Fists clenched so tight that his knuckles started to turn lighter, still burning holes into the floor below. His head fell lower, dreads covering his eyes. Eyes softened, knowing well when he went into this, there was probably the chance they would fail. Most likely fail. They would fail.

Matt had hope.

Now... it was slipping.

"We landed. Awoke some alien, that one of our own has. Fought it.." that's when the slight crack came to his voice. "Dagger and Tekka protected us. Dagger... took the hit to his back." There was the crack. "He's... stable. His back is broken." That. Hurt to say.

Taking a breath, he went on. "Fighting happened. Rayquaza showed up, helped blast the meteor into the teleport." He was swallowing down a lump building in his throat.

"Well to the ground with the help of some fuckin' hand that I punched. Anyway, landed.. big ass ice dragon started coming through colliding worlds and it froze everything... people lost so many pokemon.." He shook his head.

"We fled as soon as we saw it was handled."

@isaacmero Ashley Shepard

Matt watched Isaac as he asked that question. The color fell from Matt's face and eyes. Staring down hard at the ground. What he experienced was nothing compared to what Isaac went through- even though he lacked the knowledge of the passed Pokemon. Instead he had Dagger with a broken back. What right did he have to mope over that?

Silence fell after Ash finished talking. Matt almost didn't even hear him, as what looked like flashbacks were plaguing Matt right now. Fists clenched, his jaw tightened, glaring holes into his own legs.

"We failed." Came the final answer, his shoulders slumping down. "Fuckin'... failed."

Isaac Merlo Ashley Shepard

"Wha-"

Matt did not realize there was a second person in here. Standing there with the most dumbfounded face as he stared at Ash. Looking at Isaac, then back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up ." The apology came quick, realizing what he did was very rude. "Eheh.."

But now he looked at Isaac, making his face scrunch up. "Bro now you look like Razz, ugh, at least you make it look cool." Waving a hand dismissively, he soon sat down in the chair next to the bed. "Glad you're... okay, for the most part." Sighing some, he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Me and Nico got chewed out by his friend Aki and her twin, Ash." He rolled his eyes. "Swear those twins want nothin' to do but tie me and Nico up in a bubble of safety." It was an understatement- the minute Aki found out they yeeted off to space she was crying and bubbling over the phone like a toddler.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I'm Matt, you?" He offered over to Ash.

Isaac Merlo Ashley Shepard

The nano second Matt had gotten a whiff that Isaac was in the hospital, he was headed there like a man on a mission. He was still banged up from coming back from ice-hell. If not... still not over it himself. With Dagger being in intensive care, thinking he was gonna lose Nico, then all those pokemon...

The flashbacks had him shaking his head to force them to rattle out of his brain. Walking into the hospital, he asked for Isaac's room. Once he got it, he was practically kicking the door open to get inside.

"You good for nothin'"

Was Matt actually mad?

He was storming over to the bed. "sonnnabitch. How dare you get hurt? Didn't I tell you not to get hurt?!" He huffed at him, arms crossed. He looked so sour in the face. But other than the mental scars, Isaac could see Matt was perfectly safe. Though his eyes and face read otherwise... like he had some horrors he could not unsee or let go out of his mind.

"Goddammit, man... I was plannin' on asking you something good and now I need to see who the hell I need to set on fire?"

Isaac Merlo
Ashley Shepard (if you wanna join, Kiwi!)

"I bet my moms screaming in the stands, cursing me out." Matt laughed towards Nico, as he just settled into the pace of being with him. "Even if we kinda sucked, it was fun doing this with you!" He said, Nana settling as she accepted the fate. Not every race was a win!

So to hell with it, just enjoy it.

W6RAkYsk

Character Name / Tag: Matt Vice[break]
Wishlist: Any canine pokemon Matt lacks! Really looking for the three new S/V doggos tho![break]
Are you willing to be a back-up Santa?: yes![break]

The call out worked far to well. Matt smirked, no matter how Josh went about things, he was always a sucker for a race. Smirking, he now put on his game face. He had never raced with Ace yet, still fairly new with even riding the beast. But the two adapted to each other quickly. Matt didn't know what it was about this canine, but they shared a bond. Perhaps it was a bond shared because Ace also loved someone deeply on Nico's team, Tekka. Whatever the case, the two were almost as in synch with each other as he was with Nana or Kazzy.

Spurring Ace on, the two went racing off. Climbing up the back of cars, bouncing across hoods with ease. Leaving paw-shaped prints on some car roofs, before Ace landed back on the pavement. Putting the petal to the metal, he weaved through cards. It was almost like a real life version of Frogger. Don't get hit by a car!

Matt considered the mega stone he had for Ace, in a pinch if he really needed to get some extra speed to actually avoid Josh. Matt knew he could beat him, he had before, and his only intent was to get away and maybe knock some thoughts into Josh's thick skull.

Josh Devlin

"I think Aki claimed flowergirl." He laughed. "Tori going on your side, assumin'?" He just wanted to start getting a list. Frowning slowly at this. ".... perhaps we should ask Aki or maybe Tronious to help us a bit. I don't know anything about weddings, or I could ask mom and dad..." Lord, so many people.

"My family is going to take up the entire venue." Matt put a hand over his face in embarrassment. "Mom's gonna be so dang loud, cause she'll be so happy." Smiling, he reached out and took Nico's hand. "and I'll punch Torolf if he starts shit." He may have been, dead serious.

nicodemus unken

Matt knew it would set off Josh's jolteon, most of his mons were competitive to a fault; and he knew those faults, at least some. Turning his head to see the Jolteon catching up, he waved at Blinky. Ever so friendly to pokemon. Nana however, glanced back, growling. She was far more competitive.

Throwing her head back in a howl, also bellowing out some flames, she picked up her speed. Her and Matt doing their practiced turns. Obviously this was only for fun, so Matt wasn't trying to hard. He pulled Nana back, making her go back to a gallop to allow the others catch up.

"You good at racin', or he just con you into it?"

Isaac Merlo Julia Davis Josh Devlin

"The fact you once again are doing the wrong thing" Matt snapped, as he angled Ace to take a turn- the canine went and bounced off a wall, with Matt skillfully holding tight. Kazzy followed behind, as the trio would soon slide to the entrance of an alley, which lead to the street. If Matt escaped there, Josh would have a lot harder time moving through traffic to snatch him.

"You doomed a whole different world, and what if what they said to be true?!" He meant the Dark Triad, he had been skeptical at first, but after the Meteor and he saw the worlds collide... no.

The league was wrong.

Josh wasn't seeing what was wrong. How blindly he followed them. Maybe he could try this conversation with Isaac Merlo... no, that wouldn't work. Fuck. Guess it was up to him.

"Say they were right, you just killed billions of people just so we can have a few more years to be happy, while everything outside of us dies." He spat, glaring at Josh behind his mask. It wasn't hate for Josh, by no means. "You rangers follow blindly and don't think outside of yourselves. I went to that meteor to try and find a way to save everyone, but all y'all did was attack us and almost get everyone killed by a giant fuckin' ice dragon."

Kicking Ace's side, he smirked. "Y'know what, catch me, maybe I'll take the blame for that stolen shit." Clicking his tongue, Ace raced forward along with Kazzy. THe trio darted into traffic, cars honking and people yelling at him to get out of the way. "Let's see if the so called fastest gym leader can keep up!"

Josh Devlin

After he sped off, honestly... eh, Fuck it. Matt jerked Nana's reigns and slowed, waiting for Nico to watch up before he would look at his boyfriend. "Come on, let's just enjoy it, right?" He laughed, he had been all in his head in this race due to an unwanted guest, so honestly now he didn't care. He had his love and he didn't seem bothered, so why should he?

He would follow his route, striding along with the Gogoat without a single care in the world. "After this we're goin' out to eat and smoke." he laughed towards his partner.

g9SslS4T
tldr
mostly nicodemus unken

That was a scoff from behind the Rock Slide, yelling over it towards Josh. "You think just because I look like a dog, all dogs are mine? Or are you just bein' a racist jackass cause I'm black?" Rolling his eyes. He was just. Being so pissed off. Matt was still angry about the meteor. They doomed people to death.

Death.

He grit his teeth. Bringing out Ace, he climbed on top of the canine. "Come on, let's get out of here before he gets back over here." He whispered to the Absol. Who nodded, Matt looked back to Kazzy, motioning him to follow along side him. "Knowin' him, he ain't gonna let me go easy." Sighing, he kicked on Ace's side and the trio was off.

Right as Matt came ripping out from the alley, he cut Josh off as he did, turning to watch him as he flew past. Kazzy followed up the rear, running on all fours, shooting a glance towards the others, but followed his master without fail.

But now Matt wanted to talk to Josh. Or at least, get some seeds planted into his head about this whole shitty situation.

"Shouldn't you be busy killing innocent people, like you did with that meteor?!"

Josh Devlin

To say Matt wanted to scream the minute he was touched by some God hand was an understatement. Rage grew as he punched it out of pure adrenaline pumping through him. Though once they were safely placed down, annoyance came highly. The whole thing was starting to wear on the young 20 year old. To be shot by your own team, switch, and try to stop something like this and failed- he felt sick.

He wanted to take some of the rage out. No, he was better than that. Don't subsume to that, he told himself. Looking around, he looked for nicodemus unken. Spotting him not far away, he rushed towards him without a second though. All the stuff around him was just noise as he rushed to his partner- limping the whole time. Once he had made sure Nico was not injured, he looked around to glare at the scene.

As the icy air struck, his eyes went wide as the incoming Pokemon. So, it had to be Ice, right? Returning Oto to his ball, he threw out Nana and Kazzy. The two shines howled, looking before them at the monster that stood before them. Nana locked eyes with the beast, howling at it- issuing a challenge to the ice-dragon.

Kazzy held back, looking at his trainer for sure- he was a little scared. He saw Nico was here, but no Josh Devlin or Isaac Merlo. He hoped they were okay! but he would follow Nana's lead- snarling towards the dragon and stomping his feet, releasing a wolf howl as he threw his claws in the air, obviously showing off to get it's attention.

As the attack neared them, Matt cursed. "Rock Slide! Create a shield!" He barked at Kazzy, the werewolf howling as he slammed his fists into the ground below, causing a pillar of rock to shoot up in front of them.

A desperate look was shot to his fiance, going over to him and taking his hands. A worried look came over his face, leaning in to kiss his future husband deeply. "If we don't make it out of this, I love you." He said, giving him another kiss.

His eyes shot towards Nana. "Go over the top of the shield and use Flare Blitz!" The canine raced up the rock that jutted out in hopes to protect it's humans, her maw blazing with red heat as she roared over the top to send the blast straight for the icy demon that threatened her family!

J3UafFSV