LEAGUE & LEARN: MN

Ft. Navy

He watches the other man march into the stage, his eyes lingering on his back.

Yet another one that seemed to be carrying the weight of the worlds on their shoulders.

In that regard, Navy and Melody Miro resembled one another greatly.

He wasn't sure it was good for either of them— nor for the people around them, for that matter.

His gaze dropped down to his hand as he raised it to his chest, lingering on the ring on his finger before shaking his head.

Useless thoughts. He may have seemed like a man of the past, but he— they all had to live in the here and now.

---

TL;DR:
MISSION
BOOT CAMP

Swords & Myth

Mission: Intrepid Sword, ft. Navy

He closes his eyes just as Navy does.

After a second or so pass, a single eye peeks open, before the other follows.

Navy was doing just as he had instructed. Given he had claimed to have never meditated, it appeared he may have been a natural.

In and out, chest rose and fell.

Again, and again, and again.

"Oh dear."

---

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

...huh...

The crashing of steel on steel halted. Gwyar, wearing a completely different outfit altogether, held a hammer in hand and pincers in the other, the two sides of the sword that Navy had cut in half earlier set on the anvil before him.

"Good evening, Sheriff." The blonde said after a moment, setting down his tools. "How are you feeling?"

One glance outside and the Sheriff would realize just how much time had passed in what appeared to be the blink of an eye.

"I've gotta say— I'm impressed." He said as he moved around the anvil, tongues in hand, shoving the glowing hot sword into a barrel. "It's the first time I've ever witnessed anyone meditate for 16 hours; without so much as budge, at that."

He dropped down in front of the man, wiping sweat of his brow with a rag before draping it over his shoulders.

"Was it useful?"

---

TL;DR:

RKS #2

Josh Devlin

Gwyar looked around for a moment at Josh's offer.

On a boat, in a storm.

"Not this time, Mr. Devlin." He attempts to stop his fellow gym leader, his gaze drawing away from the crashing waves around them and raising to the deity rampaging before them. "These conditions are less than ideal."

A battle between legends would merely destroy their ship. Simulation or not, pain was very real within the machine, and Gwyar had no intention of finding out just how authentic an experience drowning would be.

Gwyar looked around the deck, finding it conspicuously full of barrels.

Smashing one of the lids open, he peered inside to find berries of all sorts. Smashing another, he found glittering gold and treasure that wouldn't have been amiss on a pirate's hoard.

"Perhaps these were placed her for a reason." He said simply, taking a step back and bowing at the creature.

---

TL;DR:

SOFTNESS, FLUIDITY, STILLNESS

Mission: Dauntless Shield, Melody Miro

He doesn't respond with words.

He observes her, his gaze slowly moving down her frame, lingering on her muscles and joints.

It moves back towards Cobalion for the briefest moment, meeting its gaze, before he releases a low breath.

"... Very well." He said, , raising his sword once again. "Again."

Melody begins her offensive.

So he defends.

He parries and pushes back when their swords clash. Steps close and feints when she's getting too aggressive and open. Falls back and 'opens' himself whenever the onslaught slows down in favor of defense.

The principles of defense, of softness, were some of what he had learned from watching Melody and Cobalion train together. What he had gleamed from attempting to translate the Sword of justice's 'style' into something a human could parse.

Melody was not okay. She did not seem to be willing to share her feelings and thoughts, either.

But perhaps she'd feel more open once they had exhausted themselves— and familiar teachings would soften the walls around her. Hopefully.

---

TL;DR:

Verdant Knight

Mission, ft. lam logan,

He nodded, turning his gaze to the storm clouds above.

"Its agitation grows with each passing day." As to why, no clue. "It'll not be long before this assignment is beyond regular trainers."

Such as himself. Facing the rampaging lord of the seas in its own domain was above his paygrade.

Brushing strands of hair behind his ear, he nodded at the other gym leader.

"Preparations are going well." He said simply.

Mossdeep was ready for war— for better or worse. The mounting tension in Hoenn's air demanded it.

There was a moment of lull in the conversation, the sound of the sea's flowing waves and the ship's inner workings briefly filling the silence.

"You were present during the most recent tragedy." He said suddenly, turning a sober look to the man besides him. "Your thoughts?"

The Champion was dead. Supposedly. Their Groudon avatar was back in control, at great cost. And who knew how Lam himself had come of the conflict?

---

TL;DR:
Mission: Lawless Sea

BG (QUARRY)

ft. Brynnhildr Erling

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he stepped past the threshold of the rift, lightning clapping in the far distance as he and Bryn advanced towards the coordinates given to them.

The ongoing war showed no signs of slowing down.

It felt strange. For both factions to pretend at civility within Sootopolis while preparing to surely strike one another down.


'All warfare is based on deception', a great general and philosopher had once postulated.

It seemed in Hoenn, the leaders of either faction didn't care if the lie was transparent enough as to be crystal.

"This place must be getting to me." The man mused to his partner, taking a brief look around the area. "Perhaps I've been to this place one time too many."

He wondered what Yujin Ha was up to, before dismissing the thought once again.

With a swipe of his arm, his Empoleon stepped forward. While advancing through the desolate landscape of cords and defunct power stations, they had arrived at their coordinates.

"Open a path." He ordered, his Empoleon launching itself at the barrier in their way.

---

TL;DR:
-Empoleon used AQUA JET. (Water-type, 40BP.)
-TARGETING THE FIRE/GRASS/WATER-TYPE 80 POWER TOTAL TILE.

VS GHOST #2

AURUM BADGE, FT. ghost fireheart

Thursday, 6:56 p.m., Mossdeep City's Community Stadium.

The challengers came and went quickly, the battles more abrupt than usual.

The gym Leader had taken a harsher approach ever since the invasion of Mossdeep, more concerned with properly assessing and guiding challengers than with handing out badges.

As he finished with his advice and dismissed the latest challenger, his gaze rose back to the stands, finding his next opponent.

"ghost fireheart." He intoned, making eye contact with the younger man. "Come."

A returning challenger.

He was looking forward to the young man's growth since they had last met. He could always appreciate someone who understood the purpose of gym types and prepared accordingly.

With a sweep of his arm, he sent out the same steelix the younger man and his Typhlosion faced last time, nodding at them both.

"You may begin."

---

VS ROBIN #2

AURUM BADGE, FT. robin coello

Thursday, 6:30 p.m., Mossdeep City's Community Stadium.

The stadium's floodlights flashed to life as the evening descended upon Mossdeep and the doors to the Gym's offices were opened.

Stepping out of the stadium's innards, the gym leader slowly shook off his heavy coat, giving a thankful smile to a helpful gym trainer as they took it off his hands, before raising green eyes to the first challenger in line.

"Welcome back." The Gym Leader intoned with a smile at the woman across the arena, his arm slowly sweeping through the air as his Alolan Sandslash stepped forth.

Its icy spikes shivered across its back as its gaze fell upon Robin and her partner.

"Shall we begin, then?"

---

ULTRA PLANT #3

Yujin & Gwyar

"But I hadn't done anything yet." The man complained wryly as he began the somewhat deadly, if dull job of 'cutting grass', so to speak.

Snapping whips striked towards him, and they were cut down by a flashing blade moving at impossible speeds.

The man's silhouette hummed, the heavy coat around his shoulder waving and flowing dramatically in an almost impossible fashion, flowing infinity energy traveling through thin, perfectly symmetrical seams.

The miracle of tech that was the sygna suit slowly withdrew a cacophony of screams from the rampaging cords, their wails echoing through the passage they stood on.

Until finally, the hall fell to silence, the many snapping cords now deathly still.

"Seems they've finally calmed down." The blonde observed simply, sword still raised, eye still focused on the passage. "How's the—"

The man didn't get to finish that thought. A ripple swept through them as something in the distance exploded, followed closely by the deafening kaboom.

The dark skies slowly began to take on a crimson hue...

"Something has dynamaxed nearby." The blonde said, his gaze no longer on the hall but on the opening they had used to get inside the aircraft. "That explosion... think it was our friend?"

VS NOEL #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Noel Parker

[APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY, RL HAS BEEN VERY DISTRACTING RECENTLY]

"Bold words! Now deliver on them." A suitably dramatic sweep of the arm followed, matched in timing by the Empoleon's glowing steel fin.

Stone cracked against steel, the fin cleaving through the spike as the Empoleon then lowered itself in a smooth motion, its eyes narrowing sharply as they bore into the mythical pokemon before him.

Its steel body gained an almost imperceptible sheen, the light of the floodlights above briefly sliding over the planes of its body before it suddenly lunged forth, zig zagging towards its opponent as its glowing arm reeled back.

---

tl;dr:
- Empoleon used Metal Claw. Empoleon's atk was raised!

VS NOEL #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Noel Parker

Thursday, 6:50 p.m., Mossdeep City's Community Stadium.

Blinding floodlights shone down on the battlefield as the latest challenger was brought down.

The gym leader marched through the battlefield, delivered his words, and finally dismissed the young man.

The crowd on the bleachers, a combination of spectators and prospective challengers both, applauded the battle and the efforts of both challenger and gym leader as the blonde man raised his gaze to the stands, green eyes flashing beneath the floodlights as he spoke.

"Noel Parker." His voice rose over the clapping. "Come."

Then, the gym leader returned to his end of the battlefield, turning around before swiping out his arm, a pokeball flying through the air.

An Empoleon landed on the battlefield, the lights sliding over the sleek, steely edge of its fins as its gaze fell upon the challenger and narrowed.

"You may begin."

---

VS ERIS #1

AURUM BADGE, FT. Eris Halla

"Likewise, Ms. Halla. Your talent is staggering." The gym leader said with a smile as he knelt, holding out his hand to her.

The Aurum Badge's golden surface glimmered beneath the floodlights as he presented it to her.

"You have, without a doubt, earned this badge." He said, nodding sharply at her before slowly rising back to his feet, clapping and cheers erupting from the stands as spectators, fellow challengers and prospective challengers all congratulated the youth on her achievement.

She was one of few to put a stop to the gym leader's winning streak.

"I don't generally re-take on a victorious challenger— clogs the queue." The man hummed thoughtfully. "But, you'll find me available for sparring and guidance on my weekly seminars. Feel free to ask for a brochure from the receptionist."

"Farewell, Ms. Halla. Best fortune on your goals." Smiling back at her, he raised his hand once again in farewell before turning his gaze back to the bleachers, his voice rising over the cheering as he called in the next challenger.

---

TL;DR:
-Eris wins!