Relax. Relax? You're getting bombarded by Genesect from all angles, and he wants you to relax?! You'd have snapped at the Underboss for that stupid comment, if you weren't busy fighting for your life.

Your Cyclizar soars down the highway, ducking and weaving between futuristic traffic, narrowly avoiding the attacks as they come. At this point, you're not even convinced you're actually steering this thing. It just seems to be moving on its own, following some invisible path through the chaos, as though being led by some hyper-advanced routing system you can't even begin to understand.

As you pass by a truck with a familiar name emblazoned on the side, yet more hostile Pokemon crash and tumble out onto the road, and things only get more and more hectic. This is a HUGE pain in the ass, and it's only getting bigger with every passing second. You need to get out of here.

"Shedinja!" You grit your teeth as you grab a Pokeball, tossing it up to release the eponymous bug. "Get us the fuck out of here!"

"ꂦ ꀎ ꓄ ꂦ ꎇ ꌗ ꀤ ꁅ ꃅ ꓄ ꂦ ꀎ ꓄ ꂦ ꎇ ꂵ ꀤ ꈤ ꀸ"

The husk sinks down, vanishing from sight as it skulks into some nowhere nook in this dense metropolis. Then, with an Ally Switch, Theo is whisked away. Now floating where he once road, it repeats the process a second time, and before you know it, you're away from the highway and right next to Beckett.

The first thing you do is take a deep breath. Then, you complain.

"Arceus wept... What the fuck, man? We've barely been in here for a minute! Why the fuck does it even start like that?!"

---

THEO BECKETT

Inwardly, you can't say you feel particularly different inside the RKS System than without. Then again, you've never really thought about it before. Maybe if you did, it would make things easier? Oh well.

"Really?" You raise an invisible eyebrow to the admin, before shrugging. "Okay, whatever you say."

In a way, this is a dream come true. When you were a kid, you always wanted to be a Gym Leader, or a Champion, or something of that ilk. For better or for worse, life took you on a different path, but now? You've got the opportunity to live out that dream, so you might as well take it: What kind of gym leader would you be?

The Tera Crystals resonate, and the world around you changes.

It... Really doesn't look much different from the gym back at Spikemuth, does it? Grungy, urban, filled with thumping music and neon lights... Sure, there's little differences here and there, but otherwise, it's not far off. It even has the Galarian Zigzagoon digging in the trash, just like you remember! Man, good times, good times...

Holy shit, you're a hack fraud.

You glance around nervously, as though expecting some overbearing teacher to catch you copying homework and pull out the cane. Part of you even wants to redesign it entirely. But, after a moment of deliberation, you decide to keep it as is. It might be blatant plagarism, but it's honest, too.

"Alright, I'm done."

---

BARNABY FINCH

"Don't tell me what paths I can and can't walk, Grigori."

It's a remarkably cold rebuke.

He wasn't there. He wasn't at the Silent Icelands, standing across from the best and brightest that the League had to offer. He didn't have to contend with Gods and Avatars and more. He didn't fucking die. How could he ever begin to understand how you feel?

After a moment, you shake your head. No. No point wasting energy arguing about it. Besides, Grigori Sokolov never factored into your plans for revenge to begin with. Better to leave him out of it entirely.

"I think you should go now, Grigori. We can talk again when I'm better."

---

Grigori Sokolov

Well, that's... remarkably forward. You shuffle uncomfortably on the spot. Is this what workplace harassment is like?

"I'm sorry, Mr Cross. You're, uh, not my type."

...Did the room just get warmer all of a sudden? Nah, the ice doesn't look like it's melting. Must just be your imagination. After an awkward moment passes, you clear your throat.

"I think I'll go now."

With that, you make to leave.

---

jayden cross

You don't particularly want to be here, and yet, you're here anyway. Why?

Partly, it's out of duty. Though the mass outbreaks of March have come and gone, you suspect the Toxic Chain is still out there, somewhere. Even in such a short span, it's already caused so many headaches, and if it somehow gets whisked away in time and space by this distortion? It'll be an even bigger pain in the ass. So, you stand watch, keeping a vigilant eye out for any infected amidst the distortion.

And partly, it's out of some foolish hope. That maybe, just like Michael Navidson and Kouji Matsubara, you'll be pushed forward in time and given a better body. Older, perhaps, but better, healthier, stronger for it. That maybe it'll end your waking nightmare, and make it seem like nothing but a memory.

Alas, that doesn't come to pass...

...

...

"Woe be unto you, for thou misery is a song that echoes through aeons into eternal suffering..."

"...Charcadet, what the fuck?"

"Heh, surprised? I'm not some weak Charcadet anymore. Now, I'm the alpha and the omega, the shadow of the night, the darkness in your so--"

"Shut up and get back in your ball, dork."

---

>PISS YELLOW SHARD acquired
>EVOLVE Charcadet into Ceruledge
>LEVEL UP MOVE Ceruledge into Bitter Blade

As Lulu drifts off into sleep, you allow yourself to breathe a sigh. She might think herself witless and powerless and ugly, but you're starting to think she's just stubborn. Then again, from where she's sitting, she probably thinks the same of you.

So, what now?

After taking a moment to ensure that she's asleep asleep, you stroll over to beside Lulu and slump down next to her. Then, you wait a moment longer. Then, a moment more. And then, a moment more...

...

Nothing. She's completely out of it. You suppose that isn't surprising, given what little you know of her. How many sleepless nights has she spent worrying about a dozen different things beyond your comprehension? How many weeks and months are catching up to her right now? You think back to when you first spoke at the Team Rocket laboratories, when you begged her to take a break and rest. There's something bittersweet about watching her finally rest in a place as dreadful as this...


...

"...Love you..."

...

...You close your eyes and allow sleep to claim you. And when they next open, you find yourself somewhere else entirely.

---

Lulu Flint

Part of you wants to insist. To continue to take the lashes on her behalf. To keep sacrificing and sacrificing until you have nothing left to give. But you're beaten, and you're tired, and you're hopelessly tangled in a web of your own emotions. So, even if you aren't happy about it, you oblige.

Maybe not idealogically, but definitely physically.

”...Alright.”

As she makes her "comfortable" on the floor, you hobble over to the cot. It's hardly glamorous, but it's not the worst place you've laid your head, either. Hell, it's not that far off your mattress on the floor back in Sootopolis, is it? You'll sleep just fine in this.

But before you get in, you spare another glance over to Lulu, then at the hard stone floor beneath your feet. You think for a moment. Then, you speak up.

"If that's what you want, I'll let you burn. But if you're going to do that, then at least don't fuck up your back sleeping rough." You decide, taking a step back. "We'll share the cot. How're we doing this?"

---

Lulu Flint

As you're handed a clump of mochi, you brace yourself and eat. There's no restraint shown like before, no careful picking and picking to only eat the smallest scrap possible. You're exhausted, you're starving, and if there's any ill consequence to eating this mochi, as you suspect, then so be it.

The process of chewing and swallowing is, of course, not pleasant for you. But that's to be expected, isn't it? No point dwelling on it. Once you've finished, you limp over to the desk and take a seat.

Lulu's trying to talk you down. Trying to get you to stop self-sacrificing on her behalf. Trying to--

"--I don't have many reasons to live."

Your fingers reach to hold where your arm once was.

"I wasn't smart. I wasn't handsome. I wasn't even particularly strong. But, I was whole, and I was free, and I thought that was all I needed. But the League... They took that away from me. They took a part of me away and destroyed it right in front of me. They made me dumber and uglier and weaker and I can't even punish them for it because they're wise and beautiful and powerful and I'm not. And now? I'm not even free, either..."

Your mind wanders elsewhere. To Kyurem, off in some distant place beyond your reach. Torn apart. Left a husk. You wonder if all this was part of the prophecies he spoke? Or, is it just another senseless tragedy in your shambles of a life?

"...But you're different. You ARE wise, and beautiful, and powerful, and... I just, I, I... I NEED to do this, okay? I have to do this. If I can't do this, then what can I even do?"

You feel as dead inside as you look on the outside. But when you look at Lulu, you see a reason to live.

---

Lulu Flint

When you first woke up in this miserable little cell, you had been desperate to break out, to escape, to rebel. Now? Getting back inside feels like a mercy, a reprieve from the cruelty of the wardens and the guards, a place where you won't be punished. A hard-earned moment to yourself, even if it doesn't really belong to you.

Still, you take the chance to strip off your soaked clothes and don the fresh ones. You don't bother to be discrete, because there's not much left to see. It's all more of the same, more of the rest: More burns, more scars, more of you that was taken away.

As you finish up, you go stand facing the bars, waiting for Lulu to change...

...

...

...You keep waiting. Waiting for a voice to pipe up in your head, to try and coax you into sneaking a peek at her naked body. You wait for the rebuke to that suggestion, for a warning to keep your eyes to yourself. You wait for the critique into the rebuke into the counter into the non-sequitir, for more and more voices to join into the argument. You wait for the debate between a dozen shoulder angels and a dozen shoulder devils, going back and forth, trying to sway you to their side, squabbling and bickering on and on until you can't take it anymore.

But it never comes. There's no voices. There's no dialogue. There's nothing. Nobody is there. Nobody but you.

Before you know it, the moment has passed, and you're still staring out at the nothing. Oh well. Even if you had looked, it's not like you'd enjoy it. Not with the way things are. The way you are.

"Don't worry about me." You assure Lulu, turning to face her. Even that small movement takes more effort than it should, as you drag your busted leg along with you. "I'll be fine. I always feel cold. Ever since... Well, you know."

After a moment, you shake your head.

"It doesn't bother me now. I'm numb to it."

---

Lulu Flint

As soon as the last dreg of filth is scraped from the floor, the punishment ends. The monster is dragged by into the darkness by its Toxic Chains. You've earned yourselves the briefest moment of respite.

And then, the cold water falls upon your burnt skin.

"Ghhhhhh...!"

It's torture. It feels like... Well, there's no point describing it in detail, is there? With all that you've suffered in the last few hours alone, pain is an emotion that is starting to lose meaning to you. You've already suffered so much, what's a little more? Though you don't remove your uniform, you do manage to roll over to your other side and let the frigid shower wash over your wounds. Better to be clean than comfortable, you think. Not that you'll ever find much comfort in a place like this.

When the deluge ends, you attempt to crawl up to your feet once more, though your freshest set of wounds make that difficult. The dog had at least been "kind" enough to focus its beating on your upper body, but the ogre had no qualms about hitting you in the legs. You struggle on your own for far too long before Lulu Flint finds you again.

"...Thanks."

You take Lulu's hand without hesitation. You lean on her like your life depends on it. Because, in a way, it does.

And so, you carry on. Out of the hole, leaving the monster behind to its feast. Through the endless corridors and the pulsating tubes. Then, finally, back to your ward, and back to your cell.

---

Hey uhhhhhhhh have you guys read the hit thread MARKOV CHAIN featuring Shred and Lulu? It's pretty good! You should read it!!!
TL;DR - Shred squirms about on the floor like a worm, washes himself like a worm in a puddle, and returns to his cell like a worm who is in a prismatic penitentiary. And he does it CLOTHED.

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X Passho Berry (350 PD)

HARVESTING

be sure to visit the pretty petal flower shop near rustboro!

1X Grepa Berry (Planted 03/02/2024, Harvesting 23/04/2024, Overgrow Boosted to 1 Week Timer, 120PD harvested total)

350 - 120 = 230PD.

TOTAL

do come again!

230 PD