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The Groudon roars its last. And with it, every sacrifice made to this point leads to the final moments. Selena breaks out the secret weapon, and with it her Hatterene strikes, and a breath later, Tokugawa exits the other side of the Groudon, Laguna still clung onto the metal beast, having seen the simulated insides of a Groudon.[break][break]

And it's over. Just like that.[break][break]

Limping over their direction, Salem the Umbreon makes a weak, painful mew as she approaches, with Ana the Pikachu out cold and broken. And though the victory could be afforded to them, it was not without suffering at the jaws of defeat. Every piece moved how it needed to, and as Ashley returns the Pikachu and the Umbreon, he just looks towards Goomy, who snores happily on the metal biped that had slain a god.[break][break]

They did it.[break][break]

It was done.[break][break]

The battle is over, and Ashley throws a fist up to the air. He had been wrong about Hitoshi, and he shoots him a smirk. Knew where the heart was, and took it. A smirk that softens to Selena.[break][break]

"Fuck yeah."[break][break]

Game over, Groudon.

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He woke up today, seeing his own reflection. He'd grown bags under his eyes now. How old was he now? Forty-five, right? Huh. Twenty years ago, stress had torn him asunder. The stress of an era of war, the troubles of an oppressive Rocket attempting to be a mainstay. Years ago, he spoke with Isaac Merlo about Rocket, and how little it mattered.[break][break]

"You were right, old friend."[break][break]

He dreamed a lot of those who he hadn't seen for a long, long time. He missed them. In a perfect world, his queen would have had ana fell and Naia Kayode as bridesmaids, a ringbearer in Eris Halla, and his best man would have been Isaac. Hell, he'd have put jayden cross as his best man if he were here too. Or mint frost. He didn't care. He missed them. He remembered toasting to the people on the night of his wedding, and what should have been happiness left him in tears as he missed them more than anything.[break][break]

He remembered looking to the sunrise the following morning.[break][break]

"The rains have ceased, and we have been graced with another beautiful day." The morning sun would alone see the cascading waterfall from his silver eyes.[break][break]

But you are not here to see it.[break][break]

---[break][break]

With travel possible, King Ash of Hammerlocke would adorn himself in his attire and make travel. kepler brueshaber was building a Kingsguard, a task he did incredibly well as his queen. Selena Desmarais could handle things here while he made for travel. King Ash had his own travels to make. He had business to take care of. And hatchets to bury.[break][break]

While he holds no ill will towards Remiel Calcifet or Biscotti Kingsley, he does try to have some kind of raport with both. Though, he often times sides more with Selena. She was like a big sister to him, more so in these times than back in...[break][break]

Hoenn was it called? He was forgetting now. Born to Unova, moved to Kanto, and living in Hoenn for years before this.[break][break]

He visits royalty.[break][break]

To ollie morales and PENELOPE LIVY of Motostoke, where he would bend a knee. A couple he had once wronged greatly, in a life that was far past gone. He revealed his name to both as King Ash. To both, he would allow his name to be said as just Ash. They were all royalty. And he bore as many gifts as he could from Hammerlocke to Motostoke. "I cannot make up for my youth. But I do hope, these gifts serve you well. I cannot ask you for forgiveness as a king. But I can ask for it as a man." He seems so much happier. So much more positive. And as he kneels, head against the stone of the floor, he would hope that is enough.[break][break]

And yet, King Ollie pulls him up. He yoinks him upwards, and with it... he feels light as a feather.[break][break]

... he likes this man. The sunshine yellow smile. Tells him to call him Ollie. "We may be kings, but... you can both call me Ash."[break][break]

He wishes he invited King Ollie and Queen Penelope to the wedding now.[break][break]

He goes to see THEO BECKETT in Motostoke too, and even buys him a drink, wanting to at least tell the man that he became something more. He wants to ask him about his life. He wants to thank him for being a best dad he ever had. Out of the long laundry list of them he had... Theo was at least two fours on the dice.[break][break]

To Raziel Beckett and Summer Atreides of Circhester, a beautiful place, where he visits a pub to enjoy drinks. He sees both of them, with intent to open up lines of communication, should either be needing to contact Hammerlocke.[break][break]

To aaron faust and illeana reyes of Ballonlea, another beautiful place, with a woman he swore he saw on an app a long time ago. He has wronged neither, and merely bows to both. Though the journey takes a lot out of him, he ensures all locations are open.[break][break]

But the journey to bury bad blood was even homeward bound.[break][break]

When he returns to Hammerlocke, he has a goal. He calls upon paxton concordas. A grudge that he had still held, even now, and a number of bodies who had long since passed on come to his mind, and drag behind him still. Those lost, long since gone, but never forgotten. He would engage in a conversation with.[break][break]

It's hard, to confront someone who had been the bane of multiple nights in youth, but those woes had festered and healed. Scars. That's what they were to him.[break][break]

"I wish to dub you an elite guard of Hammerlocke."[break][break]

It's... painful. A conversation that Ashley once upon a time would never have made, but maturity forces him to take it on, and so he does. He holds Landon in contempt no longer.[break][break]

"My wife leads too. And I wish... I hope, you can lead with us. I know your strength firsthand, and I would be honored."[break][break]

Finally. He learned the name Concord Hallas, the masked knight. He had him in his company. He didn't know if they could ever trust each other fully, but right now, for the times ahead, no matter the blood, it needed to be put aside.[break][break]

Kep's work bears fruit too. An elite guard, no less. A task that he knew his hand, his queen could make. He remembers coming home that day, and twirling with his wife in his arms, only to feel his back suffer from the exerted stress.[break][break]

Growing old is getting old... a sentiment he knows too well, as Haku the Dragonite hugs him one more time one night he was out in the stars. She curls up on the balcony, her favorite spot in her olden age.[break][break]

She never did wake back up.[break][break]

---[break][break]

There was still work to be done in Hammerlocke, though. Life could come back, could be fixed. The war took many lives, and inevitably when the end comes years down the line, it would take more. But for now, there was something he had to do.[break][break]

He established the Shepard Orphanage. He would order it built. And he designed it, he built the schematics for it. Sleepless nights trying to find a home for these children that lost so much. He would ensure it was readied. And then, in the building, he tossed his crown to the bed to assist it being built. He had the muscles, he was going to help the labor. Nacho, his Hawlucha, and Sunny, his Raboot, helped too. Santana would cut wood, and Ana? She would always be there, wiping off his face.[break][break]

I took a few months of hard work and dedication. But sitting in Hammerlocke now was a home for kids who lost everything. Something he wished he had on the streets of Unova. And with the happiness returning to those who lost everything in years of turmoil and war, to hear the giggling masses, the people of Galar smiling again.[break][break]

He felt liberated.[break][break]

It makes it worse, when he asks some of them their names. And he broke down crying that day. Kids named after those from the past. His heart shattered at Jaden. Izaak. Signe. Naya. Among others... the kids called him a crybaby, for just looking at them and bawling at just their names.[break][break]

That made him laugh.[break][break]

On the last visit though, when he and Kep both go... when he's busy teaching young Izaak how to ride a Mudsdale, he would see Queen Kepler excuse himself to go cry. And Ashley, old as he was, would just... stare in worry.[break][break]

"Is everything okay, Crybaby King?"[break][break]

He turned down to the blonde, and ruffled his hair.[break][break]

"It will be, little Izaak."[break][break]

He'd have to confront him later.[break][break]

---[break][break]

Summer Atreides's letter arrives one day. Kep takes him aside. In their many years of marriage, almost nineteen now, he could tell there was something Kep was hiding. It wasn't just the end of the world. But he doesn't press Kepler about it.[break][break]

Because Ashley didn't fear it at all.[break][break]

"End of the world is here now, huh? Good. I was waiting for it to get here." He smiles to Kepler, pulling him into a hug.[break][break]

But he takes a moment, and eyes him. "I'll prepare the soldiers."[break][break]

It was time for war.

[break]

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Yeah. It was pretty bad. But as he rubs the back of his neck, he gives a sigh. "Yeah... he did. I should feel gratification for the deed. But. Nah. Just nothing."[break][break]

It's a case where, he got exactly what he wished for. And it blew up in his face in a painful way. He hates it. Fuck, he hates it. Because it domino'd into everything else in his life. It affected his relationship to Kep. It made him okay with killing. He became worse because of his father.[break][break]

Revenge was overrated.[break][break]

So, as Cygne begins to talk about her Pokemon, he hears each. Feldspar. Died by some guy he doesn't know. Twilight. Cassidy, and his lips turn to a frown. Dedric... a little Munchlax. And so, Ashley does as he always does. As he learned from Isaac Merlo. A hug.[break][break]

Positivity can reverberate in beautiful ways.[break][break]

"It's not your fault. Once you start blaming yourself for the deaths you can't control... it's difficult to get back up that slope."[break][break]

Mt. Pyre was his. It's where he took Isaac's eye as recompense for that. And he hated himself for it every day. A mistake he would always, always, always pay for.[break][break]

"Isaac got me out of it. That... slope. He pulled my ass screaming, so when I saw you in such a bad way, I... wanted to try and do the same."[break][break]

Lot of good that did.[break][break]

Look where they are now.

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Fantasticly bad timing, as always. Ash can see these two are tangled in each others. And he feels terrible to have to enter in at such a key, broken moment, but he just has to at least let them know so they can get back to being cute together.[break][break]

"Could say the same to you, Sunshine. Honestly." He tries to laugh, but he's coughing more than he's laughing, and he's coughing a damn lot. "Fuckin' hurts to laugh."[break][break]

To Isaac though, he just makes a snicker. "Oh yeah, sure." He's trying to be smarmy, but he's finding it hard, when the duo are having a heartfelt moment.[break][break]

"... I can go if you guys need it. You were sharing a moment. I feel awkward now." He rubs the back of his neck now. Shit... this is really awkward now.

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He drinks more of his shake, deciding to listen to Naia. She had listened to her the whole time, might as well return the favor. And so, he sips his shake and lets her go off.[break][break]

So Naia was dating, and thanks to her mother setting up suitors. Potential ones. This was alien to him. Ash just had to gawk. "Parents do that shit? God, now I'm glad my parents are gone. That sounds awkward." He laughs, but he knows that his inability to understand stems from the lack thereof. He wanted to understand. But he did not.[break][break]

Oh well.[break][break]

Quite another thing to hear the word engagement, and he just kind of drops his shake, though it thankfully lands flat. A marvelous feet. His eyes shoot open. It was to stop her mom pushing her to people, and he just kind of... blinks.[break][break]

"Oh my Arceus, I didn't realize it was that bad." The fact they didn't kiss doesn't even register, it's simply the state of it all.[break][break]

This was a trainwreck.[break][break]

He tries to find something, anything to say, to find some kind of footing. So he focuses on what good he can. "You even like them? Your fiancée, that is." It was kind of important. A relationship built on no grounding? He couldn't imagine that. He could hardly imagine parents forcing relationships.[break][break]

Parents. Fuckin' weird.

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The immediate response to Isaac waking up, arriving to the scene to give him shit on kinks, would usually be for Ash to respond red in the face that this was no time for that. But right now, his face is matted in sweat, his eyes squint to the shadow at Kepler's feet, and he gives the rundown.[break][break]

"Yeah. To put it bluntly, man. Shadows. They're bein' real wei-"[break][break]

Finally. The terror that loomed in the night appeared, and it was upon Ash, and the moment Kep yelled out, his silver eyes shoot open, and the shield smashes down into another Golurk, and dear Arceus, he was nearly mincemeat. Kepler shoulders him out, and Ashley pulls him with him, no chance risking another terror, but as the duo get away, he smirks.[break][break]

Spiky shield, meet angry oversized gorilla. Bongo had jumped from nearby and slammed downwards with the might of two tons of gorilla, a WOOD HAMMER to slap this bastard down, only for the Golurk to whip it right at him and bash Bongo right in the head. Luckily, with the blunt end of the shield, but Bongo tumbles.[break][break]

"DAMMIT. Why can't you guys lay to fucking rest already?!" Ashley yells out, now standing between himself and Kep, and turning towards Isaac. Bongo was bleeding, but picked himself up, shaking his head. Gorilla was about to go apeshit.[break][break]

"We got one."[break][break]

Time to bust some ghosts.

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Ana... is taken down. Electricity does nothing to the earth, but Ashley can only hope its bright enough to give them time. Resolve masks strife, as Selena and her Hatterene run on the mud, intent to give this primal a taste of pain. They both knew that no matter what, they had to take the Groudon down. And their best chance stood the steel of Tokugawa. To strengthen for one slice.[break][break]

With the blast of dark energy, the roar of pain from it, Hitoshi throws away his shirt and reveals the coolest tattoos possible, before charging with Kingambit, the duo racing forward and speeding over the land Laguna made. Even Ashley goes at a light jog, feeling his leg still in discomfort.[break][break]

But his face darkens when Ana is thrown back at them. And the eruption is almost there. Ashley sees it coming. He's thinking as ahead as he can.[break][break]

"NOW OR NEVER! LAGUNA! PROTECT!" Desperation, as Ashley throws the Goomy forward like a football, and with the force of a Pokemon with the bones of playdoh, Laguna flies and attaches onto the back of Tokugawa, and opens his mouth. With it, as Ashley skids nearby, one massive PROTECT bubble encompasses the party, Ash's eyes hopefully at the gambit.[break][break]

Lucky for them. They have the king of gambits.[break][break]

As the bubble pops finally, masking away the pain with protection, Laguna's eyes get sleepy. Ash nods too Hitoshi and Selena.[break][break]

"EVERYTHING YOU GOT." He roars with the ferocity of a Pyroar.[break][break]

He'd never forgive himself for Ana. Burn scars would be there forever. But...[break][break]

He wanted to win. If he even for a moment hindered himself again, the team, they would be done. It would end in failure. They needed to win. They had to win. If they didn't win here, that was it.

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Taking another breath, as he turns to the side in the cute swimsuit Kep has on, he can't help but grin ear-to-ear seeing as he bumps his head into Ash's bicep. So many of Kep's little water Pokemon are out. So was Ana the Pikachu, holding a small cooler and pulling it, with the help of Holy Diver the Buizel, and Kingsley the Krabby, who was busy snipping away and walking sideways with Laguna the Goomy on his back, the duo joining the surfers.[break][break]

While Maple the Glaceon just sits lazily under a parasol, and mews out to Cloudstrike and Lysithea, acting like a coach with his little sun hat.[break][break]

He takes a breathe. The Glaceon nearby just nods to him. Today was the day. Ashley took a deep breath. Ana the Pikachu gives him a nod and a thumbs up. Laguna, Holy Diver, and Kingsley, all eyes to Ash. They were preparing.[break][break]

"No kidding. It'll be nice to spend that time with you."[break][break]

Ashley had been busy. Quite busy, in fact. He had come here last night, and prepared something with the six Pokemon. Glaceon made something at see, frozen at the bottom of the area at a particular spot. Laguna and Kingsley were going to surf out to go get it. Ana, would deliver it.[break][break]

A message in a bottle. It was something he saw. Apparently, some lovers used wild goose chases for an eventual proposal. Ashley had something similar.[break][break]

He smirks as Laguna and Kingsley disappear under the waves.[break][break]

"Looks like Lysithea and Cloudstrike are having a good time." Misdirection. He had to fool his boyfriend, a smart boy. Kepler might figure it out too quickly if he didn't.[break][break]

Today was the day. It had to be perfect.

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NAIA KAYODE [break]
xxx-xxx-xxxx

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Crash.[break][break]

It all just happens at once. The Zapdos throws a leg out, and like lightning, it shatters Pluto's protection. It sslams into Haku's chest, the dragon beginning to fall out of the sky, plummeting ever faster downwards, Ash's eyes staring on with fear, and ever faster does his heart sink as he grabs onto Kepler.[break][break]

Down to earth, Haku slams into the ground. She's alive, but as soon as the impact is made, the world goes dark. Ash's silvers close as he tumbles away from him. His body damn near ragdolls over, as consciousness leaves him a spell.[break][break]

For a couple of minutes, he's still, but breathing.[break][break]

His eyes shoot open.[break][break]

He wakes up to the masses surrounding him. The peasantry just surround him, and he pulls himself up to see the way they look at him. Some of them he noticed on his reconnaissance above the world, and some of them, he noticed just around on the ground during his assault on poisoned palms. They look at him like... he was something more. A hero?[break][break]

"I'm not a her-"[break][break]

He tries to deny it, but there are children here, and he remembers a dream he had a awhile ago now. His lips turn up. A day way back when, he wanted to open an orphanage, for kids like him to have a life. He never really got to have a hero when he was younger. Someone to look up to? The best he had was THEO BECKETT. And, well. That was a problem to begin with, back then at least.[break][break]

One of the kids puts a crown on his head. He melts, because... that was enough to tip him over. He tries to smile. Maybe this was fine? When he turns his head towards where his boyfriend was, he stares at the little bird in his lap.[break][break]

He is nothing like a king. He is no king. He's hardly that, but he gave people hope. Isn't that enough? So as he enjoys this, they laugh, they crown him as royalty. Let them believe. Let him believe.[break][break]

If he can inspire this much... why not more?[break][break]

---[break][break]

It becomes abundantly clear, sleeping in their bed, lil' Chocobo between them, that home was fading away. He missed home sometimes. He'd get up, in a lavish robe, to stare at the moon, and just... settle. Come to terms with home being gone. A far off memory. He missed Isaac Merlo, ana fell, Naia Kayode, mint frost, and jayden cross. The world was so much different now.[break][break]

He had to be a king now. He dealt with people coming in his courts, and asking him for help, of which in the first month he did about as well as a plank of wood does establishing parliament.[break][break]

Barely. Sometimes, probably most times, he had to delegate to Selena Desmarais, because she was a superior. A mentor, almost. A safety net. A lot of the times, he did speak with kepler brueshaber as well. Ash was many things, but an intellectual? Not much. He read the odd magazine...[break][break]

Heh. Magazines were so old now. A far off memory.[break][break]

When Calyrex came, the prophecy comes with him. And Ashley is forced to reason his way through it all. Constellations would reveal wisdom? So it was important to stay awake at night. It would give them the wisdom they needed. So nightly, he would stare in the night sky. Waiting for a sign.[break][break]

Kepler is so perfect for the role. Smartest guy in the room... that was a joke he kept razzing Kep about, and with the prophecy so readied for them, it helps give Ash peace of mind.[break][break]

Weeks on, he just keeps staring at the night sky. To look at the stars, to study each one, as he leans into a disabled Haku, who can no longer take flight. Her days of flight over, she resorts herself to be a pillow, while he studies the night sky over and over again. Stars. He begins to draw constellations, trying to derive meaning...[break][break]

They used to call this astronomy.[break][break]

---[break][break]

The war continues. He's grown older, another year wiser. His black hair is back, and it's probably gonna stay a fixture, with a little half and half. He's even taken up wearing glasses now. It's weird. Every single attack has him go out to assist the war effort, but he barely feels like he gets to do anything anymore.[break][break]

It's been months, but... well. He was gonna do this, until he was pulled from Hoenn to this Galar. Now was as good a time as any. One particularly nasty Grimmsnarl was sighted, and Kep went to go fight.[break][break]

Ashley was always worried.[break][break]

When he came home though, that's when. He'd peel Kep off of Chocobo, and hug into him, a kiss laced to his filthy cheek. "Hey filthy, I'm Ash." He'd gotten into puns now. How long had he been here?[break][break]

He'd tended to the men, the women, the children. He inspired hope, he tried to anyways. All the soldiers happy for the moment to be home, the battle hard fought and won. Tomorrow was another day, but tonight, they feasted. Ash said as much, because tonight he picked his queen.[break][break]

"Marry me."[break][break]

Because Ashley holds the ring out to Kep. A feast for this joyous day. He's crying now. Ash is too, and he presses his forehead Kep's.[break][break]

The crowd is offput, because royalty wedding a commoner, but King Ash has done little to show anyone else his heart but Kep, and as he sweeps him off his feet, and they holds each other tightly, he's grinning ear to ear.[break][break]

"Tonight! We feast!" He calls out to light the peasantry's spirits, and all while he carries Kepler away. He was so much happier, like the troubles of Hoenn were so far and away now.[break][break]

He was happy. Finally. Happy.[break][break]

---[break][break]

Ash was a frontline Rocket once upon a time, in another life. An Executive, but here, he felt like he remembered what drove him for so long. Without the poison of Rocket so much affecting his mind, he could just be Ashley Shepard. Well. King Ash, but that was different. Entirely so. But sometime in that, he had found a fascination with protecting the people. Something in him grew a desire to protect.[break][break]

When the Necrozma came, things took a turn for the worse. Ashley, wiser at the age of 35, would look upon his people, and bare his heart. He saw men and women, crying for their loved ones in battle. He saw children missing their slain parents. And...[break][break]

It got worse when it was the parent who lost the kid. Those times, he felt his heart shatter again and again.[break][break]

Necrozma would leave... he would give them their reprieve, but an older Ashley would grip his head. This was troubling, but nothing they hadn't dealt with before.[break][break]

He holds Kepler close to him that night, when he confides in him, and Ashley just... remarks with a smile. "Well, the Black Knight is troubling. But, you always do seem to lead our people brilliantly." He says it like it was always their people. As he pulls Kepler closer, and kisses his forehead.[break][break]

But go back...?[break][break]

"Maybe one day... believe it or not, I was intending to ask you to come to Galar with me when I proposed all those years ago. The luscious greenery, the vibrant stadiums... I miss Hoenn, but I remember so little of it now. I can't even remember most of their faces." Sad as it was, it wasn't untrue. He doesn't really want to.[break][break]

As Haku, the fluffy old Dragonite, would crawl into the room, and sit right by the bed in a curl, much tihnner now and unable to fight, Ashley would go to sleep with his queen, holding him tightly.[break][break]

---[break][break]

Maybe it was the happiness he felt, or how Rocket didn't affect him, but those black fragments from Necrozma, he found himself creating something himself; a need to lead the way, to protect those who followed. He found himself, in the shop at night, creating himself a shield. He spends nights on it, taking words from local blacksmiths, learning how best to forge it, the strongest materials...[break][break]

But it is done. The shield is large, enough for him to struggle to throw it around. They called it a kite shield? Black, with these red colorations. It was like Rocket, almost. A fun memory.[break][break]

He would gaze upon it.[break][break]

"The King's Shield is done." And that's exactly what it did. A King's Shield.[break][break]

A shield for the people. Hopefully. It would be enough.

[break]

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Ashley wanted to win. Silver eyes filled with resolve. Salem was down. Though it just a simulation, it still hurt knowing he had to keep going. But he wasn't about to stop. Not when the goal was in front of him. He just needed the courage to make the call.[break][break]

First. Giving Kingambit the means to close the distance. Laguna's specialty. It's nothing crazy, but it's a lovely little move. "Make a path, Laguna. Muddy Water." From its own mouth, the little Goomy begins to squelch and fire out a wave of MUDDY WATER. Water by itself isn't advised for a fire, not typically but mud? That's different. It'll be hot, running atop it, but if given the path forward, Tokugawa should, hopefully, have the ability to close the distance and make the strike seamlessly.[break][break]

Now came the hard part.[break][break]

The Groudon reverting to its primal form does not dissuade him, it only makes it more important. The fear strikes his chest for his Pikachu, but it doesn't stop him.[break][break]

Damage isn't everything. All he needed to do was blind the bastard god as much as he could. Give Tokugawa the best approach. Circe's ability to see the future, and Chimecho's Safeguard should keep him safe, and so all they need now is the bang.[break][break]

"Ana."[break][break]

Hot as hell in here.[break][break]

"Like we practiced. Volt Tackle."[break][break]

It will do nothing in the end, but if aimed right, perhaps the Groudon will attack the little Pikachu. It's a sacrificial play, and not one Ashley ever wants. But he already hindered the mission by making Salem save his sorry ass. He wasn't making the mistake again.[break][break]

He wanted to win.[break][break]

Even if it meant sacrificing one for the sake of the victory at large.

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Someone was patching into Ash, and he recognizes the voice. "Selena?" It was heartwarming to know that she was here too, and despite everything, he could rest just a wee bit easier now, as his shoulders slump down. Though they seemed to be outnumbered, a fact Ash knew all too well. "Yeah, I copy. I'm here with my partner keeping him safe, but we can try to rendevous on your position?" He looks to Kep affectionately.[break][break]

And it would be a sweet moment, but for just a smidge of a moment, as it seems the warning bells sound out, and Ashley's eyes are thrown to the entrance to Hammerlocke. And a bird, massive thing, comes running in with an army behind it. Poisoned Galarian Pokemon no less.[break][break]

"... Selena? Yeaaaaah... you wanted updates, well... Big Bird just brought the world's worst Sesame Street rendition knocking on the door." That was probably the most apt way to put it, and as he felt himself staring, he can hear a roar from the stadium, and his face goes paler. A smidge paler, anyways. "... looks like the stadium has something going down too. Saw a lot of Leaguers there, so that'll probably be their problem. Engaging Sesame Street."[break][break]

As he moves to mount Haku, he holds his hand out towards Kep, intent to have him mount with him.[break][break]

"Wanna fly with me, babe?" A loving smile on his lips, he intends to have Kep fly in front of him. "Old friend of mine showed me how to ride a Yanmega way back when, and Dragonites are a little easier."[break][break]

If nothing else, the duo could make a much easier time to work together if airborne, and Pluto should be able to match speed. They would be able to handle Big Bird pretty easy.[break][break]

And as Ashley and Haku take off, flying through the air towards that bird menace, the rider calls out. "Lock'em down, Haku." And with it, they attempt a THUNDER WAVE in an attempt to paralyze and make the Galarian Zapdos much more beatable.[break][break]

[break]

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