[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]The Sea remains perfectly still, the winter preserving this moment in time. Angels are covered-over with a thick layer of ice. Even the Sea's beating heart doesn't seem to penetrate the silence. Nothing but the two trainers, Navy's pokemon, and the winter itself seem to be aware that time has ceased to have all meaning.[break][break]

Tsubaki's spirited desire to fell the giant is stayed by Howard's hand, and she turns to him. The giant looms overhead. They can slay it, if only he'd... [break][break]

So. That's what's over. Not this world, but... his life.[break][break]

Or so he says. [break][break]

"Nothing ever ends. It ain't over. You can defect, like Merlo and the others--"[break][break]

A smattering of curses cuts her off, but he must've heard the name.[break][break]

Isaac Merlo wanted to kill Walsh almost as much as her. Howard would be a powerful asset in that same fight, someone who's fighting cause they have no other option. Unlike her, some peon... if the leadership wanted him dead, he must be important. He'd be a useful asset.[break][break]

She's suddenly painfully aware he doesn't know her status, one of his former colleagues. Lucky, she thinks. Not trusting anyone paid off. Always does. She swallows painfully, ignoring the lump in her throat. Opens her mouth to speak, but...[break][break]

Suddenly the giant's form contracts, reduced to its familiar size. She almost expects a cracked husk, but the lights on its body flicker and it makes a metallic sound. Alive. Or at the very least, not dead. [break][break]

She stares at it with a dark look, wondering what the hell happened... silent scorn, for it remains alive. [break][break]

"... There's always an exit. Even with that pokemon, you can get out if you want it."[break][break]

She knows it's futile now. A man who had lost everything is easy to bend to your will. A man with something to lose, a man who's afraid of the worst coming to pass... he will never take a risk that upends everything he holds dear. Her words will fall on deaf ears. [break][break]

She furrows her brow, heated look in her eyes that threaten to melt the blue ice that makes up the golem's body. [break][break]

"Why isn't it dead?"[break][break]

There's a dangerous tone in her voice for all but a moment, and then it evaporates into thin air as she remembers herself. The girl who speaks next is abrasive, but in a way much more alike the Tsubaki that Howard is acquainted with. [break][break]

"You're the historian, aren't you? Or was that a lie as well?"[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]He... [break][break]

He knows?[break][break]

The girl blinks in disbelief. Then, slowly, she starts to piece it together: a well-kept secret, trust placed in one wholly undeserving...[break][break]

She and this man are one in the same. [break][break]

And like in life, they'll meet a common end, too. At least, if what he's said comes to pass. [break][break]

Tattered body flits from Navy's lifeless grasp, and Tsubaki turns up at the giant. It reminds her of a Darkest Day in a lost world, a world devoured by the Skeleton around them and the black Knight both. More times than she can count, she's glimpsed the form of something poisoned by the Skeleton's toxic dynergy, but it always takes her breath away.[break][break]

"Don't be such a fatalist!" She winces at the irony, that it's her of all people saying something like that. "... Doesn't matter how you've lived your life-- all that matters is that you want to live!"[break][break]

A star flickers above, strange hints of a congealed wish. She's seen it written in scarlet pages, crimson ink in blood. She knows what this is, and yet... the strange giant is reacting to it. Soon, the end he speaks will come to pass. They need to act, quick.[break][break]

"Tell me you wanna live, Howard! Cause I ain't goin' down like this, and I'm gonna need your help!"[break][break]

The shinobi behind her croaks in surprise, glancing up at the giant. Her father's limp form remains in his arms, his black skin cracking in the white cold. [break][break]

"Hattori! Shuwen! You too!"[break][break]

Whatever energy she has left she levies into a shout. It's thanks only to the tolerance she's built up, that she can manage that much. Had she not fallen into the Sea a year ago, she'd be as comatose as Michael Navidson .[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","omgentop"]DEWFORD GYM

[attr="class","omgenmid"]

VS. HYAKKARYŌRAN TSUBAKI

POISON TYPE

x BADGE

DYNAMAX

[break][break]

GYM DETAILS

After a year of constant challenges, Michael Navidson 's DEWFORD GYM has finally been surrendered to his protégé and deputy, Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki . [break][break]

Tsubaki's gym largely retains its basic features from her predecessor: from the outside it remains a moderately-sized blue building, adorned with the League's insignia and a small plaque indicating the name of the gym and its current Leader. [break][break]

Inside, the decor has changed considerably to the point it is nearly unrecognizable. Children's drawings of dragons are accompanied by graffiti and paint splatters across the walls, floors, and ceiling, and the bright colors glow beneath hostile moody lighting reminiscent of a rave. [break][break]

[break]

Challengers are taken to a pitch reminiscent of Galar's grand arenas, neatly manicured grass surrounding a central stage. Notably, this arena could accommodate the entire population of the island and then some, unusually large for the population it serves. A wall of audio equipment stretches two stories high from center stage, large enough to reach every seat in the house. [break][break]

Once a traditional challenge begins, challengers are lowered into a much larger arena constructed beneath the pitch. This lower arena's terrain is much more rugged, filled with crystalline structures and pulsating walls reminiscent of the Ultra Deep Sea that lies beneath the island. Combatants have much more room to maneuver in this lower arena.[break][break]

Non-traditional challenges are held in the upper arena, exposed to the elements. [break][break]

Note that this gym focuses on NARRATIVE BATTLE RP, i.e. what creates the best story and/or emphasizes character development. Challenges are cooperative, not adversarial, and the leader will actively work with you to help you achieve your goals through RP. Creativity is rewarded. Lastly, what works best according to the logic of the pokemon video games may not always be the best strategy for this fight.

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVE

Dewford's current educational objective focuses on DYNAMAX, teaching trainers how to utilize their own pokemon's transformations as well as training them to more effectively defeat Dynamaxed pokemon. The maxim of this gym is, THE HARDER THEY FALL. [break][break]

This special objective is conducted exclusively through Non-Traditional Challenges. Traditional challenges remain open, with the understanding that not every fight will involve Dynamax.

FORMAT: TRADITIONAL

TRADITIONAL CHALLENGES are standard pokemon battles, offered in two variations.[break][break]

[break]

Please select one of the following options in your sign-ups:[break][break]

[attr="class","ynospace"]

• 2v2, singles
• 2v2, doubles (most popular)

FORMAT: NON-TRADITIONAL

NON-TRADITIONAL CHALLENGES involve the use of DYNAMAX, granted by Tsubaki's Nihilego and its Ultra Burst. This works like a traditional battle, with the option to Dynamax. It is fully expected that those who partake in this challenge will Dynamax their pokemon. [break][break]

[break]

All Non-Traditional Challenges are conducted in a 2v2 doubles format.[break][break]

Dewford does not possess a natural Power Spot. All Dynamax transformations are conducted through Tsubaki's Nihilego and its Ultra Burst. Because of the nature of this pokemon's Ultra Burst, those who undertake this challenge must provide their own Dyna Band.

RULES

The following moves are banned from use: destiny bond and perish song. This is standard for most if not all gyms, even for traditional formats.[break][break]

Next, if the thread is waiting for a post from the gym challenger for a long time or if the challenger's player falls into long stretches of inactivity, then the gym challenge will be at risk of sudden archival.

SIGN-UPS

APPLICATIONS

TO APPLY FOR A GYM BATTLE, please fill out the form below (or simply post with the necessary information). please do not post when the queue is already full, for if you do, the request may be deleted or ignored. once the queue has a freed spot, you may post away![break][break]

[blockquote]
[b]character tag:[/b] @tag[break]
[b]format:[/b][break]
[b]pokemon:[/b]
[/blockquote][break][break]

QUEUE

• 
  
• 
  

HALL OF FAME

• 
  

[break][break]

after you have been added to the queue,[break]
you may start the thread for the gym battle and tag noah.

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Baki looks at the man dangerously. If fights in the underground of that gilded city had taught her anything, you always press the advantage. It's odd, even a year and twenty detached from that world, to see people treat battling as a sporting event involving manners and conduct, rather than something born of necessity, out of sheer ruthlessness, the urgent need for survival. [break][break]

He doesn't need to tell her to attack twice. [break][break]

"A'ight! [break][break]

"Kiga-- drown it in venom!!"[break][break]

The woman directs her toward the opposite foe, a psyduck. A look of scorn, and the royal drill pokemon smashes her foot into the earth, the needles on her hide bristling at once. Black venom shoots forth, a jet of corrosive acid that rushes like a wave of slude across the battlefield, staining the sand beneath their feet. [break][break]

Baki watches intently, waiting for that acid to connect and burn away before she dares celebrate the hit-- all business. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]She's ripped from the womb. The cold, in contrast to the warmth of the angel's black ichor, shocks her as it hits her all at once. She gasps, taking in a breath as if learning how to breathe all over again, mouth gaping wide and trying to remember that instinct buried deep... [break][break]

"C-c-c-c-cold..."[break][break]

The first thing she sees is a massive wall of white, a giant golem obscured by snow. She recognizes the chill. Nothing's ever hit her in quite the same way, with nearly as much intensity. Suddenly, pieces of the puzzle seem to fall in place all at once... [break][break]

That strange colored white steel construct, found in Granite Cave. [break][break]

The ice-made golem, from the bottom of the frozen volcano.[break][break]

Something's off.[break][break]

"... th-th-the iceb-b-b-berg... f-from Route 105?"[break][break]

Suddenly, her eyes dart to Navy's and she sees him as if for the first time. She doesn't question why he's dyed black, nor why he's holding her with a pained grimace, nor does she concern herself with the fate of her angels or anything else. [break][break]

Her mind focuses solely on what's important:[break][break]

He doesn't know. [break][break]

She's gotta warn him! [break][break]

"Navy! Be careful, I think Howard's a... a Rocket!"[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]The body of the Beast groans and cracks, shuddering with growing pains as it responds to the light above, the shimmering of stars. [break][break]

The woman dyed the color of the sea pulls him deeper into the toxic morass. [break][break]

He can hear the choir of the angels. Sirens on a distant shore calling him to join them, to live with them forever in forests of azure. To envelop him in beauty and pleasure, to smother him, til he becomes so lost in it he is liable to disappear. To be swallowed completely, teetering on the precipice above the howling abyss, scarcely out of reach of oblivion. The silence, the peace... what could be more maddening? [break][break]

Black hands grasp his face and pull his gaze toward her, where gold meets steel gray. [break][break]

This gaze-- knowing, pained-- pleads with him to save her, to rescue her from the chains of this mortal coil. She longs to join the angels. This incomplete form, this incomplete world, it shall never come close to the ideal that is to be near God, to live forever amid the choir and the danse under a sea of stars. [break][break]

But these are not the eyes he is familiar with. They are the eyes of something that is not used to seeing the world this way. Innocent, yet pained. As if it cannot bear something so incomplete. Whatever is behind that gaze is not the girl he remembers. It is the influence of the black ichor that surrounds them gazing through Tsubaki's vision at Navy now, the eyes of one of the angels.[break][break]


These words, they seem meant for him. All the same, they seem directed at something else.[break][break]

The midnight sea grows. Beyond the black, winter wails. And yet, here at its core, the angel protects him from the chaos outside. It is as a womb; protective, warm, inviting. He can stay however long he likes. [break][break]

Outside, the black of ideals is overtaken by the truth of white frost.[break][break]

Their world is rotten.[break][break]

It can be saved. It must. [break][break]

Shards of ice crack and fall away, as a gigantic tentacle filled with barbs sweeps at the similarly gigantic iceberg, attempting to swat it away. The sea is dyed black, hole ripped in the angel's chest seeping blood into its surroundings. It does not seem to notice. Instead, it focuses its animosity on this prodigal giant. Returned, though its blaring voice is dissonant with the song of the sea. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]She tilts her head, intrigued by the little prince's words. [break][break]

A glance at her Poketch, and her ship indicates it's ready to go -- but she's not quite done here yet. [break][break]

This planet, it belongs to the little prince. Not that it'd be useful for her purposes anyway, but she's lookin' for a place to lay claim to. But if someone's waiting on this other planet, could it belong to them? Even going there puts it on her radar, and if there's water, and resources... unlike this dump, no way her bosses won't take notice.[break][break]

"This guy waitin'... know his name, by chance? Anything about him? What else did he say?"[break][break]

Going in blind ain't gonna be ideal, but something tells her the little prince is a bit too easygoing to have much info. He's content to live and let live, unlike everyone else in this crowded galaxy.[break][break]

Still, that's a bit rude to assume-- that he's too simple to know certain things-- so she asks all the same. [break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Hot. Nearly scalding. She remains in the water for what feels like a lifetime, but no matter how much she soaks or scrubs, she cannot wash something like that away. No matter how disgusting it feels, it's a sensation that hot water cannot cure, some impression lingering in her mind long after she's rubbed away a layer of dead skin.[break][break]

As her time in the showers ends, the sinking feeling remains. This desire that cuts through her like a knife. [break][break]

No wonder the crowd acted like it did back on Route 119 beneath the swamp. The chain, it was everything. It could bring that vision to fruition and more, if she'd only let it. If she merely submit to the call of the chains binding her even now... this pulsing organ around her neck, tightening like a noose and reminding her with every breath that the answer lie in reach, even as every breath became a little more strained... [break][break]

The mochi doesn't phase her. She swallows it whole, not even bothering to taste it anymore. When she swallows, all she feels is the tightening of the chain around her neck. [break][break]

She sits on the floor of her cell, looking up at Xenon Antheil with harrowing eyes. She signals passively to the solitary cot. The insane woman could do whatever she wanted with that thing, but she wasn't intending to use it.[break][break]

"Ain't tired. You sleep, if you want."[break][break]

She refuses the call of dreams. No dream will satisfy her now. Nothing could possibly suffice but the visions granted by the mask, and what she desires most... she won't attain it by sleeping. [break][break]

She stares at the floor of her cell for what feels like hours, entranced by the shimmering lights cast by the crystal hanging overhead. When she finally moves, it's like she's come to a decision after a long deliberation. She raises her hand to her neck and squeezes tight, feeling the chain pulse beneath it. [break][break]

An overpowering urge fills her. Hesitation, and she resists, only just. Biting the chain, like a wounded lycanroc gnawing off its own limb caught in a ursaring trap, fills her with unimaginable dread. It's become a part of her now, a piece of her own body, and self-preservation remains her primary motivation. [break][break]

Still, she wonders what might happen, biting into the flesh and becoming one with it... [break][break]

Just as she contemplates the thought, the chain begins to move. It constricts, grows ever tighter. She gasps, spitting curses through a crushed windpipe.[break][break]

"--Sh-shit, n-not waitin' any longer, are ya?"[break][break]

'Fuck', she thinks to herself. It's the last conscious thought she can remember. The chain grows tighter, crushing her windpipe and rendering everything black. [break][break]

Then, she awakens with a gasp, clutching her neck. She reels around, glancing in all directions in a panic, trying to get her bearings. The skies remain that same black, like the darkest day in a distant dream. The chain has freed her. She frantically looks around, feeling some sense of loss. A phantom pain, where a limb may be. [break][break]

Then, she registers the architecture. It reminds her of a certain ship.[break][break]

"... The hell... is this..."[break][break]

The world seems to shift under her feet. She falls backward, feeling panic clutching at her throat like a tightening chain. Grasping her bare neck with a hand, shallow breaths echo through her head. She glances upward at a familiar shape floating in a vat. It appears to be glowing, but no matter how she tries to imagine what it could be, to conjure an image of it in her mind, she can only make out the shape of a young girl in the silhouette... [break][break]

"... M... Manju...?"[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu2"]

[attr="class","star2tsu2"]Black thorns clash against hardened fists, organic and metallic alike. Barbs black as midnight, reeling in the current of the maelstrom. At its center, the angel lies. [break][break]

Golden eyes grace cold steel. The body of an ancient golem, made of the metals of the sea. Recognition, finally, of a truth she had hidden from herself. [break][break]

Before she can process that lingering feeling a wall of ice obscures her vision, hides that truth a little while longer. A more ancient golem takes its place, one far more of interest to the angels. [break][break]

The nihilego are encrusted by a layer of frost. Weighed down, their elegant dance is thrown off. With each step, they begin to clash against one another, cracked and shattered broken bodies like glass that turn to fine dust amid the snow.[break][break]

And yet, they frenzy all the same, clashing against one another wildly like waves clash amid a stormy sea. No regard for their safety, merely excitement at the prospect of what is to come. Their bodies are of little object, of little concern. They are forever in Eternatus. [break][break]

"Hypocrites, all of you! Everyone - humans - is such a hypocrite! What gives you the right!? You'll kill, in order to save... but more'll be killed than you'll ever rescue! All you're doing is perpetuating the very cycle you hate so much!"[break][break]

Malice pours from her lips. Words ostensibly belong to her, dyed in her colors, but Navy would recognize they're words she herself would never say. They're too direct, too concerned with the logic of it all. The ichor taking its toll, deep within the shell.[break][break]

As Navy plunges his hands deep, the pain is unbearable, liking plunging one's arms into molten slag. The black stains his hands, sets him alight. The motionless corpse within, proof she's alive coming only from glowing golden eyes, suddenly grabs his wrists with inhuman strength and speed. They hold him there, as the tentacles wrap around him. Poison barbs shoot toward him at all angles.[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu2"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu2"]♠

[attr="class","star1tsu4"]

[attr="class","star2tsu4"]Despite her protests, the rest of the prisoners accept their dilemma, no matter how false. [break][break]

Scornfully, she gazes on Elisabeth Fiorelli, Xenon Antheil, and all those who cast their judgement, seeing themselves fit as Arceus to deliver unto others their fate. A huff of indignation and nothing more, she silently broods on a realization she made long ago-- one she'd come across and discarded, but nevertheless, one that affirmed itself every single time she came across it.[break][break]

People would condemn others for their own benefit. Not out of hatred, not out of spite, but simply because they did not care about others nearly as much as themselves. [break][break]

That was people's greatest flaw, and the difference between them, and pokemon. [break][break]

She's granted admission to the Chamber of Desires with the others, and with it, she hesitates. For all she's aware, nothing in this cold, dead heart wants for anything. However...[break][break]

"Navy, calm down. Please."[break][break]

She wants to assure him it's alright, but not here. This is no place for comfort. She bears his desperate pleas as best she can, swallowing her trepidation and placing the mask to her face...[break][break]

---

---

Breathless sigh, and her head is left spinning. She'd expected to see nothing at all, but this pain in her chest between where her lungs burn when she's running, a place where her heart should be... what was this feeling...?[break][break]

The others put the mask on one by one, and then they're shepherded along. Stripped of everything, including their clothes.[break][break]

She notes the familiar faces. John Sullivan, Yuina Higashi, freya morningstar, and luka chêne. Others she's never seen before, too. But none of that matters. Whether she knows them or not, she doesn't care. [break][break]

It feels liberating being freed after spending so long chained down. [break][break]

And no matter what they do, Tsubaki maintains her dignity. They cannot strip her of that. [break][break]

She's faced a prison's communal showers before. Embarrassment is the goal, the debasement of one's sense of self. Knowing that goal, she does not show even a shred of it. The only thing she wears is a scowl, toward the megalopolans, toward the bird, toward the other prisoners, toward the very notion she must be embarrassed. [break][break]

She does not cover herself, does not even make an attempt. [break][break]

This was how she came into this world. There is nothing to hide.[break][break]

[break][break]

[attr="class","star3tsu4"][attr="class","rouxcredittsu4"]♠