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Gavin returns from Shoal Cave empty-handed, with the words of a legendary being echoing through his thoughts: 'I know of many others who will be entertained by such ferocity.' He is emboldened, his nerves humming like live wires. 'There are many others that are more suited to you than I am.'[break][break]

Just words, perhaps, but Gavin hears them as prophecy: he will find those others. Seek them out, if he must.[break][break]

Warm Hoenn air thaws the chill from his bones; he had walked back through Shoal Cave alone and shivering. Corviknight's metal wings, while usually uncomfortably warm in such heat, are a comfort to which he clings as the bird bears them home. There had been a ferocity in his avian companion as it squared off against its would-be foe — a trust in its trainer not to lead it astray. It would have fought for him, might've died for him, without hesitation. Their bond, Gavin feels, has only been strengthened by the experience.[break][break]

There's a tenderness in the way he strokes the bird's beak after dismounting in the back garden of his Fallarbor residence. Corviknight lets out a muffled quark, nips him gently with its beak, and vanishes into its pokeball.[break][break]

Entering the home via the sliding glass door into the sunroom, he ditches his too-warm winter clothing in a laundry hamper and goes to find Emma. She had not approved of this venture, had expressed as much — perhaps she thought it dangerous, even foolish — but he is brimming with energy and oblivious to the gravity of the situation. Like a child seeking validation from a parent, he is giddy and grinning when he seeks her out.[break][break]

"Em, I actually did it — I found it!"

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