Everything around Finn fell apart like a tree on fire. Mantis and bird clashed above them - the Scyther's blades seared again, going in for another hit, but Decidueye hit him in the chest with a deafening, decisive crack.

Dafutou fell like a crushed insect. Smoke trailed in the air like the ashes of a fighter plane crash.

"No!" Finn roared, wracked with shock. That Brave Bird hurt. It really only just dawned on him that Gerald wasn't fighting just to win but to kill.

Finn took a step back to cover his partner. He tightened his grip on his swords.

"You ok, buddy?" Finn muttered, a bitter heat rising in his gut. He kept his focus soft and sharp at the same time, but his voice trembled. His gaze remained strong, tracking his foe's movements while willing, hoping, that Dafutou was still conscious. Not just conscious - still alive.

Dafutou managed a feeble nod. Despite that fracture in his shell, he pushed himself up by his blades, letting out a defiant hiss. An iridescent glow emanated from his body, like the sheen of a bug's eye - Scyther's Swarm activated!

Finn snarled. The Swarm in his soul came to life too.

But just before he slashed outwards, Gerald threw a scatter bang at his feet. Finn darted backwards but still shielded his eyes, holding his swords in front of him in an X. Little flecks of earth peppered his forearms, stinging the cut Gerald gave him. Finn hated how he was constantly being put in defence. He was a good fighter but only when his opponent had morals.

Finn withdrew, and Dafutou advanced. As Gerald edged inwards, the Scyther leaped up and over his trainer, striking down on Gerald with a Swarming X Scissor. While Finn was still restrained by his honour, the Scyther was not, and his natural killing instinct rushed like hot venom to his eyes and claws.

Gerald Kaiser

The cold healed Finn's broken body. After the harrowing incident in that alternate dimension, he needed to let the chilly winds of Shoal Cave temper the heat that oozed from his bruises. From where he sat, on top of a cool rock, Finn heard sounds of fists pounding on ice. His first thought - did another rip in the fabric of the world open up?

Finn hopped off his rock and approached the thudding rhythm cautiously, only to find that it was a Poliwrath taking out its anger on some frozen blocks. Finn could understand that feeling of having nowhere but his fists to channel his frustration. They could be good for each other.

"Hey. Wanna come along?" He tapped a Pokeball on the Poliwrath's back.

|4elpmlz

Finn chuckled lightly at the man's question. They had spent a good few minutes lounging together by the side of the water and catching Pokemon, all without knowing each other's names.

"Finnegan. From Flying Sword, outside Fortree City. Yourself?"

An insect-like buzz came from the bushes, drawing Finn's attention. Red goggled eyes peeked out, followed by the rustling of wings - a Flygon! This place was giving Finn so much. Leaping off the grass, Finn threw a Pokeball at the dragon.

Capture attempt - Flygon

THEO BECKETT

The Decidueye lunged forward, its arrow morphing into a green sickle. Finn's gut tightened in a ball of bile.

"Dafutou, help me!"

Finn's Scyther burst out from his Pokeball and let out a grating hiss. The Leaf Blade struck squarely across the insect's chest but barely scratched his scaly armour. Fuelled by indignation, the rattling inside Dafutou's thorax shot up into a horrible shriek. His blades glowed like bug eyes - Dafutou used X-Scissor!

Finn panted. Even though he made his career teaching his students to fight, getting into a battle was always its whole own thing. Much more so if your opponent was this skilled and bloodthirsty.

Who was this masked villain? What did he want?

The pulse that drummed underneath the skin of the cave wormed into Finn's mind.

"Oh, fuck!"

In a black blur, Finn's assailant slashed out at him with a deadly blade. Just in the nick of time, Finn parried the swipe away with his sword and retreated a few steps away to safety. As the heat that flashed in his gut died down, Finn realised that something red and warm trickled down his forearm. A minor cut that could have been worse if he had reacted just a second later.

Finn was too distracted by the Pokemon to realise that his opponent had gotten close. He wouldn't be making this mistake again.

"I'm warning you. Turn around now."

Finn drew his second sword and brandished them both before him with the nerve of a Gallade.

This man might have pulled a fast one on him, but he had been facing Finn the traveller. Now, he was facing Master Flying Sword.

Gerald Kaiser

Did you know you can listen with your skin?

Feel the air fluttering against the back of your neck. Heat caressing it in subtle, barely-there waves. Moisture in the atmosphere.

As Finn repeated time and time again in Flying Sword School: Don't listen only with your ears.

And that's what saved Finn from getting taken out in the eye.

Finn sensed the arrow once it pierced into his radius. It sent ripples of air ahead of itself to herald its arrival, vibrating like tuning forks in Finn's green hair and striking his crown like a gong. Swerving to the side with a strong swift step, Finn slashed a sword out and intercepted the Spirit Shackle, releasing a flash bang of purple energy into the air.

Finn's awareness emanated off him like the bristling mane of a Luxray. His sword gleamed in the realm's strange light.

"I don't want trouble." Finn's voice was calm like a rock in a cool pond. "Let's just walk away, no hard feelings."

Gerald Kaiser

OOC: Outfit - as in avatar!

One moment, Finn was scaling a wall in Granite Cave. A second later, the world flipped and sent him spiralling into a world of holographic terror. And, for some strange reason, Finn wanted to go back.

A day later, Finn treaded along the path that was now enshrouded with purple-pink mist, his swords strapped securely to his back and his Pokemon fully healed in case of danger. At some point along the path, the earth gave way, and Finn stumbled into a world of cosmic wonder.

The air felt lighter, at times heavier. It was like walking into a cave made of otherworldly crystal, with holes to other worlds peering through the walls and whole galaxies embedded within the rocks. Gingerly, Finn put a gloved hand onto the rock, and it felt strangely alive.

As Finn made a corner and took a turn, he gasped; he now stood on in the middle of a clearing that stretched out for miles and miles on end, opening up above him into an endless tormented sky. It felt like someone had splashed a palette of paint all over an M. C. Escher painting.

Finn wasn't even sure he was on earth anymore.

Gerald Kaiser

Things turned cold suddenly, and Finn took that as his cue to leave.