"And that's why you're going to lose."

Because "her business" is not her business. She's not fighting for herself, but for the League, for her debtors, for nebulous ideas she doesn't even believe in. But you? You're fighting for yourself. Because you want to fight. More than anything she's wanted in her entire life.

"Enough chatting shit." You hiss. As her Roaring Moon launches forth, you take your hand off of your Walking Wake. "LET'S DO THIS!"

And as though it had just smelt blood in the water, the Paradox Suicine rushed forth to meet its foe with an Aqua Jet.

It's a vicious clash. Two beasts, underneath the harsh sunlight, battling for supremacy. Two dragons, standing atop a leyline, struggling to achieve dominance over their lesser. Winning it won't be easy.

But nothing worth doing ever is.

---

june sleigh

Fate is a real bitch, isn't it?

Only one person left standing in your way, only one last obstacle to overcome, and who is it? Grigori Sokolov's "daughter". howard slayte's "ward". One of the few names that graced Rocket's exclusive "whitelist". Of all the people in the world it could've been, of all the enemies you could've faced, it just had to be June Sleigh.

If only it were Greyson Connors. If only it were annalise henderson. If only it were illeana reyes. If only it were simple.

But it's never simple. Not for you. As you stand so close yet so far, you hear an all-too-grating voice echo in your head. "I told you this would happen, but you didn't listen. Now what will you do, Beast Shred? Will you kill her, or will you die?"

Your hand clenches into a fist. You grit your teeth. An unpleasant taste fills your mouth. But, it's not all bad.

Now's your chance to prove him wrong.

"You're not leaving." You growl, taking a step forward. Your Walking Wake follows, fangs bared as it stares down the Pokeballs hanging from June's belt. Prey in the making. But what would be the first hunt? You place a steadying hand upon the Paradox, as though trying to hold it back. "Not until we've finished here."

Until you've leapt the last hurdle. Until she's been punished for her mistakes. Until you finally find what you've been looking for... Whatever that may be.

---

june sleigh

Your blood is burning as hot as the orichalcum upon your skin. Your heart is as relentless as the sun beating down upon the shore. You don't even know why you're here, but you know it's where you need to be. This is it, your instinct whispers to you, its voice as certain as it is clear. This is our destination.

Mossdeep City.

How long has it taken? To follow the leylines from their beginning to their end? From Area Zero to the Silent Icelands to Route 103 to Route 126 to here? It's been days. Maybe even weeks. You hope it hasn't been longer, but... To be honest, it's hard to tell. Even when the sky was dark and the moon was high, even as it poured with rain and lashed with hail, even as the air was cold and still and quiet, you were always bright and you were always warm.

Not once, not even for a single second, has the sun above your head faltered. Even now, as your Walking Wake emerges from the waters and steps onto the beach, it continues to shine. Watching, waiting, witnessing.

As you dismount your Paradox Pokemon, the beast lets out a low, long growl. Though you couldn't hope to decipher its meaning, it sounds oddly... deferential? As though its trying to warn you of what lays ahead. But what you could possible have to fear? No, better question: What could cause this superpredator, bolstered by Protosynthesis and pushed to its absolute limits, to hesitate?

"I didn't come this far just to come this far." You reply. "C'mon. We're seeing this through."

It's a fine line, between determination and obsession. But you walk it without hesitation.

As a lone hawk circles overhead, you press forward. Across the golden sands, up the rocky cliffs, and into an open clearing. There, the harsh sunlight is joined by the buzz of Electric Terrain. There, crude machines pump and pulse, thrumming with power drawn from their surroundings.

And there, standing in front of the finish line, is a familiar face.

"...You."

---

june sleigh

The Silent Icelands. Where it all began.

As you stand amidst the frozen wastes, you feel an odd sense of reminiscience. This, the place where you lost everything, where you were burned to little more than cinder. Yet, what rose from the ashes was not a phoenix. No, the suffering did not make you better. It did not give you the power to get revenge on those who wronged you. It did not give you the power to protect those who fought with you. It did not give you the power to reunite Kyurem with itself. No, all it gave you was more. More pain, more loss, more failure. More. More. More.

In the aftermath of the most recent "incident" in Dewford, you were beginning to feel increasingly hopeless. Once, you'd have taken your lowly status in stride. But now, as you stare down Gods and Monsters you've been forced to believe in? You can only draw one conclusion: The cursed cannot defeat the blessed. There's no point in even trying.

But as the sun bears down upon you, as a thousand strands of light reflect upon a thousand shards of ice, things feel different.

The orichalcum lines upon your body pulse and burn. Like they're an extension of yourself, no different than the nerves and veins underneath. They sense the warmth from above and the static from below. They know.

And their instinct is your instinct, too.

You glance back, to Giant Chasm, to Area Zero. But that's just the beginning of the long road, and there's no point in going back now. No, your heart beats and your blood flows in only one direction.

Yoi need to keep going.

You need to follow the leyline.

To the furthest point.

Where it all ends.

---

At the Silent Icelands, teaching it. And by it, I mean my Incinerate (to Meltan)

Seems like you jumped in just in the nick of time. As boulders fall from the sky and crash down to earth, Dhelmise's Mega Drain steals what energy it can, and imparts it onto Lulu Flint 's Ludicolo. Any damage that was dealt is just as quickly negated. The daring hero saves the princess... Or, well, the daring hero's ghostly anchor saves the princess' lilypad duck. And you're not really a hero, and she's not really a princess, so, y'know, it's more of an abstract sort of--

"ZEHAHAHA! Take that, ye big metal scallywag! Nobody trifles with the master o' the sea and lives to tell the tale!"

Huh. It's a pirate? It's a pirate. Of course it's a pirate. Why wouldn't it be a pirate? Fucking hell.

Still, you straighten up a little as Cillian Quinn chimes in. Wouldn't want to make an ass of yourself in front of her brother-in-law. Arceus knows things are already messy with her brother...

"Just another day in Hoenn."

Chaos and riddles. You're getting pretty sick of chaos, and especially sick of riddles. You miss when you were fighting the big CLAYDOL.

Registeel prepares another devastating attack, but with both Underboss and Head Scientist taking care of themselves, you're free to do as you please. So, as the desert sand turns to shattering glass all around you, you decide to blunt its biting edge. With a snap of your fingers, the Dhelmise whips itself forward and lands upon the Registeel with a CLANG!. The impact itself is harmless, but the resulting Metal Sound reverberating deep into the giant's body, effectively hindering it. You hope.

---

Metal Sound, HINDER - Other status condition moves reduce the boss number by 1 for the next round, stacking up to ten times.
DHELMISE: Shadow Ball / Giga Drain / Power Whip / Mega Drain / Anchor Shot / Metal Sound
Riddle answer is CLAYDOL do not ask me how I know.
dR7|HCbP

Now WOULD be your chance, if Drednaw hadn't blown through all of its stamina already.

Indeed, your turtle is much like a semi-truck barrelling at 90 miles per hour that had just run out of gas. Your only options are to pump the brakes or to keep coasting. But that's hardly a choice, is it? You're not the type to come trickling to a halt. No, you're going to smash into this thing with whatever speed you've got, and fuck this big bastard up as much as possible before the ride stops.

To that end, you're fortunate that you've got Terastalisation on your side, because that means you've got one more trick up your sleeve. One last pump of petrol to keep up the speed until the crash.

"NOW, DREDNAW! TERA BLAST!"

"GET DREDNAWED!"

With that great and mighty and slightly pathetic battle cry, the big-jawed beast opened its mouth wide and spat out a blast of rock-type energy right into the body of the Claydol.

---

howard slayte Grigori Sokolov walter delmar
DREDNAW MOVES: Stone Edge/Rock Tomb/Head Smash/Sandstorm/Rock Polish/Protect/Tera Blast, TERA ROCK
tPR0gpKG + 10 from Strike + 10 from Shift

So, this is Registeel, huh?

You gaze upon the towering giant from a distance, hand on your Pokeball. It's undoubtedly a familiar experience. Just like when you faced down Regice in its ruins... Though, there's something palpably different about it. Hell if you know what, though. You'll leave solving that mystery to the brains of the operation.

No, if there's anything you're here to do? It's to put this golem back in the ground where it came f--

SHIT, NEVERMIND, GOTTA HELP LULU FIRST.

"Dhelmise!" You call out, tossing out your Pokeball and sending forth your ghostly anchor. "Mega Drain!"

With an ethereal groan, the specter twisted and turned, launching forth an otherworldly chain that latched upon the metal body of the titan, before siphoning what energy it could from it and delivering it to those that could better use it.

---

MEGA DRAIN, SHIELD: Defensive and protective moves can shield one player of your choosing from damage from the boss. The user must roll over the boss number to be protected as well. Specify who you're protecting in your post. Protecting Lulu Flint.
Riddle answer is STEEL do not ask me how I know.
RX0LJr15 + 10 for Shift

Your half-hearted battle against Calliope Marks is cut short.

The ground beneath your feets quakes. A biting chill begins to fill the air. You feel a sudden tension pressing against your temples. Just like you did back in the ruins underneath Route 105. As your Primeape's raging is cut short by this change of atmosphere, you turn away from the battle in front of you and look towards the hole into the Ultra Deep Sea.

It was Regice. It couldn't not be Regice. Your brow furrows. Had Howard succeeded in his mission? Had he given the giant a new beating heart? Had Team Rocket succeeded in their endeavours? It certainly seemed like it, and yet...

The voice of Naomi Sato confirms your worst fears.

Uh oh.

"Hey, lady." You address Calliope Marks, your voice a clash of casual nonchalance and growing panic. "I'm putting a pause on our little fight, yeah? Gotta check on something."

And thus, you begin to run for Granite Cave.

---

Calliope Marks

You can't say you remember seeing any spacecraft during your first few trips to the Ultra Plant. No, all that you, howard slayte and Grigori Sokolov managed to find were dead factories, dying reactors, and Regieleki. But if anyone would know how to find what you're looking for, then surely it would be a native?

"Let's find out."

You tap the Ultra Beast twice on its twisting arms, before pointing forward.

"Alright, buddy, take us to a spaceship!"

The Xurkitree coils its head down to look at you. As though you're an freshly bought ice cream that it just dropped on the pavement. As though you're a piece of chewing gum it just stepped on it. As though you're a pebble that was stuck in its shoe. Well, that was a wash, huh? Nothing for it. You've always had trouble with your Ultra Beasts. Sure, you can't understand your Paradoxes, but you can't even hear your Ultra Beasts. Guess you'll just have to rough it out and--

With a shrug of cables and a low buzz like a long sigh, the Xurkitree slumped its bulb forward and began to chart a course, heading deeper into the ravine.

You glance over to Lulu, offer a shrug of your own, and follow.

---

Lulu Flint
35 allow a stakataka or xurkitree that you own to guide you safely through the realm, or have them encounter previous members of their kind that believe it to have betrayed them.

"No plan."

Great. Fan-fucking-tastic. All of that yapping about how you need to work together, and she doesn't even know what she's supposed to work towards. But hey, what did you even expect? The Megalopolis might be different, but her brain is exactly the same. You exhale hard through your nose. No point lingering on it. After all, if Lulu Flint doesn't have anything, then you doubt anyone else will.

Shit, Lulu! You were so distracted by this dirt road of a conversation that she completely slipped your mind. You need to hurry up. You need to find her. You need to keep your promise.

And you're not going to do that staying her. You take a step away, only to glance back to the Pokemaniac in front of you. What are the odds she'll let you just up and leave now that she's found you? Close to zero. No, you'll have to make up a good excuse to break off, and preferably one that doesn't take too long to justify.

"Alright, well... What about the centre of the city?" You answer, jerking your thumb towards the distant yet brilliant plaza as you do. "You go check that out, and I'll check everything on the outskirts. Deal?"

---

Andrea Vaneau