[attr="class","icon"]

because of Hideo Kino and his arcanine's intervention, noah avoids the gaping chasm. he scrambles across the snow, his hitmonlee not too far.[break][break]

"thanks, buddy!" [break][break]

in return, noah's HITMONLEE bestows a HELPING HAND to the younger gym leader and his RALTS.

[attr="class","bottom"]YwDlUcsy[break][break]

[break]
tl;dr: covers for eko and victor before they take flight

[attr="class","icon"]

the dachsbun's jaws close in on the annihilape's muscular arm. pained, enraged breath rushes out from the monkey's nostrils like pyroclastic flow.[break][break]

its free arm rises. the fist is clenched, each knuckle a boulder angled toward the dog clinging by its teeth.[break][break]

however, the rage suddenly leaves the annihilape. a leak of the spirit. a break in consciousness.[break][break]

finally, noah's ape hits the canvas with a heavy thud of muscle and chain.[break][break]

"gah!" after a small sigh, the gym leader recalls his annihilape. he shouts from his side: "you got me. grats, man! you earned my knockout badge fair and square."

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]
annihilape faints!![break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

noah and his toxicroak watch the larvitar careen towards them like the 99943 meteno. it's a marvel—a car accident waiting to happen, so imminent, so inevitable that the gym leader's eyes know not to pull away from it and the vital gear's AR.[break][break]

"awww yeah!" the gym leader says, relishing in the larvitar's aggression. "that's what i'm talkin' about lil guy!"[break][break]

noah's toxicroak attempts to retaliate. with a crisp ribbit, the frog attempts to cross the larvitar's dash. like a frame pulled from a samurai's single-strke duel, it unsheathes its clawed hands toward the rock skin menace for an X-SCISSOR.[break][break]


"must've ate a spicy rock!"

[attr="class","bottom"]howard slayte[break]
[break]
iKCKI|Ma[break]
4/4 HP (will use dynamax)

[attr="class","icon"]

"whoa, whoa, whoa."[break][break]

noah pats his biceps nonchalantly. palms smooth over firm planes of muscle—but an amused pout emerges from his face rather than a proud knowing smile.[break][break]

"you sure you wanna use all that sygna juice before our actual fight?"[break][break]

noah's toxicroak leaps out from behind him. it hisses. clawed hands posture themselves, already seeking cunning angles to dive into the fellow amphibian.[break][break]

"once my frog comes out on top," noah says, "i'll be taking your badge too, buddy."

[attr="class","bottom"]kyle lopez[break]
[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

"noah lopez?"[break][break]

after the poochyena TAUNTS, the frog croaks ragged. its sac inflates as an aggressive boil, red as the eyes of a matador's bouffalant.[break][break]

"i kinda like the sound of that."[break][break]

his toxicroak dashes across the lilycove road. on the backs of its hands, the frog's claws glow toxic-reds. a POISON JAB lunges toward the pup. no hesitance.

[attr="class","bottom"]kyle lopez[break]
[break]
VVSFK8AE[break]
2/3 HP

[attr="class","icon"]

the magneton ushers in more light. the combined luminescence of his pokemon and her's allows them to discern the cave's complexities more clearly. each ridge, each slope, and each bevel is defined by spark and step.[break][break]

"ever like, write your feelings down?" noah says after some thought. "or—"[break][break]

he leans in toward one tunnel and feels chilled air. the shell of his ear pinkens.[break][break]

"—you could even like..." to direct everyone, noah points down the narrow cave corridor. he hopes his iron hands can fit. "pretend i'm her and you can like, practice what you wanna say with me?"

[attr="class","icon"]

noah returns Eko Darling's nod with a firm chin. despite the frigid tempest, relief comes as the rush of pidgeot feathers. he watches as Victor Haas and his pokemon ascend with her, into the glacial weave above.[break][break]

briefly, he wishes they had stayed with him. though countless trainers and their pokemon occupy the battlefield, the blizzard wreathes them all in numbing anonymity. [break][break]

the gym leader and his hitmonlee trudge on as the earth rumbles beneath them.

[attr="class","bottom"]Oy84pBcd[break][break]

[break]
tl;dr: noah says gbye to the fliers!!

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the secret is that howard slate (sp?) has usurped noah in the superfan rankings. once upon time, the verdanturf gym leader owned manufatured polaroids. glossy posters. the coin that had only been minted once, yes.[break][break]

but such memorabilia sheds its celebrity by the domestic hour. magazine spreads are replaced by blurred selfies. limited coins are supplanted by the dull lint collected in laundered pant pockets.[break][break]

most damningly, noah does not possess a traffic ticket with kyle's name.[break][break]

"hey, hey, hey, man." sounds of rock crunching punch in between words. "if that's your way of making me underestimate you... it's sorta... working?"[break][break]

his toxicroak stares at rock crumbs.

[attr="class","bottom"]howard slayte[break]
[break]
4/4 HP (will use dynamax)

[attr="class","icon"]

"mister lopez."[break][break]

if a bramblin could roll across the lilycove pavement at this very moment, it would not be out of place. but there is none.[break][break]

just the occasional shadow of a storm cloud and their respective pokemon. noah's TOXICROAK, bequeathed to him by a special poison-specialist santa (Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki) from dewford, pulses its cherry sac.[break][break]

"no objections." noah hams it up with a smile and smug hand spread across his chest. "it's about time a faber becomes a top champ."

[attr="class","bottom"]kyle lopez[break]
[break]
3/3 HP

[attr="class","icon"]

from the border, noah's marshadow has learned much about human behavior from passing souls. why they clench their fists. why they smile in spite of their passing. why they lie and cry.[break][break]

and now, the marshadow gets to perform it all. the human condition in all of its glory.[break][break]

but actors must start small. even movie stars have humble beginnings as extras. [break][break]

and so, the marshadow ROLE PLAYs as the shadow stretching out from beneath DESIREE BLOOMS's greninja's palm tree.

[attr="class","bottom"]Lux Defort Remiel Calcifet BARNABY FINCH DESIREE BLOOMS Ettie SIO SOTÍ[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

it tickles. noah erupts into a refrain of laughter: notes of surprise and sensitivity that jitterbug past kyle's oak brown locks.[break][break]

"seems like a fair trade to me."[break][break]

it's not. noah detests formal linens. buttons and pocket squares. but he plays the game.[break][break]

the gym leader sheds himself of the hoodie, the bulbayena wrinkling as the fabric clumps up on the ground. he begins to pull off his t-shirt.[break][break]

mid-way he asks, "you don't mind used goods?"