[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]
"Eh? Oh! Um, meow meow!"[break][break]

Helios looks at her like she's lost her mind but the casual greeting helps put Luka more at ease. Although there's no real reason for her to be nervous— she isn't the one about to engage in a fearsome battle.[break][break]

"I'm sure it'll be a fun match!" she calls from across the arena. Melody is a familiar face to her by now, though she isn't insulted when she's not recognized. She's a nobody after all, and Melody is an idol! They're from two different worlds...[break][break]

It's made evident by they way they instruct their Pokemon as well. Like before Luka simply allows Helios to follow his honed instincts and fight the way he pleases. And so he does, attempting to dodge the first fake out and retaliating with his own sweeping low kick. Best to knock his opponent off their feet as soon as possible.[break][break]

---

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

Aww! MATIAS SILPH isn't here to dunk this time around...[break][break]

Oh well! Maybe she can get up on the throne while he's not around. It gives her a better chance of survival, statistically. After all, who else could stand to dunk this cute face?[break][break]

Literally everyone. Anyways...[break][break]

The blond sitting in the tank now would probably look pretty good soaking wet...Luka smiles sheepishly and lobs her ball towards Cade Atreides.[break][break]

---

[break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

Wait...another shard??[break][break]

Booooooo![break][break]

Luka clicks her tongue and tries harder to...wish? Hope? To pull up something a little better this time around.

[break][break]

---

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

Splish splash![break][break]

Over the Gyarados attempt...five? Six? Too many...

[break][break]

---

[break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

The cacophony of battle rings in her ears, but this isn't the first time she's heard it.[break][break]

Like watching a video on loop, the shouts and screams and guttural cries of pokemon ring in her ears yet again. It's a repetition of the vision her Musharna had shared with her, playing out in real time.[break][break]

[break][break]There's one missing.[break][break][break][break]

And...she hates this. She hates the fighting, the sound of battle. Pained cries and worried screams and the astringent taste of fear in the air. Worst of all, she hates that she's getting used to it.[break][break]

Is this what it means, to be able to protect? Does she have to lose parts of herself, to harden her hands and harden her heart and forget her bleeding softness? This time she isn't standing idly by, and this time it's only ones and zeroes that get hurt. But maybe next time it'll be real. Maybe next time the cost of saving those she loves will be paid in blood.[break][break]

It's a horrible thought. Luka pushes it away and, for the moment, merely thanks the stars that her friends have made it out alive.[break][break]

She doesn't bother to scold mint frost for making such a reckless choice; she's quite certain that others will take care of that. If anything, she feels a little bad for him.[break][break]

Her own precipitous plan has somehow left her unscathed and perhaps free of a scolding from jayden cross, but the same can't be said for most in their group. The injuries of illeana reyes, mint frost, Eva Morales and annalise henderson stand out to her the most. Limbs are cut clean and cauterized, like puzzle pieces plucked from standing bodies. If she looks too long, it makes her feel queasy.[break][break]

---

[break][break]

When all the other groups convene, it's obvious that they'd faced similar dangers and similar consequences. Though somehow, it seems that their terminal has fared far worse than the others.[break][break]

Though it may be to no avail, Luka releases her Clefable and requests a LIFE DEW from the fairy. Healing rain pours down on the assembly; not powerful enough to regrow limbs, but hopefully enough to soothe pokemon and person alike.[break][break]

"Be careful!" Luka warns aloud. Her timid voice flutters above the assembly like a bird. "I, um! My Musharna, um. She looked into the future. There's, um, she saw a system failure, w-whatever that means. I don't know if it's good for us, or bad...but we should be mindful..."[break][break]

And while they're back in the original terminal, the hologram of FILE: 01 swims into view again. But this time, she notices something. A pattern in the numbers itching at the back of her head. Like a forgotten memory, a detail of a dream lost just upon waking.[break][break]

Fingers graze the holographic 820 but do not touch. "I've seen that number somewhere," she mutters, more to herself than anyone in particular. But where, but where...[break][break]

There. A brightly lit basement and glaciate ice. A Hisuian Growlithe half frozen. Pictures of text on her phone that can no longer be accessed. But she'd spent long enough pouring over them (to no avail) that one passage swims to the front of her mind:[break][break]

[break][break]

The other numbers...are they familiar or not? She can't remember. But they feel important, somehow.[break][break]

Since their phones can no longer be trusted, Luka commits them to memory instead.[break][break]

"Trois cent quinze" she says to herself. "Quatre-vingt-dix-sept. Deux cents. Quatre cent quatre-vingt-dix. Huit cent vingt. She repeats the numbers over and over under her breath, like a mantra. "Trois cent quinze, quatre-vingt-dix-sept, deux cents, quatre cent quatre-vingt-dix, huit cent vingt..."[break][break]

---

[break][break]
- clefable uses LIFE DEW on the group[break]
- warns the group of a SYSTEM FAILURE[break]
- starting to connect the dots but it's hard when you already used up half your braincells for the day[break]
- remembers 820 from the TRAVEL LOGS during league barracks 2F[break]
- going all tinfoil hat as she tries to remember the other numbers

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

Luka's pleased as punch to have been right.[break][break]

Well...half right.[break][break]

Though that bit of trivia is known to her, she hadn't put the pieces together. Perhaps it's better this way though- paving way to an easy consensus between the terminal two group.[break][break]

Except for one.[break][break]

And mint frost unintentionally dooms them all.[break][break]

One opponent would be bad enough. But four? Four and a train.[break][break]

Wait, a TRAIN?[break][break]

[break][break]

It's hard enough trying to defend against the lunar duo and the puppies! Where did the train even come from?[break][break]

Luckily, illeana reyes snaps her back to reality as she stares up at the locomotive, dumbfounded. Frankly, she's flattered that the other woman has any confidence in her at all. It's invigorating and terrifying all at once, and she's determined not to let any in their group down.[break][break]

"I've got it!" she affirms with a nod and a thumbs up. Her smile is wide and projects a confidence she doesn't feel at all.[break][break]

jayden cross yells at her to find cover. But Luka does just the opposite. She wrenches his hand from her grasp and sprints in the opposite direction, hoping to lure Cresselia away from the rest of the group. As she runs she fiddles with the clasp around her neck and the lunar wing tumbles into her hand. She holds it aloft, a beacon.[break][break]

"Hey, hey! D-do you recognize this?" Even if this Cresselia is only a hologram, perhaps it recognizes the lunar wing all the same. She can only hope that it might serve as a distraction. "It means we're friends! S-so let's not fight, okay?"[break][break]

Such sentiments may not connect to ones and zeroes. But as long as she can distract Cresselia for just a moment, it may provide an opening for someone else to attack.[break][break]

Or, perhaps she'll only center the celestial being's wrath upon herself. That's okay too. It doesn't matter what happens to her so long as her friends are safe.[break][break]

However, she won't go down so passively. Luka summons Ume to her side once again, her tapir floating in a cloud of dream mist. "Frenzy plant," she murmurs. "Let's slow them down a bit..."[break][break]

Vines erupt from a digitized floor- looking less organic and more pixelated, irregular. A cage of thorns sprouts around Luka in an attempt to protect her while others slither forwards, reaching and curling around any opponent they might find. Verdant tendrils reach Zamazenta and attempt to constrict the attacking dog, and some stretch up, up, up to try and reach the flying opponents as well.[break][break]

---

[break][break][break]
- tries to distract cresselia and reason with her using the lunar wing[break]
- musharna uses frenzy plant[break]
- the frenzy plant vines attempt to protect luka and grapple the attacking legendries, with a focus on zamazenta

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

"Oof...again, again! I believe in us, totally!"[break][break]

All they need is a positive attitude, right? Faith, trust, and pixie dust![break][break]

"Let's go! Over the Gyarados!"

[break][break]

---

[break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

Hm! A shard is sparkly, at least! Not bad, not bad...[break][break]

Luka grins as she tucks it into her bag, but is almost immediately distracted by something else glimmering under the surface. Perhaps if she manifests it, she'll find a crown, or a mega stone, or something else super cool...

[break][break]

---

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

A quick text is sent to MATIAS SILPH:[break]

im at the tank again! good luck this time（=´∇｀=）[break][break]

"Sorry!" she calls to Zev Harcourt, pink curls bobbing as she waves. "It's nothing personal! I just really need to get on that seat!"[break][break]

Of course, such a declaration would be rather humiliating if she doesn't manage to make this throw—[break][break]

---

[break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

Well it's better than a ball...which isn't saying much.[break][break]

"What do you think, Madeleine? Had enough? Or do you want to look for more?"[break][break]

The answer is made for her when Milotic dives again, scouring the seafloor for a bit of sparkling treasure.

[break][break]

---

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

"Okay! This time...this time for sure!"[break][break]

She's so sure of herself this time around. A positive attitude is bound to net positive results, right?[break][break]

They take off again with a spray of seafoam, hoping to finally enter Over the Gyarados into the books.

[break][break]

---

[break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

"Hi MATIAS SILPH! I got your text!"[break][break]

Just in time, too. Luka grins as she tosses the ball a few times, getting a feel for it. She's got to make this one count.[break][break]

Buff Luka tries to make a comeback as she YEETS the ball as hard as she can at him[break][break]

---

[break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]

[attr="class","top"]

[attr="class","main"]

Not another one...[break][break]

Hadn't she just celebrated the end of a pokeball curse? And now another lands in her lap. Fate is so cruel...[break][break]

Luka sighs as she plunks the ball into her bag and scours the seafloor for something else shiny and nice and...hopefully not ball shaped.

[break][break]

---

[break][break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]