[attr="class","icon"]

[newclass=.omgen b]color:#d172c6;[/newclass]

"you got it, man!" [break][break]

more DRAPION pins strike the obverse side of the jostling log. where aaron's head would've been if the trunk had been rotated once.[break][break]

as aaron's pikachu slips out of its confines, noah's machamp holds the log up like a flagbearer. slit! one quick swish of a pocket knife—and aaron is freed right into noah's arms.[break][break]

the trunk is thrown—and a chorus of cries erupts from the splintering clothesline.[break][break]

"whoa! you're a bit heavier than i thought." noah says. "been working out?"

[attr="class","bottom"]aaron faust[break]
ykPpnAKX[break]
[break]
excursion e - rescue

[attr="class","icon"]

for the tiniest epoch, the brain may register noah's crumpled, twisted body as devoid of all life. grass and dirt-stained skin. torn streaks across clothes. no word, no sound from an unseen face.[break][break]

"fuuuuuuuck, are you for real, man."[break][break]

his hitmontop spins toward the gym leader. with a focused cry, the hitmontop unties knots for limbs and helps him back to his feet.[break][break]

a smear of grime marks noah's cheek.[break][break]

"snapped out of it yet, vct champ?" noah stares at the looming raging bolt. the shadow of its cloud-like muffler stretches across them.[break][break]

like a dreidel, the hitmontop spins after cian's raboot. it traces frantic circles around the dragon's feet in a gamble to confuse it.[break][break]

"don't freeze on me, man!"

[attr="class","bottom"]CIAN MAHER[break]
UH|RqXWx[break]
[break]
excursion c - monster hunter

[attr="class","icon"]

noah stands too, careful not to efface the lam's pidove with his sneakers. the fighting-type specialist sports a bright determination. a big, knowing smile. face serious, yet glowing.[break][break]

"how about artichoke begins firing arrows, twang twang twang," noah flutters his fingertips as if loosing a bowstring, "and i soar down like a battle royale game on with my decidueye."[break][break]

his bird, staid yet autumnally clad, clacks its beak.[break][break]

"then i start doing my thing. pow, pow, pow," noah says, "and then you swoop down, ksshaw! hoo hoo—that's artichoke by the way—hoo hoo—and then we take turns giving each other cover."[break][break]

the scene is painted by figurative foresight.[break][break]

and though there a real stakes at hand, noah cloaks the sharper points of his adrenaline with his imagination as a cry bellows in the distance:[break][break]

[player]https://file.garden/ZXZrnWMYuz15frfJ/HOENN%20MUSIC/MYSTERIOUSCRY1.mp3[/player]

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]
HD3PA8Jp[break]
[break]
excursion b - research station

[attr="class","icon"]

tentacles clash with purple flashes of light. protective psychic energy carves itself into the air like dancing scarves. each deflection buzzes from impact. [break][break]

yellow eye-mask markings scrunch up like a howling sponge. a SUBMISSION is attempted. tentacles begin to surge around the poliwrath and its psychic barricade as a geyser of hot air expels from the breathing hole on the side of its head.[break][break]

"you're just getting yourself into hot water again." noah's words punctuate his punches. slick muscle captures the overbearing lights above. "are you gonna finally learn your lesson or—"[break][break]

the headbutt lands.[break][break]

and noah's trained body, so accustomed to the rules and regulation of his ring, falters and sways. he staggers backward. like awkward anchors, he raises heavy arms that plead for him to let them plunge.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH[break]
tl;dr - grapploct attempts to submission again; noah headbutted and woozy[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

kyle's right. any advice noah had would pale to the experience the champion cultivated from the battlefield. in the quiet of war's prelude, noah thumbs his insecurities. dulls the silver shine of his merits. he does not recognize how he knits this plastic cat's cradle in kyle's shadow.[break][break]

"you're right." noah leans his head into kyle's. his voice is hushed and darkens by by the second. "so, we're going in guns blazing? or like, quiet like zorua?"

[attr="class","bottom"]kyle lopez[break]
TAMbw8hp[break]
[break]
az excursion d - dark

[attr="class","icon"]

noah's flung. he skids across the canvas upon landing, feet desperate to gain traction as the psychic energy runs off his sweaty skin.[break][break]

the GRAPPLOCT slithers toward the prone POLIWRATH. several tentacles rise and arc toward the burly amphibian, their ends balling into boulders for a SUPERPOWER.[break][break]

the gym leader catches his breath. his chest heaves, strained by the eroded stamina after the attempted pin.[break][break]

"you want this fire?" noah says. "i'll give it to you then."[break][break]

incensed, noah bolts for matias. his choreography loses lissomeness—but such footwork is exchanged for aggression. from a tight boxer's posture, punches arc out from noah's tough, tank-like frame.[break][break]

he feels like he's fighting for something important. something more important than this gym match. his pride? reputation as a fighter? his worth and skill as a gym leader or ordinary human? noah does not know and checks 'all of the above'.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH[break]
tl;dr - grapploct moves toward poliwrath and attempts SUPERPOWER; noah tries to punch punch punch[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

"easy to say that when you're stuffing yourself with a burger." noah says, scarfing his own sandwich down. "we'll both regret this in a few hours though."[break][break]

he pats his tummy. the post-bergmite burger gut is nothing to be trifled with. he takes a sip of his soda, the carbonation like static against his palate.[break][break]

"i'm lucky i met you, you know." noah's tongue still tingles. "don't leave again. not without saying anything like you did with ultra space, okay? you promise?"

[attr="class","icon"]

"i'm just yanking your chain, man. you can come for free. you think i'm some cheapsk— cian?" [break][break]

noah hears the silencing of cian's footfalls. behind him, the scene is arrested. adrenaline forms the driving, beckoning vignette of the wet hunting grounds ahead.[break][break]

noah grabs both of cian's arms. squeezes them tight to center the blond's focus on him.[break][break]

"hey, hey," noah's gaze flickers about cian's face, "what's wrong? you okay?"[break][break]

concern overtakes him like a developing storm. noah can not hear his hitmontop's warning cry.[break][break]

a long-necked DRAGON TAIL sweeps both noah—and cian should he be unlucky, away.

[attr="class","bottom"]CIAN MAHER[break]
iY1Lm|if[break]
[break]
excursion c - monster hunter

[attr="class","icon"]

from kid cuisine to raw chestos. what a downgrade. what a downer—and seeing aaron's pikachu's hunger convert into gravitational force is more than enough to spark noah into action.[break][break]

like a cannon ball, the gym leader is thrown into the fray by his machamp. a dropkick collides with one rocket grunt, while his gray-slabbed juggernaut pummels another.[break][break]

noah bounces on his heels. springs to a smile that he flashes at aaron.[break][break]

"you looked used to being tied up, man." [break][break]

his smile fades as a PIN MISSILE soars above noah's head. quickly, he skids toward aaron and his pikachu. his machamp uproots the tree, swinging the trunk to act as a barricade.[break][break]

dirt-caked rocks, pikachu paws and aaron-shoes dangle like nose hairs. more needles knock against the backside of the trunk with aaron still tied on the other side.[break][break]

"alright aaron. what's the plan!"

[attr="class","bottom"]aaron faust[break]
Gbb3KnYc[break]
[break]
excursion e - rescue

[attr="class","icon"]

noah blocks the kick. barely. the sheer strength matias possesses erupts against his shorter stature.[break][break]

"what the fuck are you saying, dude?!"[break][break]

he's further thrown by the dramatic shift in matias' demeanor. the heavy aggression noah has never been privy too; he remembers the scale in the border and how it plunged matias to the bottom of its pit.[break][break]

he wonders if the scale wasn't broken after all.[break][break]

noah's GRAPPLOCT is shot down. shards of ice clatter against the ring as the octopus attempts to gather its bearings.[break][break]

meanwhile, noah pounces on matias. glare-first. his legs attempt to trap matias' arms beneath them for a schoolboy pin. heavy breath leaves his lips, their heated cascade like rolling smoke.[break][break]

"if you've got beef with me is this really the time and place, matias?"

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH[break]
tl;dr - grapploct struck down + noah tries to pin matias[break][break]

[attr="class","icon"]

dark echoes waltz across the terastal cavern walls. shadowy footsteps. unintelligible whispers. even when operating on their lonesomee, there is little noise made.[break][break]

some distance away, noah grabs at the back of kyle's shirt. his face darkens with worry, fear casting shadows below a shaking jaw.[break][break]

"if i'm caught in a bad way," noah says, "don't let them use me to get to you. don't fall for it, okay?"

[attr="class","bottom"]kyle lopez[break]
PDFTduHS[break]
[break]
az excursion d - dark