As the owner of a sanctuary, he had it much worse.

“Oh, cry me a river—I have… so much more to worry about than you do. I run an actual sanctuary service that helps the general public. If I lost funding for that because of me getting suspended—or at the very worst, fired—then I’d have to close the entire place down.

You’re not the only one who has an entire army to worry about. I have a lot of Pokémon who can’t be released back into the wild because of human negligence, or some other things that happened to them that’s made them unfit to survive without human assistance, so losing my job will be a lot, lot worse.”

That was not even counting the number of people in his employ, to boot.

Oh, and he did not want to even mention the angry visage of his partner; who had already pretty much lost faith with how the system worked as a whole.

(Hi Guillermo Marceliño. Love you.)

“I’ve been around the longest. You full-ass well know this. The only reason I’m still here is because of the length of my tenure,” he would hiss.

Behind him, the Braviary would squawk quietly; realizing that something was up.

“If I were to be fired, or suspended, or whatever, then Rocket will definitely win the battle inland. Once they get Fortree, everywhere else on the western side will easily fall.”

And he did not want that to happen.

“And you know how stubborn some of the figures in power are. Offer alternate propositions, you’ll get shot down. Not once, but many times. Why do you think I distrust the higher-ups?”

Ah, young love.

From one Birddad™ to another™… wasn’t that grand?

“Oh, wait! I do remember! They were in the stands!” he spoke up; recalling the time that the greenette had come by previously for his challenge and was accompanied by a somewhat sleepy-looking individual who even gave them a kiss for good luck.

“Looks like that kiss brought you luck after all,” he would tease with a wink.

All too soon he would feel something vibrating in his pocket, and he would fish it out before turning this extremely embarrassing shade of red.

“Oh, shit—my partner’s looking for me, I gotta go back to Fortree! He… he kinda does a righteous panic when I don’t tell him where I go for the day. This one’s totally on me.”

He would then unball his own Altaria, who hummed and flapped her cloud wings; ready to depart.

“Catch you later down the road, then? Probably when your gym’s open?” he would hum as he very nearly tripped over himself while scrambling to get on his Pokémon’s back, before taking off with a running start and a loud whistle from the Altaria as they then flew into the skies, back to Fortree where their partner Guillermo Marceliño was waiting for them to come home.

“Then tell me.”

The scowl on his face deepened as he brought out the ‘fangs’, so to speak.

“Why’d you sell me out to the fucking crowd, then? Just to keep your job?”

His arms were crossed, and there was no uncrossing them once he’d gotten them settled on his chest.

“You know full-ass well about potential leaks. Who knows if there are still others out there, operating under a disguise, and may very well have access to that information?!” he would go on.

“Temp was my fucking ex. We’ve known each other for too long. During the short time he was Gym Leader over at Pacifidlog, it’s very possible that he’d gotten access to information that only Gym Leaders should. And willingly volunteered that information to Rocket.”

Behind him, the blue-plumed Braviary stood off to one side, quietly plucking some feathers from under his wing.

“Have you made time to clear out your schedule, even for a few days, and sit him down so you two can talk? Like, really talk?”

Between the two of them, he was the one who had much more ‘relationship experience’ (even if it was with mostly guys) however he wasn’t dumb to not see the signs.

“…is he the kind of person who likes to keep to himself?” he would ask her from out of nowhere a few moments afterward.

Unlike him and the Frog (who was really open about his affection), the advice he would end up giving her would really depend on how the situation was between the two of them.

“Don’t tell me they’re just like… they’re just like Amor when it comes to processing intense emotions, are they?”

(Minus the extremely-rich and having a personal butler kind of setup.)

Oh, djinni.

This one already had a name, to boot?! Well wasn’t that going to be a hoot…

“Wait, wait, hold up, back up a little,” he would begin by holding up a hand.

“Are you telling me—that the time you met them—was during the time a lot of people were headed to Evergrande and feeding the Calyrex over there stories?!” he would stage-whisper.

Because clearly, there was something going on here.

His other question had been cut off—he belatedly wondered if his friend had something to do with her heading him off with regards to being an ‘avatar’.

“Shit…” he would continue a few moments later once the panic had settled down and he wasn’t thinking a thousand miles a minute.

“Did you… did you tell someone higher-up at the League about this?” he would then gesture to—oh, djinni she gave them a name to boot.

It was like—the Braviary knew that there was something coming.

(Not something, but someone… maybe because he had a sharper sense for things like this, especially when it came to sussing out fellow Braviary—even if they were the strange, gray-feathered kind and not the usual red-feathered—or in his case blue kind.)

The blue Braviary would let out a welcoming caw from the ‘roof’ of the gym’s front building proper; before taking off to inform his idiot human that they had a guest for today.

Speaking of Alex…

He was out at the back, and currently giving his Salamence a proper hosing-down—even if the part-draconid was loathe for a shower.

“C’mon, Gabe, just need to rinse you down,” he would plead with the Salamence, who huffed and roared a little bit—this was before the blue Braviary suddenly came streaking out from the building, screeching like there was bloody murder—

“Kyouya, the fuck you yelling about?” he would call to the Braviary, having to shield his eyes momentarily from the sun before the avianid came to a semi-crash landing in front of the two.

Some more cawing later, and—

“What, are you kidding me?! They’re already here?!” he would yelp, abandoning the ‘final rinse’ that his Salamence was almost subjected to.

Cawing, the Braviary watched as the silly human ran full-tilt to the building, opening and slamming it shut before snickering in the Salamence’s direction; and this was before the Salamence cuffed the Braviary upside the head and growled in thanks!

(Cheeky little shits.)

“Oh my god you’re already here I’m so sorry!” he would call out once the door that led to the back had been closed hurriedly—he was… partially drenched. Oops!

There was a scowl on his face, the moment the younger man turned around to face him.

He let out a snort, before giving him the best ‘bombastic side-eye’ he could muster up.

“You know, having to share the Stormbringer… it doesn’t really sit too well with me, know that?” he would begin; no preamble whatsoever.

“There was a reason why I kept him a secret—because who knows when the fuck Rocket is going to come besiege Fortree and we don’t have any hidden aces up our sleeves.”

The look on his face was an incredibly dour one.

“And let me guess, you’re keeping that one a secret too?” he would drawl, tilting his head in the monochrome-colored Pokémon that the other was currently riding on.

The way he was swaying on his feet—maybe it was a good idea not to part ways with his companion; considering the other had what appeared to be a support-styled ability and he was the one who went full-offensive with the ‘chains’ on his right hand.

For a few moments, though, he felt himself stagger; and had to turn away from Zach’s direction to spit out (it was more like vomit up) an alarming amount of blood; why did that mucky, poisonous feeling fester inside return once again? It was absolutely disgusting, to be honest.

“You—lead the way,” he would say once he’d recovered some semblance of dignity, making sure to be on the lookout for any approaching space cannibals that would try to sneak up on them.

As they progressed through the place, it became clearer that there were quite a lot of others—not just from their ward—who were also attempting to make their escape.

“I’m going to need your eyes, I know you can do special things—let’s try to find our Pokémon out here,” he would remark in the bluenette’s direction; a sign that he was unwilling to split up.

Now, while the vore morbid sight of the fleshy ‘tubes’ stood before them…

“Nowhere else to go,” he would hiss quietly; following his companion down, down, down the tubes to see just where the fuck they would end up.

---

• Frog where are you please come save your husband!!!
• Birddad™ is now badly poisoned, we’re sick Jim!
• turned away from Zach to vomit some blood, no big deal, we’ll get the hell out of here
• relying on his companion to lead the way forward
• main action: follows Zach down the fleshy tubes, where do they lead? (escape through the fleshy tubes)
• toxic chain transformed into a seemingly innocent accessory covering most of his right hand—when the hand that has the toxic chain ‘accessory’ is waved or gestured in the direction of any incoming threats, anything caught in that ‘path’ will either explode or be ripped to shreds from the inside out yes I went full-on fucking Kurapika here
• no Pokémon listed since they don’t have them with ‘em

There was this strange, yet familiar silhouette that would flash in his mind’s eye during those waking hours—while the words were initially garbled, as time went by—he realized, he fucking realized that there was a message—one that gave them hope.

Was it a false, or a true sense of hope?

Time had muddled so much in this space (it felt like the alternate Hammerlocke, only much worse since there was no getting to their Pokémon) it felt like he was ready to give up—

Wait.

Him, give up?

After being his companion’s fucking pillar for the entire time they were trapped here?

Fuck no.

Moment the words became clear and mass chaos began breaking out, there was nothing else to it.

“Stay close to me,” was all he would say in Zach’s direction—because who knew if they were going to get sideswiped; the way they were relentlessly tortured during the ‘Laughing hour’…

He wasn’t going to stand for this.

Never mind if the mochi threatened to make him hurl, he would put up with it—he would definitely need a detoxifying deep clean the moment he got out from—from wherever this was—and the chain, oh the chain…

Once a symbol of oppression, it… huh.

Where did his chain go?!

He knew not what was happening in the other wards; however the moment some unsuspecting blue-skinned ‘space alien’ tried to come up and take a bite out of him, for he must’ve looked pretty tasty—a swing of his arm made something wondrous… and all the same time terrifying happen.

He’d wondered where the chain wrapped around his neck had ‘disappeared’ off to… only for the ‘space alien’ to suddenly scream before an explosion of blood and guts abruptly dissolved them to blue bloody bits in front of him.

Normally he would be screaming and have fainted around this time; however due to the way time worked in this place, he… he’d grown numb to seeing all the spilled blood; all the guts, gore, and what have you from whoever else poor shmucks had dared to rebel or defy their prison wards until this moment.

Huh, what—

The remnants of the ‘chain’ he could see had transformed into a seemingly innocent-looking ‘accessory’ that had wrapped around the fingers of his right hand—the creepy thing was how they seemingly melded straight into his own flesh and blood—so if this was one part of the chain, where was the other—

“Look out!” he would warn his companion, seemingly swinging his right hand in the same direction as more guards came chasing after them—he was expecting some kind of ‘attachment’ to come flying out from his hand but… but there was none.

Instead, the same thing that had happened earlier with the one that had tried to take a bite out of him happened—the loud screaming before the explosion of a fine mist that eventually dissolved into bits and pieces of blue mush and guts were left behind.

“…shit,” was all he would have time for, before seeing that there were other prisoners who were trying to make their way towards a certain point—

“Come on! If you can’t walk, I’ll fucking carry you!” he would offer; this was the adrenaline talking at this point.

Never mind if he thought he could feel something heavy settling in his body a few times after he used that strange accoutrement that had encircled his hand, well… they had to get the fuck out of here!

Several more attempts at stopping them would happen; however all it would take from him was just one seemingly innocent random, innocent swiping at thin air gesture from his right hand and they would all explode.

Or be shredded into blue space meat; whatever.

Tempted as he was to go after the booger monkey, they had more pressing matters to deal with—for they had to get to the bottom of wherever this place was.

Before they lost advantage.

---

• Frog where are you please come save your husband!!!
• Birddad™ starts getting the muddled messages from Azelf—or the Azelf silhouette about the break out
• he continues to put up with this shit until it’s time to BREAK FREE
• the moment the ‘great escape’ is put into motion, they’re on the move—he’s travelling with his cell companion
• the willpower that had been burning inside him… did not turn into something that could help heal, but built off his resentment instead!
• toxic chain transformed into a seemingly innocent accessory covering most of his right hand—when the hand that has the toxic chain ‘accessory’ is waved or gestured in the direction of any incoming threats, anything caught in that ‘path’ will either explode or be ripped to shreds from the inside out yes I went full-on fucking Kurapika here
• no Pokémon listed since they don’t have them with ‘em

Oh, they thought the Toucannon Armada™ were only above?

Well, there were Toucannon also circling below; and had opened fire with even more ricochet’ing Bullet Seed attacks; however by some sheer force of luck the Togekiss had heard the incoming sounds of ‘gunfire’ (which was just really the hard-shelled seeds popping open from the force of the attacks being fired) and would be able to immediately maneuver out of harm’s way to safety.

But ‘safety’ wasn’t a word that existed in these Toucannons’ bird-brains… at least, when the shiny leader of the pack is mentioned.

A very loud, derisive cawing noise would come from the shiny Toucannon’s direction—which would then signal all the other Toucannon to open fire at will; for if they had a pattern to the madness, then wouldn’t that be playing too safe?

The funny thing is that the Hydreigon that had been meandering around in mid-air like some drunken fist practitioner would actually get hit by the incoming barrage of Bullet Seed hell from several directions; causing him to come to a stop in mid-air before very nearly being overtaken by aerial fire!

“Never thought I’d get hit by my own obstacles,” he would smirk, the Hydreigon roaring indiscriminately and itching to incinerate the stupid birds—but they would continue their drunken flight pattern through the thicker ‘volley of fire’ that waited up ahead.

---

Part 2: Alolan Bullet Hellscape; have the two numbers you roll fall between the range of Alex’s roll to continue on safely! (basically, your two rolled numbers should land between 51 and 98)

So remember that time after Gym Jam where they were supposed to meet right afterward to talk about things?

Well, that didn’t happen because he’d immediately booked it out of Lilycove the moment the meeting had adjourned. Too much of his mental energy had been expended—

And fact of the matter was that the little rat had broken his trust. Breaking someone’s trust was bad enough, but breaking his trust, boy, one would literally be asking for sheer death after all the shit that would go down.

(For it would be extremely difficult to regain that trust once again, after it had been broken.)

For today’s video he was flying around on aerial patrol when… the sight of something drew him to come down towards the ground.

The shiny Braviary would make the quietest landing after that little spectacle, and he would then slide off Kyouya’s back, arms all crossed.

“Well, well. Look who it is.”

While his Charizard would wrap her tail around the eggs to keep them warm (all things considered) he would look over the list that had been given to her—before this shit-eating grin would spread all over his face.

“Now, Miss Elise, I have a few questions for you,” he began once he looked up from the paper he was holding.

“Do you want to walk, or are you in a hurry? Because I know exactly where each and every one of these people are—some of them aren’t home right now, but at work—so our day trip will take us through the commercial district before we get to the residential area.”

He already had half a map drawn up in his head because thanks to him sticking his nose into everything knowing quite a lot about Fortree’s residents in general, well, he knew where most everyone was; in the general sense of the word.

Now see, the Toucannon Armada™ always lived up to their reputation—for being a bunch of battle-hardened, brutal veterans that spared no quarter whenever their Bullet Seed attack would get tossed around.

While Alex would make it up and out through the first rounds of gatling fire—Aubre would have a much harder time since this particular stretch of the course was headed by a shiny Toucannon who’d literally seen everything, and was more than happy to start rapid-firing a ricochet of Skill Link-powered Bullet Seed attacks towards their way!

Most of the firepower would fly very close to the Dragonite—some of it would even fly too close to her hair for comfort because Sam the shiny Toucannon was relentless—a few ‘rounds’ would strike the Dragonite’s tail out of surprise; which could force a direction change if she wasn’t too careful where she went!

After clearing the first obstacle—the second one would literally hit the both of them with a terrifying heat ‘haze’ of a wall; all things considered.

There were multiple Charizard flying around the next stretch of the aerial course; and while it was just hard-shelled seeds they had to worry about the last time, this time it would be errant streams of flames that the Charizards were exhaling!

“Welcome to Charizard Valley—or at least, an aerial version of it!” he would call from his own Dragonite. “Be careful not to get blinded out here!”

And off he would fly, straight towards the worst of the heat haze where a seemingly insurmountable ‘wall’ of fire would ‘swallow’ him up as he disappeared on ahead.

---

Part 2; Charizard Valley: anyone who owns a Charizard (or several) knows that keeping them all cooped up is bad; so it’s always a good idea to let them fly around every once in a while and exercise their volatile tempers in the relative safety of the air!

Roll exactly one of the two of Alex’s rolls to proceed safely through the ‘fire wall’!