[attr="class","skullimg"]

[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Seeing something on the wall, Turbo surged forward, slapping it with his tail to send it flying gowards their mysterious pursuer.[break][break]

The bottle of incense promptly shattered, only pissing it off more. Why were there so many down here?[break][break]

Not wanting to get gobbled up, the Isaacfleet desperately picked up speed. They had to make it out of this jam![break][break]

m97B2zpL

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]The most important thing was to not be seen.[break][break]

Sanford dragged Isaac through the immaterium like a boat through troubled waters. Whenever they surfaced, it was under the cover of darkness. The shadiest corners of the most abandoned rooms of the facility were preferable. In a pinch, a storage closet would do instead. There, Sanford could gather energy between jaunts, while Isaac could try to get a sense of the lay of the land.[break][break]

Not that he'd risk his his own hide by searching. That was what the third member of their little party was for. Echo popped his head out from Isaac's leather jacket, his horns vibrating like a tuning fork. Trying to track via scent through the Phantom Plane would have been folly. Taking a look around themselves would be suicide. But Telepathy? That just might do the trick.[break][break]

At first, there was nothing. Then a faint murmur broke the silence.[break][break]

"Huh? What is it, Echo?" Isaac asked, concern blooming beneath his mask. The poor Ralts had a disquieted look on his face, but he tried his best to keep strong. He shot Isaac a wavering smile, and getting a ruffle of his bowlcut in response. "I know this can't be easy. But, thanks for being strong for me, buddy. We'll get you out of here soon. I promise."[break][break]

Despite Echo's best attempts, it never got easier. With each jaunt, they grew closer to the source of the bad thoughts. The closer they got, the more Echo started to feel the effects. By the time they were nearing their destination, the poor Ralts was shaking like a leaf. Worry shot through Isaac like a bullet with his name on it. He grabbed the Ralts and held him tight, desperate to try and soothe him.[break][break]

"Its okay," Isaac whispered. "I'll call you back. San and I can take it from here. All you gotta do is rest now, okay? You don't have to stick around. I promi-"[break][break]

Before he could finish, Echo pressed his face into Isaac's chest.[break][break]

"Nobody is coming for me."[break][break]

Isaac took a step back, eye widened and jaw dropped.[break][break]

"They should just kill me and get it over with. Then I can rest without pain.[break][break]

He wasn't even an empath, and yet each thought was like a spike being stuck clean through his head.[break][break]

"There's no hope for me. Not that there should be."[break][break]

"Caleb . . ."[break][break]

Tears stung at the back of Isaac's eye, but he forced them back. They were close now. So close. Too close. These thoughts must have been agony for poor Echo to handle. They must have been agony for poor Caleb to handle. What the fuck were they even doing to him in there that a quick death at Zev's hands would be so preferable?[break][break]

Isaac tried to find the words. Before he could, Echo was already gone.[break][break]

"Echo-!" An algal bloom smothered across Isaac's face. They hadn't come this far just to have Isaac's big, squishy heart give their position away. Before he could protest any further, Sanford dragged them back into the phantom plane for one last jaunt.[break][break]

They appeared just in time to see Echo slam into a nearby wall. Pink energy pulsed around his head, but it was to no avail. The Alakazam guarding this room was bigger, stronger, and far more gifted in the psychic arts. Poor Echo was completely overwhelmed, each attempt at fighting back earning him another slam into the wall.[break][break]

Of course. Echo hadn't lost his nerve and fled. Echo, as a psychic in his own right, had realized they weren't alone. He'd also realized his probing Telepathy wouldn't go unnoticed. By taking the fall as the lone interloper, he could buy Isaac and Sanford time to sneak in beneath the Alakazam's notice.[break][break]

Isaac would just have to repay the favor in kind.[break][break]

Gripping Sanford by the chain, he leaped from the shadows like a wild animal. He slung the chain around the Alakazam's throat, pulling it taut and leaning back with all of his might. It was an unorthodox sort of Anchor Shot, but it the shadows coursing through Sanford's chains would keep the Alakazam from teleporting out all the same.[break][break]

Gasping for air, the Alakazam did its damndest to fight back. No matter how tautly Isaac pulled, its Kinesis bent metal back, giving it enough breathing room to stay on its feet. Pointing a spoon towards Echo, it used its own Psychic power to fling the Ralts towards Isaac's head. However, Sanford was on the ball, Growth spreading up its main algal colony to safely catch the Ralts.[break][break]

It wasn't clean or easy, but Isaac refused to give in. Each pull gave him slightly more ground and the Alakazam slightly less air. It swung its back from side to side to try and throw Isaac off, even staggering into a wall just to smash him into it. Were it not for Sanford bracing his back, the pain may have made him let go right then and there. Refusing to let that happen, he kicked roughly at the back of the Alakazam's knee, forcing its stance to give way.[break][break]

Isaac wrenched back on the chain as hard as he could, panting heavily from the exertion. This was starting to wear him out, but judging by the Alakzam's movements slowing, the feeling was mutual. It smashed at Isaac's knuckles with its spoons, but Isaac tried to block with the chain best he could. Even when they connected, the adrenaline coursing through his veins refused the idea of letting go.[break][break]

Only when he heard the sound of spoons clattering to the ground did Isaac let up. Slowly, gingerly, he guided the Alakazam to the ground. His chest heaved. His breathing was heavy. Had he not gotten off that surprise attack, he knew this rescue mission would have been over before it even started. But he had, so it wasn't, and that meant he could focus on what was important.[break][break]

With that, he made a beeline to the center of the room. He'd come here for one reason and one reason only, and that reason was-[break][break]

"Caleb . . ."

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Isaac couldn't help but cock an eyebrow as Frou-Frou strayed away from her freshly seared path. If the Rapidash really wanted to hurt him, she had an all too easy means of doing so. Instead, she not only respected the terms of their engagement, but stayed away from the parts of their assigned battlefield that had stopped being safe.[break][break]

Had Asher already earned her respect?[break][break]

It was clear he had, but that didn't mean Frou-Frou was going to give up the ghost without a fight. She turned up the tempo for a rush of Swords Dances, and it was clear that Asher's grip was starting to slip. The song was in its final moments, and so was his endurance. Could he hang on for what little time he needed?[break][break]

As Asher squeaked and gasped, Isaac's met his gaze head on. Words would disrupt. Actions would interfere. But everything Isaac could ever want to say or do was captured in a brief, significant moment of eye contact and a simple, proud smile.[break][break]

It wasn't just that Isaac believed in him. It was that Isaac damn well knew Asher believed in himself. So long as he kept faith in both of those things, he would end this trial the victor.

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Crewmate. There is one imposter among you.[break][break]

This was weird. Usually, there was at least a handful of incognito Rockets sneaking along with the latest going-ons in the Hoenn region. Whether because it benefited the organization, it benefited themselves, or because the region was their home too, there was always some interest simmering around Rocket's ranks. This time, it wasn't meant to be. Isaac was all by his lonesome.[break][break]

Okay. So lonesome was a strong word. CIAN MAHER was here, though after shying away from their champion assessment issue Isaac was a little nervous to approach him. So, too, was Michael Navidson, someone Isaac was a lot more familiar and comfortable with. Even the top champion of Hoenn himself, kyle lopez, who everyone knew but Isaac had met in passing at Julia Davis's birthday.[break][break]

And then there was El Sunderland. Months ago, Isaac would run hiding at the mention of their name. They were a reminder of everything Isaac had left behind, for better or for worse. They were a reminder of the harm that his vacuum had caused. They were a reminder of the harm that his position in Team Rocket actively caused, no matter how much he tried to tip the cosmic scales in trade.[break][break]

Yet they welcomed him back with open arms anyway.[break][break]

Now the two siblings stood, side by side, ready to face these adventures together. Even if nobody else on this boat could truly understand Isaac, he knew El would. It was the truth he'd run from for damn near a year because he was sure he hadn't deserved it. No more. No more running. No more hiding.[break][break]

The second he found Caleb Harcourt, no more Rocket.[break][break]

This wasn't about Caleb, though. At least, it wasn't in full. Sure, Isaac wanted to measure his abilities before embarking on the most dangerous journey in his life. However, he also wanted to do right by a region that had already suffered enough. If that meant donning his Sygna Suit and standing against hordes of mutated Pokemon, then so be it.[break][break]

Clad in silver armor and a horned helm, he looked the spitting image of Kiryu. Even though she had long passed, he was a living testament to her memory. If he was a symbol of the past she'd given him, the Aron standing before him was a symbol of the future she'd set free. Together, their hearts beat as one, the strength of their will pushing back even the sweltering heat of the volcano.[break][break]

"Neo, don't let 'em shell us from the cliffs like that!" Isaac warned, gesturing to the Magmortar as they began their approach up the mountain. "Lets return fire!" The Aron nodded, rushing to a nearby stone and nibbling it furiously. With each chomp, stones began forming from the holes in her shell, forming a Rock Tomb artillery that she launched towards those pesky Magmortar.[break][break]

IqRMuby3[break][break]

TEAL DEER;[break]
Sygna Suit active. Neo the Aron uses Rock Tomb as an artillery bombardment on the Magmortar.

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]What Poseidon had hoped would be an entire vein of Z Crystals was instead an entire trench full of Pokeballs. She was so mad, she could just grab one and fling it away![break][break]

Unfortunately, her sickles made that impossible. She looked to Alexander, who simply shrugged with his equally unsuitable flippers. Octavio decided to show mercy, using his far more flexible flippers to do the job.[break][break]

As a Pokeball bounced off what seemed to be a cliff face, a single eye creaked open. Uh oh. Time to swim like hell![break][break]

e|siWFb2

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[attr="class","skullbody"]"Who's awesome? We're awesome!"[break][break]

He'd swung from climbing rope to climbing rope, Vivi's psychic powers bringing them closer whenever he was about to miss. He scaled towering walls and ran through gauntlets of nerf and water guns. He walked through the spinning tunnel of disorientation while, against all odds, not losing his lunch. A final dive into a pit of endless foam brought it all full circle.[break][break]

Isaac was the first to pop his head out. After him came Ivan, the Jolteon letting out a series of triumphant yips. Eve was next, the Eevee quick to follow in her father's footsteps. Finally came Vivi, the Espeon having to fish Evan the Flareon out from the foam before he fell asleep under it all.[break][break]

Vee Force Five had conquered the Joyland arena.[break][break]

The second he was out from the foam, Ivan pancaked onto the ground. His energy gone and his pride immense, he began whining for some sort of snack as a reward for a job well done. Vivi, seeing how he hungered, tried to scamper off to go grab some for him. It was a good thing her little-big brother could snag her by the collar before she ran off![break][break]

"Oi, oi, Eve," Isaac said, barely able to contain his amusement. "You can't just go get churros yourself! You're a Pokemon, silly."[break][break]

The pointing of Vivi's tails, and the mischievous giggle on her face, caught Isaac's eye. Confused, he followed where she was looking; apparently, churro stands did accept Eevee customers! Isaac did a double take as he saw an Umbreon staring towards the stand with intent.[break][break]

Pandora's box had opened up. Eve charged off. Evan followed. Even Ivan, who had apparently been feigning distress like a lazy bones, charged after them. Only Vivi remained, amusement twinkling in her big, soulful eyes. "You four are gonna be the death of me," Isaac said, a wry smile on his face. "C'mon. Lets eat."

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]Go back.[break][break]

Galar. An impressionist painting masquerading as a dream masquerading as a memory. Hazy lines knit together in the shape of people, finding solace in each other's love for twenty years that melted into yesterday. Daughters whose faces he could no longer recall, a love whose location he could no longer tell, a sworn brother whose safety he could no longer ensure.[break][break]

Go back.[break][break]

The Championship Assessment. He had conquered six of Hoenn's strongest gyms, proven himself by every concievable metric, seen significant growth as a person. Despite that, his heart was uncertain, not yet forged in the fires of his kingdom. Perhaps he would have passed. He was far too busy fleeing to know, same as it ever was.[break][break]

Go back.[break][break]

The unspeakable act he committed at his master's behest. They said the first kill was always the hardest. The idea of adding a second to his list made him want to vomit. Sometiems, the common wisdom was wrong. Through his bile he found conviction, but at what cost? The life of a man whose end was already written?[break][break]

Go back.[break][break]

The decay of the Fiorelli Floristry, and with it any chance he had of finding a normal life. The grudge seared into his mind by a woman he once considered a friend erupted through his brain, a splitting headache laced with whispers that may or may not have been his own. He was unsure which possibility scared him more.[break][break]

Go back.[break][break]

The Border, where for the second time in Isaac's life he had died. The crushing grip of a Golurk had spelled his end. The love and loyalty of his friends, his team, and his own stubborn ghost ensured that he'd make it back. A part of Isaac wondered if he was truly still alive.[break][break]

Go back.[break][break]

Dewford. He didn't know what he wanted from his life, but he knew he never wanted this. For Rocket to claim the very realm he now stood within had been an unexpected surprise. He wouldn't know. He was too busy doing what he should have back on Mt. Pyre, escorting the lost and the damned to safety while he could.[break][break]

Go back.[break][break]

A brother's coronation, surrounded by the four horsemen of the apocalypse. War. Death. Pestilence. Worst among them all, cowardice. Isaac wished he had said something while he could. What words he did have reached him now, far too late.[break][break]

Go back.[break][break]

A child's body, limp and weak in his arms. Mauville City, a protest in the wake of the incoming meteor. Mauville Gym, where his attempts at preparing a friend only ruined them. It had all been his fault.[break][break]

Go back.[break][break]

The night of the meteor's descent. He expected to hear the labored breaths that haunted his every nightmare. Instead, Kiryu lay before him, serene as a sleeping newborn. Her eyes were closed. Her smile was serene. Even as the side of his face where he once had an eye pulsed with pain, Isaac wanted to stay here forever.[break][break]

Then she spoke.[break][break]

"Go back."[break][break]

A dance with the devil as monsters surrounded him on all sides.[break][break]

A clash with an angel, who despite everything believed he could be good.[break][break]

A runaway experiment, the score between them never settled.[break][break]

A digital world, where Isaac learned his surrender would only bring his demise.[break][break]

A failed intervention, where the Rocket he sought to stop was the first to see his potential and insisted he follow.[break][break]

Five years of exile, his spark left behind on the roadside day after day until there was nothing left.[break][break]

His eighteenth birthday, where no law could hold him back. He had nothing to gain and everything to lose, and yet he still found it preferable to staying a single day longer. A pair of soulful blue eyes stared back at him, knit with worry and yet ready to follow him into the crucible. Once more, they spoke.[break][break]

"Go back, to the beginning."[break][break]

The sacrifice of dream after unfilled dream. What did they matter anymore? He'd never be the one to fill them.[break][break]

Argument after argument, desperate attempts at being noticed giving way to the rage that it would never come.[break][break]

The incident on Mt. Chimney that broke the only person who mattered to him and forever changed everything.[break][break]

The slow, dawning realization that a father's love was conditional at best, especially when he had a replacement lined up.[break][break]

The blissful ignorance before he knew that to be true, back when he had been lucky enough to receive it.[break]

Dark, hazy, before his mind, body, and even soul were formed. The knowledge that the man he refused to call father was, in fact, not. Who had been? If Isaac was being honest, he neither knew nor cared.[break][break]

The Isaac of the past looked down the road he had walked. He looked down the road he would walk. He then turned to those blue eyes that, to this day, he still mourned. "We're almost there," he said, voice quiet and soft. "There's just a little more I'm gonna do. But I'm gonna finally make you proud."[break][break]

A tight hug, strong as steel and sturdy as stone, cut his thought off. In that moment, Isaac knew he always had.[break][break]

He wanted so badly to linger on this last memory, maybe for the rest of his life. Yet, as the Xatu turned his gaze away, Isaac found himself settling back into his present. Just a bit further. He was almost there.[break][break]

He wasn't the only one troubled. Priam turned to Isaac, voice filled with shaky conviction. Isaac returned it with a smile born from the same place. "That's the spirit," he said, trying his best to be the pillar of strength Kiryu had once been. "What's on your mind?"

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"Well, duh, I don't have anything against old people." Sure, the crusty old fucks running Rocket and the Council needed to just stop already. But the hungry young fucks trying to run the show could be just as bad.[break][break]

"Real problem? There's nothing to do!" Isaac gestured for emphasis at the enormity of Dewford stretching beneath them. "You guys get beaches and surf contests and meeting halls and a whole cave system to explore. And what can I do? Shrivel up in a hot tub and bake in the sun til I look 20 years older?"[break][break]

"Or climb the mountain that nearly took my little sib's leEEEEEEEEG!?"[break][break]

Isaac wished he could blame it on the gravity. It was a shame the words came tumbling out before the fall had even begun. He'd never considered it that way before, but it was hard to deny. Lavaridge's one landmark of note, maybe one of the coolest in all of Hoenn, had forever been tainted by what had happened to El Sunderland.[break][break]

A part of him hated being so weak. Another part hated that, even after everything he'd been through, he jumped to using such words to describe his tender heart.

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[attr="class","skullbody"]"Same reason I show up anywhere. Just happened to blow in on the breeze."[break][break]

It had been forever since Isaac had last pulled the mysterious drifter card. For one, he didn't have a bike anymore, and it was a lot harder to fill that role without a set of wheels. It was also a lot harder to find comfort in his role of "grey Rocket" when they played their hand and tried to exploit the Meteno for their own gain.[break][break]

To risk so much and take so little. Isaac couldn't even blame Elinor for trying to kill him on sight.[break][break]

That was then. This was now. Elinor had far bigger problems than a Rocket existing somewhere. Isaac had far bigger problems than his own personal hangups. Even his mysterious drifter shtick, for the first time in a while, had been the truth.[break][break]

Mega Steelix. Shiny Steelix. Normal Steelix. Baby Steelix. The gang was all here. Their symphony of destruction at the will of a screaming conductor was a spectacle to behold. Even if there hadn't been a tragedy at the eye of this storm, Isaac would have shown up just to watch.[break][break]

Yet the hurt in his voice made it clear there was so much left unsaid.[break][break]

"I won't pry, if you don't want me to." He wouldn't. He knew from Cillian Quinn how poorly that could go. "But something tells me this isn't training day."

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[attr="class","skulltitle"]導通抵抗

[attr="class","skullbody"]"She will be." Isaac's smile, soft and reassuring, briefly took on a distant look. "And even if she isn't always fine, that's okay. Sometimes you just gotta take some time to clear your head and figure it out, yeah? Trust me. Bet tomorrow she'll be texting up a storm with a big ol' smile on her face."[break][break]

It was like a hangover. Just bloodier.[break][break]

It was also all too true for Isaac, too. There had been a lot on his mind as of late. Not a lot of it was stuff Nomi could help out with. In fact, if anything, it was the exact opposite. Nobody in Rocket could learn his doubts. Nobody in Rocket could learn his fears. Nobody in Rocket could learn his secret duty.[break][break]

He knew they'd never forgive him for freeing Caleb Harcourt from his fate.[break][break]

"Hey, what else are friends for?" he said. He knew, even if Nomi could never help him with this deepest, darkest secret, she'd fall over herself to help him out with anything else in the meanwhile. She was a good friend. Loyal. Kind. Sharp as a whip and surprisingly charming.[break][break]

Arceus, leaving her behind was going to be the hardest part of all of this.[break][break]

"You're one of the best I could ever ask for, y'know," he admitted, knowing he'd have precious little time left to let her know of that fact. "I know you're still trying to figure out the whole social thing, but. The people you let in are lucky to have you. Parker most of all. So make sure you pop out of that lab every now and then and give 'em a chance, yeah?"[break][break]

With any luck, she'd be well taken care of when he was gone.

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[attr="class","skullbody"]The war between Asher and his Rapidash was truly something to behold. Isaac made sure to step back and give them wide berth, not wanting to end up the collateral damage beneath Frou-Frou's feet.[break][break]

Stomps. Sword Dances. Even a High Horsepower that bulldozed clean through the nearby shrubbery. Frou-Frou wasn't holding anything back. Buffaloman had put up a fight, true. But whereas his riding style was chaotic, Frou-Frou's was downright hostile. It was as if she was making every targeted effort possible to get Asher off of her back.[break][break]

But there was one trick she didn't have up her sleeves; a Z-Move.[break][break]

A High Horsepower was nothing compared to the gravity-defying speeds Buffaloman had charged around at. If Asher could hang on through those, he could hang on through anything.[break][break]

For the time being, Isaac dared not interfere. Even as he wanted to cheer Asher on, he feared the sound of his voice would either void the challenge or disrupt him at a key moment. This was not his place to make this about him. All he could do from here was put his trust in Asher, no matter how rocky things got.[break][break]

Isaac had no doubt he'd come out on top.

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