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[break]

The elite four would stay together, even if the very fabric of reality would try and tear them apart.[break][break]

Bailey Cooper was with persephone amavi when Kyle's text message reached their phones—both members of the Elite Four standing outside Olivia Abbiati 's office in preparation for the post-New Year's Meeting. “Going on an adventure...?” and she would squint at the message, before turning her dubious expression towards her fellow elite four member.[break][break]

“What the fuck?” She may not have seen the aftermath of the event, but it had been relayed to her—and while she did not know Kyle or Mateo as well as she knew Perse, she knew that they had been close.[break][break]

And that Kyle had been ready to give up everything to go after him.[break][break]

“He's up to something.” It was so obvious. “Dude...” and her eyes would look at League meeting room, knowing that nothing good would come from a meeting with the council—even if some of the members were already seated inside, waiting on their arrival. “Fuck these people.”[break][break]

She had dealt with enough clowns today. she turned and power walked away from the door. she was out.[break][break]

“You got a pokemon with teleport?” A fast series of warps would take them to his home—his parents had been listed as an emergency contact, and after failing to get ahold of them, appeared at their front door.[break][break]

What was inside was the biggest surprise of the night, besides the fact that nobody had locked the front door.[break][break]

The wormhole was still open.[break][break]

Bailey turned to Persephone, feeling that she knew exactly where Kyle's adventure had taken him. “Do you think this could give someone cancer? It looks like it could give someone cancer.”[break][break]

She would send a text message to counter his own: we're crashing your party. Her mind was already made up.[break][break]

“I'm going. I got an entire arsenal. For once, I wanna be the one dropping in on these... ultra beasts?” The name was stupid. She hated it. Space pokemon still sounded cooler in her head.[break][break]

But she wasn't allowed to make those decisions.[break][break]

She dove in, without a second of doubt or worry—it was only when her head cleared through the hole that she realized all of the possible ways this could go wrong.[break][break]

And the strange tunnel would be consumed by the sound of her scream as her body plummeted.

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she felt like a scolded child standing outside Olivia Abbiati's office with Bailey Cooper, and it all was thoroughly unfair. she was mostly schooled by her mother, but in the brief semesters she had attended school, persephone was predictably a teacher's pet. therefore being called on like this was unsettling at best and agitating at worst. [break][break]

her phone vibrates in her pocket, and she and bailey scan the message from kyle lopez in unison. they're moving toward the exit at a matched pace, speeding up the closer they get to the doors. [break][break]

and, why, yes, she did have a pokemon with teleport; the exhausted claydol from the events in slateport blinked that the pair with its multiple eyes. assuring it that it can rest soon, the claydol emitted a high-pitched uncanny sound and teleported them in increments; from the league headquarters, to a pokemon center in verdanturf. [break][break]

at the iconic red and white doors, persephone returns the claydol to its capsule and catches bailey before she can leave to kyle's parent's home. [break][break]

"i promised i'd let it rest," she says almost apologetically. "you should get a fresh team too." [break][break]

the detour to the pokemon center is frantic; persephone sees bailey withdrawing handfuls of pokemon capsules and does the same because if there's anything she's learned - from all of this, from FERNANDO SILPH - is that it's better to be safe than sorry. she quickly tucks the minimised spheres into various pockets of her coat and of her bag, taking care to very deliberately not make eye contact with the workers. [break][break]

as they speed through verdanturf's streets, atop their respective pokemon of choice, persephone prays to every deity she knows that they're overreacting to kyle's cryptic message. but again, again, she's right but in the worst way possible. [break][break]

the portal yawns at them from just inside the doorway of the lopez home like a gaping, hungry maw. [break][break]

persephone levels bailey with a sober, sombre final glance. [break][break]

"ultra beasts is a fucking dumb name," she screams against the rush of wind. [break][break]

and then the portal swallows them whole.

[break]

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There are still things unseen: the lonely sea, the sky

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[break][break]
Their trip into Ultra Space comes to an anti-climatic finish. kyle lopez steers them toward one of the portal and they exit in the same orderly fashion that a Pokemon lays eggs. Plop, plop, plop! They fall from only a few feet above the ground and the suddenness of their transportation dog piles them together. What's a little skin ship between friends? They'll need it if they're determined to make it back home in one piece. [break][break]

Once the dust of their impact settles and they pick themselves up, the rhythmic sound from earlier calls out to them. This time it has the clarity of a high strung Chimeco ringing in the New Year. In the not too far distance, our adventurers will be able to make out an odd swarm of Pokemon gathered around a single spot. The sound comes from their physical attacks against something that seems oddly humanoid. [break][break][break]




The party may be unfamiliar with @kingsley but they share a common fate. His body lays crumpled by the foot of a large tree that marks the entrance of a great forest. The swarm of Ultra Beast try to dive bomb into repeatedly but find no purchase against his oddly shaped appendage. As human as Kingsley may seem, his arm is anything but. [break][break][break]

[break][break]

The lanky green limb splits off into several tendrils, each one lashing out to parry each approaching Pokemon with impunity. Despite the sharp gleam of these Ultra Beast's blade, they prove no match against the strange green substance. Each time they clash another chime goes off and a series of sparks light up as they engage in a never ending war. These Ultra Beast vary in size, some no bigger than a small child while others are comparable to the children caught amid the Slateport attack. [break][break]

The same shrill shriek that had caught Kazimir Wynter's attention resonates from Kingsley's unconscious body. His heart thumps in the same pattern as his attacks. A more wary eye will spot the ghastly purple burns that cover most of his lower legs. His pants are torn — no, dissolved by the looks of it. Just what happened to the first Ultra Space explorer? [break][break][break]

---

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[break][break]Her fall was cushioned by the dogpile—until persephone amavi descended through the hole and landed right on top of her.[break][break]

“Ooof!” With all of the air driven from her body, Bailey Cooper wheezed like an abused chew toy, and she rolled off from their makeshift pile. When her body hit the ground, it felt solid, and she could take the chance to cough and try to recuperate from having the air knocked out of her.[break][break]

“Happy to see you too, Lopez,” and the Elite Four member had to refrain from curling into a ball to cradle her stomach—not a good look when she was surrounded by her two colleagues. “The fuck does it look like we're doing? Your text message wasn't very subtle—we're saving Mateo, right? ...Right?”[break][break]

Unless Kyle just decided to jump through a wormhole for the fuck of it.[break][break]

She rolled onto her knees and picked herself up from the ground, finally having the chance to look at the distorted space that these creatures come from—or, at least, one of the possible places. “We weren't gonna let you have all the fun,” and she tried to sound sardonic.[break][break]

This was where these ultra beasts came from—and, oddly enough, it didn't look too different from where they had come from. This was not a distorted, alien landscape. There were trees and a sky overhead, and she could have mistaken this for a place like Johto.[break][break]

Until her eyes swept in the direction of the bell, and she saw a swarm of those unfamiliar creatures... and a person? Fighting against them?[break][break]

They looked like paper constructs, and it just served as a reminder that these things were not the pokemon that she was familiar with. Was there such a thing as a paper-type pokemon? Not in their dimension, sure, but in this fucked up one?[break][break]

“Shit.” Her hand went to her waist, feeling for one of her pokeballs—where was Bumbo? On her waist or in her bag? “Never seen these ones before,” but she prayed that size was indicative of power as she chucked her pokeball to join in Kyle's assault—[break][break]

And it was her Blaziken, not her Darmanitan.[break][break]

Whatever. Still a fire-type.[break][break]

“What move was that, Lopez?” Because Dark Void had been unfamiliar to her, but she understood the gist. “Hawkin, Bulk Up and get on the defense,” and the Blaziken would raise up his hand, creating a thin, reflective sheet that was suspended, ready to copy an oncoming attack; mirror move.[break][break]

As that was being prepared, she managed to find the proper pokeball, and deployed Bumbo.[break][break]

The two fire-types would stand at the ready, adopting defensive stances. Bumbo would raise up his fists and let them be engulfed in flames, preparing fire punch for anything that charged—he knew to replicate Hawkin's behavior.[break][break]

“They'll hold the line.”[break][break]

tldr: bailey deployed darmanitan and blaziken, ordering them to stay on the defense so people can dive in. darmanitan has prepared fire punch, blaziken has prepared mirror move and has used bulk up.

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Winded, bruised, battered even more now than she already had been, Stormy takes a moment to recover from the human pileup that occurs as they emerge on the other side of their chosen portal. With a cough and a wheeze she pushes someone off of her chest, before flopping to the side and pulling hair and dirt out of her mouth.[break][break]

There's a heated, sort of heated, exchange of words between Kyle and the two other elite four that had decided to join them. Stormy gets to her feet momentarily in order to more accurately survey her surroundings. It's terrifying and foreign and she can hear something further ahead. It doesn't take her group long at all to prepare.[break][break]

Bailey releases two Pokemon and both of them put up a protective front. Sweat beads against her temple but Kyle's already taken charge - he isn't afraid, so she can't be either.[break][break]

The gym leader reaches for a pokeball, retrieving one used previously in the raid. Aegislash appears and fastens itself to her arm, acting as a shield as she takes a shaky breath. Another Pokemon soon appears not long after, taking the form of a Turtonator. [break][break]

Together, they perform a wide guard and iron defense in preparation for what's to come. Stormy whispers a subtle prayer that Kyle's first move isn't their last.

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she's the last to be deposited out of the portal, flopping against the pile of others' limbs like a discarded doll. persephone murmurs a sorry, but her gaze is on anywhere but her companions. [break][break]

if this is the area "beyond" the portals they had encountered time and time before, it managed to look remarkably normal. the forest superficially looked like any one that could be found in hoenn, and she would be forgiven for thinking the wormhole had simply placed them somewhere in the vicinity of fortree. [break][break]

the illusion of normality is quickly shattered by eerie whistling and an onslaught of creatures on a distant figure. [break][break]

kyle and bailey spring into action - and persephone knows she would have done the same if they had not. [break][break]

she doesn't recognise the move kyle's smeargle performs but it looks almost familiar in the same way dreams you try to remember gnaw at you. [break][break]

persephone takes a moment to reach for her own pokemon's capsules, her fingers tracing the engraved braille on the surfaces identifying them, until she picked out the two she wanted; a sigilyph and dusknoir take their places at the ready. [break][break]

as stormy's aegislash and turtonator set their defenses, the sigilyph does the same in tandem, performing its own REFLECT and LIGHT SCREEN. [break][break]

the dusknoir holds on for a moment, waiting for the outcome of the initial onslaught of attacks, its two fists ready to punch: FIRE PUNCH in one hand and SHADOW PUNCH in the other. [break][break]


» perse thinks everything is normal for a second but it really isn't [break]
» sigilyph uses REFLECT and LIGHT SCREEN [break]
» dusknoir will be going in to punch with FIRE PUNCH and SHADOW PUNCH if the kartana are sleeping, or will wait until they come closer before punching if they do not sleep

[break]

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There are still things unseen: the lonely sea, the sky

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[break][break]

Clink! Clang! Clonk!

[break][break]


The repeated sound of their attacks overshadow the menacing DARK VOID snaking toward them. Much like Mateo's shoe, the attack is a memento from Kyle's time in Darkrai's nightmare realm. Unfortunately, the power of dreams find themselves diminished in reality. There is no hope that the attack will pass as the original. A carbon copy — the shade eclipses only a small fraction of the swarm and those engulfed in the nauseating darkness drop like exterminated flies. [break][break]


The large ones prove too strong to influence. They remain awake and continue in their endeavor, unaware, oblivious to the nature of the attack and their would be assailants. But with their numbers thinned out so does their offensive. The tentacle can easily handle the lax attacks and it looks like there is hope! [break][break]


Until they realize the folly of their attempts and look to address the cause. Their lack of definitive features make it hard to tell their intentions but when they all turn in tandem it becomes obvious. A new target is found and the swarm spills forth with the fury of an aggravated school of Wishiwashi. [break][break]


With the distance between them and the swarm, now is the time to thin them out further. Unfortunately, none dare attack. Caution is good but it proves to be a waste as their enemy cuts their distance. Only Noelle orders her Steelix to attack and it does so with a gusto to prevent them from advancing any further. The SAND TOMB turns the environment into a whirlwind of razor sharp sand, holding off the enemy as they're thrown into the makeshift twister. Their flight path is disturbed, torn asunder, cycled into helplessness. [break][break]


And then the largest Kartana pierces through. The sheen of its distorted color points to it as one of the strongest. With a razor sharp swipe of AIR CUTTER it slices through the attack and rockets forward. The rest follow, dictated by size with the larger ones proving stronger and faster until only the medium sized ones remain stuck. They continue and their speed only accelerate as they start to blur into an after image of AERIAL ACE. [break][break]

Clink! Clang! Clonk!

[break][break]


Another obstacle stops their invasion. The translucent barrier of Persephone's LIGHT SCREEN and REFLECT hold a strong front. But persistence is something the Ultra Beast know well. Their inner Guzzlord comes into play and they continue to bat themselves against the adventurer's last line of defense until they pierce through. Reinforced by Stormy's WIDE GUARD, the barrier doesn't shatter but their bodies drill several holes into it, allowing them to ooze in. [break][break]


Up close and personal, they leech onto the front line with their culled numbers. LEAF BLADES and X-SCISSOR threaten to dismember any Pokemon that stand in their way but that doesn't stop the combination of Persephone and Bailey. Their Pokemon need no further orders than to punch through whatever comes their way. Persephone's Dusclops SHADOW PUNCH barely stops one of the Kartana's from cleaving the ghost in half but it reattaches itself with ease. [break][break]


It is FIRE PUNCH that proves effective. Not the physical motion of the attack but the flames that it brings about. Smoldering embers from each contact catch onto the Kartana and it spreads. Like paper, the flames burn into them causing their serrated edges to curl and removing their lethal touch. [break][break]


Noelle's Chansey finds the perfect timing to COUNTER their attack but doing so proves more dangerous than avoiding it. Peach is literally playing with knives and it shows when several shallow cuts form along the Pokemon's puny little arms. It doesn't hurt too much thanks to the cleanness of each cut but the damage is there. Allowing the Pokemon to bleed out may prove more detrimental than good but will Noelle find the chance? [break][break]


Their numbers are culled but they have descended! A plague of Kartana are among you. Fight your way out or find a way to defend. The longer they attack you the more chances they have of inflicting damage! [break][break]

---

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As the swarm descended, there was one thing that did not escape Bailey's focus.[break][break]

The fire punch landed with a resounding success, and there was a sound that came from the singe that seemed to suggest effectiveness, and the way that the blade curled like paper thrown to a bonfire. she could see the rising cinders.[break][break]

It was a guess, but it was the best guess that she had.[break][break]

“They're weak to fire!” She would shout, just to be heard over the sound of clashing steel. “Fuck 'em up!”[break][break]

She had thought that taking a defensive front would have encouraged the others to be more offensive, but that was an assumption Bailey wouldn't make twice—if she had to, she would take on that role.[break][break]

And she had the numbers to do it.[break][break]

Two more capsules; Skuntank and Togekiss. The poison-type and flying-type were deployed to the field with a toss from both hands.[break][break]

“Chunker! Get some light in here!” and the Stuntank would deploy Sunny Day, conjuring an energy that manifested with a heat that resonated with fire-type moves.[break][break]

[break][break]

“Tink! Play support!” Codeword for Life Dew, which would be done to try and mitigate oncoming damage; water-like droplets oozing from the porcelain of her skin. “And stay up! Don't let 'em slice you, girl!” Keeping her air-bound would keep the flying marshmallow out of range of the horde—and also gave a vantage point for the distribution of the life dew.[break][break]

[break][break]

Darmanitan and Hawkin would overhear their trainer's observations, and with the effects of sunny day radiating behind them, joined side by side as their bodies were engulfed by an all-consuming heat. “Flare blitz, Bumbo! Flame charge, Hawkins!”[break][break]

[break][break]

[break][break]

And they'd fling themselves into the fray, colliding their bodies into their oncoming foes. Rip and tear.[break][break]

tldr: bailey yells that they seem to be weak to fire. skuntank used sunny day. togekiss used life dew. Darmintan used flare blitz and activated sheer force. blaziken used flame charge and activated speed boost.

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