Time had long since become a construct forgotten. An already bruised body sits just beneath his crumpled white dress shirt. The blank glassy-eyed stare that rests, first in his eyes, but permeated throughout the fabric of his being is hones in on the labels of liquor bottles he doesn't care enough to fully read.

He'd thought alcohol would help him run from this pain, to escape, but it's brought it even closer to the forefront of his sternum. The shadows of his eyelids reveal one of two faces every time he blinks.

The first- the girl of his dreams who'd revealed a betrayal that cut deeper than any blade could hope to. A woman who was kind, caring, put the world before herself time and time again only for her blood to be the cruelest poison he and it has ever seen. Venom made to fell Miles and the region he loved so dearly.

The second - his mother, betrayed by a system that promised to keep her safe. A face that was forgotten by all except for him regardless of what she'd sacrificed for the world. A mother who loved him unconditionally and was forced to suffer through her rotten son's failures until they eventually cost the woman her life.

The bartender cuts him off, and so he hobbles off the rickety stool, ready to wander to the next spot that cared more about his coin than his wellbeing.

In his departure, he slams against another spilling whatever poison he'd chosen to consume this evening.

Miles doesn't apologize content to push past.

"Was doing you a favor."

He steps forward again facing Silph directly now. It mirrors when they met in Fortree, When Matias had offered his hand in solidarity. Now eyes were cold both attempting to hold some metaphorical higher ground.

The Aurorus shores up its light screen again in response to the electivire's charge.

"Move Silph."

He doesn't miss the wariness in her voice, like an anxious growlithe, or a purrloin knowing a bath was in its near future. Still, Miles powers through, because watching the girl tense up was cute. He hopes to one day have a daughter like her, and perhaps one day he would.

"Well, today I have a little bit of biology. and If you're willing to suffer through let's say an hour of arithmetic. I may be willing to part with this."

He'd reach back into his bag, a satchel of many wonders pulling a second slice of cake, this one had various brown hues in layers. "A slice of tiramisu, I was saving it for myself, to be honest, but I'm always willing to share treats with good girls."

There's a playfulness amidst his calculated stare. He can barely stop himself from cackling as he watches the girl taking far too much pleasure in exploiting this child even if it was for her own good.

[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/849319068737863730/849361494901653545/Cowboy_Bebop_OST_1_-_Bad_Dog_No_Biscuits.mp3[/player]

Everything has to give at some point, and this too was no exception.

Miles throws his arm out, "Secta Protect!"

And so the Armaldo does a peaceful blue barrier raises standing against the blast contrasting the chaos of the fight. As for both Frosmoth and Garchomp both closer to the epicenter of the explosion who was to say.

Containers blow over and arm comes to Miles' face in an attempt to shield himself from the blast. Even the ground shakes in the combustion, still, The trainer doesn't falter.

Smokes Rises and spins in the dust storm, and Miles decides to go for it. "Dragon Rush!"

All is silent for a moment too long, and Miles' worries that the pokemon hadn't made it through, but glints of purple shine through the smoke, and in one singular dash the dragon reveals itself covered in a brilliant oversoul of purple, its aura in the shape of a dragon all on its own. Blast towards the Frosmoth with all of its power.



The Dragon hadn't much left in him, but it wouldn't yet go down.

--------------------------------------------
Armaldo uses Protect -blocks blast
Garchomp takes heavy damage from Explosion
Garchomp uses Dragon Rush
(Sandstorm 4/5)

[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/833781382554714176/851008494705705020/Makotos_Theme_-_Spunky_SF_III.3.mp3[/player]

The Stone edge rises and stray pieces slam against the garchomp's chest amidst forcing it out of the pokemon's preferred strike zone, It's not enough to stop the dragon, but it's enough to bide time. Though what comes from the opposing team's tactic is something very interesting.

It's more of an art piece than it is an attack. Tens of the twenties of stones now orbit the steelix like planetary rings or a field of asteroids amidst the storm. Still even that isn't enough to Stop the Landshark.

Push through with Iron Head! The scene that unfolds is almost cinematic. The rocks are too small to properly perch on, but to use as temporary holds to leap and propel from? they were perfect. The Garchomp would swing from stone to stone taking off into the blistering winds. Its reinforced skull glowing light in the storm clashing and bursting through any of the stones that threatened to hone in on and attack the dragon until it was once again within close Range of the behemoth. "Fire Blast!"

And once again flames burn from the corners of the pokemon's mouth before firing another massive burning technique at the opponent. Oranges and reds burning through the field changing the color of the storm itself as the attack flies.

------
Stone Edge Hits! Forcing Garchomp Back
Garchomp Uses Iron head to force through the stone field
Garchomp uses Fire Blast on Steelix!
Sandstorm (3/5)

He's getting tired. for all his resilience and training Stamina is the first thing that begins to falter. He thinks of pushing Matias into the beast, which would give him a few minutes at the very least, and he could get rid of a Silph while doing it, a two pidgey one stone situation, but to take out the man dishonorably, and to give Stormy the news her brother had been mauled violently by Ursaring thanks largely in part to him wouldn't go over well. And so Matias has to live, at least until Stormy understands that he doesn't.

His branch snaps and he reaches for another allowing it to hang against the ground for the moment. Beads of sweat drip from his brow. He eyes the ursaring whose paw is about to drop, but the bear's focus flickers for a moment.

Instead, Miles dashes choosing to tackle Matias as the bear feints its paw grazing against the darker-skinned man's back. The bear had grown used to their tactics and reached for Matias.

Miles swears as he feels blood stream down his back. Thankfully, it's more superficial than anything

Saving a Silph though? He feels sick.

"Not my most self-serving maneuver." He speaks through the pain.

"Not quite as apt as the previous question, but acceptable nonetheless."

The muggy weather wasn't the most pleasant thing, Miles could attest to that even he found himself sweating more than he cares to, but for the sake of his work, his dreams, hard labor was but a small price to pay.

"Young Ms. Vela is correct we are gardening!" He exclaims as if it weren't the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm surprised you aren't more interested Fairchild."

Excadrill continues to till the soil the Venasaur softened alongside the Roserade, and Miles reaches down to inspect it, making sure to scoop a small amount into a test tube. Other than its richness a testament to the routes growing conditions the soil was like any other, but Miles always found it prudent to be safe than sorry, and a little foresight went a long way.

"Thanks to Priam, and his team we managed to excavate the tree from a route surrounding Fallarbor." before he continues he waves the two ladies forward to the tree itself.

"Touch it." It's more of a challenge than a command.

If the two chose they'd understand this was no ordinary specimen, not that its odd coloration wasn't already indictive of that. They'd feel what he, Priam, and Chu-e felt albeit to a lesser extent due to the tree's growing weakness.

"It's a tree that shares properties with an arbiter of life, The legendary pokemon Xerneas." He pays little attention to the two in favor of inspecting the growing hole now, giving the Excadrill instructions to widen it while Miles continued his lecture.

"In my studies thanks largely in part to both Priam and Chu-e I learned that the tree cannot survive unless it is directly connected to the earth, no simulated environment will do."

"So for all of everyone's griping, we're here in one of the most fertile locales in the entirety of the region. To see if we can better understand the nature of this puzzle."

"And of Xerneas itself."

He doesn't vocalize the last point, as it was admittedly a stretch, but that's what Miles truly came to do. If he could learn some portion of the life pokemon's secrets perhaps he could better use that information to heal his people, and moreover his world. Even in his research, he is a bleeding heart.

And even if all he hopes doesn't come to pass, this tree propagated life more so than anything he'd ever seen. If nothing else bringing a little more life to the world wasn't a bad way to spend a day.

Miles calls another pokeball revealing an Off-colored golurk. Where one normally saw blue and yellow there was black and green.

"Between Golurk and Venasaur let's see if we can get her planted now. Priam, shall we?"

As the discharge flies so does an ice beam directly at the chest of the electivire, the blasts only milliseconds apart. When it came to this Silph the scientist didn't believe in warning shots.

Serena would find another way out, this he knew after all the woman was adaptable and these alcoves had a number of entrances and exits, some more dangerous than others but they were nothing Malcolm couldn't handle.

The Silph was becoming awfully cavalier and so Miles has to put his foot down. He would not be controlled, nor manipulated by this man, he'd die before that.

"And what if I don't Silph. he steps forward now, challenging the man.

Behind Matias was Miles' exit.

"This bravado of yours is beginning to wear thin."


He calls the man's bluff because at the end of the day Matias' needs Miles like Miles needs Matias. Disgusting truths abound.

"Hey, you two play nice!" He's all but numb to the burn of the rope now. Killian's Zangoose attempts to charge the Houndoom, but scientists have to stick together and so Miles commands, "Caput Keep it back Zen Headbutt!" And so with psychic energy pulsing through its notoriously hard cranium the Rampardos attempts to strike the Zangoose

ngEIpDHC+50

--------------------
Total:3488 +65 = 3,553

Surf, Rock Slide, Zen Headbutt, Iron Head, Thunderbolt, Fireblast

[player]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/833781382554714176/851008494705705020/Makotos_Theme_-_Spunky_SF_III.3.mp3[/player]

A final titan to close out the match. Miles smiles, A worthwhile opponent to close the set had been given, and close it Miles would.

It was a clever tactic, but the Steelix and his trainer had fallen for the trap. The pokemon of choice had indeed used the sand to bury itself, but to think it was biding its time roaming beneath the beach was foolish. "Fire Blast twice over!" The ground shakes on account of the steelix and once again dirt, sand, and stone scour the arena already swirling in the very same elements due to the sandstorm.

Sand Veil had activated and served as a cover for the pokemon and so when the Earthquake came Miles' champion in question had long since left the ground using its natural abilities to hide in the maelstrom of broken stone and dirt, directly above the Steelix now the dragon pokemon had ascended, Burning fangs bore out at the enemy and just as quickly Two Burning crosses fly at the massive Steel Snake one after the other almost point-blank, as the snake rose off the ground protecting itself from any attacks below.



Through the hail of earth, all would be able to see the flames spiraling toward the steel type mixing with the elements. All the while, The Garchomp landed eyes focused on the enemy. This was one of the many tricks the two had up their sleeve.

Miles had been seen as a fossil pokemon trainer. A man who prided himself on studying the ancient entities of times past and using those powers to fight. Up until recently those who saw the man like that weren't wrong. But with that identity came weaknesses, and for all, he has to protect, for all he cared about he had to abandon the moniker for something fiercer, something that played into his love of the ancient but could better capitalize on it.

In all of his excursions, Miles had been in the desert. He'd witnessed the absolute strength of the arid regions and the powers they held at their worst time and time again, and he'd survived through them. Through that, he'd made the most terrible storms his own.

Miles Sharp specialized in the desert's strongest weapon. The Sandstorm.

And today Greyson would learn how terrifying sandstorms could truly be.

------
Sand Veil activates Earthquake misses!
Garchomp uses Fire Blast!
Garchomp uses a second Fire Blast!

Sandstorm turn 2/5