC: 8}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Swift Raikou Good
Raikou Raging Bolt Good
Entei Gouging Fire Good
Suicune Walking Wake Good
Pazuzu Pidgeot Good
Regole Dragonair** Good

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BD

The Peacemaker

She / Her

January 25

Pallet Town, Kanto

Heterosexual...?

Veterinarian

Head Prof / Major

I HOPE

you dream of me

5'3'' height

My legacy is in the lives I save

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Eva Morales

[HGT][C/Eva] Racing to the Other Side

POSTED ON Nov 4, 2024 20:53:05 GMT

[attr="class","eva"]

[attr="class","top"]

A similar scene unfolds before them. It’s yet another demonstration of power and cruelty on a scale they haven’t witnessed in Hoenn. It’s a piece of terrible history that serves as a warning for those willing to listen. Perhaps that’s why they are shown these scenes. Someone needs to listen or else history will surely repeat itself. Eva was not here for this part of history. She was already on the run, fleeing a lost Kanto and the price on her head. Should she have come to Johto instead of Hoenn? Would it have been any different?

Speculation can seed doubt. She’s wise enough to recognize that so she banishes the ‘what ifs’ before their poisonous tendrils can trap her in an endless cycle of uncertainty. She watches the battle with empathetic sorrow, already knowing the outcome they couldn’t change.

She gently twists to cast a glance back at Josh behind her, a sense of understanding and mutual sorrow glistening in her emerald eyes against the sepia background, “Yes, they did,” she says softly, swallowing to push the lump in her throat back down to her chest, “Power corrupts, Josh. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. Greed fuels it. They don’t fear the wrath of gods but they do fear losing their power. They eliminate anything that threatens it. When scared, greedy, and powerful, there’s no limit to their cruelty.”

Eva’s words are not comforting. They aren’t meant to be. They are not an excuse for what they witness, they are a warning: Dark desires lead to a dark existence. Never let your actions stem from hate, fear, or greed. Instead stay in the light. Act on love, kindness, and empathy and there will be nothing to fear.

[attr="class","milkcredit"]MILKY

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raikourider

Master of Faster

He/Him

December 12

Goldenrod, Johto

Straight

Mauville Gym Leader

Champion

Single; Not Looking

6'1" height

"With great speed comes great responsibility."

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7,248 posts

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TAG WITH @joshdevlin

Josh Devlin

[HGT][C/Eva] Racing to the Other Side

POSTED ON Nov 4, 2024 23:37:25 GMT

Josh's thoughts again drifted to Kyle. Just how much of this had he witnessed as the Great One's Avatar? And what happened to Her abyssal counterpart. Lugia? Was she the same one that once roosted upon the Brass Tower ravaged by lightning and fire? Or, like the Suicune that had departed Isaac Merlo in search of another partner, was the one in Cillian Quinn 's control different than Johto's silver bird-dragon? He may have been able to shed some light... but he was also not around to ask. Officially dead, but from Josh's view, still out there somewhere, alive and kicking. For an Avatar of a Patron with resurrection powers could defy the permanence of death.

"That explains why Swift is a husk, a memory, of what we see before us now," Josh replied, a few tears cascading down his cheeks upon seeing the battle rage before them with no way to intervene. It felt like a fixed point in time, much like his time in the Megalopolan prison. A point in time that could not be altered.

As serious as Eva Morales 's words were, they were equally grounded in reality. "That's... part of why I don't want to be an Avatar anymore, Eva," he sniffed, only stopping when he heard huge explosions of fire, lightning, and water from the Beasts defending their leader's city against Rocket's invading army. "When we first saw one another and got to know one another, I wanted to be Raikou's Avatar more than anything else in the world. Then I saw what Avatarship does to people. It completely transforms them, and all too often in negative ways. MATIAS SILPH 's Avatarship ruined him. Laurence Anderson 's, too. Cillian Quinn 's. And so many others." There were, of course, many cases of symbiotic relationships between Patron and Avatar. There was Kyle. Navy . illeana reyes . So many gods that were amicable, or at least on good terms with, their Avatars.

"I love Swift just the way he is. We're of one mind, we understand one another, and he's everything I've ever wanted a Raikou to be. And Eva?" he asked, letting the silence sink in before resuming voicing his thoughts. "Power is never the reason I pursued Raikou. I pursued him at first to live an innocent childhood dream to shatter the Pokémon land speed record. After meeting Entei and Swift while they were under Kyle's command, after nearly losing Saber inside the Cloud, I knew I had to pursue him to protect those in Hoenn who cannot protect themselves. He may not be as powerful as a real Pokémon, but he can do something better than any Pokémon on land can. Go fast. And I don't need to be an Avatar for us to use our talents the best we can."

Extreme speed, in a vacuum, was a potent weapon in and of itself. As a weapon, it was unwieldy. As a shield, it was a much more effective tool. A tool not to usurp, but to safeguard. In the nearly twenty years Josh had dreamed and fantasized about sitting upon the purple, majestic cloud and holding the metaphorical reins of a living lightning bolt, his motives were always pure of heart. Not always selfless, but without greed or lust.

"After all, it's hard to get a package to its destination faster than in the saddle of a living lightning bolt, heh," he laughed, trying to cheer the doctor up.

Eva Morales

{PC: 9}

NAME SPECIES STATUS
Swift Raikou Good
Raikou Raging Bolt Good
Entei Gouging Fire Good
Suicune Walking Wake Good
Pazuzu Pidgeot Good
Regole Dragonair** Good

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played by

BD

The Peacemaker

She / Her

January 25

Pallet Town, Kanto

Heterosexual...?

Veterinarian

Head Prof / Major

I HOPE

you dream of me

5'3'' height

My legacy is in the lives I save

awards

3,901 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @dreva

Eva Morales

[HGT][C/Eva] Racing to the Other Side

POSTED ON Nov 22, 2024 7:20:51 GMT

Josh Devlin likes this

[attr="class","eva"]

[attr="class","top"]

Josh means well, but there are no words that could possibly cheer her up right now. Her own description of Rocket’s cruelty stirred something inside her. She stared past him with unblinking eyes, hollow and void of emotion. The battle raging inside her seemed just as intense as what they were witnessing.

How could she possibly forgive Rocket for their sins? Live amicably alongside them? Does she abandon justice and smear the names of those that have come before her if she preaches hope and unity? Peace? But how could she live as herself without advocating for the principles she’s built her foundation on? Love does not survive in darkness nor does it thrive in the thralls of revenge. Is the idea of striking down Rocket revenge or justice? Does it matter at all if both paths end in death and destruction?

Eventually she blinks, bringing herself back as Josh’s words teeter off to a close. She swallows down the burning lump in her throat, “We should go, Josh. We don’t belong here.”

[attr="class","milkcredit"]MILKY

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