“L-look,” he began the moment they arrived at their destination.

“I-I can’t send you to your doom by yourself! Who knows what the hell’s waiting inside there if you go there alone!”

Never mind that there was a ghostie circling around them right now, he just had to keep the panic down because the longer they stood out here, the longer it would take for them to get back.

“And-and besides… what if it’s a trap, wh-what if you get kidnapped again? Who’s going to get you out of whatever happens? Your cousin isn’t going to be around all th-the time, you know!”

Yes, he was a bit talky today, but fact of the matter is that he wasn’t going to allow her to get taken again. Besides, getting her kidnapped once was bad enough as it was.

He could only sigh.

He had… things to say, however instead he would take a deep breath once his Braviary had been recalled back to the safety of their Pokéball.

“Yeah… good fight.”

And off he went from the stage to wherever his next match was scheduled.

---

Alex lost this match.

He knew the other would go almost everywhere with the green Sword (the one he secretly called ‘Aramis’ in his head) but honestly—

Imagine the hoohah if people entered the tournament with high-profile legendary Pokémon!

(It was also why he chose not to enter with that one, as he wanted to keep their existence a secret from other prying eyes as they could be everywhere…)

“I’d want to meet them again if you have the time to spare!” he continued as he climbed up on the stage to fetch his Braviary already being showered in confetti and glitter, who let out a tiny little squawk in the Meowth’s direction.

Those claws still hurt!

---

Alex grabs the surprise W

Now, if Kyouya was Gabriel and the Braviary was a Salemence… this would’ve been rather different.

Unlike Kyouya, Gabriel was a sore loser; and only had very few equal rivals he could hold up to a high standard (hi Amor Rose and your Dragonite) and take a loss without losing his temper…

“Kyouya! Don’t you dare fucking go down without a fight!” he hollered from his side of the field as that overly long tongue came out screaming and… eww, disgusting!

The last resort would be a Rock Slide launched from the ground flying upwards…

Or not.

“That was too much,” he went on as he clambered onto the stage and recalled the Braviary.

This was going to sting for a while.

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls

“Who knows how the ending’s going to be,” he chuckled quietly; never mind the fact that his plate was empty and the little Josh just may have witnessed him inhaling a literal plate of pasta in what seemed like seconds.

“This would’ve been nice if we had some bread to go with it!” he continued, this time pointedly glaring at Josh’s strange Pokémon companion (who was rather obnoxious for eating all that sweet, delicious garlic bread) before rolling his eyes in the Null’s direction—not that he knew what it was.

And then, the wind picked up.

“Huh—what the—?!” he blinked as the other made to grab the cover of the pasta container before he looked in the same direction they were—

“Huh, no,” he continued, his voice going extremely quiet again. It was like there was static in the air; and something was off. Like there was a static charge enveloping the very air…

“Don’t tell me we’re getting a dry thunder storm?!” he exclaimed as he quickly finished off the rest of the contents of his plate; and made to get up and start running in case lightning bolts came crashing down on the area proper.

With Cian’s confirmation that this was indeed the same Froakie that had come by and wreaked havoc on his Oricorio and Drampa, he mentally crossed his fingers.

“Are you keeping them a Froakie forever or will you let them go on and evolve?” he would ask.

Up in the air, the Hydro Pump comes slamming full-force into the Braviary; who lets out a dismayed cawing noise of surprise before he’s forced to fly down—but not before making the sweeping landing one where he can hopefully Roost to reverse some of the damage because ouch, ouch, what the hell that shit hurt!

The next round would either be the one that would determine the entire match, or…

Well, he just hoped his Braviary would keep on fighting until the very end.

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls

Another loud yowling noise comes from the Braviary while the Meowth takes a potshot at him in mid-air; those claws seriously hurt!

Never mind if they were in mid-air, the blue-plumed avian Pokémon would then fly straight back down; but not before lashing out with another Aerial Ace attempt!

Down on the ground…

“I haven’t seen your Sword of Justice around lately—are they alright?”

Honestly, where was Virizion? Running around the region with their fellow Swords in arms, or something?

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls

The Braviary let out a cry of disgust the moment the Froakie had managed to fight through the pain and tried Licking him—eww!

“Humor me, then—is that the same Froakie you brought to the Fortree Gym when you challenged me for my badge?” he inquired; while out on the battlefield the Braviary then attempted to take the Froakie into the air with a surprise Sky Drop attack!

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls

This was going to be an uphill battle for him, all things considered—why were the Froakie’s attacks hitting much harder than normal?

What was the secret out here?!

Now that there was a strong torrent of water headed his way, he brought out the bird whistle from around his neck; whistling sharply exactly once before the Braviary then screeched and attempted to close the distance using a surprise Aerial Ace attack!

“And as always, your Froakie hits like a truck, what’s up with that?!” he exclaimed from his side of the field.

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls

The light of Mega Evolution was his warning that shit was about to go down—

And then the moment the Beedrill grew an extra bunch of stingers, he knew that they were going to be in for another massive problem.

“Oh, shit,” was all he would say quietly as he knew that the other may have backed himself into a corner; while the Braviary let out a surprise squawk of dismay at the sight, he knew he wasn’t going to give up…

But then the stingers came in hard, and fast; which made him caw out of anger because they hurt!

He hoped that the Sky Drop that the Braviary would bring the other Pokémon into would make the Beedrill stop attacking, however fact of the matter was that it was going to be folly if he tried.

Ouch, this was going to hurt…

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls

“So it’s just battle arenas you have out there then?” he confirmed; keeping an eye on the Meowth in case something happened—while he was surprised to see the Normal-type take the attack to the face; he realized that it was just a ploy before said Meowth came screaming back with an attack of equal measure!

“Time to fly.”

With that, the Braviary then made a crazy attempt to grab the Meowth before suddenly flying skywards; in an attempt to bring it into range of his Sky Drop attack!

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls

He could only hope that Kyouya had that much power left in him because… the moment he saw the light rising from the feline Pokémon’s fur, he realized what was up—

“Brace!” he practically yelled in Kyouya’s direction; and the Braviary was hopefully fast enough to shift gears and protect himself with a Rock Slide, because holy shit that was a Z-move in mid-air if he ever saw one!

(And that was going to hurt on the way down, he was sure.)

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls

“Speed isn’t exactly his best trait, you know,” he ribbed the other on while the two were fighting it out in the skies above.

“You’ll see in a moment,” was all he would say; while the Braviary cawed loudly in the feline’s face before attempting to throw them off with a surprise Aerial Ace attack!

Hopefully the trip down wasn’t going to hurt when they landed…

---

terastalization gimmick: +15 to even-numbered rolls