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As the fiery wrath of hell rained down upon them, Nomi somehow - against all odds - managed to reach Parker.[break][break]
And when she did, time seemed to stand still.[break][break]
Nomi had hundreds of eyes, but at first, she could not accept that what she was seeing was real. Her Parker, burning alive, her arm - that arm - covered in bubbling, blistered flesh. Her Parker, reduced to a screaming, incoherent victim of what had to be insurmountably terrible pain.[break][break]
It's happening again, some part of her mind agonized. She's dying. It was a small, helpless, numb voice - the one that was resigned to this endless cycle of losing the people she loved.[break][break]
No, a different voice denied. NO.[break][break]
Smoke billowed, the Councilwoman howled, and a Lucario burst from the ashen debris. The dozens of Unown that hung in the sky around Nomi began to glow, and their Avatar's eyes drained of all color - turning a stark white, just like theirs. And when PENELOPE LIVY decried the Visionary, declared with vengeful confidence that the end had arrived, Nomi let go of the intellectual thread she had wound so tightly around the spool of her power, and allowed her emotions to take control.[break][break]
And together, we will see to the end.[break][break]
"THIS IS NOT HOW IT ENDS!"[break][break]
[break]
A blue, crystalline light brighter than any star burst forth from Nomi's body - so hot it felt cold - and shattered the city she had built from their collective fractured memories into a thousand glittering pieces. Magma evaporated. Flames blew out. A howling force of energy met Gunner Graves and his Salamence head-on as they dived, pushing them back. And with every fibre of her being, Nomi willed reality to bend around PENELOPE LIVY and blind her to fate.[break][break]
Paws doused in healing aura cradled Parker. Nomi collapsed to her knees, gathered Parker's hand - the unburnt one (the one that doesn't have the nerve damage) - and pressed it to her cheek. Tears fell onto calloused skin, and as locks of pink hair fell around both women - surreally severed - she pictured Sootopolis hospital and teleported them away.

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All because of you.[break][break]
Shurikens of white-hot flame sliced through the smoke, streaking towards Nomi and Parker like miniature comets.[break][break]
She didn't notice. She didn't care. She stood, frozen, dozens of eyes blinking in and out of existence around her like an eldritch halo, her mind hurtling backwards in time (or was it forwards?) to a different battlefield with a different adversary.[break][break]
How stark the blood had been, spilled crimson across the snow. How agonized her screams, when she'd seen Parker's crushed body, thrown like a rag-doll against a solid stone wall. How bittersweet, when she'd realized Parker would live, but her arm wouldn't work anymore, wouldn't move how it used to. How awful, when Parker had asked her to remove the ring, her ring, heart pounding to the rhythm of my fault, my fault, my fault - [break][break]
The same nightmare was playing out again, and this time, there was no guarantee of a second chance. This time, Parker might not stand up at all, with or without a working arm.[break][break]
This isn't fair.[break][break]
Tendrils of envy snaked their way through Nomi's ribs, causing her chest to constrict. Always, her loved ones were taken from her, snatched away before she could ever truly relax - ever truly lean into the comfort and safety of finally, finally having a family.[break][break]
Her grandmother had died. Her parents had died. Isaac Merlo had abandoned her. For a time, Lulu Flint had been missing. She still didn't know what to do about the beast that had sunk its frigid claws into jayden cross. And then there were the blurry memories - of others - of people she had cared for, people who had mattered, who had been unceremoniously ripped away from her, leaving a massive, empty void where their names and faces ought to have been: all that remained a profound feeling of loss.[break][break]
But a vengeful, toxic woman like PENELOPE LIVY was allowed to be happy? Was allowed the power to protect those she loved? Was given the authority to judge Nomi's integrity? Was able to take Parker from Nomi too?[break][break]
It. Wasn't. FAIR.[break][break]
Blue crystals began to materialize out of thin air, shards zipping together as if magnetic, forming into massive constructs lifelike in proportion. Nomi did not seem to notice, crimson eyes glazed over with rage and terror, whitening at the edges as if trapped in-between the transfer from her own vision to that of the Unown's.[break][break]
All around PENELOPE LIVY, Gunner Graves, parker jones and their Pokemon, an eerily accurate representation of the city of Circhester manifested. Along the smooth panels of crystal, scenes shimmered to life - children laughing, playing with their father, a man who looked suspiciously like an older version of ollie morales. A little cabin in the woods, where people gathered to celebrate holidays, GIDEON GRAVES and his younger brother surrounded by the community they had built together. A young man tossing a ring to an older man - an older version of Gunner Graves - [break][break]
And a wedding. A wedding with strawberry cake and wildflowers and a white dress and - [break][break]
Nomi screamed, legs finally moving, eyes white and seeing everything all at once - flickering between every Unown that circled her, like a twisted kaleidoscope - searching searching searching for Parker amidst the calamity Chi-Yu's Avatar had wrought.

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Kallistatus flipped around in mid-air when Andrea addressed it, zipping down to circle Nomi like it was a miniature moon orbiting a planet. Nomi chuckled, recognizing the reaction as a sign of affirmation. It was confirming its loyalty to Nomi as something more than just duty: it was real affection.[break][break]
"I can tell that your Pokemon love you, too," Nomi commented, eyeing Junior and his family still grazing nearby. "The enemies of this world tend to scoff at our attempts to befriend Pokemon, but that makes them the fools."[break][break]
Nomi's expression sobered once more, feeling suddenly tired.[break][break]
"I don't want you or your Pokemon to get hurt, Andrea, but everyone has a part to play in the war to come. The Triad fears Avatars, and while it is true that we have the most firepower at our fingertips, anyone can make a difference in the fight to preserve our world."[break][break]
The Unown were excellent spies, but there simply weren't enough of them to keep watch over every corner of the region. And, in terms of battle, skilled trainers would always be needed.[break][break]
"Can I count on you to alert me if you ever come across a member of the DRK Triad, or think you've found evidence of their meddling? And if you run into one of my Rocket peers...try not to fight them. I'm not asking you to forgo defending yourself, if you're being attacked, but...we need to do our best to de-escalate the faction conflict."[break][break]
The more people committed to the cause, the better. On both sides.
[break][break][break]

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