stocking up before the big fight reminds him of his first trip to ultra space. he wonders if thinking about it for a brief moment would change the outcome of the scenario the dream has placed them on.

"there's gum on my desk's drawer somewhere inside. it should have my name on it," he tells navy as he steps out. "oh, wait. you were trying to sound cool. my bad."

similar sunglasses adorn his eyes, though what differs him from navy is the full swat tactical gear. he opts for protective gear as opposed to the more comfortable uniform he had that day, and instead of the guns navy had, kyle brought with him a myriad of stun guns and a pair of collapsible batons.

"i've always wanted to experience police brutality." he had been reserved for most of his life, but he wouldn't be today. "blackwell should be targeting someone from the shipyard. come on. it's time."

kyle finds himself brimming with excitement. maybe if he wasn't as scared as he was back then, he could have at least had fun in a losing situation.

"i think you're dodging the more important part of the statement that needs to be acknowledged."

he drops the knife from his dominant hand after it has been held by matias, catching it by its handle his other hand. he twirls it like a pen around his thumb before he takes a more comfortable grip of it.

"i don't need you to tell me everything. i just need you to be honest with me."

he points the tip of the knife back to matias, though it doesn't go like a chainsaw through his flesh this time.

"are you here for something else? you could be worried about livy as well, since the florist did say she's a good choice to go for instead of fernando."

"her."

up close like this, the temptation grows. impatience hits him and he makes sure he takes the first shot.

kyle takes out his knife swiftly, plunging it on matias' side. he's careful not to hit the vitals, or rather, he knows where to hit without the risk of death. even under the spell, he thinks about how he's uncertain if he'll attempt to use ho-oh's blessing.

"i wouldn't really care, but i don't like the way you keep treating me like someone irrelevant."

the mist spreads further, which now completely shrouds them.

"she said she wants to kill silph. i think i convinced her to switch targets. i'm surprised you aren't on her list though."

"yeah. i was going to ask for crystalflowers. cowabummer."

he brings the letters along with him to the door, with his mightyena following closely. it's more of an action brought by absent thoughts, though he doesn't intend to hide it from matias anyways.

"are you looking for the florist yourself? she's not here, but i can offer you a tour of the house if you want."

kyle raises a brow in a playful display of innocent teasing, offering a smirk to the surprised avatar of groudon.

"or do you not need it anymore?"

"you're cute, in a dog way."

whether matias takes it as a compliment or not is up to him, especially considering kyle's own reputation of liking dogs.

cornered by two attackers, leafeon instead decides to take down its attackers with it. a weather ball is fired at close range, splitting into an explosion against the multiple x-scissors that eventually forces it to fall.

on the other end of the field, the ninetales takes its place back and keeping the sun in play. a fire blast is thrown at the direction of the both matias' pokemon, conveniently grouped to double team on the grass-type.

with the leafeon's defeat, kyle takes his heliolisk back to the field.

"huh?"

genuine confusion comes to kyle with the accusations.

"are you on drugs?"

he would ask her to explain everything, but the aggression dissuades kyle from doing so. if melody, who wasn't the type of person to get confrontational, acted like this, then he can already guess that she'll also accuse him for feigning ignorance.

instead, he turns to matias.

"do you know something? terrakion just brought me here."

his heart beats fast. he has been on his fair share of adventures and adrenaline-ridden scenarios, but it is always the ones that deal with the heart that he finds himself the most vulnerable.

fear and anxiety come with the confession despite having known of it beforehand. it hits different once he finally hears it from his lips, but it's the promise of those words that gives him the same thrill of adventure that he seeks from the game of life.

he wraps his arms around him.

"i love you too."

"then don't force yourself."

he smiles.

"there are things that don't really translate well with words, so i get it."

something bubbles in kyle's stomach. the confident man's awkwardness is felt, and kyle takes a shot in the dark to ease the discomfort of a partner who had been with him for a lifetime.

"...but i can entertain a farewell kiss if you want to."

somehow, he feels it. even if the sensation in his heart was absent, he trusts the recounting of matias. promises are settled on compromises by both parties, and he feels like this is the best terms he can come up with.

he finds a little huff of joy escape his lungs as matias urges him along. it didn't feel like the borders when it's just the two of them, but rather a stroll in a forest in a backyard or something similar.

memories of a retainer that tugs him away from being sidetracked were long gone, but the feeling of longing the scene in his heart remained. it was bittersweet, but kyle has gotten used to the sensation.

"you think?" he asks, making small talk as they make progress on exploration. "but history is important for a reason."

kyle takes a picture of the mural as a remembrance this ultra space adventure before following matias deeper into the city.

only after did he launch his last attack did kyle see the actual extent of the fight's aftermath. he blinks, but isn't completely surprised. trying to optimize action economy, kyle takes it upon himself to do first aid.

it only takes one smile at the smeargle for the pokemon to get what his trainer meant. it bows its head with disappointment, but knows the sync it has with his trainer's infinity energy fueled sygna suit allows it to understand.

a swish of its tail and a step in its gait, the pokemon performs a lunar dance that drains its energy in lieu of invigorating everyone.

the smeargle drops on the ground, exhausted to a point of fatigue, and its unsuitable condition to fight is enough to deactivate the suit. as soon as his powers are back, magic happens.



the two beasts immediately make their appearance right back. raikou races from kyle's side to take emmett brookes while suicune takes DEREK HOFFMAN , offering to give them a ride until they can either send out their own ride pokemon or focus on recovering. should they decline, they simply turn back to dust.



"good shit, guys! we'll take care of first aid, uh, away from here!" he can always abuse his champion authority to emphasize urgency for the responders, but he's keeping it in his back pocket for now.



entei makes an appearance late. it leers at kyle as he responds with a disgusted expression. their banter ends with nothing but a stare down. they had no time to be playful with each other when things needed to be done.

it quickly scoops up kyle, bringing him and his healing aura to where Vanilla Kingsley was. "good effort," he tells her before turning to both Isaac Merlo and El Sunderland nearby, both of which helped her.

"so, which one of you guys need help in evacuation?"

tl;dr

• smeargle uses lunar dance to heal everyone and faints
• deactivates sygna suit
• avatar powers start a regen aura
• raikou helps out emmett
• suicune helps out derek
• entei appears and brings kyle to the clump near vanilla
• offers to give injured people a ride

"huh? league?" kyle shares her laugh back with a chuckle.

"why did you bring that up? are they living in your head rent free? i thought this was a one-on-one conversation between two individuals unbound by their office of employment."

projection is all kyle can conclude. he smiles at his judgement, unoffended that he's being referred to as a symbol of the league even though he's nothing but a piece in their board.

"what you said is something i agree, so i'm not sure why you laughed. i will correct you though. it's exactly because they're honest with themselves that it's on the verge of collapse every time. funny. i now get why that got you smiling."

that's why aqua is fun. the chaos and the drama behind each spat during the meeting was entertainment, even if it was a headache. as long as he's not the one in charge of it, he's willing to be a spectator.

eventually, her disposition changes. he joins her in some lighthearted banter.

"what is what? i'm the avatar of ho-oh. the only sedation his legends mention is death. do you want death?"

the solgaleo continues to fight with the grass-type in the background.

"correction. you know the consequences. you don't care about them."

although not particularly offended, he doesn't filter the brashness of his words around the volatile anymore. let him be aggravated if he wants. kyle knows he wouldn't.

"you always do this. there's no point. i know you."

perhaps it was matias that he learned to twist his words around so half-truths become full statements during his days as a king. this was forgotten, but it was never unlearned.

his steps stop right in front of him. mist billows by his legs, but fading just before they reach matias. he stares right up, maintaining eye contact.

"are you really here for me?"

"or maybe it's you that's already under the influence of the mist and this version of kyle is the worst possible outcome for you and your organization's plans."

the context is lost on him and the first thing that comes to mind when the mist is talked about is the interdream mist.

"if you're going to argue to me that i'm under the mist's spell, then you're giving me a reason to attack you to free myself from it, right?"

the ho-oh gets a protective safeguard up as a passive way to show readiness in combat.